View source for Castillo de San Marcos

{{Distinguish|Castle of San Marcos (El Puerto de Santa María)}}
{{redirect|Fort Marion|the ship|USS Fort Marion (LSD-22)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Use American English|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Castillo de San Marcos National Monument
| nrhp_type = nmon
| image = Castillo de San Marcos.jpg
| caption = Aerial view of Castillo De San Marcos
| location = 11 [[U.S. Route 1 Business (St. Augustine, Florida)|South]] [[Florida State Road A1A|Castillo Drive]]<br />[[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], [[Florida]]<!-- The Castillo itself is located at 11 Castillo Drive & the Administrative Offices are located at 1 Castillo drive -->
| map_caption = Castillo de San Marcos in Florida
| locmapin = Florida#USA
| coordinates = {{coord|29|53|52|N|81|18|41|W|display=inline,title}}
| area = 20.48 acres (82879.62 m<sup>2</sup>)
| built = 1672–1695
| designated_nrhp_type = October 15, 1924
| added = October 15, 1966<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>
| refnum = 66000062
| partof = [[St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District]]
| partof_refnum = 70000847
| website = [https://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm Castillo de San Marcos National Monument]
| visitation_num = 624,841
| visitation_year = 2022
| visitation_ref = <ref>{{NPS Visitation|access-date=October 16, 2023}}</ref>
}}
The '''Castillo de San Marcos''' ([[Spanish language|Spanish]] for “[[St. Mark]]’s Castle”) is the oldest masonry [[fort]] in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of [[Matanzas Bay]] in [[St. Augustine, Florida]].

It was designed by the Spanish engineer Ignacio Daza, with construction beginning in 1672, 107 years after the city's founding by [[Spanish people|Spanish]] [[Admiral]] and [[conquistador]] [[Pedro Menéndez de Avilés]], when [[Spanish Florida|Florida]] was part of the [[Spanish Empire]].<ref name="nris" /><ref name="WhiffenKoeper1983">{{cite book|author1=[[Marcus Whiffen]]|author2=Frederick Koeper|title=American Architecture: 1607–1860|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4URzmqgJfIC&pg=PA40 |date=January 1983|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-73069-3|page=40}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Spanish Colonial Fortifications in North America 1565–1822|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSvFMZ_tODcC&pg=PA6|year=2010|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84603-507-4|page=6}}</ref> The fort's construction was ordered by Governor [[Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega]] after a raid by the English privateer [[Robert Searle]]s in 1668 that destroyed much of St. Augustine and damaged the existing wooden fort.<ref name="RowlandMoore1996">{{cite book|author1=Lawrence Sanders Rowland|author2=Alexander Moore|author3=George C. Rogers|title=The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: 1514–1861|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WjdhnfG0tYcC&pg=PA63|year=1996|publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-57003-090-1|page=63}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Archaeology of Mission Santa Catalina de Guale|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eIMcv-E7C0C&pg=PA136|year=1994|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=978-0-8203-1712-0|page=136}}</ref> Work proceeded under the administration of Guerra's successor, [[Manuel de Cendoya]] in 1671,<ref name="Kornwolf">{{cite book|author=James D. Kornwolf|title=Architecture and Town Planning in Colonial North America |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4bHwImC-UOUC&pg=PA1569|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-5986-1|page=1569}}</ref> and the first ''[[coquina]]'' stones were laid in 1672.<ref name="Manucy">{{cite book|author=Albert C. Manucy|title=The Building of Castello de San Marcos: National Park Service Interpretive Series, History No. 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zTgwBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT18|publisher=United States Government Printing Office Washington|page=18 |id=GGKEY:R1D08K7CWUJ}}</ref> The construction of the core of the current fortress was completed in 1695, although it would undergo many alterations and renovations over the centuries.

When Britain gained control of Florida in 1763 pursuant to the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|Treaty of Paris]], St. Augustine became the capital of British [[East Florida]], and the fort was renamed '''Fort St. Mark'''<ref name="Kennedy2014">{{cite book|author=Frances H. Kennedy|title=The American Revolution: A Historical Guidebook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wC6TAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA134|year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-932423-1|page=134}}</ref> until the [[Peace of Paris (1783)]] when Florida was transferred back to Spain and the fort's original name restored. In 1819, Spain signed the [[Adams–Onís Treaty]] which ceded Florida to the United States in 1821; consequently, the fort was designated a [[United States Army]] base and renamed '''Fort Marion''', in honor of [[American Revolutionary War]] hero [[Francis Marion]]. The fort was declared a [[National Monument]] in 1924, and after 251 years of continuous military possession, was deactivated in 1933. The {{convert|20.48|acre|adj=on}} site was subsequently turned over to the [[United States National Park Service]]. In 1942 the original name, ''Castillo de San Marcos'', was restored by an [[Act of Congress]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Building Of CASTILLO DE SAN MARCOS |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/source/is1/is1e.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=26 May 2023}}</ref>

