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orir HEMTiaxs with ftr.ux.
MWMRMT. Tl! \PS MITTED TO CDS-
GUESS.
The Srrrelary nf Staff of th* United Strife;-
■ to the Minister Plenipotentiary nf the
XT. fifntes to-Spain, nf. Madrid- flYo. 7.}
»LPi»TM««iT nr rrtrr.,
fr.ielnyton, TRr’i -Verna/,.-, JIBS,
bin Yorr. despatches, to Vo. 52. inclusive, with
freit* rncloinjr*s, fi:ive been received j 4 this !)•;-
paitiiKrt. Aimoii# these endfiettrtf, arc the se
ver.! non s addressed to you by Mr. Pi/.arro, in
vulafto: to the transactions during the campaii(r.
f'-i tit iif ? a* .larfcson against the Seminole lutlfcms
indfhe banditti of AVi^mes combined with Winii,
tind partiriJarly to his proceedings in Florida,
e id.o ( ;t flu boundariesfthe l*. States.
In »hr fourth find last of rhoJc notes of Mr. I*i-
-’;»rn. he ha& £ivrA forma! u'jtir.r that the King.
H’S irastor, has issued orders for the suspension
;f the mfgoc^atiion hetveen the United Slates
am! f*pa’is, tint:l satisfaction shall have been made
by fh«* /.rm ri' An .^ovyj.tnent to him for these
prcr» Hir.gs of Gen. Jaekson, vh'rh he considers
as arts of tincqtmocal hostility against him, and
UMndrt-^eaiipon his honorand dignity, ihe nnh
jcccp'ithle atonement for which, is stated loom.
?iat in a ‘Jiravowcd of the arts of the American
General, thus complained of— the infliction upon
him of a mutable punisitrnent for his supposed
TUMf'O'yhu't,>_n'l the rc-.t/rutioti of tin p** .‘s and
lcjriiorl* shaken l»y him from the Spanish ruitho-
with indemnity f>»r all the properly taken
ar.d jdl flpawges and injuria, public or pri\-te,
vjftt.vneu in consequence ofit.
Within a very few <:s after t.^js notification,
Mr. 1‘izarro must have, received, with copies of
the correspondrnr? between Mr. Onis and this
Department, the determination which had been
taken by the Prvshh i»t. to restore the place of
tVrsacob*, with thd fort of Ilarranras, to any per
son properly authorised, on the pari of Spain, to
receive then?, and the Fori of St. Marks to any
Spanish.jfocce adequate to its protection against
t*ie In<r«ans, hy v horn fojcibh* occupation had
fo*cn threatened,for purposes «>♦ hostility against,
tbe United Sta*Ci. The r.ibrvr commanding at
the post, has been directed to consider 250 men
«ta* cu.rh -adequate force; an !, :n ca r of their ap-
T caranre, with proper authority, to deliver it up
to the:: CD-iimavicr necordinpriy.
From the last mentioned correspor.fk r.ee, the
Spanish government must likewise have been
stfvd’cd that the occupation of these i.daces in
Spanish Florida, by the commander r.f the Ame-
’oan forces, was not .by virtu- of auv ord.-;* r«-
• -ived l*v him from this t'lTmnf to that ef
fect, nor with any \iewof v. retail '-* tlw* pifjvinec
f’-oni the possession of .Sra'n; nor ir. any spirit of
>.n»;;Vity tothr Sj>:nbh government that it arose
|i HK*;d« nts which occurred in tin prosecution
• ayain.s; the Tti-firms—from the imnru
ifOtango** In which the For* of Ft. Marks was
f .d by the' ludjans tliem-'t Ives, and
ftMSTnytlic raaj’jfojfuaions oflirwlil’ty to the United
’ by r f|£Jr^ammamI»n'tof St. Marks and the
A'-fiWSv emorofPensoeola, the proofs of whirli were
'.’fTpade ksfown fo Gen. Jackson, ami impelled him,
nr.oln the necessities of self-defence, to the steps
of which the Spanish government complains.
It might be sufficient to leave th. vindication
of those measures upon those grounds, and to
furnish, in the enclosed copies of Gen. Jackson 9 :
letters, and the vouchers !>v w hich they are sup
ported, the evidence of that hostile spirit on the
pari of the Spanish commanders, hut for the terms
in which Mr. Pfrnrro speaks of the execution of
two British subjects taken, one at the Fort of
St. Marks, and the other at Suwany, and the in
timation that these transactions may lord to a
change in the relations between the two nations,
which is doubtless intended to be understood as
a menace of war.
It may be, therefore, proper to remind the go
vernment of His Catholic Majesty of the inci
dents in which this Seminole war originated, as
well as of the circumstances connected with it.
in the relations between Spain and her ally, whom
she supposes to have been injured by the pro
ceedings of General Jackson, and to give to the
Spanish cabinet some precise information of the
nature of the business, peculiarly interesting to
Spain, in which these subjects of her allies, in
whose favor she takes this interest, were engag
ed, when their projects of every kind were ter
minated, in consequence of their falling into the
•bawls of General Jackson.
In the month of August, 1814, while a war ex-
rited between the United Statts and Great Bri
tain, to which Spain had formerly declared her
self neutral, a British force, not in the fresh pur
suit of a defeated and dying enemy—not over-
st epping an imaginary and equivocal boundary
between their own territories and those belong
ing, in some sort, ai* much to their enemy as to
Spain, but approaching hy sea, and by a broad
and open in van tan of the Spanish province, at a
thousand miles, or an ocean’s distance trom any
British territory’, landed in Florida, took posses
sion ofPcnsaeola and the Fort Barrancas, ami in-,
vried, by-public proclamations, all the runaway
Negroes 1 -ali the savage Indians—all the pirates
on l all the traitors to their country, whom thev
knew or imagined to exist within reach of their
summons, to join their standard, and wage an
exterminating war against the portion of the U.
States Immediately bordering upon this neutral
and thus violating territory of Spain. The land
commander of the British force, was a certain
Uoloncl Nicholls, who, driven from Pensacola by
the approach of General Jackson, actually left to
b * Mown up, the Spanish Fort of Barrancas,
when he found it could not afford him protection,
and, evacuating that part of the province, landed
at another, established himself on the AppaJa-
chieola river, arid there - erected a Fcrt. from
v hich to sally forth with his motley tribe of Mack,
white, and red combatants, against the defence
less borders of the V. -States, in that vicinity.
A pari of this force consissed of a corps of colo-
ni d marines, levied in the British colonies in
which George Woodbine w as a Captain, and Ro
ll—21 bortChrystie Ambrister was a Lieutenant.
I.1X.1 As between the U. States and G. Britain,
I.X.] we should be willing to bury thi$ transac
tion in the same grave of oblivion with other
transactions of that war, had the hostilities of
Col. Xicholls terminated with the war. But he
ri d not conftidcTlhepeace which ensued between
the Unite A States and Great Britain, as having
put an end either to his military- occupations or
to his negotiations with the Indians, against the
United States- Several months after the ratifica
tion of the treaty of Ghent, he retained his past
and hi ft party-color* ri forces, in military array.
H*r?A By thj? 9»U article of that treaty, the U.
~S\‘: f e*had sVpubited to put an end, immediately
>• _ - .• r • ' i .Tl:-.: „?»
had enjoyed in the year 1811. Thi* article hai
no application to the Crock nation, with whom
ij.c United State? had already nude pea-'--, by a
treat v concluded on the Srh day of A«’g.;»t, 181*1,
• than four !..*>n : ks before the treaty <«f
tifei.t v.»s jugned. Yet Col. Nifbolls not only
.i.'e. *d to consider i* as appivmg to t!»c Semi-
,,*ilr i of Florida, giui the out-law ed Bed Sticks,
whom be tuul ir.-Joced to join him there, but
:.$-:::dly pemuad'-d them that thry were entitle*!,
riv v.rtue of ti»e treaty of Ghent, to all the lands
u >;; h had hi longed t»* the C.wk nation within
the United Sta*e.s, in the year 1811, a:wl tliat the
I ft. i. HI ' government of Great Britain would
1 j •• ppnr* them in that pretension. He aaserteti
r- I •. *«. , Vs *loctriue :u a correspotu!e::ce with 4ien.
IP.w kins, then the Agent of the United State»
• »h the Cretks and gave him notice, in their
: with a mockers'of solemnity, that they had
concluded atrt i.y of Alliance, offensive an*l de-
f Miv\oand a treaty of Navigation and Commerce
IV.; with (»reat Britain; of w hich more was to be
heard after it should be ratified in F.ngkmd. Col.
yj.hoJisthcn eiaciiateclhis Fort, wlr'cli, insoiae
of the enclosed papers, is called the Fori at
Prospect Bluff, but w hich he denominated the
firii- .2 post on the Apptyichtccla; took w ith liim
tlie w hite portion of his force, and embarked for
England, with several of the wretched savages
w hom he was deluding to their fate—among
w hom was the Prophet Francis, or Ilillis Hadjo—
and left the Fort, amply supplied w ith military
stores and ammunition, to the Negro department
IV YV of his allies. It afterwards was* known
by the name of Negro Fort. Col. Hawkins im
mediately communicated to this government the
correspondence betweeeu him anfl Nichol^, her.
