Historical Sketches Of Colonial Florida - free ebook by Richard L. Campbell

HISTORICAL SKETCHES—OF—Colonial Florida.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in year 1892, by Richard L. Campbell , in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington....

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PREFACE.

The inducement to write this book was to supply, in a slight measure, the want of any particular history of British rule in West Florida. With that inducement, however, the effort would not have been made but for the sources of original information existing in the Archives of the Dominion of Canada, as well as others, pointed out to me by Dr. William Kingsford of Ottawa, author of the ‘History of Canada;’ to whom I take this occasion of making my acknowledgments. An account of British rule neces

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CHAPTER I.

The Discovery of Pensacola Bay by Panfilo de Narvaez—The Visits of Maldonado, Captain of the Fleet of Hernando de Soto. On one of the early days of October, 1528, there could have been seen, coasting westward along and afterwards landing on the south shore of Santa Rosa Island, five small, rudely-constructed vessels, having for sails a grotesque patchwork of masculine under and over-wear. That fleet was the fruit of the first effort at naval construction within the present limits of the United S

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CHAPTER II.

The Settlement of Don Tristram de Luna at Santa Maria—His Explorations—Abandonment of the Settlement—The First Pensacola. Nearly twenty years passed away after Maldonado’s visit to Ochus before Europeans again looked upon its shores. In 1556, the viceroy of Mexico, and the bishop of Cuba united in a memorial to the Emperor Charles V. representing Florida as an inviting field for conquest and religious work. Imperial sanction having been secured, an expedition was organized under the command of D

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CHAPTER III.

Don Andrés de Pes—Santa Maria de Galva—Don Andres d’ Arriola—The Resuscitation of Pensacola—Its Consequences. In 1693, Don Andrés de Pes entered the Bay, but how long he remained, or why he came, whether for examination of its advantages, from curiosity, or necessity, to disturb its solitude and oblivion of one hundred and thirty-three years, history does not say. But as a memorial of his visit, he supplemented the name de Luna had given it with de Galva, in honor of the Viceroy of Mexico; and t

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CHAPTER IV.

Iberville’s Expedition—Settlement at Biloxi and Mobile—Amicable Relations of the French and Spanish Colonies from 1700-1719. The French expedition referred to in the previous chapter, the delay of which was so fateful to the growth and commercial future of Pensacola, appeared off the mouth of the harbor in January, 1699. But, observing the Spanish flag flying from the mast-head of two war vessels lying in the Bay and from the flagstaff of Fort San Carlos, they did not enter the harbor, but cast

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CHAPTER V.

War Declared by France against Spain—Bienville Surprises Metamoras—Metamoras Surprises Chateaugné—Bienville Attacks and Captures Pensacola—San Carlos and Pensacola Destroyed—Magazine Spared. On the thirteenth of April, 1719, two French vessels brought to the French colony the intelligence that in the previous December, France had declared war against Spain; an event of which Don Juan Pedro Metamoras, governor of Pensacola, who had just succeeded Don Gregorio de Salinas, had no information. Bienv

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CHAPTER VI.

Sketch of Island Town—Its Destruction—The Third Pensacola—The Cession of Florida by Spain to Great Britain—Appearance of Town in 1763—Captain Wills’ Report—Catholic Church. On February 17, 1720, five months after the destruction of Pensacola, a treaty of peace between France and Spain was signed. But it was not until early in January, 1723, that Bienville, under orders from the French government, formally restored Pensacola to the Spaniards, or rather its site and surroundings. Of the first sett

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CHAPTER VII.

British West Florida—Pensacola the Capital—Government Established—Johnstone first Governor—British Settlers—First Survey of the Town—Star Fort—Public Buildings—Resignation of Johnstone—His Successor, Monteforte Brown. The little settlement, mentioned in the last chapter, soon attained an importance in striking contrast with its appearance and condition. By the treaty of Paris, France had ceded to Great Britain Canada, and that part of Louisiana east of a line beginning at the source of the Missi

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CHAPTER VIII.

