Roanoke Read online

  Day one of the storm. The colonists decide to send someone for help, but disagree sharply over who this should be. As the rain beats down, some controversies rose between the Governour and Assistants about choosing who will return to England. Everyone refused, save only one, which all the others thought not sufficient. At last, by much persuading of the Governour, Christopher Cooper agrees, only to change his mind at the urging of his friends, so that now the matter stood as at the first.25

  White’s Decision

  The next day, the 22. of August, the whole company, both of the Assistants, and planters, came to the Governour, and with one voice requested him to return himself into England, for the better and sooner obtaining of supplies. White refuses, alleging many sufficient causes. He stands to be ruined by certain unnamed enemies to him, and the action, who will not spare to slander falsely both of them.

  Far more importantly, the colonists are leaving Roanoke. They intended, White says, to remove 50 miles further up into the main. An attempt to preserve their lives. Yet he and the colonists will become separated. He struggles against a rising panic. His goods will be lost, ruined, or pilfered in the transport. He will find himself utterly unfurnished upon his return. Desperate excuses. He has a daughter and baby grandchild he will not leave behind. He is the Governor! He, least of all, should go! Worse yet, he has led his daughter to this fate. Plans made so long ago in England unraveling so disastrously.

  The next day, not only the Assistants, but divers others, as well women, as men, began to renew their requests to the Governour again. They have placed their faith in him. They will meet his objections and promise the safe preserving of all his goods. If any should be spoiled or lost, they would see it restored to him. They are begging him to go. A bond is drawn, signed under their hands and seals and delivered into his hands testifying the same:

  for the present and speedy supply of certain our known, and apparent lacks and needs… we all of one mind, and consent, have most earnestly entreated, and incessantly requested John White, Governour of the planters in Virginia, to pass into England, for the better and more assured help, and setting forward of the foresaid supplies: and knowing assuredly that he both can best, and will labour, and take pains in that behalf for us all, and he not once, but often refusing it, for our sakes, and for the honour and maintenance of the action, hath at last, though much against his will, through our importunancy, yielded to leave his government, and all his goods among us, and himself in all our behalfs to pass into England.

  Painful Departure

  August 27. The storm passes. In the early morning, the Lion and flyboat reappear and the seamen who up until this moment thought that they, too, had been stranded on Roanoke, eagerly leave. The vessels make last-minute preparations. Orders are given to hoist the sails. The flyboat weighs anchor and moves outside the bar, and still White has not made up his mind. The colonists’ appeals are frantic. He must go before it is too late! Before all is lost! At last, through their extreme entreating, White is constrained to return into England, having then but half a day’s respite to prepare himself for the same.

  In the final, anxious moments, White urges a secret token agreed upon between them & me, that when they vacate Roanoke, they should not fail to carve the name of their destination on the trees or posts of the doors. Promise! A distraught father, leaving his family behind. / willed them, that if they should happen to be distressed in any of those places, that then they should carve over the letters or name, a cross + in this form. White is insistent, searching beloved faces for signs of assurance. He embraces Eleanor for the last time.

  Numbly, White boards the boat that draws him away from shore. His eyes clinging to the figures receding in the distance. Eleanor waving farewell. The hem of her dress trailing in the surf. The hope that all will be well must be feeble indeed. The soonest White can return will be spring. A winter Atlantic crossing has never been attempted.

  A Rough Voyage

  White refuses any further contact with Fernandez. He boards Spicer’s flyboat, which sets a course for England, where we hoped, by the help of God, to arrive shortly.

  But during the voyage, the winds are variable and sometimes scarce. Rotten water casks spring leaks; by September the supply reaches critical level. On the twentieth day out, off the Azores, a nor’easter strikes hard which for 6 days ceased not to blow so exceeding, that we were driven further in those 6 than we could recover in thirteen days. To make matters worse, the sailors are ill. Two die and are cast overboard, their rigid bodies splashing into the churning sea. And all the beverage we could make, with stinking water, dregs of beer, and lees of wine which remained, was but 3 gallons, and therefore now we expected nothing but by famine to perish at sea.

  October 16. Land is sighted, but what land it is remains unknown. A hulk from Dublin and an English pinnace are anchored in the harbor, but they may as well be leagues away, for Spicer left his shoreboat behind on Roanoke. They are incapacitated. They will die within reach of land. As dusk settles, the sailors, through bleary eyes, spot half a dozen men rowing toward them from the English vessel. They are saved! From them, at last, we understood we were in Smerwick in the west parts of Ireland.

  White and Spicer are transported ashore. The town is too small to supply food and medicines and so, on horseback, they race for help across the peninsula to Dingle Bay. White’s horse thundering across the moor, hooves pounding above the cliffs. Knowing his family depends on this. Aboard ship, the death toll mounts, striking the steward, boatswain, and his mate.26 Leaving but eight men standing. The rescue soon arrives. The men are transported ashore and helping hands bring the matter under control. White’s problem, less obvious, is ignored.

  The Official Report

  White is frantic. He must get to England. In mounting agitation he searches ports for a ship, with no luck. Finally, on November 1, he finds one — a slow vessel bound for Southampton — and takes it. White arrives in England seven days later, only to discover he is too late. Fernandez beat him home. For three weeks he has been in London, presenting his story. Stafford has been back even longer. Long enough for Hakluyt to publish a book in October, enthusiastically proclaiming the trip a success. Dedicated to Raleigh, it hails the triumphant late return of Captain Stafford and good news which he brought you of the safe arrival of your last colony in their wished haven.27

  In their wished haven? What can this mean, except that Stafford was the gentleman accomplice?28 Cold fear must seize John White. For more than a month, he has battled storms, famine, and contagion to report his colony’s plight as they struggle for their lives on Roanoke Island … one man already dead. Yet England is rejoicing: Stafford has assured the world of their safety.

  Little wonder White feared for his credibility. We know that he met with Raleigh. But how much did he tell? Did he name names? The strange “farewell” letter to Hakluyt never disclosed the identity of the “gentleman.” Or if it did, it was neatly edited out. However, Simon Fernandez was not similarly protected. White very definitely fingered him as the main conspirator. Which sounds incredible! Fernandez, after all, was an Assistant. Why would he, of all people, sabotage the colony? He will attribute the series of mishaps on the voyage to accident, and excuse his inability to land the colonists at the correct location to the lateness of the year. It will be White’s word against his.

  The problem is, as the problem was, that Fernandez lacks motive. The facts indict him, but without logical rationale he can hardly be charged. Could White provide the answer? Could anyone? It now seems apparent that we have been operating in the dark long enough. If Fernandez’s motive cannot be determined by examining his behavior on the 1587 voyage out, we must investigate his activities prior to this date.

  It was Fernandez who piloted the expedition to Roanoke in 1585. It was a voyage fraught with conflict, and a military mission that ended in profound tragedy. The record will show that Fernandez was in the midst of it. Although he left before the real trouble began in the win
ter of 1585, one thing is certain: Fernandez was allied to the principal players. He knew what subsequently occurred.

  The time has come. We must face the horror. We must place ourselves on that voyage and understand firsthand what went wrong on the Roanoke expedition of 1585-1586. The second Roanoke voyage: the military.

  10 THE SECOND ROANOKE EXPEDITION: GRENVILLE AND THE SECOTAN (1585)

  If you touch him in the Indies, you touch the apple of his eye, for take away his treasure which is nervus belli, and which he hath almost out of his west Indies, his old bands of soldiers will soon be dissolved, his purposes defeated, his power and strength diminished, his pride abated, and his tyranny utterly suppressed.

  Richard Hakluyt to Elizabeth I1

  War Is Brewing

  Greenwich Palace on the Thames. The New Year’s festivities burst forth in an explosive extravaganza of revelry and merrymaking. There are garish masquerades and balls; music and pageantry; costly gifts bestowed upon the Queen. As though war in Europe were not brewing.

