APRIL 17, 1797 PUERTO RICO - AAAXtremecollectors

At six in the morning, more or less, a convoy was sighted, consisting of warships and what appeared to be transports whose number, kind and nationality could not be made out, but in view of the current war, and the earlier warning of an attack against this Post and island, it was suspected to be an enemy squadron. This was confirmed shortly because of the movements of the squadron even though none of the ships had shown it's colors.

The Chiefs of Staff were called immediately to the Morro Castle where they and the Governor implemented the defense plans. The call to arms was sounded and the troops of the garrison were deployed amongst the castles, fortresses, batteries and inner and outerworks of the Post (Citadel). All these positions were supplied with the arms and provisions necessary to defend them. The trained citizens were issued with arms. Two armed pontoons and twelve gunboats were placed along with four armed barges under the command of Frigate Captain Don Francisco de Paula Castro. A platoon with four field cannon under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Don Isidoro Linares of the Regimiento Fijo (permanent or "fixed" regiment) were sent to prevent the landing. Orders were sent to the urban mounted militia and able bodied men of all the towns to take up arms and report immediately to the capital. Those not under arms were to bring supplies to the city to sustain the garrison. Written instructions were sent to all districts of the island.

The Ordnance Chiefs and their assistants were sent to their posts and the Storekeeper of the artillery was ordered to stay at the main artillery park day and night to supply equipment as necessary.

A Proclamation was issued ordering all women, children and elders to leave the Post, leaving only able-bodied men under arms. Powder stored in outlying magazines was hurriedly collected and stored in magazine ships in the bay.

By 10 o'clock in the morning, after observing it's manoeuvres, it was confirmed beyond any doubt that the squadron was British and that it was heading towards the shores of Cangrejos, with the transport ships anchoring at the far end of the inlet of La Torrecilla. In view of this, the outpost of Escambron and the outerworks of the post were made ready.

Engineer Don Ignacio Mascaro y Homar was sent with a team to prepare a battery at the Seboruco de Barrios(10) to defend the entrance to the Martin Pea channel and the bridge, where they were to raise a defensive embankment. They were to retreat if unable to carry out the work.

Two pontoons were to defend the entrance to the port, and two barges each were ordered to the Martin Peña and San Antonio bridges. These floating batteries each had two 15 pounder cannon. Some of the gunboats were to support the pontoons and barges and others were held in reserve.

His Excellency the Bishop and the Clergy pledged their services and some were appointed chaplains and deployed throughout the post. Surgeons equipped and manned the hospitals in readiness to care for the wounded. Arrangements were made for the Carmelite Calced nuns to leave the city with dignity, their convent and monastery being used as hospitals and quarters, as were several houses in the town.

No other movement of the enemy squadron was observed that day except that two frigates and a tender were sent out with the apparent objective of blocking the entrance to the port. The remainder of the squadron stayed by the inlet with the smaller transport ships nearer the shore. A ship was seen setting out to sea, apparently unarmed.

The British account is mainly in agreement although it stresses the problem of the offshore reef which runs all along the northern coast and the difficulty of finding a passage through. Even when the passage was found it was so narrow that only the frigates and smaller transports could get through, denying the British the use of their capital ships for close inshore support and increasing the problems of disembarking men and equipment.

The main dubiety arises regarding the number of British ships in the squadron. One Puerto Rican account lists them as follows:
1 ship with three decks.
2 with 70 cannon.
2 with 50 cannon.
2 frigates, one of 40 and one of 36 cannon.
2 brigantines of 16 - 18 cannon.
4 corvettes of about 16 cannon.
18 schooners, with a bearing of privateers, 6-12 cannon.
1 large merchantman.
28 smaller ships.
Total = 60 sail.

Don Felipe Ramirez, Chief Engineer of Royal Works in San Juan, also states in a letter of May 4 , 1797 that there were 60 ships(11) but Father Miguel Rodriguez Feliciano, a prebendary of the Catholic Church of Puerto Rico(12) and who E.T Blanco mentions in a letter of May 22 , 1797 as being "one of the illustrious defenders of the post, being an eyewitness of the events being narrated", describes "the enemy squadron as being 64 ships

Tuesday, April 18. The men of the cavalry company who lived in Bayamón and Guaynabo arrived on the night of 17/18, and 40 of them were deployed as reinforcements.

At dawn there was heavy firing from the anchored ships to protect the landings which were taking place. The frigates were still blockading the port.

A platoon set out under the command of Lt. Cal. Don Isidoro Linares, together with Don Jose Vizcarrondo, Captain of the Infantry Regiment of Valencia and Don Teodomiro del Toro, adjutant of the disciplined militias.

Each had 100 men, Don Isidoro taking position at "La Plaza", by one of the Cangrejos beaches, Vizcarrondo with his cannon at San Mateo beach and del Toro with further cannon at La Torrecilla, deployed so as to give maximum effect and mutual protection.

