Melchor de Navarrete

In 1740, Navarrete entered the Order of Santiago and was promoted to the rank of field marshal in the Spanish Royal Army.

In 1741, he participated in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias, fighting against British Admiral Edward Vernon, who attempted to capture the city's fortress.

[3][4] In June, Navarrete wrote a letter to the Marqués de la Ensenada asking him to ensure that food was sent to Cartagena.

[6] However, Navarrete's wife belonged to one of the most important merchant families in Cartagena, and in 1749, he got enough money to be appointed governor of Florida.

In spite of this, Colonel Diego de Pino, a smuggler who belonged to Cartagena's elite society, accused Navarrete of several criminal offenses: he had married after the king denied him a marriage license; when the British attacked Cartagena, he had forced more than 500 residents to leave the city; and he had allowed a frigate carrying 200,000 pesos of contraband into port in exchange for 8,000 pesos.

[8] Fort Mose, inhabited mainly by free blacks, served St. Augustine as a buffer from Indian and British attacks.

Navarrete defended the position of the encomenderos and forced the Mayan chiefs to write a declaration[clarification needed] that was forwarded to the Council of the Indies and King Ferdinand VI.