Fort Caroline was the first French colony in the present-day United States. Established in what is now Jacksonville, Florida, on June 22, 1564, under the leadership of René Goulaine de Laudonnière, it was intended as a refuge for the Huguenots. It lasted one year before being obliterated in 1565 by Pedro Menendez, commander of a Spanish fleet that surprised the French at La Caroline who built their own fort at the site, later abandoned in 1569. The site is now operated as Fort Caroline National Memorial, a unit of the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve. For related events, see: Timeline of the colonization of North America.