Lefebvre's Charles Town expedition (September 1706) was a combined
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
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and
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attempt under Captain Jacques Lefebvre to capture the capital of the
English
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* English language
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Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
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Province of Carolina
Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alaba ...
,
Charles Town, during
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...
(as the
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n theater of the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
is sometimes known).
Organized and funded primarily by the French and launched from
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. , the expedition reached Charles Town in early September 1706 after stopping at
St. Augustine to pick up reinforcements. After a brief encounter with a privateer the
''Brillant'', one of the expedition's six ships, became separated from the rest of the fleet. Troops landed near Charles Town were quickly driven off by militia called out by Governor
Nathaniel Johnson when word of the fleet's approach reached the area, and an improvised flotilla commanded by Colonel
William Rhett
Colonel William Rhett (4 September 1666 – 12 January 1723) was a British-born plantation owner in the Province of Carolina in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He arrived in America in 1694, accompanied by his wife Sarah. Rhett quickly b ...
successfully captured the ''Brillant'', which arrived after the other five ships had already sailed away in defeat.
Background
News of the start of the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
had come to southeastern North America in mid-1702, and officials of the English
Province of Carolina
Province of Carolina was a province of England (1663–1707) and Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until partitioned into North and South on January 24, 1712. It is part of present-day Alaba ...
had acted immediately. After
failing in December 1702 to capture
St. Augustine, the capital of
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida ( es, La Florida) was the first major European land claim and attempted settlement in North America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, ...
, they launched a
series of destructive raids against the Spanish-Indian settlements of northern Florida. French authorities in the small settlement at
Mobile
Mobile may refer to:
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on the Gulf coast were alarmed by these developments, since, as allies of the Spanish, their territory might also come under attack.
[Gallay, p. 151]
The idea of a combined Franco-Spanish expedition first arose in 1704, when the governor of Florida,
José de Zúñiga y la Cerda
José de Zúñiga y la Cerda (1654–1725) was a Spanish nobleman, field marshal and governor of Spanish Florida (1699–1706) and Cartagena de Indias in present-day Colombia (1712–18). He served twenty-seven years in the Spanish Netherlands ...
, discussed the idea with a French naval captain as a means of revenge for the Carolina raids; however, no concrete action came of this discussion.
Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...
, the founder of Mobile and an experienced
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
who had previously wrought havoc against English colonial settlements in the
Nine Years' War
The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...
, in 1703 developed a grandiose plan for assaulting Carolina. Using minimal French resources, d'Iberville planned for a small French fleet to join with a large Spanish fleet at
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. , which would then descend on Carolina's capital, then known as
Charles Town. The expedition was to be paid for by holding other English colonial communities hostage after destroying Charles Town.
[ It was not until late 1705 that d'Iberville secured permission from ]King Louis XIV
Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...
for the expedition. The king provided ships and some troops, but required d'Iberville to bear the upfront cost of outfitting the expedition.
Prelude
Two small fleets, one headed by d'Iberville, who was to lead the expedition, left France in January 1706, totalling 12 ships and carrying 600 French troops. They first sailed for the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
, where additional troops were recruited at Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...
, and d'Iberville successfully ransacked English-held Nevis
Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Ne ...
. D'Iberville then released part of his squadron, and sailed for Havana. There he attempted to interest Spanish authorities in supporting the expedition, with limited success, due in part to a raging epidemic of yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
.[ In addition to decimating the expedition's troops, Spanish Governor Pedro Álvarez de Villarín died of the disease on July 6, and d'Iberville himself succumbed on July 8.][Higginbotham, p. 284] Before he died, d'Iberville handed control of the expedition to Captain Jacques Lefebvre.[Higginbotham, p. 285]
Lefebvre sailed from Havana with five ships, carrying about 300 French soldiers under the command of General Arbousset, and 200 Spanish volunteers led by General Esteban de Berroa.[Gallay, p. 152][Marley, p. 250] The fleet first made for St. Augustine, where Governor Francisco de Córcoles y Martínez
Francisco de Córcoles y Martínez was a Spanish military officer who served as governor of Spanish Florida, an office he occupied from 1706 to 1716.
Career Early years
Córcoles y Martínez joined the Spanish Royal Army as a youth, rose from ...
provided a sixth ship, another 30 infantry, and about 50 "Christian Indians" from the Timucua
The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The var ...
, Apalachee
The Apalachee were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically an Indigenous people of Florida, who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. They lived between the Aucilla River and Ochlockonee River,Bobby ...
