By his personal interview with the Indians at Coweta town, Oglethorpe had secured the good will of the Creeks, the Cousees, the Tallapousees, the Cowetas, the Choctaws and the Chickesas, thus thwarting the machinations of the Spanish and French, and relieving the Colony from apprehensions of a most serious character. His energies were all directed to a careful preparation to meet the Spanish storm which was gathering and almost ready to burst upon the southern frontier of the Province. Referring to this perilous and protracted journey performed by General Oglethorpe to propitiate these Indian tribes and secure from them pledges whose observance was essential to the continuance of the Colony, Mr. Spalding[76] justly remarks, “When we call into remembrance the then force of these tribes,—for they could have brought into the field twenty thousand fighting men,—when we call to remembrance the influence the French had everywhere else obtained over the Indians,—when we call to remembrance the distance he had to travel through solitary pathways from Frederica, exposed to summer suns, night dews, and to the treachery of any single Indian who knew, and every Indian knew, the rich reward that would have awaited him for the act from the Spaniards in St. Augustine or the French in Mobile; surely we may proudly ask what soldier ever gave higher proof of courage? What gentleman ever gave greater evidence of magnanimity? What English governor of an American province ever gave such assurance of deep devotion to public duty?”
But for this manly conference with the Red men in the heart of their own country, and the admiration with which his presence, courage, and bearing inspired the assembled Chiefs, Oglethorpe could not have compassed the pacification and secured that treaty of amity so essential to the welfare of the Colony now on the eve of most serious difficulties with the Spaniards in Florida.
On the 5th of October, 1739, at his little town four miles from Savannah, the venerable Tomo-chi-chi,—Oglethorpe’s earliest and best friend among the Indians,—yielding to the effects of a lingering illness, died at the advanced age of ninety-seven years. The General acted as one of the pall-bearers, and the body of the old Chief, in accordance with his wish, was interred, with becoming honors, in one of the public squares in Savannah. In his last moments he expressed no little concern that he was about to be taken away at a time when his services might prove of special value to his friends, the English, against the Spaniards, and counseled his people never to forget the favors he had received, when in England, from the King, and to persevere in their amicable relations with the colonists.[77] These injunctions were not unheeded. Toonahowi—the favorite nephew of the aged Mico—accompanied General Oglethorpe in his expedition against St. Augustine; and again, leading a party of Creek Indians, brought off from the very walls of that city Don Romualdo Ruiz del Moral, lieutenant of Spanish horse and nephew to the late governor of Florida, and delivered him a prisoner to Oglethorpe. During the memorable and successful resistance maintained when St. Simon’s island was attacked by the Spaniards in 1742, this brave Indian, illustrating the valor, personal courage, and friendship which characterized his distinguished uncle, remained firm in his attachment to the colonists and rendered valuable military service. On the 7th of July, although wounded in the right arm by Captain Mageleto, he drew his pistol with the left, and shot the Captain dead on the spot. This brave warrior and faithful ally was finally killed in 1743, at Lake di Papa, while valiantly fighting for the English against the Yemasee Indians.[78]
The disputes existing between England and Spain culminated in a declaration of war in October, 1739. On the 15th of November intelligence was brought to Frederica that a party of Spaniards had recently landed on Amelia island in the night, and, concealing themselves in the woods, had, on the ensuing morning, shot two unarmed Highlanders who were in quest of fuel, and then, in the most inhuman manner, hacked their bodies with their swords. Francis Brooks,—commanding the scout-boat,—heard the firing and gave the alarm to the fort, which was garrisoned by a detachment from Oglethorpe’s regiment. Although pursued, the enemy escaped, leaving behind them the proofs of their inhuman butchery.[79] Informed of the outrage, Oglethorpe manned a gunboat and followed in the hope of overtaking the party. The effort proved futile, and the General, by way of retaliation, passing up the St. Johns drove in the guards of Spanish horse posted on that river, and detached Captain Dunbar to ascertain the location and force of the enemy’s fort at Picolata. This incursion was followed by another in January, which resulted in the capture of Forts Picolata and St. Francis, the garrisons being made prisoners of war. In the assault upon the latter work General Oglethorpe narrowly escaped death from a cannon shot.[80]
