Wikipedia

Edward Nicolls

For the colonial official and engineer, seeEdward Hugh Dyneley Nicolls.

Sir Edward NicollsKCB(c. 1779– 5 February 1865) was anAnglo-Irishofficer of theRoyal Marines.Known as "Fighting Nicolls", he had a distinguished military career. According to his obituary inThe Times,he was "in no fewer than 107 actions, in various parts of the world", and had "his left leg broken and his right leg severely injured, was shot through the body and right arm, had received a severe sabre cut in the head, was bayoneted in the chest, and had lost the sight of an eye."[2]

Sir
Edward Nicolls
KCB
The only known portrait of Nicolls[1]
2ndSuperintendent of Fernando Po
In office
4 April 1829 – 29 August 1832(1829-04-04–1832-08-29)
Preceded byWilliam Fitzwilliam Owen
Succeeded byJohn Beecroft
6thCommandant of Ascension Island
In office
21 March 1823 – 3 November 1828(1823-03-21–1828-11-03)
Preceded byRobert Campbell
Succeeded byWilliam Bate
Personal details
BornUnknown date,c. 1779
Coleraine, Londonderry,Ireland
Died(aged 85)
Blackheath, London,England
Awards
Military service
Branch
Service years1795–1835
RankGeneral
Conflicts

Nicolls was born inColeraine,Ireland, in a family with a military tradition; his father was surveyor ofexcisein Coleraine, and his maternal grandfather was arector.Nicolls spent his life as an intensely devoutUlster Protestant.He had two years of school inGreenwich,but enlisted in theRoyal Navyat the age of 11. In 1795, at the age of 16, he received his first commission in the Royal Marines and soon began service with shipborne detachments of marines. During theNapoleonic Warsand associated conflicts in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, andNorth Sea,he served as a commander of ships' detachments, and gained his reputation for ferocity and courage.

Connected with his religious beliefs, Nicolls was a committedabolitionist,as well as an advocate forNative Americansand a leader of theHibernian Temperance Society.During theWar of 1812,Nicolls was posted toSpanish Floridaas part of the British attempt to recruit local allies in the southern front against the United States. He set up a base atProspect Bluff,on theApalachicola River,and had a sturdy fort built there, where he recruited a black and Native AmericanCorps of Colonial Marines.Nicolls's marines and their Creek and Seminole allies fought atFort Bowyerand were present at theBattle of New Orleans,but the war ended in early 1815 without any attacks on their base. He returned to Britain with aTreaty of Nicolls' Outposthe had negotiated, but failed to receive support from his government for any further aid to his erstwhile native allies.

From 1823 to 1828, he was theCommandant of Ascension Islandin theSouth Atlantic,which was followed by a posting from 1829 to 1835, asSuperintendent of Fernando Po,off the coast of Africa, an important base in the British operations against the slave trade. In 1835, Nicolls retired from the Royal Marines with the rank of a lieutenant colonel. For his service, Nicolls was made aKnight Commander of the Order of the Bathin 1855—among other honours—and was promoted to the rank of full general in his retirement.

Early life

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Edward Nicolls was born in 1779 inColeraine,Ireland, the son of Jonathan Nicolls and Anna Cuppage. Jonathan Nicolls (died 1818) was for a time controller ofexcisefor Coleraine. Anna Cuppage (1757?–1845) was a daughter of the Reverend Burke Cuppage,rectorof Coleraine, a close kinsman and friend ofEdmund Burke.[3][4]Anna had an older brotherWilliam Cuppage(1756–1832), who had an appointment secured for him at theRoyal Military Academy, Woolwichby Edmund Burke. William was later a lieutenant general of theRoyal Artilleryand a neighbour of Edward Nicolls in Woolwich.[5]

Edward was the oldest of six siblings,[4]and some of his brothers had distinguished military careers as well, including Lieutenant Colonel William Burke Nicolls (1780–1844) of theBritish Army's2nd West India Regiment,and Commander Jonathan Frederick Nicolls (1782–1845) of theRoyal Navy.[6]All five of Edward Nicolls's brothers and both of his sons died in or as the result of public service.[3]Nicolls was educated at a grammar school in Coleraine and for two years at Royal Park Academy nearGreenwichprior to entering the Marines on 24 March 1795;[3]this was the extent of his formal education.[7]He was not yet 16 years old when he received his commission as asecond lieutenantin His Majesty's Marine Forces, in 1795, and he was promoted tofirst lieutenanton 27 January 1796.[8][7]

