DEFENDING THE SPANISH LAKE, SPANISH FORTS IN THE CARIBBEAN Mar 08 '05    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet The Bottom Line It's nice to have a little background on the places one visits I always find. The Caribbean often called the "The Golden Sea." Now luxurious cruise ships ply its calm waters and visit its exotic ports, which beckon, to the passengers with promises of new and exciting adventures. This was not always the case however. There once was a time when the seas carried merchant ships laden with treasures and fast heavily armed warships often in pursuit of them. Massive fortifications and heavy cannon defended the ports, and uninvited strangers were not as welcome to partake of the pleasures of the town, as is the case now. From the first voyages of exploration at the end of the fifteenth century, through to the final break up of the European empires at the end of the nineteenth, the Caribbean was a much different place. Here the major European powers established colonies both for political and strategic reasons and more often to exploit the treasures and natural resources of the region. As is often the case the squabbles, wars and alliances of Europe carried over to this peaceful sea and its surrounding lands. In addition there was the constant threat of those who were more interested in personal profit than far off politics, the Pirates and Buccaneers. The newfound territories and their resources had to be defended and the Spanish constructed the most elaborate defences during their reign. The Spanish were the first of the European powers in the region and therefore had the opportunity to secure the most territory. They boasted that the Caribbean was a "Spanish lake" and they were correct as their possessions ringed the sea. To the west lay Mexico and Central America, south the territories of South America Venezuela and New Granada (Colombia), and to the north the islands of the Greater Antilles Cuba, Hispaniola (Dominican Republic & Haiti), Jamaica and Puerto Rico. These and a few minor islands and territories constituted most of the available land, and the later arriving British, Dutch and French would have to content themselves with and the smaller islands of the Lesser Antilles, or capture Spanish territory, as the British did with Jamaica and Trinidad. To the Spanish being first in the region, meant first to exploit the natural treasures. What treasure there was to exploit: gold silver, emeralds and other precious stones and exotic hard woods from Mexico, Central America and Peru. There were other less glamorous but still valuable resources, sugar, spices, tobacco, and even salt from the north coast of Venezuela. Each year a massive treasure fleet would gather and sail to Spain taking the treasures of the new world back to the old. Such a treasure was a tempting prize for anyone daring enough to try and seize it, and there were many willing to try. The threat during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries was mainly from Buccaneers, Pirates and Privateers from rival nations, the French, Dutch and most of all the English. The former were single ships or at best small fleets motivated solely by profit. These Pirates would raid and attack small garrisons and individual ships only. The Privateers were more of a threat. They held "Letters of Marque" or a license from their government to prey on enemy shipping for a share of the profit. The most famous were the Englishmen Sir Francis Drake in the 1500's and Harry Morgan in the 1600's. Despite her early explorations, Spain was not a major naval power. To defend her colonies and their resources, she instead relied on a series of fortifications, large and small throughout the area. Some would be tiny isolated forts on islands or stretches of coastline. They were built to protect fishing villages, salt flats and/or to defend against native attacks. The original inhabitants for some reason often resented being placed under Spanish rule. They also served as a strategic early warning system, to give advance notice of impending danger to the major garrisons and colonies by dispatching small fast ships and then trying to delay an enemy fleet. Castles and forts that rivalled the largest in Europe, with hundreds of cannons and garrisons numbering in the thousands, defended the larger islands and territories. These were often sited to cover major straits and harbours. To capture an entire territory one may only have to capture a single fortress, but that would be a difficult task. The Spanish may not have been shipbuilders but they were fortress designers. There was also an ample if unwilling supply of labour from the native population and imported African slaves. Several of the larger fortifications were continual works in progress with additions, improvements and upgrades added over the years and even centuries. To the east the forts of San Felipe Del Morro defended the island of Puerto Rico and San Cristobol that guarded the entrance to the harbour of the capital of San Juan. Further west on the island of Hispaniola, the oldest city in the Americas, Santo Domingo was defended by a series of forts that again covered the harbour approaches. The largest island, Cuba had fortifications at both major cities. Santiago de Cuba, in the south, had Morro Castle on an imposing hill overlooking the entrance to the bay. Havana on the north coast was defended by another Morro Castle, Castillo de Los Treyes Reyes del Morro, which along with the smaller Castillo de la Punta covered both sides of the entrance to the most important port in the region. There were also smaller forts and garrisons scattered along the coasts of all threes islands To the west there were more forts and fortified harbours stretching from Vera Cruz in Mexico, south to Panama. The north coast of South America, The so-called "Spanish Main," was also defended by a series of small forts from Margarita Island and Trinidad in the east, to the juncture of South and Central America in the southwest comer of the Caribbean. Here lay the most important and most impressive fortifications at Cartagena, the key to the Spanish power in the region. It was in these fortress cities that the treasure would be gathered and stored awaiting the sailing of the annual fleet to Spain. From Cartagena the gold and emeralds from Peru and New Granada would be loaded aboard a fleet of ships and it would sail north to Havana. Here it would meet a second fleet sailing east from Vera Cruz carrying silver from Mexican mines and other treasures from Central America. Smaller ships and fleets from other far-flung ports would also gather. When all was ready, the fleet would sail eastward for Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and on into the Atlantic Ocean and Spain. Despite the immense wealth in these fleets they were not easy prey. First the Ocean is a big place and it may be possible to elude an enemy. Even if found the ships were escorted and all armed with cannons of their own and more than willing to defend their cargo. Then even if they were able to capture a treasure ship undamaged, the transfer of its cargo or crewing it with a prize crew and sailing it away was difficult and dangerous tasks. This is not to say that this was not done, but for many Buccaneers and Privateers it would be a far easier task to seize the cargo before it was loaded. The warehouses and docks of Cartagena, Vera Cruz, Panama, Havana and other ports were the targets of choice. But they were well-defended targets. A straight battle between a fortress and a ship or fleet of ships is rather one sided. The ship has the advantage of surprise in that it decides when it shows and attacks. It is also harder to hit a moving ship with cannons than a large structure of stone and earth. These however are the only advantages the ships had. Any large fortress can mount more and heavier calibre cannons than a ship, which could bring more fire to bear on its target and often at a longer range. It might even be possible to engage and sink or drive away an invading fleet before it was able to bring its own guns into range. It was also possible to heat the cannon balls used by the fort. One can imagine the effect of red-hot iron cannon shot would have on wooden ships and cloth sails. This of course leads to the next and most obvious advantage, ships can sink, forts can't. Even if the attacking ships chose to not attack but rather lay siege to the fortress, the amount of fresh water and food that one can carry is much less than that stored within the fortresses walls. This was particularly true if the garrison had received warning of the approaching fleet and stocked up. Unless an attacking fleet was able to secure a local source of food and water, it would only be a matter of time before it had to give up and depart. This is not to say that the fortresses were impenetrable. Raids against them could succeed if one had cunning, bravery and most of all luck. In 1568 Drake and Hawkins with a fleet of seven ships attacked the treasure port of Vera Cruz and were driven off with heavy losses. Over the next several years Drake raided throughout the region. If the Caribbean was a Spanish Lake, then "El Braque" was its scourge. In 1572 he sacked Nombre de Dios in Nicaragua and in 1586 Santo Domingo. But he was not always successful in 1573 he failed to capture Panama and was repulsed at Cartagena in 1568 and 1572. Finally in 1586 Drake succeeded in capturing Cartagena only to discover that its treasure had been hidden in the surrounding jungle. Furious he threatened to burn the town unless a ransom of one hundred thousand ducats was paid. The ransom note is still on display today in the city. Humiliated at this defeat of their most important fortress, the Spanish embarked on massive improvements to Cartagena's defences. New walls thirty feet thick surrounded the town. New forts were built covering all entrances to the bay and harbour. The final point was the massive Castillo San Felipe de Barajas that dominated the region and was the largest fortress ever built in South America. Construction continued throughout the century and completed just in time, as it would turn out. What Drake did in the sixteenth century, Morgan repeated in the seventeenth. He made a series of bloody and vicious raids from his stronghold of Port Royal in Jamaica. In 1698 he raided and sacked Porto Bella and ransomed Panama. In 1699 he attacked Mariccaibo in Venezuela, and in 1670 he again sacked Panama. Morgan was not always successful though. He declined to challenge the Spanish defences at Havana, and the new forts at Cartagena The eighteenth century saw the threat to the Spanish change from individuals to nations. As Spanish power waned, that of England rose. The large fleets of warships of the Royal Navy replaced the Buccaneers and Privateers, but the objective remained the same. In 1742 Admiral Vernon arrived off Cartagena with a fleet of 180 ships and more than 28,000 sailors and soldiers. Opposing him in the new fortifications were less than 2,000 Spanish defenders. So sure of their victory were the British that they had minted a special medal commemorating the surrender of the fortress. The British had not counted on the stubborn brilliance of the Spanish commander Don Blaz de Lezo who had fought battles for 28 years and had already lost a leg an arm and one eye in the service of his King. This half man and the massive defences would win for Spain one of its greatest victories in the new world. The battle lasted sixteen days. Unable to breach the massive defences and unable to outflank them due to the swamps that surrounded the city the British were finally forced to admit defeat and sail off. Their casualties numbered 18,000, half from and disease, and the rest from Spanish guns. The medals remained in the holds of the departing ships, unused. Sadly Don Blaz, suffered further wounds and died at the moment of his triumph. In 1760 another British fleet arrived off Havana. Declining to challenge the cannons that guarded the city and harbour, they sailed east and landed near the present day town of Cojimar. They then manhandled their heavy cannons west through the jungle to the massive heights on the east side of Havana Bay. From here they commanded the city, the harbour and the garrison. The Spanish were forced to surrender not only Havana, but also all of Cuba. Britain returned Cuba to Spanish control in 1761 in exchange for territory in Florida. Humiliated at the loss of a major territory the Spanish commenced construction of what would be the largest fortress in the Caribbean on these heights. Castillo San Carlos de la Cabana was completed in 1774 at a cost of 14 million pesos. This fortress would remain in use as a garrison and prison throughout the nineteenth century into the twentieth. An enemy fleet or army would never again take Havana, but it was too late. By the nineteenth century Spanish control of the region had all but ended. Spain lost its over colonies to independence movements throughout Latin America, and /or other major powers. By 1898 only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained and they both were lost after the Spanish American War to the new dominant power in the region, The United States. The Spanish Lake was no more. Nowadays many of the Spanish forts still remain. Some have been carefully preserved and restored such as at Santiago, San Juan, Havana and Cartagena, reminders of past glory. They draw thousands of curious visitors each year. Others, often the smaller isolated forts remain neglected and "lost," still guarding their stretch of coastline. As you sail toward one of these exotic ports take a moment to look at it from the rail. Imagine for a moment that you are not on a cruise ship, but a wooden ship of war and the fort ahead is still manned. The thoughts that one must have had at that time, trepidation and fear at the awaiting guns, and anticipation of the waiting treasure if one was both successful and lucky. Later as you stroll around the port, take a moment and explore the ancient battlements. It does not require much imagination to picture yourself as a sentry on the ramparts, protecting the "Spanish Lake." Always alert and watching for sails on the distant horizon. NOTE:I originally wrote this piece several years ago for Onboard Media for publication in Wave Magazine distributed on several cruise ships as sort on an "in flight magazine." That explains the rather cruise theme to it.

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