Action Around Apalachicola Bay, Florida-- Part 6: The War Comes to the Gulf Coast

In July 1814, a second British fleet anchored at Havana, Cuba,  and the Royal Marine commander, Lt. Col. Edward Nicholls, attempted to persuade the Spanish governor general, Ruiz Apodaca, , to allow British troops to defend Florida against the Americans.  Spain was neutral in the conflict, and although Apodaca  did not protest British troops on the Apalachicola River, he demanded the British stay out of Pensacola.

Nicholls departed for Apalachicola in August , only to find Woodbine had left Prospect Bluff for Pensacola in an effort to get fresh provisions for his Indian and black recruits.  Nicholls followed immediately to Pensacola., and was given permission to occupy Fort St. Michael (former Fort George and Fort San Miguel depending on who had control of it).

However, he alienated Spanish citizens by taking military control of the town and recruiting slaves into the marines.

News of the British advances along the Apalachicola River reached Andrew Jackson, and he moved his headquarters to Mobile on August 21, 1814.  That city was defended by the newly-built Fort Bowyer located on a sand spit east of the entrance to Mobile Bay (present side of Fort Morgan).

--Old Secesh

Action Around Apalachicola Bay-- Part 4: It Was a British, American and Spanish Thing

According to their British charter, the Forbes Company could operate under the flag of any country.  James and and John Innerarity had already obtained Spanish citizenship by residence without giving up their British, and thereby  were able to trade freely in Florida,

After the United States annexed Mobile in 1813, the Inneraritys applied for U.S. citizenship.  U.S. General James Wilkinson quartermaster purchased tools, bricks, lumber, food and office supplies from the company.  Through these favorable associations, the senior Forbes partners were becoming even closer to  Americans and more suspicious of British intentions.

The War of 1812 was already being fought between Nova Scotia and Washington, and now Forbes ships plying between Nassau and London were in jeopardy.

In July 1813, several delegations of Creek Indians, who were hostile to American encroachment, had arrived in Spanish Pensacola seeking gunpowder and firearms.  Led by Chiefs Peter McQueen and High Head Jim, about 300 men requested arms from the governor, Gonzalez Manrique, who refused their request.

--Brock-Perry

Action Around Apalachicola Bay, Florida-- Part 2: Part of a Three-Pronged Attack By the British

Continued from  September 16, 2020.

The British advance on Apalachicola Bay, Florida, was the first part of a three-pronged British attack on the Gulf of Mexico coast planned by Admiral Alexander Cochrane.  He would next hit Mobile and then new Orleans (which resulted in the famed Battle of New Orleans).  From new Orleans, his command could then control  navigation on the all-important Mississippi River.

He sent Navy Captain Hugh Pigot and  Marine Captain George Woodbine to the Apalachicola River to train Creek Indians and black Colonial Marines, expecting that these allies would then prevent American reinforcements coming from Georgia on the Old Federal Road and block them from helping protect Mobile and New Orleans.

Without permission from the neutral Spanish government, who owned the area, the British began constructing a fort  25 miles up the Apalachicola River less than a mile from the store at Prospect  Bluff that was run by the merchants and Indian traders of John Forbes & Company.

Although Forbes and his partners James and John Innerarity were British subjects, conflict was inevitable because British officers could augment their  pay by looting Forbes' business and selling the plunder as prizes of war.  (Kind of a land-based privateering scheme.)

--Brock-Perry

Action Around Apalachicola Bay, Florida, During the War-- Part 1

From the January 17, 2018, Times (Appalachicola and Carrabelle, Florida) "Apalachicola Bay and the War of 1812" by Robert Register and James Hargrove.

British preparation for the attack on New Orleans began at St. George Island (Florida) in May 1814, when Captain Henry Pigot of the Royal Navy anchored the HMS Orpheus in Apalachicola Bay, and Captain George Woodbine of the Royal Marines unloaded 2,000 muskets for delivery to the Creek Indians and escaped black slaves who were living along the Apalachicola River.

At the same time, the British Navy began their blockade of Mobile and New Orleans.

The British advance into Apalachicola Bay was part of a three-pronged British attack planned by Admiral Alexander Cochrane.

--Brock-Perry

Benjamin Hawkins (The Hawkins Line)-- Part 3: Another Red Stick Threat

After the war, Benjamin Hawkins organized peaceful Creek Indians to oppose a British force on the Apalachicola River in Florida.  They were threatening to rally the Red Sticks and reignite a war versus the settlers on the Georgia frontier.

