1814 Battle of Pensacola pivotal for nation

  • November 10, 2014
  • /   Joe Vinson
  • /   community-dashboard
Two hundred years ago, Andrew Jackson chased the British from Spanish Pensacola in what many historians consider a pivotal battle of the War of 1812. Dr. William S. Belko, University of West Florida associate professor and director of the Early American Studies graduate program, is one of them. He marked the bicentennial of the 1814 Battle of Pensacola with a lecture on Thursday entitled “A Cold War Mentality Clouds a Hot War Reality: The Creek War, The War of 1812 in the South, and the 1814 U.S. Invasion of Pensacola.” [caption id="attachment_9377" align="alignright" width="300"]Dr. William S. Belko Dr. William S. Belko[/caption] “If it weren’t for taking Pensacola, the British may have landed and thwarted the [United States] war effort in the South,” Belko said. “By taking Pensacola, Jackson threw the British all into arrears. They were going to take Mobile, apparently, and eventually take New Orleans, but now they had to rush to New Orleans, and by that time Jackson beat them there and had plenty of time to build up the defenses.” “So taking Pensacola really won the War of 1812.”

Timeline of the battle

While Spain had allied with the United Kingdom against Napoleon on the European continent, they tried to remain neutral with the fledgling United States during the American war. “The Spanish were kind of in a bad position, and they ‘invited’ the British to come in and occupy, which was the stupidest move they ever made, and they realized that as soon as it happened,” Belko said. After American forces repelled the British at Mobile Bay in September 1814, Jackson knew that the British were using Pensacola as a staging ground, so he marshaled about 4,000 troops and marched there in early November. The relationship between the British forces and Spanish population at Pensacola was already strained, but it worsened when they learned that Jackson was coming. Prominent Pensacola resident John Innerarity wrote to his brother James, “All the inhabitants were thrown into the greatest consternation and alarm, which was infinitely increased by the threats of the British Commodore that so soon as the Spanish flag was lowered the Town would be levelled.” The British had garrisoned their forces close to the city at Fort San Miguel (now known as Fort George) atop Gage Hill. On Nov. 6, Jackson arrived at Pensacola and sent a message to the Spanish governor, Mateo Gonzáles Manrique, demanding he surrender the city. “I have come not as an enemy of Spain,” Jackson wrote, “but I come with a force sufficient to prevent the repetition of those acts so injurious to the U.S. and so inconsistent with the neutral character of Spain.” Jackson's initial messenger was fired upon as he approached the British-occupied town. A second messenger was given a flat refusal by Manrique. When Jackson heard, he commanded simply, “Turn out the troops.” The next day, Jackson’s infantry made a single charge through town and overwhelmed the British battery with fewer than a dozen American casualties. Manrique appeared with a white flag and surrendered the town to Jackson immediately. Belko said the Spanish citizens much preferred the treatment they received from Jackson. “He forbade the [U.S.] troops from doing anything to molest the citizens and their property in any way,” he said, “and boy, it won them over.” The British troops, meanwhile, fled west to Fort San Carlos (now Fort Barrancas). Two days later, before Jackson could launch an assault on San Carlos, they detonated the fort to prevent it from falling into American hands and retreated by ship. The Battle of Pensacola set the stage for the decisive American victory at the Battle of New Orleans two months later. By uprooting the British stronghold, Jackson bought enough time to prepare fortifications along the Mississippi River.

Jackson's legacy

The 1814 Battle of Pensacola was the first of three times Jackson would enter Spanish Pensacola on behalf of the United States. The second time was in 1818, as part of the First Seminole War. Three years later, in 1821, Jackson officiated the transfer of Florida to the United States and became the territory’s first governor. The 1814 invasion was controversial, as Jackson did not have official orders to take the city, and it could have potentially provoked a greater response from Spain. Belko, however, thinks the image of Jackson as the “wild, crazy man invading” is inaccurate. “There’s always the great debate whether or not he did it on his own, or if that was a plausible denial by the presidency,” he said. “Now scholars are finding more and more — and I’m one of them — that of course [President James Madison and Secretary James Monroe] were complicit.” Because Jackson succeeded where so many others had failed, Belko said, “you bet they’re going to use him time and time again.” “That’s why they sent him down a second time,” he said. “The guy’s going to get something done.”
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