Cartagena offered sheltered loading areas for ships carrying Spanish silver, gold, and other specie. Prepared defensive positions and communications helped the garrison coordinate reinforcement. The city walls carried roughly 300 guns before Lezo's additional work, and both the city and its suburbs had moats. Fort San Lázaro stood on a nearby hill commanding the city and surrounding plain. The land approaches imposed another constraint: no fresh-water source is identified outside Cartagena and the fort in this area. The nearest practical landing beach required a march of about three miles, although the map-based estimate is treated as approximate.
Chapter · 1:11:36-1:22:28
Cartagena's geography and layered defenses
Natural harbors, narrow entrances, city walls, moats, bastions, and the commanding San Lázaro position made Cartagena valuable and difficult to seize.