  It was the following spring of 1575 before the news of MenÉndez’ death reached Florida. St. Augustine, now ten years old, had lost not only its founder and a resourceful leader, but was left without his financial support. As he had spent his entire fortune in establishing the Florida posts, his heirs were in no position to assume the obligation of sustaining them. Influential advisors in Spain urged that the settlement of Florida be abandoned, because the province produced no gold, silver, or other riches. King Philip II weighed the problem carefully. He decreed that the Florida posts should continue to be maintained, because of their value in protecting the vital trade route along the coast, and as a refuge for shipwrecked mariners and vessels in distress. Since the heirs of MenÉndez could not finance them, they would be made crown colonies under the supervision of the King, and would be supported by an annual Situado or subsidy, which the Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico) was ordered to provide. Hernando de Miranda, a son-in-law of MenÉndez, became the next Adelantado and governor of Florida. In the face of Indian difficulties he abandoned the fort at Santa Elena and was removed from office. As his successor the king appointed Don Pedro MenÉndez MarquÉs, who had saved St. Augustine from abandonment in 1570, and was a man of proven ability. He remained governor of Florida for the next twelve years, from 1577 to 1589. Spain was at the peak of its wealth and power, but England under Queen Elizabeth was becoming bold and a growing menace on the seas. First English VisitThe passing years rooted St. Augustine more firmly to its soil. The spring of 1586 brought fresh green to the grass and trees, a warmth and fragrance to the air. Mocking birds and bright red cardinals sang gaily from the branches. The settlement was twenty-one years old when a vessel arrived bearing news that Spain and England were at war, and that Sir Francis Drake, the dreaded English corsair, was raiding Spanish colonies in the Caribbean. Governor MarquÉs took immediate steps to prepare St. Augustine’s defenses. Slaves and soldiers labored in cutting and hauling logs from the forest to complete the new fort then under construction. Detailed plans were made for the evacuation of the families and removal of supplies. Sentinels scanned Map drawn by one of the participants in Drake’s attack on St. Augustine shows the English entering the town and their ships anchored outside the inlet. EXPVGNATIO CIVITATIS S. AVGVSTINI IN AMERICA SITÆ. On June 6th (Spanish calendar), the lookout stationed in the tall watch tower on Anastasia Island saw white specks appear on the horizon. They grew into sails and he signalled a warning to the settlement across the bay. Soldiers rushed to their battle stations. Housewives crossed themselves and whispered their Ave Marias with frightened children clinging to their skirts. Slaves began removing supplies, but in the confusion much was left behind. The powerful English fleet of Sir Drake, heavy with plunder from the Caribbean, drew closer and came to anchor in the roadstead outside the inlet. The Spaniards counted over twenty large ships and their auxiliary craft. The estimated 2,000 men aboard hopelessly outnumbered St. Augustine’s little garrison of barely 150 defenders. The Spanish lookout tower on Anastasia Island as described by a member of Drake’s expedition. The English, having sighted the settlement’s lookout tower, decided to investigate what manner of place the Spanish King had here. A detachment soon landed on Anastasia Island and marched around the shore where, one of their number relates, “We might discerne on the other side of the river over against us a Fort which had been newly built by the Spaniards; and some mile or thereabouts above the Fort a little Towne or village without walles: built of wooden houses.” Later the English landed cannon and about dusk of the second day opened fire. Governor MarquÉs and his garrison, according to his report, clung bravely to their fort until they saw boats put out from the opposite shore. After firing a few shots they retired barely in time to escape capture. During the night a Frenchman, held prisoner by the Spaniards, went over to the English camp and informed them of the garrison’s withdrawal. They occupied the fort, finding in it some fourteen large brass cannon and a chest of money intended for the pay of the soldiers. In the morning the English advanced into the town. The English sergeant-major, a man of considerable rank and importance, mounted a deserted horse and rode hotly in pursuit of some fleeing Spaniards. He drove one of them to the edge of a swamp and wounded him with his lance. Mustering all his strength, the wounded Spaniard turned upon his assailant and killed him. The English version relates that the officer was shot from ambush, and on falling to the ground was stabbed to death by several Spaniards. Possibly due to this incident, Drake ordered the fort and town of St. Augustine burned to the ground. After remaining a few days in the vicinity to careen one of their ships, the English sailed away. When the people of St. Augustine returned, smoke still curled from the ruins of their fort and homes. Even their fruit trees had been destroyed by the invader. Governor MarquÉs sent word of the disaster to Havana. St. Augustine gradually arose from its ashes, rebuilt and somewhat improved Saving of Savage SoulsKing Philip II of Spain, MenÉndez and their successors burned with zeal to convert the natives of Florida to Catholicism, and regarded this as a sacred obligation. After Drake’s attack, a friary or monastery was erected at St. Augustine to shelter the Franciscan missionaries who were beginning to arrive from Spain to work among the Indians. The friary was located on what is now St. Francis Street on the site of the present State Arsenal. Spanish missionary. Other missionaries of the Jesuit Order had come before them, but in the face of the early antagonism of the Indians they were able to accomplish little. Jesuit missions had been established as far north as the Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia, in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, and at Tequesta, near the present site of Miami. In about 1570 the Jesuits were replaced by missionaries of the Order of St. Francis, or Franciscans. The presence of Franciscans in Florida is recorded as early as 1573, but for a number of years they made only limited progress. The courageous friars endured many hardships and privations in attempting to carry the peaceful message of Christ deep into the Florida wilderness, where they lived alone far from civilized comforts and companionship. Some suffered torture and martyrdom at the hands of those they sought to save, but all went resolutely forth from St. Augustine eager to reap a glorious harvest of savage souls. The first Franciscan missions were established along the coast north of St. Augustine, where they could be reached readily by boat. If the Indians proved tractable and friendly, a crude chapel was built and the peal of a mission bell went out over swamp and woodland calling them to prayer. By 1595 the Franciscans claimed a total of 1,500 Indian converts. Two years later their success was interrupted by an Indian revolt incited by a young chief, who had been publicly censured for his desire to have more than one wife. Five Franciscans were clubbed or tomahawked to death. Approximate location of the principal Franciscan Missions in about 1650. The Glorious Harvest of Savage Souls One of the highlights in the early religious annals of Florida was its first visitation by a Bishop in 1606. Bishop Altamirano arrived at St. Augustine from Cuba shortly before Easter. Impressive religious ceremonies followed with candles burning brightly on the flower-decked altars. On Easter Saturday the Bishop ordained twenty young men as clerics, some of them natives of the settlement. On Easter Sunday he celebrated Mass and confirmed 350 Spaniards. After a week’s rest, the Bishop made a leisurely tour of the outlying Franciscan missions, confirming a total of 2,000 Indian converts. Each year this peaceful conquest of Florida continued to expand, and by the middle of 1600’s extended into north central Florida, a region known as Apalache, in the vicinity of present Tallahassee. This was a rich agricultural area and at times furnished St. Augustine with supplies, which were brought around the peninsula by boat, Aside from its religious significance, the missionary movement had other far-reaching effects. Through the missions St. Augustine, with its relatively small garrison, was able to control a wide territory, holding the numerically strong Indian tribes in check. It was said that a lone Franciscan, with no weapons other than his Cross and Bible, could do more with the Indians than a hundred men at arms. The missions also served as outlying posts that could warn the capital of approaching strangers or enemies. When the abandonment of the settlement was again seriously considered in 1602, the existence of the missions proved a strong argument in favor of maintaining St. Augustine as their protective center. While the Franciscan missions of Florida were more numerous and of earlier origin than those of California, they have received little emphasis, possibly because they were built of wood and no physical evidence of them remains. Florida State Arsenal buildings occupy the site of the Old Franciscan friary. Another CrisisIn 1598 death brought to an end the long reign of that remarkable sovereign of Spain, Philip II. He had initiated the settlement of Florida, and later as a crown colony it had come under his supervision. When news of his passing reached Florida in March of 1599, the Franciscans gathered at St. Augustine to hold the customary prayers for their departed patron. The same month the cry of “Fire” rang out in the quiet streets. Flames raced through the tinder-dry palm-thatched roofs of the town’s buildings, destroying many, including the Franciscan quarters. In the fall of the same year a storm did considerable damage. The wind-driven waters of the bay rose higher with each tide, flooding dwellings and washing away a portion of the fort. Philip III, who ascended the throne of Spain in 1598, failed to share his father’s interest in this distant Florida post, from which no riches flowed into the royal coffers. From it came only constant pleas for more assistance. The King ordered Pedro de ValdÉs, the Governor of Cuba, to make a thorough investigation of conditions in Florida. ValdÉs sent his son to St. Augustine in 1602 to hold hearings, in which missionaries and settlers of long residence testified. While many of these witnesses expressed the view that a more favorable location for a settlement might be found, the conclusion reached was that St. Augustine should continue to be maintained as a center for the expanding missions, and as a base to guard the vital trade route. The passing years were being added slowly to its age. Deaths, births, marriages, Indian insurrections, the coming of new governors, and the arrival of an occasional ship made up the drama of its obscure existence. Isolated by a wilderness of land and sea, it had little contact with the outside world. Capital of La FloridaAbout 1590 the older portion of St. Augustine was laid out in approximately its present form. The plan followed specifications contained in a cÉdula issued by the Spanish King in 1573, directing that all Spanish colonial towns should have a central Plaza with the principal streets leading from it. During about the same period an official governor’s residence was established on the site of the present post office. Women were present in the colony from the beginning, a few having come with the original MenÉndez expedition. Others arrived with the Arciniega reinforcements and later fleets. Some of the soldiers married Indian maidens, who had become Christians and been given Spanish names. The governors complained of the problem of feeding the increasing number of children in the colony, and asked that the married soldiers be given extra pay. The yellowed pages of St. Augustine’s Cathedral Parish records, dating from 1594, indicate an average of twenty-five births per year during the early 1600’s. They also record the deaths and marriages. The first buildings in St. Augustine were of wooden boards, with roofs of thatched palmetto leaves held down by stringers. The principal officers of the colony consisted of the governor, who was its chief executive; the royal treasurer, who was custodian of the royal funds and their disbursement; and the factor, who distributed the supplies. A sergeant-major was in command of the infantry and succeeded the governor in case of the latter’s death or resignation. A minor but important official, from the standpoint of historians, was the Escribano (writer), who kept a record of meetings, handled correspondence, took the testimony of witnesses, and acted as a notary public. The governors of Florida were appointed by the King in distant Spain from a list of candidates proposed by the Council of the Indies. They were usually men of previous military experience, and served generally for a term of six years. When a new governor arrived at St. Augustine to take office, Indian chiefs trooped in from the outlying districts to pledge their friendship and allegiance. They were entertained as elaborately as the resources of the settlement would permit, given trinkets and food for the long journey home. Although relatively small in size, St. Augustine was the capital and citadel of a vast area. La Florida then as claimed by Spain embraced not only the present peninsula, but the entire Atlantic coast as far north as Canada and as far inland as the continent was known to exist. For a time after the expulsion of the French Huguenots, no other European nation seriously challenged this claim, but the clouds of strife were beginning to appear. A pamphlet, designed to attract English settlers, described Carolina as being “On the Coasts of Floreda”. A Brief Description More perticularly of a New-Plantation begun by the ENGLISH at Cape-Feare, on that River now by them called Charles-River, the 29th of May. 1664. Wherein is set forth Also, Together with London, Printed for Robert Horne in the first Court of Gresham-Colledge neer Bishopsgate street, 1666. |
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