On his way to becoming a self-made military Captain and Knight of the Royal Effigy within the Spanish Empire, Miguel Enríquez assembled a fleet of privately owned vessels that he staffed and sanctioned with letters of marque. During a career that spanned almost three decades, he commanded over 300 privateer ships and 1,500 corsair sailors, which at an average of two captures per vessel were responsible for more than 600 prizes.
The fleet also participated in military campaigns and provided support and transport for imperial officers and clergy. Corsairs from Puerto Rico were often called guarda costas, or "coast guards". They operated in the same fashion as any other pirate, the only difference was that they did it in the name of Spain, protecting imperial trade restrictions. Enríquez favored small to medium crafts, with his fleet being mostly composed of sloops, schooners and brigantines, despite capturing numerous larger vessels such as frigates. This responded to the maneuverability of these models, which were used to intercept and board foreign ships using tactics that mirrored those employed by the buccaneers and other freebooters that plagued the Atlantic shipping lines. At the time, the efficiency of the corsair fleet was said to be superior to that of the formal military entity tasked with protecting the Spanish West Indies, the Armada de Barlovento, and on occasion worked in unison on certain missions.
Enríquez's fleet first gained notoriety for pursuing smugglers and hunting foreign pirates in the waters that surround Puerto Rico during the height of the Golden Age of Piracy, making the region relatively safe despite the ongoing explosion of high seas crime throughout the Caribbean, for which he was commended by king Phillip of Spain. Between 1702 and 1713 it was composed by more than thirty vessels, of which at least a dozen was lost, which were responsible for capturing more than twenty prizes. As a shrewd businessman, the privateer often exploited legal loopholes to sell the loot as "corsair goods", a practice that enabled him to became the most wealthy citizen of the island even outclassing the government's treasury. Between 1716 and 1733, his ships captured over 176 slaves from ships boarded, which were incorporated into the Spanish market.
The fleet was responsible for driving settlers from Anguilla out of the neighboring island of Vieques and capturing 56 British-flagged merchantmen, earning the corsair a reputation as a pirate among the British who also bestowed upon him the nickname of "The Grand Archvillain". The ultimate fate of the fleet was sealed when colonial governor Matías de Abadía sided with several aristocratic families of San Juan, stripping Enríquez of his political and economic power and influence, confiscating his assets and driving him to seek asylum with the Catholic Church.
History Beginning, modus operandi (1702-1705)
Early in his career, Enríquez operated only two vessels at once, often replacing those lost. Among those, several were captured by foreign countries including seven sloops, a schooner and a brigantine. Dutch colonial authorities from Curaçao caught the sloops San Nicolás, Santa Bárbara and La María (with British help), along an unnamed schooner. The ship known as Popa Azul was captured off the coast of Puerto Rico by the Dutch States Navy. An unnamed sloop was captured by the Royal Navy near Santa Cruz, following three days of conflict. Others, including a brigantine, were lost due to other causes. Enríquez usually kept his fleet well staffed, with these vessels being manned by 100–200 sailors. Due to the fact that privateers were not required to report the names of the ships captured to sell their loot, few of the fleet's victims are known by designation. However, it is known that he captured an average of two victims for every vessel lost. The most successful was La Modista, which captured a total of 95 enslaved Africans from British and Danish slave ships which were delivered directly to Enríquez.
One of his ships named Santo Tomás was involved in a controversy when its captain, José Rodríguez, ordered his crew to board a Spanish sloop that was leaving the Danish port of St. Thomas. Rodríguez tried to justify his action by stating that the vessel was leaving a foreign harbor and could be carrying contraband, but was still jailed in Santo Domingo for some time. Santo Tomás had actually left Puerto Rico ordered to attend the frequent contraband arriving from that island, only receiving a mild authorization from Enríquez, who was sick and decided not to protest the will of the establishment. Not opposing the governor would prove to be a mistake, since the audience that discussed the case decided to place all the blame on him and Rodríguez. From this moment forward, Enríquez changed his approach, portraying himself as a loyal subject and offering his resources without question, if only to play the circumstances to his favor. On December 12, 1704, the Spanish Crown authorized the establishment of a route between Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands, which would carry 150 tons of fruit. However, this route remained stale for two years. The government did not possess such a ship and was forced to ask Enríquez to loan it one of his. He did not oppose the request and the vessel arrived to Gran Canaria, with the merchandise having survived a storm and a rough voyage. Enríquez continued to operate this route, repeating the action a year later. However, the Council of the Indies suspended it, claiming that no ship smaller than 50 or 60 tons should travel between Puerto Rico and the Canary Islands due to strategic considerations. In 1707, Enríquez issued a letter to the King ofSpain stating that he had placed two vessels near the Leeward and Windward Islands to guard their coasts. He also emphasized his loss of six other ships in battles against opposition from Jamaica and Curaçao.
