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Puerto del Príncipe (today Camagüey) being sacked in 1668 by Henry Morgan - illustration from 'The Buccaneers of America' by John Esquemeling

The Raid on Puerto Principe was a military event which took place during the latter stage of the Anglo-Spanish War in 1668 on the Spanish island of Cuba. Buccaneers led by Captain Henry Morgan deafted the militia outside the town in the Battle of la Savana. They then captured the town, plundering and sacking the place while also gathering a ransom for the town's prisoners.

Background

In 1667 diplomatic relations between the kingdoms of England and Spain were worsening, and rumours began to circulate in Jamaica about a possible Spanish invasion. Modyford authorised privateers to take action against the Spanish, and issued a letter of marque to Morgan "to draw together the English privateers and take prisoners of the Spanish nation, whereby he might inform of the intention of that enemy to attack Jamaica, of which I have frequent and strong advice". He was given the rank of admiral and, in January 1668, assembled 10 ships and 500 men for the task; he was subsequently joined by 2 more ships and 200 men from Tortuga (now part of Haiti).

Morgan's letter of marque gave him permission to attack Spanish ships at sea; there was no permission for attacks on land. Any plunder obtained from the attacks would be split between the government and the owners of the ships rented by the privateers. If the privateers stepped outside their official remit and raided a city, any resultant plunder would be retained by the privateers. Rogoziński observes that "attacks on cities were illegal piracy – but extremely profitable", although Zahedieh records that if Morgan was able to provide evidence of a potential Spanish attack, the attacks on cities were justifiable under the terms of his commission.

Raid

Morgan's initial plan was to attack Havana, but, on discovering it was heavily defended, changed the target to Puerto del Príncipe (now Camagüey), a town 50 miles (80 km) inland.

Battle of La Savana

With some 650 men Morgan landed on the beach where the Spanish governor had put in preparations for such an event. He had prepared the militias and townspeople to set up ambushes. Nevertheless Morgan did not approach the town directly so marched his men via the dense jungle and after a long march they came across an open plain called 'La savana' where Morgan set his men up in a crescent formation. The Spanish governor soon realised his been been outflanked and immediately sent his cavalry out to disperse the English. The Spanish cavalry were repelled with some loss but the infantry now approached and a pitched battle began. The privateers accurate musket fire soon took its toll on the Spanish - the Governor was killed and soon the Spanish line began to waver. The Spanish attempted to retreat but Morgans men cut most of them off, and most died in the attempted retreat. Morgan's men suffered less than twenty casualties.

Capture and plunder of city

The privateers then approached thew town but were fired at by the inhabitants from holes made within their houses. Morgan threatened severe reprisals if he was not allowed to march in and the Spanish relented. Morgan rounded up all the inhabitants locked them up in several of the city's churches. The Privateers then pillaged the empty homes and following this went ofd the rampage in the countryside beyond. Day by day theu brought in many prisoners as well as goods. There was much wine too adn the privateers drank most of it turning them into a drunken rabble which even Morgan could not control. At the same time he had four prisoners sent to demand a ransom for the prisoners. Two days later however he captured a negro slave who had with some letters from the Governor of Santiago Pedro Bayona Villanueva forbidding any payments to be made and that help would be on the way with a relief force. Morgan was furious and ordered the inhabitants to deliver up to a thousand cattle which they would send to the English ships to which they agreed. The inhabitants gather some 500 cattle which Morgan is satisfied - the cattle are then slaughtered on the beach and are salted before being casked to go on the ships.

Aftermath

The treasure was counted - some 50,000 pieces of eight was obtained which was less than hoped for. According to Alexandre Exquemelin, it particularly caused great resentment on the French who felt they had been cheated. An insurrection was even started by the French accusing an Englishman of stealing. Morgan quelled the insurrection by having the Englishman hanged as a compromise.

When Morgan reported the taking of Puerto Principe to Modyford, he informed the governor that they had evidence that the Spanish were planning an attack on British territory: "we found seventy men had been pressed to go against Jamaica ... and considerable forces were expected from Vera Cruz and Campeachy ... and from Porto Bello and Cartagena to rendezvous at St Jago of Cuba [Santiago]".

Puerto Principe never really recovered from the attack. The city was redesigned like a maze so attackers would find it hard to move around inside the city. It was renamed Camiguay in 1898 following Cuba's independence from Spain.

References

Bibliography

• Allen, H. R (1976). Buccaneer: Admiral Sir Henry Morgan. London: Arthur Baker. ISBN 978-0-213-16569-7.
• Breverton, Terry (2005). Admiral Sir Henry Morgan: The Greatest Buccaneer of them all. Pencader, Carmarthenshire: Glyndŵr Publishing. ISBN 978-1-903529-17-1.
• Cordingly, David (2006) [1996]. Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates. London: Random House. ISBN 978-0-8129-7722-6.
• Davenport, Frances Gardiner; Paullin, Charles Oscar, eds. (2004). European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States and Its Dependencies: Issue 254. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 9781584774228.
• Earle, Peter (2007). The Sack of Panamá: Captain Morgan and the Battle for the Caribbean. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-36142-6.
• Exquemelin, John (2010) [1684]. The Buccaneers of America: A True Account of the Most Remarkable Assaults Committed of Late Years Upon the Coasts of the West Indies by the Buccaneers of Jamaica and Tortuga. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 978-1-108-02481-5.
• Gosse, Phillip (2007) [1932]. The History of Piracy. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-46183-0.
• Latimer, Jon (2009). Buccaneers of the Caribbean: How Piracy Forged an Empire. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-03403-7.
• Marley, David (2010). Pirates of the Americas, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598842012.
• Marley, David (1998). Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present. Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780874368376.
• Paxman, Jeremy (2011). Empire. London: Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-91957-4.
• Pope, Dudley (1978) [1977 (in the UK, as Harry Morgan's Way)]. The Buccaneer King: The Biography of the Notorious Sir Henry Morgan 1635–1688. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. ISBN 978-0-396-07566-0.
• Rogoziński, Jan (1995). Pirates!: Brigands, Buccaneers, and Privateers in Fact, Fiction, and Legend: An A–Z Encyclopedia. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 978-0-8160-2761-3.
• Thomas, Graham (2014). The Buccaneer King: the Story of Captain Henry Morgan (Kindle ed.). Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 978-1-4738-3522-1.
• Talty, Stephan (2007). Empire of Blue Water: Henry Morgan and the Pirates Who Ruled the Caribbean Waves. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-0293-7.

Articles

• Zahedieh, Nuala (2004a). "Morgan, Sir Henry (c.1635–1688)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19224. Retrieved 10 October 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Zahedieh, Nuala (2004b). "Modyford, Sir Thomas, First Baronet (c.1620–1679)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/18871. Retrieved 13 October 2016. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)