SITE OF FORT CAROLINE, AFTERWARDS CALLED SAN MATTEO.
It might naturally be supposed that a spot surrounded with so many
thrilling and interesting associations, as the scene of the events we
have just related, would have been commemorated either by tradition or
by ancient remains attesting its situation. But, in truth, no recognized
point now bears the appellation of Fort Caroline, and the antiquary can
point at this day to no fosse or parapet, no crumbling bastion, no
ancient helm or buckler, no shattered and corroded garniture of war
mingled with the bones of the dead, as evidencing its position.
A writer who has himself done more to rescue from oblivion the
historical romance of the South than any other,[8] has well said, "It
will be an employment of curious interest, whenever the people of
Florida shall happen upon the true site of the settlement and structure
of Laudonniere, to trace out in detail these several localities, and fix
them for the benefit of posterity. The work is scarcely beyond the
hammer and chisel of some Old Mortality, who has learned to place his
affections and fix his sympathies upon the achievements of the past."
With a consciousness of our unfitness to establish absolutely a memorial
so interesting as the site of Fort Caroline must ever be, I shall
endeavor to locate its position, upon the basis of reasons entirely
satisfactory to myself, and measurably so, I trust, to others.
The account given by Laudonniere himself, the leader of the Huguenots,
by whom Fort Caroline was constructed, is as follows:--After speaking of
his arrival at the mouth of the river, which had been named the River
May by Ribault, who had entered it on the first day of May, 1562, and
had therefore given it that name, he says, "Departing from thence, I had
not sailed three leagues up the river, still being followed by the
Indians, crying still, 'amy,' 'amy,' that is to say, friend, but I
discovered an hill of meane height, neare which I went on land, harde
by the fieldes that were sowed with mil, at one corner whereof there was
an house, built for their lodgings which keep and garde the mil. * * * *
* * Now was I determined to searche out the qualities of the hill.
Therefore I went right to the toppe thereof; where we found nothing else
but cedars, palms, and bay trees of so sovereign odor that Balme
smelleth not more sweetly. The trees were environed around about with
vines bearing grapes, in such quantities that the number would suffice
to make the place habitable. Besides the fertilitie of the soyle for
vines, one may see mesquine wreathed about the trees in great
quantities. Touching the pleasure of the place, the sea may be seen
plain enough from it; and more than six great leagues off, towards the
River Belle, a man may behold the meadows, divided asunder into isles
and islet, enterlacing one another. Briefly, the place is so pleasent,
that those which are melancholicke, would be inforced to change their
humour. * *
"Our fort was built in form of a triangle; the side towards the west,
which was towards the land, was inclosed with a little trench and raised
with turf made in the form of a battlement, nine feet high; the other
side, which was towards the river, was enclosed with a palisade of
planks of timber, after the manner that Gabions are made; on the south
line, there was a kind of bastion, within which I caused an house for
the munition to be made. It was all builded with fagots and sand, saving
about two or three foote high, with turfes whereof the battlements were
made. In the middest, I caused a great court to be made of eighteen
paces long, and the same in breadth. In the middest whereof, on the one
side, drawing towards the south, I builded a corps de garde and an house
on the other side towards the north. * * * * One of the sides that
inclosed my court, which I made very faire and large, reached unto the
grange of my munitions; and on the other side, towards the river, was
mine own lodgings, round which were galleries all covered. The principal
doore of my lodging was in the middest of the great place, and the other
was towarde the river. A good distance from the fort I built an oven."
Jacob Le Moyne, or Jacques Morgues, as he is sometimes called,
accompanied the expedition; and his _Brevis Narratio_ contains two
plates, representing the commencement of the construction of Fort
Caroline, and its appearance when completed. The latter represents a
much more finished fortification than could possibly have been
constructed, but may be taken as a correct outline, I presume, of its
general appearance.
Barcia, in his account of its capture, describes neither its shape nor
appearance, but mentions the parapet nine feet high, and the munition
house and store house.
From the account of Laudonniere and Le Moyne, it was situated near the
river, on the slope or nearly at the foot of a hill.[9] Barcia speaks of
its being behind a hill, and of descending towards it. The
clerical-carpenter, Challeux, speaks of being able, after his escape, to
look down from the hill he was on, into the court of the fort itself,
and seeing the massacre of the French. As he was flying from the fort
towards the sea, and along the river, and as the Spaniards came from a
southeast direction, the fort must have been on the westerly side of a
hill, near the river.
