THE UNFORTUNATE EXPEDITION UNDER RIBAULT.--FOUNDING OF ST.
AUGUSTINE BY MENENDEZ, 1565.--ATTACK UPON THE FRENCH SETTLEMENT ON
THE ST. JOHNS RIVER.
The Huguenots in France had not forgotten their friends in Florida,
though the dissensions at home had turned their attention away from all
but the plottings and schemings about them. Desiring to succor and
strengthen the colony, Coligni had secured a fleet of seven vessels,
four being of considerable size. These he placed in command of Captain
Ribault, who had taken out the first expedition. Ribault quickly
recruited a company of six hundred and fifty persons, among whom were
said to be many representatives of good families, about five hundred
being soldiers.
The fleet sailed from Dieppe in May, 1565, and after a long but
uneventful voyage reached Florida in safety.
By some means information had been sent to the Spanish Court that an
expedition was fitting out for the succor of the Huguenot colony in
Florida. It has been said that this knowledge emanated from those about
the French sovereign, though it is by no means necessary that it must
have come from such a source. The enemies of the Protestants were
numerous and bitter all over France, and the recruiting and equipment of
the expedition could have been no secret.
Philip II. determined not to allow any encroachment on the territory,
which he claimed by the right of his subjects’ former expeditions of
discovery and by gift from the Holy See. Not only was he unwilling to
see Florida occupied by foreigners, but of all persons none were more
objectionable than Protestants, upon whom he looked as upon those
without the pale of Christianity, who only lived as enemies of God, to
disseminate a wicked creed, and war upon His holy faith. The very
instrument for the execution of the plans of this bigoted monarch seems
to have been at hand. Don Pedro Menendez de Avilla, had acquired wealth
and distinction as a naval officer. This knight was now desirous of the
honor of driving the French from Florida. Menendez was of aristocratic
birth, a man of great firmness of will and tenacity of purpose; a brave
commander, with a superior sagacity and knowledge of human nature, and
withal a most zealous and devoted Catholic. The name of Menendez has
been held up to the world as the symbol of all that is malignant,
heartless, and cruel. If we are to judge of men’s actions in the past by
the motives that prompted them, as we are asked and expected to do in
all things which happen in our own day, then by such a test the actions
of Menendez must be less harshly considered. That he believed the
rooting out of the Protestant colonization and their faith from the
shores of the New World was God’s work, there can be no doubt. His
devotion to the propagation of the Catholic religion in Florida, and the
sacrifices which he made to extend and continue the teachings of that
faith, prove beyond a doubt his sincerity and fervent zeal. His
conciliatory measures toward the savages so entirely within his power,
and his efforts to instruct the tribes all over Florida, which met with
such marked success, will go far to prove that his nature was not
wantonly cruel. The purpose of his expedition, the object for which he
had enlisted nearly three thousand persons, transporting them into an
unknown continent, and, as is said, investing of his own means nearly
five million dollars, was to prevent the propagation of heretical
doctrines on the shores of the New World. As Menendez expressed it, it
was “to prevent the Lutherans from establishing their abominable and
unreasonable sect among the Indians.” It should also be remembered that
an edict of Ribault’s had been published when he undertook his
expedition, “that no Catholic at the peril of his life should go in his
fleet, nor any Catholic books be taken.”
Besides it is not improbable that the French prisoners, who were nearly
all put to death by Menendez, were destroyed in the belief that by this
course alone could his own position in his isolated location be made
safe.
The little band with Laudonnère were waiting for fair winds to sail away
from Florida in the ship they had purchased of the English when the
fleet under Ribault arrived off the mouth of the river May, on the 29th
of August, 1565. Four of the seven vessels were too large to enter the
river, but the other three were brought up to the settlement, and at
once began to land the supplies. Ribault now assumed the command, and
all thought of departure was dismissed. This course was most acceptable
to Laudonnère, who had only consented to abandon the plan of
colonization from the force of his straitened circumstances and the
demands of his company. He had declared that it made his heart grieve to
leave “a place so pleasant that those who are melancholic would be
forced to change their humor,” and to possess which they had given up
home, and friends, and fortune, and undergone perils of land and water.
