The British Period

1763-1783

Map of West and East Florida

Fort St. Marks

While the Spanish where still constructing the stone fort, the British took control of San Marcos de Apalache in 1763, which they called St. Marks. The British needed this small, isolated fort to protect the established trading posts that were an important part of keeping the peace with the natives.[1] James Pampellone, the commanding officer of the British 9^th Regiment, the first British garrison stationed at Fort St. Marks, described the stone fort as having nine sides and nine angles, situated between two rivers, and surrounded by a ditch, that filled with water during high tide. He ordered his soldiers to begin repairs on the fort, which was not in the best condition when the Spanish turned it over. They fixed the houses within the fort, and raised the protective walls by three feet. The fort’s second commander, George Swettenham, had vegetables planted outside the walls, and also encouraged the soldiers to plant their own personal gardens, so that there would always be a steady supply of provisions for the garrison.

Fort St. Marks during British Occupation

A hurricane damaged Fort St. Marks on October 23, 1766, but the royal engineer, James Moncrief, was quick to make repairs. In 1767, the British government in Florida moved the northern boundary of West Florida to a line extending from the mouth of the Yazoo River east of the Chattahoochee River, consisting of roughly the lower third of the present states of Mississippi and Alabama. During this time, more Creeks began migrating into northern Florida, to the old fields of the Apalachee, and joined the Seminole tribe.

Just a few years later, in 1769, Fort St. Marks was ordered by the commander-in-chief of British forces in North America, Thomas Gage, to withdraw its garrison due to military spending cuts. The governor of West Florida, James Grant, argued unsuccessfully that because of possible wars in the future, strategically, the forts in East Florida ought to be maintained not dismantled. But nevertheless, Fort St. Marks was abandoned by the British military, who then marched overland to St. Augustine. The fort itself was turned over to Daniel McMurphy who began to operate an Indian trading post there. By September 1769, McMurphy was at Fort St. Marks supplying the few British residents of the area, and bargaining with Creeks and Seminoles for deerskins and furs. Governor Grant was confident that this arrangement would promote commerce, Creek migration into Florida, and would enhance relations with Creek and Seminole villages already established near St. Marks. Nearly two decades would go by before the fort was re-occupied by a military force.

Panton, Leslie and Company

When Great Britain’s American colonies declared independence, many Floridians condemned it, as the majority were loyal to the crown. When news of the declaration reached St. Augustine, the citizens burned effigies of John Hancock and Sam Adams in protest, and many actually helped launch raids into the American south during the war. The two Floridas remained loyal to Great Brittan throughout the American Revolutionary War. However, Spain (participating indirectly as allies of the French) captured Pensacola from the British in 1781. Panton, Leslie & Company was a company of Scottish merchants active in trading in the Bahamas and with the native tribes of what is now the southeastern United States during the late 1700s and early 1800s. Panton, Leslie & Company was a partnership formed at St. Augustine, the capital of British East Florida, by William Panton, John Leslie, Thomas Forbes, Charles McLatchy, and William Alexander in 1783, for the purpose of trading with the Indians of Florida and adjacent territory claimed by Spain.

The partners, who were loyalists, had been forced out of the United States during the American Revolution with their property confiscated. Panton, Leslie & Company were granted a monopoly on this trade in East Florida, and eventually in West Florida. For many years Panton, Leslie & Company dominated trade with the Creeks and Seminoles. The partners harbored a great hatred to the United States, and used their influence with the Indians to advance Spanish territorial claims against the U.S., and to encourage Indians to resist American settlers and U.S. attempts to acquire land from the tribes. To do business with the Creeks and Seminoles of the Wakulla area, Panton, Leslie and Company established a trading post on the Wakulla River, about four miles north of San Marcos de Apalache.

This map shows the location of the trading post (old store) in relation to the fort

Sources: 

Raab, J. W. (2008). Spain, Britain and the American Revolution in Florida, 1763-1783. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.

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[1] Raab, p.44