Laurent, or as he is more frequently known by the chroniclers Lorencillo, by which name we shall henceforth call him, was appointed commander of the fleet, while Van Horn was in charge of the land forces. The former is described as a tall, well proportioned, and handsome man; light-haired and comely of aspect, a generous ruffian withal, though of course always alieni profusus, and one very popular among his comrades. He was in fact a model corsair. It is not recorded that he was ever guilty of quite such diabolic atrocities as were laid to the charge of Morgan or L'Olonnois, but if we can believe the Spanish records of this period, his deeds were sufficiently diabolical to be interesting. It is there stated that while still a youth he was punished by an alcalde of Tabasco for some offence. Vowing vengeance he disappeared, and not long afterward returned with a gang of malefactors who sacked and burned the town and outraged the women. But the account given by Esquemelin, one of his fraternity,[1] and probably the more truthful version is that, being captured by pirates while serving on board a Spanish vessel, he consented to join the buccaneers. This writer describes the character of his favorite hero in glowing colors, giving him credit for all the qualities of a true gentleman, and remarking with amusing naïveté that his only fault was his impatience and a habit of swearing a little too frequently.[2]
Toward sunset on the 17th of May,[3] 1683, two large ships flying Spanish colors were seen to the leeward of Vera Cruz, crowding all sail to make the port, for a
- ↑ Hist. Flib., i. 276 et seq.
- ↑ Id., i. 276.
- ↑ The 9th of May in Sharp's Voyages, 116. The 17th is the date given in Villarroel, Invasion Vera Cruz; Lerdo de Tejada, Apunt. Hist., 273. Although the latter is somewhat contradictory as to dates in relating the sack of Vera Cruz, he is probably right in this instance.
is of course absurd. Robles himself gives them only 15 vessels, while in the Mosaico are mentioned 11 ships and nine piraguas, one of the former being mounted with 50 guns, according to the author of West Indies, Geog. and Hist., 146, the other ships having in all 124 guns. This chronicler places the land forces at 1,200.
