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‘ - - Department of State, 2
\Vashington,Nov.28, 1818.5 .
i Sm--Your despatches, to No. 92, inclusive,
with their enclosures, have been received at this
Department. Among these enclosures are the
several notes addressed to you by Mr‘. Pizarro,
in relation to the transactions dui~irig the cam-
paign of Gen. Jackson against the Seminole In-
dians and~the banditti of Negroes combmed with
them,"and particularly to his proceedings in Flor-
ida, without the bouiidaries_of the United States.
_In the fourth and last of those notes of Mr. Pi-
zarro, he has given formal notice that the king,
his master, has issued orders for the suspension
ofthe negoeiatioii between the United States and
Spain, until satisfaction shall have been made by
the A.'t)‘lellC€tl‘l government to him for these pro-
ceedings of Gen. Jackson, which he considers as
acts of unequivocal hostility against him, and as
outrages upon, his honor and dignity; the only
acceptable atonement for which, is stated to con-
sist in a disavowal of the acts of the American
General, thus complained of.—-the infliction upon
him of a suitable punishment for his supposed
misconduct, and the restitution of the posts and
territories ‘taken by him from the Spanish au-
thorities, with indeninity for all the property ta-
ken, and all damages or injuries, public or pri-
vate sustained in consequence of it.
\’Vitliin a very few days after this notification.
Mr. Pizarro must have received, with copies of
the correspondence between Mr. (_)ms and this
Department, the determination which had been
taken by the President,‘ to restore the place of
Pensacola, with the fort of Barrancas, to any per-
son properly authorised on the part of Spam. to
receive them, and the fort of St. Marks to any
Spanish force adequate to its protection against
the Indians, by whom its forcible occtipaiion had
been threatened, for purposes of hostility against
the United States. The officer com manding at
the post, has been directed to consider 250 men
as such adequate force ; and, in case of their‘ ap-
pearance, with proper authority, to deliver it tip
to their commander accordingly.
From the last mentioned correspondence, the
Spanish government must likewise have been
satisfied that the occupation of these places in
Spanish Florida, by the commander of the Amer-
ican forccs, was not by virtue of any order re-
ceived by him from this government to that ef-
fect, nor with any vie\v of wresting the province
from the possession of Spain ; nor in any spirit
of hostility to the Spanish government; that it
arose from idcidents which occurred in the pros-
ecution of the war against the Indians-—f_rom the
imminent danger in which the fort of St. Marks
was of being" seized by the Indians themselves,
and from the manifestations of hostility to the
United States, by the commandant of St. Marks
and the government of Pensacola, the proofs of
which were made known to Gen. Jackson, and
impelled him, from the necessities of self-de-
fence, to the steps of which the Spanish gov-
ernment complains. . _ ._
It might be snllicient to leave the vindication
of these ‘measures upon those grounds, and to
furnish, in ‘the enclosed copies of Gen. Jack-
son’s letters, and the vouchers by which lh_e_y
are supported, the evidence of that hostile spirit
onlhe part of the Spanish commanders, but for
the terms in which Mr‘. Pizarro speaks of-the
execution of two British subjects, taken,‘ one at
thefort of St. Marks, and the other; at. SUVVWY:
and the intimation that these transactions rnay
lead to a change in the relations between the two
nations, which is,gloubtless intended to be under-
stood as a menace’ of war. _ _
It may be, therefore, proper to remind this
government of his Catholic Majesty of the inci-
ients 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 supposed to have been injured by the
proceedings of Gen. Jackson, and to give to the
Spanish cabinet. some precise information of the
nature of the busi_tiess, peculiarly interesting to
Spain, in WlllCll_‘fllt:St: subjects of her allies, in
whose favor she takes this interest, were enga-
ged, when their projects of every kind were ter-
I-ninated, in cdnseqtience of their falling into the
hands of Gen. Jaizksriri.
