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Portobelo
Forts
San Lorenzo Fort
Portobelo
It was but an outpost in the jungle after all. No man alone dared travel
the royal road from the city's gate after nightfall. In the streets,
snakes, toads and iguana were frequently seen. The native wildcat prowled
in the suburbs and, besides carrying off fowls and pigs, sometimes attacked
human beings. But Portobelo was a market town as well as a fortress.
It came to life at least once a year during the trading fairs which
lasted from 40 to 60 days.
The flood of gold that poured through the trails across the Isthmus,
after Pizarro began his plunder of Peru, was traded for goods from Spain
and Europe. The fair began when the fleet of merchant ships and galleons
arrived in port from Cartagena and Spain loaded with goods to be traded
for gold and silver. The goods were shipped to South America and even
to the Philippines. The town took on an air of bustle and excitement
at the time of the fair. The houses were crowded with people, the square
and the streets crammed with goods, the Customs House with chests of
gold and silver, and the port filled with vessels.
Portobelo became the emporium of the riches of the two worlds and the
most important commercial depot of that period. In the square facing
the Customs House, merchants erected cane booths and tents made of sails
from the ships while all available space was filled with goods. With
the fleet of merchant and warships came nearly 6,000 soldiers, merchants
with their clerks and porters, buyers of all nationalities, and of course,
the sightseers. So crowded was the little town that it appeared to be
in the possession of a mob.
The Customs House, built in 1630 during the administration of Álvaro
de Quiñones, served until the end of the Spanish colonial period in
1821. The Council of the Indies had ordered the Customs House to be
built in the most convenient spot with one entrance and one exit only
to help prevent fraud. A royal tax collector was on hand to collect
the royal fees. Because of the wealth stored at Portobelo and its use
as a trading center, its fame spread over the Spanish Main. Although
Portobelo was substantially built and protected by four strong fortresses
and sever minor batteries, the town was repeatedly taken by the British
and other marauders.
The first to attack was the English pirate William Parker in 1602, and
the last was Adm. Edward Vernon of the British Navy, who captured the
town in 1739. He caused the most damage when he blew up and dismantled
the fortress.
The most savage of all the scores of raids was made by Sir Henry Morgan,
who according to Esquemeling, the Dutch historian, attacked for the
first time in 1668 and killed or wounded a majority of the inhabitants.
At that time the garrison consisted of 300 soldiers and the town was
inhabited by 400 families.
The main forts are La Fortaleza de Santiago and San Felipe, both dating
from 1600; Fort San Geronimo, which is located within the present town;
and the famous Fort San Fernando.
Fort San Fernando was built in about 1753, across the beautiful bay.
This fort has a 17-cannon line that somehow has escaped most of the
ravages of time. High above San Fernando, a second platform of cannons
points toward the sea and atop an even higher crest stands Casa Fuerte,
Portobelo's prime lookout and vantagepoint, which gives a superb view
of the complex of forts below.
San Felipe, once known as Todo Fierro or the iron fort, was built in
1600 at the entrance to the bay and was partially destroyed by raiders.
At the time the Panama Canal was being built, the site was turned into
a quarry, and it was said that what the English pirates started to do,
the Americans completed.
The fort of Santiago de la Gloria was built in 1604 within the town
limits while Santiago was built on the coast road leading to the town.
The Fort known as Farnese or Farnesio is on the south side of the harbor
and not too far from the island where history says Drake is buried.
The parish church of San Felipe, which was still unfinished when it
was dedicated in 1814, is one of the oldest buildings in the town still
in use. It replaced a smaller church of the same name, the ruins of
which still remain. The most interesting thing about San Felipe church
is that it houses the image of the Nazarene of Portobelo, a handsome
effigy of Jesus bearing the cross, hewn from wood of southern Spain
more than 300 years ago. Called the "Black Christ," it has become one
of the most revered images throughout Panama and the focal point of
an annual church festival which draws thousands of visitors each October.
Legend has it that the image of Christ came to Portobelo aboard a sailing
ship bound for Cartagena, Colombia. When the galleon sailed from Portobelo,
a fierce storm sank it. The boxed image floated free and was washed
up on a nearby beach. There it was found by the townspeople and taken
back to Portobelo. The annual celebration of the "Feast of the Black
Christ" began in 1821 when a cholera epidemic ravaged the Isthmus. The
Portobelo residents made a vow to celebrate a feast day of the Black
Christ each October 21 if the town were spared. The epidemic bypassed
the town. The present day town of Portobelo has only slightly more than
500 citizens and they have developed a personality of their own. They
are descendants of the Spanish and Indians and the Spanish and African
slaves, with a third group made up of people of distinct African ancestry.
Members of this group "carry in their blood centuries of tradition,"
Among these traditions are primitive dances with a definite African
flavor, called "congos," which they perform wearing costumes fashioned
from the bark of the palm tree and decorated with multicolored feathers.
