St. Johns Bluff

Excerpts from a paper by Ronald Alvin Hassell

I

The Bluff rises precipitously seventy-five feet above the waters edge, six miles from the mouth of the St. Johns River. To the north lies the Inland Passage where it cuts into the marshes until spilling into Nassau Sound and continuing through the Amelia Narrows into the St. Marys River. To the South is St. Augustine; to the West is Jacksonville, the cowford. The general area is known geographically as the Florida Crown. Throughout four centuries of history five national flags have flown over the Florida Crown. All five have flown at the Bluff.

At various times, the Bluff has had various names: Fort Caroline, San Mateo, St. Matthias, San Juan Bluff, Oglethorpe's Bluff and Oglethorpe's Mount; Hubert's Bluff, Hester's Bluff, Browne's Fort, St. Johns Towne, San Vicente Ferrer, and St. Johns Bluff. There have been pirates, slavers, storekeepers, outlaws; battles between the French and Spanish, Spanish and English, English and American, American and Spanish, and Union and Confederate.

II

Spain had made her attempts to colonize Florida and North America. Beginning in 1513, with the discovery of Florida by Ponce de Leon, Spain's attempts had followed with Panfilo de Narvaez and Hernando de Soto, among others. Finally, in 1559, as a result of the failure of the Spanish to establish a substantial settlement at Pensacola, Philip II decreed that additional exploration and settlement in the Floridas was to be prohibited. Many Spanish lives had been lost to continue a program to settle the wilderness area. The Spanish had achieved huge successes in Mexico and in Peru, but the absolute wilderness and savagery of North America made them halt their conquests.

The French, however, were beginning again, after a lull in their explorations of thirty years before. Because of their discoveries, they believed they had an equally justifiable claim to Florida. France's motives were the same as the Spanish: to increase commerce, and to find ready wealth.

Florida was chosen as the object of French desires. Its strategic position near the Spanish possessions, and particularly Havana, made it an ideal site to establish a colony and to use it as a home base to raid the Spanish treasure ships sailing from Panama. Another important motive, which was supposed to have been the most pressing, was the desire to find a haven for the Huguenots, the French Protestants. On18 February, 1562, Jean Ribault, under commission from Admiral Coligny and Catherine de Medici, sailed from Havre-de-Grace in three ships for further exploration of the Floridas. It was on the first of May 1562, that St. Johns Bluff anxiously awaited to enter European History.

On the first day of May 1562, three French ships approached the St. Johns River. The sun just having set, they dropped anchor and made preparations to send a landing party the next morning. For several days, the exploring party roamed about the river valley, searching for a site upon which to found a settlement. After climbing a high bluff, and noting its strategic value at the mouth of the river, Ribault decided that the Bluff and the adjacent vale would provide an ideal location. Among the reasons for his selection was the fertility of the soil there, the friendliness shown him and his men by the native Timuqua tribes, and its location, providing both an access to the ocean and into the interior.

Ribault left the Bluff and the river and set sail back to France carrying with him a recommendation that the settlement should be established at the Bluff. Before the French could return with their ships of colonists, however, Ribault had seen difficulties with Queen Elizabeth of England, who had had him jailed. In the absence of Ribault, one of his lieutenants, and a relative of Coligny, Rene de Laudonniere, was chosen to establish the colony. Returning to the St. Johns River on 24 June; 1564, the French went out again to be assured of building on the proper place. Not far from the Bluff, they found a small stream. The abundance of the Indian towns near by was favorable, for they could provide great quantities of food stores, so they thought. At once, the French began to build a fort constructed of timber and faggots with sand and dirt banks to withstand, fire. The fort was triangular and on the tw6 sides away from the' river were dug moats, and at the front of the fort, facing inland, a gate was hung and decorated with the arms of France and Coligny. Within the fort were buildings to house the powder and shot. Several houses were built inside, but the great majority were constructed without. Sentinels were immediately set at the fort and the adjacent Bluff. For building materials, they used timber, and especially the local clay, from which they made brick. At the first, sleeping was accommodated by hammocks, but later, framed beds were constructed within the newly built homes. It did not take long before there was added a flour mill, a bakery, and a blacksmith shop.

Among these first French settlers were carpenters, blacksmiths, tailors, barbers and shoe makers, as well as brewers, mechanics, ordnance men, a crossbow maker, a physician, an astronomer, and an artist. At first there was no minister and until his arrival, services were held by dedicated laymen.

There are signs that the colonists enjoyed making wine and discovered the pleasures of tobacco1 During the short life of the settlement which came to be called Fort Caroline, Laudonniere made no attempts to encourage his people to break the soil and begin to sustain themselves on their own meri+ts rather than having to depend on the Indians. A false sense of security pervaded the atmosphere of the small settlement; it seemed that the Indians had ample quantities of food for everyone and then too, the French expected the supply ships to arrive anytime. It was soon discovered, however, that the Indians had only enough for themselves; but the supply ships were still forthcoming, but the supply ships did not come, and the people grew hungry and began to quarrel among themselves, and the object of their discontent was soon centered upon the person Laudonniere. Several attacks were made upon him and serious mutinies resulted in desertion.

During this period of discontent, Philip of Spain had once again decided to have one last fling at Florida and North America, and this would mean that the French interlopers at Caroline would have to be gotten rid of. For the job he commissioned Pedro Menendez de Aviles.

1 Charles E. Bennett, Laudonniere & Fort Caroline: History and Documents (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1964), p. 21.

The colonists at Caroline, meanwhile, were in such distress for food that they were grinding fishbones into meal which they had found in the refuse2. They began trading their possessions to the Indians for food.

A notable visitor to Caroline during these early days was the English slaver, John Hawkins. On seeing the condition of the inhabitants of the settlement, Hawkins offered them transportation back to France, which Laudonniere refused, believing England and Queen Elizabeth had some ulterior motives in seeing the French settlers leave. Perhaps England too, held aspiring glances upon the Florida coast. The colonists did accept, however, a ship and food stores which Hawkins left them. Upon Hawkins' departure, the French began preparing for their return home, but they were stopped short in August of 1565 as five ships were spotted by the sentinel at the Bluff. Ribault had returned. He had come with orders for Laudonniere’s dismissal. With Ribault's return, the air of the colonists was quelled with orderliness and good judgment.

Six days later Menendez found and crossed St. Johns Bar, and began to make his way to Caroline. There was a brief naval engagement, and Menendez fled, having received rigging casualties the night before, during a storm.

Ibid., p; 28.

The next morning he returned and was met with five French ships abreast across the river. Realizing the odds against him, Menendez turned south once again, and took shelter and succor from an Indian village near the present site of St. Augustine. Hearing of this, Ribault took his ships south to St. Augustine, but was met with a hurricane at the entrance of the bar, and was driven as far south as present Cape Canaveral, beaching and destroying the small French fleet. Menendez, ignorant of the French disaster, forced his men to march to Caroline in the midst of the storm, awaiting for dawn before attacking. Fearing no possible attack during a storm, the Spanish caught the colonists completely off guard, killing one hundred and thirty-two men and taking captive fifty women and children. Among those who escaped were Ribault's son and Laudonniere, who saved three ships and sailed back to France to tell of their ordeal. However, Ribault had not been forgotten. Hearing of the wreck of Ribault and his men, Menendez hastened to their scene and executed them all.

