The San Juan Expedition took place between March and November 1780 during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

when a British force under the command of John Polson and Captain Horatio Nelson landed on the coast of the present-day Nicaragua, with the aim of sailing up the San Juan River to capture the strategically crucial towns of

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

and León, located on the northwestern shore of

Lake Nicaragua Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca or Granada ( es, Lago de Nicaragua, , or ) is a freshwater lake in Nicaragua. Of tectonic origin and with an area of , it is the largest lake in Central America, the 19th largest lake in the world (by area) and the t ...

. Despite an initial success in the capture of the Fortress of the Immaculate Conception, Polson's force never reached Lake Nicaragua and, decimated by

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

, was forced to return to

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

. The campaign ended in total failure and cost the lives of more than 2,500 men, making it the costliest British disaster of the entire war.

Background

After Spain entered the American Revolutionary War in 1779, Major-General John Dalling, the governor of

, proposed a military expedition against the Spanish province of Nicaragua, belonging then to the

Captaincy General of Guatemala The Captaincy General of Guatemala ( es, Capitanía General de Guatemala), also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala ( es, Reino de Guatemala), was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central ...

, a dependency of the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Amer ...

. The main objective of the expedition was to capture the town of Granada, effectively cutting Spanish America in half and giving Great Britain access to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

.Southey p.9 "''The colours of England, were, in their imagination, already in the walls of Lima.''"

Expedition

The expedition, consisting of the transport ''Penelope'', two

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the latter part ...

s, three

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

s, and a tender, the ''Royal George'', sailed from Jamaica on 3 February 1780, escorted by the 21-year-old Captain Horatio Nelson in the 28-gun . Nelson was the highest-ranking officer present, but his authority was limited to naval operations.Southey p.10 The overall commander was Captain (local rank of major) John Polson, who had at his disposal about 3,000 men, including 100 regulars of the

60th Royal American Regiment The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

under himself, 140 of the 79th Liverpool Blues under Captain Richard Bulkeley, 240 Royal Jamaica Volunteers under Major James Macdonald, 250 members of the Jamaica Legion, and 125 of the Royal Batteaux Corps, plus an unspecified number of black volunteers. MatiasdeGalvezyGallardo

On 24 March, after many delays awaiting the arrival of several Miskito Indian bowmen under Major James Lawrie, which failed to appear,Marley p.326 the expedition anchored off San Juan del Norte. Three days later all Polson's troops were assembled aboard boats and advanced upriver divided in two contingents. On 9 April, Nelson, in the first

hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Hun ...

of his career, led an assault which captured a small Spanish battery on Bartola Island. Five miles (8 km) upstream was Fort San Juan, with about 160 armed defenders of whom only 60 were soldiers, which was besieged beginning on 13 April. Because of poor planning and lost supplies, the British soon began to run low on ammunition for the cannons as well as rations for the men. After the tropical rains started on 20 April, men began to sicken and die, probably of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...

and

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

, and maybe of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

, Nelson was one of the first to become ill, and he was shipped downriver on 28 April, the day before the Spanish under Juan de Ayssa, devoid of ammunition, food and water, surrendered the fort. The British troops, unable to advance despite the arrival of 450 British reinforcements on 15 May, remained in occupation of the fort for six months, during which time they perished by the hundreds, while Viceroy Matías de Gálvez was able to fortify the mouth of Lake Nicaragua. The Spanish gained in strength, thanks to assistance from San Miguel, Choluteca and other adjoining provinces, while sickness continued to take a heavy toll among the British troops, forcing the order for withdrawal to be given on 30 November.

Aftermath

The Spanish reoccupied the remains of the fort, which the British had blown up on departure. Despite having surrendered it, Don Juan de Ayssa was promoted to

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

, as was recorded in the Royal Order of 12 June 1781: he had alerted the other garrisons in the area, bravely defended the fort, suffered hardships as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

, and contributed greatly to creating difficulties for the British operations. Taken prisoner to Jamaica, he was freed at the end of the war and rose to become governor of Nicaragua in 1783.Dolores Gómez p.276

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * {{Authority control Conflicts in 1780 Battles involving Great Britain Invasions by Great Britain Battles of the Anglo-Spanish War (1779–1783) Battles involving Spain History of Nicaragua Horatio Nelson