On this day in 1783 the Great Siege of Gibraltar, launched by France and Spain, is finally lifted ater 43 months, the longest siege ever endured by the British armed forces.

3 comments

1. What is even the point of trying to siege out somewhere that is supplied by the sea?

2. Not bad for a rock

3. >Gibraltar was a British military garrison and home to several thousand civilians, a place of varied nationalities, languages, religions and social classes. Before the siege, life was particularly pleasant for officers, who often socialised with their Spanish counterparts, but even the ordinary soldiers considered it one of the best garrisons at which to be stationed. The easy way of life ended abruptly in June 1779, when Spain began besieging Gibraltar after joining forces with France against Britain in America’s War of Independence, also known as the American Revolution.
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   >When France sided with the American colonies and offered all sorts of help, they soon saw the possibility of destroying Britain’s sea power, but Spain’s naval support was needed. The French eventually persuaded Spain to unite against Britain in return for assistance in gaining Gibraltar and the island of Minorca. Spain also agreed to support a French invasion of southern England, where the main Royal Navy bases were located.
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   >The siege of Gibraltar, the siege of Minorca and the attempted invasion of England by an armada of French and Spanish warships were therefore all inextricably linked with the struggle of the American colonies for independence from British rule. The British government’s obsession with saving Gibraltar was even partly blamed for the loss of the American colonies.
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   >The Spanish blockade was to be directed by Martín Álvarez de Sotomayor. Spanish ground forces were composed of 16 infantry battalions, which included the Royal Guards and the Walloon Guards, along with artillery and 12 squadrons of cavalry. This yielded a total of about 14,000 men. French involvement was limited, but in 1781 the first of them arrived in numbers with the Régiment de Besançon (Half Company of artillery). French reinforcements, mainly ground troops, all arrived at Gibraltar after the siege of Mahon in 1782 which included 10 veteran Régiments.
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   >The British garrison in 1778 consisted of 5,382 soldiers under General Eliott as Governor-General including three battalions of German Hanoverian ‘sharpshooters’ led by August de la Motte which also included 80 ‘Corsican troops’.
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   >On 16 June 1779, the Spanish issued what was in effect a declaration of war against Great Britain, and a blockade immediately commenced. On 6 July 1779, an engagement took place between the British ships and Spanish vessels bringing supplies to the Spanish troops on shore.
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   >The combined Spanish and French fleets blockaded Gibraltar from the sea, while on the land side an enormous army constructed forts, redoubts, entrenchments, and batteries from which to attack.
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   >Despite outbreaks of scurvy and other sickness due to the lack of fresh food and constant bombardment by Spanish artillery, morale remained high under the leadership of the governor, General George Augustus Eliott.
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   >Roughly two years into the blockade and siege, General Eliott ordered a sortie, so on the evening of 26th, 2,500 troops crossed the isthmus and attacked the Spanish lines. They destroyed 28 pieces of artillery and trenches, blew up magazines and inflicted heavy losses on the Spanish troops, at a cost of only four British killed. A Spanish logbook captured in the attack had already been filled in with the entry ‘nothing occurred this night’.
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   >In early 1782, under the leadership of the Duc De Crillon, French troops captured the island of Menorca from the British. He was then appointed commander of the siege of Gibraltar to give it fresh impetus. His aide, Colonel D’Arcon, came up with a plan for a massive amphibious assault on the Garrison, led by 10 floating batteries. These were specially adapted large sailing vessels, equipped with many cannon and thick walls to protect the crew.
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   >On 13th September the Grand Attack was launched. The batteries manoeuvred into line opposite King’s Bastion and began to pound the town. At first the British return fire was ineffective, but then they started to heat cannonballs in a furnace. These red-hot shot proved far better. By late afternoon the two main ships were on fire and by one in the morning they were abandoned and the other batteries set on fire so they could not be captured. This was a crushing defeat for the Franco-Spanish and the last major offensive of the siege.
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   >The siege lasted three years and seven months and was the longest in British military history. The garrison of 7,000 was heavily outnumbered by 40,000 French and Spanish troops, but still managed to hold on. The number of enemy losses is not known exactly, but is considered very high. The British military lost 333 dead and 138 disabled through enemy action, but a further 536 died of sickness