"Now we are living at the outermost end of the great Gulf of Mexico, in West Florida, a desolate, uncultivated, waste, and here on the seacoast wholly unfruitful land. Wholly cut off from all the world, we learn nothing that is going on in Europe, or in North America either.".
This pastor/chaplain from the Principality of Waldeck in Germany was wholly unprepared for the almost howling wilderness into which they were thrown in 1779. His descriptions of the land, climate, native peoples and geography of the region create a scene of loneliness and desolation that most have made that region seem like the utter end of the world to these youthful Waldeckers who found themselves at "the end of the world" in West Florida.
The information presented in this post is taken from the following sources:
Across the Border Travel. "San Juan de Ulua: Veracruz's Floating Fortress, Gateway to Mexico's Colorful Past", (mexicolesstravled.com, no date.)
Brister, Nancy. "Fort San Juan del Bayou: Photos and History of the 'Old Spanish Fort'", (old-new-orleans.com, no date.)
FortWiki. "Fort St. John (1)", (www.fortwiki.com, last updated - December 29, 2017.)
Havana City Guide, December 2017. "Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro", (www.lahabana.com, no date.)
Krebs, Daniel. A Generous and Merciful Enemy: Life for German Prisoners of War during the American Revolution, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 2013.)
Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
National Historic Survey. "Fort San Juan del Bayou, New Orleans, LA: History of the Old Spanish Fort & A Description of its Remains in 1934", (www.old-new-orleans.com, 1934.)
No Name Given. "El Morro Castle", (www.castles.nl, 2018.)
Pettengill, Ray W. Letters From America, 1776-1779: Being Letters of Brunswick, Hessian and Waldeck Officers With the British Armies during the American Revolution, (Boston, MA and New York, NY: Houghton and Mifflin Company, 1924.)
Todd, Jr., John. "History - The Third Veracruz: San Juan de Ulua - Exploring an Old Fort and a Dank Dungeon", www.johntoddjr.com, no date.)
Wikipedia. "Bayou St. Jean", (en.wikipedia.com, last edited - February 15, 2018.)
Wikipedia. "Morro Castle (Havana)", (en.wikipedia.org, lasted edited - May 9, 2018.)
Wikipedia. "San Juan de Ulua", (en.wikipedia.org, last edited - August 2, 2017.)
Wikipedia. "Spanish Fort (New Orleans)", (en.wikipedia.org, last edited - March 14, 2018.)
World Monuments Fund. "San Juan de Ulua Fort", (www.wmf.org, 2017.)
The subject of the members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment who deserted their Prince's banner and served on board the frigate South Carolina for the invasion of the British-held Bahamas has provided a great amount of personal data and information on this relatively tiny group of men. There have been six previous posts concerning these men. The titles of the first three posts indicate that only two men who served on board the patriot frigate had been located at that point in time. But, beginning with the fourth post, more men had been located who served on board the frigate South Carolina and their information thus joins the overall thread of the story. These individual posts' titles are cited here in full along with the dates of their posting:
"Another Pair of German Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina" - The Special Case of Karl Klein and Heinrich Weber of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment: Introduction and Early Service of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment in the American Revolution -
post dated: "06/19/2015"
"Another Pair of German Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina" - The Special Case of Karl Klein and Heinrich Weber of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment, Pt. II: Service in West Florida and the Fall of Pensacola -
post dated: "07/14/2015"
"Another Pair (?) of German Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina" - The Special Case of Karl Klein, Heinrich Weber, and Other Members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment, Pt. III: Additional Information Located -
post dated: "08/01/2015"
"Another Group of German Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina" - Additional Information on Other, Previously Unknown Members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment Who Also Served on board the Frigate South Carolina, Pt. IV -
post dated: "08/20/2015"
"Another Group of German Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina" - Additional Biographical Information on Known Members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment Who Served on board the Frigate South Carolina, Pt. V -
post dated: "05/30/2016"
"Another Group of German Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina" - Stub Indent Information on Known Members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment Who Served on board the Frigate South Carolina, Pt. VI -
post dated: "03/11/2018"
Each of these individual posts details information concerning these men who were dispatched with the #rd Waldeck Regiment to America to aid in suppressing the rebel Cause and forces. They experienced success in combat in New York state, suffered physical privations and sickness in West Florida, and were ultimately captured along the Mississippi River in a foreign land that seemed to be the very end of the earth. They then experienced various different incarcerations in their journey to The Havana, Cuba and their ultimate defections to the patriot's Cause that had initially brought them to the New World to crush. But, the focus of this specific post will be the penultimate issue in the list of actions of the members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment who found themselves serving on board the frigate South Carolina - the various different incarcerations they experienced in their journey to The Havana, Cuba.
