EAST FLORIDA AS A REFUGE OF SOUTHERN LOYALISTS, 1774-1785 · on October 19, 1927, is a resume of eleven chapters of the first volume of Prof. Wilbur H. Siebert's work entitled Loyalists

226 American Antiquarian Society [Oct.,

EAST FLORIDA AS A REFUGE OFSOUTHERN LOYALISTS, 1774-1785

BY WILBUR H. SIEBERT

FORIDA, or East Florida as it was known diiringthe American Revolution, remained steadfast in

its attachment to the British crown, and thereforebecame a general refuge of Loyalists from the revoltedSouthern provinces. Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Tonynof the 104th Regiment was governor of Florida fora little more than a decade, that is, from March 1,1774, until in June, 1784, when the Spanish governor.De Zespedes, succeeded him. However, GovernorTonyn and the last British transports with departingLoyalists did not sail from St. Mary's River untilNovember 19,1785. The most notable features of thehistory of the province during this period are the partit played as a rallying place for Southern Tories, itsshare in plots and hostilities during the war, and itsprolonged evacuation which occupied nearly two yearsand a half, of which the major part was conductedunder Spanish auspices.

During the year 1775, the government, garrison, andscant population of East Florida felt the first tremorsof the Revolution. In January they learned of anorder in Council prohibiting the exportation of am-munition and arms from Great Britain, and the carry-ing of such supplies coastwise. Other measures and

(NOTE: This paper, which was presented at the meeting of the Societyon October 19, 1927, is a resume of eleven chapters of the first volumeof Prof. Wilbur H. Siebert's work entitled Loyalists in East Florida;1774-1785, which is soon to be published by the Florida State HistoricalSociety.)

1927.] East Florida, a Refuge of Southern Loyalists 227

events soon followed that affected them more directly.In June the provincial Council was informed of a con-ciliatory resolution of the House of Commons whichdeclared that when the civil authorities of a provinceshould provide the revenue for the support of its owngovernment, in case the proposal were approved bythe king and Parliament, the taxes and duties hithertolevied by the home government could properly be dis-continued, except the duties for the regulation ofcommerce, the net income of which would be creditedto the account of the province. In July notice wasreceived that the orders of the commander-in-chief ofthe British forces in North America were supreme inregulating the operations of those troops, and thatGeneral Gage had ordered a detachment of the 14thRegiment at St. Augustine sent to Virginia to aid LordDunmore. In August, but before Gage's orders hadbeen complied with, the brigantine, Betsy, a vesseljust arrived from London with a large quantity of gun-powder for the garrison and merchants at St. Augus-tine, was boarded off the bar by a party from theCommerce, a South Carolina sloop, and the powdercarried away in the face not only of the two guns andthe crew of the Betsy, but also a squad of the men ofthe 14th Regiment detailed to help bring the ammuni-tion on shore.

By autumn Florida's supply of provisions, hithertolargely obtained from its neighbors and New York,was mostly cut off, and Tonyn reported that a plan ofattacking St. Augustine had been considered in SouthCarolina. He therefore advocated the invasion ofthat province as a sure means of protecting EastFlorida and preserving communication with the CreekIndians. He added that already some people hadtaken refuge in the peninsula, which was "becomingan asylum to the friends of the Constitution." Thegovernment of Georgia had been "entirely wrested"from Governor Sir James Wright by the "rebel com-mittees" Tonyn noted, and, in case General Gage


should seek a firm footing in the South, there could beno better place for that purpose than St. Augustine.

On November 1, 1775, Florida officials were author-ized by royal mandate to receive refugees and providefor them when a letter from the Earl of Dartmouth,dated in the previous July, was submitted to theCouncil expressing the king's hope that the provincemight become a secure asylum for those in the rebel-lious colonies who were "too weak to resist the violenceof the times" and too loyal to concur in the measuresof revolt, and directing that free grants of land, exemptfrom quit-rent for ten years, be made in East Floridato such persons. Dartmouth's letter further sug-gested that the province endeavor to furnish thosesupplies to the West-Indies which they could no longerprocure from other parts of the American continent,and that the exportation of lumber be encouraged bylicensing persons to cut it on the crown lands andaffording security for landing it on some island belong-ing to the king. Orders were at once issued to theprovincial customs officers forbidding them to clearvessels to any place not in the possession of the crown,and Governor Tonyn published a proclamation invit-ing the Loyalists to leave the provinces then in revoltand find a welcome and refuge in East Florida, wherethey would receive gratuitous grants of land and enjoymany other advantages. Copies of this proclamationwere circulated in the neighboring provinces, andposted in public places, especially in Savannah andCharleston. They had a marked effect in causingadherents of the crown to retire to East Florida.

