Savannah, Georgia, under the command of Colonel William Moultrie. The mission of this force was to invade and conquer Florida. Fortunately for Florida, command problems and widespread sickness so crippled this small army that it never advanced farther than Sunbury, Georgia. Even had it actually invaded, Florida was no longer quite as defenseless as it had been a few months earlier. The first contingent of the King's 60th Regiment of Foot (Royal Americans) had arrived in Saint Augustine under the command of Colonel, later Brigadier General, Augustine Prevost.
As important to the future survival of British Florida as the arrival of the 60th Foot, was the arrival of Thomas Browne, formerly of Augusta, Georgia. A man of quite considerable competence and energy, Browne had been tarred, feathered, and partially scalped by Georgia Rebels for his loyalty to King George III. Recognizing his merits, Governor Tonyn commissioned Browne a colonel, and authorized him to raise, equip, and lead a force of irregular militia. This force would be called the East Florida Rangers. Rarely numbering more than two hundred, Browne and his Rangers assisted by a large band of partially red-coated Seminole Indians, were to perform signal services to the crown during the next few years.
American privateers roamed the Atlantic Coast from Canada to the Caribbean Sea, capturing enemy merchant vessels and effectively blockading the east coast of Florida, the Tory residents (British) of Cow Ford (Jacksonville) were unable to obtain supplies and so fled northward into Bullock County, Georgia.
Following this incident, the British Navy would successfully patrol the ocean, intercostal waters, and rivers.
On November 2, 1775 Governor Tonyn issued a proclamation that invited the loyalist to come to Florida and promising them free land. Starting in the spring of 1778 large groups of Loyalist exiles from South Carolina arrived in Florida. The men formed two small regiments'the South Carolina Royalists and the Royal North Carolina Regiment. Other men enlisted in Browne's Rangers.
In the fall of 1776 the first batch of prisoners arrived in Saint Augustine from Virginia. There were twenty-eight prisoners and their slaves sent by Lord Dunmore.
Some were kept on the sloop, Otter that was used as a prison ship. Some including Colonel Lawson and Captain Weltcoat were kept in the fort.
In 1780 the brig Bellona under Captain Harrison from North Carolina drifted on to Anastasia Island. The crew of seventy plus men was made prisoners by the guards in the lighthouse. Some were held there and some were taken to the fort. Some of the European captives entered the 60th Regiment and some joined the British Navy.
Some French were also held prisoners here. They included Chevalier De Bretigny, sixteen of his officers, and two hundred of his enlisted men who were captured by the British Florida Navy. Included in this group was at least one person who would report back to France on the possibility of taking Saint Augustine. There were at least seventeen French vessels taken from the Charleston area with crews to Saint Augustine. These people were originally kept on Anastasia Island in the tower on the lighthouse. However as the group increased in size they were given liberty for the island. These men were finally sent on to the French Caribbean.
Dr. Father Pedro Camps was a Minorcan priest.
Father Camps kept the records of the births, deaths, and marriages in the Minorcan community in a book today
called the Golden Book of the Minorcans. November 9, 1777 in the New Smyrna church was transferred to Saint Augustine. Father Camps lived in Saint Augustine till his death in the 2nd Spanish period on May 19, 1790.
Reverend John Kennedy arrived in 1777 with a royal appointment to the Free Schools in East Florida as schoolmaster up to 1785. The subjects taught, according to a table of fees fixed by the Council in 1775, and included English, writing, arithmetic, Latin and Greek.
In May, 1777 American Colonel Samuel Elbert led an expeditionary force to invade Florida. His force totalled 600-800 men. He divided them into two groups, putting Colonel John Baker in charge of the land-based advance while he took the rest of the men aboard seven vessels to plow the coastal waters to the St. Mary River.
In 1763, the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in a trade for the port of Havana. The treaty was unclear as to the status of the Keys. An agent of the King of Spain claimed that the islands, rich in fish, turtles and mahogany for shipbuilding, were part of Cuba, fearing that the English might build fortresses and dominate the shipping lanes. The British also realized the treaty was ambiguous, but declared that the Keys should be occupied and defended as part of Florida. The British claim was never officially contested but no real government exercised control of the Keys. Most, if not all of the Florida indigenous natives had been killed or driven from their homeland by about 1763.
Key West and the entire chain of Keys provided many shipwrecks, lumbering, fishing and hiding areas, and fresh drinking water for every nation. The deep-water anchorage facility at Cayo Hueso (Key West) permitted anchoring for ships not wishing to stop in Havana or Charleston. It was a frequented by pirates, privateers and fisherman alike as well as those who made
their living salvaging the shipwrecks caused by the treacherous coral reefs and tricky currents.
Age of Sail Glossary
aft: toward the stern (rear) of the ship.
ahead: in a forward direction
aloft: above the deck of the ship.
barque (bark): a three-masted vessel with the foremast and mainmast square-rigged and the mizzenmast fore-and-aft rigged.
belay: to make a rope fast to a belaying pin, cleat, or other such device. Also used as a general command to stop or cancel, e.g., 'Belay that last order!' belaying pin: a wooden pin, later made of metal, generally about twenty inches in length to which lines were made fast, or 'belayed.' They were arranged in pin rails along the inside of the bulwark and in fife rails around the masts.
binnacle: a large wooden box, just forward of the helm, housing the compass, half-hour glass for timing the watches, and candles to light the compass at night.
boatswain's chair: a wooden seat with a rope sling attached. Used for hoisting men aloft or over the side for work.
bosun: also boatswain, a crew member responsible for keeping the hul, rigging and sails in repair.
bow chaser: a cannon situated near the bow to fire as directly forward as possible.
bowsprit: a large piece of timber which stands out from the bow of a ship.
breeching: rope used to secure a cannon to the side of a ship and prevent it from recoiling too far.
brig: a two masted vessel, square rigged on both masts.
bulwarks: the sides of a ship above the upper deck.
bumboat: privately owned boat used to carry out to anchored vessels vegetables, liquor, and other items for sale.
burgoo: mixture of coarse oatmeal and water, porridge.
canister: musket bal size iron shot encased in a cylindrical metal cast. When fired from a cannon, the case breaks apart releasing the enclosed shot. (not unlike firing buckshot from a shotgun shel.)
Cat-O'-Nine Tails: a whip made from knotted ropes, used to punish crewmen. What was meant by being 'flogged.' chase: a ship being pursued.
coxswain: (cox'n) The person in charge of the captain's personal boat.
cutter: a sailboat with one mast and a mainsail and two headsails.
dogwatch: the watches from four to six, and from six to eight, in the evening.
fathom: unit of measurement equal to six feet.
flotsam: Debris floating on the water surface.
forecastle: pronounced fo'c'sle. The forward part of the upper deck, forward of the foremast, in some vessels raised above the upper deck. Also, the space enclosed by this deck.
founder: used to described a ship that is having difficulty remaining afloat.
frigate: a fast three masted ful y rigged ship carrying anywhere from twenty to forty-eight guns.
full and by: a nautical term meaning proceed under full sail.
furl: to lower a sail.
