Four
ships, with four hundred men, were sent against this fort, which was
vigorously defended by its garrison, but was taken at length by the
expedient of firing the palisades and buildings of the fort--composed of
light wood--by means of burning arrows. The assailants suffered heavily,
losing more than half their force, while of the garrison only twenty-four
were taken, many of the others having leaped from the walls into the
river, preferring death to capture by their ferocious foes. From the
prisoners it was learned that the people of Panama were not ignorant of
Morgan's purpose, and that the threatened city was defended by more than
three thousand men.
As the remainder of the fleet drew near, the freebooters, seeing the
English flag flying on the fort, manifested their joy by the depths of
their potations, getting so drunk, in fact, that they managed to run four
of the ships on the rocks at the mouth of the Chagres, among them the
admiral's ship. The crews and cargoes were saved, but the vessels were
total wrecks, much to Morgan's chagrin.
At length, on the 18th of January, 1671, the march on Panama actually
began, with a force of thirteen hundred picked men, five hundred being
left to garrison the fort and one hundred and fifty to seize some Spanish
vessels that were in the river.
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