Editing Henry Morgan (section)

===Porto Bello (1668)===
{{further|Henry Morgan's raid on Porto Bello}}
After dividing the spoils
of the conquest of Puerto del Príncipe, Morgan announced a plan to attack [[Portobelo, Colón|Porto Bello]] (now in modern-day Panama). The city was the third largest and strongest on the [[Spanish Main]] {{citation needed|date=September 2023}}, and on one of the main routes of trade between the Spanish territories and Spain. Because of the value of the goods passing through its port, Porto Bello was protected by two castles in the harbour and another in the town.{{sfn|Breverton|2005|p=40}} The 200 French privateers, unhappy with the division of the treasure and the murder of their countryman, left Morgan's service and returned to Tortuga.{{sfn|Exquemelin|2010|p=139}} Morgan and his ships briefly landed at Port Royal before leaving for Porto Bello.{{sfn|Breverton|2005|p=40}}

On 11 July 1668 Morgan anchored short of Porto Bello and transferred his men to 23 canoes, which they paddled to within {{convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} of the target. They landed and approached the first castle from the landward side, where they arrived half an hour before dawn. They took the three castles and the town quickly.{{sfn|Pope|1978|p=147}}{{sfn|Cordingly|2006|pp=45–46}} The privateers lost 18 men, with a further 32 wounded; Zahedieh considers the action at Porto Bello displayed a "clever cunning and expert timing which marked&nbsp;... [Morgan's] brilliance as a military commander".{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}}

Exquemelin wrote that in order to take the third castle, Morgan ordered the construction of ladders wide enough for three men to climb abreast; when they were completed he "commanded all the religious men and women whom he had taken prisoners to fix them against the walls of the castle&nbsp;... these were forced, at the head of the companies to raise and apply them to the walls&nbsp;... Thus many of the religious men and nuns were killed".{{sfn|Exquemelin|2010|pp=144–145}} Terry Breverton, in his biography of Morgan, writes that when a translation of Exquemelin's book was published in England, Morgan sued for [[libel]] and won. The passage about the use of nuns and monks as a [[human shield]] was retracted from subsequent publications in England.{{sfn|Breverton|2005|p=43}}

[[File:Pyle pirate prisoner.jpg|thumb|Morgan with a prisoner]]
Morgan and his men remained in Porto Bello for a month. He wrote to Don Agustín, the acting president of Panama, to demand a ransom for the city of 350,000 [[peso]]s.{{refn|The full name of the ''peso'' was the ''peso de ocho reales'', also known as piece of eight or the [[Spanish dollar]], the main currency used by the Spanish; English merchants and government used [[£sd|pounds, shillings and pence]]. In the late 17th century the peso was worth between five and six shillings.{{sfn|Little|2007|p=249}}|group=n}} As they stripped the city of its wealth it is probable that torture was used on the residents to uncover hidden caches of money and jewels. Zahedieh records that there were no first-hand reports from witnesses that confirmed Exquemelin's claim of widespread rape and debauchery.{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}} After an attempt by Don Agustín to recapture the city by force – his army of 800 soldiers was repelled by the privateers – he negotiated a ransom of 100,000 pesos.{{sfn|Cordingly|2006|p=47}} Following the ransom and the plunder of the city, Morgan returned to Port Royal, with between £70,000 and £100,000 of money and valuables; Zahedieh reports that the figures were more than the agricultural output of Jamaica, and nearly half Barbados's sugar exports. Each privateer received £120 – equivalent to five or six times the average annual earnings of a sailor of the time.{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}} Morgan received a five per cent share for his work;{{sfn|Thomas|2014|loc=1113}} Modyford received a ten per cent share, which was the price of Morgan's letter of marque.{{sfn|Barbour|1911|p=556}}{{sfn|Allen|1976|p=49}} As Morgan had overstepped the limits of his commission, Modyford reported back to London that he had "reproved" him for his actions although, Zahedieh observes, in Britain "Morgan was widely viewed as a national hero and neither he nor Modyford were rebuked for their actions".{{sfn|Zahedieh|2004a}}