Kreb's work, A Generous and Merciful Enemy, pages 218-219, provide an excellent synopsis of the scope of activities and engagements experienced by the 3rd Waldeck Regiment while they were stationed here in the Americas. Again, this is a brief account of their time in North America but, it was a time of extremes, to say the least. This synoptic account is as follows:
"They [the 3rd Waldeck Regiment] arrived in North America in October 1776, fought at Fort Washington in NOvember 1776, and then stayed in garrison on Staten Island until October 1778. Of all the German auxiliaries used by the British in North America, this unit served in the most distant, exotic, and foreign area of operations.
The regiment's campaign on the Gulf Coast and along the Mississippi proved disastrous. Between 1779 and 1781, the entire unit fell into Spanish hands. A small group of 55 soldiers from Company Alberti was captured near New Orleans on the Amite River on September 4, 1779. A second, larger group of 210 soldiers from the grenadiers, Company von Hanxladen, and Company von Horn then became prisoners in Baton Rouge and several surrounding posts on September 21. The remainder of the regiment surrendered with other British and loyalist forces at Pensacola in May 1781. While Pensacola's captured garrison was sent on parole to New York, the first two prisoner groups, a total of 265 men, had to endure a long stay in Spanish captivity. Before their exchange in 1782, the Waldeck prisoners of war spent ten months in New Orleans, a month in Veracruz, and more than a year in Havana, Cuba. German evidence reveals that the Spanish used these captives only as a recruitment pool, not not in the many other ways that the American revolutionaries utilized them.".
The passage immediately above states that "..the Waldeck prisoners of war spent ten months in New Orleans, a month in Veracruz, and more than a year in Havana, Cuba...". Often, the narrative concerning their places of incarceration in those specific geographical locations ends there. But, it will be the focus of this specific post to attempt to approximately locate where these Waldeck prisoners of war would have been kept in each of these various Spanish-controlled cities. This attempt will obviously be somewhat conjectural but, will also strive to use common sense, contemporary human structures and geographical features present at the time of their sojourn in each place of confinement. The writer of this blog feels that it is important to know all the facts of their journey towards the decks of the frigate South Carolina and where they were kept as prisoners of war in those travels.
The following information and statements are primarily based on conjecture and assumptions of the writer of this overall blog. If further research proves these to be incorrect, then the writer of this blog will change these statements to reflect those new findings. These British and German prisoners of war had until recently been warriors themselves and could thus still cause trouble, if they were so minded. Thus, it would be best to incarcerate them where they could be closely watched, particularly at night, by a military guard. There existed no police force per se at this time and thus army troops or militia would have had to suffice as guards. There is some indication that during the daylight hours, both the British and German soldiers had freedom of movement within New Orleans proper. But, then again, at night, they would be instructed to return to a military establishment where they would be secured for the night time hours. This would have been for a few reasons. First, this same place would have been the residence of these Spanish capturing troops who by their very presence could have easily observed these British and German prisoners of war. Second, and possibly more importantly, this same fortification would have had spaces specially or fortuitously fitted to incarcerate these individuals at night. Storerooms, empty powder magazines, dungeons, barracks, or cells specifically constructed to hold captives would have easily sufficed to accommodate these enemy prisoners.
(Note: There is some indication that during the daylight hours, both the British and German soldiers had freedom of movement within Spanish New Orleans proper. This routine would have continued for ten months until the residents and merchants of New Orleans complained to the Spanish military authorities that the British soldiers were becoming rowdy and a nuisance and needed to be removed from their town. Evidently, the Germans were more reserved in their behavior and thus did not incur the displeasure of the Spanish and French residents of New Orleans. But, both groups were evidently moved at the same time by the Spanish authorities.)