Among the refugees who had arrived at St. Augustinea few weeks before the distribution of Tonyn's procla-mation were Colonel John Stuart, the superintendentof Indian Affairs in the Southern District, ThomasBrowne, Daniel and James McGirth, Alan Cameron,and Captain Moses Kirkland. Kirkland had beenactive in forming a Tory association in the Ninety-sixDistrict, South Carolina, in consequence of which a


large reward had been offered for his arrest, but he hadfled by way of Charleston to Lord Dunmore in Nor-folk harbor and thence to St. Augustine. AlanCameron had escaped from Charleston, where he hadgot into trouble for refusing to "comply with theproposals of the demagogues of this unlucky rebellion,"as he expressed it. From St. Augustine he intendedto sail for Boston, and apply for an ensign's commis-sion in the British army. On his way north he stoppedto see Lord Dunmore, and there fell in with MajorJohn Connolly and Dr. J. F. D. Smyth. These three incompliance with Dunmore's plans, set out for Detroit toobtain the co-operation of the garrison there, and thencewere to move southward through the Ohio country,where they were to enlist the Indian tribes and raise aregiment or more of Loyalists near Pittsburgh, captureFort Pitt, and join Dunmore with their reinforcements.Daniel McGirth had escaped from prison in Georgia,and in company with his brother James had marchedwith Captain John Baker's party against Wright's forton St. Mary's River, the northern boundary of Florida.At night they had fled to the enemy across the river.Thomas Browne had been tarred and feathered atAugusta for his hostility to the Committee of Safety,had plotted to capture the town, been published in theGeorgia Gazette as an enemy to American liberty, andhad fled by way of Charleston to St. Augustine.Warned by Governor Sir James Wright, Superinten-dent John Stuart embarked on the armed schoonerSt. John, at Cockspur, and retired to the Floridacapital. The congress of South Carolina had orderedhis arrest for trying to win the Indians to the Britishcause.

By the end of September 1775, a second detachmentof the 14th Regiment was in readiness to depart forVirginia, and three companies of the 16th Regimentwere expected to arrive at St. Augustine from Pensa-cola. Until they did arrive the reduced garrison inFlorida consisted only of a small party of the Royal


Artillery and a few officers and about eighty men of the14th Regiment under the command of Major Furlong.Superintendent Stuart had already sent friendlymessages to the Indian tribes, and now dispatched asupply of gunpowder to the Creek nation by the handsof an Indian and an interpreter. On the north side ofSt. Mary's, however, the ammunition was seized bysome Georgians and carried to Savannah.

Meantime, Captain Earkland was preparing toleave St. Augustine for Boston with plans of Charles-ton and its harbor, the latest information aboutGeorgia, and letters from Governor Tonyn and hiscolleagues recommending the bearer as a valuableagent to accompany a British expedition into theSouth. Kirkland sailed for Boston about the time thatAlan Cameron and his friends were arrested at an innnear Hager's Town, Maryland, and a fortnight laterstill, Kirkland's vessel was overhauled by a Continentalschooner and taken into Boston harbor. ThenceKirkland was sent to Washington's headquarters atCambridge. Thus collapsed a great double plot topreserve the South to the British: Connolly andCameron's mission had been to divide the Northernfrom the Southern provinces, and aid Dunmore in therecovery of Virginia; Kirkland's mission was to inducethe British military and naval commanders at Bostonto send an expedition to Charleston, and with thesupport of Southern Loyalists and Indians save thelower colonies to the king.

Measures for the defense of East Florida were takenearly in 1776, including steps for the organization of amilitia, a troop of horse, and a company of volunteers.Late in March some seventy-five opponents ofGovernor Tonyn met at Wood's tavern in St. Augus-tine and adopted an address of loyalty to the king, indenial of the governor's charge that Chief JusticeWilliam Drayton and Dr. Andrew TurnbuU, the clerkof Council and secretary of East Florida, had become"Patriots for the cause of America." Drayton and


