Bloody Mose celebrates 271st anniversary

Dr. Richard Shortlidge announced to Historic City News that on Saturday, June 25, 2011, to honor the 271st anniversary of the Spanish victory at “Bloody Mose”, the Presidiales of St. Augustine will offer the second, annual commemoration of this conflict at Fort Mose Historic State Park.

In the early morning hours of June 26, 1740, the village of Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, the first, legally sanctioned free black settlement in the continental U.S., became the site of the bloodiest battle in Florida’s portion of the War of Jenkins’ Ear.

That day saw Florida’s Spanish soldiers, black militia, and native Yamassee auxiliaries locked in a “clash of empires” with invading English and Scottish troops from Georgia; a battle that culminated in desperate, hand-to-hand fighting as Fort Mose, St. Augustine’s northern-most defense, burned around them.

The decisive Spanish victory at “Bloody Mose” was one of the factors that ended British Georgia’s invasion of Spanish Florida.

Partnering with Fort Mose Historic State Park living-history volunteers from Florida and Georgia, Los Presidiales will present heritage interpretations and demonstrations from 10:00 A.M. until 4:00 P.M., including:

• period weapons and tactics
• period foodways
• period sewing and textile work

Admission to this heritage event is free; however, there is a museum admission fee of $2.00 per adult; children age 5 and younger are free.

The Presidiales of St. Augustine was founded in 2010 as a member unit of Florida Living History, Inc. They are re-enactors who portray the Spanish soldiery and families of St. Augustine’s presidio during the War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739-1743). This annual heritage Event is sponsored by Florida Living History, Inc., through a contract with the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council and in partnership with Fort Mose Historic State Park, the Fort Mose Historical Society, and Old Town Trolleys.

Photo credits: © 2011 Historic City News contributed photograph by Jackson Walker