The siege of Fort St Philip, also known as the siege of Minorca, took place from 20 April to 29 June 1756 during the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
. Ceded to
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
in 1714 by
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
following the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
, its capture by
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
threatened the British naval position in the Western Mediterranean and it was returned after the
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain and Prussia's victory over France and Spain during the S ...
.
Background
The Spanish island of
Menorca
Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...
was captured by the British in 1708 during the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
and along with
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 = Gib ...
ceded to
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
under the 1714
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 ...
. Although considered vital for control of the Western Mediterranean, it was also extremely vulnerable, since the Spanish deeply resented British occupation, while it was only two days sail from
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, ...
, and one from the French naval base at
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
. Attempts by
William Blakeney,
Lieutenant governor of Menorca and commander of the garrison of
Fort St Philip, to reduce local opposition by encouraging his troops to marry local women, and controlling Catholic schools and institutions proved unsuccessful.
A
Parliamentary
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
committee later set up to investigate the island's loss noted the poor state of its defences, with crumbling walls and rotten gun platforms, while over 35 senior officers were absent from their posts, including the governor of Fort St Philip, and the colonels of all four regiments in its garrison. In addition, while Blakeney had a long and distinguished military career, by 1756 he was over 80 years old and suffering from
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomi ...
.
Aware of the island's vulnerability, the French hoped its capture would provide them with a bargaining chip to persuade
Ferdinand VI of Spain
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Philip V of Spain
, mother = Maria Luisa of Savoy
, birth_date = 23 September 1713
, birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
, death_date =
, death_place = Villavi ...
to join the war as their ally. In the event this proved not to be the case, as Ferdinand remained neutral until his death in 1759. Although the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...
did not formally begin until France declared war on Britain on 9 June 1756, at the beginning of the year
Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville
Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville, comte d'Arnouville, seigneur de Garge et de Gonesse, was born in Paris on 13 December 1701 and died on 12 July 1794 in a French Revolutionary prison. He was a French statesman, son of Louis Charles Machault ...
, then head of the
French naval ministry, ordered the
Duke de Richelieu to prepare an expeditionary force to take the island.
Siege
![Prise du fort Saint Philippe a Minorque 1756](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Prise_du_fort_Saint_Philippe_a_Minorque_1756.jpg)
Richelieu sailed from
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
on 10 April with transports carrying 16,000 troops and escorted by seventeen naval vessels; he reached Menorca on 18 April, occupied most of the island and then on 8 May began to bombard St. Philip's Castle. Informed of Richelieu's preparations in mid March, Blakeney had substantially strengthened his fortifications but the presence of numerous non-combatants, including over 800 women and children, meant the garrison would quickly run short of supplies.
A squadron of 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 ...
from
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 = Gib ...
under
Admiral John Byng
Admiral John Byng (baptised 29 October 1704 – 14 March 1757) was a British Royal Navy officer who was court-martialled and executed by firing squad. After joining the navy at the age of thirteen, he participated at the Battle of Cape Passa ...
attempted to relieve the fort but withdrew after the largely indecisive
Battle of Minorca
The island of Menorca in the Mediterranean Sea has been invaded on numerous occasions. The first recorded invasion occurred in 252 BC, when the Carthaginians arrived. The name of the island's chief city, Mahón (now Maó), appears to derive from t ...
on 20 May. Although the engagement has been described as a "minor cannonade", his retreat effectively sealed the fate of the garrison, and Blakeney surrendered on 29 June, two days after the besiegers captured several important outworks.
During the siege, the British garrison lost 59 killed and 149 wounded, French casualties amounting to some 1,600 dead and 2,000 wounded. Since Blakeney surrendered on terms, the surviving members of the garrison along with British civilians from the local administration, a total of 4,378 in all, were transported to Gibraltar in French ships, arriving there on 11 July. In the inquiry that followed, Byng was condemned of failing "to do his utmost" and executed in March 1757 despite pleas for leniency, prompting French author
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—es ...
to later write that the English "shoot an admiral from time to time, to encourage the others".
Thomas Fowke
Lieutenant General Thomas Fowke, also spelt Foulks, circa 1690 to 29 March 1765, was a British military officer from South Staffordshire, who was Governor of Gibraltar from 1753 to 1756, and twice court-martialled during his service. The first fo ...