Upon the destruction of the French attempts to colonize Florida, the Spaniards occupied Fort Caroline, renaming it San Mateo. Not more than a week after this reoccupation it was burned by the Indians, who had remained friends to the French; throughout the years the Tamuqua remained the ever present enemy to the Spanish at San Mateo.

It was not until 1568, that. the French returned to wreak their vengeance upon the Spanish, routing San Mateo with the assistance and best wishes of the Indians. The French this time, however, had no desire to remain and resettle the area, and San Mateo was refortified by the Spanish immediately upon the departure I of the French. For two years more San Mateo lingered on as a base for missionaries and as a fortification. When Captain Gil, a French Corsair entered the river in 1580 to trade with the Indians and to barter for stores and water, the Bluff had long been deserted by Europeans, with the exception of one lone sentinel, who upon observing the disembarkation of the French at the site of San Mateo, hastened to St. Augustine to tell Pedro Menendez Marques, the Spanish Governor.3 The following afternoon the French and the

Spanish had once again met one another at the Bluff. It was a complete defeat for the French with only a surgeon and three boys being spared, after the ensuing naval battle. Not much can be found to trace the history of the Bluff from the disestablishment of San Mateo until the English period of Florida history. A few things, however, are significant, although they are lacking in detail. For example, a Spanish mission was established on present Ft. George Island, and the existence of many Indian villages in the Bluff area tend to have us surmise that Spanish missionaries frequented the Bluff.

3Carita Doggett Corse, The Key to the Golden Islands (Chapel Hill: University of NorthCarolina Press, 1931), p. 47.

That the Bluff remained significant to the Spanish for at least a short period after the disestablishment of San Mateo can be readily believed, because of its being used as a place of refuge when Francis Drake burned St. Augustine in 1586. Nearly the entire population from the fleeing town took shelter at the Bluff, and they were saved there due only to the fateful winds which blew Drake's ships northward beyond the St. Johns Bar.

From Drake's visitation, until 1736, there is hardly a significant word concerning the Bluff; the Indians were still there and the Spanish missionaries continued their visits from the small chain of missions throughout the area of the Northern St. Johns and Nassau Sound. The shipwrecked traveler, Jonathan Dickenson, undoubtedly saw the Bluff as he and his fellow survivors were sent from mission to mission on their return to Carolina.

III

In 1736 a Spanish Commission was sent from St. Augustine to report on the condition of Spanish defenses on the Florida frontier. Arredondo, a captain of engineers, on viewing the strategic value of the Bluff, made a recommendation that a battery be built there to protect the entrance to the river.4 Undoubtedly, this decision came as a result of Oglethorpe's activities in the area. Oglethorpe was interested in establishing a strong defense for his new colony of Georgia. Fort St. Andrew was built at Cumberland Island, and St. George Island was fortified. Also, gun boats were set to patrol the St. Johns River. Complaints, of course, were registered from St. Augustine. The situation, as created by Oglethorpe, imperiled Spain's access to the Inward Passage and laid her back door to St. Augustine open through the St. Johns River.

Another inspection was made in 1737. Somewhere close to the river's mouth, which could have, perhaps, been the Bluff, Arredondo found in what poor conditions the Spanish defenses actually were.

4 Verne E. Chatelain, The Defenses of Spanish Florida, Publication 511 of The Carnegie Institution of Washington (Baltimore: The Lord Baltimore Press and Meriden, Connecticut: The Meriden Gravure Company, 1941), p. 89.

The only protection was provided by a”hut... of palmetto, four yards in length by two and a half in width, and so dilapidated were that it is painful to look at it.” 5 Four cavalry soldiers stationed there with their horses. Arredondo recommended a closed battery and eight guns with thirty men to protect this site, which commanded the control of the St. Johns River. On this second survey of the area, it may be conjectured that this post of three men was located at the Bluff for two reasons: one, that it commanded the access to the river, the Bluff's most prominent characteristic; and two, that he recommended a battery for it as he had at the Bluff a year earlier. His recommendations probably never materialized, however, for Oglethorpe used the Bluff as a gun mount during the war between the English and Spanish, which began in 1739.

For years after that the Bluff was seen only by passing travelers along the trail to St. Augustine or north to the St. Marys. By the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, Spain lost Florida to England, and the only word from the Bluff during the English period, and prior to the American Revolution is that Levett, the nephew and provost marshal of the New English Governor Tonyn, was fond of playing "back gammon" there with Gimel.6

5 Ibid.

6 Charles Loch Mowat, East Florida as a British Province: 1763-1784 (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, Floridiana Facsimile and Reprint Series, 1964; original edition, 1943),p.90.

It is reasonable to assume that it began to prosper as a plantation area; both Gimel and his neighbor, Hester, were large landowners. Also, it probably received much traffic, being between St. Marys and St. Augustine. Upon the outbreak of the American Revolution, the word "town" had already become attached to the Bluff. In that year, Governor Tonyn invited, in strong terms, the town of St. Johns "to assemble and cooperate with the King's troops.”7 During the first year of conflict the raids by the American troops from Georgia grew continually serious, and in June of 1776, Tonyn commissioned Thomas Browne and Daniel McGirth to establish and organize the East Florida Rangers. In addition, Colonel Augustin Prevost arrived in Florida with nine companies of the 60th Regiment, and gun boats were set on patrol of the St. Marys and St. Johns Rivers. BY 1777, the Bluff was fortified and was responsible for thwarting the advance of Elbert's Continentals.8 It is not known how well the Bluff was fortified during the Revolution. It did have cannon; it was of such consequence, as to have been given the name "Browne's Fort", and its location appears on a U. S. Survey Map from Le Baron's map of 1880.

7 James Grant Forbes, Sketches, Historical and Topographical of The Floridas; More Particularly of East Florida (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, Floridiana Facsimile and Reprint Series, 1964; original edition, 1821), p. 26.

8 Burton Barrs, East Florida in The American Revolution (Jacksonville: The Cooper Press, 1949), p. 19.

In June of 1778, General Howe's American Continentals began their advance down the Amelia Narrows with a force of 1000 men. This required the combined forces of Captain Mowbray of the Navy preparing from St. Augustine, Major Graham with 140 men, and Major Prevost with his detachment; but such was their jealousy of one another that none of the three would spare the men necessary to man two galleys carrying ~twenty-four pound cannon. Browne could only muster seventy-five 'half-starved men."9 In addition, the local people refused to assist in their protection, and Fuser was forced to fall back on his last line of defense, St. Johns Bluff. In 1780, the Bluff was again fortified with 36 men. being detached there. Not all was war at St. Johns Bluff, however.

9Forbes,op. cit., p. 29.

