The Remarkable Journey of Mose Militia Leader Francisco Menendez

By Darcie MacMahon, FORUM magazine, FloridaHumanities.org
Published: December 12, 2011
Last Updated On: March 6, 2012

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Enslaved by the British. Escaped to St. Augustine. Freed by the Spanish. Fought and defeated the British. Captured. Free again. From his native West Africa to Havana, Menendez’ story is one of perseverance and resourcefulness.

Rarely does such a luminary character as Francisco Menéndez emerge out of the tattered pages of history. The story of this multilingual, literate African man who escaped slavery, led a militia and talked his way out of trouble has been pieced together from scattered colonial documents that are nearly 300 years old. His amazing story is testimony to the bravery, perseverance and contributions of free black people in Spanish Florida.

Menéndez was born a Mandinga (Mandinka) in West Africa, was enslaved and taken to English Carolina. He escaped and lived among the Yamassee Indians for several years, fighting with them against the English. In 1724, he arrived in St. Augustine.

From there his story unfolds, as pieced together through the painstaking work of historian Jane Landers, who has searched through sources as diverse as military, church and court records in the archives of Spain, Cuba and Florida. The fragile and disparate nature of the documents makes it even more astonishing that one person’s story could possibly take shape.

Only a few years before, he escaped English enslavement and navigated the politics and customs of Spanish Florida well enough to write in Spanish with a flourish.

Menéndez went to St. Augustine to take advantage of a Spanish policy that offered freedom to English-enslaved Africans who escaped to Florida and converted to Catholicism. He requested this religious sanctuary. But along with some other refugees from English Carolina, he was double-crossed by a Yamassee known as “Mad Dog” and sold to the Spaniards in exchange for liquor and corn.

St. Augustine’s governor then sold the runaways to leading community members, convinced he should do so to compensate the British financially for losing their slaves. Menéndez was enslaved to the royal accountant, Don Francisco Menéndez Márquez, from whom he likely acquired his Spanish name.

The Spaniards must have quickly recognized Menéndez’ leadership skills, because in 1726 they appointed him commander of a slave militia. (Black militia, both slave and free, were common throughout the Spanish colonies.) While serving as militia commander, Menéndez persisted in seeking his freedom. Finally in 1738, following a petition supported by a Yamassee leader’s commendations and moral justifications, a new governor granted his request, along with 30 others unjustly re-enslaved.

At that point, more than 100 runaways had arrived in St. Augustine. The governor decided to send these freed men, women and children to establish a new fort and town in a frontier area two miles north of St. Augustine’s Castillo de San Marcos.

They called this new settlement Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, and it became known as Fort Mose (pronounced Mo-SAY). The men were members of the Mose militia, and all vowed to be “the most cruel enemies of the English” and to spill their “last drop of blood in defense of the Great Crown of Spain and the Holy Faith.” Menéndez, who was made militia captain, was recognized as community leader, and the residents at Mose were called his “subjects.”

Two years later the English attacked St. Augustine, and though Fort Mose was destroyed, the Mose militia played an important role in defeating the English. After this victory, Menéndez directly petitioned Spain’s King for a salary, sending two letters written and signed in his own hand (not with the “X” customarily signed by illiterate correspondents). He argued that he had worked with “loyalty, zeal and love” and had “been continually at arms, and assisted in the maintenance of the bastions, without the least royal expense.. to defend the Holy Evangel and sovereignty of the Crown.” Florida’s governor also recommended Menéndez to the King, recognizing him for both his military and civilian valor. But as far as we know, the King never replied.

These letters are more than evocative – written by a man who, only a few years before, escaped English enslavement and navigated the politics and customs of Spanish Florida well enough to write in Spanish with a flourish, achieve military and social recognition, and pursue fair treatment directly with the King.

Menéndez joined government-sanctioned corsair (privateer) efforts, which aimed to seize much-needed supplies from ships and ports of other nations. But during a 1741 corsair mission, he was captured by the English ship Revenge. Upon discovering his identity, his captors tied him to a gun and threatened castration in retaliation for atrocities against the English at Mose.

Menéndez and his fellow captives countered that Indians committed the atrocities. Menéndez further explained that he enlisted as a corsair in order to reach Havana and then find a way to Spain to seek compensation for his services. But the English still gave him 200 lashes and “pickled him” (brining the wounds). Then they re-enslaved him in the Bahamas.

Back in St. Augustine, a second Fort Mose was built in 1752. The former residents moved back, along with other refugees more recently arrived. Incredibly, Menéndez shows up in the records as commander. Somehow, against all odds, he either escaped or argued his way back to Spanish Florida. The word “determined” does not do him justice.

The only known census of the Mose community, from 1759, lists Menéndez as age 45 and married to Ana Maria de Escovar, age 39, also from English Carolina. At that time, the community had 22 households and a total population of 67.

In 1763, Spain ceded Florida to England, and the Florida colonists moved to Cuba. Menéndez, his wife and four dependents, and others from Mose and elsewhere were granted land in Matanzas province, where they fashioned a new community called San Agustín de la Nueva Florida. But finding undue hardships, some of them – including Menéndez – moved to Havana. There his trail goes cold, at least for now.

Historian Landers continues to comb the documents for more of his story. Time will tell if she is able to unveil new details about this remarkable man – a political pragmatist who with diplomacy, flexibility and strategic determination overcame numerous adversities to create the best life possible for himself, his family and community.

This article was first published in FORUM, the statewide magazine of the nonprofit Florida Humanities Council.