COMPLETION OF THE CASTLE--DESCRIPTIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE A CENTURY
AGO--ENGLISH OCCUPATION OF FLORIDA. 1755--1763--1788.
Don Alonzo Fernandez de Herrera was appointed governor of Florida in
1755, and completed the exterior works and finish of the fort. It is
this governor who erected the tablet over its main entrance, with the
Spanish coat of arms sculptured in _alto relievo_, with the following
inscription beneath:--
REYNANDO EN ESPANA EL SENR
DON FERNANDO SEXTO Y SIENDO
GOVOR Y CAPN DE ESA CD SAN AUGN DE
LA FLORIDA Y SUS PROVA. EL MARISCAL
DE CAMPO DN ALONZO FERNDO HEREDA
ASI CONCLUIO ESTE CASTILLO EL AN
OD 1756 DIRIGENDO LAS OBRAS EL
CAP. INGNRO DN PEDRO DE BROZAS
Y GARAY.
DON FERDINAND THE SIXTH, BEING KING OF SPAIN, AND THE FIELD MARSHAL, DON
ALONZO FERNANDO HEREDA, BEING GOVERNOR AND CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THIS
PLACE, ST. AUGUSTINE, OF FLORIDA, AND ITS PROVINCE. THIS FORT WAS
FINISHED IN THE YEAR 1756. THE WORKS WERE DIRECTED BY THE CAPTAIN
ENGINEER, DON PEDRO DE BRAZOS Y GARAY.
I am not sure but that the boastful governor might with equal propriety
and truth have put a similar inscription at the city gate, claiming the
town also as a finished city.
The first fort erected was called San Juan de Pinos, and probably the
same name attached to the present fort at the commencement of its
erection; when it acquired the name of St. Mark, I have not discovered.
The Apalachian Indians were employed upon it for more than sixty years,
and to their efforts are probably due the evidences of immense labor in
the construction of the ditch, the ramparts and glacis, and the
approaches; while the huge mass of stone contained in its solid walls,
must have required the labor of hundreds of persons for many long years,
in procuring and cutting the stone in the quarries on the island,
transporting it to the water, and across the bay, and fashioning and
raising them to their places. Besides the Indians employed, some labor
was constantly bestowed by the garrison; and, for a considerable period,
convicts were brought hither from Mexico to carry on the public works.
During the works of extension and repair effected by Monteano, previous
to the siege by Oglethorpe, he employed upon it one hundred and forty of
these Mexican convicts. The southwestern bastion is said to have been
completed by Monteano. The bastions bore the names respectively of St.
Paul, St. Peter, St. James, &c.
The whole work remains now as it was in 1756, with the exception of the
water battery, which was reconstructed by the government of the United
States in 1842-3. The complement of its guns is one hundred, and its
full garrison establishment requires one thousand men. It is built upon
the plan of Vauban, and is considered by military men as a very
creditable work; its strength and efficiency have been well tested in
the old times; for it has never been taken, although twice besieged, and
several times attacked. Its frowning battlements and sepulchral vaults
will long stand after we and those of our day shall be numbered with
that long past, of which it is itself a memorial; of its legends
connected with the dark chambers and prison vaults, the chains, the
instruments of torture, the skeletons walled in, its closed and hidden
recesses--of Coacouchee's escape, and many another tale, there is much
to say; but it is better said within its grim walls, where the eye and
the imagination can go together, in weaving a web of mystery and awe
over its sad associations, to the music of the grating bolt, the echoing
tread, and the clanking chain.
Of the city itself, we have the following description in 1754:--
"It is built on a little bay, at the foot of a hill shaded by trees, and
forms an oblong square, divided into four streets, and has two full
streets, which cut each other at right angles. The houses are well
built, and regular. They have only one church, which is called after the
city. St. John's Fort, standing about a mile north of it, is a strong,
irregular fortification, well mounted with cannon, and capable of making
a long defense."
