History of the Philippine IslandsMorga, Antonio de
History
History of the Philippine Islands
Morga, Antonio de
Philippines -- History
The captain and sargento-mayor, Joan Xuarez Gallinato, with the ship
"Santa Potenciana" and the men whom he had taken in it to Maluco in aid
of the Portuguese fleet which Andrea Furtado de Mendoça had brought
to assault the fortress of Terrenate, found this fleet in the port
of Talangame. As soon as this help arrived, Andrea Furtado landed
his men, Portuguese and Castilians, with six pieces of artillery,
and marched with them along the shore, toward the fort, to plant the
battery. He took two days to reach the fort, passing through some
narrow places and gullies which the enemy had fortified. When he had
reached the principal fort, he had all that he could do to plant the
artillery, for the enemy sallied out frequently against the camp and
hindered the work. Once they reached the very gate of the quarters,
and would have done a great deal of damage had not the Castilians
nearest the entrance stopped them and pressed the Moros so hard that,
leaving some dead, they turned and fled and shut themselves up in the
fort. At the same time five pieces were placed within cannon-shot
of it. The enemy, who had sufficient men for their defense, with
a great deal of artillery and ammunition, did much damage in the
camp, whereas the pieces of the battery had no considerable effect,
having but a short supply of powder and ammunition. Consequently what
Gallinato and his men had heard, when they joined the Portuguese fleet,
of the scant supply and outfit which Andrea Furtado had brought for so
great an enterprise, was seen and experienced very quickly. That they
might not all be killed, Andrea Furtado, having asked the opinion of
all the officers of his camp and fleet, withdrew his pieces and camp
to the port of Talangame. He embarked his men on his galleons and
returned to the forts and islands of Amboino and Vanda, where he had
first been, taking for the support of the fleet the supplies brought
him by Gallinato, to whom he gave permission to return to Manila,
with the Castilians. The latter did so, in company with Ruy Gonçales
de Sequeira, until recently chief captain of the fort of Tidore, who,
with his household and merchandise, left that fortress in another ship,
and they reached Manila at the beginning of the month of July of this
year six hundred and three, bearing the following letter from Andrea
Furtado de Mendoça to Governor Don Pedro de Acuña.
* * * * *
A letter which General Andrea Furtado de Mendoça wrote to Don Pedro
de Acuña from Terrenate on the twenty-fifth of March of the year one
thousand six hundred and three.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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