Master and Commander
In April of 1562, King Philip II sent Spanish nobleman Pedro Menendez de Avilles to the territories of the Spanish Main. Menendez was named the Captain General of the Spanish fleet, and his mission was to catch any pirates he could and deal with them ruthlessly. Menendez and his brother owned several merchant ships and he was very familiar with both trading and security. He made immediate recommendations that the port cities should be fortified, and that armed ships be on patrol in the Caribbean to protect the ports and ships while they were there.
Menendez soon learned that the French who had initially been pursuing his ships were shipwrecked farther down the coast. He then set sail after the shipwrecked crew, and when he found them, he killed them all. With the destruction of Fort Caroline accomplished, the French Huguenots were basically stopped from further terrorizing the Spanish, and Philip rewarded Menendez by making him Governor of Havana.
Another of his recommendations was that Spain set up a permanent settlement in Florida, and use it as a base in order to fortify itself against French incursion. In 1565, Menendez returned to the Americas, bringing troops, money, and ships in order to establish a stronghold in Florida. Upon his arrival, he sailed past Fort Caroline and noticed that it appeared heavily fortified, so he sailed farther south and started a settlement at St. Augustine. He remained at the new colony with about 500 of his men, and had his ships continue sailing south. Shortly after, he observed French ships from Fort Caroline following his ships as they traveled south. Menendez immediately took his men and marched on Fort Caroline, attacking the remaining French and quickly murdering them.
