MichaelB
Sr. Member
Pcola, do you know anything on this? Chandy is shallow and I can' t find reference of anyone finding it. This is from D'Iberville's log:
D'Iberville, meanwhile, has taken ill and remains at Fort Myssyssypy for a while. When he makes it back to the Gulf Coast, he discovers that the commandant of the Spanish post at Pensacola had sailed to Biloxi with a ship of 24 guns and 140 men, one bilander with 6 guns and 40 men and a longboat with 6 swivel guns and 20 men with the intention of driving the French out and destroying the post. The pretext of this action being that the French operations were possibly the result of a privately-owned company. However, seeing 2 of the (French) King's ships at the Ship Island anchorage, the Spanish realized that these colonial endeavors were those of the Crown. Therefore the Spanish commandant did nothing, as those were his orders. He did however, write an "injuction" demanding that all expansions cease until the King of Spain had been duly informed, adding that the territory belonged to Spain and was within the jurisdiction of the Viceroy of Mexico. Proudly sailing away, a disastor occurs: the main ship of this task force shipwrecks on Chandeleur Island and the ship and all material aboard totally lost. The Spanish make their way to the French ships at Ship Island where the French generously receive them and make arrangements to transport a very embarrassed commandant and his men back to Pensacola. This gave the French a chance to spy on the Spanish post:
April 15, 1700 - ...the (Spanish) commandant left for Pensacola with all his men in the felucca and the Biscayan and his bilander and pinnace. At that fort (were) no more than 250 men, 40 to 50 of them being convicts. Several had deserted after the commandant had left. They lack provisions there and seem quite destitute. As for the way they live, they have no fresh food at all. Their fort is a trifling thing. This shipwreck has not enriched us, for it was necessary to help these Spanish gentlemen with clothes and other things, as they had lost everything.
MichaelB
D'Iberville, meanwhile, has taken ill and remains at Fort Myssyssypy for a while. When he makes it back to the Gulf Coast, he discovers that the commandant of the Spanish post at Pensacola had sailed to Biloxi with a ship of 24 guns and 140 men, one bilander with 6 guns and 40 men and a longboat with 6 swivel guns and 20 men with the intention of driving the French out and destroying the post. The pretext of this action being that the French operations were possibly the result of a privately-owned company. However, seeing 2 of the (French) King's ships at the Ship Island anchorage, the Spanish realized that these colonial endeavors were those of the Crown. Therefore the Spanish commandant did nothing, as those were his orders. He did however, write an "injuction" demanding that all expansions cease until the King of Spain had been duly informed, adding that the territory belonged to Spain and was within the jurisdiction of the Viceroy of Mexico. Proudly sailing away, a disastor occurs: the main ship of this task force shipwrecks on Chandeleur Island and the ship and all material aboard totally lost. The Spanish make their way to the French ships at Ship Island where the French generously receive them and make arrangements to transport a very embarrassed commandant and his men back to Pensacola. This gave the French a chance to spy on the Spanish post:
April 15, 1700 - ...the (Spanish) commandant left for Pensacola with all his men in the felucca and the Biscayan and his bilander and pinnace. At that fort (were) no more than 250 men, 40 to 50 of them being convicts. Several had deserted after the commandant had left. They lack provisions there and seem quite destitute. As for the way they live, they have no fresh food at all. Their fort is a trifling thing. This shipwreck has not enriched us, for it was necessary to help these Spanish gentlemen with clothes and other things, as they had lost everything.
MichaelB
