Capture of Gibraltar

Capture of Gibraltar
Part of the War of the Spanish Succession

Sketch of Gibraltar by an officer of Admiral Rooke's fleet on 1 August 1704
Date1–4 August 1704[3]
Location
Gibraltar
36°08′23″N 5°21′14″W / 36.1397°N 5.3539°W / 36.1397; -5.3539
Result Anglo-Dutch victory
Belligerents
 England
 Dutch Republic[1][2]		 Bourbon Spain
Commanders and leaders
George Rooke
George Byng		 Diego de Salinas  Surrendered
Strength
2,000
63 warships[4][5]		 430[6]
Casualties and losses
60 killed
200 wounded[7]		 420 killed 10 severely wounded[citation needed]
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The capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces of the Grand Alliance occurred between 1 and 4 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession.[3] Since the beginning of the war the Alliance had been looking for a harbour in the Iberian Peninsula to control the Strait of Gibraltar and facilitate naval operations against the French fleet in the western Mediterranean Sea. An attempt to seize Cádiz had ended in failure in September 1702, but following the Alliance fleet's successful raid in Vigo Bay in October that year, the combined fleets of the "Maritime Powers", the Netherlands and England, had emerged as the dominant naval force in the region. This strength helped persuade King Peter II of Portugal to sever his alliance with France and Bourbon-controlled Spain, and ally himself with the Grand Alliance in 1703 as the Alliance fleets could campaign in the Mediterranean using access to the port of Lisbon and conduct operations in support of the Austrian Habsburg candidate to the Spanish throne, the Archduke Charles, known to his supporters as Charles III of Spain.

Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt represented the Habsburg cause in the region. In May 1704 the prince and admiral George Rooke, commander of the main Grand Alliance fleet, failed to take Barcelona in the name of "Charles III"; Rooke subsequently evaded pressure from his allies to make another attempt on Cádiz. In order to compensate for their lack of success the Alliance commanders resolved to capture Gibraltar, a small town on the southern Spanish coast. Following a heavy bombardment the town was invaded by English and Dutch marines and sailors. The governor, Diego de Salinas, agreed to surrender Gibraltar and its small garrison on 4 August. Three days later Prince George entered the town with Austrian and Spanish Habsburg troops in the name of Charles III of Spain. The Grand Alliance failed in its objective of replacing Philip V with Charles III as King of Spain, but in the peace negotiations Gibraltar was ceded to Britain.

  1. ^ Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, 115
  2. ^ Kramer, Johannes (1986). English and Spanish in Gibraltar. Buske Verlag, p.10, note 9. ISBN 3-87118-815-8
  3. ^ a b All dates in the article are in the Gregorian calendar (unless otherwise stated). The Julian calendar as used in England after 1700 differed by eleven days. Thus, the main attack on Gibraltar began on 3 August (Gregorian calendar) or 23 July (Julian calendar). In this article (O.S) is used to annotate Julian dates with the year adjusted to 1 January. See the article Old Style and New Style dates for a more detailed explanation of the dating issues and conventions.
  4. ^ 22 ships of the line(Byng's squadron, 16 English and 6 Dutch) took part in the bombardment.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference trevelyan410 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, 114. Gibraltar garrison held 80 men. Militia and inhabitants supplied another 350. (Sources vary slightly)
  7. ^ Trevelyan: England Under Queen Anne: Blenheim, 414. Almost all these casualties were taken when the fort near the New Mole blew up.