In the month of August, 1814, while a war
existed between the U. States and Great Britain,
to which Spain had formerly declared hersell
neutral, a British force, not in the pursuit of a
defeated and flying enemy-—not overstepping an
imaginary and equivocal boundary between their
own territories and those belonging,in some sort,
as much to their enemy as to Spain, but approach-
ing by sea, and by a broad and open invasiozz of
the Spanish provirice, at a thousand miles, or an
ocean’s distance from any British territory, lan-
ded in Florida, took possession of Pensacola and
the fort of B-.ir'rancas, and invited, by public
proclamations, all the runaway negroes——all the
savage Indians-—all the pirates, and all the trai-
tors to their country, whom they knew or ima-
gined to exist within reach oftheir summons, to
join their standard, and wage an exterminating
war against the portion of the United States im-
mediately bordering upon this neutral, and thus
violated territory of Spain. The land comman-
der of this British force, was a certain Col Nich-
olls, who, driven from Pensacola by the approach
of Gen.Jackson, actually left, to be blown up,
the Spanish fort of Barrancas, when he found it
could not afl"ord him protection, and, evacuating
that part of the provi-nce, landed at another, es-
tablished himself on the Appalacliacola river, and
there erected a fort, from which to sally forth
with his motley tribe of. black, white, and réd
combatants, against the defencelcss borders of
the U. States, in that vicinity. A part ofthis force
consisted of a corps of colonial marines, levied in
the British colonies, in which Geo. ‘Woodbine was
a captain, and R. C. Ambrister was a lieutenant.
As between the United States and Great Brit-
1
ain, we‘ should be willingto bury this transaction
in the ‘same grave of oblivion "with other trans-
actions of that war, had the hostilities of Col.
Nicliolls terminated with the war. But he did
not consider the peace which ensuedbetween the
U. 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 iheratifrcation of
the treaty of Ghent, he retained his post and his
party-colored forces, in‘ military array‘.
By the 9th article of that treaty, the U. States
had stipulated to put an end, immediately after
its ratification, to hostilities with all the tribes or
nations of Indians with whom they might be at
war at the time of the ratification, and to restore
to them all the possessions which they had
enjoyed in the year 181). * This article had no
application to the Creek nation, with whom the
United States had already made peace, by a trea-
ty concluded ori the 9th day of August, 1814.
more than 4 months before the treaty of Ghent
was signed. Yet Col. Nicholls not only affected
to consider it as applying to the Seminoles of
Florid-.1, and the outlawed Red Sticks, whom he
had induced to join him there, but actually per-
suaded them that they were entitled, by virtue of
the treaty of Ghent, to all the lands which had
belonged to the Creek nation, within the United
States, in the year 281 l, and that the government
of Great Britain would support them in that pre-
tension. l-Ie asserted also this doctrine in a cor-
respondence with Col. Hawkins, then the Agent
of the United States with the Creeks, and gave
him notice, in their name, with a mockery of so-
lemnity, that they had concluded a treaty of Al-
liance, offensive and defensive, and a treaty of
Navigation and Commerce with Great Britain,
of which more would be heard after it should be
ratified in England. Col. Nicholis then evacua-
ted his Fort. which, in some of the enciosed pa-
pers is called the Fort at Prospect Bluff, but
which he had denominated the Britislz post ontlie
Appalachacola : took wjtli him the white portion
of his force, and embarked for England. with sev-
eral of the wretched savages whom he was thus
deluding to their fat».-..—aniorig whom was the
Prophet Francis, or ilillis I-.ladjo—and left the
Fort, amply supplied with niilitary stores and
ammunition, to the Negro department of his al-
lies. It afterwards was known by the name of
Negro Fort. Col. Hawkins immediately com-
municated to this government the correspond-
ence between him and Nicholls, here referred to.
upon which Mr. Munroe, then secretary of state,
addressed a letter to Mr. Baker, the British
Charge cl’ Affairs, at VVasliington, complaining
of Nicholl’s conduct, and shewing that his pre-
tence that the 9th article of the treaty ofGhent,
could have any application to his Indians, was ut-
terly destitute of foundation. Copies of the
same correspondence were transmitted to the
Minister of the United States, then in England,
with instructions to remonstrate witn the British
governmentagainst these proceedings ofNic.holls
and to shew how incompatible they were with
the peace which had been concluded between the
two nations. These remonstrances were accord-
ingly made first in personal interview with Earl
Bathurst and Lord Castlereagh, and afterwards
in written notes, addressed successively to them.
Lord Batliurst, in the most unequivocal manner,
confirmed the facts, and disavowed the miscon-
duct of Nicliolls : declared his disapprobation of
the pretended treaty of Alliance, offensive and
defensive, which he had made; assured the A-
merican Minister that the British government
had refused to ratify that treaty, and would send
back the Indians whom Nicholls had brought
with him, with advice to make their peace on
such terms as they could obtain. Lord Castle-
reagh copfirnied the assurance that the treaty
would not be ratified; and if, at the same time
that these assurances were given certain distinc-
tions of public notoriety, were shown to the
Prophet Hillis Hadjo, and he was actually honor-
ed with a commission, as a British officer‘, it is
to be presumed that these favors were granted
him as rewards of past services, and not as en-
couiagement to expect any support from Great
Britain, in a continuance of savage hostilities a-
gainst the ‘United States, all intention of giving
any such support having been repeatedly and
earnestly disavowed.
