The siege of Alicante took place from December 1708 to April 1709 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 ...

. The city of

Alicante Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...

was besieged by a French and Spanish force loyal to

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...

. They were opposed by the garrison, an

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

force under the command of John Richards. After several months of siege, having successfully completed their task of delaying the enemy, the garrison eventually agreed terms of capitulation which allowed them to be evacuated to waiting British ships. The siege is most notable for a very large

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

which was dug under the fortifications and detonated, killing Richards and many of his troops in February 1709.Hugill p.292

Background

Alicante had been taken by the Allies in 1706 in the wake of their landing at Barcelona the previous year. Following their victory over the Allies at the

Battle of Almansa The Battle of Almansa took place on 25 April 1707, during the War of the Spanish Succession. It was fought between an army loyal to Philip V of Spain, House of Bourbon, Bourbon claimant to the Spanish throne, and one supporting his House of Habs ...

in 1707, forces loyal to Philip took the offensive and began recovering many of these towns and cities lost to the enemy.

References

Bibliography

* Falkner, James. ''The War of the Spanish Succession 1701-1714''. Pen and Sword, 2015. * Hugill, J.A.C. ''No Peace Without Spain''. Kensal Press, 1991. * Williams, Basil. ''Stanhope: A Study in Eighteenth-Century War and Diplomacy''. Clarendon Press, 1932. {{DEFAULTSORT:Alicante, Siege of

Battles of the War of the Spanish Succession Battles in the Valencian Community 1709 in Europe 1708 in Europe Conflicts in 1708 Conflicts in 1709 18th century in Spain Sieges of the War of the Spanish Succession