The Willing Expedition, also called Willing's Depredation, was a 1778 military expedition launched on behalf of the American

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...

by Captain

James Willing James Willing (1750–1801) was a representative of the American Continental Congress who led a 1778 military expedition during the American Revolutionary War. Known as the Willing Expedition, the effort involved raiding British forts, plantation ...

during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Background

James Willing was a former Natchez resident who had achieved the rank of Naval Captain in the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Adams ...

. He visited

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

in 1777 bringing an offer from the

for

West Florida West Florida ( es, Florida Occidental) was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. As its name suggests, it was formed out of the western part of former S ...

to join the rebellion against the

British monarchy The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

and a proposal to become the fourteenth state. Although many West Floridians had sympathy with the cause of the American independence, they were content with their situation which included an elected assembly, and were far more concerned about the Spanish presence in nearby

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

from which they required British protection. Willing reported back to Congress that West Florida was a threat to American independence and was authorized to take a force of troops down the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and compel the settlers to take an oath of neutrality. The principle backer of the scheme was Robert Morris, whose decision to endorse Willing's plan proved controversial. He advanced south along the

into

British West Florida British West Florida was a colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1763 until 1783, when it was ceded to Spain as part of the Peace of Paris. British West Florida comprised parts of the modern U.S. states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alab ...

. After occupying

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

and plundering the nearby

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s, Willing was eventually defeated by a force of

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

and was later captured by the British.

British raids

Willing assembled a small militia and began raiding British outposts. Willing and his militia occupied Natchez on February 19, 1778, and announced that a 5,000 strong militia under

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier during the Ame ...

was following him down the river. He received tacit cooperation from

Bernardo de Gálvez Bernardo Vicente de Gálvez y Madrid, 1st Count of Gálvez (23 July 1746 – 30 November 1786) was a Spanish military leader and government official who served as colonial governor of Spanish Louisiana and Cuba, and later as Viceroy of New Sp ...

, the Governor of Spanish Luisiana and Commander of the troops of his

Catholic Majesty The Latin title ''Rex Catholicissimus'', Anglicized as ''Most Catholic King'' or ''Most Catholic Majesty'', was awarded by the Pope to the Sovereigns of Spain. It was first used by Pope Alexander VI in the papal bull ''Inter caetera'' in 1493 ...

. Galvez cooperated because he believed that if West Florida were captured, it would then be handed over to Spain. The militia reached

Fort Bute Fort Bute (1766-1779) was a colonial fort built by the British in 1766 to protect the confluence of Bayou Manchac with the Mississippi River and was named in honor of the Earl of Bute. Fort Bute was located on Bayou Manchac, about 115 miles (185 ...

and captured a British vessel there. Willing then advanced southward, but many of the local settlers crossed the river and took shelter on the Spanish side. He forced a committee of local landowners to pledge they would not take up arms against the army of the United States.

Aftermath

In response to Willing's raid the British dispatched more troops to the area,{{cite book, author=Rose Meyers, title=A History of Baton Rouge, 1699–1812, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rvt8XrCzlwQC, date=1 March 1999, publisher=LSU Press, isbn=978-0-8071-2431-4, page=36 part of a wider plan to redistribute troops to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

following the entry of France into the war.

References

Bibliography

* Meyes, Rose. ''A History of Baton Rouge 1699-1812''. * Bemis, Samuel Flagg. ''The Diplomacy of the American Revolution''. * Charles, Rappleye. ''Robert Morris: Financier of the American Revolution''.

Former colonies in North America . Colonial United States (British) Colonial United States (Spanish) British-American culture in Louisiana Louisiana in the American Revolution

Spanish Florida Former Spanish colonies Pre-statehood history of Florida Pre-statehood history of Louisiana Pre-statehood history of Mississippi