Weather: Partly Cloud - 66/93F
Route: From Mobile, AL 250 miles - first on I-10 east and then FL-65 south.
Significance: The British built a fort here on a slight rise overlooking the Apalachicola River during the War of 1812. The area was mostly inhabited by Native Americans and African Americans who were fugitive slaves. After the War of 1812 ended the British abandoned the fort - however they left their guns, cannons, and ammunition to the African Americans and Native Americans who they had trained. By 1816, the U.S. government was concerned that the area would attract slaves in Georgia and Alabama - and that its mere existence could lead to a general slave revolt. During this time period the fort became known as "Negro Fort." In 1816 the U.S. floated gunboats up the river to attempt to take over the fort. On July 27, 1816 a cannonball fired from a U.S. boat hit the ammunition magazine and caused an explosion heard for 100 miles. The explosion killed approximately 270 of the 300 African American men, women, and children at the fort. Those who survived were put back into slavery and the African American community in the area was basically wiped out. Just five years later, Florida would become a U.S. state in 1821. The push to obtain Florida from the Spanish was mainly due to worries of the U.S. government that it would continue to be a haven for Native Americans and escaped slaves, who could attack the U.S. from this foreign soil.
Further Reading:
Millett, Nathaniel. The Maroons of Prospect Bluff and Their Quest for Freedom in the Atlantic World.
Cox, Dale. The Fort at Prospect Bluff: The British Post at the Apalachicola and the Battle of Negro Fort.
Clavin, Matthew. The Battle of Negro Fort: The Rise and Fall of a Fugitive Slave Community.
Websites: National Forest Website
National Park Service Underground Railroad Website
2017 New York Times article on Prospect Bluff and Ft. Mose.
Video:
Historical overview of the fort and area.
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