Combat· American Revolutionary War
West Florida captures Lake Pontchartrain settlement
On September 21, 1779, seamen and Marines from the Continental sloop West Florida landed on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain and took possession of the British settlements there.
The sloop had been a British armed vessel until September 10, when an American schooner under Captain William Pickles captured her on the lake after a fight of about twenty minutes. Governor Galvez, moving against the British post at Manchac, had the schooner transferred as a replacement for the Morris, sunk in a hurricane. Pickles shifted part of his command to the West Florida and put the landing party ashore under Marine Lieutenant Daniel Longstreet, who commanded her small Marine detachment. Once the settlements were taken, Pickles left a number of men to protect the inhabitants and withdrew to New Orleans. The articles of capitulation, acknowledging the settlers' subjection to the United States, were submitted by Oliver Pollock and later by Congress in support of United States claims to West Florida and free navigation of the Mississippi River.
Record no. 163