Abstract- This work utilizes the papers and notes of historian Luis Arana, late Historian for the Castillo de San Marcos, found in the St. Augustine Historical Society and the Collection of the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. Arana’s notes come from a variety of primary sources including the stetson papers and documents procured on trips to Spain. This excerpt will outline the basic organizational structure of Florida’s Garrison and how it was utilized to defend the colony.
Moving into the late 17th and early 18th century the military organization of Florida was set up specifically to meet the needs of governing the territory of Florida. Florida was bound in the North by South Carolina, and the western border was the Apalachicola River. Florida was divided into six major provinces including Apalache, which included the area between the modern Aucilla and Apalachicola rivers with its capital at Mission San Luis, modern Tallahassee. Apalachicola encompassed the territory north of Apalachee bound on the west by the Chattahoochee river and the north by a line between today's Columbus and Macon Georgia and the east by a line running from Macon to Tallahassee. Guale included the Florida coast north of St. Augustine and the sea islands of Georgia and the adjacent mainlands. The Mayaca province included the territory in central Florida south of Lake George encompassing the Northern end of the St. John’s river valley. The Moccama territory included much of the land that was a part of the Guale province and is sometimes considered to be a part of it. Lastly, the Timucua province included the territory westward from St. Augustine to the present day Aucilla river, the seat of Timucua was Santa Fe de Teloco, or modern day Gainsville. These provinces only included the northern half of the Florida peninsula,the southern half was not in control of the area, and tribes like Calusa and the Ais ruled the land. While the colony of Florida was divided into several parts and very organized compared to competing English colonies that grew somewhat organically, the colony of Florida was strictly a military outpost, not a commercial colony. Its sole purpose was to exist to support the Spanish treasure fleets that utilized the gulf stream off of Florida’s coast. The Florida Garrison was also responsible for rescuing shipwreck survivors, missionize and convert the Native American of Florida and in conjunction with Havana, defend the strategic waterways in between Florida and Cuba. The narrow military purpose of Florida stands in stark contrast to the commercial nature of the English and French colonies to the North and west of Florida.
The Florida Garrison saw a major organization in 1671. At that point, the Florida garrison was divided into six main groups of personnel that included an administrative staff, three companies of regular infantry, an artillery unit, a naval detachment, two companies of militia infantry and a company of militia cavalry. These Florida units were responsible for the defense of all of Spanish Florida and were tasked with defending the provinces, helping the spread of the Franciscan missions, defending against pirate raids and incursions from the French and English. The administrative staff was tasked mostly with work in and around St. Augustine proper and of course the manning of the Castillo de San Marcos itself.
The administrative staff included a lieutenant of the Castillo, and accountant and a treasurer, a chief and second assistant to the accountant, two notaries, two construction superintendents, a quarry overseer, master blacksmith, an armorer and of course a chaplain for the Castillo itself. The governor of Florida was the chief in charge of the Castillo and the defense of all of Florida and bore the ultimate responsibility. Some of the other positions in the administrative staff of the garrison also carried unique responsibilities. The lieutenant of the Castillo was a relatively unique position; he was in charge of the Castillo second only to the governor. While the position was important the lieutenant of the Castillo had no troops under his command and viewed by the soldiers of the Garrison as a pure adjujant. Sometimes he was regarded simply as a representative of the governor. Other prominent officials included the procurator and the situation. The procurator would visit Spain and represent Florida while there, and often bring back more soldiers and military supplies, which due to St. Augustine’s status as a military outpost that produced little in the way of revenue, was always in high demand. While the procurator went to Spain, the situation went in the complete opposite direction. The situador would visit New Spain to collect the subsidy for Florida; often called the situado. The situado made up the money sent to the colony every year and included the salaries for most of the Florida population and represented the only significant injection of money into the Florida economy.
