Henry Morgan

[spetsnaz]

Henry Morgan


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.
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''Any Mission, Any time, Any Place''

[yui108]

Thank you very much for an interesting read on my favorite high seas scallawag.

[corsair91]

Sir Henry Morgan: The Cunning Pirate (Pirate History Explained)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMD-GQl84J4

The Legends of History
1 May 2018

Sir Henry Morgan was a cunning, sneaky pirate who wasn't shy when it came to plundering, pillaging and profit.



The Real-Life Captain Morgan Was More Interesting Than His Rum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tbzb36osmfM

Weird History
3 Jan 2021

When you hear the name "Captain Morgan," images of bros posing with a handle of spiced rum with one foot danging precariously in the air probably come to mind. While there were plenty of pirates whose reputations were built on boozin' it up with bar wenches à la modern rum-guzzling frat bros, the real Captain Morgan is not one of them.

Sir Henry Morgan doesn't sound like the name one of the most terrifying pirates in the Caribbean - but the ruthless Captain Henry Morgan propelled himself to fame and riches by terrorizing his enemies and seizing a fortune in gold from the Spanish. The history of piracy is full of surprises, and these Henry Morgan facts are no exception.



The REAL Story of The REAL Captain MORGAN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18JWX2GdBNA

The Real Captain Morgan
3 Mar 2011


The Real Captain Morgan
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCz5vCAhE84mPDtlX_NE1B5Q

[corsair91]

Henry Morgan: King of the Buccaneers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyTzSOM2Ksg

Gold and Gunpowder
16 Sept 2021


Henry Morgan was one of the most succesful pirates - but was he really a pirate? Despite many rumours spun to his name, Morgan never attacked an enemy without a commission, treated his prisoners with dignity, and acted in the interest of Jamaica. He was a master tactician and a family man, and largely responsible for defending England's early colonialism. He deserves to be remembered as an English hero like Drake or Nelson - and in this video we'll discover why.


Timecodes on Youtube Page


0:00 Introduction
0:46 Early Life
2:36 Rise to Power
4:30 Puerto Principe
5:31 Puerto Bello
6:31 Lake Maracaibo
8:29 Brewing Storms
9:42 Panama
12:27 Imprisoned
14:36 Lieutenant-Governor
16:17 Exquemelin
18:36 Morgan's Personality

20:04 Death
22:03 Conclusion
23:10 Comment of the Week

[corsair91]

Henry Morgan: The Greatest Buccaneer in History
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2OeJeW5DKs

Biographics
11 Oct 2021

[corsair91]

The Pirates of Sid Meier’s Pirates!
Firaxis


Henry Morgan

Without a doubt, Henry Morgan was the greatest English privateer in the seventeenth century. A bold, ruthless and daring man, Morgan fought England's enemies for over thirty years - and made himself a very wealthy man in the process.

In 1655, at the age of twenty, Morgan volunteered to join an English expedition against the Spanish Caribbean city of Santo Domingo. When that assault failed, the expedition attacked and captured the island of Jamaica, which was virtually undefended at the time.

In 1663, Morgan began leading independent raids against the Spanish from the new English base of Port Royal, Jamaica. Bearing an English Letter of Marque, Morgan and 200 men set sail for the Yucatan, where they hid their vessels, marched 150 miles through jungle and sacked the town of Villa Hermosa. The force then proceeded to Honduras, where they captured the inland city of Gran Granada.

Morgan returned to Port Royal in triumph, an extremely wealthy and popular man. In 1666 he was made Colonel of the Port Royal militia and was made "Admiral" by the Bretheren of the Coast. Over the next several years Morgan and his men were to sack Puerto Principe, Puerto Bello, Maracaibo and Cartagena, an incredible list of successes.

In 1670, Morgan launched an attack against Panama, the greatest Spanish city of all. After capturing the fort guarding the Charges River (which leads inland towards Panama), Morgan and 1600 privateers boarded canoes and headed up the river. After a nightmarish trip of almost a week through pestilential swamp and heavy jungle, the exhausted and starving buccaneers reached Panama.

The enemy awaited them on the far side of a clearing. Consisting of 1,700 infantry and a couple of hundred calarymen, the force was at least the equal of Morgan's. Disliking the idea of sending his weakened men in a frontal assault across open ground, Morgan dispatched 300 men to sneak through the forest and hit the enemy in the flank. When the surprised enemy turned to face this new threat, Morgan and the remaining men would come in and finish them.

Then the defenders made an incredible blunder. Ignoring orders to hold their ground, the Spanish cavalry began to charge Morgan's position. Caught up in the excitement, the untrained infantry followed. Once the enemy was in the open, Morgan's men opened fire while his flanking party attacked the enemy from behind, sending the Spanish army reeling back in confusion. The enemy broken, Morgan and his men marched into Panama.

Morgan's sack of Panama was a grievous blow to Spanish pride and power in the Caribbean. He was knighted and made Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica.

Though an able administrator, Morgan was unsuited for the life of a bureaucrat. He spent his nights roistering with his buccaneer comrades in the Port Royal taverns, and by 1683 he was removed from Jamaica's governing council for his "passions and irregularities."

The unrepentant Morgan died in his bed, five years later. He was killed by dropsy, an ailment caused by gross overindulgence in food and drink - probably just how the old rascal wanted to go.


https://www.ign.com/articles/2004/11/15/pirates-of-pirates-5

[corsair91]

https://www.worldhistory.org/Henry_Morgan/


https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofWales/Sir-Henry-Morgan/




Alexandre Exquemelin, Morgan’s surgeon in Panama


The Pirates of Panama by A. O. Exquemelin
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26690

The Pirates of Panama
or, The Buccaneers of America; a True Account of the Famous Adventures and Daring Deeds of Sir Henry Morgan and Other Notorious Freebooters of the Spanish Main

[corsair91]

Why the English Knighted a Convicted Pirate | The Life & Times of Henry Morgan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgGI7gOcGYA

Jack Rackam


Jack Rackam
https://www.youtube.com/@JackRackam

[corsair91]

Online lecture | Fear, pirates and the sacking of Panama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0tGZUqHqQ4

Speaker: Nathan Jopling, Doctoral Researcher, University of Birmingham

Royal Armouries
Hard coded English Captions
runtime 53:45
Aug 23, 2023


Actual Lecture Intro Start
https://youtu.be/s0tGZUqHqQ4?t=143


Pirates are renowned for plundering and attacking the Spanish in the name of English imperialism. But how did pirates use English colonists’ fears and emotional instability to justify these attacks?

If you want to know more about pirates, their exploits, and the world pirates inhabited and robbed, then this lecture is for you!

Everybody knows that pirates liked their gold and silver, and that they usually took this from Spanish towns and merchants. But how exactly did they justify this? This lecture will explore the relationship between the fear felt by Jamaican colonists at their exposure to potential Spanish aggression, and the launching of the Welsh privateer Henry Morgan’s raid on Panama in 1670.

Nathan will argue that the justification used by pirates and privateers was built on (and required) fear to be the dominant emotion within the society they sought to infiltrate. Pirates used this fear to persuade and coerce locals to support their attacks, and in turn this made pirates a ‘comfort blanket’ for English Jamaican colonists to hide behind when the threat of Spanish reprisals for English colonial ambitions (and their related pirate attacks) came knocking at Jamaica’s door.

By the end of this lecture you will gain an understanding that there was more to piracy than gold and silver, and know more about the inter-imperial relations of the English and Spanish empires.


Royal Armouries
https://www.youtube.com/@RoyalArmouries

Royal Armouries, the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour.

[corsair91]

Pirates of the Original Panama Canal
https://www.archaeology.org/issues/79-1303/features/543-pirates-henry-morgan-panama-city-raid

Searching for the remains of Captain Henry Morgan's raid on Panama City

By SAMIR S. PATEL
March/April 2013



Alexandre Exquemelin (buccaneer barber-surgeon)
http://hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9464

Author of The Pirates of Panama

or, The Buccaneers of America; a True Account of the Famous Adventures and Daring Deeds of Sir Henry Morgan and Other Notorious Freebooters of the Spanish Main