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Relations with Spain.

are, for the arm of justice is lifted up against them, and it will, ere long, fall heavy upon them, you, and your property. They say they would have no objection to your settling any way the west of Appalachicola river; but, where you now are, you are among a set of outlaws. They have lately committed twenty most cruel murders on women and children on the frontiers of the United States, and stolen one hundred horses; and they say it is by your desire.

No. 47. c.

W. HAMBLY.

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Opothlimico.

In terpreter, PETER SHUGERT.

Approved of by F. C. LUENGO,

Members.

Colonel King, 4th infantry.

Colonel Williamson, Tennessee volunteers.
Lieutenant Col. Gibson, Tennessee volunteers.
Major Muhlenberg, 4th infantry.
Major Montgomery, 7th infantry.
Captain Vashon, 7th infantry.
Colonel Dyer, Tennessee volunteers.
Lieutenant Colonel Lindsay, corps artillery.
Lieut. Col. Elliott, Tennessee volunteers.
Major Fanning, corps artillery.
Major Minton, Georgia militia.
Captain Crittenden, Kentucky volunteers.
Lieut. J. M. Glassell, 4th infantry, recorder.
An orderly will be detailed from Gen. Gaines's
brigade; and the court will sit without regard to
hours.

By order of Maj. Gen. JACKSON:
ROBERT BUTLER,

Adjutant General.

FORT ST. MARK's, April 26, 1818.

The court convened, pursuant to the foregoing order; when, being duly sworn in the presence Commandant of St. Marks. of the prisoner, and he being asked if he had any

No. 48.

Luengo to Arbuthnot.

APPALACHICOLA, Dec. 25, 1817. SIR AND FRIEND: Affairs having assumed a serious aspect between the savages and the Americans, and not doubting that the storm will pass this way, I entertain apprehensions for the safety of your little objects, and believe it to be your interest not to lose a moment in removing them from hence.

I shall be happy to see you, that I may have the pleasure of embracing you, and an opportu nity of conversing with you on the politics of the day; which, under existing circumstances, it is improper to commit to paper. In the expectation of this pleasure, I am, with my little family, Sir, your very affectionate servant and friend.

FR. CASO Y LUENGO.

No. 49.

objections to any member thereof, and replying in the negative, the following charges and specifications were read, viz:

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

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

at peace.

tween the months of May and July, or some time Specification. That the said A. Arbuthnot, bein June, 1817, wrote a letter to the Little Prince, exhorting and advising him not to comply with the treaty of Fort Jackson, stating that the citizens of the United States were infringing on the Treaty of Ghent, as he believed, without the knowledge of the Chief Magistrate of the United States, and advising the Upper and Lower Creeks to unite and be friendly, stating that William Hambly was the cause of their disputes; also ad

Minutes of the proceedings of a special court, organ-vising the Little Prince to write to the Governor ized agreeably to the following order, viz : HEADQ'RS, DIVISION OF THE SOUTH,

Adj't Gen.'s Office, Ft. St. Mark's, April 26, 1818.

GENERAL ORDER.

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 them not to give up their lands under the citizens would be compelled to give up to them Treaty of Fort Jackson, for that the American all their lands under the Treaty of Ghent.

The following detail will compose a special court, to convene at this post, at the hour of 12 M., for the purpose of investigating the charges exhibited against A. Arbuthnot, Robert Christie Ambrister, and such others who are similarly sitting, and comforting the enemy, supplying them uated, 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.

CHARGE 2. Acting as a spy, and aiding, abetwith the means of war.

Mark's fort, dated April 2, 1818, to his son John, Specification 1. In writing a letter from St. at Suwanee, (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 Suwanee towns, for his government.

Relations with Spain.

Specification 2. In writing the letters marked B, without date, and C, with enclosures, Jan. 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 3. 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, the United States, and the Indians, they being citizens of the Spanish Government.

Specification 1. In writing the letters marked F, dated August 26, 1817; G, dated May 13, 1817; and H, threatening them with death, alleging against them false and infamous charges, and using every means in his power to procure their arrest; all which writings and sayings excited, and had a tendency to excite, the Indians and negroes to acts of hostility with the United States.

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To which charges and specifications the prisoner pleaded not guilty.

The prisoner having made application for counsel, it was granted him, when the court proceeded to the examination of the evidence.

JOHN WINSLETT, a witness on the part of the prosecution, being duly sworn, stated that some time before last July the Little Prince received a letter, signed by a Mr. Arbuthnot, advising the upper part of the nation to unite with the lower chiefs in amity, and stating that the best mode for them to repossess themselves of their lands would be to write to him, (Arbuthnot,) and he would send on their complaints to the Governor of Providence, whence it would be forwarded to His Britannic Majesty, and he would have the terms of the Treaty of Ghent attended to; he, moreover, 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 Tustennuggee Hopoy, and is the second chief of the

nation.

