William Augustus Bowles (1763–1805), also known as Estajoca, was a
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
soldier and adventurer. Seeing action as a
Loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British C ...
during the Revolutionary War, Bowles later formed an alliance with the
Muscogee people
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsBritish
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
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support.
American Revolutionary War
Some sources give his date of birth as 1764. Bowles was born in
Frederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick.
Frederick County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD- ...
, and joined the Maryland Loyalist Battalion at the age of thirteen with the junior officer rank of Ensign, travelling with the battalion when it was ordered to form part of the garrison of
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal c ...
. Upon arrival, Bowles resigned his commission, and left the fortification, where he was captured by
Muscogee
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsCreek Tribe, a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
expeditionary force mustered and began to lay siege to
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
forts along the Gulf Coast. Bowles convinced the Creeks to support the British garrison stationed in Pensacola against the invading Spanish force, but the garrison surrendered when the powder magazine at the fortress was hit by artillery fire from a Spanish warship. The survivors of the garrison were taken as prisoners of war, but Bowles escaped into the wilderness with his Creek allies. This occurred May 9, 1781, when Bowles was either 16 or 17 years old.
After this battle, he was reinstated in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
and went to
the Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the a ...
. After a few months there, the Governor of the Bahamas,
Lord Dunmore
Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland.
History
The title was created in 1686 for Lord Charles Murray, second son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. He was made Lord Murray of Blair, Moulin and Tillimet (or Tullimet) and V ...
, sent Bowles back among the Muscogee with a mission to establish a trading house among them. Bowles established a trading post along the
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatt ...
. He would marry two wives, one
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
and the other a daughter of the Hitchiti Muscogee chieftain, William Perryman, and used this union as the basis for his claim to exert political influence among the Muscogee, later styling himself "Director General of the Muskogee Nation". Interracial marriages were common among the Seminoles and Muscogee according to historian James Leitch Wright, but historian Kevin Mulroy disagrees strongly with Wright's contention.
After the war
After retiring from the army at half-pay, Bowles returned to the Floridas to live amongst the Creeks until he 1785, when he left for
New Providence
New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...
in the Bahamas. A trading firm in nearby Nassau, who sought to break the Panton, Leslie & Company's monopoly in Florida, decided to employ Bowles thanks to his knowledge of territory and his good standing with the tribes and, more specifically, the Creek leader
Alexander McGillivray
Alexander McGillivray, also known as ''Hoboi-Hili-Miko'' (December 15, 1750February 17, 1793), was a Muscogee (Creek) leader. The son of a Muscogee mother and a Scottish father, he had skills no other Creek of his day had: he was not only liter ...
. In June 1788, Bowles was sent to Florida. However, by the end of the year, the men he had brought with him from New Providence had deserted and he found himself named a fugitive by the Spanish. Despite the massive failure of his mission, Bowles was not about to give up and began to focus on the idea of carving out a sovereign Indian nation in Florida.
In 1795, along with the
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...
s, he formed a short-lived
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
in northern Florida (part of Spanish
East Florida
East Florida ( es, Florida Oriental) was a colony of Great Britain from 1763 to 1783 and a province of Spanish Florida from 1783 to 1821. Great Britain gained control of the long-established Spanish colony of ''La Florida'' in 1763 as part of ...
) known as the
State of Muskogee
The State of Muskogee was a proclaimed sovereign nation located in Florida, founded in 1799 and led by William Augustus Bowles, a Loyalist veteran of the American Revolutionary War who lived among the Muscogee, and envisioned uniting the Am ...
, with himself as its "Director General." After designing a flag and constitution for his state, Bowles raised an army and began to carry out raids of Spanish territories in Florida. In 1800, he declared war on Spain. Bowles operated two schooners and boasted of a force of 400 frontiersmen, former slaves, and warriors.
A furious Spain offered $6,000 and 1,500 kegs of
rum
Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...
for his capture. When he was finally captured, he was transported to
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
where he was unmoved by King Charles IV's attempts to make him change sides. He then escaped, commandeering a ship and returning to the
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...
. One of the main victims of his piratical attacks was the Scottish trading firm of Panton, Leslie & Company.
In 1803, not long after having declared himself "Chief of all Indians present" at a tribal council, he was betrayed and turned over to the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
. William Augustus Bowles died in 1805, at Castillo Morro, in
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
, having deliberately starved himself to death in defiance.
See also
*
Wakulla County, Florida
Wakulla County is a county located in the Big Bend region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,764. Its county seat is Crawfordville.
Wakulla County is part of the Tallahassee ...
*
San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park
San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park is a Florida State Park in Wakulla County, Florida organized around the historic site of a Spanish colonial fort (known as Fort St. Marks by the English and Americans), which was used by succeeding nat ...
References
*Jasanoff, Maya, ''Liberty's Exiles, American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World'', Knopf, 2011