Great Siege of Gibraltar - Wikipedia
Failed attempt by Spain and France to conquer the British territory of Gibraltar (1779-83) The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution . [20] The American war had ended with the British defeat at Yorktown in October 1781, but the Bourbon defeat in their great final assault on Gibraltar would not come until September 1782. The siege was suspended in February 1783 at the beginning of peace talks with the British. [21] On 16 June 1779 Spain entered the war on the side of France and as co-belligerents of the rebellious American colonies —the British base at Gibraltar was Spain's primary war aim. [22] The vulnerable Gibraltar garrison under George Augustus Eliott was blockaded from June 1779 to February 1783, [23] initially by the Spanish alone, led by Martín Álvarez de Sotomayor . The blockade proved to be a failure because two relief convoys entered unmolested—the first under Admiral George Rodney in 1780 and the second under Admiral George Darby in 1781—despite the presence of the Spanish fleets . The same year, a major assault was planned by the Spanish, but the Gibraltar garrison sortied in November and destroyed much of the forward batteries. With the siege going nowhere and constant Spanish failures, the besiegers were reinforced by French forces under de Crillon , who took over command in early 1782. After a lull in the siege, during which the Franco-Spanish besiegers gathered more guns, ships and troops, a "Grand Assault" was launched on 18 September 1782. This involved huge numbers—60,000 men, 49 ships of the line and ten specially designed, newly invented floating batteries —against the 5,000 defenders. The assault proved to be a disastrous and humiliating failure, resulting in heavy losses for the Bourbon attackers. This was the largest action fought during the war in terms of numbers. The final sign of defeat for the allies came when a crucial British relief convoy under Admiral Richard Howe slipped through the blockading fleet and arrived at the garrison in October 1782. The siege was finally lifted on 7 February 1783 and resulted in a decisive victory for the British. The siege was a factor in ending the American Revolutionary War [24] [25] [26] [27] —the Peace of Paris negotiations were reliant on news from the siege, particularly at its climax. [28] [29] At three years, seven months and twelve days, it is the longest siege endured by the British Armed Forces . [30] [31] Background [ edit ] The Rock of Gibraltar was first fortified with the Moorish Castle in 710 AD. It was the site of ten sieges during the Middle Ages , some of them successful. An Anglo-Dutch force captured the Gibraltar peninsular in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession ; possession was assigned to Britain in the 1713 peace Treaty of Utrecht that ended the war. The Spanish made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Gibraltar in 1727 during the Anglo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Siege_of_Gibraltar
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