User talk:Richard Keatinge/Gibraltar

History


Evidence of Neanderthal habitation in Gibraltar between 128,000 and 24,000 BCE has been discovered at Gorham's Cave, making Gibraltar the last known holdout of the Neanderthals. Within recorded history, the first inhabitants were the Phoenicians, around 950 BCE. Subsequently, Gibraltar became known as one of the Pillars of Hercules, after the Greek legend of the creation of the Strait of Gibraltar by Heracles. The Carthaginians and Romans also established semi-permanent settlements. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, Gibraltar came briefly under the control of the Vandals. The area later formed part of the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania until the Islamic conquest of Iberia in 711 CE. Seven centuries of Moorish control ended when Gibraltar was recaptured by the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1462 as part of the Spanish Reconquista.

After the conquest, King Henry IV assumed the title of King of Gibraltar, establishing it as part of the municipal area of the Campo Llano de Gibraltar. Six years later Gibraltar was restored to the Duke of Medina Sidonia who sold it in 1474 to a group of Jewish conversos from Córdoba and Seville in exchange for maintaining the garrison of the town for two years, after which time the 4,350 Jews were expelled by the Duke as part of the Inquisition. In 1501 Gibraltar passed back to the hands of the Spanish Crown and Isabella I of Castile issued a Royal Warrant granting Gibraltar the coat of arms that it still uses today.

Capture
On 4 August 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession, a predominantly Anglo-Dutch force of the Grand Alliance  captured the town of Gibraltar. Gibraltar was selected, after abortive attempts elsewhere, for its strategic value, its weak garrison, and as a base to raise Andalucia against the Bourbon king in favour of the Hapsburg claimant to the Spanish throne. Orders were given to respect civilians, and the terms of surrender promised property and religious rights. However, officers lost control and during the following days sailors and marines engaged in widespread looting, ransacking Catholic churches and there were instances of rape. In reprisal, several of the invaders were murdered by the local people, who hid the bodies in wells and cesspits. Order was re-established by shore patrols who punished the offenders, with some of the invading force hanged as examples to encourage the others to desist.

On 5 August, the authorities wrote to the Bourbon king, declaring their loyalty to his cause Letter Of The Authorities To King Philip V. 115

Sire,

The loyalty with which this city has served all the preceding kings, as well as your Majesty, has ever been notorious to them. In this last event, not less than on other occasions, it has endeavoured to exhibit its fidelity at the price of lives and property, which many of the inhabitants have lost in the combat; and with great honour and pleasure did they sacrifice themselves in defence of your Majesty, who may rest well assured that we who have survived (for our misfortune), had we experienced a similar fate, would have died with glory, and would not now suffer the great grief and distress of seeing your Majesty, our lord and master, dispossessed of so loyal a city.

Subjects, but courageous as such, we will submit to no other government than that of your Catholic Majesty, in whose defence and service we shall pass the remainder of our lives; departing from this fortress, where, on account of the superior force of the enemy who attacked it, and the fatal chance of our not having any garrison for its defence, except a few poor and raw peasants, amounting to less than 300, we have not been able to resist the assault, as your Majesty must have already learnt from the governor or others.

Our just grief allows us to notice no other fact for the information of your Majesty, but that all the inhabitants, and each singly, fulfilled their duties in their several stations; and our governor and alcalde have worked with the greatest zeal and activity, without allowing the horrors of the incessant cannonading to deter them from their duties, to which they attended personally, encouraging all with great devotion. May Divine Providence guard the royal person of your Majesty.

Gibraltar, August 5th (N. S.), 1704. frustrating one of the objectives of seizing Gibraltar. Two days later, almost all the population departed to the hermitage of San Roque and Algeciras. Several factors influenced the decision including the expectation of a counter attack and the violence during the capture. The subsequent siege failed to dislodge the invading forces and the refugees mostly settled in the Campo de Gibraltar, although some returned to Gibraltar.

In 1711, the British and French Governments started secret negotiations to end the war; the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 established English sovereignty over Gibraltar.

Spanish attempts to recapture Gibraltar
Spain attempted to retake Gibraltar in 1727 and most notably in the Great Siege of Gibraltar. This lasted from 24 June 1779 – 7 February 1783 and remains one of the longest sieges endured by the British Armed Forces, as well as being one of the longest continuous sieges in history. The combined Spanish and French fleets blockaded Gibraltar from the sea, while on the land side an enormous army was engaged in constructing forts, redoubts, entrenchments, and batteries from which to attack. The Spanish committed so many resources to the siege, they postponed the planned Invasion of England. The first relief of the siege came in the spring of 1780 when Admiral George Rodney brought reinforcements of 1,052 men and an abundance of supplies. The British continued to resist every attempt to capture Gibraltar by assault but supplies again began to run low. On 12 April 1781 Vice Admiral George Darby's squadron of 29 ships of the line escorting 100 store ships from Britain entered the bay. The Spanish fleet was unable to intercept the relief and frustrated by this failure began a barrage of the town causing great panic and terror among the civilian population. Deliberate targeting of civilians was against the accepted code of conduct in warfare and was to continue for 2 years obliterating any remaining buildings from the Spanish period. Unable to starve the garrison out the French and Spanish attempted further attacks by land and sea. Learning of plans for the Grand Attack on 27 November 1781, the British garrison made a surprise sortie routing the besieging infantry in their trenches and delaying the planned assault for some time.

On 13 September 1782 the Bourbon allies launched their great attack; 5190 fighting men both French and Spanish aboard ten of the newly engineered 'floating batteries' with 138 heavy guns, as well as 18 ships of the line, 40 Spanish gunboats and 20 bomb-vessels with a total of 30,000 sailors and marines. They were supported by 86 land guns and 35,000 Spanish and French troops (7,000 –8,000 French) on land intending to assault the fortifications once they had been demolished. The 138 guns opened fire from floating batteries in the Bay and the 86 guns on the land side, directed on the fortifications after weeks of preparatory artillery fire. The garrison replied with red-hot shot to set fire to and sink the attacker's floating batteries and warships in the Bay; three of the floating batteries were destroyed,. The other batteries were scuttled by the Spanish, 719 men on board the ships (many of whom drowned) were casualties.

In Britain, the Admiralty planned a major relief of Gibraltar. In September 1782 a large fleet left Spithead under Richard Howe, arriving off Cape St Vincent on 9 October. The following evening a gale blew up, scattering the Spanish and French fleet allowing Howe to sail unopposed into Gibraltar. A total of 34 ships of the line escorted 31 transport ships which delivered supplies, food, and ammunition. The fleet also brought the 25th, 59th, and 97th regiments of foot bringing the total number of the garrison to over 7,000 Howe then sailed out and fought an indecisive battle with the combined allied fleet before withdrawing to Britain in line with his orders. The siege was continued for some months longer, but in the spring of 1783 a preliminary peace agreement brought the cessation of hostilities. Finally, in February of 1783 the siege was lifted.