Excerpt from The Pirates Caesar: The Secret Caesar pt. 1

Three Pirate Stories.

(Author’s note: Every story appearing in the “Excerpts from The Pirates Caesar” is fiction. Because the book itself is fiction. There may be some, incredibly limited, connection to men who existed in history, but these pirate stories are written for a fun tie in to the relevant Junior Rangers Investigative Club Novels. Basically: don’t get it twisted nothing below is fact.)

An Excerpt from the The Pirates Caesar: version 2, by William T. Howard.

A private note from William T. Howard

It’s been decades since the initial publication of this book. In light of recent events, I feel the need to bring it back into print. As you are reading this, (or long in the past for future readers,) I have invested not a small amount of funds to support an archeological expedition in Dry Tortugas National Park. Historical documents came to light hinting at another pirate named Caesar in the Caribbean. In addition, I have been working with top experts to trace a legacy of pirates through Biscayne Bay, the Everglades, and eventually to a mysterious island off the coast of southern Florida.

Expect more information soon. Perhaps the next book will be out as you close the pages on this one. Until then, I hope that you find this as entertaining, and informative as the original. Take the new information presented to heart, because good things are coming, great things even, and I am only too happy to share the exploits of Trident and the Howard Family, as we seek to continue to uncover the legacy of The Pirates Caesar.

New Chapter: Secret Caesar.

I originally wrote this book in an effort to unravel the mystery of two men rumored to have sailed and terrorized the waters of southern Florida. They were men of different eras, different backgrounds, and who met different ends. However, those men were linked by three distinct traits: They were pirates. They used the Florida Keys as their base of operation. And they were both named Caesar.

Black Caesar and Henry Ceasar’s tales are clarified in the body of this book, but a recently uncovered letter from the Spanish National Archives hints at another pirate in the Caribbean. The letter suggests an early conspiracy to steal treasure from the Spanish Crown by preying on the vital shipping route known as the Tierra Firme Fleet, using a stolen ship. Both acts considered Piracy.

However, what drew my attention to the letter was not the mysterious heist, hinted at on the page, but instead the signature of the man who had written it. The letter, which requested help in the recovery of a sunken treasure vessel, was signed with a name I have become intimately familiar with. That name was Caesar.

The paper trail of historical documents beginning with that letter will be the source of academic discussion, research papers, and maritime archeological discourse for decades, and I have neither the time, the patience, nor the pages to lay all of that out here.

Instead, I will attempt to summarize the legacy of the man within those papers, the legacy of a man I have come to call

The Secret Caesar.

Sketch of Horatio Caesar and the wreckage of the Nuestra Senora de Magdelene on what is now known as Loggerhead Key, in the Dry Tortugas.

The year was 1620, and a man named Horacio Caesar, (often anglicized to Horatio Caesar,) was listed amongst a crew sent by King Phillip IV of Spain to new world. These men were all sailors, and while records have been lost as to their accomplishments, they must have been of high regard, because they were expected to supervise the construction of a new fleet of ships in Havana. Once the ships were launched, these men were to take captaincy of those vessels.

Position in, and fate of, The 1622 Treasure Fleet

These ships, once constructed, would compose the bulk of a new treasure fleet. After launch, they would sail to various ports in the new world, load their hulls with treasures including fine China from Asia, Silver, Gold, and rare Emeralds mined in South and Central America along with various perishable goods like tobacco and indigo. The ships would then congregate in Havanna and sail, together, back to Spain, carrying a wealth of treasure measuring in millions of pesos.

The Teirra Firme Fleet was one of the most valuable supply lines operating in the West Indies, enriching Spanish Merchants, and the Crown of Spain-who took a 20% tax on treasure entering a Spanish port. This wealth helped to fortify Spain’s position in Europe, funding both various wars and peaceful international ventures.

However, carrying immense wealth upon the open ocean made the treasure galleons tempting prey for pirates and privateers. Thus, all of the ships were outfitted with cannons, the fleet was expected to travel together, and several ships were assigned a more protective role, and were loaded with more guns and less treasure. One of the ships assigned as rearguard of the expected 1622 Treasure Fleet, is the Nuestra Señora de Magdelene. Her captain, as listed in a document from Havana dated 1621, was to be a man named Horacio Caesar.

I expect, if you are interested in maritime treasure, you have heard of the 1622 Tierre Firme Fleet or of the Magdelene’s more famous sister ship the Nuestra Señora de Atocha. And if you know anything about either of the two, then perhaps you can predict what is coming.

