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FORTRESS STUDY GROUP
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Casemate 77 |
All four of the forts that originally defended the harbour at Havana are now open to visitors; the last is La Punta on the western side of the harbour entrance. All the forts are worth visiting and all feature in abundance those pointed bits so beloved by our editor. Adjacent to two of the forts are C19th coast defence batteries that are often overlooked and rarely mentioned in the standard guidebooks, but are worth visiting (I quite like these too. Ed).
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Havana, from its foundation in 1519 was plagued by pirate raids resulting in the first fort being built in the early 1550s. Jacque de Sores, a notorious French buccaneer, arrived before the town in July 1555; in spite of strong resistance against odds the fort was forced to surrender and the town fell to the buccaneers who thoroughly sacked it, destroying the fort in the process. When news of the capture reached Spain, coupled with pleas from the Governor and the inhabitants for assistance to defend the town, a military engineer, Bartholomew Sanchez was sent to build another fort. The result was the Castillo de La Real Fuerza built between 1558 and 1582 on the site of the original fort that was destroyed three years previously (see also Casemate 75 p23. Ed). The fort is not well sited as it does not cover the harbour entrance being at least half a mile inside it. Four years after its completion, the fort was sufficient to deter a great Elizabethan socialist from attacking the town. With the passage of time, the defensive role of the fort declined and it became the residence of the Captain-Generals of the island until 1791.
The Castillo is a small square work surrounded by a moat; there are four bastions, one at each corner and these have a gun-port in each flank covering the moat, with embrasures on the top of each covering the connecting curtain, which originally had embrasures, but these survive only on one side, the other three have later buildings built on top.
Castillo de la Real Fuertza; entrance and Giradilla (l).
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On the salient angle of the north-west bastion there is a circular tower built in the form of a large guerite (or pepper pot) between 1630 and 1634, surmounted by a bronze figure of a woman known as the Giradilla. Over the entrance to the fort is the coat of arms of Philip II of Spain, mounted when Havana was granted city status in 1592.
Not far from the Castillo is the Plaza de Armas around which are a number of colonial buildings, the chief of which is the Palacio de Los Capitanes Generales which houses the museum of the history of the city and the island, and the Palacio del Sequndo Cabo (the Palace of the Vice Captain General), both worth a visit.
Two forts were built on opposite sides of the harbour entrance between 1589 and 1630 to the designs of an Italian engineer in Spanish service, Giovanni Bautista Antonelli; on the western side is the Castillo de San Salvador de La Punta and on the eastern side the Castillo de Los Tres Reyes del Morro, these titles are usually shortened to La Punta and El Morro. An apt description of them could use the words of a contemporary Englishman writing about two English forts: 'La Punta lieth lower and better to annoy shipping, but El Morro standeth higher and stronger to defend itself'.
In the C17th small square forts were built, one at the mouth of the Chorrera River to the west and the other at the mouth of the Cojimar River to the east and the defences were completed by the construction of a masonry wall along the western side of the city to guard against a land attack. The wall was 33ft (10m) high, 5ft (1.5m) thick and 5,400yds (5000m) long; construction started in 1674 and was not finally completed until 1740.
With its three forts and city walls Havana was considered impregnable; at the end of the Seven Years War, after Spain had joined France against Great Britain, Havana's defences were put to the test, and collapsed after a two month siege. On 6th June 1762 look-outs at El Morro saw a large number of ships to the east; the Captain-General having viewed them stated it was a passing convoy. The next day the ships had come closer, men were being disembarked and boats were pulling for the shore. It was the English Armada come to take Havana, under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir George Pocock, with 53 warships and 156 transports containing an army of 11,000 men under the Earl of Albermarle. While the troops were disembarking the Captain-General was at his devotions in the Cathedral and not playing bowls (or boules) in the Plaza de Armas. The British landed near the mouth of the Cojimar River, the fort was bombarded and silenced, and the covering Spanish troops were driven off.
The bombardment of El Morro started on 30th June; after the Tejeda Bastion had been mined the fortress was stormed and fell on 30th July 1762. The speed with which the assaulting troops scaled the breach took the Spanish defenders by surprise and they never managed to co-ordinate their defence. Siege guns were then put along the Cabaña ridge overlooking the harbour channel and the city; a summons to surrender was rejected and on 11th August a nine hour bombardment of the city commenced, after which the Spanish opened negotiations for surrender, and formally surrendered unconditionally on 13th August. Havana passed into British hands, together with booty valued at £3m which resulted in each seaman receiving £3.14s.10d and each soldier £4.1s.8d in prize money. Twelve Spanish ships of the line, nearly a third of the country's fleet, also fell into British hands; trying to save the 12 ships prolonged the negotiations for surrender but the Spanish were in a very weak position to attempt to exempt the ships. It is possible to trace the events of the siege; at the beach where the British troops landed, the small fort at Cojimar, the Tejeda Bastion at El Morro and the Cabaña ridge. Although now occupied by a large fortress it is easy to appreciate that once the ridge was occupied by the British, Havana's fall was inevitable.
