St. Augustine, Florida's Colonial Capital (2024)

Contents

I Settlement 3

The Spanish Treasure Fleets 4

The Huguenots Occupy Florida 6

Don Pedro Menéndez 8

The Rival Fleets 10

The Turn of the Tide 12

Capture of Fort Caroline 12

The Victor Returns 14

Fate of the Shipwrecked French 14

Other Difficulties 16

Gunpowder Versus Arrows 16

Menéndez Goes to Spain 18

On the Brink of Failure 18

Death of Menéndez 19

II The Years Accumulate 20

First English Visit 20

Saving of Savage Souls 23

Another Crisis 26

Capital of La Florida 26

III The English Threat 29

A Midnight Raid 29

A Stone Fort at Last 30

Settlement of Pensacola 32

Border Conflict 32

The Shipwrecked Quakers 32

The Castle’s First Test 34

The Capital’s Defenses 35

Palmer’s Raid 36

Oglethorpe’s Siege 37

Further Hostilities 40

IV Under British Rule 43

British Rule Begins 44

The New Smyrna Colony 46

During the Revolution 49

Another Treaty 50

V Spanish Rule Returns 52

The North Florida Republic 55

A Bit of Spain 56

Ceded to the United States 57

VI Under the United States 58

Visitors Begin to Arrive 58

The Freeze of 1835 59

The Seminole War 61

A Peaceful Interlude 62

During the Civil War 64

Tourist Industry Resumed 65

Its Isolation Broken 66

The Flagler Influence 66

The Changing Scene 69

St. Augustine Today 71

PUBLICATIONS 73

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CHAPTER I
Settlement

It all began at a little bay onthe east coast of Florida duringSeptember of 1565. Two largegalleons rode at anchor outside theharbor entrance, while three smallercraft with sails furled and pennantsflying from each masthead were mooredwithin. The ships were a part of thefleet of Don Pedro Menéndez. Theybrought an expedition from Spain toestablish settlements in Florida anddrive out the French Huguenots, whohad a fort near the mouth of the St.Johns River in this Spanish-claimedterritory. The French colony, namedFort Caroline, lay only some thirty-fivemiles up the coast from the pointwhere the Spanish ships were anchored.There on this very same day Jean Ribault,who had just arrived fromFrance with reinforcements, was preparingto attack the Spaniards beforethey could finish landing and fortifytheir position.

During the late forenoon, Menéndezand a group of his officers transferredfrom the larger of the two galleonsoffshore to a smaller boat alongside.Aided by a strong incoming tide,the boat entered the inlet and advancedacross the bay toward the mainland,heading for a little creek that woundamong the marshes to higher ground.As it neared this point, the roar ofcannon and the blare of trumpetsstartled huge flocks of marsh birdsinto noisy flight.

On shore curious Indians looked outupon the scene with mingled fear andwonder. A Spanish detachment, whichpreviously had disembarked, was drawnup along the bank to greet the landingparty. From their ranks a robe-cladpriest emerged holding aloft a crossand singing in a clear voice the Latinwords of the Te Deum Laudamus.

“On Saturday, the 8th [of September],”relates the priest, Francisco López deMendoza, Chaplain of the Spanishfleet, “the General landed withmany banners spread, to the sound oftrumpets and salutes of artillery. AsI had gone ashore the evening before,I took the Cross and went to meethim, singing the hymn Te Deum Laudamus.The General, followed by allwho accompanied him, marched up tothe Cross, knelt and kissed it. A largenumber of Indians watched these proceedingsand imitated all they saw done.The General then took formal possessionof the country in the name of hisMajesty, and all the captains took theoath of allegiance to him as their leaderand Governor.”

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Beneath the gnarled oaks festoonedwith moss the Spanish knelt before arustic altar to celebrate the first parishMass on Florida soil.

Menéndez had instructed his advancelanding party to select a locationsuitable for an entrenchment and fort.For this purpose they had taken overthe Indian village of Seloy and the“great house” of its cacique, whichstood close to the river bank. Around itthe Spaniards were hastily digging atrench and throwing up an embankmentof earth. Some cannon were alreadymounted behind this breastwork.Menéndez was well pleased with whathad been accomplished. After holdinga council with his officers he returnedto his ships to hasten the unloading ofthe rest of his company, artillery, andsupplies before the French might descendupon them.

When he had first come upon thislittle bay and inlet, chosen for hisbase, he gave it the name St. Augustinein honor of the Saint’s day (August28th), on which his ships first sightedthe Florida coast.

The Spanish Treasure Fleets

At the time of St. Augustine’s foundingSpain was the most powerful nationin Europe. Sailing under her banner,Christopher Columbus in 1492 hadinitiated the discovery of strange newlands across the sea. Other intrepidexplorers followed—Spanish, French,English, Dutch, and Portuguese—searchingfor the coveted sea-route tothe Indies. The vast extent and wealthof the New World began to unfold.

Thus far only Spain, and to a lesserextent Portugal, had taken advantageof their discoveries. Almost two hundredSpanish settlements had been establishedin portions of the West Indies,Mexico, Central and South Americaby the time St. Augustine came intobeing. Fleets of galleons laden withriches from these colonies began to sailslowly across the Atlantic to Spanishports. They became known as thetreasure fleets because they carried fortunesin gold and silver. Spain’s Europeanrivals watched this flow of fabulouswealth with bitter envy, and piratespreyed increasingly upon it. Somewere genuine outlaws; others weremerely adventurers, whose piracy hadthe tacit approval of their sovereigns.

The vessels of the treasure fleetsusually assembled at Havana, Cuba.From that point their route, takingadvantage of the strong Gulf Streamcurrent, lay up along the east coast ofFlorida and Carolina, thence east toSpain. This was an important lifelinein the then great and powerfulSpanish Empire.

Back in 1513 Ponce de León, sailingnorthwestward from Puerto Rico insearch of rumored wealth and, it waslater said, youth-giving waters, discoveredthe Florida peninsula. Landingin the vicinity of St. Augustine, heclaimed the territory for Spain andgave it the poetic name La Florida,because he first sighted its green shoresduring the Easter season, called bythe Spaniards Pascua Florida.

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PACIFIC OCEAN

SOUTH AMERICA

Cartagena

CENTRAL AMERICA

Panama

Portobelo

Treasure carried overland across Isthmus of Panama

CARIBBEAN SEA

RICHES FROM CHILE AND PERU

MEXICO

Veracruz

RICHES FROM MEXICO

SHIPS FOLLOWED GULF STREAM CURRENT

CUBA

Havana

BAHAMA ISLANDS

FLORIDA

St. Augustine

ATLANTIC OCEAN

ROUTE TO SPAIN

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Although Florida occupied a strategiclocation along the route of thetreasure fleets, it remained unsettledfor fifty years following its discovery.Numerous Spanish expeditions, such asthose of Narváez, De Soto, and Tristánde Luna set out to explore, conquerand colonize Florida, but insteadof gold and silver the conquistadoresfound only suffering and death in itswild interior or along its beaches.

During this period of explorationand colonization Europe was the sceneof bitter religious conflict. Spain,which was solidly a Catholic country,endeavored to stamp out all deviationsfrom its faith. While neighboringFrance was predominantly Catholic,there were a number of Protestants inthe country. They were called Huguenotsand included some Frenchmen ofnoble birth.

The Huguenots Occupy Florida

Admiral Gaspard Coligny, leader ofthe French Protestants, or Huguenots,dreamed of establishing colonies in theNew World that might rival Spain’sin riches and importance. An attemptedsettlement in Brazil in 1555 was destroyedby the Portuguese. In 1562 hesent out a small expedition under anable Huguenot navigator, Jean Ribault.These Frenchmen, after exploring aportion of the north Florida and lowerCarolina coast and setting up columnsclaiming the land for France, built asmall fort near Port Royal, SouthCarolina, which was soon abandonedby the small garrison left there.

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During the next two years fightingbroke out in France between theCatholics and Huguenots, preventingfurther colonizing activity. Whenpeace was restored Coligny sent out asecond and larger expedition in 1564,consisting of three vessels, under Renéde Laudonnière, who had accompaniedRibault on the first voyage. Thesecolonists chose as a site for their settlementa point near the mouth of theSt. Johns River in present-day Florida.There they built a fort, named FortCaroline in honor of their boy king,Charles IX.

After searching the area in vain forevidences of gold and silver, the Frenchmenran short of provisions and wereforced to subsist mainly on food barteredor seized from the Indians. Meanwhile,some of their number mutiniedand sailed away to attack Spanish shippingin the Caribbean. The rest wereon the point of returning to Francewhen Sir John Hawkins, an Englishfreebooter, happened by and sold themone of his ships and needed supplies.They were again about to embark forFrance, when sails appeared off theriver’s mouth. They were the shipsof Jean Ribault bringing strong reinforcements.

When Philip II of Spain and hisadvisors learned of these FrenchHuguenot activities in Florida, theywere greatly alarmed. The Frenchfort, if allowed to remain so close tothe route of the treasure fleets, wouldconstantly expose them to attack. Manriquede Rojas was dispatched fromCuba to investigate. During May of1564 he sailed up the Florida coastlooking for signs of a French settlement,but found only one of the columnsleft by Ribault, the abandonedfort and a French boy at Port Royal.Laudonnière did not arrive on thecoast until late June of that year.

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The sovereigns of Spain and Francewere at the time allied by marriage.The wife of Philip II of Spain wasthe daughter of the Queen Regent ofFrance, the crafty Catherine de’ Medici.Philip protested to Catherine throughhis minister concerning the presence ofher subjects in Florida, but receivedonly evasive replies to the effect thatthey had merely gone to a land calledNewe France, discovered many yearsbefore by French seamen. It becameincreasingly clear that to safeguard itsclaim to the territory, and protect theroute of the treasure fleets, Spainwould need to establish forts of itsown in Florida and expel the Frenchtrespassers from its shores.

Don Pedro Menéndez

The man destined to establish thefirst permanent settlement in Floridaand expel the French Huguenots wasa Spaniard of noble lineage, Don PedroMenéndez. Born in 1519 in the littleseaport town of Avilés, on the northerncoast of Spain, he was one of a largefamily and upon the death of his fatherwas sent to be reared by relatives.Against their wishes he went to seawhile still in his teens to fight thepirates, or corsairs, who lurked alongthe nearby French and Spanish coasts.Within a few years he learned to commandand navigate a vessel of his own.The sea was in his blood.

His courage and expert seamanshipcaused him to rise rapidly in royalfavor. He soon advanced to the mostimportant naval post in Spain, thatof Captain-General of the armada, orguard of heavily armed ships that accompanied9the treasure fleets on theirlong voyages to and from the NewWorld through pirate-infested waters,receiving this appointment directlyfrom the King. But his rise to prominencealso created jealous enemies.Among these were officials of theCasa de Contratación, or Board ofTrade, who formerly had appointedand controlled the armada’s commander,and deeply resented loss ofthis authority.

When Menéndez and his brother,Bartolomé, returned from a voyage tothe New World with the treasure fleetin 1563, they were met by armed officersof the Casa, arrested and imprisonedon vague charges related tosmuggling or accepting bribes. Soonafter this occurred, Menéndez learnedthat his only son, Don Juan, had beenshipwrecked on the coast of Florida,or vicinity of Bermuda, while returningwith a portion of the fleet. Hehoped and prayed that some day hemight find his son alive, possibly heldcaptive by the coastal Indians.

After over a year’s delay Menéndezwas finally brought to trial and fined.Upon his release from prison, he immediatelysought an audience withKing Philip II to secure his permissionfor a voyage to Florida in searchof his lost son, and to further exploreits coast on which many Spanish shipswere being wrecked. Philip II not onlygranted permission for his voyage, butwelcomed this opportunity to commissionhim to undertake the settlementof Florida, and the task of dealingwith the French Huguenots, who hadgained a foothold there. GratefullyMenéndez knelt and kissed his monarch’shand. Here was an opportunityto recoup his fallen fortunes.

As customary in such matters, aroyal asiento, or contract, was executed.By it Menéndez was bound to establishthree fortified posts in Florida athis own expense, and within a specifiedtime. In return he was to receive asubstantial share of any riches thatmight be found there, certain privilegesof trade, and the title of Adelantadoand Governor of the Provinceof Florida in perpetuity.

The contract also provided that Menéndezshould make every effort toconvert the natives of Florida to Christianity,and for that purpose severalpriests were assigned to the expeditionand others were to be brought overlater.

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The Rival Fleets

With characteristic vigor Menéndezbegan collecting ships and recruitingfollowers for his Florida expedition.In the midst of his preparations, intelligencereached Spain that a strongFrench fleet under Jean Ribault wasbeing readied to sail for Florida toreinforce Fort Caroline. More armsand soldiers would be needed. Theroyal arsenals were thrown open andthe King agreed to furnish one vesseland three hundred soldiers at his ownexpense. By late June, Menéndez hadassembled a formidable armada ofsome nineteen ships and 1,500 persons,most of it concentrated at the Spanishport of Cadiz. There were scenes ofparting from loved ones, the last solemnMass at the Cathedral. Anchors wereweighed and on June 29, 1565, theexpedition set sail, but was driven backby a storm and put to sea severaldays later.

