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Gator58uf (talk) 20:14, 2 February 2009 (UTC) Fort Caroline (Le Caroline)

  Fort Caroline was built in 1564 as a defensive fortication for the two hundred French, German and Dutch Huguenot colonists and African slaves who sailed to Nouvelle France (Florida) with Captain Rene de Laudonnière. Laudonnière built a fort "six Leagues" up the river on the south bank of the River May (Comming 1963:34). The area selected for the fort was a beautifully wooded area about 16 km (10 mi) southeast of the City of Jacksonville, near present day St. Johns Bluff (latitude 30º 29' W). The colony was located in an area clamed by both France and Spain. (Coming, et all 1971) The founding of the colony was part of a political master plan by Grand Admiral Gasper Coligny to strengthen France by uniting her Catholic and Huguenot people against their traditional enemy, the Spanish. (Lawson 1992)

                             Location of Fort Caroline
  The information used to identify possible locations of Fort Caroline were taken from the writings of the first explorers and settlers: Jean Ribault (1962), Rene de Laudonnière (1589), the leaders of the 1564 expedition; the artist and map maker Jacques le Moyne (1875) (Figure 4); the master carpenter Nicholas le Challeux (1566); the Spanish captive Robert Meleneche (Bennett 1964); and the French mutineer Stefano de Rojomonte (Bennett 1964). The writings of the English sea captain John Hawkins (Hakluyt 1589), the Spanish Adelantado Pedro Menendez de Aviles (Lyon 1929), and the French captain that revenged the massacre of Fort Caroline, Dominique de Gourgues (Bennett 1964), and various maps drawn around the time of the settlement . The narrative descriptions given by the leader of the French settlement, Rene de Laudonnière (1566), and the carpenter Nicolas le Challeux (1566) gave the best-written information concerning the location of the fort. The map, Le Carline on le Riviere de May (Figure 3), drawn by a young French soldier stationed at the fort in 1564, provides the best pictorial representation of the location .
  The lower St. Johns River area is commanded by a sandy, steep bluff (St. Johns Bluff) that is 21 m (70 ft) above mean high water level. This bluff is somewhat in the shape of an "L" with the leg parallel with the river course and its trunk and highest ridge lying southwest at a right angle to the river. South of the bluff the land sloops gradually to lowland and marshes. The bluff area comprises about 48 hectares (118 acres), most of it heavily wooded with live oak, scrub oak cedar, pine, magnolia bay, plum, and other indigenous growth. Not only was the area thought to be defensible, but also its closeness to the Atlantic Ocean afforded easy access for additional colonist and for receiving supplies from France (Davis 1911: 38). The broad river also was thought to be a waterway to the interior of le Floride where gold and silver might be found. (Bennett 1964:19). Jean Ribault (1964:21), described the site as ":... the fairest, futefullest and plesentest of all the world ... the sight of the faire medows is a pleasure not able to be expressed with tunge . (Bennett 1964:19).
  The small colony depended upon the Timucuan Indians for food and for knowledge of the ways of living in this region. The colonist added by the native Americans, built their triangular fortification on a portion of high, flat land beside the River May (St. Johns River), west of a small hill (Bennett 1964:19). To the flat plain, they gave the name, Vale of Laudonnière. As their supplies dwindled so, did there friendship with the Native Americans, and the colony fell on hard times. The Indians did not grow enough food to support an extra two hundred people for one year. (Bennett 1964:20).
  The fort was not very large by prevailing standards of the sixteen-century. It was designed as a three-sided structure built of sawn lumber and faggots (small sticks tied together to form bundles about the size of a man). A dry moat bordered the two sides facing away from the creek, and the .6 m (2 ft) of sod taken from the moat was put on the top of the parapet walls (Figure 1). A palisade wall of upright, sawed pine tempers was erected on the side facing the water. The French also constructed a impressive gate on the west side that was decorated with the arms of France and their patron, Admiral Coligny (Bennett 1964:19), (Figure 2).
