The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1881-12-07

And, seeing all the beauty mirrored tnere,
1t had not dreamed the world was half 50 fair.
-CGriottd Perry, IN Chicago Tribune.
THE STORY OF THE NEGRO FORT.
During the war of 1924, between
Great Britain and the United States,
the weak Spanish Governor of Florida
for Florida was then Spanish terri
tory-permitted the British to make
Pensacola their base of operations
against us. This was gross outrage,
as we were at peace with Spain at the
time, and General jackson, acting on
bis own responsibility, invaded Florida
in retaliation.
Among the British at that time was
an eccentric Irish officer, Colonel Ed
ward Nichols, who enlisted and tried to
make soldiers of a large number of
the Seminole Indians. In 1915, after
the war was over, Colonel Nichols again
visited the Seminoles, who were dis
posed to be hostile to the United States.
as Colonel Nichols himself was. and
made an astonishing treaty with them,
in which an alliance offensive and de-
fensive, between Great Britain and the
Seminoles was agreed upon. We had
made peace with Great Britain a few
months before, and yet this astonishing
Irish Colonel signed a treaty binding
Great Britain to fight us whenever the
Seminoles in the Spanish territory of
Florida should see fit to make wari If
this extraordinary performance had
been all, it would not have mattered so
much, because the British Government
refused to ratify the treaty; but it was
T@l@,nal Ntnh41o -
mined to give US IS much trouble as he
could. built strong fortress on the
Appalachicola River, aud gave it to his
British Post on the Appalachicola, -"
where the British had not the least
right to have any post whatever. Stu
ated on high bluff, with fanks secure
ly guarded by the river on one side and
a swamp on the other, this fort, prop
erly defended, was capable of resisting
the assaults of almost any force that
could approach it; and Colonel Nichols
was determined that it should be prop
erly defended, and should be constant
menace and source of danger to the
United States. He armed il with one
thirty-two-pounder cannon, three TWEEN
ty-four-pounders and eight other guns.
In the matter of small arms he was even
more liberal. He supplied the fort with
$500 muskets, 500 carbines, 400 pistols
and 500 swords. In the magazines he
stored 800 quarter casks of rifle powder
and 76S barrels of ordinary gunpowder.
When Colonel Nichols went away
his Seminoles soon wandered of, leav.
ing the fort without garrison. This
gave an opportunity to a negro bandit
and desperate named Garcon to seize
the place, which he did, gathering about
him large band of runaway negroes
Choctaw Indians and other lawiess per
sons, whom he organized into strong
company of robbers. Garcon made the
fort his stronghold and began to plum
der the country round about as thor
oughly as any robber baron or Italian
bandit ever did, sometimes venturine
across the border into the United States
ALI this was so annoying and Sc
threatening to our frontier settlements
in Georgia, that General jackson de
manded of the Spanish authorities thai
they should reduce the place, and they
would have been glad enough to do SO
probably, if it had been possible, be
cause the banditti plundered Spanish a,
well as other settlements. But the
mand, and could do nothing, and sc
the fort remained standing menace tx
the American borders.
Matters were in this position in the
spring of 1876, when General Gaine.
was sent to fortify our frontier at the
point where the Chattahoochee anC
Flint rivers unite to form the Appa
lachicola- In June of that year som,
stores for General Gaines forces wer'
sent by sea from New Orleans. Th,
vessels carrying them Were to 60 VI
the Appalachicola, and General Gaine
was not sure that the little feet woult
be permitted to pass the robbers
stronghold, which had come to b.
called the Negro Fort. Accordingl.
he sent Colonel Clinch with a smal
force down the river. to render any as
sistance that might be necessary. Oh
the way Colonel Clinch was Joined b,
band of Seminoles, who wanted 10 re
capture the fort on their own account
and the two bodies determined to &C
together.
Meantime the two schooners witt
supplies and the two gun-boats sent Z
guard them had arrived at the mouth o
the river; and when the commandan
tried to hold conference with Garcon
the ships boat, bearing a white flag
was fred upon.
Running short of water while lyin,
off the rivers mouth, the officers of tn,
feet sent out a boat to procure a sup
ply. This boat was armed with
swivel and muskets, and was command
ed by Midshipman Luffborough. Tn
boat went into the mouth of the river
and seeing negro on shore, Midship
man Luffborough landed to ask 70
fresh-water supplies. Garcon with SOM
of his meu lay in ambush at the spot
and while the officer talked with tn,
negro the concealed men fired upon tn
boat, killing Luff borough and two O
his men. One man got away by swim
ming, and was picked up by the feet
! two others were taken prisoners, and
| as was afterward learned, Garcon coat
ed them with tar and burned them b
death.
1t would not do to send more boat
ashore, and so the little squadron la
together awaiting orders from Colone
! Clinch. That officer. as he approaehe'
the fort captured a negro, who. wore
white mans scalp at his belt, and fror
him he learned of the massacre of Luf
borough's party. There was no furthe
occasion or doubt as to what was to b
DONE Colonel Ciinch determined t
reduce the fort at any cost, althoug
| the narration r,rounisad to ha q varxr Al,