Expeditionary· Patriot War
Occupation of Fernandina
The opening move of the Patriot War.
An American force of Navy gunboats and the brig USS Vixen, carrying a Marine guard, combined with Captain John Williams' Marine company from Cumberland Island and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas A. Smith's Army regulars to occupy Fernandina on Amelia Island, the smuggling hub of the Spanish East Florida coast. Williams' Marines crossed from Cumberland Island on 18 March to join the operation. The town's small Spanish garrison gave up without a fight, and the place was taken without casualties. The seizure of Amelia Island gave the "Patriots" and their American backers a base and a customs prize at the very start of the filibuster, but it also made the United States' hand obvious, since regular Navy and Marine forces had openly assisted what was supposed to be a spontaneous local uprising against Spain.
Record no. 208