  The card playing and dicing and dancing plash across the holiday, raucous days and nights of frolic and frivolity. Manteo and Wanchese, strikingly attired in brown taffeta, are a constant diversion. They are Raleigh’s Indian guests, brought home from the first Roanoke expedition of 1584.2 The palace audience tumbles over in side-splitting laughter at the antics of Richard Tarleton, comedian in the Queen’s theatrical troupe. He challenges Elizabeth’s little dog, Férrico de Faldas, to a duel.3

  Outside, beyond the palace lights and laughter, the streets are cold.

  1585. London. The year begins darkly. From the monastic gloom of the Escorial, Philip II of Spain is gearing for war. In France, the House of Guise casts its lot with the Catholic powers and enters into a dangerous confederacy, prompting fears of a formidable Holy League alliance.4 Spanish troops converge on the Netherlands, sending Shockwaves of panic throughout England. If the Low Countries fall, attacks will be launched across the North Sea against her. And if he settle there, then let the realm say adieu to her quiet state and safety.5

  Twelfth Night, January 6. At the end of the celebrations, Raleigh is knighted as a reward for annexing the land of Virginia for the Queen. As he kneels before her in Greenwich Palace, Elizabeth lays a sword upon his shoulders. Raleigh, it is said, is a man of marvellous great worth and regard, for his many exceeding singular great virtues, right fortitude and great resoluteness in all matter of importance.6 It is Sunday.

  The time bomb over Europe is ticking. As the Spanish buildup steadily increases, Raleigh moves forward with secret plans to arrest it. He will lead a military expedition to Roanoke. Erect a base on the island.7 And aim his mark at Spain. For Raleigh is aware, as are the top English military advisers, that Philip cannot attempt an invasion of England without a steady stream of New World gold. While Spain plots England’s demise, the bold Sir Walter lunges at the dragon’s underbelly.

  The Spaniards, Hakluyt assures the hesitant Queen, are a men most odious, not only to the people of the West Indies, but also to all Christendom and all the world beside. The Italians are oppressed by them. The French hate them for the most part worse than scorpions} As do the Prince of Hesse and the Duke of Saxony.

  Money welds the regime together. Disrupt its supply and the Spanish war machine will grind to a halt. The frightening armies, monstrous weaponry and materiel support will all come crashing down. Nations kept by great tyranny will realize hope; people kept in subjection desire nothing more than freedom. And like as a little passage given to water it maketh his own way, so give but a small means to such kept in tyranny, they will make their own way to liberty.9

  To block Spain in the Indies is to block Spain permanently. A desperate wager for gold, for praise, for glory, Raleigh’s aim is nothing less than to topple the mighty Spanish empire.10 And the Spanish king shall be left bare as Aesop’s proud crow, the peacock, the parrot, the pie, and the popinjay, and every other bird, cries Hakluyt, having taken home from him his gorgeous feathers, he will in short space become a laughing stock for all the world.11

  Raleigh’s Campaign

  A squadron is readied for Roanoke, the site of the offensive. Alarmed, a Spanish agent reports thirteen ships preparing, destination unknown.12 In the House of Commons, Thomas Cavendish commissions a military expert to draw up notes on defense and fortification. Three hundred soldiers are conscripted for the enterprise, many drawn from combat in war-torn Ireland.13

  From her navy, Elizabeth assigns Raleigh the warship Tiger. Mounted with two tiers of guns. An additional 9,600 pounds of gunpowder is carted out in crates from the Tower armory to ships waiting on the Thames. Royal prerogative is granted to impress mariners, soldiers, and provisions.

  February 8. As a final act, Elizabeth recalls Captain Ralph Lane from military service in Kerry to head Raleigh’s land forces.14 Fresh from the Irish wars, he will transfer the ferocity of that campaign to Roanoke. Unrecognized at the time, this will be a significant factor in the fate of the Lost Colony.

  April 9. The fleet is assembled at Plymouth. Commanding general is Raleigh’s cousin Richard Grenville. Forty-three years old, from a wealthy and respected West Country family, he is known to be a gentleman of very good estimation both for his parentage and sundry good virtues.15 Although he has never led a squadron, Grenville is an excellent choice.