Meanwhile, the rival French fleetunder Jean Ribault had sailed a monthearlier, leaving the port of Dieppe,France, on May 28th, but unfavorablewinds delayed its progress. The Spanishfleet put in at the Canary Islandsfor wood and water, and to take amuster of its forces.After leaving the Canaries,it ran into a severe Atlanticstorm, which damaged some of thevessels and drove others far off theircourse. As a result, Menéndez reachedSan Juan, Puerto Rico, on about August10th with but one-third of hisoriginal force.

A council of war was held. Shouldthey go on or wait until the rest ofthe fleet might arrive? Menéndezconvinced his officers that it would bebest to press on before the French hadtime to further strengthen their position.Sailing northwestward, the11Spaniards sighted the shores of Floridaon August 28th. It was St. Augustine’sday and Te Deums were sung.On the same day Ribault’s fleet reachedthe mouth of the St. Johns River.

Ignorant of the location of theFrench fort, the Spanish ships creptcautiously up the Florida coast, sailingby day and anchoring at night. Onthe fifth day Indians were sightedon shore. A party landed, followedby Menéndez himself, and learnedfrom the Indians that the French fortlay thirty leagues (90 miles) to thenorth. Continuing on up the coast,the Spaniards paused at the inlet andharbor of St. Augustine, where Menéndezdecided to establish his base.They sailed northward again the nextday, and about three in the afternoontheir lookouts sighted four ships onthe horizon. A sudden thunder showerobscured them temporarily from view,followed by a calm that lasted untilevening. Then a light breeze enabledthe Spaniards to bring their ships withinhailing distance.

About midnight Menéndez orderedtrumpets sounded. “Whence comesthis fleet,” he demanded, “and whatis it doing here?”

“From France,” a French spokesmanreplied, “and it brings infantry,artillery, and supplies for a fort theKing of France has in this land, andto equip many more.”

Menéndez then informed them ofhis mission, stating that he had nochoice but to carry out his King’s commands.The French Huguenots answeredhim with threats and jeers, anddared the Spaniards to come on.Angered by this, Menéndez preparedto board the French vessels, but insteadof waiting to meet the attackthe French put to sea. The Spaniardsopened fire, raised anchor, and sailedin pursuit, but could not overtake thembecause the masts and rigging of theirships had been damaged in the Atlanticstorm.

The following morning Menéndezreturned to the mouth of the St. JohnsRiver to reconnoiter the French position.Finding it too strong to assault,he sailed back down the coast to theinlet and harbor chosen for his base.There on September 8, 1565, as previouslyrelated, he landed with fittingpomp to take possession of Florida andfound the fortified settlement of St.Augustine. A French vessel hovereda short distance out at sea to watchthe Spaniards’ movements.

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The Turn of the Tide

Menéndez next began the task ofcompleting the unloading of his vessels.People, heavy artillery, arms, buildingimplements, kegs of powder, boxes andhogsheads of supplies, casks of wineand olive oil, chests of clothing andpersonal effects all had to be transferredto smaller boats to be broughtashore. Two of his vessels, his Capitanaor flagship, the San Pelayo, andanother galleon proved too large toenter the shallow inlet. They wereordered to leave for Cuba to securereinforcements as soon as most of theirheavy cargo could be removed.

Before daybreak on the morning ofSeptember 11th, Menéndez watchedthe two galleons set sail. With asloop and smaller craft, loaded with150 soldiers and supplies, he waitedoutside the inlet for a favorable breezeand for the tide to turn. Out of theearly morning mist the ghostly shapesof French ships loomed. Ribault hadcome to attack St. Augustine beforeit was barely three days old. Orderingthe anchor cables of his boats cut,Menéndez managed to pilot them tosafety across the dangerous bar, whichthe French vessels could not navigateuntil about flood tide.

On shore the Spaniards prepareddesperately to meet the threatened attack.Then, seemingly, a miracle occurred.The weather, which up tothis time had been relatively fair,abruptly changed. Strong northerlywinds arose, preventing the Frenchfrom entering the inlet or returningnorth to their fort on the St. Johns.One of those northeast storms, commonto this section of the coast in the fall,whipped up high waves on the bay andsea. A driving rain fell and darkclouds raced overhead.

Capture of Fort Caroline

Menéndez knew that the Frenchvessels would be driven helplessly beforethe raging storm. He also correctlysurmised that Ribault had takenaboard most of the French fightingforce, leaving Fort Caroline weaklygarrisoned. He called a secret councilof his officers to outline his next step.Since rough weather made it impossibleto reach the French fort by sea, heproposed the daring course of marchingoverland to surprise Fort Carolinebefore Ribault could return to its assistance.

On the morning of September 16thMenéndez and 500 picked men attendedMass. Then through the windand rain they plunged into the wilderness,guided by two Indians who hadbeen at the French fort a few daysbefore. Menéndez and a small partyof axmen went ahead to clear a trailand blaze the trees so that the menfollowing would not lose their way.At places they waded through swampsflooded waist-deep by the storm, atnight seeking higher ground on whichto camp and build a fire. Some becameexhausted; others lost courageand turned back. On the evening ofSeptember 19th the Spaniards reachedthe vicinity of the enemy fort. Theywere drenched to the skin, their powderdamp and useless. It was still raining13and the wind whistled weirdly throughthe pines.

With the first light of dawn aSpanish detachment, guided by aFrench deserter, advanced into theclearing that surrounded Fort Caroline.A few Frenchmen quartered outsidethe stockade fled in alarm. Hearingtheir cries, a soldier within openedthe wicket, or little door, of the maingate to admit them. He was quicklykilled by the advancing Spaniards, whobroke into a run and poured into theenclosure, shouting “Santiago! Victory!”

The surprise was complete. Sleepy-eyedFrenchmen, some still in theirnight clothes, became the easy victimsof Spanish arms. Laudonnière andsome fifty of the garrison managed toescape to the surrounding swamps, andthence to French boats anchored inthe river. Among them was the artistLe Moyne, whose drawings of FortCaroline, and the early Florida Indianswere later engraved and published byDe Bry.

Leaving most of his force to garrisonthe captured fort, which he renamedSan Mateo, Menéndez set outwith a small detachment to return toSt. Augustine.

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Atlantic Ocean

Fort Caroline

on St. Johns River

St. Augustine

Anastasia Island

Matanzas Inlet

where French were massacred

Ribault’s Ships wrecked somewhere along this shore

Cape Canaveral

The Victor Returns

At St. Augustine work continued onstrengthening its defenses. A weekpassed without news of the attackingexpedition. Only exhausted stragglersreturned with terrifying reports of theswamps and other difficulties encountered.Gloom and despair settledover the camp until one afternoon aragged Spaniard burst out of the woodland,shouting “Victory! Victory! theharbor of the French is ours!”

“Four priests who were there [atSt. Augustine] immediately set out,holding aloft the Cross, followed byall the sea and land forces, the womenand children in procession, singing theTe Deum Laudamus. They receivedthe Adelantado with great rejoicing,everyone laughing and weeping forjoy, praising God for so great a victory.And so they escorted the Adelantadoin triumph to the encampment andsettlement of San Agustín.”

Fate of the Shipwrecked French

No word had yet been received asto Ribault’s fleet, which had beencaught in the storm off St. Augustine.His ships, driven aground many milesdown the coast, were being poundedto pieces in the surf. Most of the menaboard had reached shore safely withtheir arms. Hungry and constantlyharassed by Indians, they were endeavoringto make their way up thebeaches back to their fort. How theylonged to be back in their belovedFrance!

Four days after Menéndez returnedfrom Fort Caroline, Indians madeknown by signs that a party of menwere marooned on the shores of aninlet fifteen miles south of St. Augustine.He immediately set out with asmall force of soldiers and, on reachingthe inlet at dawn, saw two hundredFrenchmen gathered on the oppositeshore. One of their number swamacross the inlet and was told to informhis comrades of Fort Caroline’s fate.They at first refused to believe thatthe Spaniards could have taken it, butas proof were shown captured French15arms and clothing. Fruitless parleysfollowed. Faced with starvation orprobable death at the hands of theIndians, the entire French band unconditionallysurrendered.

A boat was sent over to bring backtheir weapons and standards. Thenthe French captives were ferried acrossthe inlet ten at a time. As each grouplanded, their hands were bound behindthem with matchcords, and they wereled up the beach out of sight and hearingbehind high dunes. As they reacheda fatal line drawn by Menéndez inthe sand, their captors slew them withswords and daggers, and then returnedto the inlet to escort another group often to their doom. Only a few werespared.

About two weeks later another partyof Frenchmen, who had been shipwreckedfarther down the coast, arrivedat the same inlet. Some eighty,including their brave leader, Jean Ribault,gave themselves up and weredisposed of in the same manner asbefore. A number refused to placethemselves at the Spaniards’ mercy andwithdrew to the south. When Menéndezreturned to St. Augustine hisbrother-in-law, Solis de Merás, observedthat “some people considered himcruel, and others that he had actedas a very good captain should.”

The Spanish word Matanzas, meaningslaughters, became the name ofthe inlet near which the massacres occurred.

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Other Difficulties

The French attempt to occupy Floridawas thus effectively shattered.Other difficulties threatened the permanenceof its settlement and remainedto be overcome—the unyielding wilderness,the treacherous Indians, thecolonists’ lust for gold, and hunger,that cause of so many early colonizingfailures. Food supplies diminishedwith each passing day. The buildingsat Fort Caroline, renamed San Mateoby the Spaniards, accidentally burneddown with all their contents shortlyafter its capture. The other vesselsof the Spanish fleet, scattered by thestorm while crossing the Atlantic,failed to arrive with expected suppliesand reinforcements. To relieve thesituation Menéndez decided to go toCuba for aid. On his way down thecoast he picked up the remainingFrench survivors, who were too fewto prove a threat and were kindlytreated.

At Cuba jealousy and intrigue stilldogged his footsteps. The officials ofthe Casa, by whom he had been imprisonedin Spain, seem to have succeededin injuring his prestige andreputation. He was coolly receivedby the Governor of Cuba, GarcíaOsario, and refused aid. The belatedarrival of several of his ships enabledhim to send his Florida posts somerelief. On his way back he visitedthe Indians of Carlos, or Caloosa Indians,who then occupied south Florida.They made a practice of enslavingshipwrecked Spaniards who fellinto their hands, sacrificing some ofthese victims in their pagan rites.Menéndez found several Spanish survivorsamong them, but looked invain for the familiar features of hisson, Don Juan.

During his extended absence fromSt. Augustine dissension broke outamong his followers. When a vesselarrived with supplies mutineers seizedit and prepared to sail away. A similarsituation developed at San Mateo.Many had joined the expedition onlybecause they expected it might leadto easy riches. Failure to find anysigns of gold and silver in Floridaproved a bitter disappointment. Or,they had secretly planned to desert itat the first opportunity, and seekpassage to other Spanish colonies fromwhich fabulous wealth flowed to Spain.Now that the French had been defeatedthere was little glory to begained in the hardships of fort building,and threatened starvation in this distantwilderness. A number of the mutineerseventually embarked for the Caribbean,and thence some went to Spain, wherethey circulated damaging reports ofMenéndez and the Florida settlements.

Gunpowder Versus Arrows

The Indians meanwhile, though atfirst outwardly friendly, became anincreasing threat to the new colony.Spanish mutineers at San Mateo inflamedtheir hatred by the unprovokedmurder of three of their chiefs. Theyheld a great council and declared theirenmity.

Huddled within their stockades, theSpaniards could not venture out insearch of food without fear of attack.17The savages lurked everywhere in theswamps and woodlands, and shot theirarrows with such force as to penetratea soldier’s coat of mail. The crudefirearms of the day were not entirelysuited to Indian warfare. When aSpaniard paused to reload his slow-firingarquebus, an operation requiringseveral minutes, Indians rose from theirhiding to shower him with arrows.When they saw the flash of burningpowder in the primer of his gun, theycrawled through the tall grass andappeared in another place after it hadbeen discharged. Over one hundredSpaniards were thus killed by the Indiansduring the first year of thecolony’s existence.

Indian attacks became so serious asto cause the removal of the settlementto another site. One night, whenMenéndez was absent on an exploringtrip, yelling savages broke through theSpanish lines at St. Augustine, andset fire to the storehouse with flamingarrows, destroying precious powder andsupplies.

When Menéndez returned he calleda council of his officers. “It wasresolved that they should move fromthere and erect a fort at the entranceof the bar ... because there theIndians could not do them so muchharm ... and there they could betterdefend themselves against the vesselsof enemies that might want to enterthe harbor.”

Working in shifts, the Spaniardsrushed the construction of a stockadeand fort at the new location.

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During the summer of 1566, thelonely Florida settlers were heartenedby the arrival of substantial reinforcements.A fleet of fourteen vesselsunder Sancho de Arciniega brought1,500 persons and welcome supplies.Part of this force was assigned tobolster the Florida garrisons. Menéndezwas ordered to employ the remainderagainst pirates, or corsairs,who were plundering Spanish shippingand colonies in the Caribbean.

