When
Iberville was on his way to plant a colony at the mouth of the
Mississippi River, he attempted to enter
Pensacola Bay, but found himself confronted by Spaniards in arms, who had come from
Vera Cruz and built a fort there, under the guns of which lay two Spanish ships.
The
Spaniards still claimed the whole circuit of the
Gulf of Mexico, and, jealous of the designs of the
French, had hastened to occupy Pensacola Harbor, the best on the
Gulf.
The barrier there constructed ultimately established the dividing-line between
Florida and
Louisiana.
In 1696
Don Andre d'arriola was appointed the first governor of
Pensacola, and took possession of the province.
He built a fort with four bastions, which he called Fort Charles; also a church and some houses.
On Feb. 28, 1781,
Galvez the
Spanish governor of
Louisiana, sailed from New Orleans with 1,400 men to seize
Pensacola.
He could effect but little alone; but finally he was joined (May 9) by an armed squadron from
Havana, and by a reinforcement from
Mobile.
Galvez now gained possession of the harbor of
Pensacola, and soon afterwards
Colonel Campbell, who commanded the
British garrison there, surrendered.
Pensacola and the rest of
Florida had passed into the possession of the
British by the treaty of 1763. Two years after
Galvez captured the place (1783) the whole province was retroceded to
Spain.
In April, 1814,
Andrew Jackson was commissioned a major-general in the army of the United States and appointed to the command of the 7th Military District.
While he was yet arranging the treaty with the conquered
Creeks, he had been alarmed by reports of succor and refuge given to some of them by the
Spanish authorities at
Pensacola, and of a communication opened with them by a British vessel which had landed arms and agents at
Apalachicola.
In consequence of his report of these doings, he received orders to take possession of
Pensacola.
But these orders were six months on the way. Meanwhile two British sloops-of-war, with two or three smaller vessels, had arrived at
Pensacola, and were proclaimed (Aug. 4) as the van of a much larger naval
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force.
Col. Edward Nichols had been permitted to land a small body of troops at
Pensacola, and to draw around him, arm, and train hostile refugee Creeks.
Jackson's headquarters were at
Mobile.
Late in August the mask of Spanish neutrality was removed, when nine British vessels of war lay at anchor in the harbor of
Pensacola, and
Colonel Nichols was made a welcome guest of the
Spanish governor.
A British flag, raised over one of the
Spanish forts there, proclaimed the alliance; and it was found that Indian runners had been sent out from
Pensacola among the neighboring
Seminoles and
Creeks, inviting them to
Pensacola, there to be enrolled in the service of the
British.
Almost 1,000 of them were gathered there, where they received arms and ammunition in abundance from the
British officers.
Nichols also sent out proclamations to the inhabitants of the
Gulf region containing inflammatory appeals to the prejudices of the
French and the discontent of others; and he told his troops that they were called upon to make long and tedious marches in the wilderness and to conciliate the Indians.
At this juncture
Jackson acted promptly and effectively, without the advice of his tardy government.
He caused a beatup for volunteers, and very soon 2,000 sturdy young men were ready for the field.
After they arrived
Jackson took some time to get his forces well in hand; and early in November he marched from
Fort Montgomery, which was due north from
Pensacola, with 4,000 troops—some
Mississippi dragoons in the advance—and encamped within two miles of
Pensacola on the evening of Nov. 6.
He sent word to the
Spanish governor that he had come, not to make war on a neutral power, nor to injure the town, but to deprive the enemies of the
United States of a place of refuge.
His messenger (
Major Pierre) was instructed to demand the surrender of the forts.
When Pierre approached, under a flag of truce, he was fired upon by a 12-pounder at Fort St. Michael, which was garrisoned by British troops.
Jackson sent Pierre again at midnight with a proposition to the governor to allow
Americans to occupy the forts at
Pensacola until the
Spanish government could send a sufficient force to maintain neutrality.
This proposition was rejected; and
Jackson, satisfied that the governor's protestations of inability to resist the
British invasion were only pretexts, marched upon
Pensacola before the dawn with 3,000 men. They avoided the fire of the forts and the shipping in the harbor, and the centre of the column made a gallant charge into the town.
They were met by a two-gun battery in the principal street, and showers of bullets from the houses and gardens.
The
Americans, led by
Captain Laval, captured the battery, when the frightened governor appeared with a white flag and promised to comply with any terms if
Jackson would spare the town.
An instant surrender of all the forts was demanded and promised, and, after some delay, it was done.
The
British, also alarmed by this sudden attack, blew up Fort Barancas, 6 miles from
Pensacola, which they occupied; and early in the morning, Nov. 7, 1814, their ships left the harbor, bearing away, besides the
British, the
Spanish commandant of the forts, with 400 men and a considerable number of
Indians.
The Spanish governor (Manriquez) was indignant because of the flight of his British friends, and the
Creeks were deeply impressed with a feeling that it would be imprudent to again defy the wrath of
General Jackson.
He had, by this expedition, accomplished three important results—namely, the expulsion of the
British from
Pensacola, the scattering of the gathering
Indians in great alarm, and the punishing of the Spaniards for such perfidy.
At the beginning of the
Civil War the
United States had a navy-yard at the little village of
Warrington, 5 miles from the entrance to
Pensacola Bay.
It was under the charge of
Commodore Armstrong, of the navy.
He was surrounded by disloyal men, and when, on the morning of Jan. 10, 1861 (when
Fort Pickens was threatened), about 500
Florida and
Alabama troops, and a few from
Mississippi, commanded by
Colonel Lomax, appeared at the navy-yard and demanded its surrender,
Armstrong found himself powerless.
Of the sixty officers and men under his command, he afterwards said more than three-fourths were disloyal, and some were actively so.
Commander Farrand was actually among the insurgents,
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who demanded the surrender to the governor of
Florida.
The disloyal men would have revolted if the commodore had made resistance.
Lieutenant Renshaw, the flagofficer, one of the leaders among the disloyal men, immediately ordered the National standard to be lowered.
It fell to the ground, and was greeted with derisive laughter.
The command of the navy-yard was then given to
Capt. V. N. Randolph, who had deserted his flag; and the post, with ordnance and stores valued at $156,000, passed into the hands of the authorities of
Florida.
