Negro Fort facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Negro Fort
Part of the Seminole Wars
Map of Fort Gadsden, inside the breastwork that surrounded the original Negro Fort.
Date July 27, 1816 Location Negro Fort, Apalachicola Forest, Florida 29° 56.297′ N, 85° 0.588′ W Result United States-Creek victory Negro Fort destroyed All captured slaves forced back into slavery
Belligerents
United States Creek	Fugitive slaves Choctaw
Commanders and leaders
Andrew Jackson Edmund Gaines	Garçon  †
Strength
267 2 gunboats	334
Casualties and losses
3 killed 1 captured	334 killed, wounded and captured
The fugitive slave and Choctaw casualties include women and children.

Negro Fort was a strong building made by the British in 1814. This was during the War of 1812. It was in a faraway part of what was then Spanish Florida. The British wanted to use it to attack the U.S. from the southwest. They hoped to "free all these Southern Countries [states] from the Yoke of the Americans."

The fort was built on a key spot overlooking the Apalachicola River. It was the biggest building between St. Augustine and Pensacola. Before the fort, trading posts had been there since the late 1700s. These posts served local Native Americans and runaway slaves. These runaway or freed people from southern plantations used their farming skills. They set up farms that stretched for miles along the river.

When the war ended in 1815, the British commander Edward Nicolls left the fort. He meant for it to be used by the Native Americans. Instead, it was taken over by a group of free Black people. This was the biggest example before the American Civil War where armed runaway slaves fought against white Americans. These Americans wanted to force them back into slavery. A smaller example was Fort Mose, near St. Augustine.

The fort was destroyed in 1816. This happened when a "hot cannon ball" hit the gunpowder storage area. This event is also called the Battle of Negro Fort. It is sometimes called the Battle of Prospect Bluff or the Battle of African Fort. The people inside the fort were not skilled with cannons. They could not defend themselves well. Colonel Duncan L. Clinch, who led the attack, found many weapons after the fort was destroyed. He reported that nearly 300 people inside the fort were killed, hurt, or captured. The weapons were given to the Creeks for helping to take the fort.

This was the only time the United States destroyed a community of escaped slaves in another country. However, the area kept attracting escaped slaves. This continued until the U.S. built Fort Gadsden in 1818. The Battle of Negro Fort was the first battle of the Seminole Wars.

Building the Fort

The fort's construction started in May 1814. This was after the British took over a trading post. By September, there was a square moat around a large field. A wooden fence, about 4 feet (1.2 m) high, ran along the moat. It had strong points at its eastern corners. There was also a stone building for soldiers and a large storage building. Several hundred feet inland was the magazine. This is where weapons and gunpowder were kept.

The fort also had many tools like axes, carts, hoes, and shovels. The British left all these behind. There were also many boats, including schooners and canoes. Some were 45 feet (14 m) long. They also left sails, anchors, and other boat equipment. There were also skilled sailors and shipbuilders.

To get more people, the British visited Creek, Seminole, and Black settlements. They gave out guns, uniforms, and other goods. The Creeks were excited to attack the United States. American settlers had taken their land. At the British request, they invited Black people to join them. Slaves from Spanish Pensacola also came by the hundreds. Because of this, the British post was very busy in 1814. Commander Edward Nicolls had about 3,500 men ready to fight the Americans. Most of the Black people did not want to return to slavery in Pensacola. Some even took English names. They claimed to be runaways from the United States so they would not be returned.

A Safe Place for Runaway Slaves

Runaway slaves had found safety in Florida for many years. The Seminoles welcomed them. The Spanish treated them as free if they became Catholic. This was an early form of the Underground Railroad. The Spanish wanted their own Pensacola slaves back. But they did not care much about American slaves. They also did not have the resources to find them. At one point, they even invited American slave owners to catch the runaways themselves.

More runaway slaves kept arriving, seeking freedom in Florida. They set up farms along the river to feed themselves. The Seminoles learned farming from the Black people. The Black people had learned how to farm and care for animals on plantations. The Creeks knew nothing about farming and were poor. Even Nicolls noted how many starving Creeks were arriving. The Creeks had a supporter, Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins. He tried to help them get their lands back. They had never been enslaved. So, they did not worry about being forced back into slavery. They wanted to return to their lands. These lands were taken or threatened by white settlers.

The situation with runaway slaves became more serious. News of a Negro Fort with weapons spread through the southern United States.

The Negro Fort

The Negro Fort flew the British Union Jack flag. The former Colonial Marines saw themselves as British subjects. The Spanish continued to leave the runaway slaves alone. What was new was that a group had military training. They were well-armed. The British, who were against slavery, had encouraged others to run away and join them. The number of people at the Negro Fort changed often. People came and went as the political situation changed. But the idea of a strong, armed safe place for runaway slaves became widely known.

Newspapers in the United States that supported slavery were very angry about Negro Fort. The Savannah Journal newspaper wrote about this concern:

It was not expected that such a harmful place for the Southern states, which tempted their people to rebel, would be allowed to exist after the war [of 1812] ended. Last winter, several slaves from this area ran to that fort. Others have recently gone from Tennessee and the Mississippi Territory. How long will this problem, which needs fixing right away, be allowed to continue?

Escaped slaves came from as far away as Virginia. The Apalachicola River was a base for groups who attacked Georgia plantations. They stole animals and helped enslaved workers escape. Other slaves escaped from military groups near the border. The U.S. Army decided to build Fort Scott in April 1816. This was on the Flint River, which flows into the Apalachicola. They wanted to fix this problem, which Southerners saw as unacceptable.