Question. 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. Has this Little Prince no other name than what you state?

Answer. Not that I know of.

Question. Do you swear that the letter alluded to was addressed to the Little Prince ?

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

Question. 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 land, 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 charge, that, being at Suwanee, in the town, about the 6th or 7th of April, he was awakened early in the morning by Mr. Ambrister's receiving, by the hands of a negro, who got it from an Indian, a letter from St. Marks, at that time stated by Ambrister to be from the prisoner.

Question by the prisoner. Did you see that letter, or hear it read ?

Answer. I did see the paper, but I did not hear it read.

Question by the prisoner. Did you state that the letter was received by an Indian express? Answer. So the black man that delivered it said.

A question being raised by a member of the court as to their jurisdiction on the third charge, and its specification, the doors were closed, and, after mature deliberation, they decided that this court is incompetent to take cognizance of the offences alleged in that charge and specification.

PETER B. COOK, a former clerk to the prisoner, and a witness on the part of the prosecution, being duly sworn, stated that, about December or January last, the prisoner had a large quantity of powder and lead brought to Suwanee in his ves sel, which he sold to the Indians and negroes; that subsequent to that time, which he cannot recollect, Ambrister brought for the prisoner in his (the prisoner's) vessel nine kegs of powder, and a large quantity of lead, which were taken possession of by the negroes. The witness also identified the letters referred to in the foregoing charges and specifications, marked A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H; also, the power of attorney, No. 1, granted by the Indians to A. Arbuthnot, being the prisoner's handwriting.

Question by the court. Have you at any time within the last twelve months heard any conversation between the prisoner and the chief called Bowlegs relating to the war between the United States and the Seminoles?

Answer. I heard the prisoner tell Bowlegs that he had sent letters to the Prince Regent, and expected soon to have an answer. Some time afterwards, some of the negroes doubted his car

Relations with Spain.

rying those letters, when the prisoner stated that he had, but, the distance being great, it would take some time to receive an answer.

By the court. State to the court when and where you first saw the letter signed A. Arbuthnot, dated April 2, 1818, referred to in the first specification of the second charge.

Answer. About the 6th of April, a black man, who said he had received it from an Indian gave it to Mr. Ambrister, whom I saw reading it.

Question by the court. Do you know by what means that letter was conveyed to Suwanee ? Answer. I understood by an Indian who was sent from Fort St. Mark's.

Question by the court. Who paid the Indian for carrying the letter referred to in the last in terrogatory?

Answer. I do not know.

Question by the court. What steps were taken by the negroes and Indians on the receipt of the letter?

Answer. They at first believed the bearer an enemy, and confined him, but, learning the contrary, began to prepare for the enemy, and the removal of their families and effects across the river; the Indians lived on the opposite side.

Question by the court. Did the Indians and negroes act together in the performance of military duty ?

Ánswer. No; but they always said they would fight together.

Question by the court. Did not Nero command the blacks, and did not Bowlegs own Nero, and was not the latter under the immediate command of Bowlegs?

Answer. Nero commanded the_blacks, and was owned and commanded by Bowlegs; but there were some negro captains who obeyed none but Nero.

Question by the court. What vessel brought to Suwanee the ammunition which you said was sold by the prisoner to the Indians and negroes? Answer. The schooner Chance, now lying at the wharf; she is a foretopsail vessel belonging to the prisoner.

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Colonel Williamson,
Major Montgomery,
Captain Vashon,
Colonel Dyer,
Lieut. Col. Lindsay,

Major Muhlenberg, Lieut. Col. Elliott, Major Fanning, Major Minton,

Captain Crittender.

Lieutenant J. M. Glassell, Recorder. When the further examination of the witness, PETER B. COOK, took place, viz:

Question by the prisoner. How long have you been acquainted with the settlement on the Suwanee?

Answer. Between six and seven months. Question. For what term of years did you engage to live with the prisoner ?

Answer. For no stated period: I was taken by the year.

Question. Were you not discharged by the prisoner from his employ?

Answer. He told me he had no further use for me after I had written the letters to Providence. Question. Where did you stay after you were discharged?

Answer. I staid in a small house belonging to a boy called St. John, under the protection of Nero.

Question. What was the subject-matter of the letters you wrote to Providence?

Answer. After being refused by the prisoner a small venture to Providence, I wrote to my friends for the means to trade by myself.

Question. Do you believe the prisoner had knowledge of the venture being on board the schooner?

Answer. I do not believe he had; it was small and in my trunk.

Question. Do you know that Ambrister was the agent of the prisoner?

Answer. I do not.

Question. Do you think that the powder and lead shipped would more than supply the Indians and negro hunters?

Answer. I did not see the powder and lead. myself, but was told by Bowlegs that he had a great quantity; he had three kegs, keeping to fight with.

