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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 11/340

The Early Beginnings: The Period Before United States Acquisition

where they joined the earlier bands of “Seminoles” which were
composed primarily of Lower Creeks. By 1815 there were some
five thousand Seminoles in Florida living in some twenty-five
villages.16
After twenty years of British rule, Spain regained control of
Florida in 1783 but was too weak to adequately control its posses­
sion. American settlement in Georgia, on the other hand, made for
an unstable border between the two areas. Georgia settlers com­
plained of Indian dangers even after the Red Sticks were driven
out of the state. More vexing to the Georgians was the problem of
Spanish Florida serving as a sanctuary for runaway slaves. Some
Negroes entered Seminole communities as slaves while others
formed communities of their own. Such was the case of the Negro
Fort at Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River about fifteen
miles from the Gulf. This fort had originally been built by the
British during the War of 1812 and abandoned in 1815. The
British left behind arms and ammunition which were used by the
Negroes who manned the fort until it was destroyed by an
American military force led by General Edmund P. Gaines in July
of 1816.16 17
During the summer of 1812 a force of two hundred and fifty
Georgia volunteers led by Colonel Daniel Newnan made prepara­
tions to move against the Seminoles in Florida. Their stated
purpose was to retaliate against Indian raids in Georgia, but the
Georgian’s interest in Seminole lands was undoubtedly a factor as
well. Indeed, Newnan was able to obtain enlistments for the
venture by whetting the appetites of the land-hungry Georgians
with glowing descriptions of Seminole lands. Big Hammock,
situated along a river which flowed into Tampa Bay, and Lotch-
away Hammock in central Florida looked especially attractive.
Newnan pointed the obvious advantages to those who would first

16 Mahon, History of the Second Seminole War, p. 6.
17 Edwin C. McReynolds, The Seminoles (Norman, Oklahoma, 1957), pp. 69-77.
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