t was Spain's business to keep order on the frontier; and
the United States waited a year and a half for the Madrid Government
to give evidence of intent to do so. But, as nothing but vain promises
were forthcoming, some American troops engaged in building a fort on
the Apalachicola, just north of the boundary line, marched down the
river in July, 1816, bombarded Nicholls's Negro Fort, blew up its
magazine, and practically exterminated the Negro and Indian garrison.
A menace to the slave property of southern Georgia was thus removed,
but the bigger problem remained. The Seminoles were restive; the
refugee Creeks kept up their forays across the border; and the rich
lands acquired by the Treaty of Fort Jackson were fast filling with
white settlers who clamored for protection. Though the Monroe
Administration had opened negotiations for the cession of the whole
Florida country to the United States, progress was slow and the
outcome doubtful.

Matters came to a head in the closing weeks of 1817. General Gaines,
who was in command on the Florida border, had tried repeatedly to get
an interview with the principal "Red Stick" chieftain, but all of his
overtures had been repulsed. Finally he sent a detachment of soldiers
to conduct the dignitary and his warriors from their village at
Fowltown, on the American side of the line, to a designated parley
ground. In no mood for negotiation, the chief ordered his followers to
fire on the visitors; whereupon the latter seized and destroyed the
village.

The fight at Fowltown may be regarded as the beginning of the Seminole
War. General Gaines was directed to begin operations against the
Indians and to pursue them if necessary into East Florida; but before
he could carry out his orders, Jackson was put in personal command of
the forces acting against the Indians and was instructed to
concentrate all of the troops in his department at Fort Scott and to
obtain from the Governors of Georgia and Tennessee such other
assistance as he should need.

Jackson received his orders at the Hermitage. Governor Blount was
absent from Nashville, but the eager commander went ahead raising
troops on his own responsibility. Nothing was so certain to whet his
appetite for action as the prospect of a war in Florida. Not only did
his instructions authorize him to pursue the enemy, under certain
conditions, into Spanish territory, but from the first he himself
conceived of the enterprise as decidedly more