User:HJ/Twelfth Siege of Giibraltar

The Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar (3 September 1704 – 31 March 1705) was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain (later joined by France) to re-capture Gibraltar from British and Dutch forces, who had seized the territory from Spain in August 1704.

Background
Gibraltar is a small peninsula on the south coast of Spain. By the eighteenth century, it had been ruled by Spain for almost 200 years after a series of ten sieges. In 1702, several European powers formed a confederacy in an attempt to prevent the unification of the French and Spanish thrones in what became known as the War of the Spanish Succession. The war began in northern Europe and was largely contained there until 1703, when Portugal joined the Confederates. From then, English naval attentions were focused on mounting a campaign in the Mediterranean to distract the French Navy and disrupt French and Spanish shipping or capture a port for use as a naval base. After unsuccessful attempts on other ports, the Anglo-Dutch fleet sets its sights on Gibraltar. The fleet entered the Bay of Gibraltar on 1 August 1704 and landed marines on the isthmus, cutting the peninsula off from mainland Spain. After a brief siege, the Spanish garrison surrendered, and Gibraltar was claimed in the name of "Charles III of Spain".

On 24 August, a naval battle was fought off the coast of Malaga, after a French fleet of 50 ships was sighted leaving Toulon, which Admiral Sir John Rooke feared was the beginning of an attempt to retake Gibraltar. After a fierce battle, no ships were sunk, but both sides suffered significant numbers of casualties and severe damage to ships. After a second day, the wind changed and the French withdrew. The French claimed the battle as a major victory, but failed to exploit it by sailing for Gibraltar. The attempt to retake Gibraltar in earnest did not begin until September.

Build-up
Francisco Castillo Fajardo, Marquis of Villadarias arrived to the north of the isthmus separating Gibraltar from the Spanish mainland in September 1704 with around 4,000 men. He was joined by refugees who had left Gibraltar after its capture by the Confederates and his force gradually grew to 7,000. While the marquis was assembling his army out of cannon range from the Rock, arguments were taking place in Britain and in Gibraltar itself about the extent to which the fortress should be defended. Queen Anne advocated for its retention,while Admiral Sir George Rooke persuaded the Admiralty to assemble reinforcements and supplies, including a fleet led by Admiral Sir John Leake. Prince George of Hesse, who had taken control of Gibraltar after the eleventh siege, began to rebuild and modernise its defences, to the displeasure of several of the senior British officers stationed there, who would have preferred to see the Rock exchanged or abandoned. Hesse narrowed the landward approaches to the town and repositioned his guns into five batteries. With these improved defences, Hesse was confident that he could withstand a land attack from the isthmus, but he lacked the men and guns to hold the fortress against a combined attack from land and sea, such as that which he and Rooke had launched.