The Capture of Santiago was a military engagement that took place between 11 and 28 November 1585 during the newly declared Anglo-Spanish War. (Santiago is the largest island of the Cape Verde archipelago.) An English expedition led by Francis Drake captured the port town of

Cidade Velha Cidade Velha (Portuguese for "old city", also: ''Santiago de Cabo Verde'') is a cityCape Verde islands that had recently belonged to the Crown of Portugal. He sacked it and then marched inland before doing the same at São Domingos and Praia. Afterwards Drake left and continued his expedition to successfully raid the Spanish possessions in the Americas.Bicheno 186-88

Background

War had already been declared by Philip II of Spain after the

Treaty of Nonsuch The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed on 10 August 1585 by Elizabeth I of England and the Dutch rebels fighting against Spanish rule. It was the first international treaty signed by what would become the Dutch Republic. It was signed at Nonsuch Pala ...

in which

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

had offered her support to the rebellious

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

Dutch rebels. The Queen through

Francis Walsingham Sir Francis Walsingham ( – 6 April 1590) was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from 20 December 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Born to a well-connected family of gentry, Wals ...

ordered Sir Francis Drake to lead an expedition to attack the Spanish New World in a kind of

preemptive strike A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war ''shortly before'' that attack materializes. It ...

.Mancall p. 166-67

Expedition

The expedition gathered at Plymouth on 14 September 1585 with Sir Francis Drake in command of twenty one ships with 1,800 soldiers under Christopher Carleill. Sailing from Plymouth he first attacked

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...

in Spain and held the place for two weeks ransoming supplies. Drake however intended this to be a diversionary raid where it was hoped to trick the Spanish to think they were not heading towards the Caribbean, by doing this he had already made sure his presence was felt at

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

in the Canary islands. After taking on water from the undefended

La Gomera La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tene ...

island, he continued his voyage, heading south towards the former Portuguese Cape Verde Islands. By virtue of the

Iberian Union pt, União Ibérica , conventional_long_name =Iberian Union , common_name = , year_start = 1580 , date_start = 25 August , life_span = 1580–1640 , event_start = War of the Portuguese Succession , event_end = Portuguese Restoration War , ...

, the

Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 The Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1373 was signed on 16 June 1373 between King Edward III of England and King Ferdinand and Queen Eleanor of Portugal. It established a treaty of "perpetual friendships, unions ndalliances" between the two seafa ...

was in abeyance, and the commencement of war with Spain, Portuguese colonies and ships were now a target for the English.

Cape Verde

The Cape Verde Islands were a relatively poor archipelago that until 1580 had been Portuguese, but after was controlled by Spain. The town of Cidade Velha lay on the south-west side of the island of Santiago, the largest island in the Cape Verde archipelago and it served as a major base for Portuguese slaving operations on the West African coast, and was an exporter of both sugar and cloth. The town was protected by two batteries that covered the anchorage and a third was sited on lower ground to the west, covering the landward approach, in all totaling nearly fifty guns but the defenses were in need of repair.Keeler 27-8 Drake arrived off the islands in early November and set about planning his assault, in effect this would be baptism by fire for his men and a good rehearsal for future attacks.

Capture

On the evening of 11 November, under cover of darkness Christopher Carleill's assault force consisting of nearly 1,000 men landed on a beach four miles to the east. There was no resistance and they set off on a night march towards the town. Hondius - Francis Drake 1577

Cidade Velha

Drake's ships moved into position on the Queen's Accession Day and he ordered the firing of ordnance in her honor and began bombarding the town's defenses. The Spanish and Portuguese returned fire, but their firing was sporadic, and it soon petered out while Carleill's men stormed the batteries and took the guns. The inhabitants were fleeing out of the town and then the English stormed down the hill and into the empty town; the only inhabitants who remained were a few elderly residents, and twenty six patients with fever in the slave hospital. By dawn the Cross of St George was flying over the town, Drake's men looted what they could and captured seven Portuguese slave ships lying at anchor off the town, one of which was added to the fleet, while the rest were stripped of anything of value. Also captured was a

caravel The caravel (Portuguese: , ) is a small maneuverable sailing ship used in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing win ...

being built in a shipyard but the English upon their discovery of it disassembled the vessel. Old bronze Portuguese and Spanish guns and equipment were taken from the batteries, in addition gun powder,

silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

, and

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

were seized from the town's warehouses. The houses were ransacked for food and the grove stripped of their fruit before finally, the bronze bells from the town's cathedral were taken. Drake set up his headquarters and sent emissaries to track down some of the inhabitants, as he planned to hold the town and burn it unless the island's governor paid him a ransom. After a number of days however there was no response, so Drake rounded up the prisoners he had captured and interrogated them. The few that Drake held told him that the governor Gaspar de Andrade was in the nearby village of São Domingos, a few miles inland so an expedition was prepared.

São Domingos

Drake and Carleill led a force of 600 men in a trek into the dry and arid hills of Santiago island. The inhabitants of São Domingos fled when the English approached, so Drake and his men looted what little they could, then burned the village to the ground. Drake's force returned to the coast, shadowed as they went by local militia; two English stragglers were intercepted, killed and mutilated. On 28 November, Drake made one last attempt to force the Spanish governor to pay a ransom; he was aware of a small settlement called Praia and so had plans to seize that too.

Praia

Drake sent Carleill on another expedition nine miles along the coast to the east, until he reached Praia. Carleill's arrival coincided with the appearance of Drake and the fleet off the town's beach at dawn the following morning. The 1,000 or so inhabitants fled to safety, leaving Drake in control of the town who ordered it to be razed to the ground, sparing only the town hospital, but the plunder was scarce and then set back to Santiago. Boazio-Sir Francis Drakes West Indian Voyage

Boazio-Sir Francis Drakes West Indian Voyage

Drake left within a day of the capture of Porto Praia, but before he did so he ordered Cidade Velha to be razed as a final message to governor and the Spanish.

Aftermath

On the last day of November, his ships then headed westward, out into the Atlantic Ocean heading towards the Caribbean and the Americas mainland to strike at Spain's New World empire. Although many in the fleet had succumbed to tropical illnesses, this was achieved spectacularly in three separate blows, firstly at

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, Cartagena de Indias, and finally at St. Augustine. After the raids he then went on to find Sir

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebelli ...

's settlement much further North at Roanoke which he replenished and took back with him a few colonists. He finally reached England on July 22, when he sailed into

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, England to a hero's welcome. After Drake and the English had left, the Spanish and Portuguese after the attack strengthened the defenses and soon by 1590 Fort Real de São Filipe was built which still stands today.Nunes p264

References

;Bibliography * * * * * * * * ;External links * * {{Praia Francis Drake History of the Royal Navy Conflicts in 1585 Military campaigns involving England Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) 16th century in Cape Verde History of Santiago, Cape Verde 1585 in Africa 1585 in the British Empire 1585 in the Spanish Empire