The conflict was even greater in colonies that were nearer to the field of battle. Located 640 miles off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, Britain's oldest remaining colony, Bermuda, had been settled accidentally in 1609 as an extension of Virginia, with which it would long retain close ties of blood and trade, and from which Charleston and the Province of Carolina had been settled under William Sayle in 1670. Bermudians had also provided important cadres of skilled settlers to the settlement of other southern colonies, including Georgia and Florida. These close ties had led Bermudians to sympathize with the rebels during the American War of Independence, supplying them with ships and weapons in exchange for exemption from the embargo of the Continental Congress on trade with colonies not in revolt. American independence led to Bermuda's designation as the headquarters and dockyard of the Royal Navy's North America and West Indies Squadron, with a heavy buildup of regular British Army units for both the defence of the colony, and for launching potential expeditions and campaigns throughout the region, as was demonstrated during the War of 1812, when most of the Atlantic ports of the United States were blockaded by the fleet based in Bermuda, and the Chesapeake Campaign, which included the Burning of Washington, was launched from the colony.