None of the "brethren of the coast," as English buccaneer, French filibuster, and Dutch sea-rover were pleased to style each other, are better known to fame than Henry Morgan, the Welshman, whose deeds have been heralded in all the principal languages of Europe. Born of respectable parents in easy circumstances, he left home still a lad, and shipped for Barbadoes in the service of a master who, on reaching port, sold him as a slave. On regaining his liberty he proceeded to Jamaica, and finding no other employment joined a piratical expedition which was then on the point of starting for a cruise in the Spanish West Indies. After storing up his share in the proceeds of three or four profitable raids, he was enabled to purchase a vessel in partnership with a few of his more thrifty comrades, and being elected captain made a successful cruise off the coast of Campeche. On his return he was appointed vice-admiral of a fleet, which, under the command of Mansvelt, was preparing for an attack on the island of Santa Catarina.
On the death of Mansvelt in 1664, Morgan, whose gallantry had won the respect of the buccaneers, was appointed his successor, and soon found himself in command of a dozen vessels and seven hundred men. A council was summoned, and it was first proposed to attempt the capture of the city of Habana; but not daring to undertake such an enterprise with so slender a force, the freebooters determined to plunder Puerto Principe, an island town of Cuba grown rich by traffic in hides, and one never yet sacked by the sea-robbers. Warned by a Spanish prisoner who escaped from the fleet as it neared the shore, the inhabitants had time to conceal most of their valuables, and the spoils of this expedition amounted to but fifty thousand pesos, a sum insufficient to pay the debts of the marauders on their return to Jamaica. It was at once determined to undertake some new adventure, and though a difference of opinion between the French and English members of his command caused the former to withdraw from Morgan's service, he soon afterward set sail for the mainland with a fleet of nine ships, and a force of four hundred and sixty fighting men, revealing his design to no one, but promising his followers booty in abundance.
ATTACK ON PORTO BELLO.
On the last day of June 1668 the buccaneers arrived off the shore of Castilla del Oro. On sighting land their chief disclosed his intention of attacking by night Portobello, a town often visited by the wealthiest merchants of Panamá, whose ingots of gold were there exchanged for slaves or for the merchandise of Spain, and the point to which it will be remembered were forwarded, at certain periods of the year, the gold and silver of the Peruvian and Mexican mines. The place was then accounted one of the strongest of the Spanish fortresses in the western world; it was garrisoned by three hundred troops, contained four hundred citizens capable of bearing arms, and was guarded by strongly fortified castles, commanding the approaches by land and sea. Many hesitated to attack such a stronghold with a mere handful of men, but their commander spoke words of cheer,[XXVIII‑1] and stimulated by the promise of vast spoils all at last gave their consent.
In the dusk of a summer evening the fleet anchored at Porto Ponto, thirty miles west of the town. Leaving a few men to guard their ships the buccaneers ascended a small river in boats or canoes, and landing about midnight marched at once to the attack. All the avenues of approach were well known to Morgan, and among his band was an Englishman, once a prisoner among the Spaniards, who now acted as guide. A castle named Triana, situated in the eastern suburb, was selected as the first point of assault. A sentinel posted at some distance from the fortress was seized and bound by a small party sent in advance, before he had time to fire his musket. Brought into Morgan's presence he was closely questioned, and frequently menaced with death if his answers should prove untrue.
Creeping along under the shroud of night and the cover of a dense thicket, the silence broken now and then by the watchword of a drowsy sentinel, the freebooters surrounded the castle unperceived, and Morgan, coming close under the walls, bid his captive summon the garrison to capitulate, threatening sure death in case of resistance. They replied with a random volley of musketry and cannon shot. Applying scaling-ladders to the walls, the buccaneers swarmed over the parapets, and after a stout resistance the Spaniards surrendered. Morgan fulfilled his threat. Securing all his prisoners in a large chamber, near the powder-magazine, he fired it by means of match and train when at a safe distance, and the citizens of Portobello, now roused by the sound of the firing, beheld the castle and all its inmates blown high into the air. The invaders fell at once on the panic-stricken inhabitants, rushing through the streets with hideous outcries, and cutting down whomever they met. Many had already fled to the neighboring forests, first casting their money and jewelry into wells and cisterns, or hiding them underground. The governor of the town rallied a small party and retired with them into the strongest of the remaining forts, whence a brisk fire was opened on the assailants. Approaching within two hundred yards the buccaneers aimed at the mouths of the cannon, picking off the Spanish gunners as they reloaded their pieces; but their ranks were repeatedly ploughed by well-directed discharges of artillery. After suffering heavy loss to little purpose, they came close up to the castle and attempted to burn down the gates. The Spaniards received them with sharp volleys of musketry, and dropping hand-grenades and missiles of every description on the heads of the besiegers, they drove them back beyond the range of the guns.
Morgan now began to despair, but rallied after remaining for a while in hesitation as to his next movement. To quote the words of Exquemelin, "many faint and calm meditations came into his mind; neither could he determine which way to turn himself in that strait." A part of his forces had been detailed to attack one of the minor fortresses, and looking in that direction he saw that his men had already planted the English colors on the battlements, and were hastening to his support. Taking heart from this success the commander at once resolved to renew the attack, and being a man ready of resource soon hit on a new expedient. He caused a number of priests and nuns to be seized and dragged from their cloisters, and ordering scaling-ladders to be made, wide enough for several to mount abreast, bid his prisoners fix them against the castle walls, thinking thus to shield his men from the weapons of the Spaniards.
A VALIANT SPANIARD.
Driven forward at the point of sword and pike the captives came close up to the guns of the fort, and falling on their knees besought the governor by all the saints to surrender, and save his own life and their own; but orders were given to spare none who came near the walls. Priest and nun were crushed beneath falling rocks or shot down without mercy, and numbers were killed before the ladders could be adjusted. When at length the task was accomplished, the buccaneers swarmed up to the assault; and though many were hurled down by the defenders, others held their footing on the parapet, and after plying the garrison with hand-grenades and pots of powder containing lighted fuses, leaped down with sword and pistol in their midst. The Spaniards then threw down their arms and craved for mercy; that is, all but the governor, who, single-handed, maintained for a while a hopeless struggle, killing several of his assailants, and running through the body some of his own recreant soldiers. In vain the buccaneers offered him quarter, unwilling to put to the sword so gallant an officer; in vain his wife and daughter knelt and entreated him with tears to yield. His reply was: "By no means; I had rather die as a valiant soldier than be hanged as a coward."[XXVIII‑2] After several attempts to overpower or capture him, he was at length despatched.
There still remained several castles in the hands of the Spaniards, one of which was strongly fortified and commanded the entrance to the harbor. It was deemed necessary to capture it without delay in order to allow the fleet to be brought round to Portobello, for the losses of the freebooters had been so severe that time must be allowed for the recovery of the wounded. Turning against it the cannon of the captured fort, Morgan compelled his captives to work the guns, and advancing under cover of the fire took it by escalade after a sharp struggle, in which all the Spanish officers were slain.