The Battle of Cádiz was an attempt by English and Dutch forces to seize the southern Spanish port of Cádiz in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Andalusian port of Cádiz served as the centre of Spanish trade with its American colonies. As such, the port's capture would not only help to sever Spain's links with her empire in the Americas, but it would also provide the Allies with a strategically important base from which the English and Dutch navies could control the western Mediterranean Sea.

The military build-up was accompanied by Allied diplomatic measures in Portugal aimed at enticing King Peter II to join the Grand Alliance. The Allies also intended to garner support in Spain for an insurrection in the name of the Austrian pretender to the Spanish throne, the Archduke Charles. The battle was the first of the war in the Iberian Peninsula, but due to interservice rivalry, ill discipline, poor co-operation, and a skilful defence from the Marquis of Villadarias, Admiral George Rooke was unable to complete his objective and, after a month, he set sail for home.

Background

On 15 May 1702 the Powers of the Grand Alliance, led by England and the Dutch Republic, declared war on France and Spain. Emperor Leopold I also declared war on the Bourbon powers, but his forces under Prince Eugene had already begun hostilities in northern Italy along the Po Valley in an attempt to secure for Austria the Spanish Duchy of Milan. Eugene's successful 1701 campaign had aroused enthusiasm in England for war against France, and helped Emperor Leopold's efforts in persuading King William III to send an Allied fleet to the Mediterranean Sea. Count Wratislaw, the Emperor's envoy in England, urged that the sight of an Allied fleet in the Mediterranean would effect a revolution in the Spanish province of Naples; win south Italy from the precarious grip of Philip V; overawe the Francophile Pope Clement XI; and encourage the Duke of Savoy – and other Italian princes – to change sides.Trevelyan: England Under Queen Anne: Blenheim, p. 262 More modestly, Prince Eugene pleaded for a squadron to protect the passage of his supplies from Trieste across the Adriatic.

The English had their own interests in the Mediterranean: the Levant Company needed escorts, and an Allied naval presence could challenge the dominance of King Louis’ Toulon fleet, an attack on which could deliver a mortal blow to French naval power.Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, p. 31 It was clear, however, that before the Allies could commit to the Mediterranean strategy, it would first be necessary to secure a base in the Iberian Peninsula. The decision to favour Cádiz – the capture of which would open the Straits, and place in Allied hands the gate to the trade with the New World – was taken before the death of King William III in March 1702, but the policy was continued under his successor Queen Anne, and her ministers led by the Earl of Marlborough.

England's representatives at the Portuguese court in Lisbon, John Methuen and his son Paul, were also clamouring for a strong naval demonstration on the Spanish coast to encourage the wavering King Peter II to annul his recent treaties with France and Spain, and join the Grand Alliance.Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, p. 36. Securing Portugal would place the harbour of Lisbon at the disposal of the Anglo-Dutch fleet. In return for joining the Grand Alliance, Methuen promised, or hinted, that the King of Portugal might receive concessions of Spanish territory and compensation for the loss of the Asiento to the French. The Methuens were assisted by Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt, a cousin of the Empress Eleonora. The Allies hoped that whilst the Methuens negotiated with the Portuguese, the Prince could inspire and even direct the pro-Austrian insurrection in Spain on behalf of the Emperor's youngest son and pretender to the Spanish throne, the Archduke Charles.Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, p. 40

Prelude The Anglo-Dutch fleet set sail at the end of July and passed down the Portuguese coast on 20 August. Admiral Rooke commanded 50 warships (30 English, 20 Dutch), and transports, totalling 160 sail in all; Ormonde, commander of the troops, had under him 14,000 men in total – 10,000 English (including 2,400 marines) and 4,000 Dutch. Yet Rooke had no faith in the expedition: his ships had insufficient victuals for a prolonged campaign, and he had concerns over the French port of Brest which lay between himself and England.Rooke was suffering from gout at this time; he was also upset by news of his wife’s death which reached him on the very day of sailing.

Prince George, in his ship the Adventure, had joined the fleet at Cape St. Vincent.The Portuguese government, still bound by its alliances with the Bourbons, were nervous of the fervent stirred up by Prince George. Under protest from the French and Spanish ambassadors, King Peter felt it expedient to ask politely for the Prince to quit Portugal. Both the Prince and Paul Methuen (who had also joined the expedition), reported to Rooke that Cádiz was poorly defended, but the admiral's own intelligence, received from captured fisherman, suggested that a powerful garrison of Spanish regulars had already strengthened the city. Allied doubts about the real strength opposing them were exacerbated by the Spanish stratagem of lighting extensive fires along the heights. Therefore, after the Allied fleet anchored off Cádiz on 23 August, three days were spent in futile discussions before any decision was reached.Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, p. 45

