Tortuga Caribbean Filibusters Paradise
This small island is known to both adults and children around the world. He owes his popularity to the novels of R. Sabatini, but, mainly, of course, to the multi-part Hollywood movie saga “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Its French name is Tortuu, Spanish - Tortuga. And the French buccaneers also called it Pig Island.
Tortuga is located east of Cuba, north of Haiti, the area is only 188 sq km, and the current population is about 30 000 people. From Espanyola (Haiti) Tortugu is separated by a strait about 8 miles wide. The climate of the island is tropical, it usually rains in April – May and October – January, in other months there are almost none. In the book “Pirates of America” Alexander Exvemelin called the northern coast of Tortuga (“Iron Coast”) “very inhospitable”, there is only a small bay of Tresor, where only boats can moor, and only in calm weather. There are two harbors on the south coast. The larger one, where the town of Baster is located, bore the loud name Puerto del Rey (Royal Port) at the time described. About two kilometers west of it is Kayonskoy baie, only small vessels can enter.
This island was discovered in 1499 by a member of the Columbus Alonso de Ojeda expedition, but due to its small size it did not attract attention to itself and until 1570 it was not even mapped.
According to a common legend, this island received its name Isla Tortug because of its shape resembling a turtle. There is even a legend that Columbus said upon seeing him:
But it is unlikely that Columbus and Alonso de Ojeda would spend time studying the outlines of the coast of a small and uninteresting island. Therefore, it is more likely that the island was named so because of the abundance of sea turtles that live in its waters.
There is evidence that Indians lived on Tortug, who were exterminated or captured in slavery in the first quarter of the XVI century.
For over a hundred years this island has remained deserted. French smugglers often hid from the Spaniards on Tortuga. So, in 1582, the crew of the French ship Lyon appeared here, its sailors stayed here for several weeks. In 1583, after breaking the guard of the galley on which they were rowers, more than 20 captured French fled to Tortuga. But these were only “guests” of the island. Only at the beginning of the XVII century, Spanish fishermen settled on it, and in 1605, as we recall from the previous article (Filibusters and buccaneers) some residents of the north and west coast of Hispaniola came here unhappy with the authorities' order to relocate to the south coast.
Both the smugglers and the Buccaneers did not interrupt their connections with the "big land" (as they called Hispaniola). The Buccaneers often went there to hunt.
After 1610, French, English and Dutch merchants began to visit the island, who bought red ("Brazilian") wood here. Corsairs also came to Tortuga - mostly French, but sometimes English.
The French Jesuit Charlevoix already mentioned in previous articles in the middle of the 17th century estimated the total number of Tortuga and western Hispaniola buccaneers at three thousand people.
The few Spaniards, the buccaneers and smugglers were soon forced to leave Tortuga. This happened in the 20 of the XVII century. A small rocky islet, on which, in addition, there were few springs and streams, was still of little interest to anyone, however, the Spanish authorities in 1629 tried to drive foreigners out of it. Spanish ships shelled a small village in the only bay convenient for large ships in the south of Tortuga, then the soldiers landed, but the Buccaneers had already disappeared into the depths of the island.
In the same 1629 year, the Spaniards dealt a fierce blow to the British island of Nevis.
All the settlements were burned, the plantations were ruined, and the island's governor Anthony Hilton, collecting the remaining settlers (approximately 150 people), set off to look for a place for a new colony. In 1630, they arrived on Tortuga. This caused serious concern among the Spanish authorities, who organized a new expedition in 1631, during which the settlement of the British was destroyed, 15 of the British were hanged. This time, the Spaniards even left a small garrison of 29 soldiers on Tortug, but the angry British, in alliance with the equally indignant Buccaneers of Hispaniola, soon killed them. Realizing that the forces for confrontation were not enough, the colonists turned for help to the newly formed Providence Island Company, promising to pay her "a reward from 5% of products produced annually." At the same time, Hilton established contacts with privateers, pirates and smugglers, offering them the harbors of the southern part of Tortuga as a food base and a place of sale for production. Hilton's first hospitality was taken by an English pirate, Thomas Newman, whose ship successfully robbed passing ships off the coast of Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Tortuga's economy was now based not on the sale of products made by buccaneers and colonists, but on the proceeds of robbery.
Then about 80 people from Normandy also settled on Tortuga. Relations between them and the English settlers were very strained, as a result, the French even tried to sell the rights to Tortuga to the Dutch West Indies company.
In 1635, an event occurred that determined the fate of Hispaniola, Tortuga, filibusters and buccaneers for a long time. That year, the French corsair (a native of Dieppe) Pierre Legrand, captain of a miserable four-gun luger, on which there were only 28 crews, managed to capture the Spanish 54-gun flagship galleon.
Of course, the main reason for such an unprecedented victory was the incredible carelessness of the Spaniards, who simply did not believe that such a small and frivolous boat could attack their powerful ship. The lightning attack was a complete surprise for the captain, officers and sailors of the galleon who were in the siesta.
Threatening to blow up the powdery cellar of the galleon, Legrand forced the Spaniards to surrender. The crew of the ship was disembarked on the island of Hispaniola, the galleon was brought to Dieppe and sold there along with the cargo. After this victory, Leclerc received the nickname Pierre the Great, thus becoming the “namesake” of the Russian emperor. The resonance in Europe and the New World was truly grandiose. And the matter is not only in the enormous cost of both the galleon and the colonial goods that he transported. Impact on the reputation of Spain and its fleet was truly scary, and therefore it was decided to brutally take revenge on all filibusters of the Antilles.
It was not easy to find pirates, and the desire to receive awards and titles, reporting on the successful operation, was very great. And therefore, the first blow was dealt to the peaceful Buccaneers of Hispaniola. Because of their demonstratively independent way of life and "asocial" behavior, the Spaniards always treated them with great prejudice and distrust, and they took advantage of the occasion to deal with them with great pleasure. Several hundred buccaneers who did not expect an attack were killed by Spanish soldiers. The survivors went into the forest and began hunting for the Spaniards, who now suffered huge losses from the well-aimed fire of the invisible enemy.
Exememeline wrote about the sniper skills of the Buccaneers:
Another author, Johann Wilhelm von Archengolz, reports:
Many Spanish villages of Hispaniola were burned, the surviving colonists fled in fear from their homes, the Spanish troops could not do anything with the elusive partisans. And then it was decided to destroy wild bulls and pigs on the island - in two years the Spaniards killed all of them, turning the island into a desert. Most buccaneers were forced to move to Tortuga. And now they simply had no choice: having lost their only source of income, they replenished the crews of filibuster ships. Since then, the words "flibestier" and "bookie" began to be perceived by many as synonyms. Since that time, the buccaneer term “Coastal Brotherhood” has spread to filibusters.
Again, “listen” to Arkhangolts:
That is, the effect of the operation of the Spaniards was the opposite of expectations: it was after the buccaneers joined the filibusters that the “golden age” of pirates in the Caribbean began. The Buccaneers, for example, were on the ships of Christopher Minges, who attacked Santiago de Cuba and Campeche, and in the flotilla of the filibuster Edward Mansfelt. Around 200, the French booksellers took part in Henry Morgan's campaign in Panama, and, according to Ekskvemelin, "they had the best guns and they all were reputed to be excellent shooters."
They did not forget the buccaneers and their former specialty: before the pirate ship sailed into the sea, they slaughtered captured or purchased cattle and harvested meat. And if there was an opportunity, then they hunted wild bulls and pigs.
Meanwhile, the Spaniards, at the cost of high losses, having survived most of the buccaneers from Hispaniola, did not achieve any success in the fight against filibusters, and realized that little Tortuga is more important for real pirates. Anthony Hilton had already died by this time, his successor Christopher Wormley cared not so much about strengthening the harbor as about his pocket, and even the guns at the decisive moment proved unsuitable for firing. Therefore, the Spaniards rather easily captured Tortugu, destroying houses, ravaging the plantations and leaving their soldiers on the island again.
At the beginning of 1639, as a result of a sudden attack, in which about a hundred Englishmen took part, the Spaniards were driven out of Tortuga. French filibusters and buccaneers quickly returned to the hospitable island. It turned out that all this time on Tortuga continued to live, hiding from the Spaniards in the depths of the island, some buccaneers and settlers, who happily welcomed old friends. However, the British commander Willys began to oppress the French, at the slightest disobedience, taking property from them, and sending it to the north coast of Hispaniola.
At this time on the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) was the French Huguenot, François Le Vasseur, a talented engineer appointed to lead the construction of coastal fortifications. His problem was that he was a Huguenot surrounded by Catholics. The bosses of Le Vassur did not like, he himself was looking for a reason to get some independent position in order to depend less on enemies. In 1640, he suggested that the Governor-General of French Antilles Philippe de Poinsy organize an expedition to expel the British from Tortuga. Tortuga has already attracted the attention of the great powers, so he was given all possible assistance - despite the fact that France had peace with Britain. As a reward, Le Wasser asked for the seat of the governor and, being, as we remember, a Huguenot, freedom of religion. The case was again decided by the 50 "paratroopers" Le Wasser's sudden blow (they were all Huguenots).
After that, Le Vasser decided that he would live well without bosses, refusing to obey both Governor Philippe de Poinsy and his “investors” from the Company of the Islands of America. He ignored the invitation to visit St. Christopher to “get reinforcements there” for the establishment of a large colony at St. Domenge (western part of Haiti). On the proposal of the directors of the company of the islands of America to send additional soldiers to Tortuga (October 1642), he arrogantly replied that
Le Vasseur built a La Roche (“The Rock”) fort on the walls of which, cannons were installed on the walls of Buster, on an elevation in 750 meters from the coast. Alexander Ekskvemelin wrote about him:
In 1643, this defender of the fortress successfully repelled an attack by a Spanish squadron of 10 ships.
The authority of Le Vasseur after the victory rose to such an extent that, on his own behalf, he began to issue letters of marque to the filibusters of Tortuga. According to contemporaries, he ruled the island "more like a king than a governor." In addition, he began to oppress Catholics, turning his island into "little Geneva." Already in 1643, the leadership of the American Islands Company turned to de Poinsy with a request to "capture Levasseur on Tortuga Island". That's just to do it was not easy.
Meanwhile, the value of Tortuga as a strategic base of filibusters grew. After the destruction of the base of corsairs on the island of Providence, English ships began to enter here. Jean-Baptiste du Tertre wrote that the pirates, "seizing rich prizes from the Spaniards, were able to quickly enrich both the inhabitants (Tortuga) and the governor."
It should be clarified that many of those whom Ekkwemelin, du Tertre, and Charlevoix (and some others) call pirates, in fact, were martors. But these authors do not see much difference between them, constantly alternating the words “pirate” and marque ”in their texts, and using them as synonyms. A striking example is Henry Morgan, who has always been a privateer, but his subordinate Alexander Exkvemelin in his book stubbornly calls him a pirate (always with a letter of commerce - but still a pirate). And even his work, which tells more about privateers, Ekskvemelin called "Pirates of America."
It must also be said that not all letters of marquere were recognized as legitimate. So, letters of marque of other governors of Tortuga, which they issued on their own behalf, can be safely called "filchin".
The French authorities attempted to restore power over the island were only able to take in 1652. According to some contemporaries, the last straw was the insult Le Vasseur inflicted on Governor-General Philippe de Poinsy. On the cheap, the dictator Tortuga bought a silver statue of the Virgin Mary from the captain of one of the corsair ships. Having learned about this, the governor decided that this relic was quite suitable for his personal chapel, and turned to Le Vasseur with a request to give him a sculpture, referring to the fact that Protestants, in fact, are not supposed to use Catholic relics. Le Wasser sent him a wooden copy of the statue, writing in a letter that Catholics, as spiritual people, do not attach importance to material values, but he is a Huguenot and a heretic, and therefore prefers contemptible metals.
The governor, who did not appreciate the joke, sent a certain Chevalier of Timoleon Ogman de Fontenay, knight of the Order of Malta, to Tortuga to dislodge the usurper. But Francois Le Vasser, who received the nickname Kanyuk (a hawk of the hawk family) from the locals, was killed by his deputies (lieutenants) in 1653. According to one version, the reason for the quarrel was the mistress of one of the lieutenants, which Le Vasseur either kidnapped or offended. But perhaps the circumstances of Le Wasser’s death were less romantic, some argue that the woman had nothing to do with, and this adventurer received a fatal blow in a drunken brawl.
Legend has it that Le Wasser hid his treasures on the island, and wore an encrypted map with the location of the treasure on his chest. Nobody managed to decipher this card.
Chevalier de Fontenay was late, having learned about the death of Le Vasseur already off the coast of Hispaniola. He occupied the fort of La-Roche (he later built the 2 bastion in it) and declared himself "the royal governor of Tortuga and the Banks of Saint-Domengo." The deputies of Le Vasseur gave him in exchange for oblivion of the annoying incident with the former governor and the preservation of all property. The Knight of Malta showed great interest in cooperation with corsairs of all stripes, immediately issuing letters of marque to two English captains, two Flemish, two French and some Cuban mulatto named Diego. This was only the beginning, soon the number of de Fontenay's clients increased to 23, according to Charlevoix, "Tortuga became the container of all corsairs, and the number of these sea-patters grew every day." Not content with the percent "from sales" of the loot, de Fontenay sent his own 22-gun frigate (under the command of his deputy) to the corsair raids.
As a result, in the shortest time Tortuga filibusters won a number of impressive victories. At first 2 of Spanish galleons were captured, heading from Puerto Bello to Havana. Then, on the traverse of Puerto Plata, the corsairs from Tortuga attacked the "silver fleet", capturing three galleons and sinking the fourth. Two French marquees robbed a galleon between Cartagena and Puerto Bello (curiously, the crews of these ships consisted of blacks, commanded by "whites"). One of the detachments of Tortuga ravaged the small town of La Vega on the north coast of Hispaniola, the other captured all the goods on display at Barranquilla off Cartagena, the third attacked Puerto de Gracias. In August, 1652 was captured by French corsairs in the Cuban town of San Juan de los Remedios, robbing the treasury of the local church and taking hostages, who were taken by them to Tortugu for ransom. And the filibusters of Robert Martin attacked the Indian villages of the coast of Campeche Bay (Mexico), seizing their inhabitants into slavery. In general, the Maltese, the Chevalier de Fontenay, was a very “good” governor of Tortuga.
But the outraged Spaniards beat out an overly enterprising knight from Tortuga, and again left the island’s garrison, which numbered 150 soldiers. However, a year later, the new Spanish governor of Santo Domingo ordered to leave Tortugu, destroying all the buildings and flooding several old ships laden with stone in the main harbor of the island. The British immediately took advantage of this: the military governor of Jamaica, William Brain, on learning of Tortuga's "tiedness", ordered to send 12 soldiers under the command of Elias Watts there. In addition, former settlers returned to the island around 200. At the start of 1657, Watts was recognized as Governor of Tortuga. In 1659, the inhabitants of the island, buying a letter of marque from him (an amazing and praiseworthy “law-abiding”!), Organized an attack on the Spanish city of Santiago de los Caballeros - it was revenge for the murder of peaceful Frenchmen Tortuga, captured on a Flemish ship, headed for the Windward Islands.
In 1660, Mr. Elias Watts was replaced by French adventurer Jeremy Deschanes, Sierre de Monsac and du Ross, who contrived to receive an award for Tortuga through his friends in London. Then everything went according to the familiar scenario: Deschamps immediately began issuing letters of marquere to everyone in a row, and to the indignant letter of the governor of Jamaica replied that Tortuga is now a French colony, and he no longer obeys the British authorities. This adventurer, having become ill with a tropical fever, was forced to leave for Europe, leaving his nephew Frederic Deschane de la Place, who restored Fort La Roche, as governor.
"Gentlemen of luck" on these differences of the official authorities did not care. English sailor Edward Coxer recalled:
The crews of their ships often were real international brigades. Particularly impressive is the list of crew members of the La Trompez filibuster vessel that has reached our time. A total of 198 people served on this ship, among whom were the French, the Scots, the Dutch, the British, the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the Blacks, the mulatto, the Swedes, the Irish, the people of Jersey and the people of New England (North America), as well as the Indians.
Yes, filibusters often had the most friendly relations with the Indians. They actively bought food from them and, if possible, tried to include some of them into their teams. William Dampier explained it this way:
In addition, the Indians perfectly knew how to fish, turtles and manatees. It was said that one Indian skilled in this regard could provide the whole ship with food.
Until the mid-XNUMXth century, filibusters rarely combined into squadrons. Now on historical the scene of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico came true pirate fleets, which posed a serious threat to any enemy. In Jamaica, the bulk of the crews of the filibuster ships were former Cromwell’s army soldiers who had previously participated in the conquest of this island. In total, approximately 1500 corsairs were based on this island. Different researchers estimate the total number of corsairs of the Antilles at about 10 thousand people (some researchers increase their number to 20 or even 30 thousand, but this, nevertheless, seems unlikely).
It was at this time that the fruitful cooperation of the English authorities of Jamaica, the pirates of this island and the Tortuga corsairs began, which in 1662 by a squadron of 11 ships attacked the city of Santiago de Cuba.
Christopher Mings, captain of the royal frigate Centurion, carried out general command, captain Thomas Morgan (some historians confused him with pirate Henry Morgan), who led the volunteers, and Dutchman Adrian van Diemen, under the command of Jamaica and Tortuga freebooters, became his deputies. The Admiralty Court of Jamaica, chaired by William Michella, recognized the ships and other property seized from the Spaniards as "legal prizes", part of the production was sent to London. In response to the Spanish note of protest, King Charles II Stewart stated that he was “extremely dissatisfied with the raid of the filibusters on Santiago de Cuba," but did not refuse his share of the loot.
At the beginning of 1663, the British once again tried to establish control over Tortuga, but found that the island was well fortified, and "the inhabitants are very strong and ... determined to sell their lives at the most expensive price." Leading the expedition, Colonel Barry ordered the captain of the Charles frigate, Manden, to begin shelling the fort, but he decisively refused. Having landed Barry and his subordinates in the nearest port, he set off to hunt Spanish ships, which seemed to him easier prey than the fort of La Roche, Tortuga Island.
In 1664, the government in Jamaica changed, the new governor temporarily banned privatization (the same as privateering), after which many of the flyibusier ships left for Tortuga.
Alarmed by this state of affairs, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lynch wrote to Secretary of State Henry Bennet that year:
In the same year, the French West India Company bought the rights to Tortuga and Saint-Domengue from du Rosset, and the governor of Martinique Robert le Fichot de Frichet de Claudore made a recommendation to appoint his friend as governor of Tortuga - a man who “is well acquainted with the life of local colonists and enjoying authority among them. " It was Bertrand d'Ogeron, a native of Anjou, a former captain of the royal troops. In 1665 he arrived in Tortuga and ruled the island until 1675. This period became the "golden" time of Tortuga.
In the following articles we will continue the story of the corsairs of the West Indies. After all, many of the heroes of this Epoch are still standing backstage, but they are ready to go on the big stage of the coasts of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. The curtain will rise soon.
To be continued ...
Tortuga island on a map of the XVII century
Tortuga Island: History and Geography
Tortuga is located east of Cuba, north of Haiti, the area is only 188 sq km, and the current population is about 30 000 people. From Espanyola (Haiti) Tortugu is separated by a strait about 8 miles wide. The climate of the island is tropical, it usually rains in April – May and October – January, in other months there are almost none. In the book “Pirates of America” Alexander Exvemelin called the northern coast of Tortuga (“Iron Coast”) “very inhospitable”, there is only a small bay of Tresor, where only boats can moor, and only in calm weather. There are two harbors on the south coast. The larger one, where the town of Baster is located, bore the loud name Puerto del Rey (Royal Port) at the time described. About two kilometers west of it is Kayonskoy baie, only small vessels can enter.
This island was discovered in 1499 by a member of the Columbus Alonso de Ojeda expedition, but due to its small size it did not attract attention to itself and until 1570 it was not even mapped.
The alleged portrait of Alonso de Ojeda. During the expedition to New Andalusia (1502), his subordinate was Francisco Pizarro
According to a common legend, this island received its name Isla Tortug because of its shape resembling a turtle. There is even a legend that Columbus said upon seeing him:
"This is the place for the turtle on which the world rests."
Tortuga Island, aerial view
But it is unlikely that Columbus and Alonso de Ojeda would spend time studying the outlines of the coast of a small and uninteresting island. Therefore, it is more likely that the island was named so because of the abundance of sea turtles that live in its waters.
Tortuga population
There is evidence that Indians lived on Tortug, who were exterminated or captured in slavery in the first quarter of the XVI century.
For over a hundred years this island has remained deserted. French smugglers often hid from the Spaniards on Tortuga. So, in 1582, the crew of the French ship Lyon appeared here, its sailors stayed here for several weeks. In 1583, after breaking the guard of the galley on which they were rowers, more than 20 captured French fled to Tortuga. But these were only “guests” of the island. Only at the beginning of the XVII century, Spanish fishermen settled on it, and in 1605, as we recall from the previous article (Filibusters and buccaneers) some residents of the north and west coast of Hispaniola came here unhappy with the authorities' order to relocate to the south coast.
View of Tortuga island from the north coast of Haiti. Medieval engraving
Both the smugglers and the Buccaneers did not interrupt their connections with the "big land" (as they called Hispaniola). The Buccaneers often went there to hunt.
Buccaneer, illustration in the collection of "pirate" novels by Gustave Emar
After 1610, French, English and Dutch merchants began to visit the island, who bought red ("Brazilian") wood here. Corsairs also came to Tortuga - mostly French, but sometimes English.
The French Jesuit Charlevoix already mentioned in previous articles in the middle of the 17th century estimated the total number of Tortuga and western Hispaniola buccaneers at three thousand people.
The few Spaniards, the buccaneers and smugglers were soon forced to leave Tortuga. This happened in the 20 of the XVII century. A small rocky islet, on which, in addition, there were few springs and streams, was still of little interest to anyone, however, the Spanish authorities in 1629 tried to drive foreigners out of it. Spanish ships shelled a small village in the only bay convenient for large ships in the south of Tortuga, then the soldiers landed, but the Buccaneers had already disappeared into the depths of the island.
The appearance on the Tortug of the British
In the same 1629 year, the Spaniards dealt a fierce blow to the British island of Nevis.
Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis on a map of the Caribbean
All the settlements were burned, the plantations were ruined, and the island's governor Anthony Hilton, collecting the remaining settlers (approximately 150 people), set off to look for a place for a new colony. In 1630, they arrived on Tortuga. This caused serious concern among the Spanish authorities, who organized a new expedition in 1631, during which the settlement of the British was destroyed, 15 of the British were hanged. This time, the Spaniards even left a small garrison of 29 soldiers on Tortug, but the angry British, in alliance with the equally indignant Buccaneers of Hispaniola, soon killed them. Realizing that the forces for confrontation were not enough, the colonists turned for help to the newly formed Providence Island Company, promising to pay her "a reward from 5% of products produced annually." At the same time, Hilton established contacts with privateers, pirates and smugglers, offering them the harbors of the southern part of Tortuga as a food base and a place of sale for production. Hilton's first hospitality was taken by an English pirate, Thomas Newman, whose ship successfully robbed passing ships off the coast of Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. Tortuga's economy was now based not on the sale of products made by buccaneers and colonists, but on the proceeds of robbery.
Then about 80 people from Normandy also settled on Tortuga. Relations between them and the English settlers were very strained, as a result, the French even tried to sell the rights to Tortuga to the Dutch West Indies company.
The sensational victory of Pierre Legrand
In 1635, an event occurred that determined the fate of Hispaniola, Tortuga, filibusters and buccaneers for a long time. That year, the French corsair (a native of Dieppe) Pierre Legrand, captain of a miserable four-gun luger, on which there were only 28 crews, managed to capture the Spanish 54-gun flagship galleon.
French Luger Le Coureur, model ship
Spanish galleon "San Felipe", 1629, model ship
Of course, the main reason for such an unprecedented victory was the incredible carelessness of the Spaniards, who simply did not believe that such a small and frivolous boat could attack their powerful ship. The lightning attack was a complete surprise for the captain, officers and sailors of the galleon who were in the siesta.
Taking the galleon on a boarding, engraving by Jacques Callot
Illustration for the novel “Black Corsair” by Emilio Sargari
Threatening to blow up the powdery cellar of the galleon, Legrand forced the Spaniards to surrender. The crew of the ship was disembarked on the island of Hispaniola, the galleon was brought to Dieppe and sold there along with the cargo. After this victory, Leclerc received the nickname Pierre the Great, thus becoming the “namesake” of the Russian emperor. The resonance in Europe and the New World was truly grandiose. And the matter is not only in the enormous cost of both the galleon and the colonial goods that he transported. Impact on the reputation of Spain and its fleet was truly scary, and therefore it was decided to brutally take revenge on all filibusters of the Antilles.
The story of how and why buccaneers became filibusters
It was not easy to find pirates, and the desire to receive awards and titles, reporting on the successful operation, was very great. And therefore, the first blow was dealt to the peaceful Buccaneers of Hispaniola. Because of their demonstratively independent way of life and "asocial" behavior, the Spaniards always treated them with great prejudice and distrust, and they took advantage of the occasion to deal with them with great pleasure. Several hundred buccaneers who did not expect an attack were killed by Spanish soldiers. The survivors went into the forest and began hunting for the Spaniards, who now suffered huge losses from the well-aimed fire of the invisible enemy.
Buccaneer, painted tin figure, circa 1650
The same figure, but not painted
Exememeline wrote about the sniper skills of the Buccaneers:
“Sometimes they have a competition for accuracy. As a target, an orange tree is usually chosen, which you need to shoot at, trying to knock down as many oranges as possible without hitting the branches. And it turns out they have famously - I myself have witnessed that. "
Another author, Johann Wilhelm von Archengolz, reports:
“Since then, the Buccaneers only breathed revenge. Blood flowed in streams; they did not make out either age or gender, and the horror of their name began to spread more and more. ”
Many Spanish villages of Hispaniola were burned, the surviving colonists fled in fear from their homes, the Spanish troops could not do anything with the elusive partisans. And then it was decided to destroy wild bulls and pigs on the island - in two years the Spaniards killed all of them, turning the island into a desert. Most buccaneers were forced to move to Tortuga. And now they simply had no choice: having lost their only source of income, they replenished the crews of filibuster ships. Since then, the words "flibestier" and "bookie" began to be perceived by many as synonyms. Since that time, the buccaneer term “Coastal Brotherhood” has spread to filibusters.
Again, “listen” to Arkhangolts:
“They connected with their friends, filibusters, who were already beginning to glorify, but whose name became truly terrible only after connecting with the buccaneers.”
That is, the effect of the operation of the Spaniards was the opposite of expectations: it was after the buccaneers joined the filibusters that the “golden age” of pirates in the Caribbean began. The Buccaneers, for example, were on the ships of Christopher Minges, who attacked Santiago de Cuba and Campeche, and in the flotilla of the filibuster Edward Mansfelt. Around 200, the French booksellers took part in Henry Morgan's campaign in Panama, and, according to Ekskvemelin, "they had the best guns and they all were reputed to be excellent shooters."
The attack of pirates on the city of Panama. Figure from the book Exvemelin 1678
They did not forget the buccaneers and their former specialty: before the pirate ship sailed into the sea, they slaughtered captured or purchased cattle and harvested meat. And if there was an opportunity, then they hunted wild bulls and pigs.
Island of contention: the struggle for Tortugu between the Spaniards, the French and the British
Meanwhile, the Spaniards, at the cost of high losses, having survived most of the buccaneers from Hispaniola, did not achieve any success in the fight against filibusters, and realized that little Tortuga is more important for real pirates. Anthony Hilton had already died by this time, his successor Christopher Wormley cared not so much about strengthening the harbor as about his pocket, and even the guns at the decisive moment proved unsuitable for firing. Therefore, the Spaniards rather easily captured Tortugu, destroying houses, ravaging the plantations and leaving their soldiers on the island again.
At the beginning of 1639, as a result of a sudden attack, in which about a hundred Englishmen took part, the Spaniards were driven out of Tortuga. French filibusters and buccaneers quickly returned to the hospitable island. It turned out that all this time on Tortuga continued to live, hiding from the Spaniards in the depths of the island, some buccaneers and settlers, who happily welcomed old friends. However, the British commander Willys began to oppress the French, at the slightest disobedience, taking property from them, and sending it to the north coast of Hispaniola.
Francois Le Wasser, the first French governor of Tortuga
At this time on the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts) was the French Huguenot, François Le Vasseur, a talented engineer appointed to lead the construction of coastal fortifications. His problem was that he was a Huguenot surrounded by Catholics. The bosses of Le Vassur did not like, he himself was looking for a reason to get some independent position in order to depend less on enemies. In 1640, he suggested that the Governor-General of French Antilles Philippe de Poinsy organize an expedition to expel the British from Tortuga. Tortuga has already attracted the attention of the great powers, so he was given all possible assistance - despite the fact that France had peace with Britain. As a reward, Le Wasser asked for the seat of the governor and, being, as we remember, a Huguenot, freedom of religion. The case was again decided by the 50 "paratroopers" Le Wasser's sudden blow (they were all Huguenots).
Francois Le Wasser
After that, Le Vasser decided that he would live well without bosses, refusing to obey both Governor Philippe de Poinsy and his “investors” from the Company of the Islands of America. He ignored the invitation to visit St. Christopher to “get reinforcements there” for the establishment of a large colony at St. Domenge (western part of Haiti). On the proposal of the directors of the company of the islands of America to send additional soldiers to Tortuga (October 1642), he arrogantly replied that
"Very strengthened himself, supplied with guns, weapons and ammunition, which the Lord himself gave to this island, and, apparently, no longer needs people to save it. ”
Le Vasseur built a La Roche (“The Rock”) fort on the walls of which, cannons were installed on the walls of Buster, on an elevation in 750 meters from the coast. Alexander Ekskvemelin wrote about him:
“This fort was impregnable because two people could hardly disperse on the path leading to it. On the mountainside there was a cave, which was used as a weapon depot, and at the top there was a convenient platform for the battery. The governor ordered to build a house next to her and install two cannons there, erecting a portable ladder for lifting onto the fort, which could be removed if needed. A well was dug on the territory of the fort, and there would be enough water for a thousand people. Water came from a spring, and thus the well was completely inaccessible from the outside. ”
In 1643, this defender of the fortress successfully repelled an attack by a Spanish squadron of 10 ships.
Fort La Roche, built on Tortuga by Governor Levasseur. 17th century French engraving
The authority of Le Vasseur after the victory rose to such an extent that, on his own behalf, he began to issue letters of marque to the filibusters of Tortuga. According to contemporaries, he ruled the island "more like a king than a governor." In addition, he began to oppress Catholics, turning his island into "little Geneva." Already in 1643, the leadership of the American Islands Company turned to de Poinsy with a request to "capture Levasseur on Tortuga Island". That's just to do it was not easy.
Meanwhile, the value of Tortuga as a strategic base of filibusters grew. After the destruction of the base of corsairs on the island of Providence, English ships began to enter here. Jean-Baptiste du Tertre wrote that the pirates, "seizing rich prizes from the Spaniards, were able to quickly enrich both the inhabitants (Tortuga) and the governor."
It should be clarified that many of those whom Ekkwemelin, du Tertre, and Charlevoix (and some others) call pirates, in fact, were martors. But these authors do not see much difference between them, constantly alternating the words “pirate” and marque ”in their texts, and using them as synonyms. A striking example is Henry Morgan, who has always been a privateer, but his subordinate Alexander Exkvemelin in his book stubbornly calls him a pirate (always with a letter of commerce - but still a pirate). And even his work, which tells more about privateers, Ekskvemelin called "Pirates of America."
It must also be said that not all letters of marquere were recognized as legitimate. So, letters of marque of other governors of Tortuga, which they issued on their own behalf, can be safely called "filchin".
The French authorities attempted to restore power over the island were only able to take in 1652. According to some contemporaries, the last straw was the insult Le Vasseur inflicted on Governor-General Philippe de Poinsy. On the cheap, the dictator Tortuga bought a silver statue of the Virgin Mary from the captain of one of the corsair ships. Having learned about this, the governor decided that this relic was quite suitable for his personal chapel, and turned to Le Vasseur with a request to give him a sculpture, referring to the fact that Protestants, in fact, are not supposed to use Catholic relics. Le Wasser sent him a wooden copy of the statue, writing in a letter that Catholics, as spiritual people, do not attach importance to material values, but he is a Huguenot and a heretic, and therefore prefers contemptible metals.
The governor, who did not appreciate the joke, sent a certain Chevalier of Timoleon Ogman de Fontenay, knight of the Order of Malta, to Tortuga to dislodge the usurper. But Francois Le Vasser, who received the nickname Kanyuk (a hawk of the hawk family) from the locals, was killed by his deputies (lieutenants) in 1653. According to one version, the reason for the quarrel was the mistress of one of the lieutenants, which Le Vasseur either kidnapped or offended. But perhaps the circumstances of Le Wasser’s death were less romantic, some argue that the woman had nothing to do with, and this adventurer received a fatal blow in a drunken brawl.
Legend has it that Le Wasser hid his treasures on the island, and wore an encrypted map with the location of the treasure on his chest. Nobody managed to decipher this card.
Chevalier de Fontenay. Maltese Knight at the Head of the Island
Chevalier de Fontenay was late, having learned about the death of Le Vasseur already off the coast of Hispaniola. He occupied the fort of La-Roche (he later built the 2 bastion in it) and declared himself "the royal governor of Tortuga and the Banks of Saint-Domengo." The deputies of Le Vasseur gave him in exchange for oblivion of the annoying incident with the former governor and the preservation of all property. The Knight of Malta showed great interest in cooperation with corsairs of all stripes, immediately issuing letters of marque to two English captains, two Flemish, two French and some Cuban mulatto named Diego. This was only the beginning, soon the number of de Fontenay's clients increased to 23, according to Charlevoix, "Tortuga became the container of all corsairs, and the number of these sea-patters grew every day." Not content with the percent "from sales" of the loot, de Fontenay sent his own 22-gun frigate (under the command of his deputy) to the corsair raids.
As a result, in the shortest time Tortuga filibusters won a number of impressive victories. At first 2 of Spanish galleons were captured, heading from Puerto Bello to Havana. Then, on the traverse of Puerto Plata, the corsairs from Tortuga attacked the "silver fleet", capturing three galleons and sinking the fourth. Two French marquees robbed a galleon between Cartagena and Puerto Bello (curiously, the crews of these ships consisted of blacks, commanded by "whites"). One of the detachments of Tortuga ravaged the small town of La Vega on the north coast of Hispaniola, the other captured all the goods on display at Barranquilla off Cartagena, the third attacked Puerto de Gracias. In August, 1652 was captured by French corsairs in the Cuban town of San Juan de los Remedios, robbing the treasury of the local church and taking hostages, who were taken by them to Tortugu for ransom. And the filibusters of Robert Martin attacked the Indian villages of the coast of Campeche Bay (Mexico), seizing their inhabitants into slavery. In general, the Maltese, the Chevalier de Fontenay, was a very “good” governor of Tortuga.
But the outraged Spaniards beat out an overly enterprising knight from Tortuga, and again left the island’s garrison, which numbered 150 soldiers. However, a year later, the new Spanish governor of Santo Domingo ordered to leave Tortugu, destroying all the buildings and flooding several old ships laden with stone in the main harbor of the island. The British immediately took advantage of this: the military governor of Jamaica, William Brain, on learning of Tortuga's "tiedness", ordered to send 12 soldiers under the command of Elias Watts there. In addition, former settlers returned to the island around 200. At the start of 1657, Watts was recognized as Governor of Tortuga. In 1659, the inhabitants of the island, buying a letter of marque from him (an amazing and praiseworthy “law-abiding”!), Organized an attack on the Spanish city of Santiago de los Caballeros - it was revenge for the murder of peaceful Frenchmen Tortuga, captured on a Flemish ship, headed for the Windward Islands.
Jeremy Deschains, Sierre de Monsac and du Rosse and Frederic Deschains de la Place
In 1660, Mr. Elias Watts was replaced by French adventurer Jeremy Deschanes, Sierre de Monsac and du Ross, who contrived to receive an award for Tortuga through his friends in London. Then everything went according to the familiar scenario: Deschamps immediately began issuing letters of marquere to everyone in a row, and to the indignant letter of the governor of Jamaica replied that Tortuga is now a French colony, and he no longer obeys the British authorities. This adventurer, having become ill with a tropical fever, was forced to leave for Europe, leaving his nephew Frederic Deschane de la Place, who restored Fort La Roche, as governor.
Corsair "Interbrigad" West Indies
"Gentlemen of luck" on these differences of the official authorities did not care. English sailor Edward Coxer recalled:
“I served the Spaniards against the French, then the Dutch against the British; then I was selected by the English from the Dunkirkians; and then I served the English against the Dutch ... Then, I acted on the warship against the Spaniards, until finally the Spaniards captured me. ”
The crews of their ships often were real international brigades. Particularly impressive is the list of crew members of the La Trompez filibuster vessel that has reached our time. A total of 198 people served on this ship, among whom were the French, the Scots, the Dutch, the British, the Spaniards, the Portuguese, the Blacks, the mulatto, the Swedes, the Irish, the people of Jersey and the people of New England (North America), as well as the Indians.
Yes, filibusters often had the most friendly relations with the Indians. They actively bought food from them and, if possible, tried to include some of them into their teams. William Dampier explained it this way:
“They (the Indians) have extremely keen eyes, and they notice a sail at sea earlier than we do.” Because of these qualities, they are valued and they try to take with them all privatirs ... When they are among privatirs, they will learn how to use guns and turn out to be very accurate arrows. They behave arrogantly in battle and never retreat or lag behind. ”
In addition, the Indians perfectly knew how to fish, turtles and manatees. It was said that one Indian skilled in this regard could provide the whole ship with food.
Until the mid-XNUMXth century, filibusters rarely combined into squadrons. Now on historical the scene of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico came true pirate fleets, which posed a serious threat to any enemy. In Jamaica, the bulk of the crews of the filibuster ships were former Cromwell’s army soldiers who had previously participated in the conquest of this island. In total, approximately 1500 corsairs were based on this island. Different researchers estimate the total number of corsairs of the Antilles at about 10 thousand people (some researchers increase their number to 20 or even 30 thousand, but this, nevertheless, seems unlikely).
Joint campaign of the British and Corsairs of the Islands of Jamaica and Tortuga to Santiago de Cuba
It was at this time that the fruitful cooperation of the English authorities of Jamaica, the pirates of this island and the Tortuga corsairs began, which in 1662 by a squadron of 11 ships attacked the city of Santiago de Cuba.
Santiago de Cuba city harbor, engraved 1641
Christopher Mings, captain of the royal frigate Centurion, carried out general command, captain Thomas Morgan (some historians confused him with pirate Henry Morgan), who led the volunteers, and Dutchman Adrian van Diemen, under the command of Jamaica and Tortuga freebooters, became his deputies. The Admiralty Court of Jamaica, chaired by William Michella, recognized the ships and other property seized from the Spaniards as "legal prizes", part of the production was sent to London. In response to the Spanish note of protest, King Charles II Stewart stated that he was “extremely dissatisfied with the raid of the filibusters on Santiago de Cuba," but did not refuse his share of the loot.
The last attempt of the British to seize Tortuga
At the beginning of 1663, the British once again tried to establish control over Tortuga, but found that the island was well fortified, and "the inhabitants are very strong and ... determined to sell their lives at the most expensive price." Leading the expedition, Colonel Barry ordered the captain of the Charles frigate, Manden, to begin shelling the fort, but he decisively refused. Having landed Barry and his subordinates in the nearest port, he set off to hunt Spanish ships, which seemed to him easier prey than the fort of La Roche, Tortuga Island.
In 1664, the government in Jamaica changed, the new governor temporarily banned privatization (the same as privateering), after which many of the flyibusier ships left for Tortuga.
Alarmed by this state of affairs, Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Lynch wrote to Secretary of State Henry Bennet that year:
“The revocation of privatization will be, meanwhile, not an immediate and risky remedy and may turn out to be completely ineffective ... There may be more 1500 of them on about 12 ships, which, if they feel the need for English letters of marque, can receive French and Portuguese documents, and if they take anything with them, they will certainly receive a good reception in the New Netherlands and Tortuga ... We live in Jamaica meekly, sit quietly and watch how the French get richer in prizes, and the Dutch in trade in West “Indies.”
French West India Company
In the same year, the French West India Company bought the rights to Tortuga and Saint-Domengue from du Rosset, and the governor of Martinique Robert le Fichot de Frichet de Claudore made a recommendation to appoint his friend as governor of Tortuga - a man who “is well acquainted with the life of local colonists and enjoying authority among them. " It was Bertrand d'Ogeron, a native of Anjou, a former captain of the royal troops. In 1665 he arrived in Tortuga and ruled the island until 1675. This period became the "golden" time of Tortuga.
In the following articles we will continue the story of the corsairs of the West Indies. After all, many of the heroes of this Epoch are still standing backstage, but they are ready to go on the big stage of the coasts of the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. The curtain will rise soon.
To be continued ...
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