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This is the
conclusion of a series on Luis Aury originally published
in the Fall 1985 and Winter 1985-86 issues of Amelia Now.
Before entering the port of Fernandina, Aury welcomed Sir
Gregor MacGregor aboard his flagship, Mexican Congress.
MacGregor was the Scottish mercenary financed by U. S.
business firms who, with his American recruits, had
captured Fort San Carlos and taken over control of Amelia
Island from the Spanish. When no more men, money or
munitions were supplied by his U.S. backers, MacGregor
decided to leave. He turned over authority to Ruggles
Hubbard, former High Sheriff of New York, and Jared
Irwin, a former U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania.
Largely through a fluke, a defense mounted by Hubbard and
Irwin repelled the Spanish counterattack in the Battle of
Amelia on September 13, 1817. Hubbard and Irwin were out
of funds, and MacGregor's recruits left on the island
were unpaid.
Fully informed and forewarned by MacGregor, Aury sailed
into the port of Fernandina on September 17, 1817,
accompanied by two privateers and a prize valued at
$60,000. He was warmly welcomed by Hubbard, who
immediately appealed for financial aid. Aury refused
unless he could be supreme commander of both civil and
military affairs, as he had been in Galveston. Hubbard
and Irwin protested so strongly that Aury threatened to
leave the island. A compromise was reached: Hubbard would
be civil governor of Amelia and Aury would be
commander-in-chief of military and naval forces with
Irwin as his adjutant general. The flag of the Mexican
Republic would fly, and Aury would take care of all back
pay due to MacGregor's men. Thus, with booming cannon,
forces standing at attention and a flowery proclamation
from Aury and Hubbard, Amelia Island was
"annexed" to the Mexican Republic on September
21, 1817.
The more respectable inhabitants of Fernandina had fled
the island now taken over by an international mixture of
men ostensibly supporting South American patriots but
actually more motivated to plundering and pirateering.
There were American, English, Irish and French
adventurers, together with Aury's well-trained crews from
Galveston, including 130 mulattoes known as "Aury's
blacks." Trouble erupted from the start between
Hubbard and the Americans and Aury and his blacks., who
were garrisoned with whites. Thus, racism was one weapon
in the power struggle. The population divided into the
"American party" headed by Hubbard and the
"French party" headed by Aury. The situation
was one of almost open warfare when Hubbard fell ill with
fever. With a body of armed mulattoes, Aury stormed
Hubbard's quarters and forced hum to make concessions,
whereupon Hubbard soon died.
One week later, 30 British ex-officers arrived, seeking
to join MacGregor in the fight for South American
independence. Aury treated them to a banquet before
announcing that he had more officers that he could use,
many of whom had to do duty in the ranks. Most of the
British officers departed. The few remaining tried to
organize a party of their own and acquired some defectors
of the American party, which served to help Aury. Amidst
the confusion, Aury saw his opportunity.
On November 5, 1817, he lined his privateers along the
waterfront with their guns trained upon Fernandina,
declared himself the supreme civil and military authority
and imposed martial law for ten days.
Unbeknownst to Aury, President Monroe decided to invoke a
secret act passed by Congress in 1811 as a preliminary to
the War of 1812. The act empowered the President to expel
by force any foreign power occupying Spanish Florida. At
Monroe's direction, the U.S War and Navy Department
issued orders in mid-November for the occupation of
Amelia Island.
Meanwhile, Aury's privateering establishment prospered.
Om November 20th, the agent of Lloyd's in Savannah
reported that prize goods valued at a half million
dollars had been sold in Fernandina.
During this time, a Venezuelan privateer, America Libre,
brought to Fernandina two men quite influential in Aury's
life. One was Vicente Pazos Silva, a former newspaper
editor from Buenos Aires. Pazos served Aury, who was
French, by writing his documents, proclamations and
letters in correct if somewhat high-flown Spanish. He
published, also in Spanish, what was probably the first
newspaper published in Florida outside of St. Augustine.
Of even more influence and assistance to Aury was Dr.
Pedro Gaul, a native of Caracas who had spent many years
on two continents enlisting support of South American
independence. Teaching patience and wisdom, Gaul
rekindled Aury's desire to free his adopted country of
New Granada (modern Colombia). Gaul proposed that Simon
Bolivar and Admiral Luis Brion, Aury's arch enemy, would
free Venezuela and Aury would free New Granada after
first liberating the Isthmus of Panama.
Aury knew that something must be done to create the
impression of a legitimate government on Amelia Island,
so he called a meeting of his officers and proposed
holding an election of members to constitute a
legislature. Every free inhabitant of 15 days residence
could vote after subscribing to an oath of allegiance.
The Assembly of Representatives met on december 1st and
Irwin was elected President. To frame a republican
constitution, a committee was appointed composed of Dr.
