Lawrence Prince | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1630 |
| Died | 1680s |
| Piratical career | |
| Type | Buccaneer,privateer,slave trader |
| Allegiance | England |
| Years active | c. 1659–1671 |
| Rank | Lieutenant-Colonel |
| Base of operations | Caribbean |
| Battles/wars |
|
Laurens Prins, anglicized asLawrence Prince,[1] (c. 1630s,Amsterdam – before 1688) was a 17th-century Dutch buccaneer, privateer and an officer under Captain SirHenry Morgan. He and MajorJohn Morris led one of the columns thatraided Panama in 1671.
According to Spanish accounts, Lawrence Prince was a Dutchman fromAmsterdam who arrived in the Caribbean in the late 1650s. In 1659, he was one of four men, includingJohn Morris andRobert Searle, who bought a captured Spanish prize from CommodoreChristopher Myngs following his ten-week voyage.[1][2] Prior to joining Morgan's forces atPort Royal in November 1670, he had previously sailed up toRio Magdalena intending to raid the town ofMompos located 240 kilometres (150 mi) inland. Prince was forced to retreat, however, when they were surprised by cannon fire from a recently built island fort protecting the settlement. Prince and his men, determined to "make voyage", sailed north toNicaragua in August. As inColombia, Prince sailed up theSan Juan River, captured aSpanish fort and paddled by canoe toLake Nicaragua where they successfully raidedGranada. This was almost identical to Morgan's raid in 1664. Official Spanish reports of the incident claimed that Prince "made havoc and a thousand destructions, sending the head of a priest in a basket and demanding 70,000 pesos in ransom."[3]
Arriving in Port Royal weeks later, he and two other captains were reproved by GovernorThomas Modyford for attacking theSpanish without a commission orletter of marque. Modyford thought it prudent not "to press the matter too far in this juncture"[3] and ordered them to join Morgan on his raid against Panama, "which they were very ready to do".[3] Impressed by his raid at Granada, Morgan appointed Prince third in command under himself and CaptainEdward Collier.[3] He and MajorJohn Morris later led thevanguard, numbering 300 buccaneers, against the Spanish fortress on the morning of January 28, 1671. Prince supported the main force, around 600 men, with Morgan and Collier leading the right and left wings, while therearguard was commanded by ColonelBledry Morgan.
In the final advance, he and Morris commanded the left flank. Advancing in a wide sweep around the Spanish right flank, they captured a hill overlooking the Spanish lines.[4] This not only forced the Spanish defenders into committing to an attack, it also disrupted plans by their commander,Juan Perez de Guzman, to stampede a herd of cattle and other livestock towards the advancing buccaneers. He had kept them behind his infantry line, intending to allow the buccaneers to pass through his lines, and setting them against the attackers to presumably disrupt and disorganize them just before the Spanish foot made contact with the buccaneering force. Instead, the Spanish cattle drovers were scared away by Prince's attack, allowing the cattle to wander among the Spanish lines. A simultaneous assault on the hill and against Morgan's advancing buccaneers ended in disaster as concentrated volley fire decimated Spanish forces, which suffered 100 casualties in the first volley alone. The wandering cattle and concentrated fire, left between 400 and 500 dead and wounded before the Spanish finally retreated from the field.[5]
He was later appointed alieutenant by Modyford's successor, SirThomas Lynch, who replaced Captain John Wilgress, commander ofHMSAssistance, with MajorWilliam Beeston. Lynch may have intended to initiate the restructuring of colonial administration, surrounding himself with known associates rather than appointed officials of the British crown.[6] By 1672, using his share from the Panama raid, Prince became a wealthy landowner on theLiguanea plain on hisLawrencefield Estate as it was opened up for cultivation and farming.[7] He died in the mid 1680s, shortly before Henry Morgan purchased the Estate.[8]
Prince is commonly mistaken for the English slave trader Lawrence Prince, who captained ships for independent slave traders during the decline of theRoyal African Company in the early 18th century. That Lawrence Prince gained notoriety as the ill-fated captain of theWhydah, which was captured by the pirateSamuel Bellamy in 1717.[9]
Laurens Prins is featured as a minor antagonist and assassination target in the video gameAssassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, in which he is portrayed as a Dutch slave trader residing inKingston.[10] He is targeted by the protagonistEdward Kenway because he employedBartholomew Roberts, who possesses information that both Kenway and theTemplars seek. After learning about this, Prins attempts to sell Roberts to the Templars, but is killed by Kenway in his mansion'sgarden house before he can do so.[11][12][13] Before dying, Prins compares himself with Kenway because they both sought wealth and neither believe in a greater cause thanfreedom, but Prins uses his belief to justify his status as a slave trader.[14]
