Morgan arrives on the outskirts of Panama…
January 1671 CE
Morgan arrives on the outskirts of Panama City on January 18, 1671, to discover that the capital is defended by roughly fifteen hundred infantry and cavalry.
He splits his forces in two, using one to march through the forest and flank the enemy.
The Spaniards are untrained and rush Morgan's line where he cuts them down with gunfire, then sending his flankers to emerge from cover and finish off the rest of the Spanish soldiers.
Although Panama is at this time the richest city in New Spain, Morgan and his men obtain far less plunder than they had expected.
Much of the city's wealth had been removed onto a Spanish ship that stands out into the Gulf of Panama, beyond the looters' reach.
Most of the inhabitants' remaining goods are destroyed in a fire of uncertain cause.
Morgan's men torture those residents of Panama they can catch, but very little gold is forthcoming from the victims.
Following Morgan's attack, the city will be rebuilt two years later in a site a few kilometers to the west. (The former site, called Panamá Viejo, still contains the remaining portions of the old city.)