The Anglo-Spanish War of 1727–1729 was a

limited war A limited war is one in which the belligerents do not expend all of the resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise in a specific conflict. This may be to preserve those res ...

that took place between

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 ...

and

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 ...

during the late 1720s, and consisted of a failed Spanish attempt to capture

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 ...

and an unsuccessful British

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 Porto Bello. It eventually ended with a return to the previous status quo ante bellum following the

Treaty of Seville The Treaty of Seville was signed on 9 November, 1729 between Britain, France, and Spain, formally ending the 1727–1729 Anglo-Spanish War; the Dutch Republic joined the Treaty on 29 November. However, the Treaty failed to resolve underlying te ...

Background

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 ...

, Spain lost Gibraltar to an Anglo-Dutch fleet and when the war finished in 1714, Spain was forced to accept the loss of Gibraltar in the

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 ...

, but it was a long-term goal of Spain to recover both Gibraltar and the 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 ...

from the British. After the Treaty of Vienna in 1725, Spain had the support of Austria and thought the time to be right to try to recapture Gibraltar. In reaction, Britain signed the Treaty of Hanover with

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 ...

and

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. Some historians put the beginning of the war in 1726, the year in which the Anglo-Spanish relation was already very tense. A British fleet was sent to the

Spanish West Indies The Spanish West Indies or the Spanish Antilles (also known as "Las Antillas Occidentales" or simply "Las Antillas Españolas" in Spanish) were Spanish colonies in the Caribbean. In terms of governance of the Spanish Empire, The Indies was the d ...

to disturb Spanish shipping without actually starting a war.

Action

Porto Bello

Britain had tried to use its naval power early in the dispute, by blockading Porto Bello in Panama but the attempt proved a disaster, in which 4,000 men were lost to disease. The main objective of the blockade had been to prevent Spanish galleons leaving and sailing for Spain, but the blockaders failed to do this - and eventually withdrew.

Siege of Gibraltar

On 11 February 1727 Spain, under command of the Marquis de las Torres and supervision of Chief Engineer of the Spanish Royal Engineer Corps

Marquis of Verboom Jorge Próspero de Verboom, 1st Marquess of Verboom (9 January 1665 – 19 January 1744), was a Flemish-born military engineer in the service of the King of Spain. On , King Philip V granted him the title of Marquess of Verboom. His fathe ...

, laid siege to the city (''Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar''). Depending on the sources, Spanish troops were between 12,000 and 25,000. British defenders were 1,500 at the beginning of the siege, increasing up to about 5,000 by troops brought from overseas by a fleet commanded by

Charles Wager Admiral Sir Charles Wager (24 February 1666 – 24 May 1743) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served as First Lord of the Admiralty from 1733 to 1742. Despite heroic active service and steadfast administration and diplomatic service, ...

. After a four-month siege, with several unsuccessful and costly attempts, Spanish troops gave up and retired on 12 June. Spain had lost over 1,400 men while the British had suffered around 300 casualties. The Spanish had expected material help from the Austrians promised under the Treaty of Vienna, but they received little. They had been outmanoeuvred by British diplomats, who had concluded a secret deal with the Austrians to prevent them intervening.

Peace

No more hostilities took place and a truce was declared in February 1728, with a preliminary agreement of issues at the March Convention of El Pardo and the

Congress of Soissons {{short description, Peace negotiations between Great Britain and Spain The Congress of Soissons was a diplomatic conference held between a number of European powers, principally Great Britain and Spain, between 14 June 1728 and July 1729 in the Fr ...

. The final peace, that confirmed the status-quo, was concluded in the 1729

. Many of the outstanding issues between the two states had not been resolved, and a decade later the

War of Jenkins' Ear The War of Jenkins' Ear, or , was a conflict lasting from 1739 to 1748 between Britain and the Spanish Empire. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. It is con ...

broke out between them. Britain emerged from the conflict by forming a very strong alliance with Austria, that lasted until 1756.

References

External links

The diary of a soldier in the garrison of Gibraltar under siege, 1727

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglo-Spanish War (1727-29) Conflicts in 1727 Conflicts in 1728 Conflicts in 1729 Spanish 1727 Wars involving Spain Military history of Gibraltar 1720s in Spain 1720s in Great Britain Spain–United Kingdom military relations