Thousands of tourists flock to St. Augustine at Christmas each year to
experience the Nights of Lights, a dazzling display of millions of colorful lights. Merriment, laughter and wonder fill the
streets of America’s
oldest city. It was not that way for the
residents of St. Augustine
during the Christmas of 1702. The city
was under siege and all 1500 of its residents had been inside the walls of
Castillo de San Marcos
for over a month.
For almost half a century, England
and Spain were at odds over
the colonization the southeastern portion of North America. Escalating tensions resulted in the outbreak
of Queen Anne's War fought primarily between English controlled South Carolina and Spanish controlled Northeast
Florida. The Governor of Carolina,
James Moore, had long coveted Spanish Florida and used the war as an excuse to
invade. His plan was to take the capital
city of St. Augustine.
Moore
raised a sizable force of about five hundred English colonists, aided by an
equal number of Native Americans. They
set sail in an armada of fourteen ships, with the Governor’s son, Colonel James
Moore Jr. in charge. On November 3, 1702
they landed on Amelia
Island. They found little resistance and easily
conquered the island as had almost every invader in the island’s history. From there they headed south and into Matanzas Bay.
The Governor of Spanish Florida, Jose de Zuniga, was warned
of the impending attack by Native Americans friendly to the Spanish. Believing that the city could not withstand
the invasion, he ordered the entire town into Castillo de San Marcos with the hopes of riding out the ordeal behind its thick
walls until reinforcements could be sent from Cuba. He also rounded up all of the available food
and brought it into the fort. Cattle and
chickens owned by many of the refugees added to the already overcrowded
conditions.
The invaders arrived in St. Augustine on November 7. They met no resistance as the entire town had
already been evacuated to the fort. Now
surrounded by land and sea the residents of St. Augustine were trapped. The English took their time preparing for the
invasion digging trenches around the fort.
Since the cannon fire from Castillo de San Marcos was ineffective at repelling the
invaders, Governor Zuniga, began firing on the occupied city itself. In response, Moore ordered that the city be burnt to the
ground. All that was left now was the
fort itself, surrounded by Moore’s
raiders.
The siege of Castillo de San Marcos dragged on into December. It was a standoff with the English firing on
the fort with little effect and the Spanish holding the English at bay but
unable to repel them. Both sides sent
out calls for reinforcements. Moore requested cannons and ammunition from Jamaica. Zuniga contacted the Spanish outpost in Cuba
for whatever help they could provide.
Looking to break the stalemate, Moore enlisted the help of a Native American
couple. The plan was for the couple to
pretend they were seeking refuge from the invaders to gain access to the
fort. Once inside, they would sabotage
the ammunition supplies with the dual goal of causing Spanish casualties and
depriving them of the means to continue the fight. Unfortunately for the young couple they soon
came under suspicion and were tortured until they revealed the plot. Given that torture methods of the day
included things such as “Thumb screws” which would slowly crush the victim’s
fingers and the “Rack” which would stretch one’s body in opposite directions
until bones were pulled from the sockets, the couple no doubt told everything
that they knew. Unfortunately for
Governor Zuniga they didn’t know much.
It was now Christmas Eve 1702. The residents of St.
Augustine had been holed up in Castillo de San Marcos for six weeks. The nights were getting longer and
colder. Supplies were running low as was
morale. Governor Zuniga ordered that a
party be held to lift their spirits.
Festive music was played, beverages were served and the soldiers all
received Christmas bonuses. Where they
could spend the money was another matter.
On Christmas Day two English ships were spotted off the
coast. The Spanish inside the fort were
terrified that this was the start of the end for them. The English surrounding the fort were hopeful
that the reinforcements they needed had finally arrived. As each side watched with anticipation the
ships sailed away. It is unknown why the
ships made an appearance but were probably just passing through since, unknown
to Colonel Moore, his pleas for help never reached Jamaica.
The next day four more ships were seen approaching St. Augustine. This time they were heavily armed Spanish war
ships carrying some two hundred infantry from Cuba. The ships moored in the bay for three days
during which plans were made for their landing.
It was a standoff on top of a standoff.
The Spanish Floridians watched both the ships and the English forces
from inside the fort. The English Carolinians
watched the fort and the ships for any sign of movement. The Spanish fighters on board the ships
watched both the fort and the English trying to determine the state of affairs
on shore.
Finally, Governor Zuniga was able to dispatch a small crew
under cover of darkness to the waiting ships and plans were made to bring the
troops on shore. They sailed one of the ships about three miles south to Anastasia Island where they began unloading troops
and supplies. Simultaneously, they
blockaded the harbor trapping several of the English vessels. Colonel Moore realized that his forces would
not be able to defend against a second front and he ordered a withdrawal.
Before retreating the English torched any structures in St. Augustine that were
still standing, along with the ships that were trapped in the harbor. They loaded as many men as they could fit
onto their remaining boats and sailed north.
The remainder of their troops had to return to Carolina on foot and horseback. Zuniga wanted to pursue the fleeing troops
but his men were just too exhausted from the ordeal that they had endured over
the previous two months.
Following the conflict Zuniga was praised for his actions by
the King of Spain. Moore
returned to Carolina
in where he initially faced criticism for his role in the operation but was
soon promoted to the rank of General.
Although the siege of St. Augustine was over neither Jose de Zuniga nor
James Moore were finished with the other.
Soon after returning to Carolina,
Moore proposed
another invasion of Spanish Florida.
Given his failure at St.
Augustine his superiors approved the mission but
pointedly refused to provide any funding for it. Moore managed
to put together a conglomeration of about fifty Carolina citizens and about one thousand Native
Americans. In 1704 he once again headed
for Florida. This time he started at the Florida
panhandle and from there rampaged across northern Florida, burning settlements, looting towns,
and capturing local natives for slaves.
The destruction went on for the next two years until nearly all of
Spanish Florida was in ruins – except its capital city of St. Augustine.
Moore’s incursion into the
western part of Florida alarmed the French who
believed that he might also have his sight set on the port of New Orleans
which they controlled. Jose Zuniga was
already plotting with a group of privateers to attack Carolina when a rare Spanish-French joint
expedition was suggested. By early 1706
the French reconnoitered with the Spanish and the privateers in Havana. Six ships sailed northward, carrying about
three hundred troops. They stopped
briefly in St. Augustine then continued on to
Charles Town, Carolina.
Along the way, the privateer’s ship became separated from
the rest of the fleet and was not with the French and Spanish troops when they
arrived in Charles Town on August 24, 1706.
Carolina Governor Nathaniel Johnson, who had succeeded James Moore Sr.,
was aware of their movement and assembled a militia of about nine hundred
soldier/citizens to await their arrival.
When the invaders attempted to land they were quickly repelled and
sailed away. The next day the
privateer’s ship showed up in the harbor, unaware of what had taken place. It was quickly captured by the colonial
fleet. About thirty of their fighters
were killed while the rest were captured and imprisoned.
Jose de Zuniga was appointed Governor of Cartagena (in what
is now Columbia)
later that year. In 1718 he retired to Spain where he
died in 1725 of natural causes. James Moore went on to hold several state
offices including Governor of South Carolina. He died on March 3, 1724. Spain
held Florida until 1763 when it was ceded to England in order to regain its valuable colony
of Cuba
which was captured during the French and Indian War. Florida
remained in Spanish hands from then until it was transferred to the United States
following the American Revolution.
For More Northeast Florida History Read
South of the St. Marys River: Stories from the History of Northeast Florida
