Castillo de San Marcos facts for kids
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Aerial view of Castillo De San Marcos
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 Location in Florida
Location in the United States
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| Location | 11 South Castillo Drive St. Augustine, Florida |
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| Area | 20.48 acres (82879.62 m²) |
| Built | 1672–1695 |
| Website | Castillo de San Marcos National Monument |
| Part of | St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District (ID70000847) |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000062 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NMON | October 15, 1924 |
The Castillo de San Marcos (which means "St. Mark's Castle" in Spanish) is the oldest stone fort in the United States. You can find it on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in St. Augustine, Florida.
This amazing fort was designed by a Spanish engineer named Ignacio Daza. Construction started in 1672. This was 107 years after the city of St. Augustine was founded by the Spanish Admiral and explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. At that time, Florida was part of the Spanish Empire.
The fort was built because of an attack in 1668. An English privateer (a type of pirate) named Robert Searles raided St. Augustine. He destroyed much of the city and damaged the old wooden fort. So, Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega ordered a new, stronger fort to be built. Work continued under the next governor, Manuel de Cendoya, in 1671. The first stones, called coquina, were laid in 1672. The main part of the fort was finished in 1695. However, it was changed and updated many times over the years.
The fort was built partly by enslaved people. Later, it became a place where enslaved people from British North America could find freedom. The Spanish colonial leaders would free them. This led to the first free Black settlement in what would become the United States. This settlement, called Fort Mose, was just north of St. Augustine.
When Britain took control of Florida in 1763 after the Treaty of Paris, St. Augustine became the capital of British East Florida. The fort was renamed Fort St. Mark. But in 1783, Florida was given back to Spain, and the fort's original name was restored.
In 1819, Spain signed the Adams–Onís Treaty. This treaty gave Florida to the United States in 1821. Because of this, the fort became a United States Army base. It was renamed Fort Marion to honor American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion.
The fort was made a National Monument in 1924. After being used by the military for 251 years, it was no longer an active base in 1933. The 20.48-acre (8.29 ha) site was then given to the U.S. National Park Service. In 1942, its original name, Castillo de San Marcos, was brought back by a special law.
The Castillo de San Marcos was attacked and surrounded twice. First, by English forces in 1702. Then, by English Governor James Oglethorpe in 1740. But the fort was never captured by force! However, its ownership changed five times, always peacefully. It was controlled by Spain (1695–1763 and 1783–1821), Great Britain (1763–1783), and the United States of America (1821–today). During the American Civil War, it was briefly controlled by the Confederate States of America.
Under U.S. control, the fort was used as a military prison. It held members of Native American tribes. This included the famous Seminole war chief, Osceola, during the Second Seminole War. It also held members of western tribes, like Geronimo's group of Chiricahua Apache. A type of Native American art called Ledger Art actually started at the fort. This happened when members of Plains tribes, like Howling Wolf of the southern Cheyenne, were held there.
The Castillo became part of the National Park Service in 1933. Since then, it has been a very popular place for tourists to visit.
Contents
Building the Fort
The city of St. Augustine was founded by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés for the Spanish Crown in 1565. It was built on the site of an old Native American village called Seloy. For the next 100 years, the Spanish built nine wooden forts to protect the town.
They realized they needed stronger defenses after Sir Francis Drake attacked with 22 ships in 1586. After the 1668 attack by the English pirate Robert Searle, Queen Mariana of Spain approved building a stone fort. This fort would protect the city.
The Castillo is a masonry star fort. It is made of a special stone called coquina. This Spanish word means "small shells." Coquina is made of ancient shells that have stuck together to form a type of stone, like limestone. Workers from Havana, Cuba, helped build the fort. Native American laborers also worked on it.
The coquina stone was dug from the 'King's Quarry' on Anastasia Island. This area is now Anastasia State Park. The stone was then brought across Matanzas Bay to the building site. Construction began on October 2, 1672. It took twenty-three years to finish, with the fort being completed in 1695.