i\ fen eel to, (copies nf which marked No. 1 ! to 5
aie herewith enclosed,) upon w hich Mr. Monroe,
X. 1 then Secretary of State, addressed a letter
('ropy marked (i t ) to Mr. Baker, the British
i:*rge 11*Affaires, at Washington, complaining
of N'cholls’s coiwluct, and shewing that his pre
ti'ii'v tiiat thc 9ih article of the treaty of Ghent,
hi h;;'e any application to his Indians, w:
XI. • ti rly destitute of foumlation. Copies of the
iinvspomlt nee were transmitted to the
Minister ot the United States, then in England,
af ev v s ratification, to hostilities with aril the
•’tribes cr natiors of Indians with whom they might
be a» ipT nt the time of the ratification, and to
gesture to them alt tbe possessions which they
VP
'th inti ructions to remonstrate with the British
government against these proceedings of Nich-
olls, an<! t«> shew how incorruptible they were
with the peace which had been concluded bc-
XII. a. !>.l tween two nations. These remon
strances were accordingly made first in persona!
Yllf. a. b.] interview with Earl Bathurst and
Lord Custlercaii, and afterwards in written notes,
addressed successively to them (copies of which
together with extracts from the despatches of
the American Minister to the Secretary of State,
reporting what passed at those interviews, are
enclosed.) Lord Bathurst, in the most uneqm-
\ coal manner, confirmed the facts, and disavowed
the miscondtict of Nieholls; declared his disap-
proliution of the pretended treaty of Alliance,
offensive, and defensive, which lie had made;
iissnred the American Minister that the British
government had refused to ratify that treaty, and
would send back the Indians whom NichcUs liail
brought with him, with advice to make their
peace on such terms as they con’d obta'n. Lord
Castlereagh confirmed -the assuranccThat the
treaty would not be ratified; arid if, at the same
time tint these assurances were given, certain
distinctions of public notoriety, were shewn to
the Prophet IBllis Hadjo, and* he was actually
honored with rf commission, as a British off.eer,
it is to be presumed that these favors were gr.t:,c-:
cd h»m as rewards of past services, anti not as
encouragement to expect any support from
Great Britain, in a continuance of savage hostili
ties against thcU. States, all intention of giving
any such- support having been repeated!?* and
earr.es; Iv dis.rv c» wed.
The negro fort, however, abandoned by Col.
Nic bells, remained oil the Spanish territory, oc
cupied by the banditti to whom he had left it,
and held by them as a post, from whence to com
mit depredations, outrages and murders, and as
a recepticle for fugitive slaves and malefactors,
XIV.] to the great, annoyance both of the United
Stat«. s and of S| ^•'ish Florida. In April, 1816,
General Jackson wrote a letter to the Governor
of Pensacola, calling upon him to put down this
common nuisance to the peaceable inhabitants of
both countries. That letter, together with the
XY\] answer of the Governor of Pensacola, have
already been communicated to the Spanish Min
ister here, and hy him, doubtlcs*, to his govern
ment. Copies of them are, nevertheless, now ;
again enclosed ; particularly as the letter from
XXII*.] the Governor, explicitly admits—that
this fort, constructed by Nieholls, in violation
both of the territory and neutrality of Spain, was
still no less obnoxious to his government than to
the United States? but, that he had neither suffi
cient force, nor an authority, without orders from
the Governor-General of the liar anna, to destroy
It was afterwards, on the 27th July, 1816,
destroyed hy a cannon shot from a gun vessel of
the United States, which, in its pa go, up the
ri’y;r, was fired upon from it. It was blown up,
an English flag still flying as its standard,
and immediately after the barbarous murder of a
host’s crew, belonging to the navy of the United
States, by the banditti left in it by Nieholls.
he year 1817, Alexander Arbuthnot, of the
Island of New-Providence, a British subject, first
appeared, as an Indian trader in Spanish Florida;
and as tiie successor of Colonel Nieholls, in the
employment of instigating the Seminole and out
lawed Red Stick Indians to hostilities against the
United States, by reviving the pretence that
they were entitled to all the lands which had
been ceded to the Creek nation by the United
States, in August, 1814. As a mere Indian t ra
der, the intrusion cf this man, into a Spanish
province, was contrary to the policy observed by
all the European powers in this hemisphere, and
by none more rigorously than by Spain, of exclu
ding all foreigners from intercourse with the In
dians within their territories. It must be known
to the Spanish government, whether Arbuthnot
had a Spanish license for trading with the In
dians in Spanish Florida or-not ; but they also
know Spain was bound by treaty, to restrain by
Ibrcc nil hostilities on the part: of those Indians,
against the citizens of the United States, and it is
for them to explain how, consistently with those
engagements, Spain could, contrary to ail the
maxims of her ordinary policy, grunt such a li
cence to a foreign incendiary, whose principal,
if not his only object, appears to have been, to
stimulate those hostilities which Spain had ex
pressly stipulated by force to restrain. In his
Xl.lX.j informal instigations he was but two suc
cessful. No sooner did lie make his appear
ance among the Imiians, accompanied by the
Prophet Ilillis Hadjo, returned from his e.xpedi-
I..1 tion to England, than the peaceful inhabi
tants on the borders of the United States, were
visited with *11 the horrors of savage war; the
robbery of their property, and the barbarous and
indiscriminate murder of women, infancy, and
Amencat; commander met fhe pnnnp.J res st
ance fiomthcm ; there it w-a, that were found
XXXVIII.] the still bleeding sc-ips of our citi
zens, freshly butchered by them; there it was
that he released the only temnan who had been
suffered to survive the massacre of the party un
der Lieutenant Scott. But it was not anticipated
!*\ this go; eminent that the commanding offi
cers of Spxiii, in Florid:* whose espcc>al duty it
was, in conformity to the solemn engagements
contracted hy their nation, to restrain, by force,
those Indians from hostilitiesagamst the United
States, would be found encouraging, aiding
abetting them, and furnishing them with sup
plies for carrying on such hostilities. ?'he
ccr in command, immediately before Genera!
Jackson, was, therefore, specially instructed ?
respect, as far as possible, the Spanish author
t v, wherever it was maintained, and copit s <
those orders were also furnished to General
Jackson, upon his taking the command. In the
course of his pursuit, as lie approached St. Marks
he was informed, direct from the Governor cf
Pensacola, that a party of the hostile- lvhians had
threatened to seize that Fort, ,acd that he ap
prehended the Spanish Garrison there was notin'
strength sufficient to defend it against them.
This information was confirmed from other sour
ces, and by the evidence produced upon the trial
of Ambrister, it proved to have been exactly true.
By all the laws of neutrality and of war, us well as
of prudence and of humanity, Ire was warranted
in anticipating his enemy, by the amicable, and
that being refused, by the forcible occupation of
the Fort. There will need no citations from
i printed treatises on international law', to .prove
the correctness of this principle. It is engraved
in adamant on the common sense of mankind :
no writer upon the laws of nations ever pretend
ed to contradict it ; none of any reputation or
authority ever omitted to assert it.
XXXIV ] At fort St. Marks, Alexander Arbuth
not, the British Indian trader froih beyond the
seas, the firebrand, by whose torch tins Negro
laoian war against our borders had been renin-
died, was found an inmate of the cou.mandam'i
l Uxe'yi and it was also found that, by ihecom
ma..dant himself, councils of war hail been per
mitted to bt held within it, by the savage chiefs
and warriors,* that the Spanish store-houses had
been appropriated to their use; that it w
,)pcn market for cattle, known to have been rob
bed by them from citizens of the United States,
and which had been contracted for and purchased
by the officers of the garrison. That information,
bad been afforded from this fort by Arbuttmot
to the enemy, of the strength and movements ol
the American army; that the date of the depar-
e of express had been rn.ted by the Spanish
cummi sary, and ammunition, munitions of war,
and all necessary suppl.es furnished to toe In-
ians.
The conduct of the governor of Pens -cola w as
not less marked by a disposition of ennuty Jo the
United States, and by an utter d-sng.ird •«> the
bligations of the treaty, b> which he was bound
to restrain, by force, the Indians from hostilities
st them. When cJilled upon to vindicate tin.-
territorial rights and authority of Spain, by the
iestruction of the Negro fori, his prfjtc*. t-si.-
.bad declared it to he not less annoyii.g and perns-
is to the rpnuiih subject* in Florida, than to
the United States, but had ph-aded his inability
to subdue it. lie, ii:m>eif, had exp^'-sed his np
prehensions that foil St. Marks would h.- :o.c •
‘ Jy taken by the savages, fro.n its Sp uiish as » - i-
on; yet, at !be Mine rime, he bad icfns d tb-
uii^ge up the* Escambia riv.-r, u:ik-: s u ;o , » the
laymer.t of «;xceasi;c duties, to prcvisioi.s de>-
g.inst !he UrtitfJ Stiles and tlrcir -» ex-! cliarjli.j; (lie Britiei: govern n:«-n( wilh
i?l ;c, t. is pos.iive, is unqualified The fact, t!ut ,, ,|, e lmii.aits into -var will
sup,
for to
by ilit detention of them, \va
must diitrensi'jg pjiva'.ioni.
free ing r *
fl
ed savage ent •»
of ammumtio.
had been rec
had been i
i of toe United States. Supplies
mumti >n» of war and provision
.td by them from iht-nce. T!i».