By this time, in accordance with theterms of his contract. Menéndez hadestablished three fortified posts in Florida—St.Augustine in about its presentlocation, San Mateo near the mouthof the St. Johns River, and Santa Elenastill farther north on the coast ofCarolina. He had thoroughly exploredthe Florida coasts, and gone up theSt. Johns River almost to its source.He had traveled among the Indiansof South Florida, and of Guale, orsoutheastern Georgia, endeavoring towin their friendship and subject themto Spanish authority. One of his lieutenants,Juan Pardo, had penetratedinland with a few soldiers a distanceof 450 miles to the mountains of westernNorth Carolina. Possibly alwaysin the back of his mind lurked thehope that he might come upon somenews of his lost son and once moreembrace him in his arms.

Menéndez Goes to Spain

In 1567 Menéndez deemed it necessarythat he go back to Spain to renderin person a report on the conditionand needs of the Florida and WestIndian colonies. The little garrisonat St. Augustine continued to clingprecariously to its narrow beach-head.In the spring of 1568 the settlementshuddered when a small French forceunder Dominique de Gourges, aidedby Indians, wiped out the Spanishposts near the mouth of the St. Johns.Captured Spaniards were hanged fromthe limbs of the liveoaks in revenge forthe Frenchmen killed at Fort Carolineand Matanzas three years before.

On the Brink of Failure

During Menéndez’ continued absencein Spain, the condition andmorale of Florida posts grewsteadily worse. Supplies were dangerouslylow, clothing was worn to shreds,and the shelters thus far constructedafforded little comfort. Efforts togrow corn and other grains in thesandy soil resulted in discouragingfailure.

The summer of 1570 brought norelief. The blazing sun scorched thebeaches and swamps. Mosquitos andother insects made life miserable. Estébande las Alas, one of Menéndez’trusted lieutenants in charge of thepost at Santa Elena, sailed with 120men for Spain, arguing that those remainingwould have a better chancefor survival on the limited supplies.The garrison at St. Augustine mutinied,burned its fort, and began buildinga crude boat in which to leave.The settlement of Florida hovered onthe brink of failure.

At this crucial point Don Pedro MenéndezMarqués assumed command.He was a nephew of the founder andhad served with him in the treasure19fleets. In a letter written from SanMateo, he pleaded with the mutineersat St. Augustine to remain at theirpost, promising to transport them toCuba if supplies failed to arrive by aspecified time. His arguments prevailedand St. Augustine lived on.

Death of Menéndez

Events in Europe continued to keepMenéndez occupied in Spain, or onvoyages to the Caribbean, during whichhe again visited his Floridaposts. The Low Countries, Hollandand Belgium, which had long beenunder Spanish domination, were inrevolt.

In 1574 Menéndez received thecrowning honor of his career. Hewas chosen by Philip II of Spain totake command of a great armada ofships and men being assembled in theharbor of Santander, presumably foroperation against the Low Countries,and possibly the English coast. On theday he assumed this important commandhe fell ill with a raging fever.The usual remedies of purging andblood-letting proved of no avail, andhe died on September 17, 1574, at theage of 55.

The day before the beginning of hisfatal illness he wrote a letter to hisnephew, Marqués, expressing his desireto return to Florida, and stating thathe hoped to do so in the spring, whenhe was confident the affair in Flanderswould be settled.

“Then,” he wrote, “I shall be atliberty to go at once to Florida, neverto leave it as long as I live, for thatis my longing and my happiness.”

Storms prevented burial in his nativeAvilés, to which his remains were laterremoved. There an inscription on histomb eulogizes him as “the illustriousAdelantado of the Province of Florida... and Captain-General of theOceanic Seas.”

His death was a blow to Spain. Nooutstanding naval figure arose to takehis place, and the great armada hewas to have commanded never sailed.

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CHAPTER II
The Years Accumulate

It was the following spring of 1575before the news of Menéndez’death reached Florida. St. Augustine,now ten years old, had lost notonly its founder and a resourceful leader,but was left without his financialsupport. As he had spent his entire fortunein establishing the Florida posts,his heirs were in no position to assumethe obligation of sustaining them.

Influential advisors in Spain urgedthat the settlement of Florida be abandoned,because the province producedno gold, silver, or other riches. KingPhilip II weighed the problem carefully.He decreed that the Floridaposts should continue to be maintained,because of their value in protecting thevital trade route along the coast, andas a refuge for shipwrecked marinersand vessels in distress. Since the heirsof Menéndez could not finance them,they would be made crown coloniesunder the supervision of the King, andwould be supported by an annualSituado or subsidy, which the Viceroyof New Spain (Mexico) was orderedto provide.

Hernando de Miranda, a son-in-lawof Menéndez, became the next Adelantadoand governor of Florida. Inthe face of Indian difficulties he abandonedthe fort at Santa Elena and wasremoved from office. As his successorthe king appointed Don Pedro MenéndezMarqués, who had saved St. Augustinefrom abandonment in 1570,and was a man of proven ability. Heremained governor of Florida for thenext twelve years, from 1577 to 1589.

Spain was at the peak of its wealthand power, but England under QueenElizabeth was becoming bold and agrowing menace on the seas.

First English Visit

The passing years rooted St. Augustinemore firmly to its soil. Thespring of 1586 brought fresh green tothe grass and trees, a warmth andfragrance to the air. Mocking birdsand bright red cardinals sang gailyfrom the branches. The settlementwas twenty-one years old when a vesselarrived bearing news that Spain andEngland were at war, and that SirFrancis Drake, the dreaded Englishcorsair, was raiding Spanish colonies inthe Caribbean.

Governor Marqués took immediatesteps to prepare St. Augustine’s defenses.Slaves and soldiers labored incutting and hauling logs from the forestto complete the new fort then underconstruction. Detailed plans were madefor the evacuation of the families andremoval of supplies. Sentinels scanned21the horizon with more than usual care.The month of May wore on into Juneand it was hoped that the English fleethad sailed on by.

EXPVGNATIO CIVITATIS S. AVGVSTINI IN AMERICA SITÆ.

On June 6th (Spanish calendar),the lookout stationed in the tall watchtower on Anastasia Island saw whitespecks appear on the horizon. Theygrew into sails and he signalled a warningto the settlement across the bay.Soldiers rushed to their battle stations.Housewives crossed themselves andwhispered their Ave Marias withfrightened children clinging to theirskirts. Slaves began removing supplies,but in the confusion much was leftbehind.

The powerful English fleet of SirDrake, heavy with plunderfrom the Caribbean, drew closer andcame to anchor in the roadstead outsidethe inlet. The Spaniards counted overtwenty large ships and their auxiliarycraft. The estimated 2,000 men aboardhopelessly outnumbered St. Augustine’slittle garrison of barely 150 defenders.

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The English, having sighted thesettlement’s lookout tower, decided toinvestigate what manner of place theSpanish King had here. A detachmentsoon landed on Anastasia Island andmarched around the shore where, oneof their number relates, “We mightdiscerne on the other side of the riverover against us a Fort which had beennewly built by the Spaniards; and somemile or thereabouts above the Fort alittle Towne or village without walles:built of wooden houses.”

Later the English landed cannon andabout dusk of the second day openedfire. Governor Marqués and his garrison,according to his report, clungbravely to their fort until they sawboats put out from the opposite shore.After firing a few shots they retiredbarely in time to escape capture. Duringthe night a Frenchman, held prisoner bythe Spaniards, went over to the Englishcamp and informed them of the garrison’swithdrawal. They occupied thefort, finding in it some fourteen largebrass cannon and a chest of moneyintended for the pay of the soldiers.

In the morning the English advancedinto the town. The English sergeant-major,a man of considerable rank andimportance, mounted a deserted horseand rode hotly in pursuit of some fleeingSpaniards. He drove one of themto the edge of a swamp and woundedhim with his lance. Mustering all hisstrength, the wounded Spaniard turnedupon his assailant and killed him. TheEnglish version relates that the officerwas shot from ambush, and on fallingto the ground was stabbed to death byseveral Spaniards. Possibly due to thisincident, Drake ordered the fort andtown of St. Augustine burned to theground. After remaining a few daysin the vicinity to careen one of theirships, the English sailed away.

When the people of St. Augustinereturned, smoke still curled from theruins of their fort and homes. Eventheir fruit trees had been destroyedby the invader. Governor Marquéssent word of the disaster to Havana.St. Augustine gradually arose from itsashes, rebuilt and somewhat improved23with assistance from Spain and Cuba.The post at Santa Elena was at thistime permanently abandoned in orderto strengthen St. Augustine’s garrison.

Saving of Savage Souls

King Philip II of Spain, Menéndezand their successors burned with zealto convert the natives of Florida toCatholicism, and regarded this as asacred obligation. After Drake’s attack,a friary or monastery was erectedat St. Augustine to shelter the Franciscanmissionaries who were beginningto arrive from Spain to work amongthe Indians. The friary was locatedon what is now St. Francis Street onthe site of the present State Arsenal.

Other missionaries of the Jesuit Orderhad come before them, but in theface of the early antagonism of theIndians they were able to accomplishlittle. Jesuit missions had been establishedas far north as the ChesapeakeBay region of Virginia, in the vicinityof Tampa Bay, and at Tequesta, nearthe present site of Miami. In about1570 the Jesuits were replaced by missionariesof the Order of St. Francis,or Franciscans.

The presence of Franciscans in Floridais recorded as early as 1573, butfor a number of years they made onlylimited progress. The courageous friarsendured many hardships and privationsin attempting to carry the peacefulmessage of Christ deep into the Floridawilderness, where they lived alone farfrom civilized comforts and companionship.Some suffered torture andmartyrdom at the hands of those theysought to save, but all went resolutelyforth from St. Augustine eager to reapa glorious harvest of savage souls.

The first Franciscan missions wereestablished along the coast north ofSt. Augustine, where they could bereached readily by boat. If the Indiansproved tractable and friendly, a crudechapel was built and the peal of amission bell went out over swamp andwoodland calling them to prayer.

By 1595 the Franciscans claimed atotal of 1,500 Indian converts. Twoyears later their success was interruptedby an Indian revolt incited by a youngchief, who had been publicly censuredfor his desire to have more than onewife. Five Franciscans were clubbedor tomahawked to death.

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The Glorious Harvest of Savage Souls

One of the highlights in the earlyreligious annals of Florida was its firstvisitation by a Bishop in 1606. BishopAltamirano arrived at St. Augustinefrom Cuba shortly before Easter. Impressivereligious ceremonies followedwith candles burning brightly on theflower-decked altars. On Easter Saturdaythe Bishop ordained twentyyoung men as clerics, some of themnatives of the settlement. On EasterSunday he celebrated Mass and confirmed350 Spaniards. After a week’srest, the Bishop made a leisurely tourof the outlying Franciscan missions,confirming a total of 2,000 Indianconverts.

Each year this peaceful conquestof Florida continued to expand, andby the middle of 1600’s extended intonorth central Florida, a region knownas Apalache, in the vicinity of presentTallahassee. This was a rich agriculturalarea and at times furnished St.Augustine with supplies, which werebrought around the peninsula by boat,25or were carried overland on the backsof Indians to the capital. The missionsalso embraced a large section of Guale,or southeastern Georgia. When BishopCalderon visited Florida in 1674-75,a remarkable total of 13,152 Indianconverts were presented to him for confirmation.

Aside from its religious significance,the missionary movement had other far-reachingeffects. Through the missionsSt. Augustine, with its relatively smallgarrison, was able to control a wideterritory, holding the numericallystrong Indian tribes in check. It wassaid that a lone Franciscan, with noweapons other than his Cross and Bible,could do more with the Indians thana hundred men at arms. The missionsalso served as outlying posts that couldwarn the capital of approachingstrangers or enemies. When the abandonmentof the settlement was againseriously considered in 1602, the existenceof the missions proved a strongargument in favor of maintaining St.Augustine as their protective center.

While the Franciscan missions ofFlorida were more numerous and ofearlier origin than those of California,they have received little emphasis, possiblybecause they were built of woodand no physical evidence of them remains.

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Another Crisis

In 1598 death brought to an endthe long reign of that remarkable sovereignof Spain, Philip II. He hadinitiated the settlement of Florida, andlater as a crown colony it had comeunder his supervision. When news ofhis passing reached Florida in Marchof 1599, the Franciscans gathered atSt. Augustine to hold the customaryprayers for their departed patron. Thesame month the cry of “Fire” rangout in the quiet streets. Flames racedthrough the tinder-dry palm-thatchedroofs of the town’s buildings, destroyingmany, including the Franciscanquarters. In the fall of the same yeara storm did considerable damage. Thewind-driven waters of the bay rosehigher with each tide, flooding dwellingsand washing away a portion ofthe fort.

Philip III, who ascended the throneof Spain in 1598, failed to share hisfather’s interest in this distant Floridapost, from which no riches flowed intothe royal coffers. From it came onlyconstant pleas for more assistance.

The King ordered Pedro de Valdés,the Governor of Cuba, to make a thoroughinvestigation of conditions inFlorida. Valdés sent his son to St.Augustine in 1602 to hold hearings,in which missionaries and settlers oflong residence testified. While manyof these witnesses expressed the viewthat a more favorable location for asettlement might be found, the conclusionreached was that St. Augustineshould continue to be maintained as acenter for the expanding missions, andas a base to guard the vital trade route.

The passing years were being addedslowly to its age. Deaths, births, marriages,Indian insurrections, the comingof new governors, and the arrivalof an occasional ship made up thedrama of its obscure existence. Isolatedby a wilderness of land and sea, ithad little contact with the outsideworld.