Castillo de San Marcos was attacked several times and twice [[Siege warfare|besieged]]: first by English colonial forces led by [[Carolina Colony]] Governor [[James Moore Sr.|James Moore]] [[Siege of St. Augustine (1702)|in 1702]], and then by English [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]] colonial Governor [[James Oglethorpe]] [[Siege of St. Augustine (1740)|in 1740]]. However, possession of the fort has changed five times, all peaceful, among four different governments: [[Spanish Empire|Spain]], 1695–1763 and 1783–1821, [[Kingdom of Great Britain]], 1763–1783, and the [[United States]], 1821–date (during 1861–1865, under control of the [[Confederate States of America]]). Owing to its strategic cannon placement and star-shaped design, the fort was never breached or taken by force throughout its various stages of sovereign ownership.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who Built the Castillo? |url=https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/who-built-the-castillo.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Architecture & Construction |url=https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/construction.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref>

Under United States control the fort was used as a military prison to incarcerate members of [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribes starting with the [[Seminole]]—including the famous war chief, [[Osceola]], in the [[Second Seminole War]]—and members of western tribes, including [[Geronimo|Geronimo's]] band of [[Chiricahua Apache]]. The Native American art form known as [[Ledger Art]] had its origins at the fort during the imprisonment of members of the [[Plains Indians|Plains tribes]] such as [[Howling Wolf (Cheyenne)|Howling Wolf]] of the southern [[Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes|Cheyenne]].{{fact|date=February 2023}}

Although built in part by African slaves owned by the Spanish, the fort later served as one of the first entry points of [[Fugitive slaves in the United States|fugitive slaves]] from [[British North America]] into Spanish Florida, where they were freed by the Spanish colonial authorities. This quickly led to the first free Black settlement in the future [[United States]] ([[Fort Mose Historic State Park|Fort Mose]], formed just north of St Augustine).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|first=|last2=|first2=|title=African Americans in St. Augustine 1565-1821|url=https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/african-americans-in-st-augustine-1565-1821.htm|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-08|website=National Park Service|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413230830/https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/african-americans-in-st-augustine-1565-1821.htm |archive-date=2021-04-13 }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Ellis|first=Nicquel Terry|date=2019-12-16|title=Forget what you know about 1619, historians say. Slavery began a half-century before Jamestown|url=https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/12/16/american-slavery-traces-roots-st-augustine-florida-not-jamestown/4205417002/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-08|website=USA Today|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217071449/https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2019/12/16/american-slavery-traces-roots-st-augustine-florida-not-jamestown/4205417002/ |archive-date=2019-12-17 }}</ref>

Ownership of the Castillo was transferred to the [[National Park Service]] in 1933, and, along with the nearby St. Augustine Historic District, has been a popular tourist destination ever since.<ref name="NPS History">{{cite web |title=History of the National Park Service |url=https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/history-of-the-national-park-service.htm |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=26 May 2023}}</ref>

==Structure==
{{stack|
[[File: Construction Plan of Castillo de San Marco 1677.jpg|thumb|Construction plan of the Castillo de San Marcos (1677).]]
[[File:Castillo de San Marcos embrasures.jpg|thumb|The barrels of [[cannon]]s deployed on the [[terreplein]] project outward through multiple [[embrasure]]s located along the [[Curtain wall (fortification)|curtain wall]] between San Pedro and San Agustín [[bastion]]s. To the left of center is the [[sallyport]]—the only entrance to the fort, reached via [[drawbridge]] from the [[ravelin]], which is located within the [[moat]].]]
}}
The European city of [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]] was founded by the admiral [[Pedro Menéndez de Avilés]] for the [[Spanish Crown]] in 1565 on the site of a former Native American village called Seloy.<ref name="GriffinGriffin1996">{{cite book |first1=John W. |last1=Griffin |first2=Patricia C. |last2=Griffin |title=Fifty Years of Southeastern Archaeology: Selected Works of John W. Griffin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvslW1Gc6cYC&pg=PA167 |year=1996 |publisher=University Press of Florida |isbn=978-0-8130-1420-3 |page=167}}</ref>

The need for fortifications was recognized after it was attacked by [[Sir Francis Drake]] and his fleet of 22 ships in 1586, and over the next 80 years, a succession of nine wooden forts were built in various locations along the coastline. After an attack in 1668 by the English pirate [[Robert Searle]], however, during which the town of St. Augustine was burned to the ground, wooden forts were deemed inadequate, and [[Mariana of Austria|Mariana]], Queen Regent of [[Spain]], approved the construction of a masonry fortification to protect the city.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

The Castillo is a [[masonry]] [[star fort]] made of a stone called ''[[coquina]]'' (Spanish for "small shells"), which consists of ancient shells that have bonded together to form a [[sedimentary rock]] similar to [[limestone]]. Native Americans from Spain's [[Spanish missions in Florida|nearby missions]] did most of the labor, with additional skilled workers brought in from [[Havana]], [[Cuba]]. The coquina was quarried from the 'King's Quarry' on [[Anastasia Island]] in what is today [[Anastasia State Park]] across [[Matanzas Bay]] from the Castillo, and ferried across to the construction site. Construction began on {{start date and age|1672|10|2|paren=y}} and lasted twenty-three years, with completion in 1695.<ref name="Publications1993">{{cite book |author=United States. National Park Service. Division of Publications |title=Castillo de San Marcos: a guide to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, Florida |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBp2AAAAMAAJ&q=%221695%22 |year=1993 |publisher=U.S. Dept. of the Interior |isbn=978-0-912627-59-5 |page=22}}</ref>

