The Rock of Gibraltar ranks among one of the
most contested locations in Europe. Due to its strategic location at the Mediterranean
Sea and Atlantic Ocean intersection, the small port city has endured 14 major sieges
since 1309. The Marinid Kingdom in Morocco, the Kingdom of Castile, the Emirate of
Granada, Spain, France, Great Britain and the United Provinces of the Netherlands all, at
one point or another, either attacked or defended the walls of The Rock. In today's episode, we
will focus on the Great Siege of 1779 to 1783, an epic conflict which ensured that Gibraltar
would remain in British hands to this day. This video is sponsored by our
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us. We couldn’t be doing it without your help! At the onset of the war of the Spanish Succession,
Gibraltar had been firmly in Spanish hands for the past two centuries. But on July 24th, 1704, the
Rock fell to an amphibious Anglo-Dutch invading force, who easily defeated its small garrison. The
Spanish and their French allies immediately tried to retake Gibraltar, launching a siege in August
1704. After a naval defeat in March of 1706, the French abandoned the siege, which turned
into a low-intensity blockade that was equally ineffective at weakening the Anglo hold
on the Rock. By the war's end in 1713, Gibraltar was firmly in British hands.
Interestingly, the capture of Gibraltar was originally not a primary war aim from the
British, who had seized it on behalf of their ally, the Austrian claimant to the Spanish
throne. But the English Crown soon realized the strategic potential the harbour possessed
in strengthening the Royal Navy's presence in the Mediterranean. The British control over
Gibraltar was formalized on July 13th, 1713, with the signature of the Peace and Friendship
Treaty between Spain and Great Britain: a subdivision of Treaties of Utrecht, which put an
end to the War of Spanish Succession. With these Treaties, Britain and its allies conceded the
throne in Madrid to the Franco-Spanish claimant. In exchange, the new Spanish King, King Philip V,
ceded the Balearic island of Minorca and Gibraltar to Britain. In the words of the treaty, the King'
gave up the said propriety to be held and enjoyed absolutely with all manner of right forever,
without any exception or impediment whatsoever. In the following years, the British Crown
made vague overtures to Spain about returning Gibraltar, but Philip V appeared uninterested.
The King had a change of heart in February of 1727 when 20,000 Spanish troops amassed
north of Gibraltar, ready to take on its 5,000-strong garrison. But this siege resulted
in little action, judging by the memoirs of an English soldier stationed on the Rock at the
time: 'Here is nothing to do nor any news, all things being dormant and in suspense
with the harmless diversions of drinking, dancing, revelling, whoring (and) gambling.' 18th
Century English soldiers clearly had a different understanding of 'nothing to do.' After months
of costly yet indecisive mutual bombardment, Philip V called off the siege in June
1727. The Peace Treaty of Seville in 1729 restored the status quo ante Bellum.
During the globe-spanning Seven Years War of 1756 to 1763, Gibraltar was used as a base
of operations by the British Royal Navy but was never directly threatened by Britain's enemies.
In the following decade, it would once again become a hotspot as an indirect consequence of
the American Revolution. While King George was occupied with his rebellious subjects across
the Atlantic, a Franco-Spanish alliance, which also supported the rebels in America,
saw an occasion to recover territories lost to Britain during previous conflicts. In the
case of the Spanish, these war aims included the reconquest of Minorca and, of course, Gibraltar.
On April 12th, 1779, Spain and France concluded a secret military alliance against Britain. On
June 16th, King Carlos III of Spain declared war on George III, deploying a large force against
Gibraltar. This included 6,000 infantry and cavalry amassing north of the Rock under General
Mendoza and later General Soto-Mayor. Moreover, two fleets, deploying 246 cannons, threatened
the British possession from the waters of the bay. On the flip side, the Governor of
Gibraltar, General George Augustus Eliot, could count on a garrison of 5,400 British
and Hanoverian soldiers, 663 artillery pieces, and five ships under Vice Admiral Robert Duff.
By June 21st, the Spanish fleets under Vice Admiral Barceló had completed the blockade of
Gibraltar, aiming to starve out the defenders. Governor Eliot, himself an austere vegetarian,
established a rationing system and ordered his soldiers not to powder their hair with
flour, as required by Army regulations, to conserve food stocks. The British Garrison's
concerns over provisions were further alleviated as daring freebooters and smugglers dodged the
blockade to deliver supplies to them. On July 5th, three privateers dared to sneak past the Spanish
line. When a Spanish schooner - disguised as a Portuguese vessel - tried to intercept
them, Eliot's gunners opened fire, driving away the treacherous ship. These
were the first shots fired during the siege. By early September, the Spanish troops behind
the siege lines had increased to 15,000. Engineers were busy digging trenches and erecting
artillery batteries along the main fortified line, stretching across the isthmus from Fort St
Barbara to Fort St Philip. On September 12th, the British gunners on the North Face of the Rock
unleashed a heavy bombardment to slow down the Spanish works. The besiegers responded in turn,
and artillery exchanges continued in the following days but with scarce effect on both sides. After
this, the siege stagnated to a point where British artillerymen grew so bored that their officers had
to formally forbid them from taking alcohol and sex workers to their batteries. Boredom was
compounded by malnourishment and a smallpox outbreak, resulting in plummeting morale and
several deserters fleeing to the Spanish lines. At the end of December, the Spanish besiegers
resumed operations, targeting advanced outposts and foraging expeditions on the isthmus. Eliot
and his garrison had to tighten the belt, but help was on its way. On January 26th, 1780, Royal
Navy Admiral Rodney entered the bay with a large squadron, escorting a precious convoy of supplies.
