His march westward, and south of the northern boundary of the province of West Florida, brought him to the Escambia river, which, having crossed, he reached the road that he had opened over the old trail in 1814, when he marched to Pensacola on a similar mission to that in which he was now engaged. Don José Masot, who was governor of West Florida, having received intelligence of Jackson’s westward march and his designs on Pensacola, sent him a written protest against his invasion, as an offence against the Spanish king, “exhorting and requiring him to retire from the Province,” threatening if he did not, to use force for his expulsion. This protest was delivered by a Spanish officer, on May 23, after Jackson had crossed the Escambia river and was within a few hours’ march of Pensacola. Notwithstanding Masot’s threat, instead of advancing to meet the invader, he hastily retired with most of his troops to Fort San Carlos, leaving a few only at Pensacola, under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Don Lui Piemas, for the purpose of making a show of resistance. Masot’s protest, instead of retarding, seems to have accelerated Jackson’s advance. In the afternoon of the same day on which it was received, the American army was in possession of Fort St. Michael and encamped around it. Thence, immediately upon its occupation, Jackson sent Masot a dispatch in reply to his protest, in which he demanded an immediate surrender of Pensacola and Barrancas. In his answer, on May 24, to that demand, Masot, as to Pensacola, referred Jackson to Don Lui Piemas; as to San Carlos he replied: “This fortress I am resolved to defend to the last extremity. I shall repel force by force, and he who resists aggression can never be considered an aggressor. God preserve your excellency many years.” Upon the receipt of this communication, Jackson, by arrangement with Colonel Piemas, took possession of Pensacola. On the twenty-fifth, Jackson replied to Masot’s dispatch of the twenty-fourth, in which he tells him he is aware of the Spanish force, and hints at the folly of resistance to an overwhelming enemy. In conclusion he says: “I applaud your feelings as a soldier in wishing to defend your post, but when resistance is ineffectual and the opposing force overwhelming, the sacrifice of a few brave men is an act of wantonness, for which the commanding officer is accountable to his God.”