USA > South Carolina > The history of South Carolina, from its first European discovery to its erection into a republic: with a supplementary chronicle of events to the present time > Part 3
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by Charles IX. of France, that the Huguenot interest in the new world was one which it did not concern him to maintain. The indifference, at least, of the one Catholic monarch, readily surrendered to the tender mercies of another, a people who had audaciously withdrawn them- selves from that spiritual control of Rome, which they both equally acknowledged. There is no question that the Spaniards knew of all the movements, objects, and strength of armament of the Huguenot commander. Me- lendez was chosen to conduct an enterprize which was considered of equal importance to the interests of church and state. The French were Protestants, and they were supposed to be trespassers upon a territory to which, un- der the general name of Florida, the Spaniards asserted an exclusive title. He was invested with the swelling title of a Spanish Adelantado. The hereditary govern- ment of the Floridas was conferred upon him, and, at the call of the church, three thousand men volunteered to crowd his armament, which consisted of nearly twenty vessels. But, deserted by their earthly monarch, the Hu- guenots were for a time, indirectly, the care of heaven. The fleet of Melendez was met by storms, and his force lessened ere he reached the coasts of Florida, to one third of its original strength. But this disaster did not les- sen the confidence of the Spaniard in his own fortune, and the bigotry of his mind gave a degree of enthusiasm to his resolve, which supplied the deficiencies of his armament. He rebuked the counsel of those who advised, in the shattered state of his vessels, and the diminished force of his crews, that, for the present, the expedition should be abandoned. "The Almighty" said he, "has thus re-
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duced our strength that his own might more completely do the work."
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Sailing along the coast, he discovered a fine haven and beautiful river, to which he gave the name of St. Augustine, and where he subsequently founded the noble fortress of that place. Continuing his route northwardly, he discovered a portion of the fleet of Ribault. The French, as he approached, demanded his name and ob- ject. "I am Melendez of Spain," was the reply :- " I am sent with strict orders from my king, to gibbet and behead all the Protestants in these regions. The French- man who is a Catholic I will spare,-every heretic shall die."
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CHAPTER IV.
The language of this reply, the uncompromising hate which it expressed, and the threat which it conveyed, struck terror to the hearts of the Huguenots. Feebler than their foes, and unprepared for battle, such as re- mained in the ships resolved upon flight. The approach of evening, while it prevented them from doing so in the first moment of their alarm, saved them also for the night from their enemies. But with the dawn of day they cut their cables, hoisted sail, and stood out to sea. They were closely pursued and fired upon all day, but escaped by superior sailing. Melendez returned to the harbor of St. Augustine, of which he took possession in the name of Philip II. whom he proclaimed monarch of all Amer- ica, with the most solemn ceremonies of religion; and under the favoring auspices of partial success, the build- ing of the town, the oldest in the United States, was begun.
While the Spaniards were thus employed, the colonists at Fort Caroline were neither idle nor apprehensive. Ribault resolved upon the most manly alternative. He resolved to anticipate the assaults of the enemy, and seek Melendez at sea. Crowding his main strength into his vessels, he left but a small garrison behind for the pro- tection of his women and children, the sick of the expe- dition, and the stores. The garrison under Laudonniere, did not exceed eighty men, and not more than twenty of
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these were effective. The heavy ships which had fled before Melendez, joined him, and the French commander proceeded south, with almost certain assurances of suc- cess. He found the fleet of Melendez without its com- plement of men, who were on shore, and moored in a situation that seemed to make its fate inevitable. Two hours would have sufficed for its destruction, and would have placed in the hands of Ribault sufficient means for the annihilation of his enemy ; but one of those sudden tempests, so common in those latitudes, suddenly arose, baffled his hopes, and drove his vessels down the gulf of Florida. The storm lasted from the first week in Sep- tember to the beginning of the following month, and in that time the ships of Ribault were dashed to pieces against the rocks, full fifty leagues south of Fort Caro- line. The men escaped only with their lives.
