Twelfth siege of Gibraltar

Twelfth siege of Gibraltar
Part of War of the Spanish Succession
Veüe du d'Estroit de Gibraltar et des Environs, avec les tranchées du Siège mis en 1704, Louis Boudan
Date September 1704 – May 1705 Location Gibraltar 36°09′19″N 5°20′45″W / 36.155341°N 5.345964°W / 36.155341; -5.345964 Result Grand Alliance victory
Belligerents
England  Dutch Republic Austria Pro-Habsburg Spain Kingdom of Portugal[1]	Pro-Bourbon Spain  France
Commanders and leaders
George of Hesse John Leake	Francisco Fajardo René de Froulay
Strength
2,000 (start of the siege)	8,000 (start of the siege)
Casualties and losses
400 killed, missing, captured or died of disease[2]	10,000 killed, missing, captured or died of disease[2]
class=notpageimage| Location within Spain

Part of a series on the
History of Gibraltar
Prehistory Prehistoric Iberia Neanderthals of Gibraltar Gibraltar 1 Gibraltar 2
Medieval Umayyad conquest of Hispania Al-Andalus Moorish Gibraltar Reconquista First Siege of Gibraltar Second Siege of Gibraltar Third Siege of Gibraltar Fourth Siege of Gibraltar Fifth Siege of Gibraltar Sixth Siege of Gibraltar Seventh Siege of Gibraltar
Early modern Eighth Siege of Gibraltar Ninth Siege of Gibraltar Tenth Siege of Gibraltar Catholic Monarchs Marquisate of Gibraltar War of the Spanish Succession Capture of Gibraltar Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar Treaty of Utrecht Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar Great Siege of Gibraltar
19th century Royal Calpe Hunt
20th century Military history of Gibraltar during World War II Evacuation of the Gibraltarian civilian population during World War II Operation Felix First sovereignty referendum First constitution Border closure Operation Flavius/Death on the Rock
Modern Gibraltar Second sovereignty referendum Cordoba Agreement, 2006 Second constitution
See also History of nationality in Gibraltar Political development in modern Gibraltar Fortifications of Gibraltar
Timeline
Gibraltar portal
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The twelfth siege of Gibraltar was fought between September 1704 and May 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession. It followed the capture in August 1704 of the fortified town of Gibraltar, at the southern tip of Spain, by an Anglo–Dutch naval force led by Sir George Rooke and Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt. The members of the Grand Alliance, the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Netherlands, Pro-Habsburg Spain, Portugal and Savoy, had allied to prevent the unification of the French and Spanish thrones by supporting the claim of the Habsburg pretender Archduke Charles VI of Austria as Charles III of Spain. They were opposed by the rival claimant, the Bourbon Philip, Duke of Anjou, ruling as Philip V of Spain, and his patron and ally, Louis XIV of France. The war began in northern Europe and was largely contained there until 1703, when Portugal joined the confederate powers. From then, English naval attentions were focused on mounting a campaign in the Mediterranean to distract the French navy and disrupt French and Bourbon Spanish shipping or capture a port for use as a naval base. The capture of Gibraltar was the outcome of that initial stage of the Mediterranean campaign.

At the start of the siege, Gibraltar was garrisoned by around 2,000 Dutch, English, Austrian and pro-Habsburg Spanish troops facing a besieging force of up to 8,000 French, pro-Bourbon Spanish and Irish troops. The defenders were able to hold off the numerically superior besieging force through exploiting Gibraltar's geography and the small town's fortifications, though they were frequently short of manpower and ammunition. The besiegers were undermined by disputes between the French and Spanish officers and terrible conditions in their trenches and bastions, which led to outbreaks of epidemic disease and undermined morale. Sea power proved crucial, as the French navy sought unsuccessfully to prevent the Grand Alliance shipping in fresh troops, ammunition and food. Three naval battles were fought during the siege, two of which were clear defeats for the French and the last of which resulted in the siege being abandoned as hopeless after nine months of fruitless shelling. The outcome was disastrous for the French and Bourbon Spanish side, which was said to have lost 10,000 men against only 400 for the Grand Alliance.