8. VIII.
THE CONQUEST OF LA CAROLINE.
The Chevalier de Gourgues now proposed temporarily to rest
from his labors, and give himself a reasonable time before attempting
the superior fortress of La Caroline, in ascertaining its
strength, and the difficulties in the way of its capture. The
captives taken at the second fort were transferred to the first, and
set apart with their comrades for future judgment. From one of
these he learned that the garrison of La Caroline consisted of
near three hundred men, under command of a brave and efficient
governor. His prisoners he closely examined for information.
Having ascertained the height of the platform, the
extent of the fortifications, and the nature of the approaches, he
prepared scaling ladders, and made all the necessary provisions
for a regular assault. The Indians, meanwhile, had been
ordered to environ the fortress, and so to cover the whole face
of the country, as to make it impossible that the garrison should
obtain help, convey intelligence of their situation to their
friends in St. Augustine, or escape from the beleagured station.
While these preparations were in progress, the Spanish governor
at La Caroline, now fully apprised of his danger, and of
the capture of the two smaller forts, sent out one of his most
trusty scouts, disguised as an Indian, to spy out the condition of
the French, their strength and objects. But Holata Cara, who
had taken charge of the forces of the red-men, had too well
occupied all the passages to suffer this excellent design to prove
successful. He made the scout a prisoner, and readily saw
through all his disguises. Thus detected, the Spaniard revealed
all that he knew of the strength and resources of the garrison.
He described them as in very great panie, having been assured
that the French numbered no less than two thousand men.
Gourgues determined to assail them in the moment of their
greatest alarm, and before they should recover from it, or be
undeceived with regard to his strength. The red-men were
counselled to maintain their ambush in the thickets skirting the
river on both sides, and leaving his standard-bearer and a captain
with fifteen chosen men in charge of the captured forts and
prisoners, Gourgues set forth on his third adventure. He took
with him the Spanish scout and another captive Spaniard, a
sergeant, as guides, fast fettered, and duly warned that any
attempt at deception, or escape, would only bring down instant
and condign punishment upon their heads. His ensign, Monsieur
de Mesmes, with twenty arquebusiers, was left to guard the
mouth of the river, and, with the red-men covering the face of
the country, and provided with all the implements necessary to
storm the defences, Gourgues began his march against La
Caroline.
It was late in the day when the little band set forth, and evening
began to approach as they drew within sight of the fortress.
The Don in command at La Caroline was vigilant enough, and
soon espied the advancing columns. His cannon and his culverins,
commanding the river thoroughly, began to play with great
spirit upon our Frenchmen, who were compelled to cover themselves
in the woods, taking shelter behind a slight eminence
within sight of the fortress. This wood afforded them sufficient
cover for their approaches almost to the foot of the fortress—the
precautions of the Spaniard not having extended to the removal
of the forest growth by which the place was surrounded, and by
help of which the designs of an enemy could be so much facilitated.
It was under the shelter of this very wood, and by this
very route—so Gourgues learned from his prisoners—that the
Spaniards had successfully surprised and assaulted the fortress
two years before.
Here, then, our chevalier determined to lie perdu until the
next morning, the hour being too late and the enemy too watchful,
at that moment, to attempt anything. Besides, Gourgues
desired a little time to see how the land lay, and how his approaches
should be made. On that side of the fortress which
fronted the hill, behind which our Frenchmen harbored, he discovered
that the trench seemed to be insufficiently flanked for
the defence of the curtains.
While meditating in what way to take advantage of this weakness,
he was agreeably surprised by the commission of an error,
on the part of the garrison, which materially abridged his difficulties.
The Spanish governor, either with a nervous anxiety to
anticipate events, or with a fool-hardiness which fancied that they
might be controlled by a wholesome audacity, ordered a sortié;
and Gourgues with delight beheld a detachment of threescore
soldiers, deliberately passing the trenches and marching steadily
into the very jaws of ruin.
Holata Cara, as if aware by instinct, was at once at the side
of our chevalier, with his spear pointing to the fated detachment.
In a moment, the warrior sped with the commands of Gourgues,
to his lieutenant, Cazenove, who, with twenty arquebusiers, covered
by the wood, contrived to throw himself between the fortress
and the advancing party, cutting off all their chances of escape.
Then it was that, with wild cries of “France! France!” the
chevalier rose from his place of hiding, with all his band, and
rushed out upon his prey, reserving his fire until sufficiently near
to render every shot certain. The Spaniards recoiled from the
assault; but, as they fled, were encountered in the rear by the
squad under Cazenove. The battle cry of the French, resounding
at once in front and rear, completed their panic, and they
offered but a feeble resistance to enemies who neither asked nor
offered quarter. It was a massacre rather than a fight; and
still, as the French paused in the work of death, a shrill deathcry
in their midst aroused them anew, and they could behold the
lithe form of the red chief, Holata Cara, speeding from foe to
foe, with his macana only, smiting with fearful edge—a single
stroke at each several victim, followed ever by the agonizing yell
of death! Not a Spaniard escaped of all that passed through
the trenches on that miserable sortié!
Terrified by this disaster, so sudden and so complete, the garrison
were no longer capable of defence. They no longer
hearkened to the commands or the encouragements of their governor.
They left, or leaped, the walls; they threw wide the
gates, and rushed wildly into the neighboring thickets, in the
vain hope to find security in their dark recesses, and under cover
of the night. But they knew not well how the woods were occupied.
At once a torrent of yells, of torture and of triumph,
startled the echoes on every side. The swift arrow, the sharp
javelin, the long spear, the stone hatchet, each found an unresisting
vectim; and the miserable fugitives, maddened with terror,
darted back upon the fortress, which was already in the possession
of the French. They had seized the opportunity, and in
the moment when the insubordinate garrison threw wide the gates,
and leaped blindly from the parapets, they had swiftly occupied
their places. The fugitive Spaniards, recoiling from the savages,
only changed one form of death for another. They suffered on
all hands—were mercilessly shot down as they fled, or stabbed as
they surrendered; those only excepted who were chosen to expiate,
more solemnly and terribly, the great crime of which they
had been guilty!