The fort has four [[bastions]] named San Pedro, San Agustín, San Carlos, and San Pablo, with a [[ravelin]] protecting the [[sally port]]. On the two landward sides, a large [[glacis]] was constructed which would force any attackers to advance upward toward the fort's cannon and allow the cannon shot to proceed downslope for greater efficiency in hitting multiple targets. Also, the artificial mound of the glacis in front of the walls helped to protect them from direct cannon fire attempting to breach them in a siege. Immediately surrounding the fort was a [[moat]] which was usually kept dry, but that could be flooded with seawater to a depth of about {{convert|1|ft|cm|spell=in}} in case of attack by land.<ref name="NPS">{{cite web |last1=National Park Service |title=Castillo de San Marcos brochure |url=https://www.nps.gov/casa/planyourvisit/upload/CASA_Online.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150622114601/http://www.nps.gov/casa/planyourvisit/upload/CASA_Online.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 22, 2015 |access-date=2018-02-19 }}</ref>

Multiple [[embrasures]] were built into the [[Curtain wall (fortification)|curtain wall]] along the top of the fort as well as into the bastions for the deployment of a cannon of various calibers. Infantry embrasures were also built into the walls below the level of the [[terreplein]] for the deployment of [[musket]]s by the fort's defenders. It was through one of these embrasures that twenty [[Seminole]]s held as prisoners would escape in 1837.{{fact|date=February 2023}}

== History ==

===First English siege===
[[File:Castillo de San Marcos Fort Panorama 6.jpg|300px|thumb|View of the [[Plaza de Armas]] within Castillo de San Marcos]]
{{Main|Siege of St. Augustine (1702)}}

In 1670, Charles Town (modern-day [[Charleston, South Carolina]]) was founded by English colonists. As it was just two days' sail from St. Augustine, the English settlement and encroachment of English traders into Spanish territory spurred the Spanish in their construction of a fort.<ref>Arnade, Charles W (1962). "The English Invasion of Spanish Florida, 1700–1706". ''The Florida Historical Quarterly'' (Florida Historical Society) (Volume 41 Number 1, July 1962): p. 31. {{JSTOR|30139893}}</ref>

[[Slavery|Slaves]] from the Carolina colony began escaping to St Augustine in 1687, where the Spanish agreed to free (and employ) them if they converted to [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]. When an English major from Carolina attempted to retrieve escapees in 1688, the Spanish Governor [[Diego de Quiroga y Losada|Diego de Quiroga]] refused. [[Charles II of Spain]] issued an official policy in 1693, cementing the informal practice.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
[[File:Living Quarters at Castillo de San Marcos.jpg|thumb|Typical living quarters of a soldier at Castillo de San Marcos, down beneath the stone.]]
In 1702, English colonial forces under the command of [[Province of Carolina|Carolina]] Governor [[James Moore Sr.]] embarked on an expedition to capture St. Augustine early in [[Queen Anne's War]].<ref>Arnade, Charles (1959). ''The Siege of Saint Augustine 1702''. University of Florida Monographs: Social Sciences #3. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press. {{OCLC|1447747}}. pp. 5, 14.</ref><ref name="Higginbotham1991">{{cite book|author=Jay Higginbotham|title=Old Mobile: Fort Louis de la Louisiane, 1702–1711|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ts06NhOibS8C&pg=PA114|year=1991|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-0528-4|pages=114–116}}</ref> The English [[Siege of St. Augustine (1702)|laid siege to St. Augustine]] in November 1702.<ref>Arnade (1959), p. 37.</ref> About 1,500 town residents and soldiers were crammed into the fort during the two-month siege. The small English cannons had little effect on the walls of the fort, because the ''[[coquina]]'' masonry was very effective at absorbing the impact of cannonballs causing them to sink into the walls, rather than shattering or puncturing them.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1007/s40870-015-0035-1|title = The Impact Response of Coquina: Unlocking the Mystery Behind the Endurance of the Oldest Fort in the United States|year = 2015|last1 = Subhash|first1 = Sanika G.|last2 = Jannotti|first2 = Phillip|last3 = Subhash|first3 = Ghatu|journal = Journal of Dynamic Behavior of Materials|volume = 1|issue = 4|pages = 397–408|s2cid = 112313030|doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>Bushnell, Amy Turner (1994). ''The Archaeology of Mission Santa Catalina de Guale, Volume 3''. New York: University of Georgia Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8203-1712-0}}. {{OCLC|60107034}}. p. 192</ref>

The siege was broken when the Spanish fleet from Havana arrived, trapping some English vessels in the bay.<ref>Arnade (1959), pp. 55–57.</ref> The English decided to burn their ships to prevent them from falling under Spanish control, and then marched overland back to Carolina.<ref>Arnade (1962), p. 33.</ref> The town of St. Augustine was destroyed, in part by the Spanish and in part by the English, as a result of the siege.<ref>Arnade (1959), pp. 41–43, 47, 56.</ref>

