A great number of Spaniards, finding themselves deprived of all resource,
precipitated themselves from the top of the walls into the river, that
they might not fall alive into the hands of the freebooters, who made only
twenty-four prisoners, and ten of these were wounded men, who had concealed
themselves among the dead, in the hope of escaping their ferocious
conquerors. These twenty-four men were all that remained of three hundred
forty who had composed the garrison, which had shortly before been
reenforced, for the President of Panama, having been apprised from
Carthagena of the real object of the pirates' expedition, came to encamp,
with thirty-six hundred men, in the vicinity of the threatened city. This
information was confirmed to the freebooters after the capture of the fort.
At the same time they learned that among this body of troops there were
four hundred horsemen, six hundred Indians, and two hundred mulat-toes; the
last of whom, being very expert in hunting bulls, were intended, in case of
necessity, to send two thousand of those animals among the freebooters.
It is scarcely credible that Brodely continued to command, notwithstanding
the severity of his wounds; but he would not, by retiring, compromise the
advantages which he had so dearly purchased; for out of four hundred men
who had composed his little army, one hundred sixty had been killed, eighty
wounded; and of these eighty, sixty were altogether out of the battle.
The bodies of the French and English were interred; but those of the
Spaniards were thrown down from the top of the fort and remained in a heap
at the foot of its walls. Brodely found much ammunition and abundance of
provisions, with which he was the more satisfied, as he knew that the grand
fleet was greatly in want of both those articles. He caused the fort to be
rebuilt, as far as was practicable, in order that he might defend himself
there in case the Spaniards should make a speedy attempt to retake it. In
this situation he waited for Morgan, who in a short time appeared with his
fleet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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