Apalachee Massacre
Encyclopedia
The Apalachee massacre was a series of brutal raids by English
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...

 colonists from the Province of Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...

 and their Indian allies against a largely pacific population of Apalachee
Apalachee
The Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...

 Indians in northern Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...

 that took place during Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...

 in 1704. Against limited Spanish and Indian resistance, a thriving network of missions
Spanish missions in Florida
Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout la Florida in order to convert the Indians to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France...

 was destroyed; most of the population was either killed, captured, fled to larger Spanish and French outposts, or voluntarily joined the English.

The only major event of former Carolina Governor James Moore's
James Moore (South Carolina politician)
James Moore was the British governor of colonial South Carolina between 1700 and 1703. He is remembered for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida....

 expedition was the Battle of Ayubale, which marked the only large-scale resistance to the English raids. Significant numbers of the Apalachee, unhappy with the conditions they lived in under the Spanish, simply abandoned their towns and joined Moore's expedition. They were resettled near the Savannah
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...

 and Ocmulgee
Ocmulgee River
The Ocmulgee River is a tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi long, in the U.S. state of Georgia...

 Rivers, where conditions were only slightly better.

Moore's raiding expedition was preceded and followed by other raiding activity that was principally conducted by English-allied Creeks
Creek people
The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...

. The cumulative effect of these raids, conducted between 1702 and 1709, was to depopulate Spanish Florida beyond the immediate confines of St. Augustine and Pensacola
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

.

Background

English and Spanish colonization efforts in southeastern North America began coming into conflict as early as the middle of the 17th century. The founding in 1670 by the English of Charles Town (present-day Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

) in the recently-established (1663) Province of Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...

 heightened tensions with the Spanish in Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...

. Traders, raiders, and slavers from the new province penetrated into Florida, leading to raiding and reprisal expeditions on both sides. In 1700, Carolina's governor, Joseph Blake
Joseph Blake (governor)
Joseph Blake , the nephew of British Admiral Robert Blake, was governor of colonial South Carolina in 1694 , and from 1696 to his death 1700.-References:*-See also:*List of colonial governors of South Carolina...

, threatened the Spanish that English claims to Pensacola
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

, established by the Spanish in 1698, would be enforced. Blake's death later that year interrupted these plans, and he was replaced in 1702 by James Moore
James Moore (South Carolina politician)
James Moore was the British governor of colonial South Carolina between 1700 and 1703. He is remembered for leading several invasions of Spanish Florida, including attacks in 1704 and 1706 which wiped out most of the Spanish missions in Florida....

.

La Florida

The Spanish population of Florida at the time was fairly small compared to that of the nearby English colonies. Since its founding in the 16th century, the Spanish had set up a network of missions
Spanish missions in Florida
Beginning in the second half of the 16th century, the Kingdom of Spain established a number of missions throughout la Florida in order to convert the Indians to Christianity, to facilitate control of the area, and to prevent its colonization by other countries, in particular, England and France...

 whose primary purpose was to pacify the local Indian population and convert them to Roman Catholicism. In the Apalachee Province
Apalachee Province
Apalachee Province was the area in the Panhandle of the present-day U.S. state of Florida inhabited by the Native American peoples known as the Apalachee at the time of European contact. The southernmost extent of the Mississippian culture, the Apalachee lived in what is now Leon County, Wakulla...

 (roughly present-day western Florida and southwestern Georgia) there were 14 mission communities with a total population in 1680 of about 8,000. Many but not all of these communities were populated by the Apalachee
Apalachee
The Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...

; others were inhabited by other tribes that had migrated southward to the area. By the early 18th century Apalachee had become a major source of food for the principal towns of St. Augustine
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...

 and Pensacola
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

, which were situated near lands not well suited for agriculture.

The native populations of Florida were not entirely happy with Spanish rule; there had been several uprisings against the Spanish in the 17th century. The Indians were often forced to do work for the Spanish military garrisons and plantation owners, including the labor of hauling goods to the St. Augustine, about 100 miles (160.9 km) away. These policies, and mistreatment by overbearing Spanish masters, led some Apalachees to flee to the English in Carolina. Spanish policy also forbade Indians the possession of musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....

s, which made them dependent on the Spanish for protection against the English-armed Creeks
Creek people
The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...

.

Raids before 1704

News that the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...

 (known in North America as Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...

