so Henry Morgan a privateer and a play to the Spanish in the 1600s just when the Spanish fool they were done with Sir Francis Drake's exploits now they had to contend with another devil fighting for the glory of England Morgan was born a Welshman some time in 1635 but little is known about his early life it's speculated that Morgan dropped out of school at a very early age for he was more accustomed to the pike than he was with books it's likely that as a young adult he would travel to the Caribbean as part of
an army sent by Oliver Cromwell to vanquish the Spanish in the West Indies however other reports indicate a less-than-honorable start for Morgan's career he may have served the mere apprentice to a cutlery maker in exchange for his emigration a more insidious report indicates that Morgan was captured and sold as a servant into the Caribbean whatever his method of arriving in the Caribbean more wouldn't gone to work for sir thomas modified the Governor of Jamaica in 1664 modified would be instated to limit the activities of privateers and keep them in check which he declared openly however
he went back on his word shortly after when economic problems would present themselves he's joining a few other captains Morgan would serve as a privateer plundering Spanish cities and settlements in the Caribbean to which they acquired large amounts of valuable cargo what if it took no of their efforts and would be most impressed in 1667 the relations between England and Spain were growing worse there were also whispers fruit Jamaica that they would soon be a Spanish invasion fearing such an outcome modified issued Morgan the instruction to seek out the Spanish in hopes of obtaining information
in 1668 Morgan would be granted the rank of Admiral and assembled ten ships with 500 men he set sail to attack Portobello now modern-day Panama and would seek to justify raiding and looting as a means to find out the information that money would had asked for Portobello was known as one of the main routes of trade and so Morgan believed that he would be a prime area for which to attack and amass riches but Portobello was protected by two castles in the harbor and a third castle in the town center making it quite troublesome to
conquer to make matters worse who wanted of his French privateers decided that they were unhappy with the way in which Morgan had divided the loot from previous raids they were also unhappy at how one of their own men was murdered by another Englishman of the crew despite the fact that Morgan would see him personally hanged for his crimes later on with all this in mind the French took their share of the Spoils and abandoned Morgan reducing his number to around 300 men Morgan was able to take the first two castles by approaching from a landward
side and catching the Spanish occupiers of God Morgan sustained a few losses and was left at odds when trying to control the third and final castle not only what he outnumbered but his crew were beginning to realize the dire situation that they were in and their morale was sinking fast Morgan knew he had to come up with an idea and so he did Alex and X Kremlin a 17th century historian who was traveling with Morgan at the time wrote that Morgan would kidnap priests and nuns and in an audacious ploy would use them as human
shields he was able to put fear into the holy citizens and ordered them to sell bladders on the side of the castle walls so that he and his crew could ascend his ploy dastardly as it was worked like a charm for the Spanish resistance ceasefire for fail wounding the civilians funnily enough Morgan later sued excrement for misrepresentation of his character and a section about him using holy men and women as human shields was withdrawn in later publications of the book Morgan soon gained control of the third castle having used the priests and nuns to his
advantage he and his crew remained in Portobello for a month when Morgan held the city ransom for three hundred and fifty thousand pieces the crew stripped a town for all it was worth anacs kremlin would claim that both morgan and his crew became barbaric raping and beating everything in sight however by this point it should be noted that ex kremlin had developed a personal disliking for Morgan and so many have disputed his observations at Portobello saying that they had been exaggerated Morgan would leave Portobello often negotiations and both he and his crew had become very
wealthy it should be noted that back home in Britain word of Morgan's expeditions would be spread and he would be hailed as a hero morgen soon moved on to his second expedition at Columbia where he would attack the settlement known as catarina de indias a reverie rafi City of the Spanish mane what if it learned of Morgan's intentions and so sent him a vessel known as the Oxford to aid him in his conquest Morgan called a war meeting on board the Oxford consisting of all of his captains however a freak accident with the ship's gunpowder
caused a spark and a massive detonation tore apart half of the ship and 200 of the crew Morgan than the captains who sat on one side of the table when the war room were blown into the water the other half were blown to smithereens now at a loss that his new flagship was out of commission a French pirate who once served with the pirate francais de l'année suggested approaching Maracaibo for a shallow Lagoon that they had discovered Morgan agreed and they set sail to Maracaibo only to find that the first fortification was deserted at the
expected Spanish soldiers after a forest search Morgan soon found a slow-burning fuse that would lead up to the fort's powder kegs evidently the Spanish were expecting Pyrus and had set this up as a trap before abandoning settlement Morgan made his way into central Maracaibo and plundered all that he could escapees were chased into the forest and tortured until they revealed more where their treasures were hidden once satisfied Morgan set Selfridge a brothel where he spent five days torturing and plundering upon leaving Gibraltar Morgan would be forced to return when two Spanish defence squadron known as
the Amada double event Oh was waiting for him at the same narrow passage in which he had he used to enter the Amada double event Oh had 126 cannons for which to destroy Morgan and his ships negotiations were made between Morgan and the commando 'they Amada Espinosa but each stipulation put forth by Espinosa would require more good to leave his plunder and slaves behind and leave empty-handed Morgan turned to his crew and asked them what they would want to do to them the choice was simple they would fight or die out ships outgunned and outmanned
Morgan needed a way in which to disrupt the Amada which awaited him and escaped with his riches the crew would end up deciding to send a fire ship to greet the Armada specifically aimed at Espinoza's flagship the Magdalene for those of you not sure what a fire ship is it's very much what it sounds like it was a common Navy tactic used against the Spanish in the 17th century where an empty vessel would be lit on fire and steered in the direction of the enemy the aim was to destroy enemy ships but it served equally
well to create panic and breakup formations additionally the crew prepared a ship and added vertical locks with wigs to make the Spanish believe it was fought with people grappling irons were laced into the ship's rigging to entangle it with the Magdalene rendering it useless during the attack the fire ship worked so well that the Magdalene caught fire as well the other ships near mada became so disorganized that more Birds men waited with the storm aboard and seize control it was said that including the plundering of the Magdalene that Morgan would salvage he and his crew
amassed two hundred and fifty thousand pesos and a large number of slaves he also acquired five hundred heads of cattle from the Meraki birds in exchange for not a second town Morgan still needed to make his way past the fort which would destroy his ships as he tried to leave a devious plan was put in place where his men faked her landing at Maracaibo causing the Spanish to abandon in the fall and rushed to prevent in English assault on the land while they were busy doing that Morgan and his crew were able to sail away
and into the night completely unscathed and with all the loot two more would commit to his third and final major raid in 1671 at old Panama City he was commissioned by modified once more and given a fleet of 30 ships Morgan and his crew made most of their way to the old city on foot through a swamp but the governor of Panama was forewarned of a potential attack and said Spanish troops to intercept Morgan Morgan and his men were able to defeat the forces and after them who were said to be considerably less experienced in
combat in one lost its attempt to stop Morgan the of Panama released Bulls into the battlefield however the gunfire and the sounds of battle scared the Bulls so much so that they turned around and trampled the Spanish soldiers to escape in the end Morgan had only lost this dozen or so men but they were between four to five hundred Spanish soldiers killed after Morgan's victory the government of Panama ordered the detonation of the city it was reported that the fires would last an entire day and only a few buildings remained of the city after the
fallout Morgan and his men spent three weeks taking what they could from the ruins it's been disputed but Morgan's taking from Panama ranges from between 100 to 400 thousand pesos Alex and ex-criminal noted that the crews efforts were not reflected in their pay and they were dissatisfied with their earnings he also states that Morgan left with most of the loot to himself Morgan's success wouldn't end here however he would be later knighted by King Charles the second in 1674 and sent out as Deputy Governor of Jamaica where he lived the wealthy life Morgan was buried
at palisade or Cemetery at Port Royal leaving behind a fortune of free plantations 129 slaves and his own personal wealth of 5000 263 pounds which would equate to her around half a million pounds nowadays On June 7 1692 an earthquake struck Port Royal and the palace at a cemetery where Morgan was buried fell into the sea Morgan's body has never been recovered so I think we can all agree that Sir Henry Morgan Shaw had an exciting career what was your favorite moment from his cunning battles on the sea maybe the human shield wall of nuns
and priests or perhaps the single fire ship that sent a fleet of 120 guns into a frenzy let me know in the comments and don't forget to Like and subscribe our next pirate was said to have buried all of his treasure but to this day it has never been found until the next time
