| Siege of Fort Mose | |||||||
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| Part of the War of Jenkins' Ear | |||||||
Site of the old fort |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Great Britain | Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| John Palmer † | Antonio Salgado Francisco Menendez |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 170 regulars and indians[1] | 300 regulars, militia, indians and free blacks[1][2] |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 68[3]–75 killed,[4] 34 captured[3] |
10 killed, 20 wounded[5][6] |
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The siege of Fort Mose was a significant action of the War of Jenkins’ Ear which took place on June 26 of 1740. A Spanish column of 300 regular troops, free black militia and Indian auxiliaries commanded by Captain Antonio Salgado stormed the strategically crucial position of Fort Mose,[7] occupied by 170 British soldiers under Colonel John Palmer as a part of James Oglethorpe's offensive to capture St. Augustine. Taken by surprise, the British garrison was virtually annihilated.[7] Palmer himself, three captains and three lieutenants were among the British troops killed in action.[6] After the battle the fort was destroyed and it wasn't rebuilt until 12 years later.[8][9]
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Located two miles north of St. Augustine, Fort Mose was established in 1738 by escaped black slaves from the British colony of Georgia who were granted their freedom by Spain. The new fort, which was the first settlement of free blacks in North America,[10] consisted in a church, a fence with some towers, and some twenty houses inhabited by a hundred people.[10] The men were made Spanish militia by Governor Manuel de Montiano and put in command of Captain Francisco Menendez, a free black with military experience.[10] Fort Mose's militia soon became a well-trained unit, as Saint Augustine had a militia corps of free blacks and mulattos since 1683.[10]
At the outbreak of the War of the Jenkins’ ear in 1739, General James Oglethorpe, governor of Georgia, encouraged by some successful raids in the frontier, decided to raise a significant expedition to capture St. Augustine to the Spanish.[11] Regular troops from South Carolina and Georgia, militia volunteers, about 600 Creek and Uchise allies and about 800 black slaves as auxiliaries made up the expedition, which was supported by sea by 7 seven ships of the British Royal Navy.[11] Montiano, who only disposed of about 600 men including reinforcements recently arrived from Cuba, was forced to resist entrenched, although on several occasions he attacked by surprise the British lines.[2]
Approaching to St. Augustine, a British party under Colonel John Palmer composed by 170 men belonging to the Georgian colonial militia, the 42nd Regiment of Foot and the auxiliary native allies,[2] rapidly occupied Fort Mose, strategically situated on a vital travel route.[7] The fort had been previously abandoned by orders of Manuel de Montiano due the assassination of some of its inhabitants by Indians allies of Great Britain.[12]
Montiano, who knew the strategic importance of Fort Mose, decided to recover it. At dawn on June 15, Captain Antonio Salgado commanded Spanish regulars, free blacks led by Francisco Menendez and indios amigos in a surprise attack on Mose.[2][4] The attack was initiated two hours before the British soldiers awoke so that they could not prepare their arms for defense.[13] About 70 of them were killed in a bloody hand to hand combat with swords, muskets and club work.[4]
The Spanish victory at Fort Mose demoralized the badly divided British forces and supposed a significant factor in Oglethorpe’s withdrawal to Savannah.[4] In late June St. Augustine was relieved from Havana and Royal Navy’s warships abandoned the land forces.[4] Governor Montiano commended the free black militia for their bravery,[13] and although Fort Mose had been destroyed during the siege, their inhabitants installed in St. Augustine for next decade as free and equal Spanish citizens.[13]