Lafayette (LA) Daily Advertiser, January 26, 1999

Fort Caroline was second French

Settlers were still after gold

by Jim Bradshaw

On April 22, 1564, the new commander sailed for Florida, taking three ships carrying 300 men and four women. His fleet reached la riviére de Mai on June 22 and Laudonniére began to rebuild the colony on a flat piece of land about five miles from the river's mouth. He first built a stockade, naming it Fort Caroline.

The fort consisted of seven palm thatched buildings surrounded by a triangular wall of earth and logs. Timucua Indians and their friend chief, Saturiba, helped the French build homes just outside the protecting walls of the fort.

But, just as with the first expedition, these French "colonists" were little interested in colonizing. They were far more interested in adventure and quick wealth. While they dreamed or hunted for gold, food supplies dwindled. The Indians supplied what they could, but it wasn't enough to feed the Frenchmen.

Squabbles erupted quickly when Laudonnière was forced to put the colony on short rations. The settlers, disillusioned when they found near starvation instead of gold, began to feed on each others' gripes, conspire against each other, and to plot against Laudonnière.

The discontent came to a head when a man named La Roquette chained to have discovered (by magic no less) a gold and silver mine that would bring a fortune to everyone there. The only thing between them and their riches, he said, was Laudonnière, who kept them at work at the fort. They resolved to do something about that. When Laudonnière fell sick, the settlers tried to bribe the doctor to put some arsenic in his medicine. The doctor refused. Next, they tried to blow him up by putting a keg of gunpowder under his bed. It didn't go off.

Then on Sept. 4, while Laudonnière was still recuperating from a lingering illness, a French pirate named Bourget sailed up to Fort Caroline. Laudonnière persuaded Bourdon to take seven or eight of the malcontents back to France and Bourget left some sailors at the settlement in exchange. It was a wrong move for Laudonnière.

The pirates left behind by Bourget joined with the remaining dissenters at Fort Caroline, stole two of Laudonnière's ships, and set off to find Spanish treasure. They captured a small Spanish ship near Cuba, but hunger soon forced them to go into Havana and give themselves up. To make peace with the Spanish authorities at Havana, they told all they knew about the French settlement at Fort Caroline.

Meanwhile, at the fort, Laudonnière was still having troubles. One Sunday morning, one of his sergeants, François de la Caille, came to the commander's quarters and asked him to go to the parade ground. When he got there, Laudonnière was met by 30 officers and men who presented him with a petition charging that he worked them too hard, fed them too little, and broke his promises. They wanted to follow those who had just left and cruise the Spanish Main to search for the treasure they had not found ashore.

Laudonnière balked. But he did promise that as soon as the fort was completed the men could go in search of La Roquette's magical mines, and that he would send two boats along the coast to barter with the Indians for provisions.

The crew continued to mutter. Laudonnière fell sick again. The malcontents, led by a man named Fourneaux once, again decided to kill him. They dragged Laudonnière from his bed and locked him aboard a ship, overpowered his loyal soldiers, and took over the fort. This time, they told Laudonnière that he had to sign a petition allowing them to sail in search of Spanish plunder, or they would slit his throat. He signed.

The Mutineers gathered supplies and weapons and sailed for the Indies. They had their eye on a Spanish church that they planned to attack during Midnight Mass on Christmas, looting it, killing hated Catholics, and striking against Spain.  The plan went awry.

Laudonnière freed of his malcontents, was getting things back in order at Fort Caroline when, on March 25, 1565, friendly Indians rushed to tell him that there was a ship standing off the coast. She was a Spanish brigantine, manned by the mutineers. They were starving, drunk, and anxious to make terms.

They had good luck at first, taking a ship filled with wine and other supplies. Then they captured a second ship and sailed to a Jamaican village, where they plundered and caroused for a week. Then they captured the governor of the island and his ship filled with riches.

But the governor, pretending to send for his ransom, got word of the capture to his wife, who decided on rescue, not ransom. The pirates soon faced three heavily armed Spanish ships. All but 26 of the Frenchmen were killed. These 26 had been lucky to get aboard the Spanish ship and get away. But then their choices were two: Go back to Fort Caroline, or starve.

Maybe they should have starved. Laudonnière had them shot and hung their bodies at the river's mouth.