SPANISH INCURSIONS.
As Spain had concealed her hostile intentions towards England until preparations for war were completed, it was not a matter of surprise to see her commencing hostilities on the other side of the Atlantic, with all the advantages of early information and previous design. No sooner was war announced than Don Bernardo Galvez, Governor of Louisiana, made an incursion into West Florida, and invested and captured a British fort garrisoned with five hundred men, at the mouth of the Ibbeville. The fate of almost the whole of the Mississippi was involved in the fall of this fort, for the Spaniards overran a district of 1200 miles in extent; and only left the eastern part of the province, with the strong fort of Mobile untouched. With equal alacrity the Spanish Governor of Honduras commenced hostilities against the British cutters of logwood in the Bay of Honduras, and plundered the principal establishment at St. George’s Key. The logwood-cutters, who were chiefly sailors and men of a daring spirit, retreated before the Spaniards, and kept together in an inaccessible place, until the Governor of Jamaica dispatched Captain Dalrymple, with a small body of Irish volunteers, to convey to them a supply of arms. Sir Peter Parker dispatched a sloop of war to co-operate, and this sloop, having taken Dalrymple and his party on board, quickly drove the Spaniards from St. George’s Key and all that part of the coast. The sloop was shortly after joined by a small squadron under Captain Luttrell, who had been cruizing to intercept two Spanish register-ships, which had taken refuge under the strong fortress of St. Fernando de Omoa. Dalrymple, Luttrell, and the chiefs of the British bay-men resolved to attack this fort, which was the key of the whole settlement of Honduras; and a motley force of log-wood-cutters, sailors, soldiers, and volunteers proceeded against it. They had no artillery available for the purpose, and therefore they resolved to take the fort by surprise and assault. As they approached they were discovered by the garrison, but the works were nevertheless carried by escalade; and the garrison were so panic-stricken at the bold movement, that the Spanish governor could not keep them to their guns. One hundred escaped by flight, and the rest, amounting to five hundred men, surrendered as prisoners of war. The assailants now made for the harbour in search of the register-ships; and although the greater part of the treasure had been removed to a place of safety, there was still a galleon in the harbour, and an immense quantity of quicksilver, which, with other objects that fell into the hands of the conquerors, were of the estimated value of 3,000,000 dollars. The loss of the quicksilver was severely felt by the Spaniards, and they offered to redeem it at any price. They also made liberal offers for ransoming the fort; but the captors, preferring the public good to private emolument, refused all terms. At the same time they restored the plate found in the churches, to procure the liberation of some logwood-cutters who had been taken at George’s Key. A garrison was left to defend Fort Omoa, but the unhealthiness of the station led to its evacuation, and it was recovered by the Spaniards. They found the guns spiked, however, and the works for the most part demolished.