Relations with Spain. friendship, and liberality; and so successful has this policy been, that, for many years, no instance has occurred of their being in hostility with any Indian tribe, unless stimulated by the influence of foreign incendiaries. Even after the repeated commission of these depredations and massacres by the Seminole Indians, at the very moment when the Government of the United States was reluctantly compelled to employ their own military force for the protection of their people, offers of peace were tendered to them, and rejected. the right of pursuing an enemy who seeks refuge from actual conflict within a neutral territory, is incontestable. But, in this case, the territory of Florida was not even neutral. It was itself, as far as Indian savages possess territorial right, the territory of Indians with whom the United States were at war. It was their place of abode; and Spain was bound by treaty to restrain them by force from committing hostilities against the United States-an engagement which the commanding officer of Spain in Florida had acknowledged himself unable to fulfil. Of the necessity Nor has the respect manifested by this Govern- there was for crossing the line, what stronger ment for the territorial rights of Spain been less proofs could be adduced than that it was within signal and conspicuous, even after the full and that line the American General met the principal formal notice, by the Governor of Pensacola, of resistance from the Indians which he encountered the incompetency of his force either to perform in the whole campaign; that within that line, at the duties of neutrality, or to fulfil the obliga- their towns which he destroyed, he found distions of the treaty. When it became necessary played, as barbarous trophies, the mutilated remto employ the military force of the United States nants of our wretched fellow-citizens, the murfor the protection of their frontier, on the 30th Oc-dered women and children, the accumulated tober last, the commanding officer in that quarter, barbarities of many years? while directed to take other measures for suppressing the hostilities of the Indians, was expressly instructed not on that account to pass the line, and make an attack upon them within the limits of Florida, without further orders. On the 2d of December instructions to the same effect were repeated. On the 9th of December they were again renewed, with the modification suggested by the continuation of Indian outrages, that, should the Indians assemble in force on the Spanish side of the line, and persevere in committing hostilities within the limits of the United States, the American officer was authorized in that event to exercise a sound discretion as to the propriety of crossing the line, for the purpose of attacking them, and breaking up their towns. On the 16th of December, upon information that an officer of the United States, with a detachment of forty men, had been attacked, and all destroyed, with the exception of six who made their escape, four of whom were wounded, the instruction, of which the following is a copy, was issued from the Department of War to the American General then in command: "On receipt of this letter, should the Seminole Indians still refuse to make reparation for their outrages and depredations on the citizens of the United States, it is the wish of the President that you consider yourself at liberty to march across the Florida line, and to attack them within its limits, should it be found necessary, unless they should shelter themselves under a Spanish fort. In the last event, you will immediately notify this Department." These, with a subsequent instruction of the 26th of December to the Commander-in-chief, referring to them, and directing him, with a view to them, to adopt the necessary measures to terminate a conflict which it had ever been the desire of the President, from considerations of humanity, to avoid, but which was made necessary by the settled hostilities of the Indians, are all the instructions given in relation to Florida. By the ordinary laws and usages of nations, 15th CoN. 2d SESS.-58 You have seen that no instruction or authority, inconsistent with the declaration of the Message of the President of the United States of the 25th of March last to Congress, was ever issued to the commander of the American forces. The possession which he took of the fort of St. Mark, and subsequently of Pensacola, was upon motives which he himself has explained, and upon his own responsibility. For his justification in the adoption of both those measures, he states them to have been necessary upon the immutable principles of self-defence: That, at an early period of his operations, he had given full notice of their object to the Governor of Pensacola, by communication, dated the 25th of March last, warning him that every attempt on his part to succor the Indians, or prevent the passage of provisions for the American troops in the Escambia, would be viewed as acts of hostility: That, in defiance of this admonition, the Governor of Pensacola did both give succor to the Indians, and delay the passage of the provisions to the American army, and thereby subjected them to the severest privations: That the Governor of Pensacola had caused it to be directly reported to the American General that Fort St. Mark had been threatened by the Indians and negroes; and expressed serious apprehensions, from the weakness of the garrison and defenceless state of the works, for its safety: That this information was confirmed to the American General from other sources, upon which he could rely, and completely warranted the amicable occupation by him of that fort: That, upon his entering the fort, evidence, clear, unequivocal, and manifold, was evinced of the duplicity and unfriendly feeling of the commandant-evidence demonstrating, beyond the power of denial, that, far from acting in the spirit of that sacred engagement of his Sovereign, to restrain by force his Indians from hostilities against the United States, he had made himself, by every act Relations with Spain. in his power, a partner and accomplice of the hostile Indians, and of their foreign instigators: That the same spirit of hostility to the United States was discovered by the Governor of Pensacola himself, by his refusal to permit, unless by the payment of exorbitant duties, the passage of provisions to the American army; by the reception and succors given to the Indians at various times; and, finally, by a letter which he sent to the American General, denouncing his entry into Florida as an aggression against Spain, and threatening, unless he should immediately withdraw from it, and should he continue what he thus styled aggression, that he would repel force by force. This was so open an indication of hostile feeling on the part of Governor Mazot, after he had been early and well advised of the object of General Jackson's operations, that this officer no longer hesitated on the measures to be adopted -the occupation of Pensacola and the Fort of Barancas. The charges alleged by General Jackson against the commandant of St. Mark's, are not known even to have been denied. The Governor of Pensacola has partly, and but partly, contradicted those which applied to himself. He assured General Jackson that the information received by him of the numbers of Indians who had been received and harbored at Pensacola was erroneous. It is possible that the numbers may have been somewhat exaggerated in the reports which General Jackson had received. But within ten days after the time stated in his letter to the Governor of Pensacola of this assemblage of Indians at that place, a large body of them were overtaken, surprised, and defeated by the forces of the United States, within one mile of Pensacola. Nor was it until after that event that the Governor issued his proclamation for refusing them supplies, and gave them the advice under which eighty-seven of them surrendered themselves to the American officer. But the measures of General Jackson were not founded upon one solitary fact. A combination of circumstances, all tending to convince him of the hostile spirit of the Governor, remains yet uncontradicted; and the General has furnished proofs that Governor Mazot's assertion, that there had been, since the surrender of those eightyseven Indians to Captain Young, only two in Pensacola, and those in jail, was itself very incorrect. Besides the Alabama chief, included in the capitulation, one wounded Indian was found in the fort at Barancas. Holmes, a noted Red Stick chief, left Pensacola but the day before the American troops took possession, and a number of other Indians were seen about the same time within a few miles of Pensacola, and succeeded, with the aid of Spanish officers, in eluding the pursuit of the American troops. A conduct not only so contrary to the express engagements of Spain, but so unequivocally hostile to the United States, justly authorizes them to call upon His Catholic Majesty for the punishment of those officers who, the President is persuaded, have therein acted contrary to the express orders of their Sovereign. In the full con fidence that your Government will render to the United States ample justice in this regard, the President has directed all the proofs relating thereto to be imbodied, as the ground of an application to that effect to your Government. In the meantime, I am instructed by the President to inform you that Pensacola will be restored to the possession of any person duly au thorized on the part of Spain to receive it; that the fort of St. Mark, being in the heart of the Indian country, and remote from any Spanish settlement, can be surrendered only to a force sufficiently strong to hold it against the attack of the hostile Indians; upon the appearance of which force it will also be restored. In communicating to you this decision, I am also directed to assure you that it has been made under the fullest conviction, which he trusts will be felt by your Government, that the preservation of peace between the two nations indispensably requires that henceforth the stipulations by Spain to restrain by force her Indians from all hostilities against the United States should be faithfully and effectually fulfilled. I pray you to accept the assurance of my high consideration. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. HEADQ'RS, DIVISION OF THE SOUTH, Washington, M. T., April 23, 1816. SIR: I am charged by my Government to make known to you that a negro fort, erected during our late war with Britain, at or near the junction of the Chatahoochee and Flint rivers, has been strengthened since that period, and is now occupied by upwards of two hundred and fifty negroes, many of whom have been enticed from the service of their masters, citizens of the United States; all of whom are well clothed and disciplined. Secret practices to inveigle negroes from the citizens of Georgia, as well as from the Cherokee and Creek nations of Indians, are still continued by this banditti and the hostile Creeks. This is a state of things which cannot fail to produce much injury in the neighboring settlements, and excite irritations which eventually may endanger the peace of the nation, and interrupt that good understanding which so happily exists between our Governments. The principles of good faith, which always insure good neighborhood between nations, require the immediate and prompt interference of the Spanish authority to destroy or remove from our frontier this banditti, put an end to an evil of so serious a nature, and return to our citizens and friendly Indians inhabiting our territory those negroes now in said fort, and which have been stolen and enticed from them. I cannot permit myself to indulge a belief that the Governor of Pensacola, or the military commander at that place, will hesitate a moment in giving