The negro fort, however, abandoned by Col.
Nicliolls, remained on the Spanish territory, oc-
cupied by the Bandiiti 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
receptacle for fugitive slaves and malefactors, to
the great annoyance both of the United States
and of Spanish Florida. In April, I816, Gener-
al Jackson wrote a letter to the Governor of Pen-
sacola, calling upon him to put down this corn-
mon nuisance to the peaceable inhabitants of
both countries. That letter together with the ari-
swer of _the Governor of Pensacpla, have already
been coinniunicated to the Spanish Minister here,
and by him, doubtless to his government. Cop-
ies of them are, nevertheless, now again enclo-
sed; particularly as the letter from the Govern-
erner, explicitly admits-—ihat this fort, construct-
ed by Nicliolls, in violation both of the territory
and neutrality of Spain, was still no less obnox-
‘ius to his government than to the "United States;
but, that he had neither sufficient force nor an au-
thority, without orders from the Goverrior-Gen-
eral of the Havana, to destroy it. It was after-
wards, on the 27th July, 1816, destroyed by a
cannon shot from 'a gun vessel of the U. States,
which, in its passage up the river, was fired up-
on from it. It was blown up, with an English
flag still flying as its standard, and immediately
after the barbarous murder of a boat’s crew, be-
longing to the navy of the United States, by the
banditti left in it by Nicliolls.
In the year 18 I7, Alexander Arbuthnot, of the
Island of New-Providence, a British subject, first
appeared, as an Indian trader in Spanish Flori-
da; and as the successor of Colonel Nicholls,
in the employment of instigating the Sem-
inole and outlawed Red Stick Indians to hos-
tilities 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, I814. As a mere
Indian trader, the intrusion of this man, into a
Spanish province, was contrary to the policy ob-
served by all the European powers in this hein-
isphere, and by none more rigorously than by
Spain, of excluding all foreigners from inter-'
course with the Indians, within their territories.
It must be known to the Spanish government,
whether Ar-butlinot had a Spanish license for
trading with the Indians in Spanisli Florida or
not ; but they also know that Spain was bound
by treaty, to restrain by force all hostilities on
the part of those Indians, against citizens of the
U. States, and it is for them to explain liow,con-
sistently with those engagements, Spain, could,
contrary to all the maxims of her ordinary poli-
cy, grant such a license to a foreigniincendiary,
whose principal, if not his only object, appears
to have been,to stimulate those hostilities which
Spain had expressly stipulated by force to re-
strain. In his infernal instigations he was but
too successful. No sooner did he make his ap-
pearance among the Indians, accompanied by
the Prophet Hillis Hadjo, rettirned from his ex-
pedition to England, than the peaceful inhabitants
on the borders of the U. States, were visited with
all the horrors of savage war; the robbery of
their property, and the barbarous and indiscrim-
inate murder of women, infancy and age.
After the repeated expostulations, warnings.
offers of peace, through the summer and au-
tumn of 18r7, on the part of the United States,
had been answered only by renewed outrages,
and after a detachment of forty men, under Lieut.
