St. Augustine, Fla., Dec. 15th, 1672.
1673.
Your Majesty:
In a letter of Yours of the present month and year, you tell me that seeing in the Council a letter which was received, written in English, it was agreed that I should inform you of what had happened to an Englishman, said to be prisoner in St. Augustine, Fla., where I was Governor. The cause and pretext for making him a prisoner. Complying with what your Majesty asks, I inform you in the following manner:
About the end of May of last year there arrived in one of the ports of the Province of Guale, which belongs to the Christian Indians, an English vessel. Some of the crew having landed in a launch, the Indians of that Province killed seven men, imprisoned three men and two women, then the vessel with all speed turned and went off, not giving time that from St. Augustine, where I was Governor, we should send help to those Ports to aid in imprisoning them. Bringing me these prisoners I ordered that their declaration be taken, at which I was present. They declared that they had come over with vessels to settle in the Port of St. Elena, distant from the Garrison of St. Augustine forty or fifty leagues north. In the month of June of last year there came to the Garrison a soldier with the news that the vessels had returned and entered the same Port, reinforced and with the flag of truce, the captain and four other men had landed and that speaking to a Lieutenant in command of the infantry on guard, they told him how they were establishing a settlement near St. Elena, with two hundred men, and that they came in search of the prisoner, delivering at the same time to the Lieutenant two letters from the Governor of that settlement, written in Latin, in which he asks that the prisoner be delivered, if not, they declared themselves enemies.
With this news I called a general meeting of the Royal Officers and Commanders of the war, from which resulted that all agreed it was the better way to serve God and your Majesty, and secure the quietude of those Provinces, to break up said settlement, and that we should go to work before they fortified themselves and take possession of more land. For this purpose they prepared themselves and equipped three vessels at that time in Port. The Chief in command being appointed by the Board, assigning him a number of warriors to obtain the object for which they went. A storm overtook the vessels and they could not get there in time and so arrived without accomplishing anything. Of the referred to notice, on two or three occasions, it was presented to your Majesty and to the Marquez of Macera, Viceroy of New Spain, always stating what was best to the service of God and your Majesty. To make every effort to dislodge the said settlement, it belonging to the Christian Indians, and they being new to our doctrine, might be easily influenced by the heresies of the English. And although not new to our Holy Faith, we might have the same doubts as they are a variable and roving people. It was advisable for your Majesty’s service that we should dislodge them at that time, that they might not possess themselves of that Province and the interior land, and make themselves owners. It would not be well to have a settlement of a strange Nation on your Majesty’s territory without your orders. From this information I awaited a reply to follow out the Orders from your Majesty and the Viceroy, and that together you would aid me, and with some help, as that Post lacks people, I detained the prisoner, not ill-treating him, in the house of one of his countrymen, allowing him military rations, which is what the soldiers in service have. As I was advised that the prisoner was the second person in authority in that settlement, I placed him under better security, that he might not escape and inform them of the lack of forces in the Garrison, for without doubt knowing it the settlement would come and take possession at very little cost. Just at this time my term of Governor came to an end, without having determined upon a method to work in this affair, I turned all over to the Governor, my predecessor, that he might act as ordered in the reply to my information. This is all that I can tell you regarding the English prisoner. By this the Council will know that I always worked with Christian zeal, trying to stop anything opposed to the increase of our Holy Catholic faith. God preserve you many years.
Francisco de la Guerra y Vega.