Editing Roanoke Colony (section)

==Lost colony==
{{See also|List of colonists at Roanoke}}
[[File:Our greater country; being a standard history of the United States from the discovery of the American continent to the present time (1901) (14784788945).jpg|thumb|Death of George Howe]]

Despite the desertion of the Lane colony, Raleigh was persuaded to make another attempt by Hakluyt, Harriot, and White.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=81}} However, Roanoke Island would no longer be safe for English settlers, following the hostilities between Lane's men and the Secotan, and the death of Wingina.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=90}} Hakluyt recommended Chesapeake Bay as the site for a new colony, in part because he believed the Pacific coast lay just beyond the explored areas of the Virginia territory. On January 7, 1587, Raleigh approved a corporate charter to found "the Cittie of Raleigh" with White as governor and twelve assistants.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=81–82, 202}} Approximately 115 people agreed to join the colony, including White's pregnant daughter Eleanor and her husband Ananias Dare. The colonists were largely middle-class Londoners, perhaps seeking to become [[landed gentry]].{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=84–85}} Manteo and Towaye, who had left the Lane colony with Drake's fleet, were also brought along.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=88}} This time, the party included women and children, but no organized military force.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=85}}

The expedition consisted of three ships: The flagship ''Lion'', captained by White with Fernandes as master and pilot, along with a flyboat (under the command of Edward Spicer) and a [[full-rigged pinnace]] (commanded by Edward Stafford). The fleet departed on May 8.{{Sfn|Quinn|1985|pp= 268–269}}

On July 22, the flagship and pinnace anchored at Croatoan Island. White planned to take forty men aboard the pinnace to Roanoke, where he would consult with the fifteen men stationed there by Grenville, before continuing on to Chesapeake Bay. Once he boarded the pinnace however, a "gentleman" on the flagship representing Fernandes ordered the sailors to leave the colonists on Roanoke.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=89}}{{Sfn|Milton|2001|p=215}}{{Sfn|Fullam|2017|p= 25}}

The following morning, White's party located the site of Lane's colony. The fort had been dismantled, while the houses stood vacant and overgrown with melons. There was no sign that Grenville's men had ever been there except for human bones that White believed were the remains of one of them, killed by Native Americans.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=90}}{{Sfn|Hakluyt|1889|pp= 362–363}}

Following the arrival of the flyboat on July 25, all of the colonists disembarked.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=90}} Shortly thereafter, colonist George Howe was killed by a native while searching alone for crabs in Albemarle Sound.{{Sfn|Grizzard|Smith|2007|pp= 120–123}}

[[File:Baptism of Virginia Dare.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.15|Baptism of [[Virginia Dare]]]]
White dispatched Stafford to re-establish relations with the Croatan, with the help of Manteo. The Croatan described how a coalition of mainland tribes, led by Wanchese, had attacked Grenville's detachment.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=90–92}} The colonists attempted to negotiate a truce through the Croatan, but received no response.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=91}}{{Sfn|Grizzard|Smith|2007|pp=120–123}} On August 9, White led a pre-emptive strike on Dasamongueponke, but the enemy (fearing reprisal for the death of Howe) had withdrawn from the village, and the English accidentally attacked Croatan looters. Manteo again smoothed relations between the colonists and the Croatan.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=92}} For his service to the colony, Manteo was [[baptism|baptized]] and named "Lord of Roanoke and Dasamongueponke".{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=93}}

On August 18, 1587, Eleanor Dare gave birth to a daughter, christened "[[Virginia Dare|Virginia]]" in honor of being "the first Christian born in Virginia". Records indicate Margery Harvye gave birth shortly thereafter, although nothing else is known about her child.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=94}}

By the time the fleet was preparing to return to England, the colonists had decided to relocate {{convert|50|miles}} up Albemarle Sound.{{Sfn|Hakluyt|1889|p=360|ps=: "seeing they intended to remove 50&nbsp;miles further up into the maine presently"}} The colonists persuaded Governor White to return to England to explain the colony's desperate situation and ask for help.{{Sfn|Grizzard|Smith|2007|pp=120–123}} White reluctantly agreed, and departed with the fleet on August 27, 1587.{{Sfn|Hakluyt|1889|p= 369}}

===1588 relief mission===
[[File:Spanish Armada fireships.jpg|thumb|250px|Launch of English fireships against the Spanish Armada, 7 August 1588]]

After a difficult journey, White returned to England on November 5, 1587.{{Sfn|Hakluyt|1889|p= 371}} By this time reports of the [[Spanish Armada]] mobilizing for an attack had reached London, and Queen Elizabeth had prohibited any able ship from leaving England so that they might participate in the coming battle.{{Sfn|Kupperman|2007|pp= 119–121}}{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=94}}

