The History of Saint Augustine, Florida

by William W. Dewhurst

One account says of the Spaniards that, after taking the fort, “and finding no more men, they assailed the poor women, and after having by force and violence abused the greater part, they destroyed them, and cut the throats of the little children indiscriminately, ... they took as many of them alive as they could, and having kept them for three days without giving them anything to eat, and having made them undergo all the tortures and all the mockings that could be devised, they hung them up to some trees that were near the fort. They even flayed the king’s lieutenant and sent his skin to the King of Spain, and having torn out his eyes, blackened with their blows, they fastened them on the points of their daggers, and tried who could throw them the greatest distance.”[6]

The French king had refused to listen to the appeals of the relatives and friends of the Huguenots who had been exterminated 57 in Florida; but, distressed by the destruction of their countrymen and the harrowing accounts of the massacre, many of the nation had long felt it a mortification that an outrage so gross should have received neither redress nor rebuke.

Among those whose jealous regard for the national honor was touched by the conduct of the French king, and in whose breast burned fiercely the fires of revenge, was the Chevalier Dominique de Gourges. Appearing as he does in history as the avenger of the sad destruction of his countrymen, in an expedition undertaken without solicitation, at his own expense, and at the risk of forfeiting his life by the command of his king, even if he should be successful, it is but natural that his character should have been extolled and his virtues exalted by all writers who have admired his chivalrous courage.

De Gourges was born of noble parentage, at Mount Marsan in Guienne, and was said to have been a Catholic, though this is denied by the Spanish historians. His life had been spent in arms in the service of his king in Scotland, Piedmont, and Italy. His career was that of an adventurer, ever ready to risk life to acquire honor and reputation, and having little desire to amass riches. While serving in Italy against the Spaniards, he was taken prisoner and consigned to labor as a galley slave. This ignominious treatment of a soldier of his birth and rank left in his mind an unappeasable hatred of the Spaniards. His period of servitude was cut short by the capture of the Spanish galley upon which he served by Turkish pirates, from whom in turn he was liberated by Romeguas, the French commander at Malta. His experience during his imprisonment and escape seems to have opened his eyes to the opportunities for plunder upon the seas. Soon after his release he entered upon a marauding expedition to the South Seas, in which he secured considerable plunder. He had but recently returned home, and retired to enjoy in quiet the property acquired in his ventures, when the news of the destruction of Ribault’s colony reached France. Eager to retaliate by a severe punishment this outrage upon his countrymen, De Gourges sold his property, and with the sum realized and what he could borrow on the credit of an alleged commercial venture, purchased and equipped a fleet of three small vessels, one of which was nothing more than a launch.

Deeming it impolitic to make known the object of his voyage, he obtained a license to trade and procure slaves on the coast of Africa. He enlisted for a cruise of twelve months a force of one hundred and eighty picked men, many of whom were gentlemen adventurers. He had been careful to secure one at least of the men who had escaped with Laudonnère from Fort Carolin. M. de Montluc, the king’s lieutenant in Guienne, a friend of De Gourges, rendered him valuable assistance in securing his equipment. On the 2d of August, 1567, he left Bordeaux, but was delayed by a storm eight days at the mouth of the river Garonne. Afterward, having put to sea he was driven by stress of weather far out of his course, and encountered so severe a gale as to nearly wreck the fleet on Cape Finisterre.

One vessel, in which was his lieutenant, was blown so far out of its course that for fifteen days it was supposed to be lost, which caused him all “the trouble in the world,” as his people earnestly besought him to return. The missing vessel, however, met him off the coast of Africa. Land was then kept in sight until they reached Cape Verde; “thence taking the direct route to the Indies, he sailed before the wind upon the high seas, and having crossed over, the first land which he made was the island of Dominica.” From thence proceeding he stopped in the island of St. Domingo to weather a gale, and at the island of Cuba for water, which he had to take by force, for he says: “The Spaniards are enraged as soon as they see a Frenchman in the Indies. For although a hundred Spains could not furnish men enough to hold the hundredth part of a land so vast and capacious, nevertheless it is the mind of the Spaniards that this New World was never created except for them, and that it belongs to no man living to step on it, or breathe in it save to themselves alone.”

