Oglethorpe Battery Park - St. Augustine, FL
N 29° 53.707 W 081° 17.977
17R E 471072 N 3307201
The Oglethorpe Battery Park historical marker shares a fascinating piece of St. Augustine's history involving British general James Oglethorpe.
Waymark Code: WMAYM8
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 03/12/2011
Views: 11
The historical marker reads as follows:
"From this site, General James Oglethorpe, commanding military forces from Georgia and Carolina, bombarded Castillo de San Marcos from June 27 to July 20, 1740. The Castillo's massive coquina walls absorbed the cannon shot and damage was slight. Florida's Spanish Governor, Manuel de Montiano, returned the fire, but the exchange was indecisive. Provisions arrived from Havana just in time to relieve a critical shortage which would have caused St. Augustine to capitulate. Frustrated by the military stalemate and the oncoming hurricane season, Oglethorpe withdrew to Georgia."
Additional information from Wikipedia:
"In 1739, during the War of Jenkins Ear, fought between British Georgia and Spanish Florida as part of a larger conflict, the War of Austrian Succession, Oglethorpe was responsible for a number of successful raids on Spanish forts, as well as the unsuccessful Siege of St. Augustine. Although Oglethorpe failed in his attempt to capture St. Augustine, there is a view among some historians that the strike deep into Spanish Florida succeeded in placing the Spanish on the defensive for several years, and that Oglethorpe's decision not to order an all-out assault on the city saved British lives. The invading force represented a large percentage of the total male British population of Georgia, and significant losses would have been a huge blow to the colony."