Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/236

216 After the capture of Habana by the English in 1762 much apprehension was felt as to the safety of Vera Cruz. The defences of the city and of San Juan de Ulúa were strengthened, and new ones erected on other portions of the coast. The island fortress was ordered to be repaired at a cost of over a million and a half, and the port of Anton Lizardo was to be fortified at an expense of a million and a quarter pesos. A fort was also begun at San Cárlos de Perote, this point being intended for an arsenal and as a storing place for treasure, Jalapa being now considered unsafe. Additional troops were despatched from Spain, and in December 1774 a military commission met at Vera Cruz to consider such further measures as might be necessary for defence. The result was very unfavorable. It was reported that the city was untenable, and that Ulúa, which was supposed to he impregnable, could only be held for a few days, and would require a garrison of 1,700 infantry and 300 artillerymen, together with a force of sailors sufficient to man a number of armed boats. It was even recommended that on the approach of an enemy the bastions should be blown up and the inhabitants sent into the interior, taking with them their effects. The report of the commissioners does not appear to have been heeded, and at the close of the century, when Europe was at war and the Spanish American possessions were at any time liable to attack, the garrisons of the city and fortress were even smaller than those stationed there sixty years before.