The Lily and the Totem; or, The Huguenots in Florida

by William Gilmore Simms

  VIII.

  THE CONQUEST OF LA CAROLINE.

  The Chevalier de Gourgues now proposed temporarily to rest from hislabors, and give himself a reasonable time before attempting thesuperior fortress of La Caroline, in ascertaining its strength, and thedifficulties in the way of its capture. The captives taken at the secondfort were transferred to the first, and set apart with their comradesfor future judgment. From one of these he learned that the garrison ofLa Caroline consisted of near three hundred men, under command of abrave and efficient governor. His prisoners he closely examined forinformation. Having ascertained the height of the platform, the extentof the fortifications, and the nature of the approaches, he preparedscaling ladders, and made all the necessary provisions for a regularassault. The Indians, meanwhile, had been ordered to environ thefortress, and so to cover the whole face of the country, as to make itimpossible that the garrison should obtain help, convey intelligence oftheir situation to their friends in St. Augustine, or escape from thebeleagured station.

  While these preparations were in progress, the Spanish governor at LaCaroline, now fully apprised of his danger, and of the capture of thetwo smaller forts, sent out one of his most trusty scouts, disguised asan Indian, to spy out the condition of the French, their strength andobjects. But Holata Cara, who had taken charge of the forces of thered-men, had too well occupied all the passages to suffer this excellentdesign to prove successful. He made the scout a prisoner, and readilysaw through all his disguises. Thus detected, the Spaniard revealed allthat he knew of the strength and resources of the garrison. He describedthem as in very great panic, having been assured that the Frenchnumbered no less than two thousand men. Gourgues determined to assailthem in the moment of their greatest alarm, and before they shouldrecover from it, or be undeceived with regard to his strength. Thered-men were counselled to maintain their ambush in the thicketsskirting the river on both sides, and leaving his standard-bearer anda captain with fifteen chosen men in charge of the captured forts andprisoners, Gourgues set forth on his third adventure. He took with himthe 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 toguard the mouth of the river, and, with the red-men covering the face ofthe country, and provided with all the implements necessary to storm thedefences, Gourgues began his march against La Caroline.

  It was late in the day when the little band set forth, and eveningbegan to approach as they drew within sight of the fortress. The Donin command at La Caroline was vigilant enough, and soon espied theadvancing columns. His cannon and his culverins, commanding the riverthoroughly, began to play with great spirit upon our Frenchmen, whowere compelled to cover themselves in the woods, taking shelter behinda slight eminence within sight of the fortress. This wood affordedthem sufficient cover for their approaches almost to the foot of thefortress--the precautions of the Spaniard not having extended to theremoval of the forest growth by which the place was surrounded, and byhelp of which the designs of an enemy could be so much facilitated. Itwas under the shelter of this very wood, and by this very route--soGourgues learned from his prisoners--that the Spaniards had successfullysurprised and assaulted the fortress two years before.

  Here, then, our chevalier determined to lie perdu until the nextmorning, the hour being too late and the enemy too watchful, at thatmoment, to attempt anything. Besides, Gourgues desired a little time tosee how the land lay, and how his approaches should be made. On thatside of the fortress which fronted the hill, behind which our Frenchmenharbored, he discovered that the trench seemed to be insufficientlyflanked for the defence of the curtains.

  While meditating in what way to take advantage of this weakness, he wasagreeably surprised by the commission of an error, on the part of thegarrison, which materially abridged his difficulties. The Spanishgovernor, either with a nervous anxiety to anticipate events, or witha fool-hardiness which fancied that they might be controlled by awholesome audacity, ordered a sortie; and Gourgues with delight beheld adetachment of threescore soldiers, deliberately passing the trenches andmarching steadily into the very jaws of ruin.

  Holata Cara, as if aware by instinct, was at once at the side of ourchevalier, 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, contrivedto throw himself between the fortress and the advancing party, cuttingoff all their chances of escape. Then it was that, with wild cries of"France! France!" the chevalier rose from his place of hiding, withall his band, and rushed out upon his prey, reserving his fire untilsufficiently near to render every shot certain. The Spaniards recoiledfrom the assault; but, as they fled, were encountered in the rear by thesquad under Cazenove. The battle cry of the French, resounding at oncein front and rear, completed their panic, and they offered but a feebleresistance to enemies who neither asked nor offered quarter. It was amassacre rather than a fight; and still, as the French paused in thework of death, a shrill death-cry in their midst aroused them anew, andthey could behold the lithe form of the red chief, Holata Cara, speedingfrom foe to foe, with his macana only, smiting with fearful edge--asingle stroke at each several victim, followed ever by the agonizingyell of death! Not a Spaniard escaped of all that passed through thetrenches on that miserable sortie!

  Terrified by this disaster, so sudden and so complete, the garrison wereno longer capable of defence. They no longer hearkened to the commandsor the encouragements of their governor. They left, or leaped, thewalls; they threw wide the gates, and rushed wildly into the neighboringthickets, in the vain hope to find security in their dark recesses, andunder cover of the night. But they knew not well how the woods wereoccupied. 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 victim;and the miserable fugitives, maddened with terror, darted back uponthe fortress, which was already in the possession of the French. Theyhad seized the opportunity, and in the moment when the insubordinategarrison 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 toexpiate, more solemnly and terribly, the great crime of which they hadbeen guilty!