The Notes and Entrys of Major Richard Venables

The Journal of Major Richard Venables 1734
The Diary entries on Major Richard Venables during his posting at Fort Charles in 1734, and his account of an invasion by jolly roger.

August 12th 1734
Today I arrived at my new posting in Port Royal, Myself and the detachment of Marines are certainly glad to be off the Lancaster, ''She is a horrid old thing, a relic of the 16th century! but still we are here though Port Royal i will admit is a place of sweat, flys and heat, and the men are already groaning because of this, when i arrived today at Fort Charles i was greeted by sneers and jeers from the men of the EITC Black Guard, one of the officers greeted me friendly enough but then said the most strangest of things, "Welcome to the slaughter house!" I have not a clue what he meant by it, and was unable to ask due to the fact i was called at that moment to the commandants office, the commandant i was suprised to find was Commodore John Goldtimbers, a school friend of my father and also a friend of mine from London in our Gentlemens club! He indeed was suprised to see me and welcomed me heartily though warned me that it was "A bugger all tough posting!" I was shocked by this but still managed to get no answer as to what it meant! i was shown to my quarters by Private Nicholas Sharkhayes, who i must admit is rather a decent chap...''

August 13th, 1734
''I was awoken this morning by the sound of musket fire, to which i leaped out of bed in a rush to find out what was going on, the only person i found was Private Sharkhayes who explained that Commodore Goldtimbers had assigned him to me as a servant, he also told me Goldtimbers had given strict orders that iwas to be allowed to sleep! When i questioned him about the musket fire he explained to me that the men drill daily due to the recent invasions! "Invasions?" I asked him, to which he merely said "not my place to say sir!" and that was that i couldnt get another word out of him! i dressed and took breakfast before riding to report to Goldtimbers who i was told was out hunting on the towns border in a valley known as Kings Run, when arrived i found Goldtimbers along with another officer and several black slaves carrying a large alligator back to town, Goldimbers was grinning admirably and i knew he was chuffed by this catch, so i refrained from duty for the time being, i also met the rest of my fellow officers today in the mess, they are a good, decent lot but i feel there is a mistrust in myself....''

August 14th, 1734
''Today was my first day on duty, and i was officer of the watch for the first time. it was an interesting time and i cannot say it was unenjoyable, the men are cheerful if secretive and the general atmosphere is one of fear, mixed with constant cheerfulness. Goldtimbers visited me during the day and gifted me with a small bottle of brandy, which he said was fine french brandy but i fear he may have been dunced by the wine merchant, it was decent enough stuff though, at the end of the watch at around 8:56pm a heavy fog swirled over Port Royal, it was an unnatural fog by all accounts and the men seemed possessed by it! gone was the joviality of the day and now people rushed about, suddenly Goldtimbers came to me, "Venables, i fear you wont have been trained to deal with these sorts of enemies so listen up..." he explained to me how a pirate known as Jolly Roger was undead, and that he was raiding settlements all around the caribbean including Port Royal, the only warning he gave the thick fog, which encircled us now, he told me also that we had at least three hours to prepare, and then tomorrow we would be forced to defend Port Royal, which alarmed me for Tomorrow is also my birthday!''