Battle of Bloody Marsh

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Bloody Marsh
partof=War of Jenkins' Ear


caption=
date=7 July 1742
place=St. Simons Island, Georgia, United States
casus=
territory=
result=British victory
combatant1=Kingdom of Great Britain
combatant2=Kingdom of Spain
commander1=General James Oglethorpe
commander2=Don Manuel de Montiano
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=50 killed
casualties3=
notes=Don Manuel de Montiano was the governor of La Florida(the spanish name for Florida meaning Land of the Flowers) appointed by Spain.The Battle of Bloody Marsh took place on July 7, 1742. The battle involved two forts, Fort Frederica and Fort St. Simons, on St. Simons Island, Georgia. These forts lay about seven miles apart. Between the two, there lay a road, that was the width of one wagon, upon which the army and nearby settlers could receive supplies from Fort St. Simons. The event took place as a result of an attempt of a Spanish invasion of present-day Georgia. In the end, the battle was a victory for English troops under the command of General James Oglethorpe.

The battle took place during the War of Jenkins’ Ear, which comes from an incident involving a Spanish officer cutting off one of Robert Jenkins’ ear. Robert Jenkins was an English sea captain, and the Spanish were notorious for capturing English ships, looking for loot of any kind that might have been stolen from the Spanish. On October 30, 1739, England declared war on Spain. Spain and England had been disputing about land ownership in the area in and around Georgia for some time, and finally, Oglethorpe brought the first colonists to Savannah, where neither country had a settlement.

Ongoing threats of Spanish invasions caused Oglethorpe to realize that the Georgia colonists needed more military protection in the south. Accompanied by rangers and two Indian guides, Oglethorpe explored the coast of Savanna and picked St. Simon’s Island as the site of a new town and fort. In 1734, Oglethorpe was able to convince Parliament and the trustees that a new military settlement was needed. A company of brave Highland Scots were recruited to come with their families to live in Georgia at Darien, on the mouth of the Altamaha River. The trustees also selected a large new group of colonists for St. Simon’s Island. The ships bearing the settlers and supplies arrived at Tybee Island early in 1736. From there, some of them went to the mainland while others set off south in periaguas to St. Simon’s Island to found the new town of Frederica. If one of the big, flat-bottomed periaguas trailed behind, Oglethorpe’s boat would tow it. Frederica and its fort were built on the elbow of a river to control the approaches from both directions.

In 1737, Oglethorpe went back to England to get more funding and permission to raise a regiment of soldiers, and was successful in convincing parliament that it was necessary. England also made him the commander in chief of all British forces in South Carolina and Georgia. South Carolina was not pleased with this arrangement, and in Oglethorpe’s time of need for soldiers, none came from South Carolina.

The Spanish were led by Don Manuel de Montiano, the Spain – appointed governor of La Florida (the Spanish name for Florida meaning Land of the Flowers) and greatly outnumbered the English troops. On July 5, Manuel de Montiano sailed to St. Simon through the firing guns of the English. Oglethorpe and his men retreated from the fort, before the Spanish could mount an invasion. (The Spanish had just landed more than 50 ships near Gascoigne Bluff right next to the Frederica River.) Wasting no time, the Spanish took over Fort St. Simons the following day and soon began to scout out their opposition on foot.

They found the narrow road between Fort St. Simons and Fort Frederica, but assumed that it was just a farm road. After realizing their mistake, Montiano sent about 300 men to survey the road for the enemy, and plot out their attack. On July 7, A Spanish Grenadier Captain and the Spanish soldiers approached Fort Frederica. A group of English soldiers under command of Nobel Jones, positioned to patrol the road, met them on that rainy day, and the there was quite a skirmish between the two. The Spanish prisoners, defeated by the English, informed the English that the whole Spanish army was advancing along the road from Fort St. Simons to Frederica, and Oglethorpe positioned some men to be rear guards, knowing not what was yet to come.

Oglethorpe then left to get more recruits. There was then another skirmish between English and Spanish troops and because the English were so greatly outnumbered, in the confusion of smoke and rain, the English began to retreat. When they reached a bend in the road, Lieutenants Southerland and Macoy decided to stop, and their regiments and some Indians, hid in the dense forests. Then, to their surprise, thinking that the English had retreated for good, the Spanish broke rank, staked arms, and taking out their kettles, prepared to cook dinner. The English seized this opportunity that the Spanish were off-guard and attacked. Though Oglethorpe was not present, this resulted in a victory for the English and he was given credit for this victory. General Oglethorpe did everything he could to run the Spanish off the island. A few days later, as Oglethorpe approaches a Spanish settlement on the south side of the island, he learned of a French man who deserted the English, and went to the Spanish. Afraid that he might inform the Spanish of the lesser the numbers of English soldiers, Oglethorpe spread out his drummers, so that all around, all which could be heard, was the sound of military drums. He also sent a letter by way of Spanish prisoner to the deserter, speaking as if the man was a spy for the English, telling lies to the Spanish, and saying that he just needed to continue a little while longer, until England could send more men. The prisoner took the letter not to the man, but to the Spanish officers, as was hoped. Oglethorpe also arranged for some British ships to sail near, as if to make to Spanish think the men were arriving. This caused the Spanish to leave the island, and there never really was a full out Spanish invasion in colonial Georgia again. Florida was even given to the English in 1763. Oglethorpe was later appointed brigadier general. He left Georgia for the last time around 1744 and married an heiress in England. If the English had not won the battle, Georgia would probably have been called Guale, the Spanish name for Georgia.

ee also

* Battle of Gully Hole Creek A battle on the same island the same day
* Province of Georgia about Colonial Georgia
* List of conflicts in the United States

References

Brown, Ira L. "The Georgia Colony". New York: The MacMillan Company, 1970. Cate, Maraget D. "Our Todays and Yesterdays: a Story of Brunswick and the Coastal Islands", 1972. Spartanburg: The Reprint Company, 1979. Hull, Barbara. "St. Simons: Enchanted Island", Atlanta: Cherokee Company, 1980. Lovell, Caroline C. "The Golden Isles of Georgia", Atlanta Little, Brown and Company in Association with the Atlantic Monthly Company, 1932. Sweet, Julie A. "Battle of Bloody Marsh." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 13 Feb. 2003. Baylor University. 26 Sept. 2007 . "The Battle of Bloody Marsh." Our Georgia History. 27 Sept. 2007 .

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/fofr/planyourvisit/bloodymarshunit.htm website]