orders for this banditti to be dispersed, and the property of the citizens of the United States forth with restored to them and our friendly Indians; particularly when I reflect that the conduct of this Relations with Spain. banditti is such as will not be tolerated by our Government, and, if not put down by Spanish authority, will compel us, in self-defence, to destroy them. This communication is intrusted to Captain Amelung, of the 1st regiment United States infantry, who is charged to bring back such answer as you may be pleased to make to this letter. In your answer you will be pleased to state whether that fort has been built by the Government of Spain, and whether those negroes who garrison it are considered as the subjects of His Catholic Majesty, and, if not by His Catholic Majesty, by whom, and under whose orders, it has been erected. ANDREW JACKSON, Major Gen., com. Div. of the South. To the GOVERNOR of Pensacola, Or Military Com. of that place. A true copy: ISAAC L. BAKER, Aid de-camp. PENSACOLA, March 26, 1816. MOST EXCELLENT SIR: On the 24th of the present month, Captain Amelung, of the 1st United States regiment, put into my hands your excellency's letter, dated at Washington, Mississippi Territory, on the 23d of April last, in which, after apprizing me that your Government had given it in charge to you to inform me that the fort of the negroes, erected during the late war with Great Britain, near the junction of the Chatahochee and Flint rivers, had been reinforced, and was now occupied by more than two hundred and fifty negroes, many of whom were seduced from the service of their masters, (who are citizens of the United States,) and that all of them are well armed, provisioned, and disciplined, you make many wise reflections with respect to the serious injuries which may result from tolerating such an establishment, not only to those in the immediate neighborhood of it, by disturbing the peace of the nation, but likewise to the good understanding which happily exists between our respective Governments; you enter into an investigation to show what the Spanish authorities ought to do to put an end to an evil of so serious a nature, in the mode prescribed by those principles of good faith which are the foundation of friendly neighborhood among nations; you distinctly state what this Government ought immediately to do, in failure of which your Government will be obliged to do it, to insure the safety of the inhabitants of the United States; and you conclude by requesting me to state, in my answer to your letter, whether the said fort has been constructed by the Spanish Government, and whether the negroes who compose its garrison are deemed subjects of His Catholic Majesty, and, if the fort was not built by Spanish authority, to state by what authority, and by whose order, it was built. In answer to your excellency, I will state, with the veracity which comports with the character of an honorable officer, in which class I rank myself, that having arrived at this place nearly at the close of the month of March preceding, and being informed of what your excellency has communicated to me, with this difference, that the fort, instead of being where you place it, is to be found on the eastern bank of the Appalachicola, at about fifteen miles from its mouth, or entrance into the sea, I lost no time in proposing to my Captain General the measures which appeared to me proper, as well for securing the inhabitants of the country under my command from damages, losses, and injuries, which they have suffered and still suffer from this establishment, as to prevent the American citizens and the friendly Indians of the neighborhood from continuing to experience them. I have hitherto received no answer; and, consequently, your excellency, who knows how limited are the powers of a subordinate officer, cannot be surprised that I should make known to you that, although my mode of thinking exactly corresponds with yours as to the dislodging of the negroes from the fort, the Occupying it with Spanish troops, or destroying it, and delivering the negroes who may be collected to their lawful owners, I shall not be able to act until I receive the orders of my Captain General, and the assistance necessary to enable me to undertake the enterprise with a moral certainty of accomplishing the end. I am persuaded that the determination of the said chief cannot be long delayed; and, should it authorize me to act, your excellency may rest assured and persuaded that I will not lose an instant in adopting, on my part, the most efficacious measures for cutting up by the root an evil which is felt to the full extent stated in your letter by the inhabitants of this province, who are subjects of my Sovereign, and whose prosperity and tranquillity it is my duty to preserve and protect. With this explanation your beforenamed letter may be considered fully answered, as it gives you to understand that, thinking as your excellency thinks, with respect to the necessity of destroying the negroes, the fort of Appalachicola, occupied by them, was not constructed by order of the Spanish Government; and that the negroes, although in part belonging to the inhabitants of this province, and as rational beings, may be subjects of the King, my master, and deemed by me insurgents or rebels against the authority, not only of His Catholic Majesty, but also of the proprietors from whose service they have withdrawn themselves some seduced by the English Colonel Edward Nicholls, Major Woodbine, and their agents, and others from their inclination to run off. But as your excellency manifests a particular desire that, in case the fort was not erected by Spanish authority, I should state by what authority and by whose order it was erected, I have no difficulty in satisfying your curiosity, by informing you that I have understood, ever since my arrival at this place, that the said fort, and another near