Archive for July, 2018

MAY 17, 1777: BATTLE OF THOMAS CREEK, FLORIDA

Posted on: July 1st, 2018 by hauleymusic No Comments

The Battle was fought in the vicinity of the Nassau River bridge. It was Florida’s only real battle during the Revolution, however there were some other raids & skirmishes. This was the southernmost battle of the War.
The British had been raiding into Georgia from Florida, which was under British control, and so the Patriots marched into Florida in 1777. Under the command of Colonel John Baker, a Patriot force of about 100 Georgia militia men were to join 300 Continental soldiers. Baker’s troops waited for their reinforcements on the south bank of Thomas Creek, a tributary of the Nassau River, which divides present-day Nassau County from Duval County.

The British Loyalists attacked the Patriots at dawn on May 17 before the militia could meet up with the Continentals. The appearance of regular British troops, marching in several columns caused the militia men to flee.The use of horses saved a few Patriots, but many men ran into into nearby swamps and were killed by Indians and the British. This may have been done due to the earlier murder of a brave.

Out of about 100 individuals, losses totaled eight dead, nine wounded, and 40 captured.

The battle site is now located in Jacksonville’s Thomas Creek Preserve, and is part of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. The site itself is undeveloped; there is a highway marker on nearby U. S. Route 1 commemorating the battle.

Further reading:
Cashin, Edward (1999). The King’s Ranger: Thomas Brown and the American Revolution on the Southern Frontier. New York: Fordham University Press.

Nester, William (2004). The Frontier War for American Independence. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

Searcy, Mary (1985). The Georgia–Florida Contest in the American Revolution, 1776–1778. University, AL: University of Alabama Press.