xt7sn00zrj9n https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7sn00zrj9n/data/mets.xml Florida Cochrane, Herndone 1939 Typescript for the Federal Writers' Project.  "Prepared for use in Public Schools by the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, Jacksonville, Florida." UK holds archival copy for ASERL Collaborative Federal Depository Program libraries. Call number F319.F68 C621 1939. books  English Fort Lauderdale, Fla. : [s.n.] This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Florida Works Progress Administration Publications Stories of Florida: Fort Caroline by Herndone Cochrane text Stories of Florida: Fort Caroline by Herndone Cochrane 1939 1939 2015 true xt7sn00zrj9n section xt7sn00zrj9n \ UNIVER§|TY OF KENTUQKY I
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S T O R I E S O F F L O R I D A
l FORT CAROLINE
by
Herndone Cochrane
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Prepared for Use in Public Schools by the
FEDERAL WRITERS' PROJECT OF TIE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
Jacksonville, Florida

 FORT CAROLINE
by
Herndone Cochrane
Fort Caroline was established on the southern shore of the St. Johns River,
west of St. Johns Bluff, by French Huguenots in l564. The struggling colony,
» having undergone sickness, starvation and mutiny, and facing the increasing
` hostility of the native Indians, had just been strengthened by a French relief
expedition, when it was finally destroyed in an attack by Spanish forces. The
execution of the French Huguenot colonists by the Catholic Spaniards was an
event that aroused much bitter controversy throughout Europe in 1565 and has
_ since brought forth volumes of opinion written in many languages.
l On April 22, 1564, three ships bound for Florida sailed from Havre, France.
Aboard these vessels were three hundred persons, including the crews, soldiers,
artisans, and four women, the latter probably the first Protestant white women
to step ashore within the confines of the present United States.
The expedition was largely composed of Huguenots, special proteges of
Gaspard de Coligny, High Admiral of France. However the avowed purpose of the
colony was non-sectarian and for this reason no ministers accompanied it.
Catholics were admitted and some joined. Two years before, Coligny had sent
an exploratory fleet under Jean Ribaut to America, seeking a site for a Pro-
‘ testant refuge.
* Ribaut had reached the Florida coast in April 1562, and on May l, entered
O the mouth of a broad stream-—the St. Johns River——which he called the River of
May, in commemoration of the day of its discovery, landed, and entered into
friendly relations with the Indians, After erecting a column to establish
France's claims to the country, he had again embarked and sailed up the coast
to the vicinity of Port Royal. There he had left a small colony, and promising

 -3-
to send reinforcements and supplies, had returned to France. European wars
engaged his attention, as well as that of the French authorities, and the
colony, receiving neither support nor assistance, was soon deserted.
During a temporary lull in the European conflicts, Coligny sent out this
second expedition, and since Jean Ribaut was being held as a diplomatic prisoner
· in England, had appointed as its commander Rene Iaudonniere, a lieutenant under
` Ribaut in the previous voyage to America,
Laudonniere and his colonists were joyfully received by the natives who
lived near the mouth of the St. Johns River. These Indians had regarded with
great reverence and awe the pillar left by Rihaut, had crowned it with ever-
greens and about its base placed baskets of fruit and maize. (The previous
year a Spanish captain, De Rojas, had searched for this pillar in vain, the
Indians having hidden from him.) The warmth of their welcome, combined with
the fertile aspect of the countryside, determined Laudonniere upon establishing
his colony in this region.
The site selected for a fort was just west of St. Johns Bluff, where the
ground sloped gradually along the river bank. To the southward extended an
area of rolling, wooded country, called the Vale of Laudonniere by the new-
comers. On the east side of the bluff was a sheer drop to a little creek from
which continuous marshes extended to the ocean.
` Work upon the fortress, which was named Fort Caroline in honor of King A
. Charles IX, proceeded rapidly, with the natives assisting in.the construction.
LeMoyne, an artist and a member of the colony, made a sketch of the fort and
gave the following description:
"Thus was erected a triangular work, afterwards named Carolina. The base
of the triangle, looking westward, was defended by a small ditch, and a wall of
sods nine feet high. The side next the river was built up with planks and

 -5-
fascines. On the southern side was a building after the fashion of a citadel,
which was for a granary to hold their provision. The whole was of fascines and
earth, except the upper part of the wall for two or three feet, which was of sods.
In the middle of the fort was a roomy open space 18 yards long and as many wide.
Midway on the southern side of this space were the soldiers' quarters; and on
· the north side was a building which was higher than it should have been, and
‘ was in consequence blown over by the wind a little afterwards. Experience thus
taught us that in this country, where the winds are so furious, houses must be
built low. There was also another open space, pretty large, one side of which
was closed in by the granary above mentioned, while on the other side stood the
residence of laudonniere, looking out upon the river, and with a piazza all
around it. The principal door of this opened upon the larger open space; and
the rear door, upon the river. At a safe distance from the works, an oven was
erected; for, as the houses were roofed with palm branches, they would very
easily have caught fire."
Although the new colony appeared well favored by its environment and its
ready acceptance by the neighboring natives, it was soon beset by troubles.
Many of laudonniere's followers were adventurous younger sons of rich Huguenots
who had come to the new world to seek gold. While the land about the fort was
fertile and the river full of fish, they knew nothing of work, and relied upon
A the Indians for food, which the latter soon tired of providing. The colonists
l also were restive under discipline, and were prone to resent their leader's dis-
play of authority,
Laudonniere rashly entered into various alliances with Indian chieftains
who were hostile to each other, with the result that it was not long before he
was regarded with distrust by all the tribes around him. Saturiba, a powerful
overlord, who had been his friend, for instance, was bitterly antagonized when

 -4-
lnudonnioro become the ally of Chief Olata Utina, Zaiuriba’s mortal foe, Utina
und his trihesmen in turn were made enemies of the French, when Laudonniere held
him captive in a futile attempt to force him to provide the white men with food.
Discontent, conspiracy and sedition spread rapidly through Fort Caroline.
A number of the colonists revolted, confined Laudonniere, who was suffering from
· severe illness, upon a vessel in the river, and stealing two small boats, set
` out on a plundering expedition to the West Indies. Their piratical activities
ended disastrously, however, Many of the mutineers were killed by Spaniards
who assaulted them suddenly from three Spanish ships. Several of the Frenchman
were captured and sent back to Spain as proof of French ambitions and activities
in Florida. The ones who excaped beat a retreat up the coast to the mouth of
the River of May, where they were taken by laudonniere's loyal followers, and
four of their ringleaders executed.
The growing threat of starvation next faced the colony, and plans were
under way to abandon Fort Caroline, when Sir John Hawkins, an Englishman re-
turning from.a slave trading expedition in the West Indies, arrived with four
ships, in August 1565, seeking fresh water.
Strengthening the bond of religious sympathy between the French Huguenots
and the English Protestants was their mutual hatred of the Spanish. Laudonniere
states; "we killed certain sheep and poultry that we may entertain Captain
a Hawkins the best we could; this stark had been carefully preserved to stock the
_ company." Hawkins saw the distress of the colony and gave them: 20 barrels of
meal, 5 barrels of beans, h hogshead of salt, lQ© pounds of wax for candles,
and 50 pairs of shoes for the soldiers.
Hin offer to vonvoy them all to aurora in his ships was refused by laudonniere,
who rinhtly 1i‘oar·»¤1 that ituvkcim mam <:—~t~e‘€     E;.li;a:u~;~t;2w the land in which
the eeflony had been planted, hef¤e·» i      3:,e¤a=ve:r, laudionniere A

 -5-
did purchase one of his smaller ships, paying for it with four pieces of
artillery and some powder from the fort.
The English sails were hardly out of sight over the horizon when the
Frenchman resumed their preparations to depart. Food was stowed aboard their
ship, and everything was finally in readiness and they only awaited a favor-
_ able wind, when another fleet appeared off the mouth of the river.
- Jean Ribaut, released from his detention in England, had at last arrived
with a fleet of seven vessels, including his flagship, the Trinity, carrying
52 pieces of ordinance, the Emerillon, of 29 guns, the Pearl, under command
of the Admiral's son, Jacques Ribaut, and four other ships, all laden with
foodstuff, supplies, seeds for planting, and agricultural implements. Aboard
these vessels were reinforcements of soldiers, laborers, adventurers, women
and children, their number variously estimated by different historians as
being from BOO to 1200, one modern authority placing it at about GOO persons.
Ribaut also brought orders from Admiral Coligny for the resignation of
Laudonniere's command, and for his return to France that he might clear him-
self of certain charges that had been made against him. Laudonniere was
V informed that these charges, lodged by malcontents and persons antagonistic
_ to the younger commander, included accusations of cruelty and arrogance, and
the declaration that he sought to establish himself as an independent ruler
` in the new world.
` But even while the French colonists were rejoicing over Ribaut’s arrival,
. and Laudonniere moped ill and morose in his quarters, a force was approaching
that was to bring destruction to Fort Caroline and thrust into oblivion the
hopes of France for dominion over Florida.
Philip II of Spain had watched with growing wrath the French activities
in this quarter. Adding depth to his hatred of the French Protestants had

 -5-
been the activity of the Hhguenot sailors from Normandy, restless adventurers,
who had sacked many towns of the Spanish Main, and had preyed upon Spanish
shipping. In regard to Florida, Philip II desired not so much to establish
Spanish colonies, as he did to protect the route of his rich treasure fleets
along the Florida coast.
· Pedro Menendez de Aviles, who had served Philip in Flanders during war
V ` between Spain and France, who had later made many voyages to America as
Captain-General of the treasure fleets, and had proved both his ability and
his loyalty to the Spanish Crown, was chosen to head the expedition that
i sailed for Florida on June 29, 1565. Menendez was instructed to destroy E
the French fort and establish defenses so that other Europeans could not
secure a foothold,  
Ribaut, delayed by storms, arrived on August 28th. Fort Caroline
immediately became a beehive of industry; the fort was strengthened, addi-
tional quarters were planned, and preparations made for planting crops. It J
was the unofficial intent of Coligny that Fort Caroline should be a permanent
refuge for the Huguenots. But Spain was equally determined that neither
Catholic nor Huguenot French should be established in Florida.
On September 4, 1565, the French colony was thrown into a stats of alarm
by the appearance of the Spanish galleens. Menende: immediately launvhei an {
I ` attack upon the French fleet anchored at the mouth of the River of Nay, but
V the sailors aboard the latter, cut their cables and fled, soc; ouiiisii;:;;g ,
the slower Spanish ships. Returning from the futile chase, Xensnieg fvmxi
that the French infantry had hastily completed plans for 1 strong iefenss :5
the River of May, and deuidpd to sail on down the roast ani were s lani;n; at
the next harbor, near the site of S?. Augustine, where me sstabL;s;;i Fort
Charles.

 -7-
Against the advice of Laudonniere, Jean Ribaut withdrew most of the
forces from Fort Caroline, and brought his ships to the bar of St. Augustine.
A violent storm arose before he could assault the Spanish, and his fleet was
driven southward, and wrecked on the coast.
Menendez learned from his Indian scouts that the French had boarded ships
. and sailed toward Fort Charles, evidently with the intent of attacking the
· fort. He realized that the French had probably sent their best men in the
ships against him, and recognized this storm and the difficulties of the
French fleet as his opportunity. Taking five hundred soldiers, several
Indians, and a captive Frenchman, who acted as a guide, he made a forced
_ march through the wilderness north of St. Augustine, and after two days' time
had brought his attacking force within a mile of Fort Caroline.
The French officers had humanely but imprudently withdrawn their sentries
from exposure to the continued rage of the storm. On the morning of Septem-
ber 20, 1565, the Spanish soldiers fell upon the fort, swept into the stockade
and through the buildings of the enclosure, routed the dazed Frenchman, and
killed all of the remnant garrison left by Ribaut, except fifty or sixty men
who escaped to the woods, some reaching three small French vessels at the mouth
of the river. Spanish historians also state that about seventy women and
children were spared by the orders of Menendez. Having taken possession of
° the fort, Menendez turned its guns upon the French boats, sinking one. The
- other two set sail for France, bearing among others Laudonniere, Le Moyne,
and Ribaut's son.
On September 28, Menendez learned that survivors from Ribaut's wrecked
fleet were on the beach a number of miles below St. Augustine. Hurrying
southward with a detachment of forty soldiers, Menendez, the following day,
executed over two hundred Frenchmon after they had surrendered and were ferried

 -3-
over Matanzas inlet by boat in groups of ten.
Again on October lO, came tidings to St. Augustine that there were many
more Frenchman at Matanzas inlet, and again Menendez sped down the beach,
taking with him one hundred and fifty soldiers. Near the same place and under
nearly the same circumstances he slew all of a group of one hundred and fifty
. Frenchman who surrendered, except several musicians who were kept alive to
· furnish music for dancing, four men who professed to be Catholics, and one
sailor, who was stunned and left for dead, but reviving, managed to escape.
Among the victims of the second Matanzas massacre, October l2, 1565, was the
French leader, Jean Ribaut, Two hundred Frenchman had refused to surrender,
U and retreated southward along the coast. Later, all but a remnant of these
threw themselves upon Menendez' mercy, and were well treated. The handful of
irreconcilables, declaring that they would "rather be eaten by Indians than
surrender to Spaniards," fled into the interior, and were never heard of again.
Fort Caroline, renamed San Mateo by the Spaniards, was burned, probably
accidentally, eight days after its capture. It was rebuilt by Menendez, who
also ordered the erection of two blockhouses, one on each side of the River of
_ May near its mouth. The history of these Spanish establishments repeated in
many ways that of the French fortress. Starvatien, successful attacks by
hostile Indians and threatened widespread mutiny of the colonists and soldiers
. ` were prevented largely by the timely efforts and orders of Menendcz, who,
· U despite charges of ruthlessness in gaining his objectives, proved himself an
able commander.
While Menendez was for a period in Europe, Dominique de Gourgues, a French-
man who had once been a captive galley slave of the Spanish and who was eager
to avenge the slain colonists of Fort Caroline arrived on the Florida coast.
He had three ships, and had fitted out the expedition at his own expense.

 -9-
Forming an alliance with the Indians, de Gourgues attacked and captured the
two Spanish blockhouses at the mouth of the River of May, on April 12, 1568,
killing most of the garrisons. On April 15, 1568, he began an assault upon
Fort San Mateo. A vain attempt at a sortie by the Spaniards brought only
death to many of them. De Gourgues and his men forced their way into the fort,
- and the inmates, terror-stricken, fled in a body from the stockade, hoping to
' find refuge in the forest, as a number of their predecessors, the French of A
Fort Caroline, had done. Most of the fleeing Spaniards, however, were slain by
De Gourgues' native allies. Satisfied with the vengeance he had wrought upon
the Spaniards, De Gourgues commanded the destruction of the fort, and then
sailed back to France.
Fort San Mateo was again rebuilt by the Spanish and garrisoned as an
outpost. A French vessel was captured in its harbor, July 20, 1580, and those
aboard were executed. San Mateo also became a retreat to which the Spaniards
retired when Sir Francis Drake, in l587, attacked and burned St. Augustine.
In 1602, San Mateo is mentioned in Fray Pareja's reports as being an Indian
village with a mission sub—station church. Dona Francisca, a native cacica
· of the village, was confirmed by Bishop Altamirano, in 1606.
After a period of comparative peace lasting nearly one hundred years,
San Mateo was finally destroyed early in the 18th century, when Indians and
· ` British raiders swept down from the north, looted and burned many Spanish
· mission villages and carried off the native inhabitants to slavery in Carolina,

 VOCABULARY
Artisan (ar ti zan); one skilled in any craft or trade; a mechanic; a
handicraftsman.
Cacica (ka sek a); a feminine leader or chief of a native tribe.
Citadel (sit a del); a fortress in or near a fortified place, intended as a
final point of defense.
Conspiracy (ken spir a sy); combination of men for an evil purpose; a plot;
I unlawful agreement. `
Fascine (fa sen) a long bundle of wooden sticks bound together and used in
making parapets, strengthening ramparts, etc.
Galleons (gal le uns); sailing vessels of the l5th century and later, often
having three or four decks and used for war or commerce.
Havre (hav er); a French seaport. .
Huguenots (hu ge nots); French Protestants of the 16th and l7th centuries.
Irreconcilables (ir rek on sil a b'ls); those who refuse to compromise.
Malcontents (mal ken tents); those who are discontented or dissatisfied. _
Nonnandy (nor man dy); a duchy or province of France bordering on the English
Channel.
Predecessors (pred e ses ers); those who have preceded or gone before, es-
pecially in regard to state or position.
Proteges (pro te zhas); those under the care and protection of another.
Ruthlessness (rooth less ness); cruelty, mercilessness.
San Mateo (San Ma ta 0)
‘ Sedition (se dish un); Treason against established authority; conduct which
· tends toward treason; strife.
Sortie (sor te); the sudden issuing of troops from a besieged place to attack
or harass the besiegers; a sally.
Spanish Main; a name given to the Caribbean Sea and to the north coast of
South America and to the shores along the Caribbean Sea of the former
provinces of Spain in Central America.

 PERSONAL NAMES
. Altamirano (Bishop); Al ta mso ra no
‘ Do Coligny, Gaspard; do ko lo nys, gas pard
Dc Gourguos, Dominique; ds goor jway, dom in oak
Dona Francisco; donya fran ses ska
. Laudonnisrc, Reno; lo do nyar, rc na
Lo Moyne; le mwan
Monondsz do Avilos, Pedro; ma nsn dath da a vs las, pa dro
Parsja, Fray; pa ra ha, fra
Ribaut, Joan; ro bo, jean
Saturibs; sa tu ree ba
Olata, Utina; 0 lat a, u toon ah