the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, which it appears no longer exists, were built by the order of the beforenamed Colonel Nicholls. I will not assure you that he Relations with Spain. did it under authority from his Government; but evidence required by the courts, to have recourse I can say that he proceeded to place artillery, to them with that calmness and confidence with munitions, and provisions in it, by the arrange- which the justice of his cause should inspire ment of Vice Admiral Malcolm; and that, when him when submitted to impartial and enlightColonel Nicholls and the troops of his detachment, ened magistrates. after the conclusion of the expedition against His Majesty's Consul has just informed me Louisiana, withdrew from that point, he left or- that, agreeably to my instructions, he had apders with the negroes, totally contrary to the in-plied to the district attorney, stating that he was contestable right of sovereignty which the King, my master, exercises from the line of thirty-first degree of north latitude to the south. My predecessors in this Government have given an account of all these actions to the authorities on whom they depended, that the satisfaction which the violation required might be demanded by those on whom this duty devolves. I think I have answered your excellency's letter satisfactorily, and in terms which cannot leave a doubt of the sincerity of my intentions in favor of the common cause of the American and Spanish inhabitants, and that my present inaction does not proceed from a want of inclination. I likewise flatter myself that, until my Captain General decides, no steps will be taken by the Government of the United States, or by your excellency, which may be prejudicial to the sovereignty of the King, my master, in the district of Appalachicola, which is a dependency of this Government; and, finally, I conclude by assuring your excellency that it will afford me particular satisfaction to have opportunities of evincing my desire, not only to contribute, so far as depends on me, to the cementing of the good understanding which subsists between our respective Governments, but also to prove to your excellency the high opinion I entertain of your virtues and military talents. God preserve your excellency many years. His Excellency A. JACKSON. Don Luis de Onis to the Secretary of State. SIR: It is some time since I have received positive and circumstantial information that a person, acting under a commission from the rebels at Buenos Ayres, had given orders for the building of two frigates, of twenty-eight or thirty guns each, at New York; and that, armed, equipped, and manned with citizens of this Republic, they are to proceed from that port on a cruise against the commerce and subjects of His Catholic Majesty. Although so manifest a violation of the laws of the United States, to the injury of my Sovereign, imposed on me the duty of immediately soliciting of the President such measures as are in conformity with the laws of the Union and the peace and good understanding existing between the two nations, and would put a stop to this evil, yet, faithful to the system I have laid down of not trespassing on the attention of your Government, except in cases of indispensable necessity, I directed His Majesty's Consul at New York, after he had obtained all the legal possessed of sundry declarations of persons, corroborating each other, showing that the laws of the United States had been violated, and requesting him to cause the said vessels to be stopped and proceeded against, together with the parties concerned in their equipment, in the manner prescribed by the act of Congress of the twentieth of April last, section 11. The district attorney appears not to have been very anxious to carry the act into execution, as he replied that he would not do so, although fifty such declarations were presented to him. I do not pretend to inquire into the motives of the attorney's feelings or conduct, which, to say the least, was very extraordinary; but I deem it indispensable to transmit to you four of the original declarations referred to, that they may be laid before the President, and that he may be pleased to direct, with the urgency required by the case, the collector of the customs at New York to stop the above-mentioned vessels, in order that they, as well as the parties engaged in their outfit, may be proceeded against in due form of law, and the necessary force employed for the faithful execution of his duty. This demand, which I renew in the name of my Sovereign, being in strict conformity with the laws of this Republic, I cannot for a moment doubt that the President will readily comply with it; and that you will have the goodness to advise me of its having been carried into effect, that I may direct the Consul to produce the necessary testimony for the elucidation and decision of a case transcendently important to the interests of my Sovereign. I renew to you the assurances of my respect, and I pray God to preserve you many years. LUIS DE ONIS. STATE OF NEW YORK, City of New York, ss: Samuel Samuels, by profession a mariner, at present in the city of New York, being duly sworn, says: That, about the 11th or 12th of July instant, deponent was at Dominick Morris's house, where they were shipping hands for the Curiazo; he met there a Mr. Brown, who was the man who attended on shore to the enlisting and shipping of the crew; this gentleman asked deponent whether he did not wish to ship on board of the Curiazo, and upon this requested him to walk up stairs, and he would inform deponent all about the object of the vessel; they went up stairs, and Mr. Brown then said that the Curiazo was destined to go around Cape Horn, or would go to Buenos Ayres in the patriot service; that she would join the other ship, which was lying in North river, named the Horatio, and they would be absent about two years; de Relations with Spain. ponent signed