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F 2161.832'"'" """'«™''y Library 
 ()ij]|±j;fca,!iCar(bbean/ 
 
 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020337477 
 
iiilMtiiiiiliiliiiiilliuillMUliiliU^^^^^ Ulilililiiiiii iiiiiiiiiiHi 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
ADMIRALS 
 OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 BY 
 FRANCIS RUSSELL HART, F.R.G.S. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY 
 
 c 0RK'l-;ul- 
 uN1V^li^u■| Y 
 
 MBftARV 
 
COPYRIGHI, 2923, BY FRANCIS RUSSELL BART 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 THIRD lUFimSSION, SEFTEKSES, 1935 
 
 S6e SiVntitie $n« 
 
 CAUBRIDGE ■ MASSACHUSETTS 
 PRINTED IN THE U.S.A, 
 
 ^^c I . ..— 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE romantic interest which attaches to the wa/ 
 ters of the Caribbean has to some extent obscured 
 the fact that the records of events in the Caribbean during 
 the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries are 
 an integral part of the history of England and of the 
 American colonies. Battles fought in the Caribbean Sea 
 were often an important fector in making peace or war 
 in Europe. 
 
 Not only were settlements established in the West 
 Indies and in the Spanish Main a century in advance of 
 those in North America, but for three hundred years the 
 struggles of the European nations for the control of the 
 commerce of this region had a direct effect upon the 
 material, political, and racial development of the North 
 American colonies. 
 
 During the last quarter of the sixteenth century, Spain 
 was the strongest of European powers. In the New 
 World, Spanish rule was practically absolute from Labrador 
 to the Rio de la Plata on the Atlantic side and from the 
 Isthmus south on the western coast of South America ; 
 in fact a Papal grant had divided the American continent 
 between Portugal and Spain. The arrogant claim of the 
 Spanish Crown was contested only by a small French set/ 
 
vi PREFACE 
 
 tlement on the St. Lawrence and in Labrador by Fro/ 
 bisher's Adventure. The story of the great seamen of 
 Elizabeth's reign — Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher — 
 is almost the history of the England of their day; the 
 battles they fought made the settlements in Virginia and 
 Massachusetts possible. 
 
 Of no less influence in the development of the English 
 colonial settlements were the naval undertakings of Sir 
 Henry Morgan in the seventeenth, and of Admiral Ver/ 
 non, Admiral Pocock, and Admiral Rodney in the eight' 
 eenth, century. 
 
 It was the final supremacy of British control of the 
 Caribbean Sea which made the Rio Grande the northern 
 boundary of Latin/America instead of the Potomac. 
 
 The monographs which have been here brought to/ 
 gether were written as a contribution to the better under/ 
 standing of West Indian history ; those on Drake and on 
 the French Expedition to Cartagena were printed some 
 years ago in an historical publication in America ; that 
 on Vernon appeared in "Hispania" (London) and in 
 Spanish in the Boletin de Historia y Antigiiedades de la 
 Academia Nacional de Historia (Bogota). 
 
 All of these have been made the subject of revision 
 and extension. The accounts of Morgan and Rodney have 
 not been previously published. 
 
 Boston, 1922 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. The Early Navigators i 
 
 II. Sir Francis Drake 23 
 
 III. Sir Henry Morgan 4,2 
 
 IV. Admirals de Pointis and du Casse 109 
 V. Admiral Vernon 130 
 
 VI. Lord Rodney 154 
 
 Partial List of Sources and Bibliography 191 
 
 Index 197 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Sir Francis Drake Frontispiece 
 
 From a reproduction of an engraving by R. White " from an Original 
 Paindng, Communicated by the Honble S' PhilJip Sydenham Bar! Kn! 
 of ye sliire for Somerset " 
 
 The Routes of Columbus 6 
 
 Map from Coleaion de In Viagay Deuutrimientot, by Fernandez de 
 Navarrete, Madrid, 1825. 
 
 Cuzco,THE Richest City of the Whole Peruvian King- 
 dom, IS taken by the Spaniards io 
 
 From an engraving by Theodore de Bry, 1596 
 
 Spaniards driven to Cannibalism by Hunger 20 
 
 From an engraving by Theodore de Bry, 1599 
 
 The Capture of the City of Santo Domingo by 
 Drake in 1586 32 
 
 From an engraving by Theodore de Bry, 1 599 
 
 A Spanish Treasure-Frigate 40 
 
 From a reproduction of the original drawing (sent home by an English 
 spy) in the British State Papers Office 
 
 Facsimile of Title-Page of Exquemelin's " Bucaniers 
 OF America," London, 1684 50 
 
 Sir Henry Morgan 56 
 
 From an illustration in " Bucaniers of America" 
 
 View of Panama 80 
 
 From an old Dutch print 
 
 De Pointis' Map of the Taking of Cartagena in 
 1697 120 
 
 From a French engraving 
 
X ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Admiral Vernon 134 
 
 From an engraving by Harding 
 
 Plan of the Harbour, Town, and Forts of Porto 
 Bello 138 
 
 From a map drawn by Lieut. Philip Durell, published in London, March 
 27, 1740 
 
 Map OF THE Harbour and Bay of Cartagena in 1741 144 
 
 Drawn by the author irom contemporary maps and records and corrected 
 by recent surveys 
 
 Lord Rodney 156 
 
 From an engraving by £, Scriven after the paintuig by Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds 
 
 Plan of Engagement of Fleets under Rodney and 
 
 De GrASSE on the 12TH APRIL, I782 184 
 
 From a collection of contemporary records 
 
 English Fleet under Rodney, Hood, Drake, and 
 Affleck breaking the Line of the French Fleet, 
 April 12, 1782 188 
 
 From a reproduction of a contemporaiy engraving 
 
 The end-paper map is from an old French map engraved by H. van Loon 
 and published in Paris in 1705 
 
ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 • • 
 
 CHAPTER 1 
 
 THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 
 
 THE voyager approaching the Caribbean Sea to/day 
 from the north passes through the same gateway 
 and makes the same first landfall as did Columbus on his 
 first voyage. At sunrise on the 13th October, 1492, the 
 first of the great Caribbean Admirals, Christopher Colum/. 
 bus, landed on a small island which he named San Salva/ 
 dor. A comparison of the data contained in his records 
 with the actual description and locations of the small is/ 
 lands which form the northern Bahamas makes it practi/ 
 cally certain that the island at the northern entrance to the 
 Crooked Island passage which bears the name of San Sal/ 
 vador* is the actual first landing/place of Columbus in the 
 New World. 
 
 This New World, it is to be remembered, Columbus 
 did not himself then recognize as such, but believed he 
 had reached the outposts of the Indies, and that the innu/ 
 merable small islands which he found were those described 
 by Marco Polo. For this reason Columbus gave to the 
 lands which he had discovered the name "West Indies," 
 
 * The native name of this island was Guanahani ; on many charts it is marked 
 Watling's Island. 
 
2 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 and the mild but somewhat frightened natives were called 
 " Indians." It was at this first little island that a new com/ 
 merce had its beginnings. Columbus in his diary describes 
 the exchange of commodities with the natives as follows: 
 "They afterwards came swimming to the ships' boats 
 " where we were, and brought us parrots and balls of cot/ 
 " ton thread and assegais and many other things, and ex/ 
 " changed them for various commodities such as little glass 
 " beads and small bells." It was noticed that some of the 
 natives wore small ornaments of gold; Columbus by signs 
 enquired as to the origin of this gold and was told that it 
 came from lands to the south. After stops at various other 
 small islands, he reached one which appeared so large that 
 he was uncertain as to whether it were island or continent. 
 By the natives it was called Cuba. 
 
 The Spaniards were charmed with the beauty and fer/ 
 tility of the island. Gold ornaments were more plentiful 
 than on the lesser islands and Columbus was assured that 
 the gold came from the mountains of the interior. Not 
 wholly satisfied with the amount of gold trinkets obtained 
 in exchange for beads and the like, and the descriptions 
 of the places from which it came being somewhat illusive, 
 Columbus proceeded to Haiti where he was told gold Was 
 even more plentiful. Here gold in considerable quantities 
 was found, but still it was to the distant mountains that the 
 natives pointed as the inexhaustible source. The belief 
 that he was on the borders of Marco Polo's Cathay and 
 
THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 3 
 
 Cipango was so fixed in the mind of Columbus that knowl' 
 edge of the great reality of his accomplishment was long 
 deferred. It was here on the island of Haiti, which the 
 Spaniards named Hispaniola, that the first European set/ 
 dement was attempted. 
 
 Thirty/eight of his company were left by Columbus to 
 form the base for a colony. It was expected that, by the 
 time Columbus should return with a larger expedition, 
 those left behind would have learned somewhat of the 
 language, explored the country, and discovered the gold 
 mines. 
 
 In January, 1493, Columbus left the newly established 
 settlement, taking with him a few of the natives and all 
 the gold he had collected. With the events of the trans/ 
 Atlantic voyages of Columbus and his varied treatment at 
 home we are not here concerned. 
 
 The accounts of the New World given by Columbus 
 and his companions needed little exaggeration to incite 
 the ambition and greed of Ferdinand. The second expedi/ 
 tion was made up of seventeen ships carrjring fifteen hun/ 
 dred persons and reached Hispaniola in November, 1493. 
 Columbus found his settlement wholly destroyed and the 
 few survivors of the original band scattered about the is/ 
 land. 
 
 The settlers left by Columbus had been without com/ 
 petent leadership and had through violence and cruelty 
 inflamed the natives. In no way discouraged by the failure 
 
4 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 of his first attempt, Columbus selected abetter site, planned 
 and laid out an adequately protected city, which he named 
 Isabella in honour of the Queen. This was the first endur/ 
 ing settlement founded by Europeans in the New World. 
 Even in these early days the fortunes of the Western 
 Hemisphere were handicapped by the tangled diplomacy 
 of the Old World. The Pope with prodigal hand had 
 granted to Portugal all the countries that had been or 
 might be discovered between Capes Nun and Bojador, on 
 the African coast, to India. The lands discovered by Co/ 
 lumbus and appropriately claimed by Spain were , of course, 
 vsdthin this territory covered by the over/generous blanket 
 assignment to Portugal. It was Pope Martin V who had 
 made the grant to Portugal. Spain as well as Portugal was 
 devoutly Catholic, and although she may have had men/ 
 tal reservations as to the actual authority of the Pope to 
 dispose of possible lands and continents, of the location of 
 which he could have no exact knowledge or of the exist/ 
 ence of which he was in ignorance, she applied to the new 
 Pope, Alexander VI, and obtained a specific grant of all 
 the islands and mainland discovered or to be discovered by 
 Spain in the Western Ocean. To reconcile the two Papal 
 grants it was decreed that all territory east of a north/and/ 
 south line drawn one hundred miles west of the Azores 
 should belong to Portugal and aUterritory westof the same 
 line should belong to Spain. At a later period an excep/ 
 tion was made and Brazil was allotted to Portugal. 
 
THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 5 
 
 The authority of the Pope to dispose of the New World 
 was based on the assumption that the care of the heathen 
 had been placed by God in the hands of the Pope, who 
 had, therefore, the right to select his agents to perform 
 the holy duty. 
 
 On this second voyage of Columbus, after leaving his 
 brother, Diego, as Governor of the new colony at Isabella 
 in Hispaniola, Columbus discovered and coasted about the 
 island of Jamaica. From Jamaica he returned to Isabella 
 and found that the colonists, free from his authorita/ 
 tive control and in spite of his cautions, had again em/ 
 broiled themselves with the natives. Under the direct 
 guidance of the great Admiral, it is probable that mild 
 measures would have sufficed to make the rule of the in/ 
 vaders supreme over the fairly docile Carib Indians ; but 
 Diego Columbus and the Military Commander, de Ojeda, 
 were unequal to their tasks, and Columbus on his return 
 resorted to brutal measures to subdue the island. One of 
 the chief caciques was taken with other prisoners to the 
 ships ; a heavy tribute was imposed on all Indians over 
 fourteen years of age. In the spring of 1496, Columbus 
 returned to Spain, this time leaving his brother Bar/ 
 tolome in charge of the colony. 
 
 It was in August, 1498, that his third voyage brought 
 him again to the West Indies and his first landfall was a 
 new island which he named and which is still called Trin/ 
 idad. His discoveries brought him to the near-by mouth 
 
6 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 of the Orinoco River, the great size of which and its many 
 mouths made him rightly conclude that he had at last 
 reached a great continent. 
 
 Of all the great New World which Columbus by his 
 knowledge, courage, and perseverance discovered, this 
 territory, stretching from near the Orinoco to Panama, 
 was the only part which was to bear in part his name and 
 be called Colombia.* So beautiful did the country appear 
 to Columbus and his companions that it was believed to 
 be the actual Terrestrial Paradise and the presumptive 
 source of the Orinoco to be the Garden of Eden. Upon 
 his arrival at Hispaniola he again found affairs in a bad 
 state ; his brother Bartolome possessed prudence, but ap/ 
 peared to have lacked the forcefulness necessary to exact 
 obedience from his associates. News of the disorder in the 
 colony had reached Spain. The enemies of Columbus had 
 found the ears of Ferdinand and Isabella. Rights and priv/ 
 ileges which had been granted to Columbus as Viceroy 
 were cancelled, and he went back to Spain a prisoner. 
 
 Undaunted by difficulties, he overcame all opposition 
 and, following his original aim, he attempted by a fourth 
 expedition to find a short route to India. At the advanced 
 age of sixty 'six, with his brother Bartolome and his son 
 Fernando, he sailed from Spain in 1502. On this voyage 
 
 * Three centuries later the wars of secession against Spain resulted in the sep- 
 aration of what is no w Venezuela from Nueva Granada. The region to the West 
 was named Colombia. 
 
/T? r-^la 
 
 THE ROUTE 
 
PF COLUMBUS 
 
 ijos por Fernandez de Navarrete, Madrid, 1825) 
 
THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 7 
 
 he discovered Martinique and cruised along the whole 
 coast of Central America from Cape Gracias a Dios to 
 Porto Bello on the Isthmus of Panama. Through the loss 
 of two of his four ships he was forced to abandon his ex/ 
 plorations, although still convinced that the Isthmus of 
 Darien would prove to be a point around which would be 
 found the route to India. 
 
 Four centuries later the construction of the Panama 
 Canal made the dream of Columbus a reality. 
 
 On the way from Puerto Bello to Hispaniola, Columbus 
 was wrecked on the island of Jamaica, and it was not until 
 1504 that, greatly aged, ill and depressed in spirits, he 
 again reached Spain. He died at Valladolid on the 1 2th of 
 May, 1 506. It was as a discoverer and not as a colonizer that 
 Columbus left his impress upon the New World. 
 
 During the first century after their discovery, the West 
 Indies were under the almost exclusive domination of 
 Spain. The subsequent decadence of that great power has 
 bred a misconception of her powerful and extraordinary 
 initiative in connection with the settlement of the New 
 World. 
 
 The later invasion of the Anglo-Saxon and the influ/ 
 ence of theological bias has developed a tendency to exalt 
 the exploits of those who followed the path which was 
 first blazed by the Conquistadores and to underrate the 
 courage and undaunted spirit shown in the Spanish ad/ 
 ventures in the New World. It is not wholly true that 
 
8 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 Spain the Conqueror was solely an avaricious oppressor 
 of the peoples which she subdued. Nor is it true that the 
 English adventurers who followed were actuated solely 
 by religious aspirations. Yet those are the impressions to 
 be gained from popular textbooks. It is true, however, 
 that the same causes which have led to the modern de/ 
 cadence of Spain made of her a bad colonizer, and that the 
 spirit shown by even the early English navigators and ad/ 
 venturers was more adapted successfully to effect perma/ 
 nent occupation of the conquered lands. In the fifteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries all nations which competed for a 
 share in the rich booty of the Western World were im/ 
 peUed by the same motives, and to none can be attributed 
 a monopoly of either vice or virtue. 
 
 During the period in which the Spanish domination 
 of the Caribbean was complete and for a considerable time 
 unchallenged, great progress was made in exploration. 
 Fortified towns were built and a system of government 
 established. Assisted by the merchants of Seville, many 
 of those who had accompanied Columbus on one or more 
 of his voyages undertook on their own accounts further 
 voyages of discovery and conquest. In 1499, Alonzo de 
 Ojeda, who had accompanied Columbus on his second 
 voyage, followed the track ofthe great discoverer to Terra 
 Firma and continued the exploration to the Gulf of Paria 
 and Cape Vela. The Florentine, Amerigo Vespucci, who 
 later was to give his name to the two continents of Amer/ 
 
THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 9 
 
 ica and who had been of the company of Columbus on 
 one voyage, was a companion of de Ojeda. 
 
 At the same time Pedro Alonzo Nirio, who had been 
 with Columbus on his third voyage, conducted a success/ 
 ful trading venture, and Vicente Pinzon, who had been 
 with Columbus on his first voyage, explored the coast of 
 Brazil. In the meantime the Portuguese Vasco da Gama had 
 rounded the Cape of Good Hope and opened the road to 
 the East Indies. Diego Lepe doubled Cape St. Augustine 
 and explored the coast beyond it to the southwest. In 
 1 50 1, Rodrigo de Bastidas and Juan de la Cosa doubled 
 Cape Vela and added some three hundred miles to the 
 known coast/line. Their discoveries included the Gulf of 
 Darien where a few years later the port of Nombre de Dios 
 was established. 
 
 That this record of successful navigation and discovery 
 was possible within so few years and with vessels of so 
 small a size is a marvel, and that more were not lost is testi/ 
 mony to the high courage and expert seamanship of these 
 early voyagers. 
 
 Tidings of the great West Indian adventure of Spain 
 awoke in the other countries of Europe a spirit of emuk' 
 tion. Lethargic England as well as Portugal entered the 
 race for a share in the wealth of the New World. The 
 Cabots, Venetians who had setded at Bristol, explored 
 from Labrador southward, but were obliged to return to 
 Bristol before reaching the West Indies. At the end of the 
 
lo ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 first decade of the sixteenth century, Juan Ponce de Leon 
 had settled and established a firm government on the is/ 
 land of Puerto Rico, which had been discovered by Co/ 
 lumbus on his second voyage. Juan Diaz de Solis and 
 Vicente Pinzon explored Yucatan. 
 
 Up to 1509, the excitements of discovery and the re/ 
 wards of casual looting had so occupied the explorers that 
 no organized attempt had been made to establish settle/ 
 ments in a large way or to organize a comprehensive sys/ 
 tem of government. In 1509, de Ojeda, accompanied by 
 Vasco Nuiiezde Balboa, de la Cosa, andPizarro — mendes/ 
 tined later to play a great part in the development of re/ 
 gions outside of the Caribbean Sea — took part in an 
 expedition to establish settlements on the mainland. Fer/ 
 dinand granted titles and patents with a generous hand. 
 Ojeda was made Governor of all the country between Cape 
 Vela and the Gulf of Darien, and Diego de Nicuesa, who 
 had gained wealth and experience in Hispaniola, was made 
 Governor of the country between Darien and Cape Gracias 
 a Dios. These two long stretches of coast became known 
 as the Spanish Main. 
 
 In 15 10, Diego Velazquez conquered the island of 
 Cuba. Two years later. Ponce de Leon fitted out an ex/ 
 pedition in Puerto Rico and explored Florida. The Gulf 
 of Mexico was quite fiilly explored by de Piiieda. Vasco 
 Nunez de Balboa, who had accompanied de Ojeda, had 
 been made Governor of a small settlement at Darien and 
 
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THE EARLY NAVIGATORS ii 
 
 had heard stories of the great sea beyond the land. With 
 a considerable company and great difficulty he crossed the 
 isthmus and found a great ocean, of which he took pos/ 
 session in the name of the King of Spain. On account of 
 the east'and/west direction of the two coasts of the isth' 
 mus, Balboa reached the Pacific by travelling southward, 
 and not unnaturally named his discovery the South Sea. 
 A few years later when Magellan reached the same ocean, 
 he named it the Pacific. 
 
 In the company of Velazquez when he conquered Cuba 
 had been Hernan Cortez who was destined to become 
 perhaps the best known, both for his conquests and his 
 cruelties, of any of the Spanish conquerors. In 151 8, with 
 a large expedition he began the subjugation of Mexico. 
 It required nearly three years to overcome completely the 
 powerfiol Montezuma. 
 
 About this period (1524), Francisco Pizarro began his 
 exploration of the West Coast which finally resulted in 
 the expedition which a few years later accomplished the 
 conquest of the great empire of the Incas called Peru. 
 
 In the decade between 1530 and 1540, the work of 
 conquest and occupation progressed without interruption. 
 Nueva Granada, made up of what is now Colombia and 
 Venezuela, were added to the Spanish dominions. The 
 important cities of Cartagena and Santa Marta were 
 founded and some semblance to an organized government 
 maintained. Development or commerce in the proper 
 
12 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 meanings of the words did not, however, take place. 
 Plundering of the conquered Indians was the only estab/ 
 lished business. 
 
 It is unfortunate that those responsible for the most 
 important discoveries of the Christian era should have 
 been guilty of atrocious and unnecessary cruelties. Even 
 measured by the standards of the time, the treatment of 
 the native peoples was inhuman and wanton in its barbar/ 
 ities. In many places the native population was almost an/ 
 nihilated. 
 
 Oviedo in describing the malignant cruelties practised 
 by Governor Pedrarias and his Lieutenant, Juan de Ayora, 
 at Darien says: "In this expedition Juan de Ayora not only 
 "omitted the requisitions and summoning which it was 
 " his duty to make to the Indians before attacking them, 
 "but took them by surprise at night, torturing the ca/ 
 " ciques and chiefs, demanding gold from them. Some he 
 ' ' roasted alive, some were thrown living to the dogs, some 
 "were hanged, and for others were designed new forms 
 "of torture. Their wives and daughters were made slaves 
 "and divided according to the pleasure of de Ayora and 
 "the other captains." 
 
 These frightful cruelties did not take place without 
 protest. The Dominican friar, Bartolome de las Casas, 
 whose contemporaneous account of the behaviour of his 
 companions, taken with the histories recorded by Peter 
 Martyr and Herrera, make what is probably the most 
 
, THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 13 
 
 authentic record of the events and spirit of the time, de/ 
 voted himself to the amelioration of the lot of the afflicted 
 Indians. 
 
 His accounts made a deep impression, not only in Spain, 
 but over the rest of Europe.* In 1 542, because of his rep/ 
 resentation to Carlos V, a royal commission was called to/ 
 gether at Valladohd to devise a better system of govern/ 
 ment for the West Indies. Many reforms were promulgated, 
 but few were enforced. Mixed with the stories of limit/ 
 less treasure the piteous appeal of Las Casas reached Eng/ 
 land and increased the hatred of Spain. During the last 
 half of the sixteenth century England began to play her 
 part in the Caribbean. 
 
 Frobisher, Davis, Gilbert, and others had gained re/ 
 nown for themselves and territory for England in the 
 North. Hawkins, Drake, Raleigh, and the other great sea/ 
 men and pioneers of Elizabethan England found ample 
 scope for their adventurous spirit to contest the claim of 
 Spain to dominion over the New World. 
 
 When Elizabethan England finally awoke to the call 
 of the New World, her navigators showed a daring and 
 persistency which made of England a gradually increas/ 
 ing participator in the territory and wealth of the Carib/ 
 bean. The narratives of the early voyages of Hawkins and 
 of Drake, minutely reported by them and by men of their 
 
 * Breuisiima Relacion de la destruycion dt las Indiat. By B. de las Casas 
 
14 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 companies, are not only crowded with the accounts of 
 dangers overcome and battles fought, but are full of inter/ 
 esting descriptions of the lands visited and their inhabit/ 
 ants. 
 
 On his second voyage John Hawkins (afterwards Sir 
 John Hawkins) left Plymouth in the autumn of 1564 with 
 one ship of seven hundred tons, one of one hundred and 
 forty tons, and two of fifty and thirty tons, respectively. 
 
 His total company consisted of one hundred and seventy 
 men. He proceeded to the coast of Africa to take on board 
 a cargo of negroes to be sold as slaves in the West Indies. 
 It was not until March, 1565, that he touched at Domin/ 
 ica in the West Indies and at various smaller islands in 
 that neighbourhood. He was not given a hospitable recep/ 
 tion, and the Spanish Viceroy at Hispaniola, advised of 
 his arrival within the proscribed seas, directed that there 
 should be no traffic with Hawkins, ordering the use of 
 force against him if necessary. 
 
 At the small island of Cumana he was able to obtain 
 provisions from the natives, whom he described as tract/ 
 able, and as excellent archers using arrows tipped with 
 poison in warfare. 
 
 In April he touched the coast of Venezuela, but, fail/ 
 ing to secure a license to sell his negroes by friendly ne/ 
 gotiations, he landed one hundred men armed with ' • bows, 
 "arrows, arquebuses and pikes," and marched toward the 
 town of Barbarotta where the Spanish Governor was res* 
 
THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 15 
 
 ident. The local garrison was not prepared to resist and 
 without actual fighting a pernut to trade was obtained. 
 From there he sailed along the coast to Cape Vela and to 
 Rio de la Hacha. At this latter point another display of 
 force was required to make it possible to trade. At the end 
 of May he continued his voyage cruising around Jamaica, 
 Cuba, and the Florida coast, arriving home some eleven 
 months from the date of his departure from Plymouth. 
 
 Three years later, with the same flagship (the "Jesus 
 *• of Lubeck") and five smaller vessels, he again visited the 
 West Indies with another and larger cargo of slaves. His 
 difficulties had increased, however, because the King of 
 Spain had himself forbidden traffic with Hawkins and the 
 Spanish settlements were better prepared to resist him. 
 At Rio de la Hacha he disposed of a part of his cargo ; 
 but at Cartagena the resistance was too great for him to 
 attempt to overcome it and he sailed thence for Florida. 
 Storms drove him to seek shelter in one of the Mexican 
 harbours whence he only got away after many vicissitudes 
 and much fighting with the Spanish garrison. Finally 
 he returned home through the Bahamas. 
 
 With Hawkins on this last voyage, in command of the 
 "Judith," had been Francis Drake. It is said that Drake 
 a few years later was shown by Indians from a tree-'top on 
 the Isthmus of Panama a view of the Pacific Ocean, and 
 that he there and then resolved to be the first English/ 
 man to sail upon its waters. The voyage which he began 
 
i6 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 in 1577 with a fleet of five vessels was destined to realize 
 his ambition. 
 
 The account of this voyage, written by Francis Petty, 
 one of Drake's crew, and included in Hakluyt's collection 
 of "Voyages," is one which cannot fail to enliven the 
 spirit of adventure in the most lethargic reader. After a 
 stop at the Cape de Verde islands, he reached and explored 
 the coast of Brazil, entered the River Plate, and proceeded 
 southward to the Straits of Magellan. After passing through 
 the Straits, he sailed northward along the coast, touching 
 at the Peruvian ports all of which he found unfortified. 
 Laden with rich booty, he determined to cross the Pa/ 
 cific, but first went as far north as California. He then ac/ 
 complished the extraordinary feat of reaching home by 
 rounding the Cape of Good Hope. The time required for 
 the whole exploit was within a few days of three years. 
 
 In 1 585, he began his great West Indian venture which 
 included the looting of Cartagena to which incident a spe/ 
 cial chapter is devoted. Nine years after his return home 
 from this undertaking, Drake and Hawkins jointly under/ 
 took the conquest of the Isthmus, a project which, their 
 crews weakened by sickness, they were forced to abandon 
 when, on arrival, they found the increased strength of the 
 fortifications made the attempt useless. 
 
 This last was an unhappy voyage ; Hawkins died off 
 Puerto Rico and Drake off^ Puerto Bello. These two men 
 were pioneers in the trade of legalized or commissioned 
 
THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 17 
 
 piracy. Their example helped give birth to a new and 
 virile band called "buccaneers," a name derived from the 
 term applied to the sun/dried or bucan beef used by the 
 filibusters to provision their vessels and which was dried 
 on poles or slats called "bucans." 
 
 To secure to herself the full fruits of conquest, Spain, 
 as has been noted, was resolved to exclude all foreigners. 
 Rich as were the new countries in gold and other valua/ 
 ble cargoes, the stories which reached Europe enlarged 
 on facts which were in themselves enough to fire the envy 
 and cupidity of the other nations. Quarrels based chiefly 
 on differences of religion already had bred in England a 
 hatred of Spain. The natural intolerance had been fanned 
 to fever heat by the persecution of English sailors by the 
 Spanish Inquisition. Intolerable cruelties were practised 
 which encouraged reprisals. If to torture and burn here/ 
 tics were an act of grace from the Spanish point of view, 
 it was equally commendable on the part of an honourable 
 English Protestant to scuttle a Papist ship or lay waste a 
 Spanish settlement in the New World. 
 
 Up to the time of the defeat of the great Armada, 
 Spain was powerful in home waters as well as in the West 
 Indies, and the opportunities successfully to contest her 
 supremacy in the Caribbean were few ; but the defeat of 
 the Armada in 1588 and the consequent decline of the 
 sea/power of Spain opened the path across the sea. 
 
 United by a common antipathy to Spain and by an 
 
i8 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 universal and natural desire for gain, the adventurous sea/ 
 men of England, France, and the Low Countries soon 
 made a formidable group determined to share in the rich 
 booty of the Spanish Main. In the beginning their acts 
 were those of ordinary piracy; but out of the heteroge^ 
 neousband there developed in due course a half-'organized, 
 semi'legalized horde of buccaneers who played an impor/ 
 tant if somewhat violent part in the contest for the su/ 
 premacy of the Caribbean. Among these buccaneers or 
 filibusters were many men who displayed great ability, val/ 
 our, and seamanship. Chivalry and worthy enterprise 
 were no less common than robbery and cruelty. Both the 
 great navigator and writer Dampier and Sir Henry Mor/ 
 gan were buccaneers, as were de Pointis and Du Casse. 
 
 The period during which the buccaneers were an imv 
 portant factor in lessening the power of Spain and increas/ 
 ing the authority of England in the New World extended 
 to the end of the seventeenth century ; after the Treaty of 
 Ryswick in 1697, the opportunity for legitimate piracy 
 so seldom occurred that the calling no longer attracted 
 the great navigators, and those left soon turned into com/ 
 mon rogues and murderers, the mere dregs of an associa/ 
 tion which had given a place in history to many great 
 names. 
 
 The name of Sir Walter Raleigh is so prominently as/ 
 sociated with the settlement of Virginia that the part he 
 played in the West Indies is often overlooked. After the 
 
THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 19 
 
 failure of his first two attempts at colonization in Virginia, 
 Raleigh in 1595, enticed by the successes of his country/ 
 men, planned an expedition to Guiana. 
 
 Guiana was the name given by the Conquistadores to 
 the vast and unknown country forming the watershed of 
 the Orinoco. Reference has already been made to the tales 
 of febulous beauty and richness of this unexplored region. 
 Ordaz, an officer under Pizarro, had earned temporary 
 fame by an apocryphal account of a great city which he 
 claimed to have found, called Manoa, and ruled by a de/ 
 scendant of the Incas. Other travellers had even described 
 its palace and temple as visible from the distance, but not 
 actually reached by them. Almost coincident with the 
 exploration by Raleigh early in 1595, Antonio de Berreo, 
 the Spanish Governor of Trinidad, entered the region sup/ 
 posed to contain the great city of Manoa by way of Nueva 
 Granada, and came down the Orinoco River. 'For almost 
 a century the chimera of El Dorado influenced the ex/ 
 plorations and inflamed the greed and animosities of the 
 explorers of Nueva Granada and Guiana. 
 
 Raleigh's expedition was made up of five ships with a 
 total of one hundred men. A large amount of the country 
 was explored, but the mythical city was not found. The 
 reports of these explorations are of great interest, but lack 
 historical value on account of the constant confusion of 
 the records of facts with the unconfirmed rumours to 
 which the travellers gave credence. 
 
20 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 Raleigh was successful, however, in overcoming the 
 Spanish garrison at Trinidad and the coast towns, secur/ 
 ing enough booty to encourage him to make further ex/ 
 plorations. In the following year he explored the coast 
 between the rivers Orinoco and Amazon ; and it was not 
 until 1 617 that Raleigh finally gave up his hope to make 
 of Guiana a rival of Mexico and Peru. In that year with 
 a squadron of twelve ships he again sailed for Guiana, at/ 
 tacked and subdued San Tome, but was obliged to return 
 to England without the accomplishment of his object. 
 
 Spain laid claims upon King James on account of this 
 attack by Raleigh, and despite the evidence that the latter 
 had the fuU support of the King, Raleigh was sacrificed 
 to what was believed to be political expediency and his 
 expedition in effect disowned. 
 
 The history of Guiana was not finished, however; for 
 years five nations fought for its control : Spain, Portugal, 
 France, England, and Holland. 
 
 In the end it was divided among the five. The wars 
 of rebellion ended the sovereignty of the first two; the 
 other three still survive, interesting souvenirs of the 
 early struggles. 
 
 The island of Jamaica, which in due course became 
 the chief British possession in the West Indies, did not 
 offer the same lure to the Spanish as did the islands of 
 Cuba and Hispaniola and the mines of the Mainland. The 
 island was, however, settled by the Spanish, with some 
 
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THE EARLY NAVIGATORS 21 
 
 admixture of Portuguese, and early in the sixteenth cen/ 
 tury St. Jago de la Vega, now Spanish Town, was founded 
 and became a city of some importance. At the close of 
 that century Sir Anthony Shirley landed a force, looted 
 the island, and burnt St. Jago de la Vega. Again, in 1643, 
 Captain William Jackson with three ships did some plun' 
 dering ; but it was not until an expedition consisting of 
 some thirty/eight ships and eight thousand men, under 
 Penn and Venables, attacked the island in 1 655 that it was 
 actually conquered by the English. 
 
 Following Penn and Venables came Admiral Myngs, 
 and shortly afterwards Sir Henry Morgan, both of whom 
 used Jamaica as a base for their exploits. 
 
 The full history of explorations and settlements made 
 by the Spaniards and by the Elizabethan seamen in the 
 Caribbean Sea does not fall within the scope of this small 
 book. Its purpose is rather to indicate the general scope 
 of the early discoveries, the gradual development from a 
 region given over to a trade based on forced plundering to 
 an orderly and productive part of the world, and in partic/ 
 ular to record those critical events which finally resulted 
 in the sea/mastery of the Caribbean by maritime England. 
 
 The adventure of Spain in exploring and colonizing 
 the New World has no parallel in history. It is unfortu/ 
 nate that the picture of her extraordinary triumphs is 
 blurred by the record of her cruelties ; but the magnificent 
 result remains. During the one hundred and fifteen years 
 
22 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 prior to the settlement of Jamestown in 1607, the whole 
 of the West Indies, and the greater parts of South and Cen/ 
 tral Americas were brought under Spanish control, forti/ 
 fied cities built, and the various agencies of State and 
 Church government installed. 
 
 The vice/regal establishments at Lima and in Mexico 
 were second only to the Court at Madrid in brilliancy and 
 magnificence. The fortifications at Cartagena, at Panama, 
 and in Hispaniola are of a size and strength which make 
 of them to/day an indisputable record of marvellous ac/ 
 complishment. 
 
 The Spanish temperament was not, however, fitted for 
 the task to keep and foster what had been won. Rendered 
 weak through over^confidence in her strength and through 
 certain inherent faults of her own civilization, Spanish 
 power in both the Old and New World was weakened, 
 until finally in the nineteenth century the rebelKon of her 
 own colonies ended her dominion in the New World. 
 
CHAPTER 11 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 WHEN Drake began his voyage around the world 
 in 1577, Spain had the effective control of all of 
 those parts of the American continents which had proven 
 to be a source of wealth to Europe. 
 
 Protestant England under Elizabeth longed not only 
 for a share of the rich plunder which the exploitation 
 of the New World was gaining for Spain, but also for an 
 opportunity to cross swords with CathoKcism. On both 
 sides the adventurous spirit was strangely mixed with re/ 
 ligious enthusiasm. Prayers and piracy were closely, and 
 often with sincerity, blended. The fact that no commerce 
 except with Spain was permitted in the New World made 
 trade by English ships and men possible only when carried 
 on by privateers or armed vessels. The inevitable result of 
 these conditions was that English ships ostensibly fitted 
 for trade turned to plundering the rich galleons of Spain, 
 giving rise to reprisals with terrible excesses on both sides. 
 Upon Drake's return from his great voyage around the 
 world, begun in 1577 and ended in 1580, he was received 
 with great enthusiasm by both Queen and country. On 
 this voyage he had sacked the unguarded coast towns of 
 Peru and Chili, and it is said returned with over half a 
 million sterling of treasure taken chiefly from the Span' 
 
24 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 ish possessions. That Drake himself was knighted and his 
 companyfeted by all England, was not unnaturally received 
 as an insult by Philip, and added fuel to the flames of war 
 already kindled. There could be now no further question 
 of conciliating Spain, and every effort was made by Eliza/ 
 beth and her sailor counsellors to build up a naval estab/ 
 lishment of a strength equal to that of Philip, whose naval 
 power had been almost doubled by the failure of the royal 
 line of Portugal which had brought the domination of 
 that country under the Spanish Crown. To make havoc 
 with the' Spanish possessions in the New World appealed 
 to both the political sagacity of the Queen and to the busi/ 
 ness'like judgment of those imbued with the buccaneer 
 spirit of the age. 
 
 It has been necessary to refer again briefly to the gen/ 
 eral conditions affecting England and Spain at the time 
 of the expedition against Cartagena and other towns of 
 the Spanish Main, in order to understand the motives of 
 an attack which has been variously described as a great 
 legitimate naval expedition and as a series of wanton pirat/ 
 ical seizures. 
 
 Few men whose deeds have played such an important 
 and forceful part in actual events, have had associated with 
 their names so much of almost legendary romanticism as 
 has that of Francis Drake. Knighted and made an admiral 
 by Elizabeth, and dubbed a pirate by the Spaniards, he 
 was in truth a mixture of the great soldier/admiral and the 
 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 25 
 
 adventurous buccaneer. His father, Edmund Drake, is 
 said to have been at one time a sailor, but whether this is 
 true or not, it is certain that he had become vicar of Up/ 
 church, living near Tavistock, under the patronage of the 
 Earl of Bedford. It was the earl's son, Francis Russell, who 
 endowed the son born to Edmund Drake with his own 
 name. 
 