From the Panama Canal Review, Fall 1971
for more delightful stories about Panama's past, visit: http://www.czbrats.com/MiNombre/PanamaViejo/SanLorenzo.htm
Fort
San Lorenzo
Fort San Lorenzo is one of the old forts constructed during the reign
of Philip II of Spain who ruled from 1566 to 1598. Immediately following
the period of exploration of the early 1500s, Spain began building for
the defense of her riches discovered in the new country. So rapidly
had the traffic in gold, pearls, and slaves developed that Philip II
decided upon the establishment of forts for the protection of this traffic.
Already the importance of the river Chagres had become fairly established
as a highway of transportation of this wealth of gold from Old Panama.
The defense of the Chagres was therefore of very great importance. The
historian Anderson in his volume Old Panama says, "San Lorenzo was erected
by the engineer Juan Antonelli by order of Philip II of Spain," This
places the erection of San Lorenzo approximately 1575, although the
exact date of completion was not given. In the map published by the
historian Jeffers, in his history on the West Indies published in 1762,
entitled The Mouth of the Chagres River and Castillo de San Lorenzo
is shown a plan of the construction. Esquemelin, the historian for the
buccaneers thus describes this castle: "This castle was built upon a
high mountain, at the entry of the river, and surrounded on all sides
with strong palisades or wooden walls;being very well terrepleined,
and filled with earth; which renders them as secure as the best walls
made of stone or brick. The top of this mountain is in a manner divided
into two parts, between which lies a ditch of the depth of thirty foot.
The castle itself has but one entry, and that by a drawbridge which
passes over the ditch aforementioned. On the land side it has four bastions,
that of the sea containing only two more. That part thereof which looks
toward the South is totally inaccessible and impossible to be climbed,
through the infinito asperity of the mountain. The North side is surrounded
by the river, which hereabouts runs very broad. At the foot of the said
castle, or rather, mountain, is seated a strong fort, with eight great
guns, which commands impedes the entry of the river. Not much lower
are to be seen two other batteries, whereof each hath six pieces of
cannon, to defend likewise the mouth of the said river. at one side
of the castle are built two great store-houses, in which are deposited
all sorts of warlike ammunition and merchandise, which are brought thither
from the inner parts of the country. Near these houses is a high pair
of stairs, hewed out of the rock, which serves to mount to the top of
the castle. On the West side of the said fortress lies a small port,
which is not above seven or eight fathoms deep, being very fit for small
vessels and of very good anchorage. Besides this, there lies before
the castle, the entry of the river, a great rock, scarce to be perceived
above water, unless at low tide." For nearly a century Fort San Lorenzo
held a position of strategic importance regarding one of Spain's richest
highways of commerce and established as one of the main trans-shipping
points between the old and the new world. Second only to Porto Bello
it became the objective of pirates and buccaneers and it was only logical
that it should become the goal of Sir Henry Morgan in his plans for
the conquest of Panama. THE FALL OF FORT SAN LORENZO On December 15,
1670, Henry Morgan sailed with his fleet from Jamaica on his campaign
of the Isthmus. His first attack was on Old Providence which fell easily
into his hands. After a period of plundering in the vicinity of Old
Providence, Morgan decided on his next step, that of forcing his entrance
into the Isthmus through the mouth of the Chagres River. He therefore
sent Josph Bradley wth a portion of his fleet to the mouth of the Chagres,
where on Sunday, "The Feast of the Epiphany," January 6, 1671, he began
his attack on San Lorenzo. A bitter resistance was offered for three
days, when the palm thatched roof of a building within the wall caught
fire and an explosion of gun powder followed. The wooden palisades in
front of the clay embankments burned. A breech was made and the place
taken by pike and cutlass. The garrison at San Lorenzo had numbered
350, of whom only 30 stood on their feet at the finish, and not a single
officer survived. The warden, Don Pedro de Lisaldo y Ursua, a Castilian,
perished sword in hand, asking no quarter. Bradley's losses were correspondingly
heavy. Slightly more than 100 were killed and 70 wounded. One very picturesque
incident was given by Esquemelin, a historian of that period. "One of
the corsairs received an arrow in the back. He plucked it out and wrapped
a little cotton around it, thrust it down the barrel of his musket and
shot it back to the castle. The cotton had been ignited and it was this
strange missile which set fire to the palm thatched roof." However,
other historians state that the conflagration was started by fire balls,
the primitive hand grenades of the period. In any event, the mouth of
the Chagres had been opened up and made possible the journey inland
with the city of Panama as the objective. Henry Morgan himself, did
not reach the Chagres until five days after the fall of San Lorenzo.
Upon approaching, he saw the flag of England flying from the shattered
castle. His fleet came rapidly forward, each boat trying to be the first
to enter the mouth of the Chagres. In their jostling about, four of
the boats floundered upon the shoals of the Chagres, one of them being
Morgan's own flagship, the Satisfaction. All four of the boats were
completely wrecked before they could be floated from the shoals. The
crews were saved, however, and much of the cargo and military supplies
were successfully unloaded. His men went into camp on the banks of the
river. Morgan was carried into San Lorenzo on the shoulders of his bodyguard
and was met by an escort of honor from Bardley's victors. He was taken
to the audience hall like a monarch and a period of feasting and revelry
followed. However, Morgan was soon to realize the seriousness of some
of his losses. The man who had really captured San Lorenzo, Joseph Bradley,
died from wounds received from the engagement on the fifth day after
Morgan's arrival. Bradley was one of Morgan's strongest leaders and
staunchest supporters, being practically a second in command of the
expedition. Captain Richard Norman was appointed to replace Bradley
and with 300 men left to garrison the castle. The remainder of the fleet
with a total of 200 men to man the boats was disposed in battle formation
outside the mouth of the river to repel possible naval attack. Rumors
had come to Morgan that Admiral Alonso Del Campo was cruising the waters
off the coast of the Isthmus. For the following few days Morgan went
about the work of reforming the army, selecting and making small boats
and equiping his men for the trip up the river. By the early part of
January, he had a fleet of seven sloops, thirty six small boats and
canoes, and a force of 1,400 men ready to embark upon their "march to
Panama." Although San Lorenzo was captured, it was not dismantled. It
had simply changed hands. Morgan knew that he must provide two things;
first, against the possibility of being followed by any Spanish fleet
that might land; second, he must keep a way open for retirement in case
his campaign should meet with defeat. For the following weeks, Morgan
was busily engaged in his campaign on Panama. His fleet of small boats
and canoes made their way cautiously up the Chagres River, always on
the alert for any ambush by the Spaniards. His estimate of the time
that it would take to make the trip however, was coompletely inadequate,
so that before long he found himself short of food and provisions for
his men. As they approached up the river, instead of meeting the Spaniards
in actual combat, he was surprised by their continued method of retreat
and taking all food and provisions with them. The famine grew so severe
that his men were forced to "stew" bits of leather in the sort of a
food preparation on which they lived for several days. His final attack
on Panama and the battle that ensued is a story complete in itself.
After several weeks of pillaging and debauchery in Panama, he returned
over the route he had come, taking his loot, and natives as slaves,
and returned to San Lorenzo. After a period of resting and reorganization
he decided to abandon San Lorenzo and sail for Jamaica. Upon leaving,
he applied the torch and powder to all that was left of the fort and
the village, and left it in complete smoldering ruins. The importance
of San Lorenzo to the Spaniards however, led them to eventually rebuild
and re-establish themselves at the mouth of the Chagres. No further
events of interest are recorded concerning San Lorenzo until the coming
of Sir Edward Vernon, (after whom the home of Washington was said to
be named). Vernon was commissioned by the English Parliament to again
capture the ports of Porto Bello and San Lorenzo. On the afternoon of
March 22, 1740, with a small fleet of only 6 ships, having already reduced
Porto Bello, he appeared off the mouth of the Chagres and began a bombardment
against the castle of San Lorenzo and kept firing leisurely until eleven
o'clock on Monday the 24th, when the Spaniards hung out a flag. Captain
Knowles was sent ashore and returned with Don Juan Carlos Jutierrez
Zevalles, Captain of the Fort and a Castilian.The terms of surrender
were soon arranged and at three o'clock in the afternoon , the Spanish
troops had marched out and Capt. Knowles with 120 men took possession.
Much merchandise was found in the Customs House on the opposite side
of the river. This building was burned. On the 29th, Vernon blew up
the castle of San Lorenzo and departed for Porto Bello where he arrived
on April 1st, 1740. This particular little war between England and Spain
was known as the "War of Jenkin's Ear." The incident related that a
certain Captain Jenkins had previously in an engagement with the natives
and Spaniards had an ear cut off. He had even shown the mummified member
of his anatomy before Parliament, which immediately declared war in
retaliation for the ear of Capt. Jenkins, the result being the campaign
of Sir Edward Vernon. San Lorenzo was dropped as one of the regular
ports of the Isthmus in 1844. However, it again came into prominence
for a short period of time during the days of '49 when for a period
of a few years before the completion of the Panama Railroad, it was
a part of the trail across the Isthmus. The seekers for gold, coming
as far as the mouth of the Chagres to re-ship in cayucos and other crafts
being paddled up the river to San Cruces, where the remainder of the
journey was completed on foot or pack train as the occasion offered.
With the establishment of Colon as the railhead, San Lorenzo dropped
completely from the picture and remains today only as a picturesque
ruins, a memorial of the days gone by.
Part of Early Days in Panama by : Chap. (Lt.Col.) Earl D. Weed, Ft.
Sherman, CZ, Editor
for more delightful stories about Panama's past, visit: http://www.czbrats.com/MiNombre/PanamaViejo/SanLorenzo.htm
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