Mateo González Manrique

Mateo González Manrique
10th Spanish Governor of West Florida
In office 1813–1815
Preceded by	Mauricio de Zúñiga
Succeeded by	José de Soto
Personal details
Born	Unknown
Died	Unknown
Profession	Military and governor

Mateo González Manrique was a soldier who served as governor of West Florida between 1813 and 1815. During his administration he helped the British in their fight against the Americans in the War of 1812, providing them with troops and slaves, besides allowing them to garrison British troops in the fortifications of Pensacola, capital of West Florida, thereby earning the enmity of Andrew Jackson, who invaded the city in 1814, although he returned it to Manrique after the British fled.

Manrique joined the Spanish army in his youth, rising to the ranks of lieutenant colonel and sergeant major. In 1813, Manrique was appointed governor of Spanish West Florida.

Although the Spanish government was officially neutral during the War of 1812, Manrique assisted the British with material aid and allowed them to use the Spanish fortifications at Barrancas and Saint Michael as well as to supply their Native American allies.

According to historian Sean Michael O'Brien, Manrique, fearing a possible attack by Jackson's forces, invited Edward Nicolls, an Anglo-Irish officer of the British Royal Marines, to land his troops at Pensacola, where they soon took control of the port. Nicolls tried to recruit the Seminoles as allies against the United States, operating from a position occupied in April 1814 at Prospect Bluff. When Nicolls arrived at Prospect Bluff in August with 300 British uniforms and 1000 muskets, Manrique, fully aware of the threat the Americans posed to Florida, requested the redeployment of British forces to Pensacola. Manrique cooperated with Nicolls, allowing him to train and equip Creek refugees. In addition to the Seminoles and Creek, Nicolls and the British military officer George Woodbine recruited about 500 Red Sticks (also referred to as "Redsticks"), Seminoles, and Blacks in Pensacola to serve in the British Army against the Americans.

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