1708, the loss of the San Jose and millions of silver and gold pesos .... In the spring of 1708 Charles Wager was on an expedition in the Caribbean with a squadron of four British ships to disrupt the flow of money from the Spanish treasure fleets, as part of the War of Spanish Succession. In April, the squadron took in supplies on the small island of Pequeña Barú, today called Isla El Rosario, just 30 miles away from Cartagena. The four ships in Wagoners squadron were the Expedition (70 guns)( Captain Henry Long), the Kingston (60 guns), (Captain Bridges), the Portland (50 guns), (Captain Edward Windsor), and the Vulture (8 guns), a fire ship (Cmdr. Caesar Brooks). The Spanish were aware of their presence, and the governor of Cartagena sent warnings to the Spanish fleet, which was anchored in Portobelo. Nevertheless, the commander of the treasure fleet, José Fernández de Santillán, decided to sail from Portobelo to Cartagena on May 28. He could not wait much longer, because the hurricane season was fast approaching, and the rest of the fleet, plus their escort under Jean Du Casse, were waiting in Havana, and threatened to leave without him.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 07:32:13 +0000