Prior to that appointment, he served as secretary and general administrative assistant to the East Florida Governor Vicente Manuel de Céspedes y Velasco, in St. Augustine.
In November 1792, Howard was appointed Governor of West Florida,[5] where he established a small militia among the settlers on the Nassau and St. Marys Rivers.
[5] In June 1795, American rebel marauders led by Richard Lang attacked the Spanish garrison on Amelia Island.
Colonel Howard, once again an officer in the Spanish military, discovered that the rebels had built a battery and were flying the French flag.
On August 2, he raised a sizable Spanish force, sailed up Sisters Creek and the Nassau River, and attacked them.