Henry Morgan's Panama expedition
Henry Morgan's Panama expedition, also known as The Sack of Panama, was a military expedition in which English privateers commanded by Welsh Buccaneer Henry Morgan launched an attack with an army of 1,400 men with the purpose of capturing the rich Spanish city of Panama off the Pacific coast between 16 December 1670 and 5 March 1671 during the later stage of the Anglo-Spanish War.
The expedition was set up in April 1670, and nine months later set off from Tortuga island off Hispaniola. The first port of call was Old Providence island which was captured from the Spanish after a ruse. After leaving a small garrison, a part of Morgan's force then sailed to the Panama Isthmus where Fort San Lorenzo on the mouth of the Río Chagres stood. The fort was captured after a bloody assault, following which Morgan and the rest of the force arrived a week later. Using the fort as a base of operation and communication, the Privateers set off across the Isthmus. After nearly a week's march across the jungle, with many starving, they managed to repel a number of Spanish ambushes and then arrived at the outskirts of Panama itself.
Outside the city, Morgan's privateer army routed a force of Spanish militia at the Battle of Mata Asnillos. They subsequently swept in capturing the city, which then led to it being sacked, plundered and burned. Morgan's privateer army subsequently raided the entire area including the offshore islands in the Gulf of Panama. Although the booty was high, with such a large force the net income for every privateer was lower than expected. The privateer army then set off on the return journey across the isthmus without incident, razing Fort San Lorenzo to the ground.
On his arrival in Jamaica, Morgan was informed of a peace treaty that had been signed by England and Spain in July 1670, ending the war. Morgan insisted he was unaware of the treaty, and was subsequently arrested and sent back to England. Nevertheless, he was hailed a hero and released, then knighted by King Charles II and eventually became governor of Jamaica.
Background
In 1654, Oliver Cromwell had declared war on Spain, and executed the Western Design – an armada against Spain's colonies in the Caribbean. The attack on the main target – Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola, however, was an abject failure. The expedition then went on to Spanish Jamaica and succeeded in taking the island. Once the English had established themselves successfully, Spain then repeatedly attempted to recapture the island. Two large attempts were made but the Spanish were defeated in 1657 and the following year.In 1660 King Charles II's restoration effectively ended England's war against Spain, but a treaty had not been signed between the two nations. The Caribbean in effect thus remained in a state of war, and as far as the governor of Jamaica, Thomas Modyford was concerned, Spain had to acknowledge England's possession of the island, and in a treaty.
At the behest of Modyford and subsequent Governors Edward D'Oyley and Thomas Hickman-Windsor Buccaneers were invited, firstly with Christopher Myngs and later Dutch corsair Edward Mansvelt to base themselves at Port Royal, to help defend against Spanish attacks. These men were mostly Protestant English, French and Dutch – also known as the Brethren of the Coast. Given Letters of Marque they went out on raids to preempt any Spanish invasion. Over the next several years they launched raids on the Spanish Main which resulted in the Sack of Campeche in 1663 and the seizure of Santa Catalina island in January 1666. The following year a peace treaty had been signed between England and Spain, but it left out any mention of the Caribbean. As far as England was concerned, no effort was made to enforce the treaty outside of Europe.
Mansvelt had died by the end of 1666, which meant that Henry Morgan, who had been in charge of the Port Royal militia and the defence of Jamaica, took over further privateering expeditions as Admiral in Chief of the Confederacy of Buccaneers. Modyford gave Morgan a letter of marque, and the 26 gun HMS Oxford as a gift from King Charles II in March 1667. Morgan subsequently conducted a successful and lucrative raid on Puerto Principe on Cuba which yielded a satisfactory profit of 50,000 pieces of eight. Another raid took place on Porto Bello which was more successful, garnering some 100,000 pieces of eight. In 1668, Morgan sailed for Maracaibo and Gibraltar, both on Lake Maracaibo ; he raided both cities and stripped them of their wealth before destroying a large Spanish naval squadron and escaping successfully.
Mariana, the Queen Regent of Spain was outraged at the attacks, and in revenge ordered that all English shipping in the Caribbean was to be seized or sunk. The first actions took place in March 1670 when Spanish privateers, which included Manuel Ribeiro Pardal under a letter of marque, attacked English trade ships. In response Modyford commissioned Morgan "to do and perform all manner of exploits, which may tend to the preservation and quiet of this island".
Planning
Despite the accident, Morgan began planning for his next attack starting in April 1670, but this time he sought something bigger. He intended to seize an important Spanish port but had not decided where. Morgan realised he needed to raise a sizeable army for this achievement. He then launched a huge recruitment campaign; from the English of Jamaica, and to the French from Tortuga and Hispaniola. Morgan knew this was going to be his last voyage, given that peace with Spain was inevitable in the Americas.As the expedition was being prepared and more privateers arrived, Collier was ordered to sail with six ships to Rio de la Hacha and obtain provisions and other supplies as well as to gather information from locals. He captured the recently reinforced Spanish stronghold, and acquired provisions and munitions from the local population.
On October 24, Morgan held a council of war with all the captains and other key officers to decide where they would strike. He proposed three: Panama, Cartagena de Indias and Veracruz, all in the Gulf of New Spain. All agreed that it should be Panama – it was held to be the one whose premium would be the most advantageous, because it was the richest of the three. Panama itself was the second largest city of the Western Hemisphere, a thriving mercantile community of more than 7,000 households. Every year the King of Spain's galleons loaded with silver arrived from the mines of Peru to Panama from where it was taken by land from this city to that of Portobello, on mules, to be loaded there for Spain as well as to be distributed to other parts of the Spanish empire. In order to achieve this Morgan needed a supply chain and to keep his communications open. He would need to take Providence Island, and the Fortress of San Lorenzo which lay on the Chagres. From there, guides would lead the army to Panama itself. Providence, which had previously been an English colony had been captured by Morgan before, and it was known to have banished Spanish bandits and criminals, who with a few coin were more than willing to help. Morgan planned to lead over 1,000 men along the Chagres River along part of the old 'Camino de Cruces', one of the Spanish routes used to transport heavy cargo on the isthmus of Panama that connected the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. Morgan intended to follow in the footsteps of Francis Drake, who had succeeded along the route nearly a century earlier.
Morgan read out the self-governing articles to other captains and crews which were particularly generous, with captains receiving eight shares, disability compensation for all hands and even a bonus of fifty pieces of eight for conspicuous acts of bravery.
Vessels from as far as New England had joined, and by the end of October there were 30 to 36 English and French ships to carry a large number of privateers. Morgan had been given the captured fourteen gun French ship Satisfaction, formally the Le Cerf Volant, a prize from the Second Anglo-Dutch War. It was the largest ship and was able to hold eight boats. There were twelve other ships with ten or more guns carrying an average of seventy-five men apiece. The other 25 ships were smaller and some had no guns at all.
The size of Morgan's force differs between sources but there were at least 36 ships with as many as "2,000 fighting men, beside mariners and boys"; Most of the force were from the British Isles and her colonies; however, there was some 520 French along with eight vessels. In addition, there were also Dutch, free blacks, Natives, Portuguese and even a few renegade Spanish.
At the time the privateer army was the largest that had gathered in the Caribbean. The men were all well-armed and were determined to fight hard for the rich booty on offer – a mark of Morgan's renown.
The privateers included many famous men of the time:
- Edward Collier – appointed Vice Admiral of the expedition
- Joseph Bradley – a veteran buccaneer and captain.
- Robert Searle – a buccaneer who had just been released from prison in Jamaica after he had sacked the Spanish town of St. Augustine in Florida in May 1668.
- Lawrence Prince – a Dutchman who had just come back from a successful raid up the San Juan river and sacked Granada early in 1669. Appointed third in command.
- John Morris – a buccaneer who received a hero's welcome after he had a famous encounter with Manuel Ribeiro Pardal. Morris killed Pardal and seized his ship the San Pedro y La Fama while sailing off the northern coast of Cuba.
- Alexandre Exquemelin – French/Flemish writer.
Collier rejoined Morgan's fleet in early December, bringing back a number of prisoners. From their confessions they had declared they were preparing for an invasion of Jamaica – an incentive for Morgan to launch an attack.
Around this time, Morgan had received a letter from Modyford declaring that peace had been signed between England and Spain back in July but was awaiting ratification. Meanwhile, the Spanish had also received this news, and received reports of the privateer gathering at Île-à-Vache. The alarm was raised about an imminent attack on the Spanish Main. Most assumed that Cartagena de Indias was the target, and so the Governor Don Pedro de Ulloa put the city into a state of defence. In addition other parts of the Spanish Main were on the alert including the Chagres River defences organised by the Real Audiencia of Panama governor Don Juan Pérez de Guzmán y Gonzaga. With some 400 men, four strong points of high stockades were prepared by Francisco Gonzalez de Salado, Captain of the river, some twenty miles upriver, along with lookouts and canoe patrols.