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Page 1: Collections 23m Q-Wxwv Georgia Historical Sqciety · On the presentation ofa demand for a counter indemnity, England threatened war; ... ’s new Colony in the place called ... geneous
Page 2: Collections 23m Q-Wxwv Georgia Historical Sqciety · On the presentation ofa demand for a counter indemnity, England threatened war; ... ’s new Colony in the place called ... geneous

COLLECTION S

23m

‘q-WfixwvGEORGIAHISTORICAL SQCIETY

VOL. VII

PARtg

THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT

OF THE ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA ,

IN AMERICA, AND OF ITS DEFEAT ON ST. SIMONS ISLAND;7

GENERAL JAMES OGLETHORPE

Pliblishcd by

The Georgia His torical Socie ty

Savannah, Ga .

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PRE FACE

The translation that follows was made from manuscriptsin the l ibrary ofMr . W . J . DeRenne, copied from the original documents preserved in the Archives of the Ind ies atSevil l e . Each ofthese manuscripts bears a head ing givingthe provenance Of its original

,and each i s further certified

as being a true copy. Heading and certificate are reproduced with the first document Of the trans lation, bu t i t has notb een thought worth whil e to rep eat them with th e remainder.

The papers Of th is col l ection fal l more or l ess natural lyinto groups — Letters and orders, diaries, reports and re

turns . The l i st Ofsea and shore- s ignal s, and one set ofnaval instruct ions

,have with the returns b een p laced last

as be ing somewha t detached,logical ly, from the substance

ofthe other papers . They have their s ignificance and int erest , however, in that they revea l t he extreme care bestowed ou the expedit ion . I t wil l be noticed that the l is tOf s ignals and the se t ofnaval instructions relate to anearl ier expedition , planned but not carried ou t .

The sketches ofguns and mortars are due to L i eutenantJ . W . Lang, 9th Regiment ofInfantry, United States Army .

They are reproduced from il lustrat ions in the catalogue ofthe Art il l ery Museum at Madrid . 1 35 5?45 4The T reaty ofVienna

,November gave Spain

but a short resp ite from war. C la ims and counterclaimsarising ch iefly out of colonial quest ions

,l ed t o much diplo

mat ic parl eying with England,and in January

,1739, she

saw hersel f obl iged to pay tha t country an indemnity ofOn the p resentation ofa demand for a counter

indemnity, England threatened war ; on August 2oth au

t horized repri sal s,and final ly on October 30, 1739, declared

war . I t is ofth is war,terminated by the T reaty ofAix~la

Chapel l e, October 1 8, 1748, that the events of the fol lowingpages form a part .War or no war, the Span ish had long been contemplating

an expedit ion aga inst the Engl ish Colony of Georgia .

They kept such an expedit ion on the stocks,as it were

,to

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b e launched when opportune ; and final ly did launch i t inJune of1742 to overwhelm the Engl ish K ing

’s new Colony

in the p lace cal l ed Georgia . To th e K ing of Spain, and to

his subj ects in Cuba and Flor ida, the chie f object‘was puni

t ive : t he insol ent and perfidious Engl ish were to be chast ise-d and the chastisement was to be extermination . Therewas no notion ofconquest ; once the obj ect attained and theEngl ish swept Offthe face of t he earth, t roops and sh ipswere to return t o thei r respective garrisons in ‘St . Augustine and Havana . So much stress, indeed, was la i d On t hi swithdrawal as to j ustify the. b el ief that its accompl ishmentwas almost as much a matter Ofconcern as the advance itself. This concern unden iably affected the moral e Ofthecommanding general, if not Ofth e entire expedition .

In forming an estimate ofthe events dealt wi t h in thefollowing pages, i t i s needful to place one

’s self in a p roperpoint OfV i ew. I f we place ourselves abroad

,the events are

inconsp icuous ; if we recross the Atlant ic, they loom large .In real ity

,we must not regard the attempt of Spain on

NewGeorgia as an affair between sma l l numbers in a d istant and unimportant land ; i twas Spain and England st riving for mastery in a vast continent, and although Spain, asal ready sa id, had no notion Of conquest, to England , that i st o Oglethorpe, the not ion of permanencywas ever presentand fundamental ly real . To him the question was whetherh is beloved Georgia shou l d b e a Span ish waste

, or a l iving,free, Engl ish colony, a potentia l State . How he answeredthi s question we al l know : he brought to naught as gravea danger as ever threatened the Colon ies, and he did i ta lone .The point ofviewmust needs then be local, but with a

national outlook ; i t fol lows that the papers in th is col leet ion acqu i r e a doubl e interest . And th is interest growswith the conviction, begot of an examination ofthe records,that Ogl ethorpe ' by al l the ru l es ofth e game, shou l d havebeen beaten . Hewas out -manned

,out — shipped

,and out

gunne'd . But hewas a soldier,and knew his bus iness ; al

though men, and ships, and guns are necessary, alone th ey

are not suffic ient . They must first b e wel ded into a homogeneous instrument and then intel l igently used, before posit ive results can be expected . This homogene itywas l acking t o his adversaries, a fact that he must have been ac

quain t ed with ; moreover, they had not had time to knowthei r commander, Montiano, nor he h is troops . And lastly,i t i s in the highest degree probabl e that Ogl ethorpe hadmeasured h is antagonist .

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T'hat Montiano had fail ed to take his own measure , i s

p roved by his p it ia‘ble repor t to his K ing . Without in thel east intending it, in complete unconsciousnes s, he strip sh is own inefficiency bare for our inspection and examination . Psyc‘hological ly

,condit ions were against th e Span

iards from the outset, but this must not in the l east be takento detract from Ogl ethorpe : he had to reckon on the onehand with a force much greater than any he could muster,and on the other hand, with certain possib il it ies in his favor ;but in respect ofthese he might very easily have b een ine rror .The Span iards sa i l ed into St . Simons gal lantly enough,and landed their men between the forts and the town ofFrederica . NO resistance was Offered . Bearing in mindthat a landing under fire is

,for the land ing party, a del icate

op eration,we may wel l ask why Oglethorpe should have

neglected th is Opportunity to do his adversary a seriousharm . But a l ittl e refl ection wil l show that this cas e real lyOffered no Opportunity . As soon as i t b ecame evident tha tthe run- pa st ofthe sh ip swas, or would be, successful , theevacuation Ofthe forts was imposed . To l eave troops inthe forts

,even if they could have hel d out

,was fol ly soc l ear that we need waste no time over the matter . ButOnce withdrawn , where should they go ? Should they pro~

ceed to res ist this disembarkat ion , either alone, or in j unc‘t ion with other forces brought down for the purpose ?But Ogl ethorpe could not tel l where the Spaniards would

land : i t was not inconce ivable that they would del iver th ei rfirst attack on the town itsel f. I f

,however

,they shou l d

choose to land between the town and the forts , t hen it wasthe part ofwisdom to l eave them to fol low th is course ; foronce ashore, they would have mi les ofswamp t o cross before reach ing “h im , and his inferiority in numbers would b emore than compensated “by the advantage of pos itions select ed in advance . I f he had attempted to oppose thi s landing, he would have had the morasse s at his back, and so incase of check, have converted an admirabl e natura l defenceinto a most serious obstacl e to successful withdrawal .Moreover, so few were his men that he coul d not affordt o divide them ; and lastly, and quite apart from any otherconsideration, he had no guns to Oppose t o th e Spanishnaval arti l l ery, against which any musketry fire that h ecould bring to bear, ineffective in those days beyond twohundred yards, would have been powerl ess .The issue proved the wisdom O f h is d ispositions . The

first attempt ofthe Spaniards to push the i r way through themorasses was also the ir last

,nor d id they later make any

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effort of any other sort . This fa i lure to undertake anything more must b e regarded as discreditabl e to the “gloryand reputation ofthe arms of the K ing,

” part icularly if th eSpan ish account Of losse s be correct . That i t i s not, weknow from other sources . Indeed

,so great were Montia

no’s losses, and among his best troops,so sudden and un

expected h is check,so uncompromising his defeat

,that the

matter was really then and there settled . In pla in Engl ish,he had no stomach for further business . After that disastrous beating when his grenadiers fel l only to incarnadine thewaters ofthe swamp in wh i ch they were entrapped

,he sent

out only Indians to see “ i f they coul d find some other roadto Frederica” . Meanwhil e hi s rations were being reduced,he had not got his guns ashore

,and rumors unnerved h im .

In these stra its he fel l to cal l ing council s ofwar and so waslost . That he had made only on e genuine effort to reachh is Obj ect ive, that in sp ite ofthe failure ofth is effort, hestil l outnumbered Oglethorpe, that m any case his fleetwassubstantial ly intact

,these th ings made no impression on

h im . His one concernwas to withdraw . And yet so bl indwas he to his own shortcomings that h e attributes his fa ilure to the Almighty and actual ly asks his King to approveh is conduct of affa i rs and to b estow honors upon him . To

be sure, he had razed a few earthworks evacuated by theirgarri sons

,carried offa few guns spiked by the enemy

,

burned a few houses abandoned by the inhab itants . Andhere we may now wel l l eave him

,recounting his victories

over inanimate things, and glossing his fa i lure, for thi s fa ilure made the State Of Georgia possibl e .

C . Dew. W .

West Point,NewYork

,October 19, 191 2.

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GENERAL ARCH IVES OF THE IND IES : AUDIENCE OF

SAN DOM INGO, LOU IS IANA AND FLORIDA.

Report Upon t he Expulsion oft he English from t he T errit oriesThey Have Usurpe

'

d in Florida, and Survey ofLimit s and

Incidences. From1738 t o 1743; Case 87, Drawer 1 , File 3.

Affidavi t ofJuan Cast elnau, a Prisoner in Georgia.

Havana,July 24

,1739.

Don Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcas itas transmitsthe depositions made by Juan Castelnau , a native O f LosPasages in Guipl

i zcoa,on the present state ofthe Settl e

ments ofNewGeorgia, where he was held a prisoner for 1 8months, and ofits fortifications, forces and establ i shments .

Sir : Juan Castelnau,who says he i s a native Of Los Pas

ages in Guipfizcoa,having come from Cartagena in this dis

patch boat now on herway t o those kingdoms li . e . Castileand Leon , or Spain"with the order and permiss ion consisting in a decree petitioned for by him ofL i eutenant Genera lDon Blas de Lesso

,I have taken the declaration s that fol low

to substantiate the reasons he gave to Obta in the said permission . As I find from them that he has tol d th e truth, and

'

given an exact account and trustworthy news ofthe state Ofthe towns ofNewGeorgia

,its fortifications

,forces and es

t ablishmen t s, both as these were a t the t ime ofth e expedit ion intended and planned for the past year of1738, andas they were afte r the arrival ofthe Commanding G eneralDon Diego I have thought i t proper to send yourLordship the testimony ofh is declarat ions

,to th e end that

His Maj esty may be thoroughly informed Of past and present conditions, because it agrees with al l the inqu iries andn ews which I had made and acquired for th e expedition ,and with those Of the Governor Of Saint Augustine. in

‘It shou ld b e recol le ct e d t ha t t hese da t es a r e Gr egor ian ; t hose of t h e

con t emporan eous E ngl ish a ccoun t s a r e J u l ian . Th e d ifferen ce , a s is we llknown , wa s a t t h is epoch , e leven days.

t 2:Ogle t horpe ’

s name h as in a ll cases, been le ft exac t l y a s t he Span iardswro e

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GENERAL ARCH IVES OF THE IND IES : AUD IENCE OF

SAN DOM INGO, LOU IS IANA AND FLORIDA.

Report Upon t he Expulsion oft he English from t he T errit oriesThey Have Usurped in Florida, and Survey ofLimit s and

Incidences. From1738 t o 1743 Case 87, Drawer 1 , File 3.

Affidavi t ofJuan Cast elnau, a Prisoner in Georgia.

Havana,July 24

,1739.

Don Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcasitas transmitsthe depositions made by Juan Caste lnau

, a native O f LosPasages in Guipl

i zcoa, on the present state Of the Settl e

ments ofNewGeorgia, where he was held a prisoner for 1 8months

,and of its fortifications, forces and establ i shments .

Sir : Juan Castelnau,who says he i s a native OfLos Pas

ages ih Guip t’

lzcoa,having come from Cartagena in th is d is

patch boat now on her way to those kingdoms li . e . Castileand Leon

,or Spain"with the order and permiss ion consi st

ing in a decree petitioned for'by him ofL i eutenant General

Don Blas de Lesso,I have taken the declaration s that fol low

to substant iate the reasons he gave to. Obta in the sai d permission . As I find from them that he has tol d the truth, and

given an exact account and trustworthy news ofthe state ofthe towns ofNewGeorgia

,its fortifications

,forces and es

t ablishmen t s, both as these were at the t ime of the expedit ion intended and planned for the past year of1738, andas they were afte r th e arriva l of the Commanding G eneralDon Diego I have thought i t proper to send yourLordship the testimony ofhis declarat ions

,to th e end that

His Maj esty may be thoroughly informed of past and present condit ions

,because it agrees with all th e inquirie s and

n ews which I had made and acqu ired for th e expedition ,and with those of the Governor of Saint Augustine in

‘It shou ld b e r ecol le c t ed t ha t t hese da t es a r e Gr egor ian ; t hose of t h econ t emporan eous E ngl ish accoun t s a re J u l ian . Th e d ifference , as is we llknown , wa s a t t h is epoch , e leven days.

t I:Ogle t horpe ’s name ha s in a ll ca ses, been le ft exac t l y a s t h e Span iardswro e

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8 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

Flori da,made after the return ofDon Di ego Ogle torp t o

those Colonies .God keep your Lordship many years .

Havana,July 24

, 1739.

Your most obedient servant kisses your hand .

Don Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcas itas .

To Sefior Don Joseph de la Quintana .

DECLARAT ION.

In the city of Havana,on the 1 8 th day ofJuly

,1739

,Don

Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcas itas,F i eld Marshal of

i

the Armies of His Maj esty,his Governor and Captain Gen4

era l over th e sa i d c ity and ofthe Island O f Cuba,said :

That th e day before yesterday, the 1 6th Of themonth, there came into this port [Havana" fromCartagena ofthe Indies

,the dispatch fr igate on her

the kingdom ofCast il e and aboa rd of her, Juan Caa native ofLos Pasages in the Province ofGuipfizwas for 1 8 months a prisoner in NewGeorgia asettl ements, which the Engl ish have occup ied ; andon h is l ib eration

,he succeeded in pass ing through V

and other parts t o the c ity ofSanto Domingo in theofHispaniola , and thence to Cartagena aforesaid .

he presented himsel f to His Excell ency Don B las de Leso"*

L i eutenant Genera l OfHis Maj esty’s fleets, Commander fth e Ga l l eons there stat ioned

,and Of all th e naval forces in

America ,who upon request ordered him to proceed herein the dispa tch frigate . In order now to possess ourselvesO f al l tha t h e has seen

,surveyed

,and understood

,l et

appear forthwith,and under oath

,cl early and

set forth the matter,according to the quest ions that

be made to him . And by these presents, I so p rovide,mand and sign .

Guemes .Before me

,Miguel de Ayala,Chief C l e rk

,State and War .

Le so, or L e zo, is men t ioned by Al t amira (H is t or ia d e E spana . Vol. IV..

1 94) a s one of t he ce lebra t ed Span ish seamen of t h e t ime .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 9

Declarat ion ofJuan Castelnau .

His Lordship,th e Governor and Captain Genera l imme

dia t ely caused Juan Castelnau, a nat ive Of Los Pasages, toappear before h im,who being sworn before God and on theCross accord ing to law, promised in consequence to tel l thetruth

,whereupon the fol lowing questions were put t o h im ’

.

Asked why he had come to this p lace in the dispatchboat that had anchored in its port, the l 6th instant, on itsway from Cartagena to Spain, he sa id , that finding himselfin Cartegena ,

he had asked p ermissi-on ofHis Excel l encyDon Blas de Leso, L i eutenan t Genera l Ofthe F l ee ts OfHisMa j esty

,Commander O f the Gal l eons in that port

,and Of

all the nava l forces in America,to go to Havana and make

report to His Lordship ofthe state ofthe Colon ies Of NewGeorgia in which the Engl ish had kept him a prisoner for1 8 months

, as appears from the petition which he presentedto the sa i d Don Blas de Leso and from his decree in evidence . Asked why and when he had been apprehended bythe Engl ish ofthe Colonies Of NewGeorgia,

where he declared he had been

,he answered that i twas because they

took h im for a spy Of Spa in , and tha t i twas in the b eginningofthe year 1737on pass ing from F lorida t o Carol ina ,

whenhewas examined by two tribuna l s ; that after two monthsofconfinement on account O f sa i d susp ic ion

,the tribunal s

finding h im guiltl ess, had enlarged h im .

Asked how he had passed from F lor ida to Carol ina,and

for what reason h ewas in F lorida,he sa i d he had gone

from Pensacola, where he had assisted the paymaster O fthat post, to Florida with the idea ofcross ing Carol ina onh isway to Europe in order to return to h is own country

,

and that to that end he had rece ived authority from theGovernor of Sa int Augustine in Flor ida

,whowas then Don

F rancisco del Moral Sanchez,to make a j ou rney through

Carol ina .

Asked where he had been a fter b e ing set a t l ib erty inCarol ina , as declared by him , and for how long, he answered that return ing to F lorida for the purpose ofseeing if hecould not earn some money on accoun t ofhaving spent andconsumed that which he had before whil e a prisoner inCarol ina, h e had embarked in a pirogue at Port Roya l anda rr ived a t Savannah , a town which they sa i dwas the capita l Of NewGeorgia , through fear offal l ing in with theEngl ish commanding officers ofthe other ports . He putto sea with the master ofthe sa id pi rogue

,and bad weather

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THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

coming on,they were driven in and compel l ed t o save their

l ives by going ashore on an is land ca l l ed Emil ia , whencea guard of four Engl ishmen there stationed took him t o

Saint Simon ’s . Here had h is res idence a commanding Oificer cal led Captain Gasquin ,who

, after enqu i ring into thereasons which had brought h im thither put him aboard themanual or coast guard vessel ofthe place, invariably forb idd ing him to communicate with whatever Spanish vesselmight b e in those waters

,until the Commander Don Diego

Oble t or having arrived from London,he recovered h is

l iberty.

Asked in what manner he had proceeded from those partst o Cartagena, he said that Don Diego Oblet or . had assistedh im to embark in a sh ip sail ing to Virgin ia

,whence he had

gone by land to Mallorca .

* Here he embarked in a b i lander bound for th e French coast Of San Domingo, and havingarrived, he betook himsel f to the ci ty, and made report tothe P res ident ofal l that had befa l l en him ; and the Pres ident after taking h is declaration , had sent h im on to Cart agena, to Don Blas de Leso .

Asked if he had been abl e to l earn anything ofthe postsoccup ied by t he Engl ish in those parts

,of what strength

they were and howfortified before th e coming out oftheCommander Don Diego Oblet or, he answered that h e had,that the estab l ished posts were Savannah or Newcontain ing some 200 houses Of wood

,very far each from the

other, for which reason they take up much room ; the townsituated on a bank ofth e river Ofthe same name, on a bluffforty feet high with a battery of 1 0 p ieces

,about 8- pound

ers,without any garrison whatever, the service ofthe bat

fery being undertaken by t he c itizens themselves ; that onlythe area surrounding the battery is inclosed by a stockadeofp ine logs about 1 8 feet h igh and one foot th ick, and thatthe rest ofthe settl ement i s open ; that at the mouth of theriver stood a tower of wood constructed both as a lookout

Ev iden t ly N ewYork ; e l sewhere in t hese paperswe have Noyorca ; t h e

scr ibe cou ld r ead i ly wr i t e Ma llor ca ,w i t h wh ich n ame hewas a cqua in t ed, tor

Noyorca ,ofwh ich h e ha d probably n ever he a rd be fore .

I t w i l l b e rema rked t ha t t o t he affian t , Savanna h a nd N ewGeorgiame an t h e same t h in g. Simi la r ly , in t h e pape rs t ha t fol low, F lor i da is t re

quen t ly u sed wh e r e we shou ld wr i t e Sa in t Au gus t in e . Some t imes t h e con

t ex t ena ble s us t o dis t in gu ish be t ween t h e ch ie f t own and t h e Colony, somet imes i t does not . Thu s, whe n Hor ca si t a s t e l ls Mon t ia no “

t o ra ze a nd de s t royCa rol in a a nd i t s p lan t a t ions," h e may mean Cha r lest on and surroundin gp lan t a t ion s, or t h e Colony , t hough t h e forme r i s perhaps t h e more l ike l y.Whe re no doub t can exist , t h e n ame of t he t own h a s been given in t he t rans

la t ion . In ot he r case s t he MS . h as been fol lowed.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 1 1'

and as a beacon for that port, which the Engl ish cal l Tebi,and we Crnces. And farther to the south l ies the I s landOf Sa int Simon, before reaching which there is another fortfac ing the I sland Of Santa Ca thalina which they cal l Darien,garrisoned by abou t th irty Scotchmen , and mounting s ixguns ofthe same ca l ibre . That in the aforementioned island [OfSaint Simon"there is a town call ed Frederica s ituat ed on the bank ofthe river Sa int S imon, and said toconta in thirty or forty houses or huts Of boards and palmleaves

,with another battery al so often guns ofthe said*

cal iber,without any troops for i ts service, th e citizens act

ing as guard . South ofthi s town, say a l eague and a hal f,i s a careen ing ground with three or four houses Ofboards,and on the point on the south ofthe island they have constructed a battery of s ixteen guns Of the same cal ibre tosweep the entrance of the Harbor OfGualquini, which theEngl ish cal l Fort Frederica

,beneath whose guns lay the

manual in which h e was a prisoner . Continuing furthersouth

, on the Point ofB ejecez, on the Isl e ofWhales stands .a fort which they call ed Saint Andrew with s ixteen ortwenty men commanded by Capta in Makay, mounting tenguns Of the same cal ibre . Stil l farther south yet is the I sland ofEmi l ia which we Spaniards cal l San Pedro

,where

they keep four men as a lookout,and have one gun and a

stone mortar . That these were a t the time in question thesettl ements

,fortifications and forces which they had . Hewas further ofthe Opinion that all the settl ers to be found

might number three hundred men , al l ofwhom were capab le of bearing arms .Asked on what date he set forth from those Colon ies togo to Virgin ia, when the Commander Don Diego Obletorarrived, and what troops he brought with h im ,

he answered,

t hat he himsel f set out on Nov. 4, 1738, ofthe past year, andthat th e Commander Don Diego Oble tor arrived in the preced ing September ofthe same year with five transports and

one vessel mounting more than twenty- two guns,and said

to be a warship cal led th e Blandfort,and that in th e said

transports he had brought over about five hundred menand more according to appearances , sa id to be regular

~

troops ; that in the month ofJuly Ofsaid year, L i eutenantColonel Cocran had arrived from G ibral tar with three hundred men drawn from its garrison

,that after the arrival

i. e . sa i d of t he ba t t ery a t Savanna h .

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THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

ofthe Commander Oblet or there came an Engl ish packetboat loaded sol ely with art il l ery and impl ements Of war ;that the troops mentioned were distributed, s ix hundredmen in the I sl e ofSaint S imon in Fort Frederica, and twohundred in Saint Andrew ; and that at th e same t ime whenthe five hundred came with the Commander Oble tor, camealso two hundred women with them

,the purpose being to

compel the sold ie rs to marry them .

