page_title: Siege of St. Augustine (1702)
section_title: Relief attempts
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of St. Augustine (1702) / Battle / Relief attempts
caption_attribution_description: English: Castillo de San Marcos National Monument - a turret overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 66000062
context_page_description: The Siege of St. Augustine occurred in Queen Anne's War during November and December 1702. It was conducted by English provincial forces from the Province of Carolina and their native allies, under the command of Carolina's governor James Moore, against the Spanish colonial fortress of Castillo de San Marcos at St. Augustine, in Spanish Florida.
  After destroying coastal Spanish communities north of St. Augustine, Moore's forces arrived at St. Augustine on 10 November, and immediately began siege operations. The Spanish governor, José de Zúñiga y la Cerda, had advance warning of their arrival, and withdrew civilians and food supplies into the fortress, and also sent messengers to nearby Spanish and French communities for relief. The English guns did little damage to the fortress walls, prompting Governor Moore to send an appeal to Jamaica for larger guns. The Spanish calls for relief were successful; a fleet sent from Havana, Cuba landed troops nearby on 29 December. Moore lifted the siege the next day, and was forced to burn many of his boats before retreating to Charles Town in disgrace.
context_section_description: Spanish leaders at San Luis de Apalachee (present-day Tallahassee, Florida) began mobilizing when they received the news of the siege.  Short on supplies, they appealed to the French at Mobile, who provided critical guns and gunpowder; the Pensacola garrison also spared ten men.  The relief force left San Luis de Apalachee on December 24, but turned back when news was received that the siege had been lifted.
  Also on December 24, sails from a pair of ships were spotted approaching St. Augustine.  English records do not indicate what these ships were; Spanish records show that they were English in origin, but probably not from Jamaica, since the nature of the siege did not change with their arrival. The expedition to Jamaica, having failed in its mission, returned directly to Charles Town.
  Spanish messengers from Pensacola eventually reported St. Augustine's plight to Havana.  Governor Pedro Nicolás Benítez held a war council on December 2, in which a relief expedition was organized.  A detachment of over 200 infantry under the command of Captain López de Solloso was embarked on a small fleet headed by General Estevan de Berroa in the Black Eagle. Berroa's fleet arrived outside St. Augustine's harbor on December 28.  Apparently believing the siege to already be over, Berroa did not land any troops.  The next day, Governor Zúñiga sneaked some men out of the fort and made contact with the fleet.  Berroa then landed Solloso and about 70 raw recruits on Anastasia Island, about 3 miles (4.8 km) below the fort.  This action prompted Moore to lift the siege and prepare a retreat. Berroa also dispatched smaller ships to block the southern inlet to Matanzas Bay, trapping some of Moore's ships in the bay.
  Moore ordered the remaining buildings in the town, including the church, put to the torch.  Some of his men departed north via the mainland, while the rest crossed Matanzas Bay to their boats. Moore burned the eight ships trapped in the bay, and retreated to the north, eventually returning to Charles Town in disgrace. Zúñiga sent men out after the English departure; they were able to recover three of the English boats that failed to burn completely.
  Casualty reports made by both sides varied; historian Charles Arnade notes that all of the numbers reported are probably unreliable. Moore's report listed only two men killed, while Zúñiga in his report claimed that more than 60 of the English force were killed.  Zúñiga claimed only three or four killed and 20 wounded for the Spanish contingent, none of which were caused by English cannon fire.
caption: View from the castillo over the harbor area
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