Location: 11 South Castillo Dr, St. Augustine, Florida Map
Constructed: 1672
Castillo de San Marcos or Castle of Saint Mark is situated at 11
South Castillo Dr, St. Augustine, Florida in United States. The city
of San Agustín was founded by Spain in 1565. During its first
century of existence, nine wooden forts defended the position. After
the attack of the English pirate Robert Searle in 1668, it was
decided to build a stone castle to protect the city. The
construction of Castillo de San Marcos began on October 2, 1672 by
the Spanish army when it was part of the Spanish Empire.
Castillo de San Marcos is a star shaped fortification built with
coquina, a variety of limestone. The workers were brought from
Havana, Cuba. The coquina was extracted from Anastasia Island, on
the other side of the bay, and taken on boats to the construction
site. In 1695, after twenty-three years of hard work, the fortress
was ready.
Construction began in 1672, 107 years after the city of St.
Augustine was founded by Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565
when Florida was part of the Spanish Empire on the site of an
existing Indian village. Over the next 100 years the Spanish built
nine wooden forts in different locations to defend the city,
following an attack by Francis Drake and his fleet of 20 ships in
1586, followed by an attack in 1668 by the English pirate Robert
Searle.
Maria Anna of Habsburg, Queen of Spain, approved the
construction of a star-shaped masonry fortification to protect the
city. Coquina was used as a building material, a limestone produced
from shell sediments. Workers from Havana (Cuba) were used to build
the fort, in addition to Native Americans. The coquina was quarried
from the King's Quarry on Anastasia Island, in what is now Anastasia
State Park across Matanzas Bay from the castle. Construction began
on October 2, 1672 and lasted 23 years, with its completion in 1695.
See also: Fortifications of Spain in America
The city of San
Agustín was founded by Spain in 1565. During its first century of
existence, nine wooden forts defended the position. After the attack
by the English pirate Robert Searle in 1667, it was decided to build
a stone castle to protect the city. The construction of the Castillo
de San Marcos began on October 2, 1672.
Construction
The
Castle is a star fortification built with coquina, a variety of
limestone. The workers were brought from Havana, Cuba. The coquina
was extracted from Anastasia Island, across the bay, and taken by
boat to the construction site. In 1695, after twenty-three years of
hard work, the fortress was ready.
First British siege
In
1670, the English founded Charles Town (present-day Charleston,
South Carolina) just two days' sail from St. Augustine. In November
1702, forces under the command of Carolina Governor James Moore set
out to conquer the city of San Augustin. The 1,200 residents of San
Agustín resisted the attacks for two months, sheltered inside the
castle, along with the garrison of some 300 soldiers.
The
English artillery was not effective against the castle walls, thanks
to the coquina, which proved very effective in absorbing the impact
of the bullets, and a fleet from Havana forced the British to burn
their ships, to prevent them. were captured, and to retreat by land.
Before leaving they set fire to the city, which was largely
destroyed.
Second construction period
After the siege of
1702, the Castle was rebuilt under the direction of the engineer
Pedro Ruiz de Olano. The interior was redistributed and the wooden
ceilings were replaced by stone vaults. The walls grew two meters.
Second British siege
In 1739 the Asiento War broke out.
General James Oglethorpe laid siege to the castle again and blocked
the mouth of the Matanzas River, hoping to surrender it with a
continuous bombardment. However, a small Spanish ship was able to
evade the blockade and notify Havana, from where supplies were sent.
After 38 days the English ended the siege without having managed to
surrender the castle.
To protect the Castillo de San Marcos
from future dangers and avoid a siege by land, it was necessary to
protect the entrance to San Augustin through the Matanzas River. For
this purpose, Fort Matanzas was ordered to be built (in English:
Fort Matanzas National Monument), which prevented future land raids
against the San Marcos fort.
British occupation
By the
Treaty of Paris (1763), which ended the Seven Years' War, Great
Britain obtained Florida in exchange for returning Havana and Manila
to Spain. The Castle lost its strategic importance until the
American Revolution. St. Augustine became the capital of the British
colony of East Florida. The fortification was improved as a base of
operations for the British army in the south and was used as a
prison.
With the Treaty of Paris (1783) and the end of the
American War of Independence, Florida was returned to Spain.
Second Spanish period
Spanish sovereignty over Florida was only
maintained until 1819, when by the Adams-Onís Treaty Florida was
ceded to the United States. In this period the castle did not take
part in any military events.
First American period
The
Americans renamed the castle Fort Marion. There were few changes,
although some warehouses were converted into cells, which were used
during the Seminole Wars.
American Civil War
In January
1861 at the beginning of the American Civil War, Florida seceded
from the United States. The garrison abandoned the fort and the
Confederate army occupied it without a single shot. The artillery
was dismantled and sent to other locations, leaving the castle
defenseless.
Second American period
The castle and town
were recovered by the warship USS Wabash which entered the bay on
March 11, 1862 without encountering resistance. The castle continued
to be used as a military prison throughout the 19th century. In 1900
it lost its military status and in 1924 it was declared a national
monument. In 1942, it recovered the original name of "Castillo de
San Marcos".
The fort, which covers an area of 1.29 km² and is managed by the
National Park Service, has four bastions named San Pedro, San
Agustín, San Carlos and San Pablo, with a ravelin protecting the
fortified exit. On the two sides towards the land side two glacis
were built which forced the attackers to proceed against the cannons
of the fort and which allowed the cannons to hit multiple targets in
descent. Surrounding the fort was a moat which could be flooded to a
depth of one foot (0.3 m) at high tide with salt water from Matanzas
Bay before an attack by means of a bulkhead built into the
embankment towards the sea.
Several loopholes were built in
the curtain wall on the top of the fort and on the ramparts for the
installation of cannons of different calibres. Infantry loopholes
were built in the wall below the embankment for the deployment of
musketeers from the defenders of the fort. It was through one of
these loopholes that twenty captive Seminoles escaped in 1837.