Combat
First Seminole War
The First Seminole War was the earliest of the three conflicts fought against the Seminoles and their Black Seminole allies, waged largely on Spanish soil in Florida, where American authorities charged the Seminoles with sheltering escaped slaves and raiding across the Georgia border. The opening blow was the destruction of the "Negro Fort" on the Apalachicola River in July 1816, when an American expedition supported by two Navy gunboats carrying Marines opened fire and a heated shot detonated the fort's magazine, killing most of its garrison of Black Seminoles and Native allies in a single catastrophic blast. The war widened into General Andrew Jackson's controversial invasion of Florida in 1818, in which he seized Spanish posts, executed two British subjects, and made plain that Spain could no longer hold the province. Marine involvement was limited and naval in character, centered on the gunboat operations along the Florida rivers and coast rather than sustained ground campaigns. The war's larger consequence was diplomatic: it convinced Spain to relinquish Florida, ceded to the United States under the Adams-Onís Treaty of 1819.
Engagements in this conflict (1)
Record no. 263