I am inclined to think that the _mile_ between the fort and the city,
and the _hill_ at the foot of which, he says, the city was built,
existed only in the focus of the writer's spectacles.
The Provinces of Florida were ceded by treaty to England in the year
1763, and the Spanish inhabitants very generally left the country, which
had then been under Spanish rule for near two hundred years; and
certainly in no portion of this country had less progress been made.
Beyond the walls occupied by its garrison, little had been attempted or
accomplished in these two hundred years. This was in part, perhaps,
attributable to the circumstances of the country--the frequent hostility
of the Indians, and the want of that mutual support given by
neighborhoods, which in Florida are less practicable than elsewhere; but
it was still more owing to the character of the Spanish inhabitants, who
were more soldiers than civilians, and more townsmen than
agriculturists; at all events, at the cession of Florida to Great
Britain, the number of inhabitants was not over five thousand.
Of the period of the English occupation of Florida, we have very full
accounts. It was a primary object with the British government, to
colonize and settle it; and inducements to emigrants were strongly put
forth, in various publications. The work of Roberts was the first of
these, and was followed in a few years by those of Bartram, Stork, and
Romans. The works of both Roberts and Stork, contain plans and minute
descriptions of St. Augustine. The plan of the town in Stork, represents
every building, lot, garden, and flower-bed in the place, and gives a
very accurate view of its general appearance.
The descriptions vary somewhat. Roberts, who published his work the year
of the cession, 1763, shows in connection with his plan of the town, an
Indian village on the point south of the city, at the powder-house, and
another just north of the city. The one to the north has a church. A
negro fort is shown about a mile to the northward. Oglethorpe's landing
place is shown on Anastasia Island, and a small fort on the main land
south of the city. The depth of water on the bar is marked as being at
low water, eight feet.
Roberts describes the city as "running along the shore at the foot of a
pleasant hill, adorned with trees; its form is oblong, divided by four
regular streets, crossing each other at right angles; down by the sea
side, about three-fourths of a mile south of the town, standeth the
church, and a monastery of St. Augustine. The best built part of the
town is on the north side, leading to the castle, which is called St.
John's Fort. It is a square building of soft stone, fortified with whole
bastions, having a rampart of twenty feet high, with a parapet nine feet
high, and it is casemated. The town is fortified with bastions, and with
cannon. On the north and south, without the walls of the city, are the
Indian towns."
The next plan we have, is in the work by Dr. Stork, the third edition of
which was published in 1769. He gives a beautiful plan of the place.
Shows the fort as it now exists, with its various outworks; three
churches are designated, one on the public square at its southwest
corner; another on St. George street, on the lot on the west side, south
of Green lane, and a Dutch church near where the Roman Catholic cemetery
now exists. From the size of the plan, it does not embrace the Indian
village. The present United States Court-house was the governor's
official residence, and is represented as having attached to it a
beautiful garden. The Franciscan house or convent is shown where the
barracks are now, but different in the form of the buildings. With the
exception of the disappearance of a part of one street then existing,
there appears very little change from the present plan of the town and
buildings.