Capital of La Florida

About 1590 the older portion of St.Augustine was laid out in approximatelyits present form. The planfollowed specifications contained in acédula issued by the Spanish King in1573, directing that all Spanish colonialtowns should have a central Plazawith the principal streets leading fromit. During about the same period anofficial governor’s residence was establishedon the site of the presentpost office.

Women were present in the colonyfrom the beginning, a few having comewith the original Menéndez expedition.Others arrived with the Arciniega reinforcementsand later fleets. Someof the soldiers married Indian maidens,who had become Christians and beengiven Spanish names.

The governors complained of theproblem of feeding the increasing numberof children in the colony, and askedthat the married soldiers be given extrapay. The yellowed pages of St. Augustine’sCathedral Parish records,dating from 1594, indicate an averageof twenty-five births per year duringthe early 1600’s. They also record thedeaths and marriages.

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The principal officers of the colonyconsisted of the governor, who was itschief executive; the royal treasurer, whowas custodian of the royal funds andtheir disbursem*nt; and the factor, whodistributed the supplies. A sergeant-majorwas in command of the infantryand succeeded the governor in case ofthe latter’s death or resignation. Aminor but important official, from thestandpoint of historians, was theEscribano (writer), who kept a recordof meetings, handled correspondence,took the testimony of witnesses,and acted as a notary public.

The governors of Florida were appointedby the King in distant Spainfrom a list of candidates proposed bythe Council of the Indies. They wereusually men of previous military experience,and served generally for aterm of six years. When a new governorarrived at St. Augustine to takeoffice, Indian chiefs trooped in fromthe outlying districts to pledge theirfriendship and allegiance. They wereentertained as elaborately as the resourcesof the settlement would permit,given trinkets and food for the longjourney home. Although relativelysmall in size, St. Augustine was thecapital and citadel of a vast area. LaFlorida then as claimed by Spain embracednot only the present peninsula,but the entire Atlantic coast as farnorth as Canada and as far inlandas the continent was known to exist.For a time after the expulsion of theFrench Huguenots, no other Europeannation seriously challenged this claim,but the clouds of strife were beginningto appear.

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CHAPTER III
The English Threat

St. Augustine remained the soleEuropean settlement in what isnow the continental United Statesfor a period of forty-two years. Aboutthe time of its attack by Drake in 1586it received vague but disturbing reportsof the presence of English settlers tothe north in a region known to theSpaniards as Jacán, or the ChesapeakeBay region of Virginia. This was theill-fated Roanoke colony. It was followedin 1607 by the founding ofJamestown, Virginia, by the English,which represented a further violationof territory claimed by Spain as a partof Florida. Three expeditions, one in1588 and others in 1609 and 1611, setout from St. Augustine to reconnoiterthese rival settlements.

The Virginia colony survived andothers crept down the coast in defianceof Spain’s claims to the territory. TheSpanish governors at St. Augustine repeatedlyimplored authorities in Spainto strengthen Florida’s garrison anddefenses to meet this English threat.But the mother country, almost constantlyinvolved in wars with Europeanrivals, or vexed with internal problems,took no decisive action.

In 1665 St. Augustine became onehundred years of age. As if to celebrateits centennial, the English King CharlesII, issued a second patent opening upthe territory south of Virginia to Englishsettlement. This patent not onlydisregarded Spanish claims to the area,but even included within its boundariesthe very site of St. Augustine itself.

A Midnight Raid

In the spring of 1668, during thedelightful month of May, the appearanceof a vessel off St. Augustine’s inletcaused a ripple of excitement. Thesettlement was awaiting a shipment offlour from Veracruz, Mexico, and apayment on its subsidy then eight yearsin arrears. The harbor pilot put outto bring the vessel across the treacherousbar. Soon two cannon shot wereheard, a prearranged signal identifyingthe vessel as the one expected. Thepeople were elated and retired confidentlyfor the night.

But the ship was not manned byfriends as was assumed. It had beenseized by an English pirate, RobertSearles (alias Davis), in the vicinityof Cuba. When the vessel arrived offSt. Augustine the Spanish captain andcrew were compelled upon threat ofdeath to appear on deck as if nothingwere amiss. The unsuspecting harborpilot was tricked into firing the identifyingsignal and made prisoner beforehe could warn the settlement.

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Around midnight, when the townwas peacefully sleeping, the pirate bandrowed stealthily ashore undetected, andscattered through the streets. The peopleemerged from their homes expectingto greet friends, but their joy soonturned to anguished cries of terror.Many were killed by the pirates in attemptingto resist or flee half-clad tosafety. In the darkness it was difficultto distinguish friend from foe. Withshouting pirates at their heels, thegovernor and part of the garrison managedto reach their fort and beat offattempts to take it.

The next morning the pirates systematicallylooted the homes and churches,and a previously hidden pirate shipappeared in the bay. Unable to takethe fort, the invaders left their captiveson the beach and sailed away under thecover of darkness. St. Augustine’s residentsreturned to find sixty of theircomrades dead in the blood-stainedstreets.

A Stone Fort at Last

The founding of Charleston, S. C.,in 1670 brought the English threatstill nearer. An expedition sailed fromSt. Augustine to attack the new settlementbut ran into a severe storm andfailed to reach its objective.

The success of the pirate raid onSt. Augustine in 1668, combined withthe growing English encroachment onSpanish territory to the north, finallyconvinced officials in Spain that somethingmust be done to bolster Florida’sdefenses. In the fall of 1669, QueenRegent Marianna of Spain issued acédula directing the Viceroy of Mexicoto provide funds for the constructionof an impregnable stone fortress atSt. Augustine, similar to the bastionsguarding Spanish strongholds in theCaribbean. All previous forts in Floridahad been of wood and soon rottedin the moist sea air. The new fortwould be built of coquina, a shell-rockformation, found in abundance on AnastasiaIsland across the bay from thecapital. Several earlier Florida governorshad urged its use without success.

Florida’s next governor, ManuelCendoya, went at once to Mexico tocollect the funds appropriated to beginthe new defense work. At Havana,Cuba, he engaged the services of a31competent military engineer, IgnazioDaza, to plan and supervise its initialstages.

Work on the new structure beganduring the fall of 1672. Stone masonsand other skilled artisans were broughtfrom Cuba. Quarries were opened onAnastasia Island. Gangs of Indianworkmen and yokes of oxen draggedthe heavy coquina blocks to the water’sedge, where they were loaded on raftsor barges, and ferried across the bayto the fort site.

The massive walls rose slowly. Afteran enthusiastic beginning progresslagged at times for want of funds, lackof vigorous prosecution, or when epidemicsthinned the ranks of slaves andIndian workmen. In the spring of 1683it was interrupted by a threatened attack,one of many to which St. Augustinewas continually subjected. Englishpirates landed near Matanzas Inlet,burned the Spanish outpost there, andadvanced toward the capital. Warnedby alert sentinels, the governor sentout a detachment of musketeers, whowaited in ambush and drove the raidersback to their ships.

By 1696 the great stone fort wasabout completed except for some ofthe outer work, added during laterperiods. Into its construction wenttwenty-four long years of sweat andtoil beneath the Florida sun, and thelives of an untold number of slaves,Indian, and peon workmen. It wascalled by the Spaniards Castillo de SanMarcos, or castle of St. Mark’s.

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Settlement of Pensacola

While the English were occupyingthe Atlantic Coast north of Florida,hardy French traders and explorers,including the Jesuit, La Salle, camedown the Mississippi River buildingforts at strategic points. This threatenedFlorida on the west. To meet theFrench threat to the Gulf coast, theSpaniards under Andrés de Arriola establisheda fort and settlement at Pensacolain 1698, which later was tobecome the capital of West Florida.A previous Spanish attempt by Tristánde Luna to establish a settlement nearthis point in 1559 had failed.

Border Conflict

Strife between the Spaniards inFlorida and their English neighbors tothe north did not at first break outinto open warfare. English agents andtraders began to work quietly amongthe border Indians, weaning some ofthem away from Spanish control andinfluence. These they then armed andencouraged to raid the Spanish Indiantowns. Christian Indians captured bythe English and their Indian allieswere sold into slavery. Florida’s GovernorCabrera (1680-1687) complainedthat they even seized the“mixed ones,” children of Spanish andIndian parentage. Small bands of YamasseeIndians, then allied with theEnglish, hovered about St. Augustine,occasionally seizing a stray Spaniard,whom they carried back to Carolina.The Carolinians even offered the Indiansa reward for captured Spaniardsdelivered to them upon the pretensethat it was to save the victims fromtorture.

By 1686, with its Castillo aboutcompleted, St. Augustine felt readyto take the offensive. In the fall ofthat year its women waved farewellto soldier husbands and sweethearts.They sailed north in three ships, destroyeda Scottish settlement at PortRoyal, plundered English coastal plantations,and advanced on San Jorge, asthe Spaniards called it, or Charleston.Suddenly a hurricane came up drivingtwo of their vessels hopelessly aground.The third limped sadly back to MatanzasBay.

Soon after this expedition a boat-loadof half-starved Negro slaves arrivedat St. Augustine, and asked forthe Holy Waters of Baptism. Theyhad escaped from Carolina plantations.In response to demands for their returnthe Spanish governor offered toreimburse the English for their loss.Spanish agents and Indians secretlybegan to encourage slaves in Carolinato run away, making it known thatSt. Augustine offered them asylum.These refugees increased in numberand were allowed to occupy lands twomiles north of the settlement in thevicinity of Mose Creek.

The Shipwrecked Quakers

John Archdale, a Quaker, becamegovernor of Carolina in 1695. Hefrowned upon the enslavement ofChristian Indians and returned fourto authorities at St. Augustine, whowrote him a letter of appreciation andagreed to reciprocate by according Englishsubjects safe conduct through Spanishterritory. This accounts for thekind treatment accorded a small companyof Quakers enroute to Philadelphia,33who were wrecked on the coastof Florida in the vicinity of HobeSound in 1696. The Quakers reachedshore safely only to suffer torturinghardship among the coastal Indians,who feared Spanish authority but werestill savages in most respects.

After two months of harrowingcaptivity the Quakers were rescued bya Captain López and detail of soldiersfrom St. Augustine. They were broughtto the settlement and later escortedsafely to the English border. One oftheir number, Jonathan Dickinson,wrote and published a book of theiradventures, which contains an interestingdescription of St. Augustine andFlorida as these Quakers saw them somany years ago.

As the Quakers were brought upthe coast they noted the chain ofSpanish sentinel posts south of St. Augustine,which were located on highdunes overlooking the sea, beach andriver. By means of smoke signals, orIndian runners, they could quicklywarn the capital of danger.

The little Quaker band was hospitablyreceived at the settlement andquartered among its inhabitants. “Thisplace is a Garrison,” wrote Dickinson,“maintained one-half by the King ofSpain and one-half by the Church ofRome. The male inhabitants are allsoldiers, everyone receiving his payaccording to his post. All of theirsupply of Bread, Clothing and Moneycomes from Havana and Porta Vella,and it was going on three years sincethey had a Vessel from any place whatsoever,which made their needs verygreat.

“The Towne we saw from one endto the other. It is about three-quartersof a mile in Length, not regularlybuilt, nor the Houses very thick (closetogether), they having large orchards,in which grow plenty of oranges, lemons,pome citrons, limes, figs, andpeaches. The Houses are most of themold buildings, and not half of theminhabited, the number of men beingaround three hundred.”

On their way north to Charlestonthe Quakers stopped overnight at severalSpanish Indian towns, where Dickinsonnoted that “the Indians go as consistentlyto their devotion, at all timesand at all seasons, as do the Spaniards.”He also observed that the Indianwomen modestly clothed themselveswith the moss of trees (Spanish moss),34“making Gownes and Petticoats thereof,which at a distance or at nightlooks very neat.”

The Castle’s First Test

Castillo de San Marcos, completedin 1696, had not yet undergone anattack. It was soon to come. InEurope the War of Spanish Succession(1700-1713) involved England in aconflict with Spain and France thatsoon spread to their colonies, where itwas known as Queen Anne’s War.Governor Moore of Carolina obtainedthe backing of its colonial assembly foran expedition against Spain’s citadel inFlorida. He recruited a force of some600 Carolina militia and a number ofIndian allies. They advanced southin two detachments during the fall of1702. Florida’s Governor Zúñigalearned of the impending attack in timeto lay in adequate provisions and puthis garrison on a 24-hour alert.

Colonel Daniel with one Carolinadetachment came up the St. JohnsRiver and thence overland. Moorewith the other came down the coast ineight small vessels. Daniel arrivedfirst and advanced upon St. Augustineby land. Governor Zúñiga had fewexperienced soldiers, and did not tryto save the town. All of its inhabitantswere ordered into the fort, which soonsheltered some 1,500 people.

Moore soon arrived by sea with aquantity of trench-digging tools andfifteen long ladders for scaling thefort’s walls. But the English hadgreatly underestimated the Castillo’sstrength and found there was littlehope of taking it with their few smallcalibre guns. Colonel Daniel was sentto Jamaica to secure siege guns andbombs.

During the siege the Spaniards madetwo sallies from the fort to destroytheir own houses in its vicinity to preventthem being used as cover by theEnglish. A total of 31 houses werethus destroyed as shown by claims laterfiled by their Spanish owners.

