The Plunder of Cartagena de Indias: Conquest, Piracy, and Independence

In terms of its historical significance, Cartagena de Indias was one of the most important of Spain’s Latin American colonial cities, playing a pivotal role in the expansion of their empire. It is situated on Colombia’s north coast, next to the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. This was an ideal location for the Spanish to construct a stronghold, with natural harbors protecting their fleet of ships from both storms and piracy. Cartagena de Indias quickly became an important strategic nexus point along their trade network, providing their conquistadors with a foothold on the mainland as they probed deeper into the continent.

Sections

• The Conquest of New Granada
• Dawn of the Age of Piracy
• The Battle of Cartagena
• The Independence of Gran Colombia
• Sources

The Conquest of New Granada

To understand the historic role played by Cartagena de Indias, it’s helpful to first have some context on the wider region and Cartagena’s position within Spain's South American colonies. The riches held by this region’s native people were the initial impetus for the European conquest. Prior to the European arrival, the Colombian north coast had been occupied by various indigenous groups, including the Mokaná, Malibu, Zenú, and the Tyrona, while the area around Cartagena was primarily occupied by the Kalamari. The initial Spanish exploration of South America began with the conquistador Alonso de Ojeda’s arrival in Venezuela in 1499. Vasco Núñez de Balboa then became the first European to cross the Panama Isthmus to the Pacific.

Cartagena de Indias was founded by Pedro de Heredia in 1533, named after the port city in Spain bearing the same name. Heredia led multiple expeditions from here from 1532-1538, conquering the region's indigenous villages. The looting of Zenú grave sites proved to be particularly lucrative, as they commonly contained various gold artifacts (Simón, 1627). Heredia’s treatment of the natives was particularly harsh, even by the standards of the conquistadors, using torture and mutilation to elicit information. In 1552, for these abuses and for embezzling his royal funds, he was brough up on charges by the Spanish court and relieved of his position.

While Heredia’s campaigns were underway within Tierra Firma, the Spanish Empire was sanctioning a similar expansion of the Kingdom of Peru. This began with Pizarro’s 1532 kidnapping of Atahualpa, the Inca king, who was ransomed for an entire room full of gold. That was followed by their capture of Cusco, the heart of the Inca Empire. Following the conquest of the Inca, they pushed further south, into Bolivia. There they discovered a vast natural deposit of silver within the Cerro Rico mountain of Potosí (Chasteen, 1901). The wealth extracted from here immensely increased the strength of the Spanish monarchy.

The sacking of the Inca Empire was soon followed Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada’s 1536-1538 expedition up the Magdalena River Valley and the conquest of the Muisca. This populous mountainous region was abundant in emeralds and gold. The riches that the Spaniards encountered here became the inspiration for their legend of El Dorado. They dubbed this land of the Muisca as New Granada, a name they would soon use for the wider region comprising what is now Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Northern Ecuador. In 1550, Sante Fe de Bogotá would go on to become the administrative capital of the Kingdom of New Granada, whereas Quesada would later go on serve as governor of Cartagena (1556-1557).

The growing war chest from its American colonies ultimately allowed the Spanish Empire to conquer much of Europe. But those riches first needed to be shipped back to Spain. Gold and silver was moved up the Pacific Coast via Spanish galleons, across the isthmus of Panama via mule trains, and along the Caribbean coast by sea from Portobello to Cartagena. This trade network through these New Granada port cities had become vital for the survival of their burgeoning empire.

Dawn of the Age of Piracy

As the wealth and importance of Cartagena de Indias grew, Spanish ships sailing from there became a target for piracy. In the eyes of their enemies, the English and French, these pirates were regarded as privateers. Their ships sailed independently, but with the express permission and financial backing of their government. The English were the strongest rival naval superpower, and had gone to war with Spain following the Protestant Reformation’s split from the Catholic Church. They saw their attacks on Spanish ships as a way to drain their enemy’s resources. The ensuing naval battles developed into an arms race, with ships becoming increasingly large, and equipped with multiple rows of cannons.

Eventually Cartagena itself became a target of the English and French pirates. Despite Cartagena’s growing defenses, it was attacked dozens of times over the centuries. On two occasions the entire city itself was captured. The first of these was by the English privateer Sir Francis Drake. By that time, he had already become the most notorious pirate of the era. Drake began his naval career in a daring 1572 raid on a Spanish mule train crossing the Panama Isthmus near the Chagres River (Drake & Jenner, 1901). Fluent in Castilian, he then spent forty days in Panama under the alias Don Diego, collecting intelligence about Spanish positions and movements for his future attacks.