This disaster gave an entirely new aspect to the for- tunes of Melendez. Without knowing the extent of Ribault's misfortune, he at least knew, from the violence and long continuance of the storm, that many days must elapse before Ribault could return to his colony ; and of this conviction he availed himself with that promptness and boldness which distinguished his character, and which had shone more worthily in the prosecution of any other labor. With a fanatical indifference to toil, he led five hundred picked troops, overland through the lakes, wastes and forests which divided St. Augustine from Fort Caroline, and was sheltered from sight in the forests which surround it, before Laudonniere had a suspicion of his having left St. Augustine. Cruel and dark, if not strange, was the superstition which seems to have clouded
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the minds, and embittered the hearts of these stern ad- venturers. The massacre of the French as heretics, had been long before deliberately resolved upon. Solemnly, on bended knee in prayer to the Almighty, did they pre- pare themselves for this unhallowed sacrifice. From prayer they rushed to slaughter ; the feeble garrison was surprized, and dreadful was the carnage that ensued. The old, the sick, women and children, were alike mas- sacred. The humanity of Melendez, after the havoc had raged for some time, tardily interposed to save such of the women, and the children under fifteen years, that still survived. But many of the garrison were preserved for a more terrible sacrifice. As if a distinct testimony were needed to show that this atrocious consummation of their crime was an act of faith, and a tribute to that gentle and benignant God who came only to propitiate and save-the living and the dying, after the fury of the fight was over, were hung together upon the boughs of a tree, and left to shrivel in the sun. An inscription upon a stone be- neath, declared the motive of this meritorious deed. "We do this," wrote the fanatic, "not to Frenchman, but to heretics."
Nearly two hundred persons were massacred. A few, leaping from the parapet when all was lost, escaped into the woods ; among them were Laudonniere, Challus, and Le Moyne, a painter who had been sent out with the col- ony, with an especial regard to the exercise of his art. From these we gather the horrors of the scene, which was not yet finished. But whither should the fugitives turn ? Death was every where around them ; the forests had no refuge, the sea no hiding place. "Shall we sur-
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render to the Spaniards, and appeal to their mercy ?" be- came the question among them. "No !" said Challus,- "Let us trust in the mercy of God-we can not in these men."
Unfortunately, there were some who refused to adopt this resolution. They had hopes that the tiger rage of their conquerors was already sufficiently glutted by the blood which they had drunk. They gave them- selves up, and shared the fate of their comrades. Those who followed the counsel of Challus, found their way to the sea side, and were received on board of two French vessels under the command of the son of Ribault, which had lingered in the harbor, and had dropped down the river beyond the reach of cannon, as soon as they discov- ered the fate of the fort. Mass was said when the carnage -was over ; and while the earth was yet smeared and soaking with the blood of men made in God's likeness, the site was chosen for a church to be dedicated to God.
The work thoroughly finished, the butcher led his sol- diers back to St. Augustine in all haste, as he feared the possible retaliation of Ribault upon that post. Of the fate of this unfortunate commander he knew nothing. Cast upon the shore with a small supply of provisions, and only in part provided with the weapons of defence, the Frenchmen were almost abandoned to despair. A long stretch of swamp and forest, filled with enemies, heathen and christian, equally hostile and equally savage, lay be- tween them and their place of hope and supposed refuge. It remained for them only to reach Fort Caroline, or sur- render themselves to the doubtful mercies of the Span- iards. They resolved to go forward, and were divided
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into two bodies for this purpose. It is probable that thus divided they pursued different routes, with the view to the more easy procuring of their food. One of these bodies, preceding the other, reached the banks of a small river twelve miles south of St. Augustine. Before they could procure the means of effecting the passage, they were encountered by Melendez at the head of forty soldiers. There, for the first time, he learned the fate of Ribault's fleet. The shipwrecked men were in a state of helpless weakness, half famished, subdued in spirit, wanting equal- ly in food and water. Melendez invited them to rely on his compassion. His invitation was complied with. The French yielded by capitulation, and were brought across the river by small divisions, in a single boat. As the captives stepped upon the bank occupied by their enemies, their hands were tied behind them; a measure of precaution which probably did not alarm them, as they must have seen the smallness of the Span- ish force. Two hundred were transported in this man- ner, and when brought together in the forests, at some distance from, and out of sight of their companions who were yet to cross, "at a line marked with his cane upon the sand," and at a signal from Melendez, they were set upon and butchered. Their carcasses were left unburied where they were slain.
