Fort Lauderdale (Broward County, Florida)

Broward County · Florida · Second Seminole War

Quick BriefFort Lauderdale was a U.S. Army post established in 1838 during the Second Seminole War by Major William Lauderdale, Tennessee Volunteers, in present-day Broward County, Florida. The fort was relocated twice in 1839 and finally abandoned in 1842.

Coastal defense

History & Significance

On March 6, 1838, Major Lauderdale established a post on the New River's north bank as part of a strategic campaign following the Second Battle of the Loxahatchee in January 1838, during which Lauderdale's troops suffered the most casualties out of all the U.S. Military units. General Thomas S. Jesup named the fort in Special Order 74 on March 16, 1838, for Major William Lauderdale.

The initial post featured a 30-foot square, two-story-tall blockhouse that was later enclosed with a 60′ by 50′ stockade. The garrison abandoned Fort Lauderdale on May 7, 1838, and Seminoles destroyed the fort a few months later.

In February 1839, Company K of the 3rd U.S. Artillery under Captain William Davidson reestablished Fort Lauderdale at a new location closer to the ocean as a temporary post with tents surrounded by pickets and a log blockhouse. A more permanent post was begun even closer to the ocean and completed by the end of September 1839, with two-story blockhouses at three angles and a substantial stockade, garrisoned until January 1842. The fort served as a key base during the Second Seminole War's final phase in southeast Florida.