TITLE: The Founding Of St. Augustine
AUTHOR: Francisco Lopez de Mendoza
Grajalas
DATE: 1565
SOURCE: America, Great Crisis in our History Told by
its Makers.
[FATHER MENDOZA, who was chaplain of the expedition to the coast of
Florida commanded by "the illustrious Captain-General Pedro Menendez de
Aviles" in 1565, writes of events from first hand knowledge, when he
describes the settlement of the oldest town in the United States -- St.
Augustine.
Pedro Menendez also told this story in despatches to King Philip II,
still preserved in the Royal Archives. But his chaplain's account is the
only eye-witness narrative of the founding of St. Augustine available in
English.
The destruction of the French Huguenot Colony, described in the portion
of Mendoza's narrative given here, aroused so little interest on the part
of the French Government authorities that they made no effort to avenge
it. Had the Huguenot Colony been supported and protected a French
settlement might have been built up here half a century before the
English began colonization in the new country.]
YOUR LORDSHIP will remember that, when the fleet was in preparation in
Spain, I went to see the captain-general at the harbor of St. Mary, and,
as I told you, he showed me a letter from his Royal Highness Philip II.,
signed with his name. In this letter his Majesty told him that on May 20
some ships had left France carrying seven hundred men and two hundred
women. As I have stated, we learned at St. John's of Porto Rico that our
despatch-boat had been captured. This fact, joined to the reflection that
our fleet was much injured by the storm, and that of the ten vessels
which left Cadiz only four remained, besides the one bought at the last
port to transport the horses and troops -- all this made it evident to
our captain-general, a man of arms, that the French would likely be
waiting for him near the harbors, a little farther on; that is, off Monte
Christi, Havana, and the Cape of Las Canas, which lie on the same side,
and precisely on our route to Florida. This was all the more to be
expected since the French had come in possession of our plan to unite our
forces at Havana. Not wishing, however, to encounter the French, having
now lost our ships, and having but feeble means of defense, the general
decided to take a northerly course, and pursue a new route, through the
Bahama Channel, leaving the enemy to the windward. When I suggested this
route to the admiral and the pilot, they said it was important and
necessary to abandon the usual route, by way of Havana.
Following this dangerous navigation, the Lord permitted the admiral to
arrive safely in port on Sunday, the 20th of August. We saw two islands,
called the Bahama Islands. The shoals which lie between them are so
extensive that the billows are felt far out at sea. The general gave
orders to take soundings. The ship purchased at Porto Rico got aground
that day in two and a half fathoms of water. At first, we feared she
might stay there; but she soon got off and came to us. Our galley, one of
the best ships afloat, found herself all day in the same position, when
suddenly her keel struck three times violently against the bottom. The
sailors gave themselves up for lost, and the water commenced to pour into
her hold. But, as we had a mission to fulfill for Jesus Christ and His
blessed mother, two heavy waves, which struck her abaft, set her afloat
again, and soon after we found her in deep water, and at midnight we
entered the Bahama Channel.
ON Saturday, the 25th, the captain-general (Menendez) came to visit our
vessel and get the ordnance for disembarkment at Florida. This ordnance
consisted of two rampart pieces, of two sorts of culverins, of very small
caliber, powder and balls; and he also took two soldiers to take care of
the pieces. Having armed his vessel, he stopped and made us an address,
in which he instructed us what we had to do on arrival at the place where
the French were anchored. I will not dwell on this subject, on which
there was a good deal said for and against, although the opinion of the
general finally prevailed. There were two thousand (hundred) Frenchmen in
the seaport into which we were to force an entrance. I made some
opposition to the plans, and begged the general to consider that he had
the care of a thousand souls, for which he must give a good account. . .
.