The latter group of roughly 265 Waldeck soldiers who were either captured on the Amite River or at Baton Rouge and the surrounding posts between September 4 and September 21, 1779, began their journey into Spanish captivity most probably by being taken down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. This is confirmed in several contemporary sources and numerous secondary sources as well. They were most likely taken to Fort St. John at the mouth of Bayou St. John. According to contemporary documentation, under Spanish rule, this fort would have been known as Fort San Juan del Bayou.
According to the Wikipedia entry, "Spanish Fort (New Orleans)", page 1, the following information is provided concerning the fort at the mouth of Bayou St. Jean:
"Archaeological investigations have discovered that the fort location was a site of the Pre-Columbian Marksville culture dating back to 300CE, with continued occupation afterwards. A large shell midden was used as the base under the Colonial fort.
The Colonial era fort protected the Lake Pontchartrain entrance of Bayou St. John. The first small fort here was erected by the French in 1701, before the founding of the city of New Orleans, to protect the important trade route along the Bayou St. John. After Louisiana passed to Spanish control, a larger brick fort was constructed at the site of the neglected old French fortification; this was known as as San Juan del Bayou. Louisiana passed back to France and then to the hands of the United States. The fort was decommissioned in 1823.".
According to the FortWiki entry, "Fort St. John (1)", page 2, the following brief history of the fort is given:
"The French established Fort St. John about 1701 at the mouth of Bayou St. John, where it flows into Lake Pontchartrain. The fort was originally called Fort St. John of the Bayou or Fort San Juan del Bayou, alter shortened to Fort St. John. The Spanish took control of New Orleans in 1763 and rebuilt the wooden French fort using masonry and brick about 1779."
Though not directly stated in any of the accounts immediately above, the Bayou St. John was a critical portage point from Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River, a short distance further inland. The fort was constructed in order to protect this vital waterway. According to the Wikipedia entry, "Bayou St. Jean" page 1, the following information is stated:
"There was a portage between the Bayou and the Mississippi River due to the difference in water level between the bayou and the level of the sea, which attracted early French explorers, traders, and trappers, some of whom established a small community there in the late 17th century. In 1701 a small fort was established by the French beside the Lake Pontchartrain end of the Bayou to protect this important route; Fort St. Jean would be known to future generations of New Orleanians as "Old Spanish Fort". The Bayou and portage were key factors in the selection of the site where the city was founded in 1718, at the River end of the portage route.".
Numerous sources agree that the earliest French fortification of 1701 was probably made of highly-perishable wood materials and has long since vanished due to the passage of time and inevitable natural decay. In reference to the actual fortification that stood on this site, according to Brister's article, "Fort San Juan del Bayou, page 1, states that: "...[The first fort] was probably nothing more than a wood palisade, of which all traces have disappeared.".
But, with the Spanish ascension to dominance in the region, a new era for the tiny former-French fort appeared to be at hand. According to National Historic Survey's report, "Fort San Juan del Bayou, New Orleans, LA", pages 2-3, the following information is recorded:
"When Spain took possession of the Colony, this fortification was strengthened. There still exists traces of a shell concrete foundation which supported a wood palisade.
No documents of the French and Spanish period have been found describing the fort, although there are in the Papeles Procedentes de Cuba in the Archivo General de Indias in Seville letters referring to the forts and a letter in 1779 containing instructions to the Commandant of San Juan del Bayou, by which name the fort was known.".
According to Brister's article, "History of Fort San Juan del Bayou", page 5, "...in 1763, the Spanish government took control of the New Orleans area and, in the 1770s, the fort was considerably strengthened by Baron de Carondelet, who later became Governor of the Province...".
Numerous of the current publications concerning Fort San Juan del Bayou contain photographs of extant brick and stone masonry existing form the Spanish efforts to strengthen the fortification. Though in obvious decay, these extant brick and stone works are substantial and must be the remains of a much larger Spanish military structure.
