all lands taken from them during the late war, and they were thus
incited to rise in vindication of their alleged rights. What Nicholls
was aiming at came out when, in company with several chieftains, he
returned to England to ask for an alliance between the "mother
country" and his buccaneer state. He met no encouragement, however,
and in reply to an American protest the British Government repudiated
his arts. His rôle was nevertheless promptly taken up by a misguided
Scotch trader, Alexander Arbuthnot, and the reign of lawlessness
continued.

After all, it was Spain's business to keep order on the frontier; and
the United States waited a year and a half for the Madrid Government
to give evidence of intent to do so. But, as nothing but vain promises
were forthcoming, some American troops engaged in building a fort on
the Apalachicola, just north of the boundary line, marched down the
river in July, 1816, bombarded Nicholls's Negro Fort, blew up its
magazine, and practically exterminated the Negro and Indian garrison.
A menace to the slave property of southern Georgia was thus removed,
but the bigger problem remained. The Seminoles were restive; the
refugee Creeks kept up their forays across the border; and the rich
lands acquired by the Treaty of Fort Jackson were fast filling with
white settlers who clamored for protection. Though the Monroe
Administration had opened negotiations for the cession of the whole
Florida country to the United States, progress was slow and the
outcome doubtful.

Matters came to a head in the closing weeks of 1817. General Gaines,
who was in command on the Florida border, had tried repeatedly to get
an interview with the principal "Red Stick" chieftain, but all of his
overtures had been repulsed. Finally he sent a detachment of soldiers