The regular infantry of Florida was divided into a small staff and three regular infantry companies. The Sergeant Major was the senior military officer behind only the governor, and would sometimes, albeit rarely, fill in for the governor in times when required. The Sergeant Major’s staff included four adujants, a surgeon, an apothecary, and a barber. The infantry companies themselves were under the command of a captain, with an ensign as second in command of the company and a sergeant. There were also four corporals, two drummers, a fifer and a page in each infantry company. The companies had varying numbers of troops depending on available manpower. The soldiers themselves were an eclectic mix of individuals. By the 18th century, the soldiers of Florida were often born in Florida. Many of them would have been criollos, pure-blooded Spaniards born in the New World, or less commonly, Meztizo, a person of mixed heritage between Europeans and Native Americans. The soldiers also worked outside of their regular jobs as soldiers in civilian life. The soldiers often did extra work as boat builders, carpenters, cobblers, tailors or other odd jobs around town. The money gained from these endeavors supplemented their meager incomes and was usually injected directly back into the economy.
The fourth body of troops, and arguably the heart and soul of the Castillo’s defenses were the artillery soldiers. The artillery unit consisted of a captain, a master gunner and varying numbers of gunners, sometimes numbering as low as fourteen. It was also fairly common for foreigners to serve in the artillery unit, particularly Catholic Germans and Flemings. The artillerists should have been the most skilled soldiers in the colony but were sometimes found lacking and out of practice. In years where they were well practiced they would often need to be augmented by other soldiers or civilians on the somewhat unskilled positions of the gun crew.
The Garrison of Florida also included a naval detachment that consisted of a Captain of Sea and War, a chief pilot, harbor pilot, chief caulker, boatswain, sailors, apprentice sailors and a cabin boy. This naval detachment was responsible for the patrol of the Florida coastline, taking messages back and forth to Cuba, searching for shipwreck survivors and defending the harbor and guiding ships into the harbor. The naval unit is another unit that would often be augmented with additional troops from the infantry to act as marines in actions against enemy vessels or guards for important messages or personnel going to and from St. Augustine.
The three aforementioned infantry companies, along with the artillery and naval units were the professional troops of St. Augustine, sometimes refeed to as independent companies since they were neither technically marines or a part of the regular Spanish army. In addition to the local professional troops St. Augustine also boasted companies of militia. The militia companies were made up of regular townspeople and included Florida born Spaniards, mestizos, other Europeans and starting in 1683 free Africans. Muster rolls from the late 17th century, moving into the 18th show that the white militia company was similar in makeup to the regular infantry companies. They had a captain, ensign, sergeant, four corporals and varying numbers of troops. The Black militia company included an ensign as a commander a sergeant and four corporals as well. These militia troops were sometimes made up of veterans of the regular companies and therefore had some experienced leadership for field operations.
The soldiers of Florida had varying numbers of men serving throughout the Garrison’s history, but numbered around 500 in total. The garrison was responsible for the defense of all of Florida, from the coastline of Georgia all the way around the coast to the gulf coast and the interior reaching into the hinterlands of southern Georgia. Due to the large swath of land that the garrison was responsible for, the soldiers were often spread thin, sometimes leaving less than one hundred soldiers present to defend the city of St. Augustine in the case of a siege. The soldiers were spread out to many different outposts, missions, cattle ranches and villages to defend the colony, and because of this the soldiers often found themselves working outside of what their supposed skill set was. Whereas in Europe an infantry soldier would seldom work as anything but an infantryman, the infantry soldiers in Florida would often find themselves acting as an impromptu cavalry soldier, a marine, sailor or artillerist depending on the situation the soldier was in.
The organization of Florida’s military apparatus stands in stark contrast to the English military situation in many of their early colonies. In early English colonies, which were typically founded by private companies, or by lords who owned the land as a gift form the King, the military situation was usually none existant and consisted of settlers who were armed to defend themselves. The militias of the English colonies, while they proved fairly effective in fighting against the Native Americans, lacked the organization and skill of the Spanish Military in Florida. In the English Colonies it was rare to see regular troops from the crown, and if there were, they were few, and the Colonies themselves did not have professional soldier classes, whereas Florida did. As small as Florida’s military establishment was, they were a well-organized soldier class that was commanded by a single commander, the governor, who served as the mouthpiece of the King himself in the colony. The English situation was different; governors often had a hard time calling up sufficient troops for military action, and rather than a disciplined military establishment, the militias were commanded by men who had the money to raise a militia, or popularly elected commanders. As is evidenced by the failed English Attempts to seize St. Augustine in 1702 and later in 1740, the fractured command structure used by the English would prove problematic, while the Spanish, who were always left in want of supplies, men, and money, would prevail in large part due to their streamlined and organized command structure.