Career

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Napoleonic Wars

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It was during his early career, during theNapoleonic Wars,that Nicolls earned his reputation as "Fighting Nicolls", for as an officer on small ships, he was engaged in numerous fierce actions on small boats and at gun batteries.[3]On 5 November 1803, during theblockade of Saint-Domingue,Lieutenant Nicolls took a 12-man cutting-out party in thecutterfromHMSBlancheand captured the French cutterAlbionfrom under the battery at Monte Christi.Albionhad a crew of 43 men and was armed with two 4-pounder guns and sixswivel guns.The British lost two dead, and two wounded including Nicolls.[9]In single combat, the French captain wounded Nicolls severely with a pistol shot before himself being killed. For his courage in this action, Nicolls was awarded with asword of honourvalued at £30 by the committee ofLloyds.[3][10]In 1804 Nicolls led another boat assault in the capture of a Frenchbrig,and led a landing party of Royal Marines in the successfulsiegeof Franco-Dutch forces atCuraçao.[11]Nicolls and his men withstood 28 consecutive days of continuous enemy assaults on their positions.[3]

On 25 July 1805, Nicolls was promoted to the rank ofcaptain,and assigned command of a company which embarked inHMSStandard.[3]During 1807 and 1808, Nicolls participated in the siege ofCorfuand in a foray to Egypt. It was during this period, too, that he was honourablymentioned in despatchesfor his part in theDardanelles Operation,during which he captured a Turkish flag.[12][13]In 1808 he led the boat attack from theStandardwhich captured the ItaliangunboatVolpeoff Corfu.[12]

In 1808 he made a brief return to England to get married.[14]In 1809, Nicolls commanded HMSStandard's marines while the ship participated in theGunboat War.On 18 May Nicolls's marines assisted marines and seamen under the command of Captain William Selby ofHMSOwen Glendowerin the capture of the island ofAnholt.In the skirmish, a Danish garrison of 170 men put up a sharp but ineffectual resistance that killed one British marine and wounded two before surrendering.[15]Following the capture of Anholt, Nicolls was briefly assigned as the British military governor of the island.[12]On 8 August 1810, Nicolls received thebrevetrank of major.[8]

War of 1812

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Posting to Florida

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During theWar of 1812,Nicolls was posted toSpanish Floridaas part of an attempt to recruit theSeminolesas allies against the United States. Throughout the war, the British also recruited black locals to fight on their side, including those enslaved by American owners. As a fervent abolitionist, Nicolls gave particular energy toward this effort.[16]He was to operate from a position established in April 1814 atProspect Bluff(the "British post" ). Sailing fromBermudain the summer of 1814, the expedition Nicolls commanded stopped in SpanishHavana,where it was told not to land in Florida without prior request by the Captain General,Juan Ruiz de Apodaca.[17]When Nicolls arrived at Prospect Bluff, Florida in August, the Spanish Governor of Pensacola, DonMateo González Manrique,aware of the threat the Americans posed to Florida, requested the redeployment of British forces to Pensacola.[17]

At Pensacola on 26 August 1814, Nicolls issued an order of the day for the 'First Colonial battalion of the Royal Corps of Marines', and at the same time issued a widely disseminated proclamation to the people of Louisiana, urging them to join forces with the British and Indian allies against the American government. Both proclamations were reproduced inNiles' RegisterofBaltimore.[18]These were a ruse as to the real strength of the British. The "numerous British and Spanish squadron of ships and vessels of war" he described comprised two sloops and twosixth-ratesof the Royal Navy,[19]the "good train of artillery" comprised three cannon and twelve gunners, whilst the "battalion"was a company-strength group of 100 Royal Marines infantry, detached from MajorGeorge Lewis's battalion.[20]

The numbers ofColonial MarinesandRedstick Creeksare difficult to ascertain, although Nicolls did arrive in Florida with 300 British uniforms and 1000 muskets. Manrique cooperated with Nicolls, allowing him to train and drillMuscogee Creekrefugees.[21][22]Their fighting force having been defeated at theBattle of Horseshoe Bendin March, the few hundred Redstick Creeks still alive arrived en masse at British Post, on the verge of starvation and with no possessions other than the clothes they were wearing. There were so many of them that feeding them was a serious problem: there were deaths from starvation, and a case of cannibalism was recorded.[23]Nicolls still attempted to broaden the forces on the side of the British, and he is mentioned as participating in attempts to recruitJean Lafitteto the British cause.[21]

