page_title: Capture of Fort Rocher
section_title: Capture
hierarchical_section_title: Capture of Fort Rocher / Capture
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing of Tortuga island during "Brother of the Coast" period, 17th century Français&#160;: Dessin de l'île de la Tortue à l'époque des frères de la côte, 17èm siécle
context_page_description: The Capture of Fort Rocher took place on 9 February 1654, during the Franco-Spanish War. Equipped with one siege battery, a Spanish expedition of 700 troops attacked the buccaneer stronghold of Tortuga, capturing the Fort de Rocher and 500 prisoners including 330 buccaneers and goods valued at approximately 160,000 pieces-of-eight. The Spanish burned the colony to the ground and slaughtered its inhabitants, leaving behind a fort manned by 150 soldiers. They possessed the island for about eighteen months, but on the approach of the expedition under Penn and Venerables were ordered by the Conde de Peñalva, Governor of Santo Domingo, to demolish the fortifications, bury the artillery and other arms, and retire to his aid in Hispaniola.
context_section_description: Gliding past its harbor, the Spaniards bombarded the vessels in the roads, then continued two or three miles farther down the coast and disembarked several hundred troops at the hamlet of Cayonne, marching back to besiege the island's principal fortress. On the night of 12 February, Rojas sent a company with grappling lines to scale the heights behind the keep and install siege artillery.
  The buccaneer fort was built by a skilled French engineer on a rocky hill which dominated the island harbour of Cayenne. By 18 February the French and English requested terms and two days later the Chavalier de Fontenay decided to surrender. More than 500 captives were captured, among them 330 boucaniers. All were allowed to sail to France aboard a pair of ships under de Fontenay and Tibaut and Martin, respectively—with the exception of two leaders who were kept as hostages; the Spanish seized 70 cannons in the fortress and shore batteries, three ships, a frigate, and eight lesser craft as booty. These attackers also decided to hold their hard-won conquest by leaving behind a garrison of one hundred men under the Irish-born Murphy.
caption: Map of Tortuga (17th century)
exif: {}