John Watling

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John, or George, Watling (d. 1681) was a bloodthirsty but pious 17th Century English buccaneer. It was said that he would never plunder on the Sabbath and refused even to allow his crew to play cards on this holy day.

John Watling is most notorious for claiming the island currently dubbed San Salvador Island as his headquarters and naming it Watling Island. Its name before Watling took control is not clear. It may have been the island Guanahani that Christopher Columbus discovered in 1492 and renamed San Salvador, but this is now considered unlikely. Watling Island was officially named San Salvador in 1925 when certain scholars put forward that this was Columbus' island.

[edit] Juan Fernandez

In 1680-1681 John Watling sailed under Captain Bartholomew Sharp aboard the Most Holy Trinity. However, certain members of the crew were unhappy with Sharp. Each buccaneer had amassed a fortune under Sharp's leadership, but many of them were outrageous gamblers and had gambled all of their money away. Sharp had not gambled and wanted to retire with his fortune. On the 6 January 1681 at Juan Fernandez there was a mutiny in which Sharp was deposed and Watling was elected as his successor. On the 12 January three armed Spanish vessels approached Juan Fernandez and Watling and his crew were forced to flee the port, leaving behind a Mosquito Indian named Will (see for this castaway-story Will (Indian)) that they were unable to find in time. The buccaneers waited just out to sea, but the Spanish did not leave and so Watling slipped away on the night of the 13 January.

[edit] Arica

Several days later the buccaneers decided to make a new attack the on the rich Spanish settlement of Arica, Chile. They had attacked Arica on a previous occasion, but could not find any of the rumoured riches. A captured Indian warned Watling that Arica was now heavily fortified, but much to Captain Sharp's displeasure, Watling did not believe the man and shot him.

It was four or five days walk from the coast to Arica, and as the 92 buccaneers had to carry their own water for the journey they were exhausted by the time they arrived. They had tried to approach the settlement without being spotted by the Spanish, but they were unsuccessful and the defenders were fully prepared for the attack. On January 30 Watling split his men into two groups, one to attack the fort with hand grenades and the rest to attack the town. Upon seeing how heavily outnumbered the men were in the town, Watling soon sent everyone to attack there. The fighting was successful and the buccaneers repeatedly forced the Spanish to retreat, however as a result of being outnumbered, every time they advanced the Spanish would re-take the land behind them. Finally the city was conquered and Watling determined to attack the fort again. However, the Spanish took this opportunity to regain the settlement and to surround Watling's men. Completely overwhelmed, the buccaneers fled from the settlement. Several men, including Captain John Watling, were shot during the retreat.