d and sheltered there, from the
for a series of years they have received shelter,
sistance, supplies and protection, in the pract’C
oi Mich host*liti*-*, from the Spanish corr.m«ml» *
[XXXfl.] in Florida, iNclcaranduu.quiv‘iC-1. H
j_Xl.lI ] .he commanders l> th I’- hsaC 'i
and St Mark*hare alleged, this ha-tven he r
suit of their weakness, rather *lwn ?.'♦ their wi!l;
t.bry have assisted th-* Ind.ars against toe Uniict
Suites to avert tiieirhostilities from the pruvii.r*.
w’hicii they had nut sufficient force to defend :«
gainst tlitin; it may sa we. in some measure. *o u\
eulpate, iadiv duady, tlu*te officers; but it mu»
carry demonstration ;rresi-’ib!e t»» th. Spanssh go
vernment that the right of tik United Mates cat.
a* l.ille compound with impotence as with peifi
dy, and that Spain n.ust immediately make lur
iSection, either t? plac. a force in Florid i adequate
at once t > tl>e protection < f her territory and t<*
the ftiTdrncut of her cngigemen*?, or cede to tliv
United Slices a provu.ee, of winch she retains no*
thing but the nominal possession b<it which is, in
f«c:, a dirdect open to the occupui cy of every
enemy, civilized or savage, of the United States,
and serving no other earthly purpose than as a
post ,<»f annoyance to them.
Thut the purposes, as well of the negro Indian
banditti, with whom we have been contending
as i f the British invader of Florida, who first
assembled and employed them, anj of the Brit
ish intruding and pretending traders, since the
peace, who have instigated and betrayed them to
dcstracrion. have beta not less ho%tiie to Spain-
thun to th* United States, the proofs contained ip
-he documents herewith enclosed,areconcludve.
Mr. Ihzarro’s note of *9ih of August, speaks of
h.s Catholic majesty’s profound indignation at the
‘sanguinary executions, on the Spanish soil, o<
the stibjfcts of pow ers in amity with the king”—
meaning Arbuthnot and Ambrister. Let Mr I*i
arro’s successor take the trouble of reading the
enclosed tiocume.its, and lie will di:cover wh
Arbuthnot and Ambrister were, and wnat were
XLIX.] tlnir purposes: That Arbuthnot was on-
LVI11 ] ly the successor of NY'>ol$, and Am-
bnst r the agent of Woodbine, and the subaltern
of M*Gregor Mr Pizarro qualifies general Jack
sort’s necess.trry pursuit of a defeated savage ene
my beyond the Spanish Florida iine, as a shume-
ful invasion oj his nojesty's territory—yet, tliat
territory was the territory also of the savage ene
my, and Spain was bound to restrain them, by
force, from host lities against the United States-
and it was the failure of Sj^ain to fulfil this engage
ment, which had made it necessary for gentrai
Jackson to pursue the savage across the line.—
What then was the character of Nigfiol's inva-ion
of his majesty *s territory; and where was his ma
jesty’s profound ihdignation at that? Mr. Pizar
ro says, his majesty’s forts and places have beer
violently seized on by general Jackson. Had they
not been seized on, nay, had not the principal
* f his torts been blown up by Nieholls,and a Brit
ish fort on the same Spanish territory been erect
ed during the war, and lift standing as a negro
in defiance of Spanish authority, alter the
peace? Wlicie was Ins majesty's profound indig
nation at that? Has his mfjusty suspended formal
ly ad negotiation with the sovereign of colonel
ftichell*, for the shameful invasion of his territo
ry u i .out calor of provocation, without pretme.
•.f necessity, without tiie shadow or even avow.!:
•fa pr-.text? Has his majesty given s'.i'M.n warn
mg to th; British governmertt, that these
ciiienls ‘ of transcendent moment Capable ol ;u
Ji.cinir an essential and thorough change in ihi
p ihticjl relations of ttie two countries’ ? N'.-
'Jiol » and Woodbine, in their invitations h: j pro-,
th: | oiises tt) »he slaves to runaway Jjom their mac
.s des-1 ters and join them, did not confine themselv
which, | the slaves of tik- United States— -diey rect
to the J witli as hearty u welcome, :n».l employed w:tt
itidtcj j equal readiness, the fug roves from t h«dr music,
.'ow- XXV'.] in Florida, as those from Georgia.
har-
wifli the
1 United Staley and deserting them after
the peace.