Early in 1765 General Henry Bouquet having been assigned to the command of the southern military district of the colonies, of which Pensacola was the headquarters, sailed from Philadelphia in a small schooner for that place. He arrived there in the early spring, and on the following September died. [4] Of the day and cause of his death nothing seems to be known. Of the fact that his grave was marked by a monument, there is the most conclusive proof. [5] Where is that monument? That time and the

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CHAPTER IX.

Governor Elliott—Social and Military Life in Pensacola—Gentlemen—Women—Fiddles—George Street—King’s Wharf on November 14, 1768. There exists evidence in the Canadian archives that, in July, 1767, Mr. Elliot was appointed to succeed Governor Johnstone, but careful search has failed to discover any official act upon which to rest the conclusion that he ever came to the province. In a note dated eighteenth of October, 1768, at Pensacola, General Haldimand tells Governor Brown that “assistance will

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CHAPTER X.

Governor Peter Chester—Fort George of the British and St. Michael of the Spanish—Tartar Point—Red Cliff. Peter Chester, having been commissioned governor of West Florida in 1772, came to Pensacola, the capital of the province, and entered upon the administration of the office. He was recognized and deferred to by General Haldimand as a man of capacity and experience, a reputation which was not impaired by his nine years’ rule in Florida. The first days of his administration were marked by a dete

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CHAPTER XI.

When the governments of West and East Florida were established, as before related, their governors were, severally, vested with authority, their councils consenting and the condition of the provinces being favorable, to call for the election of general assemblies by the people. In 1773, Governor Chester concluded that the time had arrived when it would be expedient for him to exercise this power. He, accordingly, issued writs authorizing an election, fixing the time it was to be held, the voting

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CHAPTER XII.

Growth of Pensacola—Panton, Leslie &amp; Co.—A King and the Beaver—Governor Chester’s Palace and Chariot—The White House of the British, and Casa Blanca of the Spanish—General Gage—Commerce—Earthquake. There is evidence of great improvement in the town within a few years from Governor Chester’s advent; a progress which was accelerated as the revolution in the Northern Colonies advanced. That great movement, ever widening its area, extended at last from the Gulf to Canada, leaving no repose o

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CHAPTER XIII.

Military Condition of West Florida in 1778—General John Campbell—The Waldecks—Spain at War with Britain—Bute, Baton Rouge and Fort Charlotte Capitulate to Galvez—French Town—Famine in Fort George—Galvez’s Expedition against Pensacola—Solana’s Fleet Enters the Harbor—Spaniards Effect a Landing—Spanish Entrenchment Surprised—The Fall of Charleston Celebrated in Fort George. The military condition of West Florida was changed as the revolutionary war progressed. There were no longer seen two or more

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CHAPTER XIV.

Fort San Bernardo—Siege of Fort George—Explosion of Magazine—The Capitulation—The March Through the Breach—British Troops Sail from Pensacola to Brooklyn. The Spanish operations against Fort George were conducted with extreme caution. What, in the beginning, was one of a circle of intrenchments, developed into a fort as extensive and strong as the former. Like Fort George, it was built of earth and timber. Its position was about one-third of a mile to the northward of the latter. During its cons

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CHAPTER XV.

Political Aspect of the Capitulation—Treaty of Versailles—English Exodus—Widow of the White House. The terms of the surrender of Fort George, as stated in the previous chapter, present the strictly military side of the capitulation. But there was also a political aspect to the formal articles, signed on the ninth of May, by General Campbell, Governor Chester, and General Galvez. West Florida was surrendered to Spain, and it was stipulated, that “the British inhabitants, or those who may have bee

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CHAPTER XVI.

