The Anglo-Spanish War of 1727–1729 was a limited war that took place between Great Britain and Spain during the late 1720s, and consisted of a failed Spanish attempt to capture

Gibraltar ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibra ...

and an unsuccessful British blockade of Porto Bello. It eventually ended with a return to the previous status quo ante bellum following the

Treaty of Seville The Treaty of Seville was signed on 9 November, 1729 between Britain, France, and Spain, formally ending the 1727–1729 Anglo-Spanish War; the Dutch Republic joined the Treaty on 29 November. However, the Treaty failed to resolve underlying t ...

Background

During the War of the Spanish Succession, Spain lost Gibraltar to an Anglo-Dutch fleet and when the war finished in 1714, Spain was forced to accept the loss of Gibraltar in the

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne of ...

, but it was a long-term goal of Spain to recover both Gibraltar and the island of Menorca from the British. After the Treaty of Vienna in 1725, Spain had the support of Austria and thought the time to be right to try to recapture Gibraltar. In reaction, Britain signed the Treaty of Hanover with France and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. Some historians put the beginning of the war in 1726, the year in which the Anglo-Spanish relation was already very tense. A British fleet was sent to the Spanish West Indies to disturb Spanish shipping without actually starting a war.

Action

Porto Bello

Britain had tried to use its naval power early in the dispute, by blockading Porto Bello in Panama but the attempt proved a disaster, in which 4,000 men were lost to disease. The main objective of the blockade had been to prevent Spanish galleons leaving and sailing for Spain, but the blockaders failed to do this - and eventually withdrew.

Siege of Gibraltar

On 11 February 1727 Spain, under command of the Marquis de las Torres and supervision of Chief Engineer of the Spanish Royal Engineer Corps Marquis of Verboom, laid siege to the city (''Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar''). Depending on the sources, Spanish troops were between 12,000 and 25,000. British defenders were 1,500 at the beginning of the siege, increasing up to about 5,000 by troops brought from overseas by a fleet commanded by Charles Wager. After a four-month siege, with several unsuccessful and costly attempts, Spanish troops gave up and retired on 12 June. Spain had lost over 1,400 men while the British had suffered around 300 casualties. The Spanish had expected material help from the Austrians promised under the Treaty of Vienna, but they received little. They had been outmanoeuvred by British diplomats, who had concluded a secret deal with the Austrians to prevent them intervening.

Peace

No more hostilities took place and a truce was declared in February 1728, with a preliminary agreement of issues at the March Convention of El Pardo and the

Congress of Soissons {{short description, Peace negotiations between Great Britain and Spain The Congress of Soissons was a diplomatic conference held between a number of European powers, principally Great Britain and Spain, between 14 June 1728 and July 1729 in the Fr ...

. The final peace, that confirmed the status-quo, was concluded in the 1729

. Many of the outstanding issues between the two states had not been resolved, and a decade later the War of Jenkins' Ear broke out between them. Britain emerged from the conflict by forming a very strong alliance with Austria, that lasted until 1756.

References

External links

The diary of a soldier in the garrison of Gibraltar under siege, 1727

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglo-Spanish War (1727-29) Conflicts in 1727 Conflicts in 1728 Conflicts in 1729 Spanish 1727 Wars involving Spain Military history of Gibraltar 1720s in Spain 1720s in Great Britain Spain–United Kingdom military relations