The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-08-17
Troops al 81. HUQU8kin0
IN ST. FRANCIS BARRACKS THE
TAR HEEL VOLUNTEERS ARE IN
CLOVER TO THEIR HEADS.
Don't Say Anything About How Well We Are Fixed Here,
Said Col. Gotten, For if You Do Some Son of Gun
Will Be Trying to Get Us Out of the Job'' His
toriCal Sketch of the Quaint Old Town
Where and B Are in Camp
Especial War Correspondence

! der guard. One of them is now con
valcScent; the other has typhoid fever.
| Ills illness is aggravated by homcSick-
ness and melancholy He weepS almost
| continuously and is in Il most pitia!l"
| condition.
| In addition to these there are twelve
| Of Maj. Cotten's men sick in the hoSpi-
! tai. Only one. though, is seriously i'll.
| That is Lieut. Bradley J. Wooten, rcgi
| mental adiutant. who has typhoid fever
| During Lieut.. Bradlcy's sickness, Lieut..
Jenkins is acting as regimcntal adjutant.
The hospital. like everything else about
the barracks here, is n model i'll ar
rangemcnt and equipment. and the SICK
receive the most careful treatment and
kindest attention. DR.. VIM. II. +.
Shine is the surgeon in charge. MAJ.
Gotten and his officers daily visit the
sick and do all in their power to min
lister to their wants and cheer them on
to recovery.
st. Francis Barracks tax" their name
from the Franciscan convent. whose for
mer site they occupy. Tho convent was
abandoned w3en Florida was &c led to
Great Britain in 1868; and when Spain
resumed possession of the town, in 1888,
it was utlE cd by the S,,anIsn tiv,rnac
as ili u 'tN'N> lpI HIS Ilbtt -. ! III iItI
buiIding Las hcen greatly moiI'ici y
the United States Government, although
not entirely rebuilt. and some of the
original coquina walls of the convent
remain. Almost continuously since it
was founded by the mailed soldiers of
Menendcz st. Augustine has been a mill
tary station. Under Spanish rule it was
little else than a garrison post. When
the British came. they emulated the mar
tial spirit of their predecessors and on
the plain south of the town. with bricks
brought from the banks of the Hudson
river, erected huge barracks. which
cost a tremendous sum. and shortly af-
ter completion went up in smoke.
BY far the most interesting object in
St Augustine is Fort Marion. named in
honor of Gen. Francis Marion. 1t com
mands the entrance 10 the harbor. being
at the north end of the town. half a.
mile from the barracks. The fort. which
is the only example of medieval fortif-
cation on this continent. is "A magnif
cent specimen of the art of military
engineering as developed at the time of
its construction. 1t is Il massive struc
ture of coquina stone, with curtains,
haStionS, moat and outwOrks, covering
more than twenty-five acres.
In different forms and bearing differ
ont names this fort has been established
more than three centuries. For twol
hundred years the fort was St Angus
tine and st. Augustine was Florida. In
fact it was the most important point I'M
North America. First a rude and tenn
p0rary structure of logs, it was expanded
in plan and magnitude until there devel
oped the stone fortress Of 100. /adrO|
Menendez. the founder of st. Angus
tine in 1865, utilized the Indian council
house as defense. But after his heart
less massacre Of the shipwrecked French
ut MatanZaS inlet, the cruel Spaniard
stood in Just fear of the coming of Il
fleet from Spain, and set about the build
ing of a regular fort of logs. This
was the Fort San Juan dc Pinos. I'M
those days there was a lookout toworl
on Anastasia Island, whence the watch
ers Sgnallcd to those in the fort the
welcome coming of ships from Old
Spain. or the dreaded approach of Il
hostile fleet. \ token of veal or woe,
in those days the signal flag on Anas-
tasia Island was as eagerly watched
by the Spaniards ashore rs ever now
the Anastasia light is looked for byI
ships ut sea. In 1886, twenty years af-
ter the town was established. the look
out attracted the notice of the English
Soaking. Francis Drake. sailing along
the coast on his way home from pillag
ing the cities of the Spanish Main; and
he tarricd long enough to ranSack St
Augustine, and destroy by fire what he
could not bear off. When the dreaded
Boucaniers descended upon st. Angus
tine in 1865 the fort was IN no condition
to offer resistance. and garrison and
fownspeople fled in terror to.the woods
In 1740 when Oglethorpc brought out
his Georgia colony, he captured the
Spanish forts on the st. Johns river
and for forty days bombarded Fort San
Marco, as it was then called. The
townspeople took refuge in the fort and
were nearly starved before the siege was
| finally lifted.
| The walls Of the fort are built Of
| coquina. kind of shell rock. which is
| found in great abundance on st.
| Anastasia Island and in its day was
| considered n very excellent material for
| fort building, since cannon balls would
sink into the walls without SCATTERING
! them. Even now on the sea front may
! be seen creyiCcs made by balls from
| Oglethorpe's guns. Since then, though.
| inc dIlS III WIZ HAVE cIldHStl anu Il tTt
! Marion's coQuina walls could quickly be
! battered down by the artillery of tic
present day. Realizing this. the United
| States has made no effort to rcfit the fort
| for defense. but has erected n formdabl
| battery, commanding The harbor, on St.
Anastasia Island. The only guns in|
| Fort Marion are some ancient pieces of
coast defense artillery not now worth
mounting.
Anastasia Island extends from st. Au-I
| gustine south twelve miles to Matanzas
Inlct, where arc the picturesque ruins
of another old Spanish fort: for this was
| one Of the sea approaches to the town.
and the Don must needs put Il garrison
there to defend il. The inlet of Matan-
2as, the guide books say. fakes il name
| CA CT0PIA rnInfaris and fbIdrpn