 Francis Drake was born about 1545. His early associa/ 
 tions were strongly anti/Catholic. As a boy he was ap/ 
 prenticed to the master and owner of a small Channel 
 coasting vessel, and appears to have been treated as a son 
 by the master, who upon his death, which happened 
 shortly, left the vessel to him. 
 
 Sir John Hawkins, said by some to have been a kins' 
 man of Drake, had been early engaged in the slave-trade 
 and in trading expeditions to the West Indies. In 1567, 
 on his third expedition to which reference is made in the 
 first chapter, he visited the Spanish Main, and succeeded 
 in landing and selling his negroes at Rio de la Hacha only 
 after overcoming armed resistance. He finally at Carta/ 
 gena abandoned this commerce. This voyage was in many 
 respects unfortunate, and it was also alleged that many 
 acts of bad faith on the part of the Spaniards brought great 
 hardships, sufferings, and death to many of Hawkins's un/ 
 happy companions. Hawkins himself says in his account 
 of the expedition: "If aU the miseries and troublesome 
 " affairs of this sorrowful voyage should be perfectly and 
 
26 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "thoroughly written, there should need a painful man 
 " with his pen, and as great a time as he had that wrote 
 "the lives and deaths of the martyrs." 
 
 Great indignation was felt in England over the mis/ 
 haps of this voyage and the treatment of the vopgers by 
 the Spaniards. Drake had taken part in this expedition in 
 command of the "Judith." He had previously sold his 
 own little coaster and used the proceeds, with his other 
 earnings, for the proper outfitting for this voyage with 
 Hawkins. Drake lost everything in this unhappy venture, 
 from which he barely escaped with his life, and became an 
 ardent supporter of the doctrine, soon popular in England, 
 that it was lawful to recover from the Spaniards that which 
 their treachery had taken from the English traders. 
 
 In 1570, Drake again went to the West Indies, this 
 time with two ships, the "Dragon" and the "Swan," 
 and again in 157 1 with the " Swan" alone. These voy/ 
 ages appear to have been mainly to acquire information, 
 or at least, that appears to have been their chief result. 
 With the experience gained by these two voyages and the 
 previous one with Hawkins, he sailed from Plymouth in 
 May, 1572, with the "Pacha "of seventy tons, and 
 "Swan" of twenty /five tons, with total crews of seventy/ 
 three men and boys. By the end of July he reached Nom/ 
 bre de Dios, and after a sharp but brief engagement, in 
 which he himself was wounded, captured the town. From 
 Nombre de Dios he sailed along the coast toward Carta' 
 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 27 
 
 gena, capturing several well/laden vessels on the way ; but 
 making no stop of consequence until he arrived at the 
 Isthmus of Darien. There he found settlements of the 
 Cimarrones (or Maroons), negroes who had escaped from 
 slavery, with whom he entered into intercourse and by 
 the chief of whom he was shown, from a " goodly and 
 " great high tree "on a commanding height, a sight of the 
 Pacific Ocean. Drake is reported to have "besought 
 " Almighty God of his goodness to give him life and leave 
 " to sail in an English ship on that sea." This same chief 
 guided and helped in an expedition overland to intercept 
 the trains of mules which brought treasure from Panama 
 to Nombre de Dios. Beyond taking possession of a small 
 town on the road and destroying some property, the ex/ 
 pedition appears to have been fruitless, and it was only 
 after great hardships and dangers that Drake and his men 
 regained their ships. He returned to Plymouth from this 
 voyage on August 9, 1573, somewhat enriched, but with 
 his ambition in no way satisfied. A valorous and venture/ 
 some seaman named John Oxenham, whose name is 
 closely associated with the stirring events of that day on 
 the Caribbean littoral, had served under Drake in this 
 expedition. About two years later, Oxenham, with one 
 ship and seventy men, retraced the course of Drake to Da/ 
 rien with the object of intercepting one of the richly la/ 
 den mule trains from Panama. He was informed by the 
 Cimarrones that the trains were now accompanied by a 
 
28 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 strong guard, and abandoned this plan ; but, helped by a few 
 of the Cimarrones, he marched to the Pacific side, bmlt 
 himself a small pinnace, and gained the distinction of be/ 
 ing the first Englishman to sail upon the Pacific Ocean. 
 In December, 1577, Drake started on his great trip of cir/ 
 cum^navigation, already referred to, with a fleet consist/ 
 ing of the " Pelican " and four smaller vessels, with a total 
 complement of one hundred and sixty/four men. That the 
 plans for this voyage had the full, if secret, concurrence 
 of the Queen, there seems little doubt, notwithstanding 
 the fact that one of its real if not avowed objects was to 
 prey upon the colonies of a nation with which techni/ 
 cal peace existed. The story of this voyage has no place 
 here, but its great success from both a naval and "profit/ 
 sharing " standpoint, and the enthusiasm with which 
 the voyagers were received on their return in September, 
 1580, " richly fraught with gold, silver, silk, pearls, and 
 " precious stones," added greatly to the prestige of Drake. 
 
 For the next four years Drake remained in England ; 
 he became Mayor of Plymouth for a brief period and 
 then entered Parliament as member for Bossiney. '' 
 
 Early in 1585, Elizabeth could no longer blind herself 
 to the certainty of the intention of Spain to attack Eng/ 
 land. A fleet of English ships laden with corn had been 
 unfairly seized, and swift retribution was planned. Under 
 letters of marque, Drake gathered about him at Plymouth 
 the most formidable squadron of privateers ever brought 
 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 29 
 
 together,* consisting of twenty /five ships with a total of 
 twenty/three hundred sailors and soldiers. His vice/admi/ 
 
 * The following is an extract from an account published by Thomas Gates, 
 entitled: "A summarie and true discourse of Sir Francis Drake's West In- 
 dian voyage, begun in the yeere 1585." 
 
 This worthy knight for the service of his Prince and countrey having prepared 
 his whole fleete, and gotten them down to Plimmouth in Devonshire, to the 
 number of five and twenty saile of ships and pinnesses, and having assembled of 
 souldiers and mariners, to the number of 2300 in the whole, embarked them and 
 himselfe at Plimmouth aforesaid, the 1 2 day of September 1585, being accom- 
 panied with these men of name and charge, which hereafter follow: 
 
 Master Christopher Carleil Lieutenant General, a man of long experience in 
 the warres as well by sea as land, who had formerly carried high offices in both 
 kindes in many fights, which he discharged alwaies very happily, and with great 
 good reputation. 
 
 Anthonie Powel Sergeant Major 
 
 Captaine Matthew Morgan, and Captaine John Sampson, Corporals of the 
 field. 
 
 These officers had commandement over the rest of the land-Captaines, whose 
 names hereafter follow : 
 
 Captaine Anthony Plat, Captaine John Merchant, 
 
 Captaine Edward Winter, Captaine William Cecill, 
 
 Captaine John Goring, Captaine Walter Bigs, 
 
 Captaine Robert Pew, Captaine John Hannam, 
 
 Captaine George Barton, Captaine Richard Stanton. 
 
 Captaine Martine Frobisher Viceadmirall, a man of great experience in sea- 
 faring actions, who had caried the chiefe charge of many ships himselfe, in sun- 
 dry voyages before, being now shipped in the Primrose. 
 
 Captaine Francis Knolles, Reereadmirall in the Galeon Leicester. 
 
 Master Thomas Vennor, Captaine in the Elizabeth Bonadventure under the 
 Generall. 
 
 Master Edward Winter, Captaine in the Aide. 
 
 Master Christopher Carleil the Lieutenant generall, Captaine of the Tygar. 
 
 Henry White, Captaine of the sea Dragon. 
 
 I'homas Drake, Captaine of the Thomas. 
 
 Thomas Seelie, Captaine of the Minion. 
 
 Baily, Captaine of the Barke Talbot. 
 
 Robert Crosse, Captaine of the Bark Bond. 
 
30 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 ral was the doughty Martin Frobisher ; his rear-admiral, 
 Francis KnoUys ; Lieutenant/General Christopher Carleill 
 was in conunand of the ten companies of land troops in/ 
 eluded in the complement. 
 
 The fleet sailed from Plymouth on the twelfth of Sep 
 tember, 1585. After threatening Bayona and Vigo, and 
 by his promptness and courage doing much to injure the 
 morale of the Spanish naval defences, Drake proceeded to 
 the Cape de Verde Islands. There he took almost unop/ 
 posed possession of the chief town, Santiago, and plun/ 
 dered the islands for provisions and anything of value. 
 From there he began his voyage toward the West Indies 
 wdth the greatest armament which had ever crossed the 
 Atlantic. His plan was to weaken Spain by cutting off the 
 chief sources of her wealth in the New World and to 
 strengthen England by obtaining the mastery of the rich 
 Caribbean ports from which it seemed a limitless stream 
 of gold could be made to flow into the Old World. 
 
 During the voyage to the West Indies the men suffered 
 severe losses from deaths due to an infectious sickness, and 
 
 George Fortescue, Captaine of the Barke Bonner. 
 
 Edward Carelesse, Captaine of the Hope. 
 
 James Erizo, Captaine of the White Lyon. 
 
 Thomas Moone, Captaine of the Vantage. 
 
 John Vaughan, Captaine of the Drake. 
 
 John Vamey, Captaine of the George. 
 
 John Martin, Captaine of the Benjamin. 
 
 Edward Gilman, Captaine of the Skout. 
 
 Richard Hawkins, Captaine of the Galiot called the Ducke. 
 
 Bitfield, Captaine of the Swallow. 
 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 31 
 
 the squadron arrived somewhat weakened in consequence 
 at the island of Dominica. This island is described by 
 Thomas Gates, one of the company officers who wrote 
 a complete account published in Hakluyt's " Voyages," 
 as inhabited by " savage people, which goe all naked, 
 "their skinne coloured with some painting of a reddish 
 "tawny, very personable and handsome strong men." 
 Thence the squadron proceeded toward Hispaniola (San 
 Domingo), and spent Christmas (1585) at anchor at 
 the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) where no people 
 were found. 
 
 The city of San Domingo in Hispaniola was one of 
 the chief strongholds of the Spaniards in the West Indies, 
 and so strongly built and fortified that no serious attack 
 had previously been attempted upon it. It was surrounded 
 by walls and batteries of some strength and reputed to 
 be garrisoned by a powerful force, although the Spanish 
 accounts state that about two thousand only of the eight 
 thousand inhabitants were capable of bearing arms and 
 that in the actual defence of the city a few hundred only 
 participated. Cates refers to the "glorious fame of the 
 " citie of S. Domingo, being the ancientest and chiefe in/ 
 "habited place in all the tract of country thereabouts." 
 
 The squadron arrived at a safe landing/place about ten 
 miles from the city, on New Year's day, 1586, and not/ 
 withstanding the commotion created in the city by the 
 approach of the large flotilla, the troops were secretly 
 
32 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 landed without molestation under cover of the night. On 
 the morning following, Drake made a feint at landing on 
 the opposite side toward which Carleill with the men al/ 
 ready landed was approaching. The advantage gained by 
 this mancEUvre was pushed, and after a short engagement 
 in the streets and market/place the victory was won. 
 
 The town was rather large for complete occupancy by 
 the small number of troops under Carleill, and he was di/ 
 rected by Drake to entrench himself in the most substan/ 
 tial part of the town ; the Spanish troops were in this way 
 divided into two divisions, one which had fled to safety 
 well outside of the city, and the other which remained in 
 that part not invested by the English forces. 
 
 Drake now demanded a large ransom for the release 
 of the town. During the negotiations he sent a negro boy 
 with a flag of truce to the Spanish camp ; the boy being 
 met by a few Spanish officers was so wounded by one of 
 them that he could barely crawl back vidthin his own lines 
 to die. This so inflamed the natural anger of Drake that 
 in the first burst of his fury he caused to be hanged, on 
 the spot of the boy's death, two friars who were among 
 the prisoners; he declared that until the cowardly Span/ 
 iard who killed the boy was publicly executed two more 
 prisoners would be hanged daily. This demand was quickly 
 met. The amount of the ransom which the city, even 
 with difficulty, could pay, was not so great as Drake had 
 expected, and he had to be contented with twenty/five 
 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 33 
 
 thousand ducats, probably equivalent to about sixty thou/ 
 sand dollars of American money. In addition, all valuable 
 property of a kind to permit of removal was taken aboard 
 the ships, including from two to three hundred guns and 
 ample stores of provisions. A few of the better vessels in 
 the harbor were taken and the remainder destroyed. 
 
 Exhilarated by victory, and with his squadron well 
 provisioned, Drake sailed the middle of February for Car/ 
 tagena. It was now that the experience which he had 
 gained in his earlier voyages stood him in good stead, for 
 he could approach this difficult shore and harbour with 
 the confidence of an experienced pilot. 
 
 The town of Cartagena had been founded a little more 
 than fifty years before Drake's attack, and was already well 
 fortified, although its system of walls and fortifications 
 which were afterwards intended to make it impregnable, 
 were not then wholly completed. The town is situated a 
 few feet above sea/level at the eastern extremity of the 
 harbour or Bay of Cartagena. To the southwest it faces 
 the harbour, and to the northwest its long side is on the 
 edge of the open sea with the surf breaking near the base 
 of its strong walls. The remaining boundary is largely made 
 up of a great shallow lagoon almost connecting with the 
 sea on the one side, and connected with the harbour on 
 the other. The harbour itself is made nearly a closed ba/ 
 sin by the island of Tierra Bomba, at each end of which in 
 Drake's time was an entrance for ships, the larger mouth, 
 
34 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 called Boca Grande, the one nearer the city, and the smaller 
 and more difficult mouth, called Boca Chica, at the west/ 
 em end of the bay. 
 
 The Boca Grande entrance was subsequently closed by 
 artificial means, which, when once effected, was greatly 
 helped by the natural drift of the sands. It has now been 
 closed for all but the smallest boats for over two centuries. 
 
 Cartagena, by reason of its magnificent harbour and 
 its nearness to the great river Magdalena, which leads 
 down from the rich country in the interior, had become 
 the storehouse of Spain in the New World, and the head/ 
 quarters of all Spanish commerce. Philip had relied upon 
 the reputation of Cartagena for strength to protect it from 
 attack and had no conception that such an audacious attack 
 upon his American possessions would be made ; he had 
 no time to send out re/enforcements. So that although 
 warned in advance of the impending visit of Drake with 
 his formidable squadron, the Governor of Cartagena, 
 Pedro Vique, could not depend on more than eleven or 
 twelve hundred men all told for the defence of his city. 
 This force was made up of fifty lancers, four hundred and 
 fifty harquebusiers, one hundred pikemen, twenty negro 
 musketeers, four hundred Indian bowmen, and one hun/ 
 dred and fifty harquebusiers who manned two galleys in 
 the harbour. 
 
 The entrance to the inner harbour was defended by a 
 fort at the place now called Pastelillo, but otherwise there 
 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 35 
 
 were no fortifications except those which surrounded the 
 city itself. The approach to the inner harbour was further 
 protected by chains, and the narrow neck of land reach' 
 ing from the city to Boca Grande was defended by a stone 
 breastwork armed with a few guns and several hundred 
 men. 
 
 Drake entered through Boca Grande between three 
 and four o'clock in the afternoon without resistance. At 
 nightfall he landed the troops under the command of Car/ 
 leUl close to Boca Grande. About midnight, having failed 
 to find paths through the thick growths which covered 
 the neck of land, they marched along the beach on the 
 side towards the sea, meeting only the slight resistance 
 offered by a small body of horsemen who retired at the 
 first volley. 
 
 The sound of this slight engagement was a signal to 
 Drake to carry out a prearranged plan, by which the ships 
 at once attacked the fort at the entrance to the inner har/ 
 hour. This attack was a diversion and was not pressed to a 
 successful conclusion, as indeed would have been difficult 
 in view of the narrowness of channel, the chains, and the 
 well/sustained gun/fire from the fort. 
 
 During this attack by the ships the troops pressed for/ 
 ward against the breastworks, which consisted of a strongly 
 built stone wall with a ditch without and ilankings cover/ 
 ing every part. A small passing space was protected by 
 wine/butts filled with earth, the whole mounted with six 
 
36 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 guns and further protected by drawing up to the shore 
 the two large galleys. 
 
 Carleill forced the attack on the space protected by the 
 wine/butts, and largely through the superiority of the Eng/ 
 lish pikes and armour a breach was made and quickly car^ 
 ried by storm. The defenders were forced into the city, 
 where the streets were strongly barricaded. The Indians 
 gave active help to the Spaniards, fighting with poisoned 
 arrows and with small sharp poisoned sticks about eigh/ 
 teen inches long, and so placed in the ground that contact 
 with the poisoned ends was difficult to avoid. Many of 
 the Spanish leaders were killed and Drake was soon in 
 possession of the city. Although Drake's idea had been 
 permanently to hold Cartagena and use it for a base from 
 which to attack the other Spanish settlements, the reduce 
 tion which he had already suffered in his forces and the 
 persistence of yellow fever among his men changed his 
 plans, and he determined to exact the largest possible ran/ 
 som and leave the place. At a general council of land 
 captains* held at Cartagena on the twenty/seventh of 
 
 * Gates gives the text of the resolution adopted at this meeting as follows: 
 
 Whereas it hath pleased the Generall to demaund the opinions of his Cap- 
 taines what course they thinke most expedient to be now undertaken, the Land- 
 captaines being asembled by themselves together, and having advised hereupon, 
 doe in three points deliver the same. 
 
 The first, touching the keeping of the towne against the force of the enemie, 
 either that which is present, or that which may come out of Spaine, is answered 
 thus : 
 
 We holder opinion, that with this troope of men which we have presently with 
 us in land-service, being victualled and munitioned, wee may well keepe the 
 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 37 
 
 February, it was resolved that it was inexpedient to pro/ 
 ceed with the intended capture of Panama and it was re/ 
 solved to proceed home by the way of Florida. 
 
 towne, albeit that of men able to answere present service, we have not above 
 700. The residue being some 150 men by reason of their hurts and sicknesse 
 are altogether unable to stand us in any stead: wherefore hereupon the Sea-cap- 
 taines are likewise to give their resolution, how they will undertake the safetie 
 and service of the Shippes upon the arrivall of any Spanish Fleete. 
 
 The second poynt we make to be this, whether it bee meete to goe presently 
 homeward, or els to continue further tryall of our fortune in undertaking such 
 like enterprises as we have done already, and thereby to seeke after that bounti- 
 fiiU masse of treasure for recompence of our travailes, which was generally ex- 
 pected at our comming forth of England: wherein we answere: 
 
 That it is well knowen how both we and the souldiers are entred into this action 
 as voluntarie men, without any imprest or gage from her Majestie or any body 
 els, and forasmuch as we have hitherto discharged the parts of honest men, so 
 that now by the great blessing and favour of our good God there have bin taken 
 three such notable townes, wherein by the estimation of all men would have been 
 found some very great treasures, knowing that S. lago was the chiefe citie of all 
 the Islands and traffiques thereabouts, S. Domingo the chiefe citie of Hispaniola, 
 and the head government not only of that Hand, but also of Cuba, and of all 
 the Hands about it, as also of such inhabitations of the firme land, as were next 
 unto it, & a place that is both magnificently builded, and interteineth great 
 trades of merchandise; and now lastly the citie of Cartagena, which cannot be 
 denied to be one of the chiefe places of most especiall importance to the Span- 
 iard of all the cities which be on this side of the West India; we doe therefore 
 consider, that since all these cities, with their goods and prisoners taken in them, 
 and the ransoms of the said cities being all put together, are found farre short to 
 satisfie that expectation which by the generality of the enterprisers was first con- 
 ceived: And being further advised of the slendemesse of our strengthe, where- 
 unto we be now reduced, as well in respect of the small number of able bodies, 
 as also not a litle in regard of the slacke disposition of the greater part of those 
 which remaine, very many of the better mindes and men being either consumed 
 by death, or weakened by sicknes and hurts: And lastly, since that as yet there 
 is not laid downe to our knowledge any such enterprise as may seeme convenient 
 to be undertaken with such few as we are presently able to make, and withall of 
 such certaine likelihoode, as with Gods good successe which it may please him 
 
38 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 Drake denmnded a ransom of one hundred thousand 
 pounds, but this sum was declared by the Spaniards im/ 
 
 to bestowupon us, the same may promise to yeeld us any sufficient contentment: 
 We doe therefore conclude hereupon, that it is better to hold sure as we may 
 the honour already gotten, and with the same to retume towards our gracious 
 Soveraigne and Countrey, from whenece if it shall please her Majestie to set us 
 foorth againe with her orderly meanes and intertainment, we are most ready 
 and willing to goe through with anything that the uttermost of our strength 
 and indevour shall be able to reach unto; but therewithal we doe advise, and 
 protest that it is farre from our thoughts, either to refuse, or so much as to seeme 
 to be wearie of any thing, which for the present, shalbe further required or di- 
 rected to be done by us from our Generall. 
 
 The third and last poynt is concerning the ransome of this citie of Cartagena, 
 for the which, before it was touched with any fire, there was made an offer of 
 some xxviij. thousand pounds sterling. 
 
 Thus much we utter herein as our opinions agreeing (so it be done in good 
 sort) to accept this offer aforesayde, rather then to break off by standing still 
 upon our demaunds of one hundred thousand poundes, which seemes a matter 
 impossible to bee performed for the present by them, and to say trueth, wee may 
 now with much honour and reputation better be satisfied with that summe offered 
 by them at the first (if they will now bee contented to give it) then we might at 
 that time with a greal deale more, inasmuch as we have taken our full pleasure 
 both in the uttermost sacking and spoyling of all their householde goods and 
 marchandize, as also in that we have consumed and ruined a great part of their 
 Towne with fire. And thus much further is considered herein by us, that as there 
 bee in the Voyage a great many poore men, who have willingly adventured their 
 lives and travailes, and divers amongst them having spent their apparell and such 
 other little provisions as their small meanes might have given them leave to pre- 
 pare, which being done upon such good and allowable intention as this action 
 hath alwayes caried with it, meaning, against the Spanyard our greatest and 
 most dangerous enemie: so surely we cannot but have an inward regarde so 
 iarre as may lye in us, to helpe either in all good sort towards the satisfaction of 
 this their expectation, and by procuring them some little benefite to incourage 
 them and to nourish this readie and willing disposition of theirs both in them and 
 in others by their example against any other time of like occasion. But because 
 it may bee supposed that herein wee forgette not the private benefite of our 
 selves, and are thereby the rather mooved to incline our selves to this composi- 
 tion, wee doe therefore thinke good for the clearing of ourselves of all suqh sus- 
 
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 39 
 
 possible to get together, and an amount equivalent to 
 about twenty /eight thousand pounds was tendered. In the 
 meantime, notwithstanding various courtesies exchanged 
 between the higher officers on each side, much irritation 
 appears to have arisen over the matter of the ransom, and 
 a considerable part of the city was burned. Finally a ran/ 
 som, stated by Gates to have been one hundred and ten 
 thousand ducats, and by Spanish authorities to have been 
 four hundred thousand dollars, was paid and the English 
 troops evacuated. Drake, however, after leaving the city, 
 appears to have insisted that an abbey or priory just out/ 
 side had not been included in the terms of settlement, and 
 continued to hold it until an additional sum of one thou/ 
 sand crowns was paid. 
 
 The fleet had remained at Cartagena six weeks when 
 it finally set sail the last of March. The voyage was de/ 
 layed by leaky vessels, and the fleet did not arrive off Cape 
 Anthony on the eastern end of Cuba until the twenty/ 
 seventh of April. Here the fleet took water and proceeded 
 
 pition, to declare hereby, that what part or portion soever it bee of this ransome 
 or composition for Cartagena, which should come unto us, wee doe freely give 
 and bestowe the same wholy upon the poore men, who have remayned with us 
 in the Voyage, meaning as well the Sayler as the Souldier, wishing with all our 
 hearts it were such or so much as might seeme a sufficient rewarde for their paine- 
 fiill indevour. And for the firme confirmation thereof, we have thought meete 
 to subsigne these presents with our owne hands in the place and time aforesayd. 
 
 Captaine Christopher. Carleill Lieutenant Generall 
 
 Captaine Goring 
 
 Captaine Sampson 
 
 Captaine Powell &c. 
 
40 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 to the coast of Florida, where St. Augustine and various 
 smaller and less important places were captured. The 
 fleet then sailed for Plymouth and arrived there the 
 twenty/eighth of July, 1586. 
 
 There were on this voyage a total of seven hundred 
 and fifty men lost from all causes, the greater number from 
 disease. 
 
 The total value of the booty gained was about sixty 
 thousand pounds, not counting some two hundred and 
 forty pieces of ordnance, of which about two hundred 
 pieces were of brass, including sixty /three from Cartagena. 
 
 Drake had ably and bravely executed the task which 
 had been given him and returned home with increased 
 popularity and prestige. The actual injury to the King of 
 Spain by the expedition was less than the harm done to 
 individuals in the Spanish possessions, a fact which served 
 to create a hatred of the English which survived for gen/ 
 erations. 
 
 In the following year, 1587, when an invasion of Eng/ 
 land was again feared by Elizabeth, Drake was appointed 
 to command the English fleet which was immediately 
 formed to prevent the " joining together of the King of 
 " Spain's fleet out of their several ports." He attacked 
 Cadiz, where he destroyed thirty/three vessels and carried 
 away others. After several other captures he returned to 
 England, to be sent out again in July, 1588, as vice/ad/ 
 miral, under Lord Howard, of the fleet sent to intercept 
 
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SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 41 
 
 the "'Spanish Armada," the history of which adventure 
 is well known. 
 
 The next year Drake was in command of an expedition 
 to invade Spain and Portugal. After his return from this 
 service, he again served in Parliament, but the sea once 
 more claimed him in August, 1595, when he sailed for 
 the West Indies, on what was to be his last voyage, with 
 Sir John Hawkins as his vice/admiral. Hawkins died off 
 Puerto Rico in November, and on the twenty/eighth of 
 January, 1 596, Drake himself died on board of his ship 
 off Puerto Bello after a fortnight's illness in his cabin. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 SIR HENRY MORGAN 
 
 IT has been shown in the earlier chapters how both by 
 discovery and by conquest Spain in the sixteenth cen/ 
 tury claimed the exclusive right to the New World. Al/ 
 though this claim was successfully disputed by the English 
 and French in the regions north of Florida, and by the 
 Portuguese in certain other places, Spain had during the 
 century following the first voyage of Columbus established 
 her rule over the West Indies, Central America, and the 
 greater part of the great continent to the south. 
 
 Tales of these vast and rich territories had bred in the 
 venturesome hearts of many an Englishman and French/ 
 man a wish to share in the development and trade of this 
 marvellous New World. Spain had clearly proclaimed, 
 however, that all foreigners were forbidden entry to the 
 waters of the Caribbean. Envy of the Spanish bred a hatred 
 which was fanned to fever heat by the -stories^ cruelties- 
 inflicted on English sailors by their captors. The terror 
 of the Inquisition at Cartagena had served in Protestant 
 England to give a religious fervour to the hatred of Spain. 
 This hatred was shared by the French and Dutch who 
 wished for equal opportunities in the rich trade with the 
 Caribbean Sea. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 43 
 
 That the energy shown by Spain in colonizing and ex/ 
 ploring is without parallel in the records of such achieve/ 
 ments, has already been recorded. Panama was crossed and 
 the great empire of Peru was administered by a Spanish 
 viceroy. In Mexico came the downfall of the Aztec em/ 
 pire. So advanced was the colonization of these two great 
 vice/royalties that the University of San Marco was 
 founded at Lima in 1 551, and another University opened 
 its doors in Mexico in 1553. 
 
 Spain suffered, however, from the over/confidence in/ 
 duced by her own greatness. Her exclusion of foreigners 
 served to tie together her enemies in one common pur/ 
 pose. The name of Francis Drake had become the terror 
 of the Spanish in the New World. To the hardy English 
 mariners the profits of a trade in forbidden seas more than 
 sufficed to balance its perils, while at home the most re/ 
 spectable persons thought anything a godly work which 
 served to break up the Catholic monopoly of the New 
 World. Drake's success lured the adventurous to the Carib/ 
 bean. 
 
 The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1 588 was a blow 
 to the sea/power of Spain. Her naval supremacy was lost. 
 Without the command of the seas an empire widely scat/ 
 tered and separated by broad expanses of oceans could not 
 be held intact. The time had come for the great Protest/ 
 ant power, England, to take her part in the development 
 of the New World. The growth of English trade and the 
 
44 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 increase in her shipping were still further stimulated by 
 the long peace during the reign of Charles I. 
 
 The Continental wars had been profitable to England; 
 her ships were thrusting themselves into every trade, and 
 her manufactures prospering. The failure of the Virginian 
 settlement of Raleigh had been followed by the more 
 successful undertaking of John Smith. The Pilgrim Fathers 
 had settled on the New England coast. The civil war and 
 the government of Cromwell delayed somewhat the spread 
 of English influence and control in the West Indies and 
 the Spanish Main. Cromwell, the Puritan, however, could 
 not but share the old English hatred of the great Papist 
 state, and over his own hand wrote to his admirals in the 
 West Indies, " the Lord Himself hath a controversy with 
 "your enemies; even with that Romish Babylon of which 
 "the Spaniard is the great under /propper. In that respect 
 "we fight the Lord's battles." 
 
 Early in 1655, although no war had actually been de/ 
 clared between England and Spain, one English fleet 
 unde r Blake fa iled in an attempt to intercept a Spanish 
 treasure fleet from the West Indies, but another expedi/ 
 tion. although failing to capture San Domingo,_seized and 
 held the island of Jamaica. The se acts naturally resulted 
 in actual war witn-Spainfahd later in the same year Crom' 
 well signed a treaty of alliance with France. 
 
 This capture of Jamaica by the English was the first 
 permanent occupation by a power other than Spain in that 
 part of the New World. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 45 
 
 A cessation of hostilities followed the restoration of 
 the monarchy, and on the accession of Charles II, in May, 
 1660, negotiations intended to lead to a permanent peace 
 and the re/establishment of commercial relations were 
 inaugurated. This armistice or peace appears to have been 
 somewhat doubtfully interpreted in the West Indies. It 
 was generally construed not to include the New World, 
 but to apply to Europe only. None of the difficulties of 
 trade had been settled and with such conflicting interests 
 and aims any real peace in the Caribbean was impossible. 
 
 In January, 1 664, Sir T homas Mo dyford, th en Gov/ 
 ernor^ Barbadoes, was appointed Governor of X^fnaica.^ 
 By the instructions given him, dated February, 1664, he 
 was directed to encourage trade and friendly relations with 
 the Spanish Dominion and to prohibit the granting of let/ 
 ters of marque . It was not until June, however, that Mody/ 
 ford arrived in Jamaica and proclaimed a cessation of 
 hostilities. Neither this proclamation nor the polite com/ 
 munication which he sent to the neighbouring Spanish 
 Governor at Cartagena was sufficient to accomplish actual 
 good relations. A few days before his arrival, the tempo/ 
 rary President of the Jamaica Council had written, "It is 
 "not in the power of the governor to have or suffer a 
 " commerce, nor will any necessity or advantage bring 
 "private Spaniards to Jamaica, for we and they have used 
 "too many mutual barbarisms to have a sudden corre/ 
 "spondence." The fact that the chief cause of the trou/ 
 
46 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 ble, the buccaneers, were still active made the task of 
 Modyford more difficult. 
 
 This much of the general conditions precedent to the 
 participation of Sir Henry Morgan in the operations of 
 the English in the Caribbean Sea has been necessary to 
 record in order to view in proper perspective the char' 
 acter and exploits of this variously regarded but certainly 
 remarkable man. 
 
 It will be wise to consider even more intimately the 
 actual conditions in the West Indies in order to judge 
 fairly, and with proper regard to the exigencies of the 
 moment, the exact part played by Sir Henry Morgan both 
 in encouraging and afterwards in suppressing the buc/ 
 cancers. 
 
 The bearer to the West Indies of the commission and 
 instructions to Modjrford had been ColoneLEdward Mor/ 
 gan, an uncle of Sir Henry Morgan. Colonel Morggnhad 
 been named as Sir Thomas Modyford's deputy /governor, 
 and appears to have shown zeal in furthering by acts the 
 instructions of which he had been the bearer. 
 
 The island<,gfTortug^ was the principal rendezvous 
 of the buccaneers. At this time French influence was in 
 the ascendant in the mixed colony at Tortuga, and it is 
 not strange that no sympathy was felt with the avowed 
 English design of bringing to an end the highly remuner/ 
 ative "trade "of the buccaneers. The controlling spirit 
 in the colony was Bertrand d'Ogeron, the representative, 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 47 
 
 with title of governor, sent out by the French West/India 
 Company. 
 
 Not only was the conquest of Tortuga necessary if the 
 buccaneers were to be effectively suppressed, but the many 
 less organized and roving buccaneers, who refused to give 
 up their commissions or licenses must needs be searched 
 out and forced to obedience. Modyford was almost pow/ 
 erless, however, as King Charles had recalled from the 
 West Indies practically aU English men-'of/war, whUe on 
 the other hand the buccaneers had increased in numbers. 
 It was estimated that nearly two thousand men from Ja/ 
 maica alone, in some fourteen or fifteen different ships, 
 were engaged in the business. 
 
 _In_the. early spring df 1665, Modyford, having^^st 
 obtained permission from home, despatched Colonel Ed/ 
 _ward. Morgan with five hundred men and ten ships to 
 attack^rst the Dutch trading at St. Kitts or St. Eustatms,. 
 then to visit Tortuga and Hispaniola. Hostilities between 
 the Dutch and English had been expected for some time. 
 Colonel Morgan, although described by Modyford in 
 his report of the setting forth of this expedition as an 
 " honest privateer," appears to have had some difficulty 
 in controlling the rabble of which his crews were com/ 
 posed. It is to be remembered that Jamaica at this time 
 was largely colonized from the prisons of England and by 
 roughs and vagrants of all kinds, to whom the gentie/ 
 manly profession of privateering strongly appealed. 
 
48 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 At St. Eustatius Colonel Morgan landed with a some/ 
 what dinunished body of followers, and attacked the Dutch 
 garrison, who were fairly well placed in a fort of some 
 strength on an eminence. For some reason, which does 
 not appear in the record, the Dutch Governor surrendered 
 without the strong opposition which was to have been 
 expected. Colonel Morgan, however, then well along in 
 years and unfitted for this sort of service, died during this 
 action. The plunder was substantial, but in the quarrels 
 of the crews and the subsequent dispositions made we 
 are not now concerned. Colonel MOTgan,^he uncle of 
 Sir Henry, appears to have had the respect and confidence 
 of hisTCngand countrymen. 
 
 Tmhe"autumn of the same year, Modyford, anxious 
 to pursue the design interrupted by the death of Colonel 
 Morgan, called to his aid one of the most noted of the 
 privateers of the time , Captain Edward Mansfield. Blue/ 
 fields Bay on the Central American coast was named as a 
 rendezvous for the buccaneers. A state of actual war ex/ 
 isted between the Dutch and the English, and shortly af/ 
 ter this France, rallying to the support of her allies, the 
 Dutch, declared war against England. It became a mat/ 
 ter of urgent policy for Modyford to attract the bucca/ 
 neers from their French associates. The original orders 
 to Modyford were modified, and the granting of commis/ 
 sions, or letters of marque, was left to his discretion. In 
 a way noatters were not seriously affected by this change 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 49 
 
 of attitude on the part of the English Government be/ 
 cause the buccaneers had continued — although not legally 
 commissioned so to do — to prey upon the Spanish settle/ 
 ments and commerce ; but with the legalization of the 
 expedition under Mansfield, the ports of Jamaica were 
 opened for the disposal of booty and the refitting of ships. 
 
 A fe w months b efore Mansfi eld left Jamaica for the 
 appointed re ndezvous, it is reported that Henry^Morgan 
 jind two othe r privateer captains had come to Port Royal 
 with tales of great wealth in Central America. In January 
 of 1665, Henry Morgan and his two associates, Jackman 
 and Morris, had explored and plundered part of the prov/ 
 ince of Campeache, an expedition to which further ref/ 
 erence will be made, and there appears little doubt that 
 Henry Morgan ac companied Mansfield on his expedition 
 — possibly, as Exquemelin states, as his " Vice/ Admiral." ' 
 
 Mansfield's fleet had an adventurous and prosperous 
 voyage. He plundered somewhat in Cuba, captured Prov/ 
 idence Island, sacked Granada, the capital of Nicaragua, 
 and plundered Costa Rica as far inland as Turrialba. 
 Somewhat worn by long land journeys, they gave up the 
 uphill march to Cartago and passed out through Veragua, 
 where they joined their ships, which, deeply laden with 
 booty, they sailed into Port Royal, Jamaica. Mansfield 
 had exceeded his orders, but appears to have been more 
 commended than reproved. He was soon afterwards 
 engaged in the defence of Providence, which his energy 
 
so ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 had made an English island, and in some way came to his 
 death. ji 
 
 From now on^Henry Morgan became a commanding 
 figure in the West Indies. The circumstances were fitted 
 for the fullest development of a man of his daring, re/ 
 sourceful, and not too scrupulous character. 
 
 Henry Morgan was almost certainly born in Mon/ 
 
 mouthshire, about 1635 ; according to his own statement 
 
 I he was the son oFagientleman, but there is little evidence 
 
 I bearing on his birth and parentage other than his own dec/ 
 
 I larations made from time to time; there appears however 
 
 i no reason to doubt that he came from respectable Welsh 
 
 stock. Of his father little is known, but that his uncle. 
 
 Colonel Edward Morgan, was a trusted and somewhat 
 
 distinguished servant of the -Crown we have, as has been 
 
 shown, positive ^owledge. It is known that at about the 
 
 age of thirty, Henry Morgan married his first cousin, a 
 
 daughter of his uncle, Colonel Edward Morgan. Colonel 
 
 Morgan's wife was the daughter of a Saxon nobleman. 
 
