Posted on 02/02/2021 7:21:43 PM PST by nickcarraway
BREVARD HISTORY: Last Naval Battle of American Revolution Fought Near Cape Canaveral March 10, 1783
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – On March 10, 1783, the last naval battle of the American Revolution was fought off Cape Canaveral, as Captains John Barry and John Green tried to deliver a shipload of Spanish silver to the Continental Congress.
Barry, captain of the Alliance, the Continental Navy’s 36-gun sailing frigate, arrived in Martinique from France in January 1783 and found orders from Robert Morris of the Continental Congress to sail to Havana, Cuba to pick up 72,000 Spanish silver dollars that were to be used to finance the Continental Army.
When Barry arrived in Havana, he discovered that Captain John Green aboard the USS Duc de Lauzun was already there with the same orders from Morris.
The silver was already loaded on Green’s ship so the captains decided to sail together in case they encountered any enemies along the way. The ships left Havana on March 6 and sailed partway with a Spanish and French fleet that was making its way to Jamaica.
On March 7, the Americans left the fleet and headed north, but ran into British ships including the HMS Alarm and the HMS Sybil – in company with the sloop-of-war HMS Tobago.
Barry and Green then headed back toward the Spanish and French fleet, and as soon as the British ships saw the fleet, they retreated.
Then, on March 8, Barry and Green sailed to the north again and reached Florida, with Barry constantly slowing his ship because the Duc de Lauzun, an armed transport vessel of 20 guns, was much slower.
On the 9th, the two agreed to transfer much of the money to the Alliance because the Duc de Lauzun’s slow speed made it vulnerable to the British ships patrolling the area.
On the 10th, the Alarm, the Sybil and a third British ship, the Tobago, found the American ships off the coast of Cape Canaveral.
As the British gave chase, as usual, the Duc de Lauzun dragged behind. Captain Barry pulled alongside Green and persuaded him to throw most of the ship’s cannons overboard to lighten the load.
A fourth ship of unknown origin appeared on the horizon, which caused the British ships to hold back, making Barry think it must be French or Spanish.
Barry then maneuvered between the Duc de Lauzun and the Sybil, which began firing. The Alliance took several direct hits, including one in the captain’s quarters which killed one and wounded several others.
Barry commanded his men not to fire, but sailed directly for the Sybil. When they were in an extremely close rage, he ordered the men to fire and they unleashed a torrent of cannon fire on the Sybil. After a firefight of 40 minutes, the Sybil fell quiet and began to sail off.
Nearly 40 had been killed on the ship and another 40 wounded.
The Alliance, the Duc de Lauzun and the ship from the horizon, which turned out to be the French ship Triton, chased the British ships but lost them in the night.
The rest of the silver was transferred to the faster Alliance and the ships then headed north. The Duc de Lauzun was able to travel up the Delaware River to Philadelphia on March 18 and the Alliance made it to Newport, Rhode Island on the 20th.
Only a few days later, word arrived that the Treaty of Paris had been signed on February 3, bringing the American Revolutionary War to a close and making this engagement the last naval battle of the Revolution.
And a hundred and eighty-six years later we landed on the moon.
Who knew Brevard County FReeper Ping!!!
Ahoy!
Bingo
Thanks! Lived there for 20 years and never knew this!
How about this? Same area:
The Windover Archeological Site is a Middle Archaic (6000 to 5000 BC) archaeological site and National Historic Landmark in Brevard County near Titusville, Florida, USA, on the central east coast of the state. Windover is a muck pond where skeletal remains of 168 individuals were found buried in the peat at the bottom of the pond. The skeletons were well preserved because of the characteristics of peat. In addition, remarkably well-preserved brain tissue has been recovered from many skulls from the site. DNA from the brain tissue has been sequenced. The collection of human skeletal remains and artifacts recovered from Windover Pond represent among the largest finds of each type from the Archaic Period. It is considered one of the most important archeological sites ever excavated.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windover_Archeological_Site
another battle fought after the war was over.
Same thing happened at battle of New Orleans, large casualties too
I’m guessing this was deliberate, because the British knew this was much needed capital to keep the emerging nation afloat.
I’m pretty sure I was the first one to ever dive or the wreck of the city of Veracruz got lots of stuff that was just laying on the bottom around it
It’s directly offshore of the VAB building
Well our good thing has lasted 250 years but the Dims are going to screw up the whole deal.
There is an annual ceremony conducted on the Saturday closest to the 10th, conducted by the local chapters of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution.
There was a later naval battle at Cuddalore in India in June, 1783. But the fighting was indecisive and stopped when news of the Treaty of Paris finally reached India. The fighting, which also took place on land, involved troops and ships from Britain, France and the Indian state of Mysore, which was fighting alongside the US and France. No Americans took part in the battles.
Brevard County, Florida ping.
ping {using old list, sorry if I dropped you}
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Recessional of the Sons of the American Revolution:
“Until we meet again, let us remember our obligations to ourDr. Benjamin Franklin, when asked if we had a republic or a monarchy, replied "A Republic, if you can keep it."
forefathers who gave us our Constitution, the Bill of Rights,
an independent Supreme Court and a nation of free men.”
#10. Under Comrade Obama’s regime, the US fighting Navy was being transformed into the “Queens Navy” by SecNav Mabus and his leftists didn’t wear Navy dress, but more likely, Sears dresses.
Going to happen under Slow Joke Biden and his Mattress testing VP Kameltoe “Little Willy” Harris. Might as well throw in Hanoi Ho John Kerry who was lucky that his fellow Swiftboaters didn’t kill him with “friendly fire”. (There is so much more to Kerry’s Vietnam/postwar history that would justify a firing squad for treason against the US).
MM- Vietnam/Cambodia journalist
Thanks for this very interesting article and ping.
If I remember correctly from a music class many years ago, there are some songs in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “H.M.S. Pinafore” which mention the “Queen’s navy.” Maybe the Biden-Harris regime could find some of them useful. Of course both of them have careers that resemble the captain in that operetta.
Thanks nickcarraway.
LOL!
When I was a lad I served a term
As office boy to an attorney’s firm
I cleaned the windows and I swept the floor
And I polished up the handle of the big front door
- He polished up the handle of the big front door
I polished up that handle so carefully
That now I am the Ruler of the Queen’s Navy
- He polished up that handle so carefully
That now he is the Ruler of the Queen’s Navy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpJ_IAUs8nI&feature=emb_logo
Thanks so much for the ping. I did not know about this battle.
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