Drake, Francis (c. 1545–1596)

Francis Drake (b. ca. 1545; d. 28 January 1596), English privateer who became, from 1570 to 1595, the central figure in attacks by privateers on the Spanish Indies. A maritime genius and fervent Protestant, Drake was a glorious hero to the English and a frightening monster in the eyes of the Spanish. He developed a coherent West Indian strategy to replace the established pattern of small, uncoordinated raids on the Spanish. Although Drake achieved much success, acquiring great booty and inflicting considerable damage to Spanish holdings, he failed to break Spain's monopoly on territorial possession in the Caribbean.

Originally an illicit trader, Drake was with John Hawkins of Plymouth during the disastrous defeat at San Juan de Ulúa in late 1568. In 1571 he carried out reconnaissance activities and forged alliances with savage indigenous warriors, particularly on the Central American isthmus. A year later he led a voyage that attacked Nombre de Dios, Panama, and acquired a large booty of Peruvian treasure. After the English-Spanish peace of 1574, Drake remained active in the West Indies for eleven years, becoming the first captain to sail his own ship around the world (1577–1580).

In 1585, Drake resumed his naval efforts by carrying out a full-scale operation known as the Indies Voyage, with a fleet of over twenty sails, which aspired to attack Santo Domingo and Cartagena, Colombia, then Nombre de Dios and Panama (by land, in collaboration with runaway slaves), and, finally, Havana. In addition to establishing an English stronghold in the Indies, Drake hoped to disrupt the flow of Latin American resources, particularly Peruvian silver, to the Iberian Peninsula, thereby hindering Spain's military efforts in Europe. This plan proved to be too ambitious, however. After destroying much of Santo Domingo and Cartagena, Drake decided not to attack the isthmus, because of his depleted manpower, a result of shipboard health problems. When adverse weather also prevented him from attacking the Spanish treasure fleet, Drake sailed for home in June 1586. Despite its temporary successes and the great damage it caused Spain's possessions and prestige, Drake's Indies Voyage failed in its larger aims, for the Spanish maintained their territorial supremacy.

Spain's desire to destroy England's growing geopolitical power took the form of an enormous naval attack against England in 1588, in which Drake played a key role. Along with John Hawkins and others he contributed to one of the largest naval defeats in history, that of the Spanish Armada (1588). By 1595, however, the Spanish had clearly learned some lessons, particularly in regard to the activities of privateers. When another great fleet, under the direction of Hawkins and Drake, left England to attack Spain's possessions in the Indies, the Spanish were well prepared. They defeated the English at San Juan, Puerto Rico, and at Cartagena. Moreover, having established a more defensible harbor, Porto Bello, to replace Nombre de Dios, they emerged victorious on the isthmus as well. Sir Francis Drake died shortly thereafter, off the coast of Veragua, Panama.

See alsoPiracy .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sir Julian S. Corbett, Drake and the Tudor Navy, 2 vols. (1898, repr. 1988).

J. A. Williamson, Sir John Hawkins: The Time and the Man (1927, repr. 1970).

A. E. W. Mason, The Life of Sir Francis Drake (1941, repr. 1950).

J. A. Williamson, Sir Francis Drake (1951).

Garrett Mattingly, The Armada (1959).

George M. Thompson, Sir Francis Drake (1972).

J. H. Parry et al., A Short History of the West Indies, 4th ed. (1987).

John Sugden, Sir Francis Drake (1990).

Additional Bibliography

Kelsey, Harry. Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998.

                                     Blake D. Pattridge