Fort Brooke (Tampa, Florida)
Tampa · Florida · Seminole Wars, Civil War
History & Significance
Established on January 10, 1824, by Colonels George Mercer Brooke and James Gadsden with four companies of the U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment from Pensacola, the fort was intended to enforce the Treaty of Moultrie Creek and contain Seminole Indians to their interior reservation while curtailing illegal Gulf Coast activities. The site, marked by a hickory tree atop an ancient Tocobaga mound, was selected for its strategic location.
Fort Brooke served as the principal departure point for Major Francis L. Dade's fatal December 1835 command and later as the primary deportation hub for forced Seminole relocation to Oklahoma. During the Second Seminole War, approximately 3,000 soldiers were stationed at the fort, which served as the major military outpost on Florida's west coast and received supplies and troops for removal operations.
In October 1863, Union naval forces briefly attacked the fort; on May 6, 1864, Union troops permanently captured both Fort Brooke and Tampa. As Tampa declined in the 1870s and early 1880s, the fort languished until the final soldier roll call in 1882 and Army decommissioning in 1883. Modern construction projects unearthed forgotten cemeteries; soldiers were reinterred at Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, while Seminole remains were transferred to the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Key Facts
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Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Brooke
- https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol36/iss4/4/
- https://theclio.com/entry/88332
- https://vlp.cah.ucf.edu/biographies/sanc/BPYR-0-RBOURKE-F.html
- https://dos.fl.gov/florida-facts/florida-history/seminole-history/the-seminole-wars/
- https://www.tampabaywired.com/fort-brooke-tampas-birthplace/
- https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-battles-detail.htm?battleCode=FL004
- https://www.tampa.gov/city-clerk/info/previous-mayors/no-municipal-form-of-government