La Floride: A French Huguenot Colony in North America

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PGSBHurricane

Speaking of place locations, here what the equivalents to OTL are so far:
Charlesfort = Port Royal/Parris Island, SC
Rivière Chenonceaux = Battery Creek
Rivière Livourne = Chechessee River
Bras de Mer aux Port-Royal = Port Royal Sound
 
Chapter Two: Southward Bound
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    Chapter Two: Southward Bound

    473px-Laudonniere.png

    The year 1564 marked a major turning point for the colonists at Charlesfort. Before then, it was all about survival and maintaining the stability of the colony. With things having been somewhat turned around under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière (who encouraged some agriculture) rather than Captain Albert de la Pierria, they could begin to look outward instead of inward. In a daring move, the colonists built their own boat and sailed south along the Atlantic coast beginning in April 1564. The initial goal was to gather more supplies for Charlesfort, including trading with the local Guale tribe. Along the way, they found some new islands and rivers, including the Rivieres Grande, Belle, Gironde, Garonne, Cherente, and the Loire. The Rivieres Somme and Seine would later be discovered. Some of the islands that they found included Braud Isle, Belle Isle, the Ile de Garonne, and several others. But, the one that they took most interest in, which was off the coast of the Riviere Garonne, was the Isle de Charont. It was the alleged location of the relocated Spanish colony San Miguel de Gualdape in 1526 that started over 320 miles away but moved to a “powerful river.” The Spanish settlement at the Isle de Charont had lasted only two months before disease, hunger, a slave uprising, and a hostile Native American population had overwhelmed them, and only 25% of the original settlers survived. Laudonnière did not want to make those same mistakes this time.

    Laying out a more specific plan in mind, he claimed the Isle de Charont for the Huguenot colony and engaged in trade with some of the local native tribes before returning back to Charlesfort by June 22, 1564. It was at Charlesfort where he was expected to greet between 200 and 300 new settlers, in which Coligny received 50,000 crowns from French King Charles IX and authorized the arrival of three ships with the new Huguenot colonists. On July 28, Laudonnière and his men landed at the Isle de Charont, creating a second settlement there, and soon sent his ships back to France for more supplies and 500 additional colonists. At Isle de Charont, settlers established a flour mill, bakery, blacksmith, and church. Exploration in the countryside for gold happened but to no avail. Small plots of land began being cleared for crops, but there was still a degree of dependence on supply ships. Meanwhile, in Europe, Jean Ribault was still in prison through fall 1564 and when he was released, he found himself caught in the outbreak of another war in France and was unable to set sail at the appointed time. Back in North America, at Isle de Charont, food supplies were pasable thanks to trade with the Guales and some subsistence agriculture, but it was less than what they were accustomed to in France, given they were mostly of the merchant class. A lack of mineral wealth soon contributed to discontent among 13 soldiers to rebel and try to assassinate Laudonnière.

    Upon his release from prison in 1564, Jean Ribault was commissioned to lead the relief mission to Florida. Ribault’s fleet consisted of seven ships loaded with arms and ammunition, general supplies, livestock, and 1,000 people in total (including soldiers, seamen, and colonists). Originally, the plan for Ribault was to set sail in Spring 1565 with reinforcements and fresh supplies, but the later than expected prison release pushed this back a couple of months. By June 1565, all food supplies were below normal levels due to crop shortages from the bad summer and food to trade with the local tribes, and no resupply ships had arrived yet. It was considered among leaders like Laudonnière to retreat to Charlesfort. It was not until August 3 where an English fleet led by Sir John Hawkins showed up to trade food and a vessel with the Huguenots in exchange for cannons and gunpowder. On August 28, when the colonists were starting to prepare to retreat, Jean Ribault had finally reappeared after a three-year absence, complete with new supplies, soldiers, and settlers on 7 ships. As soon as he stepped off the boats, Ribault assumed once more the position of Governor of the colony from Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere. The pair sailed back to Charlesfort from Isle de Charont, temporarily left in the hands of military officials, to make this transfer official and to make sure supplies are evenly distributed between the two settlements.

    Meanwhile, the Spanish, who were mostly based in the Caribbean at this point, were feared by the Huguenots that if their location was given away, their settlements and lives would be destroyed, especially as they slowly drifted southward. Fortunately, this would not happen for several years despite Spain wanting to strengthen trade links with the Caribbean, namely Cuba and Mexico. Hence they were more focused on the Gulf of Mexico instead of the Atlantic Ocean and founded the colony of San Marcos de Apalache in 1565, their second attempt in the region following their first failed experiment in 1559. With the Huguenots, 1566 would mark a major turning point for their colonies. First, the Isle de Royale, which neighbored Charlesfort to the East. It was settled by Huguenot colonists who felt like Charlesfort was overflowing with not enough space for more people. The two settlements, plus Isle de Charont, would be united into the colony of La Floride. Charlesfort was declared as the capital of La Floride. That same year, planning for an additional southward expedition began. The plan entailed picking up colonists at the Isle de Charont and sailing parallel to the Atlantic Coast before landing at the mouth of the Riviere de Mai. Due to various difficulties, the plan was not able to commence until 1568 when Dominique de Gourgues led the expedition that April. They named their destination Fort Caroline for King Charles IX. They were joined by some of the survivors at Fort Coligny (France Antarctique). While not the first nor important settlement within the colony of La Floride, it would develop into the archetype for most of their other colonies.
     
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    • PGSBHurricane

    Here's a quick key of the newest geographic landmarks:

    Riviere Grande = Savannah River
    Riviere Belle = Ogeechee River
    Riviere Gironde = Midway River
    Riviere Garonne = Sapelo River
    Riviere Cherente = Altamaha River
    Riviere Loire = Brunswick River
    Riviere Somme = Satilla River
    Riviere Seine = St. Mary's River
    Riviere de Mai = St. John's River
    Isle de Royale = St. Helena Island, SC
    Isle de Charont = Sapelo Island, GA
    Fort Caroline = Arlington (Jacksonville), FL
    San Marcos de Apalache = St. Mark's, FL
     
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    PGSBHurricane

    Mister Mister said:
    Why not try to sail north? It's easier.
    Click to expand...
    They’ll be sailing North as well. I just wanted them to sail South first for a few reasons. Yes, parallelism is one but it’s the least significant. Without mutineering pirates giving away their location to the Spanish, the Spanish would be less focused on the East Coast of Florida as they founded St. Augustine IOTL to drive the French away. This also wouldn’t be called La Floride without Florida. Finally, I actually founded more things to work with if they sailed south first. They will be sailing north soon, though, as I eventually plan on moving the capital somewhere close to Charleston.
     
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