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Moore's and Zuniga's accounts of wiping out the Apalache nation
Source: Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors #121
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Shortly after this affair, in the winter of 1703-4, occurred the great Apalachee disaster, the invasion of Apalachia by Col. Moore with a body of 50 volunteers from South Carolina and 1,000 Creek auxiliaries, and the almost complete breaking up of the Apalachee Nation. The best account of this is printed in the second volume of Carroll's Historical Collections of South Carolina2 under the following heading: "An Account of What the Army Did, under the Command of Col. Moore, in His Expedition Last Winter, against the Spaniards and Spanish Indians in a Letter from the Said Col. Moore to the Governor of Carolina. Printed in the Boston News, May 1, 1704." It runs as follows: "To the Governor of Carolina: May it please your honour to accept of this short narrative of what I, with the army under my command, have been doing since my departure from the Ockomulgee, on the 19th [Note: There is evidently a mistake in this date, which should be the 9th instead of the 19th] of December [1703]. On the 14th of December we came to a town, and strong and almost regular fort, about Sun rising called Ayaville. At our first approach the Indians in it fired and shot arrows at us briskly; from which we sheltered ourselves under the side of a great Mud-walled house, till we could take a view of the fort, and consider of the best way of assaulting it: which we concluded to be, by breaking the church door, which made a part of the fort, with axes. I no sooner proposed this, but my men readily undertook it: ran up to it briskly (the enemy at the same time shooting at them), were beaten off without effecting it, and fourteen white men wounded. Two hours after that we thought fit to attempt the burning of the church, which we did, three or four Indians assisting us. The Indians obstinately defending themselves, killed us two men, viz. Francis Plowden and Thomas Dale. After we were in their fort, a fryar, the only white in it, came forth and begged mercy. In this we took about twenty-six men alive, and fifty-eight women and children. The Indians took about as many more of each sort. The fryar told us we killed, in the two storms of the fort, twenty-five men. The next morning the captain of St. Lewis Fort, with twenty-three men and four hundred Indians, came to fight us, which we did; beat him; took him and eight of his men prisoners; and, as the Indians, which say it, told us, killed five or six whites. We have a particular account from our Indians of one hundred and sixty-eight Indian men killed and taken in the fight; but the Apalatchia Indians say they lost two hundred, which we have reason to believe to be the least. Capt. John Bellinger, fighting bravely at the head of our men was killed at my foot. Capt. Fox dyed of a wound given him at the first storming of the fort. Two days after, I sent to the cassique of the Ibitachka, who, with one hundred and thirty men, was in his strong and well made fort, to come and make his peace with me, the which he did, and compounded for it with his church's plate, and ten horses laden with provisions. After this, I marched through five towns, which had all strong forts, and defences against small arms. They all submitted and surrendered their forts to me without condition. I have now in my company all the whole people of three towns, and the greatest part of four more. We have totally destroyed all the people of four towns; so that we have left the Apalatchia but that one town which compounded with one part of St. Lewis; and the people of one town, which run away altogether: their town, church and fort, we burnt. The people of St. Lewis come to me every night. I expect and have advice that the town which compounded with me are coming after me. The waiting for these people make my marches slow; for I am willing to bring away with me, free, as many of the Indians as I can, this being the address of the commons to your honour to order it so. This will make my men's part of plunder (which otherwise might have been 100£ to a man) but small. But I hope with your honour's assistance to find a way to gratifie them for their loss of blood. I never see or hear of a stouter or braver thing done, than the storming of the fort. It hath regained the reputation we seemed to have lost under the conduct of Robert Macken, the Indians now having a mighty value for the whites. Apalatchia is now reduced to so feeble and low a condition, that it can neither support St. Augustine with provisions, nor distrust, endamage or frighten us: our Indians living between the Apalatchia and the French. In short, we have made Carolina as safe as the conquest of Apalatchia can make it. If I had not so many men wounded in our first attempt, I had assaulted St. Lewis fort, in which is about 28 or 30 men, and 20 of these came thither from Pensacola to buy provisions the first night after I took the first fort. On Sabbath, the 23d instant, I came out of Apalatchia settle, and am now about 30 miles on my way home; but do not expect to reach it before the middle of March, notwithstanding my horses will not be able to carry me to the Cheeraque's Mountain. I have had a tedious duty, and uneasy journey; and though I have no reason to fear any harm from the enemy, through the difference between the whites, and between Indians and Indians, bad way and false alarms, I do labour under hourly uneasiness. The number of free Apalatchia Indians that are now under my protection, and bound with me to Carolina, are 1300, and 100 slaves. The Indians under my command killed and took prisoners on the plantations, whilst we stormed the fort, as many Indians as we and they took and killed in the fort. • Dated in the woods 50 miles north and east of Apalatchia." An account of this from the Spanish side is contained in a letter to the king written by Governor Don Jose de Zuniga, March 30, 1704, though there is a discrepancy in the dates, which differences in calendar do not seem fully to account for. The mention of Guale is evidently a mistake; probably Ayaville is intended. He says: "After the late siege of St. Augustine the enemy invaded San Jose and San Francisco, destroying everything in their path, killing many Indians and carrying with them over 500 prisoners. They returned afterward, accompanied by the English who laid siege to this fort and invaded the province of Apalachee, destroying all the lands. They then assaulted Guale, on the 25th of January of the present year, which was vigorously defended by the Indians and the clergyman, Fray Angel de Miranda, who bravely defended the position, fighting from early in the morning until two o'clock in the afternoon, when their ammunition was exhausted. The enemy then advanced through the passage adjoining the church, which they set on fire, gaining possession of the passage. On the 26th I sent my lieutenant, Juan Ruiz, with thirty Spanish soldiers mounted and four hundred Indians. They attacked the enemy, inflicting a loss upon them of seven Englishmen and about one hundred Indians killed, besides others that were killed by Fray Miranda and his Indians. But our men having run out of ammunition they were in their turn finally defeated. My lieutenant was wounded by a shot that knocked him down from his horse, and the clergyman, Fray Juan de Parga, together with two soldiers, were killed. The rest of the force withdrew, leaving in the hands of the enemy, my lieutenant, eight soldiers, and a few Indians as prisoners, whom the infidels treated in the most cruel and barbarous manner. After having bound the unfortunate Indian prisoners, by the hands and feet to a stake, they set fire to them, when they were burned up alive. This horrible sight was witnessed by my lieutenant and soldiers, who, naked, were tied up in the stocks. Only Fray Angel de Miranda was free.... The affliction of the clergymen is great, and they have written to me and to their prelate urging that they be moved away from the danger that threatens them.... the enemy released the clergyman, the lieutenant, and four soldiers, but with the understanding that each one was to pay a ransom of four hundred dollars, five cows, and five horses. But the captain whom my lieutenant had left in his place, in charge of the defence of the strong house at San Luis, sent word to the English governor that he would not send him anything. Finally, sir, the governor withdrew with his forces without attacking the Strong House, but not before he had succeeded in destroying five settlements, carrying with him the Indians of two of them, together with all the cattle, horses, and everything else that they could carry. The Indians that abandoned their settlements and went away with the enemy numbered about six hundred. The enemy carried away the arms, shotguns, pistols, and horses, and with flags of peace marched upon the Strong House at old San Luis in order to ill treat the captain that was stationed there.1 (Swanton)
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