Marching with Morgan
The commander marched ahead of his men, their colours flying in the hot breeze. Ahead lay the prize and spoils for those who had the courage to take them. He did and so did the 750 men marching with him.
Already the Spanish had tried to outwit him by felling trees along the road. But he had seen this ruse before and so ordered his men to march through the jungle. It was hard going for the heat was stifling, the undergrowth was thick and the men had to hack their way through it. But he knew the town wasn’t far and in the town there were riches, wine, food and women.
He smiled at the Spanish attempts to stop him. They had thrown up ambuscades and mounted cannon facing the road to destroy his forces. They hadn’t thought that he would go through the dense woods. His men had spotted the Spanish troops waiting with their cannon and musketry at the ambuscades and reported back to him.
But time was short. The blocked roads meant that the Spanish knew they were coming and so would be feverishly hiding their wealth in the surrounding countryside. Once they were past the blockades he spurred his men on.
Finally, they emerged from the woods onto the savannah and could see the town in the distance. The commander urged his men forward, drawing closer and closer to the town. As they came within sight of the entrance he could see the proud Spanish governor on his fine horse behind his foot soldiers and in the middle of his cavalry waiting for them. They were facing the wrong way.
The commander ordered his men to spread out from the rank and file formation into a semi-circle. He ordered the drums to beat, the men to quicken their step, muskets at the ready and the colours to fly.
Alarmed, the Spanish governor turned to face them, leading his mounted troops towards the buccaneers now marching towards the town. The Spanish horses charged but the commander expected this and had put his best shots at the front of his semi-circle formation. As the Spanish rode in, they were cut down from three sides by accurate musket fire. Regrouping, the Spanish charged again and again each time they met a hail of musket balls. Horses reared, men fell, their flesh torn by hot iron balls ripping into them.
The commander fired at approaching targets, waiting until the enemy were almost on top of him before pulling the trigger. More Spanish fell from their horses, shot through with musket balls. A musket ball ripped into the Spanish governor, throwing him from his horse, his blood flowing freely. Seeing the death of their leader those remaining Spanish still mounted headed for the woods for protection but even they were cut down by a rearguard the commander had placed behind his main formation.
As the Spanish mounted troops fled, the commander raised his sword and called for his men to surge forward. Shouting and screaming the men charged towards the town and met the Spanish foot soldiers. They quickly cut through them with swords and musket fire. The Spanish, seeing that their governor was dead and that the marauders held the upper hand, retreated, some heading back into the town while others headed across the open savannah towards the woods but were cut down long before they reached safety.
Those that retreated back into the town immediately shut themselves into houses with the inhabitants to continue the fight. They hid in windows and behind doors, waiting for the chance to fire on the invaders.
They didn’t wait long.
The commander ordered the men to enter the town and take it. As they came rushing in the Spanish soldiers fired on them from their hiding places. Some of his men were killed and injured. Musket balls smashed into the walls and cobblestoned streets. His men took cover, returning the fire. But this kind of fighting could go on for days [and] time was not on the commander’s side. He ordered runners to take messages to the Spanish saying that he would burn the town to the ground and kill everyone in it, including women and children, if the Spanish continued to resist.
The firing stopped. After a while a white flag appeared and the last elements of resistance surrendered. Immediately, the commander ordered his men to spread throughout the town, taking any prisoners and locking them into the churches. As they spread out the men grabbed what loot was still left and corralled the prisoners.
With the town secure, the commander sent expedition parties into the surrounding countryside to search for wealth that had been hidden.
Over the time of the occupation more and more prisoners would be brought into the town to be tortured and punished until they told the marauders where their wealth was hidden as ransom for their lives. Indeed, four prisoners had been freed by the occupiers to go out into the country and raise the ransom they wanted. These four prisoners returned with nothing, saying they needed more time.
But the Spanish stalling tactics would work against them and many died of starvation.
Who were they and who was their commander? He was Captain Henry Morgan and he was to become ‘the greatest and most renowned of all the buccaneers’.1
The year was 1668 and the town that Morgan attacked and occupied was Puerto del Príncipe. The men who followed him were hard men, pirates and privateers out for loot and glory. They were largely English and French and they hated the Spanish. When these men heard of the expedition against Spanish-held Cuba and that it was to be commanded by Morgan, they flocked to join him for they were sure of victory. His reputation and his deeds were already known far and wide.
He was, in his way, a military genius, a truly remarkable leader of irregular troops whose skill in planning attacks, implementing them with secrecy and dash, and in maintaining throughout amazing discipline over his men commands admiration.2
Henry Morgan is best known as the man who sacked Panama City. His reign as a privateer lasted only four years but his career in Jamaica lasted much longer. Prior to him and his crew setting sail in 1670 for the Panama expedition the mood in the English colony of Jamaica had changed. Peace with Spain was being negotiated and became a reality with the signing of the Treaty of Madrid the same year. But before official news of the treaty arrived in Jamaica, Sir Thomas Modyford, the governor of the island, gave the go-ahead for the expedition. As this story unfolds the justifying circumstances of the mounting of this operation will be revealed.
After the Panama affair, Morgan and Modyford were sent to London to be punished for ignoring the treaty. Morgan was the toast of the town and was knighted. However, Modyford was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Morgan returned to Jamaica as Lieutenant Governor, with instructions to suppress the buccaneers, many of whom were his old shipmates. He died a rich man in 1688.
History has seen no other commander like Morgan, certainly no British commander. He would lead most of the attacks himself, often at the head of hundreds or, in the case of Panama, more than a thousand men. He was a product of his time. Perhaps Nelson is the closest to rival the deeds of Morgan than any other British commander. Although he had the title of captain or admiral he was a military man—a brilliant tactician and strategist in land warfare. One big difference between Morgan and other privateers/pirates of history is that he always made sure he had commissions from the governor for his expeditions.
The truth about allegations of the use of torture against prisoners taken by Morgan’s men, and whether he ordered or condoned this, is shrouded in the mists of time. For us to understand the man we need to take a detailed look at his battles, the actions that made him famous, and for this there are letters, some eyewitness reports, Spanish reports of the events and the work of John Esquemeling, who published his experiences on Morgan’s expeditions in a book entitled The Buccaneers of America. As with any eyewitness account the accuracy and reliability of the detail must be not be taken for granted; we need also to use a wide variety of other sources.
This is the story of Sir Henry Morgan, buccaneer, family man, politician and a great leader.