At the beginning of the War of 1812, General Floyd commanded a force at Point Peter near St. Marys in Camden County. Georgia had been the last state to join the American revolutionary forces, and many Tories left afterward for Florida, and hoped to return. Former Georgia governor and General George Mathews), as a special agent during the Patriot War, asked Floyd to hold his militia ready to help overthrow the Spanish government in East Florida. Even though the U.S. government feared Britain would capture Florida, Floyd opposed invading Florida and wrote Georgia Governor David Mitchell questioning the request's propriety. President Madison disowned Mathew's conquest of Fernandina island, and General Mathews died on August 30, 1812 in Augusta, Georgia en route to Washington to defend his actions.