thern border,
while the United States troops were occupied on the Canadian frontier. A
British agent built a strong fort on Spanish soil on the Appalachicola
River. After the close of the war the British withdrew and left the
fort, well filled with ammunition, in the hands of the Indians and
negroes.

The Seminoles and their negro friends rejoiced over this. They could not
foresee the doom that this fort was to bring upon them.

For many years the Southern people had complained bitterly against the
Seminole Indians for "stealing," as they said, their slaves. The
"stealing" consisted in receiving and protecting runaways. The feeling
against the Indians was so strong that expeditions into Spanish
territory had been made by people on the frontier to capture slaves and
punish the Seminoles. But this fort would now be a hindrance to such
forays, and the slaveholders demanded that it should be destroyed.
They were so persistent in their demands that General Andrew Jackson
gave General Gaines directions to invade Spanish territory with United
States troops to blow up the fort and return the "stolen negroes" to
their rightful owners.

For miles up and down the Appalachicola River the land along the banks
was cultivated and divided into small farms, where Indians and negroes
lived. When these farmers learned of the approach of the enemy they fled
with their wives and children to the fort for protection. Over three
hundred men, women, and children crowded into the fort, feeling sure of
safety. But when the troops attacked them by land and water, and the
cannon roared about the walls of the fort, they were panic-stricken. The
women and children shrieked and wrung their hands. The men did not know
what to do; they rent the air with fearful yells, but made little
attempt at resistance. What would they not have given to exchange the
fort walls for an open boat and the endless waterways of the forest?

They were not left long to fear and regret. The enemy promptly
accomplished its purpose. A redhot ball reached the powder magazine of
the fort. A terrible explosion followed, destroying the fort and
bringing instant death to two hundred and seventy of its inmates.

The story of the horrible death, of the mutilated bodies of the injured
men carried off on the boats of the white men, spread all over Florida.
At every camp fire the tale was told, and all the old savage thirst for
vengeance was stirred in the hearts of men who had begu