TurnbuU carried this address to England without thegovernor's leave. They were vindicated by theaction of the Lords of Trade and the king, but werenever forgiven by Tonyn, who persecuted them aslong as they remained in the province. Meanwhile,frequent raids on the plantations along St. Mary'sRiver induced the governor to commission ThomasBrowne and Daniel McGirth to raise bodies of rangersamong the refugees and other inhabitants. Com-missions were issued to McGirth and Browne at thebeginning of June. Browne's corps was known as theEast Florida Rangers, and chiefly did guard duty witha band of Indians on St. Mary's. McGirth seems tohave been at the head of an independent company,which in small groups went scouting and cattle steal-ing in Georgia. When the news of the adoption of theDeclaration of Independence reached St. Augustinethe attention of the populace was momentarily di-verted from the frontier by the burning of the effigiesof Samuel Adams and John Hancock on the plaza.Then in August came a call for help from the people ofAmelia Island, who had fled with their negroes to themainland at the approach of an armed schooner andtwo small vessels from Georgia to operate in St.Mary's River. On summons of the governor andCouncil a band of Seminóle braves came to St.Augustine, and all loyal subjects were called on toembody under proper officers in support of the troops.

During the period from July 1776 to September1778 three campaigns were made from Georgia againstFlorida. The first of these was undertaken by Major-General Charles Lee, but really conducted by ColonelWilliam Moultrie. It got no farther than Sunbury,Georgia, on account of the unhealthy season and thesickness among the troops. This abortive expeditionwas the occasion for sending vessels into St. John'sRiver to assist the detachment there in protecting theplanters, while other vessels collected provisions alongthe St. John's and in Mosquito Inlet, and trusty


persons gathered spare arms from the inhabitants inanticipation of a siege of St. Augustine. It was alsothe occasion of a retaliatory expedition early in 1777under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis V.Fuser, his force comprising about one thousand men,of whom five hundred were regulars, one hundred rang-ers, a body of Creek Indians, and a battery of fieldpieces. Fort Barrington was taken, its garrisondismissed on parole, and the fort burned, after whichColonel Fuser led his expedition back to St. Augustineearly in March. Browne, McGirth, and their rangersbrought off nearly two thousand head of cattle, most ofwhich were sold to dealers in East Florida at 25s.each, the beef being retailed in the market at 3d. apound.

Early in April 1777 Colonel Samuel Elbert led twobattalions of Continentals to Sunbury, whence theysailed to the north end of Amelia Island, landing onMay 19th. Colonel Baker and a detachment of overone hundred volunteers were to join Elbert's force atSawpit Bluff, or Rolfe's saw-mill, on the south side ofSt. Mary's, They arrived at the bluff, and Bakersoon sent out a party to reconnoitre for Elbert. Onthe 17th Baker's force was routed at Thomas's Swampby Lieutenant-Colonel Browne with a body of threehundred men. Forty of Baker's volunteers sur-rendered, and more than half of them were massacredby the Indians. Some of Baker's men succeeded injoining Elbert at Amelia, or up St. Mary's, whither hehad gone to look for parties of the enemy who mightbe gathering cattle in Georiga. At the end of MayElbert and his men began their homeward march,while his fleet returned to Sunbury.

About a year later Brigadier-General Robert Howeadvanced against Florida with an expedition of elevenhundred Continentals and a large number of militiafrom South Carolina and Georgia. A contingent ofseven hundred soldiers and seven field-pieces was ledby Colonel Elbert. A part of this contingent pro-


ceeded in galleys and transports to Frederica, wherethe force captured the armed ship Hinchenbrook, thesloop Rebecca, and a brigantine. Late in June athousand of the Americans landed at Amelia Narrowsand began their advance up St. Mary's. At FortMclntosh two" of their detachments hemmed inLieutenant-Colonel Browne with a party of rangersand Indians. Browne and his force managed toescape into the Cabbage Swamp, but emerged againwhen a force of two hundred regulars and McGirth'srangers under Major Graham were sent to theirrelief from Alligator Creek Bridge by Major JamesMark Prévost. Retreating behind Graham's men,Browne's party received a volley while crossing thebridge from a detachment of the enemy. The de-tachment vanished when it saw that Browne's partystood fast, and was supported by the regulars on theother side. This affair occurred near the end of June.Retiring at once to Fort Tonyn on St. Mary's, theFlorida troops evacuated and burned it on July 2. Aday later Howe's command took possession and re-mained until the 11th. It was now torn by factions,and the death rate among the men was high. The sur-geons were consulted and advised that the expeditionshould not proceed farther. If it had been conductedunder competent leadership and at the proper seasonit might have subjugated St. Augustine.

