Fort Gadsden, Liberty County, FL 200 years old

As a past president of the Jacksonville Historical Society and 40 year member of the Florida Forestry Association, I was surprised to learn from a Forestry newsletter about Fort Gadsden on the Apalachicola River, now in Liberty County, Florida, which I had not known of.  Original development was in then Spanish Florida by Col. Edward Nicholls of the Royal Marines after the Battle of New Orleans. Spanish control was weak and the Brits wanted to harass the USA. Local Indians and former slaves were recruited to man a well-equipped fort on the east bank of the river and about 60 miles south of the Georgia line.  Trade from the USA to the Gulf of Mexico on the river was threatened.

On July 27, 1816, U.S. Navy forces attacked what was then known as “The Negro Fort”.  One of the early shots with a heated cannon ball hit the fort’s magazine and destroyed it in the deadliest cannon shot in American history.  About 270 to 300 defenders, including women and children, were killed and there were about 30 survivors.

In our Civil War, Confederates rebuilt a fort for defense on the site.  Yankees took it in 1863.

Fort Gadsden National Landmark in the Apalachicola National Forest close to Sumatra, Florida will have a 200 year anniversary on Saturday, October 22 at 11:30.  A traditional ceremony will have a Seminole Color Guard and an invocation in Miccosukee language by a medicine man. For further information, contact the Apalachicola Ranger District Office at 850-643-2282, or website http://www.fs.usda.gov/apalachicola.

For help with your commercial and land real estate needs, please call Henry Rogers, CCIM, ALC, with Coldwell Banker Commercial Benchmark in Jacksonville at 904-421-8537