A few days elapsed, when the remaining party, under Ribault himself, appeared at the same river, and were met, like the former, by the inveterate Spaniard. On this occasion, Melendez brought with him a more impos- ing force. A protracted negociation followed, and a large ransom was offered by the Frenchmen; but Melendez,
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deliberately pacing the river bank, and permitting the negotiators to come and go at their pleasure, yet varied nothing from his first expressed resolution. He required them to surrender at discretion. He is even said to have set food and refreshments before them, while medi- tating a cruelty towards them like that which he had so inflexibly shown their comrades. Ribault, himself, cross- ed the river with several of his officers, without restraint, but without moving the stern decision of the Spaniard. He was respectfully received, conducted to the plain where the carcasses of the slaughtered party which pre- ceeded him lay bare to the elements, was informed of the manner of their fate, and of those left in Fort Caro- line, and was still required to surrender at discretion.
It was in vain that these wretched men urged, that, as the two monarchs of their respective countries were not only at peace, but in alliance, they could not be treated as enemies. The answer was, "the catholic French are our friends and allies ; but with heretics I wage a war of extermination. In this I serve both monarchs. I came to Florida to establish the catholic faith. If you are sat- isfied to yield yourselves to my mercy, I will do with you as God shall inspire me. If not, choose your own course ; but do not hope from me either peace or friendship."
With this final answer Ribault returned to his comrades. It is somewhat surprising, that a commander who has been reputed so brave as himself, should have been con- tent to parley with such a monster, after so bold an avowal of his resolves, and after the unstinted revelation which he had made of the treatment of his former captives. It is still more a matter of surprise, that he should at length
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have delivered himself up, on any terms, to a wretch so bigoted and sanguinary. The exposure of the mangled corses of his countrymen, slain as captives, and under an assurance of mercy, should have provoked in the surviving French, a resolution to incur any hazards, not merely in maintaining the possession of their arms, but in revenging their slaughtered brethren. But fatigue and starvation sub- due in time the boldest natures, and nothing, surely, but the sheer exhaustion of spirit and frame, could have re- conciled the unfortunate Ribault to the course which he subsequently adopted. Perhaps, indeed, he had some hope from the very audacity of Melendez. He fancied that the object of the Spaniard was to make the merit of his mercy the more-that he was already sated with blood, -and simply insisted upon the hard terms which he pro- posed, for the gratification of a tenacious pride, which nothing short of unqualified surrender could well satisfy.
Whatever may have been the reasonings of the French commander, he resolved to submit himself, with one hun- dred and fifty others, to his enemy ; but the remainder of his men, two hundred in number, determined more wisely to brave every form of danger rather than yield to one who had shown himself so merciless. A melancholy separation of this forlorn band took place. Ribault led his division into the hands of Melendez, and being tied with ten oth- ers suffered with the rest. The two hundred who retained their arms, met with a milder fate. Returning to the wrecks of their vessels, they raised a temporary fortress for their defence, and proceeded to build a vessel to assist their escape. But their inhuman enemy was not willing to leave his work unfinished. He pursued them
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to their place of partial refuge. From this they were driven, and flying to an elevated piece of ground, they prepared for the last conflict, resolved to sell their lives dearly if they could not repulse their foe. Their desper- ate demeanor and' unyielding aspect, together with the advantage of their position, compelled Melendez to abate something of his inveteracy and hate. A negotiation was opened, and they received a solemn assurance of security and kind treatment-an assurance which, in this case, was followed by no breach of good faith. But no assurance, however solemn, from those who had been so faithless before, could satisfy the commander of this little party. His name is not given us, but his unbending resolution of character merits every encomium. He resolved rather to trust the forest thickets, with /their troops of savage men and savage beasts, than such mon- sters as the Spaniards had shown themselves. With twenty followers, who felt like himself, he separated from his company, and disappeared from sight. The Span- iards hunted them in vain. They were never heard of more. Those who received the protection of Melen- dez, either established themselves in Florida, or found their way, at a remote period after, to their several homes.
