Fort Caroline NATIONAL MEMORIAL Florida THE FORT CAROLINE COLONY meadow outside the fort. In honor of King FAMINE When uneasy peace again prevailed, a little Charles IX, the colony was named Fort During the winter and spring of 1564-65, fleet of 3 vessels assembled at Havre de Grace Caroline. the Indians withdrew as usual to the forests to convey some 300 people to a new land. and hunted for their food until their new Of this number, 110 were sailors, 120 sol­ crops of beans and corn ripened. Without FORT INDIAN NEIGHBORS diers, and the rest artisans, servants, and a Indian help, the French were close to famine. few women—but no farmers. Most of them The new settlement was in the midst of In desperation, Laudonniere seized Outina, were Huguenots. The commander was Rene the Timucua Indian country. Chief Saturiba planning to ransom him for corn and beans de Laudonniere, a skilled mariner who had presented a wedge of silver which, he said, from native storehouses. The exchange was CAROLINE came from enemy Indians farther up the St. made, but as the French left Outina's village, been with Ribaut on the 1562 voyage. On June 25, 1564, the expedition anchored Johns. Laudonniere sent envoys upriver; they walked into an ambush. Most of the off the St. Johns River in Florida. For the they procured a few more pounds of silver, hardwon supplies were lost. The settlers NATIONAL MEMORIAL site of the colony, the French chose a broad, along with stories of a great chief named decided to repair a vessel and go back to flat knoll on the river shore about 5 miles Outina, whose allies wore armor of gold and France. from its mouth. With Indian help they silver. But Laudonniere's efforts to promote Just at this time, the English slave trader raised a triangular fort of earth and wood peace between Outina and Saturiba only John Hawkins happened into the St. Johns Commemorating the French colony of 1564-65 on the St. Johns River of Florida. which enclosed several palm-thatched build­ alienated Saturiba. And the French de­ to refill his water casks. The French traded ings. Other houses were built in the pended heavily upon Saturiba for food. cannon and powder for supplies and one of HEN FORT CAROLINE was founded, At this period, France was in trouble, torn Hawkins' four ships. By August 15 they W there was no other European colony by religious strife and exhausted by her Euro­ were ready to leave, chafing for a favorable on the North American continent this side pean wars. The Admiral of France, Gas- wind. pard de Coligny, sought to strengthen his of Mexico. By planting this colony, France SPAIN'S DECISION hoped for a share of the New World claimed country by uniting Catholic and Huguenot Le Moyne's sketch of Chief Saturiba. As the mutineers had proved, the French by Spain. The French move forced Spain to (Protestant) against the traditional Spanish colony was a threat to Spanish commerce. The French and the Indians in Florida as depicted by Le Moyne. act and brought on the first decisive conflict enemy. French bases in Spanish America For the Spanish treasure fleets would have to between Europeans for the area now included were part of his plan. MUTINY sail past Fort Caroline, following the Gulf in continental United States. At Fort Car­ Stream seaway to the Azores and home. and if "there were settlers or corsairs of other Against the advice of his captains and oline, the battle between France and Spain For Coligny's purpose, Canada, though al­ There were other troubles. Restless ex­ Further, the fort was a possible base for nations whatsoever not subject to Us ... to Laudonniere, Ribaut decided to attack the for supremacy in North America was joined. ready explored by Cartier and Roberval, was plorers found that Indian silver came only attack upon the Indies. The French rulers drive them out by what means you see fit." Spanish. In the hurricane season, it was a too far north. A 1555 settlement in Brazil from wrecked Spanish ships; there were no asserted that the settlement was in French fateful mistake. A storm blew up. The had been destroyed by the Portuguese. There­ mines in Florida. Impatient with the wil­ HIGH ADVENTURE IN NEW LANDS territory, but to the Spaniards it was a pirates' THE FIGHT FOR FLORIDA fleet was driven ashore and wrecked many fore, Coligny looked to Florida. In 1562 derness, 13 mutineers stole a vessel and sailed nest on Spanish land. A Spanish armada left Ribaut reached Fort Caroline on August leagues south of St. Augustine. Treasure beyond man's imagination was he sent out an expedition under the Huguenot southward to make their fortunes. After Cadiz for Florida in July 1565. 