IV

During the English Period in Florida, occurred what history has since proven to be the most active and most populous era in the history of the Bluff. Throughout the Revolution, Governor Tonyn had continually publicized Florida as a Refuge for Loyalists, particularly in the cities of Savannah and Charleston. The offer was readily accepted and the influx of refugees increased the population of East Florida from four thousand at the beginning of the Revolution to seventeen thousand when hostilities ceased. Most of these loyalists came to settle upon plantations on the St. Johns, in St. Augustine, or St. Johns Bluff, and the present area of Mayport. The heaviest period of influx was in the fall of 1782. The three ports of entry were St. Marys, St. Johns, and St. Augustine. The bar at the St. Marys was the easiest to cross and that at St. Augustine, the most difficult. St. Johns presented no particular problem and it afforded easy access, both by the King's High Way and the St. Johns River to St. Augustine and the plantation areas. For these reasons, the heaviest traffic of provisions was landed at the Bluff area, and during the period of the Loyalist evacuation the Bluff was busy with the landing of ships laden with supplies and troops.

Additional forces were sent up from St. Augustine to safeguard the transfer of these supplies to St. Augustine. 10

St. Johns Bluff was already an English settlement of some consequence. Already, the activities-of Bryan at Gimels has been related and it is known that there were some several rentable houses at the Bluff and these were all rented during the initial evacuations during 1782.11

For a short period, however, houses could still be bought, and there was an abundance of land already subdivided for building. The area on the Bluff, which eventually evolved into the Towne of St. Johns was a tract of two hundred acres, which was owned during the 1770's by William Hester. This land, he sold to Thomas Willaimson in 1779, who subdivided it into lots of usually seventy-five feet by one hundred twenty feet. The most valuable lots, of course, were the bay lots, the lots bordering the St. Johns River. On the landward side of these bay lots Willaimson had Water Street laid out, and perpendicular to Water Street was Prince's Street. Soon there were three hundred houses at the Bluff; at first these were of log construction, but later were gradually replaced by more permanent structures of planed lumber and shingles with additional outer houses for stores and cooking.

10Wilbur Henry Siebert, Loyalists in East Florida, 1774-1785: The Narrative (DeLand: Florida State Historical Society, 1929), p. 116.

11Ibid,, p. 117.

In addition to the homes, there were two taverns, a free masons lodge, a livery stable, and a public house. There were stores for buying drygoods and plantation tools. Medicine was practiced there by Dr. Hugh Rose, who pursued quite a promising career, until the later evacuation from Florida.l2

In St. Augustine and St.Johns Bluff both, religious services were conducted by Reverend James Seymour. Prior to his coming to Florida, he had been a missionary in Augusta, Georgia from 1772 to 1780. In 1780 he left Augusts for Savannah and began teaching school; later he followed the evacuation to St. Augustine, where he established his family and home. Although he lived in St. Augustine, he spent much of his time at St. Johns Bluff, where he was generously accepted and often times invited to settle. 13

It was expected that St. Johns Towne would become the center of trade for the River plantations and the naval stores industries. In 1776, twenty six merchant ships entered the St. Johns River and several of these made two voyages.14 Also, in that year began the extraction of tar, rosin, and turpentine.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 Francis Philip Fatio, "Description of East Florida," East Florida: 1783- 1785 by Joseph Byrne Lockey; ed. John Walton Caughey (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1949), p. 479.

During the Revolutionary War, England could no longer rely on Europe for her needs in naval stores. The St. Johns River Valley offered a relatively untouched source for these materials. Among the offerings was the plentiful pine, which could be used for masts, spars, and top masts. Cypress was used for the mainmasts. Life oak, considered the best lumber in existence, and highly esteemed in the best French shipyards, was bountiful. Sabine was used for the upper works of large ships; ash for oars and handspikes. Oak served as staves for pipes for holding rum, wine, and molasses. There was enough rosin, pitch and turpentine for the Spanish Navy. 15

Among those many merchant seamen who visited St. Johns Towne, was Samuel Kelly, an English Seaman. Just previous to his visit to St. Johns Towne, he had visited another St. Johns Towne on another St. Johns River, this, however, in Canada. The similarities of the two settlements are striking. Both were created as refuge to the fleeing loyalists, both received broad publicity, both were subdivided by enterprising real estate agents. The evolution from lean-to shelters, to log cabins, to frame houses, was the same.

15 Luis Fatio "Description of The Commerce of East Florida," Documents Relating to the Commercial Policy of Spain in the Floridas, ed. Arthur Preston Whitaker (DeLand: Florida State Historical Society, 1931), pp. 125-139.

On January, 1784, Kelly had his first glimpse of Florida as he entered St. Simons, fresh from Sandy Hook and New Providence.l6 Early the next morning, his ship was at St. Marys Bar. Entering the St. Marys River, they rounded the shoal point of Amelia Island and were guided in for a berthing by a brig which already lay at anchor. At Amelia they were told that a king's schooner galley was anchored only a little farther up the river. From the King's galley, the master of Kelly's ship received directions as to how to reach St. Johns Towne. A communications network had been established there directly to St. Augustine, and the master also needed to replenish ships stores. St. Johns Towne lay about forty miles away; it was still early in the morning and as soon as an inland pilot had been procured from the galley they set off at once in their four oared boat. With the sun just breaking, they reached the narrows and the depth of the water was too shallow for their oars, so they began pushing their small boat. The way was torturous, pushing through the mud, reeds and bushes. From Amelia to Nassau Sound, only three huts were observed and at least one of these was occupied by one of the banditti, which were prevalent in the area. At eight o'clock that night, they reached St. Johns Towne. Two King's galleys, the Viper and the Enterprise, were anchored there.

16 Crosby Garstin (ed.), Samuel Kelly: An Eighteenth Century Seaman (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1925), p. 98.

That night they purchased their supplies and sent communications to St. Augustine. At day break the next morning they departed on their return trip to Amelia. What is known of the inhabitants of St. Johns Towne has been mostly gathered from the property claims declared upon the evacuation of the English from East Florida. It is interesting to compare these inhabitants in their short stay at the Bluff to reconstruct the birth and death of St. Johns Towne.

George Tallackl7 was a typical resident of St. Johns Towne during the English occupation of East Florida. Upon the evacuation, of the English from Charleston, Tallack first moved to St. Augustine. In the fall of 1783 he moved to St. Johns Towne. At first he lived with a Mr. McDonald, an already established settler at the Bluff. After living with McDonald for about three months, Tallack purchased a half lot of land from Mr. Austin, who had bought his land from Williamson, the developer. Tallack employed several carpenters to build a house for him while he himself worked as a ship's carpenter. Together, the house and lot cost fifty pounds. It was only one story high and divided into two rooms. The kitchen was separated from the house. Other plans had been projected by Tallack. He had planned a larger house and had even purchased the lumber necessary to build it.

