George Fairbanks - The Spaniards in Florida

The Adelantado hearing the cries, left Castaneda in his place to collect the people who had not come up, who were at least half the force, and went himself to see if they were in any danger. He arrived at the fort running; and as he perceived that the soldiers gave no quarter to any of the French, he shouted, "That at the penalty of their lives they should neither wound nor kill any woman, cripple, or child under fifteen years of age." By which seventy persons were saved; the rest were all killed !

Renato de Laudonnière, the Commander of the fort, escaped with his servant and some twenty or thirty others, to a vessel lying in the river.

Such is the Spanish chronicle, contained in Barcia, of the capture of Fort Caroline. Its details in the main correspond with the account of Laudonnière, and of Nicolas Challeux, the author of the letter printed at Lyons, in France, under date of August, 1566, by Jean Saugrain. In some important particulars, however, the historians disagree. It has been already seen that Menendez is represented as having given orders to spare all the women, maimed persons, and all children under fifteen years of age. The French relations of the event, on the contrary, allege that an indiscriminate slaughter took place, and that all were massacred without respect to age, sex, or condition; but as this statement is principally made upon the authority of a terrified and flying soldier, it is alike due to the probabilities of the case, and more agreeable to the hopes of humanity, to lessen somewhat the horrors of a scene which has need of all the palliation that can be drawn from the slightest evidences of compassion on the part of that stern and bigoted leader.

The Spanish statement is further confirmed by other writers, who speak of a vessel being dispatched by Menendez subsequently to carry the survivors to Spain.

The narratives of this event are found singularly full, there being no less than three accounts by fugitives from the massacre. The most complete of these is that of Nicolas de Challeux, a native of Dieppe, which was published in the following year. I have largely transcribed from this quaint and curious narrative, not only an account of the fullness of the details, but also for the light it throws upon the habits of thought and modes of expression of that day, when so much was exhibited of an external religious faith, and so many were found who would fight for their faith when they refused to adhere to its requirements. There are apparent, also, a close study of the Scriptures, a great familiarity with its language, a frequent use of its illustrations, and a disposition to attribute all things, with a reverent piety, to the direct personal supervision of the Almighty. By the aid of a map of the St. John's River, it will not be difficult to trace the perilous route of escape pursued by De Challeux and his companions, over obstacles much magnified by the terror of the moment and want of familiarity with the country: —

"The number of persons in the fort was two hundred and forty, partly of those who had not recovered from sea-sickness, partly of artisans and of women and children left to the care and diligence of Captain Laudonnière, who had no expectation that it was possible that any force could approach by land to attack him. On which account the guards had withdrawn for the purpose of refreshing themselves a little before sunrise, on account of the bad weather which had continued during the whole night, most of our people being at the time in their beds sleeping. The wicket gate open, the Spanish force, having traversed forests, swamps, and rivers, arrived at break of day, Friday, the 20th September, the weather very stormy, and entered the fort without any resistance, and made a horrible satisfaction of the rage and hate they had conceived against our nation. It was then who should best kill the most men, sick and well, women and little children, in such a manner that it is impossible to conceive of a massacre which could equal this for its barbarity and cruelty.

"Some of the more active of our people, jumping from their beds, slipped out and escaped to the vessel in the river. I was myself surprised, going to my duty with my clasp-knife in my hand; for upon leaving my cabin, I met the enemy, and saw no other means of escape but turning my back, and making the utmost possible haste to lead over the palisades, for I was closely pursued, step by step, by a pike-man and one with a partisan; and I do not know how it was, unless by the grace of God, that my strength was redoubled, old man as I am and grey-headed, a thing which at any other time I could not have done, for the rampart was raised eight or nine feet; I then hastened to secrete myself in the woods, and when I was sufficiently near the edge of the wood at the distance of a good bow-shot, I turned towards the fort and rested a little time, finding myself not pursued; and as from this place all the fort, even the inner-court was distinctly visible to me, looking there I saw a horrible butchery of our men taking place, and three standards of our enemies planted upon the ramparts. Having then lost all hope of seeing our men rally, I resigned all my senses to the Lord. Recommending myself to his mercy, grace and favor, I threw myself into the wood, for it seemed to me that I could find no greater cruelty among the savage beast, than that of our enemy which I had seen shown towards our people. But the misery and anguish in which I found myself then, straitened and oppressed, seeing no longer any means of safety upon the earth, unless by a special grace of our Lord, transcending any expectation of man, caused me to utter groans and sobs, and with a voice broken by distress to thus cry to the Lord:

"'O God of our fathers and Lord of all mercy! who hast commanded us to call upon Thee even from the depths of hell and the shades of death, promising forthwith thy aid and succor! show me, for the hope which I have in Thee, what course I ought to take to come to the termination of this miserable old age, plunged into the gulf of grief and bitterness; at least, cause that, feeling the effect of Thy mercy, and the confidence which I have conceived in my heart for Thy promises, they may not be snatched from me through fear of savage and furious wild beasts on one hand, and of our and Thy enemies on the other, who desire the more to injure us for the memory of Thy name which is invoked by us than for any other cause; aid me, my God! assist me, for I am so troubled that I can do nothing more.'

"And while I was making this prayer, traversing the wood, which was very thick and matted with briars and thorns, beneath the large trees where there was neither any road nor path, scarcely had I trailed my way half an hour, when I heard a noise like men weeping and groaning near me; and advancing in the name of God, and in the confidence of His succor, I discovered one of our people, named Sieur de la Blonderie, and a little behind him another, named Maitre Robert, well known to us all, because he had in charge the prayers at the fort.

"Immediately afterwards we found also the servant of Sieur d'Ully, the nephew of M. Lebreau, Master Jaques Trusse, and many others; and we assembled and talked over our troubles, and deliberated as to what course we could take to save our lives. One of our number, much esteemed as being very learned in the lessons of Holy Scripture, proposed after this manner: 'Brethren, we see to what extremity we are brought; in whatever direction we turn our eyes, we see only barbarism. The heavens, the earth, the sea, the forest, and men, – in brief, nothing favors us. How can we know that if we yield to the mercy of the Spaniards, they will spare us? and if they should kill us, it will be the suffering of but a moment; they are men, and it may be that, their fury appeased, they may receive us upon some terms; and, moreover, what can we do? Would it not be better to fall into the hands of men, than into the jaws of wild beasts, or die of hunger in a strange land?'