The Spanish assault on French Florida began as part of imperial Spain's geopolitical strategy of developing colonies in the New World to protect its claimed territories against incursions by other European powers. From the early 16th century, the French had historic claims to some of the lands in the New World that the Spanish called La Florida. The French crown and the Huguenots led by Admiral Gaspard de Coligny believed that planting French settlers in Florida would help defuse religious conflicts in France and strengthen its own claim to a part of North America. The Crown wanted to discover and exploit valuable commodities, especially silver and gold, as the Spanish had done with the mines of Mexico and Central and South America. The political and religious enmities that existed between the Catholics and Huguenots of France resulted in an attempt by the Huguenot Jean Ribault in February 1562 to settle a colony at Charlesfort on Port Royal Sound, and the subsequent arrival of René Goulaine de Laudonnière at Fort Caroline, on the St. Johns River in June 1564.
The Spanish laid claim to a vast area that included the modern state of Florida, along with much of what is now the southeastern United States, on the strength of several expeditions in the first half of the 1500s, including those of Ponce de Leon and Hernando de Soto. However, Spanish attempts to establish a lasting presence in La Florida failed until September 1565, when Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded St. Augustine about 30 miles south of Fort Caroline. Menendez had not known that the French had already arrived in the area, and upon discovering the existence of Fort Caroline, he aggressively moved to expel those whom he considered heretics and intruders. When Jean Ribault learned of the Spanish presence nearby, he also decided on a swift assault and sailed south from Fort Caroline with most of his troops to search for St. Augustine. However, his ships were struck by a storm (possibly a tropical storm) and most of the French force was lost at sea, leaving Ribault and several hundred survivors shipwrecked with limited food and supplies near Mosquito Inlet (Ponce de Leon Inlet), about 60 miles south of the Spanish colony. Meanwhile, Menendez marched north, overwhelmed the remaining defenders of Fort Caroline, massacred most of the French Protestants in the town, and left an occupying force in the rechristened Fort Mateo. Upon returning to St. Augustine, he received news that Ribault and his troops were stranded to the south. Menendez quickly moved to attack and massacred the French force on the shore of what became known as the Matanzas River, sparing only the Catholics among the French.
With Fort Caroline captured and the French forces killed or driven away, Spain's claim to La Florida was legitimized by the doctrine of uti possidetis de facto, or "effective occupation", and Spanish Florida stretched from the Panuco River on the Gulf of Mexico up the Atlantic coast to Chesapeake Bay, leaving England and France to establish their own colonies elsewhere. While Spain's rivals did not seriously challenge its claim to the vast territory for several decades, a French force led by Dominique de Gourgues attacked and destroyed Fort Mateo in 1568, and English pirates and privateers sporadically raided St. Augustine over the next century. Fort Caroline
Jean Ribault founded his colony at Port Royal in 1562, having previously come upon the St. Johns, which he called la Rivière de Mai (the River of May), because he saw it on the first of that month. Two years later, in 1564, Laudonnière landed at the Indian town of Seloy, the site of present-day St. Augustine, Florida, and named the river la Rivière des Dauphins (the River of Dolphins) after its plentiful dolphins; moving north, he established a settlement at Fort Caroline on the south side of the St. Johns, six miles from its mouth. Philip II of Spain regarded the possession of Florida as necessary for the safety of Spanish commerce. Hearing that Ribault, who had returned to France, was organizing another expedition for the relief of his colony of Huguenots across the Atlantic, Philip determined to assert his claim to the possession of Florida on the ground of prior discovery, and root out the French at all costs. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés had already been authorized to settle there, and his force was increased to enable him first to expel the French.
Laudonnière, in the meantime, had been driven to desperation by famine, although surrounded by waters abounding with fish and shellfish, and had been partially relieved by the arrival of the ship of the English sea dog and slave trader Sir John Hawkins, who furnished him a vessel to return to France. They were awaiting fair winds to sail when Ribault appeared with his timely provisions and reinforcements. The plan of returning to France was then abandoned, and every effort made to repair Fort Caroline. The expedition of Menéndez had been badly storm-beaten, but at last he reached the coast with part of his fleet, only to find Ribault already there with his force. Menéndez then founded and named St. Augustine (San Agustín) on September 8, 1565. Ribault, who had awaited this arrival of the Spaniards, and had instructions to resist them, decided to attack Menéndez at once, and although opposed by Laudonnière, insisted on taking on board the ships nearly all the able-bodied men of the fleet and colony, so as to attack and crush the Spanish project. Laudonnière was left in the small fort on the St. Johns with the women, the sick, and a handful of men.
