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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 12/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida
locate lands and showed his followers the surveying instruments
which would accompany the expedition. Upon seeing this the
Georgians were convinced and, without exception, every man of
the force re-enlisted for an additional sixty days. Reflecting the
sentiments of the group one volunteer wrote his friends back home
that “such an opportunity will perhaps never present itself for
young men to advance their fortune in so short a time.”18
Such high expectation and youthful enthusiasm could not
compensate for the expedition’s serious deficiencies. The first part
of the venture down the Georgia coast to St. Marys went well, but
the march overland to a bivouac area south of Picolata on the St.
Johns River presented problems. The march was undertaken
during August, and the troops were plagued with both heavy rains
and blistering sun. Fever and other sickness debilitated the group,
and food was scarce. Newnan had planned to acquire supplies
enroute, but little corn or beef was to be found. By late September
all but seventy-five of the original force of two hundred and fifty
refused to follow Colonel Newnan and even demanded transports
to return to Georgia. The expedition might have aborted except
that Newnan was able to acquire forty-two additional new volun­
teers including Captain Willian Cone with nine of his “Patriots,”
(volunteer American military units who planned to detach Florida
from Spain), who had volunteered to serve as guides.19
On the fourth day, after crossing the St. Johns, in the region of
Payne’s Prairie, Newnan’s force encountered some seventy-five
Seminoles led by their chief King Payne. The Indians apparently
were unaware of the presence of the Georgian force and were not
prepared for a major battle. Initially, the Seminoles suffered

18 Rembert W. Patrick, Florida Fiasco: Rampant Rebels on the Georgia-Florida
Border 1810-1815 (Athens, Georgia, 1954), pp. 196-97.
19 Patrick, Florida Fiasco, pp. 198-99. The Patriots were Americans living in
Spanish Florida who hoped to gain control of the territory and deliver it to the United
States.
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