The King of All Pirates
In the year 1655 England seized a weakly guarded Spanish Island:
Jamaica, and converted it into an English colony. The guards
defending the Island were generally taken from the streets, and
represented the worst criminal elements. The guards were thieves,
murderers, and cheats. From this band of criminals formed many
groups of buccaneers who terrorized the region. At this time Henry
Morgan began his overwhelming pirate career.
This gives the reader a background of what was to come of Henry
Morgan: from an ordinary soldier, to a never crowned king of
Jamaica. Morgan earned fame and respect among his friends and
enemies alike thanks to his successful (and profitable) attacks on
Vilahermosa (Capital of the Mexican province Tobasco), and Gran
Granada (the silver mining center of Nicaragua).
Gran Granada, for those times considered a large and prosperous
city, was located 200 kilometers inland on the shore of Nicaragua
Lake. Access to the town was restricted by dense wild Jungle. Henry
Morgan embarked on a difficult and daring escapade involving a long
and dangerous journey through the unexplored jungle. This
expedition was followed by a triumphant lightning assault on Gran
Granada. The attack yielded enormous spoils, and was considered a
great success for Henry Morgan.
Henry Morgan was pleasantly surprised upon his return to
Jamaica: the island had a newly appointed commander of all English
troops in the west Indies, this commander was Henry Morgan’s
uncle.
So the continuing pirate career of Henry Morgan was so secured.
After the death of Henry Morgan’s uncle (Edward Morgan), the
governor of Jamaica chose Henry Morgan to become the commander of
the militia in Port Royal. By 1668 Henry Morgan was already an
English vice admiral of a fleet of 15 ships. At the same time
pirates elected Henry Morgan to become the successor to Edward
Mansfield (leader of all pirate activities in Jamaica). As an
English officer and pirate general: Henry Morgan became the terror
of all Spaniards in the West Indies.
In 1668 Morgan made two pirating ventures. Morgan’s attack on
the inland city of Peurto Principe (pwert-o PREEN-the-pay), Cuba,
was considered his first Major attack. Unfortunately for Morgan,
his crew of pirates were ambushed along the way, and only took the
city with bitter struggle and great loss. Things got worse for
Morgan when word came that the city’s treasure had been hidden.
Morgan and his crew were forced to settle for 50,000 pieces of
eight in return for sparing their captives. Half of Morgan’s crew
quit after the attack on Puerto Principle. Morgan was not
discouraged, and announced plans for attacking the great treasure
city of Porto Bello, Panama. Experienced sea pirates scoffed at the
plan: Porto Bello was larger, better fortified, and had an army
troop when compared to Puerto Principle. Morgan, however, had a
plan. When he attacked Porto Bello, he arrived on canoes, silently,
and under the cover of darkness, Morgan’s men slipped into the
harbor before anyone knew they were there. The first two forts of
Porto Bello both fell quickly, but the third withstood each attack
the pirates implemented. Morgan finally devised a sinister plan: he
used captured catholic priests and nuns to shield his crew as they
climbed the walls of the fort. It was only a matter of time before
the city fell into the hands of Henry Morgan, along with 250,000
pieces of eight, and 300 slaves. When word of this attack spread,
Morgan’s force swelled to 15 ships and 900 men. Henry Morgan was
quickly known by the nickname: Morgan "the terrible".
A year later Morgan led an expedition of 8 ships and 650
buccaneers to attack the Venezuelan cities of Marcaibo (a coastal
city located at the mouth of an inland lake) and Gilbraltar
(located on the other side of the lake). Compared with his last
venture, the plunder was not comparable, and Morgan found the
cities virtually deserted. The result: 50,000 English pounds, and
slaves and goods of the same value. When the pirates tried to sail
from the lake, they found that their exit had been blocked.
Maracaibo’s powerful fort had their gun trained on Morgan, and
three huge Spanish men-o-war stood just outside the channel. Morgan
offered the Spanish the option of surrender, instead of accepting,
the Spanish laughed. Morgan decided to teach them a lesson they
would, indeed, never forget. Morgan had his lead ship (a small
sloop, covered with pitch, tar, and brimstone.) loaded with kegs of
gunpowder, and had dummies (made of pumpkins and wood, dressed as
buccaneers) placed at battle stations throughout his ship. While
the Spanish still laughed the small vessel slowly approached them
and suddenly burst into flames, it then exploded: sinking the first
man-o-war, and burning the second to the hull. The remaining
man-o-war was easily captured by the pirates. Once again Morgan
offered the Spanish the option of surrender: once again the Spanish
refused. Shrugging his shoulders Morgan had his crew embark for
shore with longboats: upon seeing this the Spanish assumed the
pirates were massing for a land attack. As a result the Spanish
moved their cannon to the other side of the fort. Before the
Spanish had a chance to move the cannon back into place, Morgan
took advantage of the opportunity by safely sailing past the fort
that night. Only then did the Spaniards finally realize that they
had been tricked: instead of landing on the other side of the
jetty, Morgan’s men had simply crouched below the gunwale and
returned to their ships. After this battle, Henry Morgan was the
undisputed king of the buccaneers.
In January 1670, Morgan set out after the largest venture of his
career, to plunder the gold of Panama. Answering his call, 2000
buccaneers on 36 ships assembled to prepare for an attack on
Panama. Once Morgan took over Fort San Lorenzo, he led his crew on
a rough 16-day journey through dense almost impassable Jungle. The
Spaniards were prepared for Morgan, and six hundred cavalry swooped
down on the pirates. Thousands of muskets fired; both sides took
their loses, but the pirates held their ground. A stampede of 2,000
Spanish bulls did not deter the pirates, and the Spanish finally
fled in retreat. The city belonged to the buccaneers, and yielded
100,000 English Pounds. Unfortunately, at that time, England was no
longer at war with Spain. Morgan was recalled to England and thrown
into the dungeons to stand trial as a pirate. However, King Charles
II, learning about Morgan’s great deeds, knighted him instead in
1673, making him lieutenant governor of Jamaica. Morgan was ordered
to rid the seas from all buccaneers.
Morgan had done well in executing the Kings orders. When he died
in 1688 there were almost no buccaneers left.
Henry Morgan was one of the most ruthless of pirates, his
daring, brutality, and intelligence made him the most feared, and
respected buccaneer of all time. Henry Morgan really was the king
of all pirates.