Henry Morgan (1635-25 August 1688) was a famous Welsh pirate and Admiral of the Royal Navy of England. Morgan was one of the most successful privateers in history, and was one of the most ruthless pirates in the Spanish Main.
Biography[]
Privateer[]
Captain Morgan on his ship
Henry Morgan was born in 1635 in Llanrumney, Wales, the nephew of Major-General Thomas Morgan. Morgan left school early and became more familiar with violence than education, and he came to Jamaica in 1658, hoping to take part in Oliver Cromwell's "Western Design" to take Hispaniola from Spain. He fought in the failed conquest of Santo Domingo in 1655, but he would take part in Sir William Penn's capture of Jamaica on 19-27 May 1655. In 1663, Morgan joined Christopher Myngs' fleet of buccaneers as "Captain Morgan", taking part in the sacking of Campeche in February 1663 and later in the capture of Vildemos on the Tabasco River in Mexico, Trujillo in Honduras, and Granada in Nicaragua, plundering the Mexican coast under England's commission. Morgan was granted letters of marque to attack Spanish ships and settlements, and he was later promoted to Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy due to his experience in naval warfare against Spain.
English admiral[]
In 1668, he was given command of the English force that sacked Puerto Principe (Camaguey, Cuba), but the sack disappointed him in the amount of loot that he acquired; he had to pay back his debts to some people in Port Royal. Morgan decided to sack Porto Bello in Panama, a very successful attack that led to him being promoted to "Commander-in-Chief of All of the Ships of War" in Jamaica. Morgan's raid on Cartagena de las Indias in March 1669 was a great success, but he failed in his raid on Maracaibo in Venezuela and lost English support when his sack of Panama violated a 1670 peace treaty between England and Spain. Morgan retired, gaining considerable weight and becoming a drunkard. In 1683, he was suspended by the Jamaican council, and he died in 1688 in Lawrencefield, Jamaica of dropsy.