On this day 250 years ago onboard the Dunmore anchored off Gwynn’s Island, Virginia, Captain Gomalez of the Spanish packet boat Santa Barbara and Miguel Antonio Eduardo met with Lord Dunmore to try and persuade the British to release the Santa Barbara. The HMS Liverpool had captured the Santa Barbara off Delaware Bay as it was sailing to Philadelphia. The British did not know that the Santa Barbara was on a mission to deliver Eduardo as Spain’s secret emissary plus 12,000 silver pesos to the Continental Congress. The captain of the Liverpool did discover the 12,000 silver pesos when his crew searched the Santa Barbara so he escorted the Spanish ship to Lord Dunmore’s fleet for further interrogation. The British would eventually free Eduardo, and the Santa Barbara and her captain and crew, but they would keep the pesos.

Source: Wrike at 44-47