Gaul, Vicente Pazos, and one M. Minder. The constitution
never became operative because the intention of U.S.
occupation became known at Amelia. After a momentary
impulse to resist, Aury considered abandoning the island
but could not because of the condition of his vessels.
After drafting with his "legislators" a
preposterous document of protest to be delivered to
President Monroe, Aury surrendered to the forces led by
Captain J. D. Henley and Major James Bankhead on December
23rd, 1817. The American flag replaced the Mexican flag,
and the U.S. controlled the island in trust for Spain.
Bankhead immediately loaded all blacks aboard one of
Aury's ships and sent them off, probably to Santo
Domingo. White troops, placed under strict surveillance,
and white officers at large on parole, stayed almost a
month after the surrender. Aury remained over two months
as an unwelcome guest.
After leaving Fernandina in early 1818, Luis Aury endured
another three and a half years of frustration in his
efforts to help free his adopted country of New Granada
from Spain. For space reasons, this conclusion will leave
out all the political intrigues and deal only with
several engagements which exemplify the determination and
inventiveness of Luis Aury.
He set up a base of operations on the Caribbean island of
Old Providence, which adjoined a small island (Santa
Catalina) containing ruins of a Spanish fort. Though his
first settlement was leveled by a hurricane and further
plagued by famine, mutiny and fever, Aury persevered and
rebuilt. In time, Old Providence had substantial houses,
a church, a hospital and shops along with the restored
fort.
Described as " a terror to the Spanish at sea,"
Aury listened to his officers on any land engagement, as
most of the were trained in Napoleon's battalions.
Banned by Brion from the Colombia coast, Aury turned to
Central America's fight for liberation. His squadron
captured a coastal lookout from which a messenger escaped
by a hidden waterway. Aury knew there must be an
important settlement inland. He found the opening of the
Rio Dulce, concealed by rocky palisades and deep forests.
For two days he prepared small rowboats for 140 men and
left 100 men to guard his seagoing vessels. All one day
and one night they rowed upriver, arriving at dawn at the
Spanish fort of San Felipe on Lake Izabal. Though the
Spaniards were forewarned and forearmed, Aury's men
captured the fort and seized great wealth in cash and
indigo. Aury estimated his personal profit in the venture
at $200,000.
Aury took a squadron of 14 armed vessels to attack the
fortified city of Trujilo on the coast of Honduras. While
most vessels kept up a steady fire directly on the
target, others went down the beach and unloaded 400 men
and 15 horses. They advanced in classic Napoleonic style,
pushing royalists back, trench by trench, in an attempt
to encircle the fortified town and concentrate the attack
on the rear. The plan almost worked, but Aury's men had
to retreat, repair vessels and re-embark, leaving horses
behind.
Aury then approached Omoa, a town on the coast of
Honduras more strongly fortified than Trujilo. It stood
on the flank of a mountain protected on the beach side by
a high-walled fortress with drawbridges over a moat.
Seven days of frontal attack proved fruitless.
On the advice of his officers, Aury ordered two 18-pound
cannons, each weighing two tons, removed from shipboard
and hauled up an "unscalable" mountain to an
unfortified position directly overlooking the fortress.
From this advantageous height, victory was fairly
well-assured. But before the demolition began, a supply
vessel arrived with a message. It was the unofficial word
that Aury was finally to get a commission from the
vice-president of Colombia, his friend Francisco Zea, to
act on the Granadine (Colombia) coast as "admiral of
the navy and general-in-chief- of the armies." So
elated was Aury that he abandoned the cannons left
sitting on the mountain and hastily embarked for his base
on Old Providence.
After waiting nearly two months, Aury learned that the
official messenger was killed and his commission was
lost. Zea meanwhile had been criticized by Simon Bolivar
for assuming too much authority. Aury appealed to the
Colombian military officer, General Montilla, who
recommended his services to admiral Brion. Brion again
refused him. Aury then traveled for weeks by canoe and
muleback into the interior of Bogota, Colombia, to appeal
directly to Simon Bolivar. Weary of battle and all the
disputes, Bolivar banished Aury from the waters of
Colombia altogether.
As our story ends, Brion was back in his hometown of
Curacao - penniless, alone with his debts, insane and
dying. Aury, who always had plenty of money from his
privateering, resided on Old Providence, writing out in
French a long diatribe to the Colombian congress
detailing the many injustices done to him by Luis Brion.
On August 30, 1821, Luis Aury died on Old Providence.
This commodore who would be a general died as a result of
being thrown from a horse. He was about 33 years old.
The Luis Aury series was based on several sources,
primarily, "Commodore Aury" by Stanley Kaye,
published in the Louisiana Historical Quarterly in 1941.
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