What was the real captain Morgan

When you hear the name Captain Morgan, what associations immediately come to mind? Surely many people remember a label on a bottle of rum.

Captain Henry Morgan went down in history as a navigator and pirate, pursuing an active English colonial policy. He advanced to glory, defeating enemies and capturing gold from the Spaniards.

Morgan was born into a family of a Welsh farmer. But instead of engaging in peasant labor all his life, he crossed the Atlantic and became the most famous privateer of the 1600s. Henry Morgan led a pirate alliance called The Shore Brotherhood. It was a real pirate army that opposed the Spaniards and captured the second largest city in the Western Hemisphere. Captain Morgan competently managed the money earned. He did not spend them on booze and brothels, but bought up huge quantities of land in Jamaica.

His flotilla included 12 ships and 700 thugs from among the French and British. The events associated with the capture of the city of Maracaibo were described by Rafael Sabatini in one of the chapters of Captain Blood's Odyssey.

The population of the city, previously warned by one of the well-wishers, having gathered all their wealth, left him. When Morgan entered Maracaibo, he was faced with almost empty streets and houses. Realizing that people could not run far, he began to comb around the neighborhood. Found citizens were captured, tortured, trying to find out where all the values were hidden.

For several weeks, pirates tormented the city. When they decided to leave, they found that at the exit from the lagoon three Spanish ships were waiting for them, cutting off the path to the retreat. It would seem that the British lost, but the cunning pirate came up with his plan. The ship with its flag came close to the Spanish ship. Without hesitation, they began boarding, filled the entire deck, killed several pirates who did not have time to jump into the sea, but were faced with the unexpected. A pirate deck opened beneath their feet, and flames burst from beneath it crashed into the Spanish Magdalena galleon. The captain blew up his ship to win the battle. In general, the production of Morgan was huge - 250,000 reais.

Sometimes the captain used the nuns to capture. So it was in 1668 during a raid on the fortified Spanish city of Portobelo. Pirate ships anchored far from the coast to hide the attack. At night, a canoe entered the city and captured the nuns. The next day, they used them as a human shield. Pirates took the city and an incredible amount of gold.

Capturing Portobelo was only the first step. Captain Morgan knew that the Spaniards would pay dearly to return the port, since all the gold and silver from Peru passed through it on the way to Spain. Morgan sent a ransom note to the governor of Panama for the whole city. And he warned that if his requirements were not met, then he would burn the whole city to the ground.

To show his confidence, the captain sent a gun to the governor, saying that it was so easy to take Portobelo that he was planning to return in a year to pick up his gun. The frightened governor paid all the required ransom. Captain Morgan's success at Portobelo helped him recruit even more supporters.

Morgan always rewarded his people for their faithful service and did it more willingly than the Royal Navy. For example, when planning an assault on Panama, he prescribed a document, essentially a contract with his comrades-in-arms, in which he indicated that ship captains would receive a large share of the treasures, an ordinary pirate would receive disability compensation, if wounded, for the courage of each additional bonus. For myself, I took only one percent of the total profit.

He was one of the most successful captains in history. Pirates lined up to get on his ship. As a result of the victory in Maracaibo, by 1670 his fleet was 2,000 people (which included the British and French) and 37 ships. All of them were ready to fulfill any order of the invincible Morgan.

A new target has been found. The second largest New World city in Panama. Well fortified, it required special preparation. In addition, Panama was on the other side of the isthmus. First, he sent through the jungle the vanguard of 400 people who scouted the situation, captured Providence Island, prepared as a springboard for a future assault.

The battle began on January 28, 1671. The Governor of Panama put up 1,200 people, 400 cavalrymen and several half-wild bulls. They were supposed to release the Indians at the decisive moment of the battle.

But neither the Spanish cavalry, nor the infantry could resist the snipers of Captain Morgan. The battle quickly turned into a rout. The bulls fled when they heard the sound of gunfire. Those who remained on the battlefield went to a barbecue for pirates. The Spaniards lost 500 people, the captain Morgan - fifteen.

However, this is bad luck ... When the captain took Panama, the British at that time had already signed a peace treaty with Spain. That is, it turned out that privateer Henry Morgan committed a state crime.

When he returned to Jamaica after the capture of Panama, the governor arrested him and sent him to England to stand trial.

English society regarded him as a national hero, and King Charles II knighted him in 1674. The Spaniards were furious. After, Sir Henry Morgan returned to Jamaica and for many years served as governor.