The Destruction of Fort Mose
"The first point made in the famous Darien antislavery petition of 1739 read(Landers, 35), 'The Nearness of the Spaniards, who have proclaimed Freedom to all Slaves, who run away from their Masters, makes it impossible for us to keep them, without more Labour in guarding them, then what we would be at to do their Work' (Jackson)" . Fort Mose was a constant concern for Georgia. In 1740, General James Oglethorpe led his troops in a siege of St. Augustine. When the English colonists acquired two Mose residents, Governor Montiano and the others retreated to Castillo de San Marcos. "Part of the English forces quickly occupied the abandoned Fort Mose, dismantling its gate and making several breaches in the walls so that, as Oglethorpe prophetically put it, it would not become 'a mouse trap for some of our own people'(Hurston)" (Landers, 36) .
Amidst this, Governor Montiano pleaded for help from Cuba. "Montiano wrote, 'We are thus surrounded by enemies, unable to leave the place without danger. As long as our territory is not peopled, thus driving out the English, the chief cause of all evils, these Provinces will have no rest (Montiano)' " (Landers, 37). Then, on June 14th, 1740, Menendez and his troops ambushed their seized Fort. "The Spanish forces killed about seventy-five of the unprepared invaders in bloody hand-to-hand combat, using swords, muskets, and "club work" (Landers, 37). "British accounts refer to the event as 'Bloody Mose' or 'Fatal Mose' and relate with horror the murder and mutilation (decapitation and castration) of two badly wounded prisoners who were unable to walk" (Quote:Oglethorpe, Landers, 37). The residents reclaimed their Fort victoriously, while Oglethorpe retreated, but it was damaged and therefore abandoned.
Amidst this, Governor Montiano pleaded for help from Cuba. "Montiano wrote, 'We are thus surrounded by enemies, unable to leave the place without danger. As long as our territory is not peopled, thus driving out the English, the chief cause of all evils, these Provinces will have no rest (Montiano)' " (Landers, 37). Then, on June 14th, 1740, Menendez and his troops ambushed their seized Fort. "The Spanish forces killed about seventy-five of the unprepared invaders in bloody hand-to-hand combat, using swords, muskets, and "club work" (Landers, 37). "British accounts refer to the event as 'Bloody Mose' or 'Fatal Mose' and relate with horror the murder and mutilation (decapitation and castration) of two badly wounded prisoners who were unable to walk" (Quote:Oglethorpe, Landers, 37). The residents reclaimed their Fort victoriously, while Oglethorpe retreated, but it was damaged and therefore abandoned.
The Second Fort Mose
_When Governor Fulgencio Garcia de Solis proposed rebuilding the Fort in
1752, the residents had adjusted to city life and opposed enduring
further invasions. The former slaves argued that true freedom allowed
them to live anywhere. "He complained that it was not fear of the enemy,
but 'the desire to live in complete liberty' that motivated the rebels,
and so he resorted to force (Landers, 47). He "lightly" punished the two
unnamed leaders of the resistance and threatened worse to those who
continued to fight his resettlement plan" (ibid.).
Abiding by the edicts was Governor Garcia's duty, but he wasn't required to settle new runaways in St. Augustine, which gave him reason to resettle these people at the Fort. "To give the settlers 'no pretext which could excuse them' from living at Mose, the governor paid them daily wages from the government treasury to build themselves a new and more fortified town" (Landers, 48). The new fort was slightly bigger, sturdier, on Mose Creek, and had three walls.
Abiding by the edicts was Governor Garcia's duty, but he wasn't required to settle new runaways in St. Augustine, which gave him reason to resettle these people at the Fort. "To give the settlers 'no pretext which could excuse them' from living at Mose, the governor paid them daily wages from the government treasury to build themselves a new and more fortified town" (Landers, 48). The new fort was slightly bigger, sturdier, on Mose Creek, and had three walls.
Father Solana Report of Fort Mose (1759)
"The Fort at Mose is situated on the banks of the River which runs to the north, and at a distance of 3/4 of a league from the presidio, the part that faces the river has no protection of defense whatsoever and is formed by two small bastions which look landward on which are mounted two four-pound cannons and six swivel guns divided among them ... the earthwork embankment is covered with horns and the moat is three feet wide and two feet deep ... the housing which it includes are some huts of thatch, the chapel is ten varas long and six wide, the walls which are under construction are made of wood and the sacristy, which is finished, and in which the priest lives, is a very small room and serves as the chapel for the fort. " |