Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 58.djvu/277

Vernon de todo Hierro); on the right, but nearer the town, by the Gloria Castle (Santiago de la Gloria); and was raked by San Geronymo, still higher up. By position, structure, and size, these were formidable; but they had been neglected during the long peace, and though for several months war had appeared imminent, they were quite unprepared for it. Of their two hundred guns, the greater number, especially in the Iron Castle, were dismounted; there were no carriages for them; there was a very small quantity of ammunition; and the garrison was far below even its peace complement. Everything had been left for the morrow; gun-carriages were going to be made; the forts were going to be put in order; for four years the president of Panama had been urging that it should be done, but it was still undone when the English squadron appeared before the fort (Don Dionisio Martinez de la Vega, president of Panama, to the king of Spain, 12 Feb. 1740, N.S., in Home Office Records, Admiralty, No. 77).

Vernon's order was for his ships to pass into the harbour within two hundred yards of the Iron Castle, giving it as they passed a warm fire, but not staying to silence it. But as the ships drew in with the land, the breeze failed; off the Iron Castle they were becalmed, and the attack thus became more serious than had been intended. The first three ships poured in a close and sustained fire; the Burford, carrying Vernon's flag, was the fourth, and keeping somewhat closer in, her fire and the musketry from her tops drove the Spaniards from their few effective guns. The signal was made for the boats to land, which they did under the very walls of the castle, in front of the lower battery. There was no breach; but the sailors climbed in through the embrasures, and pulled up the marines; and without any further opposition such of the Spaniards as had not already escaped surrendered at discretion. The next day the other forts and the town capitulated; all the ships in the harbour, including three guarda-costas, were taken possession of; the brass guns were carried off; the iron guns were destroyed, and the forts were blown up.

This was the celebrated capture of Porto Bello, the news of which caused the people of England to go mad with excitement and joy. As an achievement of war it was a very small thing, for the Spaniards had done what they could to make it easy; but the feeling against the government was running very high, and Vernon's success was counted as a great party victory. Both houses of parliament voted their thanks; London voted him the freedom of the city; and London and all the principal cities and towns sent congratulatory addresses to the king. Innumerable medals were struck for the use of the people; base in metal, abominable in workmanship, patriotic in sentiment, and all showing Vernon's head with the legend ‘He took Porto Bello with six ships.’ There are more than a hundred varieties of these in the British Museum (Notes and Queries, 3rd ser. ii. 70). In different parts of England and Scotland Porto Bellos sprang into existence, and Vernon's Head was, for many years, a favourite sign for the public-houses.

Even before the capture of Porto Bello, Vernon had been considering what operations were to follow, and how, with the force at his disposal, he was to carry out his instructions to ‘destroy the Spanish settlements.’ His letters at this time are peculiarly interesting, and show how clearly he understood what the policy of England ought to be. ‘The most sensible loss to Spain,’ he wrote, ‘would be to take the island of Cuba from them, as what would be of most detriment to them and service to Great Britain;’ but considering, he continued, the populousness of the island, its neighbourhood to the French at Hispaniola, the great cost of transport, and the uncertainty of such attempts, ‘the best advice I can think of giving is to lay aside all thoughts of such expensive land expeditions, as all advantages may be better and cheaper procured by keeping a strong superiority at sea in these seas; by which means, let who will possess the country, our royal master may command the wealth of it,’ and much more to the same effect (Vernon to Newcastle, 31 Oct. 1739, Home Office Records, Admiralty, No. 77). At home, however, neither people nor government had any thought of complying with Vernon's advice, and it was determined to send out to him not only a reinforcement of ships far in excess of what could be wanted for any purely naval purpose, but also a large land force, the whole to be employed as a land expedition.

Vernon, meanwhile, insulted Cartagena by an ineffective bombardment from the sea on 6 March 1740, and reduced and took possession of Chagre on the 24th. Such cruising as was possible was also done, and watch was kept on such Spanish ships as came out to the West Indies; but, from a naval point of view, the event of the year was the issue on 21 Aug. of the celebrated memorandum forbidding the serving out of raw spirits to the ships' companies. In home waters the established daily ration for each seaman was a gallon of beer, and for