Sunday Favorites: The Lost Fleet

Hurricane Michael recently devastated the Florida Panhandle. The Category 4 storm made landfall with wind speeds of 155 mph, blowing entire homes from their foundation and leaving a path of destruction in Mexico Beach and several surrounding communities. It also unearthed a bit of history – a fleet of ships that went missing in 1899. {{more))

The majority of ships washed onto Dog Island during another hurricane more than a century ago. The storm, which was a category 2 storm by today’s standards, demolished the small coastal town of Carrabelle. During that time, the majority of all commerce and transportation took place on large sailing ships. The Carrabelle hurricane wrecked a total of 57 vessels in the communities of Carrabelle, Lanark, St. Teresa and McIntyre, according the Florida Historical Society.

The HMS Fox was the most historically significant ship to sink during the hurricane, according to a Popular Mechanics article by David Grossman called ”Hurricane Michael Unearths Ships Destroyed in 1899 Hurricane.“

The ship was famously used to deliver supplies to revolutionary activist William August Bowles (1763 -1805) a century earlier. Bowles’ was eventually captured by Spain and committed suicide in a Cuban prison, but not before becoming an activist for a Native American people and organizing a Indian American state within the Florida territory.

Bowles was a native-born Marylander who joined the British Army at age 13, during the American Revolution. He was part of a garrison stationed in Pensacola Fla. It wasn’t long before he resigned his position with the army, but was captured by Creek Indians shortly after, according to www.theamericanrevolution.org.

While living with the Creek Nation, the Spanish began attacking British forts along the Florida coast. Bowles convinced the natives to defend the British garrison in Pensacola against the Spanish troops. Despite his efforts, Pensacola fell under Spanish rule, but Bowles persecution by escaping into the woods with is Creek allies, according to the website.

Bowles went on to establish a life with the natives, taking two wives at age 17, one a Cherokee native and the other the daughter of a Creek Chief – thus making him the heir to the Creek chiefdom. He also took the Indian name of Estajoca.

Bowles was also reinstated in the British army and tasked with establishing a trading post along the Chattahoochee River. He pursued an idea of creating an American Indian State and was appointed Chief of the Embassy for Creek and Cherokee Nations by King George III, the website states in his biography.

He was primarily responsible for establishing a short-lived state in northern Florida called the State of Muskogee where he served as the General Director. His Indian state declared war on Spain in 1800, transporting 400 frontiersman, former slaves and native warriors into battle via sailing fleet.

Spain retaliated by offering $6,000 and 1,500 kegs of rum for Bowles’ capture. A ransom like that attracted every pirate in the seven seas, and Bowles was eventually captured. He was taken to Madrid, Spain and pressured to serve the Spanish King. He resisted and eventually escaped, commandeering a ship and returning to the Gulf of Mexico.

Bowles resumed his leadership position, but not everyone was happy with his return. He ruffled feathers when he called himself the ”Chief of all Indians present“ at a trial hearing. Not long after, he was betrayed and sent to a Cuban prison. Bowles died two years later of starvation after refusing to eat.

The last piece of Bowles’ legacy, the HMS Fox, survived almost a century following his death but was no match for the Carrabelle Hurricane. Was it one of the ancient ships unearthed recently during Hurricane Michael? Historians aren’t sure. Who knows what lost tales are still waiting to be unearthed in the future.