Question. Did the Indians reside on the east side of the river ?

Answer. They did.

The witness also identified the manuscript of the prisoner in a paper granting him full power to act in all cases for the Indians, numbered 1; and, also, a letter, without signature, to the Governor of St. Augustine, numbered 2; further, a letter, without date, to Mr. Mitchell, Indian agent, numbered 3; and an unsigned petition of the chiefs of the Lower Creek nation to Governor Cameron, praying his aid in men and munitions of war, numbered 4; all of which the wit-received the information. ness stated to be in the handwriting of the pris

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Question. You were asked of the negroes and Indians, when the letter marked A was communicated, if they did not take up arms; had they received information of the defeat of the Indians at Mickasuky prior to this date?

Answer. It was afterwards, I believe, that they

Question. Did not Bowlegs keep other powder than that got from the prisoner?

Answer. He had some he got from the Bluff, which was nearly done; he said his hunters were always bothering him about powder.

Question. Did you state that, at the time Ambrister ascended the river, there was no other vessel at the mouth of the river?

Answer. There was none other there; there was one had sailed.

Question. There is a letter (A) spoken of;

Relations with Spain.

how do you know that the son of the prisoner had that letter in his possession ?

Answer. I saw him with it, which he dropped, and a boy called John picked it up and gave it

to me.

Question. You stated that the Indians and negroes doubted the fidelity of the prisoner in sending letters to the Prince Regent; do you think that the prisoner would have been punished by them had he not complied with their wishes? Answer. I do not know.

Question. Do you believe that the prisoner was compelled to write the Indian communications? Answer. He was not compelled.

WILLIAM HAMBLY, a witness on the part of the prosecution, being duly sworn, and commencing a statement of what he heard the chiefs say, and the prisoner objecting to hearsay evidence of that kind, the court was cleared, in order to take the question; when it was decided that the prisoner's objection was not valid. The witness was, therefore, recalled, and stated that, fifteen or twenty days after the prisoner's arrival at Ochlochnee, the Seminole Indians began to steal horses from the United States settlements, and commit murders on the Satilla river, which, he was informed by them, was at the instigation of the prisoner.

The chiefs of the little villages in the witness's neighborhood then desired him to write a few lines to the prisoner, stating those reports, and that he did not know that those Indians he was exciting had long been outlawed, and cautioned him against such proceedings, or he might be involved in their ruin. This the witness did, when the prisoner wrote him a long and insulting letter, (which was lost.) upbraiding the witness for calling those Indians outlaws, and accusing him of exciting the Indians to cruel war. The witness was told by all the chiefs and Indians who had seen the prisoner that he advised them to go to war with the United States if they did not surrender the lands which had been taken from them, and that the British Government would support them in it.

The Indians who took the witness and a Mr. Doyle prisoners, which happened on the thirteenth day of December last, told them it was by the prisoner's order; and on their arrival at Mickasuky, (as prisoners,) Kenhagee, and all his chiefs, told them it was by the prisoner's orders they were taken and robbed. On their arrival at Suwanee, they were told by the Indian and negro chiefs, who sat in council over them, that the prisoner had advised that he should be given up to five or six Choctaw Indians, who were saved from the negro fort, who would revenge themselves for the loss of their friends at that place. On their return from Suwanee, the chief Kenhagee told them that he had got the prisoner to write several letters for him; one to the Governor of Providence, one to the British Minister at Washington, one to the Secretary of State in London, and one to the American agent for Indian affairs, protesting against the proceedings of the commanding officer at Fort Scott.

While the witness was at Suwanee, the Indian chief told him that the prisoner had arrived at that place with ten kegs of powder on board of his vessel; and, while in Fort St. Mark's, sometime in March, Hillis Hadjo, or Francis, brought an order from the prisoner to the commandant for two kegs of powder, with other articles, which were in his possession.

Question by the court. Were any murders or depredations committed on the white settlements by the Indians previous to the prisoner's arrival at Ochlochnee?

Answer. None, except one murder near Fort Gaines, which was before or about the time of the prisoner's arrival.

Question. How long have you resided among the Indians? State to the court whether you are acquainted with the Indian language, and how long since you learned it?

Answer. I have resided among them fourteen years, and have understood their language twelve years.

Question. Do you believe the Seminoles would have commenced the business of murder and depredation on the white settlements had it not been at the instigation of the prisoner, and a promise, on his part, of British protection?

Answer. I do not believe they would without being assured of British protection.

Question. What was the light in which the prisoner was viewed by the hostile Seminoles; was it that of an authorized agent of the British Government?

Answer. The different chiefs always represented him to me as such.

The witness recognised the letter marked G, and signed A. Arbuthnot, as being a copy of the one alluded to in his testimony as lost."

Question by the president. Are you acquainted with the prisoner's handwriting?

