Whereas upon mature deliberation it is resolved to defend these Provinces by invading the Province of Florida, and attacking St. Augustine, in order to remove the enemy that from thence may molest his Majesty's subjects in America, which enemy both have and do continue to foment and countenance the slaves to rebellion, burning houses, murders, and other cruelties, of which the circumstances of the late massacre in this Province is too sad a proof; and whereas the General Assembly of this Province hath ordered forces to be raised, so that an army composed of various troops and Indians are to assist in invading the Spanish dominions of Florida; I, therefore, to prevent any disorders that may arise in the said army by virtue of powers received from his Majesty authorizing and empowering me, (for the better government of the forces during their continuance under my command,) to prepare and publish such rules and ordinances as are fit to be observed by all officers and soldiers: in regard, therefore, to the regiment of foot raised in South Carolina, I do constitute and appoint that Alexander Vanderdussen, Esq., Colonel of the said regiment, paid by the government of South Carolina, shall hold regimental courts martial for the trials of such offences as shall be committed by the officers and soldiers of that regiment; and that the said court martial shall consist of the officers of that regiment only; and that the Colonel of the said regiment shall sit as President of the said regimental courts martial, and make a report to me, and that according to the judgment of the said Courts I shall cause sentence to be pronounced, in case I approve of the same, or otherwise suspend the same as I shall see cause. And I do further declare that this authority shall continue for the space of four months from the commencement of the said expedition, and no longer; and that after the expiration of the said four months, or other sooner determination of the said expedition, every officer and soldier, whether volunteers from, or in the pay of the government of Carolina, shall have free liberty to depart and return to their habitations, and that a free pass (if by them required,) shall be respectively granted unto them, against being impressed, impeded, enlisted, or detained, by any authority, civil or military, whatsoever, that may be exercised by or derived from me.
And I do further declare that if the officers of his Majesty's ships of war shall land men to assist the land forces, one full moiety of all the plunder that shall be taken in such service, shall go to the officers and men in his Majesty's said sea-service, whose ships are assisting in the said expedition; and that all plunder taken and accruing to the officers and men in the land service shall be divided among the officers and men of the land service, in the same manner and proportion as prizes are distributed among the officers and men in his Majesty's sea-service, according to the laws and rules of his Majesty's navy.
And I do further declare that whatever share of plunder shall come to me as General and commander of the said forces, I will apply the same totally towards the relief of such men as may happen to be maimed or wounded in the said expedition, and towards assisting the widows and children of any of the said forces that may happen to be killed in the said service; and for the rewarding of such as shall perform any distinguished brave action.
No Indian enemy is to be taken as a slave, for all Spanish and Indian prisoners do belong to his Majesty, and are to be treated as prisoners, and not as slaves.
JAMES OGLETHORPE.
XXIII.
COLONEL PALMER.
"As no final agreement with respect to the limits of the two provinces had been concluded, the Indians in alliance with Spain continued to harass the British settlements. Scalping parties of the Yamasees frequently penetrated into Carolina; killed white men, and carried off every negro they could find. Though the owners of slaves had been allowed from the Spanish government a compensation in money for their losses, yet few of them ever received it. At length Colonel Palmer resolved to make reprisals upon the plunderers. For this purpose he gathered together a party of militia and friendly Indians, consisting of about three hundred men, and entered Florida with a resolution of spreading desolation throughout the province. He carried his arms as far as the gates of St. Augustine, and compelled the inhabitants to take refuge in their castle. Scarce a house or hut in the Colony escaped the flames. He destroyed their provisions in the fields; drove off their hogs, cattle, and horses; and left the Floridians little property, except what was protected by the guns of their fort. By this expedition he demonstrated to the Spaniards their weakness; and that the Carolinians, whenever they pleased, could prevent the cultivation and settlement of their Province so as to render the improvement of it impracticable on any other than peaceable terms with their neighbors."[1]
[Footnote 1: HEWATT'S History of South Carolina, Vol. I. p. 314, and Dr. RAMSAY'S History of South Carolina, Vol. I. p. 137; where it is quoted, word for word, without acknowledgment.]