The Battle of the St. Mary's (Last Battle of the War of 1812) - Georgia & Florida

Sailing Vessel on the St. Mary's River

Although numerous engagements have claimed the distinction, current research indicates that the Battle of the St. Mary's on the border of Florida and Georgia was the last land battle of the War of 1812.

Fought on February 24, 1815, the battle involved British Royal Marines and sailors, riflemen from the U.S. Army and revolutionaries from Spanish Florida.  The encounter took place when, even though he already knew of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent that ended the war, Rear Admiral George Cockburn sent a party of barges and boats up the St. Mary's River on one final raid.

Carrying 52 Royal Marines and commanded by Commander Charles George Rodney Phillot of HMS Primrose and Commander David Ewen Bartholomew of HMS Erebus, the seven barges and one gig were ordered to break up the American outpost of Camp Pinckney near present-day Folkston, Georgia.  They almost made it.

St. Mary's River

When the little flotilla was with 3/4 mile of its objective, a force of "Patriot" revolutionaries opened fire from the Florida shore.  Florida was then a colony of Spain and the Patriots were trying to seize control of the future U.S. state from its Spanish leaders.

Captain William Mickler soon joined in the fight with 20 U.S. soldiers from the Georgia shore and both American soldiers and Patriot riflemen poured tremendous volleys of fire on the British vessels, which were caught in the middle of the St. Mary's River. By the time the British made it back to their ships off Cumberland Island, they had been badly bloodied.

The Battle of the St. Mary's took place after the Battle of New Orleans, Second Battle of Fort Bowyer and the Battle of Point Petre (Point Peter), all of which have been recognized as the final battle of the War of 1812 by various historians.  So far as is known, it was the last exchange of fire between American and British forces.

To read about this fascinating engagement, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/stmarysbattle.

The Last Battle of the American Revolution

If you spend much time reading about the American Revolution you will quickly notice that several different encounters claim the distinction of being the "last battle of the American Revolution."

I thought in honor of the 233rd anniversary of the official beginning of the Revolution at Lexington and Concord on April 18, 1775, it might be of interest to visit the topic of the final battle.

If you search "last battle" and "American Revolution" on Google, you will come up with all kinds of answers. One source (obviously wrong!) says it was the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. Chattanooga, Tennessee, points to an engagement on Lookout Mountain in 1782. Kentucky claims the Battle of Blue Licks as the final battle and Florida recently erected a marker for its own candidate, a 1783 naval engagement off Cape Canaveral.

As best I can tell, the Battle of Arkansas Post in Arkansas was the real final battle of the American Revolution. The naval battle off Cape Canaveral, Florida, was fought on March 10, 1783, but five weeks later on April 16, 1783, a party of British-allied irregulars approached Arkansas Post. Sometimes remembered as "Colbert's Raid," the battle began before sunrise on the morning of April 17, 1783 and resulted in the last known shots and last known casualties of the American Revolution.

If you would like to read more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/arkansaspost.

If anyone is aware of a documented incident that took place after April 17, 1783, I would love to hear about it!