Ye Gods! What were the British thinking?! When Commodore
George Anson was sent out in the 1740's to proceed to Manila while
harassing the last of the great Spanish Armada in South America, he
commanded a fleet of eight small ships. Many of the crew had been pressed
into service from Chelsea Hospital: small wonder that half of them had
died by the time they reached their destination, having succumbed to
scurvy and other diseases. Some of the fleet turned back, the Wager was
wrecked off the coast of Chile, and Anson's ship, the sixty-gun Centurion,
went on to fulfill its mission alone.
The British were thinking of plunder of course, the rich
cargo of the Spanish galleons that sailed to Acapulco from Manila, laden
with Chinese silks, teas, and Asian spices. And they were thinking of the
galleons that sailed to China filled with gold and silver from Peru.
Britain, at war with Spain, was using every opportunity to pillage Spanish
towns along the coasts of the Americas, as well as to take the treasure
ships. Anson was to get as much booty as possible, and he succeeded
brilliantly.
Chaplain Richard Walter, who narrates this tale,
accompanied Anson until China, and reconstructed the remainder of his
account from other eyewitnesses. Here is his description of the battle of
Paita, a small but crucial port in northern Peru sacked by Anson:
But about ten o'clock at night, the ships being then
within five leagues of the place, Lieutenant Brett, with the boats under
his command, put off, and arrived at the mouth of the bay without being
discovered; but no sooner had he entered it, than some of the people, on
board a vessel riding at anchor there, perceived him, who instantly put
off in their boat, rowing towards the fort, shouting and crying, the
English, the English dogs, etc. by which the whole town was suddenly
alarmed, and our people soon observed several lights hurrying backwards
and forwards in the fort, and other marks of the inhabitants being in
great motion...However, before our boats could reach the shore, the
people in the fort had got ready some of their cannon, and pointed them
towards the landing-place; and though in the darkness of the night it
might be well supposed that chance had a greater share than skill in
their direction, yet the first shot passed extremely near one of the
boats...
...it may not perhaps be improper to give a succinct
relation of the booty we made here...our acquisition, though
inconsiderable in comparison of what we destroyed, was yet in itself far
from despicable; for the wrought plate dollars and other coin which fell
into our hands amounted to upwards of £30,000 sterling, besides several
rings, bracelets, and jewels, whose intrinsick value we could not then
determine; and over and above all this, the plunder, which became the
property of the immediate captors, was very great; so that upon the
whole it was by much the most important booty we made upon that coast.
The most important ship to be taken however was the
galleon returning to Manila with Spanish gold and silver. Walter describes
preparations aboard the Centurion:
About noon the Commodore was little more than a
league distant from the galeon, and could fetch her wake, so that she
could not now escape...Soon after the galeon hauled up her fore-sail,
and brought to under top-sails, with her head to the northward, hoisting
Spanish colours...Mr. Anson in the mean time, had prepared all things
for an engagement on board the Centurion, and had taken all possible
care, both for the most effectual exertion of his small strength, and
for the avoiding the confusion and tumult, too frequent in actions of
this kind.
He picked out about thirty of his choicest hands and
best marks-men, whom he distributed into his tops...As he had not hands
enough remaining to quarter a sufficient number to each great gun in the
customary manner he therefore on his lower tire, fixed only two men to
each gun, who were to be solely employed in loading it, whilst the rest
of his people were divided into different gangs of ten or twelve men
each, which were constantly moving about the decks, to run out and fire
such guns as were loaded. By this management he was enabled to make use
of all his guns...
The captured Spanish ship had on board 1,313,843 pieces of
eight, and 35,682 oz. of virgin silver...(All's fair!) Walter's account is
full not only of daily life at sea, but of important descriptions of the
lands visited on this circumnavigation of the globe. He is also excellent
at providing political and historical information that allows the reader
to understand this account in context. Anson is a concerned captain and it
is easy to see why his career was so spectacular. Sensational reading!
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