Juan Márquez Cabrera was a Spanish soldier who served as governor of

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

(1668 – 1672) and then of

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...

(1680 – 1687), until he was dismissed for abuses in office against the native peoples and Spanish citizens of Florida. He, as did the three previous governors, spent much time supervising construction of the

Castillo de San Marcos The Castillo de San Marcos ( Spanish for “ St. Mark’s Castle”) is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in St. Augustine, Florida. It was designed by the Spanish en ...

and other fortifications in the

presidio A presidio (''jail, fortification'') was a fortified base established by the Spanish Empire mainly between the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word ''praesidium'' meaning ''pr ...

of St. Augustine as well as defending Florida against incursions from the British to the north.

Career

Juan Márquez Cabrera joined the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

in his youth. He excelled in his military career, attaining the rank of

sergeant major Sergeant major is a senior Non-commissioned officer, non-commissioned Military rank, rank or appointment in many militaries around the world. History In 16th century Spain, the ("sergeant major") was a general officer. He commanded an army's ...

. In 1668, he was appointed governor of

, an office he occupied until 1672. On September 28, 1680, Cabrera was appointed governor of Florida to replace Pablo de Hita y Salazar.Cahoon, Ben
U.S. States F-K

Florida government

Early years in the Florida government

He arrived at St. Augustine, capital of the province, on November 30 of that year. On his arrival, Hita y Salazar gave him a report that included a detailed outline of his administration's progress in St. Augustine, and described the progress on the works of the

. None of these changes, however, corresponded to the original plans that had been commissioned by the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

. Governor Cabrera made a series of investigations that concluded works done on the Castillo under Salazar's supervision did not coincide with the report he gave to the new governor. His engineers found errors and deficiencies in the structures he was commanded to build, especially regarding the walls and bastions. Cabrera also levied an onerous tax on ranchers in Florida and ordered that all cattle should be butchered at the slaughterhouse in St. Augustine. In 1683, Governor Cabrera formed a militia company of free mulattos (''

pardo In the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas, ''pardos'' (feminine ''pardas'') are triracial descendants of Europeans, Indigenous Americans and Africans. History In some places they were defined as neither exclusively ...

s'') and blacks (''morenos'') militia in St. Augustine, consisting of 42 men and six officers. Later that same year they helped drive away a fleet of pirates led by the Frenchman Michel Grammont.

English and French pirate threat

In February 1683, the Governor of Havana warned Cabrera that French and English pirates from the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

were going to attack St. Augustine. The governor set about preparing the town's defenses, and ordered the erection of two new watchtowers on the coast, one about 27 miles southward at ''Ayamón'', and the other on the waterfront north of town. On April 30, the French pirate Brigaut entered Matanzas Inlet at the south end of Anastasia Island and seized the watchtower. The alarm was raised in St. Augustine, and Cabrera ordered the inhabitants of the town to take shelter in the unfinished Castillo de San Marcos, and sent ninety soldiers to engage the pirates. After several clashes on the island, Brigraut withdrew; the pirate fleet then abandoned its assault and sailed north.

Last years as Governor of Florida

In 1686, faced with the possible presence of Robert Cavelier's French colony on the

lower Mississippi River The Lower Mississippi River is the portion of the Mississippi River downstream of Cairo, Illinois, Cairo, Illinois. From the Confluence (geography), confluence of the Ohio River and the Middle Mississippi River at Cairo, the Lower flows just u ...

, Cabrera assigned Marcos Delgado to lead a troop of 13 soldiers and 40 Indians to explore and observe the territory between San Luis de Apalache and the river and bay of Espiritu Santo bay. The objective of the expedition was to search for and destroy the colony. Delgado and his men traveled through of places such as Dothan and Mobile County, in modern-day

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, and made contact with several Native American tribes (including the

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

and

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

people), but did not find the colony. In August, 1686, Governor Cabrera sponsored a raiding party of Spaniards, Guale Indians, and ''pardo'' militiamen, under the overall command of Thomás de León, that sacked the plantation of the English Governor of Carolina, Joseph Morton, as well as others, and burned the Scottish settlement at Port Royal Island. Captain de León intended to attack Charles Town but a sudden storm arose, forcing the Spanish to return to St. Augustine. Cabrera's administration negatively impacted and abused the Indigenous peoples of the province as well as

criollos In Hispanic America, criollo () is a term used originally to describe people of full Spanish descent born in the viceroyalties. In different Latin American countries, the word has come to have different meanings, mostly referring to the local ...

, Christian natives, widows, Mexicans, and Cubans, causing the Franciscans to protest vociferously against the governor, leading to his arrest by the Crown. Gannon, Michael
The Coming of the Judeo-Christian Religions to the Caribbean and Florida
On April 11, 1687, he was replaced by Diego de Quiroga y Losado as governor of ''La Florida''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabrera, Juan Marquez Royal governors of La Florida Governors of Honduras