Gibraltar

by Roy Adkins

  Historical Manuscripts Commission 1894 The Manuscripts of his Grace the Duke of Rutland, K.G. preserved at Belvoir Castle vol. III (London)

  Hogg, I. and Batchelor, J. 1978 Naval Gun (Poole)

  Holmes, R. 2002 Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket (London)

  Howes, H. 1951 The Gibraltarian: The origin and evolution of the people of Gibraltar (Gibraltar)

  Huish, R. 1837 The History of the Life and Reign of William the Fourth (London)

  James T. 1771 The History of the Herculean Straits, now called the Straits of Gibraltar vol. 2 (London)

  Johnson, R.F. 1971 The Royal George (London)

  Kendall, P. 2012 The Royal Engineers at Chatham 1750–2012 (Swindon)

  Kenyon, E.R. (ed.) 1912a ‘A Lady’s Experience in the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779–83)’ Royal Engineers Journal 15, pp. 37–44, 107–18, 163–82, 245–62, 309–26, 383–400

  Kenyon, E.R. (ed.) 1912b ‘A Lady’s Experience in the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779–83)’ Royal Engineers Journal 16, pp. 31–50

  Landmann, T. 1854 Recollections of my military life vol. 1 (London)

  Langle, M. de 1785 Voyage en Espagne vol. 2 (Neuchatel) (attributed to J.C. Fleuriau)

  Laughton, J.K. 1902 ‘Journals of Henry Duncan Captain, Royal Navy 1776–1782’ The Naval Miscellany vol. 1, pp. 105–219 (Navy Records Society)

  Lawrance, C. 1994 The History of the Old Naval Hospital Gibraltar 1741 to 1922 (Lymington)

  Lindsay, C. 1793 Extracts from Colonel Tempelhoffe’s History of the Seven Years War vol. 2 (London)

  Lovell, W.S. 1879 (2nd edn) Personal Narrative of Events, from 1799 to 1815, with anecdotes (London)

  Lyall, B. 2009 ‘Gibraltar’s Heart Cut Coinage’ Gibraltar Heritage Journal 16, pp. 55–60

  McConnell, D. 1988 British Smooth-Bore Artillery: A Technological Study to Support Identification, Acquisition, Restoration, Reproduction, and Interpretation of Artillery at National Historic Parks in Canada (Ottawa)

  Macdonald, J. 1906 Autobiographical Journal of John Macdonald Schoolmaster and Soldier 1770–1830 (Edinburgh)

  Macdonald, J. 2004 Feeding Nelson’s Navy (London)

  McGuffie, T.H. 1955 ‘The Royal Manchester Volunteers’ Manchester Review (summer 1955) pp. 209–22

  McGuffie, T.H. 1965 The Siege of Gibraltar 1779–1783 (London)

  Marsden, W. 1838 A brief memoir of the life and writings of the late William Marsden (London)

  Marshall, M.A.N. 1955 ‘The armed ships of Folkestone’ Mariner’s Mirror 41, pp. 53–9

  Mundy, G.B. 1830 The Life and Correspondence of the Late Admiral Lord Rodney vol. 1 (London)

  Owen, J.H. 1933 ‘Letters from Sir Samuel Hood 1780–1782’ Mariner’s Mirror 19, pp. 75–87

  Patterson, A.T. 1960 The Other Armada (Manchester)

  Payn, J. 1885 Peril and Privation: Stories of Marine Disaster Retold (London)

  Payne, J. 1793 The Naval Commercial, and General History of Great Britain vol. 2 (London)

  Pocock, T.A.G. 1955 ‘Captain Fagg of Folkestone’ Mariner’s Mirror 41, pp. 242–4

  Porter, W. 1889 History of the Corps of Royal Engineers vol. 1 (London and New York)

  Rosado, P. 2002 The Convent Gibraltar (Gibraltar)

  Rose, E.P.F. and Rosenbaum, M.S. 1991 A Field Guide to the Geology of Gibraltar (Gibraltar)

  Russell, J. 1965 Gibraltar Besieged 1779–1783 (London)

  Rutherford, G. 1941 ‘The capture of the Ardent’ Mariner’s Mirror 27, pp. 106–31

  Serfaty, A.B.M. 2005 ‘The Jews of Gibraltar under British Rule’ Gibraltar Heritage Journal special edn, pp. 5–34 (a reprinted 1958 study)

