| Vol. II.—No. 103. | Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York. | price four cents. | |
| Tuesday, October 18, 1881. | Copyright, 1881, by Harper & Brothers. | $1.50 per Year, in Advance. |
THE STORY OF THE NEGRO FORT.
BY GEORGE CARY EGGLESTON.
During the war of 1812-14, between Great Britain and the United States,the weak Spanish Governor of Florida—for Florida was then Spanishterritory—permitted the British to make Pensacola their base ofoperations against us. This was a gross outrage, as we were at peacewith Spain at the time, and General Jackson, acting on his ownresponsibility, invaded Florida in retaliation.
Among the British at that time was an eccentric Irish officer, ColonelEdward Nichols, who enlisted and tried to make soldiers of a largenumber of the Seminole Indians. In 1815, after the war was over, ColonelNichols again visited the Seminoles, who were disposed to be hostile[Pg 802] tothe United States, as Colonel Nichols himself was, and made anastonishing treaty with them, in which an alliance, offensive anddefensive, between Great Brita