In the 1650s, France had established a small settlement around Fort Caroline in northeastern Florida. Spain did not want them there, and subsequently slaughtered almost everyone at the settlement - even after they had surrendered. The Spanish word for slaughter or massacre is "matanzas". When the Spanish decided they needed another fort south of St. Augustine, they named it Fort Matanzas. Nice.

Army life was not always the most pleasant, especially in a foreign land, but duty at Fort Matanzas was an exception. This was a very small fortification, and was manned by only 7 soldiers. It sat near the southern entrance to the Matanzas River, which leads north to St Augustine. The fort was to guard that entrance to prevent ships from attacking the Castillo de San Marcos from the land.

Since such attacks were not common, the typical day for a soldier assigned to the fort was to do a little cleaning, maybe do a little artillery practice, then drink and play cards. I imagine they did not want to rotate back to the main fort after a few weeks of this duty.

Access to the fort is by Park Service ferry. Free tickets are needed and can only be picked up at the park. Since the capacity is limited, the Park Service recommends getting there early, which I did, making it on the first ferry. Each group gets about 45 minutes at the fort before heading back.

Dolphins frequent the river here, and we were treated to a couple showing off by the boat during the trip over. The ranger piloting the boat took a detour on our return trip to try and find them again, but they stayed hidden.