Few people are as deeply woven into the mythology of Panama as Sir Henry Morgan. To some, he was one of the most successful privateers of the Caribbean, a daring Welshman who rose from relative obscurity to become a powerful figure in the English colonial world. To the Spanish, he was a ruthless pirate who attacked their possessions and helped terrorize the Caribbean. And to modern Panama, he is something even more complicated: the man whose most famous attack helped bring the old city of Panama to its spectacular end.
His story is one of treasure, jungle crossings, Spanish galleons, Caribbean islands, deception and one of the most remarkable military expeditions ever undertaken across the Isthmus of Panama.
But the really fascinating part is that Morgan's Panama still exists beneath modern Panama City.
You can walk through the ruins of Panama Viejo and imagine the city he encountered in 1671. You can follow sections of the historic Camino de Cruces, the route his forces used during their journey across the isthmus. And you can stand in Casco Viejo, where the Spanish eventually rebuilt their city after the destruction of the original one.
The story of Henry Morgan is therefore not just a pirate story.
It is part of the story of why Panama City looks the way it does today.
Who Was Henry Morgan?
Henry Morgan was born in Wales sometime around 1635 and eventually became one of the most famous English privateers operating in the Caribbean.
There is an important distinction between a pirate and a privateer.
A pirate operated independently and outside the law.
A privateer could receive official authorization from a government to attack the ships and possessions of an enemy during wartime.
Morgan operated with English authorization against Spanish interests, although the distinction between legitimate privateering and outright piracy could become extremely blurry.
And Morgan was extraordinarily successful.
He became famous for audacious attacks against Spanish settlements throughout the Caribbean, building a reputation for taking enormous risks while using surprisingly sophisticated military tactics.
But nothing he did would become more famous than his expedition against Panama.
Why Panama Was the Ultimate Prize
In the seventeenth century, Panama was not simply another Spanish colony.
It was a financial artery of the Spanish Empire.
The geography of the isthmus gave Spain something incredibly valuable: a shortcut between the Pacific and Atlantic worlds.
Spanish ships transported enormous quantities of silver and other treasures from South America to ports on the Pacific. From there, goods could be moved across the isthmus by land and water before eventually reaching the Caribbean and continuing toward Europe.
Panama City was therefore sitting beside one of the most valuable transportation routes in the world.
To a privateer like Morgan, it represented an extraordinary prize.
But there was a problem.
Panama City was on the Pacific side.
Morgan and his forces were coming from the Caribbean.
To attack it, they had to cross Panama.
And that's exactly what they did.
The Impossible Journey Across the Isthmus
In late 1670, Morgan captured Castillo de San Lorenzo, a powerful Spanish fortress guarding the entrance to the Chagres River.
This was the gateway.
From there, Morgan's men moved upriver and began the journey across the isthmus.
The expedition crossed through some of the same general landscape associated with the historic Camino de Cruces.
Today, you can hike through rainforest in this area and encounter old stone sections of the historic route.
Imagine doing that in 1671.
There were no paved highways.
No bridges.
No modern maps.
No GPS.
No medical evacuation.
The expedition had to deal with tropical heat, rain, mud, rivers, hunger and exhaustion.
And the jungle wasn't empty.
Spanish forces attempted to stop them.
Yet Morgan's men continued.
Eventually, after days of exhausting travel, they reached the Pacific side of the isthmus.
And there, ahead of them, was Panama City.
Panama Viejo: The City Morgan Wanted
The city Morgan encountered was Panama Viejo, the original Panama City.
Founded in 1519, it had become an important Spanish settlement and commercial center.
The city contained churches, houses, warehouses and government buildings.
But its importance went far beyond its architecture.
It was part of the enormous network moving treasure across the Americas.
Morgan had crossed the jungle precisely because he wanted to reach this city.
On January 28, 1671, his forces attacked.
The battle was fierce.
The defenders attempted to stop the attackers outside the city, but Morgan's forces eventually broke through.
The old city fell.
The Burning of Panama
This is where the story becomes controversial.
The destruction of Panama City has traditionally been associated with Morgan ordering the city burned.
Historical accounts describe enormous fires spreading through Panama Viejo while residents fled.
But exactly how the fires began remains disputed.
Spanish accounts accused Morgan and his men of deliberately setting the city ablaze.
Morgan himself later denied ordering the destruction.
Some historical interpretations suggest that the fires may have been deliberately started by the Spanish defenders themselves as they attempted to prevent the attackers from capturing supplies and buildings.
What is certain is that much of the city was destroyed.
And the result was permanent.
The original city was never rebuilt in its previous location.
What Happened to the Treasure?
This is one of the most entertaining parts of the Morgan legend.
Morgan had crossed Panama expecting an enormous prize.
And he certainly captured wealth.
But the treasure reportedly wasn't quite what he expected.
By the time Morgan reached Panama City, much of the most valuable treasure had already been moved away.
The Spanish knew an attack was coming.
According to historical accounts, treasure was evacuated and some valuables were hidden.
Morgan nevertheless returned to the Caribbean with considerable spoils.
But the expedition became famous not simply because of what Morgan stole.
It became famous because he had successfully crossed the isthmus and captured one of Spain's most important cities.
The Ultimate Pirate Trick
Morgan's expedition demonstrated something extraordinary.
He didn't have the enormous army that a major European power might have deployed.
He didn't possess modern artillery.
He didn't have tanks, aircraft or satellite intelligence.
He had ships, firearms, experience and a group of men willing to undertake an almost absurdly difficult journey.
And perhaps most importantly, he understood surprise.
The Spanish expected the jungle to protect Panama City.
Morgan turned the jungle into his highway.
That is one of the reasons the expedition remains so fascinating to military historians.