Asked if afte r the arrival ,ofal l these peopl e, and whil ehewas stil l in those parts , he had seen or l earned whetherthey were making new fortifications or occupying otherposts or l aying out newsettlements, or whether he detected any especia l design ofthe Commander Oble tor, he saidthat he sawth em tracing out under the direction ofa Frenchengineer they had brought out, ,

a castl e in th e fort at Freder ica

,and for th is purpose had col l ected a supply of bricks

and t imber in the same I sl e of Sa int S imon between thetown and the careen ing ground ; that with the same engineer they were taking soundings on the bar and in the channel ; that th ey were buil ding two other smal l forts to command the land approaches from F l or ida to Georgia so as t oguard aga in st any surprise by Span ish Indians ; that eachonewas occup ied by a corporal and 20 settl ers

,that on e O f

these [ forts"was cal l ed Fort Augustus, but he had forgotten the name oi the other ; that they had not la id out anynew settl ements ; that he had [not"* detected any especialdes ign On the part ofCommander Oble t or, but that he hadhea rd the Officers say that the design in view was to takepossess ion ofSaint Augustine in F lorida, and had remarkedthat in case the outbreak ofwarwas doubtful they hadmade certa in arrangements looking to this end .

Asked what number of Indian s they had under al l egiancein those parts

,where they were s ituated

, and to what uset hey were put

,he said it seemed to him there were about

200 kept in two towns, one immediately adjacent to NewGeorgia

,in which they had

'

set up a school for the ch i ldren ,and the other mus t be a t D arien ; that they were t o be usedto commit hostil it ie s on the Spaniards and that he hadstrong proof of thi s ; for wh il e he , the declarant , was there ,the Governor Of Saint Augustine in F lorida had th e yearbefore in 1738 written to Capta in Gasquin for satisfactionby punishing some Indians gu i l ty of homicide

,and that

The con t ext shows t ha t t he nega t ive pa r t icle h as been t hrough error

omi t t ed.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 13.

he had seen the same Indians on their return from this affair regaled by himwith aguardiente and other things, andtold that wheneve r they b rought in Spanish scalps theywould b e rewarded

,and that he had thi s from a nephew of

his.

Asked if a town of Esquisaros which is cal l ed Surisbu,

*

on t he bank ofthe Savannah, adj oining Port Royal duewest

,i s wel l advanced , and popu lous, he sa id that th is town

is now abandoned and demol i shed,and that its inhab itants

had gone,part to Port Royal

,and others to NewGeorgia,

and that only a few plantations had been l eft .Asked the population O f Port Royal , what fortifications.i t “had, if the anchoring ground is good , and whence comethe ships that may anchor there, he said that Port Royalmight contain 40 or 50 houses, but that the country is wellfi l l ed with plantations as far as Saint George, worked bymany negroes; that there i s a fort cal led Vinfort a t half al eague from Port Royal to guard the entrance ofthe port,square oftrace

,with 4 curtains and bastions

,made oft im

ber, earth and oyster shel l , and that he had heard they wereadding some sort of outwork ; tha t the anchoring groundO f th e Port is the best Of th e enti re Province ofCarol ina,but that in the entrance there is not suffici ent depth for vesse ls of greater burden than that corresponding to 24 or 30guns at th e most .Asked what harvests they had

'

in NewG eorgia,and what

products were most highly prized,he said that corn

,ric e

,

beans, squashes and other vegetables were planted ; that theproduct most prized was sil k, that consequently they had

planted mulberry trees,and that they continual ly displayed

more and more ardor in this matter .Asked what kind Ofboats they had and how many inthose rivers

,for communicating on e port with another

,he

sa id that each port had a pirogue with a swivel -gun? in thebow ; and that b esides, they had two or thre e canoes

,in

wh ich they carried suppl i es back and forth,but that 4 or 5

ind ividuals had their own boats .Askedwhat was the purpose Ofth e packet boat underth e orders of Captain Gasquin , and what port it served

Purysburg.

fPedre'ro in MS Th is word means ( a ) sw ive l-gun ; ( b) sma l l gun ;( c ) st one -mor t a r . Usua l ly t here is not h in g in t he t ext s t ha t fol low t o

ind ica t e wh ich is mean t . Th e word is freguen t ly used, and excep t t ha t t h e

mea n in g “sw ive l -gun "

is probably corre ct aboar d sh ip. ashore t he con t extt h r-ows no l igh t on t h e poin t .

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14 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

wi th th e greatest frequency, he said that wh il e h e was there,i t s et out thrice to cruise along the coasts of the j urisd iction ,a nd that during the winter i t lay in the port ofGualquiniin the river ofSa int S imon , and added that he had seen asmany as twenty pounds of s i lk made there and of good quali ty. He affirms that h is declarat ion made under oath is thetruth ; that he is forty years ofage ; and signed h is declaration

,to which His Lordsh ip appended h is flourish .

Juan Castelnau .

Before me,Miguel de Ayala,

Chief C l erk,State andWar.

Pet it ion ofJuan Cast elnau.

Memorial.Most Excel l ent ISir : Juan Castelnau , a nat ive O f 10 5 Pas

.ajes in the Province OfGu ipl’

i zc-oa,kneel ing in fu l l devotion

a t the feet ofyour Lordship , says that he was captured inNewGeorgia, where the Engl ish hel d h im a prisoner for1 8 months, and proceeded t o the Island ofSan Domingo inan Engl ish s loop , in order to describ e to His Maj esty

’s represen t at ives th e state and . condit ions ofthe Engl ish in thatColony. After having made the proper declarat ion beforethe Pres ident of San Domingo

,he was sent to this port

[Cartagena"in a b ilander chartered for the purpose by thesaid P res ident

,in order t o inform your Lordsh ip Of allmat

ters (as he has done) . Desiring now to go on to Havanato inform h is Lordship the Governor of that pos it ion , shouldit b e necessary, of the state ofthe Colonies ofNewGeorgia ,and t o repair hi s needs by t he help of a few friends whomhe has in that c ity, he humbly suppl icates your Lordsh ip to grant h im authority to take passage in th is dispatchboat for the sa i d city Of Havana ; and to order i ts Captainto transport him without any cost whatever, a favor hehopes to rece ive from t he compassion ofyour Lordsh ip .

Cartagena, June 22, 1739.

Juan Castelnau .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 1 5

Offic ia lDecree . Cartagena

,June 23, 1739.

Seeing that all the al legations of th is person,as set forth

in this petit ion,are true, he is granted p ermission to go in

th is dispatch boat to the port ofHavana, i n case i t be imp ortant to advise the Governor Of that pos ition Of al l tha tt his person has seen and

declared. And the Capta in ofthi sd ispatch boat wil l transport him without any cost t o th esa id port ofHavana .

Leso.

A true copy ofthe original s in my keep ing,to which I

refer . By ora l order of the Governor and Capta in Genera lofth is Fortres s and Is land, I give these presents for delivery to his Lordship

,written on e ight sheets with th is

on e,a t Havana, July 21 , 1739. I affix my seal [ there i s a

seal"in witnes s ofthe truth .

Miguel de Ayala .

We certify that Don M iguel de Aya la , by whom theseaffidavits are sea l ed and signed, _

is, by royal appointment, aChief Cl erk

,State and War

,in this c ity of Havana and

Island ofCuba,is fa ithful , loyal and trustworthy, and as

such practices hi s p rofess ion,and receives fu ll fa ith and

cred it .Havana, July 21 , 1739.

Christoval Leal,Notary Publ i c (his flourish) .

Antonio Ponce de Leon , Royal Notary (his flourish) .

Tomas de Salas y Castro,Royal Notary (his flouri sh) .

T rue copy Ofthe original pres erved in these GeneralArchives ofthe Indies, Case 87, Drawer 1 , F i l e 3.

Sevil l e,July

(Signed) Pedro Torres Lanzas ,Head Keeper ofArchives .

Th e rubr i ca ,or fl our ish i s wha t g ives va l id i t y t o a Span ish s ign a t ure .

In some cases, t he r ubr i ca, 1 5 used a lone , w i t hou t t h e n ame of i t s maker .

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1 6 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

LETTER OF MONT IANO TO THE KING ENCLOS ING AMAP AND GIV ING INFORMAT ION IN RESPECT

OF FLORIDA AND ADJACENTCOUNTRIES.

Brief

St . August ine, August 20, 1739.

The Governor, Don Manuel de Montiano, says :That in order more cl early t o j ustify the right of YourMaj esty to th e colon ies occup ied by the Engl ish

,i t has

seemed proper to h im t o enclose a map of t hese colon ies,based On the information rece ived from different personswel l acquainted with the country and who have a thoroughknowledge ofth e bars, ports, rivers and roads there in, having trafficked over them,

so that having a better knowledge Ofthes e terri tories and Ofthe i r s ituat ion, the propermeasures may be taken .

He says furth er that as appears from these maps, theEngl ish have occupied the best bars and the deepest portscapable Of sheltering sea- going sh ip s O f large s ize ; such as

the bar of St . Helens ; tha t OfSanta Cruz ; that Of St . Simon ;that Of Gualquin i ; that ofthe [Bay of"Whales and othersOf l ess dept-h

, a th ing which Your Maj esty does not possess on th is entire coast running north and south becausethe bar ofSt . Augustine has a depth O f only s eventeenpalms .He also declares that th e R iver St. Isab el i s navigabl eto with in two days’ journey O f the towns Of the Uchee Indians in the provinces of Apa l ache and that the Engl ishhaving craftily occup ied them

,may now come down as far

as the coasts of the Gul f Of Mexico and occupy on i t someport

,such as that Of St . Joseph, Pensacol a or others . The

consequences ofth is action would be most fatal to the commerce of our gal l eons and fleets ; and he proposes, in orderto p revent this

,the occupation ofthe sa i d Bay OfSt . Joseph ,

and that a strenuous effort be made to bring about theevacuation by the Engl ish ofall the territory from NewG eorgia toward the south with the Bar of St . Helens andthat whateve r territori es be l eft th em

,l imits shou l d b e

marked out on a l in e running southeast and northwest,

taking from them as many as possibl e ofthe towns ofthe

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18 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

and that whatever territori es b e l eft to them, their l imitsshoul d b e marked out a long a l ine southeast northwest

,

t aking from them as many as poss ibl e of the Uchee townsand those ofthe coast ofthe Gulf OfMexico . This wouldresul t in depriving them ofal l hope ofcarrying out the irproj ects on the Gulf of Mexico and in furn ishfng You rMaj esty harbors on the said coast in which sh ip s, in casep fmisfortune, may take sh elter .God keep the Cathol ic

b

Royal Person ofYour Maj esty,many happy years

,as demanded by Christendom .

St. August ine in F lorida , Aug. 20, 1739.

(Sgd) Don Manuel de Montiano .

(A F lourish)[ Answer "

In a l etter of the 20th ofAugust, Your Lordship has enc losed in greater justifica tion of t he right of His Maj esty tothe Coloni es occupied by the Engl ish in those provinces,a map ofthese Colonies , based on the information givent o Your Lordship by dif

f

erent pe rsons wel l acqua in t e flwiththe country and having ful l knowledge of th e bars

,ports,

r ivers and roads,by reason ofhaving trafficked over them

to the end that having a ful l knowledge of circumstances,su itabl e measures might be taken . These matters

,having

been laid before His Maj esty, he is informed ofthe subj ectand Ofthe especia l expos ition which Your Lordship makesat the same time, to th e effect that it woul d be proper tooccupy the Bay ofSt. Joseph and apply all our energiesto d islodge the Engl ish from NewGeorgia toward the south

,

including the Barb

ofSt Helens and that whatever te i r itori es be l eft to them

,the l imits shou l d be a l in e running

southea st and northwest taking from them as many O f th et owns of the Uchee Indians and as much of the coast of theGulf of Mexico as is poss ib l e, which would resul t in robb ing them ofall hope Of success for the ir proj ects and ingiving us ports on that coast in which , in case ofaccidentor misfortune , our war sh ips might take shel ter .His Maj esty therefore d irects me to say to you that hewil l keep in mind all the facts presented for th e bettermentof the royal service, and that he is much pl eased with thezeal with which you have acquired these facts and commun ica t ed them .

May God keep Your Lordship many years .

Madrid,May

To Don Manuel de Montiano .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 19

Endorsement.

To Don Manuel De Montiano .Issued in dupl icate and tripl icate

,advis1ng him Of the

rece ipt Ofhis report conveying information relat ing to theEngl ish colonies and th e districts wh ich the Engl ish ofGeorgia should evacuate.

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20 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

THE K ING ORDERS THE D ISPATCH OF AN E"PED ITIONAGA INST GEORGIA.

The K ing has entrusted to Don Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcasitas an expedition ofimportance the natureofwhich he wil l communicate to Your Lordship as directed .

Toward the execution and success Of th is affair, it i sprop er that Your Lordship

,afte r l eaving in a state ofde

fense that [St . Augustine" fortress, should strive with all

availab l e forces, and communicate al l the information andadvice expected

,in order that action may be concordant

and efficacious . His Maj esty commands me to communicate to Your Lordship this decis ion for your information ,and in order that the aforemention ed Governor Of Ha

bana may advise you with the punctual ity demanded bythe roya l service . May God keep Your Lordship manyyears .

Madrid,31 October, 1741 .

To Don Manuel de Montiano .

[NO s ignature"

The K ing having resolved upon an expedition from thatI sland [Cuba"aga inst th e enemy, and having decided thati ts Governor Genera l

,L i eutenant Don Juan Franci sco de

Guemes y Horcas itas shou ld organize it according to th eorders sent h im

,and deeming it proper that whatever be

t ide,the troops to be sel ected for the said expedition shall

have their place taken by detachments from the squadronunder the orders ofYour Excell ency, in such numbers assha l l not interfere with its navigation, or other functions,His Maj esty commands me to say to Your Excel len cy that

you are to furnish these detachments and that if any navalOfficers shoul d wish to go as volunteers on th is exped ition

, you are not to h inder them . You are to help thea foresa id Governor to the l imit ofyour powers and of thenecess itie s Of th e case

,in order to bring about the end confided to h im , by reason ofth e great interest taken in thisWe know, however , fromMon t iano

’s answer , t ha t t h is and t h e fol low ing

le t t e rs were a ll sen t by t he M in ist e r Don J ose de Camp i l lo.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 21

matter by the royal service . God keep Your Excel l encymany years .

Madrid, 31 5 t October, 1741 .

To Don Rodrigo de Torres.

NO s ignature

With regard to the resolution ofHis Maj esty to set onfoot from the Is land [Cuba"operations against the enemy,and to the order sent to L ieutenant General Don Juan deGuemes y Horcas itas, Governor ofHavana, to carry themout

,His Maj esty b ids me charge you

,that in case Ofyour

sel ection to take command, you are to accept and execute

that duty, in ful l confidence, b ecause ofyour zeal and re

cord oi services, that you will ab ly discharge th is trust inall that relates t o the royal se rvice .God. keep Your Lordship many years .

Madrid, 31 3t October, 1741

ToDon Antonio de Salas .

No s ignature

Your Excel l ency is informed in resp ect of the motiveswhich induced His Maj esty in the year 1737t o resolve upon the extirpation Oi the Engl ish from the new colony ofGeorgia and from the territori es ofF lor ida which they haveusurped, as wel l as ofthe orders sent out to this end, andofal l d ispositions made for their execution, unt i l a suspens ion was commanded.

I bring these past matters to the recoll e ct ion ofYourExcel l ency

,because we are now in a state Of Open war,

and under no necess ity to practice the caut ion which in theformer conjuncture ofaffairs compel l ed us to give paus e .His Maj esty cons iders the time opportune to accomp l ishth e destruction ofCarol ina and ofi ts dependencies, thuscompensating ourselves for th e ancient perfidies ofwhichthe Engl ish have made the colony the seat

,as wel l as for

th e p resent hostil i t i es, by infl icting a damage that wil l ru inand terrify them

,seeing the affection in wh ich they hold

that country, and the benefit they derive from its commerce .Accordingly His Maj esty has d i rected the organ ization ofan expedition from that Island [Cuba"to b e composed ofsome regular troops and ofas much mil itia as may be nece ssary, and that i t pass over to the aforement ioned province

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THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

ofCarol ina with its appurtenant territories,and devastate

it by sacking and burn ing al l the towns,posts

,plantations

and se ttl ements ofthe enemy,for the purpose ofth i s inva

s ion must b e sol ely to press hosti l it i es unti l the effort shallhave gone home, and success b e achieved . I t wil l help

you t o know that the Engl ish Colon ies in America are so

weakened by the men and suppl ies drawn offto lay s iegebefore Cartagena that their rel ief from England has beenunder discussion .

I t i s the intention ofHis Maj esty that in carrying out

th is expedition,regular troops be used in such numbers as

are indisp ensable,having due regard t o the defense ofthat

I sland [Cuba"; and that defici encies b e made up with mil it ia and natives in such strength as to secure favorabl e result s, imitat ing the coursewe fol lowed when we recoveredPensacola from the power ofthe French .

In order that the number ofregular troops to be sel ectedby Your Excel l ency for th is purpose may not be seriouslyreduced , you may ava i l yourself in any emergency that mayarise

, ofthose in th e squadron under the command Of L i eutenant General Don Rodrigo de Torres, provided that heb e not reduced to the inab il i ty oftaking the seas, or Of perform ing any other Operation s expected ofhim . To thi send

,I am inclosing an order which Your Excel l ency will

hand him,directing h im to furth er this enterprise to the

utmost , in order to bring i t to a happy issue . AlthoughYour Excel lency has a personal knowledge ofthat country

, ofit s nature and conditions, through previous reconnaissances and surveys made in view O f pract ica l poss ibilit ies, ye t His Maj esty desires that you communicateand entrust to Don Manuel de Montiano, Governor O fF lorida

,the decision taken , propounding to him the meas

ures to b e adopted to carry it ou t , and directing him to concur with al l th e forces which the state ofdefense ofhispost wil l al low . Your Excel l ency i s to advise whetherth e enterpr ise i s to be carried on at one point, or at several points (which here is thought t o b e the proper course),and to inform him in respect Ofsa id points . I t i s furt herHis Maj esty’s wish that he give you al l th e informationin h is possess ion, and should go on informing himsel f asto the state ofthe Engl ish inhab itants ofCarol ina, and anyother matters

,knowledge Of which might b e ofimport to

Your Excel l ency. I am inclosing a letter for that Governor

, in which you wil l find h is in structions .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 23

Other direct ions and detail s are omitted, because it isknown that Your Excel l ency has al l the knowledge andl ight t hat coul d b e desired to bring so grave a matter t o asuccessful end . Hence, and becaus e His Maj esty is convinced Of your zea l , activity and experi en ce

,he intrusts

th i s expedition to your care,direct ing you to order what

ever may forward it ,with the determ inat ion that springsfrom your sense ofduty and loyal ty t o the roya l service,and without the loss O f a moment oft ime . In resp ect ofexpenses

,dispos itions

,and methods , Your Excel l ency has

plenary powers to confer and treat ofways and means withOfficers an d persons who may profi t by your advice tospread the desolation and secure the advantages that weexpect in respect ofthat province . And in order thatthe great volume ofpreparations may not pass to the knowledge Oi the Engl ish, His Maj esty orders that you take yourmeasures in secret, a l l eging pretexts to dissimulate andconceal th e end in V i ew

,so as to dece ive th e publ ic . For

Otherwise we expose and risk thi s b low,which is to sur

p rise the enemy without giving him any opportunity toprepare himsel f by arming and fortifying and so Oppose agreater res istance and Opposition to our efforts .His Maj esty leaves to the judgment of Your Excel l encythe sel ection Of the Officer or Officers to command this expedit ion : you are authorized to take those most sat isfactory to you, and Of best known and approved conduct : butin the bel ief that Brigadier Don Anton io de Sa las

,who i s

detained ou t there [ in Cuba"i s wel l fitted for thi s service,

I send Your Excel l ency the inclosed l etter in order thatyou may give it to him, i f you should se e fi t to employ h imfor the command ( in which case you wil l b e requi red tofurnish h im the pay corresponding to h is duty, or with suchas you may j udge proper) . I f you do not appoint h im, you

wil l withhold this l etter.I f a few naval Officers should wish to go as volunteers

,

you wil l approve it, assuring them that His Maj esty wil lnot lose sight ofthe ir resolut ion and spi rit

,but wil l ass ist

them in whatever may be for the i r comfort, and Your Excellency wil l d ivulge this in ample t ime, so that the suggestion may appear attractive .I t i s by His Maj esty’s command that I communicatethese matters to Your Excel lency, so that as soon as youshal l have rece ived this l etter

, you may apply yoursel f tothei r accomp l ishment, and take al l other steps that may

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24 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

l ead to the success ofan enterprise which His Maj esty des ires shal l b e p romptly carried out and which it i s confiden t ly expected wil l produce the resul ts expected, as i spla in from the fe rvor and zea l which you have ever shownin His Maj esty’s service . I shou l d say to Your Excel lencythat after the enemy’s country sha l l haVe been l a id waste,the troops and mil itia must withdraw to that I sland [Cuba",and a report be made Of events .God keep Your Excell ency many years .

Madrid, Oct . 31 , 1741 .

To Don Juan Fran co de Guemes vHorcasitas.

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26 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

great administration ofthat Governor General,who willso adj ust h is measures to action

,as moral ly to persuade

me that the favorabl e resul ts expec ted are in my Op in ionalmost inevitab le .In respect of other matters

,I venture to suggest t o Your

Lordship, that, according to my comprehens ion Of thecas e, the des ign ofthe King wil l be the antidote, the whol esome medi cine, that wil l restore to hea l th this deb i l itatedand deserted Province

,ofgood consideration ; for Caro

l ina once ruined and destroyed,the exterminat ion of her

colon ial dependencies wil l fol low,and al l the slaves now

under her heavy yoke wil l pass over t o us . This is whatthey most desi re : as th ey are numerous, we shal l b e abl eto make here many settl ements, and turn their p eople toaccoun t in war. And what i s more

,i t wil l fol low that the

Indians, no longer having any on e to inst igate or protectthem

,wil l continue a lways with us in a state oftranquil

p eace ; these Provinces wil l grow and peopl e themselves ,s ince they are al l as i t were and famil ies fromGal icia and the CanariesWi l l b e abl e to establ ish themselves in qu iet .I am sending to th e aforesaid L i eutenant General

,Gov

ernor ofHavana, a return Of the troop s ofth is post, and Il eave to h is j udgment the sel ect ion he may, with due re

gard to the defense Of th is place,s ee fit to make for the con

t emplat ed expedition . This i s al l I have to lay ofth is matter b efore Your Lordship fo-r the information Of His Maj esty.

That God keep Your Lordsh ip many years, i s my des ire .Sa int Augustine in F lori da

,1 2 March 1742.

Sir : I kiss your hand, being you r most gratefu l s ervan t

Don Manuel de Montiano[A flourish fol lows "

To Sefior Don José de‘A p ara/mo is a h igh , b leak p la t eau ; t h e word is Sou t h Amer ican . Preg

c isely wha t p la in s Mon t ia no h a d in mind , of cou rse,we do not know. In all

probab i l i t y h e uses t h e word in a loose way.

On e oft he min ist e rs ofPh i l ip V r emembe r ed a s t h e au t hor ofa book,Nuevo sist ema de goln’erno economi co p ara la Amer ica ,

” publ ished pos t humously in 1 789. In t h is work , Campi l lo cr i t ic ised t h e sys t em of colon ia l ad

min ist ra t ion and p roposed ce r t a in r eforms, a rray ing h imse l f a ga inst t h e mi lit a ry sys t em of conque st fol lowed in Ame r ica . He a rgued t ha t t h is sys t em,

howeve r n ecessary a tfirst ,was nowou t of da t e , and p l eaded for e conomi ca ll iber t y.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 27

THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CUBA INFORMS THEGOVERNOR OF FLORIDAWHAT TROOPS AND SH IPSWILL BE SENT FROM HAVANA, FOR THE E"PED IT ION AGA INST GEORGIA, AND MAKES VARIOUS SUGGEST IONS.