He describes the fort as being finished "according to the modern taste
of military architecture," and as making a very handsome appearance, and
"that it might justly be deemed the prettiest fort in the king's
dominion." He omits the pleasant hill from his description, and says
"the town is situated near the glacis of the fort; the streets are
regularly laid out, and built narrow for the purposes of shade. It is
above half a mile in length, regularly fortified with bastions,
half-bastions, and a ditch; that it had also several rows of the Spanish
bayonet along the ditch, which formed so close a chevaux de frize, with
their pointed leaves, as to be impenetrable; the southern bastions were
built of stone. In the middle of the town is a spacious square, called
the parade, open towards the harbor; at the bottom of the square is the
governor's house, the apartments of which are spacious and suitable;
suited to the climate, with high windows, a balcony in front, and
galleries on both sides; to the back of the house is joined a tower,
called in America a look-out, from which there is an extensive prospect
towards the sea, as well as inland. There are two churches within the
walls of the town, the parish church, a plain building, and another
belonging to the convent of Franciscan Friars, which is converted into
barracks for the garrison. The houses are built of free-stone, commonly
two stories high, two rooms upon a floor, with large windows and
balconies; before the entry of most of the houses, runs a portico of
stone arches. The roofs are commonly flat. The Spaniards consulted
convenience more than taste in their buildings. The number of houses
within the town and lines, when the Spaniards left it, was about nine
hundred; many of them, especially in the suburbs, being built of wood,
are now gone to decay. The inhabitants were of all colors, whites,
negroes, mulattoes, Indians, &c. At the evacuation of St. Augustine, the
population was five thousand seven hundred, including the garrison of
two thousand five hundred men. Half a mile from the town to the west, is
a line with a broad ditch and bastions, running from the St. Sebastian
creek to St. Marks river. A mile further is another fortified line with
some redoubts, forming a second communication between a stoccata fort
upon St. Sebastian river, and Fort Moosa, upon St. Marks river.
"Within the first line near the town, was a small settlement of Germans,
who had a church of their own. Upon the St. Marks river, within the
second line, was also an Indian town, with a church built of freestone;
what is very remarkable, it is in good taste, though built by the
Indians."
The two lines of defense here spoken of, may still be traced. The
nearest one is less than one-fourth of a mile from the city gate, and
the other at the well-known place called the stockades, the stakes
driven to form which, still distinctly mark the place; and the ditch and
embankment can be traced for a considerable distance through the grounds
attached to my residence.
A letter-writer, who dates at St. Augustine, May, 1774, says, "This town
is now truly become a heap of ruins, a fit receptacle for the wretches
of inhabitants." (Rather a dyspeptic description, in all probability.)
A bridge was built across the Sebastian river by the English, "but the
great depth of the water, joined to the instability of the bottom, did
not suffer it to remain long, and a ferry is now established in its
room; the keeper of the ferry has fifty pounds per annum allowed him,
and the inhabitants pay nothing for crossing, except after dark."
The English constructed large buildings for barracks, characterised by
Romans "as such stupendous piles of buildings, which were large enough
to contain five regiments, when it is a matter of great doubt whether
there will ever be a necessity to keep one whole regiment here. The
material for this great barracks was brought from New York, and far
inferior to those found on the spot; yet the freight alone amounted to
more than their value when landed. It makes us almost believe," says the
elaborate Romans, "that all this show is in vain, or at most, that the
English were so much in dread of musquitoes, that they thought a large
army requisite to drive off these formidable foes. To be serious," says
he, "this fort and barracks add not a little to the beauty of the
prospect; but most men would think that the money spent on this useless
parade, would have been better laid out on roads and fences through the
province; or, if it must be in forts, why not at Pensacola?"
There is a manuscript work of John Gerard Williams de Brahm, existing in
the library of Harvard University, which contains some particulars of
interest, relative to Florida at the period of the English occupation.
He states the number of inhabitants of East Florida, which in those days
meant mostly St. Augustine, from 1663 to 1771, as follows: householders,
besides women, &c., two hundred and eighty-eight; imported by Mr.
Turnbull from Minorca, &c., one thousand four hundred; negroes, upwards
of nine hundred. Of these, white heads of families, one hundred and
forty-four were married, which is just one-half; thirty-one are
storekeepers and traders; three haberdashers, fifteen innkeepers,
forty-five artificers and mechanics, one hundred and ten planters, four
hunters, six cow-keepers, eleven overseers, twelve draftsmen in employ
of government, besides mathematicians; fifty-eight had left the
province; twenty-eight dead, of whom four were killed acting as
constables, two hanged for pirating. Among the names of those then
residing in East Florida are mentioned Sir Charles Burdett, William
Drayton, Esq., planter, Chief Justice; Rev. John Forbes, parson, Judge
of Admiralty and Councillor; Rev. N. Fraser, parson at Musquito;
Governor James Grant, Hon. John Moultrie, planter and lieutenant
Governor; William Stork, Esq., historian; Andrew Turnbull, Esq., H. M.
