On this date in 1815 the first Seminole War began with the attack on a fort held by runaway slaves in Florida.* Some sources credit Colonel Edmund Gaines as leading the attack; others credit Andrew Jackson with assaulting the fort in 1816.
The fort held by the rebel slaves was destroyed when a cannon attack exploded a munitions pile, killing over 200 men women and children. The war set the stage for Florida coming into the union in 1819.
*(Wikepedia credits the beginning of the Seminole Wars to 1816 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminole_wars)
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