British expedition against Cuba
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Havana was a military action from March to August 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War
. British forces besieged and captured the city of Havana
, which at the time was an important Spanish naval base in the Caribbean, and dealt a serious blow to the Spanish navy. Havana was subsequently returned to Spain under the 1763 Treaty of Paris
that formally ended the war.
made provisions to defend the Spanish colonies against the British navy. For the defence of Cuba, he appointed Juan de Prado
as commander-in-chief. De Prado arrived at Havana in February 1761 and began work to improve the fortifications of the city.
In June 1761, a flotilla of seven ships of the line under the command of Admiral Gutierre de Hevia
arrived at Havana, transporting two regular infantry regiments (España and Aragón) totalling some 1,000 men. However, yellow fever
quick reduced the defending forces, and by the time of the siege, they had been reduced to 3,850 soldiers, 5,000 sailors and marines and 2,800 militia. The main garrison consisted of:
Havana
had one of the finest harbours in the West Indies. It could easily accommodate up to 100 ships of the line. A 180m wide and 800m long entrance channel gave access to the harbour, and Havana housed important shipyards capable of building first rate men of war.
Two strong fortresses defended the entrance channel; on the north side of the channel stood the very strong Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (known in English as Morro Castle
on the rocky Cavannos Ridge. It had 64 heavy guns and was garrisoned by 700 men. The south side was defended by the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta
. The channel could also be blocked by a boom chain extending from El Morro to La Punta. Havana itself lay on the south side along the channel and was surrounded by a wall 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long.
, with Vice-Admiral Sir George Pocock
as naval commander. This plan also called for Jeffrey Amherst
to embark 4,000 men from America to join Keppel and to assemble another force of 8,000 men for an attack on Louisiana
.
During the month of February, British troops embarked, they consisted of:
On 5 March the British expedition sailed from Spithead
, England, with 7 ships of the line and 4,365 men aboard 64 transports, and arrived in Barbados
on 20 April. Five days later the expedition reached Fort Royal
on the recently conquered island of Martinique
where it picked up the remainder of Major-General Robert Monckton
's expedition, still numbering 8,461 men. Rear Admiral George Rodney's squadron, amounting to 8 ships of the line also joined the expedition bringing the total number of ships of the line to 15.
On 23 May the expedition, now off the northwest corner of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti
), was further reinforced by Sir James Douglas
' squadron from Port Royal, Jamaica. The force under Albemarle now amounted to 21 ships of the line, 24 lesser warships, and 168 other vessels, carrying some 14,000 seamen and marines plus another 3,000 hired sailors and 12,826 regulars.
On 6 June the British force came into sight of Havana. Immediately, 12 British ships of the line were sent to the mouth of the entrance channel to block in the Spanish fleet. The British planned to begin the operations by the reduction of the Morro fortress, on the north side of the channel, through a formal Vauban
-style siege. The commanding position of this fort over the city would then force the Spanish commander to surrender. However, this plan did not take into account the fact that the fortress was located on a rocky promontory where it was impossible to dig approach trenches and that a large ditch cut into the rock protected the fort on the land side.
The Spanish force under Prado and Admiral Hevia, surprised by the size of the attacking force, adopted a delaying defensive strategy, hoping for a relief force or for an epidemic of yellow fever
among the besiegers or for a hurricane destroying the British fleet. Accordingly, the Spanish fleet was kept in the harbour while its sailors, gunners and marines were sent to garrison the fortresses of Morro and Punta which were placed under the command of naval officers. Most of the shot and powder of the fleet as well as its best guns were also transferred to these two fortresses. Meanwhile, regular troops were assigned to the defence of the city.
The channel entrance was immediately closed with the boom chain. Furthermore, 3 ships of the line (Asia (64), Europa (64) and Neptuno (74)) were selected among the fleet for their poor condition and sunk behind the boom chain. Realising the importance of the Morro, the Spanish commanders gave it top priority.
On 7 June the British troops were landed northeast of Havana, and began advancing west the next day. They met a militia party that was easily pushed back. By the end of the day, British infantry had reached the vicinity of Havana. The defence of the Morro was assigned to Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla
, a naval officer, who immediately took measures to prepare and provision the fortress for a siege.
On 11 June a British party stormed a detached redoubt on the Cavannos heights. Only then did the British command realise how strong the Morro was, surrounded by brushwood and protected by a large ditch. With the arrival of their siege train the next day, the British began erecting batteries among the trees on La Cabana hill overlooking the Morro (some 7 metres (23 ft) higher) as well as the city and the bay. Surprisingly, this hill had been left undefended by the Spanish army despite its well known strategic importance. The king of Spain had even instructed Prado to fortify this hill, a task that he considered the most urgent among those confided to his commander.