Almost two months of siege passed.Within the overcrowded Castillo inhabitantsand garrison prayed for relief.The day after Christmas twoheavily armed Spanish ships appearedoff the inlet bringing aid. Fearing theirretreat would be cut off, the Caroliniansburned their transports, abandonedtheir heavy stores, set fire to the town,and withdrew overland to vessels awaitingthem at the mouth of the St. JohnsRiver.

The Castillo had triumphed in itsfirst test, but the town of St. Augustinewas virtually reduced to ashes.Spanish eyewitnesses testified that nota building was left standing except theHermitage of Nuestra Señora de laSoledad, and some twenty houses ofthe meaner sort. These were probablyscattered dwellings south of the Plaza.

Although disgraced by the failure ofhis expedition, Moore returned to Floridain 1704 with a large number ofIndian allies. They overran the weaklygarrisoned Indian towns of Apalacheand the interior, taking 1,300Indian prisoners back to Carolina. Duringthis and subsequent invasions practicallyall of the outlying Franciscan35Missions were destroyed. Only thosein the immediate vicinity of St. Augustineremained.

The Capital’s Defenses

Moore’s siege of St. Augustine in1702 showed a serious weakness in thecapital’s defenses. The enemy wereable to occupy and burn the towndespite its impregnable Castillo. Thisled to the gradual construction of asystem of outer defenses to protect thetown itself from future invasion.

First an inner defense line was builtextending westward from the Castilloto the San Sebastian River along whatis now Orange Street. It eventuallyconsisted of a moat, some fifty or morefeet wide and six feet deep. Materialfrom the ditch was used to build asturdy wall of earth and palm logs.St. Augustine’s City Gate is all thatremains of this defense work.

Later a fortified line was constructedextending across the peninsula betweenthe bay and the San Sebastian River,“about a cannon shot north of thefort.” It was called the Hornworkbecause a portion of it resembled inshape the horn of a steer. It consistedof a wide ditch and embankment ofearth and sod, at one time furtherstrengthened by a stockade of logs,and a fort at its eastern extremity.

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Another defense line extended northand south along Maria Sanchez Creekin the vicinity of present CordovaStreet, marking the western boundaryof the original settlement. Other defenseworks protected it on the south.The lines were strengthened at intervalsby redoubts and angular projections,in some of which cannon weremounted. Sentinels manned the defenselines day and night, once eachhour passing the Alerto.

When escaped Negro slaves began tofind refuge in St. Augustine, a smallfort was built for their protection twomiles north of the town. It was calledFort Mosa, or the Negro Fort, andserved as an anchor for another defenseline running east and west. Practicallyno evidence of this fort and defensework has survived.

Palmer’s Raid

The Yamassee Indians of Carolina,once allied with the English, turnedagainst them and in 1715 were decisivelydefeated. The Spaniards inFlorida were accused of fomenting thisrevolt. A remnant of the tribe tookrefuge in the St. Augustine area where,according to English reports, they werewelcomed by the ringing of bells. Forsome reason the Yamassees were banishedfor a time south of the city.They were later recalled, given weapons,and encouraged to make raids onthe Carolina border plantations, bringingback bloody scalps and an occasionalprisoner.

To put an end to these raids aColonel Palmer swept south fromCarolina in 1728 with a small force ofmilitia and Indians. They surprised37and butchered some of the Yamasseesin their villages north of St. Augustine,but could not penetrate its nowstrong outer defense line. After destroyingeverything of value outside thecity, and seizing many Spanish-ownedcattle, Palmer returned to Carolina.Following his departure the Spanishgovernor ordered the destruction of themission chapel of Nombre de Dios,which had afforded the English coverin their attack.

The settlement of Georgia in 1733by General James Oglethorpe broughtthe English still closer. Spanish authoritiessensed an impending crisis andsent Antonio Arredondo, a competentmilitary engineer and diplomat, to St.Augustine to negotiate with Oglethorpeand survey Florida’s defenses.While Arredondo failed to persuadethe English to withdraw from Georgia,under his able supervision St. Augustine’sfortifications were carefullystrengthened. Rooms inside the Castillowere rebuilt with arched ceilingsof thick masonry to make them bombproof.Backed by Arredondo’s recommendations,Florida’s GovernorMontiano secured substantial reinforcementsfrom Cuba, increasing the garrisonto around 750 men.

Oglethorpe’s Siege

Spanish regulations allowed hercolonies only limited trading privilegeswith rival England, which hadbecome a great mercantile nation. Toprevent the prevalent smuggling ofillicit English goods into their ports,Spanish ships were ordered to stopand search English vessels off theircoasts.

One of the English merchantmenoverhauled off the coast of Florida orCuba was commanded by a RobertJenkins. He reported that the Spanishcaptain, Juan de León Fandiño,cut off his ear and handed it back tohim saying, “Carry this to your kingand tell him I would treat him in likemanner.” Incidents such as this causedrising indignation in both countries.The severed ear, or a substitute, waslater displayed by Jenkins before theEnglish Parliament, and gave its nameto the war that England declaredagainst Spain in 1739, the War ofJenkins’ Ear.

General Oglethorpe of Georgia wasordered to harass the Spaniards inFlorida, and proceeded to organize anexpedition designed to capture St. Augustine.During the winter be probedSpanish defenses, seizing Fort Picolataon the St. Johns River west of thecapital, and a companion fort acrossthe river from it. In early May of1740 he moved south with 400 of hisGeorgia regiment and took Fort Diego,a Spanish plantation post fifteen milesnorth of St. Augustine, in the vicinityof present Palm Valley. Leaving troopsto hold it, he then retired back tothe mouth of the St. Johns River toawait the arrival of his other militarycontingents.

During early April six half galleysfrom Cuba slipped into St. Augustine’sMatanzas Bay in response to GovernorMontiano’s frantic pleas for assistance.They were commanded by the sameJuan de León Fandiño, who is reputedto have cut off Jenkins’ ear, and provedan important factor in saving the city.

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A View of the Town and Castle of S^t. Augustine,and the English Camp before it June 20.1740. by Tho^s Silver.

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Oglethorpe’s other military unitsfinally arrived and he moved southover the land route from the St. JohnsRiver, and occupied Fort Mosa, twomiles north of the capital. In additionto his Georgia regiment, he nowhad a detachment of Carolina militia,a company of Highlanders, some Indianallies, and the assistance of anEnglish naval unit of four twenty-gunships and two sloops, a total force ofabout 900.

His original plan of making a concertedattack on the city from its landapproaches and waterfront wasthwarted. The inlet proved too shallowfor the English ships to enter andprovide a covering fire for the landingof marines. The Spanish half galleysreceived from Cuba effectively controlledthe bay. They were a smallmaneuverable type of boat, propelledby oars and sail, and mounted longbrass nine-pounders.

To attack from the north, the Englishwould be exposed to a murderousfire from the Castillo and Cubo Line.The only alternative was a siege thatmight starve St. Augustine into submission.Colonel Palmer, who hadraided the city in 1728, was assignedto hold Fort Mosa with a hundredHighlanders and a few Indians, andprevent supplies from reaching St. Augustinefrom the north. Colonel Vanderdusen,with the Carolina detachment,was stationed on Point Quartel,north of the inlet. Guns were landedon Anastasia Island and dragged intoposition as near the fort and town asthe swampy terrain would permit. TheEnglish naval unit tightly blockadedthe coast and inlets to prevent aidfrom reaching St. Augustine by sea.General Oglethorpe then boldly calledupon Governor Montiano to surrender.The latter replied that he would beglad to shake hands with his Excellencywithin the castle’s walls.

From their batteries across the bay,the English began an intermittent bombardmentof the fort and town thatcontinued for some twenty-seven days.The terrified inhabitants withdrew outof range, greeting each enemy shot witha chorus of Ave Marias.

On the night of June 26th, during alull in the bombardment, Spanish andNegro troops crept out of the defenselines, and at dawn fell upon the Englishat Fort Mosa. Palmer and fiftyof his men were killed, and some takenprisoner.

Within the city supplies were fastdiminishing. Governor Montiano sentmessengers to Cuba, stating that if aidwas not sent all at St. Augustine wouldsoon perish. On July 7th he receivedencouraging word that two vessels fromCuba had eluded the English blockadeand slipped into Mosquito Inlet, eightymiles to the south. Pursued by theEnglish patrol, they managed to reachMatanzas Inlet, and from that pointsupplies were brought up the inlandwaterway to relieve the beleagueredcity.

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The hot summer sun beat down onthe English camps across the bay.Swarms of sandflies and mosquitoes torturedthe besiegers. Due to brackishwater from shallow wells and improperfood, many were ill. Groups of theCarolina militia were daily deserting.The commander of the English navalunit informed Oglethorpe that hewould soon be forced to withdraw hissupport, because of limited supplies andthe danger of storms. Faced by theseunfavorable circ*mstances, GeneralOglethorpe raised the siege, crossed overto the mainland, and began the longtrek back to Georgia.

The people of St. Augustine returnedjubilantly to their homes, which hadsuffered little or no damage in thebombardment. Chapels and churchesrang with Te Deums of thanksgiving.

Further Hostilities

St. Augustine had successfullystemmed the English advance. Spainfurther strengthened its garrison anddefenses. Spanish privateers, some ofthem based at St. Augustine, preyedupon English commerce and plantationsalong the coast to the north.During 1741 no less than thirty Englishprizes were brought into MatanzasBay.

Oglethorpe momentarily expected theSpanish to launch a return attack uponGeorgia. During June of 1742 aGeorgia scout boat discovered fifteensail in St. Augustine’s harbor. Soonmore arrived, and a strong expeditioncomposed of units from St. Augustineand Cuba set out for Georgia, withFlorida’s Governor Montiano in command.The attack was directed towardFort Frederica, which guarded the approachesto Savannah. Landing onSt. Simon’s Island, this superior Spanishforce was ambushed and defeatedin the Battle of Bloody Marsh, andwithdrew to its camp. Soon afterwarda Frenchman deserted the English andwent over to the Spaniards. Oglethorpecontrived to send the Frenchmana letter, in which he directed him tolead the Spaniards to believe that theEnglish were weak, and to persuadethem to attack. As expected, the letterfell into the hands of the Spanish commanders,who were at a loss as to howto interpret it. Much to Oglethorpe’srelief they decided to withdraw.

Encouraged by his success, Oglethorpereturned to Florida next year.Marching ninety-six miles in four days,he appeared before St. Augustine witha small detachment, keeping his mainforce hidden in ambush. His ruse mighthave succeeded, had he not captured inhis advance a small company of Spaniardsguarding some workmen. Theirfailure to return alerted the garrison.After a few days he withdrew, remarkingthat “the Spaniards are so meekthere is no provoking them.”

Frederica, which Oglethorpe had establishedas a Georgia military strongholdagainst the Spaniards, graduallybecame a ghost town after peace wasrestored in 1748. In the meantimeOglethorpe returned to England andnever threatened St. Augustine or Floridaagain. In England he became anintimate of the great literary figuresof the day, and lived to the ripe oldage of 96.

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The next twenty years might becalled St. Augustine’s Golden Ageunder Spain. Substantial coquinahouses and tastefully decorated chapelslined its narrow streets. The inhabitantslived in relative ease and comfort.Social life was gay with colorful carnivalsand religious celebrations rivalingthose of Havana, Cuba. Thecapital was now a city of three thousandsouls, and would soon be twocenturies old. Florida seemed heldfirmly in the grip of Spain.

But English colonists to the northnow numbered almost one million andone hundred thousand Frenchmen hadsettled in Canada. The struggle forpower among European nations was todecide St. Augustine’s fate.

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43

CHAPTER IV
Under British Rule

While St. Augustine lived onin apparent security, ominousevents were taking place in theworld outside. England and Francefought the Seven Years’ War, towardthe end of which Spain allied itself withFrance. Far to the north French Quebecfell to English arms in 1759, and tothe south Havana, Cuba, on which St.Augustine heavily depended, yielded toan English fleet in 1762. Ministers ofthe three nations gathered at Paris todecide the terms of peace.

On March 16, 1763, a lieutenantfrom the English sloop Bonetta cameashore at St. Augustine with importantpapers for the governor, who was astoundedby what he read. Under theterms of the treaty just concluded,Spain ceded Florida to England in exchangefor the return of Havana andother territorial concessions.

St. Augustine’s shocked residentssoon gathered around the proclamationposted on the government house. Itspecified they would be given eighteenmonths in which to settle their affairs,dispose of their property, and evacuateFlorida, unless they desired to becomesubjects of the British Crown. Thevery thought of remaining under Englishrule violated their deep devotionto King and Church. All prepared toleave; only eight being designated toremain in an official capacity.

Busy months followed. Homes werestripped for their furnishings. Linens,silver, clothing, and various personalarticles were packed into chests andboxes. Tearful groups gathered at thelanding place to bid farewell to friendsand neighbors. Some residents wereable to sell their property to the English,who were at first hard-pressed tofind accommodations, but much remainedunsold and was left in thecustody of Spanish agents until moreEnglish buyers might appear. Some,including that of the Church, wasdeeded in trust to two friendly Englishtraders, John Gordon and Jesse Fish.