At the end of April 1778 Brigadier-General Augus-tine Prévost wrote from the capital of Florida of "thegreat increase of public expenses arising from thesupport of the unfortunate refugees from the neigh-boring colonies." Besides those who needed support,others came with means enough to buy or build housesin the town, or to clear plantations, erect buildings, andcultivate crops with the labor of the salves they hadbrought with them. The great increase in the num-ber of refugees at this time is easily accounted for.In the autumn and winter of 1777-78 the assembly ofGeorgia passed several acts against the Loyalists: one


for the expulsion of the internal enemies of the state,another to prevent the dangerous consequences thatmight arise from the practices of disaffected persons,and the third attainting those named in the act andconfiscating their estates. In North Carolina a lawwas enacted for confiscating the property of all personsinimical to the United States, of those who neglectedto become citizens within a limited time, and of thosewho were denied citizenship. South Carolina adopteda constitution which required all officers to take anoath to the state, abjure allegiance to the crown, andswear to defend the state against the king and hisadherents. At the same time a test act was passedrequiring every free male inhabitant to swear fidelityto the state, and a few months later the authoritieswere empowered to imprison those persons whosegoing at large might endanger the safety of the state.Numbers of Loyalists fled to East and West Floridaand the islands of the sea rather than submit to thesedrastic measures. It has been said that nearly seventhousand refugees from Carolina and Georgia enteredEast Forida alone during the year 1778. Among thesewere three hundred and fifty South Carolinians, whocame to St. Augustine in April of that year. Of thesetwo hundred and sixty were formed into a regimentknown as the South Carolina Royalists, comprisingfour companies of infantry and two troops of dragoons.Following these came between four and five hundredScopholites, so named from one of their leaders.Colonel Scophel, of the South Carolina militia. Theyhad assembled from the interior parts of Carolina,were joined by a Colonel Thomas and a party ofGeorgians, and plundered the scattered settlementsthrough which they passed on their way to Florida.In June they were in a camp on St. Mary's River. Inthe previous April Colonel Elbert had received intelli-gence of about four hundred insurgents who wereevidently bound for St. Mary's. Their leader styledhimself Colonel Murphey. Meantime, refugees found


their way from North Carolina to East Florida, andwere embodied with their fellows from other provincesin a corps called the Royal North Carolina Regimentunder the command of Lieutenant-Colonel JohnHamilton, a merchant of Halifax, North Carolina.Another refugee corps formed in these months was theCarolina King's Rangers. Some of these newcomerssaid that they expected hundreds more, in one casethe number mentioned was seven hundred and inanother fifteen hundred. Our documents do not giveus full particulars concerning the influx of Loyalistsduring these months.

The Tory regiments formed in East Florida wereparticipants in all the British expeditions in the Southduring the remaining four years of the Revolution.The East Florida Rangers, Daniel McGirth's men, theSouth Carolina Royalists, and some Indians ac-companied Major James Mark Prevost's regularsagainst Sunbury in November 1778. On the return ofthis expedition it was at once incorporated in anotherled by Brigadier-General Prévost to Savannah. TheRoyal North Carolina Regiment and the CarolinaKing's Rangers shared with the other provincial corpsin this movement, which reached its destination aboutthe middle of January 1779, after the British force fromNew York under command of Lieutenant-ColonelArchibald Campbell had been in possession of thetown more than a fortnight. James Mark Prévost, nowa lieutenant-colonel, was made lieutenant-governorof Georgia until Governor Sir James Wright shouldreturn from England. James Robertson, who hadbeen a refugee at St. Augustine for the past year,became the attorney-general and advocate-general ofGeorgia at the same time. Thus the royal govern-ment was revived there.

On the death of John Stuart, the superintendent ofIndian Affairs, late in March 1779, the SouthernDistrict was divided, and Lieutenant-Colonel ThomasBrowne was named superintendent in the eastern


division. He thus became subordinate to Brigadier-General Prévost, who had recently been promoted tothe rank of major-general. Prévost employed Ben-jamin Springer to collect live stock and provisions forthe army. Springer's agents plundered the planta-tions of the Loyalists and Americans without distinc7tion, and carried part of their booty into East Floridaand sold it there. Springer was a refugee from SouthCarolina, who had joined the royal forces in Georgia.Later he retired to East Florida.At the end of April 1779 Major-General Prévostmarched into South Carolina with a force that in-cluded the Tory regiments from East Florida. Theprimary object of this movement was to allure GeneralLincoln and his troops from Georgia, but the defense-less condition of Charleston induced Prévost to at-tempt the capture of that town. The enterpriseproved to be a failure, the summer season became veryoppressive, and detachments of the troops returned toGeorgia at intervals as occasion required. The ap-pearance of Count D'Estaing's fleet off Tybee Islandand the approach of Lincoln's army, made it necessaryto summon all the outlying garrisons to Savannah.The provincial regiments from East Florida wereassigned to the various redoubts, and gave a goodaccount of themselves in defending the town.

