by Roy Adkins
Eliott’s body was embalmed and conveyed from Aix-la-Chapelle to Heathfield, which was an unusual decision because most people were buried close to where they died, given the absence of refrigeration, the cost of embalming and the difficulties of transport. Fifteen years later, the arrival of Nelson’s body in London after the Battle of Trafalgar would be a massive event. Eliott had acquired a similar heroic status, but his was not a public funeral in London. Nevertheless, the procession to Heathfield was accompanied by much pomp, as one newspaper described:
By a letter from Dover, dated the 30th instant [July], we are informed, that the remains of the late Lord Heathfield arrived there in the Racehorse packet, from Ostend, and were received on shore in a hearse and six, preceded by two porters, and eight men on foot, with wands, and followed by his Lordship’s servants to the inn, where they remained that day, and on Saturday morning, the 31st, the body went out of Dover for Heathfield, in the following procession, viz.
The undertaker,
A party of troops quartered in Dover,
Two beadles of the port,
Two porters on horseback,
Six mutes ditto,
Two porters ditto,
The coronet and cushion carried by a person uncovered, his horse, in a black caparison, led by two grooms,
A hearse and six, with feathers, velvets, and escutcheons,
Two coaches and six, with the like,
His Lordship’s carriage.
At Bailey Park, his Lordship’s funeral procession will be joined by a number of tenants and other inhabitants, and this day his remains will be deposited at Heathfield, in a vault built for that purpose, over which a handsome monument is preparing to be erected.28
At Gibraltar, Eliott’s memory has never been forgotten, and after the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 a wooden statue of Eliott was even carved out of the bowsprit of the captured Spanish warship San Juan Nepomuceno.29 In Britain, his memory was honoured over the years, including several pubs taking his name. His long-standing and elderly deputy, Robert Boyd, became the new governor of Gibraltar and did a great deal to continue the rebuilding of the town. On his death in 1794, at the age of eighty-four, he was buried in a tomb within the King’s Bastion, whose foundation stone he had himself laid over two decades earlier. His adversary Charles Ross died three years later.
Turnham Green, to the west of London, where Eliott had lived, also became home to Lieutenant John Upton. His wife, Catherine, had returned to London with their two children in mid-1781, and two years later her husband was back in England. His regiment, the 72nd, was disbanded, and he spent the rest of his life on half-pay, dying at Turnham Green in 1815 at the age of sixty-four. In 1784 Mrs Upton paid to have published a small book entitled Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose, and in its preface she declared: ‘I have but little time to write, or correct what I write, and shall ingenuously confess, that I send the following sheets into the world, with a view to support my children, not to extend my own fame.’30 She described herself as the Governess of the Ladies Academy at 43 Bartholomew Close in London, and for a married woman with two young children such a role was highly unusual, perhaps suggesting that she was estranged from her husband. Her short essay ‘Thoughts on Love and Marriage’ certainly railed against the injustice of women being expected to tolerate their husband’s infidelity, which may have been based on her own experience.
In Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose, one poem was ‘The Siege of Gibraltar’, in which Mrs Upton complained that the suffering of the soldiers was little appreciated, to which she added the poignant lines:
If a maim’d soldier meets thy wand’ring eye,
Ne’er turn disgusted, but his wants supply;
Think how he lost his limbs, his health, his home;
Perhaps his children, to secure thy own!
Could there be found on earth a soul so poor
To turn the crippled vet’ran from his door;
Or think a tear of gratitude too much,
I’d blush that armies ever bled for such.31
By the end of the eighteenth century, the Rock of Gibraltar was considered by Britain as a valuable asset, but immediately after the siege there had been a vociferous debate about whether or not Gibraltar should be kept. In 1783 the Scottish politician and prolific writer Sir John Sinclair anonymously published a booklet in which he expressed the opinion that Spain had only supported America’s bid for independence in the expectation of gaining Gibraltar: ‘the possession of America has been sacrificed to the retention of Gibraltar. That darling object could alone have induced Spain to countenance the independence of our Colonies, and without her assistance that event could never have taken place.’ He went on to argue that there was no good reason for keeping Gibraltar, especially when considering trade: ‘For the trade of the Mediterranean, of which Gibraltar is boasted of as the key, becomes every day of less importance in proportion to the commerce of the rest of the world. There was a time ... when the trade of Europe in a manner centred in that sea ... but how many other channels of commerce are open.’32
In his view, Spain should have been kept as an ally, which might have saved America: ‘Gibraltar ... ought to be restored to Spain provided full and adequate compensation is received. He [Sinclair] dislikes a possession that is principally retained out of spite to a neighbour, whose feelings on the subject we may judge of by putting this question to ourselves: What would England say to a treaty of peace that surrendered Portsmouth to the Spaniards?’33 Had Spain not been so intent on recovering Gibraltar, several thousand additional British soldiers might have been spared for the war in America, and British warships might have concentrated on American waters, rather than being diverted to Gibraltar. Equally, if Britain had simply ceded Gibraltar to Spain, the American colonies might have been retained, but British influence in the Mediterranean would have been significantly diminished. The Great Siege of Gibraltar proved to be a major pivotal point in world history.
With the loss of the American colonies, Gibraltar became a national symbol for Britain, without which the course of history would have been very different, for while Gibraltar remained a British possession, it provided a crucial naval base between the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Without Gibraltar, there might not have been the remarkable naval victories such as occurred at the Battles of the Nile and Trafalgar, which led to British naval supremacy, and without this naval advantage Britain may have found it impossible to defeat Napoleon. With the opening of the Suez Canal several decades on, Gibraltar became not just the key to the Mediterranean and the Levant but to countries far beyond, forming an essential element in the growth of the British Empire.
Although Eliott was rewarded with a peerage for his service during the siege, there were no medals routinely awarded to soldiers or sailors at this time, but he obtained George III’s permission to issue medals to the Hanoverian officers and men at his own expense. Consequently, twelve hundred large silver medals were struck with a picture of Gibraltar and the floating batteries on one side and the words ‘Reden, La Motte, Sydow and Eliott’ encircled by a wreath on the other.34 The king also decided to honour the Hanoverian regiments:
[He] ordered a donation to be presented [to] every soldier belonging to the several corps. It consisted of a scarf, to be worn on their arms, with a motto, descriptive of the glorious service for which it was bestowed. His majesty further ordered, that all the men ... when they shall come to the situation of pensioners, shall receive double the allowance permitted to ordinary soldiers. The grenadiers belonging to the same body are to bear upon their caps a silver plate given by his majesty with the word GIBRALTAR inscribed upon it in large letters.35
In France in August 1914, the first month of the First World War, the British Expeditionary Force was retreating in the face of an overwhelming German invasion. At Le Cateau on the 26th, Lieutenant-General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien ordered his Corps to
halt and fight the Germans, to slow down their advance. Those involved in this epic battle included the 2nd Battalion of Suffolks, the 1st Dorsetshires and the 2nd Essex, three of the regiments that had fought together during the Great Siege (as the 12th, 39th and 56th) and were entitled to Gibraltar battle-honours. This coincidence was magnified when they encountered German soldiers with ‘Gibraltar’ embroidered on their right sleeves – successors to the Hanoverians they had fought alongside during the Great Siege.36 In another twist, Smith-Dorrien was appointed as governor and commander-in-chief of Gibraltar in 1918, a position that he held until his retirement in 1923.
The special recognition of the Hanoverians created ill feeling among officers and men of other regiments, and Colonel William Picton decided to issue a medal to his own regiment, the 12th, at his own expense. Unfortunately the die cracked after only about sixty of the medals were made, and although a few of them were issued, he let the project drop. A few unofficial memorial medals were made by soldiers in the garrison, and the siege featured on commemorative medals struck by other countries.37 A Dutch medal of 1783 shows the attack of the floating batteries on one side and the sinking of the Royal George on the other, while another medal made the same year for the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American War of Independence, portrays on the obverse the sieges of Gibraltar and Minorca in the background.
Even before that treaty was signed, George III confessed himself very disappointed when Spain finally gave up the claim to Gibraltar, accepting Minorca and Florida instead: ‘I should have liked Minorca, the two Floridas and Guadeloupe better than this proud Fortress, and in my opinion source of another War, or at least of a constant lurking enmity.’38 His assessment was accurate, because even now the territory remains an issue of great contention between Britain and Spain. Over two centuries after the siege, Spain is still demanding the return of Gibraltar. For their part, the inhabitants of Gibraltar are the staunchest of Britons, fiercely opposed to becoming Spanish, but they are also proud Europeans. After more than three centuries as a British possession, the conflict underlying the Great Siege has still not been resolved.
George III had in mind the revenue and trade value of places like Guadeloupe, whereas the value of the Rock was always its strategic position at the gateway to the Mediterranean, which later became the gateway to the Suez Canal as well. In the Second World War, Gibraltar was again of especial strategic importance to Britain and her allies, and Winston Churchill became worried about the dwindling Barbary macaque population, mindful of the effect on people’s fighting spirit because of the legend that if the apes (actually monkeys) left the Rock, so would the British.39 Some people went further and said that if the apes left the Rock, then Britain itself was doomed, so they were especially important for wartime morale.
Their numbers seem to have dwindled since the Great Siege, because by 1939, there were only a dozen apes, and in September 1944 Churchill sent a directive on the subject to the Colonial Secretary: ‘The establishment of the apes should be twenty-four, and every effort should be made to reach this number as soon as possible and maintain it thereafter.’40 The solution was to bring in more macaques from Morocco, and they are now a key attraction for the mass of tourists who visit the Rock, which has become an essential stopover for cruise ships. Many people from around the world feel drawn to Gibraltar, in particular anyone who has served in the Royal Navy or allied navies, because they would have all put in at its dockyard on numerous occasions.
The most famous instance of a fleet visiting Gibraltar was when the shattered remains of Nelson’s victorious ships arrived for refitting in the days following the Battle of Trafalgar that took place on 21 October 1805. Sailing ahead, the Flying Fish schooner arrived on the 23rd, bringing the news of the battle and the death of Nelson, and the next day the Gibraltar Chronicle had one of the biggest scoops in the history of newspapers when it published, in English and French, the first report about Trafalgar.41 The ships were rapidly repaired with the aid of the dockyard under the direction of the new Superintendent of the Navy Yard, Captain Robert Gambier Middleton, who had arrived with his wife Susanna only a few weeks earlier.42 Their official residence was The Mount, which had been the home of Colonel and Mrs Green during the siege. Captain Middleton held his post on Gibraltar for three years, during which time he and his wife enjoyed the social life of the garrison, and she occupied part of her time reading. In the summer of 1806, she wrote to her sister in England that she was currently enjoying reading Drinkwater’s account of the Great Siege, but was annoyed that it had been recalled by the Garrison Library when she was only halfway through.43
John Drinkwater was one of the most interesting characters of the Great Siege. He had joined the 72nd Regiment at a very young age and towards the end of the conflict was promoted to captain. He returned to England when his regiment was disbanded, and in 1785 he published the detailed record of events that he had kept during the siege, as A History of the Late Siege of Gibraltar. It went through several editions and became a military classic. A few years later, he purchased a commission in the 1st Regiment of Foot, which was stationed at Gibraltar, and while serving there he established the Gibraltar Garrison Library that survives to the present day. His own son, Admiral Charles Ramsay Drinkwater Bethune, said of Drinkwater: ‘Although his son, I may say that he did not take, owing to his retiring disposition, that place in the public eye to which he was entitled. He was content to do his duty quietly, and was one among that class to which our country is much indebted.’44
Drinkwater had a long career in the army, including twenty-five years as comptroller of accounts, but apart from his journal of the Great Siege, he is probably best known for an account of the Battle of St Vincent in 1797, at which he himself was present. He published it anonymously that same year in order to draw attention to the role of one man who had been overlooked in dispatches – Horatio Nelson.45 When Drinkwater died at the age of eighty-one in 1844, he was claimed as the last known survivor of Gibraltar’s Great Siege.46 The names of Drinkwater, Nelson and Gibraltar have been closely linked ever since.
The capsizing of the Royal George at Spithead on 29 August 1782
Typical Mediterranean vessels – a tartan (top left), settee (bottom left) and xebec (right)
The Pastora floating battery (‘junk ship’) (top); Spanish gunboats and a mortar boat; Royal Navy prames and a gunboat; a Moorish galley; and a smaller floating battery (bottom, two views)
George Augustus Eliott, Governor of Gibraltar
Captain John Drinkwater, depicted with writing materials and plans and holding his published book on the siege
Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney
Admiral Lord Richard Howe
Port Mahon and Fort St Philip, Minorca
Comte de Crillon
The British surrendering to the combined French and Spanish forces at Fort St Philip, Minorca
The quadrangular naval hospital, surrounded by a wall, with Parson’s Lodge battery behind
Koehler’s depressing gun carriage (left) and (right) gun carriage elevated at 45 degrees, developed by Lieutenant-Colonel Williams of the Royal Artillery
Tunnel cut through rock between the King’s and Queen’s Lines
An encampment of huts, probably part of Hardy’s Town, looking across the Straits to Africa
A house below the Moorish Castle, before and after the initial Spanish bombardment in April 1781
Eliott (on horseback) on the defences, pointing to Captain Curtis stood in a gunboat (bottom left) rescuing survivors from the floating batteries. On Eliott’s right is Lieutenant-Governor Boyd, with Major-General La Motte between them. On Eliott’s left is William Green, then Lieutenant-Colonel Dachenhausen and Colonel William Picton. Captain John Drinkwater is shown top right, and in front of him is the engineer Charles Holloway. At the bottom right is Captain Colin Lindsay of the 73rd Highlanders. From a painting by J. S. Copley
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br /> Cross-section through a floating battery
Captain Roger Curtis and his gunboat crew rescuing French and Spaniards from the floating batteries in the early hours of 14 September 1782
Massive explosion of a floating battery
A 1738 map of Gibraltar showing the isthmus fortifications from the 1727 siege, the inundation, the Old Mole, Gibraltar town and a schematic, but effective, view of the Rock
The west side of Gibraltar viewed from the bay. The isthmus is beyond the picture (far left). Behind the red tanker is Camp Bay and the Windmill Hill plateau, and on the far right is the Europa plateau
Looking to Gibraltar from close to Fort St Philip, with the Old Mole projecting into the Bay of Gibraltar, the Barbary coast in the distance and Cabrita Point on the far right. On the isthmus is the old tower around which St Carlos battery was built. Illustration by Captain John Drinkwater
The Strait of Gibraltar viewed from the Line Wall. Much of the coastline is that of Barbary, and on the far right is Cabrita Point. Illustration by Captain John Drinkwater
