Book excerpt: The deadliest cannon shot in American history was fired at the "Negro Fort" at Prospect Bluff on Florida's Apalachicola River on July 27, 1816. The resulting explosion killed more than 270 men, women, and children, and destroyed the largest free black settlement in North America. The Fort at Prospect Bluff is a remarkable look at this shocking episode of American history. The author digs deep into the letters, documents, eyewitness accounts, and military reports to tell the story with more depth and clarity than ever before. This book tells an amazing story of Native Americans fighting to preserve their lands, Maroons (escaped slaves) making a desperate stand to protect their freedom, U.S. and British troops confronting each other during the War of 1812, and a shocking attack and its bloody aftermath.