On the 14th of March, having completed the construction of the piraguas, they left Pueblo in two barks, a forty-oared galley, ten piraguas, and ten canoes, and having held a muster of their men, found that their number had been reduced by thirty since their separation from the English freebooters.[XXX‑41] Their design was to carry out a previously formed intention to attack Granada in Nicaragua, but being half dead with hunger they attempted a descent upon Pueblo Nuevo, and were somewhat roughly handled by a detachment of the Spanish fleet left at the mouth of the river.[XXX‑42] Hereupon the pirates again visited the bay of Calderas and the town of Esparza, which they found abandoned. They obtained, however, some provisions from a plantation on the bay. They now consulted as to their method of attack on Granada, and made certain regulations among themselves which they thought would ensure the success of their enterprise.[XXX‑43]
On the 22d Grogniet fell in with Townley and one hundred and fifty men in five canoes, and by way of retaliation for the treatment which his men had received at the hands of the English buccaneers, made them prisoners. After keeping them in durance for several hours the Frenchmen gave them to understand that no harm would be done them, and restored their canoes to them. This led to friendship, and Townley and his men eagerly requested to be admitted as associates in the meditated operations against Granada, a proposition which was listened to with satisfaction.
The combined forces on the 7th of April 1686[XXX‑44] landed three hundred and forty-five men,[XXX‑45] who by forced marches advanced into the interior; but notwithstanding all possible precautions they were discovered, and the alarm conveyed to Granada while they were still at a considerable distance.[XXX‑46] Perceiving that a surprise could not be effected, on the 9th they halted to rest and refresh themselves, enfeebled as they were with hunger and fatigue. On the following day they advanced upon the city which they found to be well fortified and protected by fourteen pieces of cannon and six swivels, the inhabitants having intrenched themselves in the great square.[XXX‑47] Nevertheless they at once charged up the leading street with a recklessness that astonished their foes;[XXX‑48] and having put to flight a strong force which they encountered in the suburbs, were soon actively engaged with the fort.
The fire of the artillery was heavy and rapid, but rendered in a great measure ineffective by the pirates adroitly bending to the ground at every discharge, so that the balls passed over them; seeing which the Spaniards ignited false primings, and postponed the discharge of their guns till the freebooters had assumed an upright position. Then the latter ranged themselves beside the houses, and having gained a small eminence at a convenient distance, so plied the defenders with bullets and hand-grenades that after a brave resistance for an hour and a half they abandoned the inclosure and sought refuge in the principal church. They were quickly dislodged, however, and the city of Granada was in possession of the pirates, who had only four killed and eight wounded,[XXX‑49] while the loss of the Spaniards was severe.
GRANADA TAKEN.
Now French filibusters were no less devoted servants of God and followers of the gentle Christ than were the English freebooters.[XXX‑50] Though they were reckless of their lives and bodies, it was far otherwise with regard to their souls. They might, it is true, burn towns and cut off the heads of captives whose ransom was not promptly forthcoming, but they did not neglect their devotions. So they reverently chanted the te deum in the great church of Granada; then hunted for plunder and women, and getting neither, opened negotiations by means of a prisoner for the ransom of the city from fire.[XXX‑51] The Spaniards, however, were indifferent, fully relying upon the assertion of a straggler whom they had captured, that his companions would not set fire to Granada, as it was their intention to return some months later, and pass through the country by the lake to the North Sea,[XXX‑52] and that the destruction of the city would be inconvenient. But the others thought differently, and exasperated at their bootless and toilsome journey, burned the cathedral and principal buildings.[XXX‑53]
The pirates now deemed it prudent to retire, and on the 15th began their march to the sea, directing their course to the town of Masaya, situated on the lake of that name. Their sufferings were great on their return march. Parched with thirst, scorched by the vertical sun, and choked with the stifling dust, they toiled along discontented and miserable, incessantly exposed to ambushed foes.[XXX‑54] For a day they rested in Masaya, where the Indians received them kindly and implored them not to burn their town. On the 17th, as the freebooters were emerging from the forest upon an open plain, they were opposed by a body of five hundred Spaniards, who had hoisted a red flag in token that no quarter would be given. But the pirates, never fearing, attacked and overthrew the enemy, capturing fifty of their horses.
After this, feeling more secure, they slowly wended their way to the ocean, halting at convenient places and resting from the fatigues of their exhausting march. By the 26th they reached the sea-shore, where they again embarked. They now once more made a raid on Realejo, captured a number of the inhabitants,[XXX‑55] and then proceeded to Chinandega and burned the town. During these forays they suffered greatly from hunger, since the Spaniards systematically destroyed all provisions wherever the freebooters made their appearance, and had also driven their cattle from the coast.
It was a profitless enterprise that these rovers had been engaged in, from first to last. Their booty was insignificant,[XXX‑56] many of their wounded had died from privation and the effect of the climate, and difference of opinion as to future movements finally displayed itself. At a consultation held on the 9th of May a separation was decided upon, and a few days later a division of barks, canoes, and provisions was made. One hundred and forty-eight of the French with the English under Townley sailed for Panamá, while Grogniet with the remainder of his countrymen steered westward up the coast.
Townley's project was to attack Villa de los Santos[XXX‑57] on the Rio Cubita. He succeeded in surprising the town and captured merchandise estimated to be worth a million and a half of pesos, besides fifteen thousand pesos in money and three hundred prisoners of both sexes. But disaster was in store for the marauders on their return, and parties of them were surprised by ambuscades; many were killed and the booty retaken by the Spaniards. Then followed mutual retaliation. The bodies of the slain pirates were mutilated and their heads fixed on poles, while their comrades, out of revenge, decapitated a number of their captives and treated the heads in like manner. Yet these pastimes did not interrupt negotiations; the remainder of the prisoners were ransomed, and the Spaniards purchased a bark of which their amiable visitors had deprived them.