San Juan NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE Puerto 6JVco San Juan NATIONAL msToRic sITE "\ o.r .,.,., {'f.;;J!:~.. ~ Department of the Interior OSCAR L. CHAPMAN, Secretary Newton B. Drury, Director Casa Blanca (L) and La Fortaleza (R) tower above the city wall

Massive masonry fortifications begun by the Spanish in the sixteenth century; the oldest stronghold was La Casa Blanca (The work grow, with walls of tapieria (a fortifications of European type in United States territory ), built in 1525 as a home for substantial mix of earth, rock, and lime) the Ponce de Leon family. True, the and limestone. For the first time El walls of La Fortaleza (The Fortress) were Morro had the look of a citadel. SAN JuAN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE, com­ ward passage via the Florida Straits and finished in 1540, but of it Gonzalo Fer­ prising major defenses of the fabulous the Gulf Stream. nandez de Oviedo said, ··only blind men "The Corsair Drake" Spanish Main, lies at the Caribbean gate­ In the 50 years since Columbus' first could have chosen such a site for a fort." way. Here Spaniards planted the first voyage, built a vast American empire. Perhaps Morro Castle began with Fer­ WHILE the defenses were being built, permanent colony in the present territory To fetch the new-found wealth across the nandez' suggestion that the 120-foot curious English sea captains were un­ of the United States, and here, to protect sea, each year two convoys left Spain, morro, or headland, at the west end ofSa,n welcome visitors. Then, in 1595, came this colony and their treasure fleets, they entering the Caribbean near . Juan was the proper place to fortify. "el corsario Drake," with full knowledge built mighty forts rising 140 feet and more One took on Mexican silver and Philippine Defensive works were authorized there in that San Juan harbored a storm-wrecked above the sea. San Juan's great fortifica­ merchandise at Vera Cruz, while the other 1539, and the first battery and tower were galleon. Thirty-five tons of precious metal tions are a measure of Spain's ancient load~d pearls at Cartagena and Peruvian built about that time. lay in La Fortaleza awaiting transport to power in the , and its traditions treasure at Puerto Bello on the Isthmus. Corsairs had already sacked and burned Spain. form a historic bond between the . At Havana they met for the homeward Havana, and in the following years Spain Drake's fleet of 23 sail, with a land army voyage past the shores of Florida. suffered countless other losses on both land of 3,000 men, dropped anchor at the east The Search for Riches Roving corsairs seized what they could and sea. In 1586, Sir Francis Drake end of San Juan on November 22, 1595. of Spanish goods. No ship or settlement returned from Santo Domingo, Cartagena, A hundred Spanish cannon and 1,500 men "GoLD in the rivers of Puerto Rico!" was safe from attack. Puerto Rico, so and St. Augustine with booty worth were ready. A ball from a shore battery The word from the Indians brought Juan near the Caribbean gateway, had to be £60,000. As part of a plan to improve crashed through a cabin port, struck the Ponce de Leon back to the island in 1508 kept free of enemies who would otherwise Spanish defenses, Don Juan Tejeda went stool from beneath Sir Francis Drake while to found Caparra. seize it for a home port in their forays to survey the Antilles. he was at supper, and killed three officers. Gold there was indeed, but it was soon against the treasure fleets . Florida's St. In company with the famed military The squadron moved to the other end of gone. And though commerce in sugar, Augustine, at the other end of the American engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli, Tejeda the island. coffee, and other products took its place, loop, was fortified for much the same landed precipitately in Puerto Rico when At the new anchorage the next day, the Puerto Rico was never a wealth-producing reason. their ship was wrecked on the coast. English engaged El Morro' s artillery, and colony. It was important to Spain for Antonelli liked the Morro site and laid that night a thousand of Drake's men other reasons. Puerto Rico was the base The First Defenses of San Juan out a hornwork (so-called because its plan manned pinnace and launch. Past El from which Ponce de Leon sailed to find resembles the spreading horns of a bull) Morro they hauled, into the dark harbor the northern mainland- the sixteenth IN 1521, the year of Ponce's death, the to stretch north-south across the headland to burn Spanish vessels. But, as the century ''island·' that he called Florida Puerto Rican colonists moved from Caparra as protection against land attack. flames began to light the waters, Spanish across the swift-flowing current of the to a better location- the present townsite Loss of materials in the wreck held up cannon splintered the little boats crowded Gulf Stream at which he marveled. on the little coastal island of San Juan. construction until Capt. Pedro de Salazar with Englishmen. Shattered and dis­ Although he paid for them with his life, Sea rovers continually threatened the little arrived in 1591. As a labor crew, the mayed, the attackers withdrew. Drake when mortally wounded by Florida settlement of some 300 people, and maraud­ town council assigned him 400 men-a then sailed toward , where he Indians, his discoveries opened a new ing Caribs from the southern islands number equal to half the town's white hoped for better luck. But he died of a seaway for the Spanish captains- a home­ ravaged their lands. For years the only population. Salazar watched the horn- fever, and his leaden coffin was buried in Cover: The walls of El Morro the American waters that had given him Key to the Indies- as a possession forever Bowdoin Hendrick coolly sailed into the Building the Walls Around the City fame and fortune. of His Britannic Majesty. This vision of harbor, suffering little damage from El San Juan as an English outpost was shared Morro. Ship guns cleared the way for ALTHOUGH European losses had weakened The Fall of El Morro by the ruling faction at home. For now, landing 800 men, and the flag of the Prince Spain, another great defense project was as the maritime powers of England, France, of Orange was soon flying above La Forta­ started in Puerto Rico. Despite expedi­ Tim Scourge of Malice, one of the greatest and Holland were growing in national leza. Hendrick· s engineers pushed their tions· against them, the buccaneers had ships of her day, lay with 19 other vessels unity and strength, they were seeking siege trenches to the moat of El Morro, grown bolder. Also, in the Caribbean, a few miles east of San Juan on June 6, permanent rewards in the Americas­ while other Dutchmen captured El Cafiuelo as well as on the continents, Spain's three 1598. Aboard the great flagship was colonies and trading stations of their own. and threw a blockade ring around El powerful enemies, England, France, and George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, Cumberland's dream soon ended. Dys­ Morro and its 330 defenders. Holland, had begun a bitter struggle for leading another formidable English attack entery so weakened his men that they The artillery duel lasted 3 weeks. possession and had seized the Lesser on Spanish America. had to leave Puerto Rico. But with them Behind the battered walls, many Spanish Antilles. Cumberland chose to approach by land. they hauled 80 Spanish cannon to the gunners were among the casualties; but Early in the 1630's, therefore, Gov. He brought 1,000 men ashore. And this ships, and they tore down the land wall the Hollanders also lost heavily. Guer­ Enrique Enriquez de Sotomayor began a time San Juan had less than 500 defenders, of El Morro. rilla-type action by Capt. Andres de work that went on intermittently for was short of food and weakened by an Botello and his hardy Puerto Rican volun­ more than 150 years- the building of epidemic. A Negro led the Englishmen The Dutch Burn San Juan teers continuously harassed the attackers. massive walls, some of them 50 beet high, to the bridge that stretched across to San El Cafiuelo was recaptured and burned. to enclose the city. On a promontory a Juan Island. Before dawn, on June 8, DURING the first quarter of the 1600's, Despite Dutch vigilance, canoes loaded half mile east of El Morro, a redoubt Cumberland's men attacked the bridge 200 slaves were brought to San Juan and with supplies reached El Morro. · called San Cristobal was built about 1633. gate, only to be thrown back after a 2- artisans from Spain arrived to work on Finally, Hendrick delivered an ulti­ By 1678, as the city wall enclosed this hour fight. Cumberland, who fell from the defenses. On tiny Cafiuelo Island, matum: surrender, or San Juan will burn. redoubt, San Cristobal took on something the bridge in his armor, almost drowned. opposite El Morro at the harbor entrance, ''There is enough wood and enough stone,·· of its present design. El Morro, too, was The attack shifted to a Spanish battery work on a little square fort, called San replied Gov. Juan de Haro, "to build the strengthened. guarding a narrow channel at the north­ Juan de la Cruz, was started about 1610, town again. east point of the island. A warship while at the other end of San Juan several While Hendrick put La Fortaleza and San Juan-A Defense of "The First sailed close in and silenced the shore guns, outworks were improved . Most impor­ almost a hundred houses to the torch, Order" whereupon the men of England landed tant, El Morro hornwork was rebuilt the Spanish suddenly attacked, routing and moved on the town. Siege guns stronger than ever, and behind its walls a the Dutch from their positions. Spanish As Spain's luck in the Caribbean wor­ methodically breached the land wall of broad new gun deck overlooked the harbor cannon, moved swiftly into position, sened with British capture of Martinique, El Morro, and Gov. Antonio Mosquera channel. twice caused the enemy fleet to change St. Lucia, Grenada, and Havana during formally presented the citadel keys to For Puerto Rico, the long conflict anchorage. When at last, on November the 1760's, the Spanish Crown listed Cumberland on June 21. Cumberland between Spain and the Netherlands came 2, the ships made a successful break for the Puerto Rico as a defense station of the saw his standard rise over the battered to a climax in 1625. On September 25, a sea, the guns of El Morro this time left "first order." Field Marshal Alejandro walls and dreamed of Puerto Rico- the Dutch fleet of 17 vessels under Gen. many a mark on them. O'Reilly brought Engineer Tomas O 'Daly

