Soldier. Pirate. Vice Admiral. Condemned to death. Knighted. Henry Morgan certainly lived a varied life!

In 1655 England took the island of Jamaica from the Spanish. Having a very limited fighting force remaining, the English enlisted just about anyone they could find to help in the defence of their new colony. This included all sorts of undesirable characters, thieves, and morally corrupt people. From this melting pot emerged one Henry Morgan.

Gran Granada

Henry Morgan made his name with a daring attack on Gran Granada, a huge silver mining centre within Nicaragua. He made his way through 125 miles of dense and unexplored jungle before launching a surprise attack which left him and his men with a huge amount of booty.

When Henry Morgan returned to Jamaica he found that the English had appointed a new commander for all their troops in the area - Edward Morgan, Henry’s uncle. This family tie ensured that his pirate activities could continue unchecked. Later, when Edward died, Henry succeeded him and became leader of the militia at Port Royal.

Vice Admiral

In 1668 Morgan had been promoted to the position of vice admiral with a fleet of 15 ships. He had also succeeded Edward Mansfield as leader of all piracy acts in the region too. This unique combination of roles gave Henry Morgan the ability to terrorise the Spanish wherever they could be found.

Later that year Morgan instigated two large attacks. The first, against the inland town of Peurto Principe, resulted in a bloodbath when his men were ambushed en route. They eventually took the city only to find that the bulk of the expected treasure had been hidden. As a result they garnered only 50 000 pieces of eight for their troubles and losses. This cause a large proportion of his remaining men to leave.

The second major offensive, however, was far more effective. Using stealth and cunning, Morgan and his men approached Porto Bello by sea, using the cover of darkness and small canoes to avoid detection. With the element of surprise the pirates quickly seized control of two of the three forts. The last fell when Morgan climbed the walls using clergy as personal shields. This successful venture netted Morgan and his men a quarter of a million pieces of eight and a few hundred slaves.

Attack on Panama

In 1670 Morgan embarked on an attack of epic proportions. With 2000 men he took the decision to plunder the gold of Panama. After traversing thick and unforgiving jungle for 16 days they came upon the Spanish who were waiting for them. After heavy casualties to both sides Morgan finally prevailed and took the city. This time the booty was plentiful - some hundred thousand English pounds.

The problem, though, was that England had ceased her war with Spain by this time. Morgan was hauled back to England to stand trial as a pirate and face almost certain execution. Upon hearing of his previous deeds, however, King Charles II knighted Morgan and made him the lieutenant governor of Jamaica. Additionally, he charged him with eradicating his own kind - the pirates.

Morgan was exceptionally good at this task - by the time of his death in 1688 he had ensured that he was one of the last pirates in the region.

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