The Assault on Cádiz was a part of a protracted naval blockade of the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

, which comprised the siege and the shelling of the city as well as an

amphibious assault Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

on the port itself from June to July 1797. After the battle of Cape Saint Vincent the British fleet led by Lord Jervis and Sir Horatio Nelson had appeared in the

Gulf of Cádiz The Gulf of Cádiz ( es, Golfo de Cádiz, pt, Golfo de Cádis) is the arm of the Atlantic Ocean between Cabo de Santa Maria, the southernmost point of mainland Portugal and Cape Trafalgar at the western end of the Strait of Gibraltar. Two maj ...

. In the first days of June the city was bombarded, causing slight damage to the Spanish batteries, navy and city. Nelson's objective was to force the Spanish admiral Jose Mazarredo to leave the harbour with the Spanish fleet. The Spanish response was to build gunboats and small ships to protect the entrance of the harbour from the British. By early July, after a series of failed attacks led by Rear Admiral Nelson, and with the British ships taking huge fire from the Spanish forts and batteries, the British withdrew and the siege was lifted. The naval blockade, however, lasted until 1802.

Background

In February 1797, the British routed a Spanish fleet near

Cape St. Vincent Cape St. Vincent ( pt, Cabo de São Vicente, ) is a headland in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. It is the southwesternmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe. History Cape St. Vincent was already sacr ...

but failed to strike a solid blow against the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

in the uneven struggle. Admiral Sir John Jervis sailed for Lisbon after the engagement, frustrated at the escape of several valuable prizes including . New orders from the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

demanded him to

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are leg ...

and subdue the Spanish port of

, where much of the battered Spanish fleet had sought shelter. The

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...

had ordered the assault as he believed that Jervis' victory over

José de Córdoba y Ramos José de Córdoba y Ramos, ( Utrera, September 26, 1732 – Cádiz, April 3, 1815), was a Spanish explorer and naval officer who sailed around the world and fought in several battles while in the service of the Spanish Navy. Biography Born int ...

guaranteed a successful attack on that strategic harbour.

Blockade begins

The blockade of Cádiz, which had been begun by Jervis in 1797, had no intermission from that time until the peace of Amiens, and on the renewal of the war it was recommenced with all its former rigour. The fleet was distant from the town about ; the Spanish fleet within the harbour, and the British in-shore squadron under the command of Rear Admiral

Thomas Louis Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Louis, 1st Baronet (''bap.'' 11 May 1758 – 17 May 1807) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw action during the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars. He was one of Horatio Nelson's " Band ...

, closely watching their movements, and reporting every indication of their disposition to come to sea. Two frigates were at the mouth of the harbour, for the purpose of intercepting any supply of provisions for the enemy. Nelson said he knew no more certain means of bringing them out than starvation.Belton, the naval history of Great Britain p 57 Having completed these arrangements, the admiral retired with the body of the fleet to the neighbourhood of Cape St. Mary's between west of Cádiz, establishing a line of communication between himself and his advanced squadron, by means of three or four intermediate ships. By keeping at this distance from Cádiz, Nelson prevented the enemy from acquiring any accurate knowledge of his force.

Battle

Nelson was appointed to the command of the inshore squadron blockading Cádiz. An order from Sir John Jervis directed the launches and barges of two divisions of the fleet to assemble on board , between 9 and 10 o'clock every night, armed with carronades, spikes, cutlasses, broad axes, and chopping knives, a lamp in each boat with spikes, a sledge-hammer, and a coil of small rope, to tow off any armed brig, mortar or gun-boat, that should be carrier, and to follow the directions of Nelson for the night. The Spaniards had equipped a number of gun-boats and large launches, in which they rowed guard during the night, to prevent the near approach of the blockaders. On these a vigorous attack was made in the night of 3 July by the British boats, headed by Nelson himself, which pursued the Spaniards close to the walls of Cádiz, and took two mortar-boats and an armed launch. In this conflict it was the admiral's fortune to encounter the barge of Don Miguel Tregoyen, the commander of the Spanish gun-boats. The struggle that ensued was one of the most perilous in which Nelson had ever been engaged. He fought hand to hand with the Spanish commandant, and it was his own opinion that he must have lost his life but for the devoted attachment of his faithful coxswain, John Sykes. The Spanish garrison of Cádiz at this time consisted of more than 4,000 men. On the line wall facing the bay were mounted 70 pieces of cannon and eight mortars; near the Alameda were four other mortars; and from the Capuchins, at the back of the city, to the land point were three batteries of four guns each. Such was the strength of the place when Nelson was ordered to bombard it. The first attempt proved ineffective, as the large mortar had been materially damaged in earlier service. The second produced considerable effect in the town and among the shipping, as ten sail of the line, among them the ships carrying the flags of admirals Mazarredo and Gravina, warped out of the range of the shells with much precipitation on the following morning. On the night of 8 July, Nelson meditated another operation under his own immediate direction; but the wind blew so strong down the bay, that it was found impossible to bring up the

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounted ...

s to the point of attack in time. On the following day, he informed Earl St. Vincent that, though he hoped enough had been done to force out the Spanish fleet, yet in case there had not, he would try them again. The continuation of the blockade for most of the following three years, greatly curtailed the operations of the Spanish fleet from Cádiz until the Peace of Amiens in 1802, allowing the Royal Navy to establish its dominance in the Mediterranean.

Aftermath

Nelson had some time before he proposed to the commander-in-chief an expedition against the town of Santa Cruz, in the island of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

. Lord Jervis allowed Sir Horatio to select such ships and officers as he thought proper for this service. The expedition resulted in another defeat for him. The Spanish citizens of

composed a song of the victory that became very popular in Spain during the 19th century: :''¿De qué sirve a los ingleses'' :''tener fragatas ligeras'' :''si saben que Mazarredo'' :''tiene lanchas cañoneras?'' :''What good is for English'' :''having light frigates'' :''if they know that Mazarredo'' :''has gunboats?''

References

Bibliography

* * * * * Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1902). ''Armada española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y de León'', Vol. VI. Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, Madrid. (in Spanish) * * Pelham Brenton, Edward (1837). '' The naval History of Great Britain, from the Year MDCCLXXXIII to MDCCCXXXVI Vol II.'' London. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Assault On Cadiz (1797)

1797 in Spain

Blockades History of Cádiz