strious military chieftain" who commanded there, he
yet condemned the hanging of the two Red Sticks, the execution of
Arbuthnot and Ambrister, the taking of Pensacola.

From the moment Jackson read that speech he was Clay's enemy, and a
warfare began that lasted twenty-five years. Every man, in fact, who in
the course of the long debate that followed condemned the acts of
General Jackson in Florida was written down an enemy on the tablets of
his memory. He remained in Washington until the House had voted down
every resolution unfavorable to his course, and he had thus won his
first victory over Clay. Then he set forth on a northern journey which
showed him the immense popularity he had in places like New York,
Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and gave him an opportunity to increase it
by the fine appearance he made in public. He returned to find that a
Senate committee had reported unfavorably on his conduct, but the Senate
never acted on the report, and on his journey homeward the people gave
him every reason to believe that the great majority of his countrymen
approved the votes of the lower house. As if to complete his triumph, he
was soon called once more to Florida; and this time he entered
Pensacola, not as a soldier invading a foreign province, but as the
chief magistrate of an American territory. In February, 1821, after so
many years of negotiation, Florida was bought by the United States.
President Monroe appointed Jackson governor and commissioner to receive
the province, and he, bidding farewell to the army, entered again upon
the duties of a civil office.

Even in his farewell to his troops, Jackson took occasion to attack a
policy recently favored by his superior, General Jacob Brown, and any
one who knew Jackson might have guessed that the holding of a civil
office would never keep him from violent courses, particularly in
Pensacola. He held the office only a few months, for he was in wretched
health. His wife, who was with him, tells in one of her letters how pale
and solemn he was when he rode into Pensacola for the third time, and
how ill he was while he was there. He resigned in October, but before he
resigned he had made another cause of dispute with Spain. The retiring
Spanish governor, Callava, was accused of attempting to carry away
papers which were necessary to establish the property rights of a
quadroon family. The correspondence on the subject led to a series of
misunderstandings, and General Jac