Saturday, April 20, 2019

Castillo by Candlelight: Enemy at the Gates


This post should have been written late last year, but as you know, time had gotten away from me and I was not able to write it in a timely manner. I find myself with some time now, as a storm rages outside (let us hope I do not lose power and thus the use of my computer), so here goes...

On November 30, 2018, the last day of hurricane season, The Colonel and I found ourselves in the oldest city in United States, St. Augustine, Florida. We wanted to experience the event called, Castillo by Candlelight: Enemy at the Gates. The event also takes place during St. Augustine's Nights of Lights. Last year was the 25th annual lights event. Some three million lights adorn the historic district for two months (this year the event will run from November 23, 2019 to January 31, 2020).

The Colonel and I invited Spud and his girlfriend to join us. We made reservations for dinner at the Columbia Restaurant. As always the food was excellent and the company enjoyable!

Image from Internet

After dinner we made our way towards the Castillo de San Marcos. The Castillo is the oldest and largest masonry fort in the continental United States. It was constructed by the Spanish beginning in 1672 and was completed in 1695.

Image from Internet

We had to wait for our tour time of 7:30 p.m. Every 15 minutes, a 45-minute tour began. As we waited, we strolled around the Castillo and took pictures.




The Castillo by Candlelight: Enemy at the Gates event is a living history demonstration of the British Siege of 1740.

Spain and Britain were rivals in Europe. Both countries founded empires in the New World and their rivalry continued there too. In 1733, a British ship called the Rebecca, commanded by Capt. Robert Jenkins, was seized in the Caribbean by the Spanish Coast Guard. They had suspected that the British had been trading illegally with Spanish colonies (this was forbidden by both Spain and Britain). The Spanish searched the Rebecca. A fight between the Spanish and British sailors ensued. During the fight, Jenkins' ear was cut off by a Spanish officer, who then 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 reason to declare war on Spain in 1739. The war was called the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1748).

In June 1740, British General James Oglethorpe (the founder of Georgia) and an English fleet of seven ships arrived at St. Augustine.

Three hundred Spanish soldiers and 1,300 Spanish residents sought refuge within the walls of the Castillo de San Marcos. The British bombarded the Castillo and St. Augustine for 27 days. The cannon balls were ineffective against the Castillo's walls. General Oglethorpe decided to starve the people of St. Augustine by blockading the inlet at the Matanzas River and all roads into the city. However, some supplies were able to reach St. Augustine via the river, and with morale and supplies running low for the British forces, Oglethorpe had to retreat.

The time for our 45-minute tour had arrived. Our guide began our tour outside of the Castillo. We stopped at the British encampment and listened to the soldiers discuss siege plans.


We experienced the British side of the siege, it was now time to go inside the Castillo and see how the Spanish were handling the siege.

We were brought into the General's quarters. He was pouring over a map and asking questions of an Indian who was spying for the Spanish.


We then saw a few Spanish soldiers.



One of our stops in the Castillo was to the surgery. The el medico told us about medical and surgical procedures of 1740. He asked for three volunteers to help him "extract" a lead ball. The lead ball was encased in a wad of cotton and the volunteers had to use period specific medical instruments to assist in the extraction. Spud's girlfriend was asked to be one of the assistants. The "surgery" was a success!




Taking a tour inside and outside the Castillo by candlelight was an interesting experience. It certainly gave you an idea how the soldiers and citizens of St. Augustine would have lived within the Castillo during the siege of 1740.

Our tour was complete, so we walked around St. Augustine and admired the lights as we waited for the annual parade through the city gates to the Governor's House.




The parade began and when all the costumed people passed by, we joined the parade behind them. We walked with them to the Governor's House.







When we arrived at the Governor's House, the Mayor of St. Augustine (dressed in period costume) gave a brief speech and Spanish Colonial soldiers fired their rifles in salute. The flintlock rifles fired despite the misty rain falling.




Once the salute was complete, The Colonel, Spud, his girlfriend and I walked around the park to admire the lights and the beautiful Christmas tree.




The Colonel and I very much enjoyed our first experience of the Castillo by Candlelight: Enemy at the Gates. We also loved seeing St. Augustine festooned in millions of lights.

A word of advice to anyone who would like to also experience St. Augustine's Nights of Lights...make your reservations for a hotel early (and to any restaurant in which you would like to dine)...the oldest city in the United States will be packed with throngs of visitors!

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