Fort Caroline: France's Lost 1564 Colony in Florida

In 1564, Admiral Gaspard de Coligny sponsored a French expedition to Florida, leading to the construction of Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville. The colony, named La Caroline for King Charles IX, was intended as a Huguenot refuge and a foothold in the New World. Led by René Goulaine de Laudonnière, around 300 soldiers and colonists built the fort with help from the Timucuan-speaking Mocama. However, poor planning, internal strife, and deteriorating relations with Indigenous peoples plagued the settlement. In December 1564, 66 soldiers mutinied and raided Spanish Cuba, alerting Spanish authorities. King Philip II dispatched Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who founded St. Augustine on September 8, 1565, then attacked Fort Caroline. On September 20, 1565, Spanish forces massacred most inhabitants; Laudonnière escaped. Jean Ribault, arriving with reinforcements, was captured and executed with over 150 others at Matanzas. Spain renamed the fort San Mateo, which was destroyed by a French force in 1568, but France never regained a permanent foothold. St. Augustine became the oldest permanent European settlement in the U.S. A reconstructed Fort Caroline was designated a National Memorial in 1964.