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Occupation of Pensacola by the English - 1813 - 1821. About the year 1812 a party of Georgians visited the Alachua district of country, carrying with them a surveyor to run out the lands which they expected to conquer and occupy. The surveyor was killed by the Indians, and it is said that his field-notes and plots were carried in by the Indians to Geo. I. F. Clarke, Esq., the Spanish Surveyor- General, and formed the basis of all the Spanish land- grants in the Alachua district of country, now covered by Alachua and Marion counties. The promoter of this expedition was a General Harris, of Georgia. The Indians attacked the party and forced them to retire. The American troops were not finally withdrawn from Florida until the early part of the year 1813. Governor Mitchell had been superseded by General Pinkney, but no active operations were carried on against the Spanish inhabitants. This incursion of the United States troops into Florida ruined the agricultural interests of the country, which had begun to revive, and were attended with very encouraging success. The civil war and unbridled license which prevailed for a year and a half broke up and disheartened the planters, who saw the fruits of their well- applied industry made the prey of lawless invaders, their homes rendered insecure, their stock carried off, their slaves scattered, their crops and fences destroyed, and all they possessed plundered and pillaged under the immunity and protection afforded to the perpetrators of these wrongs by the flag of the United States. The planters retired in despair to St. Augustine, and sought shelter and protection under the guns of the fort. The Spanish forces were too weak to contest with the invaders the possession of the country, and during the years 1812 and 1813 Florida was virtually in the condition of a conquered province. The war of 1812, between the United States and Great Britain, to some extent involved Florida. In August, 1814, a British fleet entered the harbor of Pensacola, and landed troops, which were placed in garrison in Forts Michel and Barrancas, with the assent of Governor Manrequez; the British flag was raised over the forts, and the Indians of that region taken under British protection and pledged to carry on hostilities against the Americans, being furnished with arms and ammunition and promised liberal bounties. General Jackson was directed by the government of the United States to counteract these movements, and, having raised a body of troops, marched against Pensacola in November of the same year. His forces consisted of five thousand Tennessee volunteers and a large force of friendly Indians. A flag which General Jackson had sent forward to open communication with the Spanish governor was fired upon, and he immediately determined to storm the town. Marching his troops to the eastward of the city, he pushed forward his columns for a direct assault. The town was protected by a fort, several batteries, and seven vessels of war lying in front of the city. The advance of General Jackson's column was rapid, and they soon entered the streets of the city. A battery of two guns, which had been planted so as to sweep with grape and canister the street upon which they entered, was stormed and captured by Major Laval. The town soon yielded, and with Fort Michel was taken possession of by the American troops. Fort Barrancas was blown up by Colonel Nichols, the English commander, who, with the British troops and their Indian allies, escaped on board the vessels and went to sea. The Indians were landed on the Apalachicola River. After holding the town two days, and having destroyed the fortifications, General Jackson withdrew his troops and proceeded with his command to New Orleans, then threatened by the British forces. The Spanish governor, after General Jackson's forces had withdrawn, commenced rebuilding the fortifications, declining the assistance proffered by the English for that purpose. Colonel Nichols, having been expelled from Pensacola, devoted his attention to organizing an Indian and negro territory on the river Apalachicola, for the purpose of establishing a place of refuge for runaway Negroes from the Southern States, who, in connection with the Indians, might operate with effect upon the frontier settlements. Selecting a place admirably suited for the purpose on that river, he superintended the erection of a strong fortification upon a high bluff, making out into the river, well protected by a deep morass in the rear. A garrison of three hundred British troops was placed in it, and it was made a point of rendezvous for the Creek Indians called Bluesticks. During the following year a large number of runaway Negroes congregated in this region of country, and settled along the banks of the Apalachicola River for some fifty miles, bidding defiance to both the Spanish and American governments. After the close of the war with Great Britain, the British garrison was withdrawn, and the fort was left in the hands of the runaway Negroes, who were closely allied with the Indians, and were under the leadership of a negro by the name of Garcia. The fort was situated on the east side of the river, at the point where Fort Gadsden was