You will remark anion" the papers pro
duc'd on hi* trial, a power of attorney,
XLIX. No. 1 1 dated ITtJi June 1817.giv
en Dim by twelve Indian*, partly of Flori
da, partly of the fug it it e outlaws ]r-*m
:'«e United Mates. He states ili.it (hi*
power, and his instructions, were, to me
morialize the British government, and the
governor general of tiie Havana Tln*se
papers are not only substaotiall v provetl,
as of his hail wiiting, on the trial, but in
[Compare XLVII.a. the daily newspapets
anu XLIX. b.] of London, of the
XLYIl.c.*] -4th and *25th of
Atiff. last, his letter
to Nieholls is pub
lished, (somewhat
garbled) with a copy
[Compare XLVII. c. of Hauibly’s above
and XLIX. No. 1.] mentioned letter to
him. am! a reference to this Indian power
of attorney to him, approved by the com
mandant of *bt. Mark's, F C. Luengo —
Another of the papers is a letter, written
XLVII.*] in the name of the same chiefs,
by Arbuthnot, to the governor general .£f
the Havana, asking of him permission for
Arbuthnot to establish a warehouse on
the Appalachicoia; bitterly and falsely
complaining that the Arpericjins had made
settlements on their lands, within the
Spanish lines, and catling upon the gov
ernor general to give orders to displace
them, ahd send them back to their own
country. In this »etter they assign, as a
reason for asking this license for Arbuth-
:;ot, the want of a person to put in writ-
ting for them their talks, of grievances
against the Americans. And they add,
ih the commander of the foit of St Matks
has heard all of our talks and complaints.
He approves of what we have done, and
what we are doing; anti it is by his recom
mendation we have thus presumed to j?d-
ir«*s3 your excellency.” You will find
these papers in the printed newspaper en
clos'd, and in Hie proceedings of the court
martial, and will point them, out to the
Spanish government, not only as decisive
proofs of the unexampled compliances of
the Spanish officers in Flotida, to foreign
intrusive agents and instigators ol Indian
lostilitics against the Hinted St;«Ls. but
as placing, bcyo.id a doubt, ‘fat pa uci*
|Ution of Jins in still spj.ai hi the cem-
ttr*\j Hit of 8t. M , kVi.u!•. gi-uecal
d U
fit TO
id
J u
pursuit of die A aericftn forces, ami stiHVrccI aga
Use Aiuru
After the repeated expositions, warning and
effects of peace, through the summer and autumn
of 1817, on the part of yie United States, had
LI. a.] been answered only by renewed outra
ges, and after a detachment of forty men, under
LXI.] Lieutenant Scott, accompanied by seven
women, had been waylaid and murdered by the
Indians, ortlerswere given to Gen. Jackson, and
an adequate force was placed at his cLsposol to
terminate the w ar. It was ascertained that the
lory and commit new murders. Finally, on die
approach of general Jackson to Fen^acoki, 11
XXXIII.] governor sent him a letter, donour.
;og his entry upon tin; territory of Florida, as
t i*»lent outrage uc n *i The rights of Spain, com
manding him to depart and withdraw from the
same, and threatening, incase of his non compli
ance. to employ force to expel lion
Ir became, therefore, in the opinion of general
Jackson, indispensably necessary to take from the
L1V * governor of Pensacola the means of car
rying his threat into execution. Before the forces
under his command, the savage enemies of his
c*. iiutry had disappeared But he knew that the
moment those forcts should be disbanded, if shel
tered by Spanish forlressess, if furnished with
ammunitions and supplies by Spanish officers,
and if aided and supported by the instigation of
Spanish encouragement, as fie had every reason
to expect they would be, they would re-appear,
and fired, in addition to tfnor ordinary feroci
ousness, will: revenge for the chastisement ti.
hid so recently received, would again rush with
the war hatchet and scalping knife, into the bor
ders of the United States, and mark every fool
step with the blood of their defenceless citizens.
So far as all tiie native resources of the savage
extended, the war was at an end, and general
Jackson was about to restore their families and
their homes, the brave volunteers who had fol
lowed his standard, and who had constituted the
principal part of his force. This could be done
with safety, leaviug the regular portion of h : s
troops to garrison hisline efforts, and two small
detachment- i*f volunteer cavalry, to scour the
country round Tensacola, and sweep off the lurk
ing remnant of savages, who bad been scattered
and dispersed before him. This was sufficient to
keep in check the remnant of the banditti, against
whom he had marched, so long as they should be
destitute of other aid and support. It was, in his
judgment, not sufficient, if they should be fuller
ed to rally thtir numbers under t]ic protection of
Spanish forts, and to derive new strength from the
impotence or ill wi!l against the United States ol
the Spanish authorities.
He took possession, therefore, of Pensacla and
of the fort of Barancas. a«* heliad done of St.
