Fort Gadsden
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Remains of Fort Gadsden. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the
Location:	Franklin County, Florida
Nearest city:	Sumatra
Designated as NHL:	February 23, 1972[1]
Added to NRHP:	February 23, 1972
NRHP Reference#:	72000318[2]
Governing body:	United States Forest Service

Map of Fort Gadsden, also showing the location of the original "Negro Fort". Franklin County is a coastal County located in the Panhandle of the U Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the Sumatra is a small unincorporated community in Liberty County, Florida, United States of America. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the Events 1455 - Traditional date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first Western Book printed from Movable Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of

A Union Jack on the site of the original British fort. The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

A plaque marks the location of the fort's powder magazine.

Fort Gadsden is located in Franklin County, Florida, on the Apalachicola River. Franklin County is a coastal County located in the Panhandle of the U Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the The site contains the ruins of two forts, and has been known by several other names at various times, including Prospect Bluff Fort, Nichol's Fort, British Post^[3], Negro Fort, African Fort, and Fort Apalachicola. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Fort Gadsden Historic Site is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1972. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the ^[1]

Original fort

During the War of 1812, the British hoped to recruit the Seminole Indians as allies in their war against the United States. The War of 1812 was fought between the United States of America and the British Empire, particularly Great Britain and her North American colonies The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927 The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida and now residing in Florida and Oklahoma. In August 1814, a force of over 100 officers and men led by a lieutenant colonel of Royal Marines, Edward Nicolls, was sent into the Apalachicola River region in Spanish Florida, where they began to aid and train local Indians. The Royal Marines ( RM) are the marine corps and amphibious Infantry of the United Kingdom and along with the Royal Navy Spanish Florida ( Spanish: La Florida) refers to the Spanish Colony of Florida. Although Nicolls claimed he rallied large numbers of Indians, his efforts bore little fruit in terms of actual fighting, and the completion of the war ended his mission a few months after his arrival.

Before Nicolls left, however, he built a fort at Prospect Bluff, 15 miles above the mouth of the Apalachicola and sixty miles below U. S. territory, which he equipped with cannon, guns, and ammunition. The fort, originally known as the British Post, served as a base for British troops and for recruitment of ex-slaves into the new Corps of Colonial Marines, and as a rallying point to encourage the local Seminole Indian tribes to attack the United States. Two Corps of Colonial Marines were raised from former slaves as auxiliary units of the Royal Marines for service in the Americas: The First Corps The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida and now residing in Florida and Oklahoma. When the British evacuated Florida in the spring of 1815, they left the well-constructed and fully-armed fort on the Apalachicola River in the hands of their allies, about 300 fugitive slaves, including members of the disbanded Corps of Colonial Marines, and 30 Seminole and Choctaw Indians. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another Two Corps of Colonial Marines were raised from former slaves as auxiliary units of the Royal Marines for service in the Americas: The First Corps The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States ( Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana) News of the "Negro Fort" (as it came to be called) attracted as many as 800 black fugitives who settled in the surrounding area.

Under the command of a black man named Garson and a Choctaw chief (whose name is unknown), the inhabitants of Negro Fort launched raids across the Georgia border. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule The fort, located as it was near the U. S. border, was seen as a threat to Southern slavery. The U. S. considered it "a center of hostility and above all a threat to the security of their slaves. "^[4] The Savannah Journal wrote of it:

It was not to be expected, that an establishment so pernicious to the Southern States, holding out to a part of their population temptations to insubordination, would have been suffered to exist after the close of the war. In the course of last winter, several slaves from this neighborhood fled to that fort; others have lately gone from Tennessee and the Mississippi Territory. How long shall this evil, requiring immediate remedy, be permitted to exist?^[5]

American assault on the fort

In early 1816 the U. S. built Fort Scott on the west bank of the Flint River in Georgia for the purpose of guarding the Spanish-American border. For other rivers named Flint see Flint River (disambiguation page. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule Supplying the fort, however, was a problem; to take materials overland required traveling through unsettled wilderness. Major General Andrew Jackson, the military commander of the southern district, preferred supplying Fort Scott by boat over the Apalachicola River in Spanish territory, which had the advantages of being both easier and of providing a likely casus belli for destroying the Negro Fort. Andrew Jackson (March 15 1767 June 8 1845 was the seventh President of the United States (1829&ndash1837 As expected, when a naval force attempted the passage on July 17, 1816, it was fired on by the Negro Fort, and four Americans were killed. Events 180 - Twelve inhabitants of Scillium in North Africa are executed for being Christians Year 1816 ( MDCCCXVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year ^[6]