Rodney's crew included a young midshipman of renown, the future King William IV. At 14 years
old, the young Prince had fully embraced the life of a sailor, as while in transit, he went on
a bender with his fellow seamen, glugging down pints of grog and engaging in a drunken fistfight!
On the night of June 7th, 1780, another supply convoy approached the harbour in the darkness. But
the Captain of the British vessel HMS Enterprise listened to the advice of an Admiral from
another franchise and opened fire. It was a trap! The convoy was, in fact, a
squadron of nine Spanish fireships, which erupted into flames as they drifted towards
Vice Admiral Duff's vessels. The garrison and HMS Panther opened fire from their batteries,
successfully slowing the advance of the floating, flaming mountains. As a providential breeze
blew the fire ships southwards, teams of sailors braved the inferno in their rowboats, grappled
the Spanish vessels with iron hooks and towed them away. Enterprise and Panther saw further
action on the 24th and 27th of June, engaging with several small Spanish crafts. Neither
engagement resulted in substantial casualties. The most dangerous threat so far faced by Governor
Eliot was the aforementioned smallpox outbreak, which had claimed 500 victims by August 1780.
On October 1st, the Spanish decided to give Eliot another headache when they began another heavy
bombardment from their batteries. The British defensive positions were high enough up the
north face of the Rock not to be too worried, but some shots managed to land beyond the walls.
In a stroke of logistical genius, Eliot had the town streets plowed into deep furrows to deflect
the rolling cannon balls. The siege continued without major incidents until April 12th, 1781,
when Admiral Darby approached the harbour with a heavily escorted convoy of 97 merchantmen. The
Spanish Vice Admiral Barceló did not attempt to engage Darby's fleet, but his gunners did their
best to hamper the unloading operations of vital supplies. As Eliot's men hastened to unload the
cargo in the New Mole, some 130 guns rained lead and fire upon them. At the same time, Soto-Mayor's
land forces opened fire from the north, setting alight parts of Gibraltar Old Town. As
timber houses were torn apart by Spanish shots, the garrison discovered that many civilians
had been hoarding ample supplies of alcohol! This led to a total breakdown in discipline, as
the troops engaged in a binge-drinking spree. Eliot's Hanoverian soldiers, less inclined to
drink, helped restore order, and several looters were hanged on the spot. The Spanish artillery
continued targeting the Old Town and the defences in the following days. The rate of fire was far
from intense, yet it caused a continuous trickle of casualties. It was reported that an unfortunate
soldier 'was in the office privy easing nature when a ball took off his head and left his body,
the only remains, to finishing nature's cause'. Soto-Mayor was inclined to inflict more casualties
and, during June 1781, ordered the construction of four new batteries, adding 49 pieces of artillery
to his panoply. The siege works continued until October, as approach trenches snaked progressively
closer to the Rock. On November 21st, two deserters entered Gibraltar and informed
Eliot that the Spanish troops now numbered 21,000 and were planning further forward works. The
Governor decided to launch a pre-emptive strike, a sortie against the besiegers' lines. This
attack was scheduled on the night of 26 and 27 November 1781. Overall operation command was
entrusted to Brigadier General Ross, who would lead 2,014 troops split into three columns.
The right-hand column led the attack, advancing through Forbes Barrier just before 3
AM on November 27th. The three columns cleared the patch of swamp land known as Inundation
Obstacle and approached the Spanish forward lines. In later conflicting reports, it
appeared that these trenches had been manned only by between 80 and 400 troops. Clearly,
the besiegers had been entirely taken by surprise and hastily fell back. General Ross'
men, covered from artillery atop the Rock, took to levelling the Spanish fortifications,
destroying batteries and filling ditches. They smashed the gun carriages and sabotaged 28
artillery pieces by driving iron spikes into their vents. Finally, they set about setting
fire to supply stores and gunpowder magazines. At this stage, Governor Eliott joined the exciting
expedition, to the surprise and dismay of General Ross. Eliott addressed Ross: 'What do you think of
this business? Is it not something extraordinary?' The gruff reply was: 'Most extraordinary to find
you here.' Eliott personally saw to the demolition of the main Spanish powder magazine. Soon, all
the depots blew up in ground-shaking detonations. The Spanish Captain in charge of the arsenals,
José Barboza, died in the action. His report for the night, compiled before the attack,
read: 'Nothing extraordinary had happened.' After recovering from the initial stupor of
surprise, the Spanish began to fight back viciously, targeting the British and Hanoverians
with grape-shot, followed by a cavalry charge. But the sortie columns were already returning
to the fortress and suffered only four dead and 25 wounded. It was a fruitless effort on
the Spanish part and did not change the fact that months of their engineering work had been
devastated in little more than an hour. Despite their shaken morale, the Spanish immediately
started re-building their forward batteries, completing the work by December. Logically,
Eliot could have dared a second foray, but his troops were exhausted by another outbreak
of disease, scurvy, which incapacitated 15% of the garrison. In February of 1782, the Governor
was stricken with more bad news: the British garrison defending Minorca had surrendered to
a Franco-Spanish force. With one front closing, the Franco-Spanish allies could devote more troops
against Gibraltar. Sure enough, in the following weeks, the besieging parties outside his walls
increased to 35,000, led by a new commander, the French General Count De Crillon.
