and he had never a doubt that some day
this territory would have to be conquered and annexed. Moreover
Jackson believed for some years after 1815, according to General
Eaton, that Great Britain would again make war on the United States,
using Florida as a base. At all events, it can have caused the General
no surprise--or regret--to be called again into active service on the
Florida border before the close of 1817.

The hold of the Spaniards upon Florida had been so far weakened by the
War of 1812 that after the restoration of peace they occupied only
three important points--Pensacola, St. Marks, and St. Augustine. The
rest of the territory became a No Man's Land, an ideal resort for
desperate adventurers of every race and description. There was a
considerable Indian population, consisting mainly of Seminoles, a
tribe belonging to the Creek Confederacy, together with other Creeks
who had fled across the border to escape the vengeance of Jackson at
Tohopeka. All were bitterly hostile to the United States. There were
Spanish freebooters, Irish roustabouts, Scotch free lances, and
runaway slaves--a nondescript lot, and all ready for any undertaking
that promised excitement, revenge, or booty. Furthermore there were
some British soldiers who had remained on their own responsibility
after the troops were withdrawn. The leading spirit among these was
Colonel Edward Nicholls, who had already made himself obnoxious to the
United States by his conduct at Pensacola.

At the close of the war Nicholls and his men built a fort on the
Apalachicola, fifteen miles from the Gulf, and began again to collect
and organize fugitive slaves, Indians, and adventurers of every sort,
whom they employed on raids into the territory of the United States
and in attacks upon its inhabitants. The Creeks were falsely informed
that in the Treaty of Ghent the United States had promised to give up
all lands taken from them during the late war, and they were thus
incited to rise in vindication of their alleged rights. What Nicholls
was aiming at came out when, in company with several chieftains, he
returned to England to ask for an alliance between the "mother
country" and his buccaneer state. He met no encouragement, however,
and in reply to an American protest the British Government repudiated
his arts. His role was nevertheless promptly taken up by a misguided
Scotch trader, Alexander Arbuthnot, and the reign of lawlessness
continued.

After all, i