  Second in command, as High Marshal, is Thomas Cavendish. Ralph Lane, third in rank, sails as Lieutenant. Vice-Admiral of the fleet is Captain Philip Amadas, a Plymouth man. He led the first expedition to Roanoke in 1584. Simon Fernandez, Pilot Major, is third officer on the maritime side. These men, together with the ships’ captains and Assistants, form a council of war and constitute the administration of the fleet. Aboard, too, are the specialists: John White, artist; Thomas Hariot, scientist and Raleigh’s tutor; Joachim Ganz, a mineral man from Prague with expertise in copper; apothecaries and merchants to determine the value of medicines and commodities yet to be discovered. Sailing with them are Manteo and Wanchese, returning to their homeland after spending the winter in England. The full complement is six hundred men, divided between seven ships.16

  Pirates and Privateering

  May 1585. Escalation begins. Spain declares an embargo on English shipping. Merchant vessels in Spanish ports are seized, their crews subjected to the Inquisition. The Primrose of London barely escapes with the news, returning to England to a hero’s welcome.17 Under the embargo the English economy quickly collapses. Small businesses are crushed, and, with the outlet for cloth sealed up, the trade spirals into a depression. It is said that the whole country is without trade and knows not how to recover it; the shipping and commerce here having mainly depended upon the communication with Spain and Portugal.18

  July. Hundreds of English privateering vessels are issued letters of reprisal to recoup their losses, swarming out upon the high seas in undeclared war.19 The difference between privateering and piracy no more than a slip of paper bearing the government’s stamp of approval. The distinction is utterly lost on Spain. The English, they say, are good sailors and better pirates — cunning, treacherous and thievish.2®

  Piracy finances expeditions on a colossal scale, and at great profit. Powerful London syndicates clean up, raking in money hand over fist. Shipping, warehouses, transport, and marketing contracts are all under their control so that goods are easily unloaded. Wealthy magnates unleash navies of two-hundred-ton merchantmen, converted into powerful men-of-war by the addition of heavy armament. These pirate ships carry fierce names, a terror to Spain: Seadragon, Black Dog, Tiger, Scorn, Disdain, Dreadnought, Defiance, Malice Scourge, Revenge, The Spy, Wild-mans Club.21

  A dance is begun upon the high seas of pursuer and pursued. The home market is quickly flooded with Spanish exotics: oil, sweet wines, figs, currants and almonds, oranges, lemons, spices and dyes. Contraband sugar is confiscated from Brazilmen in such tremendous quantities that soon more of it is found in England than in all of Europe.22 Giving a phenomenal boost to the
national economy. The English ecstatically add sweeteners to almost everything. Confections and pastries are invented daily.

  Some privateers are out to get rich, recklessly pursuing the Spanish fleets. Foolhardy risk-takers: The Wheel of Fortune, Poor Mans Hope, Chance, Desire, Costly. And Why Not I? They that risk for small things are pirates, declares Raleigh.23 Those who seek large prey, the millions in Spanish ducats, are in a different class altogether.

  But patriotism has its part to play. The great sea battles are strikes against the Spanish tyranny now gripping Europe. English combatants challenge the empire in ships bearing names full of scorn: The Virgin God Save Her, The Black Bishop, Gift of God, John Evangelist, Holy Ghost, Pagan. The political climate steadily heats up. In London, Raleigh anxiously awaits news of his squadron.

  The Domino Effect

  Puerto Rico. Ship’s log: The 12. day of May, we came to an anchor in the Bay of Mosquito, in the Island of S. John. The Tiger is all alone. The fleet had been battered by a storm in the Bay of Portugal and separated. A bad beginning. Grenville orders the men ashore to erect a fort, and assesses the damage. A pinnace will be constructed to replace the one sunk, for the expedition cannot continue without it. It is vital because it must transport new supplies to make up for those lost aboard the six missing vessels; it alone can maneuver the shallow sounds to Roanoke. General Sir Richard Greenville and the most part of our company landed, and began to fortify, very near to the sea side.24