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PRESENT, FIT FOR DUTY.

Field Report of the operating Army under the immediate command of Major General Andrew Jackson, at Pensacola, May 24, 1818.

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Lieutenants Ripley and Cross, of the 8th department, joined at Pensacola, and marched with the army, not included in the above report. The companies of
Life Guarde, with a detachment of Tennessee volunteers, in all one hundred men, formed a guard for the protection of Pensacola. The sick of the different
corps, amounting to thirty-six men, were detached, leaving an aggregate of nine hundred and fifty-six to operate against the fortress of Barancas.
ROBERT BUTLER, Adjutant General.

4th battalion artillery

4th regiment infantry

1st and 2d regiment Tennessee volunteers
Kentucky and Tennessee volunteer Life Guards

Defeat of the Seminole Indians, &c.

Proposals which the Civil and Military Commandant of the Province of West Florida makes to His Excellency Andrew Jackson, General-in-Chief of the American Army, before the Fort San Carlos de Barancas.

1st. The fort of Barancas will be delivered to the troops of the United States, under the following conditions:

[Approved, with the exceptions made following each article, and possession given at one o'clock past morning this day.]

2d. The garrison of the fort of Barancas will march out, to be transported to the Havana, on the day and hour which shall be agreed upon, with all the honors of war; drums beating; with arms and baggage. Those employed in the Royal Finance, and others attached to this department, shall also be transported to the same port.

[A roster to be furnished of all the military and civil officers of the garrisons of Fort Barancas; the troops to march out as expressed in this article; their arms to be stacked at the foot of the glacis, and left in possession of the American army until the day of embarcation, when they

3d. The commandant of the province, the officers of his staff of the artillery and engineers, the officers and troops, shall carry with them their arms and personal effects, and shall also have the liberty of disposing of their property of every kind, with perfect security to the purchasers.

[All titles for property legally derived from the Crown of Spain will be respected.]

4th. The garrison shall be embarked on account of the United States; every person of the military class, or of the Royal Finance, shall receive, during the passage, such rations as are allowed to every grade by the regulations of Spain.

[Approved, as far as relates to the transportation of the garrison, and the Spanish rations allowed, provided they do not exceed the American ration, in which case the American ration only will be allowed.]

5th. A competent number of vessels shall be furnished for embarking the personal effects, papers, and other property belonging to the commandant, officers, and others in the Royal employ, and particularly the papers of the Secretary's office of the Government, which are in Pensacola; those of the Department of the Royal Finance, and of the civil and military employ. These papers shall not be subjected to any inspection or recognisance, under the pledge of their contain. ing nothing foreign to the functions of the said persons.

[Approved. An estimate of the necessary transportation to be furnished, agreeably to established usage.]

6th. The sick, wounded, and all those who are now, or may fall sick previous to the embarcation of the troops for the Havana, shall be maintained by the Government of the United States until cured, and shall have the same privileges as the rest of the garrison; those who are in a situation shall be embarked at the same time with it, and

all shall be under the care of, and attended by, the surgeon and other individuals of the Spanish military hospital. [Approved.]

7th. The garrison of Pensacola, and the prisoners, as also those in the employ of the Royal Finance, shall enjoy the same privileges as the garrison of Barancas, and shall likewise be transported to the Havana, uniting the former to the latter, and all shall remain in the quarters they occupied in Pensacola until the moment of embarcation for the port of Havana.

[Approved. An estimate of the necessary transportation to be furnished, and included in estimate, for the garrison of Fort Barancas.]

8th. During their stay the United States will furnish to the King's storekeeper, under documents from the Royal officers, such articles of provisions as may be deficient or not in the King's stores, to complete the rations of the troops dependants; those in the King's employ, and their respective families, according to the allowance made by the regulations of Spain; the reimbursement thereof remaining subject to the decision of the Governments of Spain and the United States.

[An inventory of the provisions in possession of the Spanish commissary to be forthwith furnished. The rations allowed subject to the limitation in the fourth article.]

9th. The provisions actually existing in the King's stores of Pensacola and Barancas shall be transported to the former, in order that they may serve for the said supply of rations. [Approved.]

10th. An inventory, and a duplicate thereof, shall be made by the military storekeeper, and such officer of artillery as the commandant of this corps may name, and such other as may be appointed by the General of the troops of the United States, of the artillery, powder, military stores, and other effects belonging to this department, in Pensacola, and Barancas.

[Approved. Major Peters, of the artillery, appointed on the part of the American Government.]

11th. Persons and property shall be respected; concessions and sales of land made by the competent authorities shall be valid and guarantied by the American Government at whatever time they may have been made, and until the date hereof.

[All titles legally derived from the Crown of Spain, prior to this date, guarantied and respected.]