Fort Bowyer and New Orleans

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Nicolls participated in an unsuccessful land and naval attack onFort Bowyeron 15 September. In the fighting, Nicolls was wounded severely three times, and he lost the use of his right eye for life.[3]Thetaking of Pensacolain November by an American force underAndrew Jacksonforced Nicolls to retreat to theApalachicola Riverwith freed and escaped slaves from Pensacola. There, Nicolls regrouped at Prospect Bluff, and rallied Indians and refugee ex-slaves living free in Florida, recruiting the latter into his detached unit of the Corps of Colonial Marines.[21]

At the start of December, Nicolls was directed to join the expedition against New Orleans.[24]Nicolls joined GeneralEdward Pakenham's force, accompanied by less than 100 Seminole, Creek, and Choctaw warriors.[25]At theBattle of New Orleanson 8 January 1815, Nicolls was attached, with some of his men, to the brigade commanded by ColonelWilliam Thorntonof the85th Regiment of Foot (Bucks Volunteers).[26]Nicolls was the senior-ranking officer of the Royal Marines present at the battle, but Vice AdmiralAlexander Cochraneforbade Nicolls to take part in the fighting personally, fearing that mishap to Nicolls might deprive the British of their most competent officer serving with the Creeks and Seminoles.[note 1]The actual battlefield command of the 100 Royal Marines brigaded with the 85th Foot went to a less senior officer, Major Thomas Benjamin Adair, commanding officer of the Marine detachment onHMSVengeur.[12][27]Nicolls embarkedHMSErebuson 12 January at Cat Island Roads, and disembarked atApalachicolaon 25 January, accompanied by several Creek warriors and a number of Royal Marine reinforcements.[28]

End of the war

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The start of 1815 was to have seen a British offensive in the south, with theRoyal Marine Battalionsto advance westward into Georgia, to be joined by Nicolls and his forces from the Gulf Coast.[29]These plans were overtaken by events, as peace was declared following the conclusion of theTreaty of Ghent.With the offensive cancelled, Nicolls and his men returned to Prospect Bluff.[30]On 15 March 1815, a U.S. Army aide-de-camp named Walter Bourke communicated to Major GeneralThomas Pinckneythat conditions were difficult on the Georgia frontier despite efforts to reinforce American defences, and to negotiate the return of slaves who had joined the Corps of Colonial Marines under the command of Rear AdmiralGeorge Cockburnstill atCumberland Island.Cockburn was not inclined to voluntarily hand over British military personnel who risked being returned to slavery by the Americans, and professed difficulty in communicating news of theTreaty of Ghentto Nicolls.[29][31]

Prior to returning to Great Britain, Nicolls contributed to these post-war diplomatic tensions between the United Kingdom and the United States, by attempting to represent the interests of the Native Americans and blacks who had taken up arms on the British side. On his own initiative, he negotiated and presented aTreaty of Nicolls' Outpostbetween the United Kingdom and the Creeks and Seminoles, in which a formal alliance would have been created whereby the British would provide diplomatic support for the Indian nations.[32]Nicolls engaged in a heated exchange of letters with U.S. Indian AgentBenjamin Hawkins.Hawkins accused Nicolls of being overzealous and of overstepping his authority in his personal defense of Redstick Creeks, Seminoles, and theirmaroonCreole allies, whom some Americans in authority viewed as nothing more than runaway slaves, lost or unclaimed property.[33][34]

Similar tensions existed with the Spanish. Writing from HMSRoyal Oak,off Mobile Bay, on 15 March 1815, Rear AdmiralPulteney Malcolm,Cochrane's subordinate commander of the Mobile Squadron, assured Mateo González Manrique, the Governor at Pensacola, that Post-CaptainRobert Cavendish Spencer(a son ofGeorge Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer) ofHMSCarron,had been detailed to conduct a strict enquiry into the conduct of Nicolls and Captain George Woodbine (who had served under Nicolls), regarding the property losses of Spanish inhabitants of Florida. Malcolm believed that in cases where former slaves could not be persuaded to return to their owners, the British government would undertake to remunerate the owners.[35][36]

