User:Cuchullain/Charlesfort
Charlesfort was a short-lived
Charlesfort is notable as one of the first French attempts to establish a settlement in the Americas. Its failure precipitated
Background and voyage
In this climate Coligny arranged for a new expedition to explore the Atlantic coast of what is now the Southeastern United States. Captain Jean Ribault was put in charge of the expedition, with René Goulaine de Laudonnière as his second in command. Ribault disembarked with two ships from the port of Le Havre in February 1562. The expedition sighted land in northern Florida on April 30, and entered the St. Johns River on May 1, naming it the River of May. They erected a stone column on the banks and met with local Timucua peoples, including the Saturiwa and the Tacatacuru, and then proceeded northward along the coast. They charted the coast and named a number of rivers, and arrived at Port Royal Sound in present-day South Carolina in mid-May.
Charlesfort
Ribault found the deep but defensible Port Royal to be a suitable location for a settlement, and spent the next three weeks overseeing the construction of Charlesfort, which he named after the king, Charles IX.