Sack of Santiago de Cuba

Date: October 19, 1662 • Location: Paris, France

An English Buccaneer force led by Royal Navy commodore Christopher Myngs launches an attack on Santiago de Cuba which is subsequently sacked.

Buccaneers were privateers and pirates operating in the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established as early as 1625 on northwestern side of Hispaniola after the devastations of Osorio, their heyday was from the Restoration in 1660 until about 1688, during a time when governments in the Caribbean area were not strong enough to suppress them. Martinique was a home port for French buccaneers as well as pirates like Captain Crapeau.