Counselor; Bernard Romans, draftsman, &c.; William Bartram, planter;
James Moultrie, Esq.
He says, The light house on Anastasia Island had been constructed and
built of mason-work by the Spaniards; and, in 1769, by order of General
Haldimand, it was raised sixty feet higher in carpenter's work, had a
cannon planted on the top, which is fired the very moment the flag is
hoisted, for a signal to the town and pilots that a vessel is off. The
light house has two flag-staffs, one to the south and one to the north;
on either of which the flag is hoisted, viz., to the south if the vessel
comes from thence, and the north if the vessel comes that way.
"The town is situated in a healthy zone, is surrounded with salt water
marshes, not at all prejudicial to health; their evaporations are swept
away in the day time by the easterly winds, and in the night season by
the westerly winds trading back to the eastward. At the time when the
Spaniards left the town, all the gardens were well stocked with fruit
trees, viz., figs, guavas, plantain, pomegranates, lemons, limes,
citrons, shadock, bergamot, China and Seville oranges, the latter full
of fruit throughout the whole winter season; and the pot-herbs, though
suspended in their vegetation, were seldom destroyed by cold. The town
is three-quarters of a mile in length, but not quite a quarter wide; had
four churches ornamently built with stone in the Spanish taste, of which
one within and one without the town still exist. One is pulled down;
that is the German church, but the steeple is preserved as an ornament
to the town; and the other, viz., the convent church and convent in town
is taken in the body of the barracks. All houses are built of masonry;
their entrances are shaded by piazzas, supported by Tuscan pillars or
pilasters, against the south sun. The houses have to the east windows
projecting sixteen or eighteen inches into the street, very wide, and
proportionally high. On the west side, their windows are commonly very
small, and no opening of any kind to the north, on which side they have
double walls six or eight feet asunder, forming a kind of gallery, which
answers for cellars and pantries. Before most of the entrances were
arbors of vines, producing plenty and very good grapes. No house has any
chimney for a fire place; the Spaniards made use of stone urns, filled
them with coals left in their kitchens in the afternoon, and set them at
sunset in their bed-rooms, to defend themselves against those winter
seasons, which required such care. The governor's residence has both
sides piazzas, viz., a double one to the south, and a single one to the
north; also a Belvidere and a grand portico decorated with Doric pillars
and entablatures. On the north end of the town is a casemated fort, with
four bastions, a ravelin, counterscarp, and a glacis built with quarried
shell-stones, and constructed according to the rudiments of Marechal de
Vauban. This fort commands the road of the bay, the town, its environs,
and both Tolomako stream and Mantanzas creek. The soil in the gardens
and environs of the town is chiefly sandy and marshy. The Spaniards seem
to have had a notion of manuring their land with shells one foot deep.
"Among the three thousand who evacuated St. Augustine, the author is
credibly informed, were many Spaniards near and above the age of one
hundred years, (observe;) this nation, especially natives of St.
Augustine, bore the reputation of great sobriety."[35]
On the 3d of January, 1766, the thermometer sunk to 26 deg. with the wind
from N. W. "The ground was frozen an inch thick on the banks; this was
the fatal night that destroyed the lime, citron, and banana trees in St.
Augustine, and many curious evergreens up the river that were twenty
years old in a flourishing state."[36] In 1774 there was a snow storm,
which extended over most of the province. The ancient inhabitants still
(1836) speak of it as an extraordinary white rain. It was said to have
done little damage.[37]
In this connection, and as it is sometimes supposed that the climate is
now colder than formerly, it may be stated that the thermometer went
very low in 1799. East Florida suffered from a violent frost on the 6th
April, 1828. In February, 1835, the thermometer sunk to 7 deg. above zero,
wind from N. W.; and the St. Johns river was frozen several rods from
the shore; all kinds of fruit trees were killed to the ground, and the
wild orange trees suffered as well as the cultivated.