Scott. accompanied by seven women, had been
waylaid and murdered by the Indians, orders
were given to Gen. Jackson, and an adequate
force was placed at his disposal, to terminate _the
war. It was ascertained that the Spanish force
in Flo'r-ida, was inadequate for the protection even
of the. Spanish territory itself ag-inst this min-
gled horde of lawless Indians and Negroes, and,
although their devastations were committed with-
in the limits of the United States, they immedi-
ately sought refuge within the Florida line, and
there only were to be overtaken. The necessi-
ty of crossing the line was indispensable ; for it
was from beyond the line that the Indians made
their murderous incursions within that of the U-
nited States. It was there that they had their a-
bode, and the territory belonged in fact to them,
altho’ within the borders of the Spanish jurisdic-
tion. There it was that the American command-
er met the principal resistance from them ; there
it was that he" found the still bleeding scalps of
our citizens, freshly butchered by them; there
it was that he released the only «woman, who had
been suffered to survive the massacre of the par-
ty under Lieut. Scott. But it was not anticipa-
ted by this government that the commanding of-
ficers of Spain in Florida, whose especial duty
it was, in conformity to the solemn engagements
contracted by their nation, to restrain by force,
those Indians from hostilities against the United
States, would be found encouraging, aiding and
abetting them, and furnishing them with supplies
for carrying on such hostilities. The officer in
command, immediately before Gen. Jackson, was
therefore, specially instructed to respect, as far
as possible, the Spanish authority, wherever it
was maintained, and copies of those orders were
also furnished to Gen. Jackson, upon his taking
the command. In the course of his pursuit, as
he approached St. Marks, he was informed di-
rect from the Governor of Pensacola, that a par-
ty of hostile Indians had threatened to seize that
Fort, and that he apprehended the Spanish Gar-
rison there was not in strength sufficient to defend
it against them. This information was confirm-
ed from other sources, and by the evidence pro-
duced upon the trial of Ambrister, it proved to
have been exactly true. By all the laws of rieu-
trality and of war, as well as of prudence and of
humanity, he 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 printed treatises on the
international law, to prove the correctness ofthis
principle. It is engraven in adamant on the
common sense of mankind; no writer upon the
laws of nations ever pretended to contradict it ;
none of any reputation or authority everomitted
to assert it.
At Fort St. Marks, Alexander Arbnthnot, the
British Indian trader from beyond the seas, the
fire brand, by whose torch this Negro Indian
war against our borders had been rekindled, was
found an inmate of the commandant’s family:
and it was also found that, by the commandant
himself. councils of war had been permitted to
be held within it, by the savage chiefs and warri-
ors ; that the Spanish store houses had been ap-
propriatetl to their use ; that it was an open mar-
ket' for cattle, known to have been robbed by
them from citizens of the U. States, and which
had been contracted for and purchased by the of-
ficers of the garrison. That information had
been afforded from this fort by Arbutlinot, to the
enemy, of the strength and movements of the
American army ; that the date of the departure
of express had been noted by the Spanish Com-
missary, and ammunition, munitions of war,
and all necessary supplies furnished to the In-
tlluns.
The conduct of the Governor of Pensacola,
was not less marked by a disposition of enmity
to the United States, and by an utter disregard to
the obligations of the treaty, by which he was
bound to restrain, by force, the Indians from hos-
tilities against thcm. I/Vhen called upon to vin-
dicate the territorial rights and authorityof Spain,
by,.the destruction of tire Negro fort, his prede-
cessor had declared it to be not less annoying and
pernicious to the Spanish subjects in Florida than
to the United States, but pleaded his inability to
subdue it. He, himself, had expressed his ap-
prehensions that fort St. Marks would lg: :"ircibly
taken by the savages, from its Spariish g.i:2.:-‘-m:
yet, at the same time, be hard refused tin: ---;:;—
sage up the Escaiiibia river, unless upon the §.:.;,'-
merit of excessive duties, -to p.1‘oviaioz_is dew-3%.‘
\
5 . . . 0 .
as supplies for the American army, which, by‘
the detention ot them, was subjected to the most
distressing privations. He had permitted free
ingress and egress at Pensaocla to the avowed
enemies of the United States. Supplies of am.-
munition, munitions of war and provisions had
been received by them from thence. They had
been received and sheltered there, from the pur-‘
suitof the American forces, and suffered again
to sally thence, to enter upon the American ter-
ritory and commit new murdei's. Finally, on’
the approach of Gen. Jackson to Pensacola, the
Governor sent him a letter, denouncing his entry
u-pon the territory of Florida as a violent outrage’
uion the ri hts of S ain, commandin hi
1 3 P g mto.
depart and withdraw from the same, and threat.
ening in case of his non-compliance, to employ
force to expel him.
, [Rej7zaz'nder next =zveck.:]
—-1-:1:-®®=.::-1‘—— -
ST. HELENA, Sept. 28.
“ The Musquito sloop of war sails to-morrow
for England ; she is charged with dispatches
from Sir Hudson Lowe, relatingit is understood,
to an intercepted correspondence, which has dis-_
covered the existence of a plot, the object of
which was to liberate Bonaparte from this Island.
I forbear to mention the names currently circula-
ted here, of those who are said to be implicated»
in this transaction ; a banker’s house in Londo ,
however, two individuals in England, with others
on the Continent, it is rumoured. are concerned.
