or William Lawrence. On the fifteenth of September the
attack was made by a squadron of four ships of war, assisted by a land
force of seven hundred marines and Indians. Though the enemy mounted
ninety-two pieces of artillery, in the assault made they were defeated
and driven off to sea again, with a loss of two hundred killed and
wounded, the flagship of the commander sent to the bottom, and the
remaining ships seriously damaged.

ASSAULT AND CAPTURE OF PENSACOLA, THE SPANISH CAPITAL OF
FLORIDA--THE BRITISH DRIVEN TO SEA.

Incensed at the open and continued violations of neutrality by the
Spanish Governor, who had permitted Pensacola to be made a recruiting
camp for the arming and drilling of their Indian allies by the British,
General Jackson determined to march his army against this seat of
government, and to enforce the observance of neutrality on the part of
the Spanish commandant at the point of the bayonet if need be. He had
removed his headquarters to Fort Montgomery, where by the first of
November his command consisted of one thousand regular troops and two
thousand militia, mainly from Tennessee and Mississippi--in all, about
three thousand men. With these he set out for Pensacola, and on the
evening of the sixth of November encamped within two miles of the town.
He sent in Major Peire, bearing a flag of truce to the Governor, with a
message that Pensacola must no longer be a refuge and camp for the
enemies of the United States, and that the town must be surrendered,
together with the forts. The messenger was fired on and driven back from
Fort St. Michael, over which the British flag had been floating jointly
with the flag of Spain. The firing was done by British troops harbored
within. Governor Maurequez disavowed knowledge of the outrage, but
refused to surrender his authority. The next morning the intrepid
Jackson entered the town and carried by storm its defenses, the British
retreating to their ships and putting off to sea. Fort Barrancas was
blown up by the enemy, to prevent the Americans from turning its guns
upon the escaping British vessels. The Spanish commandant made profuse
apologies, and pledged that he would in future observe a strict
neutrality.

Jackson, fearing another attempt to capture Mobile by the retiring
fleet, withdrew from Pensacola and marched for the former place,
arriving there on the eleventh of November. At Mobile, messengers from
those in highest authority at New Orleans met