  Inside the fort, five large building housed the munitions and stores. Most of them were constructed of fired brick made from mud gathered along the river bank. The roof rafters were made by splitting pine trees found at the site, these in turn were covered with palm branch thatching, a trick the French learned from the Indians. The soldier's huts were constructed along bout sides of the parade ground. Their exterior walls were constructed of palm tree trunks with split pine roof rafters and palm thatching. Some of the colonist had housing built inside the fort, but most of the housing was outside the protective fortifications. The settlement was named le Caroline in honor of King Carlos (Charles IX), but the colonist soon began referring to it as Fort Caroline (Bennett 1964:19). 

                     Problems at the Fort
  Keeping order among the colonist who sought wealth by trade or discovery of gold was not an easy task, most of them were not accustom to strict military discipline (Bennett 1964:25). Laudonnière’s religious faith was beyond reproach, but some of the Huguenot men of higher society adhered to puritanical moral standards. Others felt a desire to live according to the doctrine of the reformed gospel. At first, there was no ordained minister for the settlers and laymen conducted religious services. This deficiency was overcome by the arrival of a preacher who came with reinforcements in Captain Bourdet’s ship in 1564. Services at the fort and the missionary work among the Indians attest to the strong religious feeling of the colonists. (Bennett 1964:28).
  Discontent on the fort stemmed from many causes. The riches expected from gold, silver and pears did not materialize. The French leaders failed to send the supplies as promised. The Indian tribes produced little in agricultural surplus and when the colonists need for corn and other staple foods had seriously depleted the Indians stores, their friendship turned in to enmity. The Always hungry Frenchmen appeared selfish and unreliable to the native people. Thus, frustration, disappointment and rebellion were blamed on Laudonnière (Bennett 1964:30).
  There was no denying that Fort Caroline was, in the minds of most colonist, a failure. After long weeks and months of watching the horizon for sails, hopeful that ships would come loaded with supplies and settlers to augment the infant colony. When help did not come in the spring and summer of 1565, Laudonnière reluctantly agreed that the only possible action was to abandon the fort and return to France. The fort was striped of timber and carpenters set about rebuilding a ship of sufficient size to withstand the rigors of the Atlantic (Bennett 1964:31).
  Then on June 30, 1565, the lookouts spotted sails coming from the south, up the Florida coast. When the ships anchored at the mouth if the river it was realized the ships were English. Sir John Hawkins was putting into the river for fresh water. When the English realized the pitiful plight of the French, he offered a trade. A ship he had captured from the Spanish needed brass cannon to arm it and the French had cannon. They needed food from the holes of his vessels and he had a ship but licked the requisite number of sailors to man it. Exchanges were made: the seaworthy ship and ample supplies for the brass cannon. Hawkins even offered to take the French colonist with him and see them across the Atlantic. Laudonnière declined, because he knew that abandoning Fort Caroline and excepting Hawkins offer would give the English a claim to Florida (Lyon 1929: 111). After Hawkins sailed away a spirit of optimism prevailed in the fort. Men worked vigorously to transfer there belonging to the acquired ship. Water and food were but on board for the voyage back to France. The settlers of Fort Caroline only waited for a fair wind and tide to coincide together so they could get across the bar at the mouth of the River May (Lyon 1929: 111).
                           
                              Spanish Massacre
  Jean Ribault’s release from prison in England and his return to France triggered Grand Admiral Gaspard de Coligny’s plan to send aid to Fort Caroline. Some malcontents had returned to France from Fort Caroline with reports of suffering, mutiny, and poor administration by Laudonnière. Ribault was placed in charge of the relief expedition and charged with replacing Laudonnière. Seven ships were lorded with wheat, biscuit, salted meat, wine, agricultural implements, animals, guns and ammunition. Able sea captains including Ribault’s son Jacques along with 600 sailers, soldiers and settlers (men, women and children) prepared to set sail. Most of the people were French Huguenots along with French Catholics, some Germans and other foreign men (Bennett 1964: 33).
