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Title: The Spaniards in Florida
Comprising the notable settlement of the Huguenots in 1564,
and the History and Antiquities of St. Augustine, Founded
A.D. 1565
Author: George R. Fairbanks
Release Date: September 22, 2011 [EBook #37507]
Language: English
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THE
SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA,
COMPRISING THE NOTABLE SETTLEMENT
OF THE
HUGUENOTS IN 1564,
AND THE
HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES
OF
ST. AUGUSTINE,
FOUNDED A. D. 1565.
BY
GEORGE R. FAIRBANKS,
VICE PRESIDENT FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: HONORARY MEMBER NEW-YORK
HISTORICAL SOCIETY: LECTURER ON AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE SOUTH.
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
COLUMBUS DREW.
1868.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
COLUMBUS DREW,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the
United States for the Southern District of New York.
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
TO
BUCKINGHAM SMITH, ESQ.,
U. S. SECRETARY OF LEGATION AT MADRID,
TO WHOSE EFFORTS IN THE
DISCOVERY AND PRESERVATION OF THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE
SPANISH DOMINION IN AMERICA,
A GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
IS DUE FROM
AMERICAN SCHOLARS.
PREFACE.
This volume, relating to the history and antiquities of the oldest
settlement in the United States, has grown out of a lecture delivered by
the author, and which he was desired to embody in a more permanent form.
The large amount of interesting material in my possession, has made my
work rather one of laborious condensation than expansion.
I have endeavored to preserve as fully as possible, the style and
quaintness of the old writers from whom I have drawn, rather than to
transform or embellish the narrative with the supposed graces of modern
diction; and, as much of the work consisted in translations from foreign
idioms, this peculiarly un-English style, if I may so call it, will be
more noticeably observed. I have mainly sought to give it a permanent
value, as founded on the most reliable ancient authorities; and thus, to
the extent of the ground which it covers, to make it a valuable addition
to the history of our country.
In that portion of the work devoted to the destruction of the Huguenot
colony and the forces of Ribault, I have in the main followed the
Spanish accounts, desiring to divest the narrative of all suspicion of
prejudice or unfairness; _Barcia_, the principal authority, as is well
known, professing the same faith as Menendez, and studiously endeavoring
throughout his work, to exalt the character of the Adelantado.
I am under great obligations to my friend, BUCKINGHAM SMITH, ESQ., for
repeated favors in the course of its preparation.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
The interest evinced in the publication of the first edition of this
volume, in 1858, under the title of HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF ST.
AUGUSTINE, has induced the author to prepare a second edition for the
press, under the present title, as being more exactly descriptive of
that portion of the history of Florida embraced in its pages.
He hopes at no distant day to put to press the History of Florida, in a
much more complete form, and embracing the chequered and various
pictures of the many expeditions which sought either to found upon its
shores a kingdom to satiate their ambition, or to find wealth
commensurate with their desires.
A chapter of no mean interest in the history of Florida has been added
since the first preface was written. Battles have been fought upon its
soil, more considerable as to the numbers engaged and the fierceness of
the fray, than any ever before recorded. But as this chapter forms a
portion of the general history of the State rather than of the old city
which played but an inconsiderable part in the contest, it does not fall
within the purview of this work to make more than a brief mention of
this period.
G. R. F.
UNIVERSITY PLACE, TENN.,
OCT. 1, 1868.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
CHAPTER I.
Introductory 9
CHAPTER II.
First discovery, 1512 to 1565.--Juan Ponce de Leon 11
CHAPTER III.
Ribault, Laudonnière, and Menendez--Settlements of the Huguenots,
and foundation of St. Augustine.--1562-1566-1568 13
CHAPTER IV.
The attack on Fort Caroline.--1585 19
CHAPTER V.
Escape of Laudonnière and others from Fort Caroline--Adventures of
the fugitives 24
CHAPTER VI.
Site of Fort Caroline, afterwards called San Matteo 31
CHAPTER VII.
Menendez's return to St. Augustine--Shipwreck of Ribault--Massacre
of part of his command.--A. D. 1565 38
CHAPTER VIII.
Fate of Ribault and his followers--Bloody massacre at Mantanzas, 1565 46
CHAPTER IX.
Fortifying of St. Augustine--Disaffections and mutinies--Approval of
Menendez' acts by king of Spain.--1585-1568 54
CHAPTER X.
The notable revenge of Dominic de Gourgues--Return of Menendez--Indian
Mission.--1568 60
CHAPTER XI.
Sir Francis Drake's attack upon St. Augustine--Establishment of
missions--Massacre of missionaries at St. Augustine.--1586-1688 65
CHAPTER XII.
Subjection of the Apalachian Indians--Construction of the fort, sea
wall, &c.--1688-1700 71
CHAPTER XIII.
Attack on St. Augustine by Gov. Moore of South Carolina--Difficulties
with the Georgians.--1702-1732 77
CHAPTER XIV.
Siege of St. Augustine by Oglethorpe.--1732-1740 82
CHAPTER XV.
Completion of the castle--Descriptions of St. Augustine a century
ago--English occupation of Florida.--1755-1763-1788 90
CHAPTER XVI.
Re-cession of Florida to Spain--Erection of the Parish Church--Change
of flags.--1783-1821 100
CHAPTER XVII.
Transfer of Florida to the United States--American occupation--Ancient
buildings, &c. 106
CHAPTER XVIII.
Present appearance of St. Augustine, as given by the author of
Thanatopsis--Its climate and salubrity 110
CHAPTER XIX.
St. Augustine in its old age.--1565-1868 118
THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
The Saint Augustine of the present and the St. Augustine of the past,
are in striking contrast.
We see, to-day, a town less in population than hundreds of places of but
few months' existence, dilapidated in its appearance, with the stillness
of desolation hanging over it, its waters undisturbed except by the
passing canoe of the fisherman, its streets unenlivened by busy traffic,
and at mid-day it might be supposed to have sunk under the enchanter's
wand into an almost eternal sleep.
With no participation in the active schemes of life, and no hopes for
the future; with no emulation, and no feverish visions of future
greatness; with no corner lots on sale or in demand; with no stocks,
save those devoted to disturbers of the public peace; with no
excitements and no events; a quiet, undisturbed, dreamy vision of still
life surrounds its walls, and creates a sensation of entire repose,
pleasant or otherwise, as it falls upon the heart of the weary wanderer
sick of life's busy bustle, or upon the restless mind of him who looks
to nothing as life except perpetual, unceasing action--the one rejoicing
in its rest, the other chafing under its monotony. And yet, about the
old city there clings a host of historic associations, that throw around
it a charm which few can fail to feel.
Its life is in its past; and when we recall the fact that it was the
first permanent settlement of the white man, by more than forty years,
in this confederacy; that here for the first time, isolated within the
shadows of the primeval forest, the civilization of the Old World made
its abiding place, where all was new, and wild, and strange; that this
now so insignificant place was the key of an empire; that upon its fate
rested the destiny of a nation; that its occupation or retention decided
the fate of a people; that it was itself a vice provincial court,
boasted of its adelantados, men of the first mark and note, of its Royal
Exchequer, its public functionaries, its brave men at arms; that its
proud name, conferred by its monarch, "_Le siempre fiel Ciudad de San
Augustin_,"--The ever faithful City of St. Augustine--stood out upon the
face of history; that here the cross was first planted; that from the
Papal throne itself rescripts were addressed to its governors; that the
first great efforts at Christianizing the fierce tribes of America
proceeded from this spot; that the martyr's blood was first here shed;
that within these quiet walls the din of arms, the noise of battle, and
the fierce cry of assaulting columns, have been heard;--Who will not
then feel that we stand on historic ground, and that an interest
attaches to the annals of this ancient city far more than is possessed
by mere brick and mortar, rapid growth, or unwonted prosperity?
Moss-grown and shattered, it appeals to our instinctive feelings of
reverence for antiquity; and we feel desirous to know the history of its
earlier days.
CHAPTER II.
FIRST DISCOVERY, 1512 TO 1565--JUAN PONCE DE LEON.
Among the sturdy adventurers of the sixteenth century who sought both
fame and fortune in the path of discovery, was Ponce de Leon, a
companion of Columbus on his second voyage, a veteran and bold mariner,
who, after a long and adventurous life, feeling the infirmities of age
and the shadows of the decline of life hanging over him, willingly
credited the tale that in this, the beautiful land of his imagination,
there existed a fountain whose waters could restore youth to palsied
age, and beauty to efface the marks of time.
The story ran that far to the north there existed a land abounding in
gold and all manner of desirable things, but, above all, possessing a
river and springs of so remarkable a virtue that their waters would
confer immortal youth on whoever bathed in them; that upon a time a
considerable expedition of the Indians of Cuba had departed northward in
search of this beautiful country and these waters of immortality, who
had never returned, and who, it was supposed, were in a renovated state,
still enjoying the felicities of the happy land.
Furthermore, Peter Martyr affirms, in his second decade, addressed to
the Pope, "that among the islands on the north side of Hispaniola, there
is one about three hundred and twenty-five leagues distant, as they say
which have searched the same, in the which is a continual spring of
running water, of such marvelous virtue that the water thereof being
drunk, perhaps with some diet, maketh old men young again. And here I
must make protestation to your Holiness not to think this to be said
lightly, or rashly; for they have so spread this rumor for a truth
throughout all the court, that not only all the people, but also many of
them whom wisdom or fortune have divided from the common sort, think it
to be true."[1] Thoroughly believing in the verity of this pleasant
account, this gallant cavalier fitted out an expedition from Porto Rico,
and in the progress of his search came upon the coast of Florida, on
Easter Monday, 1512, supposing then, and for a long period afterwards,
that it was an island. Partly in consequence of the bright spring
verdure and flowery plains that met his eye, and the magnificence of the
magnolia, the bay and the laurel and partly in honor of the day, Pascua
Florida, or Palm Sunday, and reminded, probably, of its appropriateness
by the profusion of the cabbage palms near the point of his landing, he
gave to the country the name of Florida.
On the 3d of April, 1512, three hundred and fifty-five years ago, he
landed a few miles north of St. Augustine, and took possession of the
country for the Spanish crown. He found the natives fierce and
implacable; and after exploring the country for some distance around,
and trying the virtue of all the streams, and growing neither younger
nor handsomer, he left the country without making a permanent
settlement.
The subsequent explorations of Narvaez, in 1526, and of De Soto, in
1539, were made in another portion of our State, and do not bear
immediately upon the subject of our investigation, although forming a
most interesting portion of our general history.
CHAPTER III.
RIBAULT, LAUDONNIÈRE, AND MENENDEZ--SETTLEMENTS OF THE HUGUENOTS, AND
FOUNDATION OF ST. AUGUSTINE.
1562-1565-1568.
The settlement of Florida had its origin in the religious troubles
experienced by the Huguenots under Charles IX. in France.
Their distinguished leader, Admiral Coligny, as early as 1555 projected
colonies in America, and sent an expedition to Brazil, which proved
unsuccessful. Having procured permission from Charles IX. to found a
colony in Florida--a designation which embraced in rather an indefinite
manner the whole country from the Chesapeake to the Tortugas--he sent an
expedition in 1562 from France, under command of Jean Ribault, composed
of many young men of good family. They first landed at the St. John's
River, where they erected a monument, but finally established a
settlement at Port Royal, South Carolina, and erected a fort. After some
months, however, in consequence of dissensions among the officers of the
garrison, and difficulties with the Indians, this settlement was
abandoned.
In 1564 another expedition came out under the command of René de
Laudonnière, and made their first landing at the River of Dolphins,
being the present harbor of St. Augustine, and so named by them in
consequence of the great number of Dolphins (Porpoises) seen by them at
its mouth. They afterwards coasted to the north, and entered the River
St. Johns, called by them the River May.
Upon an examination of this river, Laudonnière concluded to establish
his colony on its banks; and proceeding about two leagues above its
mouth, built a fort upon a pleasant hill of "mean height," which, in
honor of his sovereign, he named Fort Caroline.
The colonists after a few months were reduced to great distress, and
were about taking measures to abandon the country a second time, when
Ribault arrived with reinforcements.
It is supposed that intelligence of these expeditions was communicated
by the enemies of Coligny to the court of Spain.
Jealousy of the aggrandizement of the French in the New World,
mortification for their own unsuccessful efforts in that quarter, and a
still stronger motive of hatred to the faith of the Huguenot, induced
the bigoted Philip II. of Spain, to dispatch Pedro Menendez de Aviles, a
brave, bigoted and remorseless soldier, to drive out the French colony,
and take possession of the country for himself.
The compact made between the King and Menendez was, that he should
furnish one galleon completely equipped, and provisions for a force of
six hundred men; that he should conquer and settle the country. He
obligated himself to carry one hundred horses, two hundred horned
cattle, four hundred hogs, four hundred sheep and some goats, and five
hundred slaves, (for which he had a permission free of duties), the
third part of which should be men, for his own service and that of those
who went with him, to aid in cultivating the land and building. That he
should take twelve priests, and four fathers of the Jesuit order. He was
to build two or three towns of one hundred families, and in each town
should build a fort according to the nature of the country. He was to
have the title of Adelantado of the country, as also to be entitled a
Marquis, and his heirs after him, to have a tract of land, receive a
salary of 2,000 ducats, a percentage of the royal duties, and have the
freedom of all the other ports of New Spain.[2]
His force consisted, at starting, of eleven sail of vessels, with two
thousand and six hundred men; but, owing to storms and accidents, not
more than one half arrived. He came upon the coast on the 28th August,
1565, shortly after the arrival of the fleet of Ribault. On the 7th day
of September, Menendez cast anchor in the River of Dolphins, the harbor
of St. Augustine. He had previously discovered and given chase to some
of the vessels of Ribault, off the mouth of the River May. The Indian
village of Selooe then stood upon the site of St. Augustine, and the
landing of Menendez was upon the spot where the city of St. Augustine
now stands.
Fray Francisco Lopez de Mendoza, the Chaplain of the Expedition, thus
chronicles the disembarkation and attendant ceremonies:--
"On Saturday the 8th day of September, the day of the nativity of
our Lady, the General disembarked, with numerous banners displayed,
trumpets and other martial music resounding, and amid salvos of
artillery.
"Carrying a cross, I proceeded at the head, chanting the hymn _Te
Deum Laudamus_. The General marched straight up to the cross,
together with all those who accompanied him; and, kneeling, they
all kissed the cross. A great number of Indians looked upon these
ceremonies, and imitated whatever they saw done. Thereupon the
General took possession of the country in the name of his Majesty.
All the officers then took an oath of allegiance to him, as their
general, and as adelantado of the whole country."
The name of St. Augustine was given, in the usual manner of the early
voyagers, because they had arrived upon the coast on the day dedicated
in their calendar to that eminent saint of the primitive church, revered
alike by the good of all ages for his learning and piety.
The first troops who landed, says Mendoza, were well received by the
Indians, who gave them a large mansion belonging to the chief, situated
near the banks of the river. The engineer officers immediately erected
an entrenchment of earth, and a ditch around this house, with a slope
made of earth and fascines, these being the only means of defense which
the country presents; for, says the father with surprise, "there is not
a stone to be found in the whole country." They landed eighty cannon
from the ships, of which the lightest weighed two thousand five hundred
pounds.
But in the meantime Menendez had by no means forgotten the errand upon
which he principally came; and by inquiries of the Indians he soon
learned the position of the French fort and the condition of its
defenders. Impelled by necessity, Laudonnière had been forced to seize
from the Indians food to supply his famished garrison, and had thus
incurred their enmity, which was soon to produce its sad results.
The Spaniards numbered about six hundred combatants, and the French
about the same; but arrangements had been made for further accessions to
the Spanish force, to be drawn from St. Domingo and Havana, and these
were daily expected.
It was the habit of those days to devolve almost every event upon the
ordering of a special providence; and each nation had come to look upon
itself almost in the light of a peculiar people, led like the Israelites
of old by signs and wonders; and as in their own view all their actions
were directed by the design of advancing God's glory as well as their
own purposes, so the blessing of Heaven would surely accompany them in
all their undertakings.
So believed the Crusaders on the plains of Palestine; so believed the
conquerors of Mexico and Peru; so believed the Puritan settlers of New
England (alike in their Indian wars and their oppressive social polity);
and so believed, also, the followers of Menendez and of Ribault; and in
this simple and trusting faith, the worthy chaplain gives us the
following account of the miraculous escape and deliverance of a portion
of the Spanish fleet:--
"God and his Holy Mother have performed another great miracle in
our favor. The day following the landing of the General in the
fort, he said to us that he was very uneasy because his galley and
another vessel were at anchor, isolated and a league at sea, being
unable to enter the port on account of the shallowness of the
water; and that he feared that the French might come and capture or
maltreat them. As soon as this idea came to him he departed, with
fifty men, to go on board of his galleon. He gave orders to three
shallops which were moored in the river to go out and take on board
the provisions and troops which were on board the galleon. The next
day, a shallop having gone out thither, they took on board as much
of the provisions as they could, and more than a hundred men who
were in the vessel, and returned towards the shore; but half a
league before arriving at the bar they were overtaken by so
complete a calm that they were unable to proceed further, and
thereupon cast anchor and passed the night in that place. The day
following at break of day they raised anchor as ordered by the
pilot, as the rising of the tide began to be felt. When it was
fully light they saw astern of them at the poop of the vessel, two
French ships which during the night had been in search of them. The
enemy arrived with the intention of making an attack upon us. The
French made all haste in their movements, for we had no arms on
board, and had only embarked the provisions. When day appeared, and
our people discovered the French, they addressed their prayers to
our Lady of _Bon Secours d'Utrera_, and supplicated her to grant
them a little wind, for the French were already close up to them.
They say that _Our Lady_ descended, herself, upon the vessel; for
the wind freshened and blew fair for the bar, so that the shallop
could enter it. The French followed it; but, as the bar has but
little depth and their vessels were large, they were not able to go
over it, so that our men and the provisions made a safe harbor.
When it became still clearer they perceived besides the two vessels
of the enemy, four others at a distance, being the same which we
had seen in port the evening of our arrival. They were well
furnished with both troops and artillery, and had directed
themselves for our galleon and the other ship, which were alone at
sea. In this circumstance God accorded us two favors. The first
was, that the same evening after they had discharged the provisions
and the troops I have spoken of, at midnight the galleon and other
vessel put to sea without being perceived by the enemy; the one
for Spain, and the other for Havana, for the purpose of seeking the
fleet which was there; and in this way neither was taken.
"The second favor, by which God rendered us a still greater
service, was that on the day following the one I have described
there arose a storm, and so great a tempest that certainly the
greater part of the French vessels must have been lost at sea; for
they were overtaken upon the most dangerous coast I have ever seen,
and were very close to the shore; and if our vessels, that is the
galleon and its consort, are not shipwrecked, it is because they
were already more than twelve leagues off the coast, which gave
them the facility of running before the wind, and maneuvering as
well as they could, relying upon the aid of God to preserve
them."[3]
Menendez had ascertained from the Indians that a large number of the
French troops had embarked on board of the vessels which he had seen off
the harbor, and he had good ground for believing that these vessels
would either be cast helpless upon the shore, or be driven off by the
tempest to such a distance as would render their return for some days
impossible. He at once conceived the project of attacking the French
fort upon the river May, by land.
A council of war was held, and after some discussion, for the most part
adverse to the plan proposed by him, Menendez spoke as follows:
"Gentlemen and Brothers! we have before us now an opportunity which
if improved by us will have a happy result. I am satisfied that the
French fleet which four days since fled from me, and has now come
to seek me, has been reinforced with the larger part of the
garrison of their fort, to which, nor to port, will they be able to
return for many days according to appearances; and since they are
all Lutherans, as we learned before we sailed from Spain, by the
edicts which Jean Ribault published before embarking, in order that
no Catholic at the peril of his life should go in his fleet, nor
any Catholic books be taken; and this they themselves declared to
us the night they fled from us, and hence our war must be to blood
and fire, not only on account of the orders we are under, but
because they have sought us in order to destroy us, that we should
not plant our holy religion in these regions, and to establish
their own abominable and crazy sect among the Indians; so that the
more promptly we shall punish them, we shall the more speedily do
a service to our God and our king, and comply with our conscience
and our duty.
"To accomplish this, we must choose five hundred arquebuse men and
pikemen, and carry provisions in our knapsacks for eight days,
divided into ten companies, each one with its standard and its
captain, and go with this force by land to examine the settlements
and fort of our enemies; and as no one knows the road, I will guide
you within two points by a mariner's compass; and where we cannot
get along, we will open a way with our axes; and moreover, I have
with me a Frenchman who has been more than a year at their fort,
and who says he knows the ground for two leagues around the fort.
"If we shall arrive without discovery, it may be that falling upon
it at daylight we may take it, by planting upon it twenty scaling
ladders, at the cost of fifty lives. If we are discovered, we can
form in the shelter of the wood, which I am assured is not more
than a quarter of a league distant, and planting there ten
standards, send forward a trumpeter requiring them to leave the
fort and the country, and return to their own country, offering
them ships and provisions for the voyage. They will imagine that we
have a much greater army with us, and they may surrender; and if
they do not, we shall at least accomplish that they will leave us
undisturbed in this our own settlement, and we shall know the way,
so that we may return to destroy them the succeeding spring."
After some discussion it was concluded that after hearing mass they
should undertake the expedition on the third day. Considerable
opposition was manifested on the part of the officers; but, with a
consummate knowledge of human nature, the Adelantado got up the most
splendid dinner in his power, and invited his recreant officers to the
repast, and dexterously appealed to their fears, as well as their pride,
and overcame their reluctance to undertake the unknown dangers of a
first march through Florida at a wet season, an actual acquaintance with
which would still more have dampened their ardor.
The troops assembled promptly upon the day appointed, at the sound of
the trumpet, the fife and the drum, and they all went to hear mass,
except Juan de Vicente, who said he had a disorder of the stomach, and
in his leg; and when some friends wished to urge his coming, he replied:
"I vow to God, that I will wait until the news comes that our force is
entirely cut off, when we who remain will embark in our three vessels,
and go to the Indies, where there will be no necessity of our all
perishing like beasts."
This Juan Vicente seems to have been an apt specimen of a class of
croakers not peculiar to any age or country. Of his future history the
chronicle gives other instances of a similar spirit; and his sole claim
to immortality, like that of many an other, is founded upon his
impudence.
CHAPTER IV.
THE ATTACK ON FORT CAROLINE--1565.
The troops, having heard mass, marched out in order, preceded by twenty
Biscayans and Asturians having as their captain Martin de Ochoa, a
leader of great fidelity and bravery, furnished with axes to open a road
where they could not get along. At this moment there arrived two
Indians, who said that they had been at the fort six days before, and
who "seemed like angels" to the soldiers, sent to guide their march.
Halting for refreshment and rest wherever suitable places could be
found, and the Adelantado always with the vanguard, in four days they
reached the vicinity of the fort, and came up within less than a quarter
of a league of it, concealed by a grove of pine trees. It rained
heavily, and a severe storm prevailed. The place where they had halted
was a very bad one, and very marshy; but he decided to stop there, and
went back to seek the rearguard, lest they might lose the way.
About ten at night the last of the troops arrived, very wet indeed, for
there had been much rain during the four days; they had passed marshes
with the water rising to their waists, and every night there was so
great a flood that they were in great danger of losing their powder,
their match-fire, and their biscuit; and they became desperate, cursing
those who had brought them there, and themselves for coming.
Menendez pretended not to hear their complaints, not daring to call a
council as to proceeding or returning, for both officers and soldiers
went forward very inquietly. Remaining firm in his own resolve, two
hours before dawn he called together the Master of the Camp and the
Captains to whom he said that during the whole night he had sought of
God and his most Holy Mother that they would favor him and instruct him
what he should do most advantageous for their holy service; and he was
persuaded that they had all done the same. "But now, Gentlemen," he
proceeded, "we must make some determination, finding ourselves
exhausted, lost, without ammunition or provisions, and without the hope
of relief."
Some answered very promptly, "Why should they waste their time in giving
reasons? for, unless they returned quickly to St. Augustine, they would
be reduced to eating palmettos;[4] and the longer they delayed, the
greater trouble they would have."
The Adelantado said to them that what they said seemed very reasonable,
but he would ask of them to hear some reasons to the contrary, without
being offended. He then proceeded--after having smoothed down their
somewhat ruffled dispositions, considerably disturbed by their first
experience in encountering the hardships of such a march--to show them
that the danger of retreat was then greater than an advance would be, as
they would lose alike the respect of their friends and foes. That if, on
the contrary, they attacked the fort, whether they succeeded in taking
it or not, they would gain honor and reputation.
Stimulated by the speech of their General, they demanded to be led to
the attack, and the arrangements for the assault were at once made.
Their French prisoner was placed in the advance; but the darkness of the
night and the severity of the storm rendered it impossible to proceed,
and they halted in a marsh, with the water up to their knees, to await
daylight.
At dawn the Frenchman recognized the country, and the place were they
were, and where stood the fort; upon which the Adelantado ordered them
to march, enjoining upon all, at the peril of their lives, to follow
him; and coming to a small hill, the Frenchman said that behind that
stood the fort, about three bow-shots distant, but lower down, near the
river. The General put the Frenchman into the custody of Castaneda. He
went up a little higher, and saw the river and one of the houses, but he
was not able to discover the fort, although it was adjoining them; and
he returned to Castaneda, with whom now stood the Master of the Camp and
Ochoa, and said to them that he wished to go lower down, near to the
houses which stood behind the hill, to see the fortress and the
garrison, for, as the sun was now up, they could not attack the fort
without a reconnoisance. This the Master of the Camp would not permit
him to do, saying this duty appertained to him; and he went alone with
Ochoa near to the houses, from whence they discovered the fort; and
returning with their information, they came to two paths, and leaving
the one by which they came, took the other. The Master of the Camp
discovered his error, coming to a fallen tree, and turned his face to
inform Ochoa, who was following him; and as they turned to seek the
right path, he stopped in advance, and the sentinel discovered them, who
imagined them to be French; but examining them he perceived they were
unknown to him. He hailed, "Who goes there?" Ochoa answered,
"Frenchmen." The sentinel was confirmed in his supposition that they
were his own people, and approached them; Ochoa did the same; but seeing
they were not French, the sentinel retreated. Ochoa closed with him, and
with his drawn sword gave him a cut over the head, but did not hurt him
much, as the sentinel fended off the blow with his sword; and the Master
of the Camp coming up at this moment, gave him a thrust, from which he
fell backwards, making a loud outcry. The Master of the Camp, putting
his sword to his breast, threatened him with instant death unless he
kept silence. They tied him thereupon, and took him to the General, who,
hearing the noise, thought the Master of the Camp was being killed, and
meeting with the Sergeant-major, Francisco de Recalde, Diego de Maya,
and Andres Lopez Patino, with their standards and soldiers, without
being able to restrain himself, he cried out, "Santiago! Upon them! Help
of God, Victory! The French are destroyed. The Master of the Camp is in
their fort, and has taken it." Upon which, all rushed forward in the
path without order, the General remaining behind, repeating what he had
said many times: himself believing it to be certain that the Master of
the Camp had taken with him a considerable force, and had captured the
fort.
* * * * *
So great was the joy of the soldiers, and such their speed, that they
soon came up with the Master of the Camp and Ochoa, who was hastening to
receive the reward of carrying the good news to the General of the
capture of the sentinel. But the Master of the Camp, seeing the spirit
which animated the soldiers, killed the sentinel, and cried out with a
loud voice to those who were pressing forward, "Comrades! do as I do.
God is with us;" and turned, running towards the fort, and meeting two
Frenchmen on the way, he killed one of them, and Andres Lopez Patino the
other. Those in the environs of the fort, seeing this tragedy enacted,
set up loud outcries; and in order to know the cause of the alarm, one
of the Frenchmen within opened the postern of the principal gate, which
he had no sooner done than it was observed by the Master of the Camp;
and throwing himself upon him, he killed him, and entered the gate,
followed by the most active of his followers.
The French, awakened by the clamor, some dressed, others in their
night-clothes, rushed to the doors of their houses to see what had
happened; but they were all killed, except sixty of the more wary, who
escaped by leaping the walls.
Immediately the standards of the Sergeant-major and of Diego Mayo were
brought in, and set up by Rodrigo Troche and Pedro Valdes Herrera, with
two cavaliers, at the same moment. These being hoisted, the trumpets
proclaimed the victory, and the bands of soldiers who had entered opened
the gates and sought the quarters, leaving no Frenchman alive.
The Adelantado hearing the cries, left Castaneda in his place to collect
the people who had not come up, who were at least half the force, and
went himself to see if they were in any danger. He arrived at the fort
running; and as he perceived that the soldiers gave no quarter to any of
the French, he shouted, "That at the penalty of their lives they should
neither wound nor kill any woman, cripple, or child under fifteen years
of age." By which seventy persons were saved; _the rest were all
killed_!
Renato de Laudonnière, the Commander of the fort, escaped with his
servant and some twenty or thirty others, to a vessel lying in the
river.
Such is the Spanish chronicle, contained in Barcia, of the capture of
Fort Caroline. Its details in the main correspond with the account of
Laudonnière, and of Nicolas Challeux, the author of the letter printed
at Lyons, in France, under date of August, 1566, by Jean Saugrain. In
some important particulars, however, the historians disagree. It has
been already seen that Menendez is represented as having given orders to
spare all the women, maimed persons, and all children under fifteen
years of age. The French relations of the event, on the contrary, allege
that an indiscriminate slaughter took place, and that all were massacred
without respect to age, sex, or condition; but as this statement is
principally made upon the authority of a terrified and flying soldier,
it is alike due to the probabilities of the case, and more agreeable to
the hopes of humanity, to lessen somewhat the horrors of a scene which
has need of all the palliation that can be drawn from the slightest
evidences of compassion on the part of that stern and bigoted leader.
The Spanish statement is further confirmed by other writers, who speak
of a vessel being dispatched by Menendez subsequently to carry the
survivors to Spain.
CHAPTER V.
ESCAPE OF LAUDONNIÈRE AND OTHERS FROM FORT CAROLINE. ADVENTURES OF THE
FUGITIVES.
The narratives of this event are found singularly full, there being no
less than three accounts by fugitives from the massacre. The most
complete of these is that of Nicolas de Challeux, a native of Dieppe,
which was published in the following year. I have largely transcribed
from this quaint and curious narrative, not only an account of the
fullness of the details, but also for the light it throws upon the
habits of thought and modes of expression of that day, when so much was
exhibited of an external religious faith, and so many were found who
would fight for their faith when they refused to adhere to its
requirements. There are apparent, also, a close study of the Scriptures,
a great familiarity with its language, a frequent use of its
illustrations, and a disposition to attribute all things, with a
reverent piety, to the direct personal supervision of the Almighty. By
the aid of a map of the St. John's River, it will not be difficult to
trace the perilous route of escape pursued by De Challeux and his
companions, over obstacles much magnified by the terror of the moment
and want of familiarity with the country:--
"The number of persons in the fort was two hundred and forty,
partly of those who had not recovered from sea-sickness, partly of
artisans and of women and children left to the care and diligence
of Captain Laudonnière, who had no expectation that it was possible
that any force could approach by land to attack him. On which
account the guards had withdrawn for the purpose of refreshing
themselves a little before sunrise, on account of the bad weather
which had continued during the whole night, most of our people
being at the time in their beds sleeping. The wicket gate open, the
Spanish force, having traversed forests, swamps, and rivers,
arrived at break of day, Friday, the 20th September, the weather
very stormy, and entered the fort without any resistance, and made
a horrible satisfaction of the rage and hate they had conceived
against our nation. It was then who should best kill the most men,
sick and well, women and little children, in such a manner that it
is impossible to conceive of a massacre which could equal this for
its barbarity and cruelty.
"Some of the more active of our people, jumping from their beds,
slipped out and escaped to the vessel in the river. I was myself
surprised, going to my duty with my clasp-knife in my hand; for
upon leaving my cabin, I met the enemy, and saw no other means of
escape but turning my back, and making the utmost possible haste to
lead over the palisades, for I was closely pursued, step by step,
by a pike-man and one with a partisan; and I do not know how it
was, unless by the grace of God, that my strength was redoubled,
old man as I am and grey-headed, a thing which at any other time I
could not have done, for the rampart was raised eight or nine feet;
I then hastened to secrete myself in the woods, and when I was
sufficiently near the edge of the wood at the distance of a good
bow-shot, I turned towards the fort and rested a little time,
finding myself not pursued; and as from this place all the fort,
even the inner-court was distinctly visible to me, looking there I
saw a horrible butchery of our men taking place, and three
standards of our enemies planted upon the ramparts. Having then
lost all hope of seeing our men rally, I resigned all my senses to
the Lord. Recommending myself to his mercy, grace and favor, I
threw myself into the wood, for it seemed to me that I could find
no greater cruelty among the savage beast, than that of our enemy
which I had seen shown towards our people. But the misery and
anguish in which I found myself then, straitened and oppressed,
seeing no longer any means of safety upon the earth, unless by a
special grace of our Lord, transcending any expectation of man,
caused me to utter groans and sobs, and with a voice broken by
distress to thus cry to the Lord:
"'O God of our fathers and Lord of all mercy! who hast commanded us
to call upon Thee even from the depths of hell and the shades of
death, promising forthwith thy aid and succor! show me, for the
hope which I have in Thee, what course I ought to take to come to
the termination of this miserable old age, plunged into the gulf of
grief and bitterness; at least, cause that, feeling the effect of
Thy mercy, and the confidence which I have conceived in my heart
for Thy promises, they may not be snatched from me through fear of
savage and furious wild beasts on one hand, and of our and Thy
enemies on the other, who desire the more to injure us for the
memory of Thy name which is invoked by us than for any other cause;
aid me, my God! assist me, for I am so troubled that I can do
nothing more.'
"And while I was making this prayer, traversing the wood, which was
very thick and matted with briars and thorns, beneath the large
trees where there was neither any road nor path, scarcely had I
trailed my way half an hour, when I heard a noise like men weeping
and groaning near me; and advancing in the name of God, and in the
confidence of His succor, I discovered one of our people, named
Sieur de la Blonderie, and a little behind him another, named
Maitre Robert, well known to us all, because he had in charge the
prayers at the fort.
"Immediately afterwards we found also the servant of Sieur d'Ully,
the nephew of M. Lebreau, Master Jaques Trusse, and many others;
and we assembled and talked over our troubles, and deliberated as
to what course we could take to save our lives. One of our number,
much esteemed as being very learned in the lessons of Holy
Scripture, proposed after this manner: 'Brethren, we see to what
extremity we are brought; in whatever direction we turn our eyes,
we see only barbarism. The heavens, the earth, the sea, the forest,
and men,--in brief, nothing favors us. How can we know that if we
yield to the mercy of the Spaniards, they will spare us? and if
they should kill us, it will be the suffering of but a moment; they
are men, and it may be that, their fury appeased, they may receive
us upon some terms; and, moreover, what can we do? Would it not be
better to fall into the hands of men, than into the jaws of wild
beasts, or die of hunger in a strange land?'
"After he had thus spoken, the greater part of our number were of
his opinion, and praised his counsel. Notwithstanding, I pointed
out the cruel animosity still unappeased of our enemies, and that
it was not for any human cause of quarrel, that they had carried
out with such fury their enterprise, but mainly (as would appear by
the notice they had already given us) because we were of those who
were reformed by the preaching of the Gospel; that we should be
cowards to trust in men, rather than in God, who gives life to his
own in the midst of death, and gives ordinarily his assistance when
the hopes of men entirely fail.
"I also brought to their minds examples from Scripture, instancing
Joseph, Daniel, Elias, and the other prophets, as well also the
apostles, as St. Peter and St. Paul, who were all drawn out of much
affliction, as would appear by means extraordinary and strange to
the reason and judgment of men. His arm, said I, is not shortened,
nor in any wise enfeebled; his power is always the same. Do you not
recollect, said I the flight of the Israelites before Pharaoh? What
hope had that people of escaping from the hands of that powerful
tyrant? He had them, as it were, under his heel. Before them they
had the sea, on either side inaccessible mountains.
"What then? He who opened the sea to make a path for his people,
and made it afterwards to swallow up his enemies, can not he
conduct us by the forest places of this strange country? While thus
discoursing, six of the company followed out the first proposition,
and abandoned us to go and yield themselves up to our enemies,
hoping to find favor before them. But they learned, immediately and
by experience, what folly it is to trust more in men than in the
promise of the Lord. For having gone out of the wood, as they
descended to the fort they were immediately seized by the Spaniards
and treated in the same fashion as the others had been. They were
at once killed and massacred, and then drawn to the banks of the
river, where the others killed at the fort lay in heaps. We who
remained in the wood continued to make our way, and drawing towards
the sea, as well as we could judge, and as it pleased God to
conduct our paths and to straiten our course, we soon arrived at
the brow of a mountain and from there commenced to see the sea, but
it was still at a great distance; and what was worse, the road we
had to take showed itself wonderfully strange and difficult. In the
first place, the mountain from which it was necessary for us to
descend, was of such height and ruggedness, that it was not
possible for a person descending to stand upright; and we should
never have dared to descend it but for the hope we had of
sustaining ourselves by the branches of the bushes, which were
frequent upon the side of the mountain, and to save life, not
sparing our hands which we had all gashed up and bloody, and even
the legs and nearly all the body was torn. But descending from the
mountain, we did not lose our view of the sea, on account of a
small wood which was upon a little hill opposite to us; and in
order to go to the wood it was requisite that we should traverse a
large meadow, all mud and quagmire, covered with briars and other
kind of strange plants; for the stalk was as hard as wood, and the
leaves pricked our feet and our hands until the blood came, and
being all the while in water up to the middle, which redoubled our
pain and suffering. The rain came down upon us in such manner from
heaven, that we were during all that time between two floods; and
the further we advanced the deeper we found the water.
"And then thinking that the last period of our lives had come, we
all embraced each other, and with a common impulse, we commenced to
sigh and cry to the Lord, accusing our sins and recognizing the
weight of his judgment upon us. 'Alas! Lord,' said we, 'what are we
but poor worms of the earth? Our souls weakened by grief, surrender
themselves into thy hands. Oh, Father of Mercy and God of Love,
deliver us from this pain of death! or if thou wilt that in this
desert we shall draw our last breath, assist us so that death, of
all things the most terrible, shall have no advantage over us, but
that we may remain firm and stable in the sense of thy favor and
good-will, which we have too often experienced in the cause of thy
Christ to give way to the spirit of Satan, the spirit of despair
and of distrust; for if we die, we will protest now before thy
Majesty, that we would die unto thee, and that if we live it may be
to recount thy wonders in the midst of the assembly of thy
servants.' Our prayers concluded, we marched with great difficulty
straight towards the wood, when we came to a great river which ran
in the midst of this meadow; the channel was sufficiently narrow
but very deep, and ran with great force, as though all the field
ran toward the sea. This was another addition to our anguish, for
there was not one of our men who would dare to undertake to cross
over by swimming. But in this confusion of our thoughts, as to what
manner to pass over, I bethought myself of the wood which we had
left behind us. After exhorting my comrades to patience and a
continued trust in the Lord, I returned to the wood, and cut a long
pole, with the good size clasp knife which remained in my hand from
the hour the fort was taken; and I returned to the others, who
awaited me in great perplexity, 'Now, then, comrades,' said I, 'let
us see if God, by means of this stick, will not give us some help
to accomplish our path.' Then we laid the pole upon the water, and
each one by turn taking hold of the end of the pole, carried it by
his side to the midst of the channel, when losing sight of him we
pushed him with sufficient force to the other bank, where he drew
himself out by the canes and other bushes growing along its
borders; and by his example we passed over, one at a time; but it
was not without great danger, and not without drinking a great deal
of salt water, in such manner that our hearts were all trembling,
and we were as much overcome as though we had been half drowned.
After we had come to ourselves and had resumed courage, moving on
all the time towards the wood, which we had remarked close to sea,
the pole was not even needed to pass another creek, which gave us
not much less trouble than the first; but by the grace of God, we
passed it and entered the wood the same evening, where we passed
the night in great fear and trembling, standing about against the
trees.
"And, as much as we had labored, even had it been more, we felt no
desire to sleep; for what repose could there be to spirits in such
mortal affright? Near the break of day, we saw a great beast, like
a deer, at fifty paces from us, who had a great head, eyes flaming,
the ears hanging, and the higher parts elevated. It seemed to us
monstrous, because of its gleaming eyes, wondrously large; but it
did not come near us to do us any harm.
"The day having appeared, we went out of the wood and returned
towards the sea, in which we hoped, after God, as the only means of
saving our lives; but we were again cast down and troubled, for we
saw before us a country of marsh and muddy quagmires, full of water
and covered with briars, like that we had passed the previous day.
We marched across this salt marsh; and, in the direction we had to
take, we perceived among the briars a body of men, whom we at first
thought to be enemies, who had gone there to cut us off; but upon
close observation, they seemed in as sad a plight as ourselves,
naked and terrified; and we immediately perceived that they were
our own people. It was Captain Laudonnière, his servant-maid,
Jacques Morgues of Dieppe (the artist), Francis Duval of Rouen, son
of him of the iron crown of Rouen, Niguise de la Cratte, Nicholas
the carpenter, the Trumpeter of Sieur Laudonnière, and others, who
all together made the number of twenty-six men. Upon deliberating
as to what we should do, two of our men mounted to the top of one
of the tallest trees and discovered from thence one of our vessels,
which was that of Captain Maillard, to whom they gave a signal,
that he might know that we were in want of help. Thereupon he came
towards us with his small vessel, but in order to reach the banks
of the stream, it was necessary for us to traverse the briars and
two other rivers similar to those which we passed the previous day;
in order to accomplish which, the pole I had cut the day before was
both useful and necessary, and two others which Sr. de Laudonnière
had provided; and we came pretty near to the vessel, but our hearts
failed us from hunger and fatigue, and we should have remained
where we were unless the sailors had given us a hand, which aid was
very opportune; and they carried us, one after the other, to the
vessel, on board of which we were all received well and kindly.
They gave us bread and water, and we began afterwards, little by
little, to recover our strength and vigor; which was a strong
reason that we should recognize the goodness of the Lord, who had
saved us against all hope from an infinity of dangers and from
death, by which we had been surrounded and assaulted from all
quarters, to render him forevermore our thanks and praises. We thus
passed the entire night recounting the wonders of the Lord, and
consoled each other in the assurances of our safety.
"Daylight having come, Jacques Ribault, Captain of the Pearl,
boarded us to confer with us respecting what was to done by us, and
what means we should take for the safety of the rest of our men and
the vessels. It was then objected, the small quantity of provisions
which we had, our strength broken, our munitions and means of
defense taken from us, the uncertainty as to the condition of our
Admiral, and not knowing but that he had been shipwrecked on some
coast a long distance from us, or driven to a distance by the
tempest.
"We thereupon concluded that we could do no better than return to
France, and were of the opinion that the company should divide into
two parts, the one remaining on board the Pearl, the other under
charge of Captain Maillard.
"On Friday, the twenty-fifth day of the month of September, we
departed from this coast, favored by a strong northerly wind,
having concluded to return to France, and after the first day our
two ships were so far separated that we did not again encounter
each other.
"We proceeded five hundred leagues prosperously, when, one morning
about sunrise, we were attacked by a Spanish vessel, which we met
as well as we could, and cannonaded them in such sort that we made
them subject to our disposal, and battered them so that the blood
was seen to overrun the scuppers. We held them then as surrendered
and defeated; but there was no means of grappling her, on account
of the roughness of the sea for in grappling her there would be
danger of our striking together, which might have sunk us; she
also, satisfied with the affair, left us, joyful and thanking God
that no one of us was wounded or killed in this skirmish except our
cook.
"The rest of our passage was without any renconter with enemies;
but we were much troubled by contrary winds, which often threatened
to cast us on the coast of Spain, which would have been the
finishing touch to our misfortunes, and the thing of which we had
the greatest horror. We also endured at sea many other things, such
as cold and hunger; for be it understood that we, who escaped from
the land of Florida, had nothing else for vestment or equipment, by
day or by night, except our shirts alone, or some other little rag,
which was a small matter of defence from the exposure to the
weather; and what was more, the bread which we eat, and we eat it
very sparingly, was all spoilt and rotten, as well also the water
itself was all noisome, and of which, besides, we could only have
for the whole day a single small glass.
"This bad food was the reason, on our landing, that many of us fell
into divers maladies, which carried off many of the men of our
company; and we arrived at last, after this perilous and lamentable
voyage, at Rochelle; where we were received and treated very
humanely and kindly by the inhabitants of the country and those of
the city, giving us of their means, to the extent our necessities
require; and assisted by their kindness we were each enabled to
return to his own part of the country."[5]
Laudonnière's[6] narrative speaks more of his own personal escape; and
that of Le Moyne[7] refers to this description of De Challeux, as
containing a full and accurate account of what took place. Barcia
mentions De Challeux, very contemptuously as a carpenter, who succeeding
badly at his trade, took up that of preaching, but does not deny the
truth of his narrative.
Those who separated from their comrades and threw themselves upon the
enemies' mercy, are mentioned by the Spanish writers; but they are
silent as to the treatment they received.
CHAPTER VI.
SITE OF FORT CAROLINE, AFTERWARDS CALLED SAN MATTEO.
It might naturally be supposed that a spot surrounded with so many
thrilling and interesting associations, as the scene of the events we
have just related, would have been commemorated either by tradition or
by ancient remains attesting its situation. But, in truth, no recognized
point now bears the appellation of Fort Caroline, and the antiquary can
point at this day to no fosse or parapet, no crumbling bastion, no
ancient helm or buckler, no shattered and corroded garniture of war
mingled with the bones of the dead, as evidencing its position.
A writer who has himself done more to rescue from oblivion the
historical romance of the South than any other,[8] has well said, "It
will be an employment of curious interest, whenever the people of
Florida shall happen upon the true site of the settlement and structure
of Laudonnière, to trace out in detail these several localities, and fix
them for the benefit of posterity. The work is scarcely beyond the
hammer and chisel of some Old Mortality, who has learned to place his
affections and fix his sympathies upon the achievements of the past."
With a consciousness of our unfitness to establish absolutely a memorial
so interesting as the site of Fort Caroline must ever be, I shall
endeavor to locate its position, upon the basis of reasons entirely
satisfactory to myself, and measurably so, I trust, to others.
The account given by Laudonnière himself, the leader of the Huguenots,
by whom Fort Caroline was constructed, is as follows:--After speaking of
his arrival at the mouth of the river, which had been named the River
May by Ribault, who had entered it on the first day of May, 1562, and
had therefore given it that name, he says, "Departing from thence, I had
not sailed three leagues up the river, still being followed by the
Indians, crying still, 'amy,' 'amy,' that is to say, friend, but I
discovered an hill of meane height, neare which I went on land, harde
by the fieldes that were sowed with mil, at one corner whereof there was
an house, built for their lodgings which keep and garde the mil. * * * *
* * Now was I determined to searche out the qualities of the hill.
Therefore I went right to the toppe thereof; where we found nothing else
but cedars, palms, and bay trees of so sovereign odor that Balme
smelleth not more sweetly. The trees were environed around about with
vines bearing grapes, in such quantities that the number would suffice
to make the place habitable. Besides the fertilitie of the soyle for
vines, one may see mesquine wreathed about the trees in great
quantities. Touching the pleasure of the place, the sea may be seen
plain enough from it; and more than six great leagues off, towards the
River Belle, a man may behold the meadows, divided asunder into isles
and islet, enterlacing one another. Briefly, the place is so pleasent,
that those which are melancholicke, would be inforced to change their
humour. * *
"Our fort was built in form of a triangle; the side towards the west,
which was towards the land, was inclosed with a little trench and raised
with turf made in the form of a battlement, nine feet high; the other
side, which was towards the river, was enclosed with a palisade of
planks of timber, after the manner that Gabions are made; on the south
line, there was a kind of bastion, within which I caused an house for
the munition to be made. It was all builded with fagots and sand, saving
about two or three foote high, with turfes whereof the battlements were
made. In the middest, I caused a great court to be made of eighteen
paces long, and the same in breadth. In the middest whereof, on the one
side, drawing towards the south, I builded a corps de garde and an house
on the other side towards the north. * * * * One of the sides that
inclosed my court, which I made very faire and large, reached unto the
grange of my munitions; and on the other side, towards the river, was
mine own lodgings, round which were galleries all covered. The principal
doore of my lodging was in the middest of the great place, and the other
was towarde the river. A good distance from the fort I built an oven."
Jacob Le Moyne, or Jacques Morgues, as he is sometimes called,
accompanied the expedition; and his _Brevis Narratio_ contains two
plates, representing the commencement of the construction of Fort
Caroline, and its appearance when completed. The latter represents a
much more finished fortification than could possibly have been
constructed, but may be taken as a correct outline, I presume, of its
general appearance.
Barcia, in his account of its capture, describes neither its shape nor
appearance, but mentions the parapet nine feet high, and the munition
house and store house.
From the account of Laudonnière and Le Moyne, it was situated near the
river, on the slope or nearly at the foot of a hill.[9] Barcia speaks of
its being behind a hill, and of descending towards it. The
clerical-carpenter, Challeux, speaks of being able, after his escape, to
look down from the hill he was on, into the court of the fort itself,
and seeing the massacre of the French. As he was flying from the fort
towards the sea, and along the river, and as the Spaniards came from a
southeast direction, the fort must have been on the westerly side of a
hill, near the river.
The distance is spoken of as less than three leagues by Laudonnière.
Hawkins and Ribault say, the fort was not visible from the mouth of the
river. It is also incidentally spoken of in Barcia as being two leagues
from the bar. De Challeux, in the narrative of his escape, speaks of the
distance as being about two leagues. In the account given of the
expedition of De Gourgues, it is said to be, in general terms, about one
or two leagues above the forts afterwards constructed on each side of
the mouth of the river; and it is also mentioned in De Gourgues, that
the fort was at the foot of a hill, near the water, and could be
overlooked from the hill. The distance from the mouth of the river, and
the nature of the ground where the fort was built, are thus made
sufficiently definite to enable us to seek a location which shall
fulfill both these conditions. It is hardly necessary to remark that
there can be no question but that the fort was located on the south or
easterly side of the river, as the Spaniards marched by land from St.
Augustine in a northwesterly direction to Fort Caroline.
The River St. Johns is one of the largest rivers, in point of width, to
be found in America, and is more like an arm of the sea than a river;
from its mouth for a distance of fifteen miles, it is spread over
extensive marshes, and there are few points where the channel touches
the banks of the river. At its mouth it is comparatively narrow, but
immediately extends itself over wide-spread marshes; and the first
headland or shore which is washed by the channel is a place known as St.
John's Bluff. Here the river runs closely along the shore, making a
bold, deep channel close up to the bank. The land rises abruptly on one
side into a hill of moderate height, covered with a dense growth of
pine, cedar, &c. This hill gently slopes to the banks of the river, and
runs off to the southwest, where, at the distance of a quarter of a
mile, a creek discharges itself into the river, at a place called "the
Shipyard" from time immemorial.
I am not aware that any remains of Fort Caroline, or any old remains of
a fortress, have ever been discovered here; but it must be recollected
that this fort was constructed of sand and pine trees, and that three
hundred years have passed away, with their storms and tempests, their
rains and destructive influences--a period sufficient to have destroyed
a work of much more durable character than sandy entrenchments and green
pine stakes and timbers. Moreover, it is highly probable, judging from
present appearances, that the constant abrasion of the banks still going
on has long since worn away the narrow spot where stood Fort Caroline.
It is also to be remarked, that as there is no other hill, or high land,
or place where a fort could have been built, between St. John's Bluff
and the mouth of the river, so it is also the fact that there is no
point on the south side of the river where the channel touches high
land, for a distance by water of eight or ten miles above St. John's
Bluff.
The evidence in favor of the location of Fort Caroline at St. John's
Bluff is, I think conclusive and irresistible, and accords in all points
with the descriptions given as to distance, topography, and points of
view.
It is within the memory of persons now living, that a considerable
orange grove and somewhat extensive buildings, which existed at this
place, then called San Vicente, have been washed into the river, leaving
at this day no vestiges of their existence. It has been occupied as a
Spanish fort within fifty years; yet so rapid has been the work of time
and the elements, that no remains of such occupation are now to be seen.
The narratives all speak of the distance from the mouth of the river as
about two leagues; and in speaking of so short a distance the
probability of exactness is much greater than when dealing with longer
distances.
As to the spot itself, it presents all the natural features mentioned by
Laudonnière; and it requires but a small spice of enthusiasm and romance
that it be recognized as a "goodlie and pleasante spotte," by those who
might like the abundance of the wild grapes and the view of the distant
salt meadows, with their "iles and islets, so pleasante that those which
are melancholike would be inforced to change their humour."
It is but proper, however, to say, that at a plantation known as
Newcastle there is a high range of ground, and upon this high ground the
appearance of an old earth-work of quadrangular form; but this point is
distant some six leagues from the mouth of the river, is flanked by a
deep bay or marsh to the southeast, and the work is on the top of the
hill and not at its foot, is quadrangular and not triangular, and is a
considerable distance from the water. These earth-works, I am satisfied,
are Spanish or English remains of a much later period.
By examining a map of the St. John's river, the first projecting land on
the south side, lying east of the second township line marked from the
coast, will be found nearly to indicate the point known as St. John's
Bluff. On the eastern face the bluff is quite high and precipitous--being
possibly the "brow of the mountain" mentioned by De Challeux--and
immediately beyond is a deep indentation of the shore-line of several
miles in circuit, within which is an immense tract of sea-marsh,
interspersed with small islands, and cut up by narrow channels. Through
this the fugitives may be supposed to have crossed, and, reaching the
high lands which hem in the marsh near the mouth of the river, were
enabled to view the vessels which offered them rescue. About the year
1856 a handful of small copper coins were accidentally found near the
eastern margin of this marsh, in the rear of what is now known as
Mayport Mill. Some few were at first found on the ground, as if
accidentally exposed, and upon removing the earth for a slight depth the
remainder were discovered. They were distributed among several gentlemen
in Florida, and Mr. Buckingham Smith, at that time and more recently
made the history of the coins a subject of especial inquiry in Spain.
Just before putting the second edition of this work to press, the
following letter was received by the publisher of this volume, and is
given as matter of interest in connection with the locality referred to:
* * * * *
MADRID, August 15, 1868.
MY DEAR SIR:--I brought with me from Florida, as I proposed, three
copper coins of those found with others of the same sort many years ago,
on the St. Johns river near the old site of Fort Caroline, in what the
French three centuries ago called the Vale of Laudonnière, that I might
have them examined in Europe. There were none of the sort in the British
Museum, with which they might be compared, and in the Bibliothique
Imperial I could only learn that they were Spanish. On my arrival here I
gave them for inspection to Señor Bermudez, a long time in charge of the
national collection of such like antiquities, second only in extent and
value to that of Paris: and showed them also to other of my friends
learned in numismatics. The work of A. Heiss, now making its appearance
in numbers, with the title _Description General de las monedas
Hispano-Christianas desde la invasion de los Arabes_, has been also
consulted, and this is the amount of all the conclusions, the
inscriptions on each coin being nearly the same:
[image of a dagger] KAROLVS.ET.IOANNA RE.
Two II in the midst, with crowns upon them; to the right P, to the left S;
in the middle a square point.
REVERSO:
Same--same--same--REGIS.
A Y in the middle, crowned; to the right IIII; to the left F.
They were struck for Doña Juana and Carlos I., Empr. Charles V., between
the years 1516 and 1555. The Y is supposed to refer to Ysabel: the
double I to Joanna I., or may be to the columns of Hercules, and the
crowns upon them to those of Castilla and Aragon. On later silver coins,
not so rude, the columns are placed with the words _plus ultra_, as you
may have observed on a Spanish dollar. The IIII (on some 4,) means four
maravedises, the value of which have varied: at present 25 of these
would be the value of a real. These coins are uncommon; in good
preservation, very rare. The curiosity so many of us have had for a
number of years about these matters, I believe is at last satisfied.
I have visited the town of Aviles, a league from the Bay of Biscay,
whence Pedro Menendez came, and brought his fleet to Florida, three
centuries ago. I saw his tomb, and not far off the chapel of the family
of one of his companions. There is no stranger any where to be heard of
in all that country; every thing is intensely and old Spanish in every
aspect. Going home late one evening, I was accosted by a native in good
English. He said the town was rarely visited--three or four Englishmen
within his memory had passed through, and he supposed me to be the first
person from the United States who had ever been there. I told him I came
from Florida, and, though rather late, was returning the visit of
Menendez to St. Augustine.
The estate of this old colonist is in the house of the Count of
Canalejas, held by the Marquis of San Estevan, who is also by marriage
the Count of Revilla Gigedo. I called on him at his country seat in
Dania, and, detaining me to spend the day with him, gave orders to have
his family pictures and palace shown to me at Gijon, and his papers at a
residence in Oviedo. Among the documents is a valuable one for writing a
life of Menendez. It is a draft for a letter in his own hand, directed
to his nephew, Governor of Florida, in which he expresses his wish to be
with him and away from business. He speaks of the "invincible armada"
which he had been appointed to command, and gives the number of his
ships. This probably was the last thing he ever wrote, dated ten days
before he died, as it is known that he died on the ninth day of his
sickness. Of course I have a copy to show you.
Spain has greatly changed within the last eight years--impoverished
itself, the people say, with improvements. The railroads traverse most
parts, are well laid, durable, and the service good. The ancient
monuments have begun to be cared for, are repaired, and in the charge of
a commission of the government.
Give my best regards to friends about you, and believe me truly yours,
BUCKINGHAM SMITH.
Mr. COLUMBUS DREW, Jacksonville, Fla.
CHAPTER VII.
MENENDEZ'S RETURN TO ST. AUGUSTINE--SHIPWRECK OF
A. D. 1565.
After an ineffectual attempt to induce those in the small vessels of the
French to surrender, failing in this, the General concluded to return to
St. Augustine, and send two of his vessels to the mouth of the river to
intercept them.
Some of the fugitives from the fort fled to the Indians; and ten of
these were given up to the Spaniards, to be butchered in cold blood,
says the French account,--to be sent back to France, says the Spanish
chronicle.
The 24th September being the day of St. Matthew, the name of the fort
was changed to that of San Matheo, by which name it was always
subsequently called by the Spaniards; and the name of St. Matthew was
also given by them to the river, now called St. Johns, on which it is
situated.
The Spaniards proceeded at once to strengthen the fortress, deepening
and enlarging the ditch, and raised and strengthened the ramparts and
walls in such manner, says the boastful Mendoza, "that if the half of
all France had come to attack it, they could not have disturbed it;" a
boast upon which the easy conquest of it by De Gourgues, three years
subsequently, affords an amusing commentary. They also constructed,
subsequently, two small forts at the mouth of the river, one on each
side, which probably were located the one at Batten Island and the other
at Mayport.
Leaving three hundred soldiers as a garrison under his Son-in-law, De
Valdez, Master of the Camp, who was now appointed Governor of the fort,
Menendez marched for St. Augustine, beginning now to feel considerable
anxiety lest the French fleet, escaping from the tempest, might return
and visit upon his own garrison at St. Augustine, the fate of Fort
Caroline. He took with him upon his return but fifty soldiers, and,
owing to the swollen waters, found great difficulty in retracing his
route. When within a league of St. Augustine, he allowed one of the
soldiers to go forward to announce his victory and safe return.
The garrison at St. Augustine had been in great anxiety respecting their
leader, and from the accounts given by those who had deserted, they had
feared the total loss of the expedition. The worthy Chaplain thus
describes the return of Menendez:--
"The same day, being Monday, we saw a man coming, crying out
loudly. I myself was the first to run to him for the news. He
embraced me with transport, crying 'Victory! Victory! The French
fort is ours.' I promised him the present which the bearer of good
news deserves, and gave him the best in my power.
"At the hour of vespers our good General arrived, with fifty foot
soldiers, very much fatigued. As soon as I learned that he was
coming, I ran home and put on a new soutain, the best which I had,
and a surplice, and going out with a crucifix in my hand, I went
forward to receive him; and he, a gentleman and a good Christian,
before entering kneeled and all his followers, and returned thanks
to the Lord for the great favours which he had received. My
companions and myself marched in front in procession, so that we
all returned with the greatest demonstrations of joy."
When about to dispatch the two vessels in his harbor to the St John's,
to cut off the French vessels he had left there, he was informed that
two sails had already been seen to pass the bar, supposed to contain the
French fugitives.
Eight days after the capture of Fort Caroline, a fire broke out in the
quarters of St. Augustine, which destroyed much treasure and provisions,
and the origin of which was doubtful, whether to be ascribed to accident
or design. Much dissatisfaction prevailed among the officers and
soldiers, and the fire was looked upon with pleasure by some, as having
a tendency to hasten their departure from a spot which offered few
temptations or rewards, compared to Mexico or Peru.
On the very day of Menendez's return, a Frenchman was discovered by a
fishing party on Anastasia Island, who, being taken, said he was one of
a party of eighteen, sent in a small vessel, some days before, to
reconnoitre the Spanish position; that they had been unable to keep the
sea, and had been thrown ashore, about four leagues below, at the mouth
of a river; that the Indians attacked and killed three of their number,
and they thereupon escaped.
Menendez dispatched a captain and fifty men, to get off the vessel and
capture any of the French who might be found. On their arrival at the
place, they found that all the French had been killed by the Indians;
but they succeeded in getting off the vessel. Menendez, feeling uneasy
in reference to their encounter with the Indians, had followed on after
the expedition, in company with the worthy Chaplain, to whom his
promenade among the briars, vines, prickly cedars, chaparral, and
prickly pears of Anastasia, seems to have been a true _via dolorosa_.
Upon their arrival, they found a considerable body of French upon the
south side of an inlet, whose fires indicated their position.
The four vessels of Ribault, which had gone in pursuit of the Spaniards
at St. Augustine, had been overtaken by the storm, and after keeping to
sea with incredible effort, had been finally driven ashore upon the
shoals of Canaveral,[10] with but little loss of life but a total loss
of every thing else; they were thus thrown on shore without shelter from
the elements, famished with hunger, borne down by disappointment, and
utterly dispirited and demoralized. They were consumed, also, by the
most painful uncertainty. Marching to the northward along shore, they
discovered a skiff, and resolved to send a small number of persons in
it, to make their way by sea to Fort Caroline, to bring succor to them
from there. This boat succeeded in reaching the St. John's, where they
were informed, by friendly Indians, of the fate which had befallen the
fort; and subsequently they fell in with a Frenchman who had escaped,
who related to them the whole disaster. Upon this they concluded to seek
their own safety among the friendly Indians of St. Helena, rather than
to be the useless bearers of the tidings of their misfortunes to their
companions in arms.
There are several accounts of the sad fate which befel the followers of
Ribault, the massacre of whom has been perpetuated by the memorial name
given to its scene, "the bloody river of Matanzas," the ebb and flow of
whose recurring tides for three hundred years have failed to wash out
the record of blood which has associated this massacre of the Huguenots
with the darkest scenes of earth's history. In consequence of the rank
and number of the victims, the event produced various and somewhat
contradictory accounts; but all stamped with a seal of reprobation and
execration the act and the actors, without reference to creed or
nationality. Challeux relates instances of cruel barbarity added to the
atrocity of slaughter itself; and others, it appears, had given other
versions, all in different degree pointing the finger of historic
justice to mark and commemorate the crime against humanity.
The Spanish historian, Barcia, aims to counteract this general
condemnation, of which in his own language he says, "These calumnies,
repeated in so many quarters, have sullied the fame of the Adelantado,
being exaggerated by the heretics, and consented to by the Catholics, so
that even the Father Felix Briot, in his annals, says that he caused
them to be killed contrary to the faith which he had given them; which
is altogether a falsehood, for the Adelantado did not give his word, nor
would he when asked give it, to spare their lives, although they were
willing to pay him for doing so; nor in the capture of Fort Caroline did
he do more than has been related; and such is the account given by
Doctor Salis de las Meras, brother-in-law to Donna Maria de Salis, wife
of the Adelantado, who was present, and who, relating the punishment of
the heretics, and the manner in which it was accomplished, says,--
"'The Adelantado occupied himself in fortifying his settlement at St.
Augustine, as well as he could, to defend it from the French fleet if
they should attack it. Upon the following day some Indians came and by
signs informed them that four leagues distant there were a large number
of Christians, who were unable to cross an arm of the sea or strait,
which is a river upon the inner side of an inlet, which they were
obliged to cross in order to come to St. Augustine. The Adelantado sent
thither forty soldiers about dusk, and arrived about midnight near the
inlet, where he commanded a halt until morning, and leaving his soldiers
concealed, he ascended a tree to see what was the state of matters. He
discovered many persons on the other side of the river, and their
standards; and to prevent their passing over, he directed his men to
exhibit themselves towards the shore, so that it might be supposed that
he had with him a large force; and when they were discovered, a French
soldier swam over, and said that the persons beyond the river were
Frenchmen, that they had been wrecked in a storm, but had all saved
their lives. The Adelantado asked what French they were? He answered,
that they were two hundred of the people under command of Jean Ribault,
Viceroy and Captain General of this country for the king of the French.
He asked again, if they were Catholics or Lutherans? It was replied that
they were all Lutherans, of the new religion; all of which was
previously well known to the Adelantado, when he encountered their fleet
with his vessels; and the women and children whom he had spared when he
took their fort, had also so informed him; and he had found in the fort
when he took it, six trunks filled with books, well bound and gilt; all
of which were of the new sect, and from which they did not say mass, but
preached their Lutheran doctrines every evening; all of which books he
directed to be burnt, not sparing a single one.
"'The Adelantado then asked him why he had come over? He said he had
been sent over by his Captain, to see what people they were. The General
asked if he wished to return. He said, "Yes, but he desired to know what
people they were." This man spoke very plainly, for he was a Gascon of
San Juan de Suz. "Then tell him," said the Adelantado, "that it is the
Viceroy and Captain General of this country for the king, Don Philip;
and that his name is Pedro Menendez, and that he is here with some of
his soldiery to ascertain what people those were, for he had been
informed the day before that they were there, and the hour at which they
came."
"'The French soldier went over with his message, and immediately
returned, saying "that if they would pledge faith to his captain and to
four other gentlemen, they would like to come and treat with him;" and
they desired the loan of a boat, which the General had directed to bring
some provisions to the river. The General instructed the messenger to
say to his captain, "that he might come over securely under the pledge
of his word," and then sent over for them the boat; and they crossed
over. The Adelantado received them very well, with only ten of his
followers; the others he directed to stay some distance off among some
bushes, so that their number might appear to be greater than it was. One
of the Frenchmen announced himself as captain of these people; and that
in a great storm they had lost four galleons, and other vessels of the
king of France, within a distance of twenty leagues of each other; and
that these were the people from on board of one ship, and that they
desired they would let them have a boat for this arm of the sea, and for
another four leagues hence, which was at St. Augustine; that they
desired to go to a fort which they held twenty leagues from there. It
was the same fort which Menendez had taken. The Adelantado asked them
"if they were Catholics or Lutherans?" He replied "that they were all of
the New Religion." Then the Adelantado said to them, "Gentlemen, your
fort is taken and its people destroyed, except the women, and children
under fifteen years of age; and that you may be assured of this, among
the soldiers who are here there are many things, and also there are here
two Frenchmen whom I have brought with me, who said they were Catholics.
Sit down here and eat, and I will send the two Frenchmen to you, as also
the things which some of my soldiers have taken from the fort, in order
that you may be satisfied.
"'The Adelantado having spoken thus, directed food to be given to them,
and sent the two Frenchmen to them, and many things which the soldiers
had brought from the fort, that they might see them, and then retired
himself, to eat with his own people; and an hour afterwards, when he saw
that the French had eaten, he went where they were and asked if they
were satisfied of the truth of what he had told them. They said they
were, and desired that for a consideration, he should give them vessels
and ships' stores, that they might return to France. The Adelantado
answered, "that he would do so with great pleasure if they were good
Catholics, or if he had the ships for them; but he had not the vessels,
having sent two to St. Matteo (Ft. Caroline), the one to take the
artillery they had captured, and the French women and children, to St.
Domingo, and to obtain provisions. The other had to go upon business of
his Majesty to other parts.
"'The French captain replied, "that he should grant to all, their lives,
and that they should remain with him until they could obtain shipping
for France, since they were not at war, and the kings of Spain and of
France were brothers and friends." The Adelantado said, "that was true,
and Catholics and friends he would favor, believing that he would serve
both kings in doing so; but as to themselves, being of the new sect, he
held them for enemies, and he would wage war upon them even to blood and
to fire; and that he would pursue them with all cruelty wherever he
should encounter them, in whatever sea or land where he should be
viceroy or captain general for his king; and that he would go and plant
the holy faith in this land, that the Indians might be enlightened and
be brought to the knowledge of the Holy Catholic Faith of Jesus Christ
our Saviour, as taught and announced by the Roman Church. That if they
wished to surrender their standards and their arms, and throw themselves
upon his mercy, they might do so, for _he would do with them what God
should of his grace direct_; or, they could do as they might deem
proper; that other treaty or friendship they should not have from him."
The French captain replied, that he could not then conclude any other
matter with the Adelantado. He went over in the boat, saying, that he
went to relate what had passed, and to agree upon what should be done,
and within two hours he would return with an answer. The Adelantado
said, "They could do as seemed best to them, and he would wait for
them." Two hours passed, when the same French captain returned, with
those who had accompanied him previously, and said to the General, "that
there were many people of family, and nobles among them, and that they
would give fifty thousand ducats, of ransom, if he would spare all their
lives." He answered, "that although he was a poor soldier, he could not
be governed by selfish interests, and if he were to be merciful and
lenient, he desired to be so without the suspicion of other motives."
The French captain returned to urge the matter. "Do not deceive
yourselves," said the Adelantado, "for if Heaven were to join to earth,
I would do no otherwise than I have said." The French officer then going
towards where his people stood, said, that in accordance with that
understanding he would return shortly with an answer; and within half an
hour he returned and placed in the boat, the standards, seventy
arquebuses, twenty pistols, a quantity of swords and shields, and some
helmets and breast-plates; and the captain came to where the General
stood, and said that all the French force there submitted themselves to
his clemency, and surrendered to him their standards and their arms. The
Adelantado then directed twenty soldiers to go in the boat and bring the
French, ten by ten. The river was narrow and easy to pass, and he
directed Diego Flores de Valdes, Admiral of the Fleet, to receive the
standards and the arms, and to go in the boat and see that the soldiers
did not maltreat them. The Adelantado then withdrew from the shore,
about two bow shots, behind a hillock of sand, within a copse of bushes,
where the persons who came in the boat which brought over the French,
could not see; and then said to the French captain and the other eight
Frenchmen who were there with him, "Gentlemen, I have but few men with
me, and they are not very effective, and you are numerous; and, going
unrestrained, it would be an easy thing to take satisfaction upon our
men for those whom we destroyed when we took the fort; and thus it is
necessary that you should march with hands tied behind, a distance of
four leagues from here where I have my camp." The French replied "that
they would do so;" and they had their hands tied strongly behind their
backs with the match ropes of the soldiers; and the ten who came in the
boat did not see those who had their hands tied, until they came up to
the same place; for it was so arranged, in order that the French who had
not passed the river, should not understand what was being done, and
might not be offended, and thus were tied two hundred and eight
Frenchmen. Of whom the Adelantado asked that if any among them were
Catholics, they should declare it. Eight said that they were Catholics,
and were separated from the others and placed in a boat, that they might
go by the river to St. Augustine; and all the rest replied "that they
were of the new religion, and held themselves to be very good
Christians; that this was their faith and no other." The Adelantado then
gave the order to march with them, having first given them meat and
drink, as each ten arrived, before being tied, which was done before the
succeeding ten arrived; and he directed one of his captains who marched
with the vanguard, that at a certain distance from there he would
observe a mark made by a lance, which he carried in his hand, which
would be in a sandy place that they would be obliged to pass in going on
their way towards the fort of St. Augustine, and that there the
prisoners should all be destroyed; and he gave the one in command of the
rearguard the same orders; and it was done accordingly; when, leaving
there all of the dead, they returned the same night before dawn, to the
fort at St. Augustine, although it was already sundown when the men were
killed.'"[11]
Such is the second part of this sad and bloody tragedy; which took place
at the Matanzas Inlet, about eighteen miles south of the city of St.
Augustine, and at the southerly end of Anastasia Island. The account we
have given, it must be borne in mind, is that of De Solis, the
brother-in-law and apologist of Menendez; but even under his extenuating
hand the conduct of Menendez was that of one deaf to the voice of
humanity, and exulting in cold-blooded treachery, dealing in vague
generalities intended to deceive, while affording a shallow apology for
the actor. A massacre in cold blood of poor shipwrecked, famished men,
prisoners yielding themselves to an expected clemency, tied up like
sheep, and butchered by poignard blows from behind, shocked alike the
moral sense of all to whom the tale without regard to faith or flag.
CHAPTER VIII.
FATE OF RIBAULT AND HIS FOLLOWERS--BLOODY MASSACRE AT MATANZAS--1565.
The first detachment of the French whom Menendez met and so utterly
destroyed, constituted the complement of a single vessel, which had been
thrown ashore at a more northerly point than the others. All these
vessels were wrecked between Mosquito Inlet and Matanzas.
Of the fate of the main detachment, under Ribault in person, we have the
following account, as related by the same apologist, the chaplain De
Solis:
"On the next day following the return of the Adelantado at St.
Augustine, the same Indians who came before returned, and said that 'a
great many more Christians were at the same part of the river as the
others had been.' The Adelantado concluded that it must be Jean Ribault,
the General of the Lutherans at sea and on land, whom they called the
Viceroy of this country for the king of France. He immediately went,
with one hundred and fifty men in good order, and reached the place
where he had lodged the first time, at about midnight; and at dawn he
pushed forward to the river, with his men drawn out, and when it was
daylight, he saw, two bow-shots from the other bank of the river, many
persons, and a raft made to cross over the people, at the place where
the Adelantado stood. But immediately, when the French saw the
Adelantado and his people, they took arms, and displayed a royal
standard and two standards of companies, sounding fifes and drums, in
very good order, and showing a front of battle to the Adelantado; who,
having ordered his men to sit down and take their breakfast, so that
they made no demonstration of any change, he himself walked up and down
the shore, with his admiral and two other captains, paying no attention
to the movement and demonstration of battle of the French; so that they
observing this, halted and the fifes and the drums ceased, while with a
bugle note they unfurled the white flag of peace, which was returned by
the Adelantado. A Frenchman placed himself upon the raft, and cried with
a loud voice that he wished to cross over, but that owing to the force
of the current he could not bring the raft over, and desired an Indian
canoe which was there to be sent over. The Adelantado said he could swim
over for it, under pledge of his word. A French sailor immediately came
over, but the General would not permit him to speak with him, but
directed him to take the canoe, and go and tell his captain, that
inasmuch as he called for a conference, if he desired anything he should
send over some one to communicate with him. The same sailor immediately
came with a gentleman, who said he was the sergeant major of Jean
Ribault, Viceroy and Captain General of this land for the king of
France, and that he had sent him to say, that they had been wrecked with
their fleet in a great storm, and that he had with him three hundred and
fifty French; that they wished to go to a fort which they held, twenty
leagues from there; that they wished the favor of boats, to pass this
river, and the other, four leagues further on, and that he desired to
know if they were Spaniards, and under what leader they served.
"The Adelantado answered him, that they were Spaniards, and that the
captain under whom they served was the person now addressing him, and
was called Pedro Menendez. That he should tell his General that the fort
which he held twenty leagues from there had been taken by him, and he
had destroyed all the French, and the rest who had come with the fleet,
because they were badly governed; and then, passing thence to where the
dead bodies of the Frenchmen whom he had killed still lay unburied,
pointed them out to him and said, therefore he could not permit them to
pass the river to their fort.
"The sergeant, with an unmoved countenance, and without any appearance
of uneasiness on account of what the Adelantado had said, replied, that
if he would have the goodness to send a gentleman of his party, to say
to the French general, that they might negotiate with safety, the people
were much exhausted, and the general would come over in a boat which was
there. The Adelantado replied, 'Farewell, comrade, and bear the answer
which they shall give you; and if your general desires to come and treat
with me, I give my word that he shall come and return securely, with
four or six of his people whom he may select for his advisors, that he
may do whatever he may conclude to be best.'
"The French gentleman then departed with this message. Within half an
hour he returned to accept the assurance the Adelantado had given, and
to obtain the boat; which the Adelantado was unwilling to let him have,
but said he could use the canoe, which was safe, and the strait was
narrow; and he again went back with this message.
"Immediately Jean Ribault came over, whom the Adelantado received very
well, with other eight gentleman, who had come with him. They were all
gentlemen of rank and position. He gave them a collation, and would have
given them food if they had desired. Jean Ribault with much humility,
thanked him for his kind reception, and said that to raise their
spirits, much depressed by the sad news of the death of their comrades,
they would partake only of the wine and condiments, and did not wish
anything else to eat. Then after eating, Jean Ribault said, 'that he saw
that those his companions were dead, and that he could not be mistaken
if he desired to be.' Then the Adelantado directed the soldiers to bring
each one whatever he had taken from the fort; and he saw so many things
that he knew for certain that it was taken: although he knew this
before, yet he could not wholly believe it, because among his men there
was a Frenchman by name of Barbero, of those whom the Adelantado had
ordered to be destroyed with the rest, and was left for dead with the
others, having with the first thrust he received fallen down and made as
though he were dead, and when they left there he had passed over by
swimming, to Ribault; and this Barbero held it for certain that the
Adelantado had deceived them in saying that the fort was taken, it not
being so; and thus until now he had supposed. The Adelantado said that
in order with more certainty to believe this and satisfy himself, he
might converse apart with the two Frenchmen who were present, to satisfy
him better; which he did.
"Immediately Jean Ribault came towards the Adelantado and said, 'it was
certain that all which he had told him was true; but that what had
happened to him, might have happened to the Adelantado; and since their
kings were brothers, and such great friends, the Adelantado should act
towards him as a friend, and give him ships and provisions, that he
might return to France.'
"The Adelantado replied in the same manner that he had done to the other
Frenchmen, as to what he would do; and that taking it or leaving it,
Jean Ribault could obtain nothing further from the Adelantado. Jean
Ribault then said that he would go and give an account of matters to
his people, for he had among them many of noble blood; and would return
or send an answer as to what he would do.
"Three hours afterwards, Jean Ribault returned in the canoe, and said,
'that there were different opinions among his people; that while some
were willing to yield themselves to his clemency, others were not.' The
Adelantado replied 'that it mattered but little to him whether they all
came, or a part, or none at all; that they should do as it pleased them,
and he would act with the same liberty.' Jean Ribault said to him, 'that
the half of the people who were willing to yield themselves to his
clemency, would pay him a ransom of more than 100,000 ducats; and the
other half were able to pay more, for there were among them persons of
wealth and large incomes, who had desired to establish estates in this
country.' The Adelantado answered him, 'It would grieve me much to lose
so great and rich a ransom, under the necessity I am under for such aid,
to carry forward the conquest and settlement of this land, in the name
of my king, as is my duty, and to plant here the Holy Evangel.' Jean
Ribault considered from this, that with the amount they could all give,
he might be induced to spare his own life and that of all the others who
were with him, and that they might be able to pay more than 200,000
ducats; and he said to the Adelantado, 'that he would return with his
answer to his people; that as it was late, he would take it as a favor
if he would be willing to wait until the following day, when, he would
bring their reply as to what they would conclude to do.' The Adelantado
said, 'Yes, that he would wait.' Jean Ribault then went back to his
people, it being already sunset. In the morning, he returned with the
canoe, and surrendered to the Adelantado two royal standards--the one
that of the king of France, the other that of the Admiral
(Coligny),--and the standards of the company, and a sword, dagger, and
helmet, gilded very beautifully; and also a shield, a pistol, and a
commission given him under the high admiral of France, to assure to him
his title and possessions.
"He then said to him, 'that but one hundred and fifty of the three
hundred and fifty whom he had with him were willing to yield to his
clemency, and that the others had withdrawn during the night; and that
they might take the boat and bring those who were willing to come over,
and their arms.' The Adelantado immediately directed the captain, Diego
Flores Valdes, Admiral of the fleet, that he should bring them over as
he had done the others, ten by ten; and the Adelantado, taking Jean
Ribault behind the sand hills, among the bushes where the others had
their hands tied behind them, he said to these and all the others as he
had done before, that they had four leagues to go after night, and that
he could not permit them to go unbound; and after they were all tied, he
asked if they were Catholics or Lutherans, or if any of them desired to
make confession.
"Jean Ribault replied, 'that all who were there were of the new
religion,' and he then began to repeat the psalm, '_Domine! Memento!
Mei_;' and having finished, he said, 'that from dust they came and to
dust they must return, and that in twenty years, more or less, he must
render his final account; that the Adelantado might do with them as he
chose.' The Adelantado then ordered all to be killed, in the same order
and at the same mark, as had been done to the others. He spared only the
fifers, drummers, and trumpeters, and four others who said that they
were Catholics, in all, sixteen persons." "_Todos los demas fueron
degallados_,"--"all the rest were slaughtered," is the sententious
summary lay which Padre de Solis announced the close of the sad career
of the gray-haired veteran, the brave soldier, the Admiral Jean Ribault,
and his companions.[12]
At some point on the thickly-wooded shores of the Island of Anastasio,
or beneath the shifting mounds of sand which mark its shores, may still
lie the bones of some of the three hundred and fifty who, spared from
destruction by the tempest, and escaping the perils of the sea and of
the savage, fell victims to the vindictive rancor and blind rage of one
than whom history recalls none more cruel, or less humane. But while
their bones, scattered on earth and sea, unhonored and unburied, were
lost to human sight, the tale of their destruction and sad fate,
scattered in like manner over the whole world, has raised to their
memory through sympathy with their fate, a memorial which will endure as
long as the pages of history.
The Adelantado returned that night to St. Augustine, where, says his
apologist, some persons censured him for his cruelty. Others commended
what he had done, as the act of a good general, and said that even if
they had been Catholics, he could not have done more justly than he had
done for them; for with the few provisions that the Adelantado had,
either the one or the other people would have had to perish with hunger,
and the French would have destroyed our people: they were the most
numerous.[13]
We have still to trace the fate of the body of two hundred, who retired
from Ribault after his final determination to surrender to the tender
mercies of Menendez. As we are already aware, it comprised the elite of
his force, men of standing and rank, and whose spirits had retained
energy to combat against the natural discouragements of their position;
and they adopted the nobler resolve of selling their lives, at least
with their swords in their hands.
De Solis proceeds to give the following further account of them:--
"Twenty days subsequently to the destruction of these, some Indians came
to the Adelantado, and informed him by signs, that eight days' journey
from here to the southward, near the Bahama Channel, at Canaveral, a
large number of people, brethren of those whom the General had caused to
be killed, were building a fort and a vessel. The Adelantado at once
came to the conclusion, that the French had retired to the place where
their vessels were wrecked, and where their artillery and munitions, and
provisions were, in order to build a vessel and return to France to
procure succor. The General thereupon dispatched from St. Augustine to
St. Matteo, ten of his soldiers, conveying intelligence of what had
taken place, and directing that they should send to him one hundred and
fifty of the soldiers there, with the thirty-five others who remained
when he returned to St. Augustine, after taking the fort. The master of
the camp immediately dispatched them, under command of Captains Juan
Velez de Medrano and Andrez Lopez Patrio; and they arrived at St.
Augustine on October 23d. On the 25th, after having heard mass, the
Adelantado departed for the coast, with three hundred men, and three
small vessels to go by sea with the arms and provisions; and the vessels
were to go along and progress equally with the troops; and each night
when the troops halted, the vessels also anchored by them, for it was a
clear and sandy coast.
"The Adelantado carried in the three vessels provisions for forty days
for three hundred men, and one day's ration was to last for two days;
and he promised to do everything for the general good of all, although
they might have to undergo many dangers and privations; that he had
great hope that he would have the goodness and mercy of God to aid him
in carrying through safely this so holy and pious an undertaking. He
then took leave of them, leaving most of them in tears, for he was much
loved, feared, and respected by all.[14]
"The Adelantado, after a wearisome journey, marching on foot himself the
whole distance, arrived in the neighborhood of the French camp on All
Saints Day, at daylight, guided by the Indians by land, and the three
vessels under the command of Captain Diego de Maya. As soon as the
French descried the Spaniards, they fled to their fort, without any
remaining. The Adelantado sent them a trumpeter, offering them their
lives, that they should return and should receive the same treatment as
the Spaniards. One hundred and fifty came to the Adelantado; and their
leader, with twenty others, sent to say that they would sooner be
devoured by the Indians, than surrender themselves to the Spaniards. The
Adelantado received those who surrendered, very well, and having set
fire to the fort, which was of wood, burned the vessel which they were
building, and buried the artillery, for the vessels could not carry
them."
De Solis here closes his account of the matter; but from other accounts
we learn that the Adelantado kept his faith on this occasion with them,
and that some entered his service, some were converted to his faith, and
others returned to France; and thus ended the Huguenot attempt to
colonize the shores of Florida.
There are several other accounts of the fate of Ribault and his
followers, drawn from the narratives of survivors of the expedition,
which, without varying the general order of events, fill in sundry
details of the massacres. The main point of difference is, as to the
pledges or assurances given by Menendez. The French accounts say that he
pledged his faith to them that their lives should be spared.[15] It will
be seen that the Spanish account denies that he did so, but makes him
use language subject to misconstruction, and calculated to deceive them
into the hope and expectation of safety. I do not see that in a
Christian or even moral view there is much difference between an open
breach of faith and the breach of an implied faith, particularly when it
was only by this deception that the surrender could have been
accomplished. Nor could Menendez have had a very delicate sense of the
value of the word of a soldier, a Christian, and a gentleman, when, as
his apologist admits, he did directly use the language of falsehood, to
induce them to submit to the degradation of having their hands tied.
Nor, considered in its broader aspects is it a matter of any consequence
whether he gave his word or no; nor does it lessen the enormity of his
conduct, had they submitted themselves in the most unreserved manner to
his discretion. France and Spain were at peace; no act of hostility had
been committed by the French toward the Spaniards; and Ribault asked
only to be allowed to pass on. In violation alike of the laws of war and
the law of humanity, he first induced them to surrender, to abide what
God, whose holy name he invoked, should put into his heart to do, and
then cajoling them into allowing their hands to be tied, he ordered them
to be killed, in their bonds as they stood, defenseless, helpless,
wrecked, and famished men. It would have been a base blot upon human
nature, had he thus served the most savage tribe of nations, standing on
that far shore, brought into the common sympathy of want and suffering.
The act seems one of monstrous atrocity, when committed against the
people of a sister nation.
CHAPTER IX.
FORTIFYING OF ST. AUGUSTINE--DISAFFECTIONS AND MUTINIES--APPROVAL OF
MENENDEZ' ACTS BY THE KING OF SPAIN. 1565-1568.
During the time of the several expeditions of the Adelantado against the
French Huguenots, the fortification and strengthening of the defenses of
the settlement at St. Augustine had not been neglected. The fort, or
Indian council-house, which had been first fortified, seems to have been
consumed in the conflagration spoken of; and thereupon a plan of a
regular fortification or fort was marked out by Menendez; and, as there
existed same danger of the return of the French, the Spaniards labored
unceasingly with their whole force, to put it in a respectable state of
defense. From an engraving contained in De Bry, illustrating the attack
of Sir Francis Drake, twenty years afterwards, this fort appears to have
been an octagonal structure of logs, and located near the site of the
present fort, while the settlement itself was probably made in the first
instance, at the lower end of the peninsula, near the building now
called "the powder-house."
He also established a government for the place, with civil and military
officials, a hall of justice, etc.
All of these matters were arranged by Menendez before his expedition
against the French at Canaveral, of whom one hundred and fifty returned
with him, and were received upon an equal footing with his own men, the
more distinguished being received at his own table upon the most
friendly terms; a clemency which, with a knowledge of his character, can
only be ascribed to motives of policy. The position of the French at
Canaveral was probably inaccessible, as they had their arms, besides
artillery brought from the vessels; and the duplicity which had
characterized his success with their comrades, was out of the question
here; the French could therefore exact their own terms, and unshackled
could forcibly resist any attempt at treachery.
The addition of this number to his force lessened the already diminished
supply of provisions which Menendez had brought with him; and want soon
began to threaten his camp. He sent as many of his soldiers as he could
into camp at San Matteo, and endeavored to draw supplies from the
Indians; but unfortunately for him, the country between the St. Johns
and St. Augustine was under the rule of the Indian Chief, Satouriara,
the friend (and ally of the French), whose hostility the Spaniards were
never able to overcome. Satouriara and his followers withdrew from all
peaceable intercourse with the Spaniards, and hung about their path to
destroy, harrass, and cut them off upon every possible occasion.
The winter succeeding the settlement of the Spaniards at St. Augustine,
was most distressing and discouraging to them. The lack of provisions in
their camp drove them to seek, in the surrounding country, subsistence
from the roots and esculent plants it might afford, or to obtain in the
neighboring creeks, fish and oysters; but no sooner did a Spaniard
venture out alone beyond, the gates of the fort, than he was grasped, by
some unseen foe, from the low underbrush and put to death, or a shower
of arrows from some tree-top was his first intimation of danger; if he
discharged his arquebuse towards his invisible assailants, others would
spring upon him before he could reload his piece; or, if he attempted to
find fish and oysters in some quiet creek, the noiseless canoe of an
Indian would dart in upon him, and the heavy war-club of the savage
descending upon his unprotected head, end his existence. Against such a
foe, no defense could avail; and it is related that more than one
hundred and twenty of the Spaniards were thus killed, including Captain
Martin de Ochoa, Captain Diego de Hevia, Fernando de Gamboa, and Juan
Menendez, a nephew of the Adelantado, and many others of the bravest and
most distinguished of the garrison.
In this crisis of affairs, the Governor concluded to go to Cuba himself,
to obtain relief for his colony. He in the meantime established a fort
at St. Lucia, near Canaveral. A considerable jealousy seems to have
existed on the part of the governor of Cuba; and he received Menendez
with great coolness, and in reply to his appeals for aid, only offered
an empty vessel. In this emergency, Menendez contemplated, as his only
means of obtaining what he wished, to go upon a filibustering expedition
against some Portuguese and English vessels which were in those waters.
While making preparations to do this, four vessels of the fleet with
which he had left Spain, and which had been supposed lost, arrived; and
after dispatching a vessel to Campeachy for provisions, he commenced
his return voyage to his colony, delaying however for a time in South
Florida, to seek intelligence among the Indians of his lost son.
In the meantime his garrisons at St. Augustine and San Matteo had
mutinied, and were in open revolt; provisions had become so scarce that
twenty-five reals had been given for a pound of biscuit, and but for the
fish they would have starved. They plundered the public stores,
imprisoned their officers, and seized upon a vessel laden with
provisions which had been sent to the garrison. The Master of the Camp
succeeded in escaping from confinement and releasing his fellow
prisoners, by a bold movement cut off the intercourse between the
mutineers on board the vessel and those on shore, and hung the Sergeant
Major, who was at the head of the movement. The Commandant then
attempted to attack those in the vessel, and was nearly lost with his
companions, by being wrecked on the bar. The vessel made sail to the
West India Islands. The garrison at San Matteo took a vessel there and
come around to St. Augustine, but arrived after their accomplices had
left.
Disease had already begun to make its ravages, and added to the general
wish to leave the country; which all would then have done had they had
the vessels in which to embark. They used for their recovery from
sickness, the roots of a native shrub, which produced marvelous cures.
At this period Menendez returned to the famished garrison, but was
forced to permit Juan Vicente, with one hundred of the disaffected, to
go to St. Domingo by a vessel which he dispatched there for supplies;
and it is said that the governors of the islands where they went,
harbored them, and that of some five hundred who on different occasions
deserted from the Adelantado, and all of whom had been brought out at
his cost, but two or three were ever returned to him; while the
deserters putting their own construction upon their acts, sent home to
the king of Spain criminations of the Adelantado, and represented the
conquest of Florida, as a hopeless and worthless acquisition; that it
was barren and swampy, and produced nothing.
After this defection, Menendez proceeded along the coast to San Matteo,
and thence to Guale, Amelia, and adjoining islands, Orista and St.
Helena; made peaceful proposals to the Indian tribes, lectured them upon
theology, and planted a cross at their council-houses. The cacique of
Guale asked Menendez how it was "that he had waged war upon the other
white men, who had come from the same country as himself?" He replied,
"that the other white people were bad Christians, and believers in lies;
and that those whom he had killed, deserved the most cruel death,
because they had fled their own country, and came to mislead and deceive
the caciques and other Indians, as they had already before misled and
deceived many other good Christians, in order that the devil may take
possession of them." While at St. Helena he succeeded in obtaining
permission of the Indians to erect a fort there, and he left a
detachment. On his return he also erected fort San Felipe, at Orista;
and after setting up a cross at Guale, the cacique demanded of him, that
as now they had become good Christians, he should cause rain to come
upon their fields; for a drought had continued eight months. The same
night a severe rain-storm happened, which confirmed the faith of the
Indians, and gained the Adelantado great credit with them. While here,
he learned that there was a fugitive Lutheran among the Indians, and he
took some pains to cause to be given to the fugitive hopes of good
treatment if he would come into the Spanish post at St. Helena, while he
gave private directions that he should be killed, directing his
lieutenant to make very strange of his disappearance; an incident very
illustrative of the vindictiveness and duplicity of Menendez.[16]
He returned to St. Augustine, and was received with great joy, and
devoted himself to the completion of the fort, which was to frighten the
savages, and enforce respect from strangers. It was built, it is said,
where it now stands, _donde este ahora_, (1722.)
The colony left at St. Helena mutinied almost immediately, and seizing a
vessel sent with supplies, sailed for Cuba, and were wrecked on the
Florida Keys, where they met at an Indian town the mutineers who had
deserted from the fort at St. Matteo: these had been also wrecked there.
The garrison again becoming much straitened for provisions, the
Adelantado, in June, was obliged to go to Cuba for succor. He was
received with indifference, and his wishes unheeded. He applied to the
governor of Mexico, and others who happened to be there, and who had the
power of assisting him; from all he received no encouragement, but the
advice to abandon his enterprise. He at last pawned his jewels, the
badge of his order, and his valuables, thus obtaining five hundred
ducats; with which he purchased provisions, and set sail on his return,
with only sixty-five men.
But just at this period succor came to the famished troops; a fleet of
seventeen vessels arrived with fifteen hundred men from Spain, under
Juan de Avila, as admiral. By this means all the posts were succored and
reinforced, and the enterprise saved from destruction; for the small
supplies brought by Menendez would have been soon exhausted, and further
efforts being out of his power, they would have been forced to withdraw
from the country.
The admiral of the fleet also had entrusted to him for the Adelantado a
letter from the king, written on the 12th of May, 1566, which, among
other matters, contained the following royal commendation of the acts of
Menendez. "Of the great success which has attended your enterprise, we
have the most entire satisfaction, and we bear in memory the loyalty,
the love, and the diligence, with which you have borne us service, as
well as the dangers and perils in which you have been placed; and as to
the _retribution_ you have visited upon the Lutheran pirates who sought
to occupy that country, and to fortify themselves there, in order to
disseminate in it their wicked creed, and to prosecute there their
wrongs and robberies, which they have done and were doing against God's
service and my own, we believe that you did it with every justification
and propriety, and we consider ourself to have been well served in so
doing."[17]
To this commendation of Philip II., it is unnecessary to add any
comment, save that no other action could have been expected of him. And
of Charles the Ninth, of France, the Spanish historian says that he
treated the memorial of the widows and orphans of the slain with
contempt, "considering their punishment to have been just, in that they
were equally enemies of Spain, of France, of the Church, and of the
peace of the world."
During the absence of Menendez to inspect his posts, disaffection again
broke out; and finding his force too numerous, he with sixteen vessels
went upon a freebooting expedition to attack pirates. He failed to meet
with any; but having learned that a large French fleet was on its way,
he visited and fortified the forts on the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola,
and Puerto Rico, and again returned to Florida; the expected French
fleet never having arrived. About this time, a small vessel brought from
Spain three learned and exemplary priests; one of whom, Padre Martinez,
landed upon the coast with some of the crew, and being unable to regain
the vessel, coasted along to St. George Island, where he was attacked
and murdered by the Indians, with a number of his companions.
The following year was principally occupied by Menendez, in
strengthening his fortifications at his three forts, in visiting the
Indian chiefs at their towns, and exploring the country. One of his
expeditions went as far north as the thirty-seventh degree of latitude
by sea, and another went to the foot of the Apalachian Mountains, about
one hundred and fifty leagues, and established a fort. The former was
about the mouth of the Chesapeake, called the Santa Maria,[18] and the
land expedition, probably to the up-country of Georgia, in the
neighborhood of Rome.
All attempts at pacifying their warlike neighbor were as fruitless as
their attempts to subjugate him; whether in artifice and duplicity, in
open warfare, or secret ambush, he was more than equal to the
Adelantado, and was a worthy ancestor of the modern Seminole,--never
present when looked for, and never absent when an opportunity of
striking a blow occurred.
The Adelantado having had built an extremely slight vessel of less than
twenty tons, called a frigate, concluded to visit Spain, and ran in
seventeen days to the Azores, sailing seventy leagues per day, an
exploit not often equaled in modern times. He was received with great
joy in Spain, and the king treated him with much consideration. The
Adelantado felt great anxiety to return to his colony, and deprecated
the delays of the court, fearing the result of the indignation at his
cruelty to the Huguenots, which, says his chronicler, increased day by
day.[19]
CHAPTER X.
THE NOTABLE REVENGE OF DOMINIC DE GOURGUES--RETURN OF MENENDEZ--INDIAN
MISSION--1568.
While Menendez thus remained at the Spanish court urging the completion
of his business, seeking compensation for the great expenditures which
he had made in the king's service, and vindicating himself from the
accusations which had been preferred against him,--the revenge, the
distant murmurs of which had already reached his ears, fell upon the
Spaniards on the St. Johns.
Dominic de Gourgues, one of those soldiers of fortune who then abounded
throughout Europe, took upon himself the expression of the indignation
with which the French nation viewed the slaughter of their countrymen.
From motives of policy, or from feelings still less creditable, the
French court ignored the event; but it rankled nevertheless in the
national heart, and many a secret vow of revenge was breathed, the low
whispers of which reached even the confines of the Spanish court.
Conscience, and the knowledge that the sentiment of the age was against
him, made Menendez from the moment of his success exceedingly anxious
lest well-merited retribution should fall upon his own colony. He
guarded against it in every way in his power; he strengthened all his
posts; he erected for the protection of San Matteo, formerly Fort
Caroline, two small forts on either side of the entrance of the river,
at the points now known as Batten Island and Mayport Mills. He placed
large garrisons at each post, and had made such arrangements against
surprise or open attack upon his forts, that Father Mendoza boasted
that, "half of all France could not take them."
De Gourgues, with three vessels and about two hundred and fifty chosen
men, animated with like feelings with himself, appeared in April, 1568,
off the mouth of the St. Johns. The Spanish fort received his vessels
with a salute, supposing them to be under the flag of Spain. De Gourgues
returned the salute, thus confirming their error. He then entered the
St. Marys, called the Somme, and was met by a large concourse of
Indians, friendly to the French and bitterly hostile to the Spaniards,
at the head of whom was the stern and uncompromising Satouriara. Their
plans were quickly formed, and immediately carried into execution. Their
place of rendezvous was the Fort George Inlet, called by them the
Sarabay; and they traversed that island at low tide, fell suddenly upon
the fort at Batten Island on the north side of the river, completely
surprising it. The force occupying the Spanish forts amounted to four
hundred men, one hundred and twenty of whom occupied the two forts at
the mouth of the river, and the remainder Fort Caroline. The French with
their Indian allies approached the fort on the north side of the river
at day-break. Having waded the intervening marsh and creek, to the great
damage of their feet and legs by reason of the oyster banks, they
arrived within two hundred yards of the post, when they were discovered
by the sentinel upon the platform of the fort; who immediately cried,
"to arms," and discharged twice at the French a culverin which had been
taken at Fort Caroline. Before he could load it a third time the brave
Olatocara leaped upon him, and killed him with a pike. Gourgues then
charging in, the garrison, by this time alarmed, rushed out, armed
hastily and seeking escape; another part of Gourgues' force coming up,
inclosed the Spaniards between them, and all but fifteen of the garrison
perished on the spot; the others were taken prisoners, only to be
reserved for the summary vengeance which the French leader meditated.
The Spanish garrison in the other fort kept up in the mean time a brisk
cannonade, which incommoded the assailants, who however soon managed to
point the pieces of the fort they had taken; and under the cover of this
fire the French crossed to the other fort, their Indian allies in great
numbers swimming with them. The garrison of sixty men, panic-struck,
made no attempt at resistance, but fled, endeavoring to reach the main
fort; being intercepted by the Indians in one direction, and by the
French in another, but few made good their escape. These, arriving at
Fort Caroline, carried an exaggerated account of the number of their
assailants.
De Gourgues at once pushed forward to attack Fort Caroline, while its
defenders were terrified at the suddenness of his attack, and the
supposed strength of his force. Upon his arrival near the fort, the
Spanish commander sent out a detachment of sixty men, to make a
reconnoisance. De Gourgues skillfully interposed a body of his own men
with a large number of the Indians between the reconnoitering party and
the fort, and then with his main force charged upon them in front: when
the Spaniards, turning to seek the shelter of the fort, were met by the
force in their rear, and were all either killed or taken prisoners.
Seeing this misfortune, the Spanish commander despaired of being able to
hold the fortress, and determined to make a timely retreat to St.
Augustine. In attempting this, most of his followers fell into the hands
of the Indians, and were slain upon the spot; the commandant with a few
others alone escaped.
De Gourgues, now completely successful in making retaliation for the
fate of his countrymen on the same spot where they suffered, on the same
tree which had borne the bodies of the Huguenots caused his prisoners to
be suspended; and as Menendez had on the former occasion erected a
tablet that they had been punished "not as Frenchmen but as Lutherans,"
so De Gourgues in like manner erected an inscription that he had done
this to them "_not as to Spaniards, nor as to outcasts, but as to
traitors, thieves and murderers_."[20]
After inducing the Indians to destroy the forts, and to raze them to the
ground, he set sail for France, arriving safely without further
adventure.
His conduct was at the time disavowed and censured by the French court;
and the Spanish ambassador had the assurance, in the name of that master
who had publicly declared his approval of the conduct of Menendez, to
demand the surrender of De Gourgues to his vengeance. The brave captain,
however the crown might seem to disapprove, was secretly sustained and
protected by many distinguished persons official and private, and by the
mass of the people; to whom his boldness, spirit, and signal success
were grateful. Some years afterwards he was restored to the favor of his
sovereign, and appointed admiral of the fleet.
That De Gourgues deserves censure, cannot be denied; but there will
always exist an admiration for his courage and intrepid valor, with a
sympathy for the bitter provocations under which he acted, both personal
and national; a sympathy not shared with Menendez, who visited his wrath
upon the religious opinions of men, while De Gourgues was the
unauthorized avenger of undoubted crime and inhumanity. Both acted in
violation of the pure spirit of that Christianity which they alike
professed to revere, under the same form.
While these scenes were enacting on the St. Johns, Menendez was on his
way to his colonies, where he first heard of the descent of De Gourgues,
then on his way back to France. The Adelantado upon his arrival found
his troops hungry and naked, and their relations with the Indians worse
than ever. Having made such arrangements as were in his power, he
returned to Havana, to further his plans for introducing Christianity
among the Indians; to which, to his credit be it said, he devoted the
greater share of his time and attention. Father Rogel applied himself to
learning their language, with great success; and an institution was
established in Havana especially for their instruction. In the Ensayo
Cronologica, there is set forth in full, a rescript addressed by Pope
Pius V., to Menendez, conveying to him the acknowledgements of his
Holiness for the zeal and loyalty he had exhibited, and his labors in
carrying the faith to the Indians, and urging him strongly to see to it
that his Indian converts should not be scandalized by the vicious lives
of their white brethren who claimed to be Christians.
A small party of Spaniards, as has already been mentioned, accompanied
by a priest, De Quiros, had been left upon the Chesapeake, and under the
auspices of a young converted chief, who had been some time with the
Spaniards in Havana and Florida, anticipated a more easy access to the
Indian tribes in that region. Another priest, with ten associates, went
the following year; when, after they had sent away their vessel, they
discovered that their predecessor had been murdered, through the
treachery of the renegade apostate; and they themselves shortly fell
victims to his perfidy. Menendez dispatched a third vessel there; when
the fate of the two former parties was ascertained, and he went in
person to chastise the murderers; he succeeded in capturing six or
seven, who, it is said, (rather improbably I think), confessed
themselves to have been implicated in the massacre. Menendez, in his
summary and sailor-like way, ordered their execution at the yard-arm of
his vessel. The Cronicle says that they were first converted and
baptized, by the zeal of Father Rogel, before the sentence was carried
into execution. A long period elapsed before any further efforts were
made in this quarter to establish a colony; and it was then accomplished
by the English. In consequence of these temporary establishments,
however, the Spanish crown, for a long period, claimed the whole of the
intervening country, as lying within its Province of Florida.
The annals of the city during the remainder of the life of Menendez,
present only the usual vicissitudes of new settlements,--the
alternations of supply and want, occasional disaffections, and petty
annoyances.
Menendez was the recipient from his court of new honors from time to
time, and had been appointed the grand admiral of the Spanish Armada;
when, in September, 1574, he was suddenly carried off by a fever, at the
age of fifty-five. It is a singular coincidence that De Gourgues, five
years afterwards, was carried off in a similar manner, just after his
appointment as admiral of the French fleet. A splendid monument in the
church of San Nicolas, at Aviles, was erected to the memory of Menendez,
with the following inscription:
"HERE LIES BURIED THE ILLUSTRIOUS CAVALIER, PEDRO MENENDEZ DE
AVILES, A NATIVE OF THIS CITY, ADELANTADO OF THE PROVINCES OF
FLORIDA, KNIGHT COMMANDER OF SANTA CRUZ OF THE ORDER OF SANTIAGO,
AND CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THE OCEANIC SEAS AND OF THE ARMADA WHICH HIS
ROYAL HIGHNESS COLLECTED AT SANTANDER IN THE YEAR 1574, WHERE HE
DIED ON THE 17TH OF SEPTEMBER OF THAT YEAR, IN THE 55TH YEAR OF HIS
AGE."
CHAPTER XI.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S ATTACK UPON ST. AUGUSTINE--ESTABLISHMENT OF
MISSIONS--MASSACRE OF MISSIONARIES AT ST. AUGUSTINE--1586-1638.
Nine years had elapsed from the death of Menendez, and the colony at St.
Augustine had slowly progressed into the settlement of a small town; but
the eclat and importance which the presence of Menendez had given it,
were much lessened; when, in 1586, Sir Francis Drake, with a fleet
returning from South America, discovered the Spanish look-out upon
Anastasia Island, and sent boats ashore to ascertain something in
reference to it. Marching up the shore, they discovered across the bay,
a fort, and further up a town built of wood.
Proceeding towards the fort, which bore the name of San Juan de Pinas,
some guns were fired upon them from it, and they retired towards their
vessel; the same evening a fifer made his appearance, and informed them
that he was a Frenchman, detained a prisoner there, and that the
Spaniards had abandoned their fort; and he offered to conduct them over.
Upon this information they crossed the river and found the fort
abandoned as they had been informed, and took possession of it without
opposition. It was built entirely of wood, and only surrounded by a wall
or pale formed of the bodies or trunks of large trees, set upright in
the earth; for, says the narrative, it was not at that time inclosed by
a ditch, as it had been but lately begun by the Spaniards. The platforms
were made of the bodies of large pine trees (of which there are plenty
here), laid horizontally across each other, with earth rammed in to fill
up the vacancies. Fourteen brass cannon were found in the fort, and
there was left behind the treasure chest, containing £2,000 sterling,
designed for the payment of the garrison, which consisted of one hundred
and fifty men. Whether the massive, iron-bound mahogany chest,[21]
still preserved in the old fort is the same which fell into the hands
of Drake, is a question for antiquaries to decide; its ancient
appearance might well justify the supposition.
On the following day, Drake's forces marched towards the town, but
owing, it is said, to heavy rains, were obliged to return and go in the
boats. On their approach, the Spaniards fled into the country. It is
said, in Barcia, that a Spaniard concealed in the bushes, fired at the
sergeant major and wounded him, and then ran up and dispatched him, and
that in revenge for this act, Drake burnt their buildings and destroyed
their gardens. The garrison and inhabitants retired to fort San Matteo,
on the St. Johns river. Barcia says that the population of the place was
then increasing considerably, and that it possessed a hall of justice,
parochial church, and other buildings, together with gardens in the rear
of the town.
An engraved plan or view of Drake's descent upon St. Augustine,
published after his return to England, represents an octagonal fort
between two streams; at the distance of half a mile another stream;
beyond that the town, with a look-out and two religious houses, one of
which is a church, and the other probably the house of the Franciscans,
who had shortly before established a house of their order there. The
town contains three squares lengthwise, and four in width, with gardens
on the west side.
Some doubt has been thrown on the actual site of the first settlement,
by this account; but I think it probably stood considerably to the south
of the present public square, between the barracks and the powder-house.
Perhaps the Maria Sanchez creek may have then communicated with the bay
near its present head, in wet weather and at high tides isolating the
fort from the town. The present north ditch may have been the bed of a
tide creek, and thus would correspond to the appearance presented by the
sketch. It is well known that the north end of the city was built at a
much later period than the southern, and that the now vacant space below
the barracks, was once occupied with buildings. Buildings and fields are
shown upon Anastasia Island, opposite the town. The relative position of
the town with reference to the entrance of the harbor is correctly shown
on the plan; and there seems no sufficient ground to doubt the identity
of the present town with the ancient locality.
The garrison and country were then under the command of Don Pedro
Menendez, a nephew of the Adelantado, who, after the English squadron
sailed, having received assistance from Havana began, it is said, to
rebuild the city, and made great efforts to increase its population, and
to induce the Indians to settle in its neighborhood.
In 1592, twelve Franciscan missionaries arrived at St. Augustine, with
their Superior, Fray Jean de Silva, and placed themselves under the
charge of Father Francis Manon, Warden of the convent of St. Helena. One
of them, a Mexican, Father Francis Panja, drew up in the language of the
Yemasees his "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," said to be the first
work compiled in any of our Indian languages.
The Franciscan Father Corpa established a Mission house for the Indians
at Talomato, in the northwest portion of the city of St, Augustine,
where there was then an Indian village. Father Blas de Rodriguez, also
called Montes, had an Indian Church at a village of the Indians called
Tapoqui, situated on the creek called Cano de la Leche, north of the
fort; and the church bearing the name of "Our Lady of the Milk" was
situated on the elevated ground a quarter of a mile north of the fort,
near the creek. A stone church existed at this locality as late as 1795,
and the crucifix belonging to it is preserved in the Roman Catholic
Church at St. Augustine.
These missions proceeded with considerable apparent success, large
numbers of the Indians being received and instructed both at this and
other missions.
Among the converts at the mission of Talomato, was the son of the
cacique of the province of Guale, a proud and high-spirited young
leader, who by no means submitted to the requirements of his spiritual
fathers, but indulged in excesses which scandalized his profession.
Father Corpa, after trying private remonstrances and warnings in vain,
thought it necessary to administer to him a public rebuke. This aroused
the pride of the young chief, and he suddenly left the mission,
determined upon revenge. He gathered from the interior a band of
warriors, whom he inspired with his own hatred against the missionaries.
Returning to Talomato with his followers under the cover of night, he
crept up to the mission house, burst open the chapel doors, and slew the
devoted Father Corpa while at prayer; then severed his head from his
body, set it upon a pikestaff, and threw his body out into the forest
where it could never afterwards be found. The scene of this tragedy was
in the neighborhood of the present Roman Catholic cemetery of St.
Augustine.
As soon as this occurrence became known in the Indian village, all was
excitement; some of the most devoted bewailing the death of their
spiritual father, while others dreaded the consequences of so rash an
act, and shrunk with terror from the vengeance of the Spaniards, which
they foresaw would soon follow. The young chief of Guale gathered them
around him, and in earnest tones addressed them. "Yes," said he, "the
friar is dead. It would not have been done, if he would have allowed us
to live as we did before we became Christians. We desire to return to
our ancient customs; and we must provide for our defense against the
punishment which will be hurled upon us by the Governor of Florida,
which, if it be allowed to reach us, will be as rigorous for this single
friar as if we had killed them all.--For the same power which we possess
to destroy this one priest, we have to destroy them all."
His followers approved of what had been done, and said there was no
doubt but what the same vengeance would fall upon them for the death of
the one, as for all.
He then resumed. "Since we shall receive equal punishment for the death
of this one, as though we had killed them all, let us regain the liberty
of which these friars have robbed us, with their promises of good things
which we have not yet seen, but which they seek to keep us in hope of,
while they accumulate upon us who are called Christians, injuries and
disgusts, making us quit our wives, restricting us to one only, and
prohibiting us from changing her.--They prevent us from having our
balls, banquets, feasts, celebrations, games and contests, so that being
deprived of them, we lose our ancient valor and skill which we inherited
from our ancestors. Although they oppress us with labor, refusing to
grant even the respite of a few days, and although we are disposed to do
all they require from us, they are not satisfied; but for everything
they reprimand as, injuriously treat us, oppress us, lecture us, call us
bad Christians, and deprive us of all the pleasures which our fathers
enjoyed, in the hope that they would give us heaven; by these frauds
subjecting us and holding us under their absolute control. And what have
we to hope except to be made slaves? If we now put them all to death, we
shall destroy these excrescenses, and force the governor to treat us
well."
The majority were carried away by his address, and rung out the war-cry
of death and defiance. While still eager for blood, their chief led them
to the Indian town of Tapoqui, the mission of Father Montes, on the
Cano de la Leche; tumultuously rushing in, they informed the missionary
of the fate of Father Corpa, and that they sought his own life and those
of all his order; and then with uplifted weapons bade him prepare to
die. He reasoned and remonstrated with them, portraying the folly and
wickedness of their intentions, that the vengeance of the Spaniards
would surely overtake them, and implored them with tears, that for their
own sakes rather than his, they would pause in their mad designs. But
all in vain; they were alike insensible to his eloquence, and his tears,
and pressed forward to surround him. Finding all else vain, he begged as
a last favor that he should be permitted to celebrate mass before he
died. In this he was probably actuated in part by the hope that their
fierce hatred might be assuaged by the sight of the ceremonies of their
faith, or that the delay might afford time for succor from the adjoining
garrison.
The permission was given; and there for the last time the worthy Father
put on his robes, which might well be termed his robes of sacrifice. The
wild and savage crowd, thirsting for his blood, reclined upon the floor
and looked on in sullen silence, awaiting the conclusion of the rites.
The priest alone, standing before the altar, proceeded with this most
sad and solemn mass, then cast his eyes to heaven and knelt in private
supplication; where the next moment he fell under the blows of his cruel
foes, bespattering the altar at which he ministered, with his own life's
blood. His crushed remains were thrown into the fields, that they might
serve for the fowls of the air or the beasts of the forest; but not one
would approach it, except a dog, which, rushing forward to lay hold upon
the body, fell dead upon the spot, says the ancient chronicle; and an
old Christian Indian, recognizing it, gave it sepulture in the forest.
From thence the ferocious young chief of Guale led his followers against
several missions, in other parts of the country, which he attacked and
destroyed, together with their attendant clergy. Thus upon the soil of
the ancient city was shed the blood of Christian martyrs, who were
laboring with a zeal well worthy of emulation, to carry the truths of
religion to the native tribes of Florida. Two hundred and sixty years
have passed away since these sad scenes were enacted; but we can not
even now repress a tear of sympathy and a feeling of admiration for
those self-denying missionaries of the cross, who sealed their faith
with their blood, and fell victims to their energy and devotion. The
spectacle of the dying priest struck down at the altar, attired in his
sacred vestments, and perhaps imploring pardon upon his murderers,
cannot fail to call up in the heart of the most insensible, something
more than a passing emotion.
The zeal of the Franciscans was only increased by this disaster, and
each succeeding year brought additions to their number. They pushed
their missions into the interior of the country so rapidly that in less
than two years they had established through the principal towns of the
Indiana no less than twenty mission houses. The presumed remains of
these establishments are still occasionally to be found throughout the
interior of the country.
CHAPTER XII.
SUBJECTION OF THE APALACHIAN INDIANS--CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORT, SEA
WALL, &c.--1638-1700.
In the year 1638, hostilities were entered into between the Spanish
settlements on the coast, and the Apalachian Indians, who occupied the
country in the neighborhood of the river Suwanee. The Spaniards soon
succeeded in subduing their Indian foes; and in 1640, large numbers of
the Apalachian Indians were brought to St. Augustine, and in alleged
punishment for their outbreak, and with a sagacious eye to the
convenience of the arrangement, were forced to labor upon the public
works and fortifications of the city. At this period the English
settlements along the coast to the northward, had begun to be formed,
much to the uneasiness and displeasure of the Spanish crown, which for a
long period claimed, by virtue of exploration and occupation, as well as
by the ancient papal grant of Alexander, all the eastern coast of the
United States. Their missionaries had penetrated Virginia before the
settlement at Jamestown; and they had built a fort in South Carolina,
and kept up a garrison for some years in it. But the Spanish government
had become too feeble to compete with either the English or the French
on the seas; and with the loss of their celebrated Armada, perished
forever their pretensions as a naval power. They were therefore forced
to look to the safety of their already established settlements in
Florida; and the easy capture of the fort at St. Augustine by the
passing squadron of Drake, evinced the necessity of works of a much more
formidable character.
It is evident that the fort, or castle as it was usually designated, had
been then commenced, although its form was afterwards changed; and for
sixty years subsequently, these unfortunate Apalachian Indians were
compelled to labor upon the works, until in 1680, upon the
recommendation of their mission Fathers, they were relieved from further
compulsory labor, with the understanding that in case of necessity they
would resume their labors.
In 1648, St. Augustine is described to have contained more than three
hundred householders (_vecinos_), a flourishing monastry of the order of
St. Francis with fifty Franciscans, men very zealous for the conversion
of the Indians, and regarded by their countrymen with the highest
veneration. Besides these there were in the city alone, a vicar, a
parochial curate, a superior sacristan, and a chaplain attached to the
castle. The parish church was built of wood, the Bishop of Cuba, it is
said, not being able to afford anything better, his whole income being
but four hundred pezos per annum, which he shared with Florida; and
sometimes he expended much more than his receipts.
In 1665, Captain Davis, one of the English buccaneers and freebooters
(then very numerous in the West Indies), with a fleet of seven or eight
vessels came on the coast from Jamaica, to intercept the Spanish plate
fleet on its return from New Spain to Europe; but being disappointed in
this scheme, he proceeded along the coast of Florida, and came off St.
Augustine, where he landed and marched directly upon the town, which he
sacked and plundered, without meeting the least opposition or resistance
from the Spaniards, although they had then a garrison of two hundred men
in the fort, which at that time was an octagon, fortified and defended
by round towers.
The fortifications, if this account be true, were probably then very
incomplete; and with a vastly inferior force it is not surprising that
they did not undertake what could only have been an ineffectual
resistance. It does not appear that the fort was taken; and the
inhabitants retired probably within its enclosure with their
valuables.[22]
In the Spanish account of the various occurrences in this country, it is
mentioned that in 1681, "the English having examined a province of
Florida, distant twelve leagues from another called New Castle, where
the air is pleasant, the climate mild, and the lands very fertile,
called it Salvania; and that knowing these advantages, a Quaker, or
Shaker (a sect barbarous impudent, and abominable), called William Penn,
obtained a grant of it from Charles II., King of England, and made great
efforts to colonize it." Such was the extent then claimed for the
province of Florida, and such the opinion entertained of the Quakers.
In 1681, Don Juan Marquez Cabrera, applied himself at once, upon his
appointment to the governorship of Florida, to finishing the castle;
and collected large quantities of stone, lime, timber, and iron, more
than sufficient subsequently to complete it. About this period, a new
impulse was given to the extension of the missions for converting the
Indians; and large reinforcements of the clerical force were received
from Mexico, Havana, and Spain; and many of them received salaries from
the crown. A considerable Indian town is spoken of at this period, as
existing six hundred varas north of St. Augustine, and called Macarasi,
which would correspond to the place formerly occupied by Judge Douglas,
deceased, and which has long been called Macariz. Other parts of the
country were known by various names. Amelia Island was the province of
Guale. The southern part of the country was known as the province of
Carlos. Indian river was the province of Ys. Westwardly was the province
of Apalachie; while smaller divisions were designated by the names of
the chiefs.
It is hardly to be doubted, that the same spirit of oppression towards
the Indians, exercised in the other colonies under Spanish domination,
existed in Florida. It has been already mentioned that the Apalachians
were kept at labor upon the fortifications of St. Augustine; and in
1680, the Yemasees, who had always been particularly peaceful and
manageable, and whose principal town was Macarisqui, near St. Augustine,
revolted at the rule exercised over them by the Spanish authorities at
St. Augustine, in consequence of the execution of one of their chiefs by
the order of the governor; and six years afterwards they made a general
attack upon the Spaniards, drove them within the walls of the castle,
and became such mortal enemies to them, that they never gave a Spaniard
quarter, waylaying, and invariably massacring, any stragglers they could
intercept outside of the fort.
In 1670, an English settlement was established near Port Royal, South
Carolina, one hundred and five years subsequent to the settlement of St.
Augustine. The Spaniards regarded it as an infringement upon their
rights; and although a treaty, after this settlement, had been made
between Spain and England, confirming to the latter all her settlements
and islands, yet as no boundaries or limits were mentioned, their
respective rights and boundaries remained a subject of dispute for
seventy years.
About 1675, the Spanish authorities at St. Augustine, having
intelligence from _white servants_ who fled to them, of the discontented
and miserable situation of the colony in Carolina, advanced with a
party under arms as far as the Island of St. Helena, to dislodge or
destroy the settlers. A treacherous colonist of the name of Fitzpatrick,
deserted to the Spaniards; but the governor, Sir John Yeamans, having
received a reinforcement, held his ground; and a detachment of fifty
volunteers under Colonel Godfrey, marched against the enemy, forcing
them to retire from the Island of St. Helena, and retreat to St.
Augustine.[23]
Ten years afterwards, three galleys sailed from St. Augustine, and
attacked a Scotch and English settlement at Port Royal, which had been
founded by Lord Cardross, in 1681. The settlement was weak and
unprotected, and the Spaniards fell upon them, killed several, whipped
many, plundered all, and broke up the colony. Flushed with success, they
continued their depredations on Edisto River, burning the houses,
wasting the plantations, and robbing the settlers; and finished their
marauding expedition by capturing the brother of Governor Morton, and
burning him alive in one of the galleys which a hurricane had driven so
high upon land as to make it impossible to have it re-launched. Such at
least is the English account of the matter; and they say that intestine
troubles alone prevented immediate and signal retaliation by the South
Carolinians.[24]
One Captain Don Juan de Aila went to Spain in the year 1687, in his own
vessel, to procure additional forces and ammunition for the garrison at
St. Augustine. He received the men and munitions desired; and as a
reward for his diligence and patriotism, he also received the privilege
of carrying merchandise, duty free; being also allowed to take twelve
Spanish negroes for the cultivation of the fields of Florida, of whom it
is said there was a great want in that province. By a mischance, he was
only able to carry one negro there, with the troops and other cargo, and
was received in the city with universal joy. This was the first occasion
of the reception of African slaves; although as has been heretofore
mentioned, it was made a part of the royal stipulation with Menendez,
that he should bring over five hundred negro slaves.
Don Diego de Quiroga y Losada, the governor of Florida in 1690, finding
that the sea was making dangerous encroachments upon the shores of the
town, and had reached even the houses, threatening to swallow them up,
and render useless the fort which had cost so much to put in the state
of completion in which it then was, called a public meeting of the chief
men and citizens of the place, and proposed to them that in order to
escape the danger which menaced them, and to restrain the force of the
sea, they should construct a wall, which should run from the castle and
cover and protect the city from all danger of the sea. The inhabitants
not only approved of his proposal, but began the work with so much zeal,
that the soldiers gave more than seventeen hundred dollars of their
wages, although they were very much behind, not having been paid in six
years; with which the governor began to make the necessary preparations,
and sent forward a dispatch to the home government upon the subject.
The council of war of the Indies approved, in the following year, of the
work of the sea wall, and directed the viceroy of New Spain to furnish
ten thousand dollars for it, and directed that a plan and estimate of
the work should be forwarded. Quiroga was succeeded in the governorship
of Florida, by Don Laureano de Torres, who went forward with the work of
the sea wall, and received for this purpose the means furnished by the
soldiers, and one thousand dollars more, which they offered besides the
two thousand dollars, and likewise six thousand dollars which had come
from New Spain, remitted by the viceroy, Count de Galleo, for the
purpose of building a tower, as a look-out to observe the surrounding
Indian settlements. Whether this tower was erected, or where, we have no
certain knowledge. The towers erected on the governor's palace and at
the northeast angle of the fort, were intended as look-outs both sea and
landward.
The statements made in reference to the building of this wall, from the
castle as far as the city, confirm the opinion previously expressed,
that the ancient and early settlement of the place was south of the
public square, as the remains of the ancient sea wall extend to the
basin at the Plaza. The top of this old sea wall is still visible along
the centre of Bay street, where it occasionally appears above the level
of the street; and its general plan and arrangement are shown on several
old maps and plans of the city. Upon a plan of the city made in 1665, it
is represented as terminating in a species of break-water at the public
square. It is unnecessary to add that the present sea wall is a much
superior structure to the old, and extends above twice the distance. Its
cost is said to have been one hundred thousand dollars, and it was
building from 1837 to 1843.
In the year 1700, the work on the sea wall had progressed but slowly,
although the governor had employed thirty stone-cutters at a time, and
had eight yoke of oxen drawing stone to the landing, and two lime-kilns
all the while at work. But the money previously provided, and
considerable additional funds was requisite, resembling in this respect
its successor. The new governor, De Curriga, took the matter in hand, as
he had much experience in fortifications. The defenses of the fort are
spoken of as being at the time too weak to resist artillery, and the
sea wall as being but a slight work.
CHAPTER XIII.
ATTACK ON ST. AUGUSTINE BY GOVERNOR MOORE OF SOUTH
CAROLINA--DIFFICULTIES WITH THE GEORGIANS. 1702-1732.
Hostilities had broken out between England and Spain in 1702. The
English settlements in Carolina only numbered six or seven thousand
inhabitants, when Governor Moore, who was an ambitious and energetic
man, but with serious defects of character, led an invading force from
Carolina against St. Augustine. The pretense was to retaliate for old
injuries, and, by taking the initiative, to prevent an attack upon
themselves. The real motive was said by Gov. Moore's opponents at home,
to have been the acquisition of military reputation and private gain.
The plan of the expedition embraced a combined land and naval attack:
and for this purpose six hundred provincial militia were embodied, with
an equal number of Indian allies; a portion of the militia, with the
Indians, were to go inland by boats and by land, under the command of
Col. Daniel, who is spoken of as a good officer, while the main body
proceeded with the governor by sea in several merchant schooners and
ships which had been impressed for the service.
The Spaniards, who had received intimations of the contemplated attack,
placed themselves in the best posture of defense in their power, and
laid up provisions in the castle to withstand a long siege.
The forces under Col. Daniel arrived in advance of the naval fleet of
the expedition, and immediately marched upon the town. The inhabitants,
upon his approach, retired with their most valuable effects within the
spacious walls of the castle, and Col. Daniel entered and took
possession of the town, the larger part of which, it must be
recollected, was at some distance from the castle.
The quaint description of these events, given by Oldmixon, is as
follows:--
"Col. Rob. Daniel, a very brave man, commanded a party who were to go
up the river in periagas, and come upon Augustino on the land side,
while the Governour sailed thither, and attacked it by sea. They both
set out in August, 1702. Col. Daniel, in his way, took St. Johns, a
small Spanish settlement; as also St. Mary's, another little village
belonging to the Spaniards; after which he proceeded to Augustino, came
before the town, entered and took it, Col. Moor not being yet arrived
with the fleet.
"The inhabitants having notice of the approach of the English, had
packed up their best effects and retired with them into the castle,
which was surrounded by a very deep and broad moat.
"They had laid up provisions there for four months, and resolved to
defend themselves to the last extremity. However, Col. Daniel found a
considerable booty in the town. The next day the Governour came ashore,
and his troops following him, they entrenched, posted their guards in
the church, and blocked up the castle. The English held possession of
the town a whole month; but finding they could do nothing for want of
mortars and bombs, they despatched away a sloop for Jamaica; but the
commander of the sloop, instead of going thither, came to Carolina out
of fear of treachery. Finding others offered to go in his stead, he
proceeded in the voyage himself, after he had lain some time at
Charlestown.
"The Governour all this while lay before the castle of Augustino, in
expectation of the return of the sloop, which hearing nothing of, he
sent Col. Daniel, who was the life of the action, to Jamaica on the same
errand.
"This gentleman, being hearty in the design, procured a supply of bombs,
and returned towards Augustino. But in the mean time two ships appeared
in the offing, which being taken to be two very large men of war, the
Governour tho't fit to raise the siege and abandon his ships, with a
great quantity of stores, ammunition, and provisions, to the enemy. Upon
which the two men of war entered the port of Augustino, and took the
Governour's ships. Some say he burnt them himself. Certain it is they
were lost to the English, and that he returned to Charles-Town over land
300 miles from Augustino. The two men of war that were thought to be so
large, proved to be two small frigates, one of 82, and the other of 16
guns.[25]
"When Col. Daniel came back to St. Augustine, he was chased, but got
away; and Col. Moor retreated with no great honor homewards. The
periagas lay at St. Johns, whither the Governour retired and so to
Charles-Town, having lost but two men in the whole expedition."
Arratomakaw, king of the Yamioseans, who commanded the Indians,
retreated to the periagas with the rest, and there slept upon his oars
with a great deal of bravery and unconcern. The governor's soldiers,
taking a false alarm, and thinking the Spaniards were coming, did not
like this slow pace of the Indian king in his flight, and to quicken him
into it, bade him make more haste. But he replied, "No; though your
governor leaves you, I will not stir till I have seen all my men before
me."
The Spanish accounts say that he burned the town, and this statement is
confirmed by the report made on the 18th July, 1740, by a committee of
the House of Commons of the province of South Carolina, in which it is
said, referring to these transactions, that Moore was obliged to
retreat, _but not without_ first burning the town.[26]
It seems that the plunder carried off by Moore's troops was
considerable; as his enemies charged at the time that he sent off a
sloop-load to Jamaica, and in an old colonial document of South Carolina
it is represented "that the late unfortunate, ill-contrived, and worst
managed expedition against St. Augustine, was principally set on foot by
the said late governor and his adherents; and that if any person in the
said late assembly undertook to speak against it, and to show how unfit
and unable we were at that time for such an attempt, he was presently
looked upon by them as an enemy and traitor to his country, and reviled
and affronted in the said assembly; although the true design of the said
expedition was no other than catching and making slaves of Indians for
private advantage, and impoverishing the country. * * * And that the
expedition was to enrich themselves will appear particularly, because
whatsoever booty, as rich silks, great quantity of church plate, with a
great many other costly church ornaments and utensils taken by our
soldiers at St. Augustine, are now detained in the possession of the
said late governor and his officers, contrary to an act of assembly
made for an equal division of the same amongst the soldiers."[27]
The Spanish accounts of this expedition of Moore's are very meager. They
designate him as the governor of St. George, by which name they called
the harbor of Charleston; and they also speak of the plunder of the
town, and the burning of the greater part of the houses. Don Joseph de
Curriga was the then governor of the city, and had received just
previous to the English attack, reinforcements from Havana, and had
repaired and strengthened the fortifications.
The retreat of the English was celebrated with great rejoicing by the
Spaniards, who had been for three months shut up within the limited
space of the walls of the castle; and they gladly repaired their ruined
homes, and made good the ravages of the English invasion. An English
account says that the two vessels which appeared off the bar and caused
Moore's precipitate retreat, contained but two hundred men, and that had
he awaited Colonel Daniel's return with the siege guns and ammunition,
the castle would have fallen into their hands.
In the same year, the king of Spain, alarmed at the dangers which
menaced his possessions in Florida, gave greater attention to the
strengthening the defenses of St. Augustine, and forwarded considerable
reinforcements to the garrison, as well as additional supplies of
munitions.
The works were directed to be strengthened, which Governor Curriga
thought not as strong as had been represented, and that the sea wall in
the process of erection was insufficient for the purpose for which it
was designed.
Sixty years had elapsed since the Apalachian Indians had been conquered
and compelled to labor upon the fortifications of St. Augustine; their
chiefs now asked that they might be relieved from further compulsory
labor; and after the usual number of references and reports and
informations, through the Spanish circumlocution offices, this was
graciously granted in a suspensory form, until their services should be
again required.
During the year 1712, a great scarcity of provisions, caused by the
failure of the usual supply vessels, reduced the inhabitants of St.
Augustine to the verge of starvation; and, for two or three months, they
were obliged to live upon horses, cats, dogs, and other disgusting
animals. It seems strange, that after a settlement of nearly one hundred
and fifty years, the Spaniards in Florida should still be dependant upon
the importation of provisions for their support; and that anything like
the distress indicated should prevail, with the abundant resources they
had, from the fish, oysters, turtle, and clams of the sea, and the
arrow-root and cabbage-tree palm of the land.
The English settlements were now extending into the interior portions of
South Carolina; and the French had renewed their efforts at settlement
and colonization upon the rivers discharging into the Gulf of Mexico.
All three nations were competitors for the trade with the Indians, and
kept up an intriguing rivalship for this trade for more than a hundred
years.
There seems to have been at this period a policy pursued by the Spanish
authorities in Florida, of the most reprehensible character. The
strongest efforts were made to attach all the Indian tribes to the
Spanish interest; and they were encouraged to carry on a system of
plunder and annoyance upon the English settlements of Carolina. They
particularly seized upon all the negroes they could obtain, and carried
them to the governor at St. Augustine, who invariably refused to
surrender them, alleging that he was acting under the instructions of
his government in so doing.
In 1704, Governor Moore had made a sweeping and vigorous excursion
against the Indian towns in Middle Florida, all of whom were in the
Spanish interest; and had broken up and destroyed the towns and missions
attached to them. In 1725, Col. Palmer determined, since no satisfaction
could be obtained for the incursions of the Spanish Indians, and the
loss of their slaves, to make a descent upon them; and with a party of
three hundred men entered Florida, with an intention of visiting upon
the province all the desolation of retributive warfare.
He went up to the very gates of St. Augustine, and compelled the
inhabitants to seek protection within the castle. In his course he swept
every thing before him, destroying every house, field and improvement
within his reach; carrying off the live stock, and every thing else of
value. The Spanish Indians who fell within his power, were slain in
large numbers, and many were taken prisoners. Outside of the walls of
St. Augustine, nothing was left undestroyed; and the Spanish
authorities received a memorable lesson in the law of retribution.
CHAPTER XIV.
SIEGE OF ST. AUGUSTINE, BY OGLETHORPE--1732-1740
Difficulties existed for many years subsequently between the Spanish and
English settlements. In 1732, Oglethorpe planted his colony in Georgia,
and extended his settlements along the coast towards Florida, claiming
and occupying the country up to the margin of the St. Johns, and
established a post at St. George Island. This was deemed an invasion of
the territory of Spain; and the post was attacked unfairly, as the
English say, and some of their men murdered. Oglethorpe, upon this,
acting under the instructions of the home government, commenced
hostilities by arranging a joint attack of the forces of South Carolina
and Georgia, with a view to the entire conquest of Florida.
The instructions of the king of England to Oglethorpe, were, that he
should make a naval and land attack upon St. Augustine; "and if it shall
please God to give you success, you are either to demolish the fort and
bastions, or put a garrison in it, in case you shall have men enough for
that purpose; which last, it is thought, will be the best way to prevent
the Spaniards from endeavoring to retake and settle the said place
again, at any time hereafter."[28]
Don Manuel Monteano was then governor of Florida, and in command of the
garrison. The city and castle were previously in a poor condition to
withstand an attack from a well-prepared foe; and on the 11th November,
1737, Governor Monteano writes to the governor-general of Cuba, that
"the fort of this place is its only defense; it has no casemates for the
shelter of the men, nor the necessary elevation to the counter-scarp,
nor covert ways, nor ravelins to the curtains, nor other exterior works
that could give time for a long defense; but it is thus naked outside,
as it is without soul within, for there are no cannon that could be
fired twenty-four hours, and though there were, artillery-men to manage
them are wanting."
Under the superintendence of an able officer of engineers, Don Antonio
de Arredondo, the works were put in order; the ramparts were heightened
and casemated; a covered way was made, by planting and embanking four
thousand stakes; bomb-proof vaults were constructed, and entrenchments
thrown up around the town, protected by ten salient angles, many of
which are still visible. The garrison of the town was about seven
hundred and forty soldiers, according to Governor Monteano's return of
troops. On the 25th March, 1740, the total population of St. Augustine,
of all classes, was two thousand one hundred and forty-three.
Previous to his attack upon the place, General Oglethorpe obtained the
following information from prisoners whom he took at the outposts. He
says: "They agree that there are fifty pieces of cannon in the castle at
St. Augustine, several of which are of brass, from twelve to forty-eight
pounds. It has four bastions. The walls are of stone, and casemated. The
internal square is sixty yards. The ditch is forty feet wide, and twelve
feet deep, six of which is sometimes filled with water. The counterscarp
is faced with stone. They have lately made a covered way. The town is
fortified with an entrenchment, salient angles and redoubts, which
inclose about half a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile in width.
The inhabitants and garrison, men, women and children, amount to above
two thousand five hundred. For the garrison, the king pays eight
companies, sent from Spain two years since for the invasion of Georgia;
upon establishment fifty-three men each, three companies of foot and one
of artillery, of the old garrison, and one troop of horse one hundred
each upon establishment; of these, one hundred are at St. Marks, ten
days' march from St. Augustine; upon the Gulf of Mexico, one hundred are
disposed in several small forts."
Of these out-posts, there were two, one on each side of the river St.
Johns--at Picolata and immediately opposite--and at Diego. The purpose
of the forts at Picolata was to guard the passage of the river, and to
keep open the communication with St. Marks and Pensacola; and when
threatened with the invasion of Oglethorpe, messengers were dispatched
to the governor of Pensacola for aid, and also to Mexico by the same
route. The fort at Diego was but a small work, erected by Don Diego de
Spinosa, upon his own estate; and the remains of it, with one or two
cannon, are still visible. Fort Moosa, was an out-post at the place now
known by that name, on the North River, about two miles north of St.
Augustine. A fortified line, a considerable portion of which may now be
traced, extended across from the stockades on the St. Sebastian to Fort
Moosa. Communication by a tide-creek existed through the marshes,
between the castle at St. Augustine and Fort Moosa.
Oglethorpe first attacked the two forts at Picolata, one of which,
called Fort Poppa, or St. Francis de Poppa, was a place of some
strength. Its remains still exist, about one-fourth of a mile north of
the termination of the Bellamy Road, its earthworks being still strongly
marked.
After a slight resistance, both forts fell into his hands, much to the
annoyance of Governor Monteano. Oglethorpe speaks of Fort Francis as
being of much importance, "as commanding the passes from St. Augustine
to Mexico, and into the country of the Creek Indians, and also being
upon the ferry, where the troops which come from St. Augustine must
pass." He found in it, one mortar piece, two carriages, three small
guns, ammunition, one hundred and fifty shells, and fifty glass bottles
full of gunpowder, with fuses--a somewhat novel missile of war.
The English general's plan of operation was, that the crews and troops
upon the vessels should land, and throw up batteries upon Anastasia
Island, from thence bombarding the town; while he himself designed to
lead the attack on the land side. Having arrived in position, he gave
the signal of attack to the fleet, by sending up a rocket; but no
response came from the vessels, and he had the mortification of being
obliged to withdraw his troops. The troops were unable to effect a
landing from the vessels, in consequence of a number of armed Spanish
galleys having been drawn up inside the bar; so that no landing could be
made except under a severe fire, while the galleys were protected from
an attack by the ships, in consequence of the shoal water.
He then prepared to reduce the town by a regular siege, with a strict
blockade by sea. He hoped, by driving the inhabitants into the castle,
so to encumber the governor with useless mouths, as to reduce him to the
necessity of a surrender, to avoid starvation. The town was placed under
the range of his heavy artillery and mortars, and soon became untenable,
forcing the citizens generally to seek the shelter of the fort.
Col. Vanderduysen was posted at Point Quartel; and others of the troops
upon Anastasia Island, and the north beach. Three batteries were
erected: one on Anastasia Island, called the Poza, which consisted of
four eighteen-pounders and one nine-pounder; one on the point of the
wood of the island, mounting two eighteen-pounders. The remains of the
Peza battery are still to be seen, almost as distinctly marked as on the
day of its creation. Four mortars and forty cohorns were employed in the
siege.
The siege began on the 12th June; and on the 25th June a night sortie
was made from the castle against a portion of the troops under command
of Col. Palmer, who were encamped at Fort Moosa, including a company of
Scotch Highlanders, numbering eighty-five men, under their chief, Capt.
McIntosh, all equipped in Highland dress. This attack was entirely
successful, and the English sustained a severe loss, their colonel being
killed, with twenty Highlanders, twenty-seven soldiers, and a number of
Indians.
This affair at Fort Moosa has generally been considered as a surprise,
and its disastrous results as the consequence of carelessness and
disobedience of the orders of Oglethorpe. Captain McIntosh, the leader
of the Highlanders, was taken prisoner, and finally transferred to
Spain. From his prison at St. Sebastian, under date of 20th June, 1741,
he gives the following account of the matter:--
"I listed seventy men, all in Highland dress, and marched to the siege,
and was ordered to scout nigh St. Augustine and molest the enemy, while
the general and the rest of his little army went to an island where we
could have no succor of them. I punctually obeyed my orders, until seven
hundred Spaniards sallied out from the garrison, an hour before
daylight. _They did not surprise us_, for we were all under arms, ready
to receive them, which we did briskly, keeping a constant firing for a
quarter of an hour, when they prest on with numbers; was obliged to take
our swords until the most of us were shot and cut to pieces. You are to
observe we had but eighty men; and the engagement was in view of the
rest of our army, but they could not come to our assistance, by being in
the foresaid island, under the enemy's guns. They had twenty prisoners,
a few got off, the rest killed; as we were well informed by some of
themselves, they had three hundred killed on the spot,[29] besides
several wounded. We were all stripped naked of clothes, brought to St.
Augustine, where we remained three months in close confinement."[30]
This officer was Capt. John McIntosh; and his son, Brig. Gen. McIntosh,
then a youth of fourteen, was present in the engagement, and escaped
without injury. The family of the McIntoshes have always been
conspicuous in the history of Georgia.
The large number of persons collected within the walls of the castle,
and under the protection of its battlements, soon gave rise to serious
apprehensions on the part of the besieged, of being reduced by
starvation to the necessity of a speedy surrender. The batteries of
Oglethorpe were planted at so great a distance that he could produce but
little effect by his shot or shells upon the castle, although he
rendered the city itself untenable. The heat of the season and the
exposure, to which the Provincial militia were unaccustomed, soon
produced considerable sickness and discouragement in the invading force,
and affected Oglethorpe himself.
The Spanish governor sent most urgent messages to the governor of the
island of Cuba, which were transmitted by runners along the coast, and
thence by small vessels across to Havana. In one of these letters he
says, "My greatest anxiety is for provisions; and if they do not come,
there is no doubt of our dying by the hands of hunger." In another, he
says, "I assure your Lordship, that it is impossible to express the
confusion of the place; for we have no protection except the fort, and
all the rest is open field. The families have abandoned their houses,
and come to put themselves under the guns, which is pitiable; though
nothing gives me anxiety but the want of provisions; and if your
Lordship for want of competent force cannot send relief, we all must
perish."[31]
With the exception of the Fort Moosa affair, the hostilities were
confined to the exchange of shots between the castle and the batteries.
Considerable discrepancy exists between the Spanish and English
accounts, as to the period when the garrison was relieved: it was the
communication of the fact of relief having been received, which formed
the ostensible ground of abandoning the siege by Oglethorpe; but the
Spanish governor asserts that these provision vessels did not arrive
until the siege was raised. The real fact, I am inclined to think, is
that the provision vessels arrived at Mosquito, a harbor sixty miles
below, where they were to await orders from Gov. Monteano, as to the
mode of getting discharged,[32] and that the information of their
arrival, being known at St. Augustine, was communicated to the English,
and thus induced their raising the siege; in fact, the hope of starving
out the garrison was the only hope left to Oglethorpe; his strength was
insufficient for an assault, and his means inadequate to reduce the
castle, which was well manned and well provided with means of defense.
It was in truth a hopeless task, under the circumstances, for Oglethorpe
to persevere; and it is no impeachment of his courage or his
generalship, that he was unable to take a fortress of really very
respectable strength.
The siege continued from the 13th June to the 20th July, a period of
thirty-eight days. The bombardment was kept up twenty days, but owing to
the lightness of the guns and the long range, but little effect was
produced on the strong walls of the castle. Its spongy, infrangible
walls received the balls from the batteries like a cotton bale, or sand
battery, almost without making an impression; this may be seen on
examination, since the marks remain to this day, as they were left at
the end of the siege, one hundred and seventeen years ago.
The prosecution of the siege having become impracticable, preparations
were made for retiring; and Oglethorpe, as a pardonable and
characteristic protest against the assumption of his acting from any
coercion, with drums beating and banners displayed, crossed over to the
main land, and marched in full view of the castle, to his encampment
three miles distant, situated probably at the point now known as Pass
Navarro.
Great credit and respect have been deservedly awarded to Governor
Monteano, for the courage, skill, and perseverance with which he
sustained the siege.
It is well known that the English general had, in a few months, an ample
opportunity of showing to his opponent that his skill in defending his
own territory under the most disadvantageous circumstances, was equal to
that of the accomplished Monteano himself. The defense of Frederica, and
signal defeat of the Spanish forces at Fort Simons, will ever challenge
for Oglethorpe the highest credit for the most sterling qualities of a
good general and a great man.
Two years subsequently, Oglethorpe again advanced into Florida, appeared
before the gates of St. Augustine, and endeavored to induce the garrison
to march out to meet him; but they kept within their walls, and
Oglethorpe in one of his despatches says, in the irritation caused by
their prudence, "that they were so meek there was no provoking them." As
in this incursion he had no object in view but a devastation of the
country, and harrassing the enemy, he shortly withdrew his forces.
A committee of the South Carolina House of Commons, in a report upon the
Oglethorpe expedition, thus speaks of St. Augustine, evidently smarting
under the disappointment of their recent defeat.
* * * * *
"JULY 1ST, 1741."
"St. Augustine, in the possession of the crown of Spain, is well known
to be situated but little distance from hence, in latitude thirty
degrees, in Florida, the next territory to us. It is maintained by his
Catholic Majesty, partly to preserve his claim to Florida, and partly
that it may be of service to the plate-fleets when coming through the
gulf, by showing lights to them along the coast, and by being ready to
give assistance when any of them are cast away there-about. The castle,
by the largest account, doth not cover more than one acre of ground, but
is allowed on all hands to be a place of great strength, and hath been
usually garrisoned with about three or four hundred men of the King's
regular troops. The town is not very large, and but indifferently
fortified. The inhabitants, many of which are mulattoes of savage
dispositions, are all in the king's pay; also being registered from
their birth, and a severe penalty laid on any master of a vessel that
shall attempt to carry any of them off. These are formed into a militia,
and have been generally computed to be near about the same number as the
regular troops. Thus relying wholly on the king's pay for their
subsistence, their thoughts never turned to trade or even agriculture,
but depending on foreign supplies for the most common necessaries of
life, they spent their time in universal, perpetual idleness. From such
a state, mischievous inclinations naturally spring up in such a people;
and having leisure and opportunity, ever since they had a neighbor the
fruits of whose industry excited their desires and envy, they have not
failed to carry those inclinations into action as often as they could,
without the least regard to peace or war subsisting between the two
crowns of Great Britain and Spain, or to stipulations agreed upon
between the two governments."[33]
Among the principal grievances set forth in this report, was the
carrying off and enticing and harboring their slaves, of which a number
of instances are enumerated; and they attributed the negro insurrection
which occurred in South Carolina, in 1739, to the connivance and agency
of the Spanish authorities at St. Augustine; and they proceed in a
climax of indignation to hurl their denunciation at the supposed authors
of their misfortunes, in the following terms: "With indignation we
looked at St. Augustine (like another Sallee!) That den of thieves and
ruffians! receptacle of debtors, servants and slaves! bane of industry
and society! and revolved in our minds all the injuries this province
had received from thence, ever since its first settlement. That they had
from first to last, in times of profoundest peace, both publickly and
privately, by themselves, Indians, and Negroes, in every shape molested
us, not without some instances of uncommon cruelty."[34]
It is very certain there was on each side, enough supposed causes of
provocation to induce a far from amiable state of feeling between these
neighboring colonies.
CHAPTER XV.
COMPLETION OF THE CASTLE--DESCRIPTIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE A CENTURY
AGO--ENGLISH OCCUPATION OF FLORIDA. 1755--1763--1788.
Don Alonzo Fernandez de Herrera was appointed governor of Florida in
1755, and completed the exterior works and finish of the fort. It is
this governor who erected the tablet over its main entrance, with the
Spanish coat of arms sculptured in _alto relievo_, with the following
inscription beneath:--
REYNANDO EN ESPANA EL SENR
DON FERNANDO SEXTO Y SIENDO
GOVOR Y CAPN DE ESA CD SAN AUGN DE
LA FLORIDA Y SUS PROVA. EL MARISCAL
DE CAMPO DN ALONZO FERNDO HEREDA
ASI CONCLUIO ESTE CASTILLO EL AN
OD 1756 DIRIGENDO LAS OBRAS EL
CAP. INGNRO DN PEDRO DE BROZAS
Y GARAY.
DON FERDINAND THE SIXTH, BEING KING OF SPAIN, AND THE FIELD MARSHAL, DON
ALONZO FERNANDO HEREDA, BEING GOVERNOR AND CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THIS
PLACE, ST. AUGUSTINE, OF FLORIDA, AND ITS PROVINCE. THIS FORT WAS
FINISHED IN THE YEAR 1756. THE WORKS WERE DIRECTED BY THE CAPTAIN
ENGINEER, DON PEDRO DE BRAZOS Y GARAY.
I am not sure but that the boastful governor might with equal propriety
and truth have put a similar inscription at the city gate, claiming the
town also as a finished city.
The first fort erected was called San Juan de Pinos, and probably the
same name attached to the present fort at the commencement of its
erection; when it acquired the name of St. Mark, I have not discovered.
The Apalachian Indians were employed upon it for more than sixty years,
and to their efforts are probably due the evidences of immense labor in
the construction of the ditch, the ramparts and glacis, and the
approaches; while the huge mass of stone contained in its solid walls,
must have required the labor of hundreds of persons for many long years,
in procuring and cutting the stone in the quarries on the island,
transporting it to the water, and across the bay, and fashioning and
raising them to their places. Besides the Indians employed, some labor
was constantly bestowed by the garrison; and, for a considerable period,
convicts were brought hither from Mexico to carry on the public works.
During the works of extension and repair effected by Monteano, previous
to the siege by Oglethorpe, he employed upon it one hundred and forty of
these Mexican convicts. The southwestern bastion is said to have been
completed by Monteano. The bastions bore the names respectively of St.
Paul, St. Peter, St. James, &c.
The whole work remains now as it was in 1756, with the exception of the
water battery, which was reconstructed by the government of the United
States in 1842-3. The complement of its guns is one hundred, and its
full garrison establishment requires one thousand men. It is built upon
the plan of Vauban, and is considered by military men as a very
creditable work; its strength and efficiency have been well tested in
the old times; for it has never been taken, although twice besieged, and
several times attacked. Its frowning battlements and sepulchral vaults
will long stand after we and those of our day shall be numbered with
that long past, of which it is itself a memorial; of its legends
connected with the dark chambers and prison vaults, the chains, the
instruments of torture, the skeletons walled in, its closed and hidden
recesses--of Coacouchee's escape, and many another tale, there is much
to say; but it is better said within its grim walls, where the eye and
the imagination can go together, in weaving a web of mystery and awe
over its sad associations, to the music of the grating bolt, the echoing
tread, and the clanking chain.
Of the city itself, we have the following description in 1754:--
"It is built on a little bay, at the foot of a hill shaded by trees, and
forms an oblong square, divided into four streets, and has two full
streets, which cut each other at right angles. The houses are well
built, and regular. They have only one church, which is called after the
city. St. John's Fort, standing about a mile north of it, is a strong,
irregular fortification, well mounted with cannon, and capable of making
a long defense."
I am inclined to think that the _mile_ between the fort and the city,
and the _hill_ at the foot of which, he says, the city was built,
existed only in the focus of the writer's spectacles.
The Provinces of Florida were ceded by treaty to England in the year
1763, and the Spanish inhabitants very generally left the country, which
had then been under Spanish rule for near two hundred years; and
certainly in no portion of this country had less progress been made.
Beyond the walls occupied by its garrison, little had been attempted or
accomplished in these two hundred years. This was in part, perhaps,
attributable to the circumstances of the country--the frequent hostility
of the Indians, and the want of that mutual support given by
neighborhoods, which in Florida are less practicable than elsewhere; but
it was still more owing to the character of the Spanish inhabitants, who
were more soldiers than civilians, and more townsmen than
agriculturists; at all events, at the cession of Florida to Great
Britain, the number of inhabitants was not over five thousand.
Of the period of the English occupation of Florida, we have very full
accounts. It was a primary object with the British government, to
colonize and settle it; and inducements to emigrants were strongly put
forth, in various publications. The work of Roberts was the first of
these, and was followed in a few years by those of Bartram, Stork, and
Romans. The works of both Roberts and Stork, contain plans and minute
descriptions of St. Augustine. The plan of the town in Stork, represents
every building, lot, garden, and flower-bed in the place, and gives a
very accurate view of its general appearance.
The descriptions vary somewhat. Roberts, who published his work the year
of the cession, 1763, shows in connection with his plan of the town, an
Indian village on the point south of the city, at the powder-house, and
another just north of the city. The one to the north has a church. A
negro fort is shown about a mile to the northward. Oglethorpe's landing
place is shown on Anastasia Island, and a small fort on the main land
south of the city. The depth of water on the bar is marked as being at
low water, eight feet.
Roberts describes the city as "running along the shore at the foot of a
pleasant hill, adorned with trees; its form is oblong, divided by four
regular streets, crossing each other at right angles; down by the sea
side, about three-fourths of a mile south of the town, standeth the
church, and a monastery of St. Augustine. The best built part of the
town is on the north side, leading to the castle, which is called St.
John's Fort. It is a square building of soft stone, fortified with whole
bastions, having a rampart of twenty feet high, with a parapet nine feet
high, and it is casemated. The town is fortified with bastions, and with
cannon. On the north and south, without the walls of the city, are the
Indian towns."
The next plan we have, is in the work by Dr. Stork, the third edition of
which was published in 1769. He gives a beautiful plan of the place.
Shows the fort as it now exists, with its various outworks; three
churches are designated, one on the public square at its southwest
corner; another on St. George street, on the lot on the west side, south
of Green lane, and a Dutch church near where the Roman Catholic cemetery
now exists. From the size of the plan, it does not embrace the Indian
village. The present United States Court-house was the governor's
official residence, and is represented as having attached to it a
beautiful garden. The Franciscan house or convent is shown where the
barracks are now, but different in the form of the buildings. With the
exception of the disappearance of a part of one street then existing,
there appears very little change from the present plan of the town and
buildings.
He describes the fort as being finished "according to the modern taste
of military architecture," and as making a very handsome appearance, and
"that it might justly be deemed the prettiest fort in the king's
dominion." He omits the pleasant hill from his description, and says
"the town is situated near the glacis of the fort; the streets are
regularly laid out, and built narrow for the purposes of shade. It is
above half a mile in length, regularly fortified with bastions,
half-bastions, and a ditch; that it had also several rows of the Spanish
bayonet along the ditch, which formed so close a chevaux de frize, with
their pointed leaves, as to be impenetrable; the southern bastions were
built of stone. In the middle of the town is a spacious square, called
the parade, open towards the harbor; at the bottom of the square is the
governor's house, the apartments of which are spacious and suitable;
suited to the climate, with high windows, a balcony in front, and
galleries on both sides; to the back of the house is joined a tower,
called in America a look-out, from which there is an extensive prospect
towards the sea, as well as inland. There are two churches within the
walls of the town, the parish church, a plain building, and another
belonging to the convent of Franciscan Friars, which is converted into
barracks for the garrison. The houses are built of free-stone, commonly
two stories high, two rooms upon a floor, with large windows and
balconies; before the entry of most of the houses, runs a portico of
stone arches. The roofs are commonly flat. The Spaniards consulted
convenience more than taste in their buildings. The number of houses
within the town and lines, when the Spaniards left it, was about nine
hundred; many of them, especially in the suburbs, being built of wood,
are now gone to decay. The inhabitants were of all colors, whites,
negroes, mulattoes, Indians, &c. At the evacuation of St. Augustine, the
population was five thousand seven hundred, including the garrison of
two thousand five hundred men. Half a mile from the town to the west, is
a line with a broad ditch and bastions, running from the St. Sebastian
creek to St. Marks river. A mile further is another fortified line with
some redoubts, forming a second communication between a stoccata fort
upon St. Sebastian river, and Fort Moosa, upon St. Marks river.
"Within the first line near the town, was a small settlement of Germans,
who had a church of their own. Upon the St. Marks river, within the
second line, was also an Indian town, with a church built of freestone;
what is very remarkable, it is in good taste, though built by the
Indians."
The two lines of defense here spoken of, may still be traced. The
nearest one is less than one-fourth of a mile from the city gate, and
the other at the well-known place called the stockades, the stakes
driven to form which, still distinctly mark the place; and the ditch and
embankment can be traced for a considerable distance through the grounds
attached to my residence.
A letter-writer, who dates at St. Augustine, May, 1774, says, "This town
is now truly become a heap of ruins, a fit receptacle for the wretches
of inhabitants." (Rather a dyspeptic description, in all probability.)
A bridge was built across the Sebastian river by the English, "but the
great depth of the water, joined to the instability of the bottom, did
not suffer it to remain long, and a ferry is now established in its
room; the keeper of the ferry has fifty pounds per annum allowed him,
and the inhabitants pay nothing for crossing, except after dark."
The English constructed large buildings for barracks, characterised by
Romans "as such stupendous piles of buildings, which were large enough
to contain five regiments, when it is a matter of great doubt whether
there will ever be a necessity to keep one whole regiment here. The
material for this great barracks was brought from New York, and far
inferior to those found on the spot; yet the freight alone amounted to
more than their value when landed. It makes us almost believe," says the
elaborate Romans, "that all this show is in vain, or at most, that the
English were so much in dread of musquitoes, that they thought a large
army requisite to drive off these formidable foes. To be serious," says
he, "this fort and barracks add not a little to the beauty of the
prospect; but most men would think that the money spent on this useless
parade, would have been better laid out on roads and fences through the
province; or, if it must be in forts, why not at Pensacola?"
There is a manuscript work of John Gerard Williams de Brahm, existing in
the library of Harvard University, which contains some particulars of
interest, relative to Florida at the period of the English occupation.
He states the number of inhabitants of East Florida, which in those days
meant mostly St. Augustine, from 1663 to 1771, as follows: householders,
besides women, &c., two hundred and eighty-eight; imported by Mr.
Turnbull from Minorca, &c., one thousand four hundred; negroes, upwards
of nine hundred. Of these, white heads of families, one hundred and
forty-four were married, which is just one-half; thirty-one are
storekeepers and traders; three haberdashers, fifteen innkeepers,
forty-five artificers and mechanics, one hundred and ten planters, four
hunters, six cow-keepers, eleven overseers, twelve draftsmen in employ
of government, besides mathematicians; fifty-eight had left the
province; twenty-eight dead, of whom four were killed acting as
constables, two hanged for pirating. Among the names of those then
residing in East Florida are mentioned Sir Charles Burdett, William
Drayton, Esq., planter, Chief Justice; Rev. John Forbes, parson, Judge
of Admiralty and Councillor; Rev. N. Fraser, parson at Musquito;
Governor James Grant, Hon. John Moultrie, planter and lieutenant
Governor; William Stork, Esq., historian; Andrew Turnbull, Esq., H. M.
Counselor; Bernard Romans, draftsman, &c.; William Bartram, planter;
James Moultrie, Esq.
He says, The light house on Anastasia Island had been constructed and
built of mason-work by the Spaniards; and, in 1769, by order of General
Haldimand, it was raised sixty feet higher in carpenter's work, had a
cannon planted on the top, which is fired the very moment the flag is
hoisted, for a signal to the town and pilots that a vessel is off. The
light house has two flag-staffs, one to the south and one to the north;
on either of which the flag is hoisted, viz., to the south if the vessel
comes from thence, and the north if the vessel comes that way.
"The town is situated in a healthy zone, is surrounded with salt water
marshes, not at all prejudicial to health; their evaporations are swept
away in the day time by the easterly winds, and in the night season by
the westerly winds trading back to the eastward. At the time when the
Spaniards left the town, all the gardens were well stocked with fruit
trees, viz., figs, guavas, plantain, pomegranates, lemons, limes,
citrons, shadock, bergamot, China and Seville oranges, the latter full
of fruit throughout the whole winter season; and the pot-herbs, though
suspended in their vegetation, were seldom destroyed by cold. The town
is three-quarters of a mile in length, but not quite a quarter wide; had
four churches ornamently built with stone in the Spanish taste, of which
one within and one without the town still exist. One is pulled down;
that is the German church, but the steeple is preserved as an ornament
to the town; and the other, viz., the convent church and convent in town
is taken in the body of the barracks. All houses are built of masonry;
their entrances are shaded by piazzas, supported by Tuscan pillars or
pilasters, against the south sun. The houses have to the east windows
projecting sixteen or eighteen inches into the street, very wide, and
proportionally high. On the west side, their windows are commonly very
small, and no opening of any kind to the north, on which side they have
double walls six or eight feet asunder, forming a kind of gallery, which
answers for cellars and pantries. Before most of the entrances were
arbors of vines, producing plenty and very good grapes. No house has any
chimney for a fire place; the Spaniards made use of stone urns, filled
them with coals left in their kitchens in the afternoon, and set them at
sunset in their bed-rooms, to defend themselves against those winter
seasons, which required such care. The governor's residence has both
sides piazzas, viz., a double one to the south, and a single one to the
north; also a Belvidere and a grand portico decorated with Doric pillars
and entablatures. On the north end of the town is a casemated fort, with
four bastions, a ravelin, counterscarp, and a glacis built with quarried
shell-stones, and constructed according to the rudiments of Marechal de
Vauban. This fort commands the road of the bay, the town, its environs,
and both Tolomako stream and Mantanzas creek. The soil in the gardens
and environs of the town is chiefly sandy and marshy. The Spaniards seem
to have had a notion of manuring their land with shells one foot deep.
"Among the three thousand who evacuated St. Augustine, the author is
credibly informed, were many Spaniards near and above the age of one
hundred years, (observe;) this nation, especially natives of St.
Augustine, bore the reputation of great sobriety."[35]
On the 3d of January, 1766, the thermometer sunk to 26° with the wind
from N. W. "The ground was frozen an inch thick on the banks; this was
the fatal night that destroyed the lime, citron, and banana trees in St.
Augustine, and many curious evergreens up the river that were twenty
years old in a flourishing state."[36] In 1774 there was a snow storm,
which extended over most of the province. The ancient inhabitants still
(1836) speak of it as an extraordinary white rain. It was said to have
done little damage.[37]
In this connection, and as it is sometimes supposed that the climate is
now colder than formerly, it may be stated that the thermometer went
very low in 1799. East Florida suffered from a violent frost on the 6th
April, 1828. In February, 1835, the thermometer sunk to 7° above zero,
wind from N. W.; and the St. Johns river was frozen several rods from
the shore; all kinds of fruit trees were killed to the ground, and the
wild orange trees suffered as well as the cultivated.
Dr. Nicholas Turnbull, in the year 1767, associated with Sir William
Duncan and other Englishmen of note, projected a colony of European
emigrants, to be settled at New Smyrna. He brought from the islands of
Greece, Corsica, and Minorca, some fourteen hundred persons, agreeing to
convey them free of expense, find them in clothing and provisions, and,
at the end of three years, to give fifty acres of land to each head of
a family, and twenty-five to each child. After a long passage they
arrived out, and formed the settlement. The principal article of
cultivation produced by them was indigo, which commanded a high price,
and was assisted by a bounty from the English government. After a few
years, Turnbull, as is alleged, either from avarice or natural cruelty,
assumed a control the most absolute over these colonists, and practiced
cruelties the most painful upon them.
An insurrection took place in 1769 among them, in consequence of severe
punishments, which was speedily repressed, and the leaders of it brought
to trial before the English court at St. Augustine; five of the number
were convicted and sentenced to death. Gov. Grant pardoned two of the
five, and a third was released upon the condition of his becoming the
executioner of the other two. Nine years after the commencement of their
settlement, their number had become reduced from 1,400 to 600. In 1776,
proceedings were instituted on their behalf by Mr. Yonge, the
attorney-general of the province, which resulted in their being
exonerated from their contract with Turnbull; lands were thereupon
assigned them in the northern part of the city, which was principally
built up by them; and their descendants, at the present day, form the
larger portion of the population of that place.
Governor Grant was the first English governor, and was a gentleman of
much energy; and during his term of office he projected many great and
permanent improvements in the province. The public roads, known as the
king's roads, from St. Augustine to New Smyrna, and from St. Augustine
to Jacksonville, and thence to Coleraine, were then constructed, and
remain a lasting monument of his wisdom and desire of improvement.
Gov. Tonyn succeeded Gov. Grant; and a legislative council was
authorized to assemble, and the pretense and forms of a constitutional
government were gone through with.
In August, 1775, a British vessel called the Betsey, Capt. Lofthouse,
from London, with 111 barrels of powder, was captured off the bar of St.
Augustine, by an American privateer from Charleston, very much to the
disgust and annoyance of the British authorities.
At this period, St. Augustine assumed much importance as a depot and
_point d'appui_ for the British forces in their operations against the
Southern States; and very considerable forces were at times assembled.
In the excess of the zeal and loyalty of the garrison and inhabitants of
St. Augustine, upon the receipt of the news of the American Declaration
of Independence, the effigies of John Hancock and Samuel Adams were
burned upon the public square, where the monument now stands.
The expedition of Gen. Prevost against Savannah was organized and
embarked from St. Augustine, in 1779.
Sixty of the most distinguished citizens of Carolina were seized by the
British in 1780, and transported to St. Augustine as prisoners of war
and hostages, among whom were Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge, Gen.
Gadsden, and Mr. Calhoun; all were put upon parole except Gen. Gadsden
and Mr. Calhoun, who refused the indulgence, and were committed to the
fort, where they remained many months close prisoners. Gen. Rutherford
and Col. Isaacs, of North Carolina, were also transported hither, and
committed to the fort.
An expedition was fitted out from St. Augustine in 1783, to act against
New Providence, under Col. Devereux; and, with very slender means that
able officer succeeded in capturing and reducing the Bahamas, which have
ever since remained under English domination.
The expense of supporting the government of East Florida during the
English occupation, was very considerable, amounting to the sum of
£122,000. The exports of Florida, in 1778, amounted to £48,000; and in
1772, the province exported 40,000 lbs. indigo; and in 1782, 20,000
barrels of turpentine.
CHAPTER XVI.
RE-CESSION OF FLORIDA TO SPAIN--ERECTION OF THE PARISH CHURCH--CHANGE OF
FLAGS. 1783--1821.
In June, 1784, in fulfillment of the treaty between England and Spain,
Florida, after twenty years of British occupation, was re-ceded to the
Spanish Crown, and taken possession of by Governor Zespedez.
The English residents, in general, left[38] the country, and went either
to the Bahamas, Jamaica, or the United States. Those who went to the
British islands were almost ruined; but those who settled in the States
were more successful.
In April, 1793, the present Roman Catholic church was commenced, the
previous Church having been in another portion of the city.[39] It was
constructed under the direction of Don Mariana de la Rocque and Don P.
Berrio, government engineer-officers. The cost of the church was
$16,650, of which about $6,000 was received from the proceeds of the
materials and ornaments of the old churches, about $1,000 from the
contributions of the inhabitants, and the remaining $10,000 furnished by
the government. One of its four bells has the following inscription,
showing it to be probably the oldest bell in this country, being now 185
years old.
[Illustration: image of a cross]
Sancte Joseph.
Ora Pro Nobis.
D 1682.
Don Enrique White was for many years governor of Florida, and died in
the city of St. Augustine. He is spoken of by those who knew him, in
high terms, for his integrity and openness of character; and many
amusing anecdotes are related connected with his eccentricities.
In 1812, the American government, being apprehensive that Great Britain
designed obtaining possession of Florida, sent its troops into the
province, overrunning and destroying the whole country. The manner and
the pretenses under which this was done, reflect but little credit on
the United States government; and the transparent sham of taking
possession of the country by the patriots, supported by United States
troops, was as undignified as it was futile. It is for the damages
occasioned by this invasion, that the "Florida claims" for "losses" of
its citizens have been presented to the government of the United States.
The _principal_ of the damages sustained, that is to say, the actual
value of the property then destroyed, has been allowed and paid; but the
interest, or damages for the detention, has been withheld upon the
ground that the government does not pay interest. The treaty between the
United States and Spain in reference to the cession of Florida to the
United States, requires the United States to make _satisfaction_ for
such claims; and the payment of the bare amount of actual loss, after a
detention of thirty years, is considered by the claimants an inadequate
_satisfaction_ of a just claim.
In the spring of 1818, General Jackson made his celebrated incursion
into Florida, and by a series of energetic movements followed the
Seminoles and Creeks to their fastnesses, and forever crushed the power
of those formidable tribes for offensive operations.
In the latter part of 1817, a revolutionary party took possession of
Amelia Island, and raised a _soi disant patriot_ flag at Fernandina,
supported mainly in the enterprise by adventurers from the United
States; M'Gregor was assisted by officers of the United States army. An
expedition was sent from St. Augustine by the Spanish governor to eject
the invaders, which failed. One Aury, an English adventurer, for a time
held command there; and also a Mr. Hubbard, formerly sheriff of New
York, who was the civil governor, and died there. The United States
troops eventually interfered; but negotiations for the cession put a
stop to further hostilities.
The king of Spain, finding his possessions in Florida utterly worthless
to his crown, and only an expense to sustain the garrisons, while the
repeated attempts to disturb its political relations prevented any
beneficial progress towards its settlement, gladly agreed, in 1819, to a
transfer of Florida to the United States for five millions of dollars.
An English gentleman who visited St. Augustine in 1817, gives his
impressions of the place as follows: "Emerging from the solitudes and
shades of the pine forests, we espied the distant yet distinct lights of
the watch towers of the fortress of St. Augustine, delightful beacons to
my weary pilgrimage. The clock was striking ten as I reached the foot of
the drawbridge; the sentinels were passing the _alerto_, as I demanded
entrance; having answered the preliminary questions, the draw-bridge was
slowly lowered. The officer of the guard, having received my name and
wishes, sent a communication to the governor, who issued orders for my
immediate admission. On opening the gate, the guard was ready to receive
me; and a file of men, with their officer, escorted me to his
Excellency, who expressed his satisfaction at my revisit to Florida. I
soon retired to the luxury of repose, and the following morning was
greeted as an old acquaintance by the members of this little community.
"I had arrived at a season of general relaxation, on the eve of the
carnival, which is celebrated with much gayety in all Catholic
countries. Masks, dominoes, harlequins, punchinellos, and a great
variety of grotesque disguises, on horseback, in cars, gigs, and on
foot, paraded the streets with guitars, violins, and other instruments;
and in the evenings, the houses were open to receive masks, and balls
were given in every direction. I was told that in their better days,
when their pay was regularly remitted from the Havana, these amusements
were admirably conducted, and the rich dresses exhibited on these
occasions, were not eclipsed by their more fashionable friends in Cuba;
but poverty had lessoned their spirit for enjoyment, as well as the
means for procuring it; enough, however, remained to amuse an idle
spectator, and I entered with alacrity into their diversions.
"About thirty of the hunting warriors of the Seminoles, with their
squaws, had arrived, for the purpose of selling the produce of the
chase, consisting of bear, deer, tiger, and other skins, bears' grease,
and other trifling articles. This savage race, once the lords of the
ascendant, are the most formidable border enemies of the United States.
This party had arrived, after a range of six months, for the purpose of
sale and barter. After trafficking for their commodities, they were seen
at various parts of the town, assembled in small groups, seated upon
their haunches, like monkeys, passing round their bottles of _aque
dente_ (the rum of Cuba), their repeated draughts upon which soon
exhausted their contents; they then slept off the effects of
intoxication, under the walls, exposed to the influence of the sun.
Their appearance was extremely wretched; their skins of a dark, dirty,
chocolate color, with long, straight, black hair, over which they had
spread a quantity of bears' grease. In their ears, and the cartilages of
the nose, were inserted rings of silver and brass, with pendants of
various shapes; their features prominent and harsh, and their eyes had a
wild and ferocious expression.
"A torn blanket, or an ill-fashioned dirty linen jacket, is the general
costume of these Indians; a triangular piece of cloth passes around the
loins; the women vary in their apparel by merely wearing short
petticoats, the original colors of which were not distinguishable from
the various incrustations of dirt. Some of the young squaws were
tolerably agreeable, and if well washed and dressed would not have been
uninteresting; but the elder squaws wore the air of misery and
debasement.
"The garrison is composed of a detachment from the Royal regiment of
Cuba, with some _black_ troops; who together form a respectable force.
The fort and bastions are built of the same material as the houses of
the town, _coquina_. This marine substance is superior to stone, not
being liable to splinter from the effects of bombardment; it receives
and imbeds the shot, which adds rather than detracts from its strength
and security.
"The houses and the rear of the town are intersected and covered with
orange groves; their golden fruit and deep green foliage, not only
render the air agreeable, but beautify the appearance of this
interesting little town, in the centre of which (the square) rises a
large structure dedicated to the Catholic religion. At the upper end are
the remains of a very considerable house, the former residence of the
governor of this settlement; but now (1817), in a state of dilapidation
and decay, from age and inattention.
"At the southern extremity of the town, stands a large building,
formerly a monastery of Carthusian Friars, but now occupied as a barrack
for the troops of the garrison. At a little distance are four stacks of
chimnies, the sole remains of a beautiful range of barracks, built
during the occupancy of the British, from 1763 to 1783; for three years
the 29th regiment was stationed there, and in that time they did not
lose a single man. The proverbial salubrity of the climate, has obtained
for St. Augustine the designation of the Montpelier of Forth America;
indeed, such is the general character of the Province of East Florida.
"The governor (Copinger), is about forty-five years of age, of active
and vigorous mind, anxious to promote by every means in his power the
prosperity of the province confided to his command; his urbanity and
other amiable qualities render him accessible to the meanest individual,
and justice is sure to follow an appeal to his decision. His military
talents are well known, and appreciated by his sovereign; and he now
holds, in addition to the government of East Florida, the rank of
Colonel in the Royal Regiment of Cuba.
"The clergy consist of the _padre_ (priest of the parish), Father Cosby,
a native of Wexford, in Ireland; a Franciscan friar, the chaplain to the
garrison, and an inferior or curè. The social qualities of the _padre_,
and the general tolerance of his feelings, render him an acceptable
visitor to all his flock. The judge, treasurer, collector, and notary,
are the principal officers of the establishment, besides a number of
those devoted solely to the military occupations of the garrison. The
whole of this society is extremely courteous to strangers; they form one
family, and those little jealousies and animosities, so disgraceful to
our small English communities, do not sully their meetings of friendly
chit-chat, called as in Spain, _turtulias_. The women are deservedly
celebrated for their charms; their lovely black eyes have a vast deal of
expression; their complexions a clear brunette; much attention is paid
to the arrangement of their hair; at mass they are always well dressed
in black silk _basquinas_ (petticoats), with the little _mantilla_
(black lace veil) over their heads; the men in their military costumes;
good order and temperance are their characteristic virtues; but the vice
of gambling too often profanes their social haunts, from which even the
fair sex are not excluded. Two days following our arrival, a ball was
given by some of the inhabitants, to which I was invited. The elder
couples opened it with minuets, succeeded by the younger couples
displaying their handsome light figures in Spanish dances."[40]
The old inhabitants still speak in terms of fond regret of the place
when embowered in its orange groves, and the pleasantness of its old
customs and usages. Dancing formed one of their most common amusements,
as it does now. The posey dance, now become obsolete, was then of almost
daily occurrence, and was introduced in the following manner: The
females of the family erect in a room of their house a neat little
arbor, dressed with pots and garlands of flowers, and lit up brightly
with candles. This is understood by the gentleman as an invitation to
drop in and admire the beauty of their decorations. In the mean time,
the lady who has prepared it, selects a partner from among her visitors,
and in token of her preference, honors him with a bouquet of flowers.
The gentleman who receives the bouquet becomes then, for the nonce, king
of the ball, and leads out the fair donor as queen of the dance; the
others take partners, and the hall is thus inaugurated, and may continue
several successive evenings. Should the lady's choice fall upon an
unwilling swain, which seldom happened, he could be excused by assuming
the expenses of the entertainment. These assemblies were always
informal, and frequented by all classes, all meeting on a level; but
were conducted with the utmost politeness and decorum, for which the
Spanish character is so distinguished.
The carnival amusements are still kept up to some extent, but with
little of the taste and wit which formerly characterised them, and
without which they degenerate into mere buffoonery.
The graceful Spanish dance, so well suited in its slow and regular
movements to the inhabitants of a warm climate, has always retained the
preference with the natives of the place, who dance it with that native
grace and elegance of movement which seems easy and natural for every
one, but is seldom equaled by the Anglo-Saxon.
CHAPTER XVII.
TRANSFER OF FLORIDA TO THE UNITED STATES--AMERICAN OCCUPATION--ANCIENT
BUILDINGS, ETC.
On the 10th day of July, in the year 1821, the standard of Spain, which
had been raised two hundred and fifty-six years before over St.
Augustine, was finally lowered forever from the walls over which it had
so long fluttered, and the stars and stripes of the youngest of nations
rose where, sooner or later, the hand of destiny would assuredly have
placed them.
It was intended that the change of flags should have taken place on the
4th of July; owing to a detention, this was frustrated; but the
inhabitants celebrated the 4th with a handsome public ball at the
governor's house.
The Spanish garrison, and officers connected with it, returned to Cuba,
and some of the Spanish families; but the larger portion of the
inhabitants remained. A considerable influx of inhabitants from the
adjoining States took place, and the town speedily assumed a somewhat
American character. The proportion of American population since the
change of flags, has been about one-third. Most of the native
inhabitants converse with equal fluency in either language.
In the year 1823 the legislative council of Florida held its second
session in the government house at St. Augustine. Governor W.P. Duval
was the first governor after the organization of the territory. The
Ralph Ringwood Sketches of Irving have given a wide celebrity to the
character of our worthy and original first governor, now recently
deceased.
During the month of February, 1835, East Florida was visited by a frost
much more severe than any before experienced. A severe northwest wind
blew ten days in succession, but more violently for about three days.
During this period, the mercury sunk to seven degrees above zero. The
St. Johns river was frozen several rods from the shore. All kinds of
fruit trees were killed to the ground; many of them never started
again, even from the roots. The wild groves suffered equally with those
cultivated. The orange had become the staple of Florida commerce;
several millions were exported from the St. Johns and St. Augustine
during the two previous years. Numerous groves had just been planted
out, and extensive nurseries could hardly supply the demand for young
trees. Some of the groves had, during the previous autumn, brought to
their owners, one, two, and three thousand dollars; and the increasing
demand for this fruit, opened in prospect mines of wealth to the
inhabitants.
"Then came a frost, a withering frost."
Some of the orange groves in East Florida were estimated at from five to
ten thousand dollars, and even more. They were at once rendered
valueless. The larger part of the population at St. Augustine had been
accustomed to depend on the produce of their little groves of eight or
ten trees, to purchase their coffee, sugar, and other necessaries from
the stores; they were left without resource.
"The town of St. Augustine, that heretofore appeared like a rustic
village, their white houses peeping from among the clustered boughs and
golden fruit of their favorite tree, beneath whose shade the foreign
invalid cooled his fevered limbs, and imbibed health from the fragrant
air,--how was she fallen! Dry, unsightly poles, with ragged bark, stick
up around her dwellings; and where the mocking-bird once delighted to
build her nest, and tune her lovely songs, owls hoot at night, and
sterile winds whistle through the leafless branches. Never was a place
rendered more desolate."[41]
The groves were at once replanted, and soon bid fair to yield most
abundantly; when, in 1842, an insect was introduced into the country,
called the _orange coccus_, which spread over the whole country with
wonderful rapidity, and almost totally destroyed every tree it fastened
upon. Of late, the ravages of this insect seem less destructive, and the
groves have begun to resume their bearing; these add to the beauty of
the residences at St. Augustine with their glossy, deep-green leaves,
and golden fruit; and hopes of an entire restoration are now confidently
entertained.
In December, 1835, the war with the Seminole Indians broke out; and for
some years St. Augustine was full of the pomp and circumstance of war.
It was dangerous to venture beyond the gates; and many sad scenes of
Indian massacre took place in the neighborhood of the city. During this
period, great apparent prosperity prevailed; property was valuable,
rents were high; speculators projected one city on the north of the
town, and another on the west; a canal to the St. Johns, and also a
railroad to Picolata; and great hopes of future prosperity were
entertained. With the cessation of the war, the importance of St.
Augustine diminished; younger communities took the lead of it, aided by
superior advantages of location, and greater enterprise, and St.
Augustine has subsided into the pleasant, quiet, _dolce far niente_ of
to-day, living upon, its old memories, contented, peaceful, and
agreeable, and likely to remain without much change for the future.
Of the public buildings, it may be remarked that the extensive British
barracks were destroyed by fire in 1792; and that the Franciscan Convent
was occupied as it had been before, as barracks for the troops not in
garrison in the fort. The appearance of these buildings has been much
changed by the extensive repairs and alterations made by the United
States government. It had formerly a large circular look-out upon the
top, from which a beautiful view of the surrounding country was
obtained. Its walls are probably the oldest foundations in the city.
The present United States Court-house, now occupied by many public
offices, was the residence of the Spanish governors. It has been rebuilt
by the United States; and its former quaint and interesting appearance
has been lost, in removing its look-out tower, and balconies, and the
handsome gateway, mentioned by De Brahm, which is said to have been a
fine specimen of Doric architecture.[42]
Trinity Episcopal Church was commenced in 1827, and consecrated in 1833,
by Bishop Bowen, of South Carolina. The Presbyterian Church was built
about 1830, and the Methodist chapel about 1846.
The venerable-looking building on the bay, at the corner of Green lane
and Bay street, is considered the oldest building in the place, and has
evidently been a fine building in its day. It was the residence of the
attorney-general, in English times.
The monument on the public square was erected in 1812-13, upon the
information of the adoption of the Spanish constitution, as a memorial
of that event, in pursuance of a royal order to that effect, directed to
the public authorities of all the provincial towns. Geronimo Alvarez
was the Alcalde under whose direction it was erected. The plan of it was
made by Sr. Hernandez, the father of the late General Hernandez. A short
time after it was put up, the Spanish constitution having had a
downfall, orders were issued by the government that all the monuments
erected to the constitution throughout its dominions, should be
demolished. The citizens of St. Augustine were unwilling to see their
monument torn down; and with the passive acquiescence of the governor,
the marble tablets inscribed PLAZA DE LA CONSTITUCION being removed, the
monument itself was allowed to stand; and thus it remains to this day,
the only monument in existence to commemorate the farce of the
constitution of 1812. In 1818, the tablets were restored without
objection.
The bridge and causeway are the work of the government of the United
States. The present sea-wall was built between 1835 and 1842, by the
United States, at an expense of one hundred thousand dollars.
CHAPTER XVIII.
PRESENT APPEARANCE OF ST. AUGUSTINE, AS GIVEN BY THE AUTHOR OF
THANATOPSIS--ITS CLIMATE AND SALUBRITY.
St. Augustine has now attained, for this side of the Atlantic, a period
of most respectable antiquity. In a country like America, where States
are ushered into existence in the full development of maturity, where
large cities rise like magic from the rude forest, where the "oldest
inhabitant" recollects the cutting down of the lofty elms which shadowed
the wigwam of the red man, perchance on some spot now in the heart of a
great city; an antiquity of three centuries would be esteemed as almost
reaching back (compared with modern growth) to the days of the Pharaohs.
The larger number of early settlements were unsuitably located, and were
forced to be abandoned on account of their unhealthiness; but the
Spanish settlement at St. Augustine has remained for near three hundred
years where it was originally planted; and the health of its inhabitants
has, for this long period, given it a deserved reputation for salubrity
and exemption from disease, attributable to locality or extraneous
influences or causes.
The great age attained by its inhabitants was remarked by De Brahm; the
number and healthfulness of the children that throng its streets,
attract now, as they did then, the attention of strangers. This
salubrity is easily accounted for, by the almost insular position of the
city, upon a narrow neck of land nearly surrounded by salt water; the
main shore, a high and healthy pine forest and sandy plains, so near the
ocean as to be fanned by its constant breezes, and within the sound of
its echoing waves; a situation combining more local advantages for
salubrity could hardly be imagined. While it will never probably
increase to any great extent in population, it will hardly be likely to
decrease. Its health, easy means of support, unambitious class of
inhabitants, with their strong attachments and family and local ties,
will contribute to maintain St. Augustine as the time-honored ancient
city, with its permanent population, and its visitors for health, for
centuries perhaps yet to come.
I cannot perhaps better conclude these historic notices than by giving
the impressions of the author of Thanatopsis,[43] one whose poetic fame
will endure as long as American literature exists. Writing from St.
Augustine in April, 1843, he says:
"At length we emerged upon a shrubby plain, and finally came in sight of
this oldest city of the United States, seated among its trees on a sandy
swell of land, where it has stood for three hundred years. I was struck
with its ancient and homely aspect, even at a distance, and could not
help likening it to pictures which I had seen of Dutch towns, though it
wanted a wind-mill or two to make the resemblance perfect. We drove into
a green square, in the midst of which was a monument erected to
commemorate the Spanish constitution of 1812, and thence through the
narrow streets of the city to our hotel.
"I have called the streets narrow. In few places are they wide enough to
allow two carriages to pass abreast. I was told that they were not
originally intended for carriages; and that in the time when the town
belonged to Spain, many of them were floored with an artificial stone,
composed of shells and mortar, which in this climate takes and keeps the
hardness of rock; and that no other vehicle than a hand-barrow was
allowed to pass over them. In some places you see remnants of this
ancient pavement; but for the most part it has been ground into dust
under the wheels of the carts and carriages introduced by the new
inhabitants. The old houses, built of a kind of stone which is seemingly
a pure concretion of small shells, overhang the streets with their
wooden balconies; and the gardens between the houses are fenced on the
side of the street with high walls of stone. Peeping over these walls
you see branches of the pomegranate, and of the orange-tree now fragrant
with flowers, and rising yet higher, the leaning boughs of the fig with
its broad luxuriant leaves. Occasionally you pass the ruins of
houses--walls of stone with arches and stair-cases of the same material,
which once belonged to stately dwellings. You meet in the streets with
men of swarthy complexions and foreign physiognomy, and you hear them
speaking to each other in a strange language. You are told that these
are the remains of those who inhabited the country under the Spanish
dominion, and that the dialect you have heard is that of the island of
Minorca.
"'Twelve years ago,' said an acquaintance of mine, 'when I first visited
St. Augustine, it was a fine old Spanish town. A large proportion of the
houses which you now see roofed like barns, were then flat-roofed; they
were all of shell rock, and these modern wooden buildings were then not
erected. That old fort which they are now repairing, to fit it for
receiving a garrison, was a sort of ruin, for the outworks had partly
fallen, and it stood unoccupied by the military, a venerable monument of
the Spanish dominion. But the orange-groves were the wealth and ornament
of St. Augustine, and their produce maintained the inhabitants in
comfort. Orange-trees of the size and height of the pear-tree, often
rising higher than the roofs of the houses, embowered the town in
perpetual verdure. They stood so close in the groves that they excluded
the sun; and the atmosphere was at all times aromatic with their leaves
and fruit, and in spring the fragrance of the flowers was almost
oppressive.'
"The old fort of St. Mark, now called Fort Marion--a foolish change of
name--is a noble work, frowning over the Mantanzas, which flows between
St. Augustine and the island of Anastasia; and it is worth making a long
journey to see. No record remains of its original construction; but it
is supposed to have been erected about a hundred and fifty years
since,[44] and the shell rock of which it is built is dark with time. We
saw where it had been struck with cannon balls, which, instead of
splitting the rock, became imbedded and clogged among the loosened
fragments of shell. This rock is therefore one of the best materials for
fortification in the world. We were taken into the ancient prisons of
the fort-dungeons, one of which was dimly lighted by a grated window,
and another entirely without light; and by the flame of a torch we were
shown the half obliterated inscriptions scrawled on the walls long ago
by prisoners. But in another corner of the fort, we were taken to look
at the secret cells, which were discovered a few years since in
consequence of the sinking of the earth over a narrow apartment between
them. These cells are deep under ground, vaulted over-head, and without
windows. In one of them a wooden machine was found, which some supposed
might have been a rack, and in the other a quantity of human bones. The
doors of these cells had been walled up and concealed with stucco,
before the fort passed into the hands of the Americans.
"You cannot be in St. Augustine a day without hearing some of its
inhabitants speak of its agreeable climate. During the sixteen days of
my residence here, the weather has certainly been as delightful as I
could imagine. We have the temperature of early June as June is known in
New York. The mornings are sometimes a little sultry; but after two or
three hours a fresh breeze comes in from the sea sweeping through the
broad piazzas, and breathing in at the windows. At this season it comes
laden with the fragrance of the flowers of the Pride of India, and
sometimes of the orange tree, and sometimes brings the scent of roses,
now in bloom. The nights are gratefully cool; and I have been told by a
person who has lived here many years, that there are very few nights in
summer when you can sleep without a blanket.
"An acquaintance of mine, an invalid, who has tried various climates,
and has kept up a kind of running fight with death for many years,
retreating from country to country as he pursued, declares to me that
the winter climate of St. Augustine is to be preferred to that of any
part of Europe, even that of Sicily, and that it is better than the
climate of the West Indies. He finds it genial and equable, at the same
time that it is not enfeebling. The summer heats are prevented from
being intense by the sea-breeze, of which I have spoken. I have looked
over the work of Dr. Forry on the climate of the United States, and have
been surprised to see the uniformity of climate which he ascribes to Key
West. As appears by the observations he has collected, the seasons at
that place glide into each other by the softest gradations; and the heat
never, even in midsummer, reaches that extreme which is felt in the
higher latitudes of the American continent. The climate of Florida is,
in fact, an insular climate: the Atlantic on the east, and the Gulf of
Mexico on the west, temper the airs that blow over it, making them
cooler in summer and warmer in winter. I do not wonder, therefore, that
it is so much the resort of invalids; it would be more so if the
softness of its atmosphere, and the beauty and serenity of its seasons
were generally known. Nor should it be supposed that accommodations for
persons in delicate health are wanting; they are, in fact, becoming
better with every year, as the demand for them increases. Among the
acquaintances whom I have made here, I remember many who having come
hither for the benefit of their health, are detained for life by the
amenity of the climate. 'It seems to me,' said an intelligent gentleman
of this class, the other day, 'as if I could not exist out of Florida.
When I go to the north, I feel most sensibly the severe extremes of the
weather; the climate of Charleston itself appears harsh to me.'
"The negroes of St. Augustine are a good-looking specimen of the race,
and have the appearance of being very well treated. You rarely see a
negro in ragged clothing; and the colored children, though slaves, are
often dressed with great neatness. In the colored people whom I saw in
the Catholic church, I remarked a more agreeable, open, and gentle
physiognomy than I have been accustomed to see in that class.
"Some old customs which the Minorcans brought with them from their
native country, are still kept up. On the evening before Easter Sunday,
about eleven o'clock, I heard the sound of a serenade in the streets.
Going out, I found a party of young men with instruments of music,
grouped about the window of one of the dwellings, singing a hymn in
honor of the Virgin,[45] in the Mahonese dialect. They began, as I was
told, with tapping on the shutter. An answering knock within had told
them that their visit was welcome, and they immediately began the
serenade. If no reply had been heard, they would have passed on to
another dwelling. I give the hymn as it was kindly taken down for me in
writing, by a native of St. Augustine. I presume this is the first time
that it has been put in print; but I fear the copy has several
corruptions, occasioned by the unskillfulness of the copyist. The letter
_e_, which I have put in italics, represents the guttural French _e_,
or, perhaps, more nearly the sound of the _u_ in the word but. The _sh_
of our language is represented by _sc_ followed by an _i_ or an _e_; the
_g_, both hard and soft, has the same sound as in our language.
"'Disciar_e_m lu dol
Cantar_e_m aub' alagria
Y n'arem a da
Las pascuas a Maria
O Maria!
"'Sant Grabiel,
Qui portaba la ambasciado
Des nostro rey del cel,
Estaran vos prenada
Ya omitiada
Tu o vais aqui surventa
Fia del Dieu contenta
Para fe lo que el vol
Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
"'Y a milla nit
Pariguero vos regina
A un Dieu infinit,
Dintra una establina.
Y a milla dia,
Que los angles von cantant
Pau y abondant
De la gloria de Dieu sol
Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
"'Y a Libalam,
Alla la terra santa
Nus nat Jesus
Aub' alagria tanta
Infant petit
Que tot lu mon salvaria
Y ningu y bastaria
Nu mes un Dieu tot sul
Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
"'Cuant de Orion lus
Tres reys la stralla veran
Dieu omnipotent
Adora lo vingaran
Un present inferan
De mil _e_ncens y or
A lu beneit seno
Que conesce cual se vol
Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
"'Tot fu gayant
Para cumple la prumas
Y lu Esperit sant
De un angel fau gramas
Gran foc ences,
Que crama lu curagia
Dieu nos da lenguagia
Para fe lo que Dieu vol
Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
"'Cuant trespasa
De quest mon nostra Senora
Al cel s' empugia
Sun fil la matescia ora
O! Emperadora
Que del cel san eligida
Lu rosa florida
Me resplenden que un sol
Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
"'Y el tercer giorn
Que Jesus resunta
Dieu y Aboroma
Que la mort triumfa
De alli se balla
Para perldra Lucife
An tot a sen penda
Que de nostro ser el sol
Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
"After this hymn, the following stanzas, soliciting the customary gift
of cakes or eggs, are sung:--
"'Ce set que vam cantant,
Regina celestial!
Damos pan y alagria
Y bonas festas tingan
Y vos da sus bonas festas
Danos dines de sus nous
Sempre tar_e_m lus neans Uestas
Para recibi un grapat de nes,
Y el giorn de pascua florida
Alagramos y giuntament
As qui _e_s mort par dar nos vida
Y via glorosiamente,
A questa casa esta empedrada
Bien halla que la empedro;
San amo de aquesta casa
Baldria duna un do
Formagiado o empanada
Cucutta a flao;
Cual se val casa rue grada,
Sol que no rue digas que no.'
"The shutters are then opened by the people within, and a supply of
cheese, cakes or other pastry, or eggs, is dropped into a bag carried by
one of the party; who acknowledge the gift in the following lines, and
then depart:--
"'Aquesta casa reta empedrada
Empedrada de cuatro vens;
Sun amo de aquesta casa
Es omo de compliment.'
"If nothing is given, the last line reads thus:--
"'No es homo de compliment.'"
CHAPTER XIX.
ST. AUGUSTINE IN ITS OLD AGE.--1565-1868.
Three hundred and three years have now passed over the walls of this
venerable city. Ten generations of men and women have passed away since
this ancient city had an existence and a name. One can look back to 1565
and picture to the mind the galleons of Spain anchored off its harbor;
see the gallant Adelantado Menendez, clad in mail, preceded by the
standards of Spain, and followed by his men at arms, his bowmen and his
cavaliers, taking possession of the country in the name of his
sovereign. The waves roll in upon the same shores now as they did then;
the green, grassy marshes and oyster-clad banks present to our eyes the
same appearance as they did to theirs; the white sandy beach which
received the impress of the iron-clad heel of the cavalier, now yields
to the pressure of your foot; the rustling pines along the shore cast
their pleasant shadows over you as they did over them, and perchance the
same eager thoughts of gain pervade your breast as you pass beneath
them, as filled the hearts and souls of those who long ago came seeking
gold and wealth unmeasured upon those shores.
Three hundred years ago, and St. Augustine stood the solitary settlement
of the white race north of the Gulf of Mexico in all that great expanse
which now boasts of its thirty-four States, its three hundred cities,
and its thirty millions of people.
Then the Province of Florida extended northward to the pole, and
westward to the Pacific. At a later period, after the voyages of the
French and English, its boundaries were limited to the shores of the
Chesapeake and the Mississippi river, and were subsequently gradually
contracted to their present limits, so that Florida once represented
upon the maps all of the United States.
The life of St. Augustine runs parallel with that of Spain. For a long
period Spain was at the head of European monarchies; its rulers held
sway over more vast possessions than had ever belonged to any single
crown since the days of the Cæsars; wealth flowed into its coffers from
the New World in boundless profusion, and corruption, venality and
effeminacy followed in its train. The whole continent of America was
claimed as its dominion. Its fleets anchored upon every shore for
conquest or exploration, and its banners were unfurled by its generals,
and the cross was planted by its priests, upon every headland. From all
this grandeur and eminence the Spanish monarchy has been cast down.
Driven from land to land, it has receded from the main land of America,
and has exchanged its dominion over a continent to the islands of the
sea, which it holds with a precarious grasp, and it now remains in a dry
old age a fourth-rate power where once it stood foremost. The first
planted of all the cities of the United States, St. Augustine, now ranks
among the least.
Ten years have been added to the longevity of the ancient city since the
first publication of this work. Ten years do not make their mark upon
the aged man as they do upon the youth launching forth into manhood, or
as they do upon him who in the full measure of his matured strength is
battling with life. On the nation at large, these ten years have left
almost ineffaceable scars and bruises; ten years, the most important,
the weightiest and the gravest of any since the throes of the great
revolution which gave birth to the nation. This long sad period has left
no mark upon its walls--grey and mouldy with the weight of years, and
have scarcely added a tinge the more of age and sorrow--and yet the
inner life of the old city has sustained a great shock. The system of
servitude, which has now been swept away, was the sole dependence of
many aged persons, of many poor widows and orphan children.
Servants in St. Augustine were treated with paternal kindness; they had
grown up in the family of the indulgent master, had been his play-mate
in infancy, and rendered willing service. They had their holidays and
their balls, and were ever found in the background at all festive
gatherings, enjoying, upon a privileged footing, the pleasures of the
hour, looking on and commenting with pride upon the graceful movements
in the dance of their young mistresses, and anon whirling each other
around to the music, in the corridors, with the unrestrained exuberance
of their simple and unalloyed happiness. All this has passed away, their
homes are broken up, the poor widow and the orphan children have been
brought to want, the sound of music and dancing no longer resound in
the old streets, the privileged house-maid and man-servant no longer do
their easy tasks with cheerful song and merry laugh.
The naval forces of the United States took possession of St. Augustine
in 1862. Batteries had been mounted at the fort, and a small garrison of
Confederate troops were in military occupation of the place, but too few
in numbers to offer any resistance, and the city was surrendered by the
civil authorities upon the demand of Captain Dupont. The 4th New
Hampshire regiment first garrisoned the city. The old fort was brushed
up and repaired, the earth-works strengthened, and barracks built on the
platform. Occasionally reconnoitering parties of Confederates approached
the town, and on one occasion a festive party of officers, who had gone
out to Mr. Solanas, near Picolata, to attend a dance, were captured,
with their music and ambulance, by Captain Dickinson, celebrated for
many daring exploits. It was even believed that this daring partisan had
ridden through the city at night in the guise of a Federal cavalry
officer. On another occasion, the commanding officer of the garrison at
St. Augustine was captured on the road from Jacksonville by a
Confederate picket.
The inhabitants, isolated from all means of obtaining supplies from
without the lines, were reduced to great straits. The only condition
upon which they were allowed to purchase, was the acceptance of an oath
of loyalty. Sympathizing strongly with the South, they were placed in an
unfortunate position, and many doubtless suffered greatly. At one
period, those of the citizens who had relatives in the Confederate
service were ordered to leave the city. Then ensued a scene which
beggars description. Men, women and children were huddled on board a
vessel, and, homeless and helpless, were carried along the coast and
disembarked, shelterless, on the banks of the Nassau river, to make
their way to food and shelter as best they could--hardships which hardly
seemed called for by any military necessity. Many of the young men of
the city went into the Confederate service and served through the war
with distinction, but many fell victims on the battlefield, in the
hospitals, or from exposure to the rigorous climate of Virginia and
Tennessee, to which they were unaccustomed.
To these misfortunes succeeded to all, sales and forcible deprivation of
property, under the most rigorous construction of most rigorous
laws--the unsettling of titles and the loss of mean have combined to
lessen the ability of the people to do more than try to live, without
much effort to improve their homes and the appearance of the city.
Some changes have taken place in the suburbs of the city. Macariz, the
site of the old Indian town, belonging to the late Judge Douglas, with
its beautiful groves of forest trees, has been utterly destroyed; and a
once pleasant cottage home, near the stockades, dear to the writer,
cared for and embellished with many things pleasant to the eye, fragrant
with the ever blooming roses and honeysuckles, has, under the rude hand
of war, been utterly destroyed, with its library, its furniture, and all
its pleasant surroundings.
But while man's work has been to destroy, Nature has done much within
these few years to restore one of its former sources of prosperity, the
cultivation of the orange, which, having been at one period almost
utterly destroyed by the cold, and then by the coccus insect, is now
fast regaining its pristine vigor and productiveness, and promises in a
few years to furnish to the city more permanent and abundant sources of
prosperity than it has ever had.
With the infusion of Northern energy and capital, much could be done to
further the prosperity of the old city, by building up first-class
hotels and boarding-houses for visitors during the winter, by rebuilding
the Picolata railway, thus facilitating access to the city, and thus a
means of support could be given to its inhabitants.
I am sure that no one will feel otherwise than that its old age shall be
tranquil and serene, and that its name may ever be associated with
pleasant memories.
[Illustration: decoration]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The fountain of youth is a very ancient fable; and the reader will
be reminded of the amusing story of the accomplishment of this miracle,
told in Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales, and of the marvelous effects
produced by imbibing this celebrated spring water.
[2] Barcia Ensayo, Cron. 66.
[3] The galleon spoken of was Menendez's own flag ship, the El Pelayo,
the largest vessel in his fleet, fitted out at his own expense, and
which had brought four hundred men. He had put on board of her a
lieutenant and some soldiers, besides fifteen Lutherans as prisoners,
whom he was sending home to the Inquisition at Seville. The orders to
his officers were to go as speedily as possible to the island of
Hispaniola, to bring provisions and additional forces. Upon the passage,
the Lutheran prisoners, with some Levantine sailors, rose upon the
Spaniards, killed the commander, and carried the vessel into Denmark.
Menendez was much chagrined when he ascertained the fate of his favorite
galleon, a long period afterwards.
[4] A low palm, bearing an oily berry.
[5] Ternaux Compans.
[6] Hakluyt.
[7] Brevis Narratio.
[8] W. Gilmore Simms, Esq.
[9] Laudonnière says, "_joignant la montagne_."
[10] Canaveral, where Ribault was wrecked, must have been some point
north of Mosquito Inlet, and not the cape now bearing that name, as he
could not have crossed Mosquito Inlet in his march to Matanzas.
[11] Barcia, p. 87.
[12] Barcia, p. 89.
[13] Barcia, p. 89.
[14] Barcia, p. 89.
[15] Such was the understanding of those who then wrote in reference to
the transaction, as Barcia admits.
[16] Ensay. Cron. 110.
[17] Ensayo: Cron. 115.
[18] Pensacola Bay was also so called.
[19] Ensayo: Cron. 133.
[20] Ternaux Compans, p. 357.
[21] This old chest, which remained in one of the western vaults of the
fort, up to the late war, was broken up for relics, and is no longer
there.
[22] I do not find any account of this expedition and capture of St.
Augustine in the Ensayo Cronologica.
[23] Carroll's S. C., Vol. 1, p. 62.
[24] Rivers' S. C. Hist. Coll. p. 143. Do. Appendix, 426. Carroll's
Coll., 2d vol., 350.
[25] There must be an error, of course, in this statement of an 82-gun
ship entering St. Augustine, as the depth of water would never admit a
vessel of over 300 tons: probably 82 should read 12 tons. G. R. F.
[26] Carroll's Hist. Coll., vol. 2, p. 352.
[27] Rivers' Hist. Sketches, S. C., app. 458.
[28] State Papers of Georgia. Ga. Hist. Soc.
[29] This statement is unsupported by either Spanish or English
authority. The writer of the letter, through want of familiarity with
their language, misunderstood his informants, in all probability, as to
the extent of their loss.
[30] MSS, in Geo. Hist. Soc. Library.
[31] Monteano, MSS., Archives St. Augustine.
[32] Monteano, MS. Letter of, 28th July, 1740.
[33] Report upon Expedition to St. Augustine. Carroll's Coll. 2d vol.,
p. 354.
[34] Carroll's Hist. Coll. S. C. p. 359.
[35] De Brahm MS., p. 192.
[36] Stork, p. 11.
[37] Williams' Florida, p. 17.
[38] Among the families remaining were the Fatios, Flemings, and a few
others.
[39] The old parish church was on St. George street, on west side of the
street.
[40] Voyage to Spanish Main. London, 1819. Page 116, _et seq._
[41] Williams' Florida, pp. 18, _et seq._
[42] It is said to have been taken down by the contractor, to form the
foundation of his kitchen.
[43] Bryant.
[44] It is much more ancient.
[45] This song is usually called the _Fromajardis_.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Spaniards in Florida, by George R. Fairbanks
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