by Roy Adkins
Smallpox was not properly understood, and one theory, Mrs Green related, was that this outbreak was spread by the crew of the Peace and Plenty: ‘It is not certain how this disorder got into the Garrison. Some think it was brought in by some privateers’ men who were taken out [of] an English ship which run on shore near Fort Barbara, which ship was burnt.’ The timing made this impossible, though smallpox may have been introduced by crews of previous merchant vessels. Three weeks later, Mrs Green described how it was brought under control:
It began in an inhabitant’s house, a poor Jew’s. One child was nearly recovered before it was found out, and another taken ill. Every method is taken to prevent the disorder spreading, as it would have been a very bad thing at this time. The means were used as follows – an examination was made amongst the different regiments of those men who had not had the smallpox, and they were directly ordered out to the southward, and the same number sent in to do the duty; the Jew’s family was removed to a house in Irish Town, a large airy place ... As other children were taken ill, they also were sent to that house; by which means it avoided spreading. There was 7 children in all that had it, but it never took amongst the troops.24
While a number of the Jews were wealthy, many Jewish families were poor, like the ones whose children had contracted smallpox, and they worked primarily as hawkers, porters and labourers. The Spanish historian Ayala held an unsympathetic view of Jewish people, as did many in Britain at this time:
The Jews [of Gibraltar], for the most part, are shopkeepers and brokers, as much given to cheating and to lending money at exorbitant interest there as their brethren elsewhere. They have a synagogue, and openly practise the ceremonies of their religion, notwithstanding the conditions of the Treaty of Utrecht. They are chiefly managed by some principal one among them, whom they style King: he is in communication with the Governor, who through him regulates the imposts paid by them for his sole benefit.25
Under the terms of the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, Jews were banned from living in the town of Gibraltar, and although many were running businesses and importing much-needed supplies, London had exerted pressure until they were removed. After a breakdown in relations with Spain, a treaty was agreed with Morocco in 1721 that gave Moors and Jews the right to settle and work in Gibraltar, and by the time of the Great Siege, Ayala reckoned that a thousand Jews were living there. The census two years earlier, in 1777, recorded 863 Jewish people, nearly three-quarters of whom were born on Gibraltar. The community had a synagogue in the town, with an entrance off Engineer Lane, not far from the official residence of the Chief Engineer, Colonel Green. It replaced a smaller synagogue nearby that was destroyed during a terrible storm in 1766.26
Although most of the Jews had come to Gibraltar from Morocco, primarily Tetuan, they were originally descended from those refugees who had been expelled from Spain – Sephardic Jews. As Ayala mentioned, the Jewish community regulated its own affairs, a measure that was introduced by Lieutenant-Governor Bland some three decades earlier in response to the unruly behaviour of some of the hawkers and labourers.27 At the start of the siege, the leader of the Jewish community that Ayala called ‘King’ was Isaac Aboab, now sixty-seven years old, who had been born at Tetuan and was a considerable merchant and property owner in Gibraltar.
Despite the risks of the blockade, ships still tried to reach Gibraltar, and in mid-November, a fortnight after the Peace and Plenty was destroyed, it looked as if something was approaching from the Atlantic. ‘This morning about 8 o’clock one of the row galleys in the gut made a signal to the Spanish admiral,’ Paterson wrote, ‘upon which he got under way with his whole squadron, consisting of one 74, one 50-gun ship, one frigate, 3 xebeqs and six or eight row galleys.’28 With such a reaction from Admiral Barcelo, observers on the Rock assumed that a convoy was close – something everyone longed for, because of the dwindling supplies and soaring prices.
