Capture Maracaibo

Capture of Maracaibo - the seizure of the Spanish city of Maracaibo on the shores of the lake of the same name , produced in 1666 by the French freebooter Francois Olone together with Mr. D'Artigny (Miguel Bascom).

At the beginning of the campaign, they captured two Spanish galleons ; one on the north coast of Hispaniola, a 16-gun merchant ship heading from Puerto Rico to New Spain with a load of cocoa and jewels. In the ship’s holds, 120 thousand pounds of cocoa, 40 thousand piastres and jewels for 10 thousand pesos were found . L'Olone sent the ship to Tortuga to unload it and bring it to the island of Saona , and the second went from Cumana (Venezuela) with weapons and a salary for the garrison of Santo Domingo. It was found 8 guns, 7 thousand pounds of gunpowder, muskets, wicks and 12 thousand piastres. After dropping the Spanish prisoners ashore, L'Olone renamed his prize Pudrier (Powder Cellar) and transferred it under the command of Antoine du Puy.

The city of Maracaibo , lying on the coast of New Venezuela, was located on the shore of the lake, connected to the Venezuelan Gulf only by a narrow strait , the entrance to which was guarded by a fortified fort . After the assault, which lasted 3 hours, he was captured. After that, the ships of pirates entered the lake and, after landing, freely occupied the city, previously left by its inhabitants. For the next two weeks, they plundered the city and hunted down the surrounding forests for the escapees. Finding out that three quarters of the city’s population managed to move to the other side of the lake, to the small town of Gibraltar, they decided to storm it too.

In a stubborn battle, they captured the city. In total, about 400 people participated in the march to this settlement. After plundering and Gibraltar, the pirates then demanded a ransom of ten thousand piastres, threatening to burn the city to the ground in the event of non-payment. After receiving the money, the filibusters returned to Maracaibo, where they also demanded a ransom for the city in the amount of 30,000 piastres, which they received.

The extraction was huge - 250000 piastres in cash plus 100000 piastres of values. The pirates returned to Tortugu on November 1, 1666.