On July 30, 1763, Major FrancisOgilvie arrived at St. Augustine withan English regiment. English soldiersin their bright red coats paraded brazenlyon the Plaza green, while remainingSpaniards looked on in sullen resentment.Governor Feliú and the lastof the Spanish families sailed on January21, 1764. The departing Spaniardstook with them all of their movablepossessions including, it is said, thebones of their former governor and theremains of several of their Saints.

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New Orleans

Mississippi River

GEORGIA

1764 BOUNDARY

1763 BOUNDARY

WEST FLORIDA

★Pensacola

Mobile

Apalachicola River

EAST FLORIDA

Chattahoochee

★St. Augustine

New Smyrna

Records show that St. Augustine atthe time of the Spanish evacuation hada population of 3,096—961 men, chieflysoldiers and officials; 798 women,and 1,337 children. The majority wentto Cuba and the West Indies to findnew homes. The English flag withits cross of St. George waved over thecapital. The stout Castillo, the narrowstreets, and the name St. Augustineremained.

British Rule Begins

St. Augustine became virtually desertedexcept for the presence of theEnglish staff and garrison. Dust andcobwebs soon covered the Spanishshrines. Weeds and brush grew deepin the yards of the vacated homes. Astime went on a few English familiesbegan to move in, and English gentlemenof wealth and standing arrived tolook over this new province which theircountry had acquired.

On a hot August day of 1764 a saluteof the fort’s guns greeted the arrivalof Colonel James Grant, who camefrom London to serve as East Florida’sfirst English governor. He had earlierled an expedition against French-heldFort Duquesne (Pittsburgh) and hadserved in the Cherokee Indian wars inCarolina.

Governor Grant brought to St. Augustineall the picturesque qualities ofEnglish colonial life. Handsomely attiredgentlemen moved about the streetsin their white stockings, silk or velvetknee-breeches, and rich embroideredcoats with lace at the cuff. Grant’sdistinguished Council included the aristocraticMoultries from South Carolina,Chief Justice William Drayton,and the Episcopal clergyman, JohnForbes. Also across the scene movedFrederick George Mulcaster, reputedto be the natural brother of England’sKing, George III.

Liberal grants of land were offeredby the British to attract colonists toEast Florida. Glowing accounts of its45agricultural possibilities were publishedand circulated. Titled English gentlemenand wealthy Carolina planterssecured grants of land in the vicinity ofthe capital and along the St. JohnsRiver. The eccentric Denys Rolle establisheda colony called Rollestownnear the present site of East Palatka,where he planned to rehabilitate derelictsfrom the streets of London.

By 1768 Governor Grant was ableto report encouraging progress: “Thisprovince, which was a desert when Icame into it, although inhabited by theSpaniards two hundred years, will soonbe a fruitful country. It fills fasterwith inhabitants than I could have wellexpected, and there are already a numberof slaves at work on the differentplantations.”

In contrast with conditions underSpanish rule, vessels began to sail fromSt. Augustine with cargoes of indigo,barrels of oranges, casks of orange juice,lumber and naval stores. Grant madevarious improvements to the governor’sresidence, facing the Parade, or Plaza.The Franciscan Monastery was convertedto serve as quarters for the garrison,and later large new barracks wereerected along the bayfront south of it.One of the churches left by the Spaniardswas taken over by the English,and later remodelled by Lieutenant-GovernorMoultrie, with the additionof a handsome clock and steeple. Itwas called St. Peter’s.

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The New Smyrna Colony

During Grant’s administration, aDoctor Andrew Turnbull and associatesof London secured a large grantof land near Mosquito Inlet, someeighty miles south of St. Augustine.There they planned to establish a plantationcolony for the production ofindigo, for which the British governmentoffered an attractive bounty.Turnbull named the place New Smyrnain honor of his wife’s native Smyrna,where he had also spent some time.

After visiting East Florida to inspecthis landgrant, Turnbull returned toEurope to recruit colonists from theshores of the Mediterranean. He securedsome 200 from Greece, 110 fromItaly, and then went on to the Islandof Minorca, where several years ofdrought had impoverished many of theinhabitants. This island, one of theBalearic group off the coast of Spain,was then an English possession. Atit* port of Mahón more people thanexpected flocked to join the projectedcolony, bringing the total to around1,400.

In the spring of 1768 eight vesselsbrought these hopeful colonists to EastFlorida, saddened by the death of almost150 during the long crowdedvoyage from the British base at Gibraltar.As customary in those days,these colonists bound themselves towork for a period of seven or eightyears in return for their passage andsustenance, after which they were toreceive parcels of land and freedomfrom further obligation.

After touching at St. Augustine thevessels proceeded to New Smyrna,where crude shelters were built. Clearingthe land for cultivation, and in themeantime feeding and clothing such alarge number of people proved moredifficult and expensive than anticipated.Due in part to crude living conditions,three hundred died during the firstwinter. Soon after their arrival, someof the Greeks and Italians broke intothe storehouse, fatally wounded anoverseer, and were on the point of sailingfor Cuba when intercepted by anarmed vessel sent from St. Augustineto subdue them. The ringleaders werelater captured, brought to the capital,tried, and three condemned to death.One was pardoned on agreeing to actas executioner for the other two.

Governor Grant, who fully supportedTurnbull and wanted to see hisNew Smyrna colony thrive, returned toEngland in 1771. He was temporarilysucceeded by Lieutenant-GovernorMoultrie. In 1774 Patrick Tonyn,47an ardent and arbitrary Loyalist, arrivedfrom England to take over thegovernorship of East Florida. Seriousfriction developed between these officialsand a faction in East Florida thatincluded Turnbull, Chief Justice Drayton,and others as to convening a representativeassembly, such as Virginiaand other English colonies in Americaenjoyed. The “inflamed faction,” asTonyn termed them, questioned thepower of the governor and his Councilto rule arbitrarily in the absence of anelected legislative body. They becamebitter personal and political rivals.

In 1776 Chief Justice Drayton andTurnbull sailed for London to seekredress and answer Tonyn’s charges.During Turnbull’s absence, the survivingNew Smyrna colonists, who nownumbered barely 600 out of the 1,400who had left their Mediterraneanhomes, secretly sent a delegation to St.Augustine. They demanded releasefrom their contracts and reported beingcruelly treated by their overseers. Assuredof Governor Tonyn’s sympathyand protection, all of the survivingcolonists—men, women, and children—latermarched in a body up the King’sRoad to St. Augustine. Turnbull returnedfrom London in the fall of1777 to find himself and his NewSmyrna colony ruined.

At St. Augustine the refugees wereassigned lands north of the City Gates,where they built crude shelters andmanaged to eke out a living by fishing,hunting, and gardening. Time provedthem a self-reliant, industrious people,who gradually attained more comfortablecirc*mstances. They and theirdescendants became a distinctive partof St. Augustine, and continued tolive in the city down to the present day.

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During the Revolution

Soon after Tonyn became governorof East Florida reports began to reachSt. Augustine of unrest in the Englishcolonies to the north, followed by newsof bloodshed at Lexington and BunkerHill. Tonyn suspected some in EastFlorida of being in sympathy with therebel cause, including his old enemies,Drayton and Turnbull. Most of theinhabitants, however, had arrived toorecently from England or other loyalcolonies to desire independence. St.Augustine remained as faithful to itsEnglish rulers as it had been to itsSpanish Kings.

In 1775 two detachments of troops,comprising 160 men, were sent fromSt. Augustine to Williamsburg, Virginia,to support hard-pressed GovernorDunmore. During August of thatyear another incident brought the warhome. The British brigantine Betsylay off St. Augustine’s inlet with acargo of gunpowder for the garrison.A rebel sloop from Charleston swoopeddown and captured it within sight ofpeople on shore. When the news ofthe signing of the Declaration of Independencereached this East Floridacapital, there was no rejoicing. Insteadangry Loyalists gathered in thePlaza to cheer the burning of straw-stuffeddummies, representing SamuelAdams and John Hanco*ck.

Expeditions left St. Augustine toattack the “traitorous neighbors” inGeorgia and Carolina. They in turnorganized forces to invade East Florida.These resulted in little more thanborder skirmishes. The East FloridaRangers, a militia organized by Tonyn,plundered the frontier of cattle, fromthe sale of which the governor is saidto have profited. As the war progressedan increasing number of Loyalists fledfrom patriot wrath into East Florida.

Some of the prisoners of war takenby the British in various engagementswere shipped to St. Augustine to beheld until exchanged. In 1780 fortyprominent American Patriots, capturedat Charleston, were brought here.They included three signers of theDeclaration of Independence—EdwardRutledge, Arthur Middleton, andThomas Heyward, Jr.

The surrender of Cornwallis atYorktown, Virginia, in 1781, markedvirtually the end of the conflict. TheEnglish evacuation of Savannah in1782, followed by their withdrawalfrom Charleston, caused Loyalists topour into East Florida and St. Augustineby the thousands. Housing wasinadequate. Many of the unfortunaterefugees lived in mere huts of thatchedpalmetto leaves. Plays were given inthe statehouse for their benefit. Oneof the newcomers set up a print shopand began publishing Florida’s firstnewspaper, the East Florida Gazette.The population of East Florida soaredto 17,000 including slaves.

In 1781 Governor Tonyn finallycalled East Florida’s first LegislativeAssembly. It met in the statehouse atSt. Augustine that year and again duringthe winter of 1782-83. But therewas little left for it to do but passlaws governing the conduct of the manyslaves, who had poured into East Floridawith their Loyalist owners.

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Another Treaty

Toward the end of the RevolutionaryWar in 1779 Spain declared waron England in alliance with France.A Spanish expedition captured English-heldMobile in 1780 and Pensacolain 1781. Spanish spies were active inSt. Augustine, which braced itself foran attack on East Florida that wasplanned but never carried out.

Across the sea in Paris ministers ofEngland, France, and Spain gatheredagain at the peace table, and anothertreaty was concluded. On April 21,1783, Governor Tonyn announcedwhat had already become generallyknown, that England had ceded theFloridas and Minorca back to Spain inexchange for the retention of Gibraltarand other territories. British subjectswere given eighteen months in whichto dispose of their property and evacuateFlorida.

This trend of events was a crushingblow to East Florida’s numerous Englishresidents. Many had just recentlymoved to the province, purchasedor built new homes, and cleared landfor cultivation. New towns had grownup, such as St. Johns Bluff, which contained300 houses, two taverns, stores,and even a lodge of Freemasons. Appealswere addressed to the BritishCrown to retain possession of EastFlorida, but to no avail.

A period of confusion and disorderfollowed. Lawless elements, termedbanditti, took advantage of the unsettledconditions to plunder plantationsand travelers. The painful evacuationof the English continuedthrough the year 1784 and the springof 1785. Many took the wildernesstrails to the west, others went to theBahamas, some returned to England,or embarked for Nova Scotia, Jamaica,Dominica and elsewhere. They tookwith them all of their movable possessions.Even the bells and pews oftheir church, and a crude fire enginewere loaded aboard ship for transferto another colony in the Bahamas.

The Minorcans, who had moved toSt. Augustine from New Smyrna in1777, were not greatly disturbed bythe impending change in sovereignty.They were Catholics and spoke a languagesimilar to Spanish. They supportedthemselves by fishing, hunting,and by cultivating small groves andgardens. Some had become small shopkeepers.St. Augustine was theirchosen home.

Many English still remained whenGovernor Zéspedes arrived off St. Augustinewith thirteen vessels to takeover the province of East Florida forSpain. The official transfer of thegovernment took place on July 12,1784. The Spanish flag was unfurledagain over the capital to volleys fromthe Spanish infantry and a fourteen-gunsalute from the artillery. “Onthe following day,” Governor Zéspedeswrote, “we rendered dutiful and solemnadoration to Christ the King, by attendingthe Te Deum.”

The curtain fell on twenty years ofEnglish occupation, and a second periodunder Spain began.

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52

CHAPTER V
Spanish Rule Returns

When they reoccupied Floridain 1784, the Spaniards hadchanged but little during theirtwenty-year absence from the scene.With their return St. Augustine revertedto its former status as an isolatedmilitary post, heavily dependent uponoutside sources for its supplies and financialsupport.

Agriculture was neglected and brushsoon covered the plantation fields,which the English and their slaves hadcleared. Indians again roamed at willthrough the countryside. On the heelsof the departing English they burnedBella Vista, the beautiful country estateof Lieutenant-Governor Moultrie,located a few miles south of St. Augustinein the community now bearinghis name.

The population of the capital, whichhad overflowed into new districts justbefore the English left, shrank to afraction of its former size. Only afew score English remained to take therequired oath of allegiance to the SpanishCrown. A relatively small numberof St. Augustine’s former Spanish residents,or Floridanos, uprooted in1763, returned from Cuba to claimtheir former homes. The Minorcangroup, including a few Greeks and Italians,made up the major portion of St.Augustine’s civilian inhabitants.

Vacant houses stared blankly alongthe narrow streets. Some with flatroofs and outside kitchens were relicsof the first Spanish period. Others hadbeen remodelled after the English tastewith glass window panes, gabled roofs,and chimneys. St. Peter’s Church, inwhich the English had worshipped,remained unoccupied and soon becamea ruin.

