A few miles east of here on the banks of the Kissimmee River stood Fort Gardiner, named for Captain George Washington Gardiner, who died in the Dade Massacre in 1835. Colonel Zachary Taylor established it on December 2, 1837, during his march to the Battle of Okeechobee. Designated as the headquarters of the First Brigade, Army South of the Withlacoochee, it was used in 1838 by the Fourth and Sixth Infantry. Following the battle, the wounded were brought to this depot and sent forward to Tampa on January 1, 1838.