Gilbert Horseley () was an English pirate or privateer who led raids against the Spanish in various settlements and ports of Veragua and Spanish Honduras, in the western Caribbean shores of what is now Central America. Horseley departed from Plymouth on the pinnace John (25 crew) in late 1574, and returned on the same in mid-1575, now laden with rich plunder that cost the crew ten men. In Veragua, Horseley sought and gained the aid of local maroons, and in consort with French corsair Sylvester, set about seizing merchant ships and raiding settlements, and apparently had much luck, though this allegedly cost many victims their lives. In Honduras, the captain failed to sack Truxillo, but still managed to accrue a respectable booty elsewhere in the encompassing bay. Horseley has been noted in specialist literature for his and Sylvester's successful ascent of the San Juan River.
Career
In 1574, French corsair Sylvester set sail from Le Havre, Upper Normandy in September, on a vessel carrying one hundred fighting men, and made landfall in the Spanish territory of Veragua that December, where he sought out and located some friendly maroons, who advised him of laden Spanish merchant ships currently lying in port in the Desaguadero, at the mouth of the San Juan River, north of his landing site but still within the Mosquito Gulf. At some point during the next few months, in early 1575, Sylvester was joined by Elizabethan sea dog or pirate Gilbert Horseley, captain of the pinnace John (25 tonnes, 17 hands). The John had cleared from Plymouth, Devon in November with a crew of 25 at first, but she lost eight of them during a fatal engagement with a Spanish vessel (50 tonnes) off the Barbary Coast. Here, Horseley likewise got in touch with the Sem Rownes (maroons), and consorted with them and Sylvester to embark on a joint expedition to the Desaguadero.
Expedition
In short order, the pirates sighted the mouth of the San Juan, their crews now augmented with some maroons and a Portuguese pilot (Luis Marquês), and finding no ships in the Desaguadero, entered the river, intending to reach Granada so as to sack the Spanish city. At some point prior to their destination, though, they came upon some Spanish frigates laden with goods, and seized them. This booty apparently proved rich enough for both crews, as Horseley and Sylvester now desisted from their river quest and turned back out to open sea, then due south. According to Spanish sources collected by historian Irene A. Wright, once back in Veragua, "acts of exceptional and cowardly cruelty were committed" as the pirates reportedly killed "many people, cutting their throats", and "committed great robberies and insults". This done, Sylvester and Horseley parted ways, with the latter sailing north to the Bay of Honduras.
Honduran leg
The John rounded Cape Gracias a Dios and so entered Honduran waters on the evening of 2 April 1575, and made a quiet landfall at Cape Honduras, some three leguas distant from Truxillo, which Horseley intended to raid. At about the middle of that night, the crew packed themselves into a launch boat and surreptitiously stole towards the Spanish port, but were soon sighted by a keen-eyed lookout from Fort Santa Barbara, who immediately sounded the alarm. The roused vecinos rushed to organise the defence, which proved formidable enough to convince the pirates to abort their raid. Horseley made a hasty retreat whilst under fire from the fort, and still managed to seize a Spanish frigate lying in Truxillo's harbour.
At the break of dawn, on 3 April, the pirates set out west to Porto Caballos in the stolen frigate, most likely "to pillage the port and the ships which were there", but were again spotted from Santa Barbara. This time, the vecinos of Truxillo opted simply to warn Porto Caballos of the coming pirates, by having a swift shallop overtake the frigate, but their plan was foiled some 20 leagues into said trip, when the English took notice and captured the shallop. By midday, Horseley had still not entered port, and was instead coasting the frigate bit by bit, apparently so as to chart the Honduran coastline to Amatique Bay. That afternoon, the crew hijacked yet another Spanish merchant vessel (owned by Juan Antonio and laden with treasure worth over 3,000 ducats), seemingly tortured her company (for gold and sailing directions), and then boarded the John and her launch to carry on to the Spanish port. Horseley next sighted two Spanish merchant ships (Martín Monte and Vicencio Garullo captains) off Triunfo de la Cruz, and likewise attempted to take them, but was successfully rebuffed with heavy artillery fire.
By nightfall on 5 April, the John had made it to Cape Camaron, 20 leagues east of Truxillo, where she was watered. Here, two Spanish detainees from prior engagements managed to get off the pinnace and successfully flee their captivity. They reported that Horseley had sworn to "return another year with a greater force".
Return and aftermath
A "now passably rich" Horseley arrived at Plymouth with fifteen of his men in June 1575. He carried on to Arundel, West Sussex to offload his treasure "without causing unwelcome interest". In their account of Horseley's incursion to the Spanish crown, dated Truxillo, 20 May 1575, lieutenant Diego López reported, "this city has felt these robberies keenly, and is cast down because it lacked means to offend any enemy ... since your majesty has ordered me to serve in this port and to guard and defend it, I humbly entreat your majesty to order me to be provided with the means, and forces for the task ... This miserable city ... so afflicted, and frequently attacked by enemies, is now without resources, and what is accomplished, is done by main strength". The crown commended Lopez for his service, and regarding the requested aid for Truxillo's defence, gave instructions to the presiding officer of the Real Audiencia of Guatemala "concerning money" for said defence, and to colonial authorities in Seville "concerning artillery" for the same.
Legacy According to Wright and Newcastle University historian Peter T. Bradley, Horseley's upstream navigation of the San Juan River (with Sylvester) might not unfairly be deemed "daring" or "comparable to Drake's most daring exploits", given its success, the John's small size and crew, and the inherent dangers of sailing too far into such a waterway ("unlike the sea, [the San Juan] kept no safe retreat open").
See also John Nobleraided Veragua in 1574 Drake's expeditionto Veragua in 1573 Piracy in the Bay of Honduras
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