The official report: Marines escorting a convoy of supply wagons were ambushed by an irregular force of Native Americans and African Americans in the Twelve Mile Swamp near the St John's River, East Florida, on 11 Sep. 1812, Two Marines KIA, Seven Marines WIA.

In the little known War in Florida against the Spanish Colony therein, in mid-September, Captain John Williams, USMC, with Twenty men had tried to get to the St Johns River of Florida to bring supplies to the beleaguered American Forces cut-off there by the Seminole Forces of Spain, these same forces were brought to near starvation by the Seminole Warriors.

As the wagon train of Captain Williams entered the large swamp west of St Augustine, a band of Seventy Black Seminoles and Six Tribal Seminoles attacked the wagons. They killed two Americans, and they wounded seven of them. Captain Williams, a Marine in the grand tradition of the Corps, suffered Eight wounds before he fell: a broken right arm, a ball in his left thigh near the groin, a punctured stomach, three holes in his right hand, one in his shoulder, and one in his left leg. He lingered in great pain for two weeks before dying on September 29th, 1812.

All birthdays are a time to remember back into our history. On this 230th year of the US Marine Corps, what stories can we tell of our brother Marines that have fallen over those years? What better way to honor them than to remember them and what they did?