War of Jenkins' Ear: Spanish troops stormed the British-held strategically crucial position of Fort Mose in Spanish Florida.
War of Jenkins' Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1748) was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain. Most of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. The conflict is considered to be related to the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748).
Siege of Fort Mose
The Battle of Fort Mose was a significant action of the War of Jenkins' Ear that took place on June 14, 1740, in Spanish Florida. Captain Antonio Salgado commanded a Spanish column of 300 regular troops, backed by the free black militia under Francisco Menéndez and allied Seminole warriors consisting of Indian auxiliaries. They stormed Fort Mose, a strategically crucial position newly held by 170 British soldiers under Colonel John Palmer. Palmer and his garrison had taken the fort from the Spanish as part of James Oglethorpe's offensive to capture St. Augustine.
Fort Mose
Fort Mose is a former Spanish fort in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1738, the governor of Spanish Florida, Manuel de Montiano, had the fort established as a free black settlement, the first to be legally sanctioned in what would become the territory of the United States. The original fort was briefly abandoned after the Battle of Bloody Mose in 1740, but was rebuilt at a nearby location and again occupied by free Africans from 1752 to 1763. It was designated a US National Historic Landmark on October 12, 1994.
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. La Florida formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire during Spanish colonization of the Americas.