While the British and Tory troops were still inGeorgia, General Clinton led the expedition from NewYork which captured Charleston in May 1780. Acontingent was summoned from Savannah to his aid,which included most of the provincial regiments fromFlorida. These were dispersed, together with othertroops, by Lord Cornwallis to help cover the frontiersof South Carolina and Georiga. Thus the RoyalNorth Carolina Regiment and some of the CarolinaKing's Rangers were sent under Lord Rawdon toCamden, the South Carolina Royalists and otherprovincials under Colonel Alexander Innes to Prince'sFort on a tributary of the Tyger River, and so on.


Meantime, Superintendent Browne, with some of theCarolina King's Rangers and a considerable body ofIndians, was in possession of Augusta. Thus ithappened that the Tory regiments from East Floridawere in various battles and skirmishes in differentlocalities of the South in the latter part of 1780. TheRoyal North Carolina Regiment moved with Corn-wallis and his army through North Carolina to Wil-mington, where a large part of it remained with MajorCraig until the evacuation of that place in November1781. About a fourth of Colonel Hamilton's men,however, accompanied Cornwallis to Yorktown, whereone hundred and fourteen of them were included in thesurrender in the following month.

As the Revolutionary forces gained possession of theoutlying posts in Georgia and South Carolina, theBritish and Tory troops and numbers of refugees with-drew to Savannah and Charleston. In June 1782 theSouth Carolina Royalists and the Royal North Caro-lina Regiment were at the Quarter House, a few milesfrom Charleston, while the Carolina King's Rangerswere at Savannah.

At mid-June 1782 a letter was received at Savannahfrom General Sir Guy Carleton in New York an-nouncing that "transports might be daily expected"to remove not only the troops and stores, but also thegovernor and all those Loyalists who might, choose todepart with their effects. The troops evacuatedSavannah on July 11. A number of the refugees, withmore than two thousand of their slaves, were trans-ported to Jamaica. About four thousand persons,white and black, were landed in Florida. With themcame Superintendent Browne and his Carolina King'sRangers. While some of the Loyalists from Georgiasettled in St. Augustine and helped to build a promis-ing town on St. John's Bluff, the greater number soughthabitations in the country along St. John's River, onthe Mantanzas, and on Doctor's Lake, some thirtymiles south of the bluff.

Only three months after the arrival of these Geor-


gians the first fieet sailed from Charleston, bringingLieutenant-Colonel Archibald McArthur, the newcommandant for the garrison at St. Augustine, theRoyal North Carolina Regiment, a part of the CarolinaKing's Rangers, the South Carolina Royalists, theEast Florida Rangers, Lieutenant John Wilson of theEngineers, and a supply of small arms, ammunition, andbrass ordance. A vessel was sent in advance to notifythe authorities, and bring back the two battalions of the60th Regiment. This was in the early part of October1782. The provincial troops were delayed in theirdisembarkation at St. Augustine by stormy weather.Ships were soon landing provisions both there and atSt. John's Bluff. A vessel laden with clothing for theprovincials grounded on the bar at St. Augustine.Soon the surplus population of the capital was spread-ing out into new sections of the town, and the neigh-boring country for a hundred miles around was beingpopulated by the immigrant Loyalists. In March1784 the traveler, Johann David Schoepf, who wasthen in St. Augustine, noted that round about thetown stood "the hastily built cabins of these poorfugitives, walled and thatched by palmetto (yucca)leaves." He also records that "within two days noless than sixteen vessels, bearing refugies and theireffects, went to pieces" on the bar of the town "andmany persons lost their lives." Some of the refugeessettled about the mouth of St. John's River, whileothers went six or seven miles farther up the river andincreased the population of the town of St. John'sBluff.

The October fieet from Charleston seems to havebrought about nine hundred people, mostly provincialtroops, though some were, according to Tonyn, sub-stantial merchants and planters. By Christmas theseSouth Carolinians, and the North Carolinians who hadaccompanied them from Charleston, were forming theirsettlements in the country. A few days later, that is,on December 31, the great fieet arrived from thatplace. The figures giving the number of passengers


brought by this fleet are twelve hundred and seventy-three whites, and sixteen hundred and fifty-threeblacks.