The fort has four main corners called bastions. They are named San Pedro, San Agustín, San Carlos, and San Pablo. A special outer wall called a ravelin protects the main entrance, known as the sally port. On the two sides facing land, a large sloping area called a glacis was built. This would force any attackers to move uphill towards the fort's cannons. It also helped the cannonballs roll downhill, hitting more targets.
Right around the fort was a moat. This moat could be filled with seawater from Matanzas Bay during high tide. It would be about a foot deep. This was done before an attack using floodgates in the seawall.
Many openings, called embrasures, were built into the walls for cannons. These were along the top of the fort and in the bastions. Smaller openings were also built lower down for soldiers to fire muskets. In 1837, twenty Seminole prisoners escaped through one of these embrasures.
First English Attack
In 1670, English colonists founded Charles Town (which is now Charleston, South Carolina). This new settlement was only two days' sail from St. Augustine. The English moving into Spanish territory made the Spanish hurry to build their fort. In 1702, English forces led by Carolina Governor James Moore set out to capture St. Augustine. This happened early in Queen Anne's War.
The English attacked St. Augustine in November 1702. About 1,500 town residents and soldiers crowded into the fort during the two-month attack. The English cannons were small and did not do much damage to the fort's walls. This was because the coquina stone was very good at absorbing the cannonball impacts.
The attack ended when a Spanish fleet from Havana arrived. This trapped some English ships in the bay. The English were defeated. They decided to burn their ships so the Spanish could not capture them. Then, they marched back to Carolina. The town of St. Augustine was partly destroyed by both the Spanish and the English during this attack.
Second Building Phase
Starting in 1738, the inside of the fort was changed and rebuilt. This work was overseen by a Spanish engineer named Pedro Ruiz de Olano. The rooms inside were made deeper. The original wooden ceilings were replaced with vaulted (arched) ceilings.
These new vaulted ceilings offered better protection from cannon attacks. They also allowed cannons to be placed along the gun deck, not just at the corner bastions. Because of the new ceilings, the outside walls had to be made taller. They went from 26 feet to 33 feet (10 m) high.
Second British Attack
Spain and Britain were rivals in Europe. Since both countries had empires in the New World, their rivalry continued there. In 1733, a British ship, the Rebecca, was captured by the Spanish coast guard. The Spanish thought the British were trading illegally with Spanish colonies. This was against the rules for both Spain and Britain.
A fight broke out between the Spanish and British sailors. During the fight, the Spanish cut off Captain Robert Jenkins's ear. A Spanish officer picked it up and said, "Take this to your king and tell him that if he were here I would serve him in the same manner!" When Jenkins told British leaders about this, they used it as a reason to declare war on Spain in 1739. This war was called the War of Jenkins Ear.
In June 1740, General James Oglethorpe, who founded Georgia, and an English fleet of seven ships appeared off St. Augustine. Just like in the 1702 attack, 300 soldiers and 1,300 residents found safety inside the Castillo's walls. For 27 days, the British fired cannons at the Castillo and St. Augustine.
Oglethorpe realized his cannons were not damaging the Castillo's walls. So, he decided to try and starve the people of St. Augustine. He blocked the inlet at the Matanzas River and all roads into the city. No supplies could reach the city. But Oglethorpe's own forces started to run low on supplies and morale. He had to retreat. To protect the city from future blockades, the Spanish built Fort Matanzas. This fort guarded the inlet, which could be used as a back entrance to avoid St. Augustine's main defenses.
British Control
In 1763, the British took control of the Castillo, but not by fighting. After the Seven Years' War, the Treaty of Paris (1763) said that Britain would get all of Spanish Florida. In return, Spain would get Havana and Manila back. On July 21, 1763, the Spanish governor handed the Castillo over to the British. St. Augustine became the capital of the new province of East Florida.
