- "Spain is here. A fleet of a dozen ships has already opened fire on Nassau town. By now, well over a thousand soldiers will have likely made their landing and begun their invasion."
- ―Max in XXXIV.
The Sack of Nassau was an engagement in the War of the Quadruple Alliance and the Pirate-Maroon War. The result was that Spanish forces drove the pirates out of Nassau.
History []
Background[]
After the pirates had successfully retaken Nassau, Eleanor Rogers made a deal with the pirates to depart Nassau with all her people in exchange for the Urca gems, taking Flint prisoner as collateral. Eleanor then sent Mrs. Hudson to inform Woodes Rogers as he returned to Nassau with Edward Teach’s ship. Rogers refuses and continues to sail towards Fort Nassau but finally departs after several warning shots from the fort.
Instead of retiring to Port Royal as instructed, he travelled to Havana, where he enlisted the aid of the Spanish Governor of Cuba, Raja. Raja and Juan Antonio Grandal led Havana’s Fleet to Nassau, where Rogers signaled Fort Nassau to stand down.
Seeing the fleet sailing in, Featherstone and Idelle led a number of men aboard the Walrus, which escapes the harbor.
Meanwhile, after receiving news of the incoming Spanish forces, John Silver orders that his men stand their ground at the Underhill Estate rather than risk being caught out in the open trying to make it to the Walrus, which Featherstone is sailing to the southern coast. Silver also tells Julius, the leader of an army of former slaves, to bring his men to the estate as they have a better chance of defeating the Spanish together.
On the southern coast, Eleanor begins to lead Flint, Madi and their men back to Fort Nassau after discovering that it was Jack Rackham and his men and not Kofi with the cache of gems. Jack and his men had been able to take over Rogers' ship after being imprisoned in it. Max attempted to ride out to warn her, but only found Rackham, who she told about the invasion. Rackham and his men, along with Max, returned to their ship and encountered the Walrus. The two ships wait out the invasion off the southern coast, remaining behind in the hopes that they could take on survivors.
The Battle[]
Sack of Nassau Town[]
The fleet of 12 ships opened with a barrage of cannonfire before deploying their men ashore. The soldiers proceed to burn the fortifications the pirates built on the beach and some of the buildings in town, such as the Guthrie Warehouse. They slaughter everyone in their path, obviously discomforting Rogers. Rogers then sees Mr. Soames, Frasier and Lieutenant Utley coming towards him and realizes something is wrong. They inform him that Eleanor left the safety of the fort to complete the deal. Rogers desperately tries to get Raja and Grandal to pass the order to their men that his wife is not be harmed, but Grandal tells him that even if they could it would be futile, as none of the soldiers would heed it.
Fighting at the Underhill Estate[]
At the Underhill Estate , Silver leads about 60 pirates and an unknown number of freed slaves in defending the plantation from about 100 Spanish Regulars. The pirates are initially successful, inflicting many casualties on the advancing Spanish soldiers while taking shelter behind the Estate's defensive palisade.
However, Silver notices something is amiss. Mounted Spanish lancers then emerge from the cane fields, having overrun the four men guarding the southern end of the fields. Silver leads the pirates in trying to fend them off, but they are soon overrun by the cavalry and infantry. Israel Hands calls the pirates to get off the wall and face the Spanish cavalry. However, the battle quickly turns against them as the Spanish outside the walls advance.
Hands is forced to call them to retreat inside the sugar mill, where the women and children are hiding. Just as all hope seems lost and the Spanish are on the verge of burning/smoking them out, Julius and his men attack the Spanish from the rear. Silver leads his remaining 30 men out from the building and attacking the Spanish as they desperately try to stave off attacks from two directions. The Spanish are forced to retreat.
Skirmish at the Barlow Estate[]
While trying to make their way back to Fort Nassau, Flint, Eleanor, Madi and their men come across a troop of Spanish soldiers marching through the interior. Flint leads them to the Barlow Estate, which had been fortified by the Pirate Resistance. However, they are tracked by the Spanish, and about a dozen pursue them to the estate. After being freed from his shackles, Flint grabs a sword and leads the six Redcoats and two Maroons in defending the estate. After waiting for them all to get in range, Flint orders them to fire and then leads them out to fight them in close quarters. All the Spanish are seemingly killed at the cost of two Redcoats, however three more Spanish soldiers appear and run away after surveying the scene. Knowing that if they live they’ll face an overwhelming force, Flint leads Obi and three Redcoats after them. Eleanor and Madi stay in the house while Zaki and a Redcoat stand guard.
One Spanish Soldier was merely knocked out, and killed the guards and entered the house. He then attacked Eleanor, knocking her to the floor. Madi attempts to attack him with a fireplace poker but he knocks her out. Eleanor rises and grabs a pistol and shoots him, but the shot only grazes his arm. He throws her onto the table and attempts to rape her, but Eleanor smashes a jar of lamp oil on his head. She then grabs a sword and attempts to attack him, but he slashes her with his knife. Eleanor then crawls to the fireplace, where she hits him with a torch. Due to the oil, he bursts into flames and soon sets everything he touches alight. Eleanor tries to rouse Madi and get her out of the house, but is unable too.
The Pirates Retreat[]
Flint, Obi and the last two surviving Redcoats return to the Barlow Estate and find in flames with Eleanor bleeding out outside. Flint rushes to her, and she tells him that she tried her best to save Madi. She then asks Flint if her husband is with the Spanish, as Flint had earlier theorized. Choosing to spare her, Flint says he wasn’t, and Eleanor dies.
Flint leads his remaining men to the Underhill Estate, where Silver and Julius are preparing for another Spanish attack. Silver falls apart when he hears of Madi’s death. Flint orders that they retreat, not wanting to risk having to face further attacks by Spanish forces. Flint, the remains pirates, and Julius and the freed slaves retreat to the southern coast, where they are taken onto the Walrus.
Aftermath[]
Rogers eventually found Eleanor dead at the Barlow Estate, an event that caused him to become increasingly unstable. He was successful however, in his goal of ridding the island of pirates, at a steep cost.
Billy Bones, who was able to escape the Spanish forces after being set free by Ben Gunn, surrendered to Rogers, and offered to help him defeat the pirates by using Madi, who was captured by Rogers’ forces, to drive a wedge between Flint and Silver and erode their partnership.
The Walrus sailed to the Maroon Island-, and there the survivors find the Maroon Camp filled with pirates and Maroons, who flocked to the camp to participate in Flint’s war after hearing of Nassau’s fall. Meanwhile, Max persuaded Jack to sail to Philadelphia to try and persuade Eleanor’s grandparents to ruin Rogers to avenge Eleanor’s death.
Rogers sent word to the pirates demanding the cache of gems in exchange for Madi. Flint and Silver returned to Nassau and sent Kofi on a reconnaissance mission to find out where she is being held.
Trivia[]
- During the War of the Quadruple Alliance, Spanish forces did raid Nassau. Rogers led the effort to repel them however, and was successful, but bankrupted as a result.
