José de Soto

José de Soto
11th Governor of West Florida
In office March 31, 1815 – March 3, 1816
Preceded by	Mateo González Manrique
Succeeded by	Mauricio de Zúñiga
Personal details
Born	1757 Cuba
Died	1824 (aged 66–67) Cuba
Spouse	María Belén Iznaga y Pérez de Vargas Sotomayor
Occupation	Colonial Administrator, Soldier
Military service
Allegiance	Spain
Branch/service	Spanish Army
Rank	Colonel
Commands	Spanish Florida

José de Soto (1757 — 1824), also known as Joseph de Soto, was a Spanish military officer who served as the Governor of West Florida from 1815 to 1816.

Career

As of 1788, he was second lieutenant in the 18th Infantry Regiment of Spain, garrisoned in Cuba. On March 9, 1790, attached to one of the fixed regiments of Havana, he is a Captain. On August 16, 1795 he was promoted to Sargento mayor in the Cuban Regimiento Fijo de la Havana.

In 1802, he was named commander of the third battalion of the Cuban infantry regiment. On September 7, 1804, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. In 1815 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and given command of the Havana infantry regiment, which he held for 9 years until his death.

Map of Spanish East and West Florida, stretching from Mobile Bay to Apalachee Bay, with the American border to the north, 1815.

In July 1813, de Soto was witness to the visit to Pensacola by Peter McQueen.

In January 1815, he surrendered Fort St. Michael during the Spanish restoration efforts, occurring in the aftermath of the war.

The Spanish Governor, Manrique, sought not only the runaway Spanish slaves, but also the return of the soldiers. Both had been spirited away in November 1814 when the British retreated after the Battle of Pensacola (1814). Regarding the runaway Spanish slaves, he wrote a covering letter to Cochrane on March 9, attached to 'a representation from the Inhabitants of Pensacola respecting their losses'. Writing from HMS Royal Oak, off Mobile Bay, on March 15, 1815, Rear Admiral Pulteney Malcolm, Cochrane's subordinate commander of the Mobile Squadron, assured Manrique that Post-Captain Robert Cavendish Spencer (a son of George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer) of HMS Carron, had been detailed to conduct a strict enquiry into the conduct of Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nicolls and Captain George Woodbine, regarding the property losses of Spanish inhabitants of Florida. Malcolm believed that in cases where formerly enslaved persons could not be persuaded to return to their owners, the British government would undertake to remunerate the owners.

Vicente Sebastián Pintado traveled to Prospect Bluff, arriving there on April 7, his counterpart Spencer of the Royal Navy having arrived earlier. His correspondence from April and May 1815 was sent to the new governor, José de Soto, who now succeeded Manrique. Spencer would not allow the runaway Spanish slaves to be returned by force. In the presence of Pintado, the colonial marines were disarmed, and discharged from British service. He told them that new orders meant they could no longer be transported to British territory, and warned them that he foresaw future vengeful behavior on the part of the Americans. Pintado interviewed 128 Spanish slaves, he was able to persuade only 10, all women, to return voluntarily. He estimated 250 runaways to be present. On May 16, the British evacuated the last of the garrison there.

Later, in July 1815, de Soto complained that the Negro Fort, left armed by the British, had become a refuge for "villains of all classes and Nations," and was impacting the region's trade. He subsequently ordered a delegation to Prospect Bluff to recover Spanish-owned slaves and gather intelligence on the forces still under British command.

In a letter dated August 19, 1815, de Soto requested from Pintado, the surveyor general, a duplicate copy of the plan of Pensacola. This plan was created by the ex-ayuntamiento after examining the town for its subdivision into lots, including the military square and other plots intended for churches and military buildings. It reads the following:

Please to furnish me, as soon as possible, with a duplicate copy of the plan of this town, which was made by you in consequence of the new figure which was given to it by the ex-ayuntamiento for the subdivision into lots of what was the military square, and the other ground plats destined for the church and military buildings. God preserve you many years.

In 1818, during the Seminole Wars, American officials accused de Soto of "supplying arms and other support to Seminole and Creek Indians at war."

De Soto eventually died in 1824, while in his mid sixties.

References

Bibliography

• Boyd, Mark F. (1937). "Events at Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River, 1808-1818". Florida Historical Quarterly. 16 (2): 55–96. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
• Clavin, Matthew J. (2021-05-01). The Battle of Negro Fort: The Rise and Fall of a Fugitive Slave Community. NYU Press. pp. 59, 95. ISBN 978-1-4798-1110-6.
• Dickins, Asbury; Allen, James C., eds. (1859). American State Papers: Documents, Legislative and Executive, of the Congress of the United States. Commencing December 1, 1823, and ending March 3, 1827. Vol. IV. Gales and Seaton. pp. 244, 249.
• Landers, Jane G. (1999). Black Society in Spanish Florida. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 025202446X.
• Laughton, John (1898). "Spencer, Robert Cavendish" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 53. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 377–378.
• Millett, Nathaniel (2013). The Maroons of Prospect Bluff and Their Quest for Freedom in the Atlantic World. University Press of Florida. ISBN 978-0-81-304454-5 – via Florida Scholarship online within Oxford University Press.
• "Documents Relating to Colonel Edward Nicholls and Captain George Woodbine in Pensacola, 1814". Florida Historical Quarterly. The Greenslade Papers: 51–54}. July 1931.
• "A Prelude to the Creek War of 1813-1814" (PDF). The Florida Historical Quarterly (The Greenslade Papers). A letter from John Innerarity to James Innerarity. XVIII (4). 1940.