afterwards built. The parapet was fifteen feet high and eighteen feet thick, and it was defended by nine pieces of artillery, several of which were of large caliber. Besides the swamp in the rear, it was protected by a large creek above it and a small creek below it. Two large magazines were wall supplied with ammunition, and three thousand stand of arms had been furnished by their British allies. Thus situated, the fort commanded the navigation of the Apalachicola River, and of the Flint River also, and menaced the settlements along the borders, while affording a refuge for all runaway slaves. In August, 1816, Colonel Duncan L. Clinch, of the United States Army, was stationed at Camp Crawford, on the Chattahoochee River, about one hundred and fifty miles above the Bay of Apalachicola. General Gaines had directed a supply of provisions, with a quantity of ordnance- stores, two eighteen-pounders, and one howitzer, to ascend the river to Camp Crawford; and, as the hostile attitude of the Indians and Negroes at the negro fort made it probable that some opposition would be made to the passage of the expedition up the river, General Gaines instructed Colonel Clinch, in case of such opposition, to take measures to reduce the fort. An Indian chief by the name of Lafarka was sent down the river from Fort Crawford, to obtain some information of the convoy and vessels guarding it, and soon returned with dispatches from Sailing-Master Loomis, advising Colonel Clinch of his arrival in the bay with two gunboats and two transports, with provisions, etc. Colonel Clinch immediately set out with one hundred and sixteen men in boats to descend the river. These forces were divided into two companies, under command of Major Muhlenberg and Captain Taylor. On their way a junction was accidentally effected with a large body of Creek Indians, who, without any knowledge of the movements of the United States troops, were also on their way to attack the negro fort, and capture the runaways for the benefit of their owners. These Indians were under the command of Major Mcintosh, and the next day were joined by another party, under Captain Isaacs and Kateha-haigo-mad-tiger. A council was held, and the Indians agreed to act in concert with the whites. Scouts were kept in the advance, who captured an Indian with a scalp, which he was carrying into the fort. The prisoner informed Colonel Clinch that the black leader, Garcia, and a Choctaw chief, had been down the bay the day before, saying they had killed several Americans and taken a boat from them. It appears that Lieutenant Loomis, the commander of the gunboats, had sent out Midshipman Luffborough, with four seamen, into the river to get a supply of fresh water, where they were attacked by a party of Negroes and Choctaws, who fired upon them, killing the midshipman and two of the seamen; one was taken prisoner, and the fourth escaped. The command of Colonel Clinch landed within a short distance of the negro fort. The Indians were posted around it, so as to cut off all communication, and an irregular fire kept up to harass the besieged. They replied by a constant discharge of artillery, which inflicted no damage upon the besiegers, but greatly reduced their supply of ammunition. Some days before, a party of Indian chiefs had entered the fort and demanded its surrender, but they were received with abuse, and the negro commander told them that he had been placed in command by the British government, and he intended to sink any American vessels which should attempt to pass his fort, and that when he found that he could not hold the fort he would blow it up. After this declaration, he hoisted the red flag with the English Jack over it. The vessels from below were brought up to within four miles of the fort, and, after a careful examination of the ground, a position was selected for a battery on the west side of the river, opposite to the fort. The troops under Major Muhlenberg and Captain Taylor occupied the west side of the river, and Major Mcintosh and his Indians, and a detachment of American troops, invested the fort in the rear. On the morning of the 24th of August, the two gunboats came up and took position in front of the battery. The Negroes immediately opened fire upon them from a thirty-two-pounder, which was replied to with such effect that, at the fifth discharge, a hot-shot from Gunboat 154, commanded by Sailing-Master Basset, entered one of the magazines of the fort and blew it up, thus rendering any further defense of the fort impossible. The garrison consisted of about one hundred effective men, including twenty-five Choctaws, and there were over two hundred women and children, of whom not over fifty escaped the effects of the explosion. The Americans sustained no loss whatever. A large amount of property was taken, estimated at two hundred thousand dollars in value. One hundred and sixty barrels of powder were saved from an uninjured magazine. The negro commander, Garcia, and the outlawed Choctaw chief, were condemned to death by a council of the friendly Indians, for the murder of the midshipman and seamen. The sentence was carried into effect immediately. The runaway Spanish Negroes were turned over to the Spanish Agent, and the American Negroes delivered to