The Siege of St. Augustine in 1702

A richly detailed and exhaustively researched account of the 1702 siege of the Spanish fortress of St. Augustine by British and local forces. "In 1670 a new English colony had come into existence on the North American continent. Its first colonists came from England and Barbados and called their new home Carolina. They established their towns and plantations in territory claimed exclusively by Spain as part of Florida. Although Spanish hegemony in the Carolina land was hardly perceivable since the Spanish frontier had been withdrawn to the famous Pedro Menéndez de Avilés had personally established forts and outposts in Carolina a century before the English arrival. Overextension, lack of gold and precious metals, apathy, ferocious Indians, maladministration, jealousies, and other causes forced the Spanish to retreat toward St. Augustine and Apalachee. Carolina and north Georgia as well as Alabama remained Spanish only in name and on paper. Spain's efforts to eradicate English Carolina from St. Augustine were complete failures. Many natives flocked to the English side, the side which had more goods to offer. One positive action was undertaken, however, when St. Augustine was made a main bastion for Spanish defense of the Atlantic. A massive stone fort, the dream of every governor since Menéndez de Avilés, became a reality. The stage was set for a larger English-Spanish engagement. International events slowly led to its fulfillment."