Upon his return to England, he was praised by Queen Elizabeth I for the riches that he brought her. She provided him with more ships and men for his subsequent voyages. In 1578, Drake went on to become the second captain to round the southern Strait of Magellan, before raiding Spanish positions along the Pacific Coast. His growing fleet then captured the city of Santo Domingo, Hispaniola, in 1586. It was the richest city of Spain’s colonies, with the homes of nobility brimming with precious metals, gemstones, and pearls.

While still occupying Santa Domingo, Spanish locals overheard Drake boasting about his next move, an attack upon Cartagena de Indias. The news of the pending attack made its way to the governor of Cartagena, Don Pedro Fernandez de Busto, giving him time to prepare. He assembled a force of 450 soldiers and 500 native archers. In this period, the city was still lacking in fortifications. The natives protected the beaches by covering paths with thorns that had been dipped in their curare poison, potent enough to cause death within hours (Drake & Jenner, 1901).

Drake’s Cartagena assault also began in 1586, arriving with 23-25 ships and 1500 men. Prior to the attack, they managed to capture two local fishermen, who tipped them off about the poisoned thorns and other defenses. This proved pivotal, as they instead snuck ashore through the bay at night to bypass the threat. Caught off-guard, the native archers quickly fled without a fight (perhaps also feeling little obligation to die for some foreign queen in a distant land). Busto’s remaining men were quickly routed.

Chaos ensued, with the pirates looting valuables from churches and homes. Since Drake, a Protestant, despised the Catholic faith, he ordered his men to destroy the main cathedral. He then held the city ransom for 100,000 ducats (gold coins), threatening to raze the entire city to the ground if it wasn't paid (Drake & Jenner, 1901). The event ultimately pushed tensions between these competing empires to a breaking point, leading to the Spanish Armada’s attempted invasion of England in 1588. The assault failed miserably, with only half of the Spanish fleet returning home.

Following Drake's attack, the Spanish further strengthened Cartagena’s defenses. They began to build a succession of fortresses and walls lined with cannons, many of which are still standing today. The largest of these fortresses is San Felipe de Barajas Castle (San Felipe del Boquerón). A smaller original fortress was initially constructed in 1566, but was expanded in two phases over the next two centuries to encompass the entire hill. Underneath was a series of tunnels, providing cover during naval bombardments. Other smaller forts were also erected around the bay. In 1646, construction began on Fuerte de San Fernando de Bocachica on Isla de Tierra Bomba, to better guard the main harbor entrance.

Despite the increased fortifications, Cartagena’s defenses still weren’t strong enough to withstand a large attack by the French a century later. In 1697, during the reign of King Louis XIV, a joint assault was launched on the city by the French navy and private buccaneers, led by Baron de Pointis and Jean-Bernard Desjean. Driven by similar motivations as the English, their aim was to choke off Spain’s wealth and weaken their position within the Caribbean. They bombarded the city for days via 22 ships, before launching a ground assault with 4000 men. The plundered city was left in ruins.

The Battle of Cartagena

With the growing strategic importance of the Kingdom of New Granada, in 1717 it was elevated to the Vice Royalty of New Granada, breaking away from the Vice Royalty of Peru. This allowed it to better independently govern and defend itself, without having to defer to oversight from distant Lima (Nowell, 1962).

By this time, Cartagena de Indias had become one of the largest ports for the slave trade in the Caribbean. It is estimated that over a million slaves were bought and sold here before the slave trade ended in 1851. Shortly after the Spanish conquest, South American indigenous people had been legally recognized as the subjects of the queen, so they could not be traded as slaves. However, since West Africa was controlled by the Portuguese, those slaves captured and imported from there weren’t seen as citizens of the Spanish Empire, and therefore weren’t subject to that same prohibition. This contributed to Cartagena’s Afro-Caribbean culture. The ongoing construction of Cartagena’s fortresses was largely carried out through this forced labor.

Meanwhile, tensions between England and Spain were once again escalating over trade and territorial disputes in the Americas. During one pivotal incident in 1731, Spanish coastguards boarded a British merchant ship and allegedly severed the ear of its captain, Robert Jenkins, as a warning against smuggling. Some historians question the accuracy of this event, instead believing that it was another officer who had his ear severed, or doubting if it occurred at all (Nowell, 1962). But nonetheless, whether or not it was factually true, it became an effective propaganda story for the British to rally support for a direct military assault on the Spanish. It would become known as the War of Jenkins' Ear (1739-1748).

The 1741 Battle of Cartagena de Indias was the most significant campaign of this war. At the 1739 conference at the English Admiralty, Edward Vernon, a captain naval commander, made the case for attacking the port city: “if Portobello and Cartagena are taken, then all will be lost to them.” Swayed by his argument, the Navy gave him command of the attacking fleet. It was a massive armada of over 180 ships and nearly 30,000 men, including British regulars, American colonial troops, and Jamaican slaves.

