Hernando de Miranda, a son-in-law of Menéndez, became the next Adelantado and governor of Florida. In the face of Indian difficulties he abandoned the fort at Santa Elena and was removed from office. As his successor the king appointed Don Pedro Menéndez Marqués, who had saved St. Augustine from abandonment in 1570, and was a man of proven ability. He remained governor of Florida for the next twelve years, from 1577 to 1589.
Spain was at the peak of its wealth and power, but England under Queen Elizabeth was becoming bold and a growing menace on the seas.
First English Visit
The passing years rooted St. Augustine more firmly to its soil. The spring of 1586 brought fresh green to the grass and trees, a warmth and fragrance to the air. Mocking birds and bright red cardinals sang gaily from the branches. The settlement was twenty-one years old when a vessel arrived bearing news that Spain and England were at war, and that Sir Francis Drake, the dreaded English corsair, was raiding Spanish colonies in the Caribbean.
Governor Marqués took immediate steps to prepare St. Augustine’s defenses. Slaves and soldiers labored in cutting and hauling logs from the forest to complete the new fort then under construction. Detailed plans were made for the evacuation of the families and removal of supplies. Sentinels scanned the horizon with more than usual care. The month of May wore on into June and it was hoped that the English fleet had sailed on by.
Map drawn by one of the participants in Drake’s attack on St. Augustine shows the English entering the town and their ships anchored outside the inlet.
EXPVGNATIO CIVITATIS S. AVGVSTINI IN AMERICA SITÆ.
On June 6th (Spanish calendar), the lookout stationed in the tall watch tower on Anastasia Island saw white specks appear on the horizon. They grew into sails and he signalled a warning to the settlement across the bay. Soldiers rushed to their battle stations. Housewives crossed themselves and whispered their Ave Marias with frightened children clinging to their skirts. Slaves began removing supplies, but in the confusion much was left behind.
The powerful English fleet of Sir Drake, heavy with plunder from the Caribbean, drew closer and came to anchor in the roadstead outside the inlet. The Spaniards counted over twenty large ships and their auxiliary craft. The estimated 2,000 men aboard hopelessly outnumbered St. Augustine’s little garrison of barely 150 defenders.