The Second Spanish Period

1784-1821

Part Two

William Augustus Bowles - part one

William Augustus Bowles was a Maryland-born loyalist and soldier in the British army during the War for Independence. He was a deceitful and delusional man, who should have never been trusted by anyone. When he was a teenager, he defected from the British military at Pensacola, leaving town with a group of visiting Creeks who were there to receive their annual gifts. Bowles lived with the Creeks for two years, learning their language and culture, and even marrying the daughter of Creek chief William Perryman. While living with the Creeks, Bowles felt that he was in “a situation so flattering to the independence natural in the heart of man.”[1] When the Spanish, acting as an ally of France who was an ally of the United States, besieged Pensacola during the American Revolution, Bowles led a group of Creek warriors in an attempt to help stop the Spanish attack. Because of this action, Bowles was made a commissioned officer in the British army and after the surrender of Pensacola he was shipped to New York City to wait out the rest of the war with other British prisoners of war.

 While in New York, Bowles became interested and trained in the art of acting and theatrics, skills that he would later use to a great extinct to dupe unknowing Native Americans to his cause. After New York, Bowles went to the Bahamas where many loyalists went after the war. While there he gained good favor with the governor of the Bahamas, John Murray, also known as the Lord of Dunmore. Bowles convinced him and a merchant named John Miller, who had an interest in destroying the monopoly that Panton, Leslie and Company had on the Native Americans in the Floridas, that he could win the chiefs over and establish a trading post for them.

Bowles claimed that he was an elected member of the Creek council of war in 1787, but this most assuredly was a lie. He was though, a very interesting fellow. Around this time, perhaps because of his background in theater, Bowles began to wear a Native American/European mix of clothing. He was often seen wearing buckskin leggings, Indian ornaments, a hunting coat that reached his knees, a European style shirt and breeches, and an ostrich feather in his cap.[2] Lord Dunmore and Nassau merchant John Miller sent Bowles to Florida to ascertain if it was actually possible to undermined Panton and establish trade with the Indians in Florida to sell their wares. Miller carried him by ship from Nassau to the Indian River in south Florida, then he traveled overland to his father-in-law’s village (Creek chief William Perryman) on the Chattahoochee River. Bowles quickly was able to persuade several chiefs to his side once he promised them cheaper British goods. Even the powerful Creek chief Alexander McGillivray, who had recently been deprived of Spanish goods, was interested in what Bowles had to say. Bowles traveled to the main Creek villages of Coweta to meet with McGillivray. At the meeting, Bowles spoke about providing cheaper British goods, and defending Native American lands from the Spanish and Americans. Bowles was fueled by the warm reception he received at Coweta, and promised to go to Nassau and return with two hundred white dragoons to be used for his cause.

Bowles then returned to Nassau accompanied by the few white followers he had to recruit more volunteers. He was not able to find many people eager to join him, so Lord Dunmore provided Bowles with thirty-eight prisoners to fill his ranks, but it was far less than the two-hundred dragoons he had promised to return with. Once again, Bowles was dropped off at Indian River and began to travel northward. He planned on attacking one of Panton’s stores, either the St. Johns or the Wakulla branch. While trekking through the swampy interior of Florida, not knowing beforehand that they would possibly be attacking Spanish installations, many of Bowles’s men deserted, turning themselves in to Spanish authorities. The deserters told Spanish interrogators that they were duped by Bowles’s promises of land and money. They also told the authorities of Bowles’s intentions on looting the Panton stores. Weakened by this, Bowles returned to Perryman’s village on the Chattahoochee River. Bowles’s 1788 adventure into Florida was a disaster for him, but he still held some support among the Creeks and Seminoles along the Apalachicola, Flint, and Chattahoochee rivers. The Creeks, Miccosukees, and Seminoles disliked the Panton store’s monopoly, as they claimed the prices were too high. They also felt that the Spanish were too greedy, and they missed the relationship they once had with the British when Florida was their territory. The Indians were disgruntled and wished for a new source for acquiring the goods they wanted. Bowles again returned to the Bahamas.