Detection of the plot was produced by the cir-'
cumstance, it is said, of many letters, addressed
to a person, (the name of‘ which no individuaf
is to be found herc,) lying uncalled for at the
post-office. Bonaparte is in very good health;
he still, however, abstains from exercise, confi-
ning himself whollywithin doors. The reason
assigned at Longwood for the departure hence
of General Gourgaud, is a quarrel between him
and General Montholon. Gourland had been
, challenged by the latter, but Bonaparte forbidding
It is confi-'
them to fight, Gourgaud quitted.
dently said Bonaparte has recently obtained the
sum of l.l5,000 in dollars ; through what means
this weighty bulk could have been carried clan-
destinely to Loiigwood, is still a matter of sur-
prise. The discovery of the plot has already
brought to light where the whole of Bonaparte’s
treasure is deposited. Bertrand some time since
asserted he could at any time raise a million
sterling. Of the three Commissioners, one on-
ly remains on the island; those of Austria and
Russia, are gone to Rie, to take up their abode’
some time. Bonaparte will not admit either one
of them to his presence : the Austrian Commis-
sioner, Baron De Sturmer, who returned some
time since to his Court, did not, during the long
period he remained on the island, once see Bo-
naparite.
“ This island is not healthy for a continued
residence ; it is for many hours, every day, cov-
ered with vapours and dense fogs, and it does
not yield a sixth part of suflicient vegetable sub-
stances for the use of the troops and seamen.-—
The inhabitants are wholly excluded from all
means of livelihood ; no ships are allowed to‘ re-
main here longer than is absolutely necessary;
all supples come from the‘ Cape, but they are
very scanty, and what fresh meat is afi"orded from
this channel is wholly engrossed by the troops ;
the ships never get ‘a meal of it; and during‘
the last five months they have had only one third
bread, no cocoa, and no pease; the deficiency
is wholly made tip of rice. Dysentery, conse-
quently, prevails much; and all the vessels have.
lost many men; the Mosquito has lost 23 in
three months, and the Conqueror has scarcely
seamen enough to work the ship. But notwith-
standing this weak state the squadron has furnish-
ed 300 men to assist in building a new house for
Bonaparte, of the most capacious dimensions-—
The seamen, after the day’s work is over, are
marched to another part of the island, to be en-
camped for the night. Every ship furnishes
guard boats,which row round-the island, and as
they approach the various points, are always chal-
lenged by the sentinels. A short time since,
one of the sloops of war, in working to windward
of the island, discovered two men in a cave on
the shore ; she accordingly sent a boat, and
brought off two Yainstock (native) Negroes, who
had been fishing ; and who, it appeared, used to
get to the beach from the top ofthe cliff, by a se-
cret but dangerous path.
consequently immediately erected, and it was by
this. unknown outlet, it is said, that the Great
Man was to be carried off. ‘We are constantly \
amused with stories of scliooners hovering off
the island ; the cruisers certainly sometimes
see such, but never board them. A transport
from the Cape lately passed one close, lying to,
to windward, about 80 miles from the Island,
which took no notice of her‘; She mlfihla h0W<=V-
er,.have been slaving, or looking out for Spanish
or Portuguese Ilitllzr men ; she was a large long
schooner of 18 guns, and apparently full of men.
Thetroops here are more healthy than the sea-
men are ; many casualties, however occur a-
mong the f0rmei'—several sentinels have been
lost by falling over the clill's.”——London fro/zcr.
’ ——-:c:.'--:'.‘.-'I!>--
BALTIMORE, Jan. 2.
1%.-2'! Robbers.-—It will be rccollccted that we
gave a few days since an account of the loss of
the mail between this place and V’Vasliington.---
Yesterday two negro men were committed to the
jail of Baltimore county on-the charge of hav-
ing robbed it. The circumstances as related to
us are as follows :—'l‘hc careless driver, it ap-
pears, lost the mail bag out of t-he stage, which
was foundby ilie two negro men above mention-
ed. It appears doubtful whether they knew what
it was when they found it, as they appear we ‘are
told, to be very ignorant slaves. They contrived
however, to make their way into it by the aid of at
knife, and finding it contained letters, they con-
trived to open these also, took about $2800 in
bank bills, and then burnt the letters and the mail
ha-.u;. To understand that about 52000 has been
l'<i‘,’,I';:'~i~’t*,!‘(:(l : what has become of the remainder
is not yet known.
A new battery was_.
Norwalk Chronicler