Return to England

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Nicolls received orders to withdraw his troops from the fort.[37]Nicolls deliberately did not remove any weapons or ordnance from the well-supplied fort, leaving it in the hands of those members of his now-disbanded Corps of Colonial Marines who chose to remain. Those who did not want to stay were evacuated by ship to other British colonies. They were joined by an unknown number of refugee Redstick Creeks who were willing to fight, such fighting being honored in their culture. As Nicolls hoped, the existence of a well-armed Negro Fort (as the U.S. Army soon called it) so close to the U.S. border was an existential threat to American slavery.[38][page needed]The Royal Marine detachment embarked onHMSCydnuson 22 April, and were duly returned to Ireland Island in Bermuda, arriving on 13 June 1815, to rejoin the 3rd Battalion as a supernumerary company.[note 2]On 16 May the British evacuated the last of the garrison there.[40]Nicolls left in mid-May 1815 with the Redstick CreekFrancis the Prophet,also known as Josiah Francis and Hillis Hadjo, the Native American spiritual and political leader known for his role in theBattle of Holy Ground,seeking official imprimatur for the treaty Nicolls had negotiated.[41]Francis's son, who wanted an English education, also accompanied him.[32]On 7 June 1815, Nicolls, Woodbine, and Francis arrived atAmelia IslandinEast Florida,where rumours circulated that the officers were seeking to either obtain British possession of Florida from Spain, or to arm and supply the Florida factions resisting American territorial expansion. In fact, Nicolls had been heading to the Bahamas, and had unintentionally ended up in East Florida.[note 3]In leaving West Florida, according to the U.S. Indian Agent Hawkins, Nicolls had left local forces with the arms and means to resist advancing American encroachments which were leading up to Andrew Jackson'sFirst Seminole War.[43]Nicolls embarked on the brig HMSForwardon 29 June "for passage to England", and disembarked at Portsmouth on 13 September.[40]

Aftermath

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In England, Nicolls failed to obtain official support for the Creeks, and theTreaty of Nicolls' Outpostwas never ratified. While Josiah Francis failed to receive official recognition from theForeign Officeas the representative of "four Indian nations", he did receive recognition as a former Colonel of the British Army in Florida as well as publicized encounters with British notables, before being sent home. Francis returned toSpanish Floridain 1816, continuing to fight for his nation until he and the Seminole leader Nehemathla Micco were captured in April 1818.Andrew Jacksonflew a false British flag on his ship to lure them aboard, and summarily executed them in Spanish territorial waters.[44][45]Nicolls had housed Francis and his son himself and bought them cold-weather clothing out of his own funds, and Francis' son remained with Nicolls to get an English education.[32]

Nicolls was chastised by British government officials[who?]for bringing the two Creeks to England, "productive of great Inconvenience and Expence, and entirely unauthorized".[46]The British Secretary of State,Lord Bathhurst,dismissed him as a "wild fellow".[47][48]However, he was retained on full pay status in the duties of a captain and brevet major of the Royal Marines. While he was in America, he had the local rank oflieutenant colonel(by authority of Vice Admiral Cochrane) as he was commander of a battalion of the Corps of Colonial Marines. He was awarded a pension of £250 annually on 28 December 1815 for a total of 24 serious battle wounds suffered, and awarded a sword of honour by Britain's Patriotic Fund. He was made a brevet lieutenant colonel on 12 August 1819.[12]

In the summer of 1817 Captain George Woodbine, one of Nicolls's former subordinate officers, was present in Spanish East Florida together with the former British soldier and Scottish mercenary lieutenant ofSimón Bolívar,Gregor MacGregor.Woodbine and MacGregor both left Spanish East Florida to rejoin the Latin American revolutionary movement prior to U.S. military intervention in East Florida. The names of Nicolls, Woodbine, and MacGregor had become associated with the arming of blacks as soldiers, militiamen, and even as mercenaries. The threat, real or imaginary, was an anathema to North American popular conceptions of the time.[49][50]

Between July and October 1818, theNiles' Weekly Registerof Baltimore published portions of correspondence between Nicolls and the former auxiliary Second Lieutenant Robert Chrystie Armbrister (1797–1818) of the first "battalion" of the Corps of Colonial Marines. Armbrister was one of two British subjects executed in theArbuthnot and Ambrister incidentby order of Major General Andrew Jackson following a drumhead trial atFort St. Marksin April 1818 (the same month and place as theJosiah Francisand Nehemathla Miccosummary executions).[citation needed]In the correspondence, assistance was asked of Nicolls to intervene with the British government on behalf of former allies seeking asylum in Spanish West Florida from perceived American wrongdoing and injustice.[51]