Ten days later, Andrew Jackson ordered Brigadier General Edmund P. Gaines at Fort Scott to destroy the Negro Fort. Andrew Jackson (March 15 1767 June 8 1845 was the seventh President of the United States (1829&ndash1837 Edmund Pendleton Gaines ( March 20, 1777 – June 6, 1849) was a United States army officer who served with distinction during the The American expedition included Creek Indians from Coweta, who were induced to join by the promise that they would get what they could salvage from the fort if they helped in its capture. Coweta County is a County located in the US state of Georgia. On July 27, 1816, following a series of skirmishes, the American forces and their Creek allies launched an all-out attack under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Clinch, with support from a naval convoy commanded by Sailing Master Jairus Loomis. Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England. Year 1816 ( MDCCCXVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Duncan Lamont Clinch ( April 6, 1787 - October 28, 1849) was an American army officer and served as a commander during the First and

The two sides exchanged cannon fire, but the shots of the inexperienced black gunners failed to hit their targets. A "hot shot" (a cannonball heated to a red glow) from the American forces entered the opening to the fort's powder magazine, igniting an explosion that was heard more than 100 miles (160 km) away in Pensacola, and destroyed the fort, killing all but 30 of 300 occupants. Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the County seat of Escambia County. ^[7] Garson and the Choctaw chief, among the few who survived the carnage, were handed over to the Creeks, who "Scalped the Choctaw alive and then fatally stabbed him; Garson was shot in execution style. " Other survivors were returned to slavery.

The Creeks salvaged 2,500 muskets, 50 carbines, 400 pistols, and 500 swords from the ruins of the fort, increasing their power in the region. The Seminoles, who had fought with the blacks, were conversely weakened by the loss of their allies, and Creek involvement in the attack increased tension between the two tribes. The Black Seminoles are descendants of free Africans and some Runaway slaves who escaped from coastal South Carolina and Georgia into the Florida wilderness ^[8] Seminole anger at the Americans for the fort's destruction would contribute to the breakout of the First Seminole War a year later. The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars, were three conflicts in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as ^[9]

Spain protested the violation of its soil, but according to historian John K. Mahon, it "lacked the power to do more. The Spanish Empire (Imperio Español was one of the largest Empires in history and one of the first Global empires In the 15th and 16th centuries John K Mahon ( February 8 1912 &ndash October 11 2003) "^[10].

Rebuilt fort

In 1818 General Jackson directed Lieutenant James Gadsden to rebuild the fort, which he did on a nearby site. Year 1818 ( MDCCCXVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common James Gadsden ( May 15, 1788 - December 25, 1858) Namesake of the Gadsden Purchase, in which the United States purchased from Jackson was so pleased with the result that he named the location Fort Gadsden.

During the American Civil War, Confederate troops occupied the fort until July 1863, when an outbreak of malaria forced its abandonment. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South Year 1863 ( MDCCCLXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

See also

• Seminole Wars

Notes

References

• Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars. Robert Vincent Remini (born July 17, 1921) is a Historian and a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Viking Penguin, 2001.
• Mark F Boyd, "Events at Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River, 1808-1818". Florida Historical Quarterly No. 16 (1937).
• Benjamin W. Griffith, Jr. , McIntosh and Weatherford Creek Indian Leaders. The University of Alabama Press, 2005 (Page 176)
• Herbert Aptheker. Herbert Aptheker ( July 31, 1915 - March 17, 2003) was an internationally known American Marxist historian and political Activist American Negro Slave Revolts. 5th edition. New York, NY: International Publishers, 1983 (1943).
• John K. Mahon. John K Mahon ( February 8 1912 &ndash October 11 2003) History of the Second Seminole War. 2nd revised edition. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 1985 (1967).

External links

• Fort Gadsden and the "Negro Fort" at exploresouthernhistory. com.
• Map to Fort Gadsden
• Negro Fort, 8 Story Panels with Pictures narrating the attack on the fort in 1816, from the documentary site Rebellion: John Horse and the Black Seminoles
• Negro Fort at Ghost Towns
• Fort Gadsden at American Forts Network
• The First Emancipation Proclamation at Daily Kos