 Lesson Study
l. Who was Rene laudonniere? Gaspard de Coligny?
Pedro Menendez de Aviles?
_ 2. What was the purpose of Ribaut's first expedition to Florida?
That of the expedition under command of Laudonniere?
3. Why did Laudonniere and his colonists fail to prosper?
4. In what vicinity was Fort Caroline erected?
5. Why, and in what way, did Sir John Hawkins, an Englishman,
assist the French colonists at Fort Caroline?
6. Why was Ribaut sent to replace Laudonniere in com and of
the colony at Fort Caroline, in l565?
7. Why did King Philip II of Spain send Pedro Menendez de
Aviles to Florida?
8. Why was Fort Caroline left with but a few defenders at the
time it was attacked by Menendez? What was the result, for
the fort and its French inmates, of this attack?
9. What happened to the Frenchmen under Ribaut who were ship-
wrecked off the coast of Florida?
l0. what was the name of the Spanish fort that replaced Fort
Caroline?
ll. Who avenged, and in what way, the slain Frenchman of
Fort Caroline?
l2. What brought about the final destruction of the village
· of San Mateo?

 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Jacksonville Historical Society Annual 1933-1934, p. 22.
(Note; Basanier°s Notable History 9; Florida, typewritten
translation, p. l88 refers to one unmarried woman in the
colony, and later, p. 198, there is a reference to "four
or five men who had their wives with them,"),
2. Parkman, Francis, Pioneers 22 France in the New World.
Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, 1906. PP. 34-55.
T 3. Connor, Jeannette Thurber, Jean Ribaut, The Florida State
, Historical Society, Deland, 1927. pp. 4—5.
4. Ibid. pp. 6-9.
5. Ibid. p. 12.
6. Basanier, M. The Notable History gg Florida. First
edition in Latin published at the shop of William
Auvray, Paris, 1586, Typewritten translation of second
edition (from the French, published at Paris 1853, p. 78).
7. Ibid. p. 79.
V 8. Ibid. p. 89.
9. Parkman, Francis, p. 55.
10. Ibid. p. 55.
ll. Ibid. p. 56.
l2. Description of the Illustrations Drawn by Le Moyne in Florida,
1564, and translated from the Latin of De Bry, and printed for
William Appleton, Boston, 1874. Typewritten copy, p, 9.
13. Parkman, Francis, p. 69.
14. Ibid. pp. 64-66,
A ` 15. Basanier, M., Notable History g£_F1orida, p. l57.
l7. Parkman, Francis, D. 75.
18. Hakluyt's Voyages, Vol. 7, Everyman's Library, E. P.
Dutton & Co., New York. p. 42.
19. Ibid. p. 46.
20. Parkman, Francis, p. 92.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY (continued) ·
21. Ibid. p. 95.
22. Connor, Jeannette Thurber, gean_Ribaut, p. 15. ·
25. Ibid. pp. 14-15.
24. Basanier, M., Notable History 2£_F1orida, pp. 184-189.
Q 25. Corse, Carita Doggett, Qhg_§gy_tg_the Golden Islands,
, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1951.
pp. 10-11.
26. Connor, Jeannette Thurber, £ed£g_Menendez dg Aviles,
The Florida State Historical Society, DeLand, 1923.
pp. 24-27.
27. Ibid. pp. 261-262.
28. Ibid. p. 82 Footnote.
29. Ibid. pp. 86-89.
50. Basanier, M., Notable History o£_F1orida, pp. 195-197. 4
31. Connor, §edrg_Menendez, p, 91.
52. Ibid. p. 105.
55. Ibid. p. 101.
54. ut supra
35. Parkman, Francis, pp. 129-130. 4
56. Ibid. p. 152.
37. Connor, Eedrg Menendez, pp. 114-115.
: B8. Connor, [gan Ribaut, pp. 28-29.
4 59. Connor, Qedro Menendez, pp. 121-122.
40. De Bry, Narrative_o£ Le Moyne, p. 22.
41, Connor, gean_Ribaut, p. 51.
42. Connor, Qedrg Menendez, p. 126.
43. Lowery, Woodbury, Spanish Settlements in_the_United
States, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1901. Vol. II,
p. 180, 194.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY (continued)
44. Parkman, Francis, pp. 162-163.
45. Connor, Pedro Menendez, p. 158.
46. Parkman, Francis, Pioneers o£_France ig_the New World,
pp. 159-165.
47, Lowery, Woodbury, Vol. II. p. 532. Bolton's Arredondo,
I p. asv.
4
48. Lowery, Woodbury, P. 354.
49. Parkman, Francis, p. 174.
50. Spain's Title to Georgia (Bolton's Arredondo) pp. 156-8
and   •
51. Connor, Pedro Menendez, Vol. II, pp. 319-523; Lanning,
A Spanish Missions 2; Georgia, p. 69.
52. Geiger, Franciscan Conquest 2; Florida, p. 144.
55. Ibid. p. 198.