Page:The History of San Martin (1893).djvu/389

Rh native instinct for independence, of which they soon became the most doughty champions.

Morillo landed at Santa Marta, intent upon the capture of Cartagena. The garrison was weak, was short of arms and of provisions, and was cut off from help either by sea or by land, but was nevertheless resolute to resist to the last extremity. The ground was cleared for three leagues round, outlying posts were called in, a flotilla was armed for the defence of the bay, sixty guns were added to the eighty-four already mounted on the batteries, martial law was proclaimed, and all men capable of bearing arms were compelled to serve. The garrison was thus increased to 3,600 men, of whom 1,300 were regular troops. The command was at first given to Castillo, but he was soon after replaced by Bermudez, and Montilla was named Major-General.

Cartagena was then the strongest fortress in America. It was captured hyby [sic] the French in 1697, but when the English, under Admiral Vernon, attacked it in the year 1741 they were beaten off, although they had 9,000 soldiers in addition to a powerful fleet. It was built upon a promontory running into the sea, and is so separated from the mainland by marshes that it may be considered an island—a sort of military Venice. The city proper is situate to the north-west of this promontory, and to the west of it lies a suburb called Getzemani, which communicates with the city by a fortified bridge thrown across a deep canal, and is closed at each end by a stockade. Getzemani is also joined to the mainland by another bridge of similar construction. The fortress, the city, and the suburb, were all enclosed on the land side by high walls and bastions. To the east, beyond the swamps, and about half a mile from the walls, stood a castle on a hill, called San Lázaro, whose fire swept all the city, but was itself under the fire of a fortified hill, called La Popa, which commanded all the approaches. The most accessible part of the city was the bay, which runs from north to south, and is nearly a mile in length. This bay is shut in from the Gulf of Mexico by two islands,