  In June 1565, the flotilla set sail for the fort. After a voyage of over two months, Ribault sighted the mouth of the River May (St. Johns). 
  On August 28, 1565, Three of the smaller ships were able to cross the bar and anchor off Fort Caroline the other four larger ships anchored off the mouth of the river (Parkman 1865: 93). At last, it appeared that France was fulfilling her promise to support the fledgling settlement. The reinforcements had come too late, but it had at last arrived.
  Ribault unloaded his supplies, munitions, and troops from the ships. He had arrived with written royal orders to replace Laudonnière and send him home, but Ribault, after talking with the settlers concerning the plight at the fort, decided to keep Laudonnière and placed him in charge of the wrecked fort. Laudonnière set to work with his own men and the newly arrived Frenchmen to but the defenses of the fort in better order. Laudonnière, worn by strain and labor, fell ill for more than a week, while the unloading and repair continued (Lyon 1929: 111).

By September 4th the three small ships Ribault brought were lightened enough to cross the bar and sailed opposite the fort while the remaining ships stayed anchored at the mouth of the river.

  By mid afternoon the lookouts aboard the ships at the river mouth reported five sails coming north before the wind. At about time a afternoon thunderstorm prevented them from being identified. Finally, well after night had fallen, the wind began to blow again and the Spanish ships were able to anchor next to the French ships. It was Menéndez’s intention to board and take the French ships at first light, so that the French would have no chance of reinforcing their ships (Lyon 1929: 113). As the vessels approached each other, Menendez demanded unconditional surrender and the name of the French commander. He was told it was Jean Ribault and he was authorized by the King of France. The French then asked the same question of the Spanish and received the reply that they were Spanish, lead by the adelantado of the provinces of Florida, Pedro Menendez de Aviles. They were further told that the rightful ruler was king Philip II and he had given his adelantado orders to burn and hang the Lutheran French he might find there. In the morning, the French ships would be boarded, and if they proved to be such people, the justice of the Spanish King would be carried out. The taunts of the French caused him to attempt it at once even though it was night. Ribault’s crew was not at battle stations so he gave the order to cut there anchor cables, raise sail and move away from the Spanish fleet. As soon as they could get under way, the Spanish spent the night chasing the French ships but could not catch them. At dawn, they returned to the mouth of the River May determined to put his original plan into action. He proposed to seize the point of land adjoining the inlet and deny the French the use of the river. What Menéndez had counted on was that almost all the French soldiery had disembarked and was drawn up in fine order on shore, while the three small French ships had stationed themselves as a barrier across the river mouth. Menendez decided to sail south and establish a base of his own and prepare for a long campaign. The site chosen was a place they had discovered a few days before. The fleet entered a harbor south of the river and named it San Agustin for the feast day of St. Augustine (Lyon 1929: 114).
  Ribault and his captains assembled for a council in the bedroom of the ailing Laudonnière, “Ribault said he planed to take the able bodied men at Fort Caroline and attack Menendez before he could establish himself at St. Augustine, but Laudonnière objected, saying in his opinion the fort ought not to be left practically unmanned and he also thought it unwise to put to sea during the hurricane season (Laudonniere 1586: 47). Ribault  offered an inducement: after defeating Menendez, he would allow Laudonnière to retain command of Fort Caroline while Ribault built another settlement in the Carolinas. Over Laudonnière’s objections, Ribault sailed south for St. Augustine and Menendez (Bennett 1964: 35).
