The predecessor of the Florida Army National Guard was a Spanish Florida militia formed in 1565 in the newly established presidio town of St. Augustine. On September 20, 1565, Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, attacked and defended Florida from an attempted French settlement at Fort Caroline, in what is now Jacksonville. The subsequent Florida militia served with the Spanish crown for 236 years, Great Britain for a 20 years, and the Confederate States of America for 5 years.