The Capture of Fort Rocher took place on 9 February 1654, during the

Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) The Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) was fought between France and Spain, with the participation of a changing list of allies through the war. The first phase, beginning in May 1635 and ending with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, is considered ...

. Equipped with one siege battery, a Spanish expedition of 700 troops attacked the

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 168 ...

stronghold of Tortuga, capturing the Fort de Rocher and 500 prisoners including 330 buccaneers and goods valued at approximately 160,000 pieces-of-eight.Konstam p.107 The Spanish burned the colony to the ground and slaughtered its inhabitants, leaving behind a fort manned by 150 soldiers. They possessed the island for about eighteen months, but on the approach of the expedition under Penn and

Venables Venables is an English surname of Norman–French origin, derived from the town of the same name in Normandy and introduced to England by way of the Norman conquest. People * Anthony Venables (born 1953), English economist * Brent Venables (born ...

were ordered by the Conde de Peñalva, Governor of

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, to demolish the fortifications, bury the artillery and other arms, and retire to his aid in

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

Background

At midday, the French and English inhabitants of Tortuga sighted four Spanish vessels bearing down. This counterattack had been prompted by the buccaneers' sack of Santiago de los Caballeros, in 1650, and that of the Cuban port of San Juan de los Remedios in August 1652. Consequently, a punitive expedition had slipped out of the capital of Santo Domingo on 4 December 1653, bearing 200 soldiers and 500 volunteers under Captain Gabriel de Rojas y Figueroa, seconded by the former Irish renegade John Murphy (promoted to ''maestre de campo'' and invested with a knighthood in the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" (St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgri ...

. This Spanish squadron had captured a trio of buccaneer craft off Monte Cristi before sighting Tortuga.

Capture

Gliding past its harbor, the Spaniards bombarded the vessels in the roads, then continued two or three miles farther down the coast and disembarked several hundred troops at the hamlet of Cayonne, marching back to besiege the island's principal fortress. On the night of 12 February, Rojas sent a company with grappling lines to scale the heights behind the keep and install siege artillery. Tortuga17thcentury

The buccaneer fort was built by a skilled French engineer on a rocky hill which dominated the island harbour of Cayenne. By 18 February the French and English requested terms and two days later the Chavalier de Fontenay decided to surrender. More than 500 captives were captured, among them 330 boucaniers. All were allowed to sail to France aboard a pair of ships under de Fontenay and Tibaut and Martin, respectively—with the exception of two leaders who were kept as hostages; the Spanish seized 70 cannons in the fortress and shore batteries, three ships, a frigate, and eight lesser craft as booty. These attackers also decided to hold their hard-won conquest by leaving behind a garrison of one hundred men under the Irish-born Murphy.

Aftermath

The prisoners were shipped to Santo Domingo and would become slaves on Spanish plantations. Hoping that the Spanish had abandoned the island, three buccaneer ships returned in August, but found that the Spaniards had already installed a garrison. However, coinciding with the English invasion of Hispaniola, on 13 September 1654 Spanish governor issued a ''real cédula'' ordering the withdrawal from Tortuga after first throwing down its fortifications.Marley p.130 Tortuga was reoccupied the next year by English and French interlopers under Elias Watts, who secured a commission from Col. William Brayne, acting as military Governor on Jamaica, to serve as "Governor" of Tortuga.

Notes

References

* David F. Marley. ''Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present'' ABC-CLIO (1998) C.h. Haring, H C. ''The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the XVII Century'' 1st ed edition (1910) ASIN B00085QNQM * Konstam, Augus. ''Scourge of the Seas: Buccaneers, Pirates & Privateers'' (General Military) Piracy: the complete history * Konstam, Augus. ''Piracy: the complete history'' Osprey Publishing; First Edition (August 19, 2008) * Sean, Harvey. ''The Rough Guide to Dominican Republic'' Rough Guides publishing (2000) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Rocher Conflicts in 1654 1654 in the Caribbean 1650s in New Spain History of the Colony of Santo Domingo History of Haiti History of Santo Domingo History of Hispaniola Military history of the Dominican Republic Battles involving Spain Battles involving England Battles involving France Anti-piracy Piracy in the Caribbean Tortuga (Haiti)