In April, a Spanish deserter brought precious intelligence. De Crillon and his chief
engineer D'Arçon were hatching a new plan to bombard Gibraltar's western side from the bay
by using 'battering ships.' Ten obsolete hulks were modified to become floating artillery
batteries, fielding 212 guns. The guns and crews were protected by sloping roofs covered
in rope netting and wet hides. The sides of the ships were constructed with layers of sand and
cork. D'Arçon had also designed a system of water pumps and pipes to extinguish fires on board.
Ironically, a man called Arçon had conceived a method to protect his ships from … arson. The
chief engineer set to work in May. All the while, General De Crillon did his best to keep Eliot
busy. On June 11th, a Spanish mortar scored a direct hit on a British powder magazine, lighting
a massive explosion and causing 29 casualties. In July, freshly arrived French vessels engaged
the Royal Navy in several small-scale battles as they carried more reinforcements to
the siege lines. Eliot did not sit idle, and on September 8th, 1782, all the British
batteries along the fortifications opened fire, killing or wounding 300 French and Spanish
troops. The besiegers returned fire over the following days, supported by a naval squadron
firing broadsides from the bay. The defenders fought back against the enemy vessels, targeting
them with 'red hot shot:' small cannon ammunition preheated in furnaces. These small rounds proved
effective at setting the ships' timber on fire. But the day of the big showdown was drawing
closer. On September 13th, the battering ships were towed into position in a single file parallel
to the western walls of the Rock. The five ships on the rear ran into sandbanks under the shallow
waters and took little part in the subsequent action. The forward five ships, however, were more
than enough to commence an awesome bombardment, sowing destruction on the seafront. The Gibraltar
batteries responded to the fire, but D'Arçon's ingenious defences deflected even their heaviest
rounds. Luckily for Eliot, the Franco-Spanish infantry on the north side of the Rock showed
little initiative, allowing him to concentrate against the attack from the sea. All the while,
the British gunners' furnaces were hard at work, and by midday, they started spewing wheelbarrows
full of 'red hot shot.' The bombardment with this type of ammo initially seemed to have little
effect as D'Arçon's measures kept the fire under control. But the red-hot shot, smouldering within
the wooden planks, eventually did its job. The two leading battering ships, Talla Piedra and Pastora,
were set alight in the evening. One after another, the other three leading vessels began to burst
into flames. The five top ships were eventually consumed by fire or exploded around midnight. The
remaining five were set alight and abandoned by their crews. A land attack, planned for the
morning after, was eventually cancelled by General De Crillon, fearing heavy losses without
the artillery support from the battering ships. Two weeks after the failed attack, a Royal Navy
frigate brought more good news to Eliott. Admiral Howe was on his way with a relief convoy, which
included 42 naval vessels and 31 merchantmen. Howe arrived in sight of Gibraltar on October 11th,
but a strong gale from the west prevented him from landing, and the fleet was blown eastwards.
The Franco-Spanish fleet, under Admiral Cordoba, gave chase into the Mediterranean. The skillful
Howe managed to evade his pursuers, and on the 17th, his ships moored in Gibraltar. The Admiral
made it just in time to unload his cargo of food, ammunition and 1,600 troops before Cordoba
reappeared on the 19th. Howe set sail back to England, breaking away from Cordoba after a short
battle west of Gibraltar. The Spanish Admiral had his revenge on the night of October 23rd, when
his gunboats sank the cutter Hector in the bay. Despite this, besiegers dramatically reduced
their activity, and many troops were observed leaving camp. Commander De Crillon was simply
not interested in continuing a costly siege, especially now that France had achieved their
broader war aims. Namely: supporting the American rebels to their victory and evicting
Britain from Minorca. French Foreign Minister De Vergennes persuaded Carlos III's ministers to
relinquish their claims on Gibraltar. In exchange, France would negotiate a handover of East
Florida from Great Britain to Spain. The Spanish King reluctantly agreed, and on January
20th, 1783, a preliminary truce was agreed. Peace was concluded on September 3rd with the Treaty
of Versailles. At the end of the long conflict, Britain had lost the American colonies to
the rebels, Minorca, Florida and other West Indies possessions to Spain. But thanks to
the innovative and unrelenting leadership of General George Eliott, the Rock of Gibraltar
would remain part of the United Kingdom to this day. More videos on the colonial era are on the
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