The distance is spoken of as less than three leagues by Laudonniere.
Hawkins and Ribault say, the fort was not visible from the mouth of the
river. It is also incidentally spoken of in Barcia as being two leagues
from the bar. De Challeux, in the narrative of his escape, speaks of the
distance as being about two leagues. In the account given of the
expedition of De Gourgues, it is said to be, in general terms, about one
or two leagues above the forts afterwards constructed on each side of
the mouth of the river; and it is also mentioned in De Gourgues, that
the fort was at the foot of a hill, near the water, and could be
overlooked from the hill. The distance from the mouth of the river, and
the nature of the ground where the fort was built, are thus made
sufficiently definite to enable us to seek a location which shall
fulfill both these conditions. It is hardly necessary to remark that
there can be no question but that the fort was located on the south or
easterly side of the river, as the Spaniards marched by land from St.
Augustine in a northwesterly direction to Fort Caroline.
The River St. Johns is one of the largest rivers, in point of width, to
be found in America, and is more like an arm of the sea than a river;
from its mouth for a distance of fifteen miles, it is spread over
extensive marshes, and there are few points where the channel touches
the banks of the river. At its mouth it is comparatively narrow, but
immediately extends itself over wide-spread marshes; and the first
headland or shore which is washed by the channel is a place known as St.
John's Bluff. Here the river runs closely along the shore, making a
bold, deep channel close up to the bank. The land rises abruptly on one
side into a hill of moderate height, covered with a dense growth of
pine, cedar, &c. This hill gently slopes to the banks of the river, and
runs off to the southwest, where, at the distance of a quarter of a
mile, a creek discharges itself into the river, at a place called "the
Shipyard" from time immemorial.
I am not aware that any remains of Fort Caroline, or any old remains of
a fortress, have ever been discovered here; but it must be recollected
that this fort was constructed of sand and pine trees, and that three
hundred years have passed away, with their storms and tempests, their
rains and destructive influences--a period sufficient to have destroyed
a work of much more durable character than sandy entrenchments and green
pine stakes and timbers. Moreover, it is highly probable, judging from
present appearances, that the constant abrasion of the banks still going
on has long since worn away the narrow spot where stood Fort Caroline.
It is also to be remarked, that as there is no other hill, or high land,
or place where a fort could have been built, between St. John's Bluff
and the mouth of the river, so it is also the fact that there is no
point on the south side of the river where the channel touches high
land, for a distance by water of eight or ten miles above St. John's
Bluff.
The evidence in favor of the location of Fort Caroline at St. John's
Bluff is, I think conclusive and irresistible, and accords in all points
with the descriptions given as to distance, topography, and points of
view.
It is within the memory of persons now living, that a considerable
orange grove and somewhat extensive buildings, which existed at this
place, then called San Vicente, have been washed into the river, leaving
at this day no vestiges of their existence. It has been occupied as a
Spanish fort within fifty years; yet so rapid has been the work of time
and the elements, that no remains of such occupation are now to be seen.
The narratives all speak of the distance from the mouth of the river as
about two leagues; and in speaking of so short a distance the
probability of exactness is much greater than when dealing with longer
distances.
As to the spot itself, it presents all the natural features mentioned by
Laudonniere; and it requires but a small spice of enthusiasm and romance
that it be recognized as a "goodlie and pleasante spotte," by those who
might like the abundance of the wild grapes and the view of the distant
salt meadows, with their "iles and islets, so pleasante that those which
are melancholike would be inforced to change their humour."
It is but proper, however, to say, that at a plantation known as
Newcastle there is a high range of ground, and upon this high ground the
appearance of an old earth-work of quadrangular form; but this point is
distant some six leagues from the mouth of the river, is flanked by a
deep bay or marsh to the southeast, and the work is on the top of the
hill and not at its foot, is quadrangular and not triangular, and is a
considerable distance from the water. These earth-works, I am satisfied,
are Spanish or English remains of a much later period.
