Francisco Menendez 1741
by Teresa Trotter
Title
Francisco Menendez 1741
Artist
Teresa Trotter
Medium
Painting
Description
This painting was created by William Trotter.
Captain Francisco Menéndez was a free black military leader serving the Spanish Crown in 18th-century St. Augustine, Florida. He was one of the many slaves from British South Carolina that escaped to Spanish Florida looking for freedom since 1687, or at least more bearable slavery conditions.
Francisco served as a soldier and as a captain in the black militia of Florida, a military body created by black citizens of Spanish Florida and former Carolina slaves to help protect Spanish Florida against British military advancements.
He was the leader of the garrison established in 1738 at Fort Mose, the first all-black community in North America, and was recognized by the Spanish crown for his loyalty and courage through the difficult sieges that followed[.
Francisco is recognized in Spain as one of the best soldiers that served the crown in America, and the founder of San Agustín de la Nueva Florida (Cuba). Fort Mose has been designated as a National Historic Landmark, as it was the first legal free black community in what is now the United States.
Menéndez took to the seas on a Spanish ship to raid English vessels. In 1741 Menéndez was captured by corsairs aboard the English vessel Revenge. When they discovered that Menénde had been captain of the free black militia at Fort Mose, they tied him to one of the ship's guns, gave him two hundred lashes and salted his wounds. The English captain then sold him into slavery in the Bahamas. Whether he escaped or was ransomed by the Spanish is not known, but by 1759 he was once more the leader of the free black community at Mose.
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August 25th, 2016
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