Meanwhile, John Winniett, who was appointed byLieutenant-Colonel Glazier commissary of refugees andsigned himself "inspector of refugees," aided by acommittee of four prominent Loyalists, two from SouthCarolina and two from Georgia, took a census of thenewcomers and their negroes. This enumerationextended over the interval from July 1782 to April 20,1783. It showed a total of five thousand and ninetywhites, of whom two-thirds or more were fromCarolina. It also showed a total of nearly eighty-threehundred negroes, of whom probably more than halfhad been brought from Georgia. The grand total wasthirteen thousand, three hundred and seventy-five.Before the evacuation of Savannah the population ofEast Florida, according to Governor Tonyn, was aboutone thousand whites and three thousand negroes.Adding these four thousand to our thirteen thousand,three hundred and seventy-five, we get seventeenthousand, three hundred and seventy-five. Suppliesof provisions to meet the needs of these thousands ofrefugees, white and black, for six months or more, wereshipped to Florida in part from New York and in partfrom some of the island possessions of Great Britain.Appeals were made by Tonyn and other officers toGeneral Leslie at Charleston for plantation tools.One estimate calls for tools for five thousand refugees.

At the end of February 1783 Lord Townshend sent aletter to Governor Tonyn directing him to give notice tothe inhabitants of the third article of the preliminariesof peace, which provided for the cession of the provinceto Spain, so that they might settle their affairs andprepare to leave Florida. Early in April GeneralCarleton wrote to Brigadier-General McArthur askingwhat were the intentions of the provincial troops andLoyalists. This letter was soon followed by theofficial instructions to prepare for the evacuation with-in the term of eighteen months named in the eighth


article of the treaty of peace. Tonyn complained thatthe recent accession of nearly twelve thousandLoyalists had created general confidence among thepeople that Florida would remain a British possession,and had induced the refugees to build houses and clearplantations. New settlements had spread, he said,more than a hundred miles on each side of St. Augus-tine, great additions had been made to the town, andtwo villages had arisen on St. John's River, in one ofwhich two hundred commodious houses had beenbuilt during the last six months. The governor alsoraised objections to the several regions proposed forthe emigrants to remove to, namely, the West Indies,the Bahamas, and Nova Scotia. The provincial regi-ments were determined to remove to some Britishpossession, but knew not whither to go. Among themore than two hundred who registered by May 20 theplaces designated for settlement were New Providencein the Bahamas, Jamaica, and England. By the end ofMay some of the principal inhabitants had arranged tosend their wives and children to the mother countryby the transports then at St. Augustine.

Meanwhile, on April 1, 1783, Major AndrewDeveaux, a refugee from South Carolina, embarkedat St. Augustine with sixty-five other refugee volun-teers, whom he called the Royal Foresters, in twoarmed brigantines, and sailed for Harbor Island.There he recruited for a few days, securing negroesprincipally. He thus increased his force to twohundred and twenty men, whom he was able to supplywith only one hundred and fifty muskets. From Har-bor Island he sailed to New Providence, captured threelarge galleys, landed his men at nightfall, carried theeastern fort at daylight, and four days later plantedtwo batteries on the hills back of the main fortress inspite of Spanish shot and shell, and finally compelledthe governor, Claraco y Sanz, to surrender the islandsby a well directed shot at his palace. In accordancewith the articles of capitulation the garrison of sevenhundred men, seventy cannon, and four galleys were


sent to Havana and the governor to Spain, after whichMajor Deveaux occupied the palace with his ownservants. This gallant exploit was performed onApril 18th, just nine days after England had signed thetreaty with Spain by which the Bahamas wererestored to the former.

Late in June 1783 two transports sailed with theirquotas of British subjects for Jamaica and NewProvidence, and two more sailed for England on July 9.On board the latter were not only the wives andchildren of the principal inhabitants, but also someprominent refugees who carried with them thememorials and schedules of their own losses as well asthose of other Loyalists. The Bahamas were soonincorporated with the Southern District and placedunder the command of Brigadier-General McArthur atSt. Augustine, and Lieutenant John Wilson, theengineer, was sent from Florida to examine into themilitary state of New Providence. A committee ofprospective settlers also went to view that island. Alittle later General Carleton directed McArthur tosend the engineer back to the Bahamas with a view tofinding out whether or not they were suitable forsettlement by the Loyalists. Carleton had recom-mended to the British government that ungranted andescheated lands in the Bahamas be given to thoseTories who had lost their estates through theirallegiance, and would settle there.

Meantime, the inhabitants of Florida were in afluctuating state of mind. Some people with negroespreferred Jamaica and the Windward Islands, manythe Bahamas, the officers of the civil governmentand other gentlemen with their families were going toEngland; the merchants wished to take with themtheir stock of goods; and shipping would be needed inaddition for the export of about twenty thousandbarrels of tar and turpentine. All told, according toGovernor Tonyn, nearly ten thousand people wouldemigrate out of a population of about sixteen thousand.