Moving into the late 17th and early 18th century the military organization of Florida was set up specifically to meet the needs of governing the territory of Florida. Florida was bound in the North by South Carolina, and the western border was the Apalachicola River. Florida was divided into six major provinces including Apalache, which included the area between the modern Aucilla and Apalachicola rivers with its capital at Mission San Luis, modern Tallahassee. Apalachicola encompassed the territory north of Apalachee bound on the west by the Chattahoochee river and the north by a line between today's Columbus and Macon Georgia and the east by a line running from Macon to Tallahassee. Guale included the Florida coast north of St. Augustine and the sea islands of Georgia and the adjacent mainlands. The Mayaca province included the territory in central Florida south of Lake George encompassing the Northern end of the St. John’s river valley. The Moccama territory included much of the land that was a part of the Guale province and is sometimes considered to be a part of it. Lastly, the Timucua province included the territory westward from St. Augustine to the present day Aucilla river, the seat of Timucua was Santa Fe de Teloco, or modern day Gainsville. These provinces only included the northern half of the Florida peninsula,the southern half was not in control of the area, and tribes like Calusa and the Ais ruled the land. While the colony of Florida was divided into several parts and very organized compared to competing English colonies that grew somewhat organically, the colony of Florida was strictly a military outpost, not a commercial colony. Its sole purpose was to exist to support the Spanish treasure fleets that utilized the gulf stream off of Florida’s coast. The Florida Garrison was also responsible for rescuing shipwreck survivors, missionize and convert the Native American of Florida and in conjunction with Havana, defend the strategic waterways in between Florida and Cuba. The narrow military purpose of Florida stands in stark contrast to the commercial nature of the English and French colonies to the North and west of Florida.
The Florida Garrison saw a major organization in 1671. At that point, the Florida garrison was divided into six main groups of personnel that included an administrative staff, three companies of regular infantry, an artillery unit, a naval detachment, two companies of militia infantry and a company of militia cavalry. These Florida units were responsible for the defense of all of Spanish Florida and were tasked with defending the provinces, helping the spread of the Franciscan missions, defending against pirate raids and incursions from the French and English. The administrative staff was tasked mostly with work in and around St. Augustine proper and of course the manning of the Castillo de San Marcos itself.
The administrative staff included a lieutenant of the Castillo, and accountant and a treasurer, a chief and second assistant to the accountant, two notaries, two construction superintendents, a quarry overseer, master blacksmith, an armorer and of course a chaplain for the Castillo itself. The governor of Florida was the chief in charge of the Castillo and the defense of all of Florida and bore the ultimate responsibility. Some of the other positions in the administrative staff of the garrison also carried unique responsibilities. The lieutenant of the Castillo was a relatively unique position; he was in charge of the Castillo second only to the governor. While the position was important the lieutenant of the Castillo had no troops under his command and viewed by the soldiers of the Garrison as a pure adjujant. Sometimes he was regarded simply as a representative of the governor. Other prominent officials included the procurator and the situation. The procurator would visit Spain and represent Florida while there, and often bring back more soldiers and military supplies, which due to St. Augustine’s status as a military outpost that produced little in the way of revenue, was always in high demand. While the procurator went to Spain, the situation went in the complete opposite direction. The situador would visit New Spain to collect the subsidy for Florida; often called the situado. The situado made up the money sent to the colony every year and included the salaries for most of the Florida population and represented the only significant injection of money into the Florida economy.
The regular infantry of Florida was divided into a small staff and three regular infantry companies. The Sergeant Major was the senior military officer behind only the governor, and would sometimes, albeit rarely, fill in for the governor in times when required. The Sergeant Major’s staff included four adujants, a surgeon, an apothecary, and a barber. The infantry companies themselves were under the command of a captain, with an ensign as second in command of the company and a sergeant. There were also four corporals, two drummers, a fifer and a page in each infantry company. The companies had varying numbers of troops depending on available manpower. The soldiers themselves were an eclectic mix of individuals. By the 18th century, the soldiers of Florida were often born in Florida. Many of them would have been criollos, pure-blooded Spaniards born in the New World, or less commonly, Meztizo, a person of mixed heritage between Europeans and Native Americans. The soldiers also worked outside of their regular jobs as soldiers in civilian life. The soldiers often did extra work as boat builders, carpenters, cobblers, tailors or other odd jobs around town. The money gained from these endeavors supplemented their meager incomes and was usually injected directly back into the economy.
