Soon after arriving in St. Augustine, Governor Campbell sent for Lieutenant Brown, who was surprised to find Governor Tonyn also present. Campbell seemed somewhat aggravated when he learned that Tonyn had not seen the written report he had sent with Brown, and proceeded to give a brief but complimentary account of Brown’s activities along the frontier. Brown assumed later that this was a way for the governor to compensate for his peremptory handling of the situation in Charles Town. It was the first time since he had been in St. Augustine that the lieutenant had met anyone more senior than Major Furlong, and he was pleased to have his activities in South Carolina described to Tonyn in positive terms, without any reference to his abuse in Augusta. The two senior officials pretended not to notice that he still walked with a limp, had bruises from the rope around his neck, and his hair was embarrassingly short. Brown was soon dismissed, after a brief meeting.

•  •  •

Brown’s burns healed rapidly in the Florida climate, and he soon learned to pack cotton or soft rags where his toes should have been and abandoned his walking stick; despite the pain, he was able to walk with only a slight limp. As the head wound healed, he had his hair trimmed neatly and then obtained Major Furlong’s permission to let it grow back to shoulder length so that, as an ostensible civilian, he could better perform his duties in gathering intelligence. For a month, he spent much of his time in Major Furlong’s presence or directly under his supervision, eagerly learning everything possible about the local military situation, reading all the standing orders from London, memorizing the deployment of men in the entire Florida command, including Pensacola, and studying relationships with merchants who had contracts to supply food to the fort.

Brown was pleased to learn that the British navy was more than equal to those of the French and Spanish combined, and the major reminded him that control of the sea from Canada to Florida would ultimately bring about the end of the mutiny against England. This advantage would bring supplies to the fighting forces and opportunities for trade with Europe. There was little doubt that if the rebellion was prolonged, the revolutionaries would eventually recruit more men than Parliament could spare to send to America, even if the Redcoats were supplemented with German Hessians and other mercenaries. However, there was also little doubt that the superiority of the British fighting men would be overwhelming.