Again, there is no definitive documentation that the captured Waldeck soldiers were imprisoned at Fort San Juan del Bayou. But, there are some indicators that this would have been a likely place of detainment. First, this is the only fort/military installation referred to in the environs of New Orleans at the particular moment in history that the Waldeck soldiers were introduced as prisoners of war to the area. Second, the location of the fort is somewhat away from the city proper and thus would have been preferable as a place of incarceration. Yet, it was near enough for paroled soldiers to visit, if the accounts of prisoners at liberty are to be believed. Third, the extant brick and stone works are substantial enough to demonstrate that the original Spanish structure was much larger and quite possibly could have easily incorporated features such as vaults, storage areas, and magazines where prisoners could easily have been kept. Along this same train of thought, the fort was intended, in its original design, to act as a defense for the trade that moved from Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River or vice versa along the Bayou St. Jean. Due to the size and scale of the fort's physical remains, the fort most likely contained within its walls storage areas and vaults for the safekeeping of trade items and goods travelling in either direction as was needed. These same storage areas could easily have doubled as prison facilities if needed as such. Here, in the heat and humidity of Louisiana, the Waldeckers must have felt like they were forgotten by their Prince at the utter ends of the earth. Yet, their journey was far from over.
Under the Spanish authorities, Fort San Juan del Bayou became a substantial and formidable fortification in Spanish Louisiana, which served well to protect the trade moving between Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. But, after ten months in the environs of New Orleans, the Waldeck prisoners-of-war found themselves being transported to another place of incarceration - this one still further away from their homeland of the Principality of Waldeck than the lower Mississippi River and much older than the fort from which they had just come.
When the captives' transport ships next moored, the German prisoners found themselves in port city of Veracruz, Mexico. They were almost certainly placed in the fortress known as San Juan de Ulua, the oldest of Spanish fortifications in the Veracruz environs and, certainly, the most important. According to the Wikipedia entry, "San Juan de Ulua", page 1:
"San Juan de Ulua, also known as Castle of San Juan de Ulua, is a large complex of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico.".
The same entry states that the fortress was built during the Spanish colonial era of Nueva Espana. Also, according to the entry, page 1, construction began in 1565. Several times the fortification has been expanded upon via further structural additions. On page 2 of this same entry, the statement is made that the citadel was utilized as a prison at various time in the history of the fortress.
The brief article by the World Monuments Fund, "San Juan de Ulua Fort", gives better and more expansive description of this colossal military structure and its rightful place in New Spain history. The following is found on page 1 of this article:
"For nearly 350 years, the San Juan de Ulua Fort in Veracruz served as the primary military stronghold of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Located on an island discovered by Juan de Grijalva in 1518 and built and added to between 1535 and 1843, the fort was once considered the most secure and technologically advanced in the New World, serving as both a port of entry for Christian missionaries and a critical piece of Spanish West Indies coastal defense system....
The San Juan de Ulua Fort is one of the most renowned fortifications in the Americas. It played major roles in both the beginning and closing stages of Spanish rule in Mexico. The buildings also served as naval workshops, barracks, and a prison.".
The Across the Border Travel entry, "San Juan de Ulua: Veracruz's Floating Fortress, Gateway to Mexico's Colorful Past", page 1, adds to this description:
"The port city of Veracruz, Mexico, has long been protected by a massive floating fortress; an island bastion of history and power, a structure built by the early Spanish who came in shining armor on their wooden war vessels to conquer the New World.
More silver and gold have been collected, stored and shipped from Veracruz - and the fortress - than any other place on earth.
Actually, Fort San Juan de Ulua was but one of seven forts constructed in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Spanish to protect the wealthy crown city of New Spain. It took nearly 50 years to complete and claimed the lives of thousands of indigenous slaves who labored to make the amazing architecture a reality.".
