_The Capture of Panama._
First Sight of the City.--The Spanish Scouts Appear.--Morgan’s
Advance.--Character of the Country.--Fears of the
Spaniards.--Removal of Treasure.--Capture of the City.--The
Poisoned Wine.--Magnificent Scenery of the Bay.--Description of
Panama and its Surroundings.--Wealth of the City.--Scenes of
Crime and Cruelty.
Morgan was an extraordinary man. Fear never appalled him. He was never
discouraged by disasters. Passion was never allowed to throw him off
his guard. He shared, in full, all the hardships of his demoniac crew.
Though hungry and weary himself, and sympathizing with his starving
men in their sufferings, he did not in the least degree remit his
watchfulness or lose his self-control.
Perceiving the danger that his men, in their famished condition,
indulging in such reckless gluttony might induce sickness which would
incapacitate them for battle, he ordered a false alarm to be sounded.
Instantly every man seized his musket and ran to his appointed place
in the ranks. Morgan had taken the precaution, before descending the
mountain, to order every musket to be discharged and loaded afresh,
from fear that the powder might have become damp.
There were several miles yet to be traversed over plains and through
forests, before the pirates could enter the streets of the city, which
they had discerned in the distance. Cautiously they continued their
march until the approach of evening when they ascended an eminence
which commanded a perfect view of the city, with its steeples, houses,
and streets all aglow with the rays of the setting sun. Here the shouts
of exultation were renewed. The pirates, strengthened by their feast,
danced for joy, beating their drums, sounding their trumpets, firing
off their muskets, and exulting as in the hour of perfect victory. Here
they encamped for the night, waiting impatiently for the morning, which
would usher in the decisive battle.
In the evening two hundred mounted Spaniards rode out from the city,
dashed along until they came within hailing distance of the pirates,
and shouted out to them words which could not be understood. Morgan
established double sentinels, and all his men slept upon their arms.
At daybreak on the tenth day the Spaniards, from their walls, sounded
with bugle-peal and drum-beat a challenge to their foes. The pirates
were equally eager for the fight. Rapidly they advanced into the
plain. The Spaniards, on horseback and on foot, crowded out to meet
them. In glittering battalions they were drawn up upon the plain,
outnumbering the pirates three to one. There were two squadrons of
cavalry, four regiments of foot, and, most singular to relate, “a huge
number of wild bulls, roaring and tossing their horns, driven by a
great number of Indians and a few mounted matadores.”
It is recorded that the pirates were surprised and alarmed in view of
the force thus to be encountered. Many of them wished they were at
home. No quarter was to be expected. There was no hope for them but in
fighting with the utmost desperation. All were conscious of this. They
therefore bound themselves, by the most solemn oaths, to conquer or to
spend the last drop of their blood.
Morgan formed his men into three battalions, after selecting a band
of two hundred sharpshooters to skirmish in the advance. Many of the
Spaniards were armed in glittering coats of mail. Their silken banners,
richly embroidered, presented a beautiful appearance as they fluttered
in the rays of the morning sun. The Spaniards sent forward a squadron
of horse. As they came galloping over the plain, Morgan’s skirmishers
fell upon one knee, in the tall grass, and opened upon them a very
destructive fire. Several riders dropped from their horses. Several
horses, struck by the bullets, and appalled by the sudden explosion of
two hundred guns, became uncontrollable, and rushed wildly over the
plain in all directions.
“The bulls,” writes Thornbury, “proved as fatal to those who employed
them as the elephants to Porus. Driven on the rear of the buccaneers,
they took fright at the noise of the battle, a few only broke through
the English companies, and trampled the red colors under foot; but
these were soon shot by the old hunters. A few fled to the savanna, and
the rest tore back and carried havoc through the Spanish ranks.”
The plain was rough with ravines and quagmires, so that the cavalry
could not operate to advantage. The desperate pirates were all reckless
in their courage, and nearly all unerring in their aim. The Spaniards
were also men of war and blood, who had been guilty of the greatest
atrocities as they had cut down and robbed the native tribes. They
fought with ferocity equal to that of the pirates. In this battle it
was, in reality, fiend against fiend. The Spaniards were as bad as the
pirates.
For two hours the battle raged with intensest fury. There was neither
tree, stump, nor rock to protect either party from the bullets which
with deadly velocity swept the plain. On the one side there were eleven
hundred pirates. Esquemeling estimated the force of the Spaniards at
four hundred cavalry and two thousand four hundred infantry. There were
also one or two hundred Indians and negroes to drive the wild bulls
through the English camp, hoping thus to break their lines and throw
them into confusion. The Spaniards had also dug trenches and raised
batteries to arrest the advance of their foes.
Morgan, as usual, ordered his men to approach the city by a circuitous
route, so as to avoid the batteries. In preparation for this movement
he ordered a review of the troops. He concealed from his troops the
number of pirates who had fallen, but announced, probably with some
exaggeration, that six hundred of the Spaniards lay dead upon the field.
It would seem that the Spaniards had not been very sanguine as to the
result of the battle; for they had shipped to the Island of Tavoga much
of their portable wealth and all of their women. In the battle thus
far, the Spaniards had been so decidedly beaten that they had abandoned
the field, and horse and foot had taken a new stand behind the
ramparts. Many prisoners had been taken, including quite a number of
Catholic priests. Morgan, not wishing to be encumbered with prisoners,
ordered them all to be pistolled. The pirates had lost heavily, but
their loss exasperated instead of disheartening them.
Esquemeling writes: “The pirates were nothing discouraged, seeing their
numbers so much diminished, but rather filled with greater pride than
before, perceiving what huge advantage they had obtained against their
enemies. Thus, having rested themselves some while, they prepared to
march courageously towards the city, plighting their oaths to one
another that they would fight till never a man were left alive. With
this courage they recommenced their march either to conquer or to be
conquered.
“They found much difficulty in their approach unto the city. For within
the town the Spaniards had placed many great guns at several quarters
thereof, some of which were charged with small pieces of iron and
others with musket bullets. With all these they saluted the pirates
at their drawing nigh unto the place, and gave them full and frequent
broadsides, firing at them incessantly. From whence it happened that
they lost, at every step they advanced, great numbers of men.
“But neither these manifest dangers of their lives, nor the sight of
so many of their own dropping down continually at their sides, could
deter them from advancing farther and gaining ground every moment upon
the enemy. Thus, although the Spaniards never ceased to fire and act
the best they could for their defence, yet, notwithstanding, they were
forced to deliver the city after the space of three hours’ combat. And
the pirates, having now possessed themselves thereof, both killed and
destroyed as many as attempted to make the least opposition against
them.
“The inhabitants had caused the best of their goods to be transported
unto more remote and occult places. Howbeit, they found within the
city, as yet, several warehouses well stocked with all sorts of
merchandise, as well silks and cloths as linen and other things of
considerable value. As soon as the first fury of their entrance into
the city was over, Captain Morgan assembled all his men, at a certain
place which he assigned, and there commanded them, under very great
penalties, that none of them should dare to drink or taste any wine.
“The reason he gave for this injunction was because he had received
private intelligence that it had been all poisoned by the Spaniards.
Howbeit it was the opinion of many that he gave those prudent orders
to prevent the debauchery of his people, which he foresaw would be
very great at the beginning, after so much hunger sustained by the
way; fearing withal lest the Spaniards, seeing them in wine, should
rally their forces, and use them as inhumanly as they had used the
inhabitants before.”
Morgan was now master of Panama. The city, with nearly all of its
wealth, had fallen into his hands. And still the vanquished Spaniards
could rally a force greatly outnumbering his own. The Bay of Panama
is one of peculiar beauty. At that time its shores were fringed with
luxuriant groves of oranges, figs, and limes. The feathery tops of the
cocoanut trees towered over all the rest, rivalled only by the lofty
tamarinds. Through the rich foliage there peeped, in much picturesque
beauty, numerous cane-built huts. Indian children, entirely unclothed,
were running about upon the beach, while birch canoes, light as
bubbles, were skimming the placid waves.
The islands of Tavoga and Tavogilla appeared in the distance as masses
of foliage. The mines of Mexico and Peru had emptied their floods
of wealth into that port. Many of the mansions were architecturally
magnificent. They were adorned with the richest paintings and with the
most costly furniture. The Spanish grandees had hung upon their walls
the masterpieces of Titian, Murillo, and Velasquez. The streets of the
city were broad, an unusual circumstance in Spanish cities, and were
lined with the most beautiful and ever-flowering of tropical trees.
Within the walls of the city there was a cathedral of imposing
magnitude and towering splendor. There were also eight monasteries,
massive buildings, occupied by the religious orders, and abundantly
supplied with works of art. The broad avenues were lined with two
thousand mansions of the wealthy; and five thousand smaller houses and
shops crowded the more busy streets. The most imposing block in the
city was what was called the Genoese Warehouses. These belonged to a
company who had enriched themselves by the slave trade. An immense
number of horses and mules were used in transporting goods across the
isthmus, from one ocean to the other. These were kept in long rows
of stables admirably arranged. The products of the mines of gold and
silver were melted down into solid bars called plate or bullion, and in
that form were sent to the Old World. The city was surrounded with rich
plantations and highly artistic gardens.
“Panama was the city to which all the treasures of Peru were annually
brought. The plate fleet, laden with bars of gold and silver, arrived
here at certain periods, brimming with the crown wealth, as well as
that of private merchants. It returned laden with the merchandise of
Panama and the Spanish main, to be sold in Peru and Chili; and still
oftener with droves of negro slaves that the Genoese imported from the
coast of Guinea to toil and die in the Peruvian mines.
“So wealthy was this golden city that more than two thousand mules were
employed in the transport of the gold and silver from thence to Porto
Bello, where the galleons were loaded. The merchants of Panama were
proverbially the richest in the whole Spanish West Indies. The governor
of Panama was the suzerain of Porto Bello, Nata, Cruz, and Veragua. The
bishop of Panama was primate of the Terra Firma and the suffragan to
the archbishop of Peru. The district of Panama was the most healthy of
all the Spanish colonies, rich in mines, and so well wooded that its
ship-timber covered with vessels both the northern and the southern
seas. Its land yielded full crops, and its broad savannas pastured
innumerable herds of wild cattle.”[A]
[Footnote A: Monarchs of the Main, vol. ii. p. 159.]
Such was the city and province which had fallen into the hands of
this gang of pirates. They found the booty, notwithstanding all the
Spaniards had removed, rich beyond their most sanguine expectations.
The stores were still crowded with goods of great value. Wine, spices,
olive oil, silks and cloths of every variety of fabric were found in
great abundance. The magazines were amply supplied with corn and other
provisions.
Morgan himself was surprised at the grandeur of his capture. He was
also alarmed in view of his own peril. The force which could still be
arrayed against him was far greater than he had anticipated. He was in
imminent danger of being cut off from his return to the ships. There
were several Spanish vessels aground in the port. Morgan seized them.
With the high tide they were floated. He manned them with the most
desperate of his gang and sent them to the islands, and to pursue the
vessels which had escaped with treasure along the coast.
There was one royal Spanish mercantile vessel, in particular, of four
hundred tons, which had escaped, laden with church plate and jewels,
and the richest merchandise. It had put to sea in the greatest haste,
with but seven guns and but about a dozen muskets. It was poorly
supplied with food and water, and had only the uppermost sails of the
mainmast to spread. All the females of the nunnery were on board this
ship, with the most valuable ornaments of the church.
Morgan was anxious to make an immediate pursuit of this vessel. Had
he done so the vessel would easily have been captured. But for a time
he lost the control of his demoniac crew. Inflamed with wine--for
Morgan’s prohibition had no effect--and rushing into the most pitiless
debauchery, they spent many hours in scenes which neither Sodom nor
Gomorrah could ever have outrivalled. Thus the ship escaped. It is
said that it contained gold and silver of greater value than all the
treasures found in Panama.
Morgan probably foresaw that unless he could destroy these liquors,
with which the city was filled, his men would become entirely
disorganized, and the Spaniards, falling upon the drunken rabble, would
easily cut them to pieces. He could not destroy liquors before the eyes
of the pirates, for they would not permit it.
He set fire to the city in various quarters, carefully spreading the
report that the conflagration was kindled by the Spaniards themselves.
The fire spread with such rapidity that, in a few hours, nearly all of
the business portion was laid in ashes. Most of the humbler buildings
were of wood, with thatched roofs. They burned like tinder. Two hundred
stores, with all their contents, were destroyed. The Genoese Warehouses
were burned. There were many poor slaves imprisoned in them. They were
consumed by the all-devouring flames.
This energetic commander, as pitiless as any beast which ever howled
in the jungle, had accomplished his purpose. His troops were driven out
of the flaming streets into the fields, and there they were compelled
to encamp. These wretched men, satiated with gluttony, drunkenness,
and debauchery, began now to awake, with new eagerness, to their old
passion for plunder.
Four vessels were dispatched to visit the islands and to cruise along
the coast in both directions. One hundred and sixty men were sent back
to Chagres to convey supplies to the troops in garrison there, and
to inform them of the great victory. Daily companies of two hundred
men, one party relieving another, were sent out to explore the region
around. They returned every night with a group of pale and trembling
prisoners, and with mules laden with treasure. These unhappy captives
were tortured to compel them to reveal where treasure, of which they
knew nothing, was concealed. The father, the mother, the maiden
daughter, and the child were alike stretched on the bed of torture.
Neither innocence, beauty, nor virtue afforded the female captive any
protection.
A pauper Spaniard, not much more than half-witted, wandered, during
the confusion, into a rich man’s house, stripped off his rags, and
clothed himself in costly linen with breeches of bright red taffeta
and a coat of silk velvet. As he was foolishly strutting about admiring
his finery, the pirates broke in, and seized him as their prize. They
believed, or assumed to believe, that he was the master of the house,
and demanded that he should inform them where he had concealed his
treasure.
In vain he pointed to his rags and protested, by all the saints, that
he had lived upon charity. There was nothing he could reveal. These
cruel men stretched him on the rack. They dislocated his joints. They
twisted a cord around his forehead, “till his eyes appeared as big as
eggs, and were ready to fall out.” They hung him up by the thumbs and
scourged him. They cut off his nose and ears and singed his face with
blazing straw. Then with the thrusts of their lances they put him to
death.
“After this execrable manner,” writes Esquemeling, “did many others
of these miserable prisoners finish their days; the common sport and
recreation of these pirates being these, and other tragedies not
inferior to these.”