Battle of African Fort (Negro Fort)

This battle was the first major engagement of the Seminole Wars. Led by Andrew Jackson and justified by John Quincy Adams as necessary for national "self-defense", it marks the beginning of the American conquest of Florida. The Fort itself was built by the British on Spanish controlled land during the War of 1812 but mostly unused. When the British withdrew from Florida after the war, General Sir Edward Nicholls, an abolitionist and advocate for Native rights, purposefully left the fort intact, and well armed, hoping the existence of the Fort controlled by Maroons would prove an existential threat to the institution of slavery. Indeed southern slavers were very upset about the existence of the fort and the significance of this event is notable in that the Seminole Wars were not only about the forced removal of Florida's Indigenous populations, but they were fought for the security of the slave-holding South, meant to destroy Black and Indigenous solidarity. At the time of the seige there were ~330 people occupying the Fort ~200 of which were considered 'maroons', an additional ~30 Choctaw and Seminole fighters and the rest were women and children. The fort was completely destroyed when the British shot a 'hot cannonball' into the magazine causing a massive explosion. Most sources say only ~60 people survived on the side of the resistance. The Black survivors were returned to slavery. Anger at the destruction of the fort led to continued resistance and the official outbreak of the first Seminole War.