If each of the sources are accurate in their assertions, San Juan de Ulua's crucial importance can not be downplayed in the history of Nueva Espana - New Spain. According to Todd's article, "History: The Third Veracruz - San Juan de Ulua", page 2, treasure ships from Manila, Philippines as well as ships from Lima, Peru transported their goods and riches to the port city of Acapulco on Mexico's western coast. There, these goods and riches were transported via pack animals across the isthmus of Mexico to Veracruz. Once in Veracruz, the goods and riches were loaded onto galleons and shipped to the Spanish port city of Cadiz, Spain - European port of entry for the wealth of the New World.
Photos of the interior of San Juan de Ulua contained within Todd's article, "History: The Third Veracruz - San Juan de Ulua", pages 5, 6, 14, 15, and 18 illustrate the visual vastness of the interior of the fortification. The rooms labelled as "storage areas" appear to run on for quite some distance away from the photographer. According to the text of Todd's article, these rooms were deliberately built to the size of the hold of a Spanish galleon. Again, according to the text of Todd's article, page 14:
"The storage areas were located close to the port side gates, and in front was the Administration Building. In the old days, there were large wooden doors and a large padlock to keep the valuable cargo safe. The floors were also made of guanacaste wood that is resistant to tropical dampness.".
The photographs, along with the descriptions of the dimensions of the storage areas, makes these excellent spaces to hold possibly large numbers of prisoners of war, padlocked behind heavy wooden doors or wrought-iron grates.
Several of the sources cited above indicate the usage of the fortress as a prison. The more recent, late 19th and early 20th century examples of prisoners held there are the most famous because these were political prisoners who after their incarceration in San Juan de Ulua went on to become famous personages in Mexican history. But, the construction of San Juan de Ulua was begun long before these more modern times and untold numbers of Spain's enemies most have languished and suffered there in earlier times. The Waldeckers could easily have been among those who were incarcerated in her dungeons, vaults and storage areas. Here, in the strangeness, and seemingly inhospitable, atmosphere of New Spain, the young Waldeckers must have felt like, having been forgotten by their Prince earlier, that they had gone beyond the end of the world. But, there remained one, last journey for them to accomplish prior to their signing on board the frigate South Carolina - to The Havana, Cuba and the infamous El Morro Castle.
El Morro Castle was definitely the most infamous of the places of imprisonment that the Waldeckers experienced in their far-reaching prison sojourns. According to the Wikipedia entry for "Morro Castle (Havana)", page 1:
"Morro Castle (Spanish: Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro), named after the three biblical Magi, is a fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay in Havana, Cuba. The design was drawn up by the Italian engineer Battista Antonelli; originally under the control of Spain, the fortress was captured by the British in 1762, and was returned to the Spanish under treaty terms a year later.".
(Note: The Wikipedia entry for "Morro Castle (Havana)", page 1, also states that "...the Spanish 'morro' means a rock which is very visible from the sea and therefore serves as a navigational landmark. Perched on the promontory on the opposite side of the harbor from Old Havana, it can be viewed from miles around as it dominates the port entrance.".)
No Name Given's entry, "El Morro Castle", page 1, gives a bit more detailed information regarding the actual location of the imposing fortress:
"El Morro Castle, locally known as Castillo del Morro but officially called Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro, is situated on a rocky promontory at the entrance of the bay of the city of Havana on Cuba....
Construction work on El Morro Castle started in 1590, during the government of Juan de Tejeda, and was finished in 1630, during the government of Lorenzo de Cabrera. It was built by the Italian Giovanni Battista Antonelli, who also built La Punta Castle, on the opposite shore of the bay entrance, about the same time.
El Morro Castle was linked to La Punta Castle, via an iron chain during times of uncertainty. In case of an attack, this chain was tightened up and enemy ships were prevented from entering the bay. The ground plan of the fort has the shape of an irregular polygon as it is adapted to the shape of the rocks it was built on. It is composed of 3 bastions linked by curtain walls and casemented barracks. It also houses cisterns, a chapel, officers quarters, a wine cellar, stables, dungeons and vaults.".
