USA > Florida > Saint Johns County > Saint Augustine > The Spaniards in Florida, comprising the notable settlement of the Hugenots in 1564, and the history and antiquities of St. Augustine, founded a.d. 1565 > Part 7
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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 recommenda- tion of their mission Fathers, they were relieved from fur- ther compulsory labor, with the understanding that in case of necessity they would resume their labors.
In 1648, St. Augustine is described to have contained
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more than three hundred householders (vecinos), a flourish- ing monastry of the order of St. Francis with fifty Francis cans, men very zealous for the conversion of the Indians, and regarded by their countrymen with the highest venera- tion. Besides these there were in the city alone, a vicar, a parochial curate, a superior sacristan, and a chaplain at- tached to the castle. The parish church was built of wood, the Bishop of Cuba, it is said, not being able to afford any- thing 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 proceded 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 .*
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 Eng- land, 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
* I do not find any account of this expedition and capture of St. Augus- tine in the Ensayo Cronologica
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stone, lime, timber, and iron, more than sufficient subse- quently 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 hun- dred 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 vari- ous 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 oppres- sion towards the Indians, exercised in the other colonies under Spanish dominition, 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 invaria- bly 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 subse- quent to the settlement of St. Augustine. The Spaniards regarded it as an infringement upon their rights ; and al- though a treaty, after this settlement, had been made be- tween 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
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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 .*
Ten years afterwards, three galleys sailed from St. Augus- tine, 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 Span- iards 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 sig- nal retaliation by the South Carolinians.t .
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 re- ceived 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 en- croachments upon the shores of the town, and had reached even the houses, threatening to swallow them up, and ren
* Carroll's S. C., Vol. 1, p. 62.
¡ Rivers' S. C. Hist. Coll. p. 143. Do. Appendix, 425. Carroll's Coll., 2d vol., 350.
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der 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 pro- posed 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, al- though 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 follow- ing 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 terminat- ing in a species of break-water at the public square. It is unnesessary to add that the present sea wall is a much su- perior structure to the old, and extends above twice the
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distance. Its cost is said to have been one hundred thou- sand 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 considera- ble additional funds was requisite, resembling in this respect its successor. The new governor, De Cuniga, 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.
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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 num- bered 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 Car- olina 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 provin- cial 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 govenor by sea in several merchant schooners and ships which had been impressed for the service.
The Spaniards, who had received intimations of the con- templated attack, placed themselves in the best posture of de- fense 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
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Augustino on the land side, while the Governour sailed thither, and attacked it by sea. They both set out in Au- gust, 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. How- ever, 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 pos- session 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 en- emy. 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 Eng- lish, 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 .*
* 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.
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" When Col. Daniel came back to St. Augustino, 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, hav- ing 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 uncon- cern. 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 Com- mons 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 .*
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 per- son 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 af- fronted 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." t
* Carroll's Hist. Coll., vol. 2, p. 352.
+ Rivers' Hist. Sketches, S. C., app. 456,
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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 Charles- ton ; 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 re- ceived just previous to the English attack, reinforcements from Havana, and had repaired and strengthened the fortifi- cations.
The retreat of the English was celebrated with great re- joicing 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 theravages 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 hun- dred 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 dan- gers which menaced his possessions in Florida, gave greater attention to the strengthening the defenses of St. Augus- tine, and forwarded considerable reinforcements to the gar- rison, as well as additional supplies of munitions.
The works were directed to be strengthened, which Gov- ernor Cuniga thought not as strong as had been represented, and that the sea wall in the process of erection was insuf- ficient 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 fortifica- tions 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 informa- tions, 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 inhab- itants 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 any- thing like the distress indicated should prevail, with the
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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 repre- hensible 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 vig- orous 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 com- pelled 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; car- rying 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.
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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 un- fairly, 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 set- tle the said place again, at any time hereafter." *
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, Gov- ernor 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 ele- vation 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."
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