Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Lexington, and Yorktown are all famous battles that serve as examples of the conflict of the American War of Independence. North America was, of course, the main theater of the war, and specifically, the northeast of the United States is home to virtually all the battle sites of the war. It is, therefore, quite surprising that one of the war’s biggest battles was not fought in America at all, and it didn’t involve any American forces!
The Great Siege of Gibraltar was the longest siege British forces ever endured. It took place on the tiny peninsula of Gibraltar on the southern coast of Spain.
How Is the Siege of Gibraltar Part of the US Revolution?
As the American War of Independence raged on, Spain and France allied themselves with the Americans and took opportunities to fight against the British where they could find them. Both empires had lost colonial possessions in North America to the British and were eager to recover them.
After the war between the American colonies and Britain began, Spain and France used the opportunity to support the efforts against Britain. They began supplying the American colonists before joining in a pact to help each other recover lost territories. They formally joined in an alliance with the Americans and began military actions against the British, with Spain formally declaring war on June 16, 1779.
Defeating the British across the Atlantic in North America, however, was not an easy task. Taking the fight to the British in Europe was of utmost importance, and Gibraltar was a British possession on Spain’s doorstep.
Taking Gibraltar would open up new strategic possibilities, reducing Britain’s control over the Mediterranean and weakening its military options. The chance to invade Britain was even considered.
First, however, The Rock of Gibraltar would have to fall.
The Rock of Gibraltar
Gibraltar, a tiny peninsula in southern Spain, was the focal point. Captured by the British in 1704 and formally ceded to Britain by Spain in 1713, Gibraltar and its commanding heights proved an incredibly important strategic asset. From here, Mediterranean traffic could be monitored, as it was the only point of transit in and out of the sea until the building of the Suez Canal in 1869.
It is no surprise that Spain wanted it back. So when Spain allied itself with France and declared war on Britain on June 16, 1779, they laid siege to Gibraltar. For over three and a half years, the British garrison would be pushed to the limit as they tried to retain control of this strategic asset.
The British were not taken by surprise, however. They were aware of potential political developments and had prepared for the real possibility of siege. The 1770s saw significant additions to the defenses, including the creation of the Artificer Corps, the forerunners of the Royal Engineers today. These were skilled soldiers capable of feats of engineering relevant to military matters.
The Fighting Begins
June 24, 1779 (which was also the birthday of King George III) marked an opening to the hostilities. With considerable forces at their command, the French and Spanish were confident of victory. They had clear superiority in numbers. Initially, the ground forces numbered around 14,000, while the British garrison numbered 5,382 soldiers under the command of General Augustus Eliott as Governor-General. Defensive measures were taken in earnest, and Eliott ordered the strengthening of Gibraltar’s walls, increasing the number of cannons to 412.
The Spanish had considerable naval assets. Over the course of the siege, no fewer than 47 Spanish ships of the line would take part in the siege. The British naval assets at Gibraltar consisted of an old ship-of-the-line converted to a stationary battery, as well as the frigate HMS Enterprise and 12 gunboats.
In charge of blockading Gibraltar was Martín Álvarez de Sotomayor, with Antonio Barceló in command of the naval forces. For the duration of the siege, Spanish vessels patrolled the waters around Gibraltar, intercepting with varying degrees of success any British ship trying to run the blockade. Despite the Spanish efforts, General Elliot was able to send numerous dispatches to London, continually updating the government on the situation in Gibraltar.
While the Spanish tried to keep up the blockade, the British fired their guns continuously throughout the siege. The Spanish ships were under constant fire, but there was little chance of being hit. Meanwhile, Spanish soldiers continued their work of dealing with the siegeworks.
Supplying Gibraltar
For the British trapped in Gibraltar, there was the constant threat of disease and starvation. The difficulty in getting fresh supplies resulted in a few outbreaks of scurvy. Nevertheless, British morale remained high under the effective leadership of General Eliott.
Back in Britain, huge efforts were made to relieve Gibraltar. In December 1779, a large convoy set sail, escorted by 21 ships of the line under the command of Admiral George Rodney. On January 8, 1780, the convoy encountered a Spanish convoy en route to supply the Spanish forces in Cadiz. Rodney attacked the convoy and captured the entire fleet, which included seven warships. A few days later, the convoy outmaneuvered the blockade, delivered much-needed supplies and troops, and managed to evacuate some of Gibraltar’s civilian population.
On the night of June 6/7, the Spanish attempted to sink British ships in the harbor by using a flotilla of fire ships. This action proved ineffective and only boosted British morale after nine of the fire ships were sunk.
By the next winter, supplies were again running low, and scurvy had reappeared. Another convoy was sent to resupply Gibraltar. The Spanish blockade had worked for an entire year, and few ships had managed to slip through.
As such, the Spanish were intensely disappointed when the second convoy of 29 ships-of-the-line escorting 100 store ships under the command of Vice Admiral George Darby slipped through the Spanish lines and resupplied Gibraltar on April 12, 1781. Upon sighting their failure, the Spanish opened up with a massive barrage, causing much damage, but their guns were out of range of where the stores were being unloaded. The barrage, however, did destroy houses and revealed that the civilians had been hoarding supplies, including large amounts of alcohol. British troops showed a significant lack of discipline and that night, the town was full of drunken soldiers in the streets. Soldiers caught looting were hanged, and order was restored.
On the evening of April 21, 1781, the British fleet then left their moorings and again slipped past the blockade, taking with them 1,000 civilians. With fresh supplies and fewer mouths to feed, the British were once again in a commanding position.
The Sortie
In November 1781, Spanish deserters informed the British that the Spanish were preparing for a major ground assault on the British defenses. Armed with this information, General Elliot decided to surprise the Spanish by launching an assault of his own. The Spanish had been building trenches to try and get their cannons closer to the British walls and were unprepared for the sudden attack.
On November 27, the British force of 2,500 soldiers, organized into three columns, struck out and marched on the Spanish positions. Once the Spanish realized they had been taken by surprise, there was little in the way of any effective resistance. The British spiked 28 pieces of artillery, burned and looted stores, and blew up magazines. In all, they did approximately two million pounds of damage to the Spanish and destroyed earthworks, representing many months of preparation.
The Tide Turns?
The sortie against the Spanish granted the British a reprieve, but it was not enough to stave off the continued threat. In February 1782, the British-controlled Menorca (or Minorca as the British insisted on calling it) fell to the French besiegers under the command of Duc De Crillon. This meant that the French forces that had been involved in the siege would be transferred to Gibraltar, where they could bolster the Spanish.
Of major importance were the French engineers and pioneers who had skills in laying siege to fortified positions. When the French arrived, Duc De Crillon took over command from Álvarez de Sotomayor.
With the arrival of the French came the design of a new plan to take Gibraltar. At the suggestion of Crillon’s aide, Colonel D’Arcon, the French and Spanish started building huge floating batteries to take the fight to the walls of Gibraltar.
The French and Spanish Attack
The new plan to take Gibraltar involved building a number of floating batteries designed to get as close to the British seaward defenses and create breaches, followed by an infantry assault across the isthmus by Spanish and French troops.
The floating batteries were essentially floating hulks. All their cannons were put on the port side, and they were reinforced with wooden armor packed with layers of wet sand to make them fireproof.
On September 13, 1782, De Crillon’s plan was put into action. Supported by the Spanish and French navies, ten floating batteries operated by a total of 5,500 French and Spanish men began their attack on the British positions. Meanwhile, 42,000 Spanish and French soldiers awaited orders to march on Gibraltar once the defenses had been breached. Tens of thousands of spectators gathered in the countryside, expecting to see the fall of Gibraltar.
The floating batteries, slowly and with difficulty, moved into position. They were unwieldy and difficult to maneuver, but they inched closer to the British positions and opened fire. The British fired back, but their guns did little damage. Meanwhile, allied guns on land were proving more effective than the floating hulks, as the latter were having difficulty moving into positions favorable for applying maximum damage.
The artillery crews on land, however, soon ran out of gunpowder. Back in Gibraltar, the exchange carried on for several hours, and by midday, the furnaces of Gibraltar had achieved enough heat to employ red-hot shot in their cannons. These proved effective.
Having been fired at the hulks, some of the shot landed on the decks and were doused with water. The French and Spanish sailors were unaware, however, that the intense heat of the shot continued to smolder, burning holes in the decks and starting fires.
The battle continued throughout the day and into the night. Fires on the batteries reached the magazines and exploded one by one.
The 12 British gunboats that had sailed out to attack the batteries instead ended up on a rescue mission to extract the Spanish and French soldiers from the water.
By one in the morning, the floating batteries had been completely abandoned. By daybreak, only two remained afloat. The Spanish sent a ship to rescue the sailors, but they came under British fire and were sunk.
In total, over 700 French and Spanish sailors had been killed, and another 350 had been taken prisoner. British bombardments on the siege lines had killed another 500.
During the action, the British lost just 15 killed and 68 wounded.
Result of the Siege of Gibraltar
By the time the action at Gibraltar had concluded, the Americans had already defeated the British at Yorktown and destroyed any chances of the British winning the war in North America. Peace had yet to be formalized, and the British victory at Gibraltar helped the British cause in determining the limits of American territory in the peace negotiations that were to follow.
France had been financially exhausted from the war, and Spain eventually sought an exit from the war after a third relief convoy arrived in Gibraltar in October. On February 2, 1783, a truce was signed. Britain ceded Menorca, parts of the West Indies, and Florida, and in return, the Spanish agreed to let Britain keep Gibraltar.
The British and the Americans finally made peace, signing the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. The Great Lakes, rather than the Ohio River, were to form the border between the United States and the British Empire.
The Biggest Battle?
Ultimately, the siege lasted longer and involved more soldiers than any battle in North America during the war. However, these numbers were inconsistent throughout the lengthy engagement, so it could still be argued what the “biggest” battle was during the American War of Independence.
Furthermore, as military historian James Falkner points out, months passed “with brief spurts of danger and excitement, but the chances to display valor and gain advancement were few.”
It could also be argued that the battle itself wasn’t part of the war in that the belligerents involved were not fighting over American independence but rather Spain’s claim on Gibraltar.
However, the political events in Europe were undeniably connected to those in North America. Spain and France had allied with the Americans and were trying to defeat Britain everywhere they could.
The Battle of Camden is usually quoted as the deadliest battle of the war, but the total killed was probably fewer than a thousand in total. In Gibraltar, the British lost 333 killed, and several hundred dead from disease. The Spanish and French took 6,000 casualties, although the exact number that were killed is difficult to determine. In addition to these figures, 196 civilians were killed by direct enemy action, while another 800 died from disease.
For three years, seven months, and two weeks, Gibraltar was under siege. French and Spanish hopes had been dashed by the difficult task of taking this British possession. For the British, the efforts that went into holding Gibraltar were monumental, and far more resources were put into defending Gibraltar than in helping Cornwallis at Yorktown.
