The island of Tortuga, which means “turtle” in Spanish because of its appearance from
the sea, lies off of the northwest coast of Hispaniola. Just 23 miles long, Tortuga has
a natural harbor on its southern side that is protected by a reef. Early on the Spanish
had established a small fort on Tortuga and expelled a handful of French and English settlers.
Spain’s motive was to prevent the other European powers from establishing a foothold
in the Caribbean. Afterwards, seeing little value in the island, the Spanish moved to
Hispaniola to expel the French and English there.
I want to thank today’s sponsor Gaia Industrees! Gaia manufactures everyday items out of bamboo
instead of plastic and hopes to create a community that wants to help the planet in any small
way possible!
Gaia makes products like hair brushes, combs, straws, toothbrushes, and even a really cool
water bottle with a built in tea infuser. Go check their website out and see what you
think! You can use the discount code PiratesPort for 25% off your order and to my Patreon subscribers
you guys get an additional 10% off - your code in a private Patreon post.
I should first explain that the French and English who were living on Tortuga were adventurers
that, for whatever reason, decided to try their hand at life in the new world. These
men hunted wild boars and cattle and, using a practice taught to them by the Native Americans,
smoked the meat on wooden racks called boucans. These hunters were nicknamed bouccaneers which
eventually changed into buccaneer. These hunters were constantly harassed by the Spanish and,
as a result, the buccaneers wanted revenge. To get it they would occasionally form groups
and raid Spanish ships. In 1630, the French returned to Tortuga, took
over the abandoned fortifications, and expanded them. The French and English both set up colonies
on the island and allowed the buccaneers to base on Tortuga. The colonies started to import
slaves in 1633 but by 1635 the practice had ended as it was reported the slaves had become
out of control and had likely joined up with the buccaneers. Later that year the Spanish
invaded and expelled the French and English but, once again, returned to Hispaniola shorty
after.
The French, English, and a small group of Dutch settlers again settled on Tortuga and
two years later, in 1638, the Spanish returned to drive them off for a third time. This time
the Spanish remained on Tortuga up until 1640 when a raiding party of roughly one hundred
and fifty French, English, and Dutch colonists attacked and drove the Spanish off of the
island. Jean La Vasseur, a French engineer had a fort constructed around a steep thirty
food rock overlooking the harbor and named it Fort de Rocher. (Rohshe)
La Vasseur had trenches dug into the steep hills surrounding the fort, which also had
a natural spring. Fort de Rocher had twenty-four guns and, after La Vesseur had the trees cut
down, the fort had a perfect view overlooking the harbor. La Vasseur built a citadel on
top of the giant rock the fortress was built around and named it Dovecote. (Duvacut) Dovecote
acted as the storeroom for food and weapons as well as La Vassuer’s home. To reach it
one had to climb half way up on a staircase carved into the rock itself and then climb
a ladder that was lowered down from the top. Legend says that La Vassuer would imprison his enemies
in the Dovecote and, with command of the fort, became Governor of Tortuga. Tortuga, now being
relatively secure, started to attract more Frenchmen who settled more of the island.
La Vassuer also invited the buccaneers, now referring to themselves as the Brethren of
the Coast, to anchor in the harbor in exchange for a percentage of their plunder.
Shortly after the fort was finished the Spanish sent an invasion force from Santo Domingo
to retake Tortuga once more. They didn’t know of the fort and upon sailing into the
harbor one of their ships was sunk and the rest fled. A group of Spanish soldiers that
had managed to land on the beach marched towards the fort but were ambushed.
The buccaneers had a practice called matelotage, French for seamanship, in which two men would
make a legally binding contract to live together, share goods and wealth, survivor benefits
if one man died, and so on. There has been speculation that this practice was akin to
same-sex marriage but there really is no proof one way or the other. Regardless, around 1645
La Vassuer imported several hundred prostitutes and in some cases these prostitutes married
buccaneers. Unfortunately for the woman (or maybe not depending on her tastes) the men
practicing matelotage shared everything with the other including their wives.
The Brethren of the Coast were also causing chaos with shipping and didn’t care much
as to who they were attacking but, by and large, protected Tortuga along with the fort.
In 1653 La Vasseur ran afoul of his men by stealing away a lieutenants mistress and abusing
her. The lieutenant, along with a friend, lured La Vasseur out of the fort to inspect
a warehouse where the lieutenant first shot him with a musket before the two men stabbed
him to death with daggers. The next year the Spanish returned to attack yet again and,
this time knowing the fort’s strengths and weaknesses, had a plan. The Spanish landed
seven hundred troops several miles down the coast from the fort and marched inland, much
like the buccaneers attacked their targets on land. The invasion force brought artillery
and on the night of February 12th 1653 a company of men managed to scale the cliffs and emplace
the cannons. On February 20th the French surrendered and the Spanish captured five hundred prisoners,
seventy cannons, four ships including one frigate, and eight small craft. Altogether
this was valued at approximately one hundred and sixty thousand pieces of eight which is
the equivalent of eight million dollars today.
The Spanish burned the fort to the ground and the prisoners were shipped away to become
slaves on plantations on Hispaniola. In August three buccaneer ships approached but upon
seeing the Spanish had established a garrison they sailed off again. In September 1654 the
Spanish governor recalled the troops from Tortuga in response to the English invading
Hispaniola. The Spanish destroyed their fortifications and buried their artillery before leaving.
In 1655 Tortuga was captured again, this time by the Englishman Elias Watts. Watts was sent
on behalf of the English military governor on newly captured Jamaica. Between 1655 and
1659 the British tried to colonize Tortuga but were unable and in 1660 the French once
again reclaimed the island. By 1670 the time of the buccaneer was almost over but a Welshman
named Henry Morgan invited the remaining buccaneers on Tortuga to sail under him out of Port Royal
Jamaica.
I hope you all enjoyed this week’s episode. If you did please like the video, subscribe,
and leave comment below. I want to thank my Patreon top-tier subscribers 1660, Larry W,
and Patrick Chamberlain. If you can help out on Patreon or with a direct donation via PayPal
the links are below