Fort Drane
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Fort Drane (1835-1836) - A U.S. Army post established first as Camp Auld Lang Syne during the Second Seminole War in 1835 by Captain Gustavus S. Drane, 2nd U.S. Artillery, in Marion County, Florida. Later named Fort Drane after the Captain. Abandoned in 1836. Also known as Fort Auld Lang Syne and Fort Old Lang Syne. HistoryBuilt on the 3,000 acre sugar plantation of Colonel Duncan Lamont Clinch known as Auld Lang Syne. The fort was a 150 yard by 80 yard palisaded enclosure with blockhouses in the northern and eastern angles. The blockhouses were armed with cannon and there were some 300 loopholes for riflemen. The plantation house served as officers quarters and the rest of the command was housed in tents. Colonel Clinch assembled a force of 700 regulars and was soon joined by 560 volunteers from Tallahassee. This force marched on the Withlacoochee River and engaged the Seminole Indians under Osceola on 31 Dec 1835 and suffered a severe loss. Colonel Clinch returned to Fort Drane to regroup and take care of the wounded and sick. The regular troops were withdrawn in June 1835 to Fort Gilleland in Newnansville and the fort was abandoned. The Seminole Indians burned down the fort and occupied the plantation. Tennessee Volunteers removed the Seminoles from the site in October 1836 but did not rebuild the fort. The post was abandoned in later in 1836. Current StatusNo remains, Marion County, Florida. The GNIS database identifies one site location marked with the (F) map pointer but local researchers identify a different location marked with the (A) map pointer. USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 307420
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