On 13 June a British detachment landed at Chorera, on the south side of the harbour. Meanwhile, Colonel Patrick Mackellar, an engineer, was overseeing the construction of the siege works against the Morro. Since digging trenches was impossible, he resolved to erect breastworks instead. He planned to mine towards a bastion of the Morro once his siege works would have reached the ditch and to create a runway across this ditch with the rubble produced by his mining activities.
On 22 June, 4 British batteries totalling 12 heavy guns and 38 mortars opened fire on the Morro from La Cabana. Mackellar gradually advanced his breastworks towards the ditch under cover of these batteries.
By 29 June, the British batteries had increased their daily direct hits on the Morro to 500. Velasco was losing as many as 30 men each day, and the workload of repairing the fortress every night was so exhausting that men had to be rotated into the fort from the city every three days. Velasco finally managed to convince Prado that a raid was necessary against the British batteries. At dawn on 29 June 988 men (a mixed company of grenadiers, marines, engineers, and slaves) attacked the siege works. They reached the British batteries from the rear and started to spike guns, but British reaction was swift, and the attackers were repulsed before they caused any serious damage.
On 1 July, the British launched a combined land and naval attack on the Morro. The fleet detached 4 ships of the line for this purpose: HMS Stirling Castle
, HMS Dragon
, HMS Marlborough
and HMS Cambridge
. The naval and land artilleries simultaneously opened fire on the Morro. However, naval guns were ineffective, the fort being located too high. Counter-fire from 30 guns of the Morro inflicted 192 casualties and seriously damaged the ships, three of which later sank, forcing them to withdraw. Meanwhile, the bombardment by the land artillery was far more effective. By the end of the day, only 3 Spanish guns were still effective on the side of the Morro facing the British batteries.
On 2 July, the British breastworks around the Morro caught fire and the batteries were burned down, destroying the product of much of the work undertaken since mid June. Velasco immediately capitalized on this event, remounting many guns and repairing breaches in the fortifications of the Morro.
Since its arrival at Havana, the British army had heavily suffered from yellow fever
. It was now at half strength. Since the hurricane season
was approaching, Albemarle was now engaged in a race against time. He ordered the batteries to be rebuilt with the help of men of the fleet. Many 32-pdrs were taken from the lower deck of several ships to equip these new batteries.
By 17 July the new British batteries had progressively silenced most of Velasco's guns, leaving only two of them operational. With the absence of artillery cover, it now became impossible for the Spanish troops to repair the damage being inflicted on the Morro. Mackellar was also able to resume construction of siege works to approach the fortress. With the army in such a bad condition, work progressed rather slowly. All hope of the British army now resided in the expected arrival of reinforcements from North America.
On 20 July the progress of siege works allowed the British to begin the mining towards the right bastion of the Morro. Meanwhile, the now unopposed British artillery was daily hitting the Morro up to 600 times, causing some 60 casualties. Velasco had now no hope but to destroy British siege works. At 4 am on 22 July 1,300 regulars, seamen and militia sallied from Havana in three columns and attacked the siege works surrounding the Morro. The sortie did not succeed and the siege works were left relatively intact.
On 24 July Albemarle offered Velasco the opportunity to surrender, allowing him to write his own terms of capitulation. Velasco answered that the issue would rather be settled by force of arms.
On 27 July the reinforcements from North America led by Colonel Burton finally arrived. During their journey, they had been attacked by the French, who captured some 500 men. These reinforcements consisted of:
On 29 July the mine near the right bastion of the Morro fort was completed and ready to explode. Albemarle vainly feigned an assault, hoping that Velasco would finally decide to surrender. On the contrary, Velasco decided to launched a desperate attack from the sea upon the British miners in the ditch.
At 2:00 am on 30 July two Spanish schooners attacked the miners from the sea. Their attack was unsuccessful and they had to withdraw. At 1:00 pm the British finally detonated the mine. The debris of the explosion partly filled the ditch but Albemarle judged it passable, and launched an assault, sending 699 picked men against the right bastion. Before the Spanish could react, 16 men gained a foothold on the bastion. Velasco then rushed to the breach with his troops. He was mortally wounded during the ensuing hand-to-hand fighting. Once the British were in control of the Morro fort Velasco was transported to Havana.