Meanwhile, Menéndez, after gathering his men to hear Mass around a temporary altar, traced the outline of the first Spanish fort to be built in St. Augustine, at a spot located near the site of the present Castillo de San Marcos. At the time the French cruisers that preyed on Spanish commerce showed little mercy to the people taken in the richly laden galleons, unless their rank or wealth gave hopes of a large ransom; the Spaniards, when French cruisers fell into their hands, were unsparing as well. Menéndez placed his main reliance on the fort, and every one of the people he had landed now labored to throw up the earthworks and defenses, while he superintended the disembarkation of artillery and ammunition, supplies and tools. During the work some of Ribault's vessels appeared—they might have made a dash and captured the Spanish commander, but they merely reconnoitred, and retired to report. The work on defenses continued apace, and Menéndez, unable to compete with the French on the sea, sent off his larger vessels, retaining only some light craft. The French fleet soon appeared, but Ribault faltered. Had he landed, success was possible; a way was open for retreat by land and water to his fort on the St. Johns. However, he chose to stand off. Menéndez, a more practiced seaman, saw that he had an advantage; he had scanned the sky for weather signs, and knew that a norther was coming. The French fleet would be swept before it and perhaps be wrecked, or escaping that, be driven so far that days would elapse before Ribault could make an attack.
Menéndez decided in his turn to attack the French fort, and deprive Ribault of that refuge. Guided by Indians, Menéndez, with a force of picked men, trudged through the swamps during the storm, and though many of his men fell back, he arrived at Fort Caroline, where the sentinels, unsuspecting of danger, were sheltering themselves from the rains. The Spanish attack was brief and successful. Laudonnière escaped with a few companions to a vessel in the river, leaving his command to be slaughtered by Menéndez. The French fort was overrun, the French flags removed, and Spanish banners raised above it. Meanwhile, the settlers at the fort of St. Augustine were made anxious by the fierce storm that threatened the destruction of their wooden houses and all they had, and feared that French ships could have laid up from the storm in some neighboring harbor, ready to attack them before Menéndez returned. Adding to this anxiety, the deserters who came back to the fort declared that the Asturian sailor, ignorant of military operations, would never return alive. Eventually a man was sighted who approached the settlement shouting. When near enough to be understood, he cried that Menéndez had taken the French fort and put all the French to the sword. A procession was formed to go forth and meet the victor. Soon after his triumphant reception in the fort, Menéndez heard of Ribault's party having been wrecked, and learned that a detachment had made its way to Matanzas Inlet. After an ineffective interview and an offer of 100,000 ducats ransom, the Huguenots surrendered to Menéndez, and met the same fate as their comrades at Fort Caroline. A second party, with Ribault himself, were also slain at the hands of the Spanish. A few, however, who belonged to the Catholic faith, were spared.
History
Menéndez pursues the French fleet
On Tuesday, September 4, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, adelantado of La Florida, set sail from the harbor of what was to become the presidio of St. Augustine, and coasting north, came upon four vessels lying at anchor off the mouth of a river. These were Jean Ribault's flagship, the Trinity, and three others of his ships, which the Frenchman had left at the mouth of the St. Johns because they were too large to pass the bars in safety. One of them was flying the Admiral's flag, another the flag of the Captain. Menéndez recognized at once that the French reinforcements had arrived before him, and called a council of his captains to consider what action should be taken.
In the opinion of the council it was deemed advisable to sail to Santo Domingo and to return to Florida in March of the following year. But Menéndez thought otherwise. His presence was already known to the enemy, four of his ships were so crippled by the gale that they could not make good time, and he believed that if the French should give chase to his fleet, they could outsail it. He concluded that it was better to attack at once, and, having beaten them, to return to St. Augustine and await reinforcements. His advice prevailed, so the Spaniards proceeded on their way. When within half a league of the French a thunderstorm passed over them, followed by a calm, and they were compelled to lie still until ten o'clock in the evening, then a land breeze sprang up, and they again got under way. Menéndez had given orders to approach the French ships bow to bow, and then to wait and board them at daybreak, for he feared they would set fire to their own vessels and thus endanger his, and would then escape to land in their rowboats.
The Frenchmen soon perceived the Spanish approach and began firing at them, but their aim was directed too high, and the shot passed harmlessly between the masts without doing any damage. Ignoring the discharge and without reply Menéndez kept on his course until, passing right in their midst, he drew up the bow of the San Pelayo between that of the Trinity and another of the enemy's ships. Then he sounded a salute on his trumpets and the French replied. When this was over Menéndez asked, "Gentlemen, from where does this fleet come?" "From France," answered a voice from the Trinity. "What are you doing here?" "Bringing infantry, artillery, and supplies for a fort which the King of France has in this country, and for others which he is going to make." "Are you Catholics or Lutherans?" he asked next.