 Baron von Polnitz. The great popular knowledge of 
 
 Henry Morgan and interest in him is derived from a His/ 
 
 tory of the Buccaneers written by one John Exquemelin * 
 
 and first published in Dutch at Amsterdam in the year 
 
 * Little is positively known of Exquemelin. He is variously described as a 
 Frenchman, Hollander, and Fleming. The fact that the first edition of his ac- 
 count is in Dutch throws doubt on the suggestion of French birth. He is first 
 known as a servant of the French West India Company at Tortuga ; afterwards 
 he joined the buccaneers and was one of the followers of Morgan in several ex- 
 peditions. (The Dutch spelling of his name has been adopted except in quoted 
 matter. ) 
 
[[facsimile^ 
 
 BUCANIERS 
 
 A M E°R I C A: 
 
 Or, a true 
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 Moft remarkable Aflaults 
 
 Committed of late years upon the Coafts of 
 
 By the Bucaniers of Jamaica and tortugay 
 Both ENGLISH and FRENCH. 
 
 wherein arc contained more Specially, 
 
 The unparallel'd Exploits of Sir Henry Morgan, our En- 
 gVidi Jamaican Hero, who fack'd P}tcrf(tVelo,hutnt Panama,8cc. 
 
 Written originally in TDutcb, by John EJquemeling, one of the 
 Bucaniers, who was prefent at thofe Tragedies i and thence 
 tranflated into Spani(h, by Alonfo de Bonne-maifon^ Dodor of 
 Phyfick, and Praditioner at Amilerdam. 
 
 Now faithfully rendred into E^glijh. 
 
 LONDON: 
 Printed for William Crooke, at the Green Dragon with- 
 out tempk-lar. 1684. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 51 
 
 1678. It was almost immediately translated and published 
 in German and in Spanish (1681) ; from the Spanish edu 
 tion it was translated into English and published by W. 
 Crooke, in London in 1684, with the accompanying title/ 
 page. 
 
 In the same year another translation was also issued in 
 London by Thomas Malthus, which differs in some par/ 
 ticulars from the translation issued by Crooke, and pur/ 
 ports to include the testimony of other eye/witnesses. 
 
 Exquemelin's account of Morgan described him as/, 
 more of a pirate than a commissioned privateer, and at/^ 
 tributed to him cruel and unnece ssary acts, w hich greatl) 
 incensed Morgan and his friends. Malthus was brougl: 
 immediately into court under charge of libel, and a recor 
 of the case is one of the interesting sources of inform^/ 
 tion regarding Morgan, who won the suit. Influenced 
 probably by the difficulties of Malthus, William Crooke 
 published a second edition with an explanatory although 
 apparently not sufficiently apologetic preface, as it was 
 later followed by a vastly entertaining and almost mawkish 
 public apology to which reference will again be made. 
 These records, taken with the Minutes of the Council 
 Books of Jamaica, and the long files of correspondence 
 between Morgan and the Lords of Trade and Plantations 
 and other London officials, make on the whole a fairly con/ 
 vincing record of the character and exploits of Sir Henry 
 Morgan. 
 
52 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 According to Exquemelin, a statement for which the 
 publisher Malthus suffered and Crooke apologized, Mor/ 
 
 Iganwas kidnapped when a boy and sold as an indentured 
 servant in Barbadoes. Morgan, who appears to have been 
 particularly sensitive as to this story, always stoutly denied 
 > it. In any event, either involuntarily or by deliberate intent 
 he went as a youth to Barbadoes and in due course, as a 
 young man to Jamaica, where he joined the buccaneers. 
 His capacity and talent for command soon made him cap/ 
 tain of a ship. 
 
 Words which not so long ago were understood by 
 every one are to/day used so carelessly that it may be well 
 to remind the reader that a buccaneer or privateer is not 
 necessarily a pirate. The privateers were always, or sup/ 
 posedly always, commissioned by some appropriate gov/ 
 ernmental authority. A pirate has, of course, no license 
 or authority save from his own strength, courage, and 
 wit. 
 
 There is some doubt as to whether the commission 
 under which they sailed was still valid or had expired, but 
 early in 1665, Morgan and two other privateer captains, 
 I Jackman and Morris, had, as has been before recorded, 
 ! carried out a profitable venture in Central America. With 
 over one hundred followers they had left their ships 
 at the mouth of the Tabasco River in Campeache, and 
 guided by friendly Indians they reached and sacked the 
 town called Villa de Mosa, a trading centre some thirty/ 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 53 
 
 five miles above the mouth. On their return they found 
 their ships had been seized by Spaniards whose numbers 
 exceeded theirs some threefold. The hardy buccaneers, 
 however, were more than a match for the less robust land 
 soldiers and soon drove off the Spaniards. They then fitted 
 boats appropriate for the service, and sailed off, and cap/ 
 tured and plundered both Rio Carta and TruxiUo. From 
 there they passed down the Mosquito Coast, plundering 
 everything worth whUe, and finally made Monkey Bay 
 their base for operations in Nicaragua. They appear to 
 have been much impressed with the climate and beauty 
 of Lake Nicaragua, the one/hundred/mile journey to 
 which they had made in canoes up the San Juan River. 
 By an adroitly conceived and brilliantly executed night 
 attack on the city of Cranada, they seized the magazines 
 and principal big guns within the actual city and locked 
 up in the cathedrals several hundred of the more prosper/ 
 ous citizens. For over half a day they plundered the town, 
 and then, after rendering useless all boats except those 
 needed for their own return to the coast, they opened the 
 doors of the cathedrals and released their prisoners.* 
 
 The lure of climate, scenery, and an easily looted city 
 appears to have been irresistible, because it will be re/ 
 membered that it was only a year afterwards that Mans/ 
 
 * Except for some variations in geographical names used, a not uncommon 
 fault with the contemporaneous accounts of these days, the principal facts of this 
 visit are confirmed by the report of the Viceroy of New Spain. 
 
54 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 field, with Henry Morgan as one of his captains — and 
 presumably his vice/admiral — again attacked and looted 
 the city of Granada. 
 
 If there was really any doubt as to the validity of the 
 commission under which Morgan and his associates had 
 sailed, their acts certainly appear to have been fuUy ap/ 
 proved or at least condoned. In the absence of and after 
 the death of Mansfield, Sir Thomas Modyford, being 
 without support of any proper naval establishment, called 
 upon Morgan toassist in protecting diejdand^f J[amaica 
 from an expected invasion by the Spaniards, and commis/ 
 sioned him to get the English privateers together with a 
 view to take some Spanish prisoners and learn from them 
 the actual intentions and strength of the enemy. It must 
 be said of young Captain Morgan, then but thirty /three 
 years old, that his courage in construing orders ancTcom/" 
 missions was not even exceeded by his dauntless energy 
 and bravery when engaged with the enemy. He looked 
 at the intent rather than at the letter of his instructions, a 
 course which experience has shown is forgiven and jus/ 
 tified by success — and by that only. 
 
 Exquemelin's story of Morgan's next expedition is dis/ 
 puted by Morgan himself in so few of its essentials, and 
 is so ftiU of the flavour of the irresponsible and stirring 
 times in which the events happened, that generous quo/ 
 tations of a portion of his narrative may well be made. It 
 is to be borne in mind, however, that the allegations of 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 55 
 
 extreme cruelty were hotly denied by Morgan and his 
 friends, a fact which will be considered later. 
 
 " Captain Morgan who always communicated Vigour 
 "with his words, infused such Spirits into his men, as 
 " were able to put every one of them instantly upon new 
 "designs : They being aU perswaded by his Reasons, that 
 " the sole execution of his Orders, would be a certain means 
 "of obtaining great Riches. This perswasion had such 
 "influence upon their minds that with unimitable Cour/ 
 "age they all resolved to follow him. The same likewise 
 " did a certain Pirat of Campeche ; who in this ocasion 
 " joyned with Captain Morgan, to seek new fortunes un/ 
 "der his conduct, and greater advantages than he had 
 " found before. Thus Captain Morgan, in few days, gath/ 
 " ered a Fleet of nine sail, between Ships and great Boats ; 
 " wherein he had four hundred and threescore military 
 "men. ' 
 
 " After that all things were in a good posture of readi/ 
 " ness, they put forth to Sea, Captain Morgan imparting 
 "the design he had in his mind unto no body for that 
 " present. He onely told them on several occasions, that, 
 " he held as indubitable, he should make a good fortune 
 " by that Voyage, if strange occurrences altered not the 
 " course of his designs. They directed their course to/ 
 "wards the Continent; where they arrived in few days 
 " upon the Coast of Costa Rica, with all their Fleet entire. 
 " No sooner had they discovered Land, but Captain Mor/ 
 
56 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "gan declared his intentions to the Captains, and pres' 
 "ently after unto all the rest of the Company. He told 
 " them, he intended in that Expedition to plunder Puerto 
 " Velo, and that he would perform it by night, being re/ 
 "solved to put the whole City to the sack, not the least 
 " corner escaping his diligence. Moreover, to encourage 
 •' them, he added, This Enterprize could not fail to sue/ 
 " ceed well, seeing he had kept it secreet in his mind, 
 "without revealing it to any body ; whereby they could 
 "not have notice of his coming. Unto this proposition 
 "some made answer. They had not a sufficient number 
 "of men wherewith to assault so strong and great a City. 
 " But Captain Morgan replied, If our number is small, our 
 "hearts are great. And the fewer persons we are, the 
 "more union and better shares we shall have in the spoil. 
 " Hereupon, being stimulated with the ambition of those 
 " vast Riches they promised themselves from their good 
 " success, they unanimously concluded to venture upon 
 "that design. But now, to the intent my Reader may bet/ 
 "ter comprehend the incomparable boldness of this Ex/ 
 "ploit, it may be necessary to say something before/hand 
 " of the City of Puerto Velo. 
 
 "The City, which beareth this name in America, is 
 " seated in the Province of Costa Rica, under the altitude 
 "of ten degrees Northern latitude, at the distance of four/ 
 " teen leagues from the Gulf of Darien, and eight West/ 
 "wards from the Port called Nombre de Dios. It is judged 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 57 
 
 "to be the strongest place that the King of Spain pes/ 
 " sesseth in all the West/Indies, excepting two, that is to 
 ' • say, Havana and Cartagena. Here are two Castles, almost 
 " inexpugnable, that defend the City, being situated at the 
 "entry of the Port ; so that no Ship nor Boat can pass with/ 
 "out permission. The Garrison consisteth of three hun/ 
 "dred Souldiers, and the Town constantly inhabited by 
 "four hundred Families, more or less. The Merchants 
 " dwell not here, but onely reside for a while, when the 
 " Galeons come or go from Spain ; by reason of the un/ 
 "healthiness of the Air, occasioned by certain Vapours 
 " that exhale from the Mountains. Notwithstanding, their 
 " chief Ware/houses are at Puerto Velo, howbeit their 
 "Habitations be all the year long at Panama. From 
 "whence they, bring the Plate upon Mules, at such 
 " times as the Fair beginneth ; and when the Ships, be/ 
 "longing to the Company of Negro's, arrive here to sell 
 " Slaves. 
 
 " Captain Morgan, who knew very well all the Ave/ 
 " nues of this City, as also all the Neighbouring Coasts, 
 "arrived in the dusk of the Evening at the place called 
 " Puerto de Naos, distant ten Leagues towards the West 
 "of Puerto Velo. Being come unto this place, they 
 "mounted the River in their Ships, as far as another Har/ 
 " hour called Puerto Pontin ; where they came to an An/ 
 " chor. Here they put themselves immediately into Boats 
 "and Canows, leaving in the Ships onely a few men to 
 
58 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "keep them, and conduct them the next day unto the 
 "Port. About midnight they came to a certain place 
 "called Estera longa Lemos, where they all went on 
 • ' shore, and marched by land to the first Posts of the City. 
 " They had in their company a certain English/man, who 
 "had been formerly a Prisoner in those parts, and who 
 "now served them for a Guide. Unto him and three or 
 "four more, they gave Commission to take the Centry, 
 "if possible, or kill him upon the place. But they laid 
 " hands on him and apprehended him with such cunning, 
 "as he had no time to give warning with his Musket, or 
 "make any other noise. Thus they brought him, with 
 " his hands bound, unto Captain Morgan, who asked him, 
 "How things went in the City, and what Forces they 
 " had : with many other circumstances, which he was de/ 
 "sirous to know. After every question, they made him a 
 "thousand menaces to kill him, in case he declared not 
 " the truth. Thus they began to advance towards the City, 
 "carrying always the said Centry bound before them. 
 "Having marched about one quarter of a league, they 
 " came unto the Castle that is nigh unto the City ; which 
 "presently they closely surrounded, so that no person 
 "could get either in or out of the said Fortress. 
 
 " Being thus posted under the walls of the Castle, Cap/ 
 " tain Morgan commanded the Centry, whom they had 
 "taken Prisoner, to speak unto those that were within, 
 " charging them to surrender, and deliver themselves up 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 59 
 
 " to his discretion ; otherwise they should be all cut in 
 "pieces, without giving quarter to any one. But they 
 " would hearken to none of these threats, beginning in/ 
 " stantly to fire ; which gave notice unto the City, and this 
 "was suddenly alarm'd. Yet notwithstanding, although 
 " the Governour and Souldiers of the said Castle made as 
 "great resistance as could be performed, they were con/ 
 "strained to surrender unto the Pirats. These no sooner 
 "had taken the Castle, but they resolved to be as good 
 "as their words, in putting the Spaniards to the Sword, 
 "thereby to strike a terrour into the rest of the City. 
 "Hereupon, having shut up all the Souldiers and Officers, 
 "as Prisoners, into one Room, they instantly set fire unto 
 "the Powder (whereof they found great quantity) and 
 "blew up the whole Castle into the air, with all the 
 "Spaniards that were within. This being done, they pur/ 
 " sued the covirse of their Victory, falling upon the City, 
 " which as yet was not in order to receive them. Many of 
 "the Inhabitants cast their precious Jewels and Moneys 
 "into Wells and Cisterns, or hid them in other places 
 " under ground, to excuse, as much as were possible, their 
 " being totally robb'd. One party of the Pirats being as/ 
 " signed to this purpose, ran immediately to the Cloisters, 
 "and took as many Religious men and women as they 
 "could find. The Governour of the City not being able 
 " to rally the Citizens, through the huge confusion of the 
 " Town, retired unto one of the Castles remaining, and 
 
6o ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "from thence began to fire incessantly at the Pirats. But 
 "these were not in the least negligent either to assault 
 " him, or defend themselves with all the courage imagi/ 
 " nable. Thus it was observable, that amidst the horrour of 
 " the Assault, they made very few shot in vain. For aim/ 
 "ing with great dexterity at the mouths of the Guns, the 
 "Spaniards were certain to lose one or two men every 
 " time they charged each Gun anew. 
 
 " The assault of this Castle where the Governour was, 
 " continued very furious on both sides, from break of day 
 "until noon. Yea, about this time of the day, the case was 
 "very dubious which party should conquer or be con' 
 "quered. At last the Pirats perceiving they had lost many 
 " men, and as yet advanced but little towards the gaining 
 " either this or the other Castles remaining, thought to 
 "make use of Fire/balls, which they threw with their 
 "hands, designing, if possible, to burn the doors of the 
 ' ' Castle. But going about to put this in execution, the Span/ 
 " iards from the Walls let fall great quantity of stones, and 
 ' ' earthen pots full of Powder, and other combustible mat/ 
 " ter , which forced them to desist from that attempt. Cap/ 
 " tain Morgan seeing this generous defence made by the 
 " Spaniards, began to despair of the whole success of the 
 " Enterprize. Hereupon many faint and calm meditations 
 " came into his mind ; neither could he determine which 
 "way to turn himself in that straitness of affairs. Being 
 "involved in these thoughts, he was suddenly animated 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 61 
 
 "to continue the assault, by seeing the English Colours 
 "put forth at one of the lesser Castles, then entred by 
 ' ' his men. Of whom he presently after spied a Troop that 
 ' ' came to meet him, proclaiming Victory with loud shouts 
 " of joy. This instantly put him upon new resolutions of 
 "making new efforts to take the rest of the Castles that 
 "stood out against him: Especially seeing the chiefest 
 " Citizens were fled unto them, and had conveyed thither 
 " great part of their Riches, with all the plate belonging 
 " to the Churches, and other things dedicated to Divine 
 "Service. 
 
 " Unto this effect therefore he ordered ten or twelve 
 " Ladders to be made, in all possible haste, so broad, that 
 " three or four men at once might ascend by them. These 
 ' ' being finished, he commanded all the Religious men and 
 "women whom he had taken Prisoners, to fix them 
 " against the Walls of the Castle. Thus much he had be/ 
 "fore/hand threatned the Governour to perform, in case 
 "he delivered not the Castle. But his answer was. He 
 " would never surrender himself alive. Captain Morgan 
 "was much perswaded that the Governour would not 
 "employ his utmost Forces, seeing Religious women, 
 "and Ecclesiastical persons, exposed in the Front of the 
 "Souldiers to the greatest dangers. Thus the Ladders, 
 "as I have said, were put into the hands of Religious 
 "persons of both Sexes; and these were forced, at the 
 " head of the Companies, to raise and apply them to the 
 
62 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "Walls. But Captain Morgan was fully deceived in his 
 "judgment of this design. For the Governour, who acted 
 "like a brave and couragious Souldier, refused not, in 
 "performance of his duty, to use his utmost endeavours 
 "to destroy whosoever came near the Walls. The Reli^ 
 "gious men and women ceased not to cry unto him and 
 "beg of him by all the Saints of Heaven, he would de/ 
 "liver the Castle, and hereby spare both his and their own 
 "lives. But nothing could prevail with the obstinacy and 
 ' ' fierceness that had possessed the Governour's mind. Thus 
 "many of the Religious men and Nuns were killed be/ 
 "fore they could fix the Ladders. Which at last being 
 "done, though with great loss of the said Religious peo/ 
 " pie, the Pirats mounted them in great numbers, and with 
 "no less valour; having Fire-balls in their hands, and 
 " Earthen/pots fuU of Powder. All which things, being 
 " now at the top of the Walls, they kindled and cast in 
 " among the Spaniards. 
 
 " This effort of the Pirats was very great : Insomuch as 
 " the Spaniards could no longer resist nor defend the Castle, 
 " which was now entred. Hereupon they all threw down 
 " their Arms, and craved quarter for their lives. Onely the 
 " Governour of the City would admit nor crave no mercy ; 
 " but rather killed many of the Pirats with his own hands, 
 "and not a few of his own Souldiers, because they did 
 "not stand to their Arms. And although the Pirats asked 
 " him if he would have quarter, yet he constantly an' 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 63 
 
 " swer'd. By no means : I had rather die as a valiant Soul/ 
 "dier, than be hanged as a Coward. They endeavoured, 
 " as much as they could, to take him Prisoner. But he 
 "defended himself so obstinately, as that they were forced 
 "to kill him; notwithstanding aU the cries and tears of 
 " his own Wife and Daughter, who begged of him upon 
 "their knees he would demand quarter and save his life. 
 " When the Pirats had possessed themselves of the Castle, 
 "which was about night, they enclosed therein all the 
 "Prisoners they had taken, placing the women and men 
 "by themselves, with some Guards upon them. All the 
 "wounded were put into a certain apartment by it self, 
 "to the intent their own complaints might be the cure 
 " of their diseases ; for no other was afforded them. 
 
 " This being done, they fell to eating and drinking, 
 "after their usual manner; that is to say, committing in 
 " both these things all manner of debauchery and excess. 
 " These two vices were immediately followed by many 
 "insolent actions of Rape and Adultery committed upon 
 "many very honest women, as well married as Virgins: 
 "Who being threatned with the Sword, were constrained 
 " to submit their bodies to the violence of those lewd and 
 "wicked men. After such manner they delivered them' 
 " selves up unto all sort of debauchery of this kind, that 
 " if there had been found onely fifty courageous men, they 
 "might easily have retaken the City, and killed all the 
 " Pirats. The next day, having plundred all they could find. 
 
64 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "they began to examine some of the Prisoners (who had 
 " been perswaded by their Companions to say, they were 
 • ' the richest of the Town) charging them severely, to dis/ 
 "cover where they had hidden their Riches and Goods. 
 "But not being able to extort an)rthing out of them, as 
 " who were not the right persons that possessed any wealth, 
 "they at last resolved to torture them. This they per/ 
 "formed with such cruelty, that many of them died upon 
 "the Rack, or presently after. Soon after, the President 
 "of Panama had news brought him of the pillage and 
 "mine of Puerto Velo. This intelligence caused him 
 "to employ all his care and industry to raise Forces, 
 "with design to pursue and cast out the Pirats from 
 "thence. But these cared little for what extraordinary 
 "means the President used, as having their Ships nigh at 
 "hand, and being determined to set fire unto the City, 
 "and retreat. They had now been at Puerto Velo fifteen 
 " days, in which space of time they had lost many of their 
 " men, both by the unhealthiness of the Country and the 
 "extravagant Debaucheries they had committed. 
 
 "Hereupon they prepared for a departure, canying on 
 "Board their Ships all the Pillage they had gotten. But 
 "before all, they provided the Fleet with sufficient Vict/ 
 "uals for the Voyage. While these things were getting 
 " ready. Captain Morgan sent an Injunction unto the Pris/ 
 "oners, that they should pay him a Ransom for the City, 
 " or else he would by fire consume it to ashes, and blow 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 65 
 
 "up all the Castles into the air. Withal, he commanded 
 " them to send speedily two persons to seek and procure 
 " the sum he demanded, which amounted unto one hun/ 
 "dred thousand pieces of Eight. Unto this effect, two 
 "men were sent to the President of Panama, who gave 
 " him an account of all these Tragedies. The President 
 " having now a body of men in a readiness, set forth im/ 
 "mediately towards Puerto Velo, to encounter the Pirats 
 "before their retreat. But these People hearing of his 
 " coming, instead of flying away went out to meet him 
 "at a narrow passage, through which of necessity he 
 "ought to pass. Here they placed an hundred men very 
 "well arm'd ; the which, at the first Encounter, put to 
 "flight a good party of those of Panama. This Accident 
 "obliged the President to retire for that time, as not be/ 
 " ing yet in a posture of strength to proceed any farther. 
 " Presently after this Rencounter, he sent a Message unto 
 " Captain Morgan, to tell him, That in case he departed 
 "not suddenly with all his Forces from Puerto Velo, he 
 " ought to expect no quarter for himself nor his Company 
 "ions, when he should take them, as he hoped soon to 
 "do. Captain Morgan, who feared not his Threats, as 
 "knowing he had a secure retreat in his Ships which 
 "were nigh at hand, made him answer, He would not 
 "deliver the Castles before he had received the Contri' 
 " bution/money he had demanded. Which in case it were 
 " not paid down, he would certainly burn the whole City, 
 
66 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "and then leave it; demolishing beforehand the Castles, 
 "and killing the Prisoners." 
 
 According to Exquemelin's account, the Governor 
 of Panama decided that further efforts on behalf of the 
 people of Puerto Bello would be unavailing and he left the 
 citizens to their own resources. Whether this is true, or 
 whether, as Morgan states, the ransom was paid by the 
 "President of Panama " or by the citizens themselves, it 
 appears certain that the large sum of one hxindred thou/ 
 sand pieces of eight was delivered to Morgan. The Gov/ 
 ernor of Panama appears to have had some sportsmanlike 
 qualities, however, and Morgan a grim sense of humour, 
 because the former, impressed by the effectiveness of the 
 arms used by Morgan's men, sent a messenger to him to 
 ask for a "pattern of those arms wherewith he had taken 
 " with such violence so great a city." Captain Morgan 
 received the messenger with great civility and sent by him 
 to the Governor a pistol with a few bullets and a message 
 to the effect that "He desired him to accept that slender 
 " pattern of the arms wherewith he had taken Porto Bello, 
 " and keep them for a twelvemonth, after which time, 
 " he promised to come to Panama and fetch them away." 
 The pistol was returned with a courteous suggestion that 
 Captain Morgan, if he did come, would not fare so well 
 as he had at Puerto Bello. 
 
 After loading on his ships the best of the guns from 
 the fortifications and spiking the rest, Morgan proceeded 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 67 
 
 with his ships to a quiet harbour on the coast of Cuba 
 and made distribution of the booty gathered on this ex/ 
 pedition. If the value at that time of a dollar of to-day is 
 taken into consideration, the amount divided was an erior/ 
 mous sum, amounting to some two hundred and fifty 
 thousand pieces of eight, equivalent in purchasing value 
 to'day to approximately one million American dollars. 
 The value of the cloths, silks, and other merchandise 
 taken was also considerable in nearly all of the successftil 
 ventures. 
 
 From Cuba the vessels went to their customary rendez/ 
 vous in Jamaica, where Governor Modjrford was put to 
 some inconvenience to determine how to receive Captain 
 Morgan, whose commission had authorized attacks on 
 ships only. It would appear, however, from his report sent 
 to the Duke of Albemarle, that either the real safety of 
 the colony or the ingenuity of the resourceful Morgan 
 satisfied him that, as Morgan's report showed that both 
 in Cuba and at Puerto Bello preparations had been under 
 way for an expedition against Jamaica, the actions of Cap/ 
 tain Morgan were justifiable. 
 
 Whether less drastic operations by the privateers would 
 have averted or postponed open war with Spain is uncer/ 
 tain, but in view of the attacks which had successfully 
 been made, reprisals were to be expected, and Governor 
 Modyford enlisted the active co/operation of Morgan in 
 following up the advantages already gained. An expedi/ 
 
68 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 tion was planned to the coast of Venezuela with Mara/ 
 caibo as the chief objective. In the autumn of 1668, 
 Morgan arranged to gather together a fleet of privateers 
 at the Isle le Vache, Hispaniola, and took there with him 
 ten vessels and some eight hundred men from Jarriaica. 
 He was joined by many other privateers, both English 
 and French, and by His Majesty's frigate "Oxford" 
 (thirty/four guns) which had been sent at the urgent re/ 
 quest of Modyford, to the end that the expedition should 
 not only have its legitimacy made more certain, but that 
 some effective restraint should be exercised over the some/ 
 what unruly privateers. 
 
 On the second of January, 1669, a council of war was 
 held and plans arranged both as to intercepting an ex/ 
 pected Spanish fleet and for a proposed attack upon Car/ 
 tagena. At a dinner of the commanders on board the 
 " Oxford," following the council, an explosion occurred, 
 wrecking the ship. A number of the officers and two 
 hundred or more men were lost, included among whom 
 were some of the crew of a French vessel, held as prison/ 
 ers under the charge that they had wantonly attacked and 
 looted an English merchantman. 
 
 The French captain, who was not among those lost, 
 was subsequently convicted of piracy at Jamaica and his 
 ship, the " Cour Volant " (afterwards renamed the " Satis/ 
 "faction"), confiscated. It is evident that Modyford had 
 some doubt as to the weight of the evidence communi/ 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 69 
 
 cated by Morgan, as he granted the French commander 
 a reprieve, but he did not return his ship which subse/ 
 quently became Morgan's flag/ship. The loss incurred by 
 the explosion and certain defections caused Morgan to 
 give up for the moment the more ambitious plan to attack 
 Cartagena and he reverted to his original objective of 
 Maracaibo. In March, with eight vessels and about five 
 hundred men, he bombarded and overcame the forts at 
 the entrance to Lake Maracaibo and entered the town 
 itself without serious opposition. The power to resist on 
 the part of the garrison and inhabitants was greatly les/ 
 sened because less than two years before the place had 
 been sacked by the notorious French buccaneers L'Olon/ 
 nais and le Basque, The description by Exquemelin of 
 the plundering of this place and the treatment of the peo/ 
 pie is not a cheerful tale. 
 
 Whatever may have been the provocation, the excesses 
 seem to have been extreme. Much booty was collected 
 and terms of ransom arranged. With certain of the citi/ 
 zens as hostages, Morgan betook himself, men, and ships 
 to an anchorage off the town of Maracaibo and awaited 
 the ransom money. Meantime three large Spanish men/ 
 of" war had arrived off the entrance to the Lake, and by 
 some means the forts at the entrance had been newly 
 manned while Morgan had been pillaging the settlements 
 at the farther end of the Lake. Morgan displayed that 
 courage and quick resourcefulness which always distin/ 
 
70 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 guished him. Gaming a short respite by entering into 
 correspondence with the Spanish Admiral, he prepared 
 a fire/ship in the guise of a man-'of'war. Then without 
 delay he seized the advantage which always in naval war/ 
 fare obtains to the attacker and bore down on the Spanish 
 ships. The fire/ship grappled with the flag^ship the 
 " Almirante " (of forty guns), the second of the Spanish 
 ships was forced to run aground where she was fired by 
 her own crew, while the third was captured by Morgan. 
 From the burning " Almirante" he secured some twenty 
 thousand pieces of eight, partially molten by the great 
 heat. With the ransom, amounting to another twenty 
 thousand, and about five hundred head of cattle safely 
 aboard, he cleverly slipped by the forts at the entrance and 
 by the end of May, with his fleet, was safely anchored 
 at Port Royal, Jamaica. 
 
 It is not strange that the Spanish Court did not view 
 these events in a friendly spirit, and the Ambassador of 
 Spain in England did not profess satisfaction with the 
 English explanation that the West Indies were excluded 
 from the mutual treaty obligations. For a brief interval 
 operations against the Spanish in the West Indies were 
 suspended, but in the spring of 1669, Spain began active 
 reprisals. For a period the tables were turned. A fleet of 
 six war vessels, several of good size and well armed, came 
 out from Spain with orders which were intended to make 
 effective replies to unsatisfactory explanations given at 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 71 
 
 London. English merchant ships were plundered. Pri/ 
 vateers were commissioned by the Governors of Puerto 
 Bello and other Spanish strongholds. Jamaica was filled 
 with stories of destruction and cruelties. Modyford ap^ 
 pears to have been under orders from home to commit no 
 acts of open war and earnestly besought the home Gov/ 
 ernment to give him power to act at his discretion. 
 
 The necessity for action was hastened by the landing 
 on the north side of Jamaica, in June, 1670, of a Spanish 
 expedition fi-om Cuba brought thence in two men/of /war 
 from St. Jago de Cuba. The size of the landing/party was 
 too small to do more than a moderate amount of damage 
 and then quickly to leave the island. The torch was lit/ 
 erally lighted. Modyford sent for Morgan and gave him 
 a commission as Commander /in/Chief of all ships of war 
 attached to Jamaica and permission to collect all available 
 privateers. His instructions and authority were not limited 
 to the defence of the island, but permitted him to seize 
 and destroy enemy ships and to attack any ports where 
 there existed materials or vessels useful to the enemy for 
 the war. The instructions include permission to Morgan 
 to advise his men, in respect to prospective booty, "that 
 "they shall have all the goods, merchandises, etc. which 
 " may be got in this expedition to be divided amongst them 
 "according to their usual rules."* As it was the expedi/ 
 
 * In this division the rules required the setting apart of one fifteenth for the 
 King and one tenth for the Admiral, at this time the Duke of Yorlc. According 
 to Exquemelin, Morgan received one hundredth part, every Captain the share 
 
72 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 tion which Morgan now undertook, more even than those 
 previously commanded by him, which earned for Mor/ 
 gan a reputation for piracy, it is well to note these instruct 
 tions which were to guide him as well as the conditions 
 which led to the orders being given. That the Governor 
 and Council of Jamaica had in mind the necessity for a 
 clear record to justify their action, particularly in view 
 of the moderation urged by the home Government, is 
 shown by the extensive records in the Council Minutes. 
 The resolution of the Council recites that ". . .the 
 " Queen Regent of Spain did, by her Scedula dated at 
 " Madrid the 20th of April, 1669, command her respec/ 
 "tive governors in the Indies to make open war against 
 "the subjects of our Sovereign Lord the King in those 
 " parts, and also that the Governor of St. Jago de Cuba 
 " hath executed the same by granting commissions of war 
 "against us, and lately in a most hostile manner landed 
 "his men in three places of the north side of this island, 
 " marching as far as he durst into the country, burning all 
 " the houses they came at, killing and taking prisoners all 
 "the inhabitants they could meet with ; . . . That divers 
 " of the rest of the Spanish governors have granted com/ 
 "missions and are levying forces against us, and have (as 
 " we are credibly informed) made St. Jago of Cuba their 
 " present magazine and their rendezvous, where there re/ 
 
 of eight men, and extra allotments were made to various persons and as com- 
 pensation for various services and casualties. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 73 
 
 " spective forces are to embody and unite for the speedy 
 "invasion of this island. . . ." 
 
 The resolution of the Council conveys to the Governor 
 the exceptional authority needed to deal with the situa/ 
 tion and then urges him to grant a commission "to Ad^ 
 " miral Henry Morgan to be Admiral and Commander 'in/ 
 " Chief of aU the ships of war belonging to this harbour, 
 "... and requiring him with aU possible speed to draw 
 " them into one fleet, and with them to put to sea for the 
 "security of the coasts . . . and to attack and seize, and 
 "destroy all the enemy's vessels that come within his 
 " reach ; and also for destroying the stores and magazines 
 "laid up for this war . . . and that he have power to land 
 "in the enemy's country as many of his men as he shall 
 "judge needful, and with them to march out to such 
 "places as he shall be informed the said magazines and 
 " forces are ; . . . and finally to do all manner of exploits 
 "which may tend to the preservation and quiet of this 
 "island, being his Majesty's chief interest in the In/ 
 "dies. . . ." 
 
 As we know that Morgan had a sense of humour, it 
 seems certain that he must have chuckled over the au/ 
 thority " to do all manner of exploits." Certainly no cour/ 
 ageous seaman, untrammelled by an over/delicate sense 
 of merciful justice, could have asked for more sweeping 
 authority. Whatever may have been his behaviour and 
 that of those under him on this expedition, it cannot be 
 
74 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 maintained that the saving cloak of legality did not en/ 
 velop him, notwithstanding the somewhat half/hearted 
 moderation given to these instructions later. 
 
 On the seventeenth of August, 1670, Morgan sailed 
 from Jamaica with eleven vessels and six hundred men 
 for his usual rendezvous at Hispaniola, where in due 
 course his fleet was augmented until he had under him 
 some thirty/six ships, all but eight of which were built in 
 England. 
 
 While engaged in getting together, provisioning and 
 equipping his fleet, Morgan despatched various vessels 
 to collect information and supplies from the Cuban and 
 South/ American coasts. Meanwhile negotiations were 
 under way at Madrid and a peace treaty seemed so immi/ 
 nent that Modyford received instructions from England 
 to direct the privateers to forbear aU hostilities on land 
 against the Spaniards. These instructions had been com/ 
 municated to Morgan on the eve of his departure from 
 Jamaica, and it appears to have been understood between 
 them that, while necessity would compel Morgan to send 
 men ashore for water and provisions, no attacks would be 
 made unless he found preparations under way hostile to 
 the safety of Jamaica. 
 
 It is evident that little confidence was felt in Jamaica 
 in the efficacy of any " scraps of paper " signed at Ma/ 
 drid to protect the island, as Governor Modyford contin/ 
 ued to exert himself to help strengthen Morgan's fleet at 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 75 
 
 Hispaniola, sending him from time to time additional 
 vessels and men. By the first of December, Morgan found 
 his fleet of thirty ^six ships manned by some eighteen hun/ 
 dred men in readiness for sailing. At a Council of War it 
 was determined to give up or postpone a contemplated 
 attack on St. Jago de Cuba and that the safety of Jamaica 
 would be best served by taking Panama, the Governor of 
 which had been particularly active in granting commis/ 
 sions to privateers against the English. 
 
 It may be suspected that Morgan's boast to the Gov/ 
 ernor of Panama that he would return within the twelve/ 
 month may have had some influence on the plans. By the 
 middle of December, Providence Island was taken, guides 
 to the Panama shore paths obtained, and about the twen/ 
 tieth, three ships with some four hundred and fifty men 
 were sent forward to capture and silence the forts at the 
 entrance to the Chagres River. Word had reached Panama 
 from Cartagena of the impending attack and the garri/ 
 sons at the entrance forts had been greatly re/enforced, as 
 had those at Puerto Bello. Exquemelin, who, although 
 possibly unreliable as to details affecting Morgan, was 
 certainly an eye/witness, gives a detailed account of the 
 actions which took place. 
 
 The detachment of Morgan's men landed about three 
 miles from the fort or castle of San Lorenzo early in the 
 morning. They were troubled by the open space near the 
 castle which exposed them to fire when in a position 
 
76 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 which did not enable them to effectively return it. It was 
 necessary, therefore, to risk an inxmediate assault. At first 
 this was not successflil; but through a fortunate accident, 
 according to ExquemeUn, the thatched roofs of the 
 houses within the castle walls were set on fire by flaming 
 arrows, and in the consequent confusion they captured 
 the outside palisades and ultimately, the next day, the cas/ 
 tie itself. The Governor, who had commanded the de/ 
 fence in person, was killed. Both the attack and defence 
 had been conducted with great bravery and the losses 
 were severe. Of over three hundred men within the cas' 
 tie not over thirty were left alive, although a few others 
 were said to have escaped and fled to Panama with the 
 news of the disaster. 
 
 Upon Morgan's arrival with the rest of his fleet a few 
 days after the capture of the castle, he had the misfortune 
 to wreck his flag/ship and several smaller vessels on the 
 bar at the entrance to the Chagres River. 
 
 He did not make the mistake made at Maracaibo and 
 leave the fort at the entrance unguarded ; but he repaired 
 the castle walls, and left three hundred men to defend it 
 and protect the anchored fleet. With about fourteen hun/ 
 dred in a few of the smaller vessels and a fleet of canoes 
 he started forward on the ninth of January, 1 6 7 1 , to attack 
 Panama. After travelling one day and a portion of another 
 by the river, they were forced by low water to leave their 
 boats. About one hundred and seventyfive men were left 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 77 
 
 to guard the boats, and on the third day they began a diffi/ 
 cult march overland with assistance rendered by some of 
 the smaller canoes. On the fourth day they found an 
 abandoned ambuscade of the Spaniards, who either through 
 knowledge that they were outnumbered or in a panic had 
 retreated without offering resistance. Morgan had de/ 
 pended upon the country for sustenance and found that 
 the Spaniards had been careful to leave no provisions be/ 
 hind them ; he was consequently hard put to find food for 
 his men. On the fifth day they encountered another 
 freshly abandoned ambuscade, but no provisions. The 
 men, worn out with the hard marches through tropical 
 forests, were indeed reduced to extremity ; but for the for/ 
 tunate discovery of a small quantity of meal and grain in 
 sacks hidden in a cave or grotto, together with a quan/ 
 tity of wine and plantains, the expedition might have been 
 wiped out by hunger and the illnesses certain to follow 
 exposure to the tropical climate while in a weakened con/ 
 dition. Somewhat strengthened by the food, they contin/ 
 ued their march on the sixth day and happily found a barn 
 full of maize. The report of Morgan and the account by 
 ExquemeHn diflfer as to the exact day on which the 
 events of this weary march took place, but agree as to the 
 chief incidents. 
 
 The suffering was great ; but in spite of murmurings 
 Morgan seems to have kept his men well in hand. On the 
 seventh day, with their supply of maize exhausted and 
 
78 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 their stomachs empty, they were cheered by the sight of 
 a village with many wreaths of curling smoke indicating 
 the preparation of food. With a rush the place was in/ 
 vaded. It was empty of both people and provisions and 
 the smoke was caused by the thatched houses themselves 
 which had been set alight by the fleeing Spaniards and 
 Indians. At this village, about eight Spanish leagues from 
 Panama, the small canoes, which up to this point had been 
 of help particularly to those weakened by hunger or ill/ 
 ness, had to be abandoned, with a small company who 
 were directed to take them back to the place where the 
 boats had been left under guard. On the eighth day Mor/ 
 gan sent a reconnoitring body of two hundred men to 
 search out the best path to Panama. This body, while 
 passing through a place called Quebrada Obscura, were 
 suddenly the target for thousands of arrows, shot appar/ 
 ently from invisible crevices in a neighbouring moun/ 
 tain/side. Notwithstanding their attempted defence and 
 the quick flight of the Indians who had made up the at/ 
 tacking force, the Captain of the party and a substantial 
 number of his men were killed. 
 
 That night a heavy rain came, and Morgan found it 
 necessary to push forward not only because of the need 
 for food, but to get shelter where his ammunition could be 
 kept dry. On the ninth day things looked brighter. The 
 ocean was in sight and they could distinguish vessels and 
 islands off the shore. They came into a valley well stocked 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 79 
 
 with cattle, and building fires they rested and feasted upon 
 the flesh which in their hunger and haste was scarcely- 
 cooked. With a smaller body in front to do scout duty, 
 Morgan pressed on. Before night the steeple of a church 
 in Panama could be seen. A reconnoitring party of horse/ 
 men from the city viewed their camp that night and an 
 unsuccessful attempt was made to reach the camp by shots 
 from the largest guns within the city. Early on the tenth 
 day, Morgan began his march for the city, not by the 
 direct road, but through an irksome and roundabout 
 way, through which he was led by one of his competent 
 guides. An approach from the direction taken was not 
 expected by the Spanish, their batteries were not in po' 
 sition for effective use, and they were forced to come 
 out and meet Morgan with a force consisting of two squad/ 
 rons, four regiments of foot, and a large number of wild 
 buUs driven by Indians and negroes. It was indeed a for/ 
 midable force for Morgan's worn/out men to encounter, 
 and Exquemelin confesses that but for the fact that no 
 quarter could be expected and no way of escape was open, 
 many of the men that day would have lacked the cour/ 
 age to fight at aU. As it was they had to fight resolutely 
 or die. 
 
 After two hours of severe fighting, with great bravery 
 shown on each side, the victory was with Morgan, and the 
 remnants of the Spanish body fled back into the city. 
 Morgan's men were too harassed and wearied with their 
 
8o ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 fighting and days of marching to immediately follow up 
 the advantage gained. 
 
 From prisoners taken Morgan learned the strength of 
 the Spanish forces, which were reported to amount in all 
 to four hundred horse, twenty/four companies of foot- 
 and two thousand wild bulls (upon which great depend/ 
 ence was placed to make havoc when caused to run 
 through the English camp). 
 
 The various reports of the actual number of Spaniards 
 engaged in the defence of the city are conflicting. Mor/ 
 gan in his report states the numbers to have been twenty/ 
 one hundred foot and six hundred horse. The report sent 
 to Spain by the President of Panama gives the numbers 
 as fourteen hundred negroes, Indians and slaves, all, ac/ 
 cording to his report, badly armed ; his report also states 
 that his artillery consisted of wooden guns covered with 
 hides. 
 
 Morgan and Exquemelin both state that there were 
 several raised batteries with many guns, and that at the 
 point where the highway entered the city the Spaniards 
 had erected a fort and mounted eight brass guns of large 
 size. Morgan even specifies the exact number of brass 
 guns used in the various defences to have been thirty/two. 
 There are four detailed accounts of the taking of the city : 
 Morgan's report, the account of Exquemelin, the ac/ 
 count of one William Frogge (one of Morgan's men), 
 and the report of the President of Panama. A comparison 
 
^ I 
 
 Ph q 
 
 [X. 2 
 
 O ° 
 
 S i 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 81 
 
 and analysis of these reports leads to the conviction that 
 in the main the account of Exquemelin is true, although 
 it is not strange if both his account and the report of 
 Morgan somewhat over/stated the strength of the Span/ 
 ish forces. 
 
 The actual taking of the town is described by Ex/ 
 quemelin as follows : 
 
 " Captain Morgan having heard this Information, [i.e., 
 "the fact that a fort with brass guns protected the prin/ 
 " cipal entrance] gave Orders instantly they should march 
 ' ' another way. But before setting forth, he made a Review 
 " of allhisMen,whereof he found both killed and wounded 
 " a considerable number, and much greater than had been 
 " believed. Of the Spaniards were found 600 dead upon 
 "the place, besides the wounded, and Prisoners. The 
 " Pirats were nothing discouraged, seeing their number 
 " so much diminished, but rather filled with greater Pride 
 " than before, perceiving what huge Advantage they had 
 "obtained against their Enemies. Thus having rested 
 " themselves some while, they prepared to march cour/ 
 " agiously towards the City, plighting their Oaths to one 
 "another in general, they would fight till never a Man 
 "were left alive. With this Courage they recommenc'd 
 "their March, either to conquer, or be conquered, carry/ 
 "ing with them all the Prisoners. 
 
 " They found much difficulty in their Approach unto 
 " the City. For within the Town the Spaniards had placed 
 
82 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "many great Guns, at several Quarters thereof, some of 
 "which were charged with small pieces of Iron, andoth/ 
 " ers with Musket/Bullets : With all these they saluted the 
 "Pirats, at their drawing nigh unto the place, and gave 
 "them full and frequent Broad/sides, firing at them in/ 
 "cessantly. From whence it came to pass, that unavoid/ 
 " ably they lost at every step they advanced, great num/ 
 " bers of Men. But neither these manifest Dangers of their 
 " Lives, nor the sight of so many of their own, as dropped 
 "down continually at their Sides, could deter them from 
 "advancing farther, and gaining Ground every moment 
 "Upon the Enemy. Thus although the Spaniards never 
 " ceased to fire, and act the best they could for their De/ 
 "fence, yet notwithstanding they were forced to deliver 
 "the City after the space of three hours Combat. And 
 " the Pirats having now possessed themselves thereof, both 
 "killed and destroyed as many, as attempted to make the 
 ' ' least Opposition against them. The Inhabitants had caused 
 "the best of their Goods to be transported unto more 
 "remote and occult places. Howbeit they found within 
 "the City as yet, several Ware/houses, very well stockt 
 "with all sorts of Merchandize, as well Silks and Cloths, 
 "as Linnen, and other things of considerable value. As 
 " soon as the first Fury of their entrance into the City was 
 " over, Captain Morgan assembled all his Men at a certain 
 " place which he assigned, and there commanded them 
 " under very great penalties, that none of them should 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 83 
 
 " dare to drink or taste any Wine. The Reason he gave for 
 "this Injunction, was, because he had received private 
 "Intelligence, that it had been all poysoned by the Span/ 
 "iards. Howbeit it was the Opinion of many, he gave 
 "these prudent Orders, to prevent the Debauchery of his 
 " People, which he foresaw would be very great at the 
 " beginning, after so much Hunger sustained by the way. 
 " Fearing withal, least the Spaniards seeing them in Wine, 
 " should rally their Forces, and fall upon the City, and use 
 " them as inhumanely as they had used the Inhabitants 
 "before. 
 
 "Captain Morgan, as soon as he had placed Guards 
 " at several Quarters, where he thought necessary, both 
 " within and without the City of Panama, immediately 
 " commanded 25 Men to seize a great Boat, which had 
 " stuck in the Mud of the Port, for want of Water at a low 
 " Tide, so that she could not put out to Sea. The same 
 "day, about Noon, he caused certain Men privately to set 
 " Fire unto several great Edifices of the City, no body 
 "knowing from whence the Fire proceeded, nor who 
 " were the Authors thereof, much less what Motives per/ 
 "swaded Captain Morgan thereunto, which are as yet 
 "unknown to this day. The Fire increased so fast, that 
 "before Night the greatest part of the City was in a 
 " Flame.* Captain Morgan endeavor'd to make the Pub/ 
 
 * Exquemelin is probably in error. The Spanish records state that the Span- 
 iards set the fires apparently by direction of the President of Panama to prevent 
 Morgan seizing and carrying off the goods in warehouses, and otherwise to em- 
 barrass him. Frogge's account substantiates this. 
 
84 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "lick believe, the Spaniards had been the cause thereof, 
 "which Suspicions he surmised among his own People, 
 "perceiving they reflected upon him for that ^Action. 
 "Many of the Spaniards, as also some of the Pirats, used 
 "all the means possible, either to extinguish the Flame, 
 " or by blowing up of Houses with Gun/powder, and pull/ 
 " ing down others to stop its progress. But all was in vain ; 
 "for in less than half an hour it consumed a whole Street. 
 " All the Houses of this City were built with Cedar, be/ 
 ' ' ing of very curious and magnificent Structure, and richly 
 " adorned within. Especially with Hangings and Paint/ 
 " ings, where of part were already transported out of the 
 "Pirats way, and another great part were consumed by 
 " the Voracity of the Fire. 
 
 "There belonged unto this City (which is also the 
 " Head of a Bishoprick) eight Monasteries, whereof seven 
 "were for Men, and one for Women; two stately 
 " Churches, and one Hospital. The Churches and Monas/ 
 "teries were all richly adorned with Altar/pieces and 
 " Paintings, huge quantity of Gold and Silver, with other 
 ' ' precious things ; all which the Ecclesiasticks had hidden 
 "and concealed. Besides which Ornaments, here were 
 "to be seen 2000 Houses, of magnificent and prodigious 
 " Building, as being all, or the greatest part, inhabited by 
 " Merchants of that Countrey, who are vastly rich. For 
 "the rest of the Inhabitants, of lesser quality, and Trades/ 
 " men, this City contained 5000 Houses more. Here were 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 85 
 
 •'also great number of Stables, which served for the 
 "Horses and Mules that carry all the Plate, belonging as 
 " well unto the King of Spain, as private Men, towards 
 " the Coast of the North/Sea. The neighboring Fields be/ 
 *' longing to this City, are all cultivated with fertil Planta/ 
 " tions and pleasant Gardens, which afford delicious Pros/ 
 " pects unto the Inhabitants the whole year long. 
 
 " The Genoeses had in this City of Panama a stately 
 "and magnificent House, belonging to their Trade and 
 " Commerce of Negro's. This Building likewise was com/ 
 " manded by Captain Morgan to be set on Fire; whereby 
 "it was burnt to the very Ground. Besides which pile of 
 " Building, there were consumed to the number of 200 
 "Ware/houses, and great number of Slaves, who had hid 
 "themselves therein, together with an infinite multitude 
 "of Sacks of Meal. The Fire of all which Houses and 
 " Buildings, was seen to continue four Weeks after the 
 •'day it began. 
 
 " The Pirats i' th' mean while, at least the greatest part 
 "of them, incamped some time without the City, fearing 
 "and expecting that the Spaniards would come and fight 
 "them anew. For it was known, they had an incompar/ 
 "able number of Men more than the Pirats were. This 
 "occasion'd them to keep the Field, thereby to preserve 
 " their Forces united, which now were very much dimin/ 
 "ished, by the losses of the precedent Battels. As also be/ 
 " cause they had a great many wounded, all which they 
 
86 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 " had put into one of the Churches which alone remained 
 " standing, the rest being consumed by the Fire. More' 
 " over, beside these Decreases of their Men, Captain Mor/ 
 "gan had sent a Convoy of 150 Men unto the Castle of 
 " Chagre, to carry the News of his Victory obtained 
 " against Panama. 
 
 " They saw many times whole Troops of Spaniards 
 " cruize to and fro in the Campaign Fields, which gave 
 " them occasion to suspect their raUjring anew. Yet they 
 "never had the courage to attempt anything against the 
 "Pirats. I'th' afternoon of this fatal day, Captain Morgan 
 "re'cntred again the City with his Troops, to the in' 
 "tent every one might take up their Lodgings, which 
 "now they could hardly find, very few Houses having 
 " escaped the Desolation of the Fire. Soon after they fell 
 "to seeldng very carefully among the Ruines and Ashes, 
 "for Utensils of Plate, or Gold, which peradventure were 
 "not quite wasted by the Flames. And of such things 
 " they found no small number in several places. Especially 
 " in Wells and Cisterns, where the Spaniards had hid them 
 "from the covetous search of the Pirats. 
 
 " The next day Captain Morgan dispatcht away two 
 " Troops of Pirats, of 150 Men each, being all very stout 
 " Souldiers, and well armed, with Orders to seek for the 
 "Inhabitants of Panama, who were escaped from the 
 "hands of their Enemies. These Men, having made sev/ 
 "eral Excursions up and down the Campaign Fields, 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 87 
 
 "Woods and Mountains adjoyning to Panama, returned 
 " after two days time, bringing with them above 200 Pris/ 
 " oners, between Men, Women, and Slaves. The same day 
 " returned also the Boat above-'mentioned, which Captain 
 " Morgan had sent into the South/Sea, bringing with her 
 ' ' three other Boats, which they had taken in a little while. 
 "But all these Prizes they could willingly have given, 
 "yea although they had imployed greater labor into the 
 "bargain, for one certain Galeon which miraculously 
 " escaped their Industry, being very richly laden with aU 
 "the King's Plate, and great quantity of Riches of Gold, 
 "Pearl, Jewels, and other most precious Goods, of all the 
 " best and richest Merchants of Panama. On board of this 
 "Galeon were also the .religious Women belonging to 
 " the Nunnery of the said City, who had imbarked with 
 " them, all the Ornaments of their Church, consisting in 
 " great quantity of Gold, Plate, and other things of great 
 "value." 
 
 Morgan would have liked to send boats after this gal/ 
 leon, but his men were given up to debaucheries that 
 they " chose rather to satiate their lust and appetite . . . 
 "than to lay hold on the occasion of such an huge advan/ 
 "tage." Various boats were, however, captured, which, 
 although of less value than the galleon, were well laden 
 with merchandise, and on one of them were found twenty 
 thousand pieces of eight. Morgan was encouraged to re/ 
 main longer than he had intended at Panama by the news 
 
88 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 that the detachment which he had left at Chagres had 
 made several valuable captures in the adjacent w^aters, in/ 
 eluding one Spanish ship vv^ith a cargo of provisions. 
 
 By prolonging his stay Morgan was able to search the 
 surrounding country, finding many hiding/places and de/ 
 posits of valuables until he had gathered a great quantity 
 of plunder. The cruelties inflicted on the harassed Span/ 
 iards during the vigorous search that was made are viv/ 
 idly described by Exquemelin and denied by Morgan. 
 
 The following extract from Exquemelin's account, it 
 is to be hoped, is not accurate or at the worst is excep/ 
 tional: 
 
 " Captain Morgan used to send forth daily parties of 
 " 200 Men, to make In/roads into all the Fields and Coun/ 
 "trey thereabouts, and when one party came back, an/ 
 "other consisting of 200 more was ready to go forth. By 
 " this means they gathered in a short time huge quantity 
 ' * of Riches, and no lesser number of prisoners. These being 
 " brought into the City, were presently put unto the most 
 "exquisite Tortures imaginable, to make them confess 
 " both other peoples Goods and their own. Here it hap/ 
 " pened, that one poor and miserable Wretch, was found 
 "in the House of a Gentleman of great Quality, who had 
 "put on, amidst that confusion of things, a pair of Taf/ 
 "fety Breeches, belonging to his Master, with a little 
 "silver Key hanging at the Strings thereof. This being 
 "perceived by the Pirats, they immediately asked him. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 89 
 
 "Where was the Cabinet of the said Key? His Answer 
 " was. He knew not what was become of it, but only that 
 "finding those Breeches in his Master's House, he had 
 " made bold to wear them. Not being able to extort any 
 "other Confession out of him , they first put him upon 
 " the Rack, wher ewith they inhumanely dis/joynted his 
 "Arms. After this, they twisted a Co rd about his Fore/ ^ 
 •TieadTwhicirthey wrung so hard, th at his Eyes appeare d 
 ^^Ttsijig-as^EggsTlSdrwere ready to fall out of his Skull. 
 " But neitlier wIiEH"these"Tornienteii^^ould they obtainany 
 "positive Answer to their Demands. Wherwipon they 
 " soon after jiung him U£ ^J[J:he Testicles, giv ing him 
 "infinite Blows and Str ipes, mean wlule he was under 
 "that intolerable pain ^indjposture of Body. Afterwards 
 •^hey cut off his Nose and Ears, and singed his Face with 
 " burning Straw, till he could speak nor lament his Misery 
 " no longer. Then loosing all Hopes of hearing any Con/ 
 " fession from his Mouth, they commanded a Negro to run 
 " him through with a Lance, which put an end to his Life, 
 ' ' and a period to their cruel and inhumane Tortures. After 
 "this execrable manner, did many others of those miser/ 
 " able Prisoners finish their days, the common Sport and 
 " Recreation of these Pirats, being these, and other Trag/ 
 " edies not inferiour to these. 
 
 " They spared, in these their Cruelties, no Sex, nor 
 " Condition whatsoever. For as to religious Persons and 
 " Priests, they granted them less Quarter than unto others, 
 
90 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 • ' unless they could produce a considerable Sum of Money, 
 "capable of being a sufficient Ransom. Women them/ 
 ' • selves were no better used, except they would condescend 
 " unto the libidinous Demands and Concupiscency of the 
 "Pirats. For such as would not consent unto their Lust, 
 ' ' were treated with all the Rigour and Cruelty imaginable. 
 "Captain Morgan, their Leader and Commander, gave 
 " them no good Example in this point. For as soon as any 
 " beautiful Woman was brought as a Prisoner to his pres/ 
 "ence, he used aU the means he could possible, both of 
 " Rigor and Mildness, to bend them to his lascivious wiU 
 "and pleasure." 
 
 After remaining at Panama the space of three weeks, 
 Morgan had various pack animals collected on which were 
 loaded the considerable booty which had been gathered. 
 Through a timely warning Morgan at this time prevented 
 the desertion of a portion of his men, who had planned 
 to escape with a goodly part of the riches in some of the 
 captured vessels in the harbour. Shortly after the middle 
 of February, 1 6 7 1 , Morgan left the ruined city with nearly 
 two hundred pack animals loaded with silver, gold, goods 
 of all sorts, and food for the trip, together with a large 
 number of prisoners. These prisoners he threatened to take 
 to Jamaica unless ransomed by their friends, and from a 
 stopping/place on the road to where he had left his boats 
 and canoes he did a profitable trade in exchanging prisoners 
 for substantial payments. On the march back to Chagres 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 91 
 
 an effective rear guard was under the command of Colo/ 
 nel Blendry Morgan, a kinsman of the Admiral. 
 
 After the arrival at Chagres, division of the spoils was 
 made, not without a great amount of quarrelling as was to 
 be expected, and early in March, 167 1 , after demolishing 
 the fort, Morgan set sail for Port Royal. Exquemelin 
 accuses him of having sailed secretly with only three or 
 four vessels, and states that by the end of August not more 
 than ten of the original thirty /six vessels had made their 
 way back to Jamaica. 
 
 It does not seem probable that Exquemelin was in a 
 position to know accurately these details, and it is prob/ 
 able that the absences and delays of the ships were for the 
 most part voluntary on the part of their crews, who it is 
 to be assumed preferred the free range of the Caribbean 
 to the control to which they would be subjected at 
 Jamaica. 
 
 The Council of Jamaica on the thirty/first of May, 
 167 1, gave a vote of thanks to Morgan in a form which 
 expressed approval of his accomplishment. More than 
 vague rumours of discontent with his division of the 
 spoils kept coming in, however, as the scattered vessels 
 of his fleet came into port. It is difficult to believe that 
 Morgan was free from blame in this respect. It seems 
 more probable that the free/and/easy habits of his life had 
 made him not too scrupulous in a division which so inti/ 
 mately touched his own interests. 
 
92 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 In July, 1670, at Madrid a treaty between England and 
 Spain had been concluded for "restraining depredations 
 " and establishing peace " in the New World. 
 
 Although the plea of Modyford, that the commission 
 to Morgan had been given in good faith to avert a real 
 danger to Jamaica, was probably to a large extent true, 
 and undoubtedly secretly winked at by the officers of the 
 Government, yet a scapegoat was needed. Modyford was 
 summoned home a prisoner. In April, 1672, Morgan was 
 obliged to follow, a prisoner in the " Welcome " frigate. 
 Admiral Morgan had, however, accomplished too much 
 and had too great a popularity to remain long in disgrace. 
 Influential friends cleared him, so that within little more 
 than a year he was appointed Deputy/Governor of Jamaica 
 (the Earl of Carlisle had been named Governor), but he 
 did not take his post until late in 1674 after Lord Vaughan 
 had been appointed Governor of the island and Morgan 
 Lieutenant/Governor. In November of that year, Morgan 
 was knighted. Morgan arrived in Jamaica before Lord 
 Vaughan and with authority of the Council acted as Gov/ 
 ernor for a few days before the arrival of Vaughan. 
 
 The seventeenth century was not a period when nations 
 were over /particular as to methods, and it is to be remem/ 
 bered that the incessant struggle in the West Indies meant 
 more to the European countries involved than the single 
 question of booty gained and private fortunes made. Mor/ 
 gan almost invariably secured his objective. His name 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 93 
 
 alone was a terror to the enemies of England. Excesses 
 were certainly committed in his name; whether by him 
 personally or not is less certain. There is much contem/ 
 porary evidence that Morgan was not so black as he was 
 painted by his detractors. 
 
 In 1672, the Commander of the forces in Jamaica, 
 Major/General Banister, wrote to Lord Arlington, "he 
 " [Morgan] is a well deserving person, and one of great 
 " courage and conduct, who may, with his Majesty's pleas/ 
 " ure, perform good public service at home or be very ad' 
 " vantageous to this island if war should again break forth 
 " with the Spaniards." 
 
 To what extent the apology printed by William Crooke, 
 publisher, was dictated by expediency and to what extent 
 by conviction is not known, but it is an interesting docu/ 
 ment which can appropriately be submitted as evidence 
 in Morgan's favour. With unimportant omissions it is as 
 follows : * 
 
 "The History of the Bucaniers of America, having 
 "been written in the Dutch Language, by John Esque/ 
 "meling, and afterwards translated into the Spanish by 
 " Alonso de Bonne Maison, Dr. of Physick, was lately done 
 "out of Spanish into English, and thereupon unadvisedly 
 " printed, as appearing then unto me to be only a general 
 "history of Action performed by several Persons, at sev/ 
 
 • The page references are to Crooke's Second edition of Exquemelin's His- 
 tory of the Bucanieri. 
 
94 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "eral times, and likewise in several Places. How so it is, 
 "that amongst divers other Actions there rehearsed, are 
 "also contained the unparallell/d Exploits of that Valiant 
 "and Heroick Gentleman, Sir Henry Morgan; upon 
 "which no reflection was then made. But, since the pub/ 
 "lication of the said History (which was done by me in 
 "a trading way, and with no other design) I have been 
 "credibly informed by certain gentlemen, who belong 
 "unto the acquaintance of Sir Henry, that several things 
 " are therein delivered, the which are both falsely reported 
 "by John Esquemeling, and wrongfully represented, and 
 "consequently are much redounding to the Disreputation 
 "and Dishonour of that Worthy Person, Sir Hen. Mor/ 
 "gan; For the Wounds of whose Reputation by that Au/ 
 "thor, I have been, ever since my better information, both 
 " heartily sorrowful, and concerned in the sincerity of my 
 "mind; and in testimony thereof, have thought it con/ 
 "venient, by these times, humbly to solicit, and desire 
 ' ' the pardon of that noble and generous Spirit, for as much 
 " as by me hath been contributed thereunto, by printing 
 "the English Translation. 
 
 " The Sincerity of the whole case was this : That the 
 " truth of the particulars contained in the History of John 
 " Esquemeling, were not, at the publishing thereof, nei/ 
 " ther could they possibly by me be known, as being to/ 
 "tally unacquainted with those Affairs, or with the Per/ 
 " son or Merits, of Sir Henry Morgan. Yea tho' I made 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 95 
 
 "divers Enquiries thereunto, I could not be so happy 
 " as to learn, whether that worthy Person were, as yet, 
 " among the living or not ; as I conceive I may be able 
 ♦' to convince, both by sufficient and undubitable wit/ 
 " nesses. Hereupon, the Book was, by me, taken as a 
 " general History, which has been already seen in several 
 " Languages abroad, and, for as much as a great part 
 " thereof contained the Heroic Actions of our English 
 " Nation it was accordingly printed by a strict Transla/ 
 " tion from the Spanish. But, whatever points in the said 
 " History, either do misrepresent the heroic Actions of 
 " that worthy Gentleman, or do in anywise, reflect upon 
 "his Honour, I do hereby declare, and sincerely, in the 
 " presence of God Almighty, protest, that I never had in 
 " mind, the least intention or design, either of reflecting, 
 " or aspersing of him, or any other Person whatsoever, 
 "named in that History. And, as aforesaid I am both 
 " heartily sorry, and not a little perplex'd to understand 
 " that Sir Henry Morgan should receive any, the least 
 " offense at that, which was not in the least by me intended 
 "in the said English Translation. 
 
 " The integrity of my Intention, and the whole truth 
 "of my Proceedings, being thus declared; Yet, notwith/ 
 " standing, for the greater satisfaction of the Publick, and 
 " to evince more clearly the Sincerity thereof, I do hereby 
 "again and again, humbly beg the Pardon of Sir Henry, 
 " if anything I have done, by publishing that Book, hath 
 
96 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 " given any just occasion of offense unto Him, or been 
 " the least cause of diminishing the Splendour and Worth 
 "of his Deserts. Yea, to be a little more free in this Ac 
 " knowledgement, I do hereby own 'my unadvisedness in 
 "giving credence to a Spanish Translation. (But at that 
 "time there was no License appointed for the review of 
 " Books) in a matter that so nearly concerned that Nation; 
 "and wherein Justice could not easily be done unto Sir 
 " Henry, in the Relation, without reflecting either on the 
 " Courage or Conduct of the Spaniards in those Parts : For 
 "which unadvisedness of my own, I do, once more, pray 
 " his Pardon; and shall confess it an Act of high Generosity 
 " and Goodness in him, to accept of this my Acknowledge/ 
 " ment, instead of putting me into the trouble of a ver/ 
 " diet at Conunon Law ; altho nothing was ever more re/ 
 " mote from my Thoughts, as the designing, or intending 
 " him the said Sir Henry Morgan, the least Prejudice or 
 " Scandal. 
 
 " From hence, to do all the Justice and Equity that I 
 "possibly can, unto the Merits of Sir Henry, according to 
 " what I heretofore, so spontaneously promised in the Pref/ 
 " ace unto the second Volume of the History of the 
 " Bucaniers I shall now proceed to correct such Passages 
 " of the History, as, according to the Notice I have re/ 
 '« ceived of Faults. The which Passages for the better 
 " Credit thereof, I do Acknowledge to have obtained from 
 " some worthy Persons his Friends, who were Witnesses, 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 97 
 
 " as I have, unto the whole Transactions there related, and 
 " from whom I got this Information, and how to Correct 
 " them as follows : 
 
 " Page 32. Here the Author, John Esquemeling, hath 
 " mistaken the Origin of Sir Henry Morgan, for he was 
 " a Gentleman's Son of good Quality, in the County of 
 " Monmouth, and was never a Servant unto anybody in 
 " his life, unless unto his Majesty, the late King of Eng/ 
 "land. Neither did he ever sail, but by Commission of 
 "the Governor of those Parts. 
 
 " The Cruelties and barbarous Usages of the Spaniards, 
 "when at his Mercy, or his Prisoners, do manifestly Re/ 
 " fleet on the Reputation of Sir Henry Morgan, and were 
 " wholly an error in the Original Author of this History. 
 "As, for Instance, in Pages 44, 49, 61, 64, 65, 25, 30, 
 "31, &c, the Cruelties there related, after the taking of 
 " Puerto del Principe, and the blowing up the Castle at 
 "Puerto Velo, are not true. For the castle was left stand/ 
 "ing, and quarter was given unto all that yielded. And, 
 "moreover Sir Henry Morgan, having power, by his 
 " Commission, both of Life and Limb, over all his fleet 
 " and Army, it is not credible that he would suf^r either 
 " any such Cruelties or Debaucheries to be done. Neither 
 " (as I am told) was there any such Cruelty committed, 
 " as the Wrecking of a Fool or the Torturing of a Rich 
 " Portugezen, or the causing a Negro to kill several Span/ 
 " ish Prisoners thereby to create an hatred of the Span/ 
 
98 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 «' iards against him and with intent to prevent his return/ 
 "ing unto them. Or, the hanging up any Persons by the 
 " Testicles. No more Truth was there in that Story, that 
 "many Reh'gious were pistolled; for, no such Persons 
 " were killed, unless they were found in Arms. 
 
 " In Page 54, the Author hath also mistaken Admiral 
 " Morgan's sailing from Puerto Velo. For, instead of go' 
 "ing to Cuba, as is there related, the Fleet sailed directly 
 " to Jamaica. In the succeeding Page likewise, the Ship, 
 " there said to come from New England, was the Oxford 
 "Frigat. And the French Ship there mentioned was a 
 «' French Pirat, who had lately plundered a Vessel from 
 " New England, and upon the Complaint made unto the 
 " Governour of Jamaica, he sent the Frigat out to take 
 "her, which was accordingly done ; and the Frigat after/ 
 " wards joyned with the Fleet of Admiral Morgan, by the 
 " Command and Orders of his Majesty's said then Gov/ 
 « ' ernour of Jamaica. There was, likewise, no Advice given 
 " to Admiral Morgan about Fireship mentioned Page 70 ; 
 " but rather, it was entirely his own contrivance. Also, 
 " the style of the Letter of the Spanish Admiral unto him, 
 "is wrong ; for he styled him. Captain Morgan, Head of 
 •'the English Fleet, and not Commander of the Pirate. 
 " In like manner, timely orders were given by Sir Henry 
 " Morgan for taking the Galeon mention'd in page 29, 
 " but were neglected by such as received the Orders. 
 
 "The Expedition performed by Admiral Morgan 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 99 
 
 " against Panama, was not undertaken without Commis/ 
 " sion from the then Governour of Jamaica, And it was 
 " upon the account of new Acts of Hostility, and fresh 
 " Abuses that had been committed by the Spaniards, upon 
 "the King of England's subjects of Jamaica; as by the 
 " Council Minute may sufficiently appear, to any thatde/ 
 " sire full satisfaction herein ; and also by the said Com/ 
 " mission, which they may see here inserted." 
 
 The records of the complaint of Morgan against 
 Thomas Malthus (Court of King's Bench, James II, 1 685), 
 who, as previously noted, also published Exquemelin's 
 "History of the Bucaniers," are additional evidence to 
 the thoroughness with which Morgan pursued his de^ 
 tractors and may be taken as some further testimony to 
 the fact that the charges against him were at best exag/ 
 gerated. John Greene, Morgan's attorney, recites in the 
 complaint " That the Morgan family had always held due 
 "and natural allegiance to the King, were both by sea 
 "and land of good fame, and that against all evil deeds, 
 "piracies, etc., had the greatest abhorrence and disgust, 
 " and that in the West Indies there are such thieves and 
 "pirates, called 'buccaneers,' who subsist by piracy, dep/ 
 "redation and evil deeds of all kinds without lawful au/ 
 "thority, that of these people Henry Morgan always had 
 " and still has hatred ; but notwithstanding this, Thomas 
 " Malthus, not unacquainted with these facts, has cun/ 
 "ningly contrived to injure Henry Morgan's good name 
 
100 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 " and fame by printing, spreading abroad and publishing 
 "a certain false, malicious, scandalous and famous libel 
 " entitied A History of the Bucaniers." 
 
 The specific libels were enumerated and substantial 
 damages claimed. A jury awarded Morgan two hundred 
 pounds and costs. There is good reason to assume that the 
 smallness of the judgment rendered in Morgan's favour 
 was due to adjustments made outside of the Court, not 
 perhaps in cash, but in a way to reinstate Morgan in the 
 good opinion of the people. The second edition of Ex' 
 quemelin's book published by William Crooke contains 
 an addition to the preface disclaiming in considerable 
 measure the responsibility on the part of the publisher to 
 the words of the author, admitting some errors, but on 
 the whole a very incomplete apology and rather a defence 
 of himself as publisher, with some extravagant, if slightly 
 ironical, expression of laudation of Sir Henry Morgan. 
 That this was followed later by the sweeping and detailed 
 public apology which has been quoted here was appar/ 
 ently due to or was a part of the Malthus settlement. 
 
 In the " Correspondence of the Family of Hatton, 
 "A.D. 1 601-1704," published by the Camden Society, 
 1878, is an interesting letter dated twenty /ninth of May, 
 1697, written by Charles Hatton to Lord Hatton.* 
 
 * Mr. Frank Cundall, of the Jamaica Institute, was kind enough to call at- 
 tention to this correspondence, to furnish information about the Polnitz family, 
 and to give details as to Morgan's death. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN loi 
 
 "... shall now give you y* account I then intended 
 "about Ringrose his relation of Sharps vopge into y^ 
 " South Sea, W^** is called y« %^ part of y«= History of 
 "y* Buccaneers. About y^yeare 1680 ther came out a 
 " history of )r* Buccaneers, printed in Flanders, in Span/ 
 "ish, pretended to be a translation from Dutch writ by 
 "one Esquemeling, a Dutch buccaneer, w'^'' Crooke 
 "a bookseller got translated into English and printed, 
 "in w'^'' S'' Henry Morgan was represented as a very 
 "barbarous pyrate. S' Harry brought his action ag* 
 " Crooke, proved aU he did was by virtue of a commis/ 
 " sion of y''. Governor of Jamaica and -f Kings authority, 
 "and recovered 300" or 400" damage from Crooke, about 
 "y' some I am sure Crook himself told me. After w'^^ 
 " his History of y^ Buccaneers wase looked upon as fab/ 
 " ulous and sold for noe more than wast paper. But S"^ 
 "Harry Morgan being return'd to Jamaica, and Sharp 
 " and his comrades their voyage into y" South Sea making 
 " a great noise, and Sharps journal being printed and sell/ 
 "ingvery well, Crooke agrees w*** Ringrose, who had 
 "been a buccaneer w* Sharp, for a relation he had of 
 " y^ exploits done in y*' South Sea by Sharp and other 
 "pyrats; and, to make some recompense to S"" Henry 
 "Morgan, he was mentioned very honorably and Ring/ 
 "rose his booke stiled y* 1^ part of y* History of Bucca/ 
 " neers, and is generally sold w*^ y* first, they being both 
 "printed in 4*°. 
 
102 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "The first part of y* History of y^ Buccaneers wase 
 " put forth in French w* some variations and aditions, 
 "pretended to have been write in Dutch by one Oxeme/ 
 "lin. 
 
 "S"' John Narborough's Voyage was about five years 
 " agoe, as I thinke, printed for Smith and Watford, in an 
 " 8° volume, together w*"^ Martins voyage to Spitsbergen 
 " and other voyages, w*^*' have sold very well, as also an/ 
 " other booke of voyages by Ran Wolfius and others. 
 
 " Dampier is sensible of many mistakes he hath made, 
 "and in his next volume he will correct them; w'^'' he 
 "very honestly wou'd not doe in y* 2^ ed. of his first vol/ 
 " ume, for y*^ wou'd have been to y^ prejudice of all who 
 "had bought his first volume." 
 
 Whilst much that Exquemelin states to Morgan's dis/ 
 credit is undoubtedly coloured by prejudice, it must be 
 admitted that Morgan did not always so conduct himself 
 on shore as completely to give the lie to his critics. Even 
 the dignity of his titles. Admiral, Knight, and Lieuten/ 
 ant/Governor, were not enough to prevent the occasional 
 out/cropping of his swashbuckler temperament. A reg/ 
 ulated life on shore must have been irksome to him. In 
 May, 1674, the Assembly voted six hundred pounds spe/ 
 cial salary to him to be paid during his Lieutenant/Gov/ 
 ernorship. With time on his hands and money in his 
 pocket, Morgan, according to the reports sent home by 
 Governor Vaughan, frequented the taverns of Port RoyaJ 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 103 
 
 drinking and gambling in unseemly fashion. Later in 
 May, 1676, Vaughan accused him of giving aid to illegal 
 privateers and of otherwise obstructing the efforts of the 
 Governor to stop this form of illegal sea commerce. Fu 
 nally Vaughan made definite charges against both Morgan 
 and Robert Byndloss (a connection of Morgan through 
 his wife) , both of whom were members of the Council. 
 Morgan and Byndloss were cited to appear before the 
 Council in July, 1676, and the examination of the charges 
 took place before the Governor and eight other members. 
 A reading of the Minutes in the Council Book of Jamaica 
 covering the period of this examination, which took in 
 effect the form of a trial, shows that Morgan had the same 
 active and resourceful mind in defending himself with 
 arguments, not always convincing, which he had in ac/ 
 tual warfare. Morgan's popularity seems to have been 
 proof against attacks, as nothing seems to have come 
 from the proceedings, a full record of which was sent to 
 England. 
 
 From an interesting correspondence at the Public Rec/ 
 ords Office, London, and in the Journal of the Lords of 
 Trade and Plantations, it is clear that efforts were made 
 to persuade both Morgan and Vaughan to patch up their 
 quarrel. 
 
 That Morgan did not wholly lose the confidence of 
 those in England charged with the administration of the 
 colony is shown by the fact that under date of thirteenth 
 
104 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 of January, 1678, in the Journal of the Lords of Trade 
 and Plantations a commission is granted to Sir Henry 
 Morgan, Lieutenant/Governor of Jamaica, to be Captain 
 of a company of one hundred men. On the same date 
 Lord Carlisle was appointed Governor of Jamaica to 
 succeed Vaughan. 
 
 For nearly four months, the period between the de^ 
 parture of Vaughan and the arrival of Carlisle, Morgan 
 again acted as Governor of the island. During Carlisle's 
 brief term of office the two men appear to have had 
 friendly relations. Carlisle writes home in a somewhat 
 kindly way of Morgan's "generous manner" and inti/ 
 mates that whatever allowances are made to him " he will 
 " be a beggar." For a period after Carlisle went home in 
 May, 1680, Morgan once again acted as Governor, and 
 it was during this period that he wrote home despatches 
 which must have been strange reading to those who knew 
 well his earlier career. 
 
 On the fifth of July, 1680, he writes to Lord Sunder/ 
 land telling of the annoyance along the coast from both 
 French privateers and those which belong to the island 
 itself. He urges that " some nimble small frigates for coast/ 
 "ing around the island be supplied," and points out that 
 nothing can be more fatal to the prosperity of the colony 
 than the temptingly alluring boldness and success of the 
 privateers which draw off white servants and all men of 
 unfortunate or desperate condition. Morgan appears to 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 105 
 
 have taken particular satisfaction in reporting that he had 
 captured at Bull Bay a notorious privateer. 
 
 Among other reports from Morgan to the Lords of 
 Trade and Plantations is one bearing on a certain petition 
 of one Francis Mingham which has interest because it 
 contains a letter from Morgan which throws some light 
 on his own estimate of himself. A portion of the letter 
 follows : 
 
 "I left school too young to be a great proficient in 
 " either that or other laws, and have been much more 
 "used to the pike than the book; and as for the profit 
 "there is no porter in this town but can get more money 
 "in the time than I got by this trial. But I was truly put 
 "in to maintain the honor of the court for his Majesty's 
 "service. Without this the act of navigation cannot be 
 "enforced for it is hard to find unbiased juries in the 
 " plantations for such cases. For instance, a ship from Ire/ 
 " land came here with several casks of Irish soap, and was 
 " seized by his Majesty's receiver. The case was tried in 
 "the Court of Common Pleas, and the jury found for the 
 " defendant with costs. One wimess swore that soap was 
 " vittles and that one might live upon it for a month, 
 "which the jury readily believed and found the aforesaid 
 "verdict. I beg your Lordships to believe that if I have 
 "erred at all in this matter it has been of judgment only. 
 "May God love me no longer than I love justice." 
 
 In May, 1681, Sir Thomas Lynch was appointed Gov/ 
 
io6 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 ernor, and shortly afterwards Morgan's commission as 
 Lieutenant/Governor was rescinded. The appointment 
 of Lynch, on account of previous relations of the two 
 men, was a direct blow at Morgan and things did not go 
 well between them. Morgan technically retained his seat 
 on the Council, but appears to have behaved very intern/ 
 perately. It is evident Morgan wanted to force out Lynch 
 and to succeed to the post. Lynch seems to have been 
 equally determined to humiliate Morgan, whose temper 
 was not of the best. The Minutes of the Council even re/ 
 cord such a frivolous charge as that Morgan had been 
 overheard to say, "God damn the Assembly." Finally 
 Morgan was dismissed from the Council. 
 
 For some time Morgan appears to have had his hands 
 full in defending his reputation, as it was during the try/ 
 ing years which now came to him that Exquemelin's 
 book, was published in England and the libel suit, already 
 recorded, was prosecuted. Morgan appears, however, to 
 have been determined to remain in Jamaica and re/estab/ 
 lish his reputation and position there. In December, 1687, 
 the whole Council recommended the re/admission of Sir 
 Henry Morgan to membership, a request the granting of 
 which was urged upon the King by the Duke of Albe/ 
 marie. On the twenty/seventh of April, 1688, the King 
 in Council ordered the suspension removed and Morgan 
 was reinstated. Morgan did not, however, live long to en/ 
 joy his restored honours. On the twenty /fifth of August, 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN 107 
 
 1688, he died. The ceremonies which marked his death 
 were befitting the great seaman that he was. The follow/ 
 ing is an extract from the Journal of Captain Lawrence 
 Wright, Commander of His Majesty's ship, "Assistance " : 
 
 "August 1688. 
 
 "Saturday 25 "This day about eleven hours noone 
 "Sir Henry Morgan died, & the 26th was brought over 
 "from Passage/fort to the King's house at Port/Royall, 
 " from thence to the Church, & after a sermon was carried 
 " to the Palhsadoes & there buried. All the forts fired 
 " an equal number of guns, wee fired two & twenty & 
 "after wee & the Drake had fired, all the merchant men 
 "fired." 
 
 Jamaica was Morgan's chosen home and there he was 
 buried and there his will was filed in the Record Office at 
 Spanish Town. It makes intelligent and appropriate pro/ 
 vision for his wife and near relatives. 
 
 Morgan was not an ordinary man. He was a brave and 
 skilfiil leader, quick in thought and in action. He was 
 impulsive, generous, perhaps not over/scrupulous, and as 
 was natural was impatient of restraint. The charges of 
 cruelty cannot be considered as fully proven by Exque/ 
 melin's statements, but it can be assumed that his wild 
 crew committed many excesses. A pirate he certainly was 
 not. Always a loyal servant to his King and country, his 
 own ambitions never were at variance with what he con/ 
 sidered to be for England's good. If he was on occasion a 
 
io8 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 roisterer, he was certainly a generous and open/handed 
 one ; a man who compelled popularity and encouraged 
 enmities. The effect of his greatness on the events of his 
 time was superior to the harm done by his defects. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 
 
 BRITISH seamen were not the only ones to disturb 
 the tranquillity of the Spanish possessions. Nei/ 
 ther the death of Morgan nor the ban placed upon buc/ 
 caneering by the English King gave security to the ports 
 of the Spanish Main. In order to understand the full sig/ 
 nificance of the attack upon Cartagena by the French in 
 1697, it is necessary to review the condition of Europe 
 at the time. 
 
 In October, 1685, Louis XIV deprived the Huguenots 
 of the privileges conferred upon them by the Edict of 
 Nantes. Churches were destroyed, ministers exiled, and 
 the reformed worship forbidden. Although these meas/ 
 ures did not, as it later appeared, commend themselves 
 to Pope Innocent XI, they received the approbation of 
 a considerable portion of the Catholic world. The Protes/ 
 tant nations made no effort, however, to disguise their 
 alienation from France, and, forgetting for the time their 
 own minor differences, concluded in July, 1686, a de/ 
 fensive alliance at Augsburg. Grievances other than those 
 based on religious prejudices were exploited and this 
 league included Austria, Spain, Holland, Sweden, Sax/ 
 ony, Bavaria, and most of the German and Italian States. 
 By this Alliance of Augsburg, and by the fall of the 
 
110 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 Catholic government of James II in England in 1688, all 
 Europe was combined against Louis XIV. 
 
 War was declared by France on England, Holland, 
 Austria, and Spain. With marvellous energy Louis un/ 
 dertook the task of defending himself. He was attacked 
 on the south by Spain ; on the northeast by the combined 
 forces of Holland, Germany, and the Spanish Nether' 
 lands; on the southeast by the Italians, and his coast 
 towns were constantly threatened by the English and 
 Dutch. Even the extraordinary resources of France could 
 not long sustain this unequal conflict, and in May, 1697, 
 negotiations looking toward peace were opened at Rys' 
 wick. The Peace Conferences were long, tedious, and dif/ 
 ficult, the numerous contracting parties and their mutual 
 differences making a satisfactory conclusion of the con/ 
 ference weUmigh impossible. Spain was not desirous to 
 end the war, and it was not until the news that Barcelona 
 had surrendered to the French under the Duke of Ven/ 
 dome, and that Cartagena, the stronghold of Spain in the 
 New World, had been taken by de Pointis, that Spain 
 made the necessary concessions which insured peace. On 
 the twentieth of September, 1697, the Treaty of Rys' 
 wick was signed by France, Spain, England, and Holland, 
 and on the thirtieth of October Austria made a separate 
 treaty of peace with France. 
 
 The expedition against Cartagena was the only effec-- 
 tive offensive use to which French vessels were put dur^ 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE in 
 
 ing this war, and that the blow against Spain was struck, 
 and this so effectively, at such a distance from the actual 
 field of expected hostilities, is an instructive example of 
 the influence of sea'power. 
 
 This naval expedition was in itself interesting, and, in 
 view of its size and effect, unique ; inasmuch as it was 
 actually a privateering undertaking. Early in the progress 
 of the war a commodore in the French Navy, Baron de 
 Pointis,* had suggested the sending out of a squadron 
 under royal license, but privately equipped, for the pur/ 
 pose of striking a blow at Spanish power in America and 
 at the same time gaining rich booty for those promoting 
 and engaged in the enterprise. Finally, the exigencies of 
 the war brought about the laying up of the Toulon fleet 
 at Brest, and de Pointis, through Pontchartrain, then 
 Minister of Marine, obtained the King's approbation of a 
 plan by which the King was to lend to de Pointis ships, 
 men, and ammunition, in return for a share of the ex/ 
 pected profits. The funds to cover the expenses of the 
 expedition, it was agreed, should be provided by the pub/ 
 lie sale of shares. The public took kindly to the plan, and 
 subscriptions poured in until interrupted by rumours 
 of an expected peace, which caused anxiety as to the 
 chances of profitable returns. In view of peace having 
 been made with Savoy, de Pointis himself appears to have 
 had some doubts as to whether a premature ending of the 
 
 * Jean Bernard Louis Desjean, Baron de Pointis, bom 1 645, died 1 707. 
 
112 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 war would not prevent the carrying out of his plans, and 
 entered into an understanding with His Majesty that re/ 
 imbursement would be made if peace should be con/ 
 eluded before the sailing of the squadron. Even this, 
 however, did not revive enthusiasm in the undertaking, 
 and de Pointis had to content himself wdth a lesser num/ 
 ber of ships than he had intended, in order to make the 
 funds at his disposal meet the cost of the preparations. 
 
 In October, 1696, de Pointis began to fit out his fleet 
 at Brest, and on the seventh of January, 1697, at day 
 light, with his squadron he left that port, successfully 
 eluding the English and Dutch blockading fleet. A short 
 stop was made at Bertheaume to take on additional pro/ 
 visions from certain vessels which had not arrived at Brest 
 in season and which de Pointis had ordered to this ren/ 
 dezvous; the squadron then proceeded toward Santo 
 Domingo in the West Indies. 
 
 Santo Domingo, as the French settlements in His/ 
 paniola were called, was the headquarters of the French 
 buccaneers and filibusters, who at this period, with full 
 official connivance, were preying upon the Spanish and 
 English possessions and vessels. Part of the arrangement 
 between de Pointis and the French Minister of Marine 
 had been that the expedition should have the active sup/ 
 port and co/operation of the Governor of Santo Domingo, 
 and long before the squadron had sailed from Brest, in/ 
 structions had been sent out to the Governor, M. du 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 1 13 
 
 Casse, to raise twelve hundred men to assist in the ex/ 
 pedition. The regular force under M. du Casse was small, 
 and to furnish the number demanded meant necessarily 
 to enlist the services of the buccaneers. He finally assem/ 
 bled and with difficulty held together until the somewhat 
 tardy arrival of de Pointis, a force made up of nearly seven 
 hundred buccaneers, one hundred and seventy soldiers 
 from the garrison, and enough colonists and negroes to 
 bring the total number up to about one thousand men. 
 For their proper conveyance he had provided seven ves/ 
 sels of good size and a few smaller craft. 
 
 For convenience in this narrative the term "bucca/ 
 " neers" will be often used to include this whole contin/ 
 gent from Santo Domingo. 
 
 Owing to the co/operation given by M. du Casse in 
 this expedition, in which he figured as a leader of the 
 buccaneers, he has often been referred to in popular nar/ 
 ratives as a buccaneer himself. Jean Baptiste du Casse was 
 an able French naval commander, born at Bern in 1640. 
 He was appointed Governor of Santo Domingo in 1691. 
 Shortly after his participation in the capture of Cartagena, 
 he returned to France and took part in the battle with the 
 English fleet commanded by Admiral Benbow in 1 702. 
 During the War of Succession he commanded the French 
 naval forces at the attack on Barcelona in 1714. 
 
 Early in March, after a voyage of fifty/five days, de 
 Pointis arrived with his squadron at Cape Francis, Santo 
 
114 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 Domingo, and there learned with some vexation that 
 three French ships, to whose commanders he brought 
 orders to attach themselves to his squadron, had sailed 
 eight days before for France. 
 
 Although a brave and skilful officer, de Pointis ap/ 
 peared to lack the quality of sharing either the credit of 
 successes or the responsibilities of command with others, 
 and it appears to have been due to the disinterested loy/ 
 alty of du Casse that the quarrels between the two com/ 
 manders did not render the co/operation of the bucca/ 
 neers impossible, and otherwise damage the expedition. 
 The irritation incident to the continued lessening of his 
 forces below the number fixed by de Pointis in his orig/ 
 inal plans was not an unlikely cause of much of the trou/ 
 ble, but whatever the cause, it is clear that he treated 
 du Casse with less than the respect to which his position 
 and abilities entitled him. M. du Casse, however, be/ 
 haved with great moderation, and believing that by his 
 own presence only could the troops which he had gotten 
 together be kept within bounds, he volunteered to go 
 with the expedition. This offer de Pointis accepted, but 
 stipulated that du Casse should go with the simple rank 
 of Captain, which he actually held in the French navy. 
 
 Before the squadron sailed, and in fact before the buc/ 
 caneers would agree to join under de Pointis, it was nee/ 
 essary to arrive at a formal agreement as to the sharing of 
 booty. It was mutually agreed "that the buccaneers and 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 115 
 
 " colonists should, man for man, have the same shares of 
 "booty that were allowed to the men on the King's 
 " ships." This same arrangement was made with the ship's 
 companies of several other vessels which joined the 
 squadron. 
 
 After taking on provisions and aiding in equipping the 
 vessels of the buccaneers, de Pointis ordered his ships to 
 sail on the nineteenth of March, with directions to ren/ 
 dezvous off Cape Tiberon on the western extremity of 
 Hispaniola. Owing to violent north winds this was made 
 somewhat difficult, and it was not until the twenty/eighth 
 of March that the squadron came together. At this place 
 definite plans for the attack to be made upon Cartagena 
 were adopted. Du Casse advised attacking Puerto Bello in/ 
 stead, because of his belief that certain richly laden ships 
 were almost certainly there at the time, and because of 
 the lesser strength of the fortresses at Puerto Bello. De 
 Pointis, however, who had made up his mind in any 
 event ultimately to attack Cartagena, and therefore feared 
 to waste his provisions and incur other risks by a digres/ 
 sion to Puerto Bello, persisted in his original plan, and the 
 squadron sailed for Cartagena at once. 
 
 The vessels and men under de Pointis were as follows : 
 
 ' ' Scepter," eighty/four guns, six hundred and fifty men. 
 Captain Guillotin (flag/ship). 
 
 " St. Lewis," sixty /four guns, four hundred and twenty 
 men. Vice/ Admiral Levy. 
 
ii6 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 " Fort," seventy guns, four hundred and fifty men, Rear/ 
 Admiral Viscount Coetlogon. 
 
 "Vermandois," sixty guns, three hundred and fifty 
 men, commanded by Dubuison Gombaud. 
 
 " Apollo Furieux," sixty guns, three hundred and fifty 
 men, commanded by La Motte Michel. 
 
 "St. Michael," sixty guns, three hundred and fifty men, 
 commanded by le Chev. de Marolles. 
 
 "Christ," forty/four guns, two hundred and twenty 
 men, commanded by le Chev. de la Motte d'Heran. 
 
 "Avenant," thirty guns, two hundred men, com/ 
 manded by le Chev. Francine. 
 
 "Marin," twenty/eight guns, one hundred and eighty 
 men, commanded by St. Vandrille. 
 
 " Eclatant," bomb vessel, sixty men, commanded by De 
 Mons. 
 
 "Providence," four guns, thirty men, commanded by 
 le Chev. de L'Escovet. 
 
 " Pontchartrain," forty guns, one hundred men. 
 
 (frigate), twenty/four guns, sixty men — to/ 
 
 gether with six mortar boats and other craft. 
 
 On board of these vessels were one hundred and ten 
 officers, fifty/five marines, twenty/one hundred seamen 
 and seventeen hundred and fifty soldiers, or a total of four 
 thousand and fifteen men. 
 
 In addition to these ships and men there were the seven 
 vessels classed by de Pointis as frigates, of from eight to 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 117 
 
 twenty/four guns each, and carrying the approximately 
 one thousand men furnished by du Casse. The total com/ 
 bined forces of the expedition were about five thousand, 
 and the number of vessels twenty, exclusive of six to ten 
 very small craft. 
 
 Before sailing from Cape Tiberon, de Pointis issued 
 the orders necessary for the division of command both at 
 sea and on shore, and arranged the relative authority and 
 seniority, a somewhat troublesome matter, which his va/ 
 rious vessel commanders were to have when in command 
 as land officers. Du Casse was definitely given command 
 of the buccaneers, who were made into one troop, the 
 ships' crews being made up into companies, and divided 
 into battalions. 
 
 Before leaving France, de Pointis had received from 
 Paris plans and directions regarding the port and fortresses 
 of Cartagena, and detailed instructions as to the best method 
 of attack. In many ways the information given was after/ 
 wards proved inaccurate and at the time conflicted with 
 that furnished by du Casse. The plans of de Pointis were, 
 nevertheless, greatly helped by the information which he 
 received in advance, and he appears to have been fuUy 
 alive to the importance of first securing certain strategic 
 points of great advantage to either those defending or at/ 
 tacking the place. In particular it had been pointed out 
 to him that it would be necessary for him to obtain early 
 the command of the only road to the interior from Car/ 
 
1 18 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 tagena, in order to prevent the removal of treasure from 
 Cartagena during the progress of his attack upon the city 
 itself. He had therefore resolved to land the troop of hue 
 cancers the very night of his arrival off Cartagena, with 
 the purpose of having them secure possession of La Popa, 
 the high hill behind the town, overlooking the town it/ 
 self and the road leading from it. With this plan in mind 
 he anchored his fleet about twelve miles to the eastward 
 on the thirteenth of April. The selection of the bucca/ 
 neers for this dangerous and arduous task created some 
 feeling between them and de Pointis, who accused them, 
 rather unjustly, of a lack of bravery. Du Casse agreed to 
 lead them, and preparations were made for their landing ; 
 but the heavy surf, not unusual at that time of year, made 
 even an attempt impracticable, and de Pointis himself was 
 nearly drowned while searching for a proper landing/ 
 place. He reluctantly decided that the city could be ap/ 
 proached with safety from the harbour side only, and sailed 
 the morning of the fourteenth toward the entrance to the 
 harbour, called Boca Chica. His ships were fired upon 
 from the city walls as they passed by, showing the pres/ 
 ence there of many heavy guns. This firing did slight 
 damage to the rigging of a few of the vessels and killed 
 three men ; it was not returned by the guns of the ships, 
 as de Pointis did not feel sufficiently assured as to the 
 depth of the water to order any of his ships near enough 
 inshore to effectively return the fire. 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 119 
 
 In the obscurity of the night of the fifteenth, recon/ 
 noissance was made to select a landing on Tierra Bomba, 
 near the Boca Chica Fort, and on the sixteenth, under 
 cover of firing fi-om the ships, which held the enemy's 
 attention elsewhere, about one thousand troops were 
 landed. During this operation a small boat, of a size to 
 carry about sixty men, was captured, and firom one of the 
 prisoners taken de Pointis learned that the galleons for 
 the capture of which du Casse had urged him to go to 
 Puerto Bello, were still at that port. Among the prisoners 
 were two Franciscan friars, one of whom was despatched 
 to the commandant of Boca Chica Fort to demand its sur/ 
 render, which was refused. During the day a re/enforcc 
 ment of three hundred men was sent from the city to the 
 fort, and an attack upon them by the buccaneers from 
 the shore brought on a brief general engagement, result/ 
 ing in the surrender of the fort by its aged Comman/ 
 dant D. Sancho Jimeno, to whom was given the courteous 
 and generous treatment to which he was entitled by the 
 gallantry of his defence. The loss of the French and buc/ 
 caneers in this engagement is reported by de Pointis to 
 have been fifty, and that of the Spanish as ninety. The 
 Spanish accounts, however, state that the whole garrison 
 amounted to seventy only. 
 
 The fort was immediately occupied and garrisoned by 
 the French troops, while six hundred and fifty of the 
 buccaneers were immediately (on the seventeenth) sent 
 
120 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 across the outer harbour, or Bay of Cartagena, with orders 
 to land and seize La Popa if possible. Du Casse was un/ 
 able, on account of a wound received, to accompany the 
 buccaneers, who went under command of Captain Dau/ 
 nou. La Popa was discovered by the buccaneers, after 
 some resistance on the road, to have been abandoned by 
 the Spanish. 
 
 While this expedition was in progress the ships entered 
 the bay, and on the morning of the eighteenth began the 
 bombardment of Fort Santa Cruz at one side of the en/ 
 trance to the inner harbour. This passage had on the pre/ 
 vious day been practically closed by the Spanish through 
 the sinking of three or four vessels. During this bombard/ 
 ment the troops which had been landed at Boca Chica 
 (and which now numbered about two thousand) had, 
 under the personal leadership of de Pointis, been march/ 
 ing overland * toward the town. Upon their approach to 
 Fort Santa Cruz, the garrison, fearing to be cut off, de/ 
 serted the fort and fled into Cartagena. Finding an as/ 
 sault upon the defences of the town on the side toward 
 the sea impracticable, de Pointis had the troops which 
 had arrived from Boca Chica transported across the bay 
 early on the nineteenth, and with these troops he joined 
 the buccaneers near San Lazaro. After a thorough re/ 
 
 * Boca Grande, at one time a broad entrance into the bay from the sea be- 
 tween the island of Tierra Bomba and the neck of land extending from the 
 mainland to the westward, appears at this time to have been actually closed 
 for its full breadth and to have offered a road for the passage of the troops. 
 
,.& 
 
 
 
 H.ichi 
 Mai-ais 
 
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 iMomlli\y.e sonio"^ 
 lun's irrnMiiUc dffc cod 
 
 
 Ecliclle d'iane Xioue Marine • 
 
 DE POINTIS MAP OF THE T. 
 

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 PRTSE \ 
 
 DE CARTHAGENE 
 
 />£:.S JNDES 
 
 PAR l'escaork I'«AN(,AISF: 
 .'/ UX OIWRRS DE FOINTIS 
 en 16 1)7- 
 
 LE OENDE 
 Pom Jes operations du Sie^ve 
 
 pi)ur I'aUthTue li/i Fort JiouciU'hupie par iprre • 
 C . J)eiuv r(it.p,i-etnt,v canonniWt /f nieme Fart 
 
 pour^/hvorcc'er /r delnvipfenumti/^o' irirupe^ . 
 J). (jaUvte a bifmhe iirani eiju/emerit ifur ceJ'o<ff&^ 
 
 ^u <i'L' renii aifriv i/eud-/oiu'o' de re\<-i,ftaJU'C' . 
 K . JiiUrmenic' FIilm>ytier,f et aidre<p^/af'Fan/d'/hTrfie 
 
 lie /IJrf/ttv/hmi'fiio-t' . 
 F. L!Armee niomffi\' {Yi-iur/i/ if Fort i.i\'^('rouv ' 
 
 ip/e /{'if F,!'paqnv/,f ii/'u/iJonnent . 
 (j. Xdvwe F7i/)u<ft/L'r<f .fur tt'Wi)' aiiori\\' , 
 W.Lieu Ju- Di'hai\pUL'meni lie^ F^^I>Utftu'r^ pour 
 
 I'ii/Jiunie i/a Comu^nt de ^otre JJiune^ de /a \ 
 
 PiUipe et du Fort (\'.^Las.are . 
 
 ]:tat ]>es vaisseaux 
 
 FT J)K a^Pf'IllLXJIS 
 
 Qui (.\iBiposuient ]i\ Kioto. 
 
 1,0 Scej^ti'o ,.M. DeJ^oinfi^ . 
 
 Le S' JLoiiis /Je Lctn/ . 
 
 LeVerniaudois J)u3uh}\eon . 
 
 L'AjxiDow /^f iTombaut . 
 
 Le rnrieox J)e hi ^o the . 
 
 LaJWiitiue J)e Jdasirujc . 
 
 L'A\^eiient J)e Franor/ie . 
 
 LcjMarin De faiu//-i//e . 
 
 Le Fort Le F^J)e twdloqim . 
 
 Le S'. .Michel Jk-JUiVoIe^ 
 
 Lei*ont eliaj'ti'ain . ■ . . Pe J/or/ua d^//}ddeid/ . 
 La fraiirnisc<ioS'.ALilo. 7?e /41 fi//e-aa-lr/u/Hi7<f , 
 
 itING OF CARTAGENA IN 1 697 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 121 
 
 connoissance both de Pointis and du Casse were convinced 
 that this fort so effectually commanded the city that no at/ 
 tempt could be made to capture it until the fort had been 
 taken. It was decided to reach the fort from the direction 
 of La Popa and to mine it, but the strength of the ex/ 
 pected resistance appears to have been over/estimated, as 
 shortly after the beginning of a spirited attack upon the 
 fort, to which a feeble return fire was made, the garrison 
 took advantage of the absence of troops upon the side op/ 
 posite to the attackers, and abandoned the fort. De Pointis 
 in his report of this engagement states that he found only 
 nine killed and wounded within the fort, and that of his 
 own troops one officer and five men were killed and two 
 officers wounded. 
 
 Near the bottom of the walls of San Lazaro a narrow 
 causeway and bridge, now called the Puente Media Luna, 
 connects the mainland with the outer town or suburb 
 of Cartagena, called Getsemani, well protected on the 
 side toward the land by strong walls. The French troops 
 were advanced to this bridge, fascines built, artillery from 
 the ships landed, and on the twenty/eighth active opera/ 
 tions against the town began. Of the twenty/seven guns 
 landed, several were of the heaviest then known, and six 
 of the large ones were placed only a little more than one 
 hundred yards from the gate. During these preparations, 
 the ships, although somewhat undermanned, owing to 
 the large numbers of men engaged on shore, had en/ 
 
122 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 deavoured effectively to bombard the town from the har/ 
 hour, but had not been able to get near enough to do 
 any great damage, nor could their fire reach the bastion 
 against which the land forces were directing their efibrts. 
 After some days of more or less continuous firing by the 
 guns of lesser size, de Pointison the twenty /ninth, having 
 his larger guns now in position, appointed the thirtieth 
 for a grand combined assault by both the troops and ships. 
 Du Casse, however, on the twenty/ninth, fi"om a position 
 he had taken at the end of one of the trenches, saw clearly 
 a breach in the walls, in strengthening which the Span' 
 iards were hurriedly engaged. Upon his report and ad/ 
 vice, de Pointis decided to press the attack at that point, 
 which was done, and with such good effect that on the 
 thirtieth of April both buccaneers and French pressed 
 through, driving the Spanish troops before them toward 
 the gates of the city. The Spanish troops, however, were 
 obliged to make one more stand against the attacking 
 forces, as the Governor of Cartagena refused to open the 
 gates to them until they had attacked the French troops 
 in Getsemani. Against their forced and somewhat unex/ 
 pected assault the French troops feU back for a few mo/ 
 ments, but rallying, drove them again toward the city 
 gates, which this time were opened to them. The loss to 
 the Spanish troops upon the walls and during the retreat 
 through the streets of Getsemani is reported to have been 
 very heavy, and without counting the earlier losses which 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 123 
 
 were more difficult to determine, de Pointis stated that 
 he found over one hundred and fifty pierced with bayo/ 
 nets in this last engagement. His own losses he reported 
 to be sixty killed and rather more than that number 
 wounded. 
 
 On the first of May preparations were made for at/ 
 tacking the town itself, both from the land and from the 
 ships. On the second, the bombardment began, and after 
 three hours' firing the Governor asked for terms. At first 
 de Pointis refused, but through a friendly Indian, and also 
 by a messenger fi"om one of his officers left at Boca Chica, 
 who had been reconnoitring on the mainland, he learned 
 of the approach from the interior of two re/enforcing 
 troops of about one thousand men each ; this news made 
 de Pointis more ready to treat. 
 
 The news of the fall of Getsemani apparently reached 
 the relieving forces, who, believing it too late to render 
 effective help, kept clear of the city. On the third. Car/ 
 tagena capitulated on the following terms, in the making 
 of which du Casse appears to have tried to exercise a 
 moderating influence : 
 
 That aU public effects and office accounts should be 
 delivered to the captors. 
 
 That merchants should produce their books of ac/ 
 counts, and deliver up all money and effects held by them 
 for their correspondents. 
 
 That every inhabitant should be free to leave the town. 
 
124 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 or to remain in his dwelling. That those who retired 
 should first deliver up all their property to the captors. 
 That those who remained should declare faithfully, under 
 penalty of entire confiscation, the gold, silver, and jewels 
 in their possession ; on which condition, and upon deUv/ 
 ering up one/half, they should be permitted to retain the 
 other half and afterwards be regarded as subjects of France. 
 
 That the churches and religious houses should be spared 
 and protected. 
 
 Some days were taken in preparations for the evacua/ 
 tion by the Spanish and it was not until the sixth day after 
 the surrender that the Spanish commander. Count Ugnez 
 de los Rios, with about twenty/eight hundred men, 
 marched out through two files of the French soldiers and 
 seamen and the buccaneers. 
 
 It has been alleged, particularly by Spanish historians, 
 that the Governor of Cartagena acted traitorously in mak/ 
 ing this capitulation, and that he was bribed by de Pointis. 
 There does not appear, however, to be any evidence to 
 substantiate this. 
 
 The problem to secure possession of the large amount 
 of silver in the town and at the same time to prevent 
 unwarranted pillaging by the troops, especially by the 
 buccaneers, was a serious one. De Pointis recognizing 
 the control which du Casse had proved himself to have 
 over the buccaneers, and appreciating too the upright/ 
 ness of his character, appointed du Casse Governor of 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 125 
 
 Cartagena. Notwithstanding all precautions, however, a 
 considerable amount of private looting both by officers 
 and men took place. 
 
 For the orderly, and, so far as possible, certain way of 
 securing the treasure held in the city, de Pointis publicly 
 declared that one/tenth part of whatever was honestly 
 brought to him would be returned to the proprietors, 
 and also a tenth part given to the informers of all that 
 should be secured by information given of those who had 
 not declared their effects. This expedient appears to have 
 been particularly successful, although the total amount 
 received was less than had been expected. The news of 
 the expedition had been heralded along the coast suffi/ 
 ciently in advance for much of the valuable property to 
 have been removed before the approach of the French fleet. 
 
 The amount of gold and silver stated by de Pointis to 
 have been collected amounted to between eight and nine 
 millions, whether crowns or livres, de Pointis does not 
 say. Du Casse believed the amount secured to be above 
 twenty million livres. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that this sum was collected 
 without friction nor without the exercise of that rigid 
 authority which the possession of absolute power gave de 
 Pointis ; on the whole, however, reasonable moderation 
 appears to have been used, and the stipulations of the ca/ 
 pitulation treaty adhered to with as much care as the cir/ 
 cumstances made possible. 
 
126 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 The climate, to which the troops were unused, supple' 
 mented by their excesses, brought on an epidemic of a 
 contagious distemper, so that in six days' time eight hun^ 
 dred men were affected, a large proportion of whom died. < 
 The losses occasioned by this distemper and from other 
 causes made the question of manning the ships for depar/ 
 ture a difficult one, and raised new differences between 
 de Pointis and du Casse, which were augmented by dis' 
 putes over the sharing of the booty. 
 
 Under the provisions of the agreement made before 
 leaving Cape Tiberon, du Casse claimed for the bucca/ 
 neers and himself a one^quarter part of the eight miUions. 
 To learn from de Pointis that under the arrangement with 
 the King, a tenth part only of the first million and a thir/ 
 tieth part of the sum remaining, was all that could be 
 allotted to the whole body of men, was a great disappoint/ 
 ment to him, and at once brought about almost open hos/ 
 tiKties. Instead of the two millions they had expected, 
 the share allotted to the buccaneers was actually forty 
 thousand crowns. The rage of du Casse was intense, and 
 but for the fact that de Pointis had already put the treasure 
 aboard his ships and arranged to man them without help 
 from the buccaneers, serious trouble might not have been 
 averted. In doing this, de Pointis was forced, on account 
 of his great losses in men, to sail with a lesser fleet, aban/ 
 doning some of the undesirable ships, and leaving others 
 for the use of the buccaneers. 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 127 
 
 Distressed as he was by this unsatisfactory settlement, 
 and by the feeling that he had been treated unfairly, du 
 Casse appears to have done his best to prevent disturb<' 
 ances, and kept back the statement of the accounting from 
 his men until they were themselves all embarked. On the 
 thirtieth of May, on the eve of sailing, de Pointis was 
 stricken with the distemper, and giving over the command 
 to Vice' Admiral Levy, ordered him to steer for Cape 
 Tiberon. Meanwhile, the ships had completed the ruin 
 of the fort at Boca Chica, and on the thirty/first the squad/ 
 ron put to sea. 
 
 Upon the departure of the French ships and the full 
 realization of the small allotment of plunder they had re/ 
 ceived, the buccaneers first wished to follow and capture 
 the flag/ship of de Pointis, and might indeed have tried 
 and possibly accomplished their purpose had not one 
 among them suggested that they immediately return and 
 again plunder Cartagena. This resolution was made with/ 
 out consulting du Casse, who had sailed on the "Pont/ 
 " chartrain," with the determination of going first to Santo 
 Domingo and then to France to demand redress from the 
 King. When he learned the purpose of the buccaneers, 
 he sent back orders for them to desist ; but the possibility 
 of immediate success overbalanced the weight of his influ/ 
 ence. On the first of June both de Pointis and du Casse 
 had sailed, and the buccaneers returned and took posses/ 
 sion of Cartagena without the possibility of resistance, de/ 
 
128 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 manding five million livres as the price of their renewed 
 departure. In four days this sum was nearly raised, show/ 
 ing that the more orderly methods of de Pointis had not 
 wholly stripped the town of its wealth. 
 
 After a stop of about three days the buccaneers again 
 sailed, maidng up a squadron of nine vessels. When less 
 than one hundred miles on their course toward Santo 
 Domingo, they were sighted by an English and Dutch 
 fleet which had been sent out to intercept de Pointis. The 
 French squadron had, however, been able to escape them 
 on account of superior sailing, but the buccaneers were 
 less fortunate, two of their richest ships were taken and 
 two others driven on shore. On its way to France the 
 squadron under de Pointis, who early recovered his health, 
 barely escaped capture several times, but finally arrived at 
 Brest, on the twenty/ninth of August, 1697. 
 
 The news of the victory at Cartagena, as has been al/ 
 ready noted, materially helped to end the war, and within 
 three weeks after the arrival home of the fleet, peace was 
 declared. 
 
 The seal of official sanction was not only stamped upon 
 this expedition at its inception, but the royal approval of 
 the employment of the filibusters and buccaneers was 
 given at its close. Du Casse was decorated and thanked 
 by the French King. 
 
 A suit was brought in France on behalf of the bucca/ 
 neers and the others who had engaged in the expedi/ 
 
ADMIRALS DE POINTIS AND DU CASSE 129 
 
 tion under du Casse, and they were finally awarded the 
 sum of four hundred thousand livres.* It is said, how/ 
 ever, that the bulk of this was consumed in expenses and 
 lost through the dishonesty of those who handled it. 
 
 * The Minister of Marine by direction of the King wrote to du Casse : 
 "qu'il lui permettait de porter la croix de Saint Louis, quoiqu'il nefut pasre9U ; 
 " que Sa Majeste avail fait rendre justice aux habitants et filibustiers, que par la 
 " convention faite entre le chevalier de GallifFet et les interesses de rarmement, 
 " il leur reviendrait quatre cent mille livres, suivant 1' arret du Conseil d'Etat, 
 " dont copie lui etait envoyee, que partie de cette somme serait delivree en ar- 
 "gent, partie en marchandises, munitions etnegres." 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 ADMIRAL VERNON 
 
 THE somewhat uncertain peace brought about in Eu^ 
 rope in 1736, largely through the efforts of Sir 
 Robert Walpole, served to strengthen the family compact 
 between the Bourbon Courts of France and Spain and to 
 give time for the increase of the naval forces of these 
 countries, rather than to encourage, as Walpole had hoped, 
 a continued tranquillity. 
 
 The great sea^power of England had made possible 
 the development of a large English trade with Spanish 
 America during the alliance of England and Spain in the 
 war against France. This growing commercial supremacy 
 of England was naturally unwelcome to Spain, and both 
 by enforcing the limitations placed upon trading, inserted 
 in the Treaty of Utrecht, and by annojring restrictions in 
 the Spanish ports of America, Philip endeavoured to re/ 
 duce to almost a disappearing point English intercourse 
 with the Spanish colonies. 
 
 English trading vessels, always at that time partially 
 armed, had frequent encounters with Spanish vessels, and 
 on neither side were the agreed/upon stipulations duly 
 respected. Walpole, more prudent than the advenmrous 
 traders of England believed consistent with the honour 
 of his country, vainly tried to hold down the clamourers 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 131 
 
 for war in Parliament. The final event which made the 
 efforts of Walpole wholly powerless for peace had its basis 
 in the seizure off the Spanish Main, by the ship " Isabel," 
 of an English merchant ship loaded with contraband 
 stuffs, under Captain Jenicins. The commander of the 
 " Isabel " appears to have treated Captain Jenkins with 
 unusual cruelty, and before releasing him cut off one of 
 his ears. In the spring of 1 739, actually some years after 
 the event, there was displayed, amid great excitement, to 
 the members of the House of Commons, what may have 
 been the mangled ear of Robert Jenkins. The pressure 
 was too great, Walpole had to give way, and on the fif/ 
 teenth of June, 1 739, war was declared against Spain.* 
 
 * DECLARATION OF WAR IN 1739 
 
 Trusty and well Beloved — We greet you Well — 
 
 Whereas several unjust seizures have been made and depredations carried on 
 in the West Indies by Spanish Guarda Costas and Ships acting under the Com- 
 mission of the King of Spain or his Governors contrary to the Treatys subsisting 
 between us and the Crown of Spain and to the Law of Nations to the Great 
 prejudice of the lawfiill Trade & Commerce of our subjects; and many cru- 
 eltys and barbaritys have been exercised on the Persons of such our subjects 
 whose vessels have been so seized by the said Spanish Guarda Costas; And 
 whereas frequent complaint has been made to the Court of Spain of these unjust 
 practices and no satisfaction or Redress been procured ; and whereas a Conven- 
 tion for makeing reparation to our subjects for the losses sustained by them on 
 account of the unjust seizure & Captures above-mentioned was concluded be- 
 tween Us and the King of Spain on the I4thday of January last, N.S., by which 
 convention it was stipulated that a certain sum of money should be paid at Lon- 
 don within a Term specified in the sd. Convention as a balance due on the part 
 of Spain to the Crown and subjects of Great Britain which Term did expire on 
 the 2 5th day of May last and the paymt of the said sum agreed by the sd Con- 
 vention has not been made according to the Stipulation for that purpose, by 
 
132 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 Among the members of Parliament concerned in this 
 demonstration and violently opposed to the Ministry, as 
 well as equally violently urging a war of reprisal against 
 Spain, was Captain Edward Vernon, a naval officer, who 
 urged that an immediate expedition be sent out against 
 Puerto Bello ; he vigorously asserted that it could not only 
 be captured, but pledged himself to take it with six ships 
 
 which means the Convention above-mentioned has been manifestly violated & 
 Broke by the King of Spain and our Subjects remain without any Satisfaction 
 or reparation for the many Great & Grievous losses sustained by them : We 
 have tho't fit for ye vindicating the Honour of Our Crown & for procuring Rep- 
 aration and Satisfaction for our Injured subjects to order Reprisals to be made 
 upon the Crovsfn & subjects of Spain. And We do therefore by virtue of these 
 presents authorize & impower you to issue forth and grant Commissions of 
 Marque & Reprisals to any of our loveing subjects or others who shall apply to 
 you for the same and whom you shall deem fitly qualified in that behalf. For 
 Armeing and fiting out Private Ships of War for the apprehending, seizing and 
 taking the Ships, vessels & goods belonging to the King of Spain, his vassals & 
 subjects or any inhabiting within his Countrys Territories & Dominions in the 
 West Indies. 
 
 Provided always that before any such Commission or Commissions be Issued 
 forth, security be given upon such Commission as hath been used in such cases. 
 And you shall insert in every Commission to be so granted by you all such 
 clauses and give such Directions & Instructions to the Person or Persons to 
 whom you shall grant such Commissions as have been usual in cases of the like 
 nature. And for so doing this shall be your warrant. And so we bid you fare- 
 well. 
 
 Given at our Court at Kensington the fifteenth day of June 1 7 3 9, in the thir- 
 teenth year of our Reign. 
 
 By his Majesty's Command 
 
 HoLLis Newcastle 
 
 Superscribed "To our Trusty & Well Beloved Jonathan [Belcher] Esq., 
 "our Capt. General & Govt in chief of our Provinces of the Massa. Bay and 
 " NewHampshire in America & in his Absence to our Commander in Chief 
 " or to the President of Council of our said Province for the time being." 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 133 
 
 only. In order more clearly to appreciate the bearing of 
 the influence of Vernon upon the events of this time, and 
 more particularly upon the expedition associated with his 
 name, it is necessary to glance at the record of his previ/ 
 ous career. He appears to have had an amount of influ/ 
 ence in the House of Commons, and a popular favour 
 outside, which made it impossible for the minister to 
 whom he was opposed to ignore either the plans he pro/ 
 posed or his own offer to command the expedition. 
 
 Edward Vernon was the second son of James Vernon, 
 Secretary of State to William III, and was born in West/ 
 minster the twelfth of November, 1684. After a thorough 
 study of the classics and the mathematical sciences, he was 
 allowed by his family to yield to a natural taste for the 
 sea, and entered the navy in 1701. He was with Admiral 
 Hopson in the " Torbay" at Vigo, the twelfth of October, 
 1702, and was second lieutenant on the «' Resolution" in 
 the expedition against Hispaniola commanded by Captain 
 Walker. Afterwards he served with distinction with Ad/ 
 miral Sir George Rook and with Sir Cloudesley Shovel. 
 His first command as captain was of the " Jersey," in 
 which he was sent to Port Royal, Jamaica, and for three 
 years had a successful career on the West Indian station, 
 capturing many prizes. This was followed by many years 
 of more important commands, chiefly in the Baltic, inter/ 
 spersed with intervals of serving in the House of Com/ 
 mons. It was the belief in England that if Puerto Bello 
 
134 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 and Cartagena were taken, the Spanish power in the New 
 World would be irredeemably broken, and shortly after 
 the declaration of war Vernon was given a commission 
 as Vice/ Admiral of the Blue, and placed in command of 
 a squadron of ships of war to be sent to the West Indies. 
 His instructions were "To destroy the Spanish settle/ 
 "ments in the West Indies and to distress their shipping 
 •' by any method whatever." 
 
 The squadron consisted of the "Burford" of seventy 
 guns and five hundred men, "Lenox" of seventy guns 
 and four hundred and eighty men, "Elizabeth" of sev/ 
 enty guns and four hundred and eighty men, " Kent" of 
 seventy guns and four hundred and eighty men, " Worces/ 
 "ter" of sixty guns and four hundred men, "Strafford" 
 of sixty guns and four hundred men, "Princess Louisa" 
 of sixty guns and four hundred and twenty men, " Nor/ 
 "wich" of fifty guns and three hundred men, and 
 "Pearl" of forty guns and two hundred and forty men, 
 in all nine ships carrying a total of five hundred and fifty 
 guns and thirty/seven hundred men. 
 
 Admiral Vernon sailed from Portsmouth the twenty/ 
 third of July, 1739, and after some delays and digressions, 
 occasioned chiefly by an unsuccessful search for a squad/ 
 ron of the enemy near the Spanish coast, arrived at Port 
 Royal, Jamaica, the twelfth of October. With this as a 
 base the Admiral proposed to attack Puerto Bello and Car/ 
 tagena, with such of his squadron as he had remaining, 
 
_ "kardmgP _ 
 
 ADMIRAL VERNON 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 135 
 
 several vessels having been detached for special service 
 to harass the Spanish merchantmen. The ships remaining 
 were the "Burford," "Princess Louisa," "Worcester," 
 "Strafford," and "Norwich," and to these the Admiral 
 was able to add at Port Royal the " Hampton Court" of 
 seventy guns and four hundred and ninety /five men, and 
 "Sheerness" of twenty guns and three hundred men, to/ 
 gether with two hundred marines obtained from Gov/ 
 ernor Trelawney. 
 
 On the fifth of November this squadron set sail, the 
 " Sheerness" being sent as a scout in the direction of Car/ 
 tagena, while the rest headed for Puerto BeUo, off which 
 port they lay to on the twentieth of that month. On the 
 twenty/first he attacked the Iron Fort, so called, at the 
 harbour's entrance, with his fuU strength at close range, 
 and with such vigour that after a short but spirited re/ 
 sistance it surrendered. The next morning while instruc/ 
 tions were being given to govern the attack upon the re/ 
 maining fortresses of San Jeronimo and Gloria Castle, a 
 boat with a flag of truce came to the Admiral's ship, the 
 result of which was a speedy capitulation on the follow/ 
 ing terms dictated by Admiral Vernon : 
 
 " Articles of Capitulation granted by Edward Vernon, 
 "Esq., Vice/ Admiral of the Blue and Commander/in/ 
 "Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels in the West 
 "Indies, and Commodore Brown; to Don Francisio Mar/ 
 " tinez de Retey, Governor of Porto BeUo, and Don Fran/ 
 
136 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "cisio de Albaroa, Commandant of the Guarda Costas at 
 "the same place, the 22nd November, 1739, O.S. 
 
 " ist Article. That the garrison be allowed to march 
 "out, as desired, upon condition the King of Great Brit/ 
 " ain's troops be put into possession of Gloria Castle, be/ 
 "fore four of the clock this evening, and the garrison to 
 "march out by ten of the clock to/morrow morning. 
 
 "That the inhabitants may either remove or remain, 
 " under the promise of security for themselves and their 
 " effects. 
 
 " 2nd. That the Spanish soldiers may have a guard, if 
 "they think it necessary. 
 
 " 3rd. They may carry off two cannons mounted with 
 ' ' ten charges of powder for each, and their match lighted. 
 
 " 4th. The gates of the Gloria Castle must absolutely 
 " be in possession of the King our master's troops by four 
 " of the clock, and the Spanish garrison shall remain in all 
 " safety for their persons or effects till the appointed time 
 "of their marching out, and to carry with them provi/ 
 "sions and ammunition necessary for their safety. 
 
 " 5th. That the ships with their apparel and arms, be 
 "absolutely delivered up to the use of his Brittanic Maj/ 
 "esty; but that all the officers, both soldiers and crew, 
 "shall have three days allowed them to retire with all 
 " their personal efiects ; only one officer being admitted on 
 ' ' board such ship and vessel, to take possession for the King 
 "our master, and see this article strictly complied with. 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 137 
 
 " 6th. That provided the Articles above mentioned are 
 " strictly complied with, and that possession be given of 
 " Castle St. Jeronimo in the same manner as is stipulated 
 "for the Castle Gloria, then the Clergy, the Churches 
 "and Town shall be protected and preserved in all their 
 " immunities and properties, and that all prisoners already 
 "taken shall be set at liberty before our leaving the port. 
 
 " Given under our hands on board his Majesty's ship 
 " BuRFORD in Porto Bello harbour, the 22nd day of No/ 
 "vember, 1739, O.S. 
 
 " E. Vernon 
 "Chas. Brown" 
 
 As a result of this capitulation, the English fleet se/ 
 cured two Spanish men/of/war of twenty guns each, one 
 other vessel, forty brass cannons, four brass mortars, eight/ 
 een smaller brass guns, a quantity of ammunition, and 
 about ten thousand dollars. The fortifications and some 
 eighty iron cannons were rendered useless before the de/ 
 parture of the squadron, which shortly returned to Ja/ 
 maica. 
 
 As had been predicted, Puerto Bello was taken with six 
 ships, and when the news, which had been despatched 
 to London, reached there, the thanks of both Houses of 
 Parliament were voted to the Admiral. 
 
 The English reports of this victory state the number 
 of men taken to have been five officers and thirty/five 
 
138 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 men «'out of three hundred, the rest being either killed 
 "or wounded or having made their escape " ; the Spanish 
 accounts, however, declare that Puerto Bello was defended 
 by a total of thirty men and five cannons, and Spanish 
 historians point with amusement to the celebration of this 
 victory in London. The actual record of the number of 
 cannons taken away, however, and other circumstances, 
 make it appear improbable that the Spanish version is 
 strictly correct, although it is equally probable that the 
 English account exaggerates the strength of the Spanish 
 garrison. 
 
 Whatever may have been the exact facts, the nation 
 was intoxicated with joy at the news of the victory. That 
 the forts were only partially manned was not known ; the 
 simple fact that Vernon's boast had been made good and 
 Puerto Bello taken with six ships was the glorious news 
 and all that was needed to make of him a popular hero. 
 Hundreds of different medals were struck to commemo' 
 rate the event.* Vernon was the idol of the hour. 
 
 On the twenty/fifth of February, 1 740, Admiral Ver/ 
 non, after refitting his ships, sailed again from Jamaica 
 for the Spanish Main, and from the sixth to the ninth of 
 March bombarded Cartagena, doing some damage, but 
 also receiving enough injuries to his smaller craft to make 
 it expedient to sail to Puerto Bello to effect repairs. On the 
 
 * Admiral Vernon Medals, 1739-1742, by Dr. Malcolm Storer, Proc. 
 Mass. Hist. Soc. April, 191 9. 
 
of ti)o irarbonr,'Jbwii and ForLs of 
 J'O/r/'O BJJLLO 
 
 (iakdi by Jul^'aid Yenioii J'^lif. 
 r/f/: . //A ////,'. /z oswwBLf'j- 
 
 on ilirji'or\o\vn,|MT r.vi, Willi Six Men of War oiilv,) 
 l)r;i«n b\' LiciHcii' J'hili]) J)ur"1I : 
 Is most [Iiiml)ly Iiifcjibcd lo ihc 
 
 R' Hon"' .s//,' ( //. //^yvy- (■ //.:/ oj^ji 
 
 YwSX \jm\ CoiiunifsioiuT of tfic Admiralty. 
 
 
 1 
 
 

 
 '^^^^2..;^ 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 139 
 
 twenty^second of March he attacked Chagres, lying off 
 that place and keeping up a moderate but continual bom/ 
 bardment, until on the twenty^fourth the garrison capit/ 
 ulated. The ships engaged in the bombardment were the 
 "Strafford," "Norwich," "Falmouth," and "Princess 
 " Louisa." After seizing a considerable quantity of goods 
 of value from the custom-house stores, and taking on 
 board all serviceable brass cannons and other guns, the 
 custom/house was destroyed by fire, and on the thirtieth 
 the squadron sailed again for Jamaica. 
 
 That the strength of the Cartagena fortifications was 
 fully realized is clear from the fact that before he again 
 assaulted that place. Admiral Vernon remained almost 
 constantly for months at Jamaica, re/enforcing his squadron 
 with ships and men. Late in the year his squadron was 
 joined by a number of store ships under convoy, and by 
 transports with troops. In January, 1 741, he was further 
 re/enforced by a squadron under Rear /Admiral Sir Chalo/ 
 ner Ogle, consisting, with those already arrived, of thirty 
 ships of the line and some ninety other vessels, the ships 
 manned by fifteen thousand sailors. The land troops sent 
 out from England amounted to about twelve thousand, 
 these latter being augmented at Jamaica by about thirty/ 
 six hundred troops from the American colonies.* 
 
 * These American troops were made up as follows : from Massachusetts, fire 
 companies ; Rhode Island, two companies ; Connecticut, two companies ; 
 New York, five companies ; New Jersey, three companies ; Pennsylvania, 
 eight companies ; Maryland, three companies ; Virginia, four companies j 
 
140 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 The command of the land troops had been given to 
 Major/General Lord Cathcart, who unfortunately died be/ 
 fore reaching Jamaica, and the command fell upon Brig/ 
 adier/General Thomas Wentworth, who appears to have 
 been particularly unsuited for the great responsibility 
 thrust upon him. 
 
 The causes which led to the later practical failure of 
 this expedition against Cartagena cannot be attributed to 
 the lack of proper preparations or equipments, nor to the 
 haste employed ; indeed, the expedition appears to have 
 been planned with the most careful regard to all details. 
 Vessels were engaged in scout service to determine as 
 clearly as possible the whereabouts of the French squad/ 
 ron under Admiral the Marquis d'Antin, and careful ob/ 
 servations had been made of the fortifications about Car/ 
 tagena, the prevalent weather conditions, currents, etc., 
 as well as the depths of water ofFthe town and at the Boca 
 Chica forts. The instructions given to the fleet on sailing 
 from Jamaica divided the fighting vessels into three di/ 
 visions, one under Vice/Admiral Vernon (Commander /in/ 
 Chief), one under Rear/ Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle, and 
 one under Commodore Lestock. The fleet comprised 
 some thirty line/of/battle ships, twenty/two frigates, and 
 a large miscellaneous squadron of transports, fire/ships, 
 
 North Carolina, four companies. Among other American officers was Colonel 
 Laurence Washington, and it was on account of his association with Admiral 
 Vernon that Mount Vernon subsequently received its name. 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 
 
 141 
 
 bomb/ketches* and tenders, in all one hundred and 
 twenty/four sail.-j- Not unnaturally the rumours of these 
 
 * Small light draught vessels carrying one or more guns or mortars. 
 
 ■f Sailing and Fighting Instructions given to the Fleet on their 
 
 Sailing from Jamaica, by Edward Vernon, Esq^, Vice-Admiral 
 
 OF the Blue, and Commander-in-Chief of all His Majesty's Ships 
 
 and Vessels in the West Indies 
 
 Line of Battle 
 
 The Princess Amelia to lead with the Starboard, and the Suffolk with 
 the Larboard Tacks on Board. But if I shall find it necessary from the differ- 
 ent Motions of the Enemy, to change our Order of Battle, to have those who 
 are now appointed to lead on the Starboard Tack, to continue to lead the 
 fleet on the Larboard Tack on our going about, or those now to lead on 
 the Larboard Tack, on the contrary to do the same, as the Exigency of 
 the Service may require ; I will, with my Signal for Tacking, hoist a Dutch 
 Jack on the Flag Staff, under the Union Flag, the usual Signal for Tacking when 
 they are to continue to lead the Fleets on their respective Tacks, accordingly. 
 Rear Admiral of the Blue, Sir Chaloner Ogle 
 
 Gunt 
 80 
 60 . 
 60 
 80 
 
 80 
 
 80 
 60 
 
 5° 
 60 
 60 
 
 Guns 
 70 
 60 
 60 
 60 
 So 
 So 
 
 80 
 60 
 60 
 60 
 70 
 
 Frigates 
 
 Rates 
 
 Ships Names 
 
 Captains 
 
 Men 
 
 
 3d. 
 
 Princess Amelia 
 
 Hemmington 
 
 600 
 
 
 4th. 
 
 Windsor 
 
 Berkley 
 
 400 
 
 Experiment 
 
 
 York 
 
 Coates 
 
 400 
 
 Sheerness 
 
 3d. 
 
 Norfolk 
 
 Graves 
 
 600 
 
 Vesuvius Firesbip 
 
 
 Russel 
 
 Sir C. Ogle 
 
 1 ' 
 
 61S 
 
 Terrible Bomb 
 
 
 
 Capt. Norris ' 1 
 
 
 Phaeton 
 
 
 Shrewsbury 
 
 Townsend 
 
 600 
 
 Goodley 
 
 4th 
 
 Rippon 
 
 JoUey 
 
 400 
 
 
 
 Litchfield 
 
 Cleveland 
 
 300 
 
 
 
 Jersey 
 
 Lawrence 
 
 400 
 
 
 
 Tilbury 
 
 Long 
 
 400 
 
 
 Vice-Admiral of the 
 
 Blue, Vernon 
 
 
 Frigates 
 
 Rales 
 
 Ships Names 
 
 Captains 
 
 Men 
 
 Squirrel 
 
 3d. 
 
 Orford 
 
 Lt. Aug. Fitzroy 
 
 480 
 
 Shoreham 
 
 4th. 
 
 Princess Louisa 
 
 Stapleton 
 
 400 
 
 Eleanor 
 
 
 Augusta 
 
 Dennison 
 
 400 
 
 Seahorse 
 
 
 Worcester 
 
 Perry Mayne 
 
 400 
 
 Strumbolo 
 
 3d. 
 
 Chichester 
 
 Robert Trevor 
 
 600 
 
 Success 
 
 
 Princess Caroline 
 
 Adm. Vernon 
 Capt. Watson 
 
 620 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vulcan 
 
 
 Torbay 
 
 Gascoigne 
 
 600 
 
 Cumberland 
 
 4th 
 
 Strafford 
 
 Tho. Trevor 
 
 400 
 
 Alderrey Bomb 
 
 
 Weymouth 
 
 Knowles 
 
 400 
 
 Pompey 
 
 
 Deptford 
 
 Moyston 
 
 400 
 
 Brig. Tender 
 
 3d. 
 
 Burford 
 
 GrifFen 
 
 480 
 
142 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 preparations for the attack on Cartagena, reached that 
 place weeks before the news became a certainty, through 
 
 
 
 Commodore Lestock 
 
 '/ Di'vision 
 
 
 
 Frigata 
 
 Satis 
 
 Ships Names 
 
 Captains 
 
 Men 
 
 Guns 
 
 
 4th. 
 
 Defiance 
 
 John Trevor 
 
 400 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 Dunkirk 
 
 Cooper 
 
 400 
 
 60 
 
 Astre» 
 
 
 Lyon 
 
 Cotterel 
 
 400 
 
 60 
 
 Wolf Sloop 
 
 3d. 
 
 Prince Frederic 
 
 Ld. A. Beauclerc 
 
 480 
 
 70 
 
 Aetna 
 
 
 Boyne 
 
 Com. Lestock 
 Capt. Colby 
 
 £00 
 
 80 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Firebrand 
 
 
 Hampton Court 
 
 Dent 
 
 480 
 
 70 
 
 Virgin Queen 
 
 4th. 
 
 Falmouth 
 
 Douglass 
 
 300 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 Montague 
 
 Chambers 
 
 300 
 
 60 
 
 
 3d. 
 
 Suffolk 
 
 Davers 
 
 480 
 
 70 
 
 Signals 
 When the Admiral would speak with the Captain of any Ship under-men- 
 tioned, he will raise a pendant, as against the Ship's name, and of the Colour 
 set above it; if a Lieutenant, the same Signal with a Weft of the Ensign; 
 and if a Boat without an Officer, the Weft will be hoisted but half Staff up. 
 Memorandum, when I would have any of the Fireships, Bombs or Tenders, 
 taken in tow at the same Time I make the Signal for the Ship that is to tow, 
 and for the Ship that is to be tow'd, I will hoist up a Flag Blue and White, 
 at the Flag-staff of the Main-top-mast-head. 
 
 Red 
 
 White 
 
 Blue 
 
 Yellow 
 
 
 
 Boyne 
 
 Pss. Amelia 
 
 Chichester 
 
 Terrible 
 
 Main 1 
 
 
 Norfolk 
 
 Suffolk 
 
 Shrewsbury 
 
 Elenor 
 
 Fore ■ 
 
 • top-Mast 
 
 Worcester 
 
 Lyon 
 
 Defiance 
 
 Etna 
 
 Mizen 
 
 head 
 
 Tilbury 
 
 Squirrel 
 
 Torbay 
 
 Firebrand 
 
 Starbd f Main-topsail 
 
 Windsor 
 
 Pss. Louisa 
 
 Falmouth 
 
 Vesuvius 
 
 Larbd 
 
 Yard-Arm 
 
 Burford 
 
 P. Frederick 
 
 Strafford 
 
 Phaeton 
 
 Starbd 
 Larbd 
 
 Fore-topsail 
 
 Montague 
 
 Orford 
 
 Weymouth 
 
 Strombolo 
 
 Yard-arm 
 
 Shoreham 
 
 Augusta 
 
 Pss. Caroline 
 
 Success 
 
 Starbd 
 Larbd 
 
 \ Mizen-topaail 
 
 Hamptoncourt 
 
 Dunkirk 
 
 Jersey 
 
 Vulcan 
 
 Yard-arm 
 
 Litchfield 
 
 Lud. Castle 
 
 Deptford 
 
 Cumberland 
 
 Starbd 
 
 * Main-yard- 
 
 Experiment 
 
 Rippon 
 
 York 
 
 Alderney 
 
 Larbd 
 
 \ arm 
 
 Sea Horse 
 
 Sheerness 
 
 Russell 
 
 BrigTender 
 
 Starbd 
 
 * Fore-yard- 
 
 Astrea 
 
 Wolf 
 
 
 Virgin Qu. 
 
 Larbd 
 
 ) arm 
 
 
 
 
 Pompey 
 
 Starbd 
 
 1 Cross-jack- 
 
 
 
 
 Good ley 
 
 Larbd 
 
 1 yard-arm 
 
 When the Ships are in Line of Battle, the Frigates, Fireships, Bombs and 
 Tenders, are to keep on the opposite Side of the Enemy, when I make the 
 Signal in Line of Battle, for the Van of the Fleet to tack first in order to gain 
 the Windward of the Enemy, then each Ship is to tack in the Head -most Ship's 
 weak, for losing no Ground. For all other Signals they are referr'd to the 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 143 
 
 the definite reports of a French ship which appears to 
 have been sent to Cartagena by the French Admiral ex/ 
 pressly to warn the inhabitants of the impending attack. 
 During the last week in January, 17 4.1, the three di/ 
 visions sailed from Port Royal, a few days apart, effecting 
 a junction at sea on the thirty/first, and making Cape 
 Tiberon, on the western extremity of Hispaniola (now 
 the island of Haiti and San Domingo) on the seventh of 
 February. After several days of careful reconnoitring to 
 make certain whether or not the French fleet had sailed 
 for Europe as reported, the three divisions came to an/ 
 chor in the bays near the cape. On the twenty/fifth of 
 February the fleet left for Cartagena under easy sail, and 
 came to anchor on the fourth of March a few leagues to 
 windward (that is, to the eastward) of the town of Car/ 
 tagena, between that place and Punta Canoas. During 
 several days detailed preparations for the attack were 
 made, and various councils of war held, one of which 
 settled the important matters relative to the distribution 
 of the expected booty, and one confirming the Admiral's 
 plan of attack. Great care seems to have been taken to 
 obtain as complete plans as possible of the forts at Boca 
 Chica, and careful soundings were made by some of the 
 smaller vessels all along the Tierra Bomba shore and at 
 the entrance to the harbour. A feint at landing on the 
 
 General printed Sailing and Fighting Instructions, and such other additional 
 instructions as you received from me. 
 
144 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 shore side of the town was made by some of the smaller 
 vessels, apparently for the purpose, a hope to some extent 
 realized, of engaging the attention of the enemy from the 
 real landing/point at Boca Chica. 
 
 On the morning of the ninth, Sir Chaloner Ogle, with 
 his division, moved forward to the attack, followed by 
 Admiral Vernon with his division and all the transports, 
 leaving the division under Commander Lestock at anchor. 
 As the ships moving to leeward approached Boca Chica, 
 the small fort of Chamba (on Tierra Bomba, east of Boca 
 Chica Castle) fired a few shots, but was soon silenced and 
 deserted. Three of the eighty /gun ships were anchored 
 close to the forts of San Jago and San Felipe, and main/ 
 tained a very hot fire, so that these forts were soon de/ 
 serted ; the evening of that day grenadiers were landed 
 and took possession of them without meeting any resist/ 
 ance. Also during the evening, from the bomb/ketches 
 and from those of the ships which could comfortably 
 approach, a continual fire was kept up against Boca Chica 
 Castle, which was returned with some spirit, under cover 
 of which firing troops and artillery were landed during 
 the night and next forenoon. The troops were encamped 
 under the protection of a woody growth near, but appar/ 
 ently somewhat protected from, Boca Chica Castle. It 
 was during and immediately after the .landing of these 
 troops that the serious differences of opinion between 
 General Wentworth and Admiral Vernon began to arise, 
 
HARBOR AND BAY 
 
 GARmCEN^ 
 
 = IN 1741 
 
 CARIAGESa. 
 
 Geograpf>/ca/ Miks. 
 
 I V* 'k '/♦ o 
 
f-r. 
 
 iBon 
 
 -^z 
 
 fhsaCaba'm. O 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 145 
 
 differences which afterwards were to prove to a large ex/ 
 tent the cause of the failure of the expedition, and which 
 served at once to create a most unfortunate feeling of an/ 
 tagonism between the sea and land forces. The Admiral 
 complained of the delays of the troops to press the attack 
 upon the castle, and on the eleventh he and Sir Chaloner 
 Ogle joined in a letter to General Wentworth urging imme/ 
 diate action. That delays somewhat difficult to understand 
 did take place is evident from the fact that on the nine/ 
 teenth, owing to complaints from General Wentworth, 
 several vessels undertook successfully, but with some dif/ 
 ficulty, to silence the Baradera Battery on the opposite 
 side of the harbour entrance, the fire from which reached 
 the encampment of the troops, and on the twenty/first 
 of March, at a council of war of the naval commanders, 
 complaint as to the slow progress of the troops was for/ 
 mally made. Finally, on the days from the twenty/fourth 
 to the twenty/sixth, by the co/operation of the vessels 
 and troops, both Boca Chica Castle and the San Jose for^ 
 tress were taken, as was also one of the Spanish ships. 
 The San Jose fortress appears to have been almost deserted 
 when taken, and it is probable that this fort was not ac/ 
 lively defended. That the defence of Boca Chica Castle 
 itself was gallant and spirited is certain from the clear rec/ 
 ord of the extensive operations against it. Before it was 
 taken, however, the defenders had largely made their 
 escape, and had found time to partially block the channel 
 
146 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 up the bay by sinking the Spanish ships "Africa" and 
 " San Carlos," and to burn the ship " San Felipe " on the 
 shore. 
 
 During the next few days the fleet was able to enter 
 the bay; the batteries at the sniall Passo Caballos en/ 
 trance were easily destroyed and a safe anchorage estab/ 
 lished. The forts at Boca Chica were adequately garri/ 
 soned, the troops re/embarked, and preparations were 
 made for the real attack upon the city. 
 
 The Spanish Viceroy, Lieutenant/General Don Sebas/ 
 tian de Eslaba, was resident at Cartagena, and the Gov/ 
 ernor of the city was Don Bias de Leso. According to 
 contemporary Spanish accounts, the forces at the disposal 
 of the Viceroy and Governo- were eleven hundred vet/ 
 eran soldiers, three hundred militia, six hundred In/ 
 dians, and two companies of negroes and free mulattoes. 
 The naval forces in the harbour were six ships with six 
 hundred seamen and four hundred soldiers, making about 
 four thousand men in all. These are probably accurate 
 estimates of the actual Spanish forces, and it is certain 
 that the strength of the defence of the place was due to 
 its well/built fortifications rather than to the number of 
 its defenders, whose numbers were undoubtedly much 
 fewer than the attacking forces. The Viceroy had ample 
 notice of the coming of the attacking expedition, and 
 concentrated his small forces at important points on the 
 walls of the city itself and at San Lazaro, a strong for/ 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 147 
 
 tress, built on a slight elevation, outside the walls, and 
 guarding the approach to the city from the land side. 
 The strategic importance of this fortress, and a general 
 idea of the walls and other fortifications of Cartagena, 
 can best be obtained by a glance at the maps. 
 
 It was considered essential by the attacking forces to 
 occupy first San Lazaro, and indeed if this had been accom/ 
 plished it is probable that the remaining Spanish troops 
 would have been insufficient to make any long effective 
 resistance to an entrance into the city. At a council of 
 war held on board the "Princess Caroline," on the thir/ 
 tieth of March, in Cartagena Harbour, in which the divi/ 
 sion commanders of both the sea and land forces took part, 
 it was resolved to land the troops at a convenient point 
 on the south side of the harbour, under protection of the 
 guns of the ships ; the first duty of the troops to be to cut 
 off all land communications from the city. On the first 
 few days of April troops were landed at Isla de Gracias 
 close to Mansanilla Castle, from which a fairly good road 
 reached into the town, passing under the walls of San 
 Lazaro. This landing was made without opposition, the 
 guns from the ships sweeping the country between Isla 
 de Gracias and San Lazaro, and the landing/place being 
 beyond the range of the guns at Castillo Grande ; the rel/ 
 ative positions of these places and others referred to in 
 this account are clearly indicated on the maps. 
 
 With the landing of the troops the dissensions between 
 
148 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 the commanders of the land and sea forces began anew; 
 Admirals Vernon and Ogle appear to have constantly con-' 
 demned the procrastination of General Wentworth and 
 urged the necessity for immediate action if serious ravages 
 of sickness among the troops were to be avoided ; Gen' 
 eral Wentworth as constantly urged the necessity for more 
 efficient co/operation on the part of the fleet, asserting 
 that the ships should be brought into the inner harbour, 
 where the town itself and (more particularly) San Lazaro 
 would be within effective range of fire. The experiment 
 of sending one of the captured ships into the inner bar/ 
 hour was tried by Admiral Vernon, but the ship, although 
 apparently finding sufficient water, was finally of neces' 
 sity abandoned, as unsupported it could not stand the close 
 fire from the city walls. This incident, which furnished 
 one of the prime causes of dispute among the respective 
 partisans of Admiral Vernon and General Wentworth, 
 both then and later in England, is easily understood by 
 those familiar with the harbour of Cartagena, The water 
 in the inner harbour is now, and undoubtedly was then, 
 too shallow to hold ships of the size of Vernon's fighting 
 vessels, but through a very narrow and twisting channel 
 it is quite possible that one or two ships might with care/ 
 ful piloting enter the inner harbour. 
 
 The friends of General Wentworth, in charging Ad/ 
 miral Vernon with neglect in this instance, were clearly 
 in the wrong, as were those also who supported General 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 149 
 
 Wentworth's claim that the fleet did not give its full sup 
 port to his requests by preventing communication with 
 the town from the shore to the eastward. Admiral Ver/ 
 non, when requested to do so by General Wentworth, ap/ 
 pears to have kept so far as possible the stretch of shore 
 to the eastward under the guns of some of his ships, but 
 it could not have been an easy matter with the sailing 
 craft of that day to remain off a lee shore at times of high 
 wind and with a strong westerly current, ready night and 
 day to lire upon a small strip of sand overgrown with man/ 
 groves. 
 
 In his criticism of the land operations under General 
 Wentworth, Admiral Vernon, somewhat overbearing by 
 nature, seems to have been to some extent unjust, and 
 that he clearly underestimated the strength of SanLazaro 
 is evident from letters which he wrote at the time. It 
 seems doubtful whether in attacking San Lazaro, its weak/ 
 est and most approachable side was accurately determined 
 in advance; but whether this was so or not. General Went/ 
 worth decided that without effecting a breach an attack 
 would be impracticable, and much time was consumed in 
 attempting to raise a battery for the purpose, as well as 
 in correspondence with Admiral Vernon, respecting the 
 use of the vessels of the fleet for effecting the breach. 
 During this time the bulk of the American colonial troops 
 had been left on the ships, their usefulness being doubted, 
 more particularly because a large proportion of them were 
 
ISO ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 believed to be Papists; by direction of General Went/ 
 worth these were landed on the sixth of April, and after/ 
 wards are credited by the land officers to have rendered 
 gallant services. 
 
 On the ninth of April, pressed on the one side by the 
 reproaches of Admiral Vernon for the long delays, and 
 threatened day by day with a lessening power of attack 
 due to the rapidly increasing sickness among his troops, 
 General Wentworth, with the consent of a council of war 
 of the land officers, attempted to carry San Lazaro by 
 storm. The attack was intended to be by night, but owing 
 either to the trickery of native guides, or to badly formed 
 plans on the part of General Wentworth, the attack was 
 begun upon the almost precipitous southern side of the 
 fortress, with scaling ladders of insufficient length. This 
 unfortunate error served to warn the Spanish troops, and 
 the real attack hardly began before the broiling hot tropi/ 
 cal sun shone relentlessly upon the attacking forces. With 
 a bravery deserving better guidance the troops stood their 
 ground, enduring for hours the terrible fire from above 
 their heads and the burning rays of the sun ; but the ram/ 
 parts were not carried, and finally the troops were forced 
 to retire leaving, it is said, half their number either dead 
 or wounded at the foot of the walls of the fortress. At a 
 council of war of the naval commanders (Vernon, Ogle, 
 and Lestock) on the twelfth of April, it was recommended 
 that in view of the land forces having been unable to erect 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 151 
 
 a battery for effecting a breach in the walls of SanLazaro, 
 and their having failed to storm it otherwise, and also in 
 view of the great sickness prevailing, that " it will be for 
 " the King's service to desist from the enterprise as im/ 
 "practicable." At a council of war of the land officers 
 on the thirteenth of April, the blame for the failure to 
 carry San Lazaro was attributed to the failure of the fleet 
 adequately to co'Operate ; but the feilure of the under-- 
 taking was admitted and definite plans for the embarka/ 
 tion of the troops were suggested. On the fifteenth the 
 stores were taken on board the ships, and on the day fol/ 
 lowing the troops, sadly reduced in numbers and many 
 very ill, were re/embarked. So great were the losses to 
 the troops through disease and battle that not over one 
 third of the land troops appear to have returned with the 
 fleet to Jamaica. 
 
 For about a fortnight after the troops were re/embarked, 
 the Admiral kept the fighting vessels employed in de/ 
 stroying the forts and batteries, the structural strength of 
 some of which, particularly of Castillo Grande, appears 
 to have been so great as to have made the work both dif/ 
 ficult and tedious. Also during the interval before sailing 
 an arrangement was made, by means of courteous letters 
 exchanged under flags of truce between the Admiral and 
 the Viceroy, for an exchange of prisoners. On the twenty/ 
 fourth of April, at a general council t)f war, it was de/ 
 termined to sail for Jamaica as soon as possible, and by 
 
152 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 the eighth of May, 1 741, the great fleet had left Carta/ 
 gena, having, it is true, rendered useless the defences of 
 the harbour and destroyed six heavy ships and some minor 
 craft, but having failed to enter the city or to obtain any 
 substantial booty. 
 
 The earlier successes of Vernon made the news of his 
 failure all the more distressing to the English people, and 
 the expedition and the causes leading to its failure played 
 a not unimportant part in English politics for some time. 
 Unhappily the first despatches to reach England indicated 
 a repetition of the success at Puerto BeUo; premature 
 celebrations of victory took place and more medals were 
 struck. For much of the blame put upon Vernon for the 
 ineffectiveness of the Cartagena expedition Smollett is 
 responsible. As a surgeon's mate he had accompanied the 
 fleet and undoubtedly his personal experiences were not 
 agreeable. Both as a historian and in " Roderick Random " 
 Smollett shows that his views were coloured by his own 
 personal relation to the events. Wentworth showed him/ 
 self incompetent both in preparation and in performance 
 and lacking in the qualities of decision and resourcefulness. 
 Vernon, on the other hand, was an apostle of efiiciency ; 
 his real place, however, was in command at sea, and to 
 some extent he must share the blame for the failure of 
 the expedition to realize its full purpose. Vernon realized 
 the importance of sea/power, and in one of his ofiicial 
 letters says that he is «' strongly convinced that preserv/ 
 
ADMIRAL VERNON 153 
 
 "ing a superiority at sea is the best security for His Maj/ 
 "esty's Government, as well as of the trade and prosper/ 
 "ity of this Kingdom." 
 
 Vernon was a strong advocate of the more humane 
 treatment of seamen, and in spite of the fact that he 
 caused their ration of spirits to be diluted, retained their 
 affection. His popular name of " Old Grog " came from 
 his habit of wearing grograin breeches ; one of his reforms 
 was to have the rum which was served the fleet regularly 
 before noon each day diluted with a goodly proportion of 
 water, a mixture which was thenceforth called "grog." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 LORD RODNEY 
 
 THE failure of Admiral Vernon at Cartagena contrib/ 
 uted to the downfall of Walpole, but neither the lat/ 
 ter's retirement nor the lack of success in the attack upon 
 the Spanish colonies changed the policy of England. The 
 possession of the West Indies was of too great strategic 
 and commercial benefit to its possessor for the struggle 
 for the control of the Caribbean Sea not to continue for 
 the remainder of the eighteenth century an important 
 factor in the quarrels for European supremacy. The jeal/ 
 ousies of the English and French settlers in the Amer/ 
 ican colonies served to add fresh causes of trouble be/ 
 tween England and France, and for a time the scene of 
 active hostilities moved northward ; English troops were 
 sent out to assist the colonists against the aggressions of 
 the French. 
 
 In Europe the restless peace following the Treaty of 
 Aix/la/ChapeUe did not weaken the bonds of the family 
 compact of the House of Bourbon, which kept France 
 and Spain united against England, and these powers at/ 
 tracted to their support both Austria and Russia. Prussia 
 alone was in alliance with England when the Seven Years' 
 War began in 1 756. 
 
LORD RODNEY 155 
 
 . In the West Indies valuable islands were owned by 
 both France and Spain, and the latter was still in fiill en/ 
 joyment of the rich fortified ports on the mainland. 
 
 At this time there was growing up in the naval service 
 of Great Britain a naval officer destined to be one of the 
 great admirals of the English navy, and to exercise the 
 most fer /reaching influence on the history of the Carib/ 
 bean Sea. 
 
 George Brydges Rodney was baptised on the thirteenth 
 of February, 1 7 19. He came of a Somersetshire family of 
 some distinction and considerable antiquity. While little 
 more than a child he was sent to Harrow School, which 
 he left at the age of twelve to serve six years with the fleet 
 on the Newfoundland station. At the age of twenty/one 
 he was made lieutenant, and served successively in four 
 ships in the Mediterranean. There appears to be no doubt 
 that, as was not unusual at the time, the high connections 
 of George Rodney contributed to his rapid advancement, 
 although it is equally true that even in his early career 
 he showed marked professional ability. In 1742, at the 
 age of twenty/four, while serving under Admiral Math/ 
 ews in the Mediterranean, he was given command of 
 the "Plymouth," of sixty guns, as acting post /captain, 
 to which rank he was confirmed by the Admiralty upon 
 his return to England convoying three hundred mer/ 
 chant ships from Lisbon. This service, which was so 
 well performed that it earned for him some public no/ 
 
156 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 tice, made his subsequent appointments to command 
 conceivably a reward of merit, although it is probable 
 that the exertions of his kinsmen were still needed in his 
 behalf to give him the opportunities for which his abil^ 
 ities fitted him. One appointment followed another for 
 several years, during which, when in command of the 
 "Ludlow Castle," he captured the "St. Malves" priva/ 
 teer, and did efficient work in the transport and despatch 
 service during the war with Scotland. 
 
 In the summer of 1 747, in the " Eagle," of sixty guns, 
 he joined a small squadron which successfully intercepted 
 a homeward/bound French fleet from Santo Domingo, 
 capturing forty /eight merchantmen of an aggregate bur/ 
 then of over eleven thousand tons, manned by upwards 
 of twelve thousand men, and richly laden with sugar, 
 indigo, coffee, and other West/Indian products. The oc/ 
 casional opportunity to capture fleets of rich merchant 
 vessels made "commerce destroying" a particularly lu/ 
 crative if not otherwise notable service in the days of 
 Hawke, Vernon, and Rodney. 
 
 Later in the same year the " Eagle," still under the 
 command of Captain Rodney, formed part of the squad/ 
 ron of fourteen ships which, under Rear/ Admiral Hawke, 
 engaged the French fleet under Admiral L'Etenduere 
 off Finisterre. In this engagement, in which six French 
 ships of from fifty to seventy /four guns were captured, 
 after a spirited resistance which permitted their convoy 
 
LORD RODNEY 
 
 After Sir Joshua Reynolds 
 
LORD RODNEY 157 
 
 to escape, Captain Rodney was distinguished for gal/ 
 lantry. Upon his return to England, which did not take 
 place until after a successful engagement with a Spanish 
 fleet, he was presented to the King, who received him 
 most graciously. 
 
 In 1 748, exhausted by years of continuous war, the 
 powers were all desirous for peace. At Aix'la/Chapelle, 
 April 30, 1748, a treaty was signed by England, France, 
 and Holland, and later in the same year by the other bel/ 
 Ugerent powers. Little had been accomplished by the 
 long war, and the result of the treaty was, with some not 
 very important exceptions, to re/establish the status be/ 
 fore the war. A peace so unsatisfactory could not be en/ 
 during. The frequent collisions between the EngHsh and 
 French colonists in North America brought about a con/ 
 flict which was inevitable. Finally actual war was in prog/ 
 ress, although nominal peace existed between England 
 and France until 1 756. 
 
 In 1749, Rodney had been appointed Governor and 
 Commander /in/Chief at Newfoundland, a position which 
 developed his political sagacity. His selection for the post 
 by his friend the Earl of Sandwich, then First Lord of 
 the Admiralty, appears to have been because of his known 
 qualities of professional ability and discretion. In 1752, 
 he returned to England, obtained a seat in Parliament, 
 and saw no further active service until the outbreak of 
 war, when he accompanied the Rochefort expedition 
 
158 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 under Hawke. In command of the " Dublin " he was at/ 
 tached to the squadron under Admiral Boscawen, which 
 successfully attacked Louisburg and Cape Breton Island 
 early in 1758. In May, 1759, Rodney, then forty years 
 of age, was promoted to the rank of Rear/ Admiral, and 
 given the command of a small squadron sent to bombard 
 Havre. In 1761, Rodney was appointed to the Leeward 
 Islands station, with headquarters at Barbadoes, and near 
 the close of that year took his post in those waters which 
 were to give him his most enduring title to fame. His 
 instructions were to attack the French island of Marti/ 
 nique, and troops, under command of Major/General 
 Monckton, to assist him in the operations, were sent to 
 him from New York in December. 
 
 Admiral Rodney had gone out to his new post with 
 four ships, three bomb/ketches and a sloop, joining at 
 Barbadoes a squadron under Sir James Douglas, who, as/ 
 sisted by troops under Lord Rollo, had taken the island 
 of Dominica. With the ships of the two squadrons, ac/ 
 companied by the land troops. Admiral Rodney arrived 
 off Martinique on the seventh of January, 1762. The fol/ 
 lowing day, the forts within range having been silenced 
 by gun/fire from the ships, the fleet anchored in the Bay 
 of St. Pierre. One ship, the " Raisonnable," was lost on a 
 reef through the ignorance of the pilot, during this 
 operation. Having thus secured a good harbour and land/ 
 ing/place as a base, joint operations of the troops and 
 
LORD RODNEY 159 
 
 ships were conducted with commendable promptness and 
 regularity. Two brigades, under protection of a small 
 squadron, were landed in the Bay of Petit Ance, and the 
 batteries at Grand and St. Anne's Bay were destroyed by 
 fire from the ships. 
 
 On the sixteenth, by agreement between the Admiral 
 and General Monckton, the ships silenced the batteries 
 commanding the coast between Point Negro and the Cas 
 de Pilote, and General Monckton, with the whole re*- 
 mainder of his troops, was landed without accident by 
 a little after daylight the next morning. With the troops 
 were landed about nine hundred marines, who rendered 
 the most effective help in the subsequent operations. 
 The strength of the resistance offered and the mountain^ 
 ous nature of the country made the progress of the land 
 expedition slow, partly no doubt owing to the difficulties 
 met in transporting the heavy ship mortars and cannon 
 any considerable distance from the sea. By the sixteenth 
 of February, however, the French troops had capitulated 
 and the British were in full possession of the island. In 
 Fort Royal Bay the fleet had seized fourteen French pri/ 
 vateers, and under the terms of the capitulation all others 
 in the various ports of the island were to be turned over 
 to Admiral Rodney. The harmony which subsisted be/ 
 tween Admiral Rodney and General Monckton, and the 
 consequent effectual aid rendered by each arm of the 
 service to the other, contributed in no small degree to 
 
i6o ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 the success of this expedition and the speed and smooth/ 
 ness with which the operations were conducted, and is 
 in sharp contrast to the unfortunate disputes which con/ 
 tributed to the failure of the Vernon expedition. Admiral 
 Rodney, in his report to the Admiralty, wrote as follows : 
 "It gives me the sincerest satisfaction that I can assure 
 " their Lordships the most perfect harmony has subsisted 
 "between the navy and army, each vying in the most 
 "friendly manner which should serve ,His Majesty and 
 "their country best." General Monckton expressed him/ 
 self in a similar way in his official despatches. 
 
 From Martinique Admiral Rodney sent a squadron of 
 six vessels to Santa Lucia, the Governor of which, being 
 urged by the inhabitants not to offer resistance, accepted 
 the terms of capitulation offered and surrendered the is/ 
 land at once. On the fifth of March, the island of Gre/ 
 nada surrendered without opposition to Commodore 
 Swanton, on the same terms of capitulation accepted by 
 the Governor of Santa Lucia. The terms provided for 
 the peaceful withdrawal and return to France of all troops 
 upon these islands. 
 
 While at Martinique, Admiral Rodney received im/ 
 portant despatches by three separate frigates, which by a 
 strange coincidence arrived together on the same day, the 
 fifth of March. These despatches advised him of the De/ 
 claration of War against Spain — news then two months old 
 — and of the escape from Brest of a French squadron of 
 
LORD RODNEY 161 
 
 seven ships/of/the/line, frigates, and two thousand troops. 
 Shortly afterwards he received an urgent call for help 
 from the Governor and senior naval officer at Jamaica, 
 which island was expecting an attack from the united 
 French and Spanish forces. The situation was one calling 
 for the qualities which Rodney had shown himself to 
 possess. His action was prompt and resolute. Concentrat/ 
 ing his greatest strength at Martinique, the probable 
 point of attack of the French fleet, and sending out look' 
 out ships the length of the Windward Islands, he pre/ 
 pared to furnish adequate succour to Jamaica if the Brest 
 fleet should pass by the Windward Islands and go on to 
 the west toward Jamaica and Santo Domingo. On the 
 ninth of March, two of the lookout ships brought word 
 that the French squadron, of thirteen sail in all, had been 
 sighted some fifteen miles to windward of the island. 
 Admiral Rodney at once put to sea with the ships he had 
 retained at Martinique (six ships/of /the/line and ten frig/ 
 ates), but owing to calms and to the fact that the French 
 admiral had altered the course of his squadron when he 
 discovered Martinique to have been taken by the British, 
 the French fleet was not sighted. With commendable 
 promptness he prepared to sail for Jamaica with all the ships 
 at his disposal, but just after sailing he received further de/ 
 spatches from England ordering him to concentrate a 
 powerful force at his own station for the prosecution of 
 an important secret expedition. 
 
i62 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 Confronted by th;s serious situation, he took, the re/ 
 sponsibility, which a man of lesser strength and profes/ 
 sional experience might have failed to take, of exercising 
 his general authority and discretion in the interpretation 
 of the orders which the unhappy situation of Jamaica de/ 
 manded. He consequently sent Sir James Douglas, with 
 a large re/enforcement of ships, to Jamaica, and returned 
 himself with the remainder to Martinique. In his letter 
 to the Admiralty explaining his purpose of relieving Ja/ 
 maica, he expressed himself with characteristic dignity 
 and directness: "I flatter myself their Lordships wiUnot 
 " be displeased with me if I take the liberty to construe 
 "my instructions in such a manner as to think myself au/ 
 "thorized and obliged to succour any of His Majesty's 
 "colonies that may be in danger." With the added 
 strength of the ten ships/of/the'line sent to Jamaica, the 
 force there consisted of seventeen ships/of/the/line and 
 thirteen frigates. It is certainly an evidence of the high 
 qualities of Admiral Rodney that, disappointed as he was 
 by the receipt of the secret despatches, which advised 
 him that all plans must be subordinated to an expedition 
 under command of Admiral Sir George Pocock and Lord 
 Albemarle, with Havana as its objective point, he at once 
 took the action necessary to best protect the interests 
 under his charge, and at the same time arranged to co/ 
 operate to the fullest extent practicable in an expedition 
 for which credit would go to others. 
 
LORD RODNEY 163 
 
 The vessels of his own squadron he ordered to rendez/ 
 vous in Fort Royal Bay, Martinique, and despatched a 
 frigate to meet Sir George Pocock and advise him of the 
 fact. He also had taken the precaution to instruct Sir 
 James Douglas to despatch a frigate from Jamaica to meet 
 Admiral Pocock and to give him the latest intelligence. 
 
 At Martinique, Rodney, with his greatly depleted 
 squadron, hastened to get everything in readiness against 
 the arrival of Sir George Pocock and Lord Albemarle. 
 The troops which could be spared from General Monck/ 
 ton's command were embarked on transports several days 
 before the arrival from England on the twenty/sixth of 
 April, 1762, of Sir George Pocock with the new forces. 
 Unhappily at this time Admiral Rodney was taken very 
 ill with bilious fever, and was obliged to be taken on 
 shore at St. Pierre. The preparations necessary for water/ 
 ing the fleet and in other matters required until the sixth 
 of May, when the men/of/war and transports under com/ 
 mand of Sir George Pocock sailed, a meeting/place for a 
 convoy with troops from Jamaica having been arranged. 
 
 The Leeward Islands station, under Rodney, was now 
 left in a very weakened state. The detachment of so 
 many vessels and troops left a small force with which to 
 protect the chain of islands which had been taken by 
 Rodney, and that he felt keen anxiety is shown by his 
 despatches to the Admiralty written at the time. Not/ 
 withstanding the bad state of his health, Rodney dealt 
 
164 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 vigorously with all the annoying problems of his station. 
 Owing to the precautions taken and to the prestige he and 
 his ships had acquired, no event of importance disturbed 
 the Leeward Islands station during the remainder of the 
 Seven Years' War. Admiral Pocock effected a junction 
 with the Jamaica re/enforcement late in May, and pre 
 ceeded through the Bahama Channel on the north side 
 of Cuba, a passage then not carefully charted, and ap/ 
 peared before Havana with his great fleet about the twen/ 
 tieth of June. After a prolonged siege of forty days, Moro 
 Castle was taken on the thirtieth of July. About a fort/ 
 night later, Havana surrendered. The capture included 
 some dozen ships/of'the/line and nearly fifteen million 
 dollars' worth of goods and money. With the Lesser An' 
 tiUes in the grasp of Rodney and Havana surrendered to 
 Pocock, Cartagena was the only fortified naval base of 
 consequence left to Spain in the West Indies not infested 
 with British ships. 
 
 In October of the same year, Manila was captured by 
 the British and a ransom of four million dollars paid. 
 Spain suffered at the same time other severe losses through 
 the capture of several homeward/bound treasure ships. 
 In September, peace was declared and made effective by 
 a treaty signed on the tenth of February, 1763. The 
 treaty, so far as it related to the West Indies, gave Gre/ 
 nada, the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Tobago 
 to Great Britain. Guadeloupe, Martinique, and St. Lucie 
 
LORD RODNEY 165 
 
 were restored to France (the entire province of Canada 
 and part of Louisiana being ceded to the English). Spain 
 gave up to England all that she possessed on the conti/ 
 nent of North America to the east of the Mississippi 
 River, and Havana was restored to Spain. 
 
 In October, 1762, Admiral Rodney was made Vice/ 
 A.dmiral of the Blue. He returned to England in August, 
 1763, and in January of the next year was made a Baro/ 
 net. For five years, from December, 1765, he served as 
 Governor of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich. In 1770, 
 he was made Vice/ Admiral of the White, and in 1771, 
 Vice/ Admiral of the Red. In January, 177 1, he was ap/ 
 pointed Commander /in/Chief at Jamaica. In this position 
 he was unable to retain, somewhat to his chagrin, as he 
 appears to have needed the additional income to relieve 
 his pecuniary embarrassments, his position as Governor 
 of the Hospital. 
 
 On the twenty/fourth of July, with a squadron of six 
 ships, he arrived at his new post, Port Royal, Jamaica,find/ 
 ing there six vessels under Commodore Mackenzie. With 
 the promptness and decision which was always a charac/ 
 teristic of Rodney, he had not been in command of the 
 station a fortnight before he had put surveying parties at 
 work planning a proper watering/place, afterwards per/ 
 fected, for the vessels of the fleet at Rock Fort, to replace 
 the tedious method of boat carriage then employed. Po/ 
 litical ability and tactfulness of a high order were needed 
 
i66 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 in the commander charged with keeping the peace and 
 upholding the dignity of the British flag in those waters 
 at this time, and Rodney's demonstrated ability in this 
 direction undoubtedly was a convincing reason for his 
 selection. The peace concluded at the end of 1762 had 
 not served to establish free commercial relations between 
 the Spanish and British colonies, and regulations of the 
 most exclusive and irritating nature were imposed at all 
 the Spanish ports in the Caribbean Sea. As was natural, 
 smuggling continued and increased. Jamaica, surrounded 
 by a circle of Spanish ports, became the centre of an il/ 
 licit trade. To facilitate trade relations Jamaica established 
 several free ports, which brought about increased vigi/ 
 lance on the part of the Spanish coast guards. This at" 
 tempted protection of the Spanish ports was chiefly by 
 small vessels called " guarda/costas." A profitable busi/ 
 ness was done by both English and French traders in 
 eluding these vessels and transporting goods to and from 
 Jamaica, which served as a market/place for the trade. 
 
 Shortly after Rodney's arrival in Jamaica, the island, 
 particularly the towns of Kingston and Port Royal, were 
 damaged by an earthquake, the most severe that had been 
 experienced since the great one of 1692, but the fleet 
 met with no great injury. Embarrassed as he was by con/ 
 ditions ripe for war, Rodney appears to have used a firm 
 and strong hand in the interests of peace. His letter, sent 
 by a frigate to the Governor of Cartagena after two Span/ 
 
LORD RODNEY 167 
 
 ish guarda/costas had overhauled and taken into Carta/ 
 gena harbour the British man/of/war " Hawke," is worthy 
 of quotation, as illustrating both the temper of the times 
 and the discretion with which Rodney dealt with a most 
 difficult situation : 
 
 " Princess Amelia, Jamaica, 
 "September 3d, 1771. 
 
 " To the Governor of Carthagena. 
 "I have the honour to acquaint your Excellency, that 
 "his Britanic Majesty has been pleased to confer on me 
 " the command of his squadron on this station, and to as/ 
 "sure you that while I am protecting his Majesty's terri/ 
 "tories, and the trade of his subjects, I shall be truly 
 "solicitous to maintain a friendly correspondence with 
 "your Excellency, and with the rest of his Catholic 
 " Majesty's governors in America. 
 
 " With such a disposition, judge, Sir, what must have 
 "been my astonishment to hear, on my arrival, that two 
 "guarda/costas, under the pretended sanction of your 
 " Excellency's and the Commodore's orders, had forced 
 "his Majesty's schooner, the Hawke, into Carthagena, 
 "after they were told, and knew whose commission the 
 « commander of her had the honour to bear. 
 
 " I am moreover informed, that one of the Commo/ 
 "dore's lieutenants, acquainted the commander of the 
 "schooner, on her dismission from the port of Cartha/ 
 " gena, that she might go, but that if either the schooner. 
 
i68 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 "or any other of his Britanic Majesty's ships were after/ 
 "wards found within twelve leagues of that coast, they 
 " should be taken and their crews imprisoned. 
 
 " As your Excellency, I doubt not, is equally disposed 
 " with myself to support the harmony which so happily 
 " subsists between the two crowns, I cannot be persuaded 
 " that you have given the least countenance to these acts 
 "of violence. 
 
 " The officer who had dishonoured his King's colours 
 " by a tame submission to this insult has been already dis/ 
 " missed the service ; and I have the fuUest confidence 
 "that your Excellency will, on your part, immediately 
 " order the officers that have treated with such indignity 
 "the British flag to be called to the strictest account, and 
 "confirm the opinion I would willingly entertain of the 
 "impossibility of such a menace being sent by the Com/ 
 "modore, or any officer of rank, who wishes to preserve 
 "the general tranquillity. 
 
 "I have ordered the captain by whom I send this to 
 "wait your Excellency's answer." 
 
 In 1774, when Rodney's appointment expired, he en/ 
 deavoured unsuccessfully to get the appointment as Gov/ 
 ernor of Jamaica or of some other colony. Upon his 
 return to England in September of that year, financial 
 troubles, from which his service had temporarily freed 
 him, began again. To escape these embarrassments he 
 
LORD RODNEY 169 
 
 took up his residence in France, to await a time when 
 renewed employment would enable him to meet his cred" 
 itors. It is not improbable that the almost continued dis/ 
 tressed condition of his personal affairs, accounts to some 
 extent for the opposition which from time to time in his 
 career met his efforts for advancement, in spite of his ad/ 
 mittedly high professional ability. Until early in 1778, 
 Rodney remained in France, fretting under the lack of 
 recognition, when Howe was sent to America in 1776, 
 and later, when with war under way with the American 
 colonies, his juniors were sent out in command of the 
 North/ American and West/Indian stations. The condi/ 
 tions, however, soon made his emplojrment almost a ne/ 
 cessity. Through the kindly aid of a French gentleman 
 who had become his friend, and with the help of friends 
 in England, his debts were adjusted,* and on the first of 
 October, 1779, he was again appointed to the command 
 of the Leeward Islands station. War with the American 
 colonies had begun in 1 776, the French had declared war 
 in 1778, and Spain in 1779. In the West Indies, Grenada 
 had been lost to the British. The task to which Rodney 
 was put was therefore not an easy one. 
 
 * L'amiral Rodney s'y trouvait alors retenu pour des dettes qu'il ne 
 pouvait solder. Un jour qu'il dinait chez le Marechal de Biron, il traita avec 
 dedain les succes des marins fran^ais, disant que s'il etait libre, il en aurait 
 bient6t raison. Le Marechal paya aussitot ses dettes : "partez. Monsieur," 
 lui dit-il; "allez essayer de remplir vos promesses ; les Fran9ais ne veulent 
 "pas se prevaloir des obstacles qui vous empechent de les accomplir." — 
 V. Duruy's Histoire de France. 
 
170 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 On the twenty/ninth of December, 1779, he sailed 
 from Plymouth with twenty/one ships/of/the/line, a small 
 portion only of which was to continue with him to the 
 West Indies, the bulk of the force being assigned to him 
 for the purpose of attempting the relief of Gibraltar, the 
 long siege of which had then begun. With the fleet were 
 the usual proportion of jfrigates and a large number of 
 store and troop ships, as well as merchantmen, many of 
 the latter being bound for the West Indies and parting 
 company with the fleet about a week after it sailed. The 
 good fortune which Rodney needed in order to create 
 anew the enthusiasm which his successes had gained for 
 him in the previous war, by a happy chance came quickly. 
 On the eighth of January, 1780, a Spanish convoy of 
 twenty /two sail was sighted, and found to be made up 
 of seven ships/of/war and the remainder merchantmen 
 loaded with naval stores and provisions. Admiral Rodney 
 at once gave chase and the whole were taken. The seven 
 ships/of/war carried a total of two hundred and six guns 
 and twelve hundred and ninety/three men, the largest 
 being the "Guipuscuano," of sixty/four guns and five 
 hundred and fifty men. Twelve of the convoy, loaded 
 with flour and wheat, were sent on with the other Brit/ 
 ish ships to carry provisions to the garrison at Gibraltar. 
 The balance, containing naval stores, were despatched 
 under convoy to England. The " Guipuscuano " was 
 commissioned, officered, manned, and named the "Prince 
 
LORD RODNEY 171 
 
 "William," in honour of the Prince (afterwards King Wil/ 
 liam IV) who was a midshipman with the fleet. 
 
 Intelligence that a Spanish squadron, said to consist 
 of fourteen ships/of'-the/line, was cruising ofFCape St.Vin/ 
 cent, had reached Admiral Rodney, and by his orders the 
 fleet kept in readiness for battle as the Cape was ap/ 
 proached. On the afternoon of the sixteenth of January, 
 a few hours after passing the Cape, the Spanish fleet was 
 sighted in the south/east quarter. Owing to the lateness 
 of the day and the necessity for prompt action, Rodney 
 gave up what had been his first intention to form a 
 line of battle abreast, and made the signal for a general 
 chase. At four o'clock the enemy were engaged; within 
 less than an hour the magazines of one of the Spanish 
 line/of'battle ships were exploded, destroying the ship, 
 and at six one of their ships struck. The engagement 
 continued until two o'clock the next morning. The tem/ 
 pestuous weather and nearness of a dangerous lee shore 
 prevented the continuance of the engagement, and six of 
 the Spanish ships escaped, several in badly damaged con/ 
 dition. Four of the ships, carrjring seventy to eighty guns, 
 were taken and sent into Gibraltar ; two others struck, 
 but were lost on the shoals ; one was blown up in action. 
 
 Within less than three weeks of leaving England, 
 Rodney, by good formne and efficient work, had, as Lord 
 Sandwich in his letter of congratulation to him wrote, 
 "taken more line/of/battle ships than had been cap/ 
 
172 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 " tured in any one action in either of the two last preced/ 
 "ing wars." The thanks of both Houses of Parliament 
 were voted to Admiral Rodney, the motion in the House 
 of Lords being made by Lord Sandwich himself, who 
 continued as First Lord of the Admiralty. 
 
 On the thirteenth of February, Rodney left Gibraltar 
 for the West Indies, sailing with his fleet directly for 
 Barbadoes. At this time the French had a strong fleet at 
 Fort Royal Bay, Martinique, under the command of one 
 of their most able commanders. Admiral de Guichen. 
 The movements of this fleet were closely watched by ships 
 stationed by Rodney for the purpose, and when, on the 
 fifteenth of April, de Guichen sailed from Martinique 
 with a convoy bound for Santo Domingo, Rodney fol/ 
 lowed instantly with his fleet, which he had kept ready 
 to pursue or engage the French fleet. Late on the six' 
 teenth, the fleets were within sight of one another. The 
 fleet under de Guichen consisted of twenty/three ships/of/ 
 the/Une, having a total of fifteen hundred and fifty guns, 
 six frigates, one lugger, and a cutter. Rodney had under 
 his command twenty ships/of'the/line, having a total of 
 thirteen hundred and ninety guns, and five frigates. On 
 the seventeenth, the two fleets were in approximately 
 parallel lines, headed in opposite directions, with the 
 British in the windward position. Both commanders were 
 possessed of high tactical skill, and the record of the pro/ 
 longed engagement of these two fleets is of greater tech/ 
 
LORD RODNEY 173 
 
 nical than historical interest. Rodney's intention is clearly 
 described in the words of his own report: "At forty/six 
 "minutes after six I gave notice that intention was to at/ 
 " tack the enemy's rear with my whole force, which sig/ 
 "nal was answered by every ship in the fleet." Appar/ 
 ently this intention was discovered by de Guichen in 
 time to permit him to strengthen his threatened rear, 
 and the resulting engagement by a change in orders 
 became more nearly a "ship/to/ship" batde. Owing to 
 an unfortunate misunderstanding of the orders given, 
 a number of the ships of Rodney's fleet, by attacking 
 the wrong vessels of the French fleet, extended and 
 weakened the British line, instead of concentrating it as 
 Rodney had carefully planned. This failure properly to 
 interpret and obey his instructions brought upon the 
 offenders the most severe treatment by the Admiral, 
 whose indignation is fittingly expressed in the words 
 of his despatch to the Admiralty: "It is with con/ 
 "cern inexpressible, mixed with indignation, that the 
 "duty I owe my Sovereign and country obliges me to 
 " acquaint their Lordships that, during the action with 
 " the French fleet on the 17th instant, and his Majesty's, 
 "the British flag was not properly supported." Rodney's 
 critics blame him for not making his intentions clear. 
 Notwithstanding that the hoped/for results were not 
 obtained in this action, Rodney had personally shown the 
 greatest skill and courage, and had the satisfaction to know 
 
174 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 that he had badly damaged a French fleet his superior 
 in strength, and whose gallant commander, having been 
 obliged to adopt defensive rather than offensive tactics, 
 had, after being pursued for three days, taken refuge at 
 Guadeloupe. Of Admiral de Guichen, Rodney reports 
 "that the French Admiral, who appeared to me to be a 
 •'brave and gallant officer, had the honour to be nobly 
 "supported during the whole action." 
 
 Expecting that the French fleet would attempt to re/ 
 gain Martinique, Admiral Rodney kept a close watch 
 upon its movements, with a view of intercepting it and 
 forcing another engagement. On the nineteenth of May, 
 both of the fleets were again at sea and in sight of one 
 another. That the French admiral endeavoured to avoid 
 action was due not to a lack of courage, but to the instruc 
 tions from his Government, which clearly directed him 
 not to compromise the safety of his fleet. From the ninth 
 to the twenty/second, the two fleets manoeuvred at vary/ 
 ing distances, the French ships being aided in their defen/ 
 sive tactics by superior speed. During this prolonged pe/ 
 riod of sustained exertion and vigilance, advantage was 
 taken of every possible opportunity for a successful attack, 
 but with the exception of partial engagements on the 
 fifteenth to nineteenth, Admiral de Guichen was able to 
 skilfully elude the attempts. On the fifteenth, consider/ 
 able damage was done to the rear of the French fleet by 
 the van of the British fleet, and on the nineteenth, dam/ 
 
LORD RODNEY 175 
 
 age was again inflicted. On the twenty /first, the French 
 fleet finally escaped and in somewhat shattered condition 
 reached Martinique. Rodney proceeded to Barbadoes to 
 land his wounded and to repair his damaged ships. 
 
 At this time he received intelligence of the sailing of 
 a Spanish fleet of about twenty ships/of/the/line from Cadiz 
 on the twenty /eighth of April, and stationed a line of 
 frigates to windward to give timely notice of its approach. 
 Early in May (1780), a Spanish fleet of some two hun/ 
 dred sail was reported to be about one hundred and fifty 
 ihiles to windward of Martinique. Rodney, although im/ 
 mediately setting sail, succeeded in sighting three ships 
 only, two of which being taken proved to be part of the 
 convoy from Cadiz, one with goods and the other with 
 troops. The Spanish fleet, with the remainder of its large 
 convoy, had successfully passed to leeward. 
 
 Rodney was now troubled by the probability of the 
 French and Spanish fleets forming a junction, which was 
 in fact accomplished in July (1780). He had been disap/ 
 pointed in not receiving expected re/enforcements from 
 the American station, and his own fleet could not safely 
 attempt to cover the whole West/Indian waters. Before 
 leaving England, Rodney had arranged with Lord Sand/ 
 wich that during the winter months the fleet under Ad/ 
 miral Arbuthnot, operating against the rebellious Amer/ 
 ican colonies, should join the West/Indian fleet, and that 
 later, when the hurricane season made the West Indies 
 
176 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 unsafe, the combined fleet should work together in Amer/ 
 ican waters. Owing to a disaster to the vessel carrying the 
 despatches to Arbuthnot, the orders were received by him 
 too late. 
 
 Expecting that de Guichen would endeavour to join 
 the French fleet under de Ternay, which had been sent 
 by France to the aid of the American colonists, Rodney 
 again had the courage to construe his duty to be to protect 
 the King's interests wherever occasion demanded. He 
 arranged as best he could for the security of his own sta/ 
 tion, and proceeded with a good portion of his fleet to 
 New York, where he arrived off Sandy Hook the four/ 
 teenth of September, 1780. With the incidents of this 
 visit to American waters, which were not particularly 
 eventful, it is not the purpose of this account to deal, as 
 the expedition had little bearing on events in the Carib/ 
 bean Sea. Rodney, as his superior in command, was not 
 welcomed by Arbuthnot, but Rodney appears to have 
 borne himself with his customary dignity, and to have 
 exercised his authority in more than a nominal capacity. 
 Beyond the frequent capture of privateers, little of conse/ 
 quence was accomplished by Rodney's fleet by this visit 
 to American waters. The French fleet at Newport it was 
 not found expedient to attack at that place, and de Gui/ 
 chen had returned directly to France instead of joining de 
 Ternay in America. In December, 1780, Rodney returned 
 to the West Indies with a fleet of fifteen ships, in time to 
 
LORD RODNEY 177 
 
 be of help to the islands, which were suffering from the 
 effects of a disastrous hurricane. 
 
 At this time the united forces of France, Spain, and 
 America, against which Great Britain was contending, 
 received the tacit support of a formidable confederacy, 
 called the " Armed Neutrality," which included Russia, 
 Denmark, Sweden, and Holland. Of these countries Hoi/ 
 land in particular gave encouragement to the American 
 colonies and offence to Great Britain when, in the words 
 of Lord North, its Government "suffered Paul Jones, a 
 "Scotchman and a pirate, acting without any legal au/ 
 " thority from any acknowledged government, to bring 
 " British ships into their ports and to refit there." The cap/ 
 ture of an American packet, the "Mercury," having on 
 board an agent of the American Congress on an embassy to 
 Holland, with the draft of a treaty of amity and commerce 
 between the two republics, brought the already strained 
 relations to the breaking point, and war was declared by 
 Great Britain against Holland. Despatches notifying him 
 of this reached Rodney on the twenty /seventh of January, 
 1 78 1, at Barbadoes, and ordered him to at once attack the 
 Dutch West Indies and shipping. The Dutch and other 
 merchants of St. Eustatius and St. Martin had profited 
 largely by the trade made possible by their position of 
 neutrality, and these islands had become a storehouse for 
 the accumulation of the goods of the traders of all na/ 
 tionalities. In the instructions sent out to Rodney, the 
 
178 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 object of attack first designated was St. Eustatius, and not 
 a moment's time was lost by the Admiral and General 
 Vaughan in putting the command into execution. On the 
 thirtieth of January, the British fleet sailed fi"om Santa 
 Lucia to attack St. Eustatius, leaving a squadron under 
 Rear/ Admiral Drake to watch the small squadron of 
 French ships still remaining in the Bay of Fort Royal, 
 Martinique. In January, Rodney had been re/enforced by 
 a squadron of eight ships/of 'the/line under Rear/ Admiral 
 Sir Samuel Hood, who had been sent out to serve as his sec/ 
 ond in command, and this squadron was sent to surround 
 the bay of St. Eustatius to prevent the escape of any vessels 
 from the port. On the third of February, Rodney, with 
 the remainder of the fleet and the troops under General 
 Vaughan, arrived in the bay. Having made this display 
 of force, the Admiral and General joined in a summons 
 for the "instant surrender of the Island of St. Eustatius 
 " and its dependencies, with everything in and belonging 
 " thereto." The Dutch Governor at once complied with 
 the demand, which was shortly followed by the uncon/ 
 ditional surrender of the islands of St. Martin and Saba. 
 
 The value of this capture was enormous ; upwards of 
 one hundred and fifty ships of all classes were taken, in/ 
 eluding one man/of'war of thirty/eight guns and three 
 hundred men, and five of from fourteen to twenty/six 
 guns each, all equipped and ready for immediate service. 
 The capture was followed by the seizure of several addi/ 
 
LORD RODNEY 179 
 
 tional ships outward/bound with naval stores, and by the 
 capture of a Dutch convoy of some thirty richly laden 
 merchant ships, which had left St. Eustatius a day or 
 two before its surrender. This convoy alone was valued 
 at more than half a million sterling, and the value of the 
 whole property seized was estimated by Rodney at be/ 
 tween two and three millions sterling. 
 
 Attacks upon the island of Cura9ao and upon Surinam 
 were now planned, but owing to intelligence, which 
 subsequently proved to be erroneous, that a French squad/ 
 ron of eight or ten ships/of/the/Une were headed for the 
 Caribbean Sea, a change of plans was made expedient, 
 and the attacks were not made. During the early part of 
 March, however, the Dutch colonies of Demerara and 
 Essequibo surrendered, together with the French island 
 of St. Bartholomew. AH the Leeward Islands thus passed 
 into British hands. 
 
 To meet this reported French fleet Rodney detached 
 Rear/ Admiral Hood with seventeen ships/of/the/line to 
 watch for the enemy to windward of Martinique, a 
 position which at the end of a month, contrary to the 
 advice of Hood, he ordered changed to the leeward of 
 the island, in order to blockade Fort Royal harbour, in 
 which were still four French ships/of/the/line. The ex/ 
 pected French fleet never arrived, but on the twenty/ 
 second of March ( 1 7 8 1 ) , more than five weeks after Hood 
 had begun his wearisome watching, a French fleet of 
 
i8o ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 twenty ships/of/the/line did actually sail from Brest for 
 Martinique, under Admiral the Comte de Grasse. On 
 the twenty/eighth of April, Hood sighted this fleet ; but on 
 account of his position to leeward he was unable to prevent 
 the junction with it of the four ships from Fort Royal, 
 which made the total strength of de Grasse twenty/four 
 ships/of'the/line. Against this formidable fleet were but 
 eighteen ships under Hood, the French fleet also having 
 the advantage of the weather 'gage. 
 
 Either from fear for the safety of his convoy, which 
 was large, or for some other unaccountable reason, de 
 Grasse did not make the most of his advantageous posu 
 tion to force an engagement, and Hood, having good 
 reason to believe an engagement unwise, successfully 
 withdrew his squadron, and joined Rodney on the elev/ 
 enth of May, near Antigua. 
 
 Rodney has been blamed for the apparent tactical 
 blunder in not having had his fleet concentrated under 
 his own personal command in a good strategic position 
 to have met de Grasse with sufficient force upon his ar/ 
 rival. It is difficult, however, to criticise justly acts which 
 were governed by so many doubtful factors at the time. 
 Rodney believed it of paramount importance to guard 
 from attack the captures he had already made, the ma/ 
 terial value of which undoubtedly weighed too heavily 
 in his judgment. As it turned out, the course he pursued 
 made impossible a successful attack upon de Grasse. That 
 
LORD RODNEY 181 
 
 it was of greater importance to destroy the efficiency of 
 the French fleet than to preserve the booty gained in the 
 previous engagements, was not fully realized by Rodney. 
 If the subsequent operations of de Grasse upon the Amer/ 
 ican coast had been rendered impossible, even the sur/ 
 render of Cornwallis might not so soon have taken place. 
 
 De Grasse made an attack upon Santa Lucia, but failed, 
 and shortly afterwards proceeded to Tobago, to which 
 British island he had already sent a small squadron. Rod/ 
 ney, not knowing that de Grasse had followed with his 
 whole fleet to Tobago, had sent for the defence of that place 
 six ships only under Rear/ Admiral Drake. In the mean/ 
 time Rodney had collected his fleet at Barbadoes, and re/ 
 ceived intelligence there of the movement of the French 
 fleet in time to arrive off Tobago on the fifth of June, 
 three days after the island had surrendered to de Grasse. 
 Early in July, de Grasse, having continued to successfully 
 elude the British fleet, sailed for Haiti, at which place he 
 planned to organize his expedition to the American coast 
 to co/operate with the army under General Washington. 
 He was closely followed by a squadron despatched by 
 Rodney under Hood, which it was expected would be 
 re/enforced by ships from Jamaica. De Grasse, however, 
 made no long delay before sailing with his whole fleet for 
 North America, and displaying his customary adroitoess 
 left the West Indies. 
 
 Having obtained permission, on account of the state 
 
i82 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 of his health, to return for a brief visit to England, Rod^ 
 ney gave orders to Hood for the employment of the Brit' 
 ish fleet on the North/ American station during the hur/ 
 ricane months, and sailed for England with a small 
 detachment and convoy of some one hundred and fifty 
 sail, arriving on the nineteenth of September, 1 78 1 . Hav/ 
 ing to some extent re/established his health by a sojourn 
 at Bath, he received commands in November to return to 
 the West Indies, this time asCommander/in/Chief of the 
 w^hole West^Indian station. At the same time he was pro/ 
 moted to the high dignity of Vice/ Admiral of Great Brit/ 
 ain, succeeding Lord Hawke, who died on the seven/ 
 teenth of October, 1781. 
 
 A considerable portion of his time before sailing early 
 in January, 1782, was given up to the defence by him 
 of charges made in the House of Commons relative to 
 alleged improper seizure of goods at St. Eustatius. These 
 charges chiefly arose from the confiscation of goods be/ 
 longing, or purporting to belong, to Englishmen residing 
 on the island at the time of its capture. The taking of 
 the goods was justified by Rodney on the ground of the 
 illegal or contraband nature of the trade in which the 
 owners had been engaged. He also found it necessary to 
 explain the causes which led to the apparent inactivity 
 of his forces during the operations of the fleet under de 
 Grasse, regarding which inactivity charges were also made 
 in the House of Commons. That he still retained the 
 
LORD RODNEY 183 
 
 confidence of the King and Admiralty is evident from his 
 appointment to a larger area of command and to an in/ 
 crease in naval rank. In a final note sent to him just be/ 
 fore his departure, the Earl of Sandwich wrote, "The 
 "fate of the empire is in your hands, and I have no rea/ 
 " son to wish that it should be in any other." 
 
 Advices that the Comte de Grasse, after a drawn battle 
 with the British fleet off the mouth of the Chesapeake 
 and the surrender of Cornwallis, had sailed with his whole 
 fleet to the West Indies, hurried the preparations of Rod/ 
 ney, who promised to bring • ' back a present of de Grasse " 
 to the British nation. 
 
 With the squadron he had brought out from England 
 he arrived at Barbadoes on the nineteenth of February, 
 1 782, to find a troubled situation which required the full/ 
 est exercise of his high abilities. Before the return of 
 Hood from the north, St. Eustatius had been recaptured 
 by two French frigates with about three hundred men. 
 The British garrison at St, Kitts was besieged and capim/ 
 lated six days before his arrival. The large French fleet 
 under deGrasse, of some thirty/three ships/of/the/line, was 
 held back only by the superior tactical ability of Hood, the 
 strength of whose squadron was scarcely two/thirds that 
 of the French fleet. Rodney proceeded to Antigua and 
 arranged a junction there, on the twenty/fifth of Febru/ 
 ary, of his squadron with that of Hood, sailing with the 
 united fleet to Santa Lucia, where he arrived on the fifth 
 
i84 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 of March. After an unsuccessful attempt to intercept a 
 fleet of supply ships intended for de Grasse, Rodney col/ 
 lected his fleet at Gros Ilet Bay, Santa Lucia, not more 
 than thirty miles from the French fleet, which had 
 reached and anchored at Fort Royal Bay without Rodney 
 being able to bring them to action. At this time the situ/ 
 ation was further complicated by the presence of a squad/ 
 ron of American privateers which threatened the island 
 of Tortola, for the protection of which Rodney de/ 
 spatched four frigates. He also detached a small squadron 
 to attempt the recapture of Montserrat, which island had 
 been taken by the French. 
 
 The purpose of de Grasse, who, in addition to his large 
 fleet of ships/of /the/line, had a very considerable convoy 
 of troop/ships with over five thousand troops on board, 
 ammunition vessels, &c., was to join a Spanish fleet at 
 Cap Francois (now Cape Haitien), Hispaniola. The com/ 
 bined fleets, with the troops and artillery, were expected 
 to form a sufficiently strong force to make the capture of 
 Jamaica possible. To prevent the carrying out of this plan, 
 Rodney exerted to the fullest his great capacity and skill. 
 By a chain of frigates within signalling distance of one 
 another, he kept himself in touch with the movements 
 of the French fleet at Fort Royal Bay. On the morning 
 of the eighth of April, de Grasse sailed with thirty/five 
 ships/of /the/line, followed at once by the British fleet of 
 thirty/six ships/of/the/line. At nightfell, Rodney had the 
 
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LORD RODNEY 185 
 
 French ships in sight, and at daybreak on the ninth the 
 greater part of the fleet were visible from the decks of 
 the British ships. De Grasse, finding it impossible to avoid 
 an action by superior speed while handicapped by his 
 convoy, signalled it to put into Guadeloupe, which order 
 was promptly obeyed. The British fleet was too close, 
 however, for de Grasse to evade an engagement, and on 
 the ninth several skirmishes took place between the 
 French rear and the British van. On the tenth and eleventh, 
 the pursuit continued, a badly managed or slow ship from 
 the French fleet from time to time dropping back. 
 
 Early on the twelfth, the flag/ship of de Grasse collided 
 with one of the largest of his ships-'of/the'line, the " Zele," 
 damaging the latter to an extent which made it necessary 
 to send it into Guadeloupe under tow of a frigate. De 
 Grasse had taken his fleet into the passage between Do* 
 minica and Guadeloupe, which required the ships to 
 beat to windward. Hood, being signalled by Rodney to 
 pursue the "Zele," did so, which served to draw de 
 Grasse hastily to her support, signalling his fleet to form 
 line<'of /battle. The two fleets shortly passed each other in 
 approximately parallel lines in opposite directions, the 
 French fleet to windward, and the conditions unfavour/ 
 able for Rodney to force a close action. A fortunate shift 
 of the wind from the east to the south/east served to 
 weaken the French formation, and enabled the British 
 ships to stand in to the French line. This was effectually 
 
i86 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 done, Rodney in his flag/ship the " Formidable," followed 
 by a portion of his fleet, breaking through about the mid/ 
 die of de Grasse's line, separating his fleet into several 
 groups and putting the main body of the British fleet to 
 windward. Feeble breezes and calms during the rest of 
 the day gave added advantage to the windward position 
 obtained by Rodney. At nightfall the "Ville de Paris," 
 the flag/ship of de Grasse, struck. To this capture Hood, 
 who found fault with the failure of Rodney to reap the 
 full benefit of his advantageous position, attributes the 
 lack of taking other ships, as he charges Rodney with 
 having been so overcome with delight at the capture of 
 the flag/ship, that he let the chance slip by of taking " a 
 "dozen better ships in lieu of her." 
 
 In an account of this battle written by Sir Gilbert 
 Blane, physician to the fleet, the loss upon the British side 
 was reported to be two hundred and sixty/one killed, and 
 eight hundred and thirty/seven wounded. In addition to 
 the "Ville de Paris," flag/ship, of one hundred and six 
 guns and thirteen hundred men, some six other smaller 
 ships were taken or destroyed. The "Ville de Paris" 
 alone was reported to have had over three hundred killed 
 and wounded men. The total number in the ships lost to 
 the French, which included five of from sixty/four 
 to seventy/four guns, must have been a number of 
 thousands. 
 
 The defeated French fleet was scattered and disabled, 
 
LORD RODNEY 187 
 
 but owing to lack of a continuous and sustained attack 
 by the British ships, managed to escape, and in part pro/ 
 ceeded toward Cap Francois, where finally some nine/ 
 teen ships came together. The remainder in due course 
 reached Curasao. 
 
 In spite of the failure to secure the full success which 
 appears to have been so readily within his grasp, Rod/ 
 ney's victory was far /reaching in its results. In its influ/ 
 ence on the course of events it was the greatest of any 
 naval battle of the war, and it was possibly a percep/ 
 tion of this that made Rodney content with a definite 
 victory and shrink from the risk of a possible later 
 reverse. 
 
 The reports of the battle reached England at a good 
 time. The promptness with which the French fleet was 
 followed from Fort Royal Bay, and the brilliancy of the 
 first attack, together with the capture of the enemy's 
 flag/ship and the Comte de Grasse, won great credit for 
 Rodney, although subsequently the events were the basis 
 of an active controversy. He was voted the thanks of 
 Parliament, with an additional pension of two thousand 
 pounds per annum, and made a peer by the King. 
 
 Although not actually destroyed, the French fleet was 
 no longer to be feared, and Jamaica was saved. To that 
 island Rodney repaired with his prizes to refit his ships. 
 The Comte de Grasse was taken to Jamaica, and from 
 there on the nineteenth of May despatched to England 
 
i88 ADMIRALS OF THE CARIBBEAN 
 
 as a prisoner, but one to whom the most courteous and 
 flattering attention was constantly given. 
 
 The fall of the Ministry, which was one of the results 
 of the surrender of Cornwallis, brought about changes in 
 the Government, and Lord Sandwich was succeeded by 
 Lord Keppel as First Lord of the Admiralty. Before the 
 news of his encounter with de Grasse reached England, 
 the new Admiralty had sent out orders displacing Rod/ 
 ney and appointing Admiral Pigot to succeed him. 
 When the news arrived, Admiral Pigot had already 
 sailed, and on the twenty/second of July, Admiral Rod/ 
 ney left Jamaica, arriving home on the fifteenth of Sep/ 
 tember, 1782. 
 
 His stay in Jamaica had been marked by many demon/ 
 strations of respect and gratitude, and in the following 
 year the governing council, or House of Assembly of the 
 island, voted funds toward erecting a statue of Lord Rod/ 
 ney "as a mark of gratitude and veneration for his gal/ 
 "lant services, so 'timely and gloriously performed fof 
 "the salvation of the island in particular, as well as the 
 "whole of the British West India islands." 
 
 Upon Lord Rodney's return to England, he lived for 
 the greater part of the time with his family in retirement 
 in the country, although occupied to some extent with 
 legal matters growing out of the seizures at St. Eustatius. 
 He continued to be troubled with the gout, which had 
 annoyed him during his later voyages, and on the twenty/ 
 
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LORD RODNEY 189 
 
 third of May, 1792, he died, at the age of seventy-'three. 
 He had been in the navy sixty-'two years, about fifty of 
 which had been in commission, an extraordinary period 
 of active service. 
 
 The defeat of de Grasse by Rodney practically ended 
 the war for the Bourbons. Later in the same year, 
 Great Britain made a treaty of peace with the United 
 States, which was shortly followed by treaties of peace 
 with the Bourbon powers. The latter had gained little by 
 the war. In America Great Britain had lost the rebellious 
 states, but had increased her prestige and power in the 
 West Indies, a fact from which at the time little comfort 
 was derived. With the dawning of a new century, the 
 Caribbean Sea lost much of its importance as a battle/ 
 ground for European quarrels, although the successful 
 wars of the Spanish colonies for independence from Spain 
 made it the arena for many more struggles at both the 
 beginning and end of the nineteenth century. 
 
 THE END 
 
PARTIAL LIST OF SOURCES AND 
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 Martyr, Venice, 1 534. 
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 1534- 
 The Decades of the New World, by Peter Martyr, London, 1555. 
 Historia General de las Indias, by F. Lopez de Gomara, 1552- 
 
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 Breuissima relacion de la destruycion de las Indias, etc., by 
 
 B. de las Casas, Sevilla, 1552—53. 
 Primo Volume Delle Navigationi et Viaggi ... by Giov. B. Ra- 
 
 musio, Venice, 1554. (Second vol. and 3d edition, 1583.) 
 Historia de Mondo Nuovo, by Girol. Benzoni, Venice, 1565 
 
 and 1572. 
 Historia natural y moral de las Indias, by Jos6 de Acosta, 
 
 Sevilla, 1590. 
 Americce, by J. Theo. de Bry, Parts III to VIII, Francofurti, 
 
 1592-99. 
 Historia General de las Hechos de los Castellanos, by A. de 
 
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 The English^ American, his Travail by Sea £=? Land; or A New 
 
 Survey of the West Indies, by Thomas Gage, London, 1648. 
 A New Voyage & Description of the Isthmus of America, by 
 
 Lionel Wafer, London, 1699. 
 Coleccion de los viages y descubrimientos, by Mart. F. de Na- 
 
 varrete, Madrid, 1825-37. 
 
192 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Dampier's Voyages, edited by John Masefield, London, 1906. 
 The Journals of Columbus, records, etc., included in the various 
 standard editions of the Life of Gilumbus. 
 
 Drake 
 
 Printed Sources 
 
 The Principall Navigations, Voiages and "Discoveries of the 
 English Nation, ... by Richard Hakluyt. London, 1589. 
 (Containing the account by Thomas Gates of Drake's 
 voyage in 1585, the voyage around the world, etc.) 
 
 Sir Francis Drake Revived, by Philip Nichols, London, 1626. 
 
 Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas his Pilgrimes, Contayning 
 , . . Sea Voyages, and Lande Travells, by Englishmen and 
 Others, by Samuel Purchas, London, 1625. (Containing 
 Camden's account of Drake's youth and voyages, the nar- 
 rative of Peter Carder, etc.) 
 
 The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake, collected from 
 the notes of Master Francis Fletcher, London, 1652. 
 
 Coleccion de Documentos InSditos relatives al descubrimiento 
 conquista y colonization de las possessiones espanoles en 
 America . . . Madrid, 1864-84. 
 
 Drake and the Tudor Navy, by J. S. Corbett, London, 1898. 
 
 Morgan 
 
 Printed Sources 
 Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, 1669 et seq. Con- 
 taining: 
 
 Journal of Lords of Trade and Plantations. 
 Extracts from Journal of the Assembly of Jamaica. 
 Extracts from Minutes of the Council of Jamaica. 
 Official reports, orders and appointments. 
 Petitions, libels, affidavits and enquiries. 
 Letters to and from Sir Henry Morgan, Lord Vaughan, the 
 
 Earl of Carlisle, Governor Modyford, Francis Mingham 
 
 and others. 
 
SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 193 
 
 Bucaniers of America, Or, a true Account of the Most remarkable 
 assaults committed of late years upon the Coasts of the West 
 Indies, by John Esquemeling, London, 1684. 
 
 Correspondence of the Family of Hatton (vol. 2), Camden So- 
 ciety, 1878. 
 
 Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century, by C. H. 
 Haring (a thesis presented to the Board of Modern History 
 at Oxford in May, 1909), New York, 1910. 
 
 Governors of Jamaica, by Frank Cundall, Kingston, 1920. 
 Manuscripts 
 
 "Additional Manuscripts," vols. 11268 and 13964, British 
 Museum. 
 
 State Papers (Spain), vols. 57 and 58, Public Record Office, 
 London. 
 
 Contemporaneous Minutes in the Council Book of Jamaica, 
 1672-78. 
 
 Coram Rege Roll, King's Bench, No. 2041 m. 526, Easter 
 Term i, James II (1685). Malthus, Thos. ats. Henry 
 Morgan Knt. 
 
 Baron de Pointis 
 
 Printed Sources 
 Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, 1696-97. 
 Relation de ce qui c est fait la Prise de Carthagine, par le Sieur 
 
 de Pointis, Bruxelles, 1698. 
 Relation Fidilede I' Expedition de Cartagena, [Paris,] 1699. 
 De Pointis Expedition to Cartagena: the Taking of the City by 
 
 the French, their meeting with Admiral Nevil, etc. (translated 
 
 from the French). [London,] 1699. 
 Histoire de I'isle Espagnola ou de S. Dominique krite particu- 
 
 lierement sur des Memoirs manuscrits du P. Jean Baptiste 
 
 le Pers . . . Par le P. Pierre Francois Xavier de Charlevoix, 
 
 de la Compagnie de J6sus, Paris, 173 1. 
 Account of the Taking of Cartagena by the French and Buc- 
 
 caniers, in the Year i6g7, by the Sieur Pointis, Commander 
 
 in Chief (translated from the French), London, 1740. 
 
194 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Histoire des Flibustiers, de J. W. d'Archenholtz (traduite de 
 rallemande), Paris, 1804. 
 
 History of the Buccaneers of America, by James Burney, 
 F.R.S., London, 18 16. 
 
 L'Amiral du Casse (1646-1715), par le Baron Robert du 
 Casse, Paris, 1876. 
 
 A Study of Attacks upon Fortified Harbors, by Lieut. Com- 
 mander W. L. Rodgers, U.S.N. (Proc. U.S. Naval Inst., 
 vol. XXX, no. 3). 
 
 Vernon 
 
 Printed Sources 
 History of Jamaica in Thirteen Letters from a Gentleman to his 
 
 Friend, London, 1740. 
 An Account of the Expedition to Cartagena, with Explanatory 
 
 Notes and Observations, by Sir Charles Knowles, London, 
 
 1743- 
 A Journal of the Expedition to Cartagena, with notes, in Answer 
 
 to a late Pamphlet, Entitled an Account of the Expedition to 
 
 Carthagena, London, 1744. 
 
 Authentic Papers Relating to the Expedition Against Cartagena 
 containing Original Letters between the Admiral and the 
 General, their Councils of War, etc., London, 1744. 
 
 Original Papers Relating to the Expedition to Cartagena, Lon- 
 don, 1744. 
 
 Memorial of Admiral Vernon from Contemporary Authorities, 
 by William Frederick Vernon, privately printed, London, 
 1861. 
 
 A Study of Attacks upon Fortified Harbors, by Lieut.-Com- 
 mander W. L. Rodgers, U.S.N. (Proc. U.S. Naval Inst., 
 vol. XXX, no. 3). 
 
 Massachusetts in the Expedition under Admiral Vernon, by 
 W. K. Watkins (Year Book, Soc. of Colonial Wars, Bos- 
 ton, 1899). 
 
SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 195 
 
 Admiral Vernon and the Navy; a Memoir, by Douglas Ford, 
 London, 1907. 
 Manuscripts 
 
 Letters and Reports of Bias de Leso, General Commanding 
 the Spanish Galleons at Cartagena. 
 
 Letters and Reports of the President of Panamd, Dionesio 
 Martinez de la Vega, particularly a long report to the King 
 of Spain, dated at Panamd, 12 Feb., 1740 (N.S.). 
 
 Copy of a Diary of a resident of Cartagena during invasion 
 by Admiral Vernon, 1741. (Original at University of Co- 
 lombia, Bogota.) 
 
 Correspondence between Admiral Vernon and Governor 
 Trelawney of Jamaica in connection with the trial of Sir 
 Chaloner Ogle for assault before the Chief Justice of Ja- 
 maica in 1742. 
 
 Letters between the Vice King of Santa F^, Governor of Car- 
 tagena, and Admiral Vernon. 
 
 Letters of Vernon, Wentworth, and others contained in the 
 large and valuable collection called the "Vernon- Wager 
 Manuscripts," now in the Library of Congress, Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 Various documents, letters, and notes in the Public Archives 
 and private collections at Cartagena, Colombia. 
 
 Rodney 
 
 Printed Sources 
 Letters from Sir George Bridges now Lord Rodney to His Maj- 
 esty's Ministers, etc., privately printed, 178 1. 
 The Life and Correspondence of the late Admiral Lord Rodney, 
 by Major-General Mundy, London, 1830. (Containing let- 
 ters to and from Rodney and Lady Rodney, the Earl of 
 Sandwich, Philip Stevens, the Admiralty Secretary, Sir 
 Samuel Hood, the Earl of Carlisle, the Comte de Grasse, 
 Wm. Pitt, various British and foreign officers and others.) 
 The Operations of the French Fleet under the Count de Grasse 
 
196 SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 in 1^81-2, as described in two contemporary journals, pri- 
 vately printed for the Bradford Club, New York, 1864. 
 
 Rodney's Victory over De Grasse, by Commander Nankivell, 
 R.N., in the Journal of the Institute of Jamaica, vol. 1 1, 
 no. 2, Kingston, 1895. 
 
 The contemporaneous issues of the London Magazine and 
 other publications, containing official orders, dispatches, 
 and reports. 
 Manuscripts 
 
 Various unpublished reports, letters, maps and naval diagrams 
 in private collections and public archives. 
 
INDEX 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of, 154, 157. 
 
 Albemarle, Lord, 162, 163. 
 
 American colonies, war with England, 
 169. 
 
 Americans, in expedition against Carta- 
 gena, 139. 
 
 Antin, Marquis d', 140. 
 
 Arbuthnot, Admiral, 175, 176. 
 
 Armada, Spanish, the, 41, 43. 
 
 Armed Neutrality, the, 177. 
 
 Augsburg, Alliance of, 109. 
 
 Ayora, Juan de, 12. 
 
 Balboa, Vasco Nunez de, 10, 
 
 Banister, General, on Morgan, 93. 
 
 Bastidas, Rodrigo de, 9. 
 
 Berreo, Antonio de, 19. 
 
 Blake, Robert, 44. 
 
 Blane, Sir Gilbert, 186. 
 
 Bluefields Bay, 48. 
 
 Boscawen, Admiral, 158. 
 
 Brazil, 4, 9, 16. 
 
 Buccaneers, the word, 17; the period of, 
 17, 18; and English-Spanish rela- 
 tions, 45-49; not pirates, 52. 
 
 Byndloss, Robert, 103. 
 
 Cabots, the, 9. 
 
 Cadiz, 40. 
 
 Cape de Verde Islands, 3a 
 
 Cape of Good Hope, 9. 
 
 Carleill, Christopher, 30, 32, 35, 36. 
 
 Carlisle, Earl of, 92, 104. 
 
 Cartagena, 11; looting of, by Drake, 
 16, 24; taken by de Poinds, 110-29; 
 bombarded by Vernon, 138; failure 
 of Vernon's expedition against, 139- 
 
 53- 
 Casas, Bartolom£ de las, I3, 13. 
 
 Casse, Admiral da, and the Cartagena 
 expedition, 112-29; ^ career, 113. 
 
 Cates, Thomas, 31, 36 ». 
 
 Cathcart, Lord, 140. 
 
 Central America, 7. 
 
 Chagres, taken by Vernon,'l 39. 
 
 Colombia, 6, 
 
 Columbus, Bartolom£, 5, 6. 
 
 Columbus, Christopher, his discovery 
 of San Salvador, i; discovers Cuba, 
 2; discovers Haiti, 2; his second voy- 
 age and return to Haiti, 3; makes set- 
 tlements on Haiti, 3, 4; discovers 
 Jamaica, 5; his dealings with the na- 
 tives of Haiti, 5; his third voyage, 5; 
 discovers Trinidad, 5; returns to 
 Spain a prisoner, 6; his fourth voy- 
 age, 6, 7; death, 7. 
 
 Columbus, Diego, 5. 
 
 Columbus, Fernando, 6. 
 
 Cortez, Hernan, 11. 
 
 Cosa, Juan de la, g, 10. 
 
 Costa Rica, 49, SS"^' 
 
 Cromwell, Oliver, 44. 
 
 Crooke, W., his translation of Exque- 
 melin, 51, 52; his apology of Morgan, 
 93-99; his first apology, 100. 
 
 Cuba, discovered by Columbus, 2; con- 
 quered by Velazquez, 10. 
 
 Cumana, 14. 
 
 Darien, Gulf of, 9. 
 
 Darien, Isthmus of, 7, 27. 
 
 Daunou, Captain, 120. 
 
 Demerara, 179. 
 
 Dominica, 14, 31. 
 
 Douglas, Sir James, 158, 162, 163. 
 
 Drake, Edmund, 2j. 
 
 Drake, Sir Francis, his voyage around 
 
200 
 
 INDEX 
 
 the world, 15, 16, 23, 34, 28; in com- 
 mand of the " Judith," 15, 25, 26; his 
 talcing of Cartagena, 16, 33-39; last 
 voyage, 16,41; romantic associations 
 of his name, 24; birth and early life, 
 25; three voyages (1570, 1571, IJ72) 
 to the West Indies, 26, 27; sees 
 the Pacific, 27; political career, 28, 
 41 ; his voyage of 1 585, 28-40; service 
 in European waters, 40, 41. 
 Drake, Rear-Admiral^ 178^ 181. 
 
 England, beginning of her influence in 
 the New World, 42-45; war with 
 Holland, 48; treaty with Spdn for 
 peace in the New World, 92; war 
 with Spain, 130, 131 ; West India 
 policy of, 154; war with American 
 colonies, 169; war with Holland, 
 177. 
 
 English explorers, character of, 7, 8. 
 
 Essequibo, 179. 
 
 Exquemelin, John, his History of the 
 Buccaneers, 49-52, 106; his account 
 of the sacking of Puerto Velo, 55-66; 
 his account of the Panama expedi- 
 tion, 75-91; and Crooke's apology, 
 93-100. 
 
 Florida, 10, 40. 
 Frobisher, Martin, 30, 
 Frogge, William, his account of the tak- 
 ing of Panami, 80, 83 ». 
 
 Gama, Vasco da, 9. 
 
 Granada, 49, 53, 54, 160. 
 
 Grasse, Comte de, 180-87. 
 
 Greene, John, Morgan's attorney, 99. 
 
 Grog, origin of the word, 153. 
 
 Guiana, 19, 20. 
 
 Guichen, Admiral de, i73-76» 
 
 Haiti. See Hispaniola. 
 
 Hatton, Charles, his testimony on 
 
 Morgan, 100-02. 
 Havana, taken by Pocock, 162-64. 
 Hawke, Admiral, 156, 158. 
 
 Hawkins, Sir John, his voyages to the 
 
 West Indies, 13-17, 25, 41. 
 Hispaniola, discovered by Columbus, 
 
 2, 3; early settlements made on, 3-6; 
 
 Drake in, 31-33, 
 Holland, war with England, 177. 
 Hood, Sir Samuel, 178-86. 
 Hopson, Admiral, 133. 
 
 Indians, the name, 3. 
 "Isabel," seizure of, 131. 
 Isabella, settlement on Haiti, 4, 5. 
 
 Jackman, privateer, 49, 52. 
 
 Jackson, Captain William, 2r. 
 
 Jamaica, discovered by Columbus, 5; 
 Columbus wrecked on, 7; settled by 
 Spanish and conquered by English, 
 20, 21, 44; Modyford appointed 
 Governor of, 45; character of colo- 
 nists of, 47; Spanish land on, 71; 
 Morgan appointed Deputy-Gover- 
 nor of, 92; centre of smuggling trade, 
 166; severe earthquake in, 166. 
 
 Jenkins, Captain, 131. 
 
 Jimeno, D. Sancho, 1 19. 
 
 Jones, Paul, 177. 
 
 KnoUys, Francrs, 30. 
 
 Labrador, 9. 
 
 Lake Nicaragua, 53. 
 
 Leon, Juan Ponce de, 10. 
 
 Lepe, Diego, 9. 
 
 Lestock, Commodore, in the Cartagena 
 
 expedition, 140, 144, 150. 
 Louisburg, 158. 
 Lynch, Sir Thomas, Governor of Jai. 
 
 maica, 105, to6. 
 
 Mackenzie, Commodore, 165. 
 
 Madrid, Treaty of, 92.. 
 
 Magellan, 11. 
 
 Malthus, Thomas, his translation of 
 
 Exquemelin, 51, 52; Morgan's com- 
 
 plaint against, 99, 100. 
 Manila, 164. 
 
INDEX 
 
 201 
 
 Manoa, 19. 
 
 Mansfield, Q^tain Edwd, 48, 49, 
 54. 
 
 Maracaibo, captare of, 68, 69^ 
 
 Martinique, discovered by Columbus, 
 7; taken by Rodney, 158-60, 
 
 Mexico, II, 43. 
 
 Mexico, Gulf of^ 10. 
 
 Mingham, Francis, 105^ 
 
 Modyfotd, Sir Thomas, Governor of 
 Jamaica, 45^48, 54. 6?. 7'; sum- 
 moned home a prisoner, g2i 
 
 Monckton, General, 158-60. 
 
 Morgan, Colonel Blendry, 9r, 
 
 Morgan, Colonel Edward, 4^48, 50. 
 
 Morgan, Sir Henry, in Campeache, 49; 
 parentage, 50; becomes buccaneer, 
 51, 5a, 54; not a pirate, 52, 54, 71-74, 
 98, 99, loi; receives commission 
 from Modyford, 54; under Mansfield 
 in attack on Granada, 54; his Puerto 
 Velo adventure, 55-67; takes Mara- 
 caibo, 68, 69; and the "Almirante," 
 70; receives new commission from 
 Modyford, 71-74; his attack on Pan- 
 ami, 75-91; summoned home, 92; 
 Deputy-Governor of Jamaica, 9a; 
 charges against, exaggerated, 93, 99; 
 General Banister's testimony to, 93; 
 Crooke's apology of, 93-100; his 
 complaint against Malthus, 99, 100; 
 Charles Hatton's testimony to, 100- 
 02; swashbuckler spirit of, 102; cited 
 before Council of Jamaica, 103; act- 
 ing Governor of Jamaica, 104; letter 
 concerning himself, 105; and Sir 
 Thomas Lynch, 106; reinstatement 
 in Council after dismissal, 106; death, 
 107; estimate 0/ his character, 107, 
 108. 
 
 Morris, privateer, 49, 52. 
 
 Myngs, Admiral, 21. 
 
 Nantes, revocation of Edict of, 109.. 
 Nicuesa, Diego de, 10. 
 Niiio, Pedro Alonzo, 9. 
 Nombre de Dios, 9, 26. 
 
 North, Lord^ 177. 
 Nueva Granada, 6 ».,. n. 
 
 Ogeron, Bertrand d', 46. 
 
 Ogle, Sir Chaloner, in the Cartagena 
 
 expedition, 139-50. 
 Ojeda, de, 5^ 8, 10. 
 Ordaz, 19. 
 Orinoco River, 6., 
 Oviedo, 12. 
 
 Oxenham, John^ 27, 28. 
 "Oxford," thej 68. 
 
 Pacific Ocean, discovery of, 10, 11; 
 viewed by Drake, 27. 
 
 Panami, 43; capture and sack of, 75- 
 91. 
 
 Paris, Treaty of (1763), 164; (1783), 
 189. 
 
 Pediarias, 12. 
 
 Penn, attack on Jamaica, 31.. 
 
 Peru, 11,43. 
 
 Petty, Francis, 16. 
 
 Pigot^ Admiral, 188. 
 
 Pineda, 10. 
 
 Pinzon, Vicente, 9, 10. 
 
 Pirates, and buccaneers, 53. See Buc- 
 caneers. 
 
 Pizarro, Francisco, 10, 11. 
 
 Plate, River, 16. 
 
 Pocock, Sir George, 162-64. 
 
 Poinds, Admiral de, and the Caitagena 
 expedition, 110-29. 
 
 Pope, Alexander VI, his division of the 
 world between Spain and Portugal, 
 
 4. 
 
 Pope, Martin V, his grant of lands to 
 Portugal, 4. 
 
 Portugal, and the Pope's line, 4. 
 
 Privateers, and pirates, 52. See Buc- 
 caneers. 
 
 Providence Island, 49, 75. 
 
 Puerto Bello, capture of, by Vernon, 
 
 133-38- 
 Puerto Rico, 10, 41. 
 Puerto Velo, capture and sack of, 55- 
 
 66. 
 
202 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 44; in the West 
 Indies, 13, 18-20. 
 
 Rio Carta, 53. 
 
 Rodney, Lord George Brydges, early 
 career, 15J-58; takes Martinique, 
 158-60; takes Santa Lucia and Gra- 
 nada, 160; his resolution, 161, 162, 
 166-68; ordered to co-operate with 
 Pocock and Albemarle, 162, 163; po- 
 sitions held by, 165; Commander-in- 
 Chief at Jamaica, 165; letter to Gov- 
 ernor of Cartagena on action of Span- 
 ish coast guards, 167, 168; in France, 
 169; receives command in Leeward 
 Islands, 169; captures Spanish con- 
 voy, 170 engages Spanish squadron, 
 171 ; engages French fleet under de 
 Guichen, 173-7J; in American wa- 
 ters, 176; takes St. Eustatius and 
 other Dutch Islands, 177, 178; cap- 
 tures Dutch convoy, 178, 179; and de 
 Grasse, 180-87; becomes Vice-Ad- 
 miral of Great Britain, 182; defends 
 himself against charges in House of 
 Commons, 182; returns to England, 
 188; death, 189. 
 
 Rollo, Lord, 158. 
 
 Rook, Sir George, 133. 
 
 Russell, Francis, 25. 
 
 Ryswick, Treaty of, no. 
 
 Saba, 178. 
 
 St. Augustine, 40. 
 
 St. Eustatius, attacked by Colonel 
 Morgan, 47, 48; taken by Rodney, 
 177, 178; retaken by French, 183. 
 
 St. Jago de la Vega, 21. 
 
 St. Kitts, 183. 
 
 St. Martin, 178. 
 
 San Domingo, taken by Drake, 31, 32; 
 headquarters of French buccaneers, 
 112. 
 
 San Salvador, discovered by Colum- 
 bus, I. 
 
 Sandwich, Lord, 171, 172, 183. 
 
 Santa Lucia, surrendered to Rodney, 
 160. 
 
 Santa Marta, 11. 
 
 Shovel, Sir Cloudesley, 133. 
 
 Smith, Captain John, 44. 
 
 Smollett, Tobias, 152. 
 
 Smuggling, 166. 
 
 Solis, Juan Diaz de, 10. 
 
 South Sea, 11. 
 
 Spain, and the Pope's line, 4; character 
 of her domination of the West Indies, 
 7-13, 17, 21, 22, 42, 43; her claims in 
 America, in sixteenth century, 23, 
 42; her sea-power before and after 
 the defeat of the Armada, 42-44; 
 treaty with England for peace in the 
 New World, 92; war with England, 
 
 13°. '31- 
 Spanish, land on Jamaica, 71; coast 
 
 guards of, 166. 
 Spanish Main, the, 10. 
 Spanish Town, 21. 
 Swanton, Commodore, 160. 
 
 Tobago, 181. 
 
 Tortuga, 46, 47. 
 
 Trinidad, discovered by Columbus, J; 
 
 Raleigh at, 20. 
 Truxillo, 53. 
 
 Universities, Spanish, in the New 
 World, 43. 
 
 Vaughan, General, 178. 
 
 Vaughan, Lord Governor of Jamaica, 
 92, 102-04. 
 
 Velazquez, Diego, 10. 
 
 Venables, attack on Jamaica, 21. 
 
 Venezuela, 6 n., 14. 
 
 Vernon, Edward, urges expedition 
 against Puerto Bello, 132; early ca- 
 reer, 133; takes Puerto Bello, 133- 
 38; bombards Cartagena and takes 
 Chagres, 138, 139; failure of his ex- 
 pedition against Cartagena, 139-52; 
 popularly called "Old Grog," 153. 
 
 Vernon, Janies, 133. 
 
 Vespucci, Amerigo, 8. 
 
 Villa de Mosa, 52. 
 
INDEX 
 
 203 
 
 Walker, Captain, 133. 
 
 Walpole, Sir Robert, 130, 131. 
 
 Watling's Island, i «. See San Salva- 
 dor, 
 
 Wentworth, General Thomas, in the 
 Cartagena expedition, 140-52. 
 
 West Indies, the name, i; Columbus's 
 
 voyages to, 1-7; under Spanish dom- 
 ination, 7-13, 17; and the bucca- 
 neers, 15-21, 46-50. 
 Wright, Captain Lawrence, his account 
 of Morgan's death and burial, 107. 
 
 Yucatan, 10, 
 
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 „. D AKTILIvE ;S' , 
 
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 ^ le5 Isles de Cul>a,5?Doiiiingtte 
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