The British made some changes to the fort and renamed it Fort St. Mark. Since Great Britain was very powerful in North America, they didn't worry much about keeping the fort in perfect condition. This changed when the American Revolutionary War began. The fort was used as a military prison during the war. One famous prisoner was Christopher Gadsden, a leader from South Carolina and a general in the Continental Army. He was released after 11 months.
Improvements were started on the fort. It was now an important base for the British in the South. The gates and walls were fixed. Second floors were added to some rooms to fit more soldiers. The Castillo was mainly used as a prison during the American Revolution. St. Augustine was targeted by some attacks from Georgia, but they were stopped. Spanish forces declared war on Britain in 1779. This pulled British troops away from Fort St. Mark.
At the end of the war, the 1783 Treaty of Paris said that Florida would go back to Spain. On July 12, 1784, Spanish troops returned to St. Augustine.
Second Spanish Control
When Spain got Florida back, the area had changed a lot. Many Spaniards had left Florida when Britain took over. Also, many British citizens stayed after it was returned to Spain. This led to many border problems between Spanish Florida and the new United States.
Spain changed the fort's name back to the Castillo de San Marcos. They continued to improve the fort, building on the changes the British had made. This was to strengthen Spain’s control over the area. However, due to pressure from the United States and other reasons, Spain signed the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819. This treaty gave Florida to the United States, and the transfer happened in 1821.
First United States Control
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When the Americans received the fort from Spain, they changed its name to Fort Marion. It was named after General Francis Marion, a hero of the American Revolutionary War. He was known as "The Swamp Fox." The Americans made few structural changes to the fort during this time. Many storage rooms were turned into prison cells because they had strong doors and barred windows.
Also, part of the moat was filled in. This area was turned into a place for cannons, as part of the American coastal defense system. The original Spanish seawall was taken down to ground level. A new seawall was built right next to the old one on the water side. At this time, a hotshot furnace was also built in the filled-in part of the moat. Cannonballs were heated in this furnace to fire at wooden enemy ships.
In October 1837, during the Second Seminole War, Seminole chief Osceola was captured by the Americans. This happened while he was at a peace meeting near Fort Peyton under a flag of truce. He was imprisoned in Fort Marion with his followers, including Uchee Billy and Coacoochee. They were then moved to Fort Moultrie in Charleston's harbor. Uchee Billy died at the fort in November.
On the night of November 19, 1837, Coacoochee and nineteen other Seminoles, including two women, escaped from Fort Marion. Coacoochee later told a dramatic story that only he and his friend Talmus Hadjo escaped. He said they squeezed through an eight-inch opening in their cell's embrasure and slid down a makeshift rope into the dry moat. However, Talmus Hadjo was not on the official prisoner list. No matter how they actually escaped, they made their way to their group's camp about forty miles south of St. Augustine. Because of how they were treated, they promised to keep fighting. This prolonged the war for four more years. The cell Coacoochee escaped from was part of the fort's famous stories for a long time.
Confederate States Control
In January 1861, Florida left the United States at the start of the American Civil War. Union troops had left the fort, with only one person remaining as caretaker. In January 1861, Confederate troops marched to the fort. The Union soldier there refused to give it up unless he got a receipt from the Confederacy. He was given the receipt, and the fort was taken by the Confederacy without a fight. Most of the cannons in the fort were sent to other forts. Only five cannons were left to defend the fort from the water.
The Saint Augustine Blues, a local militia, joined the Confederate Army at Fort Marion on August 5, 1861. They became Company B of the Third Florida Infantry. Many former members of the St. Augustine Blues are buried in the city's Tolomato Cemetery.
The fort and the rest of St. Augustine were taken back by Union troops on March 11, 1862. This happened after acting mayor Cristobal Bravo officially surrendered the city. The Confederate forces had left the city the night before, expecting the Union fleet to arrive.
Second United States Control
The fort was taken back by Union forces on March 11, 1862. The USS Wabash entered the bay and found the city empty of Confederate troops. The city leaders were willing to surrender to protect the town. So, the city and the fort were retaken without a single shot being fired. For the rest of its active history, the fort was used as a military prison.
