In early 1836, the plantation was burned; in late February 1836, the Carolina Regiment of Volunteers fortified the detached kitchen for use as a defensive bulwark. A cannon named after a fallen comrade, “McDuffie,” was placed on the roof of the former kitchen, which we now know as the Addison Blockhouse. The main house and other buildings were destroyed, although the slave quarters were left undisturbed, as was the custom of the Seminoles.
Troops assembled near the Blockhouse, but the Seminoles often ambushed those who ventured out. Three were killed and more wounded. The men received orders to abandon the camp and move west. So on March 15, 1836, most of the volunteers at Camp McRae left on a three-day march to the fort at Volusia on the east side of the St. Johns River. They left many of their wounded behind in a nearby wooden stockade with volunteers to care for them, where they were rescued later. After this, the plantation was abandoned.
McRae Plantation ruins and the Addison Blockhouse are located in the wilderness about a mile west of Ormond Lakes, which is off U.S. 1 north of Ormond Beach. Unfortunately, we could not take pictures of the ruins as they are in the wilderness in an area within the Tomoka State Park not accessible to the public.