The Head in Edward Nugent's Hand: Roanoke's Forgotten Indians

3. Wingina

T he sojourn of Manteo and Wanchese in England lasted nine months. In the spring of  they moved down to Plymouth, where Ralegh’s men prepared the ships and assembled the men and supplies for the new expedition to America. They saw immediately that the English planned a much larger undertaking than that of the year before: seven ships, including the Lyon, the Roebuck, and the Tyger, all larger than those Barlowe had commanded in ; six hundred men, half of them soldiers; and provisions adequate to support several hundred men on the Carolina Sounds for a year. Ralegh’s advisers had suggested that the expedition consist of an even larger force of  armed men, half “harqubusiers,” the rest archers with longbows and swordsmen. Ralegh could not gather, recruit, or press into service that number of men. Still, Manteo and Wanchese could not help but notice the large quantity of arms and armor as the crews loaded it aboard the ships.1 Ralegh’s second venture was part of an orchestrated assault by English gentlemen-soldiers on Spanish America. Clearly the English wanted to profit from this enterprise through trade with the Indians or by harvesting the riches of the New World. They wanted to carry the reformed religion to American shores as well. But for many of those in Ralegh’s circle, these objectives must have seemed subordinate to a larger end. With a breakdown in diplomatic relations between England and Spain, they envisioned the Roanoke colony as an outpost of empire, a base from which the English could coordinate attacks on their hated Catholic enemies and their American possessions. Ralegh’s core group of supporters believed that they would          W achieve these objectives with the support of the Indians among whom they settled. They did not imagine that less than a year after their colonists arrived, Edward Nugent would emerge from the woods with Wingina’s head in his hand. Spanish spies watched Ralegh’s preparations closely. They reported that “the members of the expedition include men skilled in all trades, and among them were about twenty who appeared to be persons of some importance, whose food was served on plate of silver and gold.” These latter gentlemen , the spies reported, “were accompanied by two tall Indians whom they treated well, and who spoke English.” The Spanish learned that the English carried musical instruments with them because they believed the Indians liked music. They also carried Bibles, translated into Spanish, useful to counter Catholic heresies. Rumors of Ralegh’s intent, Richard Hakluyt the younger reported, “doth . . . much vexe the Spaniard.”2 With the planting of “sufficient Colonies, under discrete governours in the aptest places of Terra Virginea,” one of Ralegh’s supporters wrote the queen,“yow may increase your navie by shipping made there, and be neere uppon everie event, to possesse” the Spanish king’s “pursse.” This, he continued , “is the sure waie, to ruine att one instant, both him, and all the usurers depending of him, that are and have bin the only nursses of unjust warres in Christendom, by the space of manie yeires.” To succeed, Ralegh and his supporters developed a plan for a two-pronged assault. Sir Richard Grenville commanded the fleet bound for Roanoke. He bore responsibility for carrying the soldiers and settlers across the Atlantic, and establishing them securely on the island. Having achieved this objective, Grenville would prey on the Spanish treasure fleet as it began its voyage across the Atlantic.3 Ralegh placed the garrison itself under the command of Governor Ralph Lane, an expert on fortifications and a veteran of Elizabeth’s brutal wars against the Irish. Ralegh empowered Lane to govern with a strict martial code. He would hold the outpost and explore the region as he provided a base for privateering raids against the Spanish. And, as Grenville and Lane secured possession of the land that they now called “Virginia,” Sir Francis Drake would lead a massive fleet into the heart of the Spanish Main, burning ports, taking prizes, and robbing from the Spaniards their New World riches. Drake would resupply Lane’s outpost after he completed his devastation of the Indies, and repair and refit his ships there if necessary.4 So Ralegh’s men viewed the Roanoke enterprise as part of a larger campaign against the Spanish antichrist and part of a program to establish          English dominion and civility in America. The Spanish, at the same time, saw in Ralegh’s...