  The fort was still in a ruinous state, with the palisade on the waterside broken down, and three breaches in the rampart. “In the driving rain, urged by the sick Laudonnière, the men, bedrenched and disheartened, labored as they could to strengthen their defenses.” (Bennett 1964: Their muster roll shows but a beggarly array. "Now, let them which have bene bold to say that I had men ynough left me, so that I had meanes to defend my selfe, give care a little now vnto mee, and if they have eyes in their heads, let them see what men I had." Of Ribaut's followers left at the fort, only nine or ten had weapons, while only two or three knew how to use them. Four of them were boys, who kept Ribaut's dogs, and another was his cook. Besides these, he had left a brewer, an old crossbow-maker, two shoemakers, a player on the spinet, four valets, a carpenter of threescore years, (Challeux), who has left us the story of his woes (Challeux 1566), with a crowd of women, children, and eightysix camp-followers. To these were added the remnant of Laudonnière’s men, of whom seventeen could bear arms, the rest being sick or disabled by wounds received in the fight with Outina. Laudonnière “divided his force, such as it was, into two watches, over which he placed two officers, Saint Cler and La Vigne, gave them lanterns for going the rounds, and an hour-glass for setting the time; while he himself, giddy with weakness and fever, was every night at the guardroom.” (Laudonniere 1586: 48).
  On September 18, Menendez left St. Augustine for Fort Caroline, with 5oo arquebusiers, lead by there captains to assault the French fort. The Spanish marched under a fierce rain and wind, some think it was a hurricane, lead by a French mutterer and traitor named Francis Jean, who had previously stolen a boat from Fort Caroline and made his way to the islands of the Indies where he was captured by the Spanish (Lyon 1929: 121).
  At the break of day on September 20, the Spaniards attacked the fort and in less than one hour, the Spanish had full control. The French left at the fort were taken by surprise. Laudonnière had ordered watchmen to remain on guard, but the incessant wind and rain convinced them there could be no danger if attack from the Spaniards (Bennett 1964: 37).
  Menendez lead the attack on the southwest section of the fort. Before the French were fully awake, the Spanish were inside the fortification and using their pikes and swords with bloody effect. (Lyon 1929:121). Laudonnière in his nightshirt jumped from his sick bed to join the fight. With the fort lost Laudonnière, unable to stand alone, escaped through his house into the woods and to the river (Bennett 1964: 37).
  Many men and some women and children in the fort were slain in the battle. Some say Menendez was tardy in ordering his men to spare the women and children and also that some of the infants were impaled on pikes and left stuck in the ground. (Bennett 1964: 38). The other men, women and children were spared, including shipwrecked sailors to whom the French had given haven. The other men were hanged and the inscription placed above there bodies read, “I do this, not as to Frenchman, but as to Lutherans” (Bennett 1964: 38). All tolled more than 143 Frenchmen were killed or hanged by Menendez. The victorious Menendez had the remaining captives and the booty taken to St. Augustine. The ammunition, clothing, foodstuffs, utensils, poultry and domestic animals were taken for Spanish use. The Protestant Bibles and symbols of the Huguenot faith were either burned or torn up. Before leaving, Mendez renamed the river the St. Johns and the fort San Mateo (Lyon 1929: 124).
  Meanwhile, the French who sailed with Ribault to St. Augustine were having problems of their on. The hurricane had blown there ships southeast on to the shore near present day Daytona Beach. The flag ship Trinité with its commander and crew grounded intact near Cape Canaveral and most of the men came safely to shore. Only one small ship managed to make its way free of the wends and sea. Its crew decided to leave Florida and go into the Caribbean (Lyon 129: 124). 
  The shipwrecked men were lost on a hostile shore, with there supplies destroyed or damaged by the storm. As Indians appeared along the beaches the men formed groups for defense. One grope was made up of the crew of the Trinité with the other group the saviors of the other ships. After some time both groups decided to make the long trek northward, headed for Fort Caroline (Lyon 129: 125). 
