George Mercer Brooke

George Mercer Brooke (October 16, 1785 - March 9, 1851) was a brevet major general in the U.S. Army. While a colonel, Brooke was ordered in 1823, along with James Gadsden, to establish a military presence in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, in the newly acquired Florida Territory.

Objectives included containing the Seminole Indians and curtailing illegal activities along the Gulf Coast.

Brooke was born in King William County, Virginia, to Richard Brooke (1760–1816), a planter and state senator, and Maria Mercer Brooke (1761-?).

He married Lucy Thomas Brooke (1804–1839) and fathered John Mercer Brooke (1826–1906).

Brooke was commissioned as a first lieutenant in May 1808, and served during the War of 1812. He and four full companies of the U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment from Pensacola established 'Cantonment Brooke" on 10 January 1824 at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, near where today's Tampa Convention Center is located in downtown Tampa. The site was marked by a huge hickory tree atop an ancient Indian mound most likely built by the culture centuries before. Brooke directed his troops to clear the area for the construction of a wooden log fort and support buildings. He ordered that several ancient live oak trees inside the encampment be spared to provide shade and cheer. In 1824, the post was officially rechristened Fort Brooke.

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