Engineer Wilson reached Nassau in New Providence


on August 7, 1783, while Major Deveaux was residingin the government house. He found that the Ba-hamas were little known to the inhabitants and thatonly seven of the islands were occupied, the popula-tion, white and black, numbering four thousand. Hereported favorably on the agricultural conditions,attributing the uncultivated state of the islands to theindolence of the inhabitants. He thought that settlersfrom the mainland, being more accustomed to indus-try, would subject the soil to a fairer test than it hadhad before. This favorable report, together with thereferences in General Carleton's letters to numbers ofrefugees who were leaving New York for the Bahamas,encouraged many of he Floridians to settle there.Carleton emphasized the advantages in store for suchof the provincial troops as might emigrate to NovaScotia, though they might go to the Bahamas if theypreferred. When the troops should leave St. Augus-tine McArthur was to repair to Nassau, and assumecommand of the Bahamas. In an address from themembers of the General Assembly and other principalinhabitants of Florida to McArthur, protest was madeagainst the removal of the troops lest rapine and mur-der should result, ships and provisions were requestedfor those wishing to depart, and the unsuitability ofthe Bahamas and Nova Scotia for people with negroeswas urged.

The arrival of a fleet of transports and victuellers atSt. Augustine just after the presentation of thisaddress hastened the preparation of the people for theirdeparture. A number of the Loyalists at once appliedfor conveyance to the Bahamas. Among these wasSuperintendent Browne and a large proportion of hisCarolina King's Rangers. The prevalence of banditryand horse stealing made it necessary late in Octoberfor Tonyn to form two troops of horse, and give themorders to protect the persons and property of the in-habitants from the operations of several gangs ofthieves, one of these gangs being led by Daniel McGirth.

Late in October the first fleet for Nova Scotia sailed


with many of the provincial troops on board, includinga part of the Carolina King's Rangers and the SouthCarolina Royalists. The latter received grants of landat Stormont and the former at St. Mary's Bay. Everyprivate was given one hundred acres and every non-commissioned officer two hundred, exclusive of whatthe members of their families were entitled to. Onlyfour days after the embarkation of these provincialsthree companies of the 37th Regiment arrived in EastFlorida from New York, thus affording the province anadditional measure of military protection.

Special officers were appointed to conduct the evac-uation. William Brown, the speaker of the Com-mons House of Assembly, was made commissioner ofthe evacuation, and kept the books or registers inwhich the emigrants' names were entered with theirdestinations and the number of their slaves. RobertLeaver was the agent of transports, and looked afterthe embarkation of the passengers, and on occasionsforbade the carrying on board of bulky possessionswhich would occupy too much space. LieutenantJohn Mowbray of the provincial navy was agent forthe small craft, which were used for the shipment of alarge part of the personal effects, and Peter Edwards,who was secretary to Governor Tonyn, clerk of thecrown, and clerk of the Commons House of Assembly,kept the record of the expenses incurred by the evacua-tion. Unfortunately we do not have the records ofthe agent of transports, from which to gather the datain regard to the sailing of single vessels and fieets fortheir different destinations. Probably no record waskept of individuals, single families, and small groups ofpersons who took passage on ordinary vessels leavingport, or departed in small schooners which they hiredor bought for the purpose. Many left in this un-official manner. Nor was any record kept of theactual number, chiefiy people living in the back partsof Florida, who, some by water but most of themby land, took their departure for the settlements onthe lower Mississippi, or the mountainous regions to


the northwestward. Governor Tonyn estimated thatabout four thousand people migrated by throngs inFebruary 1784. In March, according to the travelerSchoepf, ships were "continually going out, with goodsand passengers, to the West Indies or Nova Scotia."This was taking place throughout the period of theevacuation, the last ships sailing from St. Mary'sRiver on November 19, 1785. Fleets and singletransports were also departing at frequent intervalsfor the Bahamas, the island of Dominica, England,and "other foreign parts." The record kept by thecommissioner of the evacuation gives the following listof destinations, with the numbers of whites and blacksthat departed for each, together with the numbers whoremained with the Spaniards:

DESTINATIONST o E u r o p e" N o v a S c o t i a" J a m a i c a a n d t h e S p a n i s h M a i n ." D o m i n i c a" t h e B a h a m a I s l a n d s . . . ." t h e S t a t e s of A m e r i c a . . . ." o t h e r F o r e i g n P a r t s . . . .W i t h t h e S p a n i a r d s

WHITES246

. . 725

. . 196

. . 225

. . 1033462

. . 61

. . 450

BLACKS35

155714444

22142561217200

TOTALS281880910669

32473023278650

TOTAL 3398 6540 9938

The commissioner adds that at the time of the peace itwas supposed that about five thousand people, mostlyof the black country, went over the mountains to thestates and other places. The last column of totals inthe above table I have added simply for comparison.

