1562 –Two small French ships with 140 Huguenots led by Jean Ribaut landed in Florida on this date. Using the instructions from Verrazano's voyage of North America, Jean Ribaut reached the coast of Florida near St. Augustine. He sailed northward to the mouth of a wide river the Spaniards called "The St. Johns", but which Ribaut renamed "the River of May." On the banks of the St. Johns River, Ribaut erected a stone marker with the French Coat of arms announcing France's claim to Florida. The group traveled north to what is today South Carolina and built fort Charlesfort. Ribaut returned to France for supplies, leaving 30 volunteers behind. Upon his return to France, he found a raging religious war, and was forced to go to England, where he sought, and obtained, the assistance of Elizabeth I. Ribaut's return was delayed, however, when he was briefly imprisoned as a spy. While in England, Ribaut wrote a brief memoir of his voyage to Florida, “The Whole and True Discovery of the Land of Florida.” Ribaut came back to Florida in 1565 but was killed by Spanish forces led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés.