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Capture of Tortuga

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Coordinates: 20°00′17″N 72°42′43″W / 20.004602721742035°N 72.71191106626894°W / 20.004602721742035; -72.71191106626894
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1635 Capture of Tortuga
Part of Thirty Years' War

Defeat of the Spanish Armada / 1796 oil on canvas by Philip James de Loutherbourg / via Royal Mus. Greenwich
Date21–23 January 1635 (1635-01-21 – 1635-01-23) / often misdated to Jan. 1634 or Dec. 1634
Location
the southern harbour (ie Fort de Rocher)
20°00′17″N 72°42′43″W / 20.004602721742035°N 72.71191106626894°W / 20.004602721742035; -72.71191106626894
Result Spanish victory
Belligerents
  Spain
Commanders and leaders
  • Spain Alonso de Cereceda / actg. Gov. Sto. Dom.
  • Spain Enrique Enríquez de Sotomayor / Gov. Pto. Rico
  • Spain Ruy Fernández de Fuenmayor / Gen.
  • Spain Francisco Turrillo de Yebra1 / Adm.
  • Spain Gonçalo de Frías / Capt.
  • John Murphy2 / informant
Units involved
  • 6 urcas
  • 3 pataches
  • sev. sm. craft
 4 bajeles
Strength
  • 150‍–‍600 residents / plus slaves, women, children
  • vars. sailors
  • 150 lancers
  • 50 infantry
  • 50 sailors
Casualties and losses
  • 196 killed
  • vars. wounded
  • 39 detained
  • 1 fort seized / 6-piece artillery
  • 1 settlement burnt / inc. logging camps, tobacco farms
  • 2 urcas burnt
  • 1 patache seized
  • 180 muskets seized
  • 2 killed
  • 4 wounded
  • some drowned
  • 0 detained
  • 1 aka Francisco Trujillo
  • 2 aka Juan Morfa Geraldino y Burco, Juan Morf, Juan Morfa, Juan de Morfa Geraldino

The 1635 Capture of Tortuga (often misdated to 1634) was a successful military campaign against the Anglo-French plantation, pirate, and buccaneering settlement of Tortuga, then a dependency of the Providence Island colony. It resulted in heavy casualties for the settlement, the severance of Tortuga's link with Providence Island, and Tortuga's further shift towards piracy and buccaneering.[note 1]

Prelude

Planta de la Isla y fuerza de la Tortuga / 1653 draught by anon. / via Mus. Nav. Madrid

English, French, and Dutch buccaneers settled Tortuga (and the northern coast of Hispaniola) in the 1600s or the 1610s, living off feral game, dye-wood logging, and piracy. In 1630, they were joined by some 150 English tobacco farmers from St. Kitts, who were led to the southern coast of Tortuga (near that shore's only harbour) by Anthony Hilton. These new settlers quickly formalised their colony by association with Providence Island. On 21 July 1631, Providence established the dependency of Association (i.e. Tortuga), providing for its defence and labour needs, and vesting its government in Hilton and his associate, Christopher Wormeley. This latter assumed governorship in 1634, upon Hilton's death.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][note 2][note 3]

Among the indentured servants or engagés which Providence provided Tortuga were John Murphy and his cousin, Irish Catholics. Upon Wormeley's inauguration as governor, these and many others were required to take oaths of allegiance, whereupon Murphy and his cousin protested, leading to the latter's death and the former's defection to Cartagena (first) and Santo Domingo (later).[8]

Upon reaching Santo Domingo in 1634, Murphy informed local authorities that‍–‍

ay en ella [Tortuga] hasta trecientas personas entre muchachos biejos y gente de servizio y questan poblados y repartidos a modo de valle en sitio de tres leguas prolongadas por la costa de la dicha Ysla con sus labranzas y sementeras y gran comercio de baxeles de todas naciones que llegan a ella, y que tienen un Governador Yngles y estan con descuydo y falta de disciplina militar aunque enel Puerto ay una Plataforma con seis piezas de artillería de fierro, y en casa del Governador algunos mosquetes y arcabuçes y que con ellos estan hasta treinta negros que los ayudan en sus sembrados y qe. pasan a la Tierra firme desta Ysla abastecerse del carnaje y otras cosas de que necesitan.
there are on the island [Tortuga] up to three hundred people, including elderly people, young people, and service people, and they are settled and spread out in a valley measuring three leagues lengthwise along the [southern] coast of the said Island[,] with their farms and crops[,] and a large trade with vessels of all nations that come to the island, and that they have an English Governor and are neglectful [of their defence] and lack military discipline, despite there being in the Port a Platform with six pieces of iron artillery, and in the Governor's house some muskets and arquebuses[,] and that with them there are even thirty African slaves who help them in their crops[,] and that they go to the mainland of this Island [Hispaniola] to stock up on meat and other things they need.

—Santo Domingo, 4 January 1635, royal officers to Spanish Crown.[9]

Hereupon, Alonso de Cereceda, acting governor, convened a council of war, which resolved to 'dislodge the enemy from the said Island and punish their audacity before their greater expansion and fortification [occurs,] and because of the great [commercial] interest in the brazilwood and tobacco that they harvest and trade[,] and because it is [too] close to the route of the frigates and ships which come and go from this Island [Hispaniola] to that of Cuba[,] Cartaxena[,] and other parts[, being so located so as] to steal from these vessels.'[9]

Capture

Arrival

Turrillo and 50 infantry-men set off from Santo Domingo on 4 January 1635, with four baxeles in tow, to meet Fuenmayor and his 150 lancers at their rendezvous, Port Bayaha. The officers coordinated their attack while watering here, and shortly thereafter sailed due northwest, coasting the northern shore of Hispaniola.[10]

Capture

On 21 January 1635, under cover of night, Fuenmayor lead his armadilla or fleet across the Tortuga Channel, towards the island's southern port. The pilot, however, ran the ships aground, causing a ruckus which alerted four merchantmen to their presence. A loud and confused skirmish followed, as sailors rushed to man the fort and sound the alarm, while Spaniards simultaneously prepared their attack, with most taking to the ships' cannons, while a small contingent slipped away in canoes towards the beach. The kerfuffle resulted in the campaign's first casualties, for both sides.[11][note 4][note 5]

Startled awake by the fort's bugles, the settlement was likewise a scene of frenzied chaos as French and English residents collected their valuables to make a hurried escape. At the Governor's residence, Wormeley likewise set upon retreat, managing to scurry away before Fuenmayor arrived. At this point, Fuenmayor, Turrillo, and Frías, with a unit of 24 men, disembarked near the settlement, at once marching towards the Governor's house. An unidentified resident (presumed to be the 'Governor' by Fuenmayor) put up a fight, but was quickly despatched with two well-aimed spear-throws. The 'Governor' now slain, Fuenmayor set about methodically sacking and burning the settlement, killing all whom they encountered. Meanwhile, the armadilla eventually took the fort, and thereby the port, forcing the merchant vessels to retreat.[12][13][14]

By daybreak (on 22 January 1635), most or some of the settlers had made their escape, reportedly aboard rickety canoes towards Hispaniola. Fuenmayor's men now ventured further into Tortuga, under instructions 'that all the fields and houses be put to fire.'[note 6]

The campaign's last engagement came on 23 January 1635. Some 190 of the island's residents had resolved to oppose the Spanish, rather than flee. Consequently, they had determined to march towards Fuenmayor's camp on this day. The Spanish general, however, discovered their plot, and met the musket-armed settlers halfway into their march. The engagement was reportedly quick and bitter, with the Spaniards exacting a substantial toll, themselves suffering only minimal casualties.[15][16][note 7]

Aftermath

On 27‍–‍28 January 1635, the Spanish ships finally entered the port. Fuenmayor spent the following three or four days combing Tortuga before departing, with the rest of his men (and prisoners) following not long thereafter. The 39 prisoners were condemned to hard labour, building fortifications in Santo Domingo.[17][18][note 8]

On 10 April 1635, proprietors of the Providence Island colony deprived Wormeley of his office and banished him from the Tortuga, 'by reason of his cowardice and negligence in losing the island.' He is thought to have relocated to York County, Virginia, where he served in various public offices.[19][13][20][21][note 9]

It has been suggested that settlers who hid were 'hunted down' during Fuenmayor's sweep of the island, though a 'handful managed to conceal themselves in out-of-the-way recesses until the Spaniards [...] sailed back to San Domingo.' In any case, as no garrison remained in Tortuga, the island is thought to have been resettled within a few months of Fuenmayor's departure, in mid- or late 1635.[13][18][note 10]

Legacy

The capture was deemed 'a complete success.' Men who distinguished themselves were honoured with mercedes, and Fuenmayor was promoted to the governorship of Venezuela. It has been further suggested that this success encouraged campaigns against Dutch-held Curaçao and English-held Providence Island.[22][23][24][25][note 11]

Wormeley, on the other hand, is said to have 'displayed the utmost cowardice.'[20][26]

It has been suggested that Fuenmayor's campaign contributed to Tortuga's transition from a quasi-plantation, quasi-pirate settlement to 'a true pirate stronghold,' as the campaign resulted in the removal of Providence Island's plantation-oriented oversight, and the eventual desertion of tobacco farmers, leaving mainly pirates and buccaneers.[2][note 12]

Notes

  1. ^ This event is sometimes misdated to 1634 (eg Haring 1910, pp. 60–61, Schmitt 2017, p. 588). Hispanic authorities, however, reliably date the event to 1635 (eg Rodríguez de la Torre 2018, para. 2, anon. 1942c, pp. 392–398). Consequently, this date is used in this article. (Newton 1914, p. 192, footnote no. 11, who follows the Hispanic dating of 1635, further notes, 'Du Tertre [...] dates it [this event] by error in 1638. Labat and Charlevoix, and others copy Du Tertre, while Esquemeling in his History of the Buccaneers with his usual untrustworthiness confuses names and dates bady. In one place he dates the capture in 1630, and in another in 1664 when D'Ogeron was governor.')
  2. ^ In 1605, all Spanish settlements on the northern coast of Hispaniola were forcibly relocated to a site near Santo Domingo by the governor, Antonio Osorio, because 'the vecinos [...] trade with non-Spanish foreigners without licence from His Majesty and without paying / the [required] royal dues' (anon. 1942a, pp. 34–35, 44–45, Lane 2016, p. xviii). Sometime prior to 20 June 1607, a group of marooned Spaniards encountered 70 white, black, and mestizo non-Spaniards on Tortuga, these reportedly living off feral game and logging (Moreau 2012, cap. 4 sec. 'La isla de Tortuga' para. 3). Buccaneers' settlement in Tortuga and northern Hispaniola is dated late 1620s by Lane 2016, p. 90.
  3. ^ It has been suggested that a late 1630 or early 1631 attack from Santo Domingo may have prompted the new Tortuga settlers to associate with Providence (Galvin 1991, pp. 196–197, Haring 1910, p. 58, Lane 2016, p. xix). Hilton and company were refugees of the 1629 Battle of St. Kitts (Galvin 1991, p. 198, Moreau 2012, cap. 4 sec. 'La isla de Tortuga' para. 4).
  4. ^
    [A]travesaron de noche para no ser sentidos[,] y no pudiendo tomar el Puerto [de Tortuga], donde avia tres urcas y un patache sin prebension y descuydo, al echar en tierra la gente en la parte que tomaron encallo la Almiranta y los barcos y con la confusion, oscuridad de la noche ruido y voces que causa echarse la gente al agua y aogarse algunos y entre ellos el Alferes del Capitan Camacho Po. de Vargas [...].
    [T]hey crossed at night so as not to be noticed[,] and not being able to take the port [of Tortuga], where three urcas and a patache were anchored, unaware and unprepared [for a military engagement], when they [Fuenmayor] disembarked the men in the part [of Tortuga] where they sought to land, the flagship and the rest of the ships ran aground, and given this confusion, [the] darkness of the night, [and the] noise and voices caused by the people throwing themselves into the water[,] some drowned, among them the ensign of Captain Camacho [named] P[edr]o de Vargas [...].

    —Santo Domingo, 16 February 1635, Tajagrano and Nuñez de Peralta to Crown (anon. 1942c, p. 393).
  5. ^ Murphy purportedly led the Spanish charge on the Anglo-French fort with a shout 'for Santiago,' Castille's warrior patron saint (Block & Shaw 2011, p. 45). The Spanish pilot purportedly lead the four bajeles into a reef off the harbour (Latimer 2009, p. 84).
  6. ^ It has been suggested that English refugees subsequently made their way to Providence Island (Lane 2016, p. 102, Schmitt 2017, p. 589).
  7. ^ Though some arriving merchantmen, unaware of the campaign, engaged Fuenmayor's armadilla at port on 24 January (cf previous citations).
  8. ^ Some of the prisoners may have subsequently won their freedom. On 14 May 1636, 'the wife of Grimes, the late gunner of Association [Tortuga]' petitioned the proprietors of Providence for 'her husband's release of Slavery at Santo Domingo,' whereupon the proprietors ordered that 'if any [Spanish] man of qualities be hereafter taken by the English[,] notice shall be sent to the Governor of Domingo that he [the Spanish prisoner] shall not be discharged without Grimes' release' (Schmitt 2017, p. 589).
  9. ^ Additionally, Bell was instructed, should Wormeley have arrived at Providence Island, that 'a very strict eye is to be kept upon him, and he is to be sent home [London] [...] for having "given us [the proprietors] some cause for distaste"' (Sainsbury 1860, sec. 'April 1635' item 'April 20').
  10. ^ Providence Island appointed Nicholas Reskeimmer (or Riskinner) governor of Tortuga in April 1635. He and some 80 former settlers, with 150 slaves, arrived aboard the Expectation in late 1635 (or prior to February 1636). In 1636, Cereceda instructed Juan de Bargas (or Vargas) to capture the recent settlers' slaves. Bargas apprehended 59, who were later sold, purportedly to help pay for the Fuenmayor campaign, which had cost Santo Domingo 37,300 reales de plata. By 20 January 1637, Reskeimmer's settlers had deserted Tortuga, leaving the island with a French majority. These were again attacked in 1638, this time by Carlos Ibarra, who 'put to the sword those who resisted him and destroyed the houses they had built,' and again in 1650. '[H]owever, the punishments [campaigns against Tortuga] being few and far between, as soon as warships slipped under the horizon, the brethren of the coast [buccaneers] returned to occupy the same sites [on Tortuga]' (anon. 1941, pp. 245–246, anon. 1942c, pp. 393, 395, Galvin 1991, pp. 202–203, Newton 1914, pp. 211–212, Haring 1910, pp. 62–63, Moreau 2012, cap. 4 sec. 'La isla de Tortuga' para. 6, Fernández Duro 1899, p. 34). (The Bargas slave capture is attributed to Fuenmayor by Latimer 2009, p. 84. The Ibarra campaign is dated 1639 by Latimer 2009, p. 77.)
  11. ^ The honoured soldiers were Pedro Pérez, Juan Marin, Antonio de Espinar, Juan de Collantes, Juan de Sanlucar Baltasar de la Plaça, Bartolomé de Espinosa, and Juan Bazquez. They were granted mercedes on 22 August 1636. Fuenmayor was appointed governor and captain-general on 26 November 1636 (cf previous citations).
  12. ^ Similarly, an (unsuccessful) July 1635 Spanish campaign against Providence Island itself, which may have been encouraged by Fuenmayor's success in Tortuga, prompted the colony's proprietors to issue letters of marque for reprisals. Such privateering soon made Providence Island, like Tortuga, '[t]he greatest fear that possessed the Spanish [pilots coming near the island] [...] a den of thieves and pirates [...] threatening the Galleons, and the King's yearly and mighty treasure' (Latimer 2009, pp. 85–86).

Citations

  1. ^ Crouse 1940, p. 81.
  2. ^ a b Galvin 1991, pp. 279–280, note no. 18.
  3. ^ Galvin 1991, pp. 190, 198–200.
  4. ^ Haring 1910, pp. 59–60.
  5. ^ Moreau 2012, cap. 4 sec. 'La isla de Tortuga' para. 4.
  6. ^ Latimer 2009, p. 76.
  7. ^ Sainsbury 1860, sec. 'July 1631' items 'July 6' and 'July 21'.
  8. ^ Block & Shaw 2011, pp. 44–45.
  9. ^ a b anon. 1942c, p. 396.
  10. ^ anon. 1942c, p. 393.
  11. ^ anon. 1942c, pp. 393–394.
  12. ^ anon. 1942c, p. 394.
  13. ^ a b c Crouse 1940, p. 83.
  14. ^ Galvin 1991, pp. 201–202.
  15. ^ anon. 1942c, pp. 394, 397 misprinted as 497.
  16. ^ Schmitt 2017, pp. 588–589.
  17. ^ anon. 1942c, p. 395.
  18. ^ a b Schmitt 2017, p. 589.
  19. ^ anon. 1928, p. 98.
  20. ^ a b Riches 1999, pp. 18–19.
  21. ^ Sainsbury 1860, sec. 'April 1635' item 'April 10'.
  22. ^ Rodríguez de la Torre 2018, para. 2.
  23. ^ anon. 1941, p. 244, item no. 181.
  24. ^ anon. 1942a, pp. 102–103, footnote no. 1.
  25. ^ anon. 1942c, p. 397 misprinted as 497.
  26. ^ Newton 1914, p. 193.

References

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  2. anon. (1928). "The Wormeley Family (Continued)". Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 36 (1): 98–101. JSTOR 4244188.
  3. anon. (1941). "Colección Lugo : Archivo General de Indias : Reales órdenes de las libretas 15, 16, 44, 46 y 47". Boletín del Archivo General de la Nación. 4 (17): 223–275. ISSN 1012-9472.
  4. anon. (1942a). "Relaciones Históricas de Santo Domingo (Colección y notas de EMILIO RODRIGUEZ DEMORIZI)". Boletín del Archivo General de la Nación. 5 (20–21): 3–120. ISSN 1012-9472.
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