BRITISH DEFENCE OF GIBRALTAR
a.d. 1782
FREDERICK SAYER
To Great Britain it was of the utmost importance that, once having secured possession of Gibraltar, she should keep that famous stronghold. By successfully defending it during the long siege of 1779-1783, she retained it in what has proved a lasting tenure.
The fortified promontory and town of Gibraltar, now a British crown colony, have long been objects of historical interest. The Rock of Gibraltar, anciently called Calpe, one of the Pillars of Hercules, is on the southern coast of Spain. Its name has been for centuries a synonyme of strength. Near it in the eighth century landed Tarik, the first Saracen invader of Spain. The Moors mainly held it till 1462, when it was finally taken by the Spaniards. Charles V fortified it; in 1704 it was captured by an English and Dutch force under Sir George Rooke. The Spaniards and French unsuccessfully besieged it in 1704-1705, and the Spaniards again in 1727.
No further attempt was made to capture this seemingly impregnable fastness until the great siege here described by Sayer, when once more the Spaniards and French combined against it. England was now somewhat weakened by the war with the American colonies and France. All Europe was unfriendly to her, and Spain, as well as France, was actively hostile. Gibraltar was closely invested in 1779, and so remained for three years, when the final assault was made. In 1782 Alvarez, the Spanish commander, was superseded by the Duc de Crillon, who had just taken Minorca from the British.
George Augustus Eliot, afterward Lord Heathfield, Baron of Gibraltar, who made the memorable defence, was appointed governor of Gibraltar in 1775. Lord Howe, who went to his assistance, had conducted the English naval operations in America. He returned to England in 1778, in 1782 was made a viscount of Great Britain, and was sent to relieve Gibraltar, where he arrived too late to assist against the grand attack, but landed welcome troops and supplies.
Piqued at the successful defence which for three years had baffled every effort, and burning with the desire to wipe out the stain on the national honor, the Spaniards were urged on in this last struggle by all the impulses of pride, ambition, and revenge. The slow and regular operations of a siege having proved but labor lost against this stubborn rock, rewards were offered to the most skilful engineers in Europe for plans to subdue the fortress.