He was buried at his Creek Agency near Flint River and Roberta, Georgia.

Find-A-Grave lists his final resting place at the Hawkins Family Cemetery.  It is the only grave in that cemetery.

His inscription reads "Col. Benjamin Hawkins/  General Washington's Staff Revolutionary War/ Aug. 15, 1754  Jun 6, 1816."

Born in Granville County, North Carolina.  Died in Crawford County, Georgia.

I would have thought the inscriptions would have mentioned something of his dealings with the Creek Indians.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Gadsden-- Part 5: A Threat to Slavery

Negro Fort was seen as a threat to Southern slavery being that close to the Georgia border.  The U.S. considered it "a center of hostility and above all a threat to the security of their slaves."

The Savannah Journal lamented the existence of the fort and mentioned that several area slaves had run away to it.

The U.S. built Fort Scott in southern Georgia to guard against this threat.  Andrew Jackson decided it would be easier to supply the fort by going up the Apalachicola River, despite the fact that it was in Spanish territory.  On July 17, 1816, a U.S. naval force attempted tp go up the Apalachicola, but was turned back by cannon fire from Negro Fort.  Four U.S. soldiers were killed.

Ten days later an enraged Andrew Jackson ordered Brig. General Edmund P. Gaines at Fort Scott to destroy Negro Fort.  American troops along with Creek Indians, who were promised to receive whatever they wanted from the fort arrived at the fort and after a series of skirmishes began an all out attack under the command of Lt. Col. Duncan Clinch with naval support from Sailing Master James Loomis.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Gadsden, Fla.-- Part 4: Andrew Jackson Targets the Fort

In September 1815, U.S. Indian Agent Benjamin hawkins sent about 200 soldiers against Negro Fort, but they failed.

Negro Fort was commanded by a black man named Garson and a Choctow chief.  They began launching a series of raids across the Georgia border and the fort became a threat in the eyes of the United States.

In early 1816, the U.S. built Fort Scott on the west bank of the Flint River in southern georgia as a defense against Negro Fort.  Major General Andrew Jackson, commander of the Southern district, decided that he would rather supply Fort Scott by bringing supplies up the Apalachicola River instead of overland.  This would become a good reason and a great excuse to attack Negro Fort.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Gadsden, Fla.-- Part 3: British Post, Negro Fort

Before he left Florida, Edward Nicholls built a fort at Prospect Bluff, 15 miles above the mouth of the Apalachicola River and 60 miles below U.S. territory.

 It was originally known as British Post and served as base for British troops (though in Spanish Florida) and actively recruited former slaves into the new Corps of Colonial Marines.  It also was the local rallying point for Seminole Indians for attacks on U.S. territory.

When the British evacuated the fort in the spring of 1815, they left a well-constructed and fully armed fort on the east bank of the Apalachicola River and about 400 Colonial Marines assumed command.  News of the "Negro Fort" attracted 800 black fugitives (runaway slaves) ro the fort who settled around it.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Gadsden-- Part 2: Built By Edward Nicholls

The original fort was built by the British, though in Spanish territory, as an attempt to recruit local Indians to fight against the Americans.  A force of 100 Royal Marines led by Lt. Col. Edward Nicholls arrived on the Apalachicola River in August 1814 to aid and train local Indians.  They built the fort, but there is little evidence of much success with the Indians and the war ended shortly thereafter.

So, the Nicholls connection for Nicholls' Outpost.  He evidently built both.

In late November 1814, Major Uriah Blue, commanding a force of 1.000 Mississippi militia, Chickasaw and Choctow warriors, left Fort Montgomery (east of Mobile and west of Pensacola) to seek out and destroy the Red Stick Creek Indians.  Among them was Creek War veteran Davy Crockett.

However, the Americans were unfamiliar with the area and running out of supplies and never found their objective or the British fort and were forced to return to Fort Montgomery on 9 January 1815.

It is kind of strange that this expedition would be going on while New Orleans was in danger of being captured.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Gadsden-- Part 1: Fort of Many Names

It would appear that I am beginning to write a whole lot about the War of 1812 in western Florida now.  Much of the history so far has involved Nicholls' Post and the Corps of Colonial Marines.

