[1]
The other expedition consisted[a] of thirty sail and a military force of
three thousand men, under the joint command of Penn, as admiral, and
of Venables, as general. They spent several weeks among the English
settlements in the West Indies, and by the promise of plunder allured
to their standard many of the planters, and multitudes of the English,
Scottish, and Irish royalists, who had been transported thither as
prisoners of war. When they reached Hispaniola, Venables numbered ten
thousand men under his command; and, had the fleet boldly entered the
harbour of St. Domingo, it was believed that the town, unprepared for
resistance, must have immediately submitted. But the greater part of the
army was landed[b] at a point about forty miles distant, the expectations
of the men were disappointed by a proclamation, declaring that the plunder
was to be considered the public property of the commonwealth; the length of
the march, the heat of the climate, and the scarcity of water added to the
general discontent, and almost a fortnight elapsed before the invaders were
able to approach[c] the defences of the place. Their march lay through a
thick and lofty wood; and the advance suddenly found itself in front of a
battery which enfiladed the road to a considerable distance.
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