The pickled ear of Captain Robert Jenkins became a rallying point for Englishmen eager to challenge Spanish power in the New World. The 1738 satirical cartoon depicts Prime Minister Robert Walpole swooning when confronted with the Spanish-sliced ear, which led to the War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739.
Courtesy of British Museum, London
In the 1742 Battle of Bloody Marsh on St. Simons Island, General Oglethorpe's soldiers defeated Spanish forces in what was the only Spanish invasion of Georgia during the War of Jenkins' Ear. The battle earned its name from its location rather than from the number of casualties, which were minimal.
Photograph by Forrest Shropshire
Once formal hostilities began in 1739 between the Spanish and English over the land between South Carolina and Florida, shipping on the Atlantic Ocean suffered frequent interruption from acts of piracy by both sides. These skirmishes escalated into the War of Jenkins' Ear and the Battle of Bloody Marsh.
Image from Wikimedia
A monument marks the location of the Battle of Bloody Marsh, which was fought between the English and the Spanish on St. Simons Island in 1742.
Photograph by Jud McCranie, Wikimedia
