The result of this enrolment, which was made in the spring of 1582, was unsatisfactory. In Havana itself only 226 men fit for service could be found, and no other town on the Island could furnish more than a quarter as many. They were, moreover, chiefly men unused to arms and therefore of little prospective value against the formidable fighting men whom Drake was reported to have in his train. As for La Fuerza, sickness and desertion had so depleted its garrison that not a score of able-bodied men were left. Quiñones gathered in reinforcements of 60 or 70, chiefly young and inexperienced men and thus raised the apparently effective strength to something less than 100, when more than 200 were considered necessary. Two small brass cannon and a supply of powder and small arms came from Spain, and Luzan either purchased or requisitioned from a visiting ship four more small cannon. The Governor also destroyed, by burning, all the houses which had been built close to La Fuerza so as to leave an open zone of considerable strength around that fortress.
Despite the conflict between Luzan and Quiñones already recorded, some substantial progress was made, especially by the latter, in strengthening the defenses of Havana to meet the coming storm. La Fuerza was improved in various respects, though it was impossible to get rid of the dampness which pervaded the place. On the Punta at the entrance to the harbor trenches were dug and a gun platform was built. The efficiency of these was unsparingly ridiculed by the Royal Treasurer, Rojas, and indeed Quiñones himself soon realized their unsatisfactory character. He therefore undertook the construction of the real fort, and by the end of 1583 had it sufficiently completed to permit the mounting of eight pieces of artillery. He then declared that if he were properly supplied with powder and shot he could defend Havana against all comers. He did not wish more soldiers, and indeed he strongly protested against the levies from Mexico for which Luzan had sent. During the spring of 1583 about 100 men did arrive from Mexico under a Captain who looked to Luzan and not to Quiñones for orders; a circumstance which naturally added to the confusion and conflict of authority. But after a few months Luzan himself agreed with Quiñones in regarding the men as practically worthless, and assented to their shipment back to Mexico.
CHAPTER XXI
Such, then, was the state of affairs when in 1585 war began between Spain and England. English adventurers infested Spanish territory on the main land in the northern part of the vast region which the Spanish still called Florida. They planned an English colony at the Bay of Santa Maria and renamed that place "Roanoke" and they also renamed that part of Florida after the Queen of England; calling it "Virginia." The news of this invasion appears to have been known in Cuba, by the way of Southern Florida, before it was known in Spain, and a fleet vessel was accordingly sent from Havana to bear the tidings to the King and to ask for further protection from Cuba.
There was a period of hesitancy and uncertainty, and then the storm broke. On January 10th, 1586, Sir Francis Drake landed in Hispaniola and occupied the City of Santo Domingo, the nominal capital of all the Spanish West Indies. Some of the judges of the Supreme Court at that place escaped and fled to Cuba, where they arrived a week later with the startling news. Luzan, as already related, was then at Bayamo, and it was there that he received the news. He was startled and alarmed, but appears not to have been panic stricken. Indeed he acted with coolness and judgment and in a manner which must be regarded as going far toward redeeming his reputation from the reproaches which he had formerly incurred. Discreetly assuming that Drake's attack upon Cuba, whenever it was made, would be not at Bayamo but at the Capital and metropolis itself, his first thought was for Havana. Immediately upon receiving the news from Santo Domingo he dispatched horsemen across country from Bayamo to Havana to bear the tidings to Quiñones, bidding them also to spread the news through all the country as they went and to command all towns to marshal all available men and send them on to Havana for the reinforcement of that place. As soon as possible he also sent two vessels from Bayamo to Havana laden with men and supplies. Ignoring their former quarrels in the face of the common danger he wrote to Quiñones outlining his plans for a defense of the Island and urging that an appeal should be sent to Mexico for aid, from which country it could be procured much more quickly than from Spain. Then he hastened to Santiago and from that port sent two vessels to Spain to tell the King what had happened at Santo Domingo and what was being done to avert, if possible, a like calamity at Havana.
The Governor's appeals to the various municipalities were not without effect. The people of Cuba seemed to be aroused by the imminence of danger to a better degree of public spirit than they had ever before manifested. Bayamo, Sancti Spiritus, Puerto Principe, and even poor little Trinidad, the smallest and weakest town of the Island, contributed men and arms to their full ability, and when at the beginning of May these levies were mustered in Havana they numbered more than 225 efficient men, tolerably well armed. Luzan himself remained at Bayamo, in the absence of orders or even permission to return to Havana, professing readiness and eagerness to serve the King there or elsewhere, wherever he could be of most use. At Havana Quiñones was in command, loyally supported by the Town Council, the royal officials and the entire community. Even the austere and censorious Rojas, the Royal Treasurer, who had been the bitter critic and opponent of Quiñones, forgot his animosity and hastened to offer his services in any capacity in which they might be utilized. It is related that Rojas, despite his years, his wealth and his social dignity, worked as a common laborer with pick-axe and shovel in digging trenches and throwing up breastworks for the fortification of the town, thus setting an example which left no other citizen any excuse for shirking duty and indeed went far toward inspiring the whole community with patriotic fervor. A proclamation was also issued by the Mayor, Pedro de la Vega, addressed to all citizens who, because of debts, quarrels, crimes, or other causes, had sought sanctuary in the church or gone into hiding in the jungle, asking them to come forward and aid in the defense of Havana, and promising them immunity from arrest or prosecution and a period of a fortnight's grace in which to return to their asylums or their hiding places after the need of their services was ended. This extraordinary call was responded to by scores of fugitives.
There was no neglect, either, in preparation for the defense of the suburbs of Havana. Chorrera was generally regarded not only as a possible but as a very probable landing point for the invaders, from which a march could be made by land against Havana. It was not practicable to fortify the place strongly enough to prevent the landing of any considerable force, but a small camp was established there, occupied by a company of horsemen, who were to keep watch day and night for the approach of the enemy, and upon his first appearance were to ride post-haste to Havana with the news. The first horseman was to set out the moment the enemy was sighted in the distance. A second was to follow as soon as the fleet was near enough for the number of vessels and their approximate strength and men and guns to be determined. A third would set out the moment the enemy's intention, either of landing there or of proceeding on to Havana, was ascertained. A fourth would wait until the enemy was actually landing and his numbers could be determined, and would then hasten after the others with the news.
Nearer the city there were several other possible landing places at inlets of the coast and some of these were fortified with earth-works and artillery. Chief among these was the inlet of San Lazaro, where in addition to earth works an enclosed fort of timber, stone and earth was constructed with several cannons mounted on a platform. At the entrance to the harbor of Havana itself the strongest preparations were made. At Punta a dozen guns were in readiness to make that the chief point of defense outside of La Fuerza itself. Much attention was given to all roads leading into the city for several miles around; particularly toward the west from which direction the attack was chiefly expected. Some of the roads were blocked altogether, others were mined and provided with pitfalls. Still others were screened and hidden with trees and brushwood so as to serve as secret means of passage for the Spaniards in advancing against or retreating from the enemy, and these were so mined that after having served their