Panama City Was Moved
After the destruction of Panama Viejo, the Spanish made an extraordinary decision.
Move the city.
The new settlement was established several kilometers away on a more defensible peninsula.
That city became what we now know as Casco Viejo, or Casco Antiguo.
This means that one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in modern Panama City exists partly because of the destruction caused by Morgan's attack.
Walk through Casco Viejo today and you are walking through the successor to the city he destroyed.
Look toward Panama Viejo and you're looking at the remains of the city that existed before him.
And somewhere between the two is the jungle corridor through which his army crossed.
It's an extraordinary historical triangle.
The Camino de Cruces: Follow in Morgan's Footsteps
For travelers interested in Morgan, one of the most fascinating things you can do in Panama is explore the Camino de Cruces.
This ancient route crossed the isthmus through rainforest and connected Panama City with routes leading toward the Caribbean.
Today, parts of the route can be hiked.
The jungle has reclaimed much of the landscape, but sections of the old stone paving remain.
And that creates an incredible sensation.
You aren't simply reading about Morgan.
You're walking through the same geographical obstacle that his men had to overcome.
The difference is that you have hiking shoes, water, insect repellent and a smartphone.
They had none of those things.
The Jungle Was the Real Enemy
When you imagine a pirate adventure, it's easy to picture ships, cannons and sword fights.
But Morgan's Panama expedition was really a battle against the environment.
The men had to cross rivers.
Climb through difficult terrain.
Find food.
Carry weapons.
Remain alert for Spanish attacks.
And continue moving while exhausted.
Panama's tropical rainforest is beautiful today.
But in the seventeenth century, it was an enormous natural barrier.
Morgan's ability to get an army through it was a major achievement.
From Pirate to Knight
Here's where Henry Morgan's story becomes almost unbelievable.
The same man who had attacked Panama City eventually became Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica and was knighted by King Charles II.
Think about that transformation.
A man who had become famous attacking Spanish colonies eventually became an official representative of the English Crown.
Sir Henry Morgan died in Jamaica in 1688.
His life had gone from privateer and Caribbean raider to wealthy colonial official.
It is an extraordinary reminder that the line between pirate, privateer, soldier and statesman could be extremely thin in the seventeenth-century Caribbean.
Pirate, Hero or Villain?
It depends who tells the story.
In British tradition, Morgan was often celebrated as a brilliant privateer and military commander.
In Spanish accounts, he was a brutal enemy responsible for enormous suffering and destruction.
Modern historians tend to view him more critically.
His attacks involved violence, coercion, looting and the destruction of communities.
Calling him simply a "hero" misses much of the reality.
Calling him simply a cartoon pirate misses it too.
Morgan was a product of a brutal age in which European empires fought for control of territory, trade and enormous wealth.
And Panama happened to sit directly in the middle of that struggle.
The Ghost of Morgan in Modern Panama
Morgan's presence still appears throughout Panama.
His name has been attached to businesses, rum brands, tourist attractions and stories.
But the most important memorial isn't a statue.
It's the landscape itself.
Panama Viejo remains.
Casco Viejo remains.
The Camino de Cruces remains.
The Caribbean forts remain.
And the route between the oceans remains one of the most strategically important geographical corridors on Earth.
The modern Panama Canal essentially perfected the same geographical idea that Morgan exploited:
Panama is the shortcut between two oceans.
Morgan needed days to cross it.
Modern ships can cross the canal in hours.
The Strange Connection Between Morgan and the Panama Canal
There's something wonderfully ironic about this.
Morgan crossed Panama because the isthmus was the obstacle separating the Atlantic and Pacific.
More than two centuries later, engineers would carve a gigantic artificial waterway through that same geographical barrier.
The reason remained exactly the same.
Geography.
Morgan understood Panama's strategic importance because he saw that whoever could control the isthmus could influence the movement of wealth between oceans.
The Panama Canal eventually turned that geographical advantage into one of the greatest engineering projects in human history.
The Best Way to Experience the Morgan Story
If you're fascinated by pirates, don't just read about Morgan.
Follow the story geographically.
Begin at Panama Viejo, where his attack destroyed the original city.
Then visit Casco Viejo, the city that replaced it.
Afterward, explore the Camino de Cruces and imagine the extraordinary journey his men made through the jungle.
Then travel toward the Caribbean and explore the old Spanish fortifications around Portobelo and San Lorenzo.
Suddenly the entire story becomes much clearer.
You can see the route.
You can understand why Panama was valuable.
You can see the fortifications built to protect the treasure routes.
And you can appreciate why a pirate would risk everything to cross the jungle and attack the city on the other side.
The Most Fascinating Part of All
Henry Morgan's greatest legacy isn't that he was a pirate.
It's that his story reveals why Panama matters.
The country is only a narrow strip of land.
But that narrow strip sits between two enormous oceans.
For centuries, people have wanted to control it.
Spanish conquistadors.
Pirates.
European empires.
Railroad builders.
French engineers.
American politicians.
And eventually the Panamanian nation itself.
Everyone understood the same thing:
Whoever controls the passage through Panama has influence over one of the world's most important trade routes.
Morgan simply understood it earlier than most.
So the next time you're standing in Casco Viejo looking across the modern skyline, remember that the city around you has a remarkable predecessor.
And when you hike through the rainforest on the Camino de Cruces and step onto those ancient stones, imagine hundreds of exhausted men emerging from the jungle in 1671, knowing that somewhere ahead was one of the richest cities in the Spanish Empire.
They had crossed an entire continent at its narrowest point to get there.
And when they arrived, Panama City would never be the same again.
Henry Morgan didn't just attack Panama.
He became permanently embedded in the geography, history and mythology of the country. 🏴☠️🇵🇦