Henry Morgan

Sir Henry Morgan (Harri Morgan in Welsh; ca. 1635 – 25 August 1688) was a Welsh privateer, pirate and admiral of the English Royal Navy  who made a name for himself during activities in the Caribbean, primarily raiding Spanish settlements. He earned a reputation as one of the most notorious and successful privateers in history, and one of the most ruthless among those active along the Spanish Main.

Early life
Henry Morgan was the eldest son of Robert Morgan, a farmer living in Llanrhymny (today known as Rhymney, three miles from Tredegar), situated on the Rhymney River, in south-east Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. He also had a sister Catherine. An entry in the Bristol Apprentice Books showing "Servants to Foreign Plantations" 9 February 1655, included "Henry Morgan of Abergavenny, Labourer, Bound to Timothy Tounsend of Bristol, Cutler, for three years, to serve in Barbados on the like Condiciouns."

Henry's father Robert Morgan (born c.1615) was a descendant from a cadet branch of the ‘Tredegar Morgans’ and had two brothers, Thomas and Edward. Major-General Sir Thomas Morgan (1st Baronet 1604-79) served in the Commonwealth forces during English civil war from 1642-9, was Governor of Gloucester 1645, fought in Flanders, wounded, and in 1661 retired to his estate in Kynnersley, Herts. He was married on 10 September 1632, and had nine sons, of whom the eldest, Sir John Morgan followed in his father's profession. Thomas was recalled in 1665 to become Governor of Jersey, and died in St. Helier in April 1679. Colonel Edward Morgan (c. 1616- after 1665) was a Royalist during English Civil War 1642-9, Captain General of the Kings forces in South Wales, escaped to the continent, and married Anna Petronilla the daughter of Baron von Pöllnitz, Westphalia, (governor of Lippstadt, a city 20 miles east of Dortmund Germany). They had six children, two sons, and four daughters (including Anna Petronilla and Johanna). He was appointed Lt-Gov. Jamaica 1664-65.

There was no record of Morgan before 1655. He later said that he left school early, and was "more used to the pike than the book." Alexandre Exquemelin, Morgan's surgeon at Panama, says that he was indentured in Barbados. After Morgan sued the publishers for libel and was awarded £200, Exquemelin was forced to retract his statement. Subsequent editions of his book were amended.

Exquemelin said that Morgan came to Jamaica in 1658 as a young man, and raised himself to "fame and fortune by his valour". Recent versions of his life claim that, despite having had little experience as a sailor, Morgan sailed to the Caribbean to take part in the Western Design, Cromwell's plan to invade Hispaniola. His first battle at Santo Domingo ended in a failed attempt to take the island. The fleet moved on to Jamaica, which the English force successfully invaded and occupied.

His uncle Edward Morgan was Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica after the Restoration of Charles II of England in 1660. Henry Morgan married his uncle's daughter Mary, a cousin. Morgan was reportedly the "Captain Morgan" who joined the fleet of Christopher Myngs in 1663. He was part of the expedition of John Morris and Jackmann when they took the Spanish settlements at Vildemos (on the Tabasco river); Trujillo, (Honduras) and Granada.

In late 1665 Morgan commanded a ship in the old privateer Edward Mansfield's expedition sent by Sir Thomas Modyford, the governor of Jamaica. They seized the islands of Providencia and Santa Catalina Island, Colombia. When Mansfield was captured by the Spanish and executed shortly afterward, the privateers elected Morgan as their admiral.

Career under Mansvelt
By 1661 Commodore Christopher Mings appointed Morgan captain of his first vessel. He plundered the Mexican coast under Lord Windsor's commission in 1665. When Lord Windsor, governor of Jamaica, refused to stop the pirates from attacking Spanish ships, the Crown relieved him, and appointed Sir Thomas Modyford in his place. Although Modyford proclaimed loyalty to the Crown, he became a critical element of Morgan's expeditions by going against the word of the king and granting Morgan letters of marque to attack Spanish ships and settlements. Modyford was originally appointed governor of Barbados for both his loyalty and service to King Charles II during the English Civil War and his familial relation to the First Duke of Albemarle, but he was later removed from this position. Modyford was then appointed Governor of Jamaica as an attempt to save his dignity. This, along with the Royalists' defeat at Worcester, decreased Modyford's loyalty to the crown. As governor, Modyford was required to call in all pirates and privateers of the West Indies because England and Spain were temporarily at peace. However, the majority of these buccaneers, Sir Henry Morgan included, either refused to return or did not receive the message that there was a recall.