Most of the enemy's fire was directed against Toro's position, it being the closest. Four large and heavily armed boats, one showing the British colors, approached the beach. Toro opened fire against them, causing considerable damage to the extent that only one man survived in the boat carrying the colors and few were left in the other boats, which were forced to retreat. They soon returned with a greater number of boats and managed to land about 3,000 armed troops.

The British record contradicts Toro's account of heavy fire and significant casualties. Admiral Harvey's log states that the British "...Landed in the bay without any other opposition than the firing of musketry from a small party at the edge of the woods, who soon made off, having wounded three men in the boats."

Also, there are discrepancies in numbers of troops landed, Ramón de Castro mentioning seven to eight thousand, Felipe Ramírez quoting eleven thousand(l6) and Father Rodríguez Feliciano from twelve to thirteen thousand.

On seeing the size of the enemy force, the defending officers decided to retreat, Linares and Toro towards the Martin Peña bridge and Vizcarrondo towards the San Antonio bridge, in accordance with their orders. Vizcarrondo dug in with his cannon at his new position to cover the retreat of his two fellow officers but they, on seeing that the enemy were advancing towards him, decided to Join him. However, the strength of the enemy again proved too great and the defenders retreated over the San Antonio bridge into the Citadel, leaving some of their number to help defend the bridge and the San Gerónimo fortress. They had no time to retrieve their cannon, so they disabled and buried them.

The British account for this incident reads "A party of the enemy were soon along the shore, but as our advance guard went on they moved towards the town, leaving three brass cannon and some military stores at one of their posts and pickets".

De Castro's Journal continues: ...The British, no doubt on seeing the firepower ranged against them from the main defenses of the Citadel, halted their advance and sent out scouting parties. That same morning, Vizcarrondo and a party of French Republicans, 50 militia and 30 cavalry were sent out to rendezvous and harass the enemy. They marched towards Cangrejos, splitting into three groups with orders to rendezvous later with a Captain of Cavalry and 25 infantrymen.

As they were advancing towards San Mateo, an exchange of fire took place with enemy advance parties. The British quickly brought up reinforcements, again causing Vizcarrondo to retreat over San Antonio bridge, taking with him a cannon he found en route. Fire from the San Gerónimo fortress covered the retreat, after which the order was given to destroy the bridge.

As a precaution, the order was then given that all thatched roofs of the "bohios" (huts) in the city be removed to avoid the risk of fire.

That same morning a ship flying diplomatic colors approached the entrance to the port and was stopped by the Morro fortress. It was met by an aide-de camp and the officer in charge delivered a message to the city's Commanding Officer from the British Naval and Military Commanders, essentially demanding that the city be surrendered to the forces which were besieging it. However, the British ship did not wait for a reply, so an attempt was later made to send it to one of the enemy frigates blockading the port. Unfortunately, possibly because of the darkness, the frigate did not see the flag of truce and opened fire, forcing the local ship to retreat.

Meanwhile, at three o'clock that afternoon, three gunboats were sent to reinforce the two barges defending the Martin Peña Bridge with the object of containing the enemy and covering the retreat of the engineers who had been sent to Seboruco de Barrios, who were in danger of being cut off. The British, however, attacked the gunboats from the land with a party of about 200 men. Fire was exchanged and the gunboats retreated. The floating batteries on the barges maintained their fire throughout the day and into the night to prevent the attackers from advancing or digging in.

Scout boats and reconnaissance parties were again sent out and they reported that the British were advancing towards the San Antonio and San Gerónimo fortresses, which sustained a continuous fire to prevent further progress. The Regimiento Fijo reported two dead and one wounded.

Wednesday, April 19
A courier ship was made ready to leave the port under cover of darkness carrying word of the attack to the Commanders at Havana and repeating the Governor's request for aid in the form of warships, troops, arms and money, and confirming the intention of using all resources in an attempt to hold out until help arrived.

It was confirmed that the previous evening's heavy fire from the 8 and 12 pounder cannon at San Gerónimo and San Antonio, together with that from the barges, had severely restricted the enemy's operations, reportedly causing one fatality and several wounded. One of the mortally wounded was captured and on being questioned by the Commander at San Antonio, Don Ignacio Mascaro y Homar, (the engineer rescued the previous day) it could only be ascertained that he was a German, a grenadier from one of his country's regiments in the service of England. He was one of a party of troops which had landed, more or less 3,000 men but there could be as many as 6,000. He was too ill to continue his statement, and died on the way to the Citadel.

The frigates blockading the entrance to the bay came further inshore than usual, although still out of cannon range. They were seen to send a boat to reconnoitre the point of the Isla de Cabras and the Cañuelo Fortress and to take depth soundings. Although they were out of range, a few shots were fired from the Morro Castle to discourage them, and in fact they hastily withdrew. With the same object in mind, cannon were fired from San Cristóbal Castle and the batteries of the Northern Line, but without effect on account of the distance.