Sir,Among the obstacl es and difficu l t i es aris ing in carrying

out th e wil l ofHis Maj esty, and commun icated by me t oYour Lordsh ip under date ofFebruary 3rd, past, the mostseriouswas the possib il ity that

,and doubtWhether, the

Engl ish , strengthened by the fresh re — enfor cement ofmen which arrived in Jama ica toward th e end ofJanuaryofthe present year, woul d ente r the Gul f ofMexico, andattempt to attack thi s Havana or some other pos ition ofthe I s lands . But th i s fear has vanished,* as you maysee from the enclosed paper sent me by the Governor of[ Santiago de"Cuba, and from th e l etter ofDon Seba stian de

Viceroy ofSanta Féj‘ a copy ofwhich I enclose .

The occasion seemed to me th erefore opportune to profitby th is fortunate conj uncture ofaffa i rs

,without however '

being abl e to furn ish the men nor the means whichyour Lordsh ip warned me would be necessary t o strike theblow directed by His Maj esty. For I have neither theformer, nor the frigates su itab l e to make it attainabl e inthe way that I shoul d p refer

,nor any ships ofwar § to take

the place ofthese frigates,inasmuch as these sh ip s must

fulfi l l th ei r principal purpose .3?

Th e a l lusion is t o t h e fa i lur e of t h e E n gl ish t roops, some in a ll.t o cap t ur e San t iago. A squa dron un de r Admira l Ve r non a nd Gene ra lWen twor t h h ad landed in Guan t a namo B ay ; a ft er four mon t hs’ e ffor t , t he en t er

pr ise was abandon ed , w i t h a loss by t h e E ngl ish ofover men from t hee ffec t s of t he c l ima t e .

Th is officer con du c t ed t he de fense of Ca r t a gena a ga inst Admira l Vern on ,who fa i led in h is a t t emp t t o cap t ure t h e p la ce .

TN ewGranada , in Sou t h Ame r ica , some t imes, a s h e r e , ca l l e d Sa n t a F e .

t h e Colomb ia of t o- day. I t was on e of t h e Span ish v ice - roya l t ie s, and occasionally ca l led t he reino (K in gdom) of San t a Fe .

§In t h e Spa n ish n avy of t h e "VIII cen t ury “t he pr in c ipa l t ype ofwa r

vesse l wa s t he navio [ l in e - of- ba t t le - sh ip" ass ist ed by t he fraga ta[ fr iga t e"a s scou t or despa t ch vesse l

“B i igan t in es we re a lso use d on de spa t ch du t y, and pa cke t boa t s fp aguabot es".

“Ga l leys we re fa l l in g in t o disuse .

“T h e a rmamen t of sh ips ofwa r con s ist ed of bron ze and wrough t iron guns of ca l ibre vary in g from 36

t o 4 (we igh t in pounds oft he proj ec t i le ) . Th e a ve rage ra ngewa s abou tme t e rs.

"

Al t amir a y Crevea, I-Iist or ia de E spa na, IV. 1 89- 1 90.

1 A B r i t ish fle e t was s t i l l inWes t Ind ia wa t ers.

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28 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

Wherefore I judged that regu l ars and 800 mil itia

wou l d sufi‘ice, and under this hypothes is was elaborating

this p lan, when there arrived here an Engl ishman , the Cap

tain of the frigate captured by Fandi’fio

,and a man of

l ear mind and straightforward d isposit ion . I tested andcompared his representations with those of S imonin, who,as Your Lordship knows

,i s thoroughly acquainted with

that port and its bar [Frederica", and with the number ofwhites l iving in Carol ina

,and found that his information

differed mater ial ly from that which Your Lordship hadsent me .As a resu l t ofth is investigation and of my inab il ity tomake a greater effort than the one decided upon

,I con

voked a secre t council of war of whose decis ion you wil l beinformed by the copy that I am remitting. I t is impossibl e to assembl e a greater number ofmen ; and even if itwere, we coul d not transport them,

for what has a l readybeen done under th is head i s due to the assistance of Li eut enant General Don Rodrigo de Torres .I am sending Your Lordsh ip a boat with this news underthe sea l ofinviolabl e s ecrecy, so that you may be informed oi the determination we have taken

,and show the great

est activity in equipp ing the expedition,to th e end that it

shal l with the greatest prompti tude set sai l to anchor onthat bar [Saint Simon’s", and proceed without the sl ightestdelay t o the extinction of that country [Georgia". To carryout these orders Your Lordsh ip wil l take from yourown post 400 regular troops, 300 of your garrison , the 1 00who were s ent from this place under th e command of DonGregorio de Aldana

,and al so the 1 00 ofthe mil i tia ofPardo,

who were sent to you at the same time . From this p l acewi l l proceed in 30 transports composed offrigate s andb i landers

,men

,600 regulars, 700 mil i tia, composing

the without counting the seamen ; among the transports goes separately the vesse l for th e 500 men who are

immediately to embark at Saint Augustine and bes ides, two

large barges well armed with swivel guns Ofthese vessel s as many as possibl e wil l proceed with guns mounted,to say noth ing ofa French frigate of 24 guns

,which hap

pened to b e in th is port, and which we took for this exped it ion

,of th e packet boat ‘‘Dil igent,

” and ofthe gal l ey. Iregard this force as sufficient to atta in the end sought withhapp iness and w ithout risk.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 29

All the stores and wate r required, go in the said vessel s ; i t wil l not be necessary t o draw even a singl e rationfrom your post. The proper ammun it ion, arms and implemen t s l ikewise wil l be sent . Your Lordship wil l verify th e return ofproperty ofthe Agent ofthe Exchequer,who is to go in charge ofi ssues an d administration . Suchbeing the d ispos itions taken here, Your Lordship wil lhave equipped the six ga l l iots, the launches, and thep irogues of your garrison, as wel l as any other vessel thatmay prove useful ; th e troops must be ready to embark atonce

,without the sl ightest hindrance . For delay would

be prej udicial,s ince the urgency ofthe whol e affair (whose

success I bel ieve to be easy) consists in th is that theenemy shall ne i ther perce ive , nor b e warned of

,our in t en

tions .For all reasons, i t has seemed to me that your appointment to the command of this expedition wil l insure i tssuccess

,for with the knowledge ofYour Lo1 dship ,

yourdevot ion to the throne

,your deeds and your experience,

go the satisfact ion and glory ofHis Maj esty, and the sa t

isfact ion ofall ofus who are interested in hi s service, re

joicing over the void caused by the forces ofAdmiral Vernon , because oi the task upon which these are engaged .

Colonel Don Francisco Rubian i, L ieutenant Colonel andCommandant ofthe Regiment ofDragoons o

_

fI tal ica wil lgo hence in command of all that s et out . From your ownpost you wil l arrange for the services ofDon Anton io Salgado as Li eutenant Colonel . L i eutenant Colonel Don Miguel de R ivas may be l eft behind to command the p lace .The Engineer of th e Second Grade

,Don Antonio de

Arredondo,also accompanies th e exped ition, as being on e

who knows those parts as far as Port Royal,and has ex

act and detail ed in formation in respect ofeverything el se .He may be employed by Your Lordship on any duty youmay be pleased to Order for th e best interest ofthe undertaking, and can take charge ofth e deta i l s ofoperations .The Engineer Don Pedro Ruiz Ol ano may a lso go . ShouldDon Pedro de Estrada, a man who has given such goodproofs ofsp irit and gal lantry

,b e in Sa int Augustine

,it

would be eminently agreeabl e that he shou l d fit out hisb i lander and accompany the expedition in any capacity yourLordship may think proper .I remain convinced not only ofth e partial but ofthe ent ire success oi ou r enterprise

,because ofYour Lordship’s

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.30 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

known leadership . And I am expect ing'

at t he very l eastthat the forces furnish ed wil l without the s l ightest l et orhindrance forthwith destroy al l the p lantations as far asPort Royal . F-or as Your Lordship knows , i t i s His Maj esty’s des ire that the sudden blow struck should, as far asits force wil l reach , and events permit, lay waste Carol inaand its dependencies . But th is course must b e consistentwith the informat ion your Lordship may obtain from prisoners

,and with other measures to be suggested by your

r ip e j udgment looking to the secure withdrawal ofour

forces through the interior channel s b etween the Keys . I ti s ofthe greatest consequence and importance to raze anddestroy Carol ina and its p lantations . This resul t can b ebette r s ecured bvfirst getting rid ofth e regiment of Ogl ethorpe

,which might proceed to the defense ofsome other

point where hosti l it i es had broken ou t,if not first attacked

where they are nowin Gualquin i and Sa int Simon, as proj ect ed. I t i s entirely probabl e and credibl e that surprisedby this b low

,they wil l abandon everything and flee to the

woods,and thus give us greater freedom to draw ful l profit

from this idea and its opportunity so favorable to us . And i fi t were poss ibl e to find means to notify the negroes in goodtime to fol low the cause which Your Lordship says they desi re

,th is would be an Opportune disposition for th e com

ple t e success of our plans .The expedition over with the happy issue des ired

,Your

Lordship wil l take step s for the immediate return,with

the l east poss ibl e expenditure oftime,of th e troops and

mil itia about to set forth and a l so ofthe detachment whichI s ent on some time ago under the command of DonG regorio Aldana, sending them in detachments in the vessels which Your Lordsh ip wil l j udge best fitted for the navi

gat ion ofthe Cana l . I beg leave to remind Your Lordshiptha t I have only 400 men left for the service ofthis place .Whatever I may have forgotten or omitted

,I beg Your

Lordsh ip’s attent ion and persp icu i ty to supply,as of one on

the spot . I t i s my des ire to overlook not even the mosttrifling circumstance which might forward the happyissue I amanticipating. May Your Lordship have no othercare than to secure and br ing victory, unless i t b e toemploy me in any relation in which I may satisfy YourLordship .

God keep Your Lordsh ip many years .Havana, May 1 4, 1742.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 31

Postscript in margin .

I warn Your Lordsh ip that thi s expedition wil l sai l hencethe 2nd or 4th ofthe next month, according to the effort

'

made to complete its equipment, so as to take advantageofthe fine weath er, and that you must have made al l yourprepa rations

,and warned some ofth e monks ofthe mis

s ions in those parts to go along as missionaries .Your most affectionate, faithfu l s ervantWho kisses your hand .

Don Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcasitas.

To Don Manuel de Montiano

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32 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CUBA APPO INTS THE“

GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA COMMANDER OF THE E"

PEDITION AGA INST GEORGIA, AND ISSUES H IS OR

DERS FOR THE CONDUCT OF OPERAT IONS.

Copy .

Sir,

— Having received orders from His Maj esty,t o send

an expedition from this island aga in st the Engl ish,his

enemy,to punish them for the insul ts committed aga in st h is

subj ects,by the subj ects ofGreat B rita in in Carol ina and

by those recently and unlawfully settl ed in His Maj esty’sterritories in a place ca l l ed Georgia

, and impress ed by itsimportance to His Maj esty’s service and by the pern iciousresul ts ofhaving tol erated the aforesaid insul ts

,I have

made up a command ofal l th e land and naval forces I canposs ib ly assemble

,to accompl ish these very j ust and very

important ends,according to the wish ofth e king.

In consequence ofthis and of th e faculty h e has bestowed upon me

,to s el ect as the commanding officer ofth is

expedition , on e who possesses the requ is ite character andqual it ies

,I am l ed to designate you as the Commanding

Genera l ofal l these forces,as much by the confidence I

have in your fitness and experi ence as because of th eknowl edge which you possess ofthose places . I amal so gu i ded by your affection for His Maj esty and your zea l for hisservice

,as shown in your l etter ofthe 3rd of March of the

p resent year .For th e troops which are to be under your orders

,I ah

t icipa t e the greatest success, and I amdirecting you according to wha t I bel ieved was b est adapted to secure a

happy termination, in conform ity with the resolut ion ofth e board , a copy o-fwhich I have sent you

,enj oin ing upon

Your Lordship the l eas t possib l e effus ion ofthe b lood ofHis Maj esty’s troops and subj ects, and to insure in anyevent a withdrawal . The number ofregular troops wil lb e with proper number ofofficers

,and ofmil itia 800,

composed ofwhites, mulattoes and negroes,a l so properly

officered. These troops you wil l assign as wil l seem bestto you .

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34 THE S PANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

accompany the mil i tia ofth is p lace for this very purpose)t o convoke the slaves of the Engl ish in the plantationsr ound about, and offer them ,

in the name of our K ing,l ib

e rty, if they will del ive r themselves up of the ir own accord,a nd to say that lands wil l b e assigned them in the territ ori es ofF lor ida

,which t hey may cul tivate and use for

t hemselves as owners, under the d irection and laws oftheK ingdom ofSpa in . In proportion ' as you rece ive and

oh

t ain ( and this I bel ieve wil l be the case) t rusthworthy andfavorab le information forwarding the conquest and increasi ng the damage done the enemy, you wil l act accordingly,n ever losing s ight of the importance ofmaking sure of

y our withdrawal , in order not to lose the fru it ofour opera.IlOIlS .

Al l the neutral and fri endly vessel s met on the way, youmay deta in , requi ring them to fol low the convoy, unti lt here sha l l be no disadvantage in a l lowing them to proc eed on the i r course . To the p erson who goes as agentin charge ofall matte rs relating to the Royal Excheque r,i n respect ofth e good and economica l administration ofwarl ike stores and impl ements

,you will afford al l neces

s ary help , showing him and requ iring him to show the

g reatest attention, corresponding to the confidence I haver eposed in him , and ma intain ing th e best ofrelation s withh im

,in order that the serv1ce may thus b e punctually and

e asily performed .

Al l the effects found and taken by our troops you wil lcol l ect and keep in a s ecure pla ce under the supervis ionofthe agent ofth e Roya l Exchequer, who wil l b e requ iredto make an inventory for th e d istr ibution in equal partsamong soldiers

,mil itia and sa i lors .

As regards prisoners, in respect of whose classes andn umbers no decis ion can be reach ed in advance

,Your

Lordship wil l take such measures as seem most su itab le ;j ust as in all the other cas es that come up , you wil l makesuch decis ions as most redound to the advantage oftheK ing’s service, and t o the glory and reputat ion of his arms .The expedit io-n having been concluded with the happy

i ssue that we have a right to expect, Your Lordship wil ld irect that the troops and mil itia of thi s place [Havana"return to i t without the sl ightest delay, in the vessels that«can make the best way through the channel ,* seeing that

‘Th e F lor ida Channe l.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 35

nowt he southwest winds wil l p revail ; al l the sh ips wil ltake t he same course, even at the cost ofincreased laborand ofa longer voyage, because thus we avoid encounterswhich otherwise m ight have in

'

urious consequences forus. i afigThe Second Engineer, Don Antonio deAffe ondo, goesinformed with regard to al l I have been able to anticipateand advance for the success and safety ofth is importantoperation . He wil l communica te with you, so that youmay sel ect what may appear to you best fitted for the happyissue ofour plans, the glory and satisfaction of our royalmaster

,and of h is roya l intent ions . I am inclos ing to

your Lordship a fu l l copy ofthe orders under which I havebeen acting

,and ofwhich I beg that you wil l acqu i re fu ll

understanding.

Commending mysel f to your Lordship in th e sincerestaffection, I pray Our Lord to keep you many years .Havana

,June 2

,1742. You r most affectionate faithful

servant,who kisses your hand .

Don Juan Francisco de Guemes y Horcas itas.

To Don Manuel de Montiano .

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36 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

Illust rat ions ofSpan ish Guns.

PEDRERO.

40 cm. Cal., 21 cm. long.

1709A. D. 6031 Art illery Museum.

Madrid.

Cannon.

310 cm. long, cm. Calibre. "VI I I Century.

Art illery Museum, Madrid.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA

BOMBARD— moun t ed and assembled.Cana 255 cm.Length gRecamara 8 1 J Made 1518 A. D.

No. 3301 in Art illery Museum,Madrid.

This p iece has 2 recamaras— used alt ernat ely.

3356 Ar t illery Museum, MadeMadrid.

PEDRERO.

144 cm. long, cm. Calibre.

37

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38 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

5489. Museum ofAr t illery, Madrid.

MORTAR1773A. D.

CAN /IRECA

MARA(“woe s G un ne rs)

BOMBARD Complet e No. 6587Art illery Museum240 cm. long "V Century. Madrid.

3570 Art illery Museum, Madrid.

FALCONET "V Century.

105 cm. long, cm. Calibre .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 39

ORDERS TO THE COMMAND ING OFFICER OF THE

FLEET .

Orders to be obeyed by the commander ofthe Fl eet , andinstructions for h is gu idance, with the understan ding that hei s in al l matters to 'be under the orders ofthe generaBsel ected to command the expedition which is to d islodge theforeigners that have settl ed and estab l i shed themselves in.

t he domin ions ofthe King in the Provinces ofF l orida .

1 . He wil l l eave the post ofHavana , i f the weather per~

m it, on t he day appointed, with al l the vessel s ofwar and

transports afte r having made al l necessary arrangementst o keep h is ships together in good order during the journey,and establ ish ed s ignal s for prompt comprehension and cor

rect action in any case that may come up . He wil l l ikewise have drawn up the special orders to be observed withal l the precis ion and clarity poss ibl e by the respective commanders ofthe vessel s under hi s command2. He wil l proce ed directly to Saint Augustine in:

F lo rida, without anchoring anywhere,unl ess driven to it

by inevitabl e necessity .

3. When in sight ofthe Bar ofSa int Augustin e h ewillapproach as cl osely as poss ib l e, and anchor with h i s ent i refl eet on th e bar .4. As soon a s the tide serves , hewi l l order the trans

ports to enter the harbor, and anchor in fron t of the castl e .

5 . As soon as the said tide nears the flood,he wil l de

termine whether the depth on the bar wil l p ermit the eu

trance oi the vessel s under h is command,withou t l ighten

ing, and i f so, these wil l enter, and p roceed to anchor infront ofthe Herm itage ofOur Lady de l a Leche . Shou ldl ighten ing prove necessary, al l wil l execute i t at th e samet ime with the greatest dispatch , transporting in launchesand boats the weight that may be necessary. But this isto b e done only in case it is impossibl e

,by reason ofstorms,.

to remain at anchor outs ide .6 . He wil l rema in in port (or wherever el se he may '

think proper) unti l the command ing general gives orders.

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40 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT . OF THE

to begin operations and put t o sea with his ent ire fleet,which he wil l obey without loss oft ime .7. He wil l convoy the flotil la of smal l vessel s that areto cross the bar of the Sa int John’s Rive r, unti l he s ightsits in l ets on an east and west l ine, when he wil l e ither l ie- to,or i f the weather permit, anchor ; the first is the bettercourse, i f i t should be necessary to go outside under thethreat ofthe east wind, dangerous on this coast ; the second

,in order to avoid dri fting with the currents . C i rcum

stances must determine which ofthese two courses appears to him the better, without los ing s ight ofthe factthat he must endeavor as far as possib l e to keep the coastin viewduring the entire course of the expedition so asdistinctly to observe the s ignals made from it, or t o re

ce ive information sen t out to him ,s ince the happy issue of

the enterprise depends partly if not entirely on the unityand j oint effort of th e two fleets .8. He wil l l ie- to or remain at anchor, as may be determined

, offthe inl ets, unti l he shall have rece ived from thebeach a s igna l to proceed on his course .9. He wil l continue o-

n his way, observing both by dayand by n ight the signal s made to h im from land

,so‘that on

rece iving information oft he poin t at which the in t erior

flotil la happens to be resting,he wil l again anchor or l ie- to,

until aga in ordered t o proceed . For, as the interior flotil lacan proceed only when the t ide is favorabl e

,at interva ls

ofs ix hours and a few minutes, i t i s incumbent on th e s eafleet so. to adjust i ts progress, as to be but a short distanceaway, and so avoid sl ipping on and then being discoveredby the fore igners of Fort Frederica or Gualquin i beforethe interio r flotil la shal l have come up and taken its disposition for attack .

1 0 . Should some acc ident preven t pe op l e coming downto the shore t o make s ignal s, he wi l l proceed along thecoast under shortened sa il ; and , after taking into accountthe change oft ides , and whatever may further the advance,wil l estimate approximately where the interior flotil lamust be, giving due regard to the increase of d istancecaused by the windings of the interior channel s, and by thefact that on some nights i t wil l p erhaps be impossibl e t osai l and take advantage of the t ide on account ofa fewnarrow passes impossibl e to navigate save by day.

1 1 . He wil l al so consider a poss ibl e d elay due to thecapture of the Fort of Vegeses on the channel of the Island

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42 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

shoal s and indicated the nearest point for the execution ofthe plan, and approximately observed the distance b etweenshipside and shore . Although announc ing that one andthe same s ignal wil l b e made of the arrival ofthe interiorfloti l la in the Bay ofGualquin i, ofthe disembarkation ofthe troop s and ofthe ir getting under way to enter the port,yet

,even though the said signal be made at the hour of

p rayers, or later, or at any other hour, he wil l no t on thataccount undertake any movement before the time a l readyment ioned ofthe b reak ofday, unl ess the s ignal should bemade to undertake everyth ing at the moment when it i sset

,no mat ter what the hour

,because it i s possib l e that th i s

course might be advantageous ; and in th is case he wil lwithout the sl ightest delay set about th e disembarka tion ,and get under way to capture the port provided that thisoperation take place by dayl ight .1 5 . As soon as the launches carrying th e troops shallhave sheered off, the commander wil l , i f th e tide b e fal l ing,stand by with h is anchors apeak ; i f not fal l ing, he wil lhoist sa il ; if th e wind does not serve, he wil l begin to tow,

or do whatever he th inks best. With the b ilanders leading ahead by the hawse h e wil l set out t o capture th e port,using his best endeavor to have the land ing t roops veryearly in th e morn ing surprise th e look-out ofthe fore igners, marked O on th e chart . He wil l al so cause the fleett o take the port as early as possibl e

,so that the enemy

see ing h imsel f attacked on al l s ides without h0 pe ofrel i efshal l at once surrender without res istance .1 6 . This bar ofGualquin i l i es in north latitude 31

°

with 6 to 4M fathoms at the po int mentioned above . To

ente r the port, set the course N . W . MW. , and continue oni t in 4M and 5 fathoms til l 3M are reached ; shift to N. W .

MN .,when the bar wil l b e found

,with 3M fathoms at hal f

tide . From this point with cours e N . W . MW. , eas ing toN .W., 5, 6, and 7fathoms wil l b e found, deep en ing unti la l in e north and south through the fort of the strangers iscrossed

,where 1 4 fathoms wil l b e obtained

,shallowing as

shown on the chart .17. Having taken th e position ment ioned with h is squadron

,if th e foreigners Open fire on him with thei r arti l l ery

,

he wil l return it, as wil l al so al l th e boats under h is command, signal having been previously made to form in l ineand to fire on th e enemy in the aforesaid case. But i f theydo not open fire upon h is ship s, he wil l in no wise fi re him

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 43

s el f, but wil l merely order hi s vessel s to anchor in good order in th e part marked t‘hus Y, provided that i f he should becompell ed to fire against the hostil e fort

,he wil l endeavor

to dismount and disabl e its guns . He will direct that ingoing about

, so as to use both broads ides, al l _vessel s musthave thei r launches and boats ahead by the hawse, to prevent drifting with the current, in order that they may withthe greatest promptitude forge ahead or in any other direct ion which may appear to h im su i tabl e . I t i s indispensabl ethat each vessel go abou t in th e proper place in which itmay find itsel f

,the vanguard and rear guard standing on

opposite tacks . For if th e sa i d maneuver i s not executedin this form and th e sh ips lose the ir positions, i t wil l b eimposs ibl e to make head aga in st the current so as to pre~

sent the ot her broads ide to the enemy .

1 8 . From the conditions already laid down,i t is evi

dent that the sh ips shou l d l i e- to when del ivering thei r fire,keep ing up against wind and current in such manner as tosecure, without undue drifting, a good pos it ion for the purpose in hand .

