The Work of the Royal Corps of Engineers in the Fortresses of Portobelo and La Boca del Chagres in the 18th century.

Abstract

The defensive works of Portobelo and Chagre on the Caribbean coast of Panama represent an important testimony of the application in the New World of models of fortifications developed in Europe between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.
The fortifications of Panama were designed by the Italian engineer Battista Antonelli at the end of the 16th century, within the framework of a comprehensive regional defense strategic plan for the Caribbean area. The works that were executed are among the first applications in America of the typology of the "Fortificazione alla Moderna", as well as, they were developed in Italy and later, perfected in the European war theater. After the English attack carried out by admiral Vernon in 1740, the Spanish Crown decides to proceed to a new and detailed plan of redefinition of sites that will have in the work, mainly with the engineers of the “Real Cuerpo de Ingenieros”, Ignacio Sala and Manuel Hernández, who will update the sites of Portobello and Chagre according to the new models developed in France in the late 17th century by Vauban.
The comparison of the adopted solutions allows to observe the evolution of the models of fortifications within a temporal arc of time of almost one hundred and fifty years. At the same time, the analysis of the projective and constructive events allows to traverse the development of the figure of the military engineer in Spain and the evolution of its cultural and formative background culminating with the foun-dation of the “Real Cuerpo de Ingenieros” in 1711 and the “Real Academia Militar de Matemáticas de Barcelona”.