The Morgan ‘Era’ In Panamanian History

Late 16th century saw Panama being known as one of Spain’s richest colonized areas. Gold, pillaged from wealthy Indian nations and even from the fabled Inca Empire, was transported to various counting houses located in Panama. These counting houses, specifically in the Pearl Islands, Panama City and Portobelo, inventoried the loot that was eventually loaded onto the ships bound for Spain. It was a well known fact amongst pirates, that there were literally millions of pounds of treasure located in Panama. And so a lot of these pirates attempted to invade and plunder the ill-gotten wealth from the Spaniards. One of those pirates was the notorious Henry Morgan.

Historical accounts of Henry Morgan’s early years vary. A lot of historians believe that Morgan, after being kidnapped from Bristol, was forced into slave labor on a Jamaican plantation. Morgan had to work for seven years before his freedom was granted. As the English invaded Barbados in 1655, then nineteen year old Henry as one of the slaves who abandoned their Jamaican masters and joined the English.

Other historical counts tell of Morgan being enlisted by the English to invade Spain’s colonies. He joined the English fleet in 1663 and participated in the raiding and conquering of the various Spanish settlements in Vildemos, Trujillo and Granada.

What historians do agree upon is that Henry Morgan was one of the 8000 soldiers, who attempted to wrest control of Santo Domingo from the Spaniards. The attempt proved futile and the English contingents were dealt an embarrassing defeat. Ashamed of returning to England, the soldiers instead invaded Jamaica.

As Port Royal was made the official capital of Jamaica, Morgan began his privateering career under various ship leaders. Morgan commanded a ship in the English Admiral Edward Mansfield’s fleet. When Mansfield was captured and killed by the Spanish, the crew members voted Henry Morgan as the fleet’s new admiral.

Commissioned by Jamaican governor Thomas Modyford, Morgan was ordered to capture and ravage Cuba of its treasures. Along his journey, Morgan’s crew attacked the town of Portobelo, Panama, utilizing his crew of five hundred men. The Panamanians attempt to ward the invaders were in vain, and the governor was forced to pay a large amount of ransom so that the invaders would leave the island. Despite the cruelties inflicted by Morgan and his crew, the English government conveniently and publicly claimed no recollection of or responsibility for those events.

Morgan’s pirate fleet soon invaded Maracaibo, Venezuela, torturing the residents for the Spanish treasure. While at Maracaibo, Morgan’s fleet captured one of the Spaniards’ ships and destroyed the others. Expectedly, the Spanish government threatened the Jamaican governor for the English’s actions towards the Spaniards’ settlements. Governor Modyford reacted by promoting Morgan as commander-in-chief of all the warships in Jamaica, and commissioned him to effectively declare war on the Spanish, payment was deemed as whatever treasures were captured and plundered from the Spanish for Morgan and his crew.

Commander-in-chief Morgan started his pillaging of Cuba and upon completing his scourge he set his sights on Panama. Being the boldest and most daring expedition of his career, Morgan and his crew of   thousands first captured the island of Santa Catalina and proceeded to overpower the fortress in San Lorenzo. Confidently, Morgan targeted Panama City as his next conquest.
Though the Spaniards outnumbered them, Morgan was not frightened off. The Spaniards inexperience was evident, as Morgan ordered half of his men to attack from the flank. The strategy paid off as Panama City eventually fell to the Morgan and his men. After torturing a lot of Panamanians, Morgan eventually discovered that much of the Spanish treasures were already removed from the city.

News of Morgan’s conquest brought the armada of Spain, who threatened to launch a full scale war against England. To appease the Spaniards, the King of England, then Charles II ordered that Henry Morgan and the Jamaican Governor Modyford arrested. At his trial, Morgan validated that he had no prior knowledge of the treaty between England and Spain. As such, he was set free and eventually knighted in 1674. Retiring from a career as a privateer/pirate, Morgan returned to Jamaica in 1675 to become Jamaica’s Lieutenant governor. His health failing him, Morgan died in the year 1688. The cemetery where he was buried, Palisadoes cemetery, sank beneath the sea after the earthquake of 1692.

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