The fourth body of troops, and arguably the heart and soul of the Castillo’s defenses were the artillery soldiers. The artillery unit consisted of a captain, a master gunner and varying numbers of gunners, sometimes numbering as low as fourteen. It was also fairly common for foreigners to serve in the artillery unit, particularly Catholic Germans and Flemings. The artillerists should have been the most skilled soldiers in the colony but were sometimes found lacking and out of practice. In years where they were well practiced they would often need to be augmented by other soldiers or civilians on the somewhat unskilled positions of the gun crew.
The Garrison of Florida also included a naval detachment that consisted of a Captain of Sea and War, a chief pilot, harbor pilot, chief caulker, boatswain, sailors, apprentice sailors and a cabin boy. This naval detachment was responsible for the patrol of the Florida coastline, taking messages back and forth to Cuba, searching for shipwreck survivors and defending the harbor and guiding ships into the harbor. The naval unit is another unit that would often be augmented with additional troops from the infantry to act as marines in actions against enemy vessels or guards for important messages or personnel going to and from St. Augustine.
The three aforementioned infantry companies, along with the artillery and naval units were the professional troops of St. Augustine, sometimes refeed to as independent companies since they were neither technically marines or a part of the regular Spanish army. In addition to the local professional troops St. Augustine also boasted companies of militia. The militia companies were made up of regular townspeople and included Florida born Spaniards, mestizos, other Europeans and starting in 1683 free Africans. Muster rolls from the late 17th century, moving into the 18th show that the white militia company was similar in makeup to the regular infantry companies. They had a captain, ensign, sergeant, four corporals and varying numbers of troops. The Black militia company included an ensign as a commander a sergeant and four corporals as well. These militia troops were sometimes made up of veterans of the regular companies and therefore had some experienced leadership for field operations.
The soldiers of Florida had varying numbers of men serving throughout the Garrison’s history, but numbered around 500 in total. The garrison was responsible for the defense of all of Florida, from the coastline of Georgia all the way around the coast to the gulf coast and the interior reaching into the hinterlands of southern Georgia. Due to the large swath of land that the garrison was responsible for, the soldiers were often spread thin, sometimes leaving less than one hundred soldiers present to defend the city of St. Augustine in the case of a siege. The soldiers were spread out to many different outposts, missions, cattle ranches and villages to defend the colony, and because of this the soldiers often found themselves working outside of what their supposed skill set was. Whereas in Europe an infantry soldier would seldom work as anything but an infantryman, the infantry soldiers in Florida would often find themselves acting as an impromptu cavalry soldier, a marine, sailor or artillerist depending on the situation the soldier was in.
The organization of Florida’s military apparatus stands in stark contrast to the English military situation in many of their early colonies. In early English colonies, which were typically founded by private companies, or by lords who owned the land as a gift form the King, the military situation was usually none existant and consisted of settlers who were armed to defend themselves. The militias of the English colonies, while they proved fairly effective in fighting against the Native Americans, lacked the organization and skill of the Spanish Military in Florida. In the English Colonies it was rare to see regular troops from the crown, and if there were, they were few, and the Colonies themselves did not have professional soldier classes, whereas Florida did. As small as Florida’s military establishment was, they were a well-organized soldier class that was commanded by a single commander, the governor, who served as the mouthpiece of the King himself in the colony. The English situation was different; governors often had a hard time calling up sufficient troops for military action, and rather than a disciplined military establishment, the militias were commanded by men who had the money to raise a militia, or popularly elected commanders. As is evidenced by the failed English Attempts to seize St. Augustine in 1702 and later in 1740, the fractured command structure used by the English would prove problematic, while the Spanish, who were always left in want of supplies, men, and money, would prevail in large part due to their streamlined and organized command structure.
Comments
Post a Comment