Study of the crossing from Cartagena de Indias to Cuba by the American Atlas hydrographic expedition (1803-1805)

Abstract

From the beginning of the Bourbon reforms the absence of a scientific cartography of the Caribbean was one of the major problems for Spanish strategy in the area. In times of peace, the lack of maps and plans increased the dangers of navigation and limited trade; in wartime it limited the effectiveness of naval movements and exposed squadrons to unnecessary dangers. With the culmination of the Bourbon reforms in America (1787-1792), the Spanish crown tackled the problem decisively by organizing the American Atlas hydrographie expedition. From 1792 to 1795, its first division mapped the Windward and Leeward Islands of the Greater Antilles, while the second division worked on the mainland. Established in Cartagena de Indias in 1794, its return orders were postponed due to the need to study the route to Habana —the key to military supply and commercial development in the Spanish Caribbean. In three consecutive hydrographie campaigns (1803-1805), the members of the second division of brigs fixed astronomical positions and prepared maps of the obstacles to navigation; from that time it became possible to avoid the dangers on this important route.