Governor Tonyn was advanced in military rankbefore he left Florida, being made a major-general.His governorship termintated on the arrival in June1784 of the Spanish governor. De Zespedes, whobrought with him his civil and military officers and asmall body of troops. Brigadier-General McArthurhad designated Captain Abbot to deliver the barracksand public buildings "in the best order" to the Span-iards, but the British government had requestedGovernor Tonyn to remain and administer the évacua-


tion until it was practically completed. Tonyn sup-plied the new governor with a general survey of theconditions in Florida, and called his attention to theplundering operations of the "banditti." In a proc-lamation of July 14 De Zespedes declared that therobbers must retire from the province, and extendedfull liberty to the British subjects still remaining towithdraw with their effects. Early in August heissued a second proclamation, a clause of whichseemed to operate against negroes who had joined theBritish standard by invitation of some military officer,and against the numerous plundered slaves who hadbeen brought from Charleston. This clause led tosharp correspondence between Tonyn and De ZespedesAnother source of complaint on the part of Tonyn andthe British inhabitants was the immunity or protec-tion enjoyed by banditti under the Spanish adminis-tration. Tonyn protested more than once against therepeated crimes of these thieves, especially of McGirthand his gang, who were permitted to range through thecountry. In fact, Tonyn told De Zespedes that heproposed to report all complaints from British sub-jects arising from violations of the treaty of peace, ashe was under command from the Court of St. Jamesto see to it that the provisions of the peace were dulyfulfilled.

The term of eighteen months allowed for the evacua-tion of Florida ended on March 19, 1785. As thisdate drew near Tonyn realized that more time wouldbe needed to complete the undertaking, and he wroteto Lord Sydney suggesting that application be madeto the Court of Madrid for a prolongation of theterm. There had been much delay in transportingquantities of personal effects by small craft down therivers and getting them to St. Mary's, where theshipping lay. At mid-February Tonyn had sent toGovernor De Zespedes an address signed by twenty-eight British subjects, mostly merchants who wantedthe period of the evacuation prolonged in order to selltheir goods, asking an extension of time. The


Spanish governor gave an encouraging answer, butTonyn published an advertisement that the lasttransports would leave on February 20. Early inApril Tonyn wrote that the transports were nearlyready to sail for the last time with their quotas ofpassengers for their different destinations, and thatthe return of four ships from the Bahamas was awaitedto carry off the " gleanings. ' ' Nevertheless, transportswere still going out in the following summer withlaggard emigrants. At length, on July 13, Tonynreceived the information from De Zespedes that he hadhad orders from Spain extending the term of theevacuation by four months, that is, until July 19. Afortnight after this the Spanish governor wrote againto say that on account of new excesses committed byBritish subjects, every one of them remaining withouthis permission was to depart. This order applied notonly to English subjects but also to the ships andtransports of their king. However, there was still tobe nearly four months' delay. In August Tonyn andsome of his civil officers were on board of the armedship Cyrus in St. Mary's. Later on he dismissed thelast division of the emigrants, and gave final ordersfor the transports to proceed to their several destina-tions. They did not get a fair wind until September11. It carried them over only the first bar, when thewind suddenly changed, and a lost anchor perforatedthe bottom of the Cyrus. An express vessel was sentto New Providence to summon a transport, but waswrecked on the island of Abaco. However, its mastersucceeded in reaching Nassau and delivering hismessage. Two transports, the Two Sisters and theAnn, at once returned to St. Mary's. Meantime, themarine officers managed to repair the Cyrus in toler-able fashion, but her passengers preferred to take theirchances on board the Two Sisters. The Ann also tookon board emigrants and their effects, and the twovessels sailed for England. On January 11, 1786, TheTwo Sisters was at Portsmouth, whence Tonyn wroteto Lord Sydney of his safe arrival.

Documents

EAST FLORIDA AS A REFUGE OF SOUTHERN LOYALISTS, 1774-1785 · on October 19, 1927, is a resume of eleven chapters of the first volume of Prof. Wilbur H. Siebert's work entitled Loyalists