Editing Seminole Wars (section)

===Patriot War of East Florida (1812)===
{{main|Patriot War (Florida)}}
In 1812, General [[George Mathews (Georgia)|George Mathews]] was commissioned by President [[James Madison]] to approach the Spanish governor of East Florida in an attempt to acquire the territory. His instructions were to take possession of any part of the territory of the Floridas upon making "arrangement" with the "local authority" to deliver possession to the U.S. Barring that or invasion by another foreign power, they were not to take possession of any part of Florida.<ref name="Williams1837"/><ref name="senate"/><ref name="Cusick2007">{{cite book |author=James G. Cusick |title=The Other War of 1812: The Patriot War and the American Invasion of Spanish East Florida |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BxHE3OsgU9EC&pg=PA288 |date=1 April 2007 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-2921-5 |pages=103, 261, 288–291 }}</ref> Most of the residents of East Florida were happy with the status quo, so Mathews raised a force of [[Military volunteer|volunteers]] in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] with a promise of arms and continued defense. On 16 March 1812, this force of "Patriots", with the aid of nine [[U.S. Navy]] [[gunboat]]s, seized the [[Original Town of Fernandina Historic Site#Patriots' War|town of Fernandina]] on [[Amelia Island]], just south of the border with Georgia, approximately 50 miles north of St. Augustine.<ref>Patrick. pp. 83–98.</ref>

On 17 March, the Patriots and the town's Spanish authorities signed articles of capitulation.<ref name="Williams1837">{{cite book |author=John Lee Williams |title=The Territory of Florida: Or Sketches of the Topography, Civil and Natural History, of the Country, the Climate, and the Indian Tribes, from the First Discovery to the Present Time |url=https://archive.org/details/territoryflorid01willgoog |year=1837 |publisher=A. T. Goodrich |pages=[https://archive.org/details/territoryflorid01willgoog/page/n201 193]–195 }}</ref> The next day, a detachment of 250 regular United States troops were brought over from Point Peter, Georgia, and the Patriots surrendered the town to Gen. George Mathews, who had the U.S. flag raised immediately.<ref name="senate">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HFHAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA43 |title=In the Senate of The United States. Report of the Court of Claims in the case of Robert Harrison vs. The United States |work=Miscellaneous Documents of the Senate of the United States for the First Session of the Thirty-fifth Congress |year=1858 |location=Washington DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=12–13, 43–49 }}</ref> As agreed, the Patriots held Fernandina for only one day before turning authority over to the U.S. military, an event that soon gave the U.S. control of the coast to St. Augustine. Within several days the Patriots, along with a regiment of regular Army troops and Georgian volunteers, moved toward St. Augustine. On this march the Patriots were slightly in advance of the American troops. The Patriots would proclaim possession of some ground, raise the Patriot flag, and as the "local authority" surrender the territory to the United States troops, who would then substitute the American flag for the Patriot flag. The Patriots faced no opposition as they marched, usually with Gen. Mathews.<ref name="senate"/> Accounts of witnesses state that the Patriots could have made no progress but for the protection of the U.S. forces and could not have maintained their position in the country without the aid of the U.S. troops. The American troops and Patriots acted in close concert, marching, camping, foraging and fighting together. In this way, the American troops sustained the Patriots,<ref name="senate"/> who, however, were unable to take the [[Castillo de San Marcos]] in [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]].