On Tuesday, the 4th, the fleet left the place of which I have been
speaking -- and we took a northerly course, keeping all the time close to
the coast. On Wednesday, the 5th, two hours before sunset, we saw four
French ships at the mouth of a river. When we were two leagues from them,
the first galley joined the rest of the fleet, which was composed of four
other vessels. The general concerted a plan with the captains and pilots,
and ordered the flagship, the San Pelayo, and a chaloupe to attack the
French flagship, the Trinity, while the first galley and another chaloupe
would attack the French galley, both of which vessels were very large and
powerful. All the ships of our fleet put themselves in good position; the
troops were in the best of spirits, and full of confidence in the great
talents of the captain-general. They followed the galley; but, as our
general is a very clever and artful officer, he did not fire, nor seek to
make any attack on the enemy. He went straight to the French galley, and
cast anchor about eight paces from her. The other vessels went to the
windward, and very near the enemy. During the maneuvers, which lasted
until about two hours after sunset, not a word was said on either side.
Never in my life have I known such stillness. Our general inquired of the
French galley, which was the vessel nearest his.
"Whence does this fleet come?"
They answered, "From France."
"What are you doing here?" said the Adelantado. "This is the territory
of King Philip II. I order you to leave directly; for I neither know who
you are nor what you want here."
The French commander then replied, "I am bringing soldiers and supplies
to the fort of the King of France."
He then asked the name of the general of our fleet, and was told, "Pedro
Menendez de Aviles, Captain-general of the King of Spain, who have come
to hang all Lutherans I find here."
Our general then asked him the name of his commander, and he replied,
"Lord Gasto."
While this parleying was going on, a long-boat was sent from the galley
to the flagship. The person charged with this errand managed to do it so
secretly that we could not hear what was said; but we understood the
reply of the French to be, "I am the admiral," which made us think he
wished to surrender, as they were in so small a force.
Scarcely had the French made this reply, when they slipped their cables,
spread their sails, and passed through our midst. Our admiral, seeing
this, followed the French commander, and called upon him to lower his
sails, in the name of King Philip, to which he received an impertinent
answer. Immediately our admiral gave an order to discharge a small
culverin, the ball from which struck the vessel amidships, and I thought
she was going to founder. We gave chase, and some time after he again
called on them to lower their sails.
"I would sooner die first than surrender!" replied the French commander.
The order was given to fire a second shot, which carried off five or six
men; but, as these miserable devils are very good sailors, they
maneuvered so well that we could not take one of them; and,
notwithstanding all the guns we fired at them, we did not sink one of
their ships. We only got possession of one of their large boats, which
was of great service to us afterwards. During the whole night our
flagship (the San Pelayo) and the galley chased the French flagship
(Trinity) and galley. . . .
The next morning, being fully persuaded that the storm had made a wreck
of our galley, or that, at least, she had been driven a hundred leagues
out to sea, we decided that so soon as daylight came we would weigh
anchor, and withdraw in good order, to a river (Seloy) which was below
the French colony, and there disembark, and construct a fort, which we
would defend until assistance came to us. . . .
Francisco Grajalas, Founding Of St. Augustine, America, Vol.2, Pg.35
OUR fort is at a distance of about fifteen leagues from that of the
enemy (Fort Caroline). The energy and talents of those two brave
captains, joined to the efforts of their brave soldiers, who had no tools
with which to work the earth, accomplished the construction of this
fortress of defense; and, when the general disembarked, he was quite
surprised with what had been done.
On Saturday, the 8th, the general landed with many banners spread, to
the sound of trumpets and salutes of artillery. As I had gone ashore the
evening before, I took a cross and went to meet him, singing the hymn Te
Deum laudamus. The general marched up to the cross, followed by all who
accompanied him, and there they all kneeled and embraced the cross. A
large number of Indians watched these proceedings and imitated all they
saw done. The same day the general took formal possession of the country
in the name of his Majesty, and all the captains took the oath of
allegiance to him, as their general and governor of the country. . . .
Our general was very bold in all military matters, and a great enemy of
the French. He immediately assembled his captains and planned an
expedition to attack the French settlement and fort on the river with
five hundred men; and, in spite of the opinion of a majority of them, and
of my judgment and of another priest, he ordered his plan to be carried
out. Accordingly, on Monday, September 17, he set out with five hundred
men, well provided with fire-arms and pikes, each soldier carrying with
him a sack of bread and supply of wine for the journey. They also took
with them two Indian chiefs, who were the implacable enemies of the
French, to serve as guides. . . .