There were several options for the Allied attack. According to Rooke's journal of 25 August, Sir Stafford Fairborne:

… having proposed to the Admiral his forcing the harbour and destroying the eight French galleys which lay under the walls of Cádiz, he [the Admiral] called a council of flag officers to consider the same; but … it was unanimously judged unreasonable and impracticable to hazard any the least frigate on such an attempt.Churchill: Marlborough: His Life and Times, Bk. 1, vol. ii, p. 610

Another option for the Allies was to land the army under the cover of a bombardment by the fleet on the isthmus dividing Cádiz from the mainland; from there, the troops could storm the city. This tactic was Ormonde's preference, but Major-General Sir Charles O’Hara insisted that a landing on the isthmus was inadvisable unless the navy could guarantee the landing of supplies on a daily basis, which, because of the lee shore, they could not.Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, p. 46 Ormonde's second choice was a blockade, supported by a bombardment of the town; but there was doubt that the ships could anchor close enough for an effective bombardment. In any case, Prince George objected to such a plan for fear of alienating the population. The decision, therefore, was to land the Allied troops between the Bay of Bulls and Fort Saint Catherine. This suited the navy because they could bring their ships near to the shore, and from the beachhead troops could seize the towns of Rota and Port Saint Mary. However, the landing place was a long way from the base of the isthmus on which Cádiz stood. (See map below).

Don Francisco del Castillo, Marquis of Villadarias, was given command in the threatened province of Andalusia.Stanhope calls Villadarias the ‘most active and able’ of all the Spanish generals of the war. Cádiz, Andalusia's main city, held a garrison of some 300 poorly equipped men with a similar number lining the shore, but the sudden appearance of the Allied fleet engendered a state of emergency, and, in Philip Stanhope's words, ‘the spirit and determination to repel it’.Stanhope: History of the War of the Succession in Spain, p. 50 The wealthy cities of Cordova and Seville contributed to the Spanish cause, the nobles took up arms, and the local peasantry were organised into battalions, so that after boosting the city's garrison Villadarias could still muster in the field five or six hundred good horsemen, and several thousand militia.Stanhope: History of the War of the Succession in Spain, p. 51 To increase the strength of his position further, the Spanish commander secured the harbour by drawing a strong boom and sinking two large hulks across its entrance.

Battle

Landing and looting

The landing took place on 26 August in a fresh wind, resulting in the loss of some 25 landing craft, and 20 men drowned. Fire from a Spanish 4-gun battery, and a charge from a squadron of cavalry offered resistance to the landing. The foremost ranks of the Allied forces consisted of grenadiers who repulsed the Spanish horsemen. Nevertheless, one of the Allied officers, Colonel James Stanhope, who later became British commander-in-chief in Spain, praised the courage of the English and Spanish troops engaged in the small action, admitting that 200 more such horsemen would have spoiled the Allied descent.Stanhope: History of the War of the Succession in Spain, p. 54

From the landing place Ormonde's forces marched on Rota. The town was found deserted (although after a while the governor and some of the inhabitants returned to greet them).Stanhope records that the governor of Rota admitted the Allies to the town and was the only notable defector to the Allied cause. The name of Rota’s governor is not recorded but Prince George conferred on him the title of Marquis hoping to entice other defections. The Allies stayed here for two days, disembarking horses and stores. Although military power remained in Anglo-Dutch hands, Prince George had been granted the head of the civil administration in any town occupied by the Allies. He distributed manifestos calling on Spaniards to declare for the House of Austria; the fact that some came forward to join the Allies at Rota was of value, for the Imperial representative was dependent on local volunteers to make contact with other inhabitants. However, the Spanish authorities had taken severe measures to prevent desertion to the allied cause, threatening with hanging anyone caught in possession of one of Prince George's manifestos.Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, p. 47

The Allies proceeded to take Fort Saint Catherine, before entering the town of Port Saint Mary. Ormonde's men initially encamped beyond the town, but the mistake was to allow them to return to it. The troops found the town full of unguarded warehouses stuffed full of goods, and the cellars full of wine and brandy, most of which was owned by English and Dutch merchants doing business under Spanish names. The men helped themselves, lost control, and fell to looting, destroying, and plundering, not just the warehouses, but also convents and churches.Francis: The First Peninsular War: 1702–1713, p. 48 Prince George despaired and sent home a report damning the conduct of the officers, particularly Ormonde's subordinates, Sir Henry Belasys (Ormonde's second-in-command), O’Hara, and the Dutch Baron Sparre, whom he held responsible for persuading Ormonde to quarter the troops in the town. The navy were not at first involved in the looting, but they were soon tempted to take their share.Captain John Norris, the future admiral, was court-martialled for striking an officer in a dispute about some casks of claret they had appropriated.