Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

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Castillo de San Marcos
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Location: St. Augustine, Florida, USA
Nearest city:
Coordinates: 29°54′14″N, 81°18′56″W
Area: 320 acres (1.29 km²)
Established: October 15, 1924
Visitation: 600,252 (in 2005)
Governing body: National Park Service

The Castillo de San Marcos The Castillo de San Marcos is a Spanish built fort located in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. It was known as Fort Marion from 1821 until 1942, and Fort St. Mark from 1763 until 1784 while under British control.



Early history
The city of St. Augustine was founded in 1565. Over the next one hundred years, the city was defended by nine wooden forts. Following an attack in 1668, it was decided by the Queen Regent of Spain, Mariana, that a masonry fortification be constructed to protect the city. In October 1672 construction began on the fort that would become the Castillo de San Marcos.

Construction
The Castillo is made of a stone called "coquina", literally "little shells". This is what the stone is made of, ancient shells that have bonded together to form a type of stone, similar to limestone. Workers were brought in from Havana, Cuba to construct the fort. The coquina was quarried from Anastasia Island across the bay from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site. Construction lasted twenty-three years, being completed in 1695.

First test
In 1670, Charles Town (modern-day Charleston, South Carolina) was founded by the British. This was one of the events that spurred the forts construction, being just two days sail from St. Augustine. In November 1702, forces under orders from Governor James Moore of Charles Town, set sail from Carolina in an attempt to capture the city.


A view of a bastion of Castillo de San Marcos Upon their arrival at St. Augustine, the British laid siege to the city. All of the city's residents, some 1,200 people, along with all of the fort's soldiers, some 300, remained protected inside the wall of the fort for the next two months during the siege.

The British cannon had little effect on the walls of the fort. The coquina was very effective at absorbing the impact of the shells, causing very little damage to the walls themselves. The siege was broken when the Spanish fleet from Havana, Cuba arrived, trapping the British in the bay. The British were forced to burn their ships to prevent them from falling into the Spaniard’s hands, and march overland back to Carolina. As they withdrew, they set fire to the city of St. Augustine, burning much of it to the ground.


Second period of construction
After the siege of 1702, the Castillo underwent a period of reconstruction. Beginning in 1738, the interior of the fort was redesigned and rebuilt. Interior rooms were made deeper, and vaulted ceilings replaced the original wooden ones. The vaulted ceilings allowed for better protection from bombardments and allowed for cannon to be placed along the gun deck, not just at the corner bastions. The new ceilings required the height of the exterior wall to be increased from 26 to 33 feet.


Second British siege

Cannons over the Castillo de San MarcosTensions between England and Spain had been on the rise for years, and in 1739, Britain declared war on Spain, the conflict known as the War of Jenkins' Ear. As part of the war, British General James Oglethorpe laid siege to the Castillo and the city of St. Augustine. Governor Manuel de Montiano, the Spanish governor of St. Augustine, prepared the defenses of the Castillo and the Spanish colony. Oglethorpe set out from the newly created colony of Georgia and invaded Spanish held land. After capturing the Spanish outposts of Fort San Diego, Fort Picolotta, and Fort Mose he marched his troops toward St. Augustine.

General Oglethorpe landed his troops on Anastasia Island across the inlet from the Castillo and the city. He began firing on the Castillo in hopes that a sustained bombardment and blockade would force the governor of Florida to surrender. However, a small vessel managed to get through the blockade by evading the lone British ship guarding the Matanzas Inlet to the south of Anastasia Island and set sail for Havana, Cuba. When they returned, found that the ship guarding the inlet had gone, allowing supplies to be brought to the Castillo without opposition. On the morning of the 38th day of the siege, the coquina walls of the Castillo had once again withstood British bombardment, and the British had withdrawn their forces from the area.

British occupation
In 1763, the British finally managed to take the Castillo, but not by force. As a provision of the Treaty of Paris (1763), Britain gained all of Florida in exchange for returning Havana and the Philippines to Spain, captured during the Seven Years' War. On July 21, 1763, the Spanish governor turned the Castillo over to the British.


A view of the courtyard of the Castillo The British would make a few changes to the fort, most notably its name, becoming Fort St. Mark. With Britain being the dominating power in North America, it was not felt that the fort was needed to be kept in first rate condition. This attitude was prevalent until the outbreak of the American Revolution.

During the war, St. Augustine became the capital of the British colony of East Florida. Improvements were begun on the fort, in keeping with its new role as a base of operations for the British in the south. The gates and walls were repaired and several rooms had second floors added to increase the housing capacity of the fort. The Castillo saw action during the American Revolution mainly as a prison, holding several patriots captured in Charleston when it was taken by the British. Major operations from St. Augustine were kept under control by the actions of the Spanish, who had declared war on Britain in 1779. Bernardo de Gálvez, governor of Spanish Louisiana, attacked several British held cities, capturing all of them. His actions kept the British occupied in the south, never letting them organize any major actions against the Americans from the Castillo.

At the end of the war, the Second Treaty of Paris returned Florida to Spain. On July 12, 1784, Spanish troops returned to St. Augustine.

Second Spanish occupation
When Florida was returned to Spanish control, they found a much changed territory. Many Spaniards had left Florida after the hand over to Britain, and many British citizens stayed after the hand over back to Spain. Many border problems arose between Spanish Florida and the new United States. Spain had changed the name of the fort back to the Castillo de San Marcos, and continued to build upon the improvements that Britain had made to the fort in an effort to strengthen Spain’s hold on the territory. However, due to increased pressure from the United States and several other factors, in 1821, Spain signed the Adams-Onís Treaty, ceding Florida to the United States.

First American period
Upon the hand over to the United States, the Americans changed the name of the Castillo to Fort Marion. Structurally, little was changed to the fort during this time. Many storerooms were converted to prison cells, due to their heavy doors and barred windows. Also, part of the moat was transformed into a battery as part as the American Coastal Defense System. During the Second Seminole War, Chief Osceola was jailed at the fort in 1837. Many other Native American tribal peoples were held at the fort in later years.

The Confederate period
In December 1860, Florida seceded from the United States in the opening moments of the American Civil War. Union troops had withdrawn from the fort, leaving only one man behind as caretaker of the fort. In January 1861, Confederate troops marched on the fort. The Union solder manning the fort refused to surrender it unless he was given a receipt for it from the Confederacy. He was given the receipt and the fort was taken by the Confederacy without a shot. Most of the artillery in the fort was then sent to other forts, leaving the fort nearly defenseless.

Second American period

Castillo de San Marcos National Monument The fort was taken back by Union forces on March 11, 1862 when the USS Wabash entered the bay, finding the city evacuated by Confederate troops. The city leaders were willing to surrender in order to preserve the town, and the city and the fort were retaken without firing a shot. Throughout the rest of the fort's operational history, it was used as a military prison. During the 1880s and 1890s many Native Americans were imprisoned in the fort during the American expansion westward. In 1898, over 200 deserters from the Spanish-American War were imprisoned at the fort.

This marked one of the last actions at the fort as an operational base. In 1900, the fort was taken off of the active duty rolls after 205 years of service, under five different flags. In 1924, the fort was designated a National Monument and in 1933 it was transferred to the National Park Service from the War Department. In 1942, in honor of its Spanish heritage the name of the fort was changed back to the Castillo de San Marcos. As an historic property of the National Park Service, the National Monument was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The fort is co-managed with Fort Matanzas National Monument. In 1975, the Castillo was designated an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Since being transferred to the Park Service, the Castillo has been a tourist attraction occupying 25 acres (101,000 m²) in downtown St. Augustine.