The word “matanzas” is Spanish for “slaughter”, and Fort Matanzas, near St Augustine FL, earned its name early in Florida's history.
For those who don't know, I live in a converted campervan and travel around the country, posting photo diaries of places that I visit. I am currently wintering in Florida.
By the middle of the 16th century, Spain dominated most of the New World, and was growing wealthy on shipments of Latin American gold and silver. Meanwhile, France was looking on with envious eyes—the French King Charles IX wanted a piece of that seemingly limitless wealth too. The French had already established a garrison of their own at Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville.
So in early 1565, both countries, unbeknownst to each other, sent a new expedition to Florida. Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, with 800 men, was instructed by King Philip II of Spain to expel the French and to begin the process of colonizing Florida. Jean Ribault, meanwhile, was ordered by the King of France to reinforce the garrison at Fort Caroline with about 600 men, to begin attacking the treasure galleons that passed Florida on their way to Spain, and to prevent the Spanish from staking any claim to the area.
Menéndez de Avilés landed on the east coast of Florida, somewhere near present-day Cape Canaveral, and proceeded north. A bit further on, he came upon an inlet which, he thought, was a good natural harbor and would be a suitable place for a settlement. He named it “St Augustine”.
Ribault, meanwhile, had landed at Fort Caroline and promptly set to sea again, with the aim of finding the Spanish. On September 5, 1565, the two men accidentally blundered into each other, Ribault on his ship Trinity and Menéndez de Avilés on the San Pelayo. They separated after firing a few ineffective shots at each other.
But now Ribault knew the Spaniards were there, and when Menéndez de Avilés dispatched a pair of galleons back to Spain, the French ships were waiting for them and took off in pursuit. Before he could close with them, however, a hurricane blew in and wrecked Ribault's ships. After picking up survivors from the water, Ribault limped back towards Fort Caroline.
When the hurricane passed over St Augustine, Menéndez de Avilés realized that Ribault and his men could not reach shore until the weather had cleared, and now he seized his chance. Gathering as many men as he could, Menéndez de Avilés marched through Florida's swamps to reach Fort Caroline just as the storm was ending. His attack took the Fort's defenders completely by surprise. Of the 240 French soldiers inside, 132 were killed in the fighting.
As the weather cleared, Menéndez de Avilés now feared that Ribault might land at St Augustine and fall upon the undefended town while he and his men were away, so he hurried to get back. As the Spaniards marched along the beach, however, they found a remarkable sight: 126 sailors from the wrecked French fleet had made their way to shore and were gathered here in a small inlet. Menéndez de Avilés showed them no mercy: he tied their hands, led them down to the water, and killed them—sparing only the 15 Frenchmen who agreed to convert to Catholicism.
Then, as the Spaniards continued their march along the shore, it happened again: they came upon another group of 350 French sailors, this time accompanied by Ribault himself. The Spanish, numbering only 60 or 70 men, were only able to capture about half of the French, but once again Menéndez de Avilés was ruthless, and, lining the prisoners along the banks of what would become known as the Matanzas River, he killed them all—including Ribault.
It was the end of the French presence in Florida. But it was not the end of conflict: the British moved in to replace the French as Spanish rivals, establishing a colonial port at Charleston and launching raids of their own into Spanish Florida.
A few years later, in 1569, the Spanish built a series of tall wooden watchtowers at the mouth of the Matanzas River near St Augustine with the aim of keeping a lookout for any marauders. The towers would be attacked twice, by English raiders and then by French pirates, but in both instances the Spaniards were able to raise the alarm and drive the invaders off. Today there is no remaining trace of these wooden towers, but it is believed they were located near the present-day Visitors Center.
In 1742, with conflicts over Florida still raging among the European powers (the British had just launched a successful raid on St Augustine two years previous), Spain expanded this outpost into a small gun fort, with five cannons and a new 30-foot tall stone watchtower, to defend the southern approaches to the city. The difficulties of constructing a stone fort on the swampy island were compounded by a series of unsuccessful raids by the British, who were hoping to destroy the stronghold before it was finished.
In commemoration of the Spanish victory over Ribault, it was dubbed Fort Matanzas. The fort was completed in 1742. Just two decades later, the Spanish, now allied with the French, were defeated by Britain in the French and Indian War, and Florida became British territory.
When the American Revolution began in 1775, the Spanish fought alongside the French against the English. This time it was the French, with their Spanish and American allies, who won, and in 1783 the territory of Florida was returned to Spain. Fort Matanzas now continued to serve as a Spanish stronghold until 1821, when Florida was purchased by the US and became a new State. But when the Americans took control, they found that the Fort had deteriorated from neglect and lack of money, and the crumbling ruins were beyond repair. Fort Matanzas was abandoned and forgotten.
The Army began historical restoration work on the Fort in 1916 and this was finished in 1924, the same year the site was declared a National Monument. It was turned over to the National Park Service nine years later. Today, the Fort Matanzas National Monument encompasses almost 300 acres of the area, including both the Fort and the massacre site. The remains of the Fort contain two of the original Spanish cannons, while a small museum displays artifacts from the site. A ferry boat carries tourists from the Visitors Center out to Rattlesnake Island where the Fort lies. There is also a boardwalk nature trail that winds its way along the seashore.
Some photos.
The park
Visitors Center
The fort is only accessible by ferry boat
On the boat
The fort from the water
Ranger Jill gives a history talk
Coquina walls
Coquina and plaster
Cannons
The cannons cover the entire river mouth
Barracks. The fort held 7-9 people at a time.
The nature trail
Saltwater marsh
Osprey