===Second period of construction===
[[File:Castillo De San Marcos vaulted ceiling.jpg|thumb|100px|Interior vaulted ceiling.]]
Beginning in 1738, under the supervision of Spanish engineer [[Pedro Ruiz de Olano]], the interior of the fort was redesigned and rebuilt. Interior rooms were made deeper, and [[vaulted]] ceilings replaced the original wooden ones. The vaulted ceilings allowed for better protection from bombardments and allowed for cannon to be placed along the gun deck, not just at the corner [[bastions]]. The new ceilings required the height of the exterior wall to be increased from 26 to {{convert|33|ft|m}}.

===Second British siege===
{{Main|Siege of St. Augustine (1740)}}
[[File:Castillo de San Marcos-garrita and belltower.jpg|thumb|left|The tallest watchtower at the fort is at the corner facing the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.]]
Spain and Britain were rivals in Europe, and since the two countries had both founded empires in the New World, their rivalry continued there as well. In 1733, the British merchantmen ''Rebecca'', commanded by Captain [[Robert Jenkins (master mariner)|Robert Jenkins]], was seized in the Caribbean by the Spanish coast guard.  Suspecting that ''Rebecca'' had been trading illegally with Spanish colonies (which was forbidden by both Spain and Britain), the Spanish searched the ship. A fight broke out between the Spanish and British sailors. In the skirmish, Jenkins had his ear cut off by a Spanish officer, who picked it up and said "Take this to your king and tell him that if he were here I would serve him in the same manner!" When Jenkins reported the incident to British authorities, they used it as a ''[[casus belli]]'' to declare war on Spain in 1739. The war was called the [[War of Jenkins' Ear]].<ref name="Weber2009">{{cite book|author=David J. Weber|title=Spanish Frontier in North America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MUCmD15yEAYC&pg=PA136|year=2009|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-15621-8|page=136}}</ref>

After British Admiral [[Edward Vernon]] won a [[Battle of Porto Bello (1739)|significant victory]] at [[Portobelo]], General [[James Oglethorpe]], the founder of Georgia, was quick to imitate him in North America.  In June 1740, Oglethorpe and a British fleet of seven ships [[Siege of St. Augustine (1740)|appeared off St. Augustine]].  As in the 1702 siege, three hundred soldiers and 1,300 residents found refuge within the Castillo's walls. For 27 days the British bombarded the Castillo and St. Augustine. Realizing his cannon were not affecting the Castillo's walls of coquina,<ref name="SongLamberson2015">{{cite book|editor=Bo Song Leslie Lamberson Daniel Casem Jamie Kimberley |title=Dynamic Behavior of Materials, Volume 1: Proceedings of the 2015 Annual Conference on Experimental and Applied Mechanics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3f3NCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|year=2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-22452-7|page=1|chapter=Impact Response of Coquina}}</ref><ref name="NPS2018">{{cite web |title=Coquina – The Rock that Saved St Augustine – Castillo de San Marcos National Monument |url=https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/coquina-the-rock-that-saved-st-augustine.htm |website=www.nps.gov |publisher=U.S. National Park Service |language=en |date=March 19, 2018}}</ref> Oglethorpe decided to starve the people of St. Augustine into submission by blockading the inlet at the [[Matanzas River]] and all roads into St. Augustine. However, some supplies were able to reach the city via the river, and with morale and supplies low for the British forces, Oglethorpe had to retreat. In order to protect the city from future blockades and sieges, the Spanish built [[Fort Matanzas National Monument|Fort Matanzas]] to guard the river, which could be used as a rear entrance to avoid St. Augustine's primary defense system.

===British occupation===
[[File:San Pablo Bastion, Castillo de San Marcos.jpg|thumb|300px|The San Pablo Bastion at night]]
In 1763, the British managed to take control of the Castillo but not by force. As a provision of the [[Treaty of Paris (1763)]] after the [[Seven Years' War]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Britain]] gained all of [[Spanish Florida]] in exchange for returning [[Havana, Cuba|Havana]] and [[Manila]] to [[Spain]].  On July 21, 1763, the Spanish governor turned the Castillo over to the British, who established St. Augustine as the capital of the province of [[East Florida]], established by the [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]].

