In the same month of July the Council of Safety planned to seize certain gunpowder stored at Nassau, New Providence, and for this purpose the “Commerce,” a sloop belonging to citizens of New York, was temporarily taken into the service of the state. It will be recalled that Commodore Esek Hopkins in the initial essay of the Continental fleet in February and March, 1776, attempted to capture this gunpowder. Before the “Commerce” was ready to set sail, word came that the brigantine “Betsey” from London with a cargo of ammunition was soon to arrive at St. Augustine. Captain Clement Lemprière, the commander of the “Commerce,” was therefore ordered to cruise off St. Augustine in watch for the expected vessel. On August 8 he captured the “Betsey” with her load of gunpowder amounting to almost twelve thousand pounds.[543] Neither of these two episodes led to a permanent naval armament. This, as was to be expected, was brought about by the necessity of protecting Charles Town, the capital and chief port of the Province. The critical month in South Carolina in 1775 was September. During this month two of His Majesty’s vessels, the “Tamar,” 16, and “Cherokee,” 6, lay in Charles Town harbor. It was in September that Lord William Campbell, the Royal Governor of the Province, fled from Charles Town on board the “Tamar.” In September the South Carolina Council of Safety began to seize the forts commanding the channel leading to Charles Town from the sea. The executive of the Revolutionary government at this time consisted of the Council of Safety of thirteen members. About the first of October the Council of Safety obtained the schooner “Defence” and placed it under the command of Captain Simon Tufts, a native of Massachusetts, but now a resident of Charles Town. The Council of Safety fixed the pay of officers and men on board the schooner. During November, naval affairs were chiefly in the hands of the Second Provincial Congress, the Revolutionary legislature, which body on November 10 appointed Edward Blake Commissary of Stores for the Naval Department. On November 11 the “Defence,” 10, manned by her regular complement of seamen, and thirty-five marines taken from the land forces, was detailed to cover a party sent to obstruct certain channels near Charles Town by sinking old schooners. While engaged in this service she exchanged shots with the “Tamar” and “Cherokee” without causing much damage on either side. On November 12, stirred by this encounter, the Provincial Congress voted, though by a narrow majority, to impress, fit out, and arm the ship “Prosper” for the purpose of capturing the British ships in Charles Town harbor; and appointed commissioners to superintend the work.[544]