General James Edward Oglethorpe laid siege to St. Augustine from the newly established English Colony (in disputed territory) of Georgia. He established a blockade of the city harbor after successfully taking Fort San Diego, Fort Picolotta, and Fort Mose (established in 1738, it was the first free black settlement in North America). Oglethorpe placed troops and cannon batteries on Anastasia Island to fire on the city and the Castillo. Oglethorpe hoped that a sustained bombardment and blockade of St. Augustine would cause the Governor of Florida, Manuel de Montiano, to surrender the city and fortress to the British. The English guns fired on the Castillo, but were unable to breech the walls. The Spanish successfully fought several shallow-draft vessels out of Matanzas Inlet to sail down the coast to where a supply fleet waited. The Spanish vessels returned to Matanzas Inlet to find the British blockade gone and returned to St. Augustine unopposed. With British morale low due to the broken blockade, the defeat of the British forces holding Fort Mose, and the onset of hurricane season, Oglethorpe was unable to organize an assault on the Castillo. With the dawn of the 38th day of the siege, the citizens of St. Augustine saw that the British had withdrawn from the area.