They marched the whole distance until Tuesday evening, the 18th of
September, 1565, when they arrived within a quarter of a league of the
enemy's fort (Caroline), where they remained all night up to their waists
in water. When daylight came, Captains Lopez, Patino, and Martin Ochoa
had already been to examine the fort, but, when they went to attack the
fort, a greater part of the soldiers were so confused they scarcely knew
what they were about.
On Thursday morning our good captain-general, accompanied by his
son-in-law, Don Pedro de Valdes and Captain Patino, went to inspect the
fort. He showed so much vivacity that he did not seem to have suffered by
any of the hardships to which he had been exposed, and, seeing him march
off so brisk, the others took courage, and without exception followed his
example. It appears the enemy did not perceive their approach until the
very moment of the attack, as it was very early in the morning and had
rained in torrents. The greater part of the soldiers of the fort were
still in bed. Some arose in their shirts, and others, quite naked, begged
for quarter; but, in spite of that, more than one hundred and forty were
killed.
A great Lutheran cosmographer and magician was found among the dead. The
rest, numbering about three hundred, scaled the walls, and either took
refuge in the forest or on their ships floating in the river, laden with
treasures, so that in an hour's time the fort was in our possession,
without our having lost a single man, or even had one wounded.
The taking of this fort gained us many valuable objects, namely, two
hundred pikes, a hundred and twenty helmets, a quantity of arquebuses and
shields, a quantity of clothing, linen, fine cloths, two hundred tons of
flour, a good many barrels of biscuit, two hundred bushels of wheat,
three horses, four asses, and two she-asses, hogs, tallow, books,
furnace, flour-mill, and many other things of little value. But the
greatest advantage of this victory is certainly the triumph which our
Lord has granted us, and which will be the means of the Holy Gospel being
introduced into this country, a thing necessary to prevent the loss of
many souls. . . .
When we had reached the sea, we went about three leagues along the
coast in search of our comrades. It was about ten o'clock at night when
we met them, and there was a mutual rejoicing at having found each other.
Not far off we saw the camp fires of our enemies, and our general ordered
two of our soldiers to go and reconnoiter them, concealing themselves in
the bushes, and to observe well the ground where they were encamped, so
as to know what could be done. About two o'clock the men returned, saying
that the enemy was on the other side of the river, and that we could not
get at them. Immediately the general ordered two soldiers and four
sailors to return to where we had left the boats, and bring them down the
river, so that we might pass over to where the enemy was. Then he marched
his troops forward to the river and we saw a great many of the enemy go
down to the river to get shell-fish for food.
Our general, who was observing all that, enlightened by the Holy Spirit,
said to us,
"I intend to change these clothes for those of a sailor, and take a
Frenchman with me (one of those whom we had brought with us from Spain),
and we will go and talk with these Frenchmen. Perhaps they are without
supplies, and would be glad to surrender without fighting."
He had scarcely finished speaking before he put his plan into execution.
As soon as he had called to them, one of them swam towards and spoke to
him; told him of their having been shipwrecked and the distress they were
in; that they had not eaten bread for eight or ten days; and, what is
more, stated that all, or at least the greater part of them. Immediately
the general sent him back to his countrymen, to say they must surrender,
and give up their arms, or he would put them all to death. A French
gentleman, who was a sergeant, brought back the reply that they would
surrender on condition their lives should be spared.
After having parleyed a long time, our brave captain-general answered
"that he would make no promises, that they must surrender
unconditionally, and lay down their arms, because, if he spared their
lives, he wanted them to be grateful for it, and, if they were put to
death, that there should be no cause for complaint." Seeing that there
was nothing else left for them to do, the sergeant returned to the camp;
and soon after he brought all their arms and flags, and gave them up to
the general, and surrendered unconditionally. Finding they were all
Lutherans, the captain-general ordered them all to be put to death; but,
as I was a priest, and had bowels of mercy, I begged him to grant me the
favor of sparing those whom we might find to be Christians. He granted
it; and I made investigations, and found ten or twelve of the men Roman
Catholics, whom we brought back. All the others were executed, because
they were Lutherans and enemies of our Holy Catholic faith. All this took
place on Saturday (St. Michael's Day), September 29, 1565. . . .
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