, Governor of Gibraltar, previously
court-martialled but acquitted for his role in the 1746 defeat at
Prestonpans
Prestonpans ( gd, Baile an t-Sagairt, Scots language, Scots: ''The Pans'') is a small mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the Council area of East Lothian. The population as of is. It is near the si ...
, was also found guilty of not sending reinforcements early enough and dismissed.
In contrast, the popular press portrayed Blakeney as a hero, the heavy drinking that left him with "a paralytick disorder" and "nervous tremors" being portrayed as the virtues of a simple soldier. His professional colleagues were far more critical; William Cunninghame, his chief engineer and deputy, strongly objected to the surrender, which he considered premature, and listed numerous deficiencies in the conduct of the defence.
Aftermath
Hyacinthe Gaëtan de Lannion was appointed the first French
Governor of Menorca
Below is a list of (known) governors of Menorca from the time of the British occupation in 1708 until the British relinquished control of the island for the last time in 1802.
Background
It was commonplace for governors to be absent from the isla ...
. A British naval squadron led by
Sir Edward Hawke sent out to replace Byng, arrived off Menorca shortly after the surrender. As Hawke did not have enough troops on board to land and mount a siege to retake the island he departed, cruising in the waters off Marseilles for three months before sailing home. He was later criticised for failing to mount a
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 ...
of the island, which might have forced it to surrender through starvation.
The French held Menorca until the
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, also known as the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763 by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement, after Great Britain and Prussia's victory over France and Spain during the S ...
, when Britain exchanged it for the island of
Guadeloupe. The Spanish
recaptured Menorca in 1781 during the 1779 to 1783
Anglo-Spanish War and it was formally returned to them by Britain in the
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and overall state of conflict ...
.
Order of battle
British Army
Land forces which formed part of the garrison included:
*
4th (The King's Own) Regiment of Foot
The King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army. It served under various titles and fought in many wars and conflicts, including both the First and the Second World Wars, from 1680 to 1959. In 1959, the ...
*
7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers)
The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881.
The regiment served in many wars ...
*
23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers)
*
24th Regiment of Foot
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
*
34th Regiment of Foot
The 34th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot to form the Border Regiment in 1881.
History Early history
The regim ...
French Army
The French invasion force consisted of:
* 1er Bataillon du
Régiment de Cambis
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service and/or a administrative corps, specialisation.
In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large bod ...
(2nd Btn later joined, originally garrisoned in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
)
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Vermandois
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Rohan Rochefort
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Médoc
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment Royal
The Régiment Royal was a French Army regiment that had been enlarged by renaming and uniting older regiments. At the time, the régiment de l'Altesse and the régiment Royal became one. The regiment Royal was first started 1656 by the Duke d'Ar ...
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Bretagne
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Haynault
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Talaru
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Briqueville
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripte ...
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de La Marine
* 1er Bataillon du
Régiment de La Marche
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripte ...
* 1er Bataillon du
Régiment de Briqueville
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripte ...
* 1er Bataillon du
Régiment de Royal Italien
* 1er Bataillon du
Régiment de Soissonnais
* 1er Bataillon du
Royal–Artillerie (Chabrié)
* x1 Compagnie du Miners
* x1 Compagnie du Workers
Arriving later as reinforcements:
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Traisnel (arriving on 15 May)
* 1er & 2e Bataillons du
Régiment de Nice (arriving on 21 May)
Notes
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Bibliography
* Anderson, Fred. ''Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766''. Faber and Faber, 2000.
* Browning, Reed. ''The Duke of Newcastle''. Yale University Press, 1975.
* Longmate, Norman. ''Island Fortress: The Defence of Great Britain, 1603-1945''. Harper Collins, 1993
* McLynn, Frank. ''1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World''. Pimlico, 2005.
* Rodger NAM. ''Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815''. Penguin Books, 2006.
* Simms, Brendan. ''Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire''. Penguin Books, 2008.
{{coord missing, Spain
Seven Years' War
Fort St. Philip (1756)
Fort St. Philip 1756
History of Menorca
Fort St. Philip (1756)
Conflicts in 1756
1756 in Europe