S^4 istr.i? 6f srSr^rriTt. 



During tlie war of the American revolution the island of Kc"vr 

 Providence was for a brief time a part of the young American 

 rejDublic, and the starry flag floated in triumph from all the forts 

 and flag staffs of Nassau, and decorated the governor's house 

 on the crest of its hill. The bold and intrepid Commodore Hop- 

 kins, with a small body of men, accomplished this result. The 

 American commander very soon made up his mind, as did Col- 

 umbus before him, that he could do much better elsewhere. In 

 fact, there were no lofty mountain crags upon the Bahamas, 

 where the great American eagle could build its nest, and no sufli- 

 cient room upon the island of New Providence for the national 

 bird to fully and comfortably spread its wings. The island 

 seemed designed by Divine Providence for parrots and birds that 

 were satisfied to spend their lives in the hot sun, admiring the 

 beautiful plumage which the brackish waters of the still and 

 shallow lagoons reflected. So the Commodore furled the stars 

 and stripes, and abandoned as worthless the island he had so gal- 

 lantly captured. 



In the year 1T81, a Spanish force made up in part of some 

 American volunteers, took military possession of Nassau, and 

 garrisoned it with six hundred troops. A short time previous 

 to the notification of the treaty of peace, Lieut. Col. Deveaux, 

 of the loyal militia of South Carolina, planned, organized and 

 led an expedition against Nassau, in which great boldness, in- 

 o-enuity, address and ability were displayed. "With two armed 

 brigantines and only fifty volunteers, he sailed from St. Augus- 

 tine, and, after obtaining some recruits, (principally negroes,) 

 from Eleuthcra and the neighboring islands, he landed with his 

 little handful of adventurers upon the island of New Providence 

 a little to the eastward of Fort Montague. The officers of that 

 fort were completely taken unawares, and when the column of 

 attack reached the ramparts, only one solitary sentinel was in 