El Caiiuelo, burned in 1625, is now rebuilt El Morro from the bay Although part of the city wall was razed as the city grew during the latter 1800's, the bastioned ramparts still crown the precipitous ocean shore from El Morro · to San Cristobal. On the harbor side, the wall rises sharply from the water's edge and here, at historic San Juan Gate, colonial officials were greeted with tradi­ tional ceremony as they stepped ashore. Near the gate is Casa Blanca, Ponce de Leon's family property until 1779. Casa Blanca is still used as quarters by the military and is not open to the public. Castillo de San Cristobal (Fort St. Christopher) looms grimly above . As at El Morro, there is a Fort San Cristobal rises from the heart of the city San Juan Island, showing El Morro and city walls courtyard, or plaza de armas, surrounded by gun rooms and barracks. Tunnels to San Juan in 1765, and the two Irish and at Barbados Sir Ralph Abercromby end when the defenses of San Juan were lead up to a main gun deck; higher still Spaniards not only reformed the military went aboard with an army of some 7,000 turned over to the United States on is Santa Barbara cavalier, a massive, organization, but also planned great ad­ men. After capturing Trinidad, they October 18, 1898. two-tiered gun platform 150 feet above ditions to the fortifications . moved on Puerto Rico. On April 18, the sea. In the decade from 1766, using 700 con­ 1797, despite a preliminary repulse, the The Fortifications Today victs from Spain, , and , troops landed east of San Juan Island. Administration O'Daly made El Morro essentially what it Abercromby marched toward the city, SAN JuAN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE in­ is today. At San Cristobal he built the but Gen. Ramon de Castro's eastern de­ cludes the Spanish-built forts of El Morro, SAN JuAN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE was great outworks. fense line held the British at bay and San Cristobal, El Caiiuelo, the city walls, established by order of the Secretary of By the last years of the eighteenth finally won a fierce artillery duel. After and Casa Blanca. the Interior on February 14, 1949. Under century the major fortifications included a strong Spanish attack, Abercromby Castillo de San Felipe del Morro (Fort the terms of a cooperative agreement El Caiiuelo and the citadel of El Morro withdrew on the night of April 30. St . Phillip on the Headland) rises 140 feet between the DepartmentI of the Army and for defense of the harbor entrance and the While San Juan defenses were refined above the sea at the west end of San Juan the Department of the Interior, Army use city walls and San Cristobal for command during the 1800's, Spain's American col­ Island. A broad grassy slope is the land of the forts will continue. Regulated of other approaches. Beyond San Cristo­ onies, one by one, gained independence. approach to the moated walls. Store­ public access is permitted, however, and bal to the ea.st were two other defense By the time trouble in Cuba led the rooms, gunrooms, quarters, chapel, and the National Park Service is responsible lines-an entrenchment stretching across United States to declare war with Spain prison surround a large courtyard, or for visitor contacts and furnishing his­ the island and fortifications along the in 1898, Cuba and Puerto Rico were the assembly plaza, and huge cisterns lie torical information. Correspondence re­ eastern shore. By the end of the century, only remnants of Spain's former American beneath. Ramps, tunnels, and stairways lating to the historic site should be ad­ these great works had cost Spain an empire. give access to the different parts of the fort, dressed to the Superintendent, San Juan estimated 6,000,000 pesos. They mounted In search of the Spanish fleet, Admiral a tremendous, five-tiered pile of limestone National Historic Site, National Park -Over 400 guns, and spread over more than William Sampson brought his flotilla to which sweeps upward from the ancient Service, Box 712, San Juan, P. R. 200 acres of land. The town itself oc­ Puerto Rico, and for 2% hours, on May gun platform washed by the Atlantic to cupied only 62 acres. 12, his battleships engaged the newly­ the broad, wind-swept ramparts that Service to the Public modernized batteries of San Juan. For­ crown the headland. The End of an Era tunately, there was no great damage, nor El Caiiuelo, or San Juan de la Cruz (St. EL MoRRO and San Cristobal are open was there further action at San Juan. John of the Cross) , is a 50-foot-square daily from 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. Museum THE struggle that convulsed Europe for United States forces landed on Puerto fort across the harbor entrance from El exhibits and other services are under 25 years began in the last decade of the Rico's southern coast in July, but an Morro. Its walls stand about 15 feet development. Information regarding the 1700' s. A British fleet of 60 vessels, armistice had been signed before they high. The flat roof was a platform fqr historic structures may be obtained from under Rear Admiral Henry Harvey, crossed reached the capital city. Spain's four­ cannon, and beneath this deck are the the National Park Service headquarters at the Atlantic to seize Spanish colonies, century rule at Puerto Rico came to an ruins of a cistern and magazines. 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