The French writers assert, that Ribault was flayed alive, his body burnt, and his stuffed skin sent to Europe as a worthy trophy of the conqueror, and a fitting tribute to the Christian and throned barbarians who then ruled over half the world. The number of the victims is com- puted at nine hundred. The Spanish authorities dimin- ish this number, but not the atrocity of the deed. Me-
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lendez returned to Spain, impoverished but triumphant. He was well received by his sovereign, to whom his ser- vices had been of so grateful a character ; and his only human punishment, so far as the knowledge has been obtained, is the infamous notoriety which has followed the record of his deeds.
CHAPTER V.
The tidings of these dreadful massacres, when they reached France, awakened every where, but at court, a burning sentiment of indignation. There, they carried an odor, such as was offered to the kingly nostrils by the bloody fumes of a like sacrifice, on the day of St. Bar- tholomew. The French government heard with apathy, if not with satisfaction, of an outrage which offended the moral sense of Christian Europe. It did not even offer a remonstrance on the destruction of a colony, which, if maintained, would have given to France an empire in the new continent, before England had yet founded a planta- tion. But the feeling of the court was not that of the nation. The people, Catholic no less than Protestant, burned with the sentiment for vengeance, which they were yet compelled to smother. This sentiment was at length embodied into form, and found utterance in the deeds of a gallant Gascon. The Chevalier Dominique de Gourgues -the very personification of intense heroism and a noble nature-rose up to redress his murdered countrymen and his insulted country. He was a Catholic, born at Mont Marsan, county of Cominges. His youth had been passed in warlike enterprises, and his reputation as a subaltern officer was not surpassed by any in France. His life had been a series of surprising adventures. He had passed from service to service and won reputation in
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each. He became the captive of the Spaniards, while fighting against them in Italy; and his obstinate valor, which would have met with the admiration of a generous enemy, received but chains from his Spanish captors. He was consigned to the gallies, and was rescued from its oars only to fall into another form of bondage. The prize in which he rowed was taken by a Turkish corsair. Redeemed from Algerine slavery, he returned to his country in season to revenge its wrongs. His own treatment at the hands of his Spanish captors, may have helped to warm his indignation.
By the sale of his property, and the voluntary contribu- tions of his friends, he found means for the equipment of a small fleet of three vessels. With a crew of one hundred and fifty men, he sailed from Bordeaux, on the 22nd of August, 1567, disguising his real purposes from the public, by the avowed intention of engaging in the slave trade on the coast of Africa.
Such was the nature of the commission under which he sailed ; and the object which he afterwards pursued, seems to have remained entirely unsuspected. De Gour- gues, however, had contrived to secure the services of one of the soldiers who had escaped with Laudonniere from Florida. When fairly at sea, he declared his true purpose to his soldiers. He painted, in glowing language, the wrongs of his countrymen-the brutality of the Span- iards-the cries of the thousand widows and orphans which they had made in France-their prayers unheeded -their injuries unredressed. His speech, which is pre- served, is a fine specimen of manly eloquence and pat- riotism. It had the desired effect upon his men. With
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one voice they adopted his resolution. They declared their wish to follow him and avenge the murder of their countrymen, and the dishonor done to France.