De Gourges had not revealed the real object of the expedition until, after leaving the island of Cuba, he assembled all his men, and declared to them his purpose of going to Florida to avenge on the Spaniards the injury which had been done to the king and to all France. He set before them the treachery and cruelty of those who had massacred Frenchmen, and the shame that it was to have left so long unpunished an action so wicked and so humiliating, and the honor and satisfaction that would redound to them in removing from the escutcheon of France this foul blot. The spirit of the address was suited to the French temper, and they professed themselves ready to fight for the honor of France wherever the captain should lead. Proceeding on the voyage the fleet passed the bar of the St. Johns River in sight of the forts which Menendez had constructed at the mouth of the river. The Spaniards, mistaking them for their own vessels, fired two guns as a salute, which was returned by the French, desiring to continue the deception. The fleet sailed north and entered the St. Mary’s River, where they found a large body of Indians prepared to dispute any attempt to land. Seeing this, De Gourges made friendly demonstrations, and sent out the man who had been with Laudonnère. The Indians readily recognized the Frenchman, and were delighted to find that the strangers were of that nation, and enemies of the Spaniards. The chief proved to be Satouriva, the firm friend to Laudonnère. After learning the purpose of the expedition, Satouriva promised to join the command at the end of three days with his whole force of warriors, declaring himself eager to revenge the many injuries he had himself received as well as the wrongs inflicted on the French.

Among Satouriva’s tribe was a white child, a refugee from Laudonnère’s colony, who had escaped at the massacre at Fort Carolin, and been protected and reared as a son by the old chief, though the Spaniards had made strenuous efforts to secure possession of him or compass his death. This child, named Peter de Bré, whom Satouriva had so faithfully defended, he now brought to the French ships together with his warriors as he had agreed. Being joined by the Indians, De Gourges set out across the country under the guidance of the chief, Helecopile, to attack the two forts at the mouth of the river. The Indians had promised to bring the command to the fort on the north side of the river by daybreak, but, owing to the difficulty in following the intricate paths and fording deep creeks, they were nine hours marching four leagues, and the sun was rising as they reached the vicinity of the Spanish fort. This fort was built on Batton Island, near what is now Pilot-town. The other fort was nearly opposite, in the vicinity of the present village of Mayport. Both were armed with the cannon taken from the French at the capture of Fort Carolin.

The Spaniards, not fearing a land attack upon the fort on Batton Island, had neglected to clear away the woods in the vicinity, so that the French were concealed until they were close upon the fort. As they rushed from their cover the Spanish sentinel fired twice, when he was pierced by the pike of Olotoraca, an Indian chief, nephew of Satouriva. The Spanish garrison were at breakfast, and before they could be summoned the fort was filled with the French and Indians. So complete was the surprise that there was but little resistance. “As many as possible were taken alive by command of Captain Gourges, in order to do to them as they had done to the French.”

As soon as the Spaniards whose lives were spared in the attack could be secured, De Gourges embarked as large a portion of his soldiers as the boats at his disposal would carry, and hurried to cross the river and attack the fort at Mayport. The Indians, now wild with excitement, threw themselves into the water and kept alongside of the boats, swimming with their bows and arrows held above their heads. The Spaniards in the fort had by this time begun to realize the situation, and directed the fire of their guns upon the boats and Indians. Their excitement and alarm were so great that they did not perceive a difference between the French and Indians, and seeing so great a multitude approaching, they broke in terror and fled from the fort before the French reached its walls. The garrison of the two forts was near a hundred and forty men, all but fifteen of whom were either killed in the attacks or slain by the Indians as they attempted to reach the mainland.