by Cate Ludlow
From these insulting speeches the pirates learnt that the design of their expedition was discovered; and that moment they determined to carry the fort, or die to a man on the spot. They immediately commenced the assault in defiance of the shower of arrows that was discharged against them; undismayed by the loss of their commander, both whose legs had been carried away by a cannon shot. One of the pirates, in whose shoulder an arrow was deeply fixed, tore it out himself, exclaiming:– ‘Patience, comrades, and it strikes me, all the Spaniards are lost!’ He tore some cotton out of his pocket, with which he covered his ram-rod, set the cotton on fire, and shot this burning material, in lieu of bullets, at the houses of the fort, which was covered with light wood, and the leaves of palm trees. His companions collected together the arrows which were strewed around them on the ground, and employed them in a similar manner. The effect of this novel mode of attack was most rapid: many of the houses caught fire; a powder wagon blew up. The besieged, being thus diverted from their means of defence, thought only of stopping the progress of the fire. Night came on: under cover of darkness, the freebooters attempted also to set on fire the palisades, which were made of a kind of wood that was easily kindled. In this attempt likewise they were crowned with success; the soil, which the palisades supported, fell down, and filled up the ditch. The Spaniards nevertheless continued to defend themselves with much courage, being animated by the example of their commander, who fought till the very moment he received a mortal blow. The garrison had throughout the use of their cannon, which kept up a most violent fire; but the enemy had already made too much progress to be disconcerted with it; they persevered in the attack, until they at length became masters of the fort.
A great number of Spaniards, finding themselves deprived of all resource, precipitated themselves from the top of the walls in to the river, that they might not fall alive into the hands of these freebooters; who made only twenty-four prisoners, and ten of these were wounded men, who had concealed themselves among the dead, in the hope of escaping their ferocious conquerors. These twenty-four men were all that remained of three hundred and forty, who had composed the garrison, which had shortly before been reinforced; for the president of Panama, having been apprized from Carthagena of the object of the pirates’ expedition, came to encamp, with three thousand six hundred men in the vicinity of that threatened city. This information was conveyed to the freebooters, after the capture of the fort. At the same time they learnt that, among this body of troops, there were four hundred horsemen, six hundred Indians, and two hundred mulattoes; the last of whom, being very expert in hunting bulls, were intended, in case of necessity, to send two thousand of these animals among the freebooters.
It is scarcely credible that Brodely continued to command, notwithstanding the severity of his wounds; but he would not, by retiring, compromise the advantages he had so dearly purchased; for out of four hundred men who had composed his little army, one hundred and eighty had been killed, and eighty wounded, and of these eighty, sixty were altogether out of the battle.
The bodies of the French and English were interred; but those of the Spaniards were thrown down from the top of the fort, and remained in a heap at the foot of the walls. Brodely found much ammunition, and abundance of provisions; with which he was the more satisfied, as he knew that the grand fleet was greatly in want of both those articles. He caused the fort to be rebuilt, as far as it was practicable, in order that he might defend himself there, in case the Spaniards should make a speedy attempt to retake it. In this situation he waited for Morgan, who in a short time appeared with his fleet.
As the pirates approached, they beheld the English flag flying on the fort, and abandoned themselves to the most tumultuous joy and excessive drinking, without dreaming of the dangers occurring at the mouth of the river Chagre, beneath whose waters there was sunken rock. The coasting pilots of those latitudes came to their assistance; but their intoxication and impatience would not permit them to attend to the latter. This negligence was attended with the most fatal consequences, and cost them four ships, one of which was the admiral’s vessel. The crews, however, together with their ladings, were saved. This loss greatly affected Morgan, who was wholly intent upon his vast designs; but who, nevertheless, made his entrance into St Laurence, where he left a garrison of five hundred men. He also detached from his body of troops one hundred and fifty men, for the purpose of seizing several Spanish vessels that were in the river.
The remainder of the forces Morgan directed to follow him… At length, on the eighteenth day of January, he commenced his march towards Panama, with a chosen body of freebooters, who were thirteen hundred strong.
The Japanese Widow
A woman was left a widow with three sons, and with no other subsistence than their labour. The young men not having been brought up to this kind of life, could scarcely earn the most common necessities of life, and bitterly lamented their inability to place their mother in a more comfortable situation.
It had lately been decreed that any person who should seize a robber, and convey him to a magistrate, should receive a considerable reward. The three brothers, who were a thousand times more affected by their mother’s poverty than their own, took a resolution as strange as heroic. They agreed that one of the three should pass as a robber, and the other two should denounce him as such: they drew lots to determine which was to be the victim of filial love, and it fell to the youngest, who was bound, and conducted to the magistrate as a criminal. He was questioned, confessed the robbery of which he was accused, was sent to prison, and the brothers received the reward; but before they returned home, they found means to enter the prison, wishing at least to bid an affectionate adieu to their unfortunate brother. There, believing themselves unobserved, they threw themselves into the arms of the prisoner, and by their tears, their sobs, and their most tender embraces, displayed the excess of their affection and grief. The magistrate, who by chance was in a place from whence he could perceive them, was extremely surprised to see a criminal receive such marks of affection from the very men who had delivered him up to justice, and he gave orders to follow the two young men, and observe them narrowly.
The servant reported to his master that he had followed the two young men to the door of their mother’s apartment; that on entering, their first care was to give their mother the sum of money which they had received; that she, astonished at the sight of so considerable a sum, had shown more uneasiness than pleasure at it, and eagerly questioned them as to how they obtained it, and the cause of their brother’s absence; that for a time the two youths could answer only with tears, but that at last, threatened by the malediction of a mother so tenderly beloved, they had confessed the truth. At this dreadful recital, the unfortunate woman, penetrated with gratitude, terror and admiration, and abandoning herself to the most violent transports of despair, sprang towards the door to go out, with the intention of declaring every thing to the magistrate; but that restrained by her cruelly generous sons, overwhelming them with reproaches, and bathing them with tears, overpowered at once by anger, and by the most passionate grief and tenderness, she had fallen senseless in their arms.
After this recital, the judge repaired to the prison, and questioned the younger brother, who still persisted in his account, and nothing could induce him to retract. The magistrate at last told him, that he wished to know to what extent of heroism filial piety could raise a virtuous heart, and declared to him he was informed of the truth. The judge went to report this adventure to the sovereign, who struck with an action so heroic, desired to see the three brothers and the happy mother of such virtuous children: he loaded them with praises and marks of distinction, assigned to the youngest 1,500 crowns a year, and 500 each to the other two.
The Cave of Clatto
The Lands of Clatto are most remarkable on account of the robberies said to have been committed on them when possessed by a family called Seaton. What is called Clatto Den is a den with steep banks. In the face of one of these is s
aid to have been a cave, the mouth of which is now covered by the falling in of the soil, but it communicated with the old Castle or Tower of Clatto, the remains of which are visible at no great distance. The cave is said to have had another opening towards the road; and there the heedless traveller, being suddenly seized, was dragged into the cavern, from which nobody returned.
The ruin of the family of robbers that possessed the castle and the cave is ascribed by tradition to the following event. King James the Fourth accidentally passed that way alone, and was attacked by a son of Seaton, who stopped his horse. The king, though apparently unarmed, had a sword concealed under his garment, which he drew, and with a blow cut off the right hand that had seized his horse’s reins. The robber instantly fled into a cavern, and the king, taking up the hand, rode off. Next day, attended by a strong retinue, he visited the Castle of Clatto, under pretence of seeing Seaton and his sons, who had been represented as enterprising men, well calculated to hold public employments. The old man presented his family to the king, but one of his sons was absent, and he was said to be unwell, in consequence of a hurt he had accidentally received. The king insisted on seeing him, and desired to feel his pulse. The young man held out his left hand; the king would feel the other also. After many ineffectual excuses, he was obliged to confess that he had lost his right hand. The king told him that he had a hand in his pocket, which was at his service, if it would fit him. Upon this, according to the barbarous mode of administering justice in those times, they were all seized and executed.
Adventures of Morgan, Prince of Free-booters: Attacked By Wild Bulls!
On January 27th, 1671, which was the tenth of their march, the pirates advanced at a very early hour, with their military music, and took the road leading to Panama. By the advice, however, of one of the guides, they quitted the main road, and went out of the way across a thick wood, through which there was no foot-path. For this the Spaniards were unprepared; having confined themselves to the erection of batteries, and the construction of redoubts, on the highway. They soon perceived the inutility of this measure, and were obliged to relinquish their guns, in order to oppose their enemies on the contrary side; but, not being able to take their cannons away from their batteries, they were consequently incapacitated from making use of one part of their defensive means.
After two hours’ march, the freebooters discovered the hostile army, which was a very fine one, well equipped, and was advancing in battle array. The soldiers were clad in party-coloured silk stuffs, and the horsemen were strutting on their mettlesome steeds, as if they were going to a bull fight. The president in person took command of this body of troops, which was of considerable importance, both for the country, and likewise for the forces supported there by Spain. He marched against the pirates with four regiments of the line, consisting of infantry, besides two thousand four hundred foot soldiers of another description, four hundred horsemen, and two thousand four hundred wild bulls under the conduct of several hundred Indians and negroes.
The army, which extended over the whole plain, was discovered by the pirates from the summit of a small eminence, and presented to them a most imposing appearance, insomuch that they were struck with a kind of terror. They began now to feel some anxiety as to the event of an engagement with forces so greatly superior in point of numbers; but they were convinced that they must either conquer or die, and encouraged each other to fight until the very last drop of their blood was shed; a determination this, which, on the part of these intrepid men, was by no means a vain resolution.
They divided themselves into three bodies, placed two hundred of their best marksmen in the front, and marched boldly against the Spaniards, who were drawn up in order of battle in a spacious plain. The governor immediately ordered the cavalry to charge the enemy, and the wild bulls to be at the same time let loose upon them. But the ground was unfavourable for the purpose; the horsemen encountered nothing but marshes, behind which were posted two hundred marksmen, who kept up a continual and well directed fire, that horses and men fell in heaps beneath their shots, before it was possible to effect a retreat. Fifty horsemen only escaped this formidable discharge of musketry. The bulls, on whose services they had calculated so highly, it became impracticable to drive against the pirates. Hence such a confusion arose as completely reversed the whole plan of the battle. The freebooters in consequence attacked the Spanish infantry with so much the greater vigour; they successively knelt on the ground, fired, and rose up again. While those, who were on one knee, directed their fire against the hostile army, which began to waver, the pirates, who continued standing, rapidly charged their fire-arms. Every man, on this occasion, evinced a dexterity and presence of mind which decided the fate of the battle; almost every shot was fatal.
The Spaniards nonetheless continued to defend themselves with much valour, which provided of little service against an exasperated enemy; whose courage, inflamed by despair, derived additional strength from their successes. At length the Spaniards had recourse to their last expedient; the wild bulls were let loose upon the rear of the freebooters. The former never dreamt that these had, in this expedition, associated with the Buccaneers, who had for a long time been accustomed to act against these animals: and this attack, which was to be decisive, frustrated all their plans. The Buccaneers were in their element; by their shouts they intimidated the bulls, at the same time waving party-coloured flags before them, fired on the animals, and laid them upon the ground without exception. The engagement lasted two hours; and notwithstanding the Spaniards were so greatly superior in both numbers and arms, it terminated entirely in favour of the freebooters. The Spaniards lost the chief part of their cavalry, on which they built their expectations of victory; the remainder returned to the charge repeatedly, but their efforts only tended to render their defeat the more complete. A very few horsemen only escaped, together with the ruins of the infantry, who threw down their arms to facilitate the rapidity of their flight. Six hundred Spaniards lay dead on the field of battle; besides whom, they sustained a considerable loss in such as were wounded and taken prisoners.
Among the latter were some Franciscans, who had exposed themselves to the greatest dangers, in order that they might animate the combatants, and afford the last consolations of religion to the dying. They were conducted into Morgan’s presence, who instantly pronounced sentence of death upon them. In vain did these hapless religeuse implore that pity, which they might have claimed from a less ferocious enemy! They were all killed by pistol shot. Some Spaniards who were apprehensive lest they should be overtaken in their flight, had concealed themselves among the flags and rushes along the banks of the river. They were mostly discovered, and hacked to pieces by the merciless pirates.
The freebooters task, however, was by no means executed; they had yet to take Panama, a large and populous city, which was defended by forts and batteries, and into which the governor had retired, together with the fugitives. The conquest of this place was the more difficult, as the pirates had dearly purchased their victory, and the remaining forces were by no means adequate to encounter the difficulties attending such an enterprise. It was, however, determined to make an attempt. Morgan had just procured, from a wounded captive Spanish officer, the necessary information; but he had not a moment to lose. It would not do to allow the Spaniards time to adopt new measures of defence; the city was therefore assaulted on the same day, in defiance of a formidable artillery, which committed great havoc among the freebooters; and, at the end of three hours, they were in possession of Panama.
The capture of that city was followed by a general pillage. Morgan, who dreaded the consequences of excessive intoxication, especially after his men had suffered such a long abstinence, prohibited them from drinking wine, under the severest penalties. He foresaw that such a prohibition would infallibly be infringed, unless it was sanctioned by an argument far more powerful then the fear of punishment; he therefore caused it to be announced, that he had received information that the Spaniards ha
d poisoned all their wine. This dexterous falsehood had the desired effect: and, for the first time, the freebooters were temperate.
The majority of the inhabitants of Panama had betaken themselves to flight; they had embarked their women, their riches, and their moveables that were of any value, and small in bulk, and had sent this valuable cargo to the island of Taroga. The men were dispersed over the continent, but in sufficiently large numbers to appear formidable to the pirates; whose forces were much diminished, and who could not expect any assistance from abroad. They therefore continued constantly together; and, for their greater security, most of them encamped without the walls.
We have now reached a time when Morgan committed a barbarous and incomprehensible action; concerning which his comrades (some of whom were his historians), have given only a very ambiguous explanation.
Notwithstanding all the precious articles had been carried away from Panama, there still remained, as in every great European trading city, a vast number of shops, warehouses, and magazines, filled with every kind of merchandise. Besides a great quantity of wrought and manufactured articles, the productions of luxury and industry, that city contained immense stores of flour, wine, and spices; vast magazines of that metal which is justly deemed the most valuable of all, because it is the most useful, extensive buildings, in which were accumulated prodigious stores of iron tools and implements, anvils, and ploughs, which had been received from Europe, and were destined to revive the Spanish colonies. Some judgement may be formed, respecting the value of the last-mentioned articles only, when it is considered that a quintal (1 cwt.) of iron was sold at Panama for thirty-two piasters (about £6 12s).