The defense of Cartagena was being led by Blas de Lezo. He was a brilliant naval strategist who had already lost an arm, a leg, and an eye in previous battles. But he commanded a significantly smaller force, consisting of approximately only six ships, 3,000 soldiers, and local militia. With that overwhelming numerical disadvantage, the odds seemed strongly stacked in the English’s favor. The Spanish, however, knew the terrain and how to best take advantage of it. Lezo focused on strengthening Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, the hilltop fortress that provided a critical vantage point over the city. Blas de Lezo reinforced its walls, constructed trenches, and placed his limited artillery to maximize their effectiveness. He also wisely dug ditches below the fortress’s walls, so that the English’s ladders wouldn’t be able to breach them.

Vernon’s options for an assault were limited. By this time, a fortified marine wall stretched nearly 11 kilometers (7 miles) along the coast, whereas a large swampland to the north made approaching from that direction infeasible. Vernon’s best option was to first try to take the harbor and the multiple forts that defended it. However, a cable and log boom was strung across the harbor entrances, blocking entry to enemy ships. After two weeks of sustained bombardments and repeated assaults on forts, Vernon finally managed to take control of the harbor. Lezo gave orders to scuttle his remaining ships to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.

Vernon was temporarily jubilant at taking the harbor, assuming that their larger success was already in sight. But a more significant battle lay ahead in trying to take the main fortress of Castillo San Felipe de Barajas, which was still out of reach of their ships’ cannons. Meanwhile, tropical illnesses, including yellow fever and malaria, were rapidly spreading through the English forces. Sickness would ultimately claim thousands of lives and render many soldiers unfit for battle.

The British assault was plagued by indecision and poor coordination among its commanders. After Admiral Vernon initially succeeded in capturing the harbor, he was dependent upon General Thomas Wentworth to lead the army’s ground assault. However, rather than pressing the attack immediately, Wentworth delayed, allowing de Lezo and his forces to regroup and strengthen the inner defenses. A month had now passed. Wentworth’s hesitation further eroded the British momentum, providing time for disease to further spread among their troops.

While Wentworth would have preferred to construct a cannon battery to bombard the fortress, he was pressured by Vernon into charging it with 1,500 men. Their soldiers made a two-pronged attack, reaching the fort at daybreak, only to be mowed down by Spanish muskets. The commander of the northern assault was killed in the flurry of bullets, adding to the confusion. The American troops who carried the ladders had already fled. Compounding their problems, most of their grenadiers’ defective ammunition failed to explode in the humid climate. For the English, it was an uncoordinated disaster. Nearly half of that attacking force was dead or wounded. With their remaining force too ill to continue, the campaign was halted.

The largest attempt ever made upon Cartagena had ended in an embarrassing defeat for the English. If they had succeeded, taking control of this strategic chokepoint, it would have changed the course of history. The Spanish hold on South America would have been severed, preventing their ability to support the Vice Royalty of Peru without making the much longer journey down through the dangerous Strait of Magellan to the south. Instead, the failed assault on Cartagena solidified Spanish dominance in the Caribbean for decades and elevated Blas de Lezo to legendary status in Spanish military history.

The Independence of Gran Colombia

In the early 1800s, Cartagena de Indias again played a central role in the continent's history, this time with the Latin American Revolution. After centuries of dominance on both sides of the Atlantic, the Spanish Empire was now beginning to wane, unable to maintain its global reach. Their treasury was drained and indebted from centuries of war, a massive influx of New World silver and gold had triggered severe inflation within Spain, increasing dependence upon imports, and the Potosí mine was beginning to run dry.

The city became a safe haven for revolutionaries, most notably Simón Bolívar. He had previously been a military officer, and was a fierce advocate for breaking away from the Spanish monarchy. On November 11th, 1811, the local leaders of Cartagena joined together to declare their independence from Spain, establishing their own government and military force. A year later, Bolívar wrote his Cartagena Manifesto, which advocated for unifying the competing local factions under a coordinated government. Only together would they have the strength to outnumber and overpower the Spanish forces.

In 1815, Spain responded with a siege upon the city to quell the uprising. They cut off supplies leading into the city while showering it with cannon fire over the course of months. Faced with severe starvation and disease, the local population was forced to surrender.

By 1819, the rebel forces under Bolívar had regrouped, leading a series of assaults on the Spanish positions, claiming them under their Republic of Gran Colombia. Cartagena was ultimately liberated in 1821. Bolívar went on to lead similar revolts in South America, becoming known as "El Libertador" throughout the continent. He then spent his final years at his hacienda, Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino, in Santa Marta, to the northeast of Cartagena. In 1930, in honor of the 100th anniversary of his death, a large altar was constructed on the grounds to commemorate Simon Bolívar’s contribution to the South American revolution.