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Arredondo refuted Oglethorpe's claim re Francis Drake taking possession

Source: Historical proof of the right of the Catholic King to the territory held to-day by the British King under the name of New Georgia #558

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26. Judging from the reasons stated, by which the antecedent of the argument of Oglethorpe [Cabot’s discovery] is denied, the destruction of the consequent which he alleged of the sacking and burning of San Agustin committed by Francis Drake naturally follows. For if the latter wished by such means to subsequently sustain the title acquired by Cabot's exploration, since this was chimerical and false, according to what has been proved, the results also are necessarily false.

27. In the acts of the British Parliament, and in the dispositions of Queen Elizabeth, no orders appear informing Drake that the direct purpose of the expedition against San Agustin was distinctly for the purpose of recovering it, a necessary requisite to prove to some degree that in their opinion the country was wrongfully possessed by the Spaniards. On the contrary, the motive of Queen Elizabeth* [Arredondo note * History of England, by Rapin (under the Reign of Elizabeth, vol. 2, p. 122).] in sending the Count of Carlisle and Drake to America with 2,300 troopers, in twenty-one ships-of-war, is well known. 77. [Bolton note: Arredondo is evidently sound here in asserting that San Agustin was not a primary objective in the expedition. For a comment on Drake, see Note 29.] The arms of the Spaniards had been openly provoked against her because of the aid sent to Flanders in accord with the public contract between her British Majesty and the Allied States. The well-known condition was the cession of Flecinga and Ramichin in Zeeland and of Brila in Holland, principal posts on the coasts of those provinces, as security to Great Britain. The Queen was fearful that the King of Spain would not be satisfied with the reasons for this alliance which she published in her manifesto ^ [Arredondo note t Public Acts of England, chap. 15, p. 799.] and that his Catholic Majesty would regard the assistance given to vassals rebelling against his crown as a declaration of war. Her British Majesty wished to anticipate it, and to this end she sent the fleet of Carlisle and Drake, without indicating any definite objects for the expedition. In consequence they sacked Santo Domingo, and afterwards Cartagena, with their forces, and on their way back to Europe they stopped to burn San Juan de Pinos and San Agustin in Florida. By these operations it is clearly seen that the two commanders mentioned acted in this campaign as enemies of the Crown of Spain, and not as maintainers of the right to the country of Florida acquired through the discovery of Cabot, as Oglethorpe asserted to the official.

28. Everyone must be able to see that if Drake had had orders from his court to take from the Spaniards, under the claim of restoration, the country which they held on the Continent of Florida, after his victory, obtained without opponents, who had retired to San Mateo, he would have placed there an English garrison, as the rules prescribe, and would have continued his task by land and sea until the work was finished, if it had been possible, in fulfillment of the purpose of the British Court. For, notwithstanding the loss of seven hundred men who died of sickness, he had forces incomparably larger than those of the Spaniards, to use if he had wished to attempt its accomplishment. But he had scarcely sacked and burned San Agustin and the fortress when he again embarked his troops and set sail, with the intention of going to Santa Elena and attacking it. But, a heavy storm came up which separated his forces to such an extent that they did not come together again until they reached England, and Drake went to Virginia, where he found some of the English whom Walter Raleigh had taken there. They were perishing, and he was compelled to take them on board. All these operations indicate the contrary of what Oglethorpe represented to the official, since it is certain that if the object of the expedition had been conquest Drake would not have abandoned the prizes.