When Morgan did return, Modyford had already received letters from the King of England warning him to force all of the pirates to return to port. Modyford chose to neglect these warnings and continue to issue letters of marque under the guise that it was for the King's best interest to protect Jamaica, and this was a necessary element in that goal. Because Modyford desired to get rid of the Dutch presence in the Caribbean he issued a letter of marque to Captain Edward Mansvelt to assemble a fleet of fifteen ships manned by roughly 500 to 600 men. Having just returned from a successful expedition off the Mexican Coast, where he captured several ships off the coast of Campeche, Morgan was appointed vice admiral of the fleet. Mansvelt was given orders to attack the Dutch settlement of Curaçao, but once the crew was out at sea it was decided that Curaçao was not lucrative enough for the impending danger associated with attacking it. With this in mind, a vote was taken and the crew decided that attacking a different settlement would be a safer and more lucrative alternative. Unhappy with this decision, many of the buccaneers deserted the expedition and headed back to port while others continued on with Admiral Mansvelt and Vice-Admiral Morgan to attack the Spanish island of Providence.

When Morgan and Mansvelt's fleet arrived at Providence, the Spanish were unprepared. Unable to form a defence, the Spanish surrendered all of their forts. Mansvelt and Morgan ruthlessly decided to destroy all but one of these forts. The buccaneers lived in the city and collected all of its wealth while Morgan and Mansvelt sailed around Costa Rica. Eventually, they spotted a Spanish man-of-war on the horizon and decided to return to Jamaica to gather reinforcements so that the island of Providence could be a town run and inhabited by pirates. As a sign of his sympathy toward pirates Modyford appointed his brother, Sir James Modyford, as governor of Providence. In the mind of Mansvelt, the idea of a pirate-run settlement was brilliant. However, he and Modyford both overlooked the true essence of a pirate: a pirate is not a soldier who is disciplined and prepared to fight the world's best armies when the armies were ready for them. Rather, Mansvelt's pirates were conditioned to raid a town, then leave. Thus, the pirate reign in Providence was short-lived as the island was quickly recaptured by the Spanish. After this expedition, Modyford was again reprimanded by the King of England and asked to recall all of his pirates and privateers. Once again, Modyford refused.

After learning of a rumour that the Spanish planned to attack Jamaica in retaliation for the sack of Providence, Modyford provided yet another commission to the buccaneers. This time, he gave the commission directly to Morgan to take Spanish citizens prisoner in order to protect the island of Jamaica. Modyford used the excuse of protecting the King's influence in the Americas, but this was most likely simply a guise for his own personal agenda of gaining money and keeping his post as Governor of Jamaica. Nonetheless, Morgan assembled a fleet of ten ships in a way that was quite different from most Admirals of the time. Instead of sending out a flyer and allowing willing buccaneers of the region to come to him, Morgan sailed to the places where the most daring pirates could be found. When he arrived at the ports, he dressed himself in red silk and wore fancy gold and jewels so that he appeared to be extremely successful so that more swashbucklers were drawn to him. Using a word-of-mouth approach, he was able to acquire five hundred of the best pirates in the area.

Puerto Principe: first independent command
In 1667, he was commissioned by Modyford to capture some Spanish prisoners in Cuba in order to discover details of the threatened attack on Jamaica. Collecting 10 ships with 500 men, Morgan landed on the island and captured and sacked Puerto Principe (Camagüey).

Modyford almost immediately entrusted Morgan with another expedition against the Spaniards, and he proceeded to ravage the coast of Cuba. In a meeting held by Morgan prior to the start of their journey, he proposed that the fleet attack Havana. Although this suggestion showed his arrogance, after much debate it was decided that they did not have enough men to take Havana, so they decided instead to take Puerto Principe. While on their quest for Spanish ships, Morgan's fleet encountered heavy storms that brought them to the south shore of modern-day Cuba as opposed to the north shore where they had originally aimed. Due to the rough journey, Morgan's men had very little food and water and were forced to land on the south shore to search for provisions instead of continuing on to the north shore of Cuba. Once on land, the crew met a French crew that had also been driven ashore in search of provisions and decided to join forces. A Spanish prisoner that Morgan held hostage escaped and warned the citizens of Puerto Principe of the impending attack. The citizens quickly deserted the town with their valuables, leaving very little for the buccaneers. After searching the town and torturing its residents for information regarding the location of their riches, Morgan's fleet was only able to gather fifty-thousand pieces of eight. This was not enough to pay off the debts that the buccaneers had accumulated back in Jamaica, so they were required to find more riches before returning to Port Royal.

Attack on Porto Bello
In order to cover their debts, Morgan and his men decided to aim for a city that harbored vast treasure. As the third most important Spanish city in the New World, Porto Bello, in modern-day Panama, was an obvious choice for the buccaneers. Furthermore, Porto Bello was considered the center of Spanish trade in the Americas, as its warehouses contained the goods and valuables of many wealthy merchants. With its enormous concentration of wealth, Porto Bello was extremely well protected by three Spanish forts.

However, the French crew refused to take part in this voyage because they did not get along with Morgan's English crew. It was reported that there was a dispute between a Frenchman and an Englishman during their joint sacking of Puerto del Principe, and that it had been decided they resolve their quarrel in a duel. However the Englishman stabbed the Frenchman in the back before the duel could take place. The Frenchmen desired revenge against the English, but Captain Morgan appeased them by putting the criminal in chains to be carried to Jamaica, promising justice be served upon him. On return to Jamaica, Morgan upheld his promise and had the Englishman hanged. Notwithstanding, the French believed that they had been cheated out of their fair share of the loot by Morgan. Whereas the reputation of most pirates would have been ruined by this rumor, Morgan set sail to sack Porto Bello with his original fleet of ten ships and five-hundred men. When the fleet reached the settlement on the northern coast of South America, the buccaneers found the fortresses very intimidating. With this in mind, Morgan gave them a rousing speech, in which, he reminded them that the Spanish did not know of their presence and promised them gold and silver. When the sun went down, the ships began to sail towards Puerto do Naos, where there was a river that could lead them to Porto Bello. With information gained from a prisoner, the Buccaneers were able to surprise the first fort. The soldiers manning it were attacked by Morgan's swordsmen, some of them while still sleeping in their beds. Morgan's men came under heavy fire as they attacked the second fort, but managed to lay down suppressing fire while scaling ladders, and storming the fort, an effort costing his men many lives. However, the Spanish perceived the first two forts were easily taken, and subsequently surrendered the third fort, enabling Morgan's buccaneers to overrun the city. Not long after this, the Spanish counterattacked in an attempt to protect their wealth and center of trade, but the buccaneers were ready for the battle and Morgan organized an ambush of the fleet in a narrow passage. After defeating the much larger and more powerful Spanish fleet, Morgan and his men continued to inhabit Porto Bello for two months. During this time, they collected all of the wealth of the city that they could find, and ransomed the Spanish for the safety of its town and citizens. From the ransom alone, Morgan and his men collected roughly 100,000 pieces of eight to bring their total loot from Porto Bello to over 200,000 pieces of eight. In a foreshadowing of Morgan's future endeavors, the Governor of Panama asked him how he had beaten the Spanish army sent from his city with such small a force, along with an emerald ring and a request that he not attack Panama. Morgan replied by sending the Governor of Panama a pistol with a message as an example of the arms used in the taking of Porto Bello, and that he intended to come and reclaim it from him in Panama. Soon after, England sent Port Royal the HMS Oxford (as a gift meant to protect Port Royal); Port Royal gave it to Morgan to help his career.

Because Modyford had already been warned to recall his pirates, his recent commission to Morgan once again put him under enormous pressure from the Crown. Modyford officially denounced the attacks on the town by citing that he sanctioned only attacks on ships. Modyford attempted to justify his commission by emphasizing the rumored Spanish invasion of Jamaica. However, he did not believe that merely talking of a rumored attack would be enough to save his governorship and dignity, so he decided to try to provoke the Spanish into actually attacking Jamaica. Although seemingly illogical, Modyford hoped to cover up his last commission by granting Morgan yet another one.

Cartagena Raid
In the same fashion as before, Morgan set out to assemble a fleet of buccaneers that would be willing to engage in a bold attack on the Spanish Main and was able to attract nine-hundred men to his eleven-ship fleet. Once gathered, Morgan brought his men to the Isla Vaca, also known as Cow Island, to decide on a city to attack. After deliberation it was decided that the Spanish settlement of Cartagena would be their intended target because of the riches it contained. It was one of Spain's most important cities, and held all of the gold that was in transit from Peru to Spain, so sacking Cartagena would not only provoke the Spanish into an attack while weakening one of their strongest cities, but it would also make for a very large loot.

The night that the final decision to attack Cartagena was made, there was a celebration. During this rum-filled celebration, a few intoxicated sailors accidentally lit a fuse that ignited explosives on board Morgan's flagship, the Oxford, which was originally a gift given to Modyford to help protect Jamaica from privateers like Morgan. However, the ship ended up in Morgan's possession and became his flagship. When the Oxford was destroyed, many men lost their lives, and many others chose to desert seeing the tragedy as an omen of bad luck, so the fleet was decreased to only ten ships and eight-hundred men. However, Morgan still continued onto the Spanish Main to attack Cartagena in March 1669 after supplementing his loss with that of another great ship (a French vessel [Le Cerf Volant] of 36 guns; 24 iron, 12 brass ), which coincidentally he’d already designed to acquire on the night of the explosion.

Having previously desired to strengthen his fleet by joining this great vessel with that of his own (the “Oxford”), he knew the French would not join the English for mistrust. So using earlier news he had happened to learn of, this being that an English merchant ship had crossed paths with these French pirates and allowed them credit for desperately needed provisions they could not afford, he shrewdly but underhandedly plotted to have the bewildered French imprisoned for committing acts of piracy against the English, and subsequently seize their ship.

This he achieved, albeit in a manner he had not expected, after inviting the French Commander and several of his men aboard his great ship to dine, but with the deceptive intention to instantly take them prisoners under accusations of piracy against the English for their dealings with the aforementioned merchant ship. That same night, the unfortunate mishap with the lighting of that fuse occurred. Now Morgan desperately required the French vessel for himself, more so than before, and so deduced to add to his previous accusation that the French prisoners had also caused the explosion on the ship out of revenge for their imprisonment.

With Morgan’s accusation heard, the French ship was searched. Here, a commission given to the French from the Governor of Baracoa was uncovered. This stipulated that the French were permitted to trade in Spanish ports, etc., but crucially to also cruise on any English pirates due to the hostilities they had committed against Spain during a time of peace between the two nations (Spain and France). Morgan manipulated this letter’s intent into being a direct threat: that the French be allowed to exercise piracy and war against them. The French could not clear themselves of this accusation, and hence had their great vessel seized and themselves sent to Jamaica, where they continued to try to clear their names, but all in vain, as they were detained in prison and threatened with hanging.

Morgan and his men set out to continue their design for Cartagena, but the voyage proved to be disastrous to the strength of the fleet. Since the crew was forced to sail into the wind the entire way to the Spanish Main, many of the vessels were unable to continue on because either the sailors were too exhausted from working day and night or the ship was under too much stress. When Morgan finally made it to the Spanish Main, his original crew of nine-hundred had been diminished to only five hundred, a force far too weak to overtake the highly-protected city of Cartagena. A French captain (Pierre Le Picard ) onboard suggested to Morgan that they attempt to sack Maracaibo that he had been to three years prior under the leadership of the notoriously brutal pirate Francois L'Olonnais.

Maracaibo and Gibraltar Raids
Reaching the town of Maracaibo, however, was no easy feat. The town was located on Lake Maracaibo, but to reach the lake they had to go through a narrow and shallow channel. Although the channel was only twelve feet deep, narrow, winding, and sprinkled with islands and sandbars, the French captain claimed that he could direct the ships safely through it. Unknown to him, the Spanish had built the fort San Carlos de La Barra at the channel's narrowest point since the last time the captain had been there three years before. When the fleet reached this point, they were unable to navigate the rough terrain because of the cannon and gun fire coming from the fort. Morgan was left with no choice but to order his men to land on the beach despite their lack of protection from the Spanish gun fire. Once nightfall arrived, Morgan and his men slowly entered the fort but found that there were no Spaniards there at all. Instead, the Spanish had left a slow-burning explosive as a trap for the buccaneers, which Morgan's crew discovered within 15 minutes of their arrival. Upon discovery, Morgan snatched away the lit match near the powder train saving himself and his men.

In order to protect his fleet for their voyage back through the channel, Morgan stole all of the supplies from the fort and ordered his men to bury the cannons in the sand. Because the Spanish already knew about Morgan's plan to attack Maracaibo, the men took canoes and small vessels through the channel to the town as opposed to the lengthy process of bringing the larger vessels. This modified plan was still not quick enough and the residents of Maracaibo were able to escape with their valuables before the buccaneers arrived. After searching the area and torturing any citizens they could find for three weeks, Morgan and his men loaded the large vessels with their provisions and booty, as well as prisoners to be used as messengers, and set off to attack the nearby town of Gibraltar on the southeastern shore of Lake Maracaibo.

After collecting the wealth of the town and ransoming its citizens, Morgan loaded the ships to return home. Returning to Maracaibo, Morgan found three Spanish ships, the Magdalena, the San Luis, and the La Marquesa, waiting at the inlet to the Caribbean; he destroyed the Magdalena, and captured the La Marquesa, while the San Luis's crew burned down their ship to stop the pirates from having it. In the time that Morgan was ransacking the two towns, the Spaniards had reinforced the fort San Carlos located at the narrowest point of the passage and barricaded the passage with three Spanish warships. Morgan and his men were given a choice to either surrender or be arrested, so they decided to fight for their freedom.

The buccaneers were outmanned by the Spanish, so they were forced to devise a clever plan to outsmart the Spanish. Morgan ordered the pirates' largest ship, the Satisfaction, to be turned into a "fire ship" that would be sailed directly into the Spanish flagship, the Magdalen. Hollowed-out logs were filled with explosives and dressed to look like a pirate crew, and the twelve men that manned the ship were instructed to throw grappling hooks into the riggings of the Magdalena so that it couldn’t sail away. Miraculously, Morgan's plan worked and Magdalena was destroyed. The second largest Spanish ship, the San Luis, was run ashore by the ship Morgan was now in control of. The final ship, La Marquesa, was taken by the pirates after the ropes tangled. After the battle, Morgan was still unable to cross the channel because of the fort, but the Spanish had no ships with which to attack Morgan. Finally, by an ingenious stratagem, he faked a landward attack on the fort which convinced the governor to shift his cannon, allowing Morgan to slowly creep by the fort using only the movement of the tide. In doing so, he eluded the enemy's guns altogether and escaped in safety. On his return to Jamaica he was again reproved, but not punished by Modyford.

The Spaniards for their part started to react and threaten Jamaica. A new commission was given to Morgan as commander-in-chief of all the ships of war in Jamaica, to levy war on the Spaniards and destroy their ships and stores - the booty gained in the expedition being the only pay. Thus Morgan and his crew were on this occasion privateers, not pirates. After ravaging the coasts of Cuba and the mainland, Morgan determined on an expedition to Panama.

Burning of Panama and the loss of English support
He recaptured the island of Santa Catalina on 15 December 1670 and, on 27 December, he gained possession of the fortress of San Lorenzo in the Caribbean coast of Panama, killing 300 men of the garrison and leaving 23 alive. Then with 1,400 men he ascended the Chagres River towards the Pacific coast and Panama City.

On 28 January 1671, Morgan discovered that Panama had roughly 1,200 infantry. He split his forces in two, using one to march through the forest and flank the enemy. The Spaniards were untrained and rushed Morgan's line where he cut them down with gunfire, only to have his flankers emerge and finish off the rest of the Spanish soldiers. Although Panama was at the time the richest city in New Spain, Morgan and his men obtained far less plunder than they had expected. Much of the city's wealth had been removed onto the Spanish treasure galleon, La Santisima Trinidad (a ship that nearly a decade later would be taken by English pirates, including one William Dampier, participating in the adventures of Captain Sharp et al. into the South Seas ) that then stood out into the Gulf of Panama, beyond the looters' reach. Or rather, had Morgan's men not decided that celebrating the capture of Panama was of higher importance than chancing their efforts with a ship which, at that point may or may not have been of any value, then they would have remained in a fit enough state to have made an attempt on it before the ship had had time to exit the bay. In reasoning, their decision at that time did not appear a bad one. As well as considering the further risk they would have exposed themselves to after battling with the Governor of Panama and his army, they were still in desperate need of victuals to satiate their extreme hunger after weeks of arduous marching from Fort San Lorenzo; the Spanish having made every effort to starve them on their approach by ensuring all villages were empty of provisions, and had setup numerous ambuscades by which to attack and taunt them. However, upon learning the extent of the wealth transferred onto that galleon, their decision turned out to be a major error in their judgement. For if they had remained sober enough and chosen to venture that little further, with their superior nautical skills at their disposal, they would have surely landed the amount of spoils they were expecting. Most of the inhabitants' remaining goods were destroyed in a fire of unclear cause. Morgan's men tortured those residents of Panama they could catch, but very little gold was forthcoming from the victims. After Morgan's attack, the Panama city had to be rebuilt in a new site a few kilometres to the west (the current site). The former site is called Panamá Viejo and still contains the remaining parts of the old Panama City.

Because the sack of Panama violated the 1670 peace treaty between England and Spain, Morgan was arrested and conducted to the Kingdom of England in 1672. He proved he had no knowledge of the treaty. When Spanish and English relations deteriorated, Morgan was knighted in 1674 before returning to Jamaica the following year to take up the post of Lieutenant Governor.

By 1681, then-acting governor Morgan had fallen out of favour with King Charles II, who was intent on weakening the semi-autonomous Jamaican Council, and was replaced by long-time political rival Thomas Lynch. He gained considerable weight and a reputation for rowdy drunkenness.

Retirement
In 1683, Morgan was suspended from the Jamaican Council by the machinations of Governor Lynch. Also during this time, an account of Morgan's disreputable exploits was published by Alexandre Exquemelin, who once had been his confidante, probably as a barber-surgeon, in a Dutch volume entitled De Americaensche Zee-Roovers (About the Buccaneers of America). Morgan took steps to discredit the book and successfully brought a libel suit against the book's publishers William Crooke and Thomas Malthus, securing a retraction and damages of two hundred English pounds. The book nonetheless contributed much to Morgan's reputed fame as a bloodthirsty pirate during the time he was in Newport.

When Thomas Lynch died in 1684, his friend Christopher Monck was appointed to the governorship and arranged the dismissal of Morgan's suspension from the Jamaican Council in 1688. Morgan's health had steadily declined since 1681. He was diagnosed with "dropsie", but may have contracted tuberculosis in London, and died on 25 August 1688. He is buried in Palisadoes cemetery, which sank beneath the sea after the 1692 earthquake.

Morgan had lived in an opportune time for privateers. He was able to successfully use the conflicts between England and her enemies both to support England and to enrich himself and his crews. With his death, the pirates who would follow would also use this same ploy, but with less successful results.

Henry Morgan’s Will 1688

Henry had married his cousin, Mary Elizabeth Morgan in 1666, there was no issue and she died in 1696. In his will signed 17 June 1688, he left his Jamaican property to his godsons Charles Byndloss (b.1668) and Henry Archbold on condition they adopted the surname of Morgan. These were the children of his two cousins Anna Petronilla Byndloss (née Morgan), and Johanna Archbold (née Morgan). Their father Colonel Edward Morgan (Lt-Gov. Jamaica 1664-65) was Robert Morgan's younger brother (see early life). To his sister Catherine Loyd (née Morgan) he awarded £60 per annum from his estate ‘paid into the hands of my ever honest cozen (sic) Thomas Morgan of Tredegar’.

Discovery of ship
On 4 August 2011 archaeologists from Texas State University reported having found what may be one of Morgan's ships off the coast of Panama. The dive was conducted off the Lajas Reef; some sources are stating it was at the mouth of Panama's Chagres River, where a 52 by section from the starboard side of a wooden ship's hull was found. The find may be Morgan's flagship, Satisfaction.

Unopened cargo boxes and chests encrusted in coral were found, in addition to the section of hull.

The dives are being led by Texas State University underwater archaeologist Frederick Hanselmann and assisted by the U.S. National Park Service Submerged Resources Center and volunteer divers from Aquarius Reef Base, a joint operation of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and University of North Carolina Wilmington - and in cooperation with Panamanian authorities and colleagues. The finds will stay in Panama.

Film & Television

 * The 1935 film Captain Blood, starring Errol Flynn, adapted from Rafael Sabatini's novel (see below), was loosely based on Morgan's life. This film provided Flynn with a star-making role.
 * The 1941 movie Horror Island has characters searching for the buried treasure of Henry Morgan.
 * The 1942 film, The Black Swan, based on the novel of the same name by Rafael Sabatini, had an account of Henry Morgan after his becoming the governor of Jamaica. Morgan was portrayed by Laird Cregar in the film.
 * The 1952 film Blackbeard the Pirate features Henry Morgan as an antagonist, portrayed by Torin Thatcher.
 * The 1961 film Morgan, the Pirate, starring Steve Reeves, gave an account of how Morgan became a pirate and was courted by the English to work for them.
 * The 1961 film, Pirates of Tortuga, Robert Stephens portrayed Morgan's having set up an independent pirate kingdom on Tortuga instead of answering Charles II's summons to England.
 * In a 1965 episode of the TV sitcom The Munsters, "The Treasure of Mockingbird Heights", Herman and Grandpa Munster discover a secret chamber and a clue to Henry Morgan's pirate treasure hidden on the Munsters' property.
 * The 1976 film, The Black Corsair, a character named Captain Morgan was portrayed by Angelo Infanti.
 * In 2003, Henry Morgan was the namesake of the Morgan Tribe in Survivor: Pearl Islands.
 * In 2006, The History Channel premiered the documentary True Caribbean Pirates, which told the known facts of Henry Morgan's life and death through re-enactments. Morgan was portrayed by Lance J. Holt.
 * In the 2007 film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Henry Morgan is mentioned as being one of the pirates who supposedly created the Brethren Court's Pirate's Code, along with Bartholomew Roberts.
 * 2013 Documentary "The Unsinkable Henry Morgan."

Literature

 * Rafael Sabatini's novel Captain Blood is based in large part on Morgan's career.
 * Emilio Salgari's Caribbean saga is centered on the fictitious character of Emilio di Roccabruna, aka The Black Corsair, whose lieutenant is the historical Henry Morgan. He becomes the main character in Salgari's 1904 novel Yolanda, the Black Corsair's daughter.
 * John Steinbeck's first novel, Cup of Gold (1929), is about Henry Morgan's life.
 * Book 1 of Nicholas Monsarrat's The Master Mariner has anti-hero Matthew Lawe sailing with Morgan as Mate.
 * F. Van Wyck Mason's 1949 novel Cutlass Empire romanticized Morgan's life, loves and battles.
 * Josephine Tey's 1952 novel The Privateer dramatized Morgan's life.
 * Kage Baker's short novel The Maid on the Shore, published in the short story collection Dark Mondays, features Henry Morgan during his expedition to Panama.
 * Berton Braley's 1934 poem This is the ballad of Henry Morgan
 * Ian Fleming's 1954 novel Live and Let Die centres round events which follow from the discovery of treasure hidden by Morgan.
 * Dudley Pope's Harry Morgan's Way: The Biography of Sir Henry Morgan combines firsthand sailor's knowledge of the Caribbean and use of primary documents; noted in the bibliography of James Stuart Olson and Robert Shadle Historical Dictionary of the British Empire 1996
 * Morgan is likely the inspiration for the privateer Charles Hunter in Michael Crichton's novel Pirate Latitudes.
 * James A. Michener's 1989 novel, Caribbean, features a chapter on Henry Morgan's exploits.
 * In Isaac Asimov's Robots In Time, Book 2, Marauder, time travelers met Captain Henry Morgan when they went back in time in search of a fugitive robot.
 * In the 1954 novel Deadmen's Cave by Leonard Wibberley, Morgan plays a major role in a hearty pirate tale of adventure, revenge, treasure, and redemption.
 * In Nicholas Monsarrat's 1978 novel The Master Mariner, Book 1: Running Proud, Morgan appears in part 3 as a notorious, charismatic Buccaneer admiral, with unstable personality, charming one day and diabolically evil the next day.
 * In James A. Owen's novel series, The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica, Henry Morgan is in reality, a Yankee engineer named Hank Morgan (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court), who served as one of the time travelling Messengers of the Caretakers of the Geographica (one of his assignments landed him in the Arthurian Age). After accidentally getting lost in time and space, he ends up in the Caribbean Islands and alters his name to Henry Morgan, where his attempts to find solutions to get back to his own time end up with him becoming the famous pirate.
 * Stephan Talty's 2007 novel 'Empire of Blue Water' chronicles Morgan's early days right up to his death, and offers a wildly exciting and historically accurate insight into the rise and fall of privateering in the Americas
 * Lloyd Shepherd's 2012 novel The English Monster features Henry Morgan.
 * He is mentioned in the 2013 novel, Time Riders: The Pirate Kings by Alex Scarrow when two of the main characters, Liam and Rashim, go back in time to 1666 and become privateers in the Caribbean Sea.