The Danío Granados and De Rivera administrations (1706-1714) After he arrived to Puerto Rico to take the office of governor, Francisco Danío Granados quickly entered into a partnership with the privateer. The career military Captain ordered the construction of a brigantine and registered the vessel under both of their names. However, the ship was captured and Enríquez was forced to use his own money to recover it, once again registering it under both names. A vessel named La Aurora was registered in a similar fashion and the earnings of its three voyages were divided equitably. Other sloops, including San Miguel and Los Montes, served a similar purpose. Enríquez also bought a sloop in Cádiz for the sole purpose of transporting the governor's nephew, Jacome Danío. From that moment onwards, the fleet would be dispatched without question for any purpose that the functionary requested, as a form of quid pro quo. Among the missions issued by Danío, Enríquez sent ships to guard the local coasts and capture contrabandists. They also served the Crown in other assignments, such as providing transport to stranded Jesuit priests.
Juan de Ribera's assignment to the colonial governorship in 1709 led to a direct power struggle between the establishment and Enríquez. Unable to directly confiscate the fleet due to the Royal Auxiliary Identification Document that had been granted to the privateer, the functionary opted to employ indirect tactics to drive him off business. Towards these ends, De Ribera forced Enríquez to provide his employees and resources for free. The governor exploited this to create his own parallel fleet, with the intention of completely overtaking the privateering venture. De Ribera also made sure that Enríquez's fleet was constantly occupied in menial or redundant tasks, requesting their service 19 times. The authorities also seized the best ship of the lot, La Gloria, never paying the sum that it was worth. Undettered, Enríquez built a brigantine to add to the fleet in his own shipyard in 1710. This dockyard was also used to repair other vessels, especially those that belonged to the Crown. During this timeframe, Enríquez's fleet also included La María, San José, La Gloria, La Perla, San Antonio, Los Montes, Nuestra Señora del Rosario and El Jenízaro. He frequently recycled these names for other vessels. Of them, La Aurora was the first known to operate outside the Caribbean, capturing El Príncipe de Asturias off the coast of New England in 1712. Despite the fact that Enríquez worked under a Spanish letter of marque, La Aurora was actually flying a British flag and operating under forged documents, selling its loot at Guadalupe. Two years earlier, Enríquez had ordered his ships to stalk this British colony. On April 6, 1710, Danío requested that one of Enríquez's ships was used to transport important documents to Spain. The sloop La Perla was chosen for this task, carrying some loot gathered through privateering and also ferrying five prisoners that had been sentenced to death. The vessel docked and immediately received a license to sell the unregistered merchandise, earning a second license that allowed it to import European merchandise in its return voyage.
Another form of physiological warfare employed by the governor was keeping the fleet perpetually docked with the constant denial of privateering licenses and the frequent ruling that its captures were "not fair game". Only five licenses were granted and Ribera also confiscated the entire profit of legitimate privateering incursions, citing that the loot belonged to the Crown due to his personal authorization. This inactivity concluded with several of Enríquez's men deserting and becoming pirates, only to return days after to antagonize the governor. These pirates also boarded one of his former employer's privateering sloops. The conclusion of the War of Succession complicated matters more, since French men were now forbidden from working as corsairs for Spain. This meant that a large portion of the sailors working for Enríquez's fleet were expelled. Despite the multiple obstacles, Enríquez's fleet captured six British victims and nine ships belonging to the Netherlands between 1709 and 1714. Besides assaulting the enemies of Spain, they also seized five vessels from the adjacent Virgin Islands. The loot acquired included clothes, food and money. In 1714, San Miguel captured a British frigate off Philadelphia and brought it to San Juan.
Expansion and operations during the War of the Quadruple Alliance (1716-1720) In 1716, after months of reorganization that required contracting a new crew, Enríquez was able to command two small vessels (a sloop and a schooner), to resume his privateering venture. These ships were lost shortly afterwards, resetting the process. Enríquez decided to purchase four sloops, naming them El Águila, La Perla, La Aurora and El Fénix. His fleet was systematically restored, with the further acquisition of El Delfín, La Modista, La Pequeña Aurora and Nuestra Señora de Altagracia, Nuestra Señora del Rosario and San Miguel y las Animas. The rebuilding phase extended for a period of three years, and it experienced the loss of La Perla. Once it was concluded, Enríquez's fleet was stronger than its original incarnation. He now employed around 300 sailors and requested military supervision to control them. The fleet captured eight Danish vessels named La Margarita, La Juana, Neptuno, Vliegende, Leeduyuel, Leojane and Brelot. Saint Thomas's governor complained to interim governor Adalberto Bertolano (in office since 1716), noting that they were being captured despite the fact that both nations were not at war. This claim was dismissed, citing that no foreign ship was allowed to fish near Puerto Rico.