Map showing proposed State of Muskogee

In 1789, Miller and Dunmore again returned Bowles to the Creeks, this time sailing straight to the Apalachicola River, and up to Peryman’s village. Later that year, Bowles held another meeting at Coweta, where he began to call himself Director General of the Creek Nation, a false title he bestowed on himself. Bowles had a handful of chosen Native Americans to accompany him to London on a diplomatic visit to garner support from the British. He tried to inflate his status by claiming he was the military commander of the Creek nation, but the truth is he only had support among the Miccosukees and Seminoles in the Floridas, and a few hundred Lower Creeks, but nearly zero Upper Creeks. In London, Bowles, in his Native American/European clothing, was the talk of the town. His goal in London was to secure approval for trade between Nassau and the Creeks. He claimed that they were independent and that he was their "Director General." He proposed the State of Muskogee, and sought to get permission for his ships flying the Muskogee flag to be allowed in Nassau ports. Bowles was only able to achieve the latter, the rest was between him and Spain, as the Floridas were Spanish territories. Bowles met with the Spanish ambassador to Great Britain, the Marques del Campo, who regarded Bowles as a “daring rogue who elevated his Indians to chiefs and scammed people of their money.”[3] He accomplished nothing with the ambassador, except for making Spanish officials more aware of his intentions, which they did not like.

Flag of the State of Muskogee

William Augustus Bowles departed from England in April of 1791, and headed back to Nassau in the Bahamas. There, Lord Dunmore and the merchant John Miller waited for his return to find out what he had achieved in London, which they were disappointed to learn was not much. While waiting in Nassau for Miller to provide supplies for him, Bowles had the flag of his Muskogee nation made. It consisted of a blue cross on a field of red, with a sun that had facial features sewed onto the upper left corner. He would fly this flag on his ship on the way back to Florida. Bowles and his few followers arrived at Apalachicola Bay in September of 1791. He and some of his men got in a small boat and proceeded upriver to Perryman’s village, while his schooner remained in Apalachicola Bay. Because of news that the Spanish were in the area searching for Bowles, the schooner dropped off some supplies and retreated back to Nassau before they were caught by Spanish authorities. On the Chattahoochee River, Bowles passed out gifts to the Creeks, who were pleased to see him, mostly the younger, more traditional warriors. He set up another meeting at Coweta to attain some more followers with his fancy talk. His attempt to denounce McGillivray and set himself up as the supreme leader of all the Creeks fell short. Before the meeting was over, the Upper Creeks, who were pro-McGillivray, walked out as Lower Creeks and Seminoles were duped by the promise of new and inexpensive British goods.[4]

Meanwhile, at Fort San Marcos de Apalache, the commandant, Captain Bertucat, was well aware that Bowles was back in Florida, either on the Apalachicola or the Ochlocknee rivers. The captain took several expeditions from the fort to search for Bowles. The first time he took fifteen soldiers over to the Apalachicola River, and searched up and down the streams, but found nothing. The second expedition, Bertucat hired the Panton’s store pilot, who knew the rivers better than he did, to take him and his troops first to the Ochlocknee then back to the Apalachicola, where they again found no trace of Bowles. While Bertucat was away from Fort San Marcos, some Miccosukees showed up and announced their displeasure with the fact that the Spanish were hunting Bowles. This was unfortunate proof to the Spanish that Bowles did indeed have some support in the Apalachee area.

During the third expedition to search for Bowles, Bertucat was able to find a spot of land off Apalachicola Bay, the same spot where Bowles’s ship dropped off some muskets and powder. He discovered a trail that led to a makeshift wooden fortification and a hut that lay in ruins. He also discovered the weapons that were left behind. Soon, however, Bertucat’s superiors replaced him again, with Francisco Guesy. Bowles then sent a letter to Guesy, expressing that he meant no harm to Spanish subjects, that the just wanted to annoy them. Guesy replied to him stating that he had no authority to capture him (Bowles) and that as long as he behaved himself he could live wherever he wanted. Not a good move by Guesy. Almost two weeks later, Bowles attacked the Panton store on the Wakulla River.

To be continued in William Augustus Bowles - part two

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Sources:

Duval, K. (2015). Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution. New York: Random House.

Din, G. C. (2012). War on the Gulf Coast: The Spanish Fight Against William Augustus Bowles. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

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[1] Duval, p.326

[2] Din, p.24

[3] Ibid. p.35

[4] Ibid. p.42