Dr. Nicholas Turnbull, in the year 1767, associated with Sir William
Duncan and other Englishmen of note, projected a colony of European
emigrants, to be settled at New Smyrna. He brought from the islands of
Greece, Corsica, and Minorca, some fourteen hundred persons, agreeing to
convey them free of expense, find them in clothing and provisions, and,
at the end of three years, to give fifty acres of land to each head of
a family, and twenty-five to each child. After a long passage they
arrived out, and formed the settlement. The principal article of
cultivation produced by them was indigo, which commanded a high price,
and was assisted by a bounty from the English government. After a few
years, Turnbull, as is alleged, either from avarice or natural cruelty,
assumed a control the most absolute over these colonists, and practiced
cruelties the most painful upon them.
An insurrection took place in 1769 among them, in consequence of severe
punishments, which was speedily repressed, and the leaders of it brought
to trial before the English court at St. Augustine; five of the number
were convicted and sentenced to death. Gov. Grant pardoned two of the
five, and a third was released upon the condition of his becoming the
executioner of the other two. Nine years after the commencement of their
settlement, their number had become reduced from 1,400 to 600. In 1776,
proceedings were instituted on their behalf by Mr. Yonge, the
attorney-general of the province, which resulted in their being
exonerated from their contract with Turnbull; lands were thereupon
assigned them in the northern part of the city, which was principally
built up by them; and their descendants, at the present day, form the
larger portion of the population of that place.
Governor Grant was the first English governor, and was a gentleman of
much energy; and during his term of office he projected many great and
permanent improvements in the province. The public roads, known as the
king's roads, from St. Augustine to New Smyrna, and from St. Augustine
to Jacksonville, and thence to Coleraine, were then constructed, and
remain a lasting monument of his wisdom and desire of improvement.
Gov. Tonyn succeeded Gov. Grant; and a legislative council was
authorized to assemble, and the pretense and forms of a constitutional
government were gone through with.
In August, 1775, a British vessel called the Betsey, Capt. Lofthouse,
from London, with 111 barrels of powder, was captured off the bar of St.
Augustine, by an American privateer from Charleston, very much to the
disgust and annoyance of the British authorities.
At this period, St. Augustine assumed much importance as a depot and
_point d'appui_ for the British forces in their operations against the
Southern States; and very considerable forces were at times assembled.
In the excess of the zeal and loyalty of the garrison and inhabitants of
St. Augustine, upon the receipt of the news of the American Declaration
of Independence, the effigies of John Hancock and Samuel Adams were
burned upon the public square, where the monument now stands.
The expedition of Gen. Prevost against Savannah was organized and
embarked from St. Augustine, in 1779.
Sixty of the most distinguished citizens of Carolina were seized by the
British in 1780, and transported to St. Augustine as prisoners of war
and hostages, among whom were Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge, Gen.
Gadsden, and Mr. Calhoun; all were put upon parole except Gen. Gadsden
and Mr. Calhoun, who refused the indulgence, and were committed to the
fort, where they remained many months close prisoners. Gen. Rutherford
and Col. Isaacs, of North Carolina, were also transported hither, and
committed to the fort.
An expedition was fitted out from St. Augustine in 1783, to act against
New Providence, under Col. Devereux; and, with very slender means that
able officer succeeded in capturing and reducing the Bahamas, which have
ever since remained under English domination.
The expense of supporting the government of East Florida during the
English occupation, was very considerable, amounting to the sum of
L122,000. The exports of Florida, in 1778, amounted to L48,000; and in
1772, the province exported 40,000 lbs. indigo; and in 1782, 20,000
barrels of turpentine.