60th Regiment of Foot

In the early summer of 1776, the American Rebels assembled a force of more than two thousand men in Savannah, Georgia, under the command of Colonel William Moultrie. The mission of this force was to invade and conquer Florida. Fortunately for Florida, command problems and widespread sickness so crippled this small army that it never advanced farther than Sunbury, Georgia. Even had it actually invaded, Florida was no longer quite as defenseless as it had been a few months earlier. The first contingent of the King’s 60th Regiment of Foot (Royal Americans) had arrived in St. Augustine under the command of Colonel, later Brigadier General, Augustine Prevost.

The 60th had been raised in America for service in the French and Indian War. In 1776, its two American manned battalions, the 1st and 2nd, were serving in the West Indies. Its newly reconstituted 3rd and 4th battalions, manned by Irish, German, and English recruits, were posted to Florida. They were to comprise the principal English Regular Army force in Florida throughout the Revolutionary War, and were to leave only after the cessation of hostilities.