The British made some changes to the fort, and renamed it Fort St. Mark.  As [[Great Britain]] was the dominant power in North America, they were not worried about keeping the fort in top condition.  This attitude prevailed until the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War]]. The fort was used as a military prison during the war.  Among those imprisoned was [[Christopher Gadsden]], the Lieutenant governor of [[South Carolina]]. He was also a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]] and a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] in the [[Continental Army]] during the war. He was released after 11 months.<ref>Daniel J. McDonough (2000). ''Christopher Gadsden and Henry Laurens: The Parallel Lives of Two American Patriots'' p. 241. Susquehanna Univ Pr. {{ISBN|1-57591-039-X}}</ref>

Improvements were begun on the fort, in keeping with its new role as a base of operations for the British in the [[Southern United States|South]]. The gates and walls were repaired, and second floors were added to several rooms to increase the housing capacity of the fort. The Castillo saw action during the American Revolution mainly as a prison, although St. Augustine was targeted by several aborted expeditions from Georgia.  Several revolutionary fighters who had been captured in Charleston were held there when it was taken by the British, including three [[Founding Fathers]]; [[Thomas Heyward Jr.]], [[Arthur Middleton]], and [[Edward Rutledge]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tapVB15RBgMC&pg=PA9|title = St. Augustine|isbn = 978-0738566047|last1 = Bozeman|first1 = Summer|year = 2009| publisher=Arcadia }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCc8BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA126|title=Spain, Britain and the American Revolution in Florida, 1763–1783|isbn=978-0786432134|last1=Raab|first1=James W.|date=2007|publisher=McFarland }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/brochures/1940/foma/sec1.htm|title = Fort Marion and Fort Matanzas NM: Guidebook (1940)}}</ref> The Spanish declared war on Britain in 1779, drawing off forces from Fort St. Mark and keeping the British occupied. [[Bernardo de Gálvez]], governor of [[Spanish Louisiana]], attacked several British-held cities in [[West Florida]], capturing all of them. The only major British operation that used troops from St. Augustine was the poorly coordinated but successful [[capture of Savannah]], Georgia; the city was taken by troops from New York before those from St. Augustine arrived.

At the end of the war, the [[Peace of Paris (1783)]] called for the return of Florida to Spain. On July 12, 1784, Spanish troops returned to St. Augustine.

===Second Spanish period===
[[File:St. Marcos fire.jpg|thumb|Reenactment of Spanish soldiers firing cannons.]]
When Spain regained control over [[Florida]] they found a much-changed territory. Many Spaniards had left [[Florida]] after the handover to Britain, and many British citizens stayed after it was returned to [[Spain]]. Many border problems arose between Spanish Florida and the new United States. Spain changed the name of the fort back to the Castillo de San Marcos, and continued to build upon the improvements that Britain had made to the fort in an effort to strengthen Spain's hold on the territory. However, due to increased pressure from the United States and several other factors, in 1819 [[Spain]] signed the [[Adams–Onís Treaty]], ceding [[Florida]] to the United States, which was transferred in 1821.

===First United States period===
[[File:Hotshot furnace Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos).jpg|thumb|Spanish-colonial-era hotshot furnace used to heat cannonballs to shoot at wooden enemy ships.]]
Upon receiving the fort from Spain, the Americans changed its name to Fort Marion. It was named to honor General [[Francis Marion]], an American Revolutionary War hero nicknamed "The Swamp Fox." Structurally, the Americans made few changes to the fort during this time. Many storerooms were converted to prison cells on account of their heavy doors and barred windows. Also, part of the moat was filled in and transformed into an [[artillery battery]] as part of the American [[Coastal defence and fortification|coastal defense system]]. The original Spanish seawall was dismantled to ground level and a new seawall constructed immediately adjacent to the seaward side of the original. At this time a hotshot furnace was also built in the filled-in section of the moat behind the newly built water battery. [[Heated shot|Cannonballs were heated]] in the furnace to fire at wooden enemy ships.

In October 1837, during the [[Second Seminole War]], Seminole chief [[Osceola]] was taken prisoner by the Americans while attending a peace conference near [[Fort Peyton]] under a [[White flag|flag of truce]].<ref name="Hatch2012">{{cite book|author=Thom Hatch|title=Osceola and the Great Seminole War: A Struggle for Justice and Freedom|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGnUQ0stIxMC&pg=PA214|year=2012|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-1-4668-0454-8|pages=214–215}}</ref> He was imprisoned in Fort Marion along with his followers, including [[Uchee Billy]], [[Ee-mat-la|King Philip]] and his son [[Wild Cat (Seminole)|Coacoochee]] (Wild Cat), and then transported to [[Fort Moultrie]] on [[Sullivan's Island, South Carolina|Sullivan's Island]] in Charleston's harbor.<ref name="Wickman2006">{{cite book |author=Patricia Riles Wickman|title=Osceola's Legacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b5N_-gr9us8C&pg=PA142|year=2006|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=978-0-8173-5332-2|page=142}}</ref> Uchee Billy was captured on September 10, 1837, and he died at the fort on November 29. His skull was kept as a curio by Frederick Weedon. The doctor also [[decapitation|decapitated]] Osceola after his death in Fort Moultrie and kept the head in preservative.<ref name="Harrison2012">{{cite book|author=Simon Harrison|title=Dark Trophies: Hunting and the Enemy Body in Modern War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9FkA6urRQEC&pg=PA85|date=2012 |publisher=Berghahn Books|isbn=978-0-85745-499-7|page=85}}</ref><ref>Wickman 2006, pp. 187–188</ref>

