The Republic of West Florida, 1810



The Republic of West Florida, 1810



The Bonnie Blue Flag

A well-known banner of Southern independence,

the "Bonnie Blue" first flew in 1810 as the

national flag of the Republic of West Florida.



Cannon at Fort Conde

The old French fort at Mobile,

then called Fort Carlotta, was

help by Spanish forces who

refused to surrender to either

the Republic of the U.S. Army.



Oakley Plantation, Louisiana

The main house at Oakley

Plantation was still new when

the Republic of West Florida

declared its independence.



Remembering the Republic

A billboard in East Feliciana

Parish, Louisiana, notes the

bicentennial of the 1810

Republic of West Florida.



The Republic of West Florida (1810)



Deep South Republic of 1810



Fort San Carlos Site

The Pentagon Barracks in

Baton Rouge stand adjacent

to the site of Fort San Carlos,

which was taken by Republic

forces in 1810. The fort was in

the area to the left of the

barracks.



Copyright 2011 & 2013 by Dale Cox

All rights reserved.



Last Updated July 7, 2013



While many know that Texas was a republic

unto itself before coming into the United

States, few realize that parts of Louisiana,

Mississippi and Alabama and potentially

Florida were as well.



Following the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, a

diplomatic dispute grew over ownership of

the vast region delineated by the Mississippi

River on the west, the 31st Parallel to the

north, the Perdido River to the east and Lake

Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico to the

South. Spain possessed the area and had

controlled it since it was returned to Spanish

control at the end of the American Revolution.

The United States, however, claimed that the

territory was part of the Louisiana Purchase,

even though France did not possess it at the

time of the great acquisition.



The region had originally been claimed by

the French, who planted settlements from the

Mississippi east to Mobile Bay during the

1700s. Great Britain gained control of the

district - along with all of Spanish Florida - in

1763 under the terms of the treaty that ended

the Seven Years or French and Indian War.

England then combined the former French

territory in what is now Louisiana, Alabama

and Mississippi with the section of Florida

west of the Apalachicola River to create its

new colony of West Florida. Spain, which

allied with the fledgling United States in the

American Revolution, in turn gained control of

the entire region in 1783 by the treaty that

ended the revolution.



When the Louisiana Purchase was finalized

in 1803, France had no control or legal title to

West Florida. Spain still occupied the region

and Spanish troops held posts at Mobile,

Baton Rouge and elsewhere. The growing

United States coveted the region, but had no

legitimate claim to it.



Many of the citizens of West Florida in 1803

were former Americans who had migrated

down into the area to gain rich farmland in

the Florida Parishes. Disappointed at finding

themselves still under Spanish rule, they

staged an unsuccessful revolution in 1804

but were put down by the Spanish military.



In June of 1810, many of these people began

a series of secret meetings (and three public

ones) to plan another revolt. They quietly

armed themselves, organized a military and

prepared for action.



The long-awaited revolution began on

September 23, 1810, when an armed force

led by Philemon Thomas attacked and

captured the Spanish fort at Baton Rouge.

Two Spanish soldiers were killed and three

wounded in the attack, but when the smoke

cleared the flag of the new Republic of West

Florida was raised over the fort.



Best known today as the "Bonnie Blue Flag"

of Southern Independence, the flag was

made by Melissa Johnson, the wife of Major

Isaac Johnson of the West Florida Dragoons.

Consisting of a rectangular blue field with a

single blue star (representing the new

republic), it first flew as the national flag of

the Republic of West Florida.



On September 26, 1810, the people of the

new republic declared their independence

from Spain. An offer was immediately made

to Governor David Holmes of the Mississippi

Territory and Governor W.C.C. Claiborne of

the Orleans Territory (Louisiana) to take

possession of the territory on behalf of the

United States. Understandably unsure of

their authority, the two governors waffled and

the issue made its way up to President

James Madison in Washington, D.C.



Assuming they had been rebuffed in their

offer, the leaders of the Republic of West

Florida moved forward in establishing a

permanent government. St. Francisville, in

present-day Louisiana, was named the

national capital and on October 24, 1810, a

constitution was adopted. Similar to the U.S.

Constitution, the document established a

supreme court and two houses of the

legislature. Fulworth Skipwith was named

the first (and only) leader of the Republic.



Three days after West Florida completed the

formation of its national government, the

United States suddenly acted. On October 27,

1810, President James Madison issued a

proclamation claiming the territory for the

United States. This was done without the

approval of Congress or through negotiation

with either the Republic or Spain and its

legality was the subject of serious question.



Governor Claiborne was ordered to take

possession of the territory and, with

assistance from Governor Holmes, moved to

do so. U.S. troops occupied the national

capital at St. Francisville on December 6,

1810, and raised the Stars and Stripes over

Baton Rouge four days later.



Reaction to the U.S. seizure was mixed.

Although many of the West Florida leaders

had originally supported turning the territory

over to the United States, they had ultimately

gone forward with the development of an

independent nation. Skipwith, it is said,

pledged to shed his blood for the Republic.

The Spanish garrison at Fort Carlotta in

Mobile refused to give up the post and would

not do so until faced with attack by a large

American force in 1813.



The Republic of West Florida passed into

history and the territory it once claimed

became parts of the states of Louisiana,

Mississippi and Alabama. The legality of the

U.S. takeover remains questionable, but the

results were permanent.



The Bonnie Blue Flag of the Republic was

not forgotten and flew again when Southern

states declared their independence from the

Union in 1861 at the beginning of the Civil

War (or War Between the States).



Forgotten, however, was the marching song

of West Florida's army, which included this

unique verse:



West Floriday, that lovely nation,

Free from king and tyranny,

Thru' the world shall be respected,

For her true love of Liberty.



St. Francisville , the capital of the Republic, is

today a charming small town known for its

rich history and the beauty of the magnificent

old plantation homes that surround it. One of

these, Oakley Plantation, stood at the time of

the revolution and can be seen today at

Audubon State Historic Site . Details on the

history of the Republic of West Florida can

also be obtained at the West Feliciana

Historical Society museum.



Interstate 12 through the Florida Parishes of

Louisiana has been designed and marked

as the Republic of West Florida Highway.



Old Spanish Fort

The historic Old Spanish Fort,

also known as the La Point -

Krebs House, in Pascagoula,

Mississippi, was already

nearly a century old when it

became part of the Republic

of West Florida.



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