Supplying Fort Scott was hard. Moving materials over land meant going through wild areas. The easiest way to supply the fort was by river. This was technically Spanish land. But Spain did not have the resources to defend this remote area. Supplies for Fort Scott would have to pass right in front of Negro Fort. Boats carrying supplies were escorted by gunboats. The people defending the fort attacked sailors getting fresh water. They killed three and captured one, who was later killed. Only one escaped. When the U.S. boats tried to pass the fort on April 27, they were fired upon. This event gave the U.S. a reason to destroy Negro Fort.

Hawkins and other white settlers contacted Andrew Jackson. They saw him as the best person to handle this. Jackson asked for permission to attack. Ten days later, he ordered General Edmund P. Gaines at Fort Scott to destroy Negro Fort. The U.S. group included Creek Indians. They joined because they were promised they could take anything valuable from the fort if they helped capture it.

On July 27, 1816, after some small fights, the U.S. forces and their Creek allies launched a full attack. Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Clinch led the attack. Naval ships helped, led by Sailing Master Jarius Loomis. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams later said the attack was for national "self-defense." He said it was because Spain was helpless and Britain was causing trouble. Southern leaders worried that a small area in Florida occupied by Black people could threaten slavery. On July 20, Clinch and the Creek allies left Fort Scott to attack Negro Fort. But they stopped before firing range. They realized they needed artillery (gunboats).

Battle of Negro Fort

A plaque at the site of Negro Fort marking the location of the powder magazine

The Battle of Negro Fort was the first big fight of the Seminole Wars. It marked the start of General Andrew Jackson's efforts to take over Florida. Three leaders of the fort were former Colonial Marines. They had come with Nicolls from Pensacola. They were Garçon, Prince, and Cyrus. Garçon was about 30, a carpenter and former slave. Prince was 26, a master carpenter. Cyrus was also 26 and could read and write.

As the U.S. group got close to the fort on July 27, 1816, Black soldiers were ready. They fought with the U.S. group before going back to the fort. At the same time, the gunboats moved upriver to get ready for a siege. About 330 people were in Negro Fort during the battle. At least 200 were maroons, armed with ten cannons and many muskets. Some were former Colonial Marines. They were joined by about thirty Seminole and Choctaw warriors. The rest were women and children, the families of the Black soldiers.

Before starting the attack, General Gaines asked for surrender. Garçon, the fort's leader, refused. Garçon said he had orders from the British military to hold the fort. He raised the Union Jack and a red flag. This meant they would not surrender. The Americans thought Negro Fort was very strong. After they got into position, the Navy gunboats were ordered to start firing. The defenders fired their cannons, but they were not trained to use them well.

It was daytime when Master Jarius Loomis ordered his gunners to fire. After a few shots to check the distance, the first hot shot cannonball hit the fort's powder magazine. The explosion was huge and destroyed the entire fort. Most sources say that nearly all of the 334 people in the fort were killed instantly. Others died from their wounds soon after, including many women and children. A more recent study suggests the number killed was "probably no more than forty." The rest had fled before the attack. The explosion was heard over 100 miles (160 km) away in Pensacola.

Right after, U.S. troops and the Creeks attacked and captured the survivors. Only three people were not hurt. Two of them, a Native American and a Black person, were killed by Jackson's orders. General Gaines later reported:

The explosion was terrible and the scene was horrible beyond words. You cannot imagine, nor can I describe, the horrors of the scene. In an instant, lifeless bodies lay on the ground, buried in sand or rubble, or hanging from the tops of the nearby pine trees. Here lay an innocent baby, there a helpless mother; on one side a strong warrior, on the other a bleeding woman. Piles of bodies, large heaps of sand, broken glass, equipment, etc., covered the fort's site... Our first concern, when we arrived, was to save and help the unfortunate people who survived the explosion.

Garçon, the Black commander, and the Choctaw chief were among the few who survived. They were given to the Creeks. The Creeks shot Garçon and hurt the chief. African-American survivors were forced back into slavery. No white soldiers were hurt by the explosion. The Creeks took 2,500 muskets, 50 carbines, 400 pistols, and 500 swords from the fort's ruins. This made them stronger in the area. The Seminoles, who had fought with the Black people, became weaker because they lost their allies. The Creeks' involvement in the attack made things worse between the two tribes. Seminole anger at the U.S. for destroying the fort led to the start of the First Seminole War a year later. Spain protested that its land was violated. But historian John K. Mahon said Spain "lacked the power to do more."

What Happened Next

The largest group of survivors, including Black people from nearby plantations who were not at the Fort, went further south. They found safety in Angola, Florida. Some other refugees started Nicholls Town in the Bahamas.

Garçon was killed by a firing squad. This was because he was responsible for the earlier killing of the watering party. The Choctaw Chief was given to the Creeks, who wounded him. Some survivors were taken prisoner. They were forced into slavery. This was based on the claim that Georgia slave owners had owned their ancestors. Neamathla, a Seminole leader, was angry about the deaths of his people at Negro Fort. He warned General Gaines that if any of his forces crossed the Flint River, they would be attacked. This threat made the general send 250 men to arrest the chief in November 1817. But a battle started, and it became the first fight of the First Seminole War.

Anger over the fort's destruction fueled continued resistance during the First Seminole War.