1 7WilburHenry Siebert, Loyalists in East Florida, 1774 -1785: The Documents (DeLand: Florida State Historical Society, 1929 pp33-35

Upon his leaving St. Johns Towne after the retrocession to Spain, he carried some of the lumber away, having to abandon what he could not carry with him.

A second resident of St. Johns Towne was Stephen White who lived in East Florida for a period of nineteen years. Like Tallack and many others, he first lived in St. Augustine. While there he worked as an inn and public house keeper, and also as a horse hirer. At St. Johns Bluff, he bought a house and a bay lot from William Greenwood, who had purchased his land from John Roden, who had purchased from Hester in 1771. At the time of the purchase by White, there was a small log house on the lot. Soon after White moved to St. Johns in 1774, he began to enclose his property. In addition, he soon built another log house and also a fowl house. Upon the evacuation of Charleston, he began to build a frame house and a separate kitchen. His house was one story high and had a shingled roof. He then pulled down the first house because it was in poor condition. At St. Johns, White tended to his private garden and kept a public house. Upon the retrocession to Spain, he suffered ruinously. As Tallack had done, he transported all his moveable property to St. Marys for shipment. While awaiting there for the evacuation ships, much of his property was stolen, but he was fortunate enough to have been able to sell some of it to a Mr. Moss. Of the many debts, White had let while at the Bluff, not many were ever repaid him.

18 Ibid, pp. 101-104.

He claimed that his total property was valued at 600 pounds. For his property remaining at St. Johns, he was offered 45 pounds.

Captain Alexander Steurt20 was given the command of a Battalion of volunteer militia by commission of Governor Tonyn in East Florida after the evacuation of Charleston. By far, his biggest task was in preventing the attacks of armed banditti upon the plantation owners in the area. While serving in this capacity, he moved to St. Johns Towne and acquired a lot of land on the corner of Prince's and Water Streets. In April, 1783, he began building a house with the usual other properties, including a kitchen, a stable, and a garden. He enclosed his property with a cedar post and rail fence. Upon the retrocession, the only property he could carry away was seven hundred feet of lumber, which he was forced to leave at St. Marys.

Archibald McKay21 had been a Captain of Militia in Cumberland County, North Carolina, and also evacuated to St. Johns Towne. On Christmas Day, 1782, he arrived at St. Johns, fresh from St. Augustine. He and John Smylie bought a lot of land from Williamson, and built a house there.

John McDonald22 also, was a victim of the Charleston evacuation.

20 Ibid., pp. 220-223.

21 Ibid..-·pp. 110-112.

22 Ibid., pp. 108-110.

In 1782, he settled at the Bluff and built a large two story house, a separate kitchen, and a free masons lodge. Like many of the rest, he purchased his land from Williamson, tended to a private garden, fenced in his land, and left St. Johns soon after he had settled and become comfortable.

The residents of St. Johns Towne, during the English period, have been picked at random, and a pattern of the typical resident is easily and obviously established. Upon the evacuations of Charleston and Savannah, the loyalists migrated to Florida, moved into hastily constructed shelters or already existing log houses, built homes, tended to their private gardens, and possessively fenced in their property. No sooner had they comfortably settled themselves and commenced to repay their debts of the first evacuation, they then were faced with the financial tragedy of evacuation once again. They were desperate enough to tear down their homes and attempt to transport their property to new lands, all in vain. Their property was destroyed, stolen, and forfeited. Those that left, went away empty handed, those that lingered for a while plundered what remained. Upon cessation of the Revolutionary War and Florida's retrocession to Spain, the English settlers of East Florida found their promise of prosperity slipping from their hands. To most of them, to stay in Florida under a foreign King and the Catholic Church seemed an impossible situation. To leave Florida without due compensation to their property Losses seemed almost impossible. Many lingered on and procrastinated upon their plantations along the river and at their homes on the Bluff. Everything they owned was tied up in property, which could not be taken with them. The futile attempts to transport their homes to St. Marys and thence to the Bahamas is illustrative of this unfortunate situation. The settlers continued to declare property claims to the King for compensation and to hope for a last minute change in the treaty agreements. Some just would not accept the fact that Florida was no longer theirs. With property unsettled as it was and the King's Highway busy with the traffic of the evacuees and their moveable properties from St. Augustine to St. Johns Towne and then through the Inland Passage to St. Marys, the entire area of the Florida Crown offered an excellent opportunity for thieves and bandits. The actual evacuation began in June and July of 1783.

Early in 1784, Kelly tells how two Negroes were sent to St. Johns Towne to buy rum. On their way, they were attacked by two bandits. Jumping from their canoe they were pursued through the marshes. One of the Negroes carried a bottle of ointment with him and turning suddenly, he smashed it on the head of one of the bandits. The two Negroes then scalped him and returned to St. Marys, telling of their run-in with the outlaws and displaying the scalp. 23 A crew member of Kelly's ship was visiting in the area near the incident and discovered a great quantity of stolen goods hidden away in the bushes, " In December of 1784, "doubtless the plunder of many houses. 24

William Cunningham, Stephen Mayfield and Daniel Cargill broke into the house of Austin at the Bluff and stole money, silver plate, and clothes. 25 Michael Melton and George "Rogue" Philips also, harassed the settlers at the Bluff. In 1784 they attacked the home of Hendricks, three miles from the Bluff. Hendrick’s son resisted them and Melton killed him. In October of same year Melton and Philips, with a Negro boy named Brutus, attempted to plund26er the house of William Mangum. One of them shot at him, but the gun miss-fired and Mangum fled to the sanctuary of one of the military outposts along the St. Johns.

23 Garstin, op.cit., p. 106

24 Ibid., p. 107.

25 ”Affidavit of Nathanial Ashley, 1784, “ Lockey, pp. 505-506

26 ”William Young to Patrick Tonyn, 1784, “ Lockey, p. 315

The bandits made away with some household articles end some money. 27 Besides the bandits, another problem created by the retrocession was the problem of the attempts by the settlers to prevent Spain from retaking Florida. Many petitions had been presented to the King via Governor Tonyn, but to no avail. Early in 1784, a plan had been designed to overcome Fort San Marcos, the galleys and the troops of the King in a last ditch attempt to force the King to recognize the plight of his East Florida subjects. 28 Meetings were held at St. Augustine, St. Johns Towne, and St. Marys. It was rumored that St. Augustine alone would yield two hundred sturdy fighting men. The plan was to first take into custody the governor, the brigadier general, the chief justice, and the King's attorney. Tonyn's preventative measures were simply to have these men secured within the casements of San Marcos. About the only thing to ever come of this particular plot was a single erratic attack in which the rebels surprised one of the King's mounted detachments, killed two men including the captain, and dispersed the rest. Following that, they headed on to one of the military posts on the St. Johns, again taking everyone by surprise.

