The Prospect Bluff Historic Site at Fort Gadsden is temporarily closed to allow post-hurricane restoration. Here’s the story at franklincounty.news. For official updates, visit www.fs.usda.gov.
I knew I was in trouble when the music stopped.
‘No Service,’ my cell phone declared. Something I should have expected in the middle of Florida’s vast Apalachicola National Forest.
An endless array of cypress, oak, slash and longleaf pine line this lonely stretch of State Road 65. Out of nowhere, a sheriff’s deputy appeared. The only other vehicle on the highway. She let me off with a warning — and directions to my destination.
“Fort Gadsden’s in the next county, about 10 miles,” she said.
I almost blew past the park sign, managing to make the turn down the dirt road that led to the entrance. The road seemed to run on forever. Two miles in, my wife noticed signs warning hunters to keep their weapons away from residences, homes we never saw from the road. Anxiously, we took another turn down another dirt road.
Eventually, we reached the park entrance.
Welcome to perhaps one of Florida’s least accessible historic sites and definitely its most overlooked piece of Black history.
The Fort Gadsden State Historic Site at Prospect Bluff is roughly six miles southwest of Sumatra, a tiny unincorporated community more than an hour’s drive from Tallahassee.
Following skirmishes between American and British forces in northwestern Florida during the War of 1812, the British retreated to this outpost along the Apalachicola River at Prospect Bluff in 1814 and began fortifying it.
In an effort to man the new fort, the British purchased slaves from the Creeks and Seminoles living in the territory. The fort soon became a magnet for free Blacks, runaway slaves and Native Americans.
The British abandoned the fort the following year, leaving a heavily armed garrison to its Black inhabitants. Word spread and more runaways joined the Black and Native Americans already living in and around the fort.
By 1816, the “Negro Fort” had become an affliction upon a growing number of their southern White plantation owners who feared what an armed garrison of runaway slaves would mean to slavery.
Southerners implored the federal government to attack the fort and take the Florida territory away from Spain. Washington was reluctant to stage an attack that might lead to war.
But that didn’t stop then Major General Andrew Jackson from directing Brigadier General Edmund Gaines to launch an illegal assault against the outpost.
Deadliest cannonball in American history
The actual Battle of the Negro Fort was brief but brutal. The Black inhabitants had not been trained in the use of the cannon and other heavy munitions and were unable to defend the fort against the invading American forces and their Creek Indian allies.
All it took was one hot cannon shot from an American gunboat to land in the fort’s powder magazine to blow up the garrison and end the battle. About 270 inhabitants were killed and the rest were captured. It was the deadliest cannonball in American history, according to Dale Cox, author of The Fort at Prospect Bluff.
The demolished fort would later be rebuilt by Lieutenant James Gadsden and used as a southern outpost until a malaria outbreak forced Confederate troops to abandon the fort for good. In time, the forest overran the site, and its remains lost to neglect and the pages of history.
What remains of the old Negro Fort/Fort Gadsden site today should appeal to both the history buff and the lover of the open road and the great outdoors.
Apalachicola National Forest offers a long list of recreational activities, including camping, canoeing, hiking, kayaking and swimming. At the Fort Gadsden Historic Site, visitors can take in the long-ago refuge amid the solitude of the surrounding forest.
The site contains historical markings, a picnic area and a hiking trail with interpretative kiosks that explains the story of the two forts. The trail leads visitors to the Apalachicola River and continues to the original fortress and the “Renegade Cemetery,” where many of the fort’s Black inhabitants who died in the battle’s explosion are buried.
From there, it’s less than a 40-minute drive to Apalachicola, a historic yet hip port town along Florida’s Gulf Coast. The community offers everything from nationally recognized restaurants to an array of festivals, historic walking tours and other outdoor activities. It’s the perfect culmination to an exciting road trip into a remote piece of Florida history.
The site of the Negro Fort still represents a powerful symbol that once threatened America’s expanding slave society. Men, women and children died fighting to live free.
Unfortunately, the memorial to this bygone refuge is located in such a remote part of Florida that it doesn’t attract visitors who would appreciate its significance as a testament to an American ideal.
About the artist, Jackson Walker
A native Floridian, Jackson Walker creates detailed oil paintings in a traditional realist style. Historical and military subjects are faithfully created, not only as fine works of art but also as an honest documentation of events and personalities of Florida’s past. From the early Spanish adventurers to the Florida we know today, his collection of paintings portrays incidents and personalities over 500 years of Florida history. Visit Jackson Walker’s gallery at thejwstudio.com
- Jackson Walker (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 01/02/2014 (Publication Date) – The Florida Historical Society Press (Publisher)
More about Fort Gadsden
Nearby things to do
Douglas C. Lyons is a contributing writer with a deep interest in the influence of African-Americans on Florida’s development and history. An explorer, a veteran journalist and editorial writer, Doug has lived in Florida for nearly 25 years.
John E. Killett
Tuesday 16th of August 2022
I stumbled upon this article looking for information on the possible re-opening of the negro fort/fort gadsden site which for reasons passing all rational comprehension remains closed to, apparently this day (having been closed for some years now). But what struck me the most about this article was the SO Deputy stopping your vehicle, for no reason, in the middle of nowhere. That makes less sense to me than fort gadsden's continued closure.
DJ
Sunday 2nd of May 2021
Learning about these events constantly reminds me of the damage colonialism and slavery has done to our black ancestors in the United States' and across the world. Most people are not interested in true history but would rather live a lie that make them comfortable. This world will not know peace until we face these uncomfortable truths with the right attitude and begin treating everyone with respect and dignity.