The Last Voyage of the Rosario
By August 1704, Pensacola was filling up with refugees
from Apalachee. Rations were down to a half a pound of bread a day. Originally
expected to last until February, the sparse rations were being taxed by new
arrivals. The devastating fire of November 23, 1704 consumed what was left of
the rations, except for a little hardtack. Unfortunately, Guzmán's pleas
for relief from the refugee onslaught and the fire did not reach the Viceroy,
Conde de Galve, until January 26, 1705 (Guzmán, 1704). In the interim,
the Spanish were forced to turn to the French at Mobile for assistance.
The Accountant of the Windward Fleet, Juan Mendo de Urbina, calculated six month
provisions based on a population of 300 (150 infantrymen, 20 artillerymen, 50
laborers and 80 artisans): 405 quintals of hardtack, 130 cargas of wheat flour;
144 quintals of salt pork (a third in hams); 106 quintals of dried vegetables
(third parts rice, garbanzo and fava beans); 19 quintals, 50 pounds of lard;
19 quintals, 50 pounds of cheese; as well as fruit preserves, oil, vinegar,
liquor, wine, medicines, wax and preserves. Of the 180 days there were 128 meat
days and 52 fast days (Urbina, 1705a). A brigantine from Campeche, Mexico named
the Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, San Joseph y las Animas sailed on February
8, 1705, probably conveying the following supplies: 140 quintals of hardtack,
100 cargas of flour, 19 quintals, 75 pounds of salt pork, 42 quintals, 66 pounds
of vegetables (third parts rice, fava beans, garbanzos and frijole), four quintals,
50 pounds of lard. This was nothing more than a stopgap measure to ward off
food shortages, as Presidio officials were reportedly down to less than a month's
worth of provisions (Albuquerque, 1705). The relief ship was expected to arrive
in March (Pez, 1705a).
On March 5, the French ketch Precieuse arrived to Veracruz, with news of the
fire and the flood of refugees at Santa María de Galve (Urbina, 1705c).
With both Santa María de Galve and St. Augustine on the brink of disaster,
the Viceroy and Audiencia arranged for three ships to resupply the two presidios;
the Nuestra Señora del Rosario was available. Officials chartered
the Santo Christo de Maracaibo Nuestra Señora del Rosario y San Joseph
and the Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu. Admiral Antonio de Landeche
commanded the Rosario, Miguel Pérez de Aranguibel the Santo Christo
and Joseph de Rada the Aranzazu (Hessain, 1705; Misc., 1707c; Pez, 1705c) (Appendix
C).
The Maracaibo carried: 500 cargas of flour in 1000 tercios; 193 quintals and
95 pounds of salt pork (ham, pork bellies (barriga) and hog jowls (papada) in
1221 chests (cajones); 32 quintals and 34 pounds of lard (manteca) in 20 chests
and 32 quintals and 3 pounds of cheese in 20 oblong fruit hampers (guacales);
51 arrobas and 23 pounds net of vegetables (rice, chickpeas and beans) in 87
tercios of croaker sacks (costales); 25 quintals and 50 pounds net of powder,
loaded in 17 telogras of unbleached linen and in as many other chests covered
with burlap (jerga); and 25 quintals of sisal fiber fuse (Ystle) in 15 tercios
enclosed in palm mat boxes (petates) and plaited ropes (guangoche).
The Aranzazu carried similar amounts: 500 cargas of flour in 1000 tercios; 190
quintals and 14 pounds of salt pork (ham, bellies and jowls) in 121 chests;
31 quintals and 56 pounds of lard in 21 chests and 41 water containers (botas);
31 quintals and 27 pounds of cheese in 20 oblong fruit hampers; 630 arrobas
and 11 pounds net of vegetables (rice, chickpeas and beans) in 85 tercios of
canvas; 24 quintals and 50 pounds of gunpowder loaded in 17 coarse bags of unbleached
linen (talegas de lienzo crudo)and in as many other chests covered with burlap;
25 quintals of sisal fiber fuse (Ystle) in 15 tercios in platted palm boxes
and (bound with) plaited rope; 15 quintals net of lead balls in 9 little boxes
(cajonillas) (Misc., 1705d).
No manifest has yet been found for the Rosario, but part of its cargo
may have consisted of the following: 270 quintals of hardtack; 87 cargas of
flour; 96 quintals of pork, the third of it in hams; 71 quintals of vegetables
(thirds rice, chickpeas, beans); 12 quintals, 67 pounds of lard; 12 quintals
and 67 pounds of cheese; 4 arrobas (arroba = 3.32 gallons of oil) of oil; 4
arrobas (arroba = 4.26 gallons of wine) of vinegar; 2 barrels of fire water
(aguardiente); 1 barrel of wine; 500 pesos sent to purchase maize in Mobile
for the Indians; and other items such as tallow candles, iron axes, medicines,
food items for the sick (mostly marmalades, chocolate, etc.) and firewood (Urbina,
1705b).
The following was ordered purchased and delivered to Admiral Landeche for delivery
to Santa María de Galve: 6 pit rip saws; 25 axes; 30 shovels and spades
by halves; 24 hair sieves of all sizes with their hoops; 10 quintals of worked
sheet lead; 4 quintals of flintlock musket balls; 1 painted linen cloth of little
more than two yards (varas) of length of Our Lady of Guadalupe; 6 candlesticks
for church candles of copper or wood (no church ornaments were shipped); 6 chests
of tar; 1 running artillery hoist; 1 quintal of steel; 6 rammers with their
sponges, wormers and gunner's ladles of four, eight and twelve pound caliber;
12 sheepskins; and 200 matchlock muskets with their powder flasks and measuring
spouts (Misc., 1705a). In addition to the above items, the Rosario carried
personnel and carpenters from the dockyards in Veracruz to cut down and hew
out pine masts and spars to be transported to Veracruz (Guzmán, 1705b;
Misc., 1705e).
The three-ship convoy departed Veracruz in late May 1705, arriving to Pensacola
on approximately June 1. Antonio de Landeche disembarked the troops from the
ships, dispatched the carpenters to the woods, distributed back pay to the soldiers
stationed there and drew up new personnel lists (Ledezma, 1706a). An unspecified
number of local Indian woodcutters and carpenters joined the new arrivals from
Veracruz to prepare for shipment approximately 100 trees that Governor Andrés
de Arriola had ordered felled the previous year. Under the command of Agustín
Antonio, the Senior Master of Ships Carpentry for the Windward Fleet, the men
transported the hewn timber to a loading area on Santa Rosa Island (Arriola,
1704c; Childers, 1998 80; Guzmán, 1705a; Hunter, 2000 15).
Everything did not go smoothly for Antonio de Landeche at Pensacola. Within
a few days of the ships' arrival, a small storm ran aground one of the two frigates.
After three days, crewman from the ships managed to wrest the ship from the
sandy bottom. On June 20, Landeche called a meeting of his officers, in which
it was decided the convoy should sail on to St. Joseph's Bay. His small fleet
departed Pensacola on June 22 (Landeche, 1705b).
A week later, on June 29, the Rosario, the accompanying frigates and
two brigantines that were en route from Havana, were anchored in St. Joseph's
Bay, preparing to sail to San Marcos de Apalachee. Landeche transferred to the
two brigantines the arms, munitions and food needed to supply his troops. A
day later, on June 30, Captain and Commandant of the fort on St. Josephs Bay,
Pedro de Bilbao arrived with that presidio's felucca. The felucca and the Rosario's
launch immediately continued on to San Marcos de Apalachee. On July 2, the Rosario
and the two brigantines followed, arriving at San Marcos on July 6. There, Landeche
rendezvoused with Bilbao (Bilbao, 1705; Landeche, 1705a).
The Spanish officers prepared their forces for the 24-mile trek to San Luis
de Talimali. Departing San Marcos on July 8, the Spanish arrived at San Luis
two days later, on July 10, only to find the area deserted. The fortifications
had been demolished; only a portion of the stockade was still standing. Rains
drenched the exposed troops while Pedro Bilbao and former residents reconnoitered
the area. They found tracks but no refugees in nearby pueblos (Bilbao, 1705;
Landeche, 1705a). Landeche called a meeting (junta), in which he heard from
former residents, who suggested that a garrison of 500 was needed to secure
the area. As the admiral could dedicate only a dozen men to the task, participants
in the junta determined that the endeavor would be futile. Landeche, Bilbao
and the troops retraced their steps to San Marcos, where on July 13 they departed
for St. Joseph's Bay. Arriving on July 19, Bilbao apparently continued on to
Pensacola in the felucca. On July 20, Landeche departed in the Rosario
for Havana, probably arriving there on August 2, where he spent 12 days (Landeche,
1705a, 1705b).
On August 14, the Rosario departed Havana with the two frigates bound
for St. Augustine and two bilanders bound for the Canary Islands. Landeche convoyed
the frigates and bilanders to the mouth of the Bahama Channel. If the Rosario
continued beyond the Bahama Channel, a ship of its size, sailing at that time
of the year, would have had to return by way of the Windward Islands. The Rosario
returned to Havana, but only briefly according to its captain, who noted: "it
caused me a great deal of trouble to stand inshore on the coast of Havana because
of the swiftness of the currents. I stood off El Morro and fired a cannon so
that the Brigantine that I had left would leave and carry the reports from Europe
back to Your Excellency as well as the report of my arrival." After a difficult
two-week journey back to Pensacola, Landeche arrived on September 2, only days
ahead of the fateful hurricane that ended the Rosario's career in the
Windward Fleet (Landeche, 1705a, 1705b).