27 “Petition of William Mangum, 1784,” Lockey, pp 399-400

28 “Patrick Tonyn to Archibald McArthur, 1784,” Lockey, p. 288

The sergeant in charge and all his fifteen men were taken prisoners. At this time Samuel Cruden, the original instigator of the plot appeared in St. Augustine offering what assistance he could in preventing any more attacks. His original plan would not have involved any killings. The criminal element had eased themselves into the ranks of the rebels and Cruden was absolutely opposed to their "diabolical scheme." 29 With Cruden now oh the side of the governor, the conspirators knew at once that their plans had probably been discovered, "they became less active, and a coldness was occasioned among them.... 30 Their activities shortly ceased with each going his own way.

During this period of unrest it was estimated that between St. Marys and the town of St. Johns there were sixty families. "Among them there are probably some of good reputation who may prove to be of great utility to our nation. But for the rest, I believe that it would be better to throw them out of the province as soon as possible They are men without God or king.... 31 This was the opinion expressed in a report made by a Spanish soldier to his superiors in November of 1784.

29”Patrick Tonyn to Lord Sidney, 1784," Lockey, p. 289.

30 Ibid. 31 "Letter and Report of Nicolas Grenier, 1784," Lockey, p. 307.

Many of the inhabitants of the river valley and the Bluff did turn to outlawry. The most infamous of them all was Daniel McGirth, the same McGirth who fought with Browne, with the East Florida Rangers during the Revolutionary War. McGirth's loyalty had never been anything to depend upon. During the war he had at first served as a scout in the American Army, until a superior officer attempted to force McGirth to give him Gray Goose, McGirth's favorite horse. The exchange of words on both sides was disrespectful, but McGirth remained the subordinate. For his disrespect to the officer, actually for his refusal to surrender Gray Goose. McGirth was imprisoned and horsewhipped. He was able to escape, however, with Gray Goose, and having to flee to Florida and join the East Florida Rangers, he soon saw action against his previous companions of Georgia. After the war and during the evacuation, McGirth readily took up arms against his Florida neighbors, serving no cause but to fill his own purse and stables.

During Kelly's visit to East Florida, he was asked to participate in an attempt to capture McGirth. One afternoon word was received that several boats laden with plunder would attempt to steal their way up the Inland Passage and into Georgia during the night. The only bypass from the anchored galleys in the passage was a creek not far from St. Marys.

Two small boats were dispatched to stand guard of the creek and to waylay the outlaws. Five men were assigned to each boat and each was well armed with muskets, pistols, and cutlasses. At nightfall, the two boats set out for the creek. Upon their arrival, they carefully concealed their boats in the marsh, and the ten men lay still and quiet awaiting the banditti. Each noise and movement made by the alligators in the creek and the leaping fish startled them and made them turn and look about. Their only chance for gaining a victory, in Kelly's opinion, was to take the banditti by surprise. The banditti were all good marksmen and knew if they were taken, they would forfeit their lives; they would fight hard if attacked. The night passed without incident. Kelly "sometimes got a nod or two while sitting on the thwart of the boat, surrounded with clouds of sand flies, and was not a little pleased to return to the Viper. in whole skin."32

Besides having seen the insides of an American stockade, due to his disrespect, McGirth had already seen the insides of San Marcos. For his deeds of banditry, prior to the arrival of the new Spanish Governor, he and several of his men had been imprisoned. They were able to bribe their way out, however, and to make good their escape. This occurred simultaneously with the issuance by Governor Tonyn of a general pardon of all wanted men in an attempt to settle the English affairs in Florida before the retrocession to Spain.

32 Garstin, op· cit., p. 104.

During the year of 1784, a peculiar situation arose in which the official acts of retrocession had not yet been effected, but which created simultaneous de facto jurisdiction by both Spanish and English. As soon as the new Spanish Governor, Vicente Manuel de Zespedes, reached Florida, he also issued a general pardon in an attempt to begin his administration with leniency. Because of his escape, McGirth had forfeited the rights of pardon offered by Tonyn, however, he did decide to take advantage of the offer by Zespedes.

On 25 July, 1784, Colonel William Young, who had been commissioned by Tonyn to keep the province in law abiding order, received word that John Linder, one of McGirth's cohorts, was gathering a group of banditti near St. Marys to attack the plantations along the St. Johns River. Two days later, Young was at the home of Daniel Melyard. There, he was able to surround the house and corale the banditti, killing one of Linder's Negro slaves and capturing a young boy of fifteen, named Whaley. The reason for this attack upon the McGirth band, Young explained to Tonyn, was simply not to recapture them. Young had been advised that James McGirth, the brother of Daniel, had been sent by Linder and Daniel across to Georgia to pilot more rebels and banditti into the unsettled province.33

33 " William Young to Patrick Tonyn, 1784," Lockey, pp. 353-354.

This rumor, however, never proved itself because it was later said that the rebels had changed their minds and had decided not to come because it was too hot and their horses were poor.

Daniel McGirth had a few words to say in his behalf, however. He claimed that he and his men were waiting for Lt. Fernandez, officer in charge of Zespedes law enforcement troops, to give themselves up and to accept the amnesty offered by the Spanish. 34 He claimed that at Melyard's home, he and his men were maliciously attacked by Young, who had obviously dishonored the Spanish proclamation. Linder had almost been shot himself, his clothes being shot through with swan and ball, but he had managed to escape into the thicket. Furthermore, McGirth claimed that Young then ransacked the house of Melyard, taking away Linder's horse, Sweet William, Daniel's father's horse, plus all the trappings and articles of clothing left there in their hasty retreat from the ambush. George Philips was also among the banditti and all of his clothes and those of his wife were taken by the English soldiers.

It was not long before it. Fernandez heard about the episode and announced that if Daniel McGirth, John Linder, and George Philips, would show themselves, they could do so unafraid, and Fernandez would listen to their claims in good faith.

34 "Petition of John Linder, Daniel McGirth, and James, to Zespedes, 1784," Lockey, pp. 337-338.

Shortly, the three banditti reported to Fernandez telling him that it had been their intentions to give themselves up and accept the general pardon. 35 In addition, they charged Young with having beaten Whaley severely in order to get him to tell the hiding place of the banditti.

Due to these incidents, Zespedes was very disturbed. He was afraid that the remaining banditti, within the province, would Soon gain the opinion that his proclamation was merely a ruse. Zespedes charged Young with having transgressed his own proclamation as well as that of Tonyn. In a conference shortly before, Tonyn had assured Zespedes that the only force initiated by his troops would be defensive.36 Tonyn explained, of course, that Young's actions had been defensive, in order to prevent the accumulation of more banditti within the Florida Crown. Tonyn then explained that Young would honor Zespedes' future orders regarding the trouble with the banditti, but he pleaded with Zespedes to reconsider his stand on the issue.37

35 "Antonio Fernandez to Vicente Manuel de Zespedes, 1784," Lockey, pp. 337-338.

36 “Vicente Manuel de Zespedes to Patrick Tonyn, 1784," Lockey, p. 333.

37 “Patrick Tonyn to Vicente Manuel de Zespedes. 1784," Lockey, pp. 342-346.

