Upton S. Fraser
Upton Fraser | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 1794 New York City, United States |
| Died | December 28, 1835 (aged 41) Sumter County, Florida, United States |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 1814–1835 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | 3rd Artillery Regiment |
| Commands | Fort Brooke |
| Battles / wars | |
Upton Sinclair Fraser (1794–1835) was a United States Army officer who was killed at the Dade Battle during the Seminole Wars. He was part of the advanced guard of the Army column commanded by Major Francis Dade, and he was one of the first soldiers killed in the battle.[1]
Biography
Upton Fraser was born in New York City in 1794. In May 1814, during the War of 1812, he joined the U.S. Army 15th Infantry Regiment as an Ensign.[2] Shortly after the war ended, he was transferred to the Artillery Corps in 1815. He later joined the newly formed 3rd Artillery Regiment as a Lieutenant. He was promoted to captain in 1828.[2]
Captain Fraser and his artillery company were sent to Florida in 1834. Fraser was then put in command of Fort Brooke at Tampa Bay.[2] As was common at the time, Fraser and his company served as "red-legged infantry", which were artillery troops trained to fight as infantry. While he was the commander at Fort Brooke in late 1835, tensions rose between the local Seminole Indians and the United States over the Indian Removal Act. Fraser knew that a war with the Seminoles was imminent, and he had his troops strengthen the defenses around Fort Brooke.[2] In the meantime, General Duncan Clinch ordered a U.S. Army column to assemble at Fort Brooke and march north to Fort King to prepare for the impending conflict with the Seminole Indians. General Clinch had also ordered Captain Fraser to be part of this column, and for Fraser to be replaced by another officer as the commander of Fort Brooke.
In December 1835, a U.S. Army column of 110 soldiers (including Captain Upton Fraser) led by Major Francis Dade had formed at Fort Brooke. Captain Francis S. Belton had also arrived and replaced Fraser as the commander of Fort Brooke. On December 23, 1835, the Army column began its march north to Fort King. Captain Fraser was part of the advanced guard of the column which marched ahead of the other soldiers. During the march north, Fraser wrote a letter where he stated that he had seen the Seminole Indians in the forests spying on him and his soldiers at night.[3] On December 28, 1835, the Seminole Indians suddenly fired upon the U.S. Army column, which began the Dade Battle. Captain Fraser was immediately shot and killed at the start of the battle, along with Major Dade and the other soldiers in the advanced guard.[4]
Legacy
After the end of the Second Seminole War, Captain Upton Fraser's remains were reinterned at Fort Brooke, and then later reinterned again at Barrancas National Cemetery.[2] This was unlike the other soldiers in Major Francis Dade's command, who were buried at St. Augustine National Cemetery.
Captain Fraser was the namesake of Fort Fraser, a U.S. Army fort built near Lake Hancock in 1837.[5] Fort Fraser was used as a supply depot for U.S. troops, but it was abandoned in 1838. The ruins of Fort Fraser were later used as a shelter by White settlers during the Third Seminole War in the 1850s. Captain Fraser was also the namesake of Battery Fraser, an artillery battery at Fort Slocum built in 1901.
References
- ^ Howard, Major General O. O. A One-Armed General in the Indian Wars (Abridged, Annotated). BIG BYTE BOOKS.
- ^ a b c d e Laumer, Frank (August 3, 1995). Dade's Last Command. University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-8130-5958-7.
- ^ Agostini, Randal J. (2021-08-04). An Englishman in the Seminole War: A Memoir Based Upon the Letters of John Bemrose. Florida Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-9817337-9-1.
- ^ BARR (Captain.), James (1896). A Correct and Authentic Narrative of the Indian War in Florida, with a description of Maj. Dade's massacre, etc. J. Narine.
- ^ "Fort Fraser Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org. Retrieved February 27, 2025.