So on July 27, 1816, The U.S. Army & Navy surrounded-then launched an assault on Fort Negro. The first attack failed. But the second attack led to an explosion of the fort's Ammunition storage. An estimated 270 Fort Negro soldiers were killed & buried in a mass grave. Only sixty four of the inhabiting soldiers survived. On three of the sixty four escaped injury. The fort's leader Garcia was executed, and the rest were sent back into slavery. Fort Negro, along with nearby Fort Mose stand as little known moments in the struggle against the oppressive & violent occupation of this land, by invading European forces.
Pretty much everyone knows a little about The "Underground Railroad." But how many have heard of "Fort Negro." Abandoned by fleeing British soldiers, after The War of 1812, Fort Negro served as a rendezvous point for fugitive slaves from the Southern states in the early 1800's. Led by a man simply known as Garcia, the heavily armed fort was occupied by more than 300 Black and Native Americans. Built on the banks of the Apalachicola River in Florida, Fort Negro became a focal point of General andrew Jackson-set for destruction as part to upholding American claims to a land that was not theirs. So on July 27, 1816, The U.S. Army & Navy surrounded-then launched an assault on Fort Negro. The first attack failed. But the second attack led to an explosion of the fort's Ammunition storage. An estimated 270 Fort Negro soldiers were killed & buried in a mass grave. Only sixty four of the inhabiting soldiers survived. On three of the sixty four escaped injury. The fort's leader Garcia was executed, and the rest were sent back into slavery. Fort Negro, along with nearby Fort Mose stand as little known moments in the struggle against the oppressive & violent occupation of this land, by invading European forces.
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