A few days after the incident at Melyard's house, Young crossed the St. Johns River and again had a run in with the banditti, this time killing Philips. Tonyn immediately ordered Young to return to St. Augustine and to explain his actions. Tonyn was of the opinion that the banditti would never surrender peacefully, but unfortunately the continued pursuit of the rogues made it seem that the English honored neither their own proclamation nor those of Zespedes. 38

On 3 August, 1784, Daniel Melyard explained to Governor Tonyn that he had overheard Linder exclaim that they could all wipe their backsides with their proclamations, so little respect did he have for ir.39

Later, Young claimed that he had attacked the banditti again for two reasons: that the rebels from across the border had changed their minds and had already gathered in a body no less than one hundred fifty, and furthermore, that Zespedes had given him no orders, particularly orders to desist.40 Whether the banditti ignored the offers of amnesty because they had lost faith as a result of the ambush at Melyard’s, or because they never had any intention of giving themselves up may never be known.

38 “Patrick Tonyn to William Young, 1784,” Lockey, p. 355.

39 “Affidavit of Daniel Melyard, 1784,” Lockey pp, 357-358.

40 “William Young to Patrick Tonyn, 1784,” Lockey, p. 356.

The initial proclamation offered by Tonyn was not known by them until they had made their escape from San Marcos. What is known however, is that there is no historical trace of a huge body of men actually having been drafted from across the Georgia-Florida border to assist the McGirth Banditti in plundering the St. Johns plantations.

Also related to the activities of the banditti was the claim of Stephen White of St. Johns Towne. In August of 1784, he charged Stephen Egan of St. Augustine with having forged a bill of sale as proof of the ownership of four Negroes to Robert Philips.

Egan was charged with having forged Lt. Colonel Browne's name to the bill of sale in April of 1779. Browne immediately denied having attested to the bill. On 25 August, Egan appeared before Fatio in St. Augustine in company with White and denied the charges. Patio had been appointed during this transition period to act as judge for the remaining English population. Egan then produced the transmittal letter from Philips, dated 25 February 1779, which requested Egan to deliver the bill to White and receive eighty-eight pounds sterling. He also said that White had the Negroes and that no claim had ever been made on them. A second letter presented by Egan proved that Egan had remitted the money to Philips.

It seemed obvious that Egan had had no pecuniary interest in the exchange.41

It was then decided to leave the decision of the charge to four arbitrators of their choice. White named James Pine and James Smith. Egan, however, refused to admit them because Pine was a sailor and a transient and Smith was a clerk of merchants who had already cast bad reflections upon Egan's character in public. In lieu of these two, White named Samuel Parley and John Ross, who both refused to take the oath. White then left St. Augustine and returned to St. Johns. Patio felt that this action was injurious to Egan because he had been accused of forgery and the absence of White made it impossible for Egan to clear himself. Fatio then asked Zespedes to come to a decision and grant Egan a relief from the charges. 42

Zespedes was of the opinion that White had acted improperly in naming Pine and Smith and in returning to St. Johns. Furthermore, it appeared to Zespedes that White could not support his charge. Zespedes then absolved Egan of the charges, and reprimanded Ross and Farley for not taking the oath end further excluded them from Spanish protection. 43

4l “Francis Philip Fatio to Vicente Manuel de Zespedes, 1784," Lockey, pp. 265- 267.

42 Ibid.

43 “Decree of Vicente Manuel de Zespedes against SamuelParley, 1784,” Lockey, p. 364.

At the time, Farley had a pending charge against McGirth for having stolen some Negroes a short time earlier. In particular, Zespedes refused to consider that charge any further.

On the afternoon of September 8, McGirth hid near the home of Parley and made an attempt to steal Cyrus, a Negro boy. McGirth chased him all the way to the Farley home. Farley soon came to complain that ever since Zespedes had made the above decision, McGirth had continually insulted his family and was often times seen lurking about his house and seeking to steal his property.44

A few weeks later. McGirth admitted having stolen eight of Farley's Negroes, and having continually harassed Parley, his family and his servants. McGirth “'has and does threaten his property, and seems to act as if licensed to commit with impunity every outrage against the laws of society.”45

Finally, in February of 1785, Zespedes had McGirth, Cunningham, and Mayfield arrested and thrown in jail at San Marcos. Thereafter, they were dispatched with petitions of pardon to Havana in April of 1785. This, they were granted and were also given passports to Providence. On their way to Providence, however, they jumped ship and returned to East Florida.

44 “Memorial of Samuel Farley, 1784,” Lockey, p. 365.

45 “Patrick Tonyn to Vicente Manuel de Zespedes, 1784," Lockey, p. 360.

They were caught again and were soon on their way to Providence once more. What ever happened to McGirth remains a question. He did return to St. Augustine for a short time, His family remained in Florida, in and around St. Augustine and the St. Johns River. Perhaps he lived his last years in Florida, or perhaps he went back to his home in South Carolina, where he had lived before the American Revolution, before he had fled on Gray Goose.

IV

By 1784, the English were gone and Florida once again was in the hands of the Spanish. St. Johns Towne was but a whisper on receipt from St. Augustine. The King's Highway running from Georgia and through St. Augustine was neglected and in a few years of Spanish occupation, became so overgrown that in many places it was closed, and in all others, scarcely passable.

In 1785, General Nathaniel Greene left his plantation in Savannah to inspect his freshly acquired lands on Cumberland. He also visited St. Augustine where he was shown every courtesy by the new governor, Zespedes. On his return to Georgia, he was given safe escort by four dragoons of Spanish infantry. At the Bluff he embarked on a Spanish patrol boat and sailed up the Inland Passage to St. Marys.46 During the transition from English to Spanish, the town of St. Johns had become an outpost of Spanish protection, and renamed San Vicente Ferrer. In future years of the second Spanish occupation of Florida, it was to prove to be the keystone of the outposts which circled St. Augustine.

46 “Vicente Manuel de Zespedes to Bernardo de Galvez, 1785," Lockey, pp. 489-490.

With the exception of the official transfer of possession from England to Spain, the first official act of Governor Zespedes in 1784 was in sending fifteen men to replace the English detachment at Johns Bluff. 47 By 1787; Zespedes was growing concerned with the safety of the immediate frontier area around St. Augustine. Taking a personal hand in the establishment of an adequate defense, he inspected the frontier areas himself. His first visit was at the Bluff. The outpost at San Vicente Ferrer was enclosed in a wooden palisade. Within there were five buildings with shingled roofs and brick chimneys. He entered the main barracks where the fire was set and shutters closed. The barracks building was two stories high, with three rooms on the ground floor and five on the second level. There was a cellar below and a garret above. Under the roof enclosure were two smaller rooms and a ladder extended from there to the ground. Among the other buildings was one about half the size of the former, also for berthing, and also having a fireplace. There was a storehouse, a stable and a kitchen. The foundations of the building were cedar, and the frame and walls were pine; most probably the forfeited remains of St. Johns Towne. 48

47 Helen Hornbeck Tanner, Zespedes in East Florida: 1784 –1790, Number 19 University of Miami Hispanic American Studies (Coral Gables: University of Miami Press, 1963), pp. 127-128.

