Matanzas
29 SEPTEMBER-12 OCTOBER 1565
MATANZAS
Spain gained a foothold in the Caribbean in the 1490s after her sponsorship of Christopher Columbus’ expeditions. By the 16th century she had effectively cornered the profitable Caribbean spice and sugar trade. Spain’s Caribbean bases also became transit points for precious metal shipments from South America and the Pacific. The lure of these riches attracted English and French privateers such that by the mid-1500s the Spanish Main fell victim to active marauding. Concurrent religious turmoil in France between Catholics and Protestant Huguenots encouraged Huguenot leader Jean Ribault to seek colonial opportunities in the New World. Thus in 1565 French and Spanish expeditions simultaneously descended on Spanish Florida, the Huguenots establishing Fort Caroline near modern Jacksonville, and the Spanish founding St. Augustine 30 miles to the south as a base against piracy. A clash between the Catholic Spanish, who claimed title to Florida, and the Huguenots was inevitable.
The French took the initiative, sallying in mid-September to attack Pedro Menéndez de Avilés at St. Augustine. But an untimely hurricane scattered Ribault’s fleet and drove it ashore along the Florida coast to the south. Meanwhile Menéndez marched overland to successfully capture Fort Caroline.
To the south, 500 of Ribault’s shipwrecked Huguenots collected themselves in two large groups for a march up the coast. The lead group was halted on September 29th by an impassable coastal inlet 14 miles south of St. Augustine. That same day 70 of Menéndez’ men reached the north side of this same inlet. Menéndez now tricked the French into believing they were outnumbered and convinced them to surrender to Spanish benevolence. Throughout this day Menéndez ferried the Huguenots, ten at a time, across the inlet. As each ten arrived they were fed, then led out of sight behind the dunes. Here they were bound and put to the sword. All but 15 of the 126 Huguenots of this first group were thus dispatched.
Twelve days later the second group of 350 Frenchmen reached the inlet. This time Ribault himself negotiated with Menéndez, also agreeing to surrender. Using the same modus operandi the Spanish ferried the Frenchmen across, slaughtering 134 before their scheme was discovered. The remaining Huguenots fled, most were later rounded up and imprisoned in Cuba.
The Spanish later built a small guardpost at this inlet, Fort Matanzas, the Spanish word for “slaughters.” Spain held Florida almost continuously until 1819, when our own nation’s need for a base from which to counter the British in the Caribbean led the United States to purchase Florida.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 6 OCT 25
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
De Quesada, Alejandro M. A History of Florida Forts: Florida’s Lonely Outposts, Cheltenham, England: History Press, 2006, p. 43.
Site visit. Fort Matanzas National Monument, St. Augustine, Florida, July 1997.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: The Matanzas Inlet, into which drains the Matanzas River, represents a “backdoor” access point to St. Augustine. Hence, the small wooden guardpost built by the Spanish to provide an early warning against a British or French attack. This outpost was re-constructed of stone in the 1740s and stood (in marked disrepair) until 1924, when it was declared a US National Monument. It has since been rebuilt by the National Park Service to its 1740s design and can be visited today, the Fort Matanzas National Monument, on Route A1A south of St. Augustine.
The National Park Service was created in 1916. Prior to that, the Antiquities Act of 1906, enacted during Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, gave Presidents executive power to designate National Monuments of historic or natural significance.