articles, at the office of the notary, Mr. Palmer; he did not read the articles at the time of signing; the wages were fourteen dollars a month, and two months' advance, which sum is paid in like manner to all the crew, fourteen dollars at the time of signing the articles, and fourteen dollars after getting on board; he went on board on Tuesday, the 21st of July instant, and found sixty hands on board, agreeably to the muster which was made; and there were others on shore who had enlisted but not yet come aboard; there were a captain, several lieutenants, a sailingmaster, many midshipmen, a boatswain, boatswain's mates, boatswain's yeomen, several quartermasters, a gunner, gunner's mate, and two quarter-gunners, two captains for each of the tops-fore-top, mizen-top, and main-top, two captains of the forecastle, two captains of the afterguard, a captain of the hold, and green hands to form a company of marines; deponent was captain of the main-top of the larboard watch; the hands were exercised every day in loosing and handling the sails; some of the hands were employed in making wads for the cannon; the guns were not yet come on board, but they were expected daily, and the hands conversed about the stations which they would hold at the guns; the exercising of the crews, which he has before mentioned, was the same as is customary in the service of the United States on board their vessels of war; there was a regular watch kept up during the day and night, onehalf of the crew being on watch all the night; the hands were all piped by the boatswain and the boatswain's mate at their several meals; when officers came on board, the sides were manned for them by way of salute; and, in every respect, the discipline and duty kept up was the same as is practised in the navy service. When the deponent shipped, the notary told him to leave a will and power to enable the landlord to receive the prize money which deponent might become entitled to; which deponent did accordingly in favor of Dominick Morris. The general understanding on board the vessel is, that they were to cruise along the coast of South America after their arrival at Buenos Ayres. The vessel is built in every respect as a vessel of war; the water below is secured exactly in the manner that it is done on board a man-of-war, which is different from what is usual in the merchant service. Deponent further saith not. S. SAMUELS, his X mark. Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 23d day of July, 1818. JAMES HOPSON, S. Justice. STATE OF NEW YORK, City of New York, ss: George W. Lynch, of the city of New York, merchant, being duly sworn, says: That on the 23d day of July instant, he went on board the ship Curiazo, lying in the North river, in this port, in company with a Mr. Atkinson, who said he was the purser of the said vessel; deponent counted thirty cannon lying on the deck, and a number of new gun-carriages which were lying upon one another, and appeared to be equally numerous; he was presented to the several officers, was told by them that there were a captain, four lieutenants, and a number of midshipmen; that the captain was named Delano, the first lieutenant is named Van Beuren, the second Grinnelow, the third Smith, and the fourth Cobbett; he was told by the purser that the vessel, together with the Horatio, another ship lying near, was bound to Buenos Ayres; there appeared to be a great number of men on board; he was told by said purser that it was their intention to take one hundred men; that the crew were paid two months' advance, and that, as a further inducement to them to ship, they had the prospect of prize money. In conversation with a Mr. Sullivan, who is at the head of the surgical department for the two vessels, and was now on board the Curiazo, he (Mr. Sullivan) said, "I am sorry that the guns are not carronades instead of gunnades;" but then immediately added, "however, it is better as it is; we shall want long guns to fight the Spaniards." Deponent was carried through the vessel, and the different parts of it were pointed out to him; the captain's room, the lieutenants' room, and the midshipmen's room, were severally and respectively designated; there was a quantity of cannon balls between the decks; all hands were piped by the boatswain while deponent was on board. This vessel is newly built, has been launched but a short time, and is now preparing for her first voyage; she is pierced for many guns, and is built in every respect like a frigate. Deponent left this vessel in company with the surgeon, Mr. Sullivan, and proceeded with him to the other ship, the Horatio. This gentleman is the surgeon of the Horatio, and told deponent that he had selected the surgeons for this and the other vessel, (the Curiazo;) that he had examined them in order to ascertain that they were duly qualified; he mentioned that the crews of each vessel would consist at present of one hundred men for each, but that their complement was three hundred men for each; that the medical list which was handed to him for both vessels was for six hundred men; he showed deponent his medicine chest, his tools, and other implements, and said that he had everything in complete order; he showed deponent into a room below the cabin, which he said would be his station in time of action; deponent said he supposed there would be little fighting, to which Mr. Sullivan answered, "I don't know, the Spaniards have got a fine frigate out there with five hundred men." Deponent was told on board of this vessel by the said surgeon, and by another officer, the second lieutenant, that, besides the captain, Skinner, who was Commodore of the two vessels, the Horatio had four lieutenants and a number of midshipmen; the first lieutenant is named Currie, and the second Eakin; deponent was shown into the several rooms of the captain, lieutenants, and midshipmen; the cannon had not yet been brought on board of this vessel, but the officers |