48 Ibid.

Zespedes had many plans for San Vicente Ferrer. From the beginning, the Bluff was to be his special instrument. In that same year he sent a gunboat there, which was to be its home base. He wished to build a customs house there and partially succeeded in 1790 when he placed Carlos Howard in charge of censorship of the mails. Also, Howard was to make inspections of the other outposts and keep in constant communication with Zespedes, of their conditions and particularly of the morale of the Spanish troops and their defections to the American side which became a very serious problem. To facilitate this constant communication, five horses were placed at San Vicente Ferrer to be used only for the courier service.

From the very beginning of the second Spanish occupation there had been reports of desertion. On 27 July 1784, seven men deserted from the 37th Regiment and an alert was sent out to all of the outposts. In these first years of Spain's return, a policy regarding deserters evolved from verbal agreements entered into by Captain Burbeck, the commanding officer of the American Fort St. Tammany and the Spanish forts in the area.49 Tammany was a small wooden stockade not far from the newly established "New Town" at St. Marys.

49 Richard K. Murdoch, “The Case of the Spanish Deserters: 1791-1793,” Georgia Historical Quarterly, University of Georgia, Athens: published by Georgia Historical Society, Savannah, (Vol. XLIV, No. 3, Sept. 1960).

Sometime after Burbeck's arrival in 1790, he met with the commander at San Vicente Ferrer, the commander of the Spanish garrison at Amelia, and the captain of the Spanish gunboat, which patrolled the Spanish side of. the St..Marys. Richard Lang, who had been appointed to act as Justice of the Peace for the non-Spanish population of Florida was also contacted. The aim of the meetings was to allow deserters to be returned from either side in the absence of official formalities.

Not long after agreement had been reached, three Spanish soldiers deserted from St. Augustine and stole a boat near the post at San Vicente Ferrer. They made their way to St. Marys through the back channels. At St. Marys they were easily captured by the Americans, brought to Fort St. Tammany, then to Amelia. The gunboat San Tomas then took them to San Vicente Ferrer where they were further transported back to St. Augustine. It was at that time that Quesada, the new Spanish Governor was first apprised of the agreement. He was disturbed because of the differences between the American and Spanish punishments for desertion. American deserters usually could depend on receiving lashes while the Spanish deserter paid with his life. Burbeck was not desirous of being responsible for the execution of three men and petitioned to Quesada. Because of official delays the deserters were never executed and finally in 1793, all Spanish deserters in Florida were pardoned. In 1792, however, two American dragoons deserted and Burbeck asked that the commander at San Vicente Ferrer help in returning them. San Vicente Ferrer was established as the Headquarters for the Commander of the Northern Frontier in 1790. Sebastian Creage, a captain of the Third Cuban Battalion, was directly responsible for the post, and in turn was answerable to Howard. Creage served there for two years. Because of the pressures exerted by Quesada, San Vicente Ferrer was silent, and the agreements reached three years earlier were forgotten.

Another of the Spanish outposts was at Juana, present day Fort George. Howard had continually warned the Governor of the depletion of his troops and was deeply concerned with the effectiveness of the outposts. On 29 June 1795, a band of rebels attacked the post at Juana, outnumbering the Spanish by four to one. 50 The armory and storerooms were ransacked and one hundred head of cattle were stolen. An informer soon came forth and claimed that Lang had been behind the attack. On 9 July, Lang's men attacked Fort San Nicholas with boats, which belonged to John McIntosh. They had also stolen a Spanish gunboat, and speaking Spanish, they gained easy access to the fort.

50 Richard K. Murdoch, The Georgia - Florida Frontier, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1951) pp. 85-92.

Fort Santa Ysabel, half way between San Vicente Ferrer and San Nicholas, was aroused at the news and the detachment there retreated to San Vicente Ferrer after Pellicer, the Commander, had ordered the cannon spiked. At San Vicente Ferrer, Howard dispatched Luis Maas to spy upon San Nicholas. There the rebels were observed to be celebrating their victories amidst yells and drinks of liquor. McIntosh, whose boats and been used, and who would play a big part in Spain's final loss of Florida, was seen there also.

Other measures taken at once by Howard were his order that all patrols along the St. Johns River report immediately, anything peculiar, and his readying of the gunboat, San Tomas, which lay just off his battery at Ferrer. After having held a council of war, Howard began making preparations to withdraw from San Vicente Ferrer, with his ranking officers, and leave his main force there. These preparations were cut short, however, when John McCockburn, an English privateer, arrived at the post. He had recently been captured by the Spanish, and although he was aboard the Conquest, his own vessel, it now belonged to the Spanish. In company with McCockburn was Captain Jose de los Temedios of the Royal Artillery and a small force under the command of Andrew Atkinson. At once, Howard had a change of mind, it was time for a full waterborne assault upon the rebels at San Nicholas. Aboard the Conquest were McCockburn, Howard, and most of his officers, forty Spanish soldiers, forty-two .mulattoes, and thirteen militiamen.

The Santa Monica carried thirty soldiers and John McQueen. The San Tomas had aboard reinforcements from St. Augustine and twenty other Spanish soldiers. Another vessel, the Augustin de' Patron. Transported only the ammunition.

As the small fleet approached San Nicholas, two cannonballs were fired together with a round of small arms. The rebels were quickly out of the fort and escaped into the marshes. San Nicholas had been recaptured without the loss of life. Howard was promoted to full colonel and also Quesada expressed his gratitude to Atkinson, McCockburn and McQueen. The rebels were never captured but they were, declared to be guilty of treason in absentia and their property was confiscated and auctioned off. The better horses were given to the soldiers at San Vicente Ferrer. In later years of the Spanish occupation, many of the rebels were allowed to integrate themselves back into open society.

VII

The Bluff continued its service as a Spanish outpost for the remaining years of Spanish control, but slowly, the settlers of the area encircled the post with their plantations and fields. An intermittent rush of troops or the harried slipping of the San Tomas lines in search of rebels or pirates descending from St. Marys often broke the monotony of the vigil from the Bluff. But for the most part, the last years of Spanish occupation were quiet and uneventful as the area once again began to prosper as a good place for families to settle and land owners to raise crops.

VIII

What is known of the people who lived at or near the Bluff during the second Spanish period has been gathered from the records of the Spanish land grants. It is interesting to cite even a few and to compare and contrast the neighbors of the Bluff in the roles they played in the previous and subsequent histories of the Floridas.

Andrew Atkinson, the same who had been engaged in the defense of the Spanish outposts in 1795, settled at San Vicente Ferrer in 1792. In 1816, he was granted an additional 450 acres at San Vicente Ferrer and Shipyard Creek, a short distance away. By this time, other prominent people had established themselves near the Bluff. McIntosh, one of the prime movers of the 1795 rebellion, had over 150 acres at the Bluff and a larger estate six miles south. Don Juan McQueen, the Spanish appointed Commander of the St. Johns River and special advisor to Governor Quesada, had been granted a large tract at Shipyard Creek.