Starting in 1875, many Native American prisoners were held at the fort. This was after the Indian Wars in the west. Many of them died at the fort. Among the captives were Chief White Horse of the Kiowa and Chief Grey Beard of the southern Cheyenne.
During this time, Richard Henry Pratt, a Civil War veteran, was in charge of the prisoners. He improved their living conditions. He removed their chains and allowed them out of the small rooms where they had been kept. He tried to give them more freedom and started educational and cultural programs for them. People from the North who were vacationing in St. Augustine became interested in them. These visitors included teachers and missionaries.
Pratt found volunteers to teach the Native American prisoners English, the Christian religion, and parts of American culture. He and most U.S. officials believed that learning these things was important for the Native Americans to survive in the changing society.
The men were also encouraged to create art. They made hundreds of drawings. Some of this Ledger Art by Fort Marion artists is now kept at the Smithsonian Institution. You can view it online.
People were impressed by the prisoners' progress in education. Citizens raised money to send almost 20 of the prisoners to college after they were released. Seventeen men went to the Hampton Institute, a historically black college. Others were sponsored and educated at private colleges in New York state. One of these was David Pendleton Oakerhater. He was sponsored by U.S. Senator Pendleton and his wife. He studied and later became an Episcopal priest. He returned to the West to work as a missionary with Native American tribes. The Episcopal Church later recognized him as a saint.
Pratt's experiences at Fort Marion led him to push for American Indian boarding schools. These schools were meant to educate Native children. However, they became places where children were forbidden from speaking their own languages or practicing their own religion. Many children were taken from their families by force or by threatening to stop food supplies. Letters children sent home were checked, and many children were sent to work on farms in the summer instead of going home. Many people have said that American Indian boarding schools broke child labor laws. They have also been accused of trying to destroy Native cultures. Pratt's efforts started with the Carlisle Barracks, which was the first of over 450 American Indian boarding schools.
From 1886 to 1887, about 491 Apaches were held prisoner at Fort Marion. Many were from the Chiricahua and Warm Springs Apache groups in Arizona. There were 82 men, and the rest were women and children. Among the men, 14, including Chatto, had previously been paid scouts for the U.S. Army. Geronimo's wife was also among the Chiricahua. Geronimo himself was sent to Fort Pickens, which went against the terms of his surrender. While at the fort, many prisoners had to camp in tents because there wasn't enough space. At least 24 Apaches died as prisoners and were buried in North Beach.
In 1898, over 200 soldiers who had left their posts during the Spanish–American War were imprisoned at the fort. This was one of the last times the fort was used as an active military base. In 1900, the fort was taken off the active duty list. It had served for 205 years under five different flags.
In 1924, the fort was named a National Monument. In 1933, it was given to the National Park Service from the War Department. In 1942, to honor its Spanish history, Congress allowed the fort to be renamed Castillo de San Marcos. As a historic site managed by the National Park Service, the National Monument was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on October 15, 1966. The National Park Service also manages Fort Matanzas National Monument. In 1975, the Castillo was recognized as an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
Since being given to the Park Service, the Castillo has become a popular place for tourists. It covers 2.5 acres (10,100 m²) in downtown St. Augustine, Florida.
The fort has been shown on many television shows, including Monumental Mysteries and Ghost Adventures.
Gallery
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Castillo de San Marcos map
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Entrance to fort during the Civil War era
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Entrance to fort, Sally port, Civil War era
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Captain Pratt with Native American captives at Fort Marion
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Howling Wolf, of the southern Cheyenne, photographed while imprisoned at Fort Marion
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The north wall of the Castillo
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Castillo De San Marcos from the west, looking east.
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Fort Marion, St. Augustine and harbor, 1898
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The side of Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, FL.
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A picture of a cannon on Castillo de San Marcos
Images for kids
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Interior Graffiti
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Interior Graffiti
See also
In Spanish: Castillo de San Marcos (Florida) para niños
