West Bank of the Mississippi River.
The small town of Jackson, 100 kilometers northeast of the Town of Memphis.
Napoleon watched as soldiers escorted prisoners along the path and turned to Lucien, asking, "How much gunpowder was seized?"
"About 1.7 tons, General."
"Only that much? These stingy Americans." Napoleon shook his head, "Redistribute it to the artillery company. Also, personally remind the native officers not to kill the prisoners randomly."
"Yes, General."
Hmm, Major MacKenzie, who was responsible for reinforcing in Memphis, hadn’t even reached Jackson Town before inexplicably being surrounded by the French Army.
He failed to achieve his objective of "delaying the French Army for two days" and couldn’t even retreat to Nashville before being annihilated by Napoleon.
Napoleon didn’t find much urgently needed gunpowder in Memphis, but MacKenzie supplemented him with some.
Napoleon turned to another officer, drawing a few circles on the ground with a stick: "Wilkinson will surely come to Memphis to find us first.
"Colonel Dalmagne, lead the Fifth Infantry Regiment and the Grenadier Company over there. I recall there’s a maple grove nearby that can be used for concealment.
"The artillery company is positioned on the high ground over here..."
As he was speaking, an aide came briskly with a newspaper, saluting, "General, perhaps you should look at this."
Napoleon took the newspaper, seeing "Kentucky Gazette" printed at the top, dated ten days ago.
"Where did this come from?"
"The cavalry bought it from a merchant in Nashville, General." The aide pointed to the left side of the front page, "Look here."
He suddenly remembered the commander’s poor English skills, and coughed softly before reading, "Major McNab has reached Fort Mackinac, and with his loyal 1500 soldiers, will head through the dense forest to Cairo..."
Napoleon dismissively said, "The British shouldn’t be moving that quickly. This must be misinformation by Wilkinson to distract us. Hmm, military movements of the British Army published openly in a newspaper and conveniently sold in Nashville."
The "Kentucky Gazette" is published in Lexington, which is not far from Fort Mackinac by Lake Michigan, but for military information to be obtained there is highly unusual.
Dalmagne seemed tense, saying, "General, if the British did reach Michigan, they could quickly threaten Saint Louis."
Fort Mackinac is in northern Michigan, less than 400 kilometers from Cairo. From there, it could directly threaten the north of Saint Louis.
Napoleon smiled slightly, "Someone will deal with them. Even if the British reach Cairo smoothly, it will take at least a month and a half. We have plenty of time for maneuvers."
The aide turned to the second page: "And here, General. ’General Hampton has successfully controlled all of Florida...is now fully hunting runaway slaves’."
Napoleon snorted coldly, "Clearly, that’s a farce. General Jourdan has over two thousand soldiers, including the 11th Infantry Battalion, how could Hampton defeat him?"
Keep in mind, Hampton’s Army only numbers around three thousand. Even if Jourdan weren’t a famous French general, but someone like Little Turtle, a defensive battle with two thousand soldiers wouldn’t be lost.
However, after speaking, Napoleon paused and turned to ask another liaison officer, "Captain Jerome, has there been no news from Florida?"
"Not yet, General."
Napoleon couldn’t help but frown.
According to the previous plan, Jourdan was to launch a feigned attack on Savannah City in the near future, so Americans would feel the Eastern Coast was under threat, and wouldn’t dare send more troops westward.
The message from Saint Augustine to Mobile, then transmitted to Pakaha via Sharp Signal Tower, should take no more than a week in total.
Could it be that Jourdan really was defeated?
Napoleon shook his head powerfully, trying to dismiss the absurd thought and then focused on the strategic deployment.
Yet, throughout the majority of the day, he couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.
By evening, news finally arrived from Pakaha about Florida, but it was bad news.
Saint Augustine had fallen, Jourdan’s army retreated to Pensacola, but the situation wasn’t promising.
Napoleon’s expression instantly became grim.
It seems Jourdan had been completely ruined by the opulent life in Paris and was being driven back time and again by the Americans...
Now, he couldn’t even hold off the US Eastern Army, and soon the American Army would launch an attack from West Florida on Baton Rouge.
Mind you, this was news from a week ago. Whether Pensacola was still in the hands of the Spanish Governor at this point was uncertain.
Napoleon paced back and forth in front of his tent, repeatedly thinking over the situation: At present, he can’t afford to wait for Wilkinson to make mistakes slowly—he must take the initiative to eliminate his army and create the most advantageous situation before reinforcements from the Eastern United States arrive.
After a moment, he turned to Lucien and said, "Gather all the officers in my tent immediately!"
...
West Florida.
Town of Mobile.
Jourdan had just sent off Governor White when his attendant brought in a mixed-race man who looked like a merchant, knocking on the door, "General, the Santo Domingo ship has arrived."
Jourdan’s eyes lit up and before the merchant could salute, he grabbed him and asked, "Was the journey smooth? How many people came?"
The latter quickly replied, "A total of 620 people, General. 205 mulattoes, the rest are black. But most of them have participated in the War of Independence, with rich experience."
——————
The "Treaty of Florida," formally known as the "Adams-Onís Treaty" (also known as the "Transcontinental Treaty"), was a boundary agreement signed between the United States and Spain in February 1819. The treaty stipulated that Spain would formally cede the Florida Colony to the United States and delineate the Sabine River as the boundary between the United States and the New Spain Governor’s Territory. Through this treaty, the United States gained Spain’s claim to sovereignty over the Oregon region, while absolving a 5 million US Dollar debt to Spain.
Prior to the treaty’s signing, in 1818, General Andrew Jackson led an invasion into Florida, occupying multiple settlements and sparking a diplomatic crisis. Due to the colony’s sparse population and its distance from Spain, Spain ultimately chose to abandon Florida. Following the treaty’s enactment, some American expansionists were dissatisfied with the territorial divisions, leading figures like James Long to invade Texas in 1819 and establish a provisional government, only to be expelled by Spanish forces.
The "Treaty of Florida," formally known as the "Adams-Onís Treaty" (also known as the "Transcontinental Treaty"), was a boundary agreement signed between the United States and Spain in February 1819. The treaty stipulated that Spain would formally cede the Florida Colony to the United States and delineate the Sabine River as the boundary between the United States and the New Spain Governor’s Territory. Through this treaty, the United States gained Spain’s claim to sovereignty over the Oregon region, while absolving a 5 million US Dollar debt to Spain.
Prior to the treaty’s signing, in 1818, General Andrew Jackson led an invasion into Florida, occupying multiple settlements and sparking a diplomatic crisis. Due to the colony’s sparse population and its distance from Spain, Spain ultimately chose to abandon Florida. Following the treaty’s enactment, some American expansionists were dissatisfied with the territorial divisions, leading figures like James Long to invade Texas in 1819 and establish a provisional government, only to be expelled by Spanish forces.