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
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