) had widened to include England arrived in Carolina by September 1702, and Governor Moore convinced the provincial assembly in September 1702 to fund an expedition against St. Augustine. The expedition
Siege of St. Augustine (1702)
The Siege of St. Augustine was an action in Queen Anne's War during November and December 1702. It was conducted by English provincial forces from the Province of Carolina and their native allies, under the command of Carolina's governor James Moore, against the Spanish colonial fortress of...

 was a failure, and there was rioting in Charles Town over the expenses incurred. One significant accomplishment of the St. Augustine expedition was the destruction of coastal Spanish mission towns in Guale Province (present-day coastal Georgia). After the expedition, Florida Governor Joseph de Zúñiga y Zérda ordered the remaining Spanish missions in Apalachee and Timucua Province to be moved closer together for defensive purposes. Missions in Mocama Province were consolidated south of the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...

, and those in Timucua were consolidated at San Francisco de Potano. In early 1703 Creeks attacked San José de Ocuya
San Joseph de Ocuya
San Joseph de Ocuya was a Spanish Franciscan mission built in the early 17th century in the Florida Panhandle, near the present-day town of Lloyd, Florida. It was part of Spain's effort to colonize the region, and convert the Timucuan and Apalachee Indians to Christianity...

 and San Francisco de Potano, also raiding either Patali or Piritiba; it is possible that as many as 500 Indians were enslaved as a result of these raids.

Ayubale

In 1703 ex-Governor Moore presented to the Carolina assembly and his replacement, Nathaniel Johnson
Nathaniel Johnson (politician)
Sir Nathaniel Johnson was a soldier and a Member of Parliament for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1680–1689. He was appointed governor of the Leeward Islands in 1686. He travelled to the Province of Carolina in 1689, becoming its governor in 1703...

, a plan for an expedition against the Spanish towns in Apalachee Province. He promised that, unlike the St. Augustine expedition, the colony would not have to pay for anything; he expected its costs to be recovered by the taking of loot and slaves. On September 7, 1703, the Carolina assembly approved the plan, asking Moore to go "to the Assistance of the Cowetaws and other our friendly Indians, and to attacque the Appalaches." After recruiting 50 colonists, he traveled to the upper waters of the Ocmulgee River
Ocmulgee River
The Ocmulgee River is a tributary of the Altamaha River, approximately 255 mi long, in the U.S. state of Georgia...

, where he recruited 1,000 Creek
Creek people
The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...

 Indians to join the expedition against their traditional enemies.

On January 25, 1704, Moore's force arrived at Ayubale, one of the larger mission towns in Apalachee. While most of the Creeks raided the surrounding villages, Moore took most of the whites and 15 Creek into Ayubale itself around 7:00 am. The only resistance was organized by Father Angel Miranda, who retreated into the town's church compound, which was surrounded by a mud wall. With 26 men he successfully held the English at bay for nine hours, and only surrendered himself, his men, and 58 women and children after they ran out of arrows. According to one Spanish account, Miranda threw himself and his followers on Moore's mercy. He was, according to this account (but apparently not others; see below) then summarily slain in cold blood by Moore's Indian allies, and some of his followers were then tortured and killed.

Word of the attack reached San Luis de Apalachee, eight leagues
League (unit)
A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...

 (about 24 miles (38.6 km)) south of Ayubale, where Captain Juan Ruíz de Mexía raised a force of 400 Apalachee and 30 Spanish cavalry. This force engaged Moore's at Ayubale, and was decisively defeated. More than 200 Apalachees were killed or captured, three Spaniards were killed and eight were captured, with Mexía among the captured. There is evidence that as many as 50 Apalachee joined with the English against the Spanish-led forces in this encounter. Moore considered making an attack on the fort at San Luis, but his force had suffered a significant number of wounds, so he opted instead for an attempt at extortion. Some of the Spanish prisoners managed to escape, so he released Miranda, Mexía and others to go to San Luis with the hope that the San Luis garrison commander would then pay a ransom for them. However, the garrison commander refused to pay.

Further raiding in Apalachee

Following the battle at Ayubale, Moore continued his march through Apalachee. One village, San Lorenzo de Ivitachuco, survived when its leader surrendered his church's gold ornaments and a train of supplies. Moore moved slowly, since many of the Apalachee apparently wanted to leave with the English. According to his report, most of the population of seven villages joined his march voluntarily.

In Moore's report of the expedition he claimed to have killed more than 1,100 men, women, and children. He also stated that he "removed into exile" 300 and "captured as slaves" more than 4,300 people, mostly women and children. The only major missions to survive in Apalachee were San Luis and San Lorenzo de Ivitachuco. The Spanish at first attempted to fortify these places, but they were eventually judged to be indefensible and abandoned. The survivors were consolidated at Abosaya, east of San Francisco de Potano.