Havana City Guide's article, "Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro", page 1, corroborates this much of this same information with the additional elaboration that the fortress was:
"Designed by Italian engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli and built by slaves with the rocks extracted from the moats in the last decades of the 16th century, the Morro Castle to defend the town of San Cristobal de la Habana. However, due to economic problems and contradictions among Cuba's governors and Antonelli, construction works took 30 years and were not completed until the 17th century. The floor is a polygon adapted to the elevated rock it was built on. It has two bastions, Tejada and Austria, and a semibastion on the elevation, facing the sea. Another interesting feature are the holes in the back walls through which prisoners were fed to the sharks. This fortress was the main defensive construction in the Havana harbor until La Cabana was completed in 1774.
Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro is one of the symbols of Havana and one of the most visited places by both tourists and locals.".
(Note: In the opinion of the writer of this blog the "colorful description" of the use of the holes in the rear wall of the fortification being for the feeding of prisoners to the sharks of the adjacent waters is in doubt. This assertion is not verified or corroborated in any of the other sources. This "smacks" a bit of embellishment and local legend and is, no doubt, eagerly shared with tourists and visitors to the castle.)
It would be as incarcerated prisoners of war at El Morro Castle that the youthful Waldeckers would first encounter Commodore Alexander Gillon. Their journey had taken them to the far corners of the Gulf of Mexico and had lasted a year already. They would languish there in the dungeons, vaults and casemented barracks and , perhaps even the cisterns and wine cellars, of El Morro Castle for another year prior to the arrival of the frigate South Carolina and Commodore Gillon in The Havana, Cuba. The fortress is an imposing presence in the harbor of The Havana, Cuba and has been used a prison on numerous occasions in the much-vaunted and infamous past of the fortification.
There exists a curious intersection of events and conditions that lead the writer of this blog to assume that the Waldecker prisoners of war were indeed incarcerated in El Morro Castle instead of at another location in The Havana, Cuba. This intersection had to do with the person of Commodore Alexander Gillon himself and the unique challenges he faced once the frigate South Carolina had moored in The Havana, Cuba. Docking in a foreign port always invited discontents to desert their station on board the frigate and seek another way to get home. There were numerous other American privateers and merchant vessels also moored in The Havana, Cuba's harbor at the same time as the patriot frigate. According to Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, page 63, this is referenced and the Commodore's anxiety over these prospective desertions are addressed:
"The Commodore took extraordinary steps to keep and increase his personnel. Gillon refused to settle wages with anyone wishing to leave the South Carolina in Havana. If they expected back pay, the crew would have to stay aboard until the frigate docked in an American port. The Commodore also prevailed upon Spanish authorities to confine several key petty officers in guard boats in the harbor and to house other crewmen in the infamous Morro prison. He requested permission to exchange his prize captives for German prisoners, members of the Waldeck regiment whom the Spanish had captured at Pensacola. This proposal must have been accepted since at least three Waldeckers signed on; indeed, one eyewitness maintained that twenty-one did so.".
The writer of this blog has located twelve men to date that appear to have deserted at The Havana, Cuba and signed on board the frigate South Carolina. These men's names and dates of desertion are all recorded in the post entitled "Another Group of German Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina" - Additional Information on Other, Previously Unknown Members of the 3rd Waldeck Regiment Who Also Served on board the Frigate South Carolina, Pt. IV -" and dated "08/20/2015". These men all deserted between March 19 and March 31, 1782. During this period of time, the frigate South Carolina was outfitting for her role in the mutual Spanish-American assault on New Providence, Bahamas. One can imagine the despondency of these young Waldeckers who had endured almost two years of imprisonment in Spanish prisons, wondering if they had been forgotten by their Prince back in the Principality of Waldeck and if they would ever see their homes again. Then, to have a well-dressed American rebel naval officer walk into their cells and address them in their native tongue of German must have almost immediately drawn them to his persuasive recruiting efforts. All accounts point to Commodore Alexander Gillon being a successful and persuasive recruiting officer if his crew and their places of origins are any indicators. There were, of course, Waldeckers who chose to remain in Spanish custody instead of deserting their Prince's banner but, at least twelve did agree to sign on board the rebel frigate, according to the above cited post of "08/20/2015". For at least those twelve young Waldeckers, and possibly more than that, the convincing words of the German-speaking American Commodore extended to them another perspective of the New World - a place of refuge and a place to begin their lives anew, as Americans.