19. I t i s poss ibl e that in th is port ofGualquini we shal lfind at anchor a packet boat orwar vessel which they own .

I f th is shall not have surrendered when he arrives with hissquadron, he wil l take possess ion ofi t , e ither by cap itulat ion or by force, i f i t res ists ; he must send it to the bottomwithout giving quarter to anybody ; but i f i t surrendersvolun t arily, he wil l give i t the best treatment poss ib l e .20 . I f whil e at anchor outs ide on the bar with th e Ehgl ish flag flying, as al ready arranged, there should come out ,as i s u sual , a boat to reconnoiter or to bring a p i lot, hewillcause i t to b e captured with th e boats and launches whichhe wil l have overboard and ready from the moment he shallhave anchored .

21 . Should he b e forced by any wind to remove fromthe coast an d for this reason be unabl e to s ee al l th e signals, then, as soon as the wind shal l have ceased, he willreturn to the coast

, and depending on the length oft im ethat he wil l have been absent, he wil l examine the state inwhich he finds th e interior flotil la . As a measure ofp rudence, and according to the conclus ion s arrived at, he willsee to i t that no matter what cause, contingency, delay, orweather shall have come up

,the floti l l a shal l cross over t o

the Bay ofGualquin i and takewhatever action has b eendec ided upon .

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44 THE SPANISH OFFIC IAL ACCOUNT OF THE

22. Whenever he encounters vessel s, he wil l cause themto be searched as he may think proper ; but no matter ofwhat nation they may be

,he wil l

,for the purpose ofem

barrassing the enemy, take possess ion ofthem, e ither peacefu l ly or by force, and ofal l the commercial vessels b elonging t o these new colonies

,from which are to be evicted the

intruding settl ers as having furtively and il l egal ly settl edupon them . But i f these vessel s should be registered fromNoyorca

* and bound to St . Augustine with stores for itsgarrison, or else return ing from the said place to the ir owncountry or coming from any other country, in respect ofwhich the reason given above does not hold good, he wi l lnot capture them

,but wil l compel and order them to con

t inue their voyage under h is convoy . He wil l take theseprecautions to make sure ofthe first c lass ofvessel s, and todetain the second

,unti l the commanding gene ra l may have

taken cognizance ofthe case and ordered that there i s noobj ect ion to giving them their l ib erty.23. The b i landers and other smal l er vessel s under h iscommand wil l p roceed nearer t o the coast than the largersh ips

,in order that they may the more clearly and prompt

ly pick up the s ignal s made from it and communicate themto the flagsh ip

,according to the d i rections which the com

mander of th e fleet shal l have given t o th is end before l eaving port.24. As soon as this operation shall have been concluded,he wil l l eave the port ofGua lquini with his squadron andlanding body and proceed directly to the Bay of SaintS imon

,at whose entrance hewill. anchor on th e bar in

p roper order and with t he same precautions which he observed in that ofGualquin i. Here he wil l rema in unti l thecommanding general orders h im by pre- arranged

'

s ignalto put to s ea

,so that i f th e s ignal shoul d be set to disem

bark h is peopl e,he wil l answer by executing the order and

s end ing his launches to the beach on the south point of th eentrance . In th is case

,he wi l l order the captain s ofthe

b ilanders to sai l into the harbor and j omhands with th e iht erior flotil la , with orders to fire on the redoubt ofthe fore igners, i f th is shou l d open . I f on the contrary, it shouldnot

,he wil l keep h is station wi t h h is ships without under

taking any movement whatever as much to avoid riskingh is ships in entering and l eaving the harbor as because it

‘N ewYork, probably.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 45

has been cons idered unnecessaryto employ so great a forcein the reduct ion ofthe redoubt and its garrison, and princ ipal ly to prevent hostil e vessel s from going south and thusposs ibly embarrassing the withdrawal ofour own vesselsthrough the interior channels . To th is end

,he wil l con

st an t ly maintain in the tops a good guard of men oftheutmost tru stworthiness,who wil l attent ively keep a goodlookout in all di rect ions.

25 . As soon as he shal l have seen the b ilanders l eavingthe sa id port and a s ignal to make sail and continue thevoyage

,he wil l obey it

,setting his course with hi s entire

squadron direct for the bar ofLas Cruces [Tybee Bar" andwithout waiting for any other order or s ignal, he wi l l enterthe bay.

26. The mouth ofLas Cruces, he wil l recognize bymeans ofa lofty , wooden tower, which the foreigners havebu ilt on th e north po int ; on t he south , they have a smallredoubt .

27. On coming within sight ofthe said bar, he wil l hoistthe Engl ish ensign and wi ll keep it flying until h e shal lhave ent ered and placed himself in a pos it ion to preventcommunication of this event to other parts . He wil l thenhoist the Span ish ens ign and at the same time wil l s end anofficer ashore under a white flag with: orders to inform thecommanding officer ofthe fort, that i f he does not surrender without resi stance or delay, he wil l b e put to the swordwith h is entire garrison without exception

,and to tel l him

at the same time that the rema in ing forts and settlements ofthe south have been depopulated and ruined and thata strong fleet is coming by the interior channel s to destroyand reduce to naught those which may have remained .

28 . The officer designated for thi s duty wil l careful lyobserve the dispos it ion and force ofth e redoubt and thestrength ofits garrison in orde r that in case ofrefusing tosurrender and offering res istance

,th e most convenient and

best measures may be taken to capture it . He wil l with‘

draw to his sh ip , as soon as he "has executed h is commismon .

29. While al l thi s i s go ing on ,he [ the NavalC omman

der"wil l anchor in the middl e ofthe channel , posting thevessel s under h is order, so as to occupy both mouths of

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46 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

the Tamaja,* these being the same which on j o ining formthe Savannah R iver. In th is way

,a ll the approaches wil l

b e covered and the communications ofthe enemy embarrassed.

30. I f the commanding ofli cer of the said fort shouldsurrender without resistance, the garrison wil l b e dist ribu t ed among the vessel s ofthe fleet

,orders be ing given to

treat th em wel l . The guns,munitions and stores found

wil l be col l ected and orders given to burn to the ground al lthe houses and to ru in and destroy whatever may be found.

The same orders wil l b e issued with regard to the towermentioned .

31 . I f the commanding officer,in contemp t ofthe cour

t eous and peaceful propos ition made to him,shou l d dec ide

to defend himsel f, the nava l commander wil l make the bestd isposit ion to invest the p lace . He wil l d isembark t roopsin suffic ient number

,having regard to the report on the

garrison ofthe fort and its s ituation made by the officerhe sent a shore, to s ecure success without risk, because ifh e cons iders that th e operat ion is somewhat difli cult hemust not expose h imsel f, but instead wil l s end with thegreatest dispatch one or two launches , wel l armed and

manned,to the south through the channel s

,with an offi

cer to report everyth ing accurately to the general ; and,in addition

,the conclus ion he had come to in respect ofwhat

i s needed to attack and conquer the said fort and settl ement. The officer wil l b e enj oined to travel n ight and dayuntil he shal l have met the interio r flot i l la . He must befurn ished with the countersign and parol e because it i scons idered important that this information shou l d reachth e general as soon as possib l e .32. Even shoul d the commanding general of the fortsurrender without res istance, th e two launches wil l besen t to report th is resu l t t o the commanding general withal l th e incid ents which may have occurred

,and with an ac

count oi the s tate in which itwas found.

33. Since i t is poss ib l e in the said port to find a few vessel s from Europe , bringing stores and people, for the support of these settl ements, he wil l take as many as he shal l

Th is word suggest s t h e Al t amaha : bu t as t h is s t reamha s no conne c t ionw i t h t h e Savann a h , i t is n ot imposs ible t ha t t h e scr ibe h a s wr i t t en T for Y,,

a n d t ha t t h e word i s r e a l ly Yama j a , i . e . , Yama cr aw. If t h is emenda t ion b e

a ccep t a ble , t hen t h e au t hor of t he se orde rs probably has some local configu ra t ion in mind.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 47

have found,us ing them for the service and re- enforcement

ofhis squadron . He wil l take the most exact precaut ionsfor safety until the general shal l have j oined and givendirections

,the expedition being concluded

,for i ts orderly

and wel l - arranged withdrawal .There i s no doubt that in al l re lat ions the general wil llabor, 1n accordance with the zeal and experience he isknown to have, for the complete success ofthe roya l service

,and the glory and reputation of the king’s arms . In

respect ofaccidents which cannot be ant i c ipated,I have

confidence that his experience and prudence wil l l ead him to

display the same zea l in prosperity as in advers ity,and a

perfect constancy, such that neither wil l success produce thesl ightest carelessness nor misfortune abate his courage,keep ing in mind , as he wil l , that al l ofus depend upon theDivine Omnipotence t o which must b e attributed bothprosperity and advers ity, whil e displaying on his own partthe dil igence , act ivit y and strength that a re requ i red to

plchieve success in anything upon which we have set ourcarts .

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THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT onTHE

LETTER OF THE GOVERNOR GENERAL OF CUBA TO

THE KING’S M IN ISTER, ANNOUNCING THE FAILURE

OF THE E"PED IT ION AGA INST GEORGIA, AND EN

CLOS ING TWO JOURNALS OF EVENT S.

S ir,Hoping as I have been from day to day to rece ive from

Florida the happy news I had promised mysel f ofth e successful resul ts ach ieved by the expedition against the Engl ish Coloni es in the North

,I had kep t back the dispatch

boat under the command of Don Juan B-

ap t isi a Goicochea,

which had entered th is port from Vera C ruz on i ts wayback to Spain, so as more promptly to commun icate th isnews .Accordingly, on the e ighth instant

,through the iortn

nate arrival, afte r 42 days’ j ourney

,ofa boat which was

sent to me, I l earned that the first convoy ofsmal l vessel shad on th e 9th ofJune safely reached the Bar ofSaintAugust ine

, as did on the 1 5th ofthe same month,that of

the larger ones,which left th is port under the orders of

th e Naval L i eu tenant, Don Anton io Cast afi eda . At Ratones Inlet

,the messenger was pursued ‘by an Engl ish

sloop,whichwas trying to capture h im

,and so he was

compel l ed to run aground,but succeeded in saving al l h is

peopl e and the d ispa tches wh ich later h e managed to sendon to me in a coast fishing boat .Just when I thought that th e expedition was at l east welladvanced, if not as compl etely successful as we had reasonto expect

,the Governor ofF lorida tel l s me in l etters that

I rece ived,dated the 26 th, and postdated the 28 th and 29th

ofthe same month ofJune, that partly on account ofthebad weather and partly on account ofthe n ecess ity ofwatering the boats, and ofother inconveniences aris ing out ofthe difficult ies and dangers of navigat ion over that bar[ the Bar ofSt . Augustine", he had been as yet unabl e toembark the troops which were to set out from that garri sonto j o in hands with those from this particular place and withthe mil i tia wh ich has been sel ected for th e purpose . Uponth is aforement ioned day, the 29th, he was stil l at

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50 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

the fol lowing day there returned to i t a sloop, one of thosethat had set out with the expedit ion

,and in it came Naval

L ieutenant the Marquess de 'Casinas and the capta in of them il it ia battal ion of this place

,Don Laureano Chacon

,wi thhis company . From these officers I l earned t hat the issue ofthe expedition had not corresponded to our wel l- foundedhopes and t o the measures that had ’been taken for its success

,and that 'all the vesse ls in di fferent divis ions had strug

gl ed to regain F lorida and th is place Havana,without any

other resu l t than that of having attacked Gualquini withsuccess

,capturing its forts, artil l ery, mortars , munitions and

imp lements ; and that this outcome was due to the badweather which had delayed and disordered the executionofour plans, to say nothing ofhindrances later encounteredand fel t.I have up to the present day no other information thanthat given me by the aforesa id officers

,and that which is

conta ined in more or l ess deta i l in the private diary kept bythe Marquess de Cas ina s ofda i ly events

,and brought off

by him and given to me .'

Seeing -

nowtha t the whole exped ition had begun to re

t reat and that th ey had s ighted land six l eagues farther tothe south ofSa int Augustine, these officers j udged it properto set the ir course for this port and assured me that th eother boats were doing the same thing .

Such being the news in hand , i t has appeared to me properno longer to delay the d ispatch boat under the command ofDon Juan Baptista Goicochea . As soon as I sha l l have rece ived the information to be given me by the Governor ofF lorida

,i t wil l b e dispatch ed in another boat which I am

holdi ng ready for the purpose . I shal l then expla in withgreater particularity all that has happened and the reasonsthat preva i l ed aga ins t continu ing th e expedit ion and infavor offorming the resolution to retreat .As I had a l ready made up my mind, from the condition in which I considered the enemy to be and from thesuper ior ity ofour forces, that at the very latest, his towns,plantations and settl ements would b e attacked and des

t royed as far as Port Roya l ; and as I had even flatteredmyself that these favorabl e resul ts might be obtained asfar as Carol ina [Charl eston"I have b een profoundly astonished at the frustration of hopes so wel l founded ofs ervingthe king advantageously and ma inta ining the glory of hisarms ; and that the labor and zeal in spired by my devotion,

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 51

and by my interest in our success shoul d have come tonaught . But although not successful everywhere

, ye t

according to the relation ofthe Marquess de Casinas, the

destruction ofthe forts and settl ement ofGualquini andthat ofBej eces was accompl ished . That many stores andimplements should have been destroyed

,and the harbor

gallantly forced in the face of al l i ts fire, both by sea andland

,with such intrep idity, as reported by those to whom

I have talked on the. subj ect, i s due to 'Don AntonioCastaneda .The K ing and Your Excel l ency do not need to be informed how deeply I ammortified that th is expedition has notbeen carried ou t to the compl ete satisfact ion of His Maj esty’s des ires ; and that on my part nothing was omitted thatcould have the l east b earing on its happiest i s sue . Untilal l the vessels with the troops and mil it ia shal l h ave re

turned,I sha l l take al l the precautions that are due .

Praying Your Excel l ency to report to His Maj esty the result s so far of th is operation , may God keep Your Excellency many years .

Havana,August 1 8, 1742.

Excell ent Si r :Your most “humb l e, grateful servant kisses your hand.

Don Juan Francisco,Guemes y Horcas itas .

(A F lourish .)To His Excellency Don Joseph de Campil lo .

[Lette r acknowledging rece ip t of that ofGuemes, withpapers "

With the l etter ofYour Excell ency of the 1 8 th ofAugust,have been rece ived the accompanying reports and diary,treating of the management and progress of the exped itionwh ich l eft your port against Carol ina . We have al so thenews reported to Your Excell ency, through Naval Lieut enant Don Carlos R iggi—o (who has arrived at that p lace[Havana" by the Governor of F lor ida

,and a l so that for

warded by Your Exce l l ency in a l etter ofthe 20 th,to the

effect that on that day Don Antonio Cast afieda returned tothat port [Havana"with the greater part ofthe convoy andtroops . The K ing, having acquainted himsel f with yourreport upon the measures and arrangements you made for

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52 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF. THE

this expedit ion, and al so with your reflections upon it s issue, and th e reasons why i t did not come up to the expectation s p roduced by the forces and arrangements with whichitwas undertaken , desiresme to express to Your Excellency his satisfact ion with everything done by Your Excell eney, a satisfaction in exact agreement with the confidence'hewasgracilou'

s,

enough to jrep-os e in you r zea l and effic iency .

He considers as ent ire ly sound the remarks you makeupon the unhappy issu e ofevents . His Maj esty understands that th is i s to b e t raced to the poor direct ion, l ackof dil igence and inefficiency ofthe one who shou l d havemade extraordinary efforts to p rofit by the advantages thatplaced success within h i s grasp .

May God keep you many years .San I l defonso

, October 28 , 1742.

To Don Juan Francisco Guemes y Horcasitas .*

JOURNAL KEPT BY DON ANTONIO DE ARREDONDO ,

CH IEF ENGINEER OF THE PRESENT E"PEDITION.

June 5,1742.

At sunri se th e s igna l was made to put to sea and executed by the entire convoy

,as itwas ready to sail . At twelve

o’c lock, we sall i ed from the Morro,at which t ime we haul

ed up our l aunches and boats ; steady drizzl e .

June 6 th.

From yesterday noon until today at the same hour : atone o

’clock in the afternoon we ran into a rain squal l withou t wind, wh ich lasted until 5 . We stood al l n ight underforesa il and mizzen sai l unti l 5 o’clock in the morning. Atnoon

,we took the sun, but as there were great differences

in th e observations,we took the mean to fix th e course

which was northeast by north .

June 7t h.

From yesterday until today : at suns et, al l the e l ementsofthe convoy kept together . At nine in th e evening, greats igns ofa squal l wh ich burst upon us with thunder, l ightn ing

.

and ra in,l asting until one o’clock in th e n ight . At

sunr i se two vessels were miss ing. At noon,we took the

‘Not signed bu t p robably wr i t t en by Campi l lo. In t h e MS . t h is le t t erfol lows Arredondo' s d iary.We have p ut i t where i t be longs. immedia t e lyaft e r th e le t t er wh ich i t a cknowledges.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA

sun and found our lati tude“

to 24°

and our longitude295

° At this hour the two boatsWhich had been m issing rej o ined us .

June 8 th.

From yesterday unt il today : at one o’clock in the afternoon

,we sighted Liong Key, i ts northeast head bearing

north five and a half deg rees toward the east and the southwest point , west. At sunset al l the vessel s were together.At midday the sun gave us 25° 3 lat itude and longitude295° 40

,al l the vessels be ing together.

June 9th.

At three of the aft ernoon, _

signal was made to crowd onal l sai lwh ichwas kep t up ti l l four. 'At s ix land was discovered from the top and recognized by the p ilot as B is~

cayne Key which bore west by north at a distance offiveleagues . At six in th e morning, the top announced thatonly twenty- two vessel s were in s ight : at seven

,landwas

vis ibl e and afte r examination by the p ilot he declared thati t was the shore of Jega, bearing west by northwest . At8 a sl oop s ignal l ed that she wished to sp eak to us, and observing that her bowsprit had been inj ured

,the Honduranwas s en t to find out what was the matte r, and return ed say

ing, that it was the royal s loop“St . Joseph , and that the

night b efore,on going about

,the guard schoone r had foul

ed her,and thus had damaged her bowsprit

,but that shewas not making any water nor had suffered any other dam

age . At noon we took the sun and found ourselves in 26°

54'

latitude and 295°

25'

longitude . On thi s day a sloopofthe convoy was miss ing.

June loth.

F'

rom yesterday until today . at 4 ofthe afternoon,wes ighted ma in land, b eing the palm grove ofAys, accordingt o the p ilot . At 5

,s igna l was s et to go about

,whichwas

executed by t he entire convoy, the course be irig set S . E.,with the wind E . N. E . At sunse t the top announced thatonly twenty- two vessel swere in sight . At th is hourwehad lost t he l and . The whole n ight remained cal

m . Atsunrisewe sawthe same vessel s as those of yesterday ‘

afternoon and found at noon our lat itude to be 28

°

28'

and longit ude 292

°

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54 THE SPANI SH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

June 1 1 th.

From yesterday unti l today : at ofth e afternoonsigna l was made t o put about,wh ichwas done, and thecours e set W . MN .W. , the wind being north and l ight . Atsunset al l the boats vis ibl e th is morn ing were sti l l in sight .The whol e n ight a moderate wind b l ew out ofthe southwest . At sunrise twenty- one vessel s were seen . At noon,we took soundings and found ours elves in twenty- twofathoms

,bottom reddish gravel and dark colored sand .

At t en,we tacked to the S . S .W., wind west, and at noon

our l atitude was 30° 1'

and longitude 295°

June 1 2th.

From yesterday unt il today : at ofthe afternoonsounded in twenty- s ix fathoms ; found the bottom th e same,for which reason we decided to cast anchor because th ecurrents were carrying us to l eeward . Signal to thi s effectwas made and obeyed . At sunset only eighteen vesselswere seen becau se apparently th e currents had preventedtheir keep ing together

,and at the same time it was con

j ect ured that they were invis ibl e because the horizonwasovercast . The entire n ight was calm,

with the wind t o thesouthwest, but we found the currents extremely strong ;at ofthe morning, s ignal was made to hoist sail, whichwas done ~with thewind to the northwest, course S . W .

Only fifteen vessel s were vis ibl e,be ing t hose only t hat had

anchored . At noon,our obs ervation gave us 29° 42

'

l atitude, and l ongitude 245

°

June 13th .

From yesterday unti l today : a t one ofthe afternoon,we

set our course W . S .W., with th e wind north , northwest,eastern horizon heavily submerged . At three ofthe afternoonwe sawland but could not make out what it was,b earing W . M S .W., at a distance ofthre e l eagu es. Atsunset s ignal to go about and set the course east, windnorth, northeast . At thi s hour only fourteen vessels werein sight . The eastern horizonwas strongly overcast, withmore or l es s indications ofweather. At ten at n ight th e windfreshened from the north into a squall

'

so that we stood under foresa i l and mizzensail . At thre e in the morning signalwas made to change our course t o the E . S . E . and S . E.,

with the wind northeast, thi s on account of having soundedand found only t welve fathoms and a hal f. The night con

So in or ig ina l, probably Copy ist ’s error for 295°

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 55

t inued calm with some swel l unti l hal f past four, when thewind settl ed in the south and southeast with many squal lsand showers . At this hour we set our course to the E, andE . M N . E . At sunrise, the sun being invis ibl e, the topannounced that fifteen vessel s were in sight . Afterwardstwo others

,smal l ones

,were discovered and '

a fr igate tothe windward which made a s igna l ofrecognition whichwas answered

,and we found it to b e the Sacra Familia, so

that we were noweighteen , al l told . At ten we soundedin fifteen fathoms and th e skies having cleared and the rainst epped, signal was made to head south, th e wind beingeast- southeast . At midday we took the sun and found our

position to be latitude 29°

and longitude 297°

June 1 4th.

From yesterday t i l l t -oday : at s ix ofthe afternoon,s ig

nal made to set the course N . E . by N with the wind eastsoutheast . At this hour therewas a flurry ofra in . Atsunset s eventeen vessel s were in sight

,the two smal l ones

that were seen this morning having been unabl e to comeup .

'The n ight continued calm, and the currents provingmore powerfu l than the wind, we cast anchor in twelveand a hal f fathoms ofwater a t half past one in the morn ing.

At six,s ignal to make sai lwas s et, which we al l d id, with

the course S . S .W. ; wind ea st- southeast, which al l s ixt een vessel s executed . At landwas seen at a d istanceoffour l eagues and a hal f, continuous coa st . At

'

r

'

niddayt he

“sun gave us 29°

l atitude and at the same time we recogn ized that we were offth e bar of Mosquito Inlet, forwh ichreason we set our course N . N . W .

June 1 5th.

From yesterday til l today : a t s ix ofthe afternoon,the

packet boat “Dil igent was s ignall ed to come up with inspeaking distance and ordered to press al l sail and hastent o reconnoiter the bar ofMatanza s and inform us by can

non shot and to hoist a signa l lantern fo r our guidance ; andt hat as soon as she should be offthe bar ofSa int August in e, sh e should anchor, and from time to t ime make asmoke signa l . We continued with the rest ofth e vesselson th e same course and at one o’clock in the morn ing ans

chored east and west on a l ine with the tower ofSt . Anast asia in twelve fathoms ofwater. As soon as i t dawnedwe discovered at anchor the seven vessel s which had beenmiss ing. They had succeeded in gett ing in two days

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56 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

before,so that we were final ly al l reunited . At there

came alongside a boa t from the garrison to take a shore thesecond in command

,Don Francisco Rubian i and myself.

