Fort Gadsden

Built in 1814 by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nichols of His Majesty's Marines as a rallying point to encourage the Seminole Indians to ally with England against the United States in the War of 1812, the fort was abandoned after 1814 and then occupied by a band of free Negroes, and by 1816 it was known as "The Negro Fort." Its location in Spanish Florida did not deter Major General Andrew Jackson from ordering its elimination as a threat to American commerce on the Apalachicola River. On July 27, 1816, Lieutenant Colonel Douglas L. Clinch, with U.S. forces and 150 Creek Indians, fired on the fort and destroyed it with a hot shot cannon ball that exploded in the powder magazine, killing all but 30 of 300 occupants. In 1818 General Jackson directed Lieutenant James Gadsden to build Fort Gadsden here despite Spanish protests. Confederate troops occupied the fort until July 1863, when malaria forced its abandonment.

Florida · United States