An extensively detailed account of the Revolutionary War naval battle fought in Lake Pontchartrain in 1779 was provided by William E. Sorensen in the February 10, 1972, issue of the St. Tammany Farmer newspaper. It gives a colorful and lively description of the events of the encounter.
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Here is the text of the article which described the battle between British and American vessels that in many ways decided the fate of those living on the northshore.
Revolutionary War Naval Battle Engaged in Lake Pontchartrain
by William E. Sorensen
Pioneer settlers and red skinned natives of the area north of Lake Pontchartrain were on Sept. 12, 1779, startled by thunderous booms reverberating through forests, hills and vales. Grouping at the lake shore those people were gazing amazedly at the spectacle of two warships bombarding each other.
Clouds of acrid powder smoke drifting shoreward nearly concealed the combatants, but one of them was recognized as the rapacious English frigate, "West Florida." Her adversary's flag was unknown, but regardless of the stranger's nationality, spectators were hoping she would lambast the Britisher.
The conflict was sparked by the holocaust then roaring towards its climax a 1,000-odd miles away, where the 13 revolting colonies were struggling for independence.
Many of the area's settlers had in past times left the turbulent colonies to avoid hostilities looming on the horizon. Preferring to remain in English territory, they had settled in the western terminus of the then British province of Florida.
After the long smoldering contention set the colonies aflame, some of those settlers' farmsteads were at times pounced upon by armed boats, confiscating livestock and food crops for British garrisons on the Gulf Coast. Enraged farmers damned the lying marauders, who swore that King George would soon pay them.
The obstreperous colonies were eventually assisted by France, and as the fracas intensified misdoings on the Florida settlers' lakes gradually assumed piratical proportions.
Small vessels carrying supplies to and from New Orleans and other points were seized and robbed of their cargoes by the baneful frigate, "West Florida." Having in vain asked English officials to stop such outrages, victimized shippers requested the Spanish Governor Galvez at New Orleans to police the lakes.
For, after all, the southern halves of Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain and the regions south of these were parts of the then Spanish Louisiana Territory governed by Galvez. Though lacking a naval craft capable of dealing with the heavily armed frigate, the governor promised to "slay the lake dragon."
Governor Galvez was in June, 1779, informed that Spain had joined the colonies and France in their brawl with Britain. Then, with mostly volunteer soldiers, he took several English strongholds on the Mississippi, including a sloop-of-war which was brought to New Orleans.
The governor turned the sloop over to a spunky American privateer captain named Wm. Pickles, who was chafing in the city while his ship was in dry dock. Having named the sloop "Morris," Pickles engaged battle-seasoned dare-devils and announced that he intended to lay the Pontchartrain pirate by the heels.
Observers termed this venture foolhardy. The sloop was half the size of the frigate. The latter's cannons could hurl nine pound balls. The sloop had only three pounders, hence the contest might be comparable to a terrier versus a mastiff.
Of light draft, the "Morris" went skipping over shoals and shell reefs in Pontchartrain while hunting for the English man-of-war. Visibility was hampered by drifting patches of mist. Suddenly, by rounding a cape at the north coast (Goose Point?) the "West Florida" was sighted, examining a schooner's cargo.
Interrupting those proceedings, a cannon on the sloop boomed and a shot splashed up a geyser at the frigate's bow.
A strange ensign soared to the masthead of the sloop as she scudded within hailing distance of the frigate. Magnified by a megaphone the stentorian voice of Capt. Pickles dictated to the English captain: "Get yo' hog through out o' this lake!"
The "West Florida's" captain, Joshua Payne, recognizing the ensign as the American Navy Jack, guffawed. "Poppycock!" he bellowed. "Begone with your toy boat. Give it to your childish-minded Georgie Washington to play with!"
Cannons on the "Morris" roared and shots tore through the frigate's rigging. Capt. Payne spouted curses and frenzied commands of "set sails! Fire at the tub! Squash She insect!"
A freshening breeze billowing all her sails, the sloop skimmed over the waves, hurling bullets onto her English enemy and evading most of the mighty warship's barrages. Determined on taking the frigate but seeing he could not do so by gunnery, Capt. Pickles decided on a different tactic.
The "Morris" veered off, causing Capt. Payne to guffaw again, hollering: "had enough? - you damn American maniac!"
Payne's plunder-laden ship had run afoul of a sand bar and got its prow embedded. Her entire crew was busy warping her clear when the sloop, emerging from a fog bank, crashed against the frigate's side. Pickles and his stalwarts swarmed speedily over the British warship's railing.
Volleying vituperation, a martial horde headed by Capt. Payne rushed upon the invaders. A murderous melee erupted. And presently the frigate's deck assumed the aspect of a shamble.
After Payne's most ferocious fighters had been slain or wounded, the battle waned. When it ceased, Capt. Payne and ten of his companions lay weltering in their blood. The frigate's crew, some of which had kept clear of the carnage, all surrendered.
Now Capt. Pickles learned that his ensign had saved his sloop from severe damage. Most of the frigate's gunners happened to be impressed American seamen who, recognizing and respecting the ensign as their country's Navy flag, botched their shooting.
(Depicting a rattlesnake across thirteen alternate red and white stripes, this emblem was by the Continental Congress of 1775 chosen for its Navy).
Given command of his prize by Gov. Galvez and cruising the lakes to divert intruders, Capt. Pickles, on Sept. 21, 1779, landed by a settlement at the north shore, along which he was hailed as the hero of Lake Pontchartrain.
Having hoisted an impressive looking flag displaying thirteen stars in a circle and thirteen horizontal stripes, a replica of the National Flag adopted June 14, 1777, the plucky captain exhorted the assembly to swear allegiance to the United States of America. He got no argument.
This eccentric coup d'tat was indulgently smiled at by the Spanish officials. After the war, Florida reverted to Spain until purchased by the U. S. in 1819. In 1810, however, people in the segment comprising the present Florida parishes staged an uprising resulting in the area's annexation by the U. S. A."
End of Article
St Tammany Farmer Feb. 10, 1972
See also:
St. Tammany's Part In The Revolutionary War