El Morro; Tejeda Bastion, and ditch.
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El Morro stands on a rocky promontory on the eastern side of the harbour entrance which it commands, with La Punta fortress on the opposite side; it is a two-tiered work with the lower tier in the shape of a demi-bastion covering the harbour entrance. The upper tier forms the remainder of the fortress, where there are casemates on the northern and southern sides and above is the terreplein with provision for artillery firing en barbette or through embrasures. In the middle of the fortress is a two-storied barracks that was built after 1763. On the landward side are two bastions; the Austria Demi-bastion and the Tejeda Bastion; in front of these is the ditch 631/2ft (20m) wide and 43ft (13m) deep. The size of the ditch came as an unpleasant surprise to the British besiegers as it had been missed in the intelligence reports on the defences and was the reason for resorting to mining. In the flank of the bastions are casemated positions covering the ditch into which it is possible to descend by long flights of steps. On the parapets of the Bastion are memorials to the Spanish defenders and to the British troops involved.
After 1763 the Bastion was rebuilt and in the C19th two magazines were added for the battery of three 8-in (21 cm) RML howitzers, dating from 1870, that remain in position; these guns are found throughout Havana.
El Morro; Tejeda Bastion and howitzers.
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The Fortress is entered by a modern bridge over the ditch, and through a long musketry gallery that emerges at the main entrance. The gallery runs along the bottom of the southern face of the Austria demi-bastion.
Adjacent to the main entrance to El Morro a ramp leads down to the Battery of the 12 Apostles which dates from the C17th; any vessel sailing past El Morro would immediately come under the fire of this sea level battery; it was armed with six 11-in (28cm) Barrios SB guns and two 8-in (21cm) RML howitzers in 1898 and these guns remain in position.
El Morro; on the waterline is the Battery of the Twelve Apostles.
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Unfortunately time has caught up with the guns and their mountings; both are in urgent need of preservation, especially the latter as the slides are in such a dangerous state of corrosion that the greater part of the Battery is closed off for safety reasons. The two RML howitzers have been removed from their mountings and placed on concrete ones, detracting considerably from the overall view of the Battery. Sadly the remains of some of the mountings have been deposited in a heap outside the lower entrance to the Battery; the buildings at the rear have been turned into a restaurant.
Across from the northern end of the ditch at El Morro is the Velasco Battery that dates from the 1850s; it was remodelled in the 1880s for six guns when five magazines were built to act as traverses and three 11-in (28 cm) Krupp guns were mounted; by 1898 three of the vacant gun positions had been filled in.
It is likely that the magazines were given an earth covering which has since been removed. One Krupp gun remains in position though for how long is a matter of speculation given the state of the gun and its mounting, both in urgent need of attention. The barrels of the other two Krupp guns lie behind the Battery together with two other barrels, possibly 10-in SB Parrotts as there are no visible markings on them.
La Punta is the fortress on the western side of the harbour entrance and lies at sea level so it is overlooked by both El Morro and the Cabaña ridge; during the bombardment on 11 August 1762 the fort's guns were easily silenced. The fort adjoined the city wall though this is not apparent today as the whole area outside the fort has been taken over by roads and a large ornate statue to the old cynic General Maximo Gomez. The fortress has four bastions all of which, except the north eastern one, have guerites at their respective salient angles.
La Punta, enceinte and guerite.
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All the bastions and curtains have gun embrasures; inside the fort there is casemated accommodation around the central parade or plaza de armas. A two-storied barracks on the western side now houses a naval museum, with an interesting display on the ground floor where there are copies in colour of a series of English prints depicting the capture of 'Havannah' in 1762; the text of the prints is English, but there is no Spanish translation, not even of the small Spanish success during the siege. The north-west bastion has two 10-in SB Parrotts mounted in it, whether these guns were mounted in the bastion is unknown; there is evidence that guns were mounted in the north-west bastion, but no details are available. The fort has been well restored and only recently opened to visitors as a museum.
Outside the fort and also restored is La Punta Battery, (below) built as part of the coast defences in the 1890s after the arrival of General Martinez de Campos as Captain-General.
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The Battery was described in an English report as:
The two 6-in (15cm) Ordoñez guns remain in place today; the right-hand one being retrieved from outside the battery and mounted on its carriage. The Battery is part of a small garden created outside the fort; trees have been planted at the rear of the site affording some shade and there is seating from where one can view El Morro and the Cabaña on the opposite side of the harbour channel.
