I represent Thomas Hutchinson. I was a sergeant, a marine aboard HMS Mentor. The Mentor was a sloop built in Maryland in 1778. It spent between April 1780 and May 1781 – the height of Spanish hostilities – patrolling the waters near Pensacola, and at times our crew would go ashore to help the army shore up defenses. I was brought on board in April 1780 with a squad of ten marines to fill out the ship’s company just before Mentor sailed with Capt. Robert Deans as its new commander. Sometimes we’d cruise out to take Spanish prizes. In March 1781, our captain realized the Mentor couldn’t hold out against the much larger Spanish convoy and our guns, ammunition, and men were better spent defending Pensacola on shore. The ship was taken up the Blackwater River, where it capsized and was burned to keep from falling into enemy hands. After the surrender of Pensacola on May 10, 1781, our crew sailed for New York with the rest of the survivors and prisoners of war.
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