Ascension Island

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In 1823, Nicolls became the first commandant of remote and uninhabitedAscension Island,a small volcanic island in the South Atlantic, halfway between South America and Africa. In 1815,HMSZenobiaandHMSPeruvianhad taken the island to prevent it from being used as a staging post from which to rescueNapoleon BonapartefromSaint Helena.[52]From 1815 until Nicolls took over, the Royal Navy registered the island as a "smallSloopof 50 or 60 Men ", HMSAscension,since the Navy was forbidden to govern colonies. The island had a garrison of about thirty, with a few families, servants, and liberated Africans.[52]The Royal Navy came to use the island as a victualling station for ships, particularly those of theWest Africa Squadron(or Preventative Squadron), which were working to suppress thetransatlantic slave trade.[53]

Water was scarce, and an important task for Nicolls was to ensure that the island had a stable source of water. He achieved this by installing systems of pipes and carts to bring water to the settlement from the few springs in the mountains.[52]Food was mostly shipped from England, but some could be procured locally: fish, a few vegetables grown on the island, feral goats and sheep, fishy-tasting eggs from aterncolony on the island, and turtle meat obtained during the laying season from December to May. Due to Nicolls's efforts in directing the harvest of turtles, turtle meat, an expensive delicacy in England, became so common it was fed to prisoners and pigs, and Marines complained of it.[52]This surfeit of turtle irritated Nicolls's superiors and theLords of the Admiralty,and when an admiral ordered Nicolls to stop feeding turtle to prisoners, he started selling or bartering it to visiting ships. With this monotonous diet, men on the island relied on rum for spice. Nicolls understood this, and gave large rations of grog when his men showed what he called "spirited and Soldierlike feelings".[52]

On the confines of the island feuds were vicious, and one surgeon went insane. Pirates were frequently seen off Ascension, keeping the garrison on edge. Nicolls was also busied by many infrastructure projects on the island, building roads, water tanks, a storehouse, and developing the gardens onGreen Mountain.For these efforts, Nicolls had about sixty freed Africans sent to Ascension, and additionally asked for convicts.[52]

Nicolls had many such grand schemes for trade between Britain and its colonies, but these all failed to materialize. These schemes included a plan to growoaksin the unlikely[why?]location ofSierra Leonefor Royal Navy ships, a plan to ship Ascension rocks to England[why?],and a plan to shipNew Zealand flaxto England which he discussed in a letter toHenry Bathurst, 3rd Earl Bathurst.[52][54]On 3 November 1828 Captain William Bate replaced Nicolls as commandant on Ascension.[55]Nicolls was given the substantive rank of major before leaving, on 8 May 1828.[8]

Fernando Po

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In April 1829, Nicolls was appointed Superintendent ofFernando Po(now Bioko), a tropical island immediately off the coast of Africa, which the West Africa Squadron used as a base for operations against the slave trade.[56]Nicolls received the appointment after colonial administrator and anti-slave trade crusaderWilliam Fitzwilliam Owenhad refused the post, and after merchantJohn Beecroftwas deemed unfit for the post. Owen, however, voiced his dissatisfaction with what he viewed as Nicolls's harsh rule on the island, and Beecroft increased his influence in the area. Nicolls, in turn, attacked Beecroft for his dealings with former slavers.[57]Nicolls's health suffered in Fernando Po and by April 1830 he had left for Ascension.[58]When Nicolls returned to England ill, Beecroft was placed in temporary charge of the island.[57]

Tropical illness took a toll on the Europeans at Fernando Po, where hundreds died during Nicolls's time there. Nineteen of the 34 men in Nicolls's first contingent died soon after their arrival, and only five of the original 47 Royal Marines who accompanied him to Fernando Po in 1829 survived two years of duty on the station. Nicolls, somewhat restored to health, served a second term as Superintendent of Fernando Po during 1832–1833.[57]Despite his differences with Owen, Nicolls was just as determined to disrupt the slave trade, and equally energetic in his attempts to convince the British government to adopt a more aggressive stance. Frustrated in territorial annexation schemes, he invited the West African rulers of Bimbia, Old Calabar, Camaroon, Malimba, and the Bonny to Fernando Po to form an anti-slavery alliance. To Nicolls's disappointment, the British government ordered him to evacuate Fernando Po on 29 August 1832 and put an end to operations there. Unfinished work and efforts to provide for the welfare of liberated and displaced slave populations delayed the end of Nicolls's mandate for several months, and he did not return to England until April 1835.[57]