It was soon discovered that the entire Spanish squadron had been ordered out to pursue a lone cutter, the Buck. Captain Price watched what happened: ‘This morning early the attention of the Garrison was greatly engrossed with attending to the manoeuvres of an English cutter which appeared to westward.’29 Barcelo’s ships positioned themselves right across the bay to intercept the vessel, and so the cutter tacked and made for the Barbary coast, luring the Spanish squadron towards Africa. The Buck suddenly changed course once more and headed directly for Gibraltar, while the strong westerly wind and the currents carried most of Barcelo’s ships eastwards. Only the Spanish flagship managed to anchor in time and was now the only vessel upwind of the cutter. ‘Our ships in the Bay loosened their topsails,’ said Price,
and every one was on tip toe for some great event. As the cutter approached Europa, the Spanish Admiral weighed and stood for her. She kept steady to her course, and as she passed Barcelo, he fired the greatest part of his lower deck guns at her. The cutter returned shot for shot in every good direction and between twelve and one o’clock came to an anchor off the New Mole, having ran the gantelope [gauntlet] through about one and twenty vessels of various sizes and dimensions, without sustaining any injury but a shot through the gunnel of her boat, which went also through the jacket of a seaman who was sitting on it.30
The naval ships at Gibraltar had made no move to help, and Spilsbury was unimpressed: ‘Our Admiral unloosed topsails, but did not unmoor.’31
The Buck cutter was a privateer from Folkestone in Kent, which was a port renowned for building such vessels. Armed with twenty-four 9-pounder guns, she was commanded by Captain George Fagg. His seamanship was so remarkable that Drinkwater felt obliged to write an explanation of why the Buck had not been carried eastwards with the Spanish squadron:
As it may appear very extraordinary to readers unacquainted with naval affairs that the privateer should not be equally affected by the current, it is proper they should be informed that a cutter, or any vessel rigged in the same manner, from the disposition of her sails can go several points nearer the wind than a square-sailed vessel [like warships]; which advantage, on this occasion, enabled Captain Fagg, by turning to windward, to stem in a great measure the current, whilst the Spaniards ... were carried away to the eastward.32
Those on Gibraltar who saw this drama unfold were amazed at what Captain Fagg had done, even though the Buck was only a little more heavily armed than the Peace and Plenty, which had been wrecked. Ancell heard that before coming in sight of Gibraltar, the Buck had been chased by three other cutters that turned out to be English: ‘They asked him where he was bound, and answering to Gibraltar, they persuaded him to return, adding it was impossible to get in safe. In a jocular strain he asked if there was room for a coach and six to get in, which being answered in the affirmative, he rolled his quid [chewed tobacco] two or three times, and with an audible oath, swore he would get in if Belzebub himself gave chase.’33
Paterson summed up everyone’s feelings: ‘It is difficult to judge whether the Captain deserves most praise for his maneuvering, for his courage, or for the modest manner of his relations of this fact, which the whole garrison were witnesses to. Upon his coming on shore he received every mark of distinction possible, in the most public manner from the Governor, and was received with open arms by the whole Garrison.’34 On Gibraltar, everyone thought the Buck was the first of a convoy, and Drinkwater saw how the mood of jubilation soon changed:
The expectations of the troops and inhabitants, who were spectators of the action, had been raised to the highest pitch: few doubted that she was a King’s vessel; and as no intelligence had been received from England for many weeks, their flattering fancies painted her the messenger of good news; probably the forerunner of a fleet to their relief. But what was their despondency and disappointment, when they were informed that she was a privateer, had been a considerable time at sea, and put in for provisions?35
The Buck had brought no supplies, though may have brought dispatches for Eliott. If so, they w
ere delivered discreetly, which Ancell hinted at: ‘What news he brings, is not made public, excepting that we are not to expect a fleet yet.’ After such a spectacular manipulation of the Spanish squadron, Drinkwater admitted that they felt obliged to help Captain Fagg: ‘What indeed could be refused to a man by whose manoeuvres the Port was once more open, and the bay and Straits again under the command of a British Admiral?’ As one soldier witnessed: ‘All Barcelo’s ships are blackstrapped, that is, they are dropped behind the hill [east of the Rock], and unable to recover their stations, so that we remain masters of the Bay till they can work up [westwards, once the wind changed].’36
In an era reliant on wind power, everyone was acutely aware of wind conditions, which were recorded in most of the diaries at the time. The winds and currents around the Strait of Gibraltar, a constricted shipping lane where the Atlantic Ocean connects with the Mediterranean Sea and where two continents almost meet, have always been troublesome. Any vessel sailing from the Atlantic into the Mediterranean had to pass the Moroccan port of Tangier at the south-western approach to the Straits. Next came Tarifa, at the southernmost tip of Spain (and Europe itself), a port exposed to the winds. The Bay of Gibraltar, some 15 miles north-east of Tarifa, was the first reasonably safe anchorage. Whoever dominated the Straits was therefore in a powerful position to control shipping and trade to and from the Mediterranean.