On November 19, 1837, Coacoochee and nineteen other Seminole, including two women, escaped from Fort Marion. Coacoochee, known for fabricating entertaining stories, later said that only he and his friend Talmus Hadjo had escaped -  by squeezing through the eight-inch (203&nbsp;mm) opening of the [[embrasure]] located high in their cell and sliding down a makeshift rope into the dry moat.<ref name="Reynolds1885">{{cite book|author=Charles Bingham Reynolds |title=Old Saint Augustine: A Story of Three Centuries|url=https://archive.org/details/oldsaintaugustin00reyn|year=1885|publisher=E. H. Reynolds|pages=[https://archive.org/details/oldsaintaugustin00reyn/page/130 130]–131}}</ref> Hadjo, however, was not on the official list of prisoners.<ref>Wickman 2006, pp. 105–106</ref> However the Seminole escaped, they made their way to their band's encampment at the headwaters of the [[Tomoka River]], about forty miles south of St. Augustine. Because of their having been poorly treated, they vowed to continue fighting, and the war was prolonged for four more years. The cell from which Coacoochee escaped was long part of the official lore of the fort.<ref name="Burnett1997">{{cite book|author=Gene M. Burnett|title=Florida's Past: People and Events That Shaped the State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HRB38sDzxd0C&pg=PA112|year=1997|publisher=Pineapple Press Inc|isbn=978-1-56164-139-0|pages=112–114}}</ref>

===Confederate States period===
{{See also|St. Augustine in the American Civil War}}
[[File:Castillo de San Marcos Fort Panorama 1.jpg|thumb|300px]]
In January 1861, Florida seceded from the United States in the opening months of the [[American Civil War]]. Union troops had withdrawn from the fort, leaving only one man behind as caretaker. On January 7, 1861, three days before Florida seceded, 125 militiamen marched on the fort by the order of Governor [[Madison S. Perry]].<ref name="EastJenckes1952">{{cite journal |last1=East |first1=Omega G. |last2=Jenckes |first2=H. B. |title=St. Augustine during the Civil War |journal=The Florida Historical Quarterly |date=1952 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=75–91 |jstor=30145370 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/30145370 |issn=0015-4113}}</ref> The [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] soldier manning the fort refused to surrender it unless he was given a receipt for it from the Confederacy. He was given the receipt, and the fort was taken by the Confederacy without a shot.<ref name="E1995">{{cite book|author=Charles E. Little|title=Discover America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBgAC7rNW5YC&q=%22signed%20receipt%22|year=1995|publisher=Smithsonian|isbn=978-0-89599-050-1|page=105|quote=[...] when the Confederate army sought to take it over, all they found was one lone Union soldier serving as caretaker. He gladly gave up the keys to the place and went home, but not before demanding—and receiving—a signed receipt [...]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/casa/learn/historyculture/the-civil-war-in-florida.htm|title=The Civil War in Florida - Castillo de San Marcos National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)|first1=Mailing Address: 1 South Castillo Drive Saint|last1=Augustine|first2=FL 32084 Phone: 904 829-6506 Contact|last2=Us|website=www.nps.gov}}</ref> [[General Robert E. Lee]], then in command of the coastal defenses of South Carolina, Georgia, and East Florida, ordered that most of the artillery in the fort be sent to other, more strategic, forts. This left only five cannons in the water battery to defend Fort Marion.<ref>East & Jenckes (1952). p. 76</ref>

The [[Saint Augustine Blues]], a militia unit formed in St. Augustine, were enrolled into the Confederate Army at Ft. Marion on August 5, 1861. They were assigned to the recently organized Third Florida Infantry as its Company B. More than a dozen former members of the St. Augustine Blues are buried in a row at the city's [[Tolomato Cemetery]]. Men from the unit were most likely part of the force that originally occupied the fort on January 7, 1861.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Waters, Zack C. |editor1-last=Weitz |editor1-first=Seth A. |editor2-last=Sheppard |editor2-first=Jonathan C. |title=A Forgotten Front: Florida during the Civil War Era |date=June 12, 2018 |publisher=University Alabama Press |location=Tuscaloosa, AL |isbn=9780817319823 |page=72}}</ref> 

The fort, along with the rest of the city of St. Augustine, was reoccupied by Union troops after acting mayor Cristobal Bravo officially surrendered the city to Union Navy fleet commander [[Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers]] on March 11, 1862. The Confederate forces left the city the previous evening in anticipation of the arrival of the Union fleet under the command of [[Samuel Francis Du Pont|Commodore Dupont]].<ref>William Jewett Tenney: ''The military and naval history of the rebellion in the United States: With Biographical Sketches Of Deceased Officers'' (1866) reprint;(2003),  Stackpole Books {{ISBN|978-0-8117-0028-3}}</ref>

===Second United States period===
[[File:Castillo de San Marcos NPS.jpg|thumb|300px|[[National Park Service]] brochure showing an [[exploded view drawing]] of fort.]]
The fort was taken back by Union forces on March 11, 1862, when the [[USS Wabash (1855)|USS ''Wabash'']] entered the bay, finding the city evacuated by [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] troops. The city leaders were willing to surrender in order to preserve the town, and the city and the fort were retaken without firing a shot. Throughout the rest of the fort's operational history, it was used as a military prison.

