Dominic de Gourgues, one of those soldiers of fortune who then abounded throughout Europe, took upon himself the expression of the indignation with which the French nation viewed the slaughter of their countrymen. From motives of policy, or from feelings still less creditable, the French court ignored the event; but it rankled nevertheless in the national heart, and many a secret vow of revenge was breathed, the low whispers of which reached even the confines of the Spanish court. Conscience, and the knowledge that the sentiment of the age was against him, made Menendez from the moment of his success exceedingly anxious lest well-merited retribution should fall upon his own colony. He guarded against it in every way in his power; he strengthened all his posts; he erected for the protection of San Matteo, formerly Fort Caroline, two small forts on either side of the entrance of the river, at the points now known as Batten Island and Mayport Mills. He placed large garrisons at each post, and had made such arrangements against surprise or open attack upon his forts, that Father Mendoza boasted that, "half of all France could not take them."
De Gourgues, with three vessels and about two hundred and fifty chosen men, animated with like feelings with himself, appeared in April, 1568, off the mouth of the St. Johns. The Spanish fort received his vessels with a salute, supposing them to be under the flag of Spain. De Gourgues returned the salute, thus confirming their error. He then entered the St. Marys, called the Somme, and was met by a large concourse of Indians, friendly to the French and bitterly hostile to the Spaniards, at the head of whom was the stern and uncompromising Satouriara. Their plans were quickly formed, and immediately carried into execution. Their place of rendezvous was the Fort George Inlet, called by them the Sarabay; and they traversed that island at low tide, fell suddenly upon the fort at Batten Island on the north side of the river, completely surprising it. The force occupying the Spanish forts amounted to four hundred men, one hundred and twenty of whom occupied the two forts at the mouth of the river, and the remainder Fort Caroline. The French with their Indian allies approached the fort on the north side of the river at day-break. Having waded the intervening marsh and creek, to the great damage of their feet and legs by reason of the oyster banks, they arrived within two hundred yards of the post, when they were discovered by the sentinel upon the platform of the fort; who immediately cried, "to arms," and discharged twice at the French a culverin which had been taken at Fort Caroline. Before he could load it a third time the brave Olatocara leaped upon him, and killed him with a pike. Gourgues then charging in, the garrison, by this time alarmed, rushed out, armed hastily and seeking escape; another part of Gourgues' force coming up, inclosed the Spaniards between them, and all but fifteen of the garrison perished on the spot; the others were taken prisoners, only to be reserved for the summary vengeance which the French leader meditated.
The Spanish garrison in the other fort kept up in the mean time a brisk cannonade, which incommoded the assailants, who however soon managed to point the pieces of the fort they had taken; and under the cover of this fire the French crossed to the other fort, their Indian allies in great numbers swimming with them. The garrison of sixty men, panic-struck, made no attempt at resistance, but fled, endeavoring to reach the main fort; being intercepted by the Indians in one direction, and by the French in another, but few made good their escape. These, arriving at Fort Caroline, carried an exaggerated account of the number of their assailants.
De Gourgues at once pushed forward to attack Fort Caroline, while its defenders were terrified at the suddenness of his attack, and the supposed strength of his force. Upon his arrival near the fort, the Spanish commander sent out a detachment of sixty men, to make a reconnoisance. De Gourgues skillfully interposed a body of his own men with a large number of the Indians between the reconnoitering party and the fort, and then with his main force charged upon them in front: when the Spaniards, turning to seek the shelter of the fort, were met by the force in their rear, and were all either killed or taken prisoners. Seeing this misfortune, the Spanish commander despaired of being able to hold the fortress, and determined to make a timely retreat to St. Augustine. In attempting this, most of his followers fell into the hands of the Indians, and were slain upon the spot; the commandant with a few others alone escaped.
De Gourgues, now completely successful in making retaliation for the fate of his countrymen on the same spot where they suffered, on the same tree which had borne the bodies of the Huguenots caused his prisoners to be suspended; and as Menendez had on the former occasion erected a tablet that they had been punished "not as Frenchmen but as Lutherans," so De Gourgues in like manner erected an inscription that he had done this to them "not as to Spaniards, nor as to outcasts, but as to traitors, thieves and murderers."[20]
After inducing the Indians to destroy the forts, and to raze them to the ground, he set sail for France, arriving safely without further adventure.
His conduct was at the time disavowed and censured by the French court; and the Spanish ambassador had the assurance, in the name of that master who had publicly declared his approval of the conduct of Menendez, to demand the surrender of De Gourgues to his vengeance. The brave captain, however the crown might seem to disapprove, was secretly sustained and protected by many distinguished persons official and private, and by the mass of the people; to whom his boldness, spirit, and signal success were grateful. Some years afterwards he was restored to the favor of his sovereign, and appointed admiral of the fleet.
That De Gourgues deserves censure, cannot be denied; but there will always exist an admiration for his courage and intrepid valor, with a sympathy for the bitter provocations under which he acted, both personal and national; a sympathy not shared with Menendez, who visited his wrath upon the religious opinions of men, while De Gourgues was the unauthorized avenger of undoubted crime and inhumanity. Both acted in violation of the pure spirit of that Christianity which they alike professed to revere, under the same form.
While these scenes were enacting on the St. Johns, Menendez was on his way to his colonies, where he first heard of the descent of De Gourgues, then on his way back to France. The Adelantado upon his arrival found his troops hungry and naked, and their relations with the Indians worse than ever. Having made such arrangements as were in his power, he returned to Havana, to further his plans for introducing Christianity among the Indians; to which, to his credit be it said, he devoted the greater share of his time and attention. Father Rogel applied himself to learning their language, with great success; and an institution was established in Havana especially for their instruction. In the Ensayo Cronologica, there is set forth in full, a rescript addressed by Pope Pius V., to Menendez, conveying to him the acknowledgements of his Holiness for the zeal and loyalty he had exhibited, and his labors in carrying the faith to the Indians, and urging him strongly to see to it that his Indian converts should not be scandalized by the vicious lives of their white brethren who claimed to be Christians.
A small party of Spaniards, as has already been mentioned, accompanied by a priest, De Quiros, had been left upon the Chesapeake, and under the auspices of a young converted chief, who had been some time with the Spaniards in Havana and Florida, anticipated a more easy access to the Indian tribes in that region. Another priest, with ten associates, went the following year; when, after they had sent away their vessel, they discovered that their predecessor had been murdered, through the treachery of the renegade apostate; and they themselves shortly fell victims to his perfidy. Menendez dispatched a third vessel there; when the fate of the two former parties was ascertained, and he went in person to chastise the murderers; he succeeded in capturing six or seven, who, it is said, (rather improbably I think), confessed themselves to have been implicated in the massacre. Menendez, in his summary and sailor-like way, ordered their execution at the yard-arm of his vessel. The Cronicle says that they were first converted and baptized, by the zeal of Father Rogel, before the sentence was carried into execution. A long period elapsed before any further efforts were made in this quarter to establish a colony; and it was then accomplished by the English. In consequence of these temporary establishments, however, the Spanish crown, for a long period, claimed the whole of the intervening country, as lying within its Province of Florida.