Among the supplies Brown had the orderly acquire before leaving Charles Town was a standard manual that was used in the combat training of British infantry, and on the overnight trip down the coast he devoted his time to studying the intricacies of military tactics. He was somewhat disappointed that the text had nothing to say about what he might expect to encounter either in Florida or in any other colony in the New World. In fact, it was dated 1730 and only covered the rudimentary handling of weapons, close-order drill, and the type of attack with fixed weapons, abreast of other soldiers, that had been used almost since Roman times in European combat. However, he was able to learn some of the military terms and to extract some tidbits of advice, which he memorized and attempted to apply mentally to the swamps and forests through which he had passed on his trips from Charles Town to and from Georgia. He was thankful for his good horsemanship and that he was proficient in the use of his sword, musket, and pistol, but remembered with concern and curiosity the long rifles, tomahawks, and knives that the well-armed men on the frontier seemed to favor.

CHAPTER 23

A Rebirth at St. Augustine

OCTOBER 1775

When Brown arrived at St. Augustine, he was surprised and impressed with the fortifications that had been built by the Spaniards thirty-five years earlier to protect their forces from a British sea attack. But he soon learned that although there were about 150 well-trained troops present and British ships were dominant in the Caribbean, the primary defense of the fort came from its geographical location. To the west and north was the St. Johns River, and farther north the wide St. Marys River flowed eastward to form Florida’s boundary with Georgia. St. Augustine was almost impervious to attack, except from a formidable force at sea, which the French and Spanish could most certainly not deploy. In fact, the British had not gained Florida from Spain in 1763 by any military attack in the area, but by the terms of a general treaty signed in Paris that ended both the Seven Years War in Europe and the French and Indian War in the New World.

As a result, St. Augustine was now a secure military base of the British government, from which the defense of eastern Florida was assured, and forays might even be launched northward into Georgia. Its primary vulnerability came from its being surrounded by water and thin, sandy soil, making it difficult for settlers in the region to produce enough food to support the army detail and the few civilians who lived there. Recently, with Whigs becoming more dominant in Georgia and the Carolinas, there were a growing number of loyal Tory families moving to Florida to avoid harassment from the American rebels.