James Moore did not identify by name the places his force destroyed. Historian Mark Boyd has analyzed English and Spanish sources documenting the missions and the effects of Moore's raid. According to his analysis, the following missions were the ones most likely to have been destroyed:
  • La Concepcion de Ayubale
  • San Francisco de Oconi
  • San Antonio de Bacqua
  • San Martín de Tomole
  • Santa Cruz y San Pedro de Alcántara de Ychuntafun


Spanish authorities in St. Augustine and Pensacola mobilized their meager forces, but did not return to Ayubale until after Moore's force had clearly left the area. They buried the Christian dead, many of whom they reported as exhibiting evidence of torture. Despite the losses, they did not immediately abandon or consolidate the missions until further raiding took place, after which the demoralized surviving Apalachee insisted they would either retreat to Pensacola or go over to the English.Boyd et al, pp. 17–18

Later raids

In the wake of Moore's raids, further raids were made into northern Florida, principally executed by the Creeks. In August 1704, Creeks destroyed the Yustagan missions of San Pedro and San Mateo; a year later they attacked the Apalachee at Abosaya. Further attacks against Abosaya the next month prompted the survivors to flee to St. Augustine. In the spring of 1706, Creek raiders besieged San Francisco de Potano and attacked the La Chua ranch near Abosaya; both of these were abandoned, and Timucua was virtually depopulated by May 1706. According to Apalachee scholar John Hamm, between Moore's raids and these later ones, 2,000 Indians went into exile, and an unknown number were enslaved. The French governor of Mobile, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville
Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienvillepronounce] was a colonizer, born in Montreal, Quebec and an early, repeated governor of French Louisiana, appointed 4 separate times during 1701-1743. He was a younger brother of explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville...

, wrote that raiding the Florida area resulted in the killing of 2,000 Apalachees and the capture 32 Spaniards, 17 of whom were burned alive. By the end of 1706 the Spanish presence in Florida had been reduced to St. Augustine and Pensacola.

Consequences

Many survivors fled westward and settled near the French colonial outpost of Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

, while others ended up near either St. Augustine or Pensacola; Bienville reported that about 600 refugees were settled near Mobile. The Apalachees taken by Moore were resettled either along the Savannah River
Savannah River
The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the northernmost part of the border...

, or among the Creek on the Ocmulgee River. The free Apalachee refugees that settled these areas were frequently harassed by slavers; in some cases Indians taken as slaves were freed after protests were made to Carolina authorities.

The Spanish responded to the raids by encouraging privateering raids against Carolina coastal plantations. In the following years, the English colonists continued to make inroads against Spanish and French interests in Florida and on the Gulf Coast, but they were never able to capture St. Augustine, Pensacola, or Mobile, the main Spanish and French settlements. Pensacola was twice besieged
Siege of Pensacola (1707)
The Siege of Pensacola was two separate attempts in 1707 by English-supported Creek Indians to capture the town and fortress of Pensacola, then one of two major settlements in Spanish Florida. The first attempt, in August 1707, resulted in the destruction of the town, but Fort San Carlos de...

 by Creek forces in 1707, apparently with English colonial support. English-supplied Indians also made incursions into French-dominated territories to the west, but English intentions to assault Mobile never got beyond the planning stages; there was a raid on an Indian village near Mobile in 1709.

Historiography

Due in part to the somewhat fragmentary, unclear, and contradictory primary materials about these raids, historians have at times written widely varying accounts of the number of Indians that were enslaved. Although Moore claimed in his report that a large number of Apalachee were enslaved, modern historians believe that a significant number of those resettled by Moore went voluntarily, and were not actually slaves. Vernon Crane, in The Southern Frontier, 1670–1732 (originally published in 1929), uncritically accepts Moore's numbers, and 19th century South Carolina historian Edward McCrady only mentions 1,400 Apalachees being taken, of whom only 100 were slaves. Historian Allan Gallay, in a modern analysis, opines that the raids in 1704 alone resulted in the enslavement of between 2,000 and 4,000 Indians.

Opinions also differ as to the long-term fate of the Indians that voluntarily went with Moore. Since a 1715 census of the Savannah River settlements counted fewer than 650 Apalachees, Allan Gallay believes that the balance were probably sold into slavery. James Covington believes that a combination of factors was to blame: in addition to active slaving against those settlements, disease, intermarriage with other tribes, and migration to other communities account for the difference.
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