De Gourgues himself had but the one object. He did not seek to colonize; his force was too small for that. But it was sufficient, under his guidance, and moved by his spirit, for the purposes of destruction. Nor was his vengeance long delayed. The shores of Florida soon after rose in sight, and so entirely unsuspicious of danger were the Spaniards in possession of La Caroline, that they gave the fleet of De Gourgues a salute as it ap- peared. This salute he returned, the better to confirm them in their dangerous security ; and passing on to the river, by the French called the Seine, he entered it and came to a landing with his men. Here he was soon dis- covered by a formidable body of the savages, headed by no less than eight of their principal chiefs. They recog-
nized the French costume and language, and their delight was unmeasured. Before De Gourgues could declare his purpose, they denounced the Spaniards, as well for their murders of the French, as for their own repeated wrongs to themselves, and declared their desire to destroy them. So desirable an offer was at once accepted. They were provided with pikes, swords and daggers, and at once embodied with the French, though still under the com- mand of their own warriors,-one of whom, named Olotocara, greatly distinguished himself in the assault upon the Spanish forts. These were three in number ; that of La Caroline being strengthened by two similar structures immediately contiguous. De Gourgues made his approaches with the coolness of a veteran. He sent
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forth spies, both French and Indian, and regulated his assault by their reports. The defences of the Spaniards were very complete, and but for the surprise which they experienced, and the terror which they felt at an exaggerated report which had reached them of the num- bers of the French, the results might not have been so agreeable to the cause of justice.
The two small forts were carried by storm, and the men not slain in the assault, were carefully reserved for the final sacrifice, which De Gourgues meditated from the first. The avenues leading to La Caroline, were then occupied by the Indians, so that there remained no pos- sibility of escape for the fugitives. This done, De Gour- gues proceeded to a deliberate survey of all the difficul- ties of the enterprise. He soon discovered that it must be carried by escalade. It was defended by three hun- dred men under a valiant governor, had a large number of culverins and other cannon of various sizes, plentiful supplies of ammunition, and provision in abundance.
While the French-having retired to a wood for shelter from the Spanish cannon, which began to play upon them warmly from the moment when they came in sight -were preparing their ladders for the escalade, the gov- ernor of the fort precipitated his defeat. Under an excess of valor, he imprudently sallied forth with sixty of his men, and had advanced but a little distance, when he found him- self suddenly surrounded by the French under De Gour- gues and his lieutenant, Cazenove, who cut off his return, and slew his party to a man, on the spot where they were encountered. The besieged, who beheld this exploit, now left without a commander, were so terrified by the
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event, that in their panic they fled from their defences and sought shelter in the neighboring thickets. But here they were met by the Indians under Olotocara, who drove them back upon the French. Death encountered them on all sides, and those who survived the conflict were reserved for a more especial and more cruel fate. They were conducted, with those taken at the smaller forts, to the trees on which Melendez had hung the Frenchmen under Ribault, and suspended to the same boughs. Taking down the inscription of Melendez, De Gorgues put another, much more appropriate, in its place. "I do this," said the writing,-which was impressed by a sear- ing iron upon a pine plank, -- "I do this, not to Spaniards, nor infidels ; but to traitors, thieves and murderers."
The victor had sternly carried out his resolution of vengeance. He had proved himself as inflexibly just as he was merciless, since the victims had been the offend- ers, or had so far approved and participated in the crime for which they were punished, as to leave us little occa- sion for rebuke or regret. It is, perhaps, only by a terrible retribution like this, that guilt is taught to pause in the career of crime, to doubt its own security, and forbear the deed of blood which may waken up such an avenger.
Having set forth on this single purpose, its completion left the generous Gascon little more to do. He had no selfish objects of conquest or colonization. The stern and undivided desire of his mind was satisfied; and, razing to its foundation the fort which had been the theatre of such a sanguinary story, he returned to France to receive, not the honors and rewards of its monarch, 5*
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but persecution and exile. The court of France refused its countenance to his deeds ; and, pursued by the malig- nant hostility of Spain, he found a home in Portugal, where he was invited into honorable, and, to him, grateful service, in the wars then waging by that country against the Spaniards ; but he died of wounded pride, and a painful sense of the ill treatment of his sovereign, ere he entered upon foreign service. His memory can not be forgotten, and his adventures might well become a story of their own.
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