Beginning in 1875, numerous [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] prisoners were held at the fort in the aftermath of the Indian Wars in the west. Many would die at the fort. Among the captives were [[White Horse (chief)|Chief White Horse]] of the [[Kiowa]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/uploads/lawreview2008witte.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325045207/http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/uploads/lawreview2008witte.pdf|url-status=dead|title="Removing Classrooms from the Battlefield: Liberty, Paternalism, and the Redemptive Promise of Educational Choice", ''BYU Law Review'', 2008, p. 377|archivedate=March 25, 2009}}</ref> and [[Grey Beard|Chief Grey Beard]] of the [[Cheyenne people|southern Cheyenne]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/regional_review/vol5-6c.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830164102/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/regional_review/vol5-6c.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 30, 2010|publisher=the Regional Review (United States National Park Service)|title=Indian Prisoner-Students at Fort Marion: The Founding of Carlisle Was Dreamed in St. Augustine|author=Hilton Crowe|date=December 1940}}</ref>

During this period, [[Richard Henry Pratt]], a Civil War veteran, supervised the prisoners and upgraded the conditions for them. He removed the prisoners' shackles and allowed them out of the casemates where they had been confined.<ref>{{cite book|title=White Man's Club: Schools, Race, and the Struggle of Indian Acculturation|url=https://archive.org/details/whitemansclubsch00fear_315|url-access=limited|last=Fear-Segal|first=Jacqueline|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0803220249|page=[https://archive.org/details/whitemansclubsch00fear_315/page/n40 14]}}</ref> He developed ways to give the men more autonomy and attempted to organize educational and cultural programs for them. They became a center of interest to northerners vacationing in [[St. Augustine, Florida|St. Augustine]], who included teachers and [[missionaries]]. Pratt recruited volunteers to teach the Indian prisoners English, the Christian religion, and elements of American culture. He and most US officials believed that such assimilation was needed for the Indians' survival in the changing society.

The men were also encouraged to make art; they created hundreds of drawings. Some of the collection of [[Ledger Art]] by Fort Marion artists is held by the [[Smithsonian Institution]]. It may be viewed online.<ref>[http://anthropology.si.edu/naa/exhibits/kiowa/ft_marion.htm "Fort Marion Artists"], Smithsonian Institution, accessed 4 Dec 2008</ref>

Encouraged by the men's progress in education, residents and visitors to St. Augustine raised funds for scholarships to support nearly 20 of the former prisoners in college after they were released from Ft. Marion. Seventeen men attended the [[Hampton Institute]], a [[historically black college]] established in 1868 for [[freedmen]] by the [[American Missionary Association]].

Others were sponsored and educated in New York State at private colleges. Among the latter were [[David Pendleton Oakerhater]], as he became known, who was sponsored by [[US Senator]] [[George H. Pendleton]] (D-OH) and his wife. Oakerhater studied and later was [[ordained]] as an [[Episcopal priest]]. He returned to the West to work as a missionary with Indian tribes. He was later recognized by the Episcopal Church as a saint.<ref name=warst>{{cite web|url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Oakerhater/bio.html|publisher=Oklahoma State University|title=From Warrior to Saint: The life of David Pendelton Oakerhater|author=K.B. Kueteman|access-date=2011-01-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723200428/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Oakerhater/bio.html|archive-date=2008-07-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Pratt's experiences at Fort Marion were the basis for his campaign to create American Indian boarding schools. He was authorized to found the [[Carlisle Indian Industrial School]] in 1879, which became a model for other government-funded boarding schools established by the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]]. It operated until 1918. At their peak, some 350-450 schools were established, and only 25 were off-reservation.[[File:Apache prisoner Castillo de San Marcos.gif|thumb|left|220px|[[Apache]] prisoners at Ft. Marion]]

From 1886 to 1887, approximately 491 Apaches were held prisoner at Fort Marion; many were of the [[Chiricahua]] and [[Warm Springs Apache]] bands from [[Arizona]]. There were 82 men and the rest were women and children. Among the men, 14, including [[Chatto (Apache)|Chatto]], had previously been paid [[scouts]] for the US Army. Among the Chiricahua were members of the notable chief [[Geronimo|Geronimo's]] band, including his wife. Geronimo was sent to [[Fort Pickens]], in violation of his agreed terms of surrender. While at the fort, many of the prisoners had to camp in tents, as there was not sufficient space for them. At least 24 Apache died as prisoners and were buried in North Beach.<ref>Brad D. Lookingbill, ''War Dance at Fort Marion: Plains Indian War Prisoners'', p. 200</ref><ref>Herbert Welsh, ''The Apache Prisoners in Fort Marion'', St. Augustine: 1887</ref>

In 1898, over 200 deserters from the [[Spanish–American War]] were imprisoned at the fort. This marked one of the last uses of the fort as an operational base. In 1900, the fort was taken off the active duty rolls after 205 years of service under five different flags.