At 9:00 pm on 31 July, Velasco died of his wound. The British now occupied a position commanding the city as well as the bay. They built batteries along the north side of the entrance channel from the Morro fort to La Cabana hill.
On 11 August, after Prado had rejected the demand for surrender sent to him by Albermarle, the British batteries opened fire on Havana. A total of 47 guns (15 x 32-pdrs, 32 x 24-pdrs), 10 mortars and 5 howitzers pounded the city from a distance of 500-800m. By the end of the day Fort la Punta
was silenced. Prado had no other choice left but to surrender.
On 14 August the British entered the city. They had obtained possession of the most important harbour in the Spanish West Indies
along with military equipment, 1,828,116 Spanish pesos and merchandise valued around 1,000,000 Spanish pesos. Furthermore, they had seized 20% of the ships of the line of the Spanish Navy, namely Aquilón (74), Conquistador (74), Reina (70), San Antonio (64), Tigre (70), San Jenaro (60), África (70), América (60), Infante (74) and Soberano (74), together with 3 frigates, 9 smaller vessels and some armed vessels belonging to trading companies (Compañía de La Habana and Compañía de Caracas). Furthermore, two new almost-completed ships of the line were seized in the dockyards - San Carlos (80) and Santiago (60 or 80).
During the siege the British had lost 2,764 killed, wounded, captured or deserted, but by 18 October also had lost 4,708 dead from sickness. One of the most depleted brigades was transferred to North America where it lost a further 360 men within a month of arrival. Three ships of line lost were lost either as a direct result of the Spanish gunfire or severe damaged received which would affect their demise later. Shortly after the siege was declared unserviceable and was stripped and scuttled, HMS Marlborough
sank in the Atlantic due the extensive damage received during the siege. was lost while returning to Britain for repairs .
On their return to Spain Prado and Hevia were court-martialed and convicted.
one and a half months later, meant the loss of both the capitals of the Spanish West Indies
and the Spanish East Indies
. This confirmed British naval supremacy, and showed the fragility of the Spanish Empire
. Just as the earlier War of Jenkins' Ear
had forced the British government into a thorough review of its military, this war forced the Spanish government into undertaking a similar process.
Havana and Manila were returned to Spain as a result of the 1763 Treaty of Paris
, but Spain was required to cede Florida
and Minorca
to Great Britain and pay the Manila Ransom. Spain received French Louisiana
as a payment for intervening in the war on the side of the French and as compensation for having lost Florida.
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. British forces besieged and captured the city of Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, which at the time was an important Spanish naval base in the Caribbean, and dealt a serious blow to the Spanish navy. Havana was subsequently returned to Spain under the 1763 Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
that formally ended the war.
Spanish preparations
Before involving his country in the conflict raging in Europe and across the world, King Carlos III of SpainCharles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
made provisions to defend the Spanish colonies against the British navy. For the defence of Cuba, he appointed Juan de Prado
Juan de Prado Mayera Portocarrero y Luna
Juan de Prado Mayera Portocarrero y Luna was a Spanish colonial governor of Cuba between 1761 and 1762, when he lost Havana in the British expedition against Cuba.-Biography:...
as commander-in-chief. De Prado arrived at Havana in February 1761 and began work to improve the fortifications of the city.
In June 1761, a flotilla of seven ships of the line under the command of Admiral Gutierre de Hevia
Gutierre de Hevia
Don Gutierre de Hevia y Valdés was a Spanish military man, who was head of the Spanish Marine Corps and present when Spain lost Havana during the British expedition against Cuba.-Biography:...
arrived at Havana, transporting two regular infantry regiments (España and Aragón) totalling some 1,000 men. However, yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
quick reduced the defending forces, and by the time of the siege, they had been reduced to 3,850 soldiers, 5,000 sailors and marines and 2,800 militia. The main garrison consisted of:
- España Infantry Regiment (481)
- Aragón Infantry Regiment (265)
- Havana Infantry Regiment (856)
- Edinburgh's Dragoons (150)
- Army's gunners (104)
- Marines and navy's gunners (750)
Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
had one of the finest harbours in the West Indies. It could easily accommodate up to 100 ships of the line. A 180m wide and 800m long entrance channel gave access to the harbour, and Havana housed important shipyards capable of building first rate men of war.
Two strong fortresses defended the entrance channel; on the north side of the channel stood the very strong Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (known in English as Morro Castle
Morro Castle (fortress)
Morro Castle is a picturesque fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay in Havana, Euta. Juan Bautista Antonelli, an Italian engineer, was commissioned to design the structure. When it was built in 1589, Euta was under the control of Germany...
on the rocky Cavannos Ridge. It had 64 heavy guns and was garrisoned by 700 men. The south side was defended by the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta
San Salvador de la Punta Fortress
San Salvador de la Punta Fortress is a fortress in the bay of Havana, Cuba.La Punta, just like El Morro was designed to protect the entrance to the Havana Bay that became an important and strategic entranceway to the harbor since the settlement of the town. The nonstop landings of corsairs in the...
. The channel could also be blocked by a boom chain extending from El Morro to La Punta. Havana itself lay on the south side along the channel and was surrounded by a wall 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long.
British preparations
When war broke out with Spain plans were made in Great Britain for an amphibious attack on Havana. The expedition was under the command of George Keppel, 3rd Earl of AlbemarleGeorge Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle
General George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle KG PC , styled Viscount Bury until 1754, was a British soldier nobleman best known for his capture of Havana in 1762 during the Seven Years' War.-Early life:...
, with Vice-Admiral Sir George Pocock
George Pocock
Sir George Pocock, KB was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He rose to the rank of admiral.Pocock was from Chieveley in Berkshire, the son of Thomas Pocock, a chaplain in the navy. George Pocock entered the navy in 1718, serving aboard under the patronage of his maternal uncle, Captain...
as naval commander. This plan also called for Jeffrey Amherst
Jeffrey Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst
Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst KCB served as an officer in the British Army and as Commander-in-Chief of the Forces.Amherst is best known as one of the victors of the French and Indian War, when he conquered Louisbourg, Quebec City and...
to embark 4,000 men from America to join Keppel and to assemble another force of 8,000 men for an attack on Louisiana
French Louisiana
The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions:* first, to colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by France; and,...
.
During the month of February, British troops embarked, they consisted of:
- 22nd Regiment of FootCheshire RegimentThe Cheshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division.The regiment was created in 1881 as part of the Childers reforms by the linking of the 22nd Regiment of Foot and the militia and rifle volunteers of Cheshire...
- 34th Regiment of Foot
- 56th Regiment of Foot56th Regiment of FootThe 56th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army, active from 1755 to 1881. It was originally raised in Northumbria as the 58th Regiment, and renumbered the 56th the following year when two senior regiments were disbanded...
- 72nd Richmond's Regiment of Foot
On 5 March the British expedition sailed from Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
, England, with 7 ships of the line and 4,365 men aboard 64 transports, and arrived in Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
on 20 April. Five days later the expedition reached Fort Royal
Fort-de-France
Fort-de-France is the capital of France's Caribbean overseas department of Martinique. It is also one of the major cities in the Caribbean. Exports include sugar, rum, tinned fruit, and cacao.-Geography:...
on the recently conquered island of Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
where it picked up the remainder of Major-General Robert Monckton
Robert Monckton
Robert Monckton was an officer of the British army and a colonial administrator in British North America. He had a distinguished military and political career, being second in command to General Wolfe at the battle of Quebec and subsequently being the Governor of New York State...
's expedition, still numbering 8,461 men. Rear Admiral George Rodney's squadron, amounting to 8 ships of the line also joined the expedition bringing the total number of ships of the line to 15.
On 23 May the expedition, now off the northwest corner of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
), was further reinforced by Sir James Douglas
Sir James Douglas, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir James Douglas, 1st Baronet naval officer and Commodore of Newfoundland.-Naval career:Douglas became a captain in the Royal Navy in 1744 In 1745 commanded the HMS Mermaid at Louisbourg and in 1746 he commanded the HMS Vigilante at Louisbourg. In 1746 was appointed Commodore of...
' squadron from Port Royal, Jamaica. The force under Albemarle now amounted to 21 ships of the line, 24 lesser warships, and 168 other vessels, carrying some 14,000 seamen and marines plus another 3,000 hired sailors and 12,826 regulars.
Siege
Vauban
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban , commonly referred to as Vauban, was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer of his age, famed for his skill in both designing fortifications and breaking through them...
-style siege. The commanding position of this fort over the city would then force the Spanish commander to surrender. However, this plan did not take into account the fact that the fortress was located on a rocky promontory where it was impossible to dig approach trenches and that a large ditch cut into the rock protected the fort on the land side.
The Spanish force under Prado and Admiral Hevia, surprised by the size of the attacking force, adopted a delaying defensive strategy, hoping for a relief force or for an epidemic of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
among the besiegