The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII CenturyHaring, Clarence Henry
History
The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century
Haring, Clarence Henry
Buccaneers; West Indies -- History
The buccaneers enrolled in Colonel Morgan's expedition proved to be
troublesome allies. Before their departure from Jamaica most of them
mutinied, and refused to sail until promised by Morgan that the plunder
should be equally divided.[237] On 17th July, however, the expedition
made its rendezvous at Montserrat, and on the 23rd arrived before St.
Eustatius. Two vessels had been lost sight of, a third, with the
ironical name of the "Olive Branch," had sailed for Virginia, and many
stragglers had been left behind at Montserrat, so that Morgan could
muster only 326 men for the assault. There was only one landing-place on
the island, with a narrow path accommodating but two men at a time
leading to an eminence which was crowned with a fort and 450 Dutchmen.
Morgan landed his division first, and Colonel Carey followed. The enemy,
it seems, gave them but one small volley and then retreated to the fort.
The governor sent forward three men to parley, and on receiving a
summons to surrender, delivered up the fort with eleven large guns and
considerable ammunition. "It is supposed they were drunk or mad," was
the comment made upon the rather disgraceful defence.[238] During the
action Colonel Morgan, who was an old man and very corpulent, was
overcome by the hard marching and extraordinary heat, and died. Colonel
Carey, who succeeded him in command, was anxious to proceed at once to
the capture of the Dutch forts on Saba, St. Martins and Tortola; but the
buccaneers refused to stir until the booty got at St. Eustatius was
divided--nor were the officers and men able to agree on the manner of
sharing. The plunder, besides guns and ammunition, included about 900
slaves, negro and Indian, with a large quantity of live stock and
cotton. Meanwhile a party of seventy had crossed over to the island of
Saba, only four leagues distant, and secured its surrender on the same
terms as St. Eustatius. As the men had now become very mutinous, and on
a muster numbered scarcely 250, the officers decided that they could not
reasonably proceed any further and sailed for Jamaica, leaving a small
garrison on each of the islands. Most of the Dutch, about 250 in number,
were sent to St. Martins, but a few others, with some threescore
English, Irish and Scotch, took the oath of allegiance and
remained.[239]
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