Marks, no*, in a spirit of hostility to Spain, but as
a necessary measure of self-defence; giving no
tice that they should he restored whenever Spain
should place cam narulers and a force there, able
and willing to fulfil the engagements of Spain to
wards the United States, of restraining, by force,
the Florida Indians from hostilities against their
citizens The president of the U. S. to give a sig
nal manifestation of his confidence in the disposition
king of Spain, to perform with good faith this in
dispensable engagement, and to demonstrate to
the world tliat neither the dcsi.-e ot conquest nor
hostility to Spain, had any influence in the coun
cils of tiie United States. Das directed the uncon-
dinionaI restoration to any Spanish officer, duly
authorized to receive them, of Pensacola and the
Barancas, and tint of St. M irks, to any Spanish
force adequate for its defence agapist the attack of
savages But the president will neither in
ti ct puai hment, nor pass a censure upon general
f^exson for that conduct, the motives for which
were founded in the purest patriotism, of the ne-
»r ?;sity for which lie had tiie most immediate and
effectual means of forming a judgment, and the
vindication of which is written in every page of
the law of nations, as well as in the first law cf
ature, self-defence. He thinks it, on the contra
ry, due to the'justice, which 4fie United State*
have a right to claim trom Spain; and you are ac-
Against this special injury the governor <T t*- 1
sac »ia did earnestly renonstratc with die J<r«
admiral Coc*cburn (-*.; the document maiked
XXV.) but against the shameful invasion of ti;
territory—against the vi lent seizure of the for :;
and places—against ths blowing up of the Barran
cms, and the erection and maintenance under Brit
ish banners of the mgro for;, on Spanish sou —
against the negotiation by a British officer in the
muht of peace, of pretended treaties, offensive
and defensive, and of navigation and commerce
upoo Spanish territory, between Great Britain and
Spanish Indians whom Spain was bound to con
trol and restrain—if a whisper of expostulation
was ever wafted from Madrid to London, it was
not loud enough to be heard across the Atlantic,
nor energetic enough to transpire beyond the
walls of the palaces Trom which it issued, and to
which it was borne.
The connection between Arbuthnot and
Nieholls. and between Ambrister, Wood
bine and McGregor, is established beyond
ali question, by the evidence produced at
the trials before the court martial. I have
already remarked to you on the very ex
traordinary circumstance, that a British
trader from beyond the sea should be per'
mitted, by the Spanish authorities, to
trade with the Indians of Florida. F-om
his letter to Hambiy, dated 3d may, 181
(set the documents marked O on tiie pro
ceedings of the court martial) it appears
that his trading was but a pretence; and
that Iris principal purpose was to act as
the agent of the Indians of Florida, and
outlaws from the Creeks, to obtain the aid
of the British government, in their hostili
ties against the United States. He ex
pre&sly tells Hambly there, that tiie chief
of those outlaws was the principal cause
of his, Arbuihn fit’s, being in the country
Spanish forces in Florida wm inadequate Ior:l>e ccrdingly instructed to demand of the Span.-h
1 . .. . • • - . <1. ir»,(trnira>nl. r-rmiirv rw .iKtitolpn intn
protection even of the Spanish territory itaeif,
aj-ainstthe mingled horde of lawdess Indians and
Negroes; and,although their detastauons were
committed within the limits of the United States
they immediately sought refnge within the Flor
ida lire, anti there only were to be overtaken.
The necessity of crossing- the'line « .is imbspcn-
silde; for it was from beyond the line that tiie
Indians made their murderous incurs.pns with.ii:
tliat ofthc ltnited States. It was there uiat they
had their abode, and the territory belonged ,n
fact to them, although within the bottlers ofiiie fttree, the ltniitit i t ions
Spanish jurisdiction. There it w as tl»at uic j
(-nvernment, that enquiry shall bt iustituted int-
the conduct of non Jose Mazot, governor of P. n-
sacoln. and of Hon Francisco C. Luengo, com
mandant of St. Marks, and a suitable punishment
inflicted upon them for having, in dtfi.t cr anu V.-
■tl3,tion of ttie engagements ol Spain wjth the 6.
St..tes. aided and assisted th esc hordes of savage,
in diose verc*li .stiktirs against the United State',,
w: ich it was their i.iHei.t duty to res'rain. This
‘ J enquiry is <iu- to '.it c iaracter of tnosc olfic- n
' thfots ives. and to t-- heuer of the Spanish gov.