The Treasure Fleet of 1622 was expected to leave Havana early summer, before hurricane season. But, facing numerous delays, the ships did not embark on their journey to cross the Atlantic until September of that year, in the middle of Hurricane Season. A few days later, as the ships in the rearguard were already falling behind due to poor construction and overloading, the worst happened and a Hurricane overtook the fleet sinking numerous ships, including most of the rearguard.

The Nuestra Señora de Atocha was sunken near the westernmost Florida Keys, all of her crew and treasure lost to the depths, except a few sailors who were able to cling to the mizzenmast until they were rescued. Several other ships were blown further west, to sink in Los Tortugas (now the Dry Tortugas,) and a few were scattered in the shallow waters of the eastern Keys.

More than half of the fleet was sunk, plunging Spain into an economic loss. In the following months, and years, crew from several of the other ships like the Conception and the Rosario would be rescued, and their treasure would be recovered under lead of a man named Gaspar de Vargas . The salvage work was dangerous, often deadly, and they relied upon slaves to do the worst labor, but much of the wealth from these shipwrecks would be recovered.

However, the wreck of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha would remain hidden until the 1980s when a salvage crew would rediscover sections of the of her hull loaded with a wealth of rare metals and gems valued at over $500 million dollars. The salvage of the Atocha inspired a whole generation of treasure hunters, and revitalized the economy of the Florida Keys, because she was not alone. There were, and are, other shipwrecks and treasures to be discovered in the waters surrounding Florida. Including ships missing from the 1622 fleet.

Which brings us back to the Nuestra Señora de Magdelene and her captain Horacio Caesar. Where was she amongst the ships of the treasure fleet? How did she fair in the hurricane.

Well, suspiciously, we do not know. There is no word of the Nuestra Señora de Magdelene sailing with the 1622 fleet. Both the ship and her captain drop from written records at the end of 1621. They do not appear again, until the Magdelene is mentioned in a letter written and addressed to Gaspar de Vargas, the man in charge of salvaging the 1622 fleet. The letter is signed by Caesar.

That letter requests Gaspar’s assistance in the salvage of the Magdelene. It mentions a vast wealth available in the recovery of her wreck. It suggests that the wrecked ship can be found easily in the shallows near Los Tortugas. (Now the Dry Tortugas.) But, strangely, it requests that Gaspar keep the wreck and salvage secret, implying that recovery of the treasure might result in the brand of Piracy.

This is because the Magdelene was part of a much bigger plan, which, had it not been wrecked in the hurricane, would have become one of the biggest treasure heists in history.

In short, Horatio Caesar, once celebrated captain, is proposing a black-market salvage operation. When writing that letter, he was risking his reputation with the Spanish crown for a legacy as a pirate. But, why?” What was his plan?

To Be Continued…

[Actual Author, Nathan Landrum here. The second half of the Secret Caesar will be out next week. (remember this is all fiction) But before you go, I want to make one more announcement:

I’m having a book signing!!!

I wrote the Junior Rangers Investigative Club Novels with the goal of getting the books into the National Parks. However, I’ve also had another target in mind for a long time. When I was much younger, I used to relish trips to Bowling Green, Kentucky, because they often meant that we got to stop in Barnes and Noble. I would go there to pick out new books. First children’s series, like the Boxcar Children, the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Animorphs. Later, I would move to the Sci-fi and Fantasy section. Later still, when I first began to dream of sharing stories myself, I would carry my laptop into Barnes and Noble, buy a latte from their Starbucks, and type. Stories like Coffee Chronicles (out now on the sub-par Kindle Vella,) a few stories that have honorable mentions in sci-fi competitions. (nothing winning, yet.) And a few stories which have yet to reach other reader.

Now. With 2, going on 3, books published, I’m returning to that Barnes and Noble in Bowling Green Kentucky, to sell, and sign copies of my book. Barnes and Noble has been great about this, they are incredibly easy to work with, and The Specters of Mammoth Cave is a perfect fit. (Local author, story of local interest.) So, in just under 2 months from now, on October 19th, I will be holding a book signing in the Barnes and Noble in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Campbell Lane.

Yay!

Look, I even made a graphic for the event! (Don’t blame Bailey for the way I used her art.)

So, if you are in Southern Kentucky on October 19th. Maybe on the way to hunt for ghosts in Mammoth Cave, come check it out!

Fair warning, I will be advertising this on every blog for a while now.