Although a Spanish possession, St.Augustine acquired from time to timeinteresting residents of other nationalities.Juan McQueen, a close friendof George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,and Lafayette, came to the cityin 1791 to escape embarrassing debts,and held official positions under theSpanish regime until death closed hiscolorful career in 1807. John Leslie,the famous English trader, also livedhere after the Revolutionary War. Thefirm of Panton, Leslie and Companyenjoyed a monopoly in trading with theIndians of Florida, and supplied St.Augustine with many of its needs onliberal credit.

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Philip Fatio, a Swiss, owned a largeplantation on the St. Johns River ina section now known as Switzerland.He maintained a store and residence atSt. Augustine, and had other extensiveland holdings. Among the Minorcangroup was an Estevan Benet, one ofwhose descendants was Stephen VincentBenet, the noted writer.

Jesse Fish lived across the bay onwhat is now called Fish’s Island withhis many slaves and famous orangegrove, from which he shipped fruit andjuice to England. He was sent to St.Augustine as a youth by a trading firmduring the first Spanish period, won theconfidence of the Spaniards, and remainedas custodian of some of theirproperty through the English regime.The old patriarch still occupied hiscoquina mansion across the bay whenthe Spaniards returned.

Father Pedro Camps, Padre of theMinorcan group, followed them to St.Augustine from New Smyrna in 1777,and continued as their beloved spiritualleader until his death in 1790. Alsoprominent in the city’s religious lifewas Father Michael O’Reilly, an Irishpriest, who came with Governor Zéspedesin 1784 and remained active untilremoved by death in 1812.

Life in St. Augustine followed adistinctive pattern, due to its isolationand lack of frequent communicationwith other cities. It was Spanish inlanguage, dress, customs, and for themost part in architecture and population.Some of its officials and plantersowned slaves, fine horses, and livedcomfortably if not elaborately. Theyenjoyed leisure time for gambling, co*ckfighting, and to lounge through thelong summers in a cool patio or at acongenial tavern. The populace wascharacteristically lazy and did littlemore than necessary to keep body andsoul together. As in other Spanishcolonies, the siesta, or after-dinner nap,was routine. During the mid-day heatstreets were deserted and nothingstirred as if under the spell of anenchanter’s wand.

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One of the chief additions made tothe city during its second Spanishperiod was the construction of agraceful new Parish Church. Thebuilding was begun in 1791, dedicatedin 1797, and later consecrated as aCathedral. Damaged by fire in 1887,it was restored the following year withthe addition of the present clock tower.The Spaniards also commenced a newTreasury building, which was nevercompleted due to lack of funds. Itsmute walls remained standing untilafter the Civil War.

For a time the Spanish governmentoffered grants of land in East Floridaon liberal terms to attract settlers.Hardy pioneers from the adjacentSouth poured in, who secretly wantedto overthrow Spanish rule. Fearingthis influence, Spain closed the territoryto further settlement by Americansin 1804.

The story of East Florida and itscapital from 1800 on is one of increasingdifficulties, caused by thecourse of events in Europe and frictionwith neighboring southern states.Spain’s wealth and power were rapidlydeclining. One after another herAmerican colonies sought and won theirindependence. In the southeasternUnited States sentiment for the possessionof Florida was fanned by Indianraids and the loss of slaves acrossthe border, which Spanish officialsseemed to do little to control.

In 1812, to assuage popular clamor,the Spanish Cortés adopted a moreliberal constitution, and decreed thatmonuments be erected to commemorateit. At St. Augustine a coquina shaftwas raised that still graces its Plaza,but scarcely had it been dedicated whenthe constitution was revoked, and themonuments were ordered dismantled.Here only the tablets were removedand later replaced.

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The North Florida Republic

When the war of 1812 broke outbetween England and the UnitedStates, it was feared that England,then allied with Spain, might seize theFloridas as a base for military operations.The Congress authorized PresidentMadison to appoint two agents,who were to endeavor to secure thetemporary cession of East and WestFlorida to the United States. In theevent this failed, steps were to be takento forcibly occupy the provinces, shouldEngland threaten to seize them.

President Madison appointed oldGeneral Matthews as his agent to EastFlorida. He was a Revolutionary Warveteran and a former governor ofGeorgia. With promises of liberalgrants of land, Matthews encouragedthe planters along the northern bordersof East Florida to set up an independentrepublic. The plan was to then turnover the territory it occupied to theUnited States. After seizing Fernandinathese Patriots, as they weretermed, advanced on St. Augustinewith a small detachment of regulartroops, occupied Fort Mosa on itsnorthern outskirts, and called upon theSpanish governor to surrender. Hesent a gunboat up the river to dislodgethem, but they continued to camp inthe vicinity for several months. St.Augustine was cut off from suppliesand the surrounding country plunderedby Indians and outlaws.

Loud Spanish and English protestscaused President Madison to recall hisagents and repudiate their actions.

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A Bit of Spain

In a Narrative of a Voyage to theSpanish Main, published in 1819, anEnglishman gives the following descriptionof St. Augustine’s residentsduring this period:

“The women are deservedly celebratedfor their charm, their lovelyblack eyes have a vast deal of expression,their complexions a clear brunette;much attention is paid to the arrangementof their hair; at Mass they arealways well dressed in black silkbasquinas with the little mantilla overtheir heads; the men in their militarycostumes.”

The same traveler later returned toSt. Augustine by land, and found thecity in a gay mood despite its difficulties.

“I had arrived at the season of generalrelaxation, on the eve of the Carnival,which is celebrated with muchgaiety in all Catholic countries. Masks,dominoes, harlequins, punchinelloes,and a variety of grotesque disguises, onhorseback, in carts, gigs, and on footparaded the streets with guitars, violins,and other instruments; and in the eveningthe houses were opened to receivemasks, and balls were given in everydirection.”

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Ceded to the United States

After the War of 1812 there wasstill friction between Spanish Floridaand the United States. Bands of Indiansand escaped slaves occupied choicelands of the Florida interior, fortifiedthe navigable rivers, and made occasionalraids across the border. TheSpanish garrison was not large enoughto control lawless elements. In 1817Fernandina and Amelia Island weretaken over by MacGregor, an Englishsoldier of fortune, later occupied bythe pirate Autry, and became a den ofoutlaws and smugglers. United Statestroops were sent to dislodge them andrestore law and order. General AndrewJackson led an expedition intonorth central and west Florida in 1818to punish the Indians, and after destroyingtheir strongholds occupiedPensacola.

England and Spain vehemently protestedthese violations of Spanish territory.Negotiations for the purchaseof Florida were reopened. DuringFebruary of 1819 a treaty was concludedwhereby Spain finally cededFlorida to the United States, whichappropriated up to five million dollarsto pay the claims of Americans arisingfrom the recent depredations. Spainratified the treaty in 1820.

On July 10, 1821, Colonel RobertButler and a small detachment ofUnited States troops received possessionof East Florida and Castillo deSan Marcos from José Coppinger,the last of the Spanish governors. Afterthe Spanish flag was lowered, leavingthe stars and stripes flying over thefortress, Spanish troops marched outbetween lines of American soldiers andthey mutually saluted. The Spaniardsthen boarded American transportswaiting to convey them to Cuba, one ofthe few remaining possessions of Spain’sgreat colonial empire in America.

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CHAPTER VI
Under the United States

St. Augustine was at last a partof the United States. Most of itsSpanish residents bid the narrowstreets farewell. The Minorcans, nowfirmly domiciled here, made up themajor portion of the town’s population.Many by this time had risen to positionsof influence in its affairs.

Officials of the new regime foundSt. Augustine a rather dilapidated oldtown, devoid of progress and ambition.Due to the poverty that had markedthe closing years of the second Spanishperiod, public and private buildingswere badly run down, some almost inruins. Soon after the change of flags,speculators and promoters flocked tothe city, and were quartered in someof the deserted houses. In the fall of1821 an epidemic of dreaded yellowfever carried off many of the newcomers.A new cemetery was openedup near the City Gates to receive thevictims, a few of whom may have beenof Huguenot descent. It became knownas the Huguenot, or Protestant cemetery.

In spite of its unkempt condition,St. Augustine possessed a certain mellowcharm. At times the scent oforange blossoms hung heavy in the airand could be noticed by passing shipsat sea. Along the narrow streets latticedgates led into cool courtyards andsecluded gardens. There was no industryor commerce to disturb theserenity of the scene. St. Augustine’sshallow inlet, which preserved it fromits enemies, also prevented it frombecoming a place of bustling trade.

Visitors Begin to Arrive

Although difficult to reach by seabecause of its treacherous bar, and byland over a road that was little morethan a trail, a few adventurous travelersbegan to visit this quaint old city,which the United States had recentlyacquired. They were chiefly invalidsand tubercular victims, for whom themild winter climate was consideredbeneficial. Ralph Waldo Emerson,who was later to become the noted NewEngland poet and philosopher, visitedSt. Augustine in 1827, at the age of 23,suffering from what he termed a“stricture of the chest.” During histen weeks’ stay he recorded in his journaland letters his impressions of thecity as he then saw it.

“St. Augustine is the oldest town ofEuropeans in North America,” he observed,“full of ruins, chimneylesshouses, lazy people, horse-keeping intolerablydear, and bad milk fromswamp grass, as all their hay comesfrom the North.”

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But it restored his health and laterhe was inspired to comment: “The airand sky of this ancient, fortified, dilapidatedsandbank of a town are delicious.It is a queer place. There areeleven or twelve hundred people andthese are invalids, public officials, andSpaniards, or rather Minorcans.”

While here Emerson met anotherdistinguished visitor of the time, PrinceNapoleon Achille Murat, son of theKing of Naples, and nephew of thegreat Napoleon. Murat came to Floridain 1824, purchased an estate southof St. Augustine, and was a frequentvisitor to the city, living here for atime during the Seminole War. Helater settled on a plantation near Tallahassee.St. Augustine began to prosperin a small way from its increasingnumber of visitors and winter residents.

The Freeze of 1835

The growing of oranges was an importantindustry in St. Augustine andits vicinity at this time. Many of itsresidents derived their principal incomefrom the sale of the golden fruit, whichwas shipped by sloop to northern cities.The town was described by visitors asbeing virtually bowered in groves, andon each side of the Plaza were tworows of handsome orange trees, plantedby Governor Grant during the Englishoccupation.

During February of 1835 a bitingcold of extended duration swept downout of the northwest. At nearby Jacksonvillethe thermometer dropped toeight degrees, and ice formed on theSt. Johns River. St. Augustine’sbeautiful orange groves were killed tothe ground, sweeping away the mainsource of livelihood for many of itspeople. Only the bare trunks andbranches remained, making the city lookbleak and desolate.

Some of the trees sprouted from theirdamaged roots; others were planted,and in a few decades St. Augustine’sorange groves were again the subjectof admiring comment on the part ofvisitors. But during the winter of1894-95 another freeze destroyed them.The citrus industry moved farthersouth and was not again revived on acommercial scale in St. Augustine orits immediate vicinity.

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The Seminole War

The Seminole War followed closelyon the heels of the disastrous freeze of1835. Shortly after New Year’s dayof 1836 St. Augustine learned of themassacre of Major Dade and his commandof 110 men. They were ambushedby Seminoles while enroutefrom Fort Brooke (Tampa) to FortKing (Ocala). On the same day, December28, 1835, General WileyThompson, the Indian agent at FortKing, and another officer were killed.Soon plantations in the vicinity of St.Augustine were attacked and burned,and refugees arrived with gory talesof Indian atrocities. The February27, 1836, issue of Niles Register carriedthe following item:

“The whole country south of St.Augustine has been laid waste duringthe past week, and not a building ofany value left standing. There is nota single house remaining between thiscity and Cape Florida, a distance of250 miles.”

When this occurred the original Indiantribes of Florida encountered bythe early Spaniards had completelydisappeared. Some had been wiped outduring the long period of border conflictwith the English. Others hadsuccumbed to epidemics of disease. Bythe early 1800’s the principal Indiansfound in Florida were called Seminoles,and were a combination of severaltribal remnants from Georgia and Alabama.

Under United States rule the Seminoleswere first restricted to a morelimited area by the Treaty of Moultriein 1823. But as settlers continuedto pour in, a demand arose for theircomplete removal from Florida to reservationsin the West, which the youngerSeminole leaders were determined toresist. The effort to force their removalto western reservations resultedin conflict that dragged on for sevenyears, from 1835 to 1842.

Officer after officer was sent toFlorida to take command of operationsagainst the Indians, including GeneralWinfield Scott of subsequent MexicanWar fame; and General Zachary Taylor,later to become President of theUnited States. But roving bands ofSeminoles continued to strike and vanishinto the dense swamps and littleknown woodlands.

In 1837 two prominent Seminoleleaders, Osceola and Coacoochee, withseventy of their warriors, were seizedby General Hernandez under ordersfrom General Jesup at a point a fewmiles south of St. Augustine. TheIndians had come in under a whiteflag for a parley with United Statesofficers. The captives were broughtto St. Augustine and imprisoned in theCastillo, from which Coacoochee andtwenty companions managed to escape.Osceola died soon after transfer toFort Moultrie, Charleston.

During May of 1840 a party ofactors enroute from Picolata to St.Augustine were attacked by Indians,and near the same point two St. Augustineresidents were murdered.

