Garson (died 27 July 1816) was an African-American escaped slave and the commander of the Negro Fort in Florida during the First Seminole War.
Biography[]
Garson was an African slave who escaped from slavery in the United States and lived among the Seminole, a collection of Native American and escaped slave communities that flourished in the uncolonized portions of Spanish Florida during the early 19th century. He became the commander of the "Negro Fort", from whih the Seminoles launched arids against the USA; he was responsible for the Watering Hole Massacre of 1816. In response, Andrew Jackson invaded Florida and besieged the "Negro Fort", with Garson refusing to surrender to general Edmund P. Gaines and raising the British flag and a red flag after informing Gaines that the British had instructed him to hold the fort. Garson was captured after the fort was blown up, and he was executed by firing squad for his role in the Watering Hole massacre, while the Choctaw chief was scalped by the Muscogee.