Fort Gardiner (Polk County, Florida)
Polk County · Florida · Second Seminole War
History & Significance
Fort Gardiner was a stockaded fortification with two blockhouses built in 1837. Located on the banks of the Kissimmee River just south of Lake Tohopekaliga in present-day Polk County, Florida, the fort featured two-story blockhouses at diagonal corners surrounded by a stockade of 18-foot logs, with a storehouse, mobile cannons, and a powder magazine in the middle.
On December 19, 1837, Colonel Taylor marched south from Fort Gardiner with 1,032 soldiers to penetrate deep into Seminole territory. On December 25, 1837, the Battle of Lake Okeechobee occurred; it was a tactical victory for the Seminoles as U.S. forces suffered 26 killed and 112 wounded compared to 11 killed and 14 wounded on the Seminole side.
After the battle, Colonel Taylor and his soldiers marched back to Fort Gardiner where they set up a makeshift hospital. The fort was used as a supply depot in 1838 by the Fourth and Sixth Infantry. Today, no remnants of Fort Gardiner exist, but its site is marked with a Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials sign at Camp Mack in Lake Wales, Florida.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Commemorative marker honoring 1837 military outpost on Kissimmee River
- Site of Colonel Zachary Taylor's Second Seminole War operations
- Historical significance as post-battle hospital after Lake Okeechobee engagement
- Located within Camp Mack grounds in Lake Wales area
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Gardiner
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=212853
- https://www.legendsofamerica.com/fort-gardiner-florida/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lake_Okeechobee
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Gardiner
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Seminole_War
- https://www.fortwiki.com/Fort_Gardiner