San Juan de Ula

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San Juan de Ula

Plan and panoramic view of the fort in 1838 from French map during the war between France and
Mexico

San Juan de Ula, also known as Castle of San Juan de Ula, is a large complex
of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island of the same name in the Gulf of
Mexico overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico. Juan de Grijalva's 1518 expedition
named the island. On Easter Sunday 1519, Hernan Corts met with Tendile and Pitalpitoque,
emissaries from Moctezuma II's Aztec Empire.[1]:89[1]:36,38,89

Contents
[hide]

1History
2Post-Spanish era
o 2.1Conditions in 1914
3Modern time
4See also
5References
6External links
History[edit]
See also: Battle of San Juan de Ula (1568)
The fort was built in the Spanish colonial New Spain era, with construction starting in 1565. It
was expanded several times later.

The fortress overlooking the Port of Veracruz

In 1568, the Spanish Navy succeeded in trapping the English fleet of Sir John Hawkins,
including his cousin, the young Francis Drake, at San Juan de Ula. Although Hawkins and
Drake both escaped on their respective ships, many of the English were killed.
Richard Hakluyt's book, The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoueries of the
English Nation (15981600), claims Drake and Hawkins were on a private venture, peacefully
trading with the local Spanish colonists in violation of Spanish law, when the Spanish naval
fleet arrived. Despite suspicion of treachery, they allowed the Spaniards to take shelter under
truce, between San Juan de Ula island, on an otherwise open coastline. The attack by the
Spanish was a surprise.
Historians know that Drake and Hawkins likely had raided Spanish settlements elsewhere on
that voyage. The trade was in African slaves, who had been captured and taken earlier
from West Africa. On this occasion, it appears the English were in fact trading at Vera Cruz.
Historians have speculated that the Spanish colonists traded with them illegally under their
threat of raids and attacks.[2]
Hawkins and Drake escaped in the ships Minion and Judith,, while their larger ships were
taken or destroyed. The attack and subsequent hardships were instrumental in hardening
Drake's attitude against Spain and Catholicism. Earlier in his life, he and his family had been
forced to live in poverty after they were displaced by a Catholic rebellion in England.

Post-Spanish era[edit]
See also: Bombardment of San Juan de Ula
After Mexico's independence in 1821, a large number of Spanish troops continued to occupy
San Juan de Ula as late as 1825. It was the last site in the former New Spain to be held by
Spain and was surrendered to General Miguel Barragn in November 1825. The Spanish
forces were expelled by President Vicente Guerrero after the failed attempt at re-conquering
the country.
Since then, San Juan de Ula served as a military and political symbol of Mexican resistance
to foreign invasions and occupations, several of which took place during the nineteenth
century. In 1836 the French invaded and occupied to put pressure on the national government;
during the MexicanAmerican War, in 1848 the U.S. occupied the fort and Veracruz, and in
1863 the French briefly occupied the city when installing Maximilian I as emperor. For much of
the nineteenth century, the fort served as a prison, especially for political prisoners judged to
be opposition to the government. Many prominent Mexican politicians spent time here while
they were not in power.
Finally in 1914, the last U.S. invasion, attack and occupation of the port of Veracruz took place
as part of the Tampico Affair, against the background of the Mexican Revolution which
threatened the regional oil industry, in which Americans were heavily invested. The national
legislature awarded the port and city of Veracruz the title of Heroic for the fourth time following
this incident.
A portion of San Juan de Ula also served several times as the presidential palace, housing
presidents such as Benito Jurez and Venustiano Carranza. The citadel was also used as a
prison, especially during the early 20th-century regime of President Porfirio Daz. It is popularly
said that in order to prevent prisoners from escaping, sharks were put into the waters
surrounding the island, so that they would kill anyone attempting to escape.
Conditions in 1914[edit]
The worst pesthole in Veracruz,[3] though not so evident to the public eye, was the
prison of San Juan de Ula. For several days after the port had been occupied, the
Americans made no attempt to take the fortress. Incongruously, the Mexican flag was
raised and lowered each day by the garrison of the fort, this with the gunboat Prairie
anchored but a few yards away. After three days, however, a party of marines from
North Dakota rowed over to the island to take charge of the fort. The Mexican
commander was pleased to surrender, for there was little food left. His men had
nothing to eat, he said, but black bean soup. At the order of the marine commander he
threw back the great iron gates to the cell area. To the Americans it was as though a
hole had suddenly been opened into Dantes Inferno. Several hundred men were
huddled together in a series of cavernlike cells, each about forty feet long and fifteen
feet wide. The marines were almost overcome by the stench and the maniacal outcries
of the prisoners. The convicts were filthy and in rags, for each man wore the clothing
he had brought with him. Many had chronic malaria and tuberculosis; nearly all had
chronic diarrhea or other enteric ailments. The condition of the political prisoners, the
men who had tried to escape military service, was bad enough. But In another hole,
where the criminal prisoners were incarcerated, it was even more foul. The men inside
were like animals. There were no toilets in any of the cells, or in the cell area, and rats,
cockroaches, spiders, and fleas infested the whole prison.
By orders of General Funston the political prisoners were given their freedom. Some
returned to their homes in various parts of the Republic; others, who feared retaliation
by Huertas government, preferred to remain in Veracruz. Only those criminal prisoners
who, in the judgment of the military government, had been justly convicted, were kept
in custody, and these were transferred to better and more sanitary quarters in the city
jail.
The cleanup of the prison was a more prodigious job than that of the market, requiring
the labor of marines, sailors, and prisoners for several weeks. The walls and floors
were scraped down, steamed, washed with creolin, and flushed out with firehoses. The
vermin were exterminated with sulphur fumes; in all the Americans burned 1,200
pounds of sulphur. So foul were the deepest dungeons that the prisoners who worked
there, performing the most noxious tasks, worked in shifts so as not to be nauseated by
the odors. When the sanitary officers were finally satisfied with the condition of the
prison, the cells were sealed off. The fort was used thereafter as a barracks for the
marines and soldiers.

Modern time[edit]
The fortress complex was ultimately closed when no longer needed for sea
defense. After several years of decay, renovation was begun on the complex in
the late 20th century. Some projects are continuing. San Juan de Ula has been
preserved and adapted as a museum. The prisons and the fortresses are all open
to the public, with the exception of the former presidential palace, which suffered
severe decay and is still undergoing renovations. The complex is a very popular
tourist attraction.
San Juan de Ula was used to depict the fortress in Cartagena, Colombia in the
climax of the 1984 film Romancing the Stone.

See also[edit]
San Carlos Fortress

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b