Boundary Lines—William Panton and Spain—Indian Trade—Indian Ponies and Traders—Business of Panton, Leslie &amp; Co. The treaty of Versailles re-adjusted the broken circle of Spain’s empire on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, by restoring to it the segment taken from it by d’Iberville’s settlement, as well as that cut from it by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. But British West Florida was not in its entirety acquired by Spain. By the Treaty of Paris of the third day of September, 1783, acknowle

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CHAPTER XVII.

Lineage of Alexander McGillivray.—His Education—Made Grand Chief—His Connection with Milfort—His Relations with William Panton—His Administration of Creek Affairs—Appointed Colonel by the British—Treaty with Spain—Commissioned Colonel by the Spanish—Invited to New York by Washington—Treaty—Commissioned a Brigadier-General by the United States—His Sister, Sophia Durant—His Trials—His Death at Pensacola. The people who have been called Creeks in previous pages, received that name after their settl

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CHAPTER XVIII.

Governor Folch—Barrancas—Changes in the Plan of the Town—Ship Pensacola—Disputed Boundaries—Square Ferdinand VII.—English Names of Streets Changed for Spanish Names—Palafox—Saragossa—Reding—Baylen Romana—Alcaniz—Tarragona. Galvez remained but a short time in Pensacola after the surrender of the British. On their departure, he returned to New Orleans, the capital of his province of Louisiana. In May, 1781, Don Arturo O’Niell was appointed Governor of Spanish West-Florida, and continued to hold th

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CHAPTER XIX.

Folch Leaves West Florida—His Successors—War of 1812—Tecumseh’s Visit to the Seminoles and Creeks—Consequences—Fort Mims—Percy and Nicholls’ Expedition. In October, 1809, Folch left Pensacola to fill the appointment of Governor of the country west of the Perdido, the capital of which was Mobile. The uneventful period, for Pensacola at least, between that year and 1813, was marked only by the incoming and outgoing of governors. Folch’s successor was his son-in-law, Don Francisco Maximiliano de Sa

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CHAPTER XX.

Attack on Fort Boyer by Percy and Nicholls—Jackson’s March on Pensacola in 1814—The Town Captured—Percy and Nicholls Driven Out—Consequences of the War to the Creeks—Don Manuel Gonzalez. The first aggressive operation of Percy and Nicholls against the Americans after they had established themselves at Pensacola was an attack on Fort Boyer on Mobile Point, preparatory to an advance on Mobile. But General Jackson’s great victory of the Horse Shoe over the Creeks on the twenty-seventh of March had

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CHAPTER XXI.

Seminole War, 1818—Jackson Invades East Florida—Defeats the Seminoles—Captures St. Marks—Arbuthnot and Ambrister—Prophet Francis—His Daughter. At the close of the war between the United States and Great Britain, the British troops were withdrawn from the fort on the Appalachicola river built under the auspices of Nicholls and Percy. The Seminoles were, as their name signifies, outlaws and runaways from the Creek confederacy, or their descendants. Hence it was, that those of the Red Sticks who re

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CHAPTER XXII.

Jackson’s Invasion of West Florida in 1818—Masot’s Protest—Capture of Pensacola—Capitulation of San Carlos—Provisional Government Established by Jackson—Pensacola Restored to Spain—Governor Callava—Treaty of Cession—Congressional Criticism of Jackson’s Conduct. Hitherto Jackson’s operations had been confined to the province of East Florida. On the tenth of May, 1818, he began his invasion of West Florida by crossing the Appalachicola river at the Indian village of Ochesee. Thence he followed a t

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CHAPTER XXIII.

Treaty Ratified—Jackson Appointed Provisional Governor—Goes to Pensacola—Mrs. Jackson in Pensacola—Change of Flags—Callava Imprisoned—Territorial Government—Governor Duval—First Legislature Meets at Pensacola. Although the United States was unremitting in its efforts to induce Spain to ratify the treaty of cession, her ratification was postponed from time to time under various pretexts. Prominent English journals having declared, that if Florida was ceded to the United States, Great Britain, in

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