Henry Morgan Sacks Panama
In January 1671, Welsh buccaneer Henry Morgan led 1,200 men across the Darien isthmus — one of the most gruelling overland marches in Caribbean military history — to sack Panama City, then the wealthiest city on the Pacific coast of the Americas. The city burned during the fighting (or was torched by its defenders); Morgan’s men looted silver, gold, and jewels worth millions of pesos. The raid embarrassed England, which was then at peace with Spain; Morgan was arrested and shipped to London but was acquitted and knighted. The raid marked the high-water mark of the buccaneer era.
- Year: 1671 CE
- Category: Military
