Mateo González Manrique

Mateo González Manrique (1745 - 1815?) was a soldier who served as governor of West Florida between 1813 and 1815. During this time, the colony lacked military resources at a time when American expansionism had seen Spanish territory annexed, and the crushing of their Indian buffer state neighbors. Manrique's attempt to counterbalance American aggression, by inviting the British to garrison Pensacola, would have disastrous consequences. Whilst unable to prevent the early British incursions into Florida, his stance of neutrality was undermined by the partisan behavior of the belligerent British commander Edward Nicolls. Seduced by an implied omnipotence and superiority in numbers of the British, it was, with the benefit of hindsight, a poor choice. He thereby earned the enmity of Andrew Jackson, who invaded the city in 1814, although he returned it to Manrique after the British fled.