As soon as the U.S. government was notified of these events, Congress became alarmed at the possibility of being drawn into war with Spain, and the effort fell apart. Secretary of State [[James Monroe]] promptly disavowed the actions and relieved Gen. Mathews of his commission on 9 May, on the grounds that neither of the instructed contingencies had occurred.<ref name="Williams1837"/> However, peace negotiations with the Spanish authorities were protracted and slow. Through the summer and autumn, the U.S. and Patriot troops foraged and plundered almost every plantation and farm, most of them having been abandoned by their owners. The troops helped themselves to everything they could find. Stored food was used up, growing crops destroyed or fed to horses, all types of movable property plundered or destroyed, buildings and fences burned, cattle and hogs killed or stolen for butchering, and slaves often dispersed or abducted. This continued until May 1813 and left the formerly inhabited parts in a state of desolation.<ref name="senate"/>

In June 1812, George Mathews met with [[King Payne]] and other [[Seminole]] leaders. After the meeting, Mathews believed that the Seminoles would remain neutral in the conflict. [[Sebastián Kindelán y O'Regan]], the governor of East Florida, tried to induce the Seminoles to fight on the Spanish side. Some of the Seminoles wanted to fight the Georgians in the Patriot Army, but King Payne and others held out for peace. The Seminoles were not happy with Spanish rule, comparing their treatment under the Spanish unfavorably with that received from the British when they held Florida. [[Ahaya]], or Cowkeeper, King Payne's predecessor, had sworn to kill 100 Spaniards, and on his deathbed lamented having killed only 84. At a second conference with the Patriot Army leaders, the Seminoles again promised to remain neutral.<ref>Patrick. pp. 174, 176, 179–81.</ref>

The blacks living in Florida outside of St. Augustine, many of whom were former slaves from Georgia and South Carolina, were not disposed to be neutral. Often slaves in name only to Seminoles, they lived in freedom and feared loss of that freedom if the United States took Florida away from Spain. Many blacks enlisted in the defense of St. Augustine, while others urged the Seminoles to fight the Patriot Army. In a third meeting with Seminole leaders, the Patriot Army leaders threatened the Seminoles with destruction if they fought on the side of the Spanish. This threat gave the Seminoles favoring war, led by King Payne's brother [[Bolek]] (also known as Bowlegs) the upper hand. Joined by warriors from Alligator (near present-day [[Lake City, Florida|Lake City]]) and other towns, the Seminoles sent 200 Indians and 40 blacks to attack the Patriots.<ref>Patrick. pp. 183–85.</ref>

In retaliation for Seminole raids, in September 1812, Colonel [[Daniel Newnan]] led 117 Georgia militiamen in an attempt to seize the Alachua Seminole lands around [[Payne's Prairie]]. Newnan's force never reached the Seminole towns, losing eight men dead, eight missing, and nine wounded after battling Seminoles for more than a week.<ref name=":2" /> A contingent of about 165 expansionist Tennesseans led by Colonel [[John Williams (Tennessee politician)|John Williams]] of Knoxville marched south beginning in December 1812, headed for the Georgia–Florida border of [[St. Marys River (Florida–Georgia)|St. Mary's River]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kanon |first=Tom |title=East Florida Campaign (December 1812 - March 1813) - Brief History of Tennessee in the War of 1812 |url=https://sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com/tsla/history/military/tn1812.htm |access-date=2025-02-24 |website=Tennessee Department of State: Tennessee State Library and Archives}}</ref> Four months later Lt. Colonel [[Thomas Adams Smith]] led 220 U.S. Army regulars and the Tennessee volunteers in a raid on Payne's Town, the chief town of the Alachua Seminoles. Smith's force found a few Indians, but the Alachua Seminoles had abandoned Payne's Town and moved southward. After burning Payne's Town, Smith's force returned to American held territory.<ref name=":2">Patrick. pp. 184–212, 230–234.</ref> <!-- Much of this paragraph was copied from my blog. As I own the copyright I can also use it here. -->

Negotiations concluded for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 1813. On 6 May 1813, the army lowered the flag at Fernandina and crossed the [[St. Marys River (Florida–Georgia)|St. Marys River]] to Georgia with the remaining troops.<ref name="Davis1930">{{cite book |author=T. Frederick Davis |title=United States Troops in Spanish East Florida, 1812-1813 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAIfHAAACAAJ |access-date=25 April 2013 |series=Part 5 |year=1930 |publisher=Florida Historical Society |page=34 }}</ref><ref>Missall. pp. 16–20.</ref>