, and Tequassa tribes.[
The French fleet sailed from St. Augustine on August 31.][ During the passage a sloop was spotted, and the ''Brillant'' gave chase; she consequently became separated from the rest of the squadron.][ The sloop was a privateer sent out by Carolina governor Nathaniel Johnson to intercept Spanish supply ships; its captain quickly returned to Charles Town with word of the fleet's movement.][Snowden, p. 145] The countryside and town, then also suffering the ravages of a yellow fever epidemic, rallied in response to Governor Johnson's calling out of the militia.[ The exact number of militia mustered is not known; of the non-slave population of 4,000, an estimated 900 men served in the colonial militia.][ Anticipating that a landing would be attempted on James Island, which guarded the southern approach to the harbor, Johnson posted the militia there under the command of Lieutenant Colonel ]William Rhett
Colonel William Rhett (4 September 1666 – 12 January 1723) was a British-born plantation owner in the Province of Carolina in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He arrived in America in 1694, accompanied by his wife Sarah. Rhett quickly b ...
.[ The northern point of James Island was fortified by ]Fort Johnson
Fort Johnson was a U.S. Army post built on bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River in modern-day Warsaw, Illinois, during the War of 1812. The fort was established in September 1814 by Major Zachary Taylor, future 12th President of the United Stat ...
, which housed a few cannon whose range was inadequate to prevent ships from entering the harbor. The militia also improvised a small flotilla of ships, which even included a fire ship
A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...
.[
]
Attacks
The Spanish fleet arrived off the harbor bar on September 4 (this date is recorded in contemporary English documents and histories such as Francis Le Jau Francis Le Jau (1665 – September 10, 1717) was a missionary to South Carolina with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG). Born into a French Huguenot family in the La Rochelle region of France he later fled to England during the ...
's diary, as August 24 due to differences between the Julian calendar
The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...
then in use in the English colonies, and the modern Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...
).[ Despite the absence of the ''Brillant'', which carried much of the French force, including "the campaign guns, shovels, spades, shells, and the land commander" (the latter being General Arbousset), Captain Lefebvre and his fleet crossed the bar on September 7, and delivered an ultimatum the next day.][Jones, p. 8] He demanded a ransom of 50,000 Spanish peso
The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight ( es, Real de a ocho, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content ...
s, threatening to destroy Charles Town if it was not paid. Governor Johnson contemptuously dismissed the demand as paltry, claiming the town was worth 40 million pesos, and that "it had cost much blood, so let them come".[
]
On September 9 the invaders landed two separate forces. One large force, numbering about 160, plundered some plantations near the Charleston neck, but was recalled when the Governor Johnson sent militia out in boats to oppose them. A second smaller force was landed on James Island, but was also driven away by the threat of opposition.[Jones, p. 9] Late that night Johnson received word that the party on the neck was still active, and sent Lieutenant Colonel Rhett with 100 men to investigate. Arriving around daybreak on the 10th, they apparently surprised the invaders. The invaders fled after a brief skirmish, but about 60 were captured, and as many as 12 invaders were killed along with one of the defenders.[Jones, p. 10] On September 11 Lieutenant Colonel Rhett sailed the colonial flotilla out to find the invaders, only to discover that they had sailed off.[Snowden, p. 146]
The next day the ''Brillant'' showed up, unaware of what had just transpired.[ Her captain had misjudged the distance from St. Augustine and had made landfall further north before turning around.][ General Arbousset landed his troops east of Charles Town, but the ''Brillant'' was captured by the colonial fleet; Arbousset and his men surrendered after suffering 14–30 killed in a brief battle with the Carolina militia.][ The prisoners included 90 to 100 Indians; most of these were "sold for slaves".][
]
Aftermath
Carolina officials declared October 17 a day of thanksgiving for their successful defense.[Jones, p. 6] The large number of prisoners, however, caused them some trouble. They sent about one third of them off to Virginia, expecting that they would be transported to England. However, by the time the prisoners arrived in Virginia, the annual merchant fleet had already sailed. Virginia authorities were unhappy that they now had to hold the prisoners, who would otherwise have been set free with the ship they arrived on.[Jones, p. 5]
In response to the Franco-Spanish expedition, Carolinians led Native American raiding expeditions that besieged
Besieged may refer to:
* the state of being under siege
* ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci
{{disambiguation ...
Pensacola
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
, one of the few remaining Spanish outposts in Florida. They also mobilized Native American forces to attack Mobile, but these efforts were frustrated by French diplomatic activities in the Native American communities and also by false rumors of another Franco-Spanish expedition.[Crane, pp. 89–91]
Notes
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles Town Expedition
Battles of the War of the Spanish Succession
Battles in South Carolina
Naval battles involving England
Naval battles involving France
Naval battles involving Spain
Pre-statehood history of South Carolina
Conflicts in 1706
Queen Anne's War
1706 in North America
Colonial South Carolina