‘C’est pas juste! Tu as gagné juste à cause de ce fichu ouragan!’ – French commander Jean Ribault, September 10th, 1565
(Author’s note: I made up this quote. He didn’t actually say this…or did he?)
A hurricane on September 10, 1565, may have dramatically altered Florida—and American—history. French commander Jean Ribault sailed from Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville to attack the newly established Spanish settlement at St. Augustine. A hurricane scattered and wrecked his fleet along Florida's Atlantic coast, giving Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and the Spanish an enormous strategic advantage and ensuring the survival of St. Augustine – the first permanent European settlement in North America.
Florida Frontiers “The French in Florida"