28, just as the colonists were about to sail for Menendez knew that Ribaut's fleet was the reward of Spanish conquistadores in the Jean Ribaut (also spelled Ribault), a man of taking a Spanish treasure vessel and plunder­ But another fleet was already on the high France. Cargoes went into the storehouses, paralyzed by the weather. He guessed that New World. Some 200 productive settle­ unusual experience and ability. Ribaut ing a Cuban hamlet, they were finally seized seas. Jean Ribaut had left France with rein­ and there was no more talk of leaving. most of the fighting men were aboard the ments were thriving in tropical America. touched at the St. Johns River, then left a by the Spaniards. Now Spain had first­ forcements—soldiers, gentlemen, and arti­ That same day, the Spaniard Menendez ships. Now was the time to attack the settle­ But to the north, in the vast "continent" of small garrison at present-day Port Royal hand information about the Florida colony. sans with their families—for Fort Caroline. was off the coast, searching for the French­ ment! With 500 men, guided by Indians Florida, men like Ponce de Leon and De Soto Sound, S. C. Civil war in France prevented That winter 66 other mutineers seized the He knew of the armada being readied at men. Five days later he found the French and a French prisoner, he marched through found death, not riches. In 1561 the Span­ reinforcement, and after much suffering, the 2 barks built by the artisans of the colony Cadiz by Pedro Menendez de Aviles. "See ships anchored at the mouth of the St. Johns. the storm toward Fort Caroline. ish King forbade further attempts to settle survivors built a crude craft and crossed the and captured 3 Spanish vessels, before they that you suffer him not to encroach upon He tried to board them, but they cut their North America. Atlantic to home. were cornered off Jamaica by a Spanish squad­ you," Coligny had written, "no more than he anchor cables and escaped. Menendez SPANISH CAPTURE OF FORT CAROLINE ron. Some were hanged as pirates, but 26 would that you should encroach upon him." dropped down the coast a few leagues to the About 240 people were left at the French The National Park System, of which this area is a unit, is dedicated to conserving the escaped and made their way back to the Menendez, the foremost admiral of Spain, south, and on September 8 established the fort. In the miserable weather, M. de la scenic, scientific, and historic heritage of the United States for the benefit and inspira­ French at Fort Caroline, where the ring­ had equally specific orders. King Philip colony destined to live through the years as Vigne took pity on his sentries and sent them tion of its people. Rene de Laudonniere, French commander of Fort Gaspard de Coligny, The Admiral of France. leaders were shot. charged him to explore and colonize Florida, St. Augustine. to quarters. At dawn the Spaniards swept Caroline. MATANZAS What about Ribaut's shipwrecked men? Perhaps 500 escaped the pounding surf and hostile Indian arrows, only to face Spanish soldiers. Hungry and helpless, 350 of them Fort Caroline surrendered. Menendez had them killed. NATIONAL MEMORIAL The site of the massacre still bears the name Matanzas (slaughters). Those who did not surrender were captured later and their lives Florida spared, for they were no longer a threat. Menendez summarized the campaign: "Of a thousand French with an armada of twelve sail who had landed here when I reached these provinces, only two vessels have es­ caped, and those very miserable ones, with some forty or fifty persons in them." Fort Caroline visitor center overlooks lost site. FRENCH REVENGE THE SITE IN LATER YEARS off on the St. Johns Bluff Road or Girvin Destruction of the colony caused a furor Road, then east on Fort Caroline Road. The Spanish maintained San Mateo in France. But the Spanish held that the throughout the colonial period. During colonists were pirates—as well as heretics. MISSION 66 British ownership of Florida (1763-83), Pedro Menendez de Aviles, Spanish governor of And the interests of the French and Spanish another settlement developed here, with a Mission 66 is a program designed to be Florida. royal families were such that friendly rela­ defensive earthwork on St. Johns Bluff. completed by 1966 which will assure the tions had to be maintained. Revenge was a Zephaniah Kingsley, well-known slave maximum protection of the scenic, scientific, down upon the unguarded settlement. In task for others. trader, built a shipyard nearby during the wilderness, and historic resources of the the confusion, someone opened the fort gate, Dominique de Gourgues, a 40-year-old early 1800's.