The Raid on Matina or the Battle of Matina was a small but significant military engagement that took place on 13 August 1747 between British

Baymen The Baymen were the earliest European settlers with Afro-Jamaicans and Creole-Jamaicans, along the Bay of Honduras in what eventually became the colony of British Honduras (modern-day Belize). Settlement The first Baymen settled in the Beli ...

and

Miskito Miskito may refer to: * Miskito people, ethnic group in Honduras and Nicaragua ** Miskito Sambu, branch of Miskito people with African admixture ** Tawira Miskito, branch of Miskito people of largely Indigenous origin * Miskito language, original la ...

from the

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and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

forces over the Spanish fortification at Matina in the

Captaincy General of Guatemala The Captaincy General of Guatemala (), also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala (), was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central America, including present-day Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras ...

.Laycock The engagement was part of a larger conflict which was known as the

War of Jenkins' Ear The War of Jenkins' Ear was fought by Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and History of Spain (1700–1808), Spain between 1739 and 1748. The majority of the fighting took place in Viceroyalty of New Granada, New Granada and the Caribbean ...

. The British and Miskito destroyed the fort after a short sharp fight before destroying the crops and taking away plunder from the surrounding Cacao rich area.Marley p 408Olsen & Shaddle p.762

Events

Background

At the mouth of the Río Matina in the Spanish colonial region of the

lay Fuerte de San Fernando de Matina, a wooden blockhouse which had been built by the Spanish in 1741-42. It was garrisoned by thirty four soldiers and twenty local armed militia. Between 1742 and 1747 illegal trade between landowners in Costa Rica and with

British Jamaica The Crown Colony of Jamaica and Dependencies was a British colony from 1655, when it was captured by the English Protectorate from the Spanish Empire. Jamaica became a British colony from 1707 and a Crown colony in 1866. The Colony was primar ...

and the Baymen of the

(of present-day

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

) were stopped as a result of the fort. In April 1747 a group of British baymen and Miskitos took about ten prisoners near Matina and threatened to burn the plantations and invade Cartago if trade was not resumed with them. For this reason the Spanish governor sent a reinforcement of fifty soldiers in the area. The commander of the fort was Don Francisco Rodriguez, and together with the reinforcements ordered to put permanent lookouts in places where they could watch any approaching British troops to avoid surprise.Creedman p 114

Attack

In early August 1747, 45 British and a troop of Miskitu soldiers commanded by British Captain Thomas Owen was ordered to attack the fort, by order of the English

governor of Jamaica This is a list of viceroys in Jamaica from its initial occupation by Spain in 1509, to its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. For a list of viceroys after independence, see Governor-General of Jamaica. For context, see History of Jama ...

Edward Trelawny.Laycock Transported by

Pirogue A pirogue ( or ), also called a piragua or piraga, is any of various small boats, particularly dugouts and canoes. The word is French and is derived from Spanish ''piragua'' , which comes from the Carib '. Description The term 'pirogue' ...

s from Jamaica they landed in Moin near

Limón Limón (), also known as Puerto Limón, is the capital city of both the province and canton of the same name. One of Costa Rica's seven "middle cities" (i.e., main cities outside of San José's Greater Metropolitan Area), Limón has a populat ...

, which beyond had an extensive swamp – the Spanish thinking it was impassable had no lookouts in the area. After beaching the vessels the British were able to advance without being spotted and they walked through the jungle to the fort. The high

Canebrake A canebrake or canebreak is a thicket of any of a variety of ''Arundinaria'' grasses: '' A. gigantea'', '' A. tecta'' and '' A. appalachiana''. As a bamboo, these giant grasses grow in thickets up to tall. ''A. gigantea'' is generally found in s ...

meant they were concealed and watched patiently for five days studying the defences and awaited for the right moment to attack. Finally on 13 August at 11 a.m. the British attacked from the south west, and took the garrison by complete surprise. The soldiers and militiamen had only just prepared a meal which meant that main door of the fort was wide open with only two soldiers guarding the barracks. In addition only four men were guarding the fort walls. When the assault began, only two of those four guards were able to enter before the fort door was closed. The English brought with them two hand grenades each, and used them to bomb the door but they could not break it. They then surrounded and attacked the wall where they fired through the gun holes inside. Quickly the British soon found weaknesses in the perimeter where they could fire their muskets at close range – this caused confusion inside the fort. A little more than fifteen minutes of since the start of the assault, the fort's commander Rodriguez decided he couldn't resist and therefore surrendered.

Aftermath

In total there were four deaths and several wounded among the Spanish. Those who survived were taken prisoner. Subsequently, the British and miskitos ravaged the surrounding area;

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

farms were looted; cannons, muskets and ammunition were taken. Once this was done the barracks were burned and the fortress was destroyed. They then made a withdrawal to their beached pirogues Moin and sailed without further incident back to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

.Laycock The fort thus failed to stop the attacks by filibusters and with the fort's destruction smuggling continued well until Costa Rica's Independence the following century. San Fernando was the first and last stronghold built by the Spanish in the Costa Rican Caribbean and the fort was never rebuilt. The Spanish in retaliation attempted to rout the British and Miskitos from the area but failed repeatedly.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * (Spanish) * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matina 1747 Raid on Matina Battles of the War of Jenkins' Ear Battles involving Spain Battles involving Great Britain History of Costa Rica Captaincy General of Guatemala 18th century in Central America