“It is useless to complain,” stated anews item of the day. “The fact remainsthat we have been pent up in this62little city for the last four years and ahalf by a few worthless outlaws. Ourfriends and neighbors, one after another,have been hastened to the mansionsof the dead, and he who is foolhardyenough to venture beyond thegates may be the next victim.”

But St. Augustine as usual managedto be gay. A young lieutenant, WilliamTec*mseh Sherman of later CivilWar fame, was stationed at Picolataand frequently rode into St. Augustinefor diversion. In one of his lettershome he wrote under date of February15, 1842:

“The inhabitants (of St. Augustine)still preserve the old ceremonies andfestivities of old Spain. Balls, masquerades,etc., are celebrated during thegay season of the Carnival (just over),and the most religious observance ofLent in public, whilst in private theycan not refrain from dancing andmerry making. Indeed, I never sawanything like it—dancing, dancing, andnothing but dancing, but not such asyou see in the North. Such ease andgrace as I never before beheld.”

Dr. Motte, a young military surgeon,made a similar observation in hisjournal: “The St. Augustine ladies certainlydanced more gracefully, and keptbetter time, than any of my fair countrywomen I ever saw in northerncities. It was really delightful to seethe beautiful Minorcan girls movingthrough their intricate waltz to themusic of violin and tambourine.”

Finally most of the Seminoles werekilled or surrendered for transfer toreservations in the West. A few wereallowed to remain deep in the Everglades.There were probably less than5,000 Indians in Florida at the outset,yet the war involved the enlistment of20,000 men, an estimated cost of thirtymillion dollars, and 1,500 United Statescasualties.

St. Augustine somewhat reluctantlysaw the war come to an end. Thepresence of officers and troops had enlivenedits social life, and poured governmentfunds into the city.

A Peaceful Interlude

The end of the Seminole War madeFlorida safe again for travelers. WilliamCullen Bryant, the popular poetand author, paid St. Augustine a visitin 1843 and wrote articles about thecity that were widely read. He notedthat gabled roofs were rapidly replacingthe flat roofs of the first Spanish period,and that some “modern” wooden buildingshad been constructed. More thanhalf the inhabitants still spoke the Minorcan,or Mahonese language.

Another visitor of 1843 was HenryB. Whipple, later a prominent EpiscopalBishop. He found masqueradingstill a popular pastime in the city.Masking began during the Christmasholidays and continued until Lent.Small groups of people dressed invarious disguises spent the evenings goingfrom house to house, acting outtheir parts and furnishing their ownmusic with guitar and violin. Whipple63wrote that St. Augustine was still fullof old ruins, and that “he liked towander through the narrow streets andgaze upon these monitors of time, whichwhispered that the hands that builtthem were long since mouldering inthe grave.”

In 1845 Florida became the twenty-seventhstate admitted to the Union.Tallahassee had been selected as itsterritorial capital in 1824, being a compromisebetween St. Augustine andPensacola, both of which were difficultto reach from most of the state.

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During the Civil War

St. Augustine lived on, enlivenedduring the winter by an influx ofvisitors, and drowsing undisturbedthrough the long summers until arousedby another conflict—the Civil War.

Slaves played a relatively minor rolein its economy, as compared with therest of the state. Although a few plantationsin the immediate vicinity employedslave labor, they were chieflyused as domestic servants and were generallywell treated. There was considerableUnion sentiment in the citydue to its number of northern-bornresidents.

Edmund Kirby-Smith, who hadplayed in St. Augustine’s streets as aboy, became one of the leading ConfederateGenerals. His father cameto the city in 1822 as Judge of theSuperior Court and died here in 1846.His mother continued to occupy theirhome on what is now Aviles Street.During January of 1861 she wrote herson: “Our hearts are steeped in sadnessand anxiety. Forebodings of evil yetto come depress us. We are threatenedwith the greatest calamity that canbefall a nation. Civil war stares usin the face.”

In the same letter she tells of howthe news of Florida’s secession fromthe Union was received at St. Augustine:“Our state has seceded, and itwas announced here by the firing ofcannon and musketry, and much shooting.A large flag made by the ladiesis waving on the square. By orderof the Governor of this State, the Fort,Barracks, and Federal property weretaken possession of. Cannon aremounted on the ramparts of the Fortto defend it if any attempt should bemade to retake it.”

Soon the shouting ceased and warbecame a stark reality with its heartaches,poverty, and privation. Manyyoung men from St. Augustine wentinto the Confederate armies. The majorityof its northern-born residentsreturned to the North to live for theduration of the war. The flow ofvisitors to the city ceased.

During March of 1862 a Unionblockading squadron appeared off theinlet, and an officer came ashore witha white flag to demand the city’s surrender.During the night its smallConfederate garrison withdrew. Nextmorning St. Augustine was occupiedby Union forces and held by themduring the remainder of the conflict.65Before the Federal troops landed thewomen of the city cut down the flagpole in the Plaza so that the Unionstandard could not be raised wheretheir Confederate banner had waved.

Tourist Industry Resumed

When the Civil War came to anend in 1865, St. Augustine was threecenturies old. As the effects of thewar and the reconstruction period woreaway, the entertainment of winter residentsand visitors was resumed. Thecity was still exceptionally quaint andforeign in appearance.

A visitor of 1869 found the FloridaHouse, one of the city’s three smallhotels, crowded with guests and wrote:“The number of strangers here greatlyexceeded our expectations, and throngedin every street and public place. Thefashionable belle of Newport and Saratoga,the pale, thoughtful clergyman ofNew England, were at all points encountered.”

The city badly needed better hotelsand travel facilities. Visitors then hadto come up the St. Johns River bysteamer to Picolata, and from there ahorse-drawn stage jolted them for eighteenmiles over a miserable road to theSan Sebastian River, where a flatboatferried the carriage across the river tothe city’s outskirts.

By 1871 travelers could go up theSt. Johns River by steamer to TocoiLanding, and there take a mule-drawncar over a crude railroad that ranfifteen miles east through the wilderness66to St. Augustine. It was calledthe St. Johns Railway and a few yearslater installed two wood-burning locomotives.

Its Isolation Broken

The bonds of isolation and inaccessibility,which had retarded St. Augustine’sgrowth yet preserved its OldWorld character, were gradually beingremoved. Some signs of this awakeningwere apparent. “Hammers are ringingon the walls of a new hotel,” a visitornoted, “in which northern tourists areto be lodged, a splendid coquina wall,which might have stood for anothercentury, having been torn down tomake room for this ephemeral box.”

The same observer lamented thatbecause of these changes the city waslosing some of it former charm: “Theromance of the place is gradually departingnow. The merry processions ofthe Carnival, with mask, violin andguitar, are no longer kept up with theold taste; the rotund Padri, the delicateform of the Spanish lady, clad inmantilla and basquina are gone.”

In 1883 the Jacksonville, St. Augustineand Halifax River Railwaywas completed, linking the city withSouth Jacksonville. A mammoth four-storywooden hotel, the San Marco,arose on a site just west of the Castillo.The tide of tourists swelled. Souvenirshops, museums, and showplaces sprangup.

The Flagler Influence

Among St. Augustine’s many visitorsduring the winter of 1883-84 was HenryM. Flagler, one of the co-founders67of the Standard Oil Company. Immenselywealthy, he came to rest butwas impressed with St. Augustine’scharm and possibilities. Many well-to-dofamilies were then wintering on thesouthern shores of France and Italy, asection known as the Riviera. Flaglerbelieved they could be induced to cometo Florida if proper facilities wereprovided for them. He decided to investin the construction of luxurioushotels at St. Augustine that wouldmake the Florida coast an “AmericanRiviera.”

His first hotel, the Ponce de Leonwas begun in 1885. Two others, theAlcazar and Casa Monica (later renamedCordova), were soon underwaynearby. These and other Flagler-financedstructures were massively builtof solid concrete in a style of architectureadapted from palaces in Spain.

The magnificent Ponce de Leonopened on January 10, 1888, the Alcazarand Cordova soon afterward.Wealth and fashion flocked to St.Augustine, which became termed the“Southern Newport.” Sailboats dottedthe bay and fine carriages dashed aboutthe streets.

When Flagler began the constructionof his hotels, he also purchased thesmall railroads in the vicinity, improvingtheir service and facilities as ameans of making the area easier toreach. This marked the beginning ofthe Florida East Coast Railway, whichhe later extended down the coast,creating Palm Beach in 1894, andlaunching Miami upon its career ofmagic growth in 1896.

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The Changing Scene

Progress, like St. Augustine’s formerinvaders, had little respect for the past.The old and storied inevitably gave wayto the new and so-called modern. Oldhouses and remaining sections of thedefense lines were torn down to makeroom for new buildings of the prevailingperiod, and the changes were hailedas a great improvement.

Even before this took place many ofthe old landmarks had disappeared.When building material was needed,St. Augustine’s residents of formerperiods used the stone from some olddilapidated structure. It was mucheasier than cutting and transportingnew blocks of coquina from the AnastasiaIsland quarries.

A visitor of 1870 reported: “Althoughthe ruins of its former greatnessare to be seen on every side, yetby one and another means the mostvenerable are passing out of sight. ThePalace of the British Attorney General(located opposite the Cathedral), whichit is said was of grand proportions,has been torn down so that the materialcould be used for other buildings.”

Fires also took their toll. The settlementwas completely burned byDrake in 1586, and again burned bythe Carolinians under Moore in 1702.In 1887 flames swept the Cathedraland portions of the block north of thePlaza. Again in 1914 a disastrous firewiped out many of the buildings inthe older section of the city betweenthe City Gates and the Plaza.

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St. Augustine Today

In spite of the many changes madein its physical appearance downthrough the centuries, many evidencesof St. Augustine’s historic past havemanaged to survive. Massive Castillode San Marcos still frowns upon thebay as it did two centuries and a halfa*go. The City Gateway, remainsas a mute reminder of the capital’sformer defenses. The narrow streetsof the original town have defied completealteration, and still reflect theirOld World origin and character.

The ancient Plaza, with its refreshingshade, is possibly more beautifulnow than when worn by the tread ofparading garrisons. Here also stoodthe residence of a long line of Spanishand English governors. Facing thePlaza on the north the Cathedrallooks down in simple dignity, itsclock and sundial marking the infiniteprocession of hours, days and years.

The city’s long period under Spainis reflected in some of its architecture,in many of its street names, and in thegeneral plan of the older section, whichwas laid out as specified by the SpanishKing. The name St. George Street,honoring England’s patron Saint, is alegacy from the English period, as isalso Charlotte Street, named for thequeen of George III.

The bayfront commands a view ofwaters where ships of many kinds andfrom many ports once rode at anchor.The original inlet through which theysailed has disappeared, and a man-madechannel now cuts through the barrierislands. Davis Shores, a popular residentialdistrict across the bay, was oncea marsh from which the English shelledthe fort and town in 1740.

At the south end of the originalsettlement the State Arsenal occupiesthe site of the Franciscan Monastery,from which the heroic Friars wentforth to Christianize the Florida Indians.Across from it the OldestHouse, owned by the St. AugustineHistorical Society, preserves some ofthe Spanish atmosphere of former periods.Its connecting museum and librarycontain many relics and recordsof the past.

The Old Spanish Treasury on St.George Street was once the residenceof the Royal Treasurer, from whichTreasury Street also derives its name.North of the City Gateway the Fountainof Youth perpetuates the memoryof Ponce de Leon’s discovery of Floridaand man’s longing for youth restored.Occupying high ground nearby theMission of Nombre de Dios marksthe probable landing place of Menéndezand the hallowed spot where thefirst Parish Mass was celebrated.

Few who visit St. Augustine can failto feel the romantic spell of its antiquity.The memory of its eventfulpast still haunts its sandy shore.

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The voluminous historical records of St. Augustine and earlyFlorida are preserved in the library of the St. Augustine HistoricalSociety. Assembled over a period of more than fifty years, andspanning 400 years of history, these records include copies ofliterally thousands of documents from the archives of Spain,Mexico, England, and repositories in the United States. Thecollection also comprises hundreds of old maps, various forms ofpictorial material, and some 7,500 books, many of them rare andout of print. To save space much of the material is in the formof microfilm.

Founded in 1883, the Society is dedicated to the preservationand accurate interpretation of St. Augustine’s rich historicalheritage. It has been long active in protecting the historic landmarksof the city, and pioneered in restoring some of its olderstructures.

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PUBLICATIONS

ST. AUGUSTINE’S HISTORICAL HERITAGE, HarrisPictures. An illustrated guide to the city’s principal pointsof historic and scenic interest, with fine photographs ofstreets and buildings. 40 pages, size 8½ x 11 inches. $1.00

SAINT AUGUSTINE, AN EARLY HISTORY OF THEFAMOUS CITY TOLD IN PICTURES. 24 pages, size 8½by 11 inches. 50¢

COLOR BOOK OF HISTORIC FORTS, Fort Caroline—FortMatanzas—Castillo De San Marcos. 36 pages, 8½ x11 inches. 50¢

Mail orders filled at prices quoted plus 25¢ to covermailing. Florida residents add 4% state sales tax. Address:

C. F. Hamblen Inc.
P. O. Box 1568
St. Augustine, Florida 32084

Transcriber’s Notes

• Silently corrected a few typos.
• Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.
• Transcribed the text within some illustrations.
• In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.