Answer. I have seen it, but cannot say I am acquainted with it.

Question. Is that which you have just seen, and say is the copy of the one you lost, the prisoner's handwriting?

Answer. It looks to be his handwriting, but I cannot say positively.

Question. Was the prisoner considered as the agent of the Seminoles at the time those murders were committed?

Answer. I had not seen the prisoner at that time; the Indian chiefs told me that the prisoner had reported himself to them as an English agent.

Question. Where did you understand the prisoner to be when you were taken prisoner?

Answer. The Indians told us that he had gone over to Providence, but was expected back by the time we should arrive at Suwanee.

Question. Did you not request Kenhagee to prevail upon the prisoner to give you a passage in his schooner to Providence?

Answer. Yes; but was told that the prisoner refused it, stating that, if we were forced upon him, he would blindfold us, and make us walk overboard.

Question. What were the reasons given by

Relations with Spain.

Kenhagee for the prisoner's not granting your request ?

Answer. Kenhagee stated that the prisoner was fearful of meeting with an American vessel, when we should be taken out, and he thereby lose his schooner.

EDMUND DOYLE, a witness on the part of the prosecution, being duly sworn, was questioned

as follows:

Question by the judge advocate. Do you know anything that would tend to substantiate the charges against the prisoner now before you? Answer. I know nothing but from common report.

WILLIAM S. FULTON, an evidence on the part of the prosecution, being duly sworn; testified to the copy of a letter from A. Arbuthnot to General Mitchell, agent for Indian affairs, dated Suwanee, January 19, 1818, and marked No. 6, as acknowledged by the prisoner to be the same, in substance, as one written by himself at that time; an extract from that letter was then read to the

court.

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ten the letter.

Question by the court. Was not the confession of the prisoner to this letter made voluntarily, and without any constraint whatever?

Answer I conceive it was.

The evidence on the part of the prosecution being closed, the prisoner requested, as a witness, Robert C. Ambrister as one of his witnesses, against whom criminal charges had been filed, and was in custody on account thereof; to which the judge advocate objecting, the court was cleared to take its sense, when it was decided that Robert C. Ambrister, now in custody for similar offences with the prisoner, cannot be examined as evidence before the court.

JOHN LEWIS PHENIX, a previous witness, now on the part of the prisoner, being again sworn, was questioned as follows, viz:

Question by the prisoner. Was there any other vessel at the mouth of the Suwanee river when Ambrister seized your schooner? Answer. Yes.

Answer. It was a sloop, and I understand Ambrister came in her.

Question. Did Ambrister ever mention to you who recommended him to seize the prisoner's schooner, or who assisted him in stimulating the negroes to do so?

Answer. No; I understood he came on board of his own accord.

Question by the court. Have you, since you commanded the prisoner's vessel, ever brought any arms to that part of the country?

Answer. No; I brought a quantity of lead and ten kegs of powder in the last trip.

JOHN WINSLETT, a former witness on the part the prisoner, was questioned as follows, viz: of the prosecution, being recalled on behalf of

opinion that the letter which you say was writQuestion by the prisoner. Are you not of ten by the prisoner to the Little Prince is now in the possession of the Little Prince?

and I believe it to be still in his possession, as Answer. After reading it, I returned it to him, Indians seldom destroy papers of that kind.

The prisoner requesting some time to make up his defence, he was given until to-morrow evening, at four o'clock.

FORT ST. MARK's, April 28, 1818, Four o'clock P. M. The recorder having read over the proceedings of the court with closed doors, the prisoner was recalled into court, and made the defence marked

K, and attached to these proceedings. The doors were then closed, and, after the most mature deliberation on the evidence adduced, the court find the prisoner, Alexander Arbuthnot, guilty of the first specification to the first charge, and guilty of the first charge; guilty of the first and second specifications to the second charge, and guilty of the second charge, leaving out the words "acting as a spy;" they, therefore, do, on the most mature reflection, sentence the prisoner, Alexander Arbuthnot, to be suspended by the neck until he is dead; two-thirds of the court concurring therein. EDMUND P. GAINES, Major General, Pres. of the Court. J. M. GLASSELL, Recorder.

A.

From A. Arbuthnot to his son, John Arbuthnot. FORT ST. MARK's, April 2, 1818, nine o'clock in the morning. DEAR JOHN: As I am ill able to write a long letter, it is necessary to be brief. Before my arIrival here, the commandant had received an express from the Governor of Pensacola, informing him of a large embarcation of troops, &c., under the immediate command of General Jackson; and the boat that brought the despatch reckoned eighteen sail of vessels off Appalachicola. By a deserter that was brought here by the Indians, the commandant was informed that three thou

Question. What vessel was it? Was it not sand men, under the orders of General Jackson, the vessel which Ambrister came in ?

one thousand foot and sixteen hundred horse, un

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