=== Preservation ===
[[File:Aerial view of Castillo De San Marcos - 02 cropped 01.jpg|thumb|250px|Aerial view photo taken from northwest. Although the fort had a water-filled moat at the time, it was originally a dry moat.]]
In 1924, Fort Marion was designated as a [[U.S. National Monument|National Monument]]. In 1933 it was transferred to the [[National Park Service]] from the [[United States Department of War|War Department]].

In 1942, in honor of its Spanish heritage, Congress authorized renaming the fort as ''Castillo de San Marcos''.

In 1964 the Castillo figured in the civil rights movement, when the "Freedom Tree" on the fort green became a gathering place for demonstrators who were not welcome across the street on what was state or private property in the age of segregation.  The demonstrations in St. Augustine, led by [[Robert Hayling]], [[Hosea Williams]], and [[Martin Luther King]] played an important role in bringing about passage of the landmark [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], one of the two great legislative accomplishments of the movement.

As a historic property of the National Park Service, the National Monument was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] (NRHP) on October 15, 1966. The National Park Service manages the Castillo together with [[Fort Matanzas National Monument]]. In 1975, the Castillo was designated an [[Historic Civil Engineering Landmark]] by the [[American Society of Civil Engineers]].

Since being transferred to the Park Service, the Castillo has become a popular tourist attraction.  It occupies {{cvt|2.5|acre}} in downtown St. Augustine, Florida.
{{clear}}

==In popular culture==
The fort has been featured on many television shows including ''[[Monumental Mysteries]]'' and ''[[Ghost Adventures]]'', as well as the 1951 film ''[[Distant Drums]]''.

==Gallery==
<div align="center"><gallery>
File:Castillo de San Marcos, 1 Castillo Drive, Saint Augustine, St. Johns County, FL HABS FLA,55-SAUG,1- (sheet 1 of 9).tif|Castillo de San Marcos map
File:Fort Marion Entrance Civil War.jpg|Entrance to fort, Civil War era
File:Fort Marion Civil War 2.jpg|Entrance to fort, [[Sally port]], Civil War era
File:Captain Pratt Native Americans.jpg|Captain Pratt with Native American captives at Fort Marion
File:Howling Wolf Cheyenne.jpg|[[Howling Wolf (Cheyenne)|Howling Wolf]], of the southern [[Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes|Cheyenne]], photographed while imprisoned at Fort Marion
File:Fort2.jpg|The north wall of the Castillo
File:Castillo De San Marcos from the west, February 2012.png|Castillo De San Marcos from the west, looking east.
File:Fort Marion, St. Augustine and harbor-LCCN2008678231.jpg|Fort Marion, St. Augustine and harbor, 1898
File:Castle-side.jpg|The side of Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine, FL.
File:Castle-cannon.jpg|A picture of a cannon on Castillo de San Marcos
File:Castillo de San Marcos Interior Graffiti 2.jpg|alt=|Interior Graffiti
File:Castillo de San Marcos Interior Graffiti 1.jpg|alt=|Interior Graffiti
</gallery></div>

==See also==
* [[List of national monuments of the United States]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Diane Glancy, ''Fort Marion Prisoners and the Trauma of Native Education.'' Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2014. {{ISBN?}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Castillo de San Marcos National Monument}}
{{Portal|Florida}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Castillo de San Marcos National Monument}}
* {{Official website |https://www.nps.gov/casa/index.htm}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060903185446/http://diglib.lib.fsu.edu/cgi-bin/ebind2html.pl/fs00000057?seq=39 Description of "Fort Marion" from an 1867 travelers guide]
* [https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/castillo-de-san-marcos Castillo's Historic Civil Engineering Landmark information]
* [http://augustine.com/community/castillo/ Detailed history of the Castillo] {{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* [http://augustine.com/community/castillo3d.php Take a 3D Tour of the Castillo, right in your browser] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717073027/http://www.augustine.com/community/castillo3d.php |date=2011-07-17 }}
* [http://purl.lib.ua.edu/48978 Pictorial history of Fort Marion, 1925]
* {{HABS |survey=FL-17 |id=fl0095 |title=Castillo de San Marcos, 1 Castillo Drive, Saint Augustine, St. Johns County, FL |photos=41 |dwgs=21 |data=4 |cap=2 |supp=yes}}
* {{HABS |survey=FL-17-A |id=fl0606 |title=Castillo de San Marcos, Administration Building |color=1 |cap=1 |link=no}}
{{St. Augustine, Florida}}
{{Protected areas of Florida}}
{{National Monuments of the United States}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Florida}}

{{Spanish Empire}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo De San Marcos}}
[[Category:1695 establishments in the Spanish Empire]]
[[Category:American Civil War forts in Florida]]
[[Category:Colonial forts in Florida|San Marcos]]
[[Category:Spanish forts in the United States|San Marcos]]
[[Category:Florida in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks]]
[[Category:Military and war museums in Florida]]
[[Category:Museums in St. Augustine, Florida]]
[[Category:Parks in St. Johns County, Florida]]
[[Category:Protected areas established in 1924]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in St. Augustine, Florida]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Florida]]
[[Category:Star forts]]
[[Category:Spanish Florida]]
[[Category:Second Seminole War fortifications]]