  Sinclair, J. 1783 The Propriety of Retaining Gibraltar Impartially Considered (London)

  Sinclair, J. 1831 The Correspondence of the Right Honourable Sir John Sinclair, Bart. vol. 1 (London)

  Skidmore, C. 2013 Bosworth: The Birth of the Tudors (London)

  Skinner, T. 1891 (ed. A. Skinner) Fifty Years in Ceylon: An Autobiography (reprinted in 1974 from Ceylon Historical Journal 21) (Sri Lanka)

  Smith, J.F. 1866 The Admission Register of the Manchester School (Chetham Society)

  Smyth, J.C. 1795 A Description of the Jail Distemper, as it appeared amongst the Spanish Prisoners, At Winchester, in the Year 1780 (London)

  Spilsbury, J. 1908 A Journal of the Siege of Gibraltar 1779–1783 (ed. B.H.T. Frere) (Gibraltar)

  Stead, B.L.M. 2000 ‘“Poor Distress’d Weavers”: conflicting interpretations of the raising of the 72nd Regiment, Royal Manchester Volunteers’ British Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 23, pp. 203–31

  Stonehouse, W.B. 1839 The History and Topography of the Isle of Axholme (London)

  Syrett, D. 1998 The Royal Navy in European Waters During the American Revolutionary War (Columbia)

  Syrett, D. (ed.) 2007 The Rodney Papers. Selections from the Correspondence of Admiral Lord Rodney vol. 2 (Aldershot)

  Syrett, D. and DiNardo, R.L. 1994 The Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660–1815 (Aldershot)

  Tancred, G. 1907 Rulewater and its People (Edinburgh)

  Tayler, A. and H. 1914 The Book of the Duffs vol. 2 (Edinburgh)

  Twiss, R. 1775 Travels through Portugal and Spain in 1772 and 1773 (London)

  Upton, C. 1781 The Siege of Gibraltar from the Twelfth of April to the Twenty-Seventh of May, 1781 (London)

  Upton, C. 1784 Miscellaneous Pieces in Prose and Verse (London)

  Vaughan, W. 1839 Memoir of William Vaughan, F.R.S. with miscellaneous pieces relative to docks, commerce, etc (London)

  Venning, A. 2005 Following the Drum: The Lives of Army Wives and Daughters Past and Present (London)

  Vernon, F.V. 1792 Voyages and Travels of a Sea Officer (London)

  Wale, H.J. 1883 My Grandfather’s Pocket-Book (London)

  Wheatley, H.B. 1884 The Historical and the Posthumous memoirs of Sir Nathaniel William Wraxall 1771–1784 vol. 2 (London)

  Wright, G.N. 1837 The Life and Reign of William the Fourth vol. I (London)

  LIST OF MAPS

  Here: Location of Gibraltar within western Europe and north Africa

  Here: Main place-names within the British Isles

  Here: Southern England and the English Channel

  Here: Andalusia, Gibraltar and the Strait of Gibraltar (from Cape Trafalgar to Gibraltar)

  Here: Main locations within the Bay of Gibraltar

  Here: Main locations within Gibraltar and the isthmus

  Here: Main locations within Gibraltar town (in ruins), the northern part of the Rock, the Spanish Lines and the advance works across the isthmus by September 1782. Willis’s comprised several batteries, including Princess Amelia’s, Princess Anne’s and Princess Caroline’s

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  BLACK-AND-WHITE PLATES

  Here: The capsizing of the Royal George at Spithead on 29 August 1782 (J. Sleight 1844 A Narrative of the Loss of the Royal George (Portsea))

  Here: Typical Mediterranean vessels – a tartan, settee and xebec (after Spilsbury 1908)

  Here: The Pastora floating battery (‘junk ship’); Spanish gunboats and a mortar boat; Royal Navy prames and a gunboat; a Moorish galley; and a smaller floating battery (two views) (Spilsbury 1908)

  Here: George Augustus Eliott, Governor of Gibraltar, from a painting by G.F. Koehler of the Royal Artillery (Authors’ collection)

  Here: Captain John Drinkwater, depicted with writing materials and plans and holding his published book on the siege (J. Drinkwater 1905 A History of the Siege of Gibraltar 1779–1783 (London))

  Here: Admiral Sir George Brydges Rodney (G.B. Mundy 1830 The Life and Correspondence of the Late Admiral Lord Rodney vol. 2 (London))

  Here: Admiral Lord Richard Howe (J. Allen 1852 Battles of the British Navy vol.
1 (London))

  Here: Port Mahon and Fort St Philip, Minorca (after Carnet de la Sabretache (1907))

  Here: Comte de Crillon (Carnet de la Sabretache (1907))

  Here: The British surrendering to the combined French and Spanish forces at Fort St Philip, Minorca (Illustrated History of England vol. 5 (c. 1860))

  Here: The quadrangular naval hospital, surrounded by a wall, with Parson’s Lodge battery behind (Spilsbury 1908)

  Here: Koehler’s depressing gun carriage (Spilsbury 1908)

  Here: Gun carriage elevated at 45 degrees, developed by Lieutenant-Colonel Williams of the Royal Artillery (Spilsbury 1908)

  Here: Tunnel cut through rock between the King’s and Queen’s Lines (Spilsbury 1908)

  Here: An encampment of huts, probably part of Hardy’s Town, looking across the Straits to Africa (Spilsbury 1908)

  Here: A house below the Moorish Castle, before and after the initial Spanish bombardment in April 1781 (Spilsbury 1908)

  Here: 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 (Authors’ collection)

  Here: Cross-section through a floating battery (after Carnet de la Sabretache (1907))

  Here: Captain Roger Curtis and his gunboat crew rescuing French and Spaniards from the floating batteries in the early hours of 14 September 1782 (G.F. Raymond 1790 New, Universal, and Impartial History of England (London))

  Here: Massive explosion of a floating battery (Spilsbury 1908)

  COLOUR PLATES

  Here: 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 itself (Authors’ collection)

  Here: 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 (Authors’ collection)

  Here: 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 (Authors’ collection)

  Here: 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 (Authors’ collection)

  Here: Gibraltar viewed from across part of the isthmus, with the typical cloud caused by easterly winds, shrouding the site of the Rock Gun (Authors’ collection)

  Here: The ruins of the Spanish Fort St Barbara, looking south towards the eastern and northern sides of Gibraltar (Authors’ collection)

  Here: Looking from the hills above Algeciras to Gibraltar in a print of 1840. The town of Algeciras is just beyond the aqueduct and the Green Island lies to the right (Authors’ collection)

  Here: San Roque viewed from the Governor’s Palace. In the distance, on the left, is Gibraltar and on the right is the Spanish coast with Cabrita Point and Algeciras. Ape’s Hill in Barbary rises above the layer of mist. The chimneys of an oil refinery (right) mark the site of the Carteia Roman ruins (Authors’ collection)

  Here: The Governor’s Palace at San Roque, the headquarters of the Spanish military campaign during the siege (Authors’ collection)

  Here: A view northwards to Spain from Signal Hill towards Middle Hill and the site of the Rock Gun. On the right is the sheer eastern side and the Mediterranean (Authors’ collection)

  Here: Barbary macaques largely inhabited the inaccessible eastern side of Gibraltar during the siege (Authors’ collection)

  Here: Looking from Willis’s battery (now with World War Two structures) towards the north front of the Rock. The protruding rock on the left is ‘the Notch’, towards which Ince was mining a tunnel in 1782 (Authors’ collection)

  Here: The Landport gate and tunnel through which the soldiers passed during the sortie of November 1781. The stone bridge was demolished a few months later, and the sally port in the ditch (bottom left) was used instead (Authors’ collection)

  Here: Looking through the original Southport Gate from the town (Authors’ collection)

  Here: One of the larger floating batteries moving into position (Carnet de la Sabretache (1907))

  Here: A brass cannon on a wooden gun carriage, made by Bowen in 1758, now in the Alameda Gardens, in front of the Wellington monument (Authors’ collection)

  Here: A brass howitzer, made by the Verbruggens at Woolwich in 1778, looking at the muzzle down which gunpowder and ammunition were loaded. It now forms part of a large monument in the Alameda Gardens dedicated to Eliott (Authors’ collection)

  Here: British officers, one with a telescope, watching the floating batteries burn. In the distance are white tents of the French and Spanish camp (Authors’ collection)

  Here: Obverse of a halfpenny token showing the head of General Eliott (spelled Elliot here). The reverse has a fleur-de-lys with the words ‘Birmingham Halfpenny 1792’ (Authors’ collection)

  Here: A Dutch medal commemorating the sinking of the Royal George, the loss of Admiral Kempenfelt and the floating batteries attacking Gibraltar (Authors’ collection)

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  During our research, we have been generously assisted by a range of libraries, archives and other institutions, and we are especially grateful for permission to use quotations from manuscripts. We would like to extend our appreciation to Danielle Sellers and her colleagues at the Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive; the British Library; the London Library; the National Archives at Kew; Devon Archives and Local Studies Service; the Archives and Local Studies at Manchester Central Library; Exeter University’s Library; Portsmouth History Centre and Records Office; Gibraltar’s Garrison Library, with thanks to Dr Jennifer Ballantine Perera and Chris Tavares; the Gibraltar National Archives, with thanks to Anthony Pitaluga; the King’s Chapel archives; the Gibraltar Tourist Board; the Gibraltar Museum; and Turismo San Roque.

  We have benefited greatly from the professional expertise of Dr Jane Richards, who allowed us to bombard her with medical ailments. Peter N. Lockyer of Gosport generously rooted out information and documents in the Portsmouth area, all for the promise of a pint, while Simon Fowler was an invaluable asset at The National Archives. We would also like to thank Beth Torgerson, Patrick Ray and members of the Martineau Society for assistance, Dr Bonnie Huskins for sharing her research on the Royal Engineer William Booth, Scott McCracken for his expertise on military medals, Sam and Eleanor Simmons at Folklife Quarterly for constant support, Chris Mortimer of Blacksnow Web Design for his expertise in keeping us online, David Vassallo, Marguerite Galloway and many others on Gibraltar. In particular, we would like to mention the immense help given to us by Charlie Rosado, Pepe Rosado, Sam Benady and Richard Garcia. As ever, friends and family have been sorely neglected while writing this book, and we are grateful for their understanding.

  We owe particular thanks to Richard Beswick at Little, Brown (UK) and to Rick Kot at Viking Penguin (US) for steering us towards this book. We are also indebted to all those at Little, Brown involved in the various publishing processes, including Zoë Gullen (for her brilliant work), John Gilkes (for his maps), Richard Collins (for the copyediting) and Steve Cox (for proofreading); while at Viking Penguin we are also indebted to Tricia Conley, Alyson D’Amato, Caitlin Noonan, Ryan Boyle, Jason Ramirez, Colin Webber, Diego Núñez and Tony Ford
e.

  INDEX

  The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. The link provided will take you to the beginning of that print page. You may need to scroll forward from that location to find the corresponding reference on your e-reader.

  Ship names are in italics. Army units of soldiers and officers are given in brackets after their name, such as (58th) or (engineers). ‘Gibraltar’ is not specified for places and structures located on the Rock.

  Abercromby, John (56th) 180

  Aboab, Isaac 76

  Abyla/Mons Abyla 4, 144

  Adams, Abigail 295, 361

  Adams, Cumberland 146

  Adams, John 295, 361

  advance works/siegeworks see isthmus

  Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), Germany 380–2

  Ajax 102

  alcohol xxiii, 194–5, 196, 197–8, 199, 210, 220, 262, 335; beer 171, 175, 301, 371, 380; brandy 24, 107, 175, 312, 327; cider 2; rum xviii, xx, 166, 219, 297, 302; wine 2, 23, 24, 64, 79, 111, 116, 161, 175, 196, 327, 370, 380; see also drunkenness

  Alexander 203

  Algeciras, Spain 161, 272, 315; captured vessels taken to 25, 146, 157–9, 282; fireships from 136, 184; floating batteries 274–6, 282, 294–5, 307; gunboats from 142, 178, 187, 363; naval base 23, 24, 25, 80, 122, 141, 146, 278, 349; port 16, 25; reconnaissance from 142

  Algeria 5, 24; Algiers 279, 282

  Alvarez, Martin de Sotomayor 82–4, 130, 162, 237, 238, 267

  America/American colonies 9, 13, 33, 158, 185, 198, 203, 228, 295, 361

  American Club 319

  American War of Independence 9–10, 33, 36, 96, 121, 149, 158, 160, 176, 185, 240–1, 356, 384–5, 387

  Amherst, Lord 218

  ammunition see grapeshot, red-hot shot, shells, shot

  amputations 202, 233–4, 235, 236, 256, 359

  amusements 2; see also books, dancing, dinners, fireworks, hunting, music, prostitutes, theatre