Colonel Clinch to be restored to their owners. A body of Seminoles had come down the river to aid the besieged, but, the news of the capture of the fort having reached them, they scattered to their homes. The destruction of this fort broke up for the time the Indian and negro settlements. The English government appear, in this instance, to have encouraged their agents to violate all the rules of civilized and honorable warfare, by permitting them to instigate an atrocious Indian war, in connection with a hostile negro organization, to prey upon the defenseless frontiers of the Southern States. Bounties were offered and paid for the scalps of Americans, a strong fortress w^as built for the protection of outlaws, murderers, and runaway slaves, and large sums of money were spent in supplying them with arms, ammunition, and provisions, and the British flag allowed to float over this mongrel crew. The evil influences of the course pursued by these English agents were felt for a long time, and finally forced the American government, in self-defense, to adopt measures for putting to an end forever the atrocities of the savage allies of Great Britain. Instigated by the English emissaries Nichols and Woodbine, the Seminoles, with scattering bands from other tribes, continued to annoy the border settlements in Georgia, and several times attacked transports on the Apalachicola River, in one instance mustering twelve hundred men and continuing the fight for several days. In January, 1818, General Jackson made a treaty with the Creeks, and engaged them to join him in an attack upon the Seminoles of Florida. In the spring of the same year, with a force of one thousand militia, five hundred regulars, and nearly two thousand Indians, he started on an expedition against the Seminoles, with the purpose of destroying their power and putting an end to their depredations. Marching rapidly upon the Miccosukee towns of East Florida, he destroyed them, and soon afterwards attacked and destroyed the Fowl towns, the Indians making but a feeble resistance. General Jackson then marched upon St. Mark's^ which was strongly fortified and had twenty guns mounted. The fort surrendered without resistance, and Prophet Francis and another Indian chief fell into the hands of the Americans, and were immediately hanged. At Miccosukee, General Jackson found three hundred scalps of men, women, and children, most of them fresh, and which had evidently been recently exhibited with triumph. From St. Mark's General Jackson marched to Suwanee, where he dispersed a large number of Indians, and took many prisoners, among them two Englishmen, Arbuthnot and Ambrister, who were accused of being the chief agents in supplying the Indians with arms and ammunition and directing their operations against the whites. A court-martial was held to try them, and both being found guilty were sentenced to suffer death, one by hanging, the other to be shot, and the sentence was promptly executed. This action of General Jackson was severely criticized, both at the time, and subsequently in the political contests in which he became engaged. General Jackson afterwards marched against Pensacola, having been informed that the Spanish government, while furnishing arms to the Indians who were hostile to the United States, refused to allow provisions to pass up the Escambia for the American troops. Upon the approach of General Jackson, the Spanish governor retired to Fort Barrancas, which, being menaced by the United States troops, was surrendered after a slight show of resistance. A treaty of peace, consisting of sixteen articles, was concluded between Spain and the United States on the 22nd of February, 1819, ceding the Floridas to the United States. The sixth article of this treaty provided that ''the inhabitants of the territories ceded to the United States should be incorporated into the Union of the United States, as soon as might be consistent with the principles of the Federal Constitution, and admitted to the enjoyment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the United States." The eighth article provided ''that all the grants of land made before the 24th of January, 1818, by Spain, should be ratified and confirmed to the same extent that the same grants would be valid if the territories had remained under the dominion of Spain." The ninth article provided that " the United States would cause satisfaction to be made for the injuries, if any, which by process of law should be established to have been suffered by the Spanish officers and individual Spanish inhabitants by the late operations of the American army in Florida." These articles of the treaty have given validity to what are now known as Spanish grants and claims for losses, in which so many of the people of Florida were interested. The treaty was finally ratified on the 19th of February, 1821. The change of flags in East Florida took place at St. Augustine, month of July, 1821, under Governor Coppinger on the part of Spain, and Colonel Robert Butler on the part of the United States; in West Florida, at Pensacola, on the 21st of July, 1821, Governor Callava representing the Spanish government and General Jackson that of the United States.
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