Salgado and Menéndez storm Fort Mose before dawn; 75 of Palmer's men are dead, 34 taken

Two miles north of St. Augustine, a fort built as a refuge for escaped slaves had become the linchpin of Britain's plan to seize Spanish Florida. In the predawn darkness of June 14, 1740, a Spanish force of 300 regulars under Captain Antonio Salgado, free black militiamen under Francisco Menéndez, and allied Seminole warriors descended on Fort Mose two hours before Colonel John Palmer's 170-man British garrison had stirred. The fighting — swords, muskets, and clubs at close range — left roughly 75 British soldiers dead and 34 captured. The disaster broke James Oglethorpe's campaign, and he withdrew to Savannah within weeks…