Music

 * There is a traditional Welsh air known as "Captain Morgan's March" — translated into English as "Forth to the Battle". Also known as "Rhwym Wrth Dy Wregys; Rhyvelgyrch Cadpen Morgan". However, it likely refers to Morgan, a chieftain of Morgannwg in the 14th century.
 * Celtic rock band Tempest immortalized Morgan in "Captain Morgan", featured on their albums Bootleg, The 10th Anniversary Compilation and 15th Anniversary Collection.
 * The album Good 'N' Cheap by Eggs over Easy featured a song titled "Henry Morgan" written and performed by Brien Bohn Hopkins and inspired by the novel Cup of Gold by John Steinbeck.
 * The Mighty Diamonds recorded a song named "Morgan the Pirate".
 * Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm named their first album Captain Morgan's Revenge, and prior to this, had an instrumental called "The Curse of Captain Morgan" on their EP "Terror on the High Seas", in part of the song "Captain Morgan's Revenge", before signing with Napalm Records and renaming themselves from Battleheart.
 * Reggae Artist Prince Far I featured Morgan in his song "Head of the Buccaneer" from the 1981 album Voice of Thunder.
 * OPM reference Captain Morgan in the song El Capitan.
 * Pirate themed Celtic Punk/Folk Rock band Ye Banished Privateers pay homage to Henry Morgan in the song Welcome to Tortuga on their album Songs and Curses.
 * In Peter Tosh's song 'You Can't Blame The Youth' the figure of Captain Morgan is highlighted as a figure from Jamaica's history who, although being revered, was in actuality a monster. Tosh points out that the youth should not be blamed for bad behavior when the 'Great men' they are taught about were, in reality, violent criminals. "You teach the youth about the Pirate Morgan, and you say he was a very great man. So you cant blame the youth, you can't fool the youth. All these great men were doing - robbing, kidnapping, raping and killing, So called 'great men' were doing robbing, raping, kidnapping. So you can't blame the youth."

Other products

 * The Captain Morgan brand of rum is named after the privateer.
 * The Hotel Henry Morgan, located in Roatan, Honduras, the Port Morgan resort located in Haiti and Captain Morgan's Retreat and Vacation Club on Ambergris Caye, Belize are all named after the privateer.
 * The video game Sid Meier's Pirates! features Henry Morgan as the greatest pirate in the Caribbean.
 * Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships (2009 video game) features Henry Morgan as one of the greatest pirate in the Caribbean, the Chief-in-Commander of Brotherhood of Coast, and player can complete series of tasks given by Henry Morgan.
 * In One Piece there is a corrupt Marine Captain named "Axe-Hand" Morgan that Luffy encounters early on in the series. Despite being a naval officer, Morgan acts more like a cruel feudal lord, killing anyone that defies him. Series creator Eiichiro Oda confirmed in a Q&A section in the serialized manga that Morgan is indeed named after Henry Morgan
 * In the video game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, set a few decades after Morgan's death, his outfit is an unlockable feature.