During the winter, Grenville was granted a waiver to lead a fleet into the Caribbean to attack the Spanish, and White was permitted to accompany him in a resupply ship. The fleet was set to launch in March 1588, but unfavorable winds kept them in port until Grenville received new orders to stay and defend England. Two of the smaller ships in Grenville's fleet, the ''Brave'' and the ''Roe'', were deemed unsuitable for combat, and White was permitted to take them to Roanoke. The ships departed on April 22, but the captains of the ships attempted to capture several Spanish ships on the outward-bound voyage (in order to improve their profits).{{Sfn|Quinn|1985|p= 302}}{{Sfn|Kupperman|2007|pp=121–122}} On May 6 they were attacked by [[Kingdom of France|French]] mariners (or [[piracy|pirates]]) near Morocco. Nearly two dozen of the crew were killed, and the supplies bound for Roanoke were looted, leaving the ships to return to England.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=94–95}}

Following the defeat of the Spanish Armada in August, England maintained the ban on shipping in order to focus efforts on organizing a [[English Armada|Counter Armada]] to attack Spain in 1589. White would not gain permission to make another resupply attempt until 1590.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=97}}

===Spanish reconnaissance===
The Spanish Empire had been gathering intelligence on the Roanoke colonies since Grenville's capture of ''Santa Maria de San Vicente'' in 1585. They feared that the English had established a haven for piracy in North America, but were unable to locate such a base.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=60}} They had no cause to assume Lane's colony had been abandoned, or that White's would be placed in the same location.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=88}} Indeed, the Spanish greatly overestimated the success of the English in Virginia; rumors suggested the English had discovered a mountain made of diamonds and a route to the Pacific Ocean.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=95}}

Following a failed reconnaissance mission in 1587, [[Philip II of Spain]] ordered [[Vicente González (governor)|Vicente González]] to search Chesapeake Bay in 1588. González failed to find anything in Chesapeake, but on the way back he chanced to discover Port Ferdinando along the Outer Banks. The port appeared abandoned. González left without conducting a thorough investigation. Although the Spanish believed González had located the secret English base, the defeat of the Spanish Armada prevented Phillip from immediately ordering an attack upon it. In 1590, a plan was reportedly made to destroy the Roanoke colony and set up a Spanish colony in Chesapeake Bay, but this was merely disinformation designed to misdirect English intelligence.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=95–98}}

===1590 relief mission===
{{further|Watts' West Indies and Virginia expedition}}
[[File:Ruins of the English Settlement at Roanoke.jpg|thumb|John White at the ruins of the Roanoke colony, 1590]]

Eventually, Raleigh arranged passage for White on a privateering expedition organized by [[John Watts (merchant)|John Watts]]. The fleet of six ships would spend the summer of 1590 raiding Spanish outposts in the Caribbean, but the flagship ''Hopewell'' and the ''Moonlight'' would split off to take White to his colony.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=97}} At the same time, however, Raleigh was in the process of turning the venture over to new investors.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=98}}

''Hopewell'' and ''Moonlight'' anchored at Croatoan Island on August&nbsp;12, but there is no indication that White used the time to contact the Croatan for information. On the evening of August 15, while anchored at the north end of Croatoan Island, the crews sighted plumes of smoke on Roanoke Island; the following morning, they investigated another column of smoke on the southern end of Croatoan, but found nothing.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=98}} White's landing party spent the next two days attempting to cross Pamlico Sound with considerable difficulty and loss of life. On August&nbsp;17 they sighted a fire on the north end of Roanoke and rowed towards it, but they reached the island after nightfall and decided not to risk coming ashore. The men spent the night in their anchored boats, singing English songs in hopes that the colonists would hear.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp={{mvar|xvii–xix}} }}

White and the others made landfall on the morning of August&nbsp;18 (his granddaughter's third birthday). The party found fresh tracks in the sand, but were not contacted by anyone. They also discovered the letters "CRO" carved into a tree. Upon reaching the site of the colony, White noted the area had been fortified with a [[palisade]]. Near the entrance of the fencing, the word "CROATOAN" was carved in one of the posts.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp={{mvar|xix}} }} White was certain these two inscriptions meant that the colonists had peacefully relocated to Croatoan Island, since they had agreed in 1587 that the colonists would leave a "secret token" indicating their destination, or a [[cross pattée]] as a [[duress code]].{{Sfn|Hakluyt|1889|p= 384}}{{Sfn|Kupperman|2007|pp= 126–127}}

Within the palisade, the search party found that houses had been dismantled, and anything that could be carried had been removed. Several large trunks (including three belonging to White, containing the belongings he left behind in 1587) had been dug up and looted. None of the colony's boats could be found along the shore.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|p=101}} The party returned to ''Hopewell'' that evening, and plans were made to return to Croatoan the following day. However, ''Hopewell''{{'}}s anchor cable snapped, leaving the ship with only one working cable and anchor. The search mission could not continue given the considerable risk of shipwreck. ''Moonlight'' set off for England, but the crew of ''Hopewell'' offered a compromise with White, in which they would spend winter in the Caribbean and return to the Outer Banks in the spring of 1591. This plan fell through, though, when ''Hopewell'' was blown off course, forcing them to stop for supplies in the [[Azores Islands|Azores]]. When the winds prevented landfall there, the ship was again forced to change course for England, arriving on October 24, 1590.{{Sfn|Lawler|2018|pp=102–103}}