Nature Is Real: Fort Matanzas National Monument

Fort Matanzas National Monument Entrance Sign

Nature Man brings you Fort Matanzas National Monument. Matanzas Inlet was the scene of crucial events in Spanish colonial history. The massacre of French soldiers here in 1565 was Spain's opening move in establishing a colony in Florida. The construction of Fort Matanzas in 1740 - 42 was Spain's last effort to ward off British encroachments on St. Augustine.

Location and Visitors Center
Matanzas is located 14 miles south of Saint Augustine and is reached via Florida A1A on Anastasia Island. The park is open 9 AM to 5:30 PM daily. There is no admission fee. The park consists of almost 300 acres on Rattlesnake and Anastasia Islands. A passenger ferry carries visitors from the Visitors Center off A1A to the fort, weather permitting, from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM and is free to the pubic. Swimming for pedestrian access to beach and free parking is available in three lots: two beachside and one riverside.

History

Fort Matanzas

Since its founding in 1565, the military outpost town of St. Augustine had been the heart of Spain's coastal defenses in Florida. After Castillo de San Marcos was completed in 1695, the town had only one weakness. Matanzas Inlet, 14 miles south, allowed access to the Matanzas River, by which enemy vessels could attack the town from the rear--out of range of the Castillo's cannon. Spain had a good reason to fear attack. Beginning with Francis Drake's raid on St. Augustine in 1586, England had repeatedly harassed the Spanish colony. In 1740 Gov. James Oglethorpe blockaded St. Augustine inlet with troops from the British colony of Georgia and began a 39-day siege of the town. A few Spanish vessels managed to break the siege by evading the blockade and resupplying the town. With onset of hurricane season, Oglethorpe gave up the attack and returned to Georgia.

To prevent the British from controlling the inlet and starving St. Augustine into surrender, carpenters and masons began building Fort Matanzas, with labor supplied by convicts, slaves and additional troops from Cuba. In 1742, with the fort near completion, Oglethorpe arrived off the inlet with 12 ships. The fort's cannon drove off his scouting boats and the warship left; it had passed its first test. As part of the treaty of Paris ending the French and Indian war, Florida was transferred to Britain in 1763. After the American Revolution, a second Treaty of Paris returned Florida to Spain in 1784. Spain made little effort to maintain Fort Matanzas, and erosion and rainwater took their toll. When Spain transferred Florida to the United States in 1819, the fort was so badly deteriorated that its soldiers could no longer live inside. The United States took possession in 1821 but never occupied the fort.

The Tower at Matanzas
Fort Matanzas--50 feet on each side with a 30-foot tower--was built of coquina, a local shellstone. Lime for mortar was made by burning oyster shells. A foundation of close-set pine pilings driven deep in the marshy ground stabilized the fort. Soldiers were rotated from St. Augustine for one-month duty tours at Matanzas, usually a cabo (officer-in-charge), four infantrymen and two gunners. More could be assigned to this remote outpost when international tensions increased, up to the planned maximum of 50 during a crisis. The soldiers lived and ate together in a sparsely-furnished room off the gun deck; the officer lived in the vaulted room above.

The fort could cover the inlet with five guns: four six-pounders and one 18 pounder. All could reach the inlet, less than a half-mile away in 1742. Loopholes in the south wall of the tower allowed the infantrymen to fire their muskets from inside the fort. Besides warning St. Augustine of enemy vessels and driving them off if necessary, the fort served as a rest stop, coast guard station, and a place where vessels heading for St. Augustine could get advice on navigating the river. But its primary mission was to maintain control of the Matanzas Inlet. After thwarting British attempts to gain the inlet in 1742, the fort never again fired its guns in battle.

Barrier Island Nature
In preserving the site of historic events on Anastasia Island, Congress also set aside a slice of an intact barrier island system. Distinct habitats harbor many species, several listed as endangered or threatened. From May to August, the beach is the nesting site for sea turtles, including the loggerhead (threatened) and the green and leatherback (both endangered). The beach is also home to the ghost crab and the threatened least tern. On the ocean side of the island, sea oats, legumes, and other hardy, salt-tolerant plants growing on the dunes help stabilize them with their extensive root systems. They also provide cover for several animal species, like the endangered Anastasia Island beach mouse.

Gopher Tortoise

In scrub areas, characterized by prickly pear cactus, bayberry and greenbrier vines, the gopher tortoise digs branching burrows up to 30 feet into the dunes. Other species like the southern leopard frog and the endangered indigo snake exploit the tortoise's labor for their own shelter.

The island's highest part is the old dunes covered with coastal forest rooted in thick, decayed remains of pioneer species. Palms, red bay, and live oak provide a canopy sheltering spiders, lizards, raccoons, and the great horned owl and other birds. Berries and fruits on the understory plants provide food for some of these animals.

Behind the dunes and forest lie the tidal creeks and marshes of the estuary, where saltwater meets fresh. This is the most diverse habitat of the island. Herons and egrets feed on the rich supply of fish and crustaceans living in the salt marshes. Ospreys and bald eagles fight over the osprey's catch. Pelicans and terns dive head first into the river after the fish. Skimmers fly low over the water. Hawks swoop low over the grass. The tidal flats are alive with fiddler crabs waving their claws. Raccoons, owls and night herons hunt at night. Marsh rabbits nibble on young sprouts in the morning. Nature Man guarantees that there is always animal and habitat interaction around the salt marsh.

On your visit I recommend that you bring plenty of water to drink, close-toed shoes appropriate for hiking in sandy soil, bug repellent, sun screen, binoculars, a camera and an Audubon Florida Field Guide for flora and wildlife identification purposes.

Proper trail etiquette is recommended:

Dogs must be on a 6 foot leash and must be well behaved.
Animal and plant life are protected. Do not kill, trap or molest any mammal, bird, reptile or amphibian. Do not pick, cut carve, break off limbs from or mutilate any plant life.
Pack it in, pack it out.
Take only pictures and memories

Nature Man Photography brings you the following wonders of Fort Matanzas: