by Michael Aye
In the fall of 1776 the first batch of prisoners arrived in Saint Augustine from Virginia. There were twenty-eight prisoners and their slaves sent by Lord Dunmore. Some were kept on the sloop, Otter that was used as a prison ship. Some including Colonel Lawson and Captain Weltcoat were kept in the fort.
In 1780 the brig Bellona under Captain Harrison from North Carolina drifted on to Anastasia Island. The crew of seventy plus men was made prisoners by the guards in the lighthouse. Some were held there and some were taken to the fort. Some of the European captives entered the 60th Regiment and some joined the British Navy.
Some French were also held prisoners here. They included Chevalier De Bretigny, sixteen of his officers, and two hundred of his enlisted men who were captured by the British Florida Navy. Included in this group was at least one person who would report back to France on the possibility of taking Saint Augustine. There were at least seventeen French vessels taken from the Charleston area with crews to Saint Augustine. These people were originally kept on Anastasia Island in the tower on the lighthouse. However as the group increased in size they were given liberty for the island. These men were finally sent on to the French Caribbean.
Dr. Father Pedro Camps was a Minorcan priest. Father Camps kept the records of the births, deaths, and marriages in the Minorcan community in a book today called the Golden Book of the Minorcans. November 9, 1777 in the New Smyrna church was transferred to Saint Augustine. Father Camps lived in Saint Augustine till his death in the 2nd Spanish period on May 19, 1790.
Reverend John Kennedy arrived in 1777 with a royal appointment to the Free Schools in East Florida as schoolmaster up to 1785. The subjects taught, according to a table of fees fixed by the Council in 1775, and included English, writing, arithmetic, Latin and Greek.
In May, 1777 American Colonel Samuel Elbert led an expeditionary force to invade Florida. His force totaled 600-800 men. He divided them into two groups, putting Colonel John Baker in charge of the land-based advance while he took the rest of the men aboard seven vessels to plow the coastal waters to the St. Mary River.
In 1763, the Spanish ceded Florida to the British in a trade for the port of Havana. The treaty was unclear as to the status of the Keys. An agent of the King of Spain claimed that the islands, rich in fish, turtles and mahogany for shipbuilding, were part of Cuba, fearing that the English might build fortresses and dominate the shipping lanes. The British also realized the treaty was ambiguous, but declared that the Keys should be occupied and defended as part of Florida. The British claim was never officially contested but no real government exercised control of the Keys. Most, if not all of the Florida indigenous natives had been killed or driven from their homeland by about 1763.
Key West and the entire chain of Keys provided many shipwrecks, lumbering, fishing and hiding areas, and fresh drinking water for every nation. The deep-water anchorage facility at Cayo Hueso (Key West) permitted anchoring for ships not wishing to stop in Havana or Charleston. It was a frequented by pirates, privateers and fisherman alike as well as those who made their living salvaging the shipwrecks caused by the treacherous coral reefs and tricky currents.
Age of Sail Glossary
aft: toward the stern (rear) of the ship.
ahead: in a forward direction
aloft: above the deck of the ship.
barque (bark): a three-masted vessel with the foremast and mainmast square-rigged and the mizzenmast fore-and-aft rigged.
belay: to make a rope fast to a belaying pin, cleat, or other such device. Also used as a general command to stop or cancel, e.g., “Belay that last order!”
belaying pin: a wooden pin, later made of metal, generally about twenty inches in length to which lines were made fast , or “belayed.” They were arranged in pin rails along the inside of the bulwark and in fife rails around the masts.
binnacle: a large wooden box, just forward of the helm, housing the compass, half-hour glass for timing the watches, and candles to light the compass at night.
boatswain’s chair: a wooden seat with a rope sling attached. Used for hoisting men aloft or over the side for work.
bosun: also boatswain, a crew member responsible for keeping the hull, rigging and sails in repair.
bow chaser: a cannon situated near the bow to fire as directly forward as possible.
bowsprit: a large piece of timber which stands out from the bow of a ship.
breeching: rope used to secure a cannon to the side of a ship and prevent it from recoiling too far.
brig: a two masted vessel, square rigged on both masts.
bulwarks: the sides of a ship above the upper deck.
bumboat: privately owned boat used to carry out to anchored vessels vegetables, liquor, and other items for sale.
burgoo: mixture of coarse oatmeal and water, porridge.
canister: musket ball size iron shot encased in a cylindrical metal cast. When fired from a cannon, the case breaks apart releasing the enclosed shot. (not unlike firing buckshot from a shotgun shell.)
Cat-O’-Nine Tails: a whip made from knotted ropes, used to punish crewmen. What was meant by being “flogged.”
chase: a ship being pursued.
coxswain: (cox’n) The person in charge of the captain’s personal boat.
cutter: a sailboat with one mast and a mainsail and two headsails.
dogwatch: the watches from four to six, and from six to eight, in the evening.
fathom: unit of measurement equal to six feet.
flotsam: Debris floating on the water surface.
forecastle: pronounced fo’c’sle. The forward part of the upper deck, forward of the foremast, in some vessels raised above the upper deck. Also, the space enclosed by this deck.
founder: used to described a ship that is having difficulty remaining afloat.
frigate: a fast three masted fully rigged ship carrying anywhere from twenty to forty-eight guns.
full and by: a nautical term meaning proceed under full sail.
furl: to lower a sail.
futtock shrouds: short, heavy pieces of standing rigging connected on one end to the topmast shrouds at the outer edge of the top and on the other to the lower shrouds, designed to bear the pressure on the topmast shrouds. Often used by sailors to go aloft.
gaff: a spar or pole extending diagonally upward from the after side of a mast and supporting a fore-and-aft sail.
galley: the kitchen area of a ship.
grapeshot: a cluster of round, iron shot, generally nine in all, and wrapped in canvas. Upon firing the grapeshot would spread out for a shotgun effect. Used against men and light hulls.
grating: hatch cover composed of perpendicular, interlocking wood pieces, much like a heavy wood screen. It allowed light and air below while still providing cover for the hatch. Gratings were covered with tarpaulins in rough or wet weather.
grog: British naval seaman received a portion of liquor every day. In 1740, Admiral Edward Vernon ordered the rum to be diluted with water. Vernon’s nickname was Old Grogram, and the beverage was given the name grog in their disdain for Vernon.
gunwale: pronounced gun-el. The upper edge of a ship’s side.
halyard: a line used to hoist a sail or spar. The tightness of the halyard can affect sail shape.
handsomely: slowly, gradually.
hard tack: ship’s biscuit.
haul: pulling on a line.
heave to: arranging the sails in such a manner as to stop the forward motion of the ship.
heel: the tilt of a ship/boat to one side.
helm: the wheel of a ship or the tiller of a boat.
holystone: a block of sandstone used to scour the wooden decks of a ship.
idler: the name of those members of a ship’s crew that did not stand night watch because of their work, example cook, carpenters.
jetty: a manmade structure projecting from the shore.
jib: a triangular sail attached to the headstay.
John Company: nickname for the Honou
rable East India Company
jolly boat: a small workboat.
jonathan: British nickname for an American.
keel: a flat surface (fin) built into the bottom of the ship to reduce the leeway caused by the wind pushing against the side of the ship.
ketch: a sailboat with two masts. The shorter mizzen mast is aft of the main, but forward of the rudder post.
knot: one knot equals one nautical mile per hour. This rate is equivalent to approximately 1.15 statute miles per hour.
larboard: the left side of a ship or boat.
lee: the direction toward which the wind is blowing. The direction sheltered from the wind.
leeward: pronounced loo-ard. downwind.
Letter of Marque: a commission issued by the governmental authorizing seizure of enemy property.
luff: the order to the steersman to put the helm towards the lee side of the ship, in order to sail nearer to the wind.
main mast: the tallest (possibly only) mast on a ship.
mast: any vertical pole on the ship that sails are attached to.
mizzen mast: a smaller aft mast.
moor: to attach a ship to a mooring, dock, post, anchor.
nautical mile: one minute of latitude, approximately 6076 feet – about 1/8 longer than the statute mile of 5280 feet.
pitch: (1) a fore and aft rocking motion of a boat. (2) a material used to seal cracks in wooden planks.
privateer: a privateer is a captain with a Letter of Marque which allows a captain to plunder any ship of a given enemy nation. A privateer was supposed to be above being tried for piracy.
prize: an enemy vessel captured at sea by a warship or privateer. Technically these ships belonged to the crown, but after review by the Admiralty court and condemnation, they were sold and the prize money shared.
powder monkey: young boy (usually) who carried cartridges of gunpowder from the filling room up to the guns during battle.
quadrant: instrument used to take the altitude of the sun or other celestial bodies in order to determine the latitude of a place. Forerunner to the modern sextant.
quarterdeck: a term applied to the afterpart of the upper deck. The area is generally reserved for officers.
quarter gallery: a small, enclosed balcony with windows located on either side of the great cabin aft and projecting out slightly from the side of the ship. Traditionally contained the head, or toilet, for use by those occupying the great cabin.
rake: a measurement of the top of the mast’s tilt toward the bow or stern.
rate: Ships were rated from first to sixth rates based on their size and armament:
First rate - line of battle 100 or more guns on 3 gundecks
Second rate - line of battle 90 to 98 guns on 3 gundecks
Third rate - line of battle 80, 74 or 64 guns on 2 gundecks
Fourth rate - below the line 50 guns on 1 or 2 gundecks
Fifth rate - frigates, 32 to 44 guns on 1 gundeck
Sixth rate - frigates, 20 to 28 guns on 1 gundeck
ratline: pronounced ratlin. Small lines tied between the shrouds, horizontal to the deck, forming a sort of rope ladder on which the men can climb aloft.
reef: to reduce the area of sail. This helps prevent too much sail from being in use when the wind gets stronger (a storm or gale).
roll: a side-to-side motion of the ship, usually caused by waves.
schooner: a North American (colonial) vessel with two masts the same size.
scuppers: Drain holes on deck, in the toe rail, or in bulwarks.
scuttle: any small, generally covered hatchway through a ship’s deck.
sextant: a navigational instrument used to determine the vertical position of an object such as the sun, moon or stars.
shoal: shallow, not deep.
shrouds: heavy ropes leading from a masthead aft and down to support the mast when the wind is from abeam or farther aft.
skiff: a small boat.
sky lark: to frolic or play, especially up in the rigging.
spar: any lumber/pole used in rigging sails on a ship.
starboard: the right side of a ship or boat.
stern: the aft part of a boat or ship.
stern chasers: cannons directed aft to fire on a pursuing vessel.
tack: to turn a ship about from one tack to another, by bringing her head to the wind.
taffrail: the upper part of the ship’s stern, usually ornament with carved work or bolding.
thwart: seat or bench in a boat on which the rowers sit.
topgallant: the mast above the topmast, also sometimes the yard and sail set on it.
transom: the stern cross-section/panel forming the after end of a ship’s hull.
veer: a shifting of the wind direction.
waister: landsman or unskilled seaman who worked in the waist of the ship.
wear: to turn the vessel from one tack to another by turning the stern through the wind.
weigh: to raise, as in to weigh anchor.
windward: the side or direction from which the wind is blowing.
yard: a spar attached to the mast and used to hoist sails.
yard arm: the end of a yard.
yawl: a two-masted sailboat/fishing boat with the shorter mizzen mast placed aft of the rudder post. Similar to a ketch.
zephyr: a gentle breeze. The west wind.