Tlie.-jiiga ; .jit nf Spain to restrain, by
'. now hoaUidres a-
and that he hud come with an answer from
Earl Bathurst, delivered to him by govern
or Cameron, of Netv-Providence, to cer
tain Indian talks, in which this aid of the
British government had been solicited.—
Hainblv, hiinseir, had been left by Xoch-
u!ls, as<he agent between the Indians and
the British government; but having found
Nieholls had failed in his attempt to pre
vail upon the British government to pur
sue this clandestine war, in the midst of
peace: and that the_y were not prepared
to support his pretence, that half a dozen
outlawed fugitives from the Creeks were
the Creek nation;—when Arbuthnot, the
incendary came, and was instigating them
by promises of support from Ureat Bri
tain, to continence their murderous in
cursions into the United States, Hambly,
XLVII. b.J at the request of the Creeks
themselves, wrote to him, warning him to
withdraw from among that band ot out
laws, and giving hint a solemn foreboding
of the doom that awaited him, from the
hand of justice, if he persevered in the
course that he pursued. Arbuthnot, ne
vertheless, persisted; and while he was
deluding the wretched Indians with the
promise of support from England, he was
[XLIX.] writing letteis for them to the
u. British minister iu the United
C. States, to governor Cameron of
d. New-Providence, to colonel
e. Nichols; to be laid*btfore the
f. British government: and even
to th. Spanish governor ol ri(.
Augustine, and . iJie governor
general of the ri avail i, solicit
ing, m a‘l quarters, aid and sup
port, arms -tod ammunition, fm the In
dians, against the United States; bew.ib-
ing the destruction of the Negro fort, and
-.1 . .Jills
have so welt I j.t.'i i
tiie nunishtnent 11
a da til . fa Spill.iso lot!,
ml eugageti.i-m nt a t
bv force, the itnlia iVi.hui
roinmcn ! Irmn vorto.itt.t.g t ■ ,
. against the United States, von pi..:
Unisu same iud) :ns, and lit libel..teiy r
ing liis Whitten it|.imuatloii to tiieii ..p
pointiin nt ni a foi vigner, a British subject
a s tlu-ir agent, to s.dieit assistance and
supplies irom the governor general ol the
Havana, ami from tin British government,
for carrying on these sum.' hostilities.
Let us come to the case of Ambrister—
He was taken iu arms; leading and com
manding the Indians, in tiie war against
the American troops; and to that charge,
upon his trial, pleading guilty. But the
primary object of his coming there, was
still more hostile to Spain, than to the
LVIll.J United States. You find that
lie told three of the witness, who testified
at bis trial, that he had come to this coun
try upon Mr. Woodbine’s business at
I'ampa Bay—to see the Negroes righted;
and one of them, that he had a commis
sion on the patriot arm t/, under M'Oregor;
and that he had expected a captaincy.—
I what was the intended business of
Mdiregor and Woodbine, at Tampa Bay?
it was the conquest of Florida from
Spain, by the use of those very Indians
and Negroes, whom the commandant
ol St. Marks was so ready to aid and
support in war against the United
States. The chain of proof that establish-
es this fact, is contained in the documents
communicated by the president to congress
at their last session, relating to the occu
pation of Amelia LVI.] Island by Mc
Gregor. From these document you will
!ind, that while McGregor was there,
Woodbine went from New Providence, in
a schooner of Ins own, to joinjtim: That
he arrived at Amelia island, just as Mc
Gregor, abandoning the companions of his
acievement there, was leaving it: That
McGregor, quitting the vessel in which he
had embarked at Amelia, went on board
that nf Woodbine, and returned with
him to New Providence: That Wood,
bine had persuaded him they could
yet accomplish the conquest of’Florida,
with soldiers to be recruited at Nassau,
from the corps of colonial marines, which
had served under Nieholls during the late-
war with the United States, which corps ‘*“
had been lately disbanded; and with ne
groes to be found at Tampa Bay. and 1500
Indians, already then engaged to Wood-
bine, who pretended that they had made a
grant of all their lands there to him.
LVII.a. b.] Among the papers, the ori
ginals ot which are in our possession, in
M-Gregor’s own hand writing, instruc
tions for sai-ing into 1 .impa Bav, with the
assertion that tic calculated to be there by
the la»t of A pi 11 oi fust of May, of the prc-
d ] se.it ytai; a letter dated 27th Decem
ber lest, to one of his acquaintances in
ms country, disclosing the same inten-
.] lion; anil,the extract of a proclamation
winch was to have been -issued at Tam-*
Bay, u> the inhabitants of Florida, by the
person charged tvilh making (he serrt.,.-*o;t
ti.ere, before iiis arrival, annoQiui ;
pproach, for the purpose 1 <: ..nog
mem from tne despotism ol Sp. : . .u of
enabling them to form a g..vrfr.it * r-t for
leinsclves He bail p r-uad-ui t _ c who
ould listen to Him her -, tint u.s anm t!e
.jeet was to so,I tiie F.i.rih-s to (.he L.
•rriritites. l it; Mi so a : reason to .. ' ,
nose tost Ire had made indirect eve j,
•! a -lUliiar L. ifjie, to tire li;bi,r
n nt. I'.iis was Airlbri ter’ a •* '
Ftonda. He arrived luv ■ .rt,.., j