Captain Nicholas Lockyer, the commander of the "Sophie", had been ordered to contact the "Commandant at Barataria". He was accompanied by a Royal Marine infantry Captain, John McWilliam, who had been given a package to deliver to Lafitte. The Baratarians invited the British officers to row to their island. When they had disembarked and were surrounded by his men, Lafitte identified himself to them. Many of the smugglers wanted to lynch the Britons, but Lafitte intervened and placed guards outside his home to ensure their protection. McWilliam brought two letters in his packet for Lafitte: one, under the seal of King George III, offered Lafitte and his forces British citizenship and land grants in the British colonies in the Americas if they promised to assist in the naval fight against the United States and to return any recent property that had been captured from Spanish ships. (Spain having become an ally of the British against the French.) If they refused the offer, the letters informed him that the British had orders to capture Barataria to put an end to their smuggling. The second item was a personal note to Lafitte from McWilliam's superior, Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nicolls, urging him to accept the offer.