One of the first colonial conflicts between European nations occurred near here in 1565, after Spain had claimed Florida and France established Fort Caroline near present-day Jacksonville. Because this French Protestant outpost threatened Spanish treasure fleets sailing along the Florida coast, Spain sent 800 sailors, soldiers, and civilians to remove the Huguenots, protect its claim and fleet, defend the Catholic religion, and establish a Spanish colony. The French had barely survived a year when the Spanish founded St. Augustine in 1565, and the French then sailed south to attack the settlement. A storm scattered the French ships, stranding soldiers and leaving Fort Caroline weakly guarded, so the Spanish attacked Fort Caroline. Later, the Spanish found the shipwrecked Frenchmen just south of here and spared only a few professed Catholics and artisans needed in St. Augustine. In the end, about 250 people died, and the inlet has since been called Matanzas, meaning "slaughter" in Spanish.