Point Peter Battery and the War of 1812

Point Peter Battery and the War of 1812 is a Georgia historical marker in GA., Camden County, dedicated 2008.

At Spring House Pavilion, Cumberland Harbor, Point Peter Road in St. Marys, GA.

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In 1795 a cannon battery constructed on the Point Peter peninsula became the southernmost fortification in the First System of U.S. coastal defenses. Vacated in 1802, it was reoccupied and strengthened in 1808 to provide support for the enforcement of the Embargo Act and the prohibition of the international slave trade. In 1812, former Georgia governor George Matthews led the unsanctioned "Patriot" invasion of Spanish Florida from Point Peter. On January 13, 1815, during the War of 1812, a British force overwhelmed 116 U.S. regulars here, destroying the fort and barracks. After the U.S. acquired Florida in 1819, the post was abandoned.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1764 · Carte de la Nouvelle Georgie (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1778 · Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1795 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1816 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1816 · Georgia (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI, 1778, covering the location of Point Peter Battery and the War of 1812, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Parte Orientale della Florida, della Giorgia, e Carolina Meridionale. Fogl. XI, 1778, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Society. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

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