During his time in control of Fernando Po, Nicolls clashed with the Portuguese authorities on the neighbouring islands ofSão Tomé and Prínciperegarding his refusal to return the hundreds of escaped slaves who had sought refuge on Fernando Po. In a February 1842 letter toThe Timeshe said he was accused by the Portuguese governor, Senhor Ferreira, some of whose slaves were among the escapees, of deliberately enticing slaves to run away and of encouraging "thieves" and "murderers". This charge he denied, asserting that he had never actively encouraged slaves from nearby islands to make the dangerous crossing to Fernando Po, but that if they chose to do so, it was his duty under British law and "as a Christian man" not to return them to slavery. He considered those slaves who killed in the course of their escapes as legally and morally justified in their action, nor did he regard them as thieves for having seized canoes to escape in. He offered to return any stolen canoes, and wrote that if Ferreira could persuade any of the escapees to return voluntarily to a state of slavery, he would not impede them. He wrote toThe Timesduring the debate which followed theCreolecase,in which slaves transported aboard the American vesselCreolehad taken control of her and forced the crew to take them to a British-run port.[59][60]

Later life and family

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Nicolls retired from the Royal Marines, and was given the substantive rank of lieutenant colonel, on 15 May 1835.[61]On 3 November 1840, he received the brevet British Army rank ofcolonel,postdated to 10 January 1837.[62]He was awarded a good-service pension of £150 per annum on 30 June 1842.[63]

On 9 November 1846, he was promoted to the brevet Army rank ofmajor general,in June 1854, he was advanced tolieutenant general,[64]and just a year later in June 1855 he was promoted to fullgeneral.[65]

In July 1855, he was madeKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath(KCB).[66]

In 1809, while still a young captain of Marines, Nicolls married Miss Eleanor Bristow (1792–1880), who was also from northern Ireland. They had the following children:

  • Alicia Sarah Nicolls (1810–1891), married Thomas Ashworth in 1847[67]
  • Eleanor Hester Nicolls (1811–1898), marriedMacgregor Laird(1808–1861) in 1837[68]
  • Edwina Anna Nicolls (1814–1902), married John Hill Williams in 1853[69]
  • Jane Mary Nicolls (1819–1901), married Royal Navy Captain Archibald Douglas William Fletcher (1821–1882)
  • Elizabeth Nicolls (1821–1856), married the educator John Richard Blakiston (1829–1917) in 1854[70]
  • Lieutenant Edward Nicolls (1821–1844) of the Royal Navy, who died attempting to save a man's life while serving as first lieutenant of HMSDwarf[71]
  • Major Richard Orpin Townsend Nicolls (1823–1862) of theMadras Staff Corps(British Indian Army)[72]

Nicolls died at his residence inBlackheath,London on 5 February 1865.[73]Eleanor outlived her husband by 15 years, dying on 24 November 1880 at the age of 88.[74]

Legacy

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Nicolls has been described byPeter C. Smithin a history of the Royal Marines as "possibly the most distinguished officer the corps ever had."[75]An anonymous detractor during the War of 1812 described Nicolls as an "impatient and blustering Irishman" but "apparently brave".[note 4]A similar assessment was said to have been made in 1815 byLord Bathurst,theSecretary of State for War and the Colonies,who called him "a man of activity and spirit, but a very wild fellow."[note 5]Nicholls Town,in theBahamas,is named for Nicolls. Its founders were former slaves Nicolls had helped liberate and reach British territory, where they were free.[77]

Footnotes

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  1. ^Nicolls's obituary inThe Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Reviewstates that "He was the senior major of all the force before New Orleans in 1815, and as such urged his right to lead the battalion of Royal Marines in the assault. This honour was refused, on the ground that if any accident befell him there would be no other officer competent to command his Indian Army [sic]; in consequence of this, he lost the decoration of the Bath, which was conferred on Major Adair, R.M., who so nobly led the battalion." On the same page it was additionally recalled that Nicolls was still suffering from the effects of three serious wounds received in the attack on Fort Bowyer just months earlier.[3]
  2. ^A letter from Spencer to Cochrane dated 17 February 1816 does mention that the Indian Chiefs were 'obeying Brevet Major Nicolls' orders until 22 April [1815]'[39]
  3. ^A letter from Nicolls to Anthony St. John Baker, HM Chargé D'Affaires, Washington, dated 12 June 1815, written at Amelia Island, says "I had intended to write to you from the Bahamas... but being obliged to put in here in distress."[42]
  4. ^Latour 1816contains an anonymously authored letter, sent from Havana to Pensacola dated 8 August 1814, advising that "the Colonel is an impatient blustering Irishman, who was governor ofAndant[sic]..and is apparently brave' "
  5. ^He was quoted in a letter fromJohn Quincy AdamstoJames Monroedated 19 September 1815: "Why, said Lord Bathurst, to tell you the truth, Colonel Nicholls [sic] is, I believe a man of activity and spirit, but a very wild fellow."[76]

