| St. Augustine's 1st Spanish Period (part 2) by Gil Wilson (Introduction) 1600-1700 ab urbe condita - 35 - 198 |
| Destruction and Hardships In 1602 hearings were held to decide whether or not to abandon St. Augustine. 1605 Bishop Juan de las Cabezas Altamirano had the first visit of a bishop to St. Augustine. In 1622 another hurricane struck St. Augustine. The Dutch pirate Piet Heyn captured the Fleet of the Indies with the subsidy for La Florida in 1627. 1655 smallpox. All of the slaves died. 1675 Uprising of the Chatotos another hurricane strikes St. Augustine. Slave Escape from St. Augustine December 1603 black slaves escape from St. Augustine and head south. Seven or eight slaves with one being a royal slave. They fled to the Providence of Surruque (today's Cape Canaveral area.) Ensign Juan Rodriquez de Cartaya was sent to the village of Little Captain to negotiate for the return of two of the slaves. He failed. Ensign Rodriquez returned on the launch Asuncion and took several Native Americans prisoners to St. Augustine. The two slaves were returned to St. Augustine. Founding of the Popham Colony In 1607 a English colony was founded at the mouth of the Kennebec River on Maine's coast. Sir John Popham (England's Lord Chief Justice) was its principal backer in England's first attempt to settle New England. The second in command was Raleigh Gilbert the son of Humphrey Gilbert and half nephew of Sir Walter Raleigh. Robert Davies captain of Mary and John wrote a diary of the colony. A map was made by one of the colonists - Hunt. (one of the first maps with a scale). A copy of this map would be sent by the Spanish Ambassador to King Philip III recommending the colony be stopped. The map lay forgotten in the Spanish archives for 300 years. Founding of Jamestown On May 13, 1607 the colony of Jamestown was founded and the English presence was permanent. The original settlers were all men --- 104 survivors of the trip. Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche Around 1615 on the Mission grounds of Nombre De Dios the first Shrine to be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in what was to become the United States was established. The site itself was established about 1587 as a Franciscian mission. The church was dedicated to a statue of the Blessed Virgin nursing the infant Jesus. The official name Nustra Senora de la Leche y Buen Parto (Our Lady of Milk and Good Birth). Map of Florida DeLate publishes a map of Florida in 1625 entitled Florida et regiones vicinae. Robert Searles The next pirate was Robert Searles (aka John Davis). He had captured a French surgeon by the name of Pierre Piquet who had just left St. Augustine. The surgeon had been fired by the Governor - Francisco de la Guerra. Piquet gave Robert Searles information that silver bars had been recovered from a wreck of a treasure ship and were being held in St. Augustine. On May 29, 1668 he came into the harbor on a captured Spanish supply ship. In the evening his crew disembarked and looted the town killing 60 of its citizens. Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega slipped out a side door of his house and ran to the fort. In the fighting over 60 townspeople died. On leaving the town Searles ransomed off prisoners for supplies. He kept Indians, free black and mestizo residents for sale as slaves. He also took Dr. Henry Woodward another physician with him. (Dr. Woodward was probably a spy for the Carolina colony). Searles also made a map of the harbor. He had the ability to return. Founding of Carolina The first Carolina settlement was established May 29, 1664 on Charles River near Cape Fear (NC). In April 1670 the Carolina colony at Charles Town was founded by settlers arriving on the sloop Carolina. They start their town at Albermarle Point.. The English were becoming a major threat from the north. The first charter by Charles II in the grant to the Earl of Clarendon and others give them the tract of land from Virginia on the north to the St Johns River on the south. Building of the Castillo To protect its people Spain built the Castillo. The Castillo was built on orders from Dona Mariana the Queen regent for Carlos II. The Spanish governor was Don Manuel de Cendoya a newly appointed governor, who was sent to Mexico to obtain funds. He stopped in Havana to recruit masons, stonecutters, and lime burners. . The engineer for the Castillo was Ignacio Daza and the master of construction was Lorenzo Lajones. He was called the maestro de obras. Daza was about fifty-six years old when the Castillo was started. Construction on the Castillo started October 2, 1672. November 9th the first coquina stone was laid. (picture of the old Spanish Quarry ruins on Anastasia Island)The fort was bult by Native Americans, African-American slaves, Spanish soldiers, convicts (including captured pirates). Several prisoners from Carolina became workers: William Carr, John Rivers, Joseph Bailey, Bernard Fitzpatrick, and John Collins. some of these men