While the fleet of Ribault was making its long voyage across the
Atlantic, Menendez was pushing forward his equipment of a fleet to
follow and expel the French from Florida. If he succeeded he was to have
the title of marquis, a large tract of land, and the freedom of all the
ports of New Spain. A salary of ten thousand dollars and the title of
Adelantado was conferred upon him at the outset. He secured a fleet of
thirty-four vessels, which he fully equipped, providing the means from
his private fortune. But one vessel, with two hundred and fifty soldiers
and their equipment, was provided by the crown. Learning the object of
the expedition, volunteers flocked to his standard until he soon had a
force of nearly three thousand men, including a party of twenty-six
monks and priests. Impatient of delay Menendez put to sea on the 1st of
July, with his flag-ship the _El Pelayo_ and about two-thirds of his
fleet, ordering the remainder to rendezvous at Porto Rico as soon as
their equipment was completed. Scarcely had the fleet of Menendez left
the port of Cadiz before a severe storm was encountered that separated
the vessels, and sank and disabled so many that on his arrival at Porto
Rico, on the 9th of August, he found but six ships under his command.
The courage of their leader was undaunted, though a general despair
pervaded the fleet. In the destruction wrought by the mighty elements he
pictured the hand of God, and revived the spirits of his followers by
the assurance that the Almighty had reduced their numbers that “His own
arm might achieve the victory, and His glory be exalted.” Learning that
a Spanish vessel bearing letters to himself had been intercepted by the
French fleet, he determined to sail for Florida at once, without waiting
for the remainder of the fleet. On the 28th of August, the day set in
the calendar of the Romish Church to the honor of St. Augustine, the
fleet came in sight of the Florida coast, probably near Cape Canaveral.
Here they learned the location of the French colony, and sailing
northward, on the 4th of September came in sight of the four French
ships, which lay off the mouth of the river May (St. Johns). During the
night a council was held on board the vessel of the Spanish admiral, in
which the majority of the captains urged a delay until the remainder of
the fleet could arrive from Spain. Menendez courageously refused to
listen to such a plan, and gave orders for an attack at daybreak. The
Frenchmen, however, displayed more of discretion than boldness, and upon
the approach of the Spanish fleet, put out to sea. According to
Laudonnère’s account, “the Spaniards seeing that they could not reach
them by reason that the French ships were better of sail than theirs,
and also because they wou’d not leave the coast, turned back and went on
shore in the river Seloy, which we call the river of Dolphins, eight or
ten leagues from where we were. Our ships returned and reported that
they had seen three Spanish ships enter the river of Dolphins, and the
other three remained in the road; further, that they had put their
soldiers, their victuals, and munitions on land.... And we understood by
King Emola, one of our neighbors, which arrived upon the handling of
these matters, that the Spaniards in great numbers were gone on shore,
which had taken possession of the houses of Seloy, in the most part
whereof they had placed their negroes, which they had brought to labor,
and also lodged themselves and had cast divers trenches about them.”[4]
The Spanish priest Mendoza gives the following account of the foundation
of St. Augustine: “On Saturday, the 8th day of September, the day of the
Nativity of our Lady, the general disembarked with numerous banners
displayed, trumpets and other martial music resounding, and amid salvos
of artillery. Carrying a cross I proceeded at the head, chanting the
hymn Te Deum Laudamus. The general marched straight up to the cross,
together with all those who accompanied him; and kneeling they all
kissed the cross. A great number of Indians looked upon these
ceremonies, and imitated whatever they saw done. Thereupon the general
took possession of the country in the name of his Majesty. All the
officers then took an oath of allegiance to him as their general, and as
Adelantado of the whole country.”
Near the site of the Indian village of Seloy was thus laid the
foundation of the first town built by the Caucasian in America. At this
time and place was also introduced that curse and blight upon the
fairest portion of our country, African slavery, whose train of evils
has not been confined to the Southern negroes, but has extended to the
white race, and throughout the length and breadth of our common country.