References

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  1. ^Millett 2013,p. 21.
  2. ^"Obituary".The Times.9 February 1865. p. 12.
  3. ^abcdefghi"Obituary.—Gen. Sir Edward Nicolls, K. C. B".The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review.Vol. 218. 1865. pp. 644–646.
  4. ^ab"Document 4724".Directory of Irish Family History Research(27): 83. 2004.
  5. ^"General officers lately deceased: Lieutenant General William Cuppage".The United Service Magazine(1): 518–520. 1833.
  6. ^"ADM 196/5/414: Nicolls, Jonathan, Commander".National Archives. 15 November 1807.Retrieved12 September2012.
  7. ^abMillett 2013,p. 20.
  8. ^abcHouse of Commons (1858)."Names of Officers in the Army and Navy Who Have Been Decorated With the Order of the Bath Since 1 January 1854".Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons:6.
  9. ^James 1837,vol. III,pp. 201–203
  10. ^Nicolas 1845,p. 317
  11. ^Millett 2013,p. 22.
  12. ^abcdeHart, H. G. (1865).The New Annual Army List and Militia List for 1865.London: John Murray. p. 20.
  13. ^James 1837,vol. IV,p. 303
  14. ^Millett 2013,p. 23.
  15. ^James 1837,vol. V,p. 130
  16. ^Millett 2013,pp. 19–30.
  17. ^abMarshall 1829,p. 65, quoting a letter from Captain Percy to Admiral Cochrane dated 9 September 1814.
  18. ^"[Untitled]".Niles's Weekly Register.Vol. 7. pp. 134–135.
  19. ^James 1837,vol. VI, p. 518
  20. ^Mahon 1991,p. 347.
  21. ^abcBoyd, Mark F. (October 1937)."Events at Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River, 1808–18".Florida Historical Quarterly.16(2): 55–96.
  22. ^Latour 1816,p. 11. "[Nicolls] enlisted and publicly drilled Indians, who wore the British uniform in the streets [of Pensacola]."
  23. ^Cox 2015,p. 79.
  24. ^Owsley 1981,p. 176, quoting from Cochrane's log dated 3 December 1814, document reference ADM 50/122
  25. ^Sugden, John (January 1982)."The Southern Indians in the War of 1812: The Closing Phase".Florida Historical Quarterly.60(3): 300.JSTOR30146793.
  26. ^Vetch, Robert Hamilton(1898)."Thornton, William (1779?-1840)".InLee, Sidney(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 56. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 309–310.
  27. ^The Navy List, Corrected to the End of January 1815.London: John Murray. 1815. p. 72.Retrieved4 January2013.
  28. ^"ADM 37/4652: HMSErebusship muster ".National Archives. January–September 1815.Retrieved12 September2012.
  29. ^abSmith, Gerald Judson Jr. (28 August 2002)."War of 1812 and Georgia".New Georgia Encyclopedia.Archived fromthe originalon 6 October 2012.Retrieved20 March2010.
  30. ^Brown, Canter Jr; Jackson Jr, David H., eds. (2005)."Tales of Angola: Free Blacks, Red Stick Creeks, and International Intrigue in Spanish Southwest Florida, 1812–1821".Go Sound the Trumpet: Selections in Florida's African American History.Tampa, Florida: University of Tampa Press.Archivedfrom the original on 9 March 2007.Retrieved1 March2010.
  31. ^"Letter with enclosures, 1815 Mar. 15, Savannah, Georgia to Major General Pinckney/W. Bourke".Georgia Military: War of 1812 Correspondence, Bourke to Pinckney.USGenWeb Archives.Retrieved12 September2012.
  32. ^abcCox 2015,p. 87.
  33. ^"War Events/Indian Affairs of Saturday".Niles' Weekly Register.24 June 1815. pp. 285–287.
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Works cited

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