  On September 29, friendly Indians brought word to Menendez of a large group of men on the south side of a small inlet eighteen miles south of St. Augustine. With one company of men, a priest and a French interpreter set out for the inlet. After some showed exchanges, a French pilot told Menendez the frank situation of his countermen. Afterwards Menendez told then about the capture of Fort Caroline. Menendez then sent a message back to the Frenchmen that “he was their enemy, bond to pursue them with fire and blood war to extermination” (Lyon 129: 125). Later a nobleman came to parley with Menendez, asking for there lives if they would surrender. Menendez replied, “they could place themselves at his mercy, but he would give no guarantees for their safety” (Lyon 1929: 125). The French had no options except to surrender and were ferried across the inlet in small parties with there hands tied, and were taken a short distance into the sand dunes and at Menéndez’s signal had them run through with pike, sword and dagger. He spared the French pilot, four carpenters and caulkers and twelve Breton sailors (Bennett 1964: 163).
  On October 11, word again came to Menendez that another group of Frenchmen had come to the inlet where the first group had died and Jean Ribault was with them. After a day of negotiation, Ribaut came under a flag of truce to see Menéndez Ribault was not able to change Menéndez’s mind concerning the terms of surrender: the Frenchman must yield themselves entirely to the mercies of the Spaniards. The next day half of the Frenchmen decided to retain there freedom and retreated southward away from the Spaniards. Jean Ribault, with several of his captains and seventy of his men, came to surrender and be taken across the inlet. Menendez again keep the men who could help his situation and had the rest killed, among them was Jean Ribault. The French Intrusion into Florida had been eliminated and Menendez was free to finish the Enterprise of Florida (Lyon 1929: 127).
  

                         French Reprisal
  At the French Court, some men advocated an undeclared naval war and the sinking of Spanish ships wherever found. The petition of the widows and orphans of the massacred men at Fort Caroline, asking the king to demand redress from Philip II of Spain, further aroused patriotic Frenchmen. (As an example of the period’s propaganda for France’s entry into battle for Florida, see: Haranque d’un Caicuque (France, 1596). Copy located at Fort Caroline National Memorial Library, Jacksonville, Florida.) 
  It was the Catholic Dominique De Gourgues and not the Protestant Rene Laudonnière who was chosen to avenge the honor of France. In 1568, he arrived in Florida to lead his 180 men against the Spaniards at fort San Mateo. Guided by a Frenchman who had ben living with the Indians of the area, the French surprised the Spanish while they sat picking their teeth after a meal. Hundreds of them were slain and others captured. The captured men were hanged and written on a sign placed above their bodies was, “Not as to Spaniards, but as to Traders, Robbers, and Murderers” (Bennett 1964: 49). The Indians welcomed the French and sang songs, which they had learned, from the Huguenots at Fort Caroline. It was not De Gourgues’s motive to resettle the fort but to revenge the massacre. After restoring the Fort Caroline name, he sailed away and the Spaniards reoccupied their fort San Mateo (Bennett 1964: 49).

<gallery> Image:Figure 1. Galli locum condendaearci aptum deligunt(Building the Fort)by Jacques le Moyne, dated 1590.jpg From Hulton (1977:Plate 107) Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Image:Figure 2. Arcis Caroline delineation (View of Fort Caroline) by Jacques le Moyne, dated 1590.jpg|From Hulton (1977:Plate 108) Reproduced with permission of the publisher. Image:Figure 3. Le Caroline on de la Riviere de May. Drawn by a young French soldier on the 1564 expedition to Florida. It was enclosed with a letter to Vincent Norman and Ieanne Bruneau and sent to France from Fort Caroline aboard the ship Isabella of Honfleur on July 25, 1564. It is the only drawing of the fort that was drawn in America. Photocopy of map courtesy of John Carter Brown Library, Brown University. Image:Figure 4. Floride Americae Provinciae by Jacques le Moyne, dated 1590. Map shows the location of Fort Caroline between the Indian villages of Homoloua and Saturiva. From Hulton (1977:Plate 109) Reproduced with permission of the publisher.