Because of the westerly wind and the skill of Captain Fagg, the Spanish squadron had been forced beyond Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. They had been blackstrapped, a word derived from the rough local Spanish wine known as blackstrap (there is also a Blackstrap Cove on the eastern side of Gibraltar). For ships sailing westwards from the Mediterranean towards the Atlantic, conditions were especially difficult, and they could find themselves going backwards, which was why the Spanish squadron now had to wait for an easterly wind, as Drinkwater explained: ‘The rapidity of the superior current renders the passage from the Mediterranean to the westward very precarious and uncertain, as ships never can stem the stream without a brisk Levanter, or easterly wind. Vessels, therefore, are often detained weeks, and sometimes months, waiting for a favourable breeze.’37
As long as there was a westerly, the Spanish warships were out of harm’s way, but there was no way of judging how long the garrison’s luck would last. Rapid action was therefore needed to take advantage of their unexpected situation. A few vessels did manage to slip in with supplies, but Gibraltar’s naval squadron failed to grasp the opportunity, and Mrs Green reflected the feelings of many in her diary: ‘From this time, the enemy’s fleet was dispersed and left us sole masters of the Bay; it was therefore expected that we should have availed ourselves of it. However it did not turn out so! as our men of war made no attempt to move. All this seeming neglect hurt every individual in the Garrison; and several very severe papers were put up on the different parades reflecting upon the Admiral’s conduct.’38
There was a tendency for different elements of the garrison to be critical of each other, with derogatory remarks appearing in journals, such as that of Spilsbury who was especially quick to find fault with the artillery. Discontent with the navy became widespread, but Mrs Green said that Admiral Duff ‘carried it with an air of indifference’.39 Even so, suspicions were aroused over his constant lack of action. When two Spanish frigates arrived from the west and anchored off Algeciras only twenty-four hours after the Buck, this was a real chance for the squadron to act. Spilsbury was scathing: ‘It seems a council of war was held among the Navy, and it was agreed to go over to Algazeras, and attack two Spanish frigates that came in last night, and ride by themselves. But nothing was done, but [it is] alleged that the Admiral is bribed.’40 The westerly wind effectively put the Spanish ships beyond reach for several days, but finally the wind changed to the east and they returned. The opportunity to make use of the accidental lifting of the blockade by the Buck was lost.
Soon after, Duff was again bitterly criticised. He had been informed by some of the merchants that they were expecting a vessel with supplies, but he failed to act on this information, as Paterson recorded: ‘A Swedish snow [large, two-masted merchant vessel] appeared about 9 o’clock [on 20 November] from the westward, was boarded by the row gallies and carried into Algaziras. By her signals it appeared that she was consigned to Mr. Spinosa with provisions for the Garrison.’ Later on, it was learned that the supplies had included 350 tons of coal, which was a huge loss.41 It was not just hunger that sapped everyone’s morale. With coal and wood scarce, they were continually cold and wet. Coal used to be brought to Gibraltar in massive quantities by colliers from the Newcastle area, as Colonel James mentioned two decades earlier: ‘Fires in winter are absolutely necessary, nor can you do well without them; and the fuel is coal from Great Britain, which you get as cheap as in the Pool at London.’42 The lack of fuel now added to their misery, which Mrs Upton described: ‘Our cloaths were washed in cold water, and put on without ironing; but when the rainy season came on, I suffered more from the cold than I ever did in the severest winter in England: for what is the inconvenience of a cold day by the chearing warmth of a good fire-side? – You can form no idea of the periodical rains in Gibraltar!’43
Mrs Upton’s life in England had been very different. Before her marriage, she was Catherine Creswell, brought up in Nottingham, where her father Samuel was a bookseller, printer and political activist, with his business located in the market place.44 One of her brothers, Edward Creswell, would become vicar of nearby Lenton and Radford. Unusually for a girl at that time, she was well educated and undertook one of the few respectable jobs available to young women – teaching children. It is possible that her early employment was as a governess in London, from where she penned a poem to her father, revealing how much she missed Nottingham and how desperate she was to write: ‘My love for scribbling still torments me here’.45 Back in Nottingham, she ran a boarding school at Bramcote, though by 1771 she had moved to the growing town of Manchester and placed an advertisement for her new school in the local newspaper:
Miss CRESWELL, (Late a Partner at BRAMCOTE Boarding-School, near NOTTINGHAM) Takes this Method of acquainting her Friends and the Publick, THAT she has taken a genteel and commodious House of Mr. Budworth, near St. John’s Church, in Manchester, where she proposes Boarding, and teaching young Ladies English Grammar, and various Kinds of Needle-Work, at fifteen Guineas a Year, and two Guineas Entrance ... She will open her School on the 10th of April next, and may be spoke with, or wrote to, at Mr. Creswell’s, in Hanging-ditch, Manchester.46
The school was not to last because two years later, in May 1773, she married John Upton, known to her as Jack, who was a chapman or bookseller in Manchester, though in 1778 he joined the 72nd Regiment, initially as an ensign but soon promoted to lieutenant. Mrs Upton accompanied her husband to Gibraltar, and by then she had one son, Jack, and her daughter Charlotte was born not long after the siege started, probably in late 1779. Her entire life became focused on caring for her children and her husband in the midst of the siege.
In late November 1779, Eliott gave out new orders: ‘No more fuel is to be issued to officers or soldiers than what can be allowed to dress [cook] their provisions.’47 Coal was so scarce, Drinkwater said, that they were issued with wood from ships, ‘bought by Government, and broken up for that purpose, but which had so strongly imbibed the salt water, that it was with the utmost difficulty we could make it take fire’. Shortly afterwards, ‘Mr Holliday, the principal baker in this garrison, refused to bake, owing to the want of wood. He had at the time 51 sacks of flour left. The Governor took them all away except two, which he allowed him to keep for his family.’ This was fifty-eight-year-old William Halliday, a resident of Gibraltar for nearly four decades, who lived with his Gibraltarian wife Phoebe and their two children.48
Some families found it impossible to cope. ‘It is really grievous to see the fighting of the people for a morsel of bread,’ Ancell wrote sympatheticall
y, ‘at a price not to be credited by those who never knew hardship or their country’s service. Men wrestling, women intreating, and children crying, a jargon of all languages piteously pouring forth their complaints. You would think sensibility would shed a tear; but yet when we are in equal distress ourselves, our feelings for others rather subside. Compassion is very extensive, but self-preservation shuts out all condolement.’49
At the start of December, two more Walloon Guards deserted in the night, and Ancell heard from them that the troops in the Spanish camp were still suffering, though ever hopeful of Gibraltar’s capitulation:
they report that the enemy are not to fire, while they can keep the place blockaded, as General Alvarez [who had replaced Mendoza] is confident that famine will oblige us to surrender. We are certainly greatly distressed for want of fresh provisions and vegetables. Salt meat is scarce to be purchased ... Yesterday a baker was obliged to shut up, not having flour sufficient for his family for one month. Appearances are rather dreadful. God grant that a fleet may soon arrive, or the consequences are to be feared.50
In spite of the shortages, Captain Price was more amused than annoyed when the Spanish troops began to raid the market gardens: ‘Some Spaniards got into the gardens outside Landport and rooted up some cabbages, etc. The lanthorns they brought with them discovered them, and the grape shot from the extremity of Prince’s Lines scoured the gardens so effectually that the lights soon set a scampering towards the [Spanish] Lines. Our loss in the night expedition by the most authentic accounts to eight cabbages and a pennyworth of parsley!’51 Ancell heard another deserter say that ‘they are much distressed in camp for fresh water, and that a great many die of the flux, occasioned by drinking of the salt springs’.52
Amongst all this privation, 4 December turned out to be somewhat surreal. At first light, Horsbrugh was enchanted by the beauty of the scene before him: ‘Just as I got to the look out this morning, a sudden fog overspread all the lower ground. When the sun got above, it looked like a frozen sea covered with snow, the tops of the mountains towering a considerable height above its surface on which the sun shone, appeared like so many islands and afforded a most picturesque scene.’ The curious day continued when a would-be deserter was returned to Gibraltar:
