USA > Florida > Saint Johns County > Saint Augustine > History and antiquities of St. Augustine, Florida > Part 6
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t Ensayo : Cron. 133.
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OF ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA.
CHAPTER X.
THE NOTABLE REVENGE OF DOMINIC DE GOURGUES-RE- TURN 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 vin- dicating 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. John's.
Dominic de Gourgues, one of those soldiers of fortune who then abounded throughout Europe, took upon himself thie ex- pression of the indignation with which the Frenchi 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. Con- science, and the knowledge that the sentiment of the age was against him, made Menendez from the moment of his success ex- ceedingly 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 protec- tion 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, ap- peared in April, 1568, off the mouth of the St. John's. The Spanish fort received his vessels with a salute, supposing them to
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THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES
be under the flag of Spain. De Gourgues returned the salute, - thus confirming their error. He then entered the St. Mary's, - 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 Saturioura. Their plans were quickly formed, and immediately carried into · execution. Their place of rendezvous was the Fort George In- "let, 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 oc- cupying 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 daybreak. 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 be- tween 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.
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De Gourgues at once pushed forward to attack Fort Caro- · line, 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 skilfully in- terposed a body of his own men with a large number of the In- dians between the reconnoitering party and the fort, and then with his main force charged upon them in front: when the Span- iards, 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 follow- ers 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 retalia- tion 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 Menen- dez 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, thicves and murderers." >
After inducing the Indians to destroy the forts, and to raze them to the ground, he set sail for France, arriving safely with- out 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 pro- tected by many distinguished persons, official and private, and by the mass of the people; to whom his boldness, spirit, and sig- nal success were grateful. Some years afterwards he was re- stored to the favor of his sovereign, and appointed admiral of the fleet.
* Ternaux, Compans, p. 357.
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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 opin- ions 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. John's, Menen- dez 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 instruc- tion. In the Ensayo Cronologica, there is set forth, in full, a re- script addressed by Pope Pius V., to Menendez, conveying to him the acknowledgments of his Holiness for the zeal and loy- alty he had exhibited, and his labors in carrying the faith to the Indians, and urging him strongly to see to it that his Indian con- verts 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 fol- lowing 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 ascer- tained, and he went in person to chastise the murderers; he suc-
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ceeded in capturing six or seven, who, it is said, (rather improba- bly I think,) confessed themselves to have been implicated in the massacre. Menendez, in his summary and sailor-like way, or- dered their execution at the yard-arm of his vessel. The chroni- cle 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 establish- ments, 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 settle- ments-the alternations of supply and want, occasional disaffec- tions, 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 sud- denly carried off by a fever, at the age of fifty-five. It is a sin- gular coincidence that De Gourgues, five years afterwards, was carried off in a similar manner, just after his appointment as ad- miral of the French fleet. A splendid monument in the church of San Nicolas, at Aviles, was erected to the memory of Menen- dez, 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-GEN- ERAL 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."
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CHAPTER XI.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S ATTACK UPON ST. AUGUSTINE-ESTAB- LISHMENT 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 set- tlement 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 lookout 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, de- tained a prisoner there, and that the Spaniards had abandoned their fort; and he offered to conduct them over. Upon this in- formation they crossed the river and found the fort abandoned as they had been Informed, and took possession of it without op- position. 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. Four- teen brass cannon were found in the fort, and there was left be- hind the treasure chest, containing £2,000 sterling, designed for the payment of the garrison, which consisted of one hundred and
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fifty men. Whether the massive, iron-bound mahogany chest,* still preserved in the old fort is the same which fell into the hands of Drake, is a question for antiquaries to decide; its an- cient 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 re- turn and go in 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. John's 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 gar- dens 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 con- siderably 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 pres- ent 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 pre- sented 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
1 # 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.
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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 set- tle in its neighborhood.
In 1592, twelve Franciscan missionaries arrived at St. Au- gustine, 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 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 Cath- olic Church at St. Augustine.
These missions proceeded with considerable apparent suc- cess, 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
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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 Tal- omato with his followers under the cover of night, he crept up to the mission house, burst open the chapel doors, and slew the de- voted 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 Ro- man Catholic cemetery of St. Augustine.
As soon as this occurrence became known in the Indian vil- lage, all was excitement ; some of the most devoted bewailing the death of their spiritual father, while others dreaded the conse- quences of so rash an act, and shrunk with terror from the ven- geance 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 defence 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 punish- ment 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 disgust, 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
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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 us, injuriously treat us, oppress us, lecture us, call us bad Christians, and de- prive us of all the pleasures which our fathers enjoyed, in the hope that they would give us heaven ; by these frauds subject- ing 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 ; tumultu- ously 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 insensi- ble to his eloquence, and his tears, and pressed forward to sur- round 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
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they might serve for the fowls of the air or the beasts of the for- est ; 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 fol- lowers against several missions, in other parts of the country, which lie 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 cannot 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 insensi- ble, something more than a passing emotion.
The zeal of the Franciscans was only increased by this dis- aster, and each succeeding year brought additions to their num- ber. 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 Indians no less than twenty mission houses. The presumed remains of these establishments are still occasionally to be found throughout the interior of the: country ..
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CHAPTER XII.
SUBJECTION OF THE APALACHIAN INDIANS-CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORT, SEA WALL, ETC .- 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 Su- wanee. 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 of 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.
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