The Malecon is the main highway running along the western shore from La Punta; after a mile or so the Hotel Nacional is reached; this occupies the site of the Santa Clara Battery dating from the 1890s and another of the coast defence batteries. An English report stated that the Battery had 'a very irregular' trace, an American report was a little more helpful stating that it was 'solidly constructed' and 'the most powerful of the Havana batteries'; it was armed with two 12-in (30.5cm) BL Ordoñez guns, three 11-in (28cm) BL Krupp guns and four of the ubiquitous 8-in (21cm) RML howitzers.
12-in Ordonez guns.
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11-in Krupp gun.
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In the hotel grounds, reduced to a garden feature partially surrounded by shrubs, stand one of the 12-in Ordonez guns (top above) and an 11-in Krupp gun (above), in their original positions. Inside the hotel is a scale model of the battery as it was at the time of the Spanish-American War (1898). Some 300 yards further along the Malecon from the Hotel Nacional is the memorial to the USS Maine; displayed on it is some of the main armament of that ill-fated ship.
Built between 1764 and 1774 on the Cabaña ridge is what is claimed to be the largest fort in the former Spanish dominions, the Fortaleza de San Carlos de La Cabaña which is usually shortened to the Cabaña. The fortress covers approximately 241/2 acres (10ha), is 800yds (740m) from north to south, could mount at least 120 guns and had a peacetime garrison of 1,300 men that could be increased to 6,000 in times of war; it cost 14m pesetas.
Along the western side is the curtain wall with the main gun line behind it overlooking the city and the entrance channel to the harbour. There are a number of cannons on display along the curtain which has a sloping profile.
The land front of the Cabaña has a demi-bastion at each end; in the centre is the very large San Ambrosio Bastion; in front is a ditch some 40ft deep. In front of each curtain between the bastions is a tenaille with a ravelin.
La Cabaña Fortress; north is at top right, the San Ambrosio Bastion in the centre; the small dock is top left. (Satellite image from Google Earth, (c)2005 Google). |
The northern or San Leopoldo Ravelin contains the outer entrance; on the main gateway of the fortress, is an ornate baroque structure emblazoned with the arms of King Charles III of Spain (1759-1788).
Inside the Cabaña are two sets of barracks, the southern one containing two museums and a restaurant. The whole fortress is now open to visitors so one can walk all of the ditch, visit the two ravelins and the large San Ambrosio Bastion and walk along the glacis and into the outworks.
In the northern demi-bastion is a stepped gun line complete with barrels and cannon-balls, the Upper Pastora Battery with three 8-in (21cm) RML howitzers still mounted and a long line of casemates built into the faces of the bastion. Opposite the northern set of barracks there is a building that was taken over by Ché Guevara after 3rd January 1959 when he became the commandant of the Cabaña, where memorabilia relating to him are displayed. At the salient point of the San Ambrosio Bastion a modern bridge, restrained in keeping with the C18th work, has been thrown over the ditch for a new entrance to the Bastion as there are buildings behind the gun line.
While the Cabaña was being constructed, the small Divina Pastora Battery was built below the northern demi-bastion to cover the entrance channel and a small dock that was established between El Morro and the Cabaña. The battery had two faces with a small barracks and magazine behind the gun line; it mounts nine of the ubiquitous 8-in (21cm) RML howitzers in a line behind the longer face of the battery, as shown in 1898.
Divina Pastora Battery; 8-in howitzers on the gun line.
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The barracks have been converted into a restaurant; the food served is very adequate though the service is slow especially when there are parties of tourists.
The city walls survive in places; since 1863 much has been demolished to allow for the expansion of the city. The best stretch of wall is near the railway station.
The small fort at Chorrera is reached by travelling down the Malecon past the Hotel Nacional and the USS Maine memorial, it is now a restaurant but can be visited; the main battery was on the roof with barracks, magazine and stores underneath.
Two other forts guard the western approaches to Old Havana; in the centre is the stout Castillo del Pricipe (1767) (rt) and east of that at the end of the harbour is Fuerte Atares (1765).
(Satellite image from Google Earth, (c)2005 Google). |
Cojimar Fort survives and is occupied by the coastguard, so there is no access to the interior, but it can be viewed from outside; it stands just above sea level and had an open battery for three guns. Behind is a two-storied building for stores, magazine and barrack. Opposite the fort on the other side of the Cojimar River is the long low sandy beach where the troops from the English Armada landed in 1762.
As well as fortresses, Havana Vieja is full of museums, colonial architecture and churches. On the forts there is little literature in English, even of the picture book variety; even postcards of the historic sites are few and difficult to find although there are innumerable ones, needless to say, of Uncle Ché and Uncle Fidel.
(In Casemate 75, p3, I asked if anyone could send in material on the Spanish fortifications of the Caribbean. Ian Stevenson promptly responded with this article (Part 1) on the defences of Havana; Part 2 by Peter Harrison will be in the next issue, covering the other defences of Cuba, and by a very happy chance the Osprey Fortress series has just published The Spanish Main, 1492-1800, a splendid book on exactly the area requested. See page 37 for review. Ed.)
