Nor was the possibility of an attack from the eastward overlooked. On the Morro headland at the important entrance a battery of three guns was placed, well protected by breast-works of timber, stone and earth, and the coast from Morro to Matanzas was continually patrolled by horsemen on the lookout for the coming of strange vessels, and under orders similar to those which had been given to the watchmen at Chorrera. As for the harbor itself, a great chain was stretched across its entrance buoyed with logs and fastened with a huge padlock at the foot of the Morro headland.
Finally the few swift sailing vessels which could be mustered into the service were kept cruising off the shore to espy the approaching squadron. They were not sufficiently strong to give battle, but they could give warning to the city. Also they could bear to Spain or to Mexico tidings of what occurred. Thus one vessel lay in the estuary of the Puercos River, ready to flee to Mexico, while another cruised around Ycacos Point, to hasten to Spain to tell if Havana should fall into the hands of the foe.
Meanwhile in Havana itself all possible forces were mustered for defense. The volunteers from the other towns were drilled into an efficient state of discipline. Such was their zeal that they gladly served without pay while a considerable number of them in addition provided their own rations at their own cost. For the necessary expenses of their maintenance Rojas, the Royal Treasurer, used what royal funds were in hand regardless of the purpose for which they had been designed, and when these were insufficient he collected taxes without authority, on the principle that the safety of the city and Island was the supreme law. At the beginning of April some welcome aid arrived from Mexico, which even Quiñones was now glad to have. The Viceroy sent four vessels, bearing about 300 fighting men, with six months' supplies of food and with pay for eight months in advance. These increased the force under Quiñones to more than 900 well-trained soldiers. During the month of April Luzan arrived from Bayamo with nearly 100 more men, thus increasing the garrison of Havana to about 1,000. This was a force which the Captain-General confidently believed would be able to resist and to repulse any force which Drake might be able to land.
Luzan had meantime, in February, received from Spain orders to resume the governorship of the Island with full power, to return to Havana, and to consider his term of office indefinitely prolonged. He had been appointed in 1579 for a term of four years and had assumed office in 1580, so that his original term was by this time long since expired. Reckoning the four years from his actual assumption of office in the summer of 1580 his term had ended in 1584. If his return to Havana was not altogether agreeable to Quiñones, and it is quite probable that it was not, at least a semblance of harmony was preserved between them, and there was certainly efficient if not cordial co-operation. To this auspicious state of affairs the Royal Treasurer contributed in no small degree.
In fact, in the face of the great peril which confronted it, all Cuba arose to the occasion with a unity of public spirit never before known in its history, and wholly admirable. All the officials, civil and military, insular and royal, were in accord, and all classes of the population, Spaniards, Indians and negro slaves were loyal and devoted in their support. In these circumstances it is of fascinating interest to speculate upon what might have happened had Drake made the expected descent upon Havana. It is well within the limit not only of possibility but of probability that he would have been decisively defeated. It is even possible that in the conflict with more than a thousand well-armed, well trained and resolute Spaniards, than whom there were then no braver or better fighting men in all the world, he would himself have been captured or slain. And such a disposition of Francis Drake in the summer of 1586, only two years before the descent of the Invincible Armada upon the shores of England, might well have changed the history of the world.
But this was not to be. Some say that Drake did not intend to attack Havana at that time, preferring to raid Carthagena, as he did. Some say that by means of spies he ascertained the strength of Havana's defenses and deemed it, therefore, prudent not to meddle with that place. Some say that there was an interposition of Providence to dissuade him from what might have been a disastrous fiasco. We have also, as we shall presently see, the testimony of some Spanish fugitives, which is entirely plausible, though not certainly correct. Conjecture is inconclusive. Only the fact remains that Drake passed by and left Cuba unassailed.
From the latter part of February until the beginning of May no word of his doings came to Havana; anxiety meanwhile prevailing and preparations for his anticipated arrival being unabated. At last word came, most ominous. A vessel from Spain, a heavily armed frigate, had been searching for Drake. It had tracked him from Santo Domingo to Carthagena, and had found him in full possession of the latter place. There apparently, after two months' occupancy, he was preparing for some fresh adventure. This information convinced the Cuban authorities that the great struggle was at hand, and that the approach of the enemy would be from the westward by way of Cape San Antonio. After despoiling Carthagena Drake's logical course would be to raid Havana, and preparations for defense were therefore redoubled. Nor were these anticipations soon to be dispelled. A few weeks later, on May 27th, a courier arrived from Cape San Antonio, the western extremity of the Island, with the news that five days before a powerful British armada, doubtless Drake's, had touched at that point for fresh water and other supplies. It was no mere raiding flotilla of privateers, such as those with which the French had long been troubling the Cuban coasts, but it was a fleet of thirty-sail, probably with two or three thousand soldiers aboard, and with artillery far superior both in number and range to all the defenses of Havana. The courier could not tell what the intentions of the fleet were or what was its destination. Possibly it was simply seeking to anticipate and capture the treasure ships of Spain coming from Mexico or from Darien with the silver, gold and gems of Peru and Golden Castile. More probably it was planning the conquest of Havana, as Santo Domingo and Carthagena had been conquered. This latter supposition seemed to be confirmed two days later, when another messenger arrived from the west, telling that it was indeed Drake's fleet and that it had sailed from Cape San Antonio eastward toward Havana.
In a minor measure Havana and all Cuba now anticipated the feelings which England had two years later upon the approach of the Invincible Armada. Every man was summoned to his appointed place in the scheme of defense and insistent vigilance was maintained night and day. For this there was full need. Within an hour of the arrival of this second messenger from the west a Spanish ship from Mexico came flying into the port of Havana with half a dozen English ships in hot pursuit. She passed Punta and gained safety before they came up, the big chain being slackened to let her pass within and then tightened again to shut out her pursuers. They did not, however, attempt to enter the harbor. One came so near as to draw a few shots from the guns of the Morro Fort and then withdrew without returning fire. But an hour later eight more English sails appeared, making fourteen in all.
Evidently the crisis was at hand. Every available man in Havana was in his place. Every available cannon was double-shotted and trained upon the spot at which the English vessels would first come within range. There was, however, no panic, no confusion. All men were resolute, confident and in high spirits. All night long sentinels watched the English fleet expecting to see it send boat loads of men ashore; ready to signal the news with beacon fires and torches. But all night long the English fleet lay dark and silent in the offing.
The morning of May 30 dawned. It was clear and bright, the sea was smooth, the wind just sufficient to fill the sails. There could be no fitter day for a landing or for an approach to the harbor to bombard the forts and city. The sentinels on Morro counted all thirty of Drake's vessels, drawn up in line. Now and then one swept out in pursuit of some incautious or uninformed coasting vessel, but did not go far. The whole fleet maintained order as if in preparation for some great concerted operation.
Hours passed and nothing was done. At mid-afternoon some boats were sent toward the shore near Chorrera, and the watchers on Morro signaled to La Fuerza that a landing was being made; only a little later to recall the tidings as those of a false alarm. Night came on, and again under cover of darkness it was imagined that Drake's men were seen approaching Chorrera. Every man in Havana remained awake with arms in hand, but the night waned and daylight showed the fleet still motionless and the shore