46 Chapter 2
Participants: 2 United States of America/230 Spain
Outcome (and Settlement): Victory for side A (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: In 1815, Negro Fort was a beacon of light for runaway slaves. It was
located along the coast of Spanish Florida, 50 miles up and down the Apalachicola.
Both Indian and white settlers dubiously established complaints of attacks or plunder
by the colony. Whether these claims were true, the colony was a serious threat to
the slave owners along the border, and Andrew Jackson sent a protest to the Span-
ish governor calling for its elimination. The Spanish governor replied that he was
willing to suppress these banditti but was unable to do so. Jackson then ordered
General E. P. Gaines to destroy the fort “regardless of the ground it stands on... and
restore the stolen negroes and property to their rightful owners.” On July 10, 1816,
a small fleet arrived at the mouth of the Apalachicola. The intent was to provoke an
attack from the fort in order to justify its destruction. There were clashes between
the black colonists and the American forces. On July 27, the American gunboats
exchanged fire with the fort, and the gunboats sent eight balls into the walls of the
fort. The explosion killed 270 people. The only remaining survivors, Negro and
Choctaw chiefs, were killed by the forces when they came ashore. The Negro Fort
was destroyed.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from July 27, 1816.
MID#1567
Dispute Number: 1567
Date(s): March 15, 1818 to May 29, 1818
Participants: 2 United States of America/230 Spain
Outcome (and Settlement): Victory for side A (Negotiated)
Fatalities: Missing
Narrative: Originally the Seminole war, this 1818 invasion of Spanish Florida (spe-
cifically, West Florida) eventually grew into a conflict between Spanish garrisons
and Andrew Jackson’s troops. The term “Seminole War” stems from the origin of
the conflict being rooted in the rumor that 500 Seminoles, then a thorn in the sides
of both the United States and Spain, had congregated in Pensacola. The rumor also
held that Spanish officials were implicitly abetting the Seminoles by providing them
inroads into the Alabama Territory. The veracity of the rumor is still not known.
While controlling the Native Americans in Florida may have been the official reason
for the invasion, it is plausible that the invasion was motivated by other factors, such
as expansionist interests, the desirability of Pensacola as a port city, and punishment
for Spanish Floridian ports hosting British vessels during the War of 1812. During
the campaign, Jackson seemed more involved in acquiring forts in Pensacola and the
surrounding areas than he did in finding these rumored 500 Seminoles.
The two-and-one-half month conflict ended in an assault on the Spanish fort at
Barrancas. Pensacola governor Jose Masot had vowed to fight force with force, but,
outnumbered, he quickly conceded on May 29, 1818. The proclamation issued by
Andrew Jackson soon afterward stated that Pensacola would be held until Spain could
demonstrate that it was capable of abiding by the terms of its previous agreements