took Spanish wives and were converted to the Catholic faith. In 1679 the Master of Construction was Juan Marquez. The stone cuters consisted of sixteen Appalachian, eight Timucuan and five Gualean Tribesmen. In 1681 Ensign Juan de Ciscara Ibanez was a visiting inspector from Mexico. (Pictures of the Castillo from the Library of Congress). Another pirate Andrew Ransom started working on the fort after he escaped the garrot. The rope broke and the friars declared it an "act of God" and gave him sanctuary in the parish church. He was an artillerist, a carpenter, and a maker of "artificial fires." He was captured near the St. Johns river when six pirate vessels landed on September 30, 1684. By 1686 the main block of the Castillo was complete. The last stone for the fort was laid in 1696.(glossary of building terms for the Castillo) The Castillo and other important government buildings were built of coquina. The Castillo was completed in 1756 by the Captain Engineer Don Pedro de Brozas of Garay. (military terms and equipment) The Watchtower on Anastasia Island In 1673 construction began on the lookout tower on Anastasia Island. The tower was guarded by a group of three, four or five soldiers. The tour of duty was a month. In 1739 it was enlarged with soldier's quarters and a chapel. The British would add a wood tower that would raise the height to 60 feet. The Americans would rebuild the upper part of the tower, add a keeper's house and make it the first lightouse in Florida. This lighthouse was destroyed by a storm in 1880. Military Duty A soldier may have duty at one of the watchtowers (would have included one near today's Mayport). Garrisons existed at times in Apalache, Apalachicola, Guale, Timucua, Salamototo Ford, and Mayaca Ford. The garrisons would range from 2 to 42 men. Not all of these were garrisoned all the time. The most consistent ones through this period were Apalache and Guale. There were also duty on shipboard. Up to three vessels were berthed in St. Augustine. The guardhouse in the plaza may have had between 12 to 14 privates for a 24 hour duty. The Castillo had between 15 to 48 soldiers detailed there daily. More Destruction Bishop Gabriel Diaz Vara Calderon visits Florida and a hurricane and flood level St. Augustine in 1674. Governor Constructs fort at the St. Marks and Wakulla Rivers Governor Hita built a redoubt at San Marco de Apalache under the direction of Captain Enrique Primo de Rivera in response to an invasion of the port town of Apalache by French and English Pirates. Company of Free Mulatto and Black Militia and a Pirate Attack In 1683 Governor Juan Marquez Cabrera formed a company of free mulatto and black militia in St. Augustine. It consisted of 42 men and six officers. Juan Merino, a free African blacksmith, was the unit's lieutenant. 300 pirates had landed near Matanzas Inlet on March 30 of 1683. They captured the Mantanzas Inlet watchtower but were turned back on Anastasia Island. The Pirates proceded to sack San Juan del Puerto and Santa Maria. Nicholas Grammont Nicholas Grammont was a French pirate who attempted to attack the city on May 1, 1686. He started by the way of the Mantanzas Inlet. The Spanish guards were able to warn St. Augustine that the pirates were coming. (There was also a watchtower there from 1671.) Governor Juan Marquez Cabrera appointed Jose Begambre in charge of an infantry detachment (about 25 men). The Spanish failed. Another force of about 50 men attacked the pirates in a 4 hour hand-to-hand fight. The Spanish were successful and the local Native Americans finished the remaining pirates. The pirates that remained in the larger boats headed up the coast to block the inlet into St. Augusitine. When the Spanish sent a boat to Cuba the seige was ended. Attacks on Carolina In August of 1686 Governor Juan Marques Cabrera went on the attack and destroyed the English settlement at Port Royal, but a storm stopped their movement to Charles Town. Captain Alejandro Tomas de Leon destroyed the Cardross colony (Port Royal) and burned Governor Morton's plantation on Edisto Island. Captain Tomas was lost in a storm in front of Charles Town. In the spring of 1688 a stone bearing the royal arms was set into the wall over the gate of the Castillo. Now the town was able to enter the "stone age" with access to the surplus coquina. On November 7, 1693, Charles II (picture) (life story) gives the first offical proclamation on runaways: "giving liberty to all" (List of Government officials from 1699 to 1764) Spanish and some Timucuan Vocabulary helps Go to 1st Period Spanish 1700 - 1763 |
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| Pirates |
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| Castillo Drawing Library of Congress HABS FLA,55-SAUG,1- |
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| Castillo Picture Library of Congress HABS FLA,55-SAUG,1- |
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| Castillo Drawing Library of Congress HABS FLA,55-SAUG,1- |