From Wikipedia.

Fort Gadsden is located at Franklin County, Florida, on the Apalachicola River.  The site contains the ruins of two forts and it has been called many names over the years:  Prospect Bluff Fort, Nicholls Fort, Blount's Fort, British Post, Negro Fort, African Fort and Fort Apalachicola.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is located in the Apalachicola National Forest which is managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

It became a National Historic Landmark in 1972.

--Brock-Perry

The British Corps of Colonial Marines-- Part 2

The 1814-1816 reincarnation of the Colonial Marines saw action from Canada to Georgia.  they proved of great assistance because they had extensive knowledge of the lands where they were formerly enslaved.  They helped the British capture Washington, D.C..

The Colonial Marines also assisted in the British Southern Coastal Campaign and guarded their right flank in attack on and subsequent Battle of New Orleans.

At the end of the war they were transferred to Bermuda.

In 1816, they were ordered to Prospect Bluff, Florida where they defended a Spanish fort overlooking the Apalachicola River (Fort Gadsden).  American troops were threatening the fort which had a lot of escaped slaves who had gone there for protection, so many in fact that it was referred to as Negro Fort.

Major General Andrew Jackson attempted to capture it in July 1816 when he led a flotilla of American gunboats and troops.  They overran the stockade and forced the British force to surrender.  Many of the Colonial Marines were then enslaved again.

--Brock-Perry

Nicholls' Outpost-- Part 2

The British arrived at the mouth of the Apalachicola River in May 1814.  Thomas and William Perryman, two Lower Creek chiefs had appealed in the Bahamas to England for aid fighting U.S. troops.

By the time the British arrived, however, the Red Sticks had been smashed by General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama.

The British troops were led by Brevet Major George Woodbine, who met the Indians who were fleeing into Spanish Florida.

The British apparently evacuated Nicholls' Outpost in April 1814.

No visible traces of the fort remain.

--Brock-Perry

Nicholls' Outpost-- Part 1

From the Explore Southern History Blog by Dale Cox.

The other British fort built on the Apalachicola River was at Prospect Bluff and Nicholls' Outpost was located upriver at present day Chattahoochee, Florida.  The Post and fort were built as part of a British plan to recruit Red Stick and Seminole Indians to their cause during the War of 1812.

The other fort was 30 miles north of the mouth of the Apalachicola River at the site of present day Fort Gadsden Historic Site. Both forts were built by Edward Nichols of the Royal Marines.   This fort later was referred to as the "Negro Fort."

Nicholls' Post was the smaller fortification of the two and was built on top of a large Indian mound at Chattahoochee Landing in Gadsden County, Florida.

--Brock-Perry

Marker Placed at Nicholls' Outpost in Florida

From the Oct. 15, 2014, Explore Southern History Blog " Market to be placed at British War of 1812 fort site in Florida" by Dale Cox.  If you ever want to know anything about Florida history, check it out.

The new marker was unveiled November 9th.  It marks the northernmost incursion of the British forces along the Gulf coast during the war.

It was placed at River Landing Park in Chattahoochee, Florida, at the site of Nicholls' Outpost.  (I've also seen it spelled Nichols' Outpost.)  It was built near the head of the Apalachicola River during the British Gulf Coast Campaign which included the Battle of New Orleans.

It was built by Royal Colonial Marines along with Creek and Seminole warriors as part of a planned invasion of Georgia, but the war ended before it took place.

It was one of two forts built on the Apalachicola River.  The other is the Fort Gadsden Historic Site in the Apalachicola National Forest.

--Brock-Perry

British Built Fort at Chattahoochee, Florida

From the July 27, 2015, WXTL Road Trip: The Beginnings of Chattahoochee" by Georgiaree Godfrey.

Gadsden County dates back to 1821, but the territory was occupied by Native Americans for centuries before that.

Historian Dale Cox said that the British built a fort there on top of the largest Indian mound and it was designed as a forward operating base for what became Fort Gadsden on the lower river,  They planned to use the fort as a launch on an invasion of Georgia during the War of 1812.

Later, Chattahoochee was home to a U.S. Arsenal which is now on the grounds of the Florida State Hospital.  The arsenal was built there because of the vast river system that reached all the way into northern Georgia.

The city's prime location on the Apalachicola River makes it a summer hot spot for boating, fishing and paddling.

--Brock-Perry