Chafing under these repeated annoyances experienced at the hands of the Spaniards, advised that the garrison at St. Augustine was suffering for lack of provisions, and ascertaining that the galleys having been sent to Havana for reinforcements and supplies, the St. Johns river and the Florida coast were in a comparatively defenseless condition, the General deemed it a fitting opportunity to attempt the reduction of St. Augustine and the expulsion of the Spaniards from Florida. Admiral Vernon was instructed to assume the offensive against the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, while General Oglethorpe should conduct all available forces against the seat of their dominion in Florida. The assistance of Carolina was urgently invoked, but the authorities at first would not acquiesce in the feasibility of the enterprise.[81] A rapid movement being regarded essential to success, General Oglethorpe repaired to Charleston to urge early and potent co-operation. As a result of the conference which there ensued, the Legislature, by an act passed April 5th, 1740, agreed to contribute a regiment of five hundred men to be commanded by Colonel Vanderdussen, a troop of Rangers, presents for the Indians, and three months’ provisions. A large schooner,—conveying ten carriages and sixteen swivel guns, and fifty men under the command of Captain Tyrrell,—was also furnished for the expedition. Commodore Vincent Price, with a small fleet, pledged his assistance.
On the first of April General Oglethorpe published a manifesto, in which, recognizing Alexander Vanderdussen, Esq., as Colonel of the Carolina regiment, he empowered him for the space of four months to hold regimental court martials for the trial of all offenders. At the expiration of that period all connected with that regiment were to be suffered to return to their homes. To the naval forces uniting in the expedition a full share of all plunder was guaranteed. To the maimed and wounded, and to the widows and orphans of such as might perish in the service, was promised whatever share of the spoils should fall to the lot of the General in Chief. Indian enemies, if taken captive, were to be treated as prisoners of war, and not as slaves.[82]
The mouth of the St. Johns was designated as the point of rendezvous.
Runners were sent from the Uchee town to the Indian allies to inform them of the contemplated demonstration against St. Augustine, and to request a junction of their forces at Frederica at the earliest moment. This done, the General returned at once to St. Simons island where he devoted himself to equipping his forces and collecting the requisite munitions of war.
Anticipating the concentration of his forces, and wishing to reduce the posts through which the enemy derived supplies from the country, General Oglethorpe, with four hundred men of his own regiment and a considerable force of Indians led by Molochi,—son of Prim, the late Chief of the Creeks,—Raven, war chief of the Cherokees, and Toonahowi, nephew of Tomo-chi-chi, on the 9th of May passed over into Florida, and within a week succeeded in capturing Fort Francis de Papa[83] seventeen miles north of St. Augustine, and Fort Diego[84] situated on the plains twenty-five miles from St. Augustine. The latter work was defended by eleven guns and fifty regulars, besides Indians and negroes. Leaving Lieutenant Dunbar and sixty men to hold this post, the General returned with the rest of his command to the place of rendezvous where, on the 19th of May, he was joined by Captain McIntosh with a company of Highlanders, and by the Carolina troops under Colonel Vanderdussen. The anticipated horsemen, pioneers, and negroes, however, did not arrive.
From the best information he could obtain,—gathered from prisoners and otherwise,—General Oglethorpe ascertained that the Castle of St. Augustine at that time consisted of a fort, built of soft stone. Its curtain was sixty yards in length, its parapet nine feet thick, and its rampart twenty feet high, “casemated underneath for lodgings, and arched over and newly made bomb-proof.” Its armament consisted of fifty cannon,—sixteen of brass,—and among them some twenty-four pounders. The garrison had been for some time working upon a covered-way, but this was still in an unfinished condition. The town of St. Augustine was protected by a line of intrenchments with ten salient angles, in each of which some field pieces were mounted. In January, 1740, the Spanish forces in Florida, by establishment, consisted of the following organizations:[85]