To contain any attempted landing at Punta Salinas by the enemy following their reconnaissance, Lt. Col. Linares set out with 50 armed men to join others arriving from nearby districts to form a platoon to defend the post at Palo Seco.

On realizing how effective had been the fire from the barges in the Martin Peña channel in harassing the enemy, it was decided to reinforce that position with one of the pontoons from the port entrance, to increase it's potential. Also, San Gerónimo was reinforced with a howitzer.

News was received from Río Piedras that 400 troops had arrived from the surrounding districts, 200 of which remained to counter any enemy attack and the remainder going to the city. Further men arrived from Toa Baja, making the city's reinforcements for the day 251.

Word was received that an enemy party of between 20 and 30 men had encamped near Bañacaballos and had sacked the nearby sugar refineries of Don Jose Giral and Don Jayme O'Daly in Puerto Nuevo and San Patricia.

A party of negroes from the Loisa district apprehended two German soldiers from the enemy force and sent them to the city. Efforts were made to obtain from them useful information about the enemy but their statements provided little of value, except that one had in his knapsack a paper on which was written the name of one of the city's residents. This was passed to the Judge Advocate for appropriate action.

This episode raised the spectre of enemy sympathizers and traitors in the city and arrangements were made to watch the movements of certain residents, particularly transients and those of British and Irish nationality. Investigations followed and some were even arrested.

The British account for the day mainly coincides, adding that they landed their heavy artillery by boat "as far to the westward as the navigation would allow". They comment that the transportation of the guns was difficult due to the roads being of sand.

Thursday, April 20.
The frigates blocking the port remained on station and were accompanied by a brigantine and what appeared to be gunboats. The fire from San Antonio, San Gerónimo and the barges continued to match enemy movements.

It was observed that the enemy was trying to establish a battery on the Cerro del Condado overlooking our positions to the east and at a distance of about 400 "varas" ("rods"- an old unit of measurement, about two feet eight inches). We fired grenades, which seemed to have a favorable effect.

Militia Second Lieutenant Don Vicente Andino and his brother Don Emigdio, adjutant to the post, were ordered to take 60 volunteers to contain an enemy attack which was being attempted at the rear. Don José Díaz, Master Sargeant of the Toa Alta district, set out with 50 men for the same purpose.

Standing Orders were given to the Commanders of the companies of civilians forming at the camp from elsewhere in the island to defend themselves as best they could from enemy attack, and to counterattack when the opportunity arose.

The Naval Commander ordered an inventory of all the pirogues (small boats) in the many moorings around the bay in order to use them for transporting food, cattle, troops and munitions, and for communication purposes.

During the afternoon another frigate joined the blockade and at around nine o'clock, enemy frigates and a brigantine were seen approaching the area of Punta Salinas. The Morro and Cañuelo forts opened fire, although it was known that the ships were out of range. It was decided that the Captain of the Port, Frigate Lieutenant Don Juan Hurtado would set out with gunboats for Palo Seco to observe the movements of the frigates and repel any attempts at a landing. Despite the darkness, it was possible to observe the movements of the brigantine, which eventually anchored near Isla de Cabras. The Cañuelo fortress opened fire, as did San Fernando's 36 pounder battery. At daybreak it was seen that the fire had been effective, as the ship set sail swiftly, leaving behind her anchor.

Three hundred and twenty-five men from the urban companies of Guaynabo and Caguas entered the Post on this day.

A total of 25 prisoners and deserters were taken during the day. From their statements the most significant information was that in the enemy camp there were German and English regiments, that the landing troops numbered six to seven thousand men, and that some heavy artillery, howitzers, mortars and a large amount of munitions and ordnance had been landed. They also stated that there were between 400 and 500 Frenchmen who were prisoners of the British and who were virtually forced to take up arms for the expedition by reason of their miserable circumstances. They were said to be unhappy about such service and that many had been killed and wounded on the day of the landings.

Strangely, the British records make no mention of these Frenchmen amongst their numbers. The fact that they were allegedly prisoners implies that they were French Republicans and as such, enemies, and it would seem most unlikely that a Commander would arm a large number of enemy prisoners and let them loose amongst his own troops. At best, if Frenchmen were present at all it would seem more reasonable to assume that they were Royalist sympathizers from the French territories who were volunteers in exchange for British protection of their islands. The record of British forces makes no mention of such a contingent, although it may have been incorporated into the regimental totals.

Harvey's log for the day states.."A.M. the enemy fired occasionally from their different batteries and gunboats but without any effect. All the heavy artillery and mortars were in great part landed within four miles of the enemy's works. The Requin sailed to join the Tamar and Arethusa off the port and the latter sent in a Spanish schooner taken by her from St. Jago de Cuba, having aboard 1700 dollars and a quantity of beeswax