Diebold von Erlach

Diebold von Erlach (* 1541 in the canton of Bern , Switzerland ; † November or December 1565 in Florida , USA ), known to the French as Thiébaud d'Arlac , was the first Swiss in America.

Childhood and youth

Diebold von Erlach was born in 1541 as the son of the patrician Petermann von Erlach . Petermann von Erlach was Lord von Bümpliz and Hettiswil as well as Landvogt von Grandson and Vogt von Lausanne . At the age of 17, Diebold was sent to the court of the French admiral and Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny by his father to be educated .

On Coligny's recommendation, Louis I de Bourbon , the leader of the Huguenots, sent Diebold von Erlach to Switzerland in 1562 with the task of recruiting Reformed estates as allies against the Catholics. Erlachs' undertaking was unsuccessful, as the Swiss estates felt they were bound to the French Catholic royal court by a peace treaty.

Life in america

Under the expedition leader and Calvinist René de Laudonnière Diebold von Erlach was sent as an ensign to America, which they reached on June 22, 1564 in Florida. The aim of the expedition was to find gold and silver. Diebold von Erlach was the third highest officer in the 60 to 80-strong expedition.

The French were warmly received in America by the Indian chief Santuriana . Six days after arrival, they began building Fort Caroline . In order to befriend the neighboring Indian tribes, Laudonnière sent five warriors from Santuriana under the leadership of Diebold von Erlach to the rival chief Outina . Laudonnière hoped that the two chiefs would reconcile and exchange prisoners. The group around Diebold von Erlach was ceremoniously received, although Outina's warriors were preparing a campaign against the Indian group of a third chief, Patavu . Diebold von Erlach spontaneously decided to take part in the campaign.

Von Erlach killed Chief Patavu at the beginning of the battle. Its warriors fled and the warriors of Outina made great prey.

Spurred on by the easy win, Outina's warriors went into the field against Santuriana's group. A war broke out in which the French were also embroiled. Six months later, von Erlach led a campaign against Outina and took it prisoner. On the way back to Fort Caroline Erlach's troops were attacked by two to three hundred Indians. Thanks to their superior armament, they lost only two men in the nine-hour battle.

In August 1565 another 1000 French landed under Jean Ribaut in Florida. After a power struggle with Laudonnière, Ribaut took command. According to his orders, he had to stop the Catholic Spanish under Pedro Menendez de Avila . After building Fort San Augustin , the Spaniards embarked in anticipation of a violent storm and set out to sea. The French missed the right time; their ships shattered near the shore. Only two hundred French survived and tried starving to reach Fort Caroline. Again the Spaniards were faster and cut down the fort's small crew before the castaways arrived. When the Spaniards met the 200 French, they offered this safe conduct, but then slaughtered the exhausted French all. Diebold von Erlach also found death, it is not clear whether he drowned or fell against the Spaniards.

literature

• Karl Lüönd: Swiss in America. Careers and Failures in the New World. Book Club Ex Libris, Zurich 1981