Suarez, who had served nine years as captain of the Spanish gunboats, especially the San Pablo, moved to the Bluff in 1784.

Eleven years later, he retired and opened a small store there, which struggled for a short time, then was abandoned. He lived there with his family of six. 51 Francisco Estacholy had left Liorna, Italy for a new home in the Floridas. In 1795, he took charge as boss of the post office canoes at San Vicente Ferrer.52 Between his land and Shipyard Creek, Manuel Romero cultivated a tract of land until he vacated it in 1812, due to the Patriot Revolution which had been engineered by McIntosh.53 Another of those implicated in the insurrection of 1812, was Zephaniah Kingsley of Fort George. It was Kingsley who claimed, and was granted Romero's land on grounds of abandonment.

Slowly, through the years, the Bluff lost its military aspect and settled down comfortably into the life of the southern plantation. The formal transfer from Spain to the United States did not take place until 1821, but even in 1817, the plantation atmosphere had already begun to permeate the Bluff. 54

51Spanish Land Grants, Vol. V, Claim S, 88.

52 Ibid, II, C, 27.

53 Ibid, IV, K, 20.

54 Narrative of a Voyage to the Spanish Main, in the Ship"Two Friends” , anonymous (London: printed for T. Miller, 1819) p.152.

It was about the close of day we prepared to cross the river St. Johns, at a part above five miles above the bar. The sun still lingered upon the extensive forrests of its banks, and undulated upon the trembling surface of its waters; the evening was pure and serene, and presented every object in the most alluring character. The noise of the oars, as they cut their way, rousing the echoes of its banks, were answered by the noisy cadence of the Negroes boat song, amusing and beguiling our way. As we entered upon the waters of the St. Johns, we saw several canoes returning from fishing, rowers were also chanting their canoe- song, emulating at the same time the rapidity of our progress; we really flew along the glassy surface, such was the celerity of our movements .

Upon a high cliff or bluff, on the southern side of the river, I was shown the site, on which formerly stood the town of St. Johns, built during the occupancy of the British, and promising at that time to become an important settlement, and admirably situated for that purpose; little now remains but the remembrance of its promise.

The ghost of St. Johns Towne lingered on; little was said or even known of Fort Caroline, San Mateo, so many years before. The remembrance of its promise, however, maintained its vitality, as Forbes commented in 1821, after sympathetically remembering the tragic history of St. Johns Towne: 55

On the important subject of settling a town on this river, to become, perhaps, the most commercial, if not the metropolis of the territory, the conflicting interests of speculators and proprietors will clash so much with the various claimants, that no correct opinion can be formed.

55 Forbes, op.cit., p. 78.

Again in 1817, it was noted that due to the beauty and resourcefulness of the St. Johns River, the province of East Florida would soon become the "finest and most valuable section of North America. "56 These promises would find partial fulfillment in the cowford, present day Jacksonville. Providence had all but forgotten the Bluff, but history had not.

Immediately upon Florida's withdrawal from the Union in 1861,the Duval County Cow Boys were dispatched to fortify the Bluff from Union invasion. They remained there until DuPont's Squadron approached in 1862. After the first occupation of Jacksonville by Union Forces in March of 1862, Admiral DuPont's South Atlantic Squadron established its home base at Mayport Mills, within sight of the Bluff. The Union Squadron made frequent patrols up the river past Jacksonville, with large plantations on their right and left.

To prevent these incursions into Confederate territory, General Joseph Finegan made the decision to fortify the Bluff in the early days of September, 1862. Guns were gathered from Tallahassee, Lake City, and Jacksonville; loaded on flatboats at Jacksonville, (the Union forces having withdrawn) and floated down the river to the Bluff. 57

56 Narrative of a Voyage to the Spanish Maine in the Ship "Two Friends", op. cit., p. 133.

57 T. Frederick Davis, "Engagements at St. Johns Bluff, St. Johns River, Florida: September-October, 1862",(Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. XV,No. 2, Oct. 1936, Tallahassee} pp. 77-78.

Among the guns assembled were two eight inch smooth bores, two eight inch columbiads, three eight inch siege howitzers, and two rifled 4.7 inch guns. 58

The night after their emplacement, the Union Squadron had discovered the Confederate activities and fired nine shells into the Bluff form the gunboat, Uncas. The Confederate guns remained silent. The next morning, the Patroon joined the Uncas, and together, delivered 200 shells at the Bluff. This time, however, the Confederates returned fire. There was one killed, and eight wounded at the Bluff. No casualties were experienced on the Union gunboats.

On 16 September, three additional gunboats were sent to reinforce the Uncas and Patroon. The next day five hours of fire were exchanged. Still no casualties aboard the gunboats; two more dead, three wounded at the Bluff. On 1 October, four Union transports arrived from South Carolina to assist in a combined naval-land operation against the Bluff. During the day and evening, the Confederate sentinels watched the Union disembarkation at Mayport Mills. All available manpower from the St. Johns Valley had been gathered at the Bluff, but only five or six hundred could be mustered. The odds against them were five gunboats by sea, over 1,500 by land.

58 Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Series I, Vol. 13, Washington, 1901.

Early on 2 October, the Bluff was abandoned, leaving behind the guns, ammunition, and supplies. The Bluff was left in such haste, that the Confederate flag remained flying when the Union Forces climbed the Bluff. 59

After the War, the village of Fulton, a short walk from the Bluff, began to grow as a meeting place for the plantation owners in the area. The post office was transferred there; extensive peach orchards were planted there, and an opera house was constructed. It was a happy occasion for the traveler and sightseer aboard the gay riverboats to stop there on their itinerary up the St. Johns.

Before the declaration of the Spanish American War in 1898, the visitor or resident at Fulton could often see, if he were fast enough, Napoleon Bonaparte Broward opening the filibustering Three Friends full bore, as he approached the Bluff, in pursuit by the Revenue Cutter Service. Once having escaped the Cutter Service, Broward would repaint his boat from white to gray, and rename it The Ox.

In March, 1898, after the declaration of war, General J. M. Wilson, Chief of U.S. Engineers, made a military inspection of the mouth of the St. Johns River, which resulted in his recommendation that eight inch breech loading rifles be mounted at the Bluff to protect the river's entrance.

59 Ibid., p. 358.

Rails were constructed up the slope of the Bluff to move the guns, and by 15 April 1898, the granite-concrete emplacement was completed and the guns mounted. During the same year the channel between the Bluff and the mouth of the river was mined and navigation was closed. The only~ casualties suffered at the Bluff during the Spanish American War was due to the accidental explosion of one of the mines while it was being tested at the testing station at the foot of the Bluff. Two men were killed. In September 1898, the river was cleared of the mines, and in October 1899, the guns were dismantled and transported to Pensacola. 60

60 T. Frederick Davis, History of Jacksonville, Florida and vicinity: 1513-1924, (St. Augustine: The Record Company, 1925) pp. 213-214.

The End BIBLIOGRAPHY

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