Especially to Florida has this iniquitous system been the cause of
unnumbered woes. For an account of the misfortunes which slavery wrought
upon this State prior to the rebellion of 1861, the reader has only to
consult Gidding’s “Exiles of Florida.” It is certain that African
slavery was at this time introduced into North America, though several
writers have evinced a desire to overlook this important fact of
history. The evidence, however, is too plain for denial, the original
agreement with Philip the Second having granted to Menendez the right to
take with him five hundred negro slaves. Whether or not he took this
number is not material.
In commemoration of the day on which he arrived off the coast, Menendez
gave to the new town the name of St. Augustine, which it has continued
to bear for more than three hundred years. The precise spot where the
Spaniards landed is uncertain, though it is not unlikely that it was
near the ground on which the Franciscans erected their house, now the
United States barrack.
While Menendez was making haste to fortify his position at St.
Augustine, Ribault was preparing to descend the coast, and by a sudden
attack capture the Spanish fleet and cut off the settlement. This plan
was ineffectually opposed by Laudonnère. His opposition to the plan of
action adopted may have been the cause of his failure to accompany the
expedition. Removing the artillery and garrison to his fleet, and
leaving in the fort the noncombatants, including women, children, and
invalids, to the number of two hundred and forty under the command of
Laudonnère, Ribault set sail to attack the Spaniards on the 10th of
September.
They bore rapidly down until in sight of the Spanish vessels anchored
off the bar of St. Augustine. Before the enemy were reached, and the
fleet collected for action, Ribault found himself in the midst of one of
those gales which occur with suddenness and violence on the coast of
Florida at different periods of every fall. The tempest rendered his
ships unmanageable, and finally wrecked them all at different points on
the coast south of Matanzas Inlet.
Menendez had watched the French ships as they approached St. Augustine.
Observing the severity of the storm he was satisfied that the fleet
could not beat back in its teeth should they escape shipwreck, and
therefore their return was impossible for several days after the storm
should cease. Determined to seize the favorable opportunity to attack
the fort on the St. Johns, he gathered a picked force, and with eight
days’ provisions began a march across the country under the guidance of
two Indians who were unfriendly to the French. The march proved
difficult on account of the pouring rains and their ignorance of the
country. The swamps and “baygalls,” many of them waist-deep with water,
proved so embarrassing that it took three days of laborious marching
amidst great discomforts to cover the distance of fifty miles between
the two posts. Immediately on the departure of the ships, Laudonnère had
set to work with the force at his command to repair the breeches in the
fort. These had been made when they expected to return to France. He
also began to so discipline his men as to be a guard to the post. For
several days the regular watches were kept up by the captains who had
been appointed, but as the gale continued they began to feel confident
that no attack would be made while the weather was so inclement, and
therefore ceased to be vigilant. On the night of September 19th the gale
had been very severe, and at daybreak, finding the captain of the watch
was in his quarters, the sentinels went under shelter. At this very
moment the soldiers under Menendez were in sight, kneeling in prayer.
From prayers they rushed to the attack; gaining entrance into the fort
without much opposition, they began an indiscriminate slaughter.
Laudonnère with twenty men sprang from the walls and escaped into the
woods, from whence he made his way across the marshes to a small vessel
in the river, which had been left in charge of Captain Jaques Ribault, a
son of the admiral. From thence they proceeded directly to France
without making an effort to find their companions of Ribault’s fleet or
to learn their fate.
An order from Menendez to spare the women, children, and cripples, put a
stop to the massacre, though it is said, “to escape death they were
forced to submit to slavery.” The French account says that all the men
who escaped instant death were hung to the limbs of neighboring trees.
This may be exaggerated, but it is certain that the Spaniards suspended
the bodies of some of the Frenchmen, and set up this inscription, “No
por Franceses, sino por Luteranos” (we do not do this as unto Frenchmen,
but as unto Lutherans). Menendez found in the fort six trunks filled
“with books well bound and gilt, from which they did not say mass, but
preached their Lutheran doctrines every evening; all of which books he
directed to be burned.”