The ease with which the English had taken and held the city for almost two months made it clear that more defenses were needed. Moreover, English and Indian obliteration of the missions in Apalache, Timucua, and Guale had reduced Spanish control to the tiny area directly under the Castillo guns.
In the next two decades strong earthworks and palisades, buttressed at strategic points with redoubts, made St. Augustine a walled town, secure as long as there were enough soldiers to man the walls. But in those dark days who could be sure of tomorrow? In 1712 came La Gran Hambre—the Great Hunger—when starving people even ate the dogs and cats.
At last the war ended in 1714. The threat to St. Augustine lessened, but it was an uneasy kind of peace with many “incidents.” In 1728 Col. William Palmer of Carolina marched against the presidio. The grim walls of the fort, the readiness of the heavy guns, and the needle-sharp points of the yucca plants lining the palisades were a powerful deterrent. Palmer “refrained” from taking the town. For their part, the Spaniards fired their guns, but made no sorties.
Palmer’s bold foray to the very gates of St. Augustine foreshadowed a new move southward by the English, beginning with the settlement of Savannah in 1732. With his eye on Florida, James Oglethorpe landed at St. Simons Island in 1736, built Fort Frederica, and nurtured it into a strong military post. From Frederica he pushed his Georgia boundary southward all the way to the St. Johns River—a scant 35 miles from St Augustine.
Mortars have long held an important place in the family of field artillery because of their ability to throw a projectile over a barrier. The Spaniards were among the earliest to use mortars whose trajectory could be varied, thereby making the mortars even more effective.
Meanwhile, Castillo de San Marcos began to show signs of being 50 years old. The capable engineer and frontier diplomat Antonio de Arredondo came from Havana to inspect Florida’s defenses and make recommendations. Backed by Arredondo’s expertise, Gov. Manuel de Montiano wrote a frank letter to the governor of Cuba, who was now responsible for Florida’s security: “Your Excellency must know that this castle, the only defense here, has no bombproofs for the protection of the garrison, that the counterscarp is too low, that there is no covered way, that the curtains are without demilunes, that there are no other exterior works to give them time for a long defense; ... we are as bare outside as we are without life inside, for there are no guns that could last 24 hours and if there were, we have no artillery-men to serve them.”
Spanish-English Conflict, 1670-1748
The Treaty of Madrid, 1670, aimed at stopping the Spanish-English contest along the South Atlantic coast by confirming Spanish claims as far north as 32°30′. The English agreed to this but within a few years continued their push southward. Savannah, settled in 1733 was well within Spanish territory.
Selected attacks Nationality Charleston 1670, 1706 Spanish ″, 1706 French Edisto Island, 1706 Spanish Port Royal, 1686 Spanish Santa Catalina Island, 1680 English Fort Frederica, 1742 Spanish St. Simons Island, 1742 Spanish Santa Maria Island, 1683 English San Juan de Puerto, 1683 English Fort San Diego, 1740 English St. Augustine, 1683, 1702, 1728, 1740 English Matanzas Inlet, 1683, 1740, 1741, 1742, 1743 English Little Matanzas Inlet, 1686 French Mosquito Inlet, 1682 French Santa Fe, 1702 English Santa Catalina de Afuica, 1685 English San Juan de Guacara, 1693 English Ayubale, 1704 English San Pedro de Patale, 1704 English Apalache Fort, 1677, 1682 French San Carlos, 1693 English
| Selected attacks | Nationality |
|---|---|
| Charleston 1670, 1706 | Spanish |
| ″, 1706 | French |
| Edisto Island, 1706 | Spanish |
| Port Royal, 1686 | Spanish |
| Santa Catalina Island, 1680 | English |
| Fort Frederica, 1742 | Spanish |
| St. Simons Island, 1742 | Spanish |
| Santa Maria Island, 1683 | English |
| San Juan de Puerto, 1683 | English |
| Fort San Diego, 1740 | English |
| St. Augustine, 1683, 1702, 1728, 1740 | English |
| Matanzas Inlet, 1683, 1740, 1741, 1742, 1743 | English |
| Little Matanzas Inlet, 1686 | French |
| Mosquito Inlet, 1682 | French |
| Santa Fe, 1702 | English |
| Santa Catalina de Afuica, 1685 | English |
| San Juan de Guacara, 1693 | English |
| Ayubale, 1704 | English |
| San Pedro de Patale, 1704 | English |
| Apalache Fort, 1677, 1682 | French |
| San Carlos, 1693 | English |