12th. The commandant of engineers shall name an officer, who, with another whom the General of the American army may appoint, shall make an inventory, and a duplicate thereof, of the number and state of the royal edifices, in the same manner as is stated for the department of artillery.

[Approved, and Lieutenant Sands of the artillery appointed on the part of the American Government.]

13th. The military officers, and those in the service of all and the several departments, may embark with them their wives, children, and

Defeat of the Seminole Indians, &c.

servants; in which number are to be included the families of those of the said classes who may be absent. Those who have property to dispose of, or affairs to settle, may remain the time necessary for these purposes. American authority shall afford them every protection during their stay, and they shall enjoy the same privileges as the rest of the garrison, and be transported to the Havana on account of the United States.

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Additional articles, which are to have the same force as the primary, and which extend to the fulfilment of what has been agreed upon.

1st. The name required of the Alabama chief is Opayhola. The commandant of this province engages, in the name of his Government, that the said chief shall never return to the Floridas. [Approved.]

2d. If any vessels of war of His Catholic Majesty, destined for this port, should arrive with a supply of provisions or money, they shall be freely admitted, as well as Spanish merchant vessels. SAN CARLOS DE BARANCAS, May 28, 1818.-5 o'clock in the afternoon. JOSE MAZOT.

[Inadmissible, so far as it regards transportation being allowed to the families of those officers not present, and servants not attending upon the persons of the officers and their families. Those individuals disposed to remain in Florida will be respected, and protected in all civil and personal rights; and, if not embracing the transportation allowed at the present period, they must furnish CAMP, NEAR FORT BARANCAS, May 28, 1818. their own at a future period.]

14th. The storekeeper general shall form an inventory of the small vessels and craft, and of the other effects under his charge, in the same way as stated for the department of artillery.

[Approved, and Lieutenant Parkhurst, quartermaster of artillery, appointed on behalf of the American Government.]

15th. The officers and troops of this garrison, with their equipage, shall be transported to Pensacola, where they shall remain, as already stated, until embarked for the Havana.

[Approved.]

17th. The Alabama chief, with his family, now in this fort, and who has been reported to Major Young, shall be included in this capitulation, and transported to the Havana.

[Approved. His name to be entered in an article, and the Spanish Government guarantying that he never returns to the Floridas.]

18th. The Catholic religion shall be maintained, with its ministers, and free exercise.

[A free toleration to all religions guarantied.] 19th. This capitulation is made under the confidence that the General of the American troops will comply with his offer of returning integral this province, in the state of which he receives it, as explained in his official letters.

.

ANDREW JACKSON,

Major General commanding.

HEADQ'RS, DIVISION OF THE SOUTH,

Adjutant General's Office, Barancas,
May 29, 1818.

FELLOW SOLDIERS: You were called into the field to punish savages and negroes, who had, in a sanguinary manner, used the tomahawk and scalping-knife upon our helpless citizens upon the frontier. You have pursued them to Mickasukey, St. Mark's, Suwaney, and lastly to this place, through an unexplored wilderness, encountering immense difficulties and privations, which you met with the spirit of American soldiers, without a murmur.

Your General anticipated a close of the campaign on his return to Fort Gadsden, and hailed the hour with feelings of gratitude to Heaven, at the prospect of relieving you from your labors, by placing you in quarters, and returning you to your homes; but how great was the disappointment, when he heard of the recent murders committed on the Alabama, by a party of the enemy from Pensacola, where they were furnished with provisions and ammunition by a friendly Power. Under this state of things, you were marched here, encountering difficulties which you alone can properly appreciate, meeting on the way the protest of the Governor of West Florida, threatening to employ force if we did not imme20th. If any doubt should arise as to the mean-diately evacuate the country. This new and ing of the articles of this capitulation, they shall be construed in the manner most favorable to the Spanish garrison.

[Approved, and the restoration made under the conditions expressed in General Jackson's communication to the Governor of Pensacola, the 23d of May.]

[The above articles to be interpreted agreeably to their literal and expressed meaning.]

21st. The present capitulation shall be signed and exchanged by the General of the American army and the commandant of this province, as soon as possible, and, at latest, by five o'clock in the afternoon; each party respectively being in possession of an original.-[Approved.]

FORT OF SAN Carlos de BarANCAS,
May 28, 1818.-7 o'clock in the morning.
JOSE MAZOT.
CAMP NEAR FORT BARANCAS, May 28, 1818.
A. JACKSON, Maj. Gen. comd'g.

unexpected enemy was soon taught to feel the impotence of his threats. You entered Pensacola without resistance, and the strong fortress of the Barancas could hold out but one day against your determined courage. Your General cannot help admiring the spirit and military zeal manifested, when it was signified that a resort to storming would be necessary; and would do injustice to his feelings, did he not particularly notice the judgment displayed by his aid-de-camp, Captain Gadsden of the engineers, in the selection of the positions for the batteries, and the gallantry of his second aid, Captain McCall, and Captain Young of the topographical engineers, in aiding him to erect the works, under the fire of heavy batteries within four hundred yards, as well as

Defeat of the Seminole Indians, &c.

the skill and gallantry of Captain Peters, Lieutenants Minton and Spencer, in the direction and management of the nine pounder, and that of Lieutenants Sands and Scallon, charged with the management of the howitzer. Captain McKeever, of the navy, merits, as he has on several occasions, his warmest thanks for his zealous cooperation and activity in landing two of his guns, (should an additional battering train have been necessary,) and gallantly offering to lay his vessel before the water battery, in the event of storming the upper works; his officers and crew deserve his confidence.

Spanish laws, so far as they affect personal rights and property will be enforced. Colonel King will take possession of the archives of the province, and appoint some confidential individual to preserve them. It is all important that the record of titles and property should be carefully secured. He will cause an inquiry to be made into all the landed property belonging to the King of Spain, and hold possession of it. The claims to property, within the range of gunshot of Fort St. Charles de Barancas, will be scrupulously examined into; and, should this prove valid, a rent allowed, but possession in nowise given. This The General assigns to Colonel King the gov-property is necessary for the United States, and ernment of Pensacola and its dependencies, and that part of the 7th department lying west of the Appalachicola and Chatahoochee rivers, until otherwise ordered by General Gaines.

The Colonel will take measures to have the volunteers now at Pensacola relieved, preparatory to their return march. The Tennessee volunteers will be rationed for five days, and will forthwith move for Fort Montgomery, where they will receive further orders.

The General, in taking leave of Colonel King
and his command, tenders to the officers and
soldiers an affectionate farewell.
By order:

ROBERT BUTLER.
Adjutant General.

HEADQ'RS, DIVISION OF THE SOUTH,
May 29, 1818.

Major General Andrew Jackson has found it necessary to take possession of Pensacola; he has not been prompted to this measure from a wish to extend the 'territorial limits of the United States, or from any unfriendly feeling on the part of the American Republic to the Spanish Government. The Seminole Indians, inhabiting the territories of Spain, have, for more than two years past, visited our frontier settlements with all the horrors of savage massacre; helpless women have been butchered, and the cradle stained with the blood of innocence. These atrocities, it was expected, would have early attracted the attention of the Spanish Government, and, faithful to existing treaties, speedy measures adopted for their suppression. That, so far from being able to control, the Spanish authorities were often compelled, from policy or necessity, to issue munitions of war to these savages: thus enabling, if not exciting, them to raise the tomahawk against us. The immutable laws of selfdefence, therefore, compelled the American Government to take possession of such parts of the Floridas in which the Spanish authority could not be maintained. Pensacola was found in that situation, and will be held until Spain can furnish military strength sufficient to enforce existing treaties. Spanish subjects will be respected; Spanish laws will govern in all cases affecting property and person; a free toleration to all religions guarantied, and trade alike to all nations. Colonel King will assume the command of Pensacola, as military and civil Governor. The 15th CoN. 2d SESS.-71

under its laws may be held, and an equivalent paid. The revenue laws of the United States will be established, and Captain Gadsden appointed to act as collector; with full power do nominate such sub-officers as, in his opinion, will be necessary to the faithful discharge of the trust reposed in him. He will apply to the Governor of Pensacola for military aid in all cases where it may be necessary to correct attempts at an illicit trade.

ANDREW JACKSON, Major Gen. com. Div. of the South.

Minutes of the proceedings of a special court, organized agreeably to the following order, viz: HEADQ'RS, DIVISION OF THE SOUTH,

Adjutant General's Office, Fort St. Marks, April 26, 1818. GENERAL ORDER.

The following detail will compose a special court, to convene at this post, at the hour of 12 o'clock M, for the purpose of investigating the charges against A. Arbuthnot, Robert Christy Ambrister, and such others who are similarly situated, as may be brought before it:

The court will record all the documents and testimony in the several cases; and their opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the prisoners; and what punishment, if any, should be inflicted.

DETAIL.

Major General E. P. GAINES, President.
Members.

Colonel King, 4th infantry,

Colonel Williams, Tennessee volunteers,
Lieut. Colonel Gibson, Tennessee volunteers,
Major Muhlenburg, 4th infantry,
Major Montgomery, 7th infantry,
Captain Vashon, 7th infantry,
Colonel Dyer, Tennessee volunteers,
Lieut. Col. Lindsay, corps of artillery,
Lieut. Col. Elliott, Tennessee volunteers,
Major Fanning, corps of artillery,
Major Minton, Georgia militia,

Captain Crittenden, Kentucky volunteers.
Lieut. J. M. Glassell, 4th infantry, Recorder.
An orderly will be detailed from General
Gaines's brigade; and the court will sit without
regard to hours.

By order of Major General JACKSON:
ROBERT BUTLER, Adjt. Gen.

Defeat of the Seminole Indians, &c.

FORT ST. MARK's, April 26, 1818. The court convened pursuant to the foregoing order; when, being duly sworn in the presence of the prisoner, and he being asked if he had any objection to any member thereof, and replying in the negative, the following charges and specifications were read, viz:

Charges vs. A. Arbuthnot, now in custody, who says he is a British subject.

CHARGE 1st. Exciting and stirring up the Creek Indians to war against the United States and her citizens; he, A. Arbuthnot, being a subject of Great Britain, with whom the United States are at peace.

charges, and using every means in his power to
procure their arrest; all which writings and say-
ings excited, and had a tendency to excite, the
negroes and Indians to acts of hostility with the
United States. By order of the court:
J. M. GLASSELL, Recorder.

oner pleaded not guilty.
To which charges and specifications the pris-

sel, it was granted him; when the court proceed-
The prisoner having made application for coun-
ed to the examination of the evidence.

JOHN WINSLETT, a witness on the part of the prosecution, being duly sworn, stated that some Specification. That the said A. Arbuthnot, be- time before last July the Little Prince received a tween the months of May and July, or some time letter, signed by Mr. Arbuthnot, advising the upper in June, 1817, wrote a letter to the Little Prince, part of the nation to unite with the lower chiefs in exhorting and advising him not to comply with amity; and stating that the best mode for them the Treaty of Fort Jackson, stating that the citi-to repossess themselves of their lands would be to zens of the United States were infringing on the write to him, Arbuthnot, and he would send on Treaty of Ghent, as he believed, without the their complaints to the Governor of Providence, knowledge of the Chief Magistrate of the United whence it would be forwarded to His Britannic States; and advising the Upper and the Lower Majesty, and he would have the terms of the Creeks to unite and be friendly; stating that Wil-Treaty of Ghent attended to; he, moreover, liam Hambly was the cause of their disputes. Also, advising the Little Prince to write to the Governor of New Providence, who would write to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, through whom the United States would be called to a compliance with the Treaty of Ghent; and advising not to give up their lands under the Treaty of Fort Jackson, for that the American citizens would be compelled to give up to them all their lands under the Treaty of Ghent.

CHARGE 2d. Acting as a spy, and aiding, abetting, and comforting the enemy-supplying them with the means of war.

Specification 1st. In writing a letter from St. Mark's fort, dated the 2d April, 1818, to his son John, at Suwany, (marked A,) detailing the advance of the army under General Jackson, stating their force, probable movements and intentions, to be communicated to Bowlegs, the chief of the Suwany towns, for his government.

Specification 2d. In writing the letters, marked B (without date) and C, with enclosures of January 27, 1818; and D, called "a Note of Indian Talks ;" and E, without date, applying to the British Government, through Governor Cameron, for munitions of war, and assistance for our enemies, making false representations. And also applying to Mr. Bagot, British Ambassador, for his interference, with a statement on the back of one of the letters of munitions of war for the enemy. CHARGE 3d. Exciting the Indians to murder and destroy William Hambly and Edmund Doyle, and causing their arrest, with a view to their condemnation to death; and the seizure of their property, on account of their active and zealous exertions to maintain peace between Spain and the United States and the Indians, they being citizens of the Spanish Government.

Specification ist. In writing the letters marked F, dated the 26th August, 1817; G, dated the 13th May, 1817; and H, threatening them with death; alleging against them false and infamous

stated his belief that the encroachments on the Indian lands were unknown to the President of the United States; the witness also identified the signature of the letter of the prisoner to his son, (marked A,) referred to in the first specification to the second charge, and heretofore noted as being the same with that sent to the Little Prince.

The witness, on being further interrogated, stated the language of the letter alluded to to be, that the British Government, on application would cause to be restored to them their lands they held in 1811, agreeably to the terms of the Treaty of Ghent.

Question by the prisoner. Who is the Little Prince, or is he known by any other name ?

Answer. He is known by the name of Tustenukke Hopin, and is the second chief of the nation.

Question by the prisoner. Where is the letter you allude to, or in whose possession ?

Answer. It was left in the possession of the Little Prince when I last saw it.

Question by the prisoner. Has this Little Prince no other name than what you state? Answer. Not that I know of.

Question by the prisoner. Do you swear that the letter alluded to was addressed to the Little

Prince?

Answer. I do not. It was presented me by the Little Prince to read and interpret for him, which I did.

Question by the prisoner. Are you certain that the letter stated that the Chief Magistrate of the United States could have had no knowledge of settlements made on Indian lands, or injuries committed?

Answer. The letter stated that to be the belief of the writer.

JOHN LEWIS PHENIX, a witness on the part of the prosecution, being duly sworn, stated, with regard to the first specification of the second

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