Читать книгу The Life of Sir Henry Morgan. With an account of the English settlement of the island of Jamaica онлайн

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Morgan soon succeeded in assembling ten ships and about five hundred men. The names of six of the captains have been recorded, being Edward Collier, John Morrice, sr., Thomas Salter, John Ansell, Thomas Clarke, and John Morrice, jr. Enrolled in the crews were soldiers of the disbanded armies of the King and Commonwealth, buccaneers and hunters from Hispaniola and Jamaica, as well as veteran privateersmen.

With this fleet he sailed to the Isle of Pines, a favourite rendezvous, where he was joined by two more ships and two hundred men. It is supposed that he planned an attack upon Havana from that base, by landing his men in the bay of Batabano and marching overland, with the expectation of avoiding the artillery of the three strong castles guarding the harbour and taking the city by surprise from the land side. The information which he obtained of the strength of the fortifications, the numbers and preparedness of the garrison and the militia, as well as the ability and vigilance of the governor, caused him to abandon this project, if it was ever seriously considered. Yet such an attack was actually expected by the Spaniards. Nearly a year before, Bishop Saona de Manosca and the civil magistrates of the province were so much alarmed by the activity and daring of the English privateers that they united in publishing an appeal to the inhabitants of Havana, urging them to strengthen the defences of the city by surrounding it with a wall of earth and palisades. They asserted that Jamaica alone could send out fifty ships manned by three thousand men, while the French of Tortuga could assemble double that force. Although irreconcilable enemies in Europe, the French of Tortuga, they said, had combined with the English of Jamaica to capture the island of Santa Catalina, which had lately been so gloriously retaken by the President of Panama and the Governor of Cartagena. The venerable prelate reminded his people that he had been a soldier in his youth, when he had taken part in the defence and siege of many strong places and had seen veteran armies held in check for many days by such fortifications. Their efforts had been successful and Havana had been placed in a good state of defence by land as well as sea.[134]