Michael Aye - Barracuda

"How is Sir Raymond?" Howe asked.

"He visited the flagship this morning, my lord. He appears to be progressing well. I'm sure he'll be fit for duty soon. He's to be married soon. His visit this morning was to extend invitations to the wedding."

"Speaking of weddings, how is Lady Deborah?" Howe asked.

"She is fine and we now have a daughter."

"Well congratulations," Howe said.

He and Anthony had been sipping on lime juice so he raised his glass, "To mothers and daughters." After the toast, Lord Howe picked up a paper he'd been taking notes on, "Gil, since you came out from England in 1775 you've patrolled the West Indies, the American coast from the Keys to Maine and you've also patrolled the waters of Nova Scotia. You've prevented an invasion, and you've taken some twenty-seven prizes including the sloop you've just brought in. I lost count of the enemy ships you've sank and prisoners you've taken.

Because you've been so successful I've approved Gabe's captaincy as a testament of gratitude for your ceaseless service and success."

"Some will be jealous of the boy making captain, be prepared. He's earned it and I know you would not have recommended him if he'd not the experience to support it. However, some will see it as nepotism. Now do you have a deserving officer for this sloop you've just taken?" Anthony thought of Hazard but said, "Captain Buck's first lieutenant, Mr. Herrod, is who I'd appoint, sir."

"Very well, I'll draw up the papers. Defiant," Howe said. "Is she seaworthy?"

"Aye, my lord. She is as fine a ship as we could hope for."

"And Captain Earl?" Howe continued his question.

"Is he ready to hold permanent command of a forty gun ship?"

Once again, Anthony answered positively, "He has been with me almost as long as Buck has. I have the utmost of faith and trust in him."Very well," Howe replied. "I will confirm his appointment and I've already agreed to purchase Defiant.

Now Lord Anthony, as to yourself. It grieves me to tell you this but you are being sent back to England."

"The entire squadron, sir?" Anthony asked.

"Yes… no, not Defiant. She will remain here at Saint Augustine with the sloop and the little island schooner.

After your success I doubt we'll have to worry much about privateers. Now go home. Your tour has made you a rich man. Spend it on Lady Deborah and the little one. I've no doubt you'll be hoisting your flag again soon so enjoy your time."

Then Lord Howe exhaled deeply, "I wish it were me going home."

All of Lord Anthony's officers including Sir Raymond were gathered in his dining area aboard Warrior.

"Gentlemen," Anthony spoke. "I've important information from our commander in chief. Defiant and the sloop, Ram, are to be purchased. Captain Earl, you have been confirmed to command Defiant and you will receive orders directly. Lieutenant Herrod, you upon Captain Buck's recommendations have been given command of the sloop, Ram, and are promoted to the rank of Master and Commander."

A chorus of cheers broke out.

"Commander Herrod, you will receive your orders along with Captain Earl. Gabe… Captain Anthony, Lord Howe has approved your promotion and command of Merlin."

"Now gentlemen, with the exception of Captain Earl's Defiant and Herrod's Ram the squadron is to return to England."

As the cheers quieted down Buck asked, "When do we sail?"

"Lord Howe has given me a bit of latitude here," Anthony replied, "but I think by the end of the month at the latest."

After the meeting broke up Anthony spoke to Gabe as he was leaving, "Dine with me tonight and bring Caleb, Dagan and Lum."

Later that night after a filling but simple meal, Anthony, Gabe, Hazard, Bart, Dagan and Caleb sat back smoking their pipes and cigars as Lum played tunes on the lotz and then the fiddle.

As Lum played Dagan announced, "Caleb and I are going to visit Virginia."

"Aye, I've been thinking the wind blew that way," Anthony said with a smile on his face. Then turning to Gabe he continued, "I'd not take it amiss if you were to slip into Savannah and pick up a passenger for the trip to England either."

Now Gabe was all smiles. Overhead the ship's bell rang.

"I 'ears bells a ringin'," Bart said, "And soon hit'll be wedding bells I'm a thinkin'."

Historical Note

In 1763, the Seven Years' War, or as it was called in America, the French and Indian War came to an end.

Great Britain and her American colonies had won against the combined forces of France and Spain. The armies of Great Britain had conquered Canada and several French-held islands in the Caribbean. They had also stormed and occupied Havana, Cuba, Spain 's principal seaport and administrative headquarters for much of Spanish America. In 1763 a treaty of peace was signed that left Canada to the English, returned several Caribbean islands to the French, and provided for Havana to become Spanish again in exchange for the province of Florida. Great Britain now controlled all of North America east of the Mississippi River.

When Florida was officially transferred to the English, most of the Spanish residents chose to depart for Cuba. Some stayed, especially the very poor, many blacks, and individuals of mixed blood. Even a few of the wealthier Spanish settlers remained to maintain their extensive properties and investments in Florida. At least one stayed to spy on the English.

The English had obtained a great continental peninsula with its eastern boundaries on the Atlantic Ocean, and its western boundaries on the Mississippi River. As the Spanish had done, they divided the new province into two parts. All the lands west of the Apalachiola River, including the very small settlement at Pensacola, became British West Florida and a part of the

history of this region. The eastern lands, basically the Florida peninsula itself, became British East Florida, headquartered in Saint Augustine, home for virtually all of Florida 's residents.

In 1775, when armed conflict commenced, British East Florida 's security rested on the rather inadequate shoulders of a few companies of the English 14th and 16th Regiments of Foot and a handful of artillerymen at the Saint Augustine fort. By October of 1775, drafts of troops sent north had reduced the regular garrison in Saint Augustine to thirty-five soldiers of the 16th Foot and a company of hastily raised and ill-trained local militiamen. In the months that followed, Florida 's new governor, Patrick Tonyn, directed a number of small blockhouse forts to be constructed to help protect the province. Forts were established at Picolata, Anastasia, Matanzas, and Smyrna. A more substantial structure, Fort Tonyn, was built where the King's Road from Saint Augustine crossed the St. Mary's River, the official border separating the colonies of Georgia and Florida.

The Rebels to the north considered Florida to be a natural, or at least, a very desirable, part of the soon-to-be-declared new American nation. Their first act of war in Florida was the seizure of an English brig, the Betsey, and its load of 111 barrels of gunpowder by a Carolina privateer ship within sight of Saint Augustine. Between fall of 1775 and early spring of 1776, the Rebels raided Loyalist settlements along the Georgia-Florida border.

With fewer than four hundred muskets within its borders, Florida was virtually defenseless by land. Only the sloops, and later, frigates of the Royal Navy protected Florida from seaborne invasion. This essential function of the Navy would continue and prove crucial to the ultimate survival of British East Florida in the violent years ahead.

In the early summer of 1776, the American Rebels assembled a force of more than two thousand men in Savannah, Georgia, under the command of Colonel William Moultrie. The mission of this force was to invade and conquer Florida. Fortunately for Florida, command problems and widespread sickness so crippled this small army that it never advanced farther than Sunbury, Georgia. Even had it actually invaded, Florida was no longer quite as defenseless as it had been a few months earlier. The first contingent of the King's 60th Regiment of Foot (Royal Americans) had arrived in Saint Augustine under the command of Colonel, later Brigadier General, Augustine Prevost.