By examining a map of the St. John's river, the first projecting land on
the south side, lying east of the second township line marked from the
coast, will be found nearly to indicate the point known as St. John's
Bluff. On the eastern face the bluff is quite high and precipitous--being
possibly the "brow of the mountain" mentioned by De Challeux--and
immediately beyond is a deep indentation of the shore-line of several
miles in circuit, within which is an immense tract of sea-marsh,
interspersed with small islands, and cut up by narrow channels. Through
this the fugitives may be supposed to have crossed, and, reaching the
high lands which hem in the marsh near the mouth of the river, were
enabled to view the vessels which offered them rescue. About the year
1856 a handful of small copper coins were accidentally found near the
eastern margin of this marsh, in the rear of what is now known as
Mayport Mill. Some few were at first found on the ground, as if
accidentally exposed, and upon removing the earth for a slight depth the
remainder were discovered. They were distributed among several gentlemen
in Florida, and Mr. Buckingham Smith, at that time and more recently
made the history of the coins a subject of especial inquiry in Spain.
Just before putting the second edition of this work to press, the
following letter was received by the publisher of this volume, and is
given as matter of interest in connection with the locality referred to:
* * * * *
MADRID, August 15, 1868.
MY DEAR SIR:--I brought with me from Florida, as I proposed, three
copper coins of those found with others of the same sort many years ago,
on the St. Johns river near the old site of Fort Caroline, in what the
French three centuries ago called the Vale of Laudonniere, that I might
have them examined in Europe. There were none of the sort in the British
Museum, with which they might be compared, and in the Bibliothique
Imperial I could only learn that they were Spanish. On my arrival here I
gave them for inspection to Senor Bermudez, a long time in charge of the
national collection of such like antiquities, second only in extent and
value to that of Paris: and showed them also to other of my friends
learned in numismatics. The work of A. Heiss, now making its appearance
in numbers, with the title _Description General de las monedas
Hispano-Christianas desde la invasion de los Arabes_, has been also
consulted, and this is the amount of all the conclusions, the
inscriptions on each coin being nearly the same:
[image of a dagger] KAROLVS.ET.IOANNA RE.
Two II in the midst, with crowns upon them; to the right P, to the left S;
in the middle a square point.
REVERSO:
Same--same--same--REGIS.
A Y in the middle, crowned; to the right IIII; to the left F.
They were struck for Dona Juana and Carlos I., Empr. Charles V., between
the years 1516 and 1555. The Y is supposed to refer to Ysabel: the
double I to Joanna I., or may be to the columns of Hercules, and the
crowns upon them to those of Castilla and Aragon. On later silver coins,
not so rude, the columns are placed with the words _plus ultra_, as you
may have observed on a Spanish dollar. The IIII (on some 4,) means four
maravedises, the value of which have varied: at present 25 of these
would be the value of a real. These coins are uncommon; in good
preservation, very rare. The curiosity so many of us have had for a
number of years about these matters, I believe is at last satisfied.
I have visited the town of Aviles, a league from the Bay of Biscay,
whence Pedro Menendez came, and brought his fleet to Florida, three
centuries ago. I saw his tomb, and not far off the chapel of the family
of one of his companions. There is no stranger any where to be heard of
in all that country; every thing is intensely and old Spanish in every
aspect. Going home late one evening, I was accosted by a native in good
English. He said the town was rarely visited--three or four Englishmen
within his memory had passed through, and he supposed me to be the first
person from the United States who had ever been there. I told him I came
from Florida, and, though rather late, was returning the visit of
Menendez to St. Augustine.
The estate of this old colonist is in the house of the Count of
Canalejas, held by the Marquis of San Estevan, who is also by marriage
the Count of Revilla Gigedo. I called on him at his country seat in
Dania, and, detaining me to spend the day with him, gave orders to have
his family pictures and palace shown to me at Gijon, and his papers at a
residence in Oviedo. Among the documents is a valuable one for writing a
life of Menendez. It is a draft for a letter in his own hand, directed
to his nephew, Governor of Florida, in which he expresses his wish to be
with him and away from business. He speaks of the "invincible armada"
which he had been appointed to command, and gives the number of his
ships. This probably was the last thing he ever wrote, dated ten days
before he died, as it is known that he died on the ninth day of his
sickness. Of course I have a copy to show you.
Spain has greatly changed within the last eight years--impoverished
itself, the people say, with improvements. The railroads traverse most
parts, are well laid, durable, and the service good. The ancient
monuments have begun to be cared for, are repaired, and in the charge of
a commission of the government.
Give my best regards to friends about you, and believe me truly yours,
BUCKINGHAM SMITH.
Mr. COLUMBUS DREW, Jacksonville, Fla.