Newspaper - The Alliance
- forgottenthreads19
- May 15
- 5 min read
I was researching historical markers in Brevard County when I came across an interesting Revolutionary War Marker. According to the Historical Marker Database “The Marker is on Merritt Island, Florida, in Brevard County. It can be reached from the intersection of South Sykes Creek Parkway and Fortenberry Road, on the left when traveling south. The marker is on the west bank of Sykes Creek at Brevard Veterans Memorial Center southeast of Merritt Square Mall.” It seems odd that a battle related to the American Revolutionary War was fought just off the coast of Florida when Florida wasn’t a part of the colonies. Florida was actually broken up into two sections at the time, east and west Florida. But don’t’ think of it in terms of east and west coast as we do now. East Florida was the entire state of Florida minus the panhandle which was called west Florida. East Florida remained part of the British empire and was a safe haven for those who were faithful to the Britain cause. They had no connection to the ideals of the colonies and even though there were some attempts to make Florida part of the colonies they all failed. Florida’s unwillingness to join the cause didn’t stop it from being a part of a fascinating Naval battle, the last navel battle of the Revolutionary War which lasted for 40 minutes and happened on March 10,1783. If you know anything about the Revolutionary War you might associate it with the surrender at Yorktown which happened in 1781. However, the signing of the treaty of Paris didn’t happen until September of 1783 officially ending the war. The Continental Army was, among other things, suffering badly financially. In 1783 congress sent the Alliance to Havana to collect money and take it back to the colonies to fund the army and navy. The Alliance was relatively new and was one of the best ships the continental Navy owned. It was named after the new alliance formed between France and the United States. On its way back from Havana the alliance met with British Naval ships. Even though their cargo of money was not necessarily known to the British the importance of stopping any Continental Naval ship was of the utmost importance. If the Alliance sank, the money that would have funded the fledgling nation would have been lost forever potentially putting the new nation at risk of an early decline even with a win. The alliance, captained by John Berry, defended itself, greatly damaging the British ship and continued on its journey. Even though this battle was short and not very noteworthy the people who lived, worked and died during this time had lives that are worth remembering. Sometimes fact is way more interesting than fiction. The Alliance suffered damage, mutiny and eventually was forgotten on the banks of Petty Island near Philadelphia where she sat and decayed for well over a century before being destroyed.
NOTES:
In researching this particular battle some interesting stories, lives and facts rose to the surface. This battle was stated earlier as having taken place off the coast of Cape Canaveral but according to the ships logs it probably happened some 140 miles south of modern day Cape Canaveral. It is not particularly clear as to why there is a marker for this Naval battle on Merritt Island Florida where Cape Canaveral is located instead of 140 miles south but it is an interesting conversation piece and a reminder of the people who fought and died to make this great land a country.
It is often forgotten in history the people who were involved in the past. We look at names and dates and often history is dwindled down to a timeline instead of lives that were lived. In doing research for this article, I came across the name Leatherhead. It immediately struck me as interesting so I investigated the national archives to see what I could find. I was able to uncover the revolutionary war veteran paperwork for Robert Leatherhead. The British were excellent record keepers but that did not always translate over into the American colonies. American birth and death records were kept by “big” named individuals, but most census records are difficult to look through. Some just indicate a name and how many were in the household making it difficult to discern who is who. But there are alternate records that give amazing insight into the lives of those who lived hundreds of years ago and Robert Leatherhead left an interesting tale. In order to receive compensation for fighting in a war those requesting money would need to get witnesses and some form of legal representation. A judge would need to certify the account given by the one claiming to have served.
Robert Leatherhead was born in Scotland and immigrated to the United States in a unique way, howbeit not an unusual way for the times. He was in the British service, but he deserted and fearing for his life and fearing prison he joined up with the Americans. During his service he took the last name Bell which was his mother’s name. He joined the navy and was placed on the frigate Protector a 26-gun ship that played a significant role in the Massachusetts Navy. Unfortunately, the Protector was captured by the British ship Rorbuck a massive 40-gun war ship. Robert Leatherhead was forced to serve once again in the British Navy. He was placed on another ship and served for 6 months before he escaped back to Boston in December of 1781. That same month he joined back with the American’s and started another tour of service on the Alliance. In those days it was still common practice for people to be kidnapped or to go missing and wind up on a ship being forced to serve. Many of the crew that found themselves on the alliance were often criminals or forced to work resulting in mutiny. Leatherhead was not one who was forced to serve he gladly went. The first sentence in his testimony of service is very telling who and what he served for. He said he was born in Scotland but was now a citizen of the United States and “that he was in need of my country for support.” By the time he gave this account he was unable to work and his wife being older than him was also infirmed. It is no doubt, a result of such a difficult life. His account of service was witnessed by two men who served on the Alliance with him, Nathaniel Lewis and Jonathan Merry. Johnathan Merry is listed on the continental navy passenger list as a gunner’s mate. Robert Leatherhead mentioned he made 8 dollars a month serving. During the time of the Continental Navy men were paid according to their job on board but also on the size of the ship they served on. The alliance was a large ship and the pay for a seaman was 8 dollars a month. However there is some discrepancy in documentation for pay. Leatherhead would have been in his early twenties when he served.
Check out the links below for more information, in-depth history and do a little research on your own in the national archives.
This chart lists the pay for seaman at 12 a month. So there is some discrepancy in pay as another source lists the pay at 8 a month.
History of battle
List of those who served on the alliance
Read Roberts account first hand.
you can also read about many others who gave stories and claims to serving on the Alliance by typing in “the Alliance Revolutionary War”
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