Henry Morgan was born in 1635 as the eldest son to Robert Morgan who was a squire of Llanrumney in the Welsh country of Monmouthshire. There is very little information known about him before he started his pirating career. Also, not much is known about how he managed to reach Jamaica.
Henry Morgan during the peak years of his career as a privateer for the English Crown to fight the Spanish troops. In 1663, he was made the Knight of Realm by King Charles II and was also the captain of a privateer ship. In 1665, Henry married his cousin Mary and they died issueless.
Morgan’s Ship
In 1661, Morgan was made the captain of Christopher Mings’s first ship and Henry had been successful in looting the Mexican coast. Sir Thomas Modyford was a person who played a crucial role in granting sanctions to Morgan to carry on his activities despite repeated warnings from the Crown as England had temporarily made peaceful settlements with Spain.
In 1667, he was sent by Modyford to capture a few Spanish prisoners in Cuba to extract the details of the Jamaican attack. Morgan along with ten ships and around 500 men captured Puerto Principe. After this success, Morgan was given another task against Spain.
Henry Morgan Famous Pirate
Morgan and his crew were short of money to pay the debt they had incurred in Jamaica. In order to raise money, Morgan decided to attack Porto Bello, a Spanish trade center in America consisting of warehouses filled with goods and valuables of the rich merchants.
Since this place was filled with valuables and goods, it was protected from the enemies by three Spanish forts. Morgan along with his ships and crew sailed through the seas and reached on the Northern coast of South America.
Henry Morgan Facts
On reaching closer to the forts, the crew members were petrified of the forts. After an encouraging speech by Morgan, the crew was ready to fight. They easily managed to capture two forts and destroy one of them.
It was believed that apart from tuberculosis, acute alcoholism and other unknown causes were the reason for his death. His body was buried in Palisadoes cemetery which was later on destroyed because of the 1692 earthquake.
Morgan was one of the most merciless pirates ever known. But, at the same time, he was daring, brutal, and intelligent. All this made him the most fearing pirates. Morgan was also the most respected buccaneer of all time and was regarded as the King of Pirates. Morgan used every opportunity in the right manner for his and his crew’s benefit. The pirates that followed his techniques were less successful than him.