Thomas Paine, a resident of Jamestown, Rhode…
1683 CE
Thomas Paine, a resident of Jamestown, Rhode Island, had received a commission from Jamaica's governor Sir Thomas Lynch which instructed him to “seize, kill, and destroy pirates”.
However, he joins the privateers John Markham, Jan Corneliszoon, Conway Woolley and a French Captain Bréhal in a raid against the Spanish town of Saint Augustine, Florida in March 1683.
Paine, in command of an eight-gun bark, the Pearl, leads his crew of sixty men under the command of Captain Bréhal who possesses a French privateering commission, obtained from Jacques Nepveu, sieur de Pouançay and governor of Saint Domingue.
Paine sails under a French flag, as do the others, as the fleet arrives off the Florida coast.
Finding the Spanish had prepared for their arrival in advance, they are forced to withdraw, eventually abandoning their raid after looting the surrounding area (although they do release several captives before their departure).