The offi cer who came offtold us that on the 5 t h, the firstdivision ofsmal l vessels that had set out from Havana onthe firs t day,

having run into an Engl ish frigate, our gall ey cal l ed upon h er to show her colors and as she fai l ed todo so, we cl eared for action and opened fire on her withour guns

,towh ich the frigate made no answer, and under

her courses alone,advanced upon our gal ley, and prepared

to attack her. But th is des ign was perce ived, and the windbe ing fresh

,the gal l ey rej o ined the convoy under a signal

to press on all sa il ; but her commanding officer see ing thatthe Sa int Augustin e sloop

,in which were embarked the

sub - l i eutena nt and the arti l l erymen ofHavana,was far

astern, gave orders to stick close to th e sloop and resistthe l aunch and boat ofthe hostil e fr igate,wh ich she hadj ust put overboard and was directed to cut offtwo schooners which were somewhat delayed behind the remainderofthe convoy . As the wind continued t o freshen , the gall ey sent a boat

,with th e ens ign and ten men ofh is garri

son to re- enforc e the aforesaid schooners . In fact,th e

launches ofthe Engl ishman had come alongs ide to board,

but were by the h elp ofthe officer and ten men j ust ment ioned, formally beaten offin the three attempts that theymade . In this affair we suffered no damage

,except that

Don Francisco Mol ina, the l ieutenant of the mil iti a ofGuanabacoa ,

was wounded in th e thigh . The hostil e ship,’

seeing that h er launches had not succeeded in their attempt

,

now directed them to attack the Saint Augustin e b i landerand the launch from the convoy sent by the commandingofficer ofthe gal l ey to support the vessel s that were farastern . Although the utmost defense possibl e had beenmade, they were unabl e to resis t the fire ofthe ship whichwas at anchor in three fathoms of water, and so ran ashore,the sub- l i eutenant, Don Domingo de la Cruz, having beenkil l ed in th e action by a gun - shot, as well as the corporal,Manuel del P ino, by another. When they saw our peop l ehad got ashore, the enemy leaving thei r boat, swarmedover the b ilander in order to loot the cargo which theysupposed she carried . From the shore,we opened fire onthem, encouraged by see ing that the Engl ish boat had sunkin the su rf on the shore , and ass isted by two Indianswhohappened to be fishing, andwho had come up at th e sound

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58 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

to invade the Isl e ofSt . ‘Simon ; and after various reflect

ions upon the matter,and weigh ing al l the c ircumstances

with the greatest attention, i t was unan imously agreed thatthe disembarkation should take place on the east coast atthe most shel tered po int ofthe shoal s north of th e Bar ofGualquin i and that from this point a cordon should be formed with part ofthe troops to reach as far as the care eningground in order to mainta in free communication withinthe river with our ships and to receive suppl ies andwhatever el se might be needful from that point in ful l security .

I twas further agreed that th e ships and the remainingvesse l s shoul d enter in good order and force the hosti l ebattery

,and shoul d string t hemselves across the river of

the harbor in the formation to be prescribed by th e sen iornaval officer

,Don Antonio Cast afieda, and that afterward

operations shoul d conform to the turn of events .I caused l is ts to b e given to me ofthe troops

,th e con

vi ct s, the Indians and the negroes of th e garrison , the firstbeing composed offive p ickets ofthe re- enforcement andofone , of the garrison , wel l equ ipped ; ofn inety convicts,offifty-five Indians and offifteen negroes, al l armed . ThenI prompt ly made the l ists ofdistribut ion ofal l th ese classesaccording to the capac it y and qual ity ofthe vessel s andt hey were so allotted .

We continued today sending as much water aswe cou l don board, having regard to the necessities ofth e vessel sand especia l ly those ofthe roya l frigates . Today we hadsqual l s from the northeast and some of them gave us realconcern

,by preventing communica t ion and b ecaus e our

vessel s were so completely expos ed out beyond the bar .Our arrangements were thus delayed .

Today we saw a schoone r offin the north and the commanding officer Don Antonio Cast afieda, made signal to theHonduran ship to chase her, and after some time, she de~

clared herself to b e Engl ish and put her boat overboardand sent it to us with the French capta inwho was cap t ured on this bar at the b eginning of March ofth i s year

,wi th

three Spanish prisoners and a negro ofEsp inosa’s . Don

Diego'

Ogle torpwas return ing these peopl e with a l etterto the Governor ofSt . Augustin e, with direct ions to leaveth ese pri soners a t that place . I l earned from the Frenchcaptain that the schooner in wh ich he had come i s the samethat was seen on the fourteenth ; that on account ofthe badweather sh e had not approached the shore to carry out the

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 59‘

order of Ogle t t orp and that having recognized our sloop,the Engl ish captain had taken the resolution to l eaveaboard ofher bo-th the French captain and the prisoners .These declared that they had been kept confined and deprived ofall communication . The French capta in

,a rea

sonably j ust, fair man, had been kept on board ofth e bilander which , from the d escrip tion he gave , i s the one fromth is place which they captured after it had come to anchorin the river ofSt . Simon . He was not permitted to set footon shore more than twice, when hewas taken before a

Board, presided over by a Doctor, -to make a declaration inrespect of certain effects and bi landers . These he lost, forthe verd ict was adverse al though it was establ i shed that hehad come to bring suppl ies to the garrison . In spite ofthecloseness of the confinement in which h e was kept, theynevertheless treated him with the greatest d is trust as.though he had been an enemy . He understood that Oglettorp had not the forces t o res ist ours b ecause, al l told, theyhave not more than s ix hundred Engl ish,

divided betweentroops and farmers, and that these are distributed in d iffe rent posts . He relates further that th e battery ofthe city ortown of Frederica i s d ismounted and h e reports the deeppoverty in which they are l iving, without fresh meat, the sold iers without money and without any rel ief

,except that a

French officer has a few sheep and cattle . The negro ofEsp inosa, however, enj oyed a l ittl e l ib erty and says that astorm and heavy rains have gradually destroyed the batteryat the entrance ofGualquin i, so that he sawit, a t l east so hesays , fal l en over on one s ide . 'On asking the French captainwhat Op inion Oglet t orp

s peopl e had formed on seeing ourseven vessel s anchored in front ofthe bar

,he said

,that

they thought it was the privateer,Estrada (who has as yet

not come in from his cru is e), with a few prizes ; and thatthe capta in of the Engl ish man -oi — war

,whom a few days

b efore he had met , had tol d them ofthe combat which hehad had with our gal ley and the boa ts ofthe first division ,and that he had given them an account ofthe prisonerswh ich the Spa niards had taken from them at th e Bar ofMosquitos, tel l ing them that they had come wi t h storesfor the garrison escorted by the gal ley ; so that it seemsthey have not perceived the purpose for which our expedit ion is intended . The l e tter ofOgle t torp t o th e G overnorreduces itsel f to communicating to h im the fact that heis returning the pri soners aforementioned, cla im ing credi t

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60 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

for having rescued them from the power ofthe Indianswho had captured them ; and to saying tha t the others whichhe

'holds in h is power must, by order ofthe king, his master,

’b e sen t to London, Don Romua l do Moral es be ing ofthenumber ; andmakes fr ivolous excuses for not having beforegiven an answer to our Governor .

June 1 8th .

We drew up p l ans ofbattl e, divided the troop s into col

umns, and sel ected the reserve ; the thr ee naval l i eutenantsD'

on Vicen t t e Quin t t a, Don Carlos Regio,and the Mar

quess de Ca-s inas,were appointed to take over as many

othe r p ickets* belonging to the Captains Don Bernardo

Quena and Don Gregorio B ermej o, on duty as regimentals taff and that of Don Francisco Pa lafox, chose n as ai de — de- camp by the commanding genera l . Bal l astwas sent out t o th e frigate, Escalera , assigned to th e fleetby direction of the commanding general and in agreementwith his royal officers and the agents ofthe Roya l Exchequer. Besides we continued to send out water and Imade a distribution ofcartridges

, a t the rate oftwentyr ounds for the disembarkation

,and ordered them to be

d i stributed to each vessel by the adjut an t sd' I al so ordered

the issue of1 83 muskets and bayonets to the mil itia butt hese o rders could not al l b e carri ed out because therewasnot time during th is day on a ccount of the great distance tobe covered and becaus e the tide did not s erve . The supp lyofwater has cont inued and the ball ast for th e frigate ofESCalera . I ordered the negro of Esp inosa to be held a

pri soner with directions that he should be al lowed to speakto no one because I suspected some knavery.

The p iquet e a t t h e beg inn ing of t h e "VIII cen t ury ,wa s a prov isiona land t empor a ry compa ny formin g up on t he le ft , and made up ofmen drawnfrom a ll t he compan ies. La t e r in t he t ex t i t h as i t s regu lar mean ing ofp icke t , i. e . gua rd.

Sarérontos ma iores, [ or mayores. in mode rn form". The sargen tomayor wa s cha rged w i t h du t ies of admin ist ra t ion , a ccoun t a b i l i t y, inspe ct iona nd d isc ip l ine. He t ook rank a ft e r t he cap t a ins, bu t t hey ne ve r t he lessWereunde r h is orde rs in ma t t e rs r e la t in g t o h is office . Th e t i t le is ra t he r t ha t ofan office t han of a gra de . Th e r e is no Engl ish e qu iva len t .

t A'

yudaflt es, in a ll probab i l i t y t he assist a n t s of t h e sargen tos mayores.who we re ca l led ayudcmt es. The t erm used in t h e t ransla t ion “adj u t an t ,”

t’

unst nb t be t aken t o mea n wha t we a c t ua l ly underst and by i t in t he mi l i t aryserv ice , bu t is used in a more gene ra l way . S t r ic t ly spe ak in g we ha ve no

Engl ish equ ivalen t for ayudant e, any more t hanwe ha ve for sa rgento mayor .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 61

June 19th.

I have drawn up th e order of“ disembarkation and the

storesh ave been transported t o the frigate of Esca l era forthe troops which are embarking, namely, the detachmentof

'

Don G regorio Aldana . The schooner, Guaraia, has succeeded in entering this port . I t has on board a part ofthesupply ofstores

'

for th e schooners and other vessel s ofthe garrison [of Saint Augustine". The baggage of theofficers ofthe p ickets has b een ordered on board

,and th e

supply of water and bal last to the 'boats has continued withthe greatest energy

,each ofthese being about completed .

T oday we sawa s chooner to which chase was given,by

order ofthe sen ior naval officer, by the b i lander ofFi deand the Honduran . They did not succeed in overtakingit, but we have formed the op in ion that i t i s the same onewhich brought the Frenchman and prisoners sent by Ogl etorp and that it has come t o Spy us out and observe ourmovements .

June 20th.

Whil e we were completing the d istribution ofs tores, Ipassed the day writing to the Capta in General of Havana,giving his Excel lency an account ofal l that had passed upto the present day. Orders have been given for the embarkat ion tomorrow afternoon oft he troops ofthe garrison

,and that they shoul d set out a t the first t ide and come

to anchor near t he flagship,in order that each may rece ive

its sa il ing in structions from the nava l commander andthat there may be noth ing more to do than to put to sea .

Today we sawa brigantine which we have decided mustb e that ofEstrada, because i t s eems susp icious tha t so large

a vessel offth is'bar coul d have disappeared . We are copy

ing ou t t he order ofdisembarkation in order that each oneof th e vessels may have i ts own copy .

June 2lst .Yesterday we fin ished supplying th e vessel s ofthe garr i

son with their proper stores . The watering ofthe sh ips,too, has been fin ished . At dawn , we saw a brigant inewhich we decided to be the same as that seen yeste rday ;and in fact

,at one o’clock ofth e afternoon it anchored off

our bar, and we discovered i t t o be that ofEstrada . At sixofth e afternoon

the sh ip’s write r came ashore with a l ette rfrom the sa i d Estrada, giving us an account of: what hadhappen ed on his cru i se . He reports having captured a,

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THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

schooner ofrice wh ich has already arrived here and a packetboat

,and reports further having be en attacked by a

Carol ina war vessel on“

the third instant at about s ix ofthe afternoon , when the combat opened ; tha t it l asted umti l midnight and that each damaged the other more or l ess,with the loss on the part of the Spaniards ofon e man kil l edand four wounded ; among them,

the captain in the hand,

th e l ieutenant in the head, and two sa ilors . As for the lossofthe Engl ish, h e knew nothing. He j udges merely thatthe damage must have been great because the fire of al lsorts which he Opened on h im was incessa nt, and becausethe Engl i shman

,dropp ing astern, was the fi rst to c ease

the combat,so

_that th is action may be compared to thatwh ich Don Pedro Goycochea had with the Engl ish frigatebetween the islands ofSan Domingo and Porto Ri co, becaus e the circumstances were a lmos t the same . He a l sosays that he has l earned from prisoners that two hundredsa i lo rs have b een sent from Boston to re- enforc e the fleetofAdmira l Vernon which it i s known was occup ied, ace

cording t o,current reports

,before Cartagena ; and that i t

was common'

rumor that additiona l forces were to comeo-ut to j oin those ofOgle t t orp and tha t if these shouldarrive

,he wou l d doubtl ess use them before St . Augustine ;

that Carol ina was not ofa mind to give the help whichOglet torpwas seeking, unless there should be some orderfrom the K ing to that effect, and the command of theexpedition committed to some other chief .The brigantine comes in short ofmeat and for that rea

son cannot form part ofthe convoy only as soon as it shal lhave entered , we shal l try to sh ift i ts arms and equipmentto the guard schooner

,and if Captain Estrada shal l have re

covered from his wound,we shal l give him the command

ofher . This n ight we had squal l s, winds and showers .June 22nd.

Frequent ra ins,squal l s and thunderstorms have today

impeded t he embarkation ofthe troops, norwas Estrada’sbrigantine ab l e t o come in ; and as the horizons indica tedfoul weather, all the p ilotsWere a ssembl ed and gave thei rop inion that the vessels shoul d not set out, but shoul d t e

main until tomorrow when the embarkation would takeplace and the sh ips put forth , but only if the weathershould be good .

In a gazette from Boston , brought by Estrada, there IS

a ridiculous a rticl e as fol lows : I t says that a gentl eman,

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 63

ofGeorgia, who had arrived in Boston on the 26th ofMarch

, had given trustworthy news that G eneral Ogl ettorp with e igh t hundred men had gone to lay siege to St .Augustine, that among the se men he had thre e hundredIndianswho had resolved to burn the pla ce ; and he addedthat the motive ofOglelt orp

s expedit ion was t hat he hadgot news that the Spaniards were weak and in great needofstores, caused by the presence ofAdmira l Vernon’sfleet in t he waters ofCuba .

June 23rd.

Although we had thought that today we could se t forth,the morning dawned with a strong wind from the northeast

,accompan ied by squal l s and showers

,and the water

on the bar had become so rough that i t was imposs ibl e tocross it ; notwithstanding which two attempts were made,in order t o bring in the brigantine ofEstrada, which iscaus ing us concern

,on account of i ts bad condition . I t

fired a few guns ofdistress but it was not possible toreach it . At ten ofthe morn ing, we had the unhappynews that Fa ther Domingo , chapla in ofthe packet boat“Dil igente, and a sai lor ofi ts crew

,who were going on

board,had been drowned at the exit ofth e bar

,but that

fortunately the vicar genera l of the expedition had miraculously saved h is l i fe by happi ly seizing hold of th e launchand keep ing himself on i t unti l she came ashore . We havea l so seen ashore on the beach a boat without knowingwhich boat it is

,nor how many peopl e have been drowned .

This afternoon it became calm so that the CommandingGenera l assembl ed the commanding officers and navalOfficers and the pi lots ofthe garrison

,and requested that

each should give h is Op in ion in respect of our sal lyingforth

,as i t was important that our trip should be short

,

and cl ear that the inconven iences ofdelay would b e s erious ; in general , each person should give reasons for andaga ins t . The pi lots . were unan imous in declaring that i twas not possibl e to cross th e bar as long as the sea wassti l l up , ag itated as i t was by the squal l s and wind thathad prevail ed . After various reflections on the subj ect

,

and after taking into account the fact that the sma l l boats ,which were to, fol low the fleet withou t los ing land fromview were absolutely necessary t o the success ofour operat ions, and therefore should not expose th emselves toseparation from the convoy

,on account ofthe contrary

winds that had been blowing, and the great variation of

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644 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

the we ather, and con s ide ring furthe r t hat the journeyfrom this point to the hostil e coast was so short, itwas dewc ided to be absolutely necessary that we should set out in

settled weather. Accordingly,al l m inds were ofthe opin

ion that we should“ wa it unti l things were safe that ifthe wind shoul d, sh ift tomor row we shoul d go out .

t his op in ion, th e order was given that at the beatdrumeve ryone shoul d go on board his ship .

[End ofArredon-do’

s JournalJ

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66 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

representations made by Don Anton io Cast afieda and of theexcel l ent reason s he gave in favor ofth e advantage offorcing the port, orders were given to this end . The convoywas composed offifty- two vessel s , which rema ined togetheronly the fol lowing day, because the wind Coming on fromthe west— northwest, with cons ide rabl e force and rais inga cons iderable s ea, fou r gal l iots and the p irogues werecompel l ed t o seek the sh el ter Ofthe coas t as best theycou l d ; and as the wind held with great tenacity in the west,north and the northwest

,and as there were frequent

squal ls,i t resulted that various vessel s were separated

from the convoy ; of these, two p irogues fi l l ed with Ind ians and convicts succeeded in return ing and were takenin tow ; one by th e p ink, San Lorenzo

,and the other by

t he frigat e ofFlecha .

On the 9th, having made land at sunset and the windhaving fal l en , we ca-

st anchor in fourteen fathoms Ofwa tera t which t ime we heard two cannon shots and at the changeofcountersign, two more, which h elped us s et our coursefor the nearest point to th e Port ofGualquin i, otherwiseknown as St . Simon .

At half past four ofthe afte rnoon on the 1 0 th,we an

chored in ten fathoms about two l eagues from the coastand about three to the north of the port . All the vessel shad arrived so short ofwater t hat in some ofthem only a

p int could be given out ; there b e ing none among the thirt y

— th reewhich had succeeded in anchoring in these waterswh ich could give any help unl ess i twas the flagsh ip andthe packet boa t, whichwas ordered t o make a return Of i tswa te r supply with orders t o give none out . Water wasi ssued every day by the flagship in hal f rat ions .The enemy made a show a t various times of sa l lyingforth from the port as far as the range ofthe guns ofthe ircastle . F ive b ilanders would come ou t and anchor an dthen return a fter a short t ime . In these attempts or observa t ions th ey passed the entire afternoon as wel l as infi ring various guns, which we inferredwas for the purposeof test ing the ir batteries . We , ourselves , did

'

not-hing el sebut send out Don Anton io Arredondo in the boat oftheflagsh ip t o reconnoite r the shore and make soundings inorder to determin e i f our vessel s cou l d get closer in shore,and thus fac il itate the disembarkat ion, in ca se we shou ldfind it convenient to attemp t i t here . Having noticed before sunset that a launch had set out from the port andwas

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66 THE S PANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

representations made by Don Antonio Cast afieda and of theexcel l ent reason s he gave in favor oft he advantage of foreing the port, orders were given to this end. The convoywas composed Offifty- two vessel s , which remained togetheronly the following day, because the wind Coming on fromthe west-northwest

,with cons iderabl e force and raising

a cons iderable s ea, fou r gal l iots and the p irogues werecompe l l ed t o seek t he shel ter ofth e coast as best t heycou l d ; and as the wind held with great tenacity in the west,north and the northwest, and as thereWere frequen tsqua l ls , i t resulted that var ious vessel s were separatedfrom the convoy ; of these, two pirogues fi l l ed with Ind ians and convicts succeeded in return ing and were takenin tow ; one by th e pink , San Lorenzo, and the other bythe frigate ofF l echa .

On the 9th, having made land at sunset and the windhaving fal l en, we cast anchor in fourteen fathoms ofwa tera t which time we heard two cannon shots and at the changeofcounters ign, two more, which h elped us s et our coursefor the nearest point to the Port ofGualqu in i, otherwiseknown as St . Simon .

At half past four ofthe afte rnoon on the l0 th,we an

chored in ten fathoms about two l eagues from the coastand about three to the north ofth e port . All the vessel shad arrived so short ofwater t hat in some ofthem only ap int could be given ou t ; there b e ing none among the thi rty

— threewh ich had succeeded in anchoring in these wa terswh ich could give any help unless i twas the flagship andthe packet boat

,whichwas ordered t o make a return of its

wate r supply with orders to give none out . Wa ter wasi ssued every day by the flagship in hal f ra t ions .The enemy made a show at various times of sal lyingforth from th e port as far as the range of the guns ofthe ircastle . F ive b ilanders would come out and anchor an dthen return a fter a short t ime . In these attempts or ob

serva t ions they passed the entire afternoon as wel l as infi ring var ious guns , which we inferredwas for the purposeoftesting their batteri es . We , ourselves, did nothing elsebu t send out Don Antonio Arredondo in the boat oftheflagsh ip to reconnoiter the shore and make soundings inorder to determin e if our vessel s cou l d get closer in shore,

and thus facil itate the disembarkation , in case we shou ldfind it conveni ent to attempt i t here . Having noticed before sunset that a launch had set out from the port andwas

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ATTACK ONTHE COLON‘

Y OE GEORGIA

p’

r 'e‘ssing forward under sail and o'

ar in the d irection of ourflagship, she ran up the Engl ish ensign and pennants

,t he

ot her vesse ls oft he convoy doing the same th ing, butnothing came Ofi t, for iIn a short t ime the aforesa id launchretired . At 8 :00 in the even ing, the l aunch of the packet

.

bOa t having met th e boat of the flagshipWhich had salliedfort h for the purpose ofsounding, they fired on each otherunti l a mutual recognit ion caused the fire to b e stopped,fortunately without any damage having occurred on e itherside . During th is night, we heard from time to time a fewhosti

'

l e cannon shotsofthe enemy .

On t he 1 1 th,th e gal ley j oined and a b ilander, one of

thosewh ich had fa l l en out Ofth e convoy, as wel l as a

barge. The wind continuing fresh fromth e W . W . S . W .

and S . W . with frequent squa l l s and high seas , preventedour entrance Our desire to execute th is movement increased with the complaints ofthe lack of wa ter. Thiswant was met in the manner a l ready given

,for no water

could be got from the shore, as th e enemy observed ourevery movement

,and we should have exposed ourselves

to loss . This day noth ing special occurred , unl ess it wast he usua l gun shots at the change ofcounters ign and guardmounting : there were some others too during the courseof the day.

On th e 1 2th,the day dawned fa i r and so th e command

ing general set the s igna l to 'begin the disembarkation .

With thi s end in view, a few boats with troops on boardse t out to take a pos it ion astern of the flagsh ip , whenthere came up a squa l l so viol ent that it was only withmuch labor and difficulty that the vessels were abl e to re

sume thei r positions .We now recognized that any windfrom the outs ide

,even on e b l owing only a short t ime

,ra i s

ed a great sea and surf ; thatwe were compell ed to keep ourvessel s at a great distance from shore because th erewasnot suffic ient water clo-ser in for the la rger ones ; further,that the absence of the l aunches, boats and pirogues fromthe garrison of St . Augustin e aswell as of th e four galliot s which the weather had separated from us

,made an or

derly l anding imposs ibl e . Therefore,Don Antonio Cas

t aii eda announced it as h is Opin ion that the port should beforced

,adding to the excel l ent reasons al ready given

,the

no l ess excel l ent cons ideration that our vessels were ln

strong peri l and exposed to some fata l damage,in conse

quence ofthe severity of the seasonWh ich gave us no hope

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68 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

of anyth ing but bad weath er. In consequence, it was det ermined to force th e port and to wait for this purposefor su itab l e weather . The winds continued west- southwest and west, with great strength and tenacity, rais inga heavy sea and accompanied by squal l s unti l t he fifteenth,when we hoisted anchor to cha l l enge the fort. The windhaving fa l l en

,we anchored closer in , having gained some

th ing l ike two l eagues . Until that particular day,noth

ing spec ia l occurred unless it was the continued clamorfor water

,a need thatwas met by the flagship and the

packet boat . The en emy continued h is p racti ce offiringh is guns at the change ofthe countersign, when th eymounted the guard

,except the fourteenth day, when from

ten in the even ing until e l even, many flashes were seen onth e b each and from eleven t il l twelve many cannon shotswere heard

,as many as fifty having been counted . C on

siderable doubt existed as to what could have occasionedso unusual a th ing, but according to the best ofour inferences, we dec ided t hat it must 'be our four gal l iots cannonading Fort San Pedro .

JOURNAL FROM THE DAYWHEN THE PORT OF GUALc

QUINI, OTHERWISE KNO‘NN AS ST . S IMON,WASFORCED.

July l 6th.

At. seven in the morn ing, the entire convoy hoisted an

chor, and as there was not water enough,anchored at the

entrance ofthe port at a distance ofa l eague and a half towait unti l the t ide should rise and thus make the entrancesure r . The ga l l ey and two gal l iots accordingly were ordered to sound the chann el and whil e so employed werefi red on by th e enemy . This fire they returned withouthaving rece ived any damage . They then withdrew

,having

been recal l ed by the commanding general at three in theafternoon, because nowwe had had two days ofa growingtide with a fresh wind astern and a smooth sea . We sailedstra ight into the harbor, fol lowing th e p re- arranged order,and using as buoys the gal l ey and the gal l iots which hadbeen sent forward for this purpose . These

, as soon as the

flagsh ip had passed them , used al l d i l igence to get in closer

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70 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

posting a few p ickets in advantageous posit ions. The

movement was supported by the galley, gal l iots and packet.boat, which b efor e th e boats took on the men, swept t heshore and beach with thei r fire

,and th e immediat e po in t

where the landing was t o be, ma intain ing thefire unt ilt he men had gone ashore . At ten o’clock came the compen ies ofgrenad iers ; and at hal f past e l even th e command-3ing general, Don Manuel Montiano ; the second in command

,Don Fran cisco Rubian i ; and t he Chief ofSt affand

Engineer- in -Chief Don Antonio Arredondo . At th is timethere must have been ashore about a t housand menwho,

as they continued t o arrive , formed up, as al ready stated.

Between ten and twelve, we saw a few fire s started by th eenemy,wh ich as far aswe coul d make out , s eemed to be

three b ilanders and someth ing el se larger. Fromthe grea tb laze which aro se , we thought th is la st must b e some powder magazine which they had

.

blown up . At th is hour,came the Indianswho had been sent ou t t o reconnoiter.These declared that th ey had ent ered a few houses at somed istance from th e fort but had fo-

.und them unoccup ied ;t hey brought back with them a fewt rifles, such as dish esand frui t . No thing especial occurred this n ight , nor d idwe undertake any movement, nor did we observe anyth ingels e on the part of the en emy, thanwhat has al ready been,set forth . This disembarkat ion continued unti l dayl ight.

July 17th .

At two, we sent out the Indians again . They returned at .fou r

,with the news that the enemy had abandoned the fort

and bringing back with them a few weapons and somemerchandise from a b ilander, which the enemy had l eft loaded

wi th suppl ies ofsome va lu e . The compan i es ofgrenad ie rswere now sent out t o occupy the sa i d fort, and a t s ix o

’clockt he entire body took up the march along the beach wherewe recognized the three b il anders that had been burnt,whose cargomust have cons ist ed offlour and meat

, be

causeWe found many barre l s on the b each . These storeshowever p rofited but few, for in their keen desire to find

"

stuffofany valu e whatever, the Indians had spoil ed them ;recognizing that the same th ing had happened to the a rmedb i lander a t the hands ofthe sa id Indians as wel l as of.

the sa i lors who had sacked it, an officer was detached witha guard to preserve what ever he cou ld, and ordersWeregiven to the agent oft he exchequer to make an inventory

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 71

ofwhatever should be found . S imilarly, on finding thatt he schooner and man-of— war had succeeded in escap ingduring the night, the nava l commander, Don Antonio Cas~

t afieda placed the captain ofthe ga l l ey, Don Domingo de laCron

,under arrest, for having fa i l ed to execute the order

given him to approach the man-of— war as soon as the landing shoul d have taken place , and fire upon him during th erest ofthe night in order to p revent his escape . We foundon the beach an Engl ishman badly wounded in the back bya gunshot,who said that he was the capta in of the b il anderthat had a ca rgo . He declared that Oble torp had reti redto Frederica with five hundred men and that he himselfcou l d give no account ofFrederica because he had neverbeen there, s ince i twas only a few days since he anchoredin Gualquin i. This pri soner was sent on board the hospitalship to be cured .

The troops had now got up to the fort"

and orders were

given to reach the northern entrance by march ing underthe cover ofsom e tal l and th ick live oaks found here anda lso ofthe plantations or settlements of neat houses wh ichsurround the ne ighborhood . The sold iers were forb idden under pain ofdeath t o go more than two hundred pacesb eyond the ir posts . Inside the fort

,we found another

Engl ishman,a sa i lor , who could give no more account of

t h ings than the wounded man . We al so found anotherman dead

,kil l ed by our Indians

,who

,according to the ir

custom, had scalp ed him . These declared that they had

done th is b ecause h e had re sisted them wit h hi s swordThe fort i s madewhol ly Of earth, composed of four cur

ta ins,with a sal i ent in th e midst ofeach . I t has a ditch

and a good stockade with a glacis,and on the glacis

,joined

t o the stockade , a parapet ofbarrel s fi l l ed with earthT here were besides a few huts and some large ma gazines,on e ofwhich had been blown up , for we came upon threeburnt e ighteen-

pounders, . imperfect ly sp iked, whose car

riages were ofsuch especial constru ction and so wel l design ed that two men suffice d to maneuver one oft hese had been dismounted by a cannon shot from on e of

~

our vessel s . We also found s ix six- pounders,five of

which had been imperfectly sp iked,and one l eft unspiked

'

and inside of a budge-barrel 190 loaded handgrenades, anda number ofmusket ball s ; among t he rema in s ofthe magazines tha t had been burnt

,we found various kinds ofi ron

wares, shovel s, picks and some barrel hoops.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 71

ofwhatever should be found . Similarly, on finding that

the schooner and man -of-war had succeeded in escap ing

during the night, the naval commander, Don Antonio Cast aii eda placed

b

the capta in ofthe ga l l ey, Don Domingo de laCron

,under arrest

,for having fa i l ed t o execute the order

given him to approach the man -Of-war as soon as the landing shoul d have taken place , and fire upon him during therest ofthe night in order to prevent his escape . We foundon the beach an Engl ishman ba dly wounded in the back bya gunshot, who sa id that hewas the captain of t he b ilanderthat had a cargo . He declared that Oble t orp had reti redto Frederica with five hundred men and that he himselfcould give no account of Frederica b ecause he had neverbeen there , s ince i t was only a few days since he anchoredin Gualquin i. This prisoner was sent on board the hosp italship to be cured .

The troops had nowgot up to the fort' and orders were'

given to reach the northern entrance by march ing undert he cover ofsom e tal l and th ick l ive oaks found he re andalso ofthe plantations or settlements ofnea t houses whichsurround the neighborhood . The soldiers were forb idden under pa in ofdeath t o go more than two hundred pacesbeyond thei r posts . Inside the fort

,we found another

Engl ishman,a sa i lor,who coul d give no more account of

t hings than the wounded man . We a l so found an otherman dead , ki l l ed by our Indians, who , according to the ircustom ,

had sca lp ed him . These declared that they haddone th is b ecause he had re si sted them with hi s sword .

The fort i s made whol ly ofearth,composed offou r cu-r

tains,with a sal ient in the midst of each . I t ha s a d itch

and a good stockade with a glaci s , and on the glaci s, j oin ed’

t o the stockade , a parapet ofbarrel s fi l l ed with earthT here were besides a few huts and some large magazines,one ofwhich had been blown up , for we came upon threeburnt e ighteen - pounders, imperfectly sp iked, whose carr iages were ofsuch especia l constru ction and so wel l des igned that two men sufficed to maneuver th em ; one of

th ese had been dismounted by a cannon shot from one ofour vessel s . We also found s ix six- pounders

,five of

which had been imperfectly sp iked,and one l eft unspiked

and in side of a budge-barrel 190 loaded handgrenades , anda number ofmusket balls ; among t he remains ofthe magazines tha t had been burnt

,we found various kinds ofiron

wares, shovels, picks and some barrel hoops .

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72 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

From the fort to a block house,which is at the entrance

ofthe harbor,there is a l evel stretch ofcountry, more or

l ess eleva t ed,

'which commands and looks ou t on the beach,and the rim or entrance ofthe woods . Th is stretch cou l dcon tain e ight or ten thousand m 'en . Here we found sixl ines ofhouses in the form o-fa camp ; among thes e weres ixty distant only one pace from one another . Thesewewere able to save

,because we succeeded in preven ting dis

order on the part ofth e soldierswho, withou t having re

ce ived or ders to that effect, had set fire t o s ixt y otherhouses a long the l in es j ust spoken ofand to four magazinesofsuppl ies . The b lock house i s made ofearth with a bodyofoyste r shel l

,whitewashed and resembl ing stone work.

I t i s composed oftwo curta ins, and ofan arc ofc ircl e onthe s ide which overlooks the entrance ofth e port . In itwe found a shel l mortar

,n ine burnt- out handgrenades, a

magazine and some huts, in whose remains we found a

few grenades,bull ets and other ammunit ion . Beyond this

house, at a short distance and in front ofi t, had been con

structed a battery . Th is battery overlooked the entranceofthe port and mounted s ix guns, l eft unSp iked,

four s ixpo

-unders and two fou r- poun ders . In the sack of the

houses, ofth e camp and ofthe plantation s, there had beensome disorder, as i s usual ly th e case on these occasions, inconse quence ofwhich we lost some cattl e and goats andcons iderable quanti ties ofr ich wines

,oil s

,beer

,fine but

ter,cheeses and ot he r del icacies, to say noth ing ofa great

supply ofhard tack, sal t meat and flour. These, whichhad been al l burnt

,might have been very usefu l for our

maintenance . We con-t inued our march to the terra in between the two forts where we took up a format ion in theshape ofa hammer, s ending from this point two guards,one to each fort ; and having announced to the troops thatwhenever there was a cal l- to-arms, the site j ust mentionedshould be. the assembl ing point, orders were given to re

turn to the s ixty houses . which we had found in the camp .

July 1 8th .

At six in the morning, Don Sebast ian Sanchez, with oneofthe compan ies of the garrison ofSt. Augustine and a

picke t offorty men was sent out t o reconn oiter th e roadto the careening ground, as he was considered wel l fi ttedfor th is duty . Simi larly 'Don Nicholas Hernandez withtwenty-five men o-fh is company and the forty Ind ian

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74 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

On rece iving this news,the troops stood to arms and con

t inued from this n ight t o sl eep on th em ' in hammer- l ike forc

ma tion . Two other advance outposts were turned out andthe ir reserves indicated for each one .

On th is day,We noticed a few pirogues go ing about with

peopl e ofthe is land on boa rd . They we re waiting t o passt hrough the channel that goes to Frederica . . We sen t outa l ittl e boat with s ix sailors through th i s channel t o getwater, but they were all kil l ed by hostil e Indians.

July 19th.

At six, the Indians were sent out to reconnoiter the forest and to see if th ey could find some other road throughit to Frederica . At we sent out a smal l boat withe ight men t o obtain wate r in a lagoon at a short di stancefrom the shore and on the edge ofthe woods and not morethan half a cannon shot from our camp . Two ofthesemen were ki l l ed by hosti l e Indians and the remainder fledprec ip itately to our camp . The sa ilorswho were on th eshore withdrew when they “heard the shots so close, whereupon we beat t o arms and sent ou t two p ickets, one ofgrenadie rs along the beach

,and the other through the

woods . We al so gave an order to the ga l l ey to come upc lose and fire on them . But al l these orders were at oncecancel l ed "because the Indians had already withdrawn . At

our peopl e returned without having discovered anyother road than the narrow on e, and without having seenany enemy. Having heard that p irogues ofthe I slandofFrederica had been seen plying back and forth

,Indians

were sent out ,who returned saying that there were nopeopl e in it

,and that they had burnt houses which they

had ente red and took t o be hosp itals, because th ere weremany b eds and mattresse s and a few saddl es which theybrought back . During the entire day e igh t or ten re

turned,miquel ets, and a few wounded from the picket

ofSanchez, besides a few disabl ed by the rough characterofth e woods ; and also a few Indians who had been missing,

but not one of whom had suffered any harm because theyr eturned in compl et e heal th . All announced that th eyhad seen Captain Sanchez beaten with blows and takenpr isoner : that they knew noth ing ofthe captain of themiquel ets, Hernandez .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY. OF GEORGIA 75 '

J illy 20th.

At in the morning,the captain ofmiquele ts, Don .

N icholas Hernan dez, came to ou r camp ; confirming the'

in

formation just given, he declared that he had t ried toescape from t he e nemy by leaving the tra i l and hiding in t hewoods

,but that in a short t ime he ran into two men who

made himprisoner,but that he “

had succe eded in free ing“

himself from them because he recogn ized that th ey weresomewha t care l es s

,and the h0 p e inspired by this, gave

such an impuls e to h is valor that he succeeded in carryingout the extreme resolution ofkil l ing them both . Atwe sent out the Indians t o reconnoiter th e woods and to

find some other road to Frederica . We began to demol i shthe forts and to carry their guns on 'board

,and cons idering

th e serious inconven iences resulting from not having comple t ed our water supply through the ri sk t o which it exposed our people

,and t hat we had no buckets in the neigh

borhood ofthe camp or the castles, for which reason wehad lost e ight men

,we determined t o make a suffic ient

number to give a supply to all in — the d itch ofth e fort ; andso we have begun t o complete our water supply.

At o’cl ock,th ere took place a jun ta, at which were

p resent D-ou Antonio de Cast afieda ,the captains ofthe

grenadiers and of miquel ets,to consider certa in facts , such

as the position ofthe tra il and the difficul ti es of the forefst s. In V iew of the fact that they had decided , and

espe cial ly the cap t a in ofmiquel ets, who understands woodcraft, that another road ought to be found

,before un

dert aking to attack Frederica, and as al l agreed that noneother had

"

been found,except th e n arrow one

,and that an

a ttack along this'

lin e was impracticabl e, it was decidedto s end the gal ley and the gal l iots on a reconnaissancethrough th e channel that l eads t o Frederica , t

-o se e howmuch depth ofwate r i t h eld

,and t ofind a point more su it

ed for the disembarkation , and furthe r that the engin eerfrom St . Augustine should go out on thi s business.

At two -ofthe afternoon there arr ived a t thi s port aschooner and one launch with on e hundred men ofthep ickets of St . Augustine . These had been separated fromthe convoy by bad weather. As many as fi fteen vessel shad come toge ther ; among them,

th e four gal l iots under '

the command ofthe naval ensign, Don Francisco P in eda .

He had a rrived with in s ight of th i s port, and not meetingany ofour vessels

,which had w ithin twenty- four hours

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76 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

be en sent offby the staffofficer who happened to be incommand of that pos*t

,

* he had cons idered it proper t o ma intain himsel f in those waters and await news ofth e arrivalofour convoy at Gualquini. On seeing that this n ewswas'

delayed, he determined t o s end on the vessel s a l ready mento notify the commanding gene ral ofal l these

matters,and that in passing he had engaged Fort San

Pedro for one hour ; and that one ofhis gal l iots had beenattacked by fou r large p irogues fi l l ed wit h troops, one ofwhich h e had sunk near the shore where her peopl e succeeded in saving themselves .At «of the afternoon the enti re body oftroops formedup for a review wh ich was o-ver at when we posteda new the usual guards in the formwh ich has always prevai led

,namely

,that ofa hammer . At prayers we sawout

on the beach in the neighborhood ofthe fort a few Indians,wherefore we strengthened i ts guard and marched out

the supports. to re- enf-orce the outposts ; our Indians sal l iedto explore but returned in two hours without having meta nybody . During this n ight, th ere were two fal se alarmsso that th e entire body remained under arms .

July 2lst .

At in the morning, we began t o entrench the outposts with barrel s oi earth on account ofthe repeated fal sea l arms which kept the troops continuously anxious andbecause our camp had no protection whatever nor arti llery. This had not b een put ashore because we were awaiting from one day to another the arrangements to be madeto march on Frederica . At we sent out th e Indiansto explore the forests and a t th e same time we sent out alaunch toward the Bar ofWhales

,ordering the naval ensign

Don Franc isco de P ineda to proceed by the interi-or channel

,sounding the passes as far as that port . The com

manding general had approved his conduct in the operationswhich he reported having undertaken with the convoyunder hi s orders .

‘Wha t pos t is mean t , t he re is no means of de t ermin ing. The or igina lpa ssage is more or less obscu re in i t s r e fe ren ces. The ve sse ls men t ioneda re t hose re por t ed. a n t e unde r da t e of t he 3d, as be ing compe l led t o seek

s h e l t e r under t he coast .

The schoone r and launch .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 77'

At in th e afternoon, the gal l ey and the gal l iots t e

turned from a reconna i ssance Ofthe passes leading to Frederica . These had gone out in the morning under th e orders ofNaval L i eutena nt Don Adrian Can t ein . He declared that the channel contained enoughwater for al l theboats, but that at a l i ttl e more than half t ide, the l east depth :he had foundwas 20 spans, the three vessel s entering on

the same front ; that on arriving within cannon shot OfFrederica th ey opened on h im

,apparently with four guns

,

eight-pounders , and fired 1 8 shots, all Of which passed over

h is head, and four bombs so wel l a imed that they fel l veryclose ; that there is a stretch to be reached only by passingwith in cannon range, but that beyond they would be shelt ered from, fire, in a stretch Of p ine woods, cl ear, Ope n, andl evel , large enough for the format ion Ofa far greater num'ber oftroops than ours ; but that hewas in doubt whetherth e beach was firm enough for a landing because grassland was seen everywhere, and that b ecause in this, quaking grass is usually found ; that hewas unabl e to examineinto th is matter b ecause he noticed that a number O f troopshad passed in p irogues to the shore Of th e island and thatth ey could have done h im much “harm by musketry fire

,

especial ly as he had received orders not t o Open fire himsel f. Our Indians returned without finding anything inthe woods, having been unab le to catch a prisoner or a desert er who could give us any l ight or any help towardforming any plans for the a t -tack on Frederica with theaccuracy that i s des irab le .

July 22nd.

Our Indian s sal l i ed forth at in the morn ing to re

connoit er th e woods , according to da i ly custom . As doub tex i sts in our minds in respect Of the firmness Of th e groundfor th e land ing in th e channel s

,we determined again t o

send out the gal l ey and two ga l l iots for the determinationOf th is matter . The commanding general turned th is matter over to the sen ior naval Office r

,Don A'ntonio Cast afieda

for the next day .

During the morn ing there came in a miquel et,whose

declarat ion confirms the others : th irty- s ix men beingmissing so far Ofth e two picke t s OfSanchez and Hernandez . This man tol d us that he had come along the b each

,

outs ide ofthe port, and that at a short distance from theentrance he found a trench with three loaded six- pounder

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78’

THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

guns ready to spike“

and t hat he thought th is battery hadbeen put up through fear lestwe shou l d d isembark out

s ide . This daywe ha d no fals e alarm,nor did anyth ing

sp ecial occur. The In dians returned l ike all t he rest wi thout having accompl ished anything whatever

,butwe should

not be aston ished tha t th ey should refuse t o expose themse lves,

‘seeing : tha t they are rich,for a few haVe more than.

six hundred dol la rs worth of loot . Thes e are the on lypeoplewho have succeeded in getting anyth ing, being thefi rst on es to engage in loot .

Ju ly 23d.

The junta or council appoint ed for the day did not t ake

p lace because Don Anton io Ca'

st afieda was sick and itwasput offunti l th e fol lowing day. Today ther e

was noth ingespec ial . We continue d demol i sh ing the forts .

July 24th.

At in the morn ingwe were informed by our out

posts that th ey had heard four shots and at once we heard,

in our camp the noise ofdrums, for which reason our peopl e stood to arms and we re- enforced the outposts . At

there came into our camp a deserter, a prisoner , oftheFrench nation, who decla red that Oble t orpe had beenmarch ing the entire nigh t with 500 men with the design of~surp ris ing us , and that having heard the shots wh ich putour camp on i ts guard

,he thought that h ewas discovered

and therefore withdrew, beating his d rums . During th ist ime

,th e dese‘rte r succeeded in making his escape . He

also tol d howh e had been compel l ed t o take a rms andthat the five hundred men were made up Of two hundredregular troops

,two hundred mil itia , fifty Indians and fi fty

sa ilors ; that he bel ieved that th e entir e force in Fredericaamounted to from nine hundred to one thousand men , andthat h e lp was expected from Boston , from which newshad been rece ived ; that he [Ogl ethorpe"had sent al l thewomen fifty leagues inland

,and that in the affair with our

two pickets,he had taken about twelve prisoners

, amongthem

,Capta in Sanchez . At in t he morning, th is

prisoner was sent on board the Penelope . At the sametime Don Antonio Arredondo hel d a conference with DonAntonio Cast afieda on th is news and to propose action tha t ,

could be most rap idly taken, after al l our vessel s shou l dhave taken on their water .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 79

Between o’clock and,1 :00 ofthis. day, one

0 1‘our

outposts reported that five vessel s had been seen to the

north, apparently headed for the port. In a short time,we could make them out and having t aken account ofth eirbu i l d

,see ing that they were only two or three l eagues

off, we saw that one was a fr igate of th irty guns, and thatth ere were two packet boats , a brigantine and a sloop .

This,together with the occurrence ofthe morning (al

t hough th is, l ike the arrival ofthe F rench prisoner and h isdeclarations

,was considered

'

an artifice), caused us to fearnot so much what was involved, nor th e vessel s in s ight,as the vessel s which might fol low in greater force . Thesereflections were held to j usti fy our resolution to withdraw,

which was forthwith carried out in the bes t form and orderpossibl e . After having coll ected everything in the campwithout l eaving anyth ing that had been di sembarked , thecommanding Officers were taken in the gal l iots to theI sland

,named afte r the cast l e , facing Gualqu in i, the

Penelope having been the first t o cross after col l ectingher crew ; the plan was to j ourney to the interior channel s over the bars ofSan Pedro and San Juan to Fl orida,demol ish ing on the way th e forts Of Bajeses and SanPedro . Orders were consequently given the troopsto disembark and march two leagues in order to arr ive in front of the castl e or fort ofBaj eses, and to al lth e smal l boats to pass through the said channel s as soona s the tide shou ld permit

,in order to cross over the troops

t o the sa id fort wh ich was situated On another i sland infront ; but because the o rders were mi sunderstood, someconfusion resulted

,for some enti re pickets and a few scat

t ered men not having come up with any boats,fol lowed the

convoy of Cast efieda . About fi fteen hundred men remained thi s n ight On the island in question .

The naval commander Don Antonio Cast afieda orderedthe gal l ey to approach the shore and endeavor, if i t coul ddo so without expos ing its crew, to put i ts sma l l boat overboard for the purpose ofsp iking the two guns lying on theshore and to burn ce rta in houses if i t were decided therewere no enemies in t he camp . Thiswas done , for we sawthem burning, as we did some host il e boatswhich coul dnot be manned . Don Adrian Can t e in carried these ordersout . At the same time this commander made h i s d isposit ions for rece iving the enemy

,drawing up h is strong ves

s el s in l ine andwithdrawing 'more to the interior ofthe

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80 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

port those t hat were unarmed . He had determined to set

out w ith the tide on the fol lowing day if th e weather permit t ed, t -O attack the enemy’s ship s outs ide in case th ey hadnot first come in t hemselves . At sunset we saw themstanding for the outs ide and it was in this state tha t wel eft the houses ofGualquini at the time ofour withdrawal .

July 24th.

At in the morn ing,the troops took up the march and

continued along the beach unti l 7O’clock

,when we began to

make out a few Of our vessels, for which reason we haltedin order t o wa it for all of th em, becaus e nowwe could seethat they were a t anchor sol ely to wait for the sl ight tide .At about four ofthe afternoon a schooner having come up,the company ofgrenadiers o-fthe battal ion OfHavana wenton board of

“her with the Indians in order to cross over tothe fort Of Baj eses which was cons idered to be abandonedby the enemy

,so that having taken possess ion Of i t

,al l

d isorder should b e prevented, and the place preserved withit s magazi nes unti l the en tire body oftroops could bebrought up

,and other direct ions shoul d be given . At

about of the evening, the vessel s which had been atanchor moved up

,excepting thos e Of T ruxil lo

, Oyarbidos,and Camejo. These, on account Of th eir s ize

,and Of the

stores they had aboard,the last one carrying the guns and

mortars ofthe enemy, drew too much water, for wh ichreason they were compel l ed to take up their course out

s ide . Thiswas verified by the adj utant Don Albaro, whoon a ccount ofthe anxiety caused by th is matter,was sentou t to determin e the reason why th e sa i d boats held back .

He returned with the information that h e had seen themall put out with the vessel s under the command ofDonAnton io Cast afieda, the last on e b eing th e packet boat ofthe king

,for which reason and because i t had seen a few

hosti l e peopl e on th e beach,i t fired a few shots . We began

to embark the troops , but coul d not fin ish because night hadfal l en .

July 26th.

We cont inu ed embarking the troops until in the

morning, when they were al l on board . We waited a t th ishour unt il th e four ga l l iots

,under command ofNaval Eu

s ign Don Francisco de P ineda, shoul d j oin the whol e coll ection ofour vessel s ; and having noticed the absence of

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82 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

all th e more easy to make from the fact t hat the stores onhand permitted us to subs ist for the space ofe ight daysand no more, because the boats that carried the reservestores were no longer within reach .

'This b eing the stateofaffairs , orderswere given to man the boats in proport ion to thei r burden and natural ly the issue Of rat ions followed suit

Ju ly 27th .

At ofth e afternoon we remarked in the direction ofthe entrance ofthe Bay ofWhales, three p irogues and one

l aunch or canoe, passing from one s ide to the other as

though they were carrying troops ; for wh ich reason DonAntonio Arredondo proposed tha t the gal l iots should goout to stop them, and that th e Indians shou l d b e put ashoreto cut Offthe advance ofany peopl e who might b e comingto the help ofthose who were in the fort of San Pedro ; for,a ccording to the information received from the gal l iots

, it

was known that the said castl ewas garrisoned, s ince ithad fired on them the night before . But the General wou ldnot consent to this and therefore this action was not taken,but instead the order was given at about 5 :00 in the afternoon for th e troops t o go. on board . Th is Operationwasb egun and carried on until three or fou r p ickets had embarked ; when the order was suspended and another onei ssued that everybody shoul d march and take up a formation nea r the fort, where we remained al l night .

July 28 th.

At dawn,the p irogues or schooners which had brought

about the resolution to embark on the day before , again began to reconnoite r and for the same cause on th i s day wehastened a fresh embarkation , so that at about 9:00 o

’clockwe were al l on board . At this hour we provided for thesecurity Ofour vessel s by the fol lowing dispos ition : thel Ops and large schooners were to sai l outside

'

unde r theorders ofL ieu tenant Colone l Don Antonio de Salgado andthe gall iots

,with the remain ing vessel s and a number Of thelittl e boats , shou l d proceed by interior channel s to the Bar«ofth e St . Johns R iver . With these were to go the Commanding General , Don Franci sco Rubian i, and the Chiefof— St aflfand Engineer- in-Chief

,Don Antonio Arredondo

,

b ecause i t had been provided in advance that horses fromF lorida should j oin the detachment at the mouth of the

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA

St . Johns R iver and in thisway faci l itate th e return ofthésa

‘id gentlemen and officers t o the garr i son ofFlorida . The tim e nowhaving come to s eparate thevessel s into these two classes, Don Anton io Salgado pointedOnt that inasmuch as his vesse lswere ofno mil itarys trength, it would b e proper that the galliots should convoy him Out beyond t he bar Of the Bay of Whales bu t th issuggestion raised consi derab le Oppos i tion

,in which Don

Anton ioArredondo took the l ead , showing over and Over

aga in what inconveni ence thi s course would cause th eGeneral, who, his mind nowbeing made up , ordered thegal l iots to proceed to the point mentioned in accordancewith the plan ofembarkat ion ,

and that h e was only waitingon them before setting out himself, and so Don Anton ioSalgado put out with his convoy and succeeded 1n cross ingthe bar without having met the hostil e vesse ls , ofwhichhe was so fearful

,and the gall iots returned to j oin the gen

tral .‘The wind fel l at hal f past s ix and the convoy anchored

about a league outside the bar .

July 29th

At four O’clock in the morning,we hoisted anchor

,the

'

land br‘

eeze blowing,and at 9:00 O

,clock found ours elves

in front Ofthe entrance Ofth e Bar ofSan Pedro and abouttwo leagues Offa t having gone about one l eague morefrom the said mouth and at a distance sl ightly more thanthree from the fort, we began to hear a few cannon shotsand remarked that these were answered by a few vessel swhi ch we cou ld not see b ecause they were hidden by theland . The number ofrounds rose to more than seventya nd we heard besides a few discharges ofmusketry, l astingfor an hour. We then sawa few boats coming out

, whichfrom their bearing l eft no doubt in our minds that theywere the convoy Ofour genera l . Nothing unusual occu rredin the j ourney to the B ar Ofthe St. Johns where weanchored because the wind had fal l en .

Ju ly 3oth.

At 2 :00 O’clock in the morning we hoisted anchor withthe wind fresh fromthe east- northeast . At noon we foundout that we had sl ipped by St . Augustine six l eagues andwere now, thanks t o a heavy squal l, separated from theconvoy . The currents too were now carrying us with

great force to the south , so that it would have caused us'

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84 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

much effort to return to the sa id bar . Moreover, i twasagreed by the capta in and Officers ofth is S loop, whose nameWas El Canto, that i t was perfectly cl ear that the weatherwas such as wou l d greatly help us to continue our voyageto the Port OfHavana . This course, t oo, wou l d be usefulto the service ofthe K ing, because the general and otherofficers of high rank had been heard to say with respect t othe remaining vessel s that it would be Of advantage tosend them on as rapidly as

,possible on account Of the disadvantage that would result from any other course, becauseSt . Augustine with so many people within its l imits wouldbe cal l ed upon to make a great expenditure ofstores andthat it wou ld b e imposs ible t o revictual it, considering thatit would be necessary in the weather prevail ing to sendstores for thirty days . And even if the vessel s should findit imposs ibl e to make the j ourney, a report would be givento the Governor ofHavana so that he could h imself i ssuethe necessary orders in th e case . Having considered al lthese th ings

,and the fact that th e campaignwas over, and

t hat ,we had a suffic iency ofstores on board for returningthe t roops withwhich we had come ou t

,we unanimously

agreed upon the said resolution ofreturn ing straight toHavana . On th i s day we saw a sloop astern following in .

our wake, for which reason we thought i t must belong tothe convoy .

July 3lst .

At o’clock, noon, we arrived offthe Bar of Mosqu itoInlet and skirt ing the coast with but l i ttl e wind , weanchor ed at n ight because i t had fal l en ca lm .

August lst .

At O’clock we hoisted anchor, with the wind t o th eeast- south east . Upon its veering to the southeast andfal l ing almost a dead calm, we anchored at O’cl ockin the afternoon

'

at about s ix l eagues from the CanaveralChannel .

August 2nd.

At o’clock we set out with the wind northeast andl ight. We passed the Canaveral Channel at noon and th ewind fal l ing

,we anchored

,having rounded the Real d e la

Alm iranta de Chebes and being about two l eagues to thewindward of the River ofYs.

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SO THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OFmy:

August 9th.

At 2 :00 in the morn ing we hoisted our anchorWind northeast and at 6 :00 pass ed Ratones inlet ;anchored at the inl et t o the north OfBiscayne Key.

August l0th.

At 5 -00 ofthe morning we hoisted anchor with the windeast .We passed B iscayne Key, the Candil es de la Parida,the Candiles de las Mascaras, the shoal de las Mascaras,thefirst Canalej a ofLong Key, the P l ay'

uela s,the shoal Of

las T etas with i ts inl ets,Escribano Key

,and anchored near

Melchior Rodriguez at 1 0 of th e night .

August 1 lth .

At 5 O’clock we hoisted anchor with the wind eastpassed Tabanos Key, the inl ets of Guimero, Old Mat acumbiand Young Ma tacumbi, B iboras Key, Bascas Key, and at1 0 Ofthe night anchored 1 r

'

1 Bahia HOnda .

August 1 2th.

At 5we hoisted anchor, wind ea st ; passed CaguarnasPOin

'

t, and Boca chica, and anchored at 4 ofthe afternoonin KeyWest.

August 13th .

We stayed here al l day,anchored at night because of

squal l s .

August 1 4th.

Hoisted at 2 ofthe morning, and anchored ,

about a halfl eague out in Key West Channel . Hoisted anchor atwind N . N. E. and, put ou t

'

through the sma l l channel ofKey West . Proceeding thus

,at - 1 0 th e wind shifted

to the

north,at to N . E., at 8 Of the morning to E . W . and so

held until 1 2 when itveered to th e S. S . 0 . where i t h eld allday, our cours e b eing S . E .

August 1 5th .

At s ix wemade out the range ofCamarioca ; when about6 leagues t o l eeward Of them, th e wind sh ifted to theE . and with our h ead to the south, at 5 ofthe afternoon wereached Bacun iaga,5 l eagues to l eeward ofMatanzas.

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'

A‘TTAtCK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 87

Dawn found in Jaruco Inlet, 8 l eagues to leeward ofHavana, in which harbor we anchored at ofthe afternoon .

lE'

nd ofCa's inas’ Journal ."

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88 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

MONTIANO’S OWN REPORT.

I transmit the report herewith, to the end that your Lordship place i t in the hands Ofthe Royal and Supreme Counci l ofthese Indies for the ir information .

Your Lordship holds me in faithful unalterabl e affection,

a lways at your command, and praying Our Lord to keepYour Lordship many years .Saint August ine, in Florida, 3August, 1742.

Don Manuel de "Mont iano, your most obedient servant,kisl

ses your Lordship’s hand .

0

Don Fernando Trivifio.

Let t er ofMont iano t o the King.

In a letter ofOctober 3lst ofth e past year, Don José delCampil lo advised me that Your Maj esty had resolved uponthe formation in Havana ofan exped ition to lay waste Carol ina and its dependencies

, a nd that he was communicatingthis news to me by command ofYour Maj esty, to the endtha t I might give L ieute nant Genera l Don Juan Franciscode Guemes y Horcasitas

, Governor ofHavana, al l the information that I might have and that might conduce t o the

happy issue ofthese royal instructions . These,I obeyed

with al l th e promp tness demanded, and posted the resu ltsto the aforesaid L ieutenant General Governor ofHavana,offering mysel f for any duty in the Royal Service that hemight see fi t to give me. In consequence he informed mein a l etter of May 14, b rought by an Officer ofthat garrison[Havana"in a smal l boat, that he had sel ected me for t hecommand ofthe expedition , sending me at the same t imethe particu la r charges and d irections for the best advantageofYour Maj esty’s Servic e . He informed me that the

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90 THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

with no greater loss than 5 men, against res istance by sea

and land in success ion .

At th e entrance ofthe harborwas constructed a fort ofsodwi th brick parapets, in the shape Of a horseshoe, containing a bronze shel l mortar, andfive for smal l er shel l s .*I t had in it s neighborhood a large trench mounting 3gunsto sweep the entrance . At a distance oftwo musket shots,and to the west

,was another fort, ofsquare trace, with four

bastions, one in the middl e ofeach curta in, constructed ofheavy timbers and ofearth,and having a ditch one toi se**and a hal f wide and four feet deep .

’On i ts parapetwere a

fewrows of barrel s fi l led with earth, and p l anted withthorns, to serve as a parapet . Along the interior ran a

stockaded covered way to prevent a surprise, on whichwere mounted 7guns, 3ofthem 1 8 - pounders and s ix grenade-mortars . Between the first and t his second fort theyhad constructed a strong trench mounting 5 guns : to thewest ofthese workswas yet another large trench ofcircu larform ,whose purpose i t was to annoy us by musketry.Wi thin thi s harbor between the forts mentioned were stat ioned a 24-gun frigate, a schooner of1 4, then a b ilanderof1 0 guns . Behind these came a l ine ofeight bi landers andschooners wel l manned to defend the entrance with musket ry ; but in sp ite ofal l th is, we took possess1on ofthePort and anchored atfive ofth e afternoon .

I immediate ly gave orders for the d i sembarkation oftheentire body

,in order to al low the enemy no Opportunity to

recover from the di smay into which our triumph had thrownhim. This op eration was successful ly accomp l i shed without res istance . At dawn , I set out with the entire force,my intention being t o advance on the first fort. I fi rstsent out some Indians to approach and reconnoite r the stateofaffairs and movements ofth e enemy ; these having re »

turned and reported having seen no one, the Ch ief ofStaff,Don Anton io de Arredondo, moved forward to verify theinformation

,having with him two companies ofGrenadierswhich I ordered out to ensure . the greater thoroughness of

the reconnaissance, and to determine whether the enemy hadreal ly ret ired . When thi s was confirmed, I continued my

Granadasmales, smaller t han t he bombas, bu t proj e ct i les of t he samet .

The toesa (mesa in a measure oflengt h a bout fee t .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA Q1

march to hi s works which I at once occup ied, posting t he

necessary guards, and a few p ickets on what appeared t o be

avenues ofapproach, in order to check any attack theymight make .The Indians and grenad i ers b rought in two p rison ers,who confirmed th e fl ight ofGeneral Ogl ethorpe to the town

ofFrederica, distant sl ightly more than two l eagues fromthe fort s of Gualquin i. Although I might have overtakenhim, this step did not appear to be prudent, so long as Iwas ignorant ofthe road and oft he ground over which oneshoul d march with fu l l knowledge . Accord ingly, as it

seemed t o me advantageous to advance on Freder1ca alongtwo lines at the same time, I dispatched the captain ofoneofthe pi ckets ofth is post [Saint Augustine", Don SebastianSanchez with 50 men, as being acquainted with these parts,to reconnoiter the road leading t o th e careen ing ground, atwhich point it seemed to me that i tmight b emore advant ageous t o disembark t he artil l e ry.

At the same time I sent the Captain ofMiquel ets, DonNichol as Hernandez, with 25 ofhis men and 410 Ind ians, toexam ine the road that leads directly to Frederica . I t fel lou t that Don Sebastian Sénchez lost t he trai l he was tofollow, and j oined th e Hernandez party. These two cont inued as far as the town

,in whose vicin ity theywere

att acked '

by a body ofEngl ish and Indians m a very narrowdefil e ofthe woods . Thi s acc ident brought on inevitabl edisorder, inwhich we suffered the loss ofthe two captainsand 1 1 men captured

,1 0 men wounded

,and 1 2 kil le d . .

When news ofthis reached me, I detach ed three compan iesofgrenadiers to support our troops and cover the ir re

t reat ; but before th e companies ofgrenadiers cou l d reachthe s ite ofthe action, they were attacked themselves byanother ambuscade surrounding a swamp, over which thepath gave passage only in s ingl efile. The Captains ofG renadiers , real izing, i f they continued their efforts, thatno advantagewas t o be ga ined save the sacrifice ofthe irtroops, through th e imposs ib il ity ofseeing who was firingon them , or oftaking up any formation by reason ofthenature of th e ground, prudently resolved to withdrawmas

good order as possibl e, w i th the loss ofDon Miguel Bucarel iand 6 grenadiers, who were kil l ed .

The Captain ofMiquel ets, Don Nichola s Hernandez, taking advantage ofthe fact that he had bee n very insecurelyt ied by the two sol diers who were taking himalong,

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92 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

succeeded in breaking loose,which the soldiers obse rved ; on

t hei r endeavoring to make him secure by tying his arms,he gave them no chance

,for l ike a man ofvalor and spiri t,

he rushed upon one ofthem and took away his sword, andwith i t, its owner

’s l i fe, and then slew th e other, thus earning his l iberty and return ing to our camp four days late r.This Captain and some of h is soldiers

, a l though born woodsmen (hombres demom‘e), were so exhausted by the difficul4ties ofthe undefibrush, that they thought they would giveup the ghost b efore coming out on the road .

I now t ook th ese matters under serious consideration,as

wel l as th e report ofthe Captains of Grenadiers and our

Indians, t o the effect that the forest was impenetrabl e because ofi ts impassabl e undergrowth

,bes ides b eing fu l l of

swamps and lagoons . Furthermore,the representations of

Don Antonio de la Atora, agent ofthe Exchequer, in re

sp ect ofthe consumption of stores, and that those to beconsumed on our withdrawal shoul d receive first thought,there be ing barely enough in hand t o last to the end ofAugust

,gave me pause;

The tempestuous weather of August and September was.

also a fact ofno mean weight . I was moreover compel ledto take into account the naval forces then offthe coast ofCarol ina, superior to ours . Our prisoners declared that itwas common ly known that General Ogl ethorpe was exp ecting them . Our delays caused by bad weather, the actionb etween the man-of—war and our gal l ey and smal l convoy,and the fact that we had maint ained ourselves on h iscoasts

,must have convinc ed the General o-four imten

t ion to attack him,and thus have given him time to prepare

h is defense . The fa ilure of th irteen vessels , among themfour ' gal l iots carrying some troops and al l the sappers

,t o

r ej o in the convoy, had caused us supreme embarrassment,for without these men and the rowboats , no operat ionwas possib l e ashore or on the rivers within a radius ofsomewhat more than two leagues . Lastly, I cou l d not overlookthe special inj unctions ofL ieutenant Genera l Don Franciscode Guemes y Horcasitas to. cons ider the most importantmatter ofassuring the withdrawal ofthe troops, having t e

gard to the notabl e reduction that had taken place in thegarrisons ofboth Havana and Sa int Augustine .Having therefore maturely considered al l these matters

,I

cal l ed a counci l ofwar composed ofthe senior officers oft he army, and having laid b efore them the reasons wh ich

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THE SPANISHOFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

defended by a garrisoned mortar batt ery. He added thatthe General was plac ing his

chief trust i n th e th ickness ofth ewoods and the morasses . He also declared that heWas expecting both men and ships, that the people ofCardlina wou l d not be long in appearing, l ik

ewi se Virginiansand Philadelph ians

, in as much as he had sent l etters in all

di rections by reason ofth e susp icions excited by the affairofthe galley and smal l convoy

offCap e Canaveral, andconfirmed by our l ong stay on h is coasts .A few hours after the arrival ofthe deserter, and just as

the second counci lwas about t o s it, the Outposts on theshore, and the men in the t0 ps, announced that three crulsers

,one bilander and a schoonerWere approaching the

port . This information compelledme to adj ourn the counci l

,and to hold one composed only ofColonel Don Fra

'

nc isco Rubian i

, ofL i eutenant Colonel Don A‘

nton‘io Salgado

,and ofthe Chief of StaffDon Anton io de Arredou

do. T hese al l agreed’

that we should bend all our energies to retreat

,t hat our fear l es t Ogl ethorp e shoul d a t

t ack by land whil e’

his ships did the same by sea was.

n ormal . I consequently ordered that al l the troops shou ldc ross over to the i sland in front, in order to give our sh ips

t ime to prepare,unencumbered

,for the defense ; and that

the sma l l e r vesse l s shou l d , whil e I was marching ashorewith the troops , enter the R iver ofWhales, and await me ont he bar of the same name , where I intended to embark aridgo on to t he capture and demol ition of Fort Saint Andrew .

This was al l done ; the fort I found unoccup ied, i t had one

gun , a 4- pounder, three stone mortars, a few impl ements ,and a number of horses

,which we kil led . From th is point,

i n o rder toimp rove the t ime whil e the smal l er vessel s werecompleting the task of bringing up the stores that werelacking, I arranged t o detach 200 men ashore to occupyFort San Pedro

,which the n ight before had fired on the '

four gall iots,l aunches and p irogues separated from us by

the storm ,and which had nowrej oined ; but as I was with

out suppl ies,inasmuch as the vesse l s that had them on“

board,were going outside straight to F lorida

,I though t

the most rap id transportat ion poss ibl e of the troops t o'

Saint Augustine, preferabl e to a delay without provisions .I consequently commanded all thevessels to pass out '

byth e Bar of Wha l es wh il e

I with the 4 gal l iots, l aunches’

andp irogues took the inside ofth e river, in order t o reconnoi te r

t he aforesa id Fort San Pedro, and to attend to anything

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931“

THE SPANISH - OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT o'

s THE

defended by a garrisoned mortar battery. He added thatthe

"

General was plac ing his chief trust in the th ickness ofthe woods and t he morasses . He also declared t hat heWas expecting bothmen and ships, that the people ofCarelina would not be long i n appearing, l ik

ew‘

i s'

e Virgin iansand Philadelphians, in as much as he had sent l etters in all

di rections by reason ofthe susp ic ions exci ted by the affai rofth e gall ey and smal l convoy offCap e Canaveral, and

cenfirmed by our long stay on h is coasts .A few hours after the arrival ofthe deserter, and j ust as

the second counci lwas about t o s it,the Outposts on the

shore,and the men in the tops , announced that three cruise rs

'

,one b ilander and a schooner were approaching the

port . This information compel ledmé t o'

adjourn the counci l

,and to hol d one Composed only ofColonel Don Fran

c isco Rubian i,ofL ieutenant Colonel Don Antonio Sal

gado,and ofthe Chief ofStaffDon Antonio de Arredon

do . These all agreed that we shou l d b end all our energies to retreat, t hat our fea r l es t Ogl ethorpe shoul d at

tack’

by land whi le his ships did the same by sea wasnormal . I consequently ordered that al l the troops shou ldcross over to the i sl and 1 n front

,in order to give our ships

t ime to prepare, un encumbered , for the defense , and thatthe smal l er vesse ls should

,whil e I was march ing ashorewi th the troops , enter the R ive r of Whal es, and awa i t me on

t he bar ofthe same name, where I intended to embark aridgo on t o t he capture and demol ition of Fort Sa int Andrew .

This was all done ; the fort I found unoccup ied, it had one

gun,a 4- pounder

,three stone mortars

,a few impl ements

,

and a number of horses,which we kil led . From this point,

i n o rder to imp rove the t ime whil e the smal l er vessels werecomplet ing the task of bringing up the stores that werelacking, I arranged to detach 200 men ashore to occupyFort San Pedro

,which the night before had fired on the

four gal l iots,l aunches and p irogues separated from us by

th e storm , and which had nowrej oined ; but as I was withou t suppl ies

,inasmuch as the vesse l s that had them on"

board,were going outside straight to F lorida

,I thought

t he most rap id transport at ion poss ibl e of the troops to'

Saint Augustine,preferabl e to a delay without provisions.

I consequently commanded all th e vessels to pass out by’

th e Bar ofWhal es , while I with the 4 gal l iots , l aunches'

andpirogues took the ins ide ofth e river, in order t o reconnoiter

t he aforesaid Fort San Pedro, and to attend to anything

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ATTACK ON. THE COLONY OF GEORGIA as

that migh t come up . This don e,and notwithstanding thefirewhich they opened, and which I ordered the 4 gal l iots

to return, I continued on myway and reached the R iverSa int John, where I went ashore and thence on August 1 st ,to th is fortress [Saint Augustine"where I found al l thetroop s carried by the vesse ls that had gone outs ide .During the t ime in which I abode in camp a t Gualquini,

notwithstanding the lack ofsappers , I took such measures,that the troops and mil itia in detachments destroyed andrazed the castles [ i . e .,

forts"and batteries ; that the artill e ry

,mortars

,and implements were carried aboard ; that

the houses in the country were burned to the numbe r ofthi rty, and the p lanted fiel ds laid waste ; and so finishedthis bus iness on th e last day as regards the remainder oft he settlement, say seventy houses 1n seven streets, tha t nota sign or vest ige remained

,to showthat the place had ever

b een settled .

And I did the same sort ofth ing with the enemy’s ves

sel s,excepting two bilanders

,which I manned, and put into

our armada,and thewar ship , which on the very n ight we

forced the pass,under favor ofth e darkness, and of a storm ,

succeeding in escap ing,in sp ite of the efforts of Don

An t -onio Cast afieda to p revent it-

s fl ight .I consider that the damage done the Engl i shwi l l amount

t o between and pesos . On the day whenI went by land to the Island ofVejeces, th e land wind thatwas blowing drove Offthe hosti l e vessel s from the coast

,

and also took ours ou t,for i t was the intention

,suggest edb y

me, ofDon Antonio de Castaneda,commander ofthe F l eet

,

to attack the enemy . A-

s hewas unabl e to find them however, he set h is course for Havana .

Al l the office rs,both sen ior and j un ior

, ofregular troopsand mil itia ; Don Antonio de Castaneda, and the naval volun t eers, have given proof ofspec ial zea l and devot ion tothe service ofYour Ma j e sty ; and parti cularly Colonel DonFrancisco Rubian i, L i eutenant Col on el Don Antonio Salgado

, and the Engineer ofth e Second Class, Don Antonio deArredondo,who discharged the functions ofChief Of Staffwith incessant to il . For these reasons I recommend themto the notice of Your Maj esty as worthy ofdistinction .

I do not know,Sir, wheth er my conduct of affairs wil l

meet with the roya l appro‘bation of Your Maj esty,s ee ing

that my entire effort has been to discharge the trust commit t ed to my care with no other end than the ru in of the

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96 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

enem ies ofthe Crown , and the honor and glory ofth e armsof Your Maj esty. These might have been better advancedhad not the Al l Powerful, who disposes ofal l things, broughtto naught the plan I had in mind, ofs ending 3gal l iots underthe orders ofthe Naval Li eutenant Don Adrian Can t ein t o

the river ofSaint Simon , and two t o th e river ofWhalesunder th e command ofthe Ensign Don Francisco Pineda,for the purpose of cutting the enemy

’s communications andprevent succor reaching him from the north

,agreeably with

th e instructions ofL ieutenant General Don j uan Franciscode Guemes y Horcasitas .Neverthel ess, I expect ofth e royal magn imity ofYourMaj esty

,that i t wil l de ign to regard itse lf as having been

wel l served in the Operations under quest ion,and that I

shall have th e satisfaction of receiving honors from YourMaj esty, whose Cathol ic royal person I pray our Lord t opreserve as many happy y ears, as Christendom may need.

Saint Augustin e,in Florida . August 3, 1742.

Don Manuel de Montiano .

(flour ish )

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THE SPANISH OFFI CIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

movements thei r p lace and distance,whether underway,

at anchor, or moored .

5 . Every commanding officer ofa vessel must observewith care all the s ignals whether day or n ight, made by hisimmediate ch ief, and included in the l i st which each forbetter understanding wil l have with him : he wil l withoutdel ay execute the import ofsaid s ignals .6 . Each command ing officer ofa vessel wil l d ivide hiscrew into two watches, which wil l b e on both by day and

by night ; the watch wil l b e re l ieved every four hours ; dogwatches wil l b e stood between 4 and 8 ofthe evening, inorder t o share fatigue and rest. Two sentries wil l b e l eftcontinuous ly posted

,one in the bow,

the other in the stern ,with orders to keep a sharp lookout in al l directions

,for

peopl e ashore , s ignal fires or boats ; they shal l carefu l ly ohserve the s ignal s made by thei r immediate commander

,and

communicate them at once to the sergeant or corporal ofth e guard, and the latte r to h is office r, for su itabl e action .

7. Each command ing officer ofa vessel wil l give severe ,

orders to maintain the deepest s il ence by night and by day,and that no one discharge a fire arm without orders ; in no

case wil l anyone be al lowed to smoke* by night.8 . Each time that a s ignal i s made to go ashore to cook,the master of the vessel wil l take offonly the number absolut ely necessary for the purpose, that i s, wil l detai l a number sufficient to act as guard . NO one else wil l b e al lowedashore . As soon as the food i s cooked

,he wil l order it

carried on boa i d, in order that a l l may eat . He wil l do thesame in respect of going ashore for water ; and see to it thath is peopl e do not mingl e with those of other boats, andthat th e business in hand sha l l b e carried on as near h i sboat as possib le, in order that h is peop l e may promptly goon board, shoul d necess ity requ ire it .9. The armed party that goes ashore to act as guard

,willpost itse lf as strongly as possib l e covering the watering orcooking party, in such a way as to command the approachesand so prevent any sudden attack.

1 0 . Whenever the flagsh ip s igna l s t o head inshore and

d i s embark for any purpose, each commander ofa vesselwil l so order the landing that as it progresses

,his men

shal l , i f the nature ofthe ground permit, form four in frontand three deep ; and if i t shou l d not permi t, e ight ormore in

o Chap el/r t abaco, a. qua in t expre ss ion , l i t era l ly t o“suck t obacco.

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 99

front,according t o ci rcumstance s, march ing at the same

time on one l ine to occupy suffici ent ground for the format ion ofthe entire body under his orders . This movementconcluded, he wi l l hal t and awa it orders .1 1 . Each commanding officer of a vessel wil l at dawncause his sail s to b e furled and remain under bare poles ; hewil l send a man aloft t o l ook around for s igns or peop leashore

,s ignal fires or boats ; and wil l communicate his dis

coveries by proper s ignal .1 2. Only the commanding general wil l fly by day a bluepennant

,which he will cause to be lowered whenever he

wishes to make a s ignal .13. Whenever the commanding general shal l set a signalhe wil l keep it flying unti l he is satisfied that the squadroncommanders understand it . This wil l b e s ignified to himby their using the same s ignal in answer ;when the commanding general hau l s down his s ignal , the squadron commanders wil l do th e same, i t ‘being understood that no one

shal l fly a flag,unless ordered, or necessary for s ignal l ing

as prearranged .

1 4. Whenever the commanding general shal l make thes ignal for general disembarkat ion

,each commanding officer

of a vessel shal l at once obey it, l eaving on board only twosoldiers as a guard

,and the sailors, ordering them under

no circumstances to l eave the pos ition in which ordered toremain .

1 5 . Each commander ofa vessel on discovering any peopl e ashore, boats, or fires wil l at on ce inform his squadroncommander by suitabl e signal , and keep h is s ignal up untilsa i d commander answers by the same : in al l cases thi s procedure wil l indicate that s igna l s have been unde rstood .

1 6. Each squadron commander, on rece iving a signalfrom any vessel ofhis squadron, wil l determine its meaning,and then answering with the same

,wil l keep i t flying unti l

the commanding general shal l have made suitabl e acknowledgemen t .17. The command ing general on receiving a signal froma squadron commander wil l acknowledge with the same

,

afte r h e has made out the cause, and will give such ordersas h e deems proper.1 8 . The commanding general wil l

,wheneve r the nature

ofth e channel s to b e navigated permit it, adopt the formation in column four abreast, or anchor in t his order, as bestl ending itsel fwith l east confus ion to al l other maneuvers

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100 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

demanded by c1rcumstanCes. He will order the gal l iots to

p recede the entire fleet, the ot her boats t o fol low in order,so as t o be on hand for such action as offers .19. Each commanding officer ofa vesse l

,besides ob

serving orders given,shal l constantly maintain himself near

t he flagship, so as to hear promptly whenever hai l ed by ite i the r by vo ice or speaking trumpet to draw near in ordert o rece ive orders . These wi l l b e a t once executed . To th ise nd, each commanding office r wil l take turn on guard ; sothat i f nothing materia l comes up, the captain ofthe guardboat wil l at 1 1 of the morning, th e hour atwh ich the ordersmust be given, go on board the flagship to rece ive the count ersign and parol e, and wil l then proceed to communicateit to al l the squadron commanders and captains

,so that i f

a t night some vessel not ofthe convoy,or some hosti l eves

sel should be met, that fact may b e recognized by its fa i lure to give the countersign and parol e when chal lenged .

Should thi s happen and be verified, su itab l e a ction wil l betaken . I f the guard boat should

,when needed, b e on duty

e l s ewhere, the next boat on the r oster wil l come up whenhail ed by the flagsh ip, so that the commanding general maya lways have some one to d i stribute any orders he may w ishto give .

Juan Franc isco de Guemes y Horcasitas.

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102 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

L ight to port and anothe r to 9. Go ashore and cook.

starboard .

The same s ignal a loft, add 1 0. Each man to go aboarding another l ight in the his sh ip .

bow.

L ight in th e main t op , anoth 1 1 . Everybody to go

er in the fo-retOp and one ashore.

on the bow.

Light in the main top, anoth 1 2. The people ofthe firster in the foretop . and second squadrons, and

no more, to go ashorereckon ing the commanding general’s as the first.

Ligh t in the foretop and 13. The peop l e of the see

another in the bow. ond and th ird squadronsto go ashore .

L ight at half mainmast and 1 4. Peopl e ofthe third andanother at hal f foremast. fourth squadrons to go

ashore .

L ight at hal f mainmast. 1 5 . Hal f the peopl e of eachboat to go ashore .

L ight at hal f foremast . 1 6. A fourth ofth e peopleofeach boat to go ashore .

Three gun flashes i f to the 17.

'To g1ve notice thatwestward and two if t o there are peOple o r a no iseeastward . ashore .

To showa l ight three times 19. To give notice of one orat the bow, giving suffioi many boats .cient t ime between appearanecs to al lowthem. to bedi stinctly counted .

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A’

TTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 103

L ight in the bow.

L ight astern and three gun. 21 . To give not i ce that aflashes . hosti l e sh ip has b een en

countered and captured .

L igh t astern and four gun 22. To give n ews that aflashes. hosti l e sh ip has been eu

countered and has escaped .

A’

swive l-gun shot and a 23. All the ships wil l go tol ight in the main top . quarters .

A l ight in the main top and 24. All the vessels wil l firethree rounds from a swiv thei r swivel- guns againstel-gun shots. thei r antagon ists whether

a shore or afloat.

L ight in the main top and 25 . All th e vessel s wil l openthree swivel-gun shots. with

the ir swive l-gunsand smal l arms .

It shou l d b e noticed that thi s order deal s only with vessel s having the enemy in the ir front or on their flanks andnot embarrassed by such others ofthe ir own ships as mightbe ahead ; because if it should be imposs ib le, as it may, fora ll our ships to extend the ir front against th e enemy andthus perhaps be unabl e t o fire al l at the same time ' as intended by th is order, then only those wil l open that have a C l ear

'

field of fi re in front, or are so s ituated that they can firewithout embarrassing one another

,so that the fire may be

opportune and usefu l and all confusion and danger avoided,for these could easi ly occur in ou r own fleet unl ess theseprecautions were taken .

Two l ights on the mainmast, 2. To go about whether nuone about a yard belowthe der sail or under oars .other.

20. Whenever the commanding offi cer ofa vesselgives notice that he needssometh ing

, or reportssometh ing unforeseen or

unprovided for aboard hi sship .

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11 04 THE S PANISH O'EFfIxC‘IA‘L A'C'COJUNT

'

OF THE

Note

It should b e not -ice d that this maneuver must be carri edout so that the vess el s ofth e second fi l e shal l go about afterh aving occup ied t he pla ce in which the flagship or itsfileand vanguard went about ; the third fi l e wil l do the samewhere the second went about ; the fourth where the th irdand the movement wil l b e carried out in this fashion unti lt he re ar guard is reached ; .one succeeding the other in thesame order and distance so '

t hat a fter al l the vessel s shallhave tacked

,the fl eet wi ll remain in the same formation as

before .

Day Signals t o bemade by the Commanding General and obeyed byt he Commanding Officers ofSquadron and Ships.

The Span ish ens ign in the 1 . Hois t anchor a nd “

get

howand the pennant of under way forming frontS pa in in t he ma inmast . wi t h the whole fl eet .Ensign of Spa in

'

in t he how2. H‘ois t anchor and getand the same pennant in under way in column, fourt he foretop . abreast.

Standard of‘Spain in' t he bow3. Hoist anchor and get

and the pennant a t half under way in column . fourmainmast . abr eas t.

”Ensign ofSp ain in the bow '

4.

'

Hois‘

t anchor and,ge t

a nd the pennant at h alf underway in column, twoforemast

'

In the first case ; abreast,or in s ingl e

“fi l e,

and in the s econd the en‘bow .to ste rn .

sign ofSpain'

in the fore

Ensign ofSp ain in the bow 5 . Anchor in singl e‘l ine of

and p ennant of ‘Spain in the t he whole fleet .maintop .

Ensign ofS pain in t he‘bow An chor , each squadron

and the same pennant in in four ranks .the foretop .

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4106 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

E nsign of'

Spain at hal f main 1 8 . Half the people of e achmast and Span ish pennant ship, and no more, to goa t hal f foremast. ashore .

E ns ign of Spain at half main '

19. A quarter ofthe peoplemast . on each sh ip , and no more,

ashore .

'

The ens ign of Spain in stops 20. To give n otice ofhava t the stem and the bow ing seen people ashore .

. set or pointing t o the placewhere th e pe0 p1e were

' seen, and so kept unti l th eflagship answers with thesame signal which wi l l b e,when it wil l have p ickedup the sa id peop l e .

Spanish ensign in stops in 21 . To give notice somethe maintop and the ‘bow fire ‘ashore .po inting where fire wasseen and to remain in thisfash ion: unt i l ' the flagshipanswerswt ih the same signal.

E ns ign ofS pain in s tops in 22. To give notice ofone orthe bow

,this pointing ofmanyves sel s seen .

where t he sh ips were seenand the said stopp ed flaghoi sted and lowered asmany times as there were"boats seen

,with a suffi

c i ent interval to give opp ortunity to d ist ingu i shthem.

Ens ign ofSpain in the bow,hoisted and lowered threet imes and the command ingofii cer of th e squadron wil lanswer in the same way inform ing the commandinggeneral, who wil l take theproper act ion .

23. Whenever the command ing officer ofa vesselgives notice that he needssomething or reports someth ing unforeseen or unpro

‘vided for aboard‘

his sh ip .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 107

Ens ign ofSpain in the bow 24. All sh ips whether underand red pennant in the sail or at anchor wil l go t oforetop . quarters .

Ensign of Spain in the_

bow25 . Al l vessel s to open fireand the red pennant in the with thei r swivel- guns onmaintop . th e ir antagonists whether

afloat or ashore .

En s ign ofSpain in the blow, '

26 . Al l vess el s wil l Open firered pennant in the maintop with thei r swivel - guns andand anothe r Spanish pen muskets at one and th enant in the foretop . same t ime .

I t shou l d be not iced that th is order dea l s only with vessel s having th e enemy in thei r front or on thei r flanks andnot “embarrassed

“by such others of their own ships as mightb e ahead ; because i f i t shou l d b e impossibl e, as it may, foral l our ships t o extend their front against the enemy andthus perhaps b e unabl e t o fire al l a t the same time, as int ended by this order, then only those wil l open that havea cl ear field offire in front, or are so si tuated that th eycan fire without embarrassing one another

,so that the fire

may be opportune and usefu l and al l confusion and dangera voided, for these coul d eas i ly occur in our own fleet unl essthese precautions were taken .

S pan ish pennant in the main 27. To go about whethert op . under sa i l or under oars .

Note

It should be noti ced that th i s ma neuver must b e carri edout so that th e vessel s ofthe second fil e shal l go about afterhaving occup ied the place in wh ich the flagship or its fi l eand vanguard went about ; the th ird fi l e wil l do the samewhere the second went about ; the fourth where the thi rd ;and the movement wil l b e carried out in th is fash ion untilthe rear guard is reached ; one succeed ing the other in thesame order and d i stance so that a fter al l th e vessel s shallhave tacked, the fl eet wil l remain in the same formationas before.

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“18 THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

Day and Night Signalswhich the Commanding General oft he Expedit ionwill Order t o be made on the Coast and in the Places

Indicat ed, t o Maint ain t he Union and Cc-operat ion Required

and Providedfor in the Inst ruct ions on the Journey and During,

the Operat ions ofBoth Fleet s.

Afire on the beach . 1 . In order that the commanding officer ofthe sea

squadron may know wherethe interior flot illa happensto be, le t h im eithe r lie- tor

or anchor.

Two fi res on beach , a 2. The sa id commandingquarter ofa mile apart. office r wil l put to sea and

continu e h is voyage .

One fire in the place indicated and e ight or ten flashesofpowder at interval s .

Two fires on the same beachal ready mentioned, thesame flashes and a fewmusket shots at th e same

3. Order the disembarkat ion of th e troops ‘desi'gnated upon the beach oftheIs land of St . Simon, getunder way and capture theport ofGualquini, according to p revious instructions .

4.

Orde r the 'disembarka‘t ion ofth e tr0 ‘

0 ps on the

beach oft he said i sland,get underway, capture theport a s soon as thi s s ignali s r ece ived, without waiting for any other .

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ATTACK ON THE COLONY OF GEORGIA 1 09

T hree fires on the beach ata distance ofa quarter ofami l e, one from the other.

ofRecogni t ion by Day or Night .

Whenever the commanding general sends a boat or

launch to speak to the commanding officer ofthe sea squadron ,

if i t shoul d be day, he wil l carry a Spanish flag in hisbowand fire a blank cartri dge from his swivel - gun . To

th is,answer wil l b e made with a Spanish flag in the stern ,

by clewing up the m 'ainsai l and foresail,lowering and hoist

ing the main topsai ls,and by b racing the foretopsail , lying

t o and wait ing. I f i t shoul d b e night,he wil l show a l ight

in h is bow andfire three bla nk rounds from a swivel-gunand the answering s ignal wil l b e a l ight in the stern, anotherin the bow

,and lying- to to wait .

Whenever the commanding ofli cer ofth e sea squadronshal l send a boat or l aunch to speak to the command ing general ' i f i t be day, he wil l carry the Span ish ensign in h isbow and when near

1

enough,wil l fire five musket shots .

The answering signal wil l be t o lower the dist ingu ish ingpennant, to place the ensign in the bow and five musket shots . I f i t be by night, he wil l show a l ight in h isbow, and chal l enged

“Who goes there ?” wil l answer “Ph i ll ip th e F ifth and Havana .

The answering s ignal wil l b ea l ight in the s tern , and as many other musket rounds, andon rece iving the same chall enge

,th e answer

,

“Spain andCuba .”

5 . The armed bi landers toget under way, enter theBay of

'

St . Simon so as toco— operate with the disembarkat ion of the troops,told off for th is purpose,on the beach ofthe southpoint ; the sh ips to remainat anchor outside, as i al

ready dec ided .

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1 10“

THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

NOTE ON THE BATTLE GROUND OF BLOODY MARSH .

By Ot is Ashmore.

The battl e in which Oglethorpe defeated Montiano on

St . Simon’s Island i s known local ly as the Battle ofB loody

Marsh and the exact s ite of th is engagement has long b eenin much doub t.In the summer of 191 2, accompan ied by Lawt on B .

Evans,C. B . Gibson, Col. Charl es M . Snel l ing, and L. B .

Robeson, I made a vis it to St . Simon I sland for the purpose oi i dentifying if poss ib l e the exact location ofthebattl efiel d . Every account ofthe battl e had been carefu l lystudied

,including that ofMontiano himsel f, from t ransla

t ions furnished by L i eut . Col. C . D-

e'W. Willcox, U . S . A.,

profess-or at the United States Mi l itary Academy.

In the l ight of al l these account s, and -after going over t heground very careful ly

,there seems t o be no doubt that thi s

memorabl e battl ewas fought a t a point upon the marginoft he marsh abou t two miles from the sout h end oftheisland, and about one mi l e from the hotel, where the roadfrom Gascoigne’s Bluffenters the road to Frederica . Th i sspot agrees perfectly with th e account ofCapt ThomasSpal d ing,* which for many obvious reasons i s by far theclearest and the most trustworthy . A sketch ofthe islandand ofthe battl e ground itsel f, made a t the time of myvi s it

,wil l

'

make more cl ear S'palding’s graph ic account, and

wil l show al l the st raget ic points in the campa ign moresatis factori ly than any verbal description cou ld do .

I t i s, perhaps, needless to say that wit h the exceptionof the causeway, which sti l l exists, and the crescent shapedwoodland so we l l described by Spal ding

,not a vestige of

this tragic epi sode remains . N-

o trace ofth e road aroundt he crescent could be found , as th is ci rcu itous pathway haslong since been abandoned for the more direct road across it .

‘See a ccoun t of t h is ba t t le by Cap t . Thoma s Spa ld ing in Vol. I . Ga .

H ist . Soc ie t y Col le c t ions.

Page 139: Collections 23m Q-Wxwv Georgia Historical Sqciety · On the presentation ofa demand for a counter indemnity, England threatened war; ... ’s new Colony in the place called ... geneous

1 10“

THE SPANISH OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE

NOTE ON THE BATTLE GROUND OF BLOODY MARSH .

By O t is Ashmore.

The battl e in which Oglethorpe defeated M‘ontiano on

St. Simon’s I sland i s known local ly as the Ba ttle ofB loody

Marsh and the exact s ite ofth is engagement has long b eenin much doub t.In the summer of 191 2, accompanied by Law-ton B .

Evans,C . B . Gibson, Col. Charles M . Snel l ing, and L . B .

Rob eson,I made a vis it to St . Simon I sland for the pur

pose ofi dentifying if poss ib l e the exact location ofthebattl efield . Every account of the battl e had been carefu l lystudied

,including that ofMontiano himsel f, from t ransla

t ions furn ished by L i eut . Col. C . DeW. Willcox, U . S“

. A. ,

profess-or a t the United States Mi l itary Academy .

In the l ight ofall these account s, and a fter going over theground very careful ly, there seems to be no doubt that thi smemorable ba tt l e was fought at a point upon the marginoft he marsh about two miles from the sout h end of theisland

,and about one mil e from the hotel

,where the road

from Gascoigne’s B luffenters the road to Frederica . Th i sspot agrees perfectly wit h th e account ofCapt ThomasSpalding

,

* which for many obvious reasons is by far theclearest and the most trustworthy . A sketch of th e islandand of the battl e ground itsel f, made at the t ime of myvi s it

,wil l make more cl ear S 'pald ing’s graphic account

,and

will show all the st rage t ic po-ints in the campaign more

satisfactori ly than any verbal descript ion cou l d do .

I t i s, perhaps, needless to say that wit h the exceptionofthe causeway, which sti l l ex i sts, and the crescent shapedwood land so we l l described by Spalding

,not a vestige of

this tragic episode rema ins . No trace of the road aroundthe crescent could be found , as th is ci rcu itous pathway haslong since been abandoned for the more direct road across it .

‘See a ccoun t of t h is ba t t le by Cap t . Thoma s Sp a id lng in Vol. I. Ga.

H is t . Soc ie t y Col le c t ions.

Page 140: Collections 23m Q-Wxwv Georgia Historical Sqciety · On the presentation ofa demand for a counter indemnity, England threatened war; ... ’s new Colony in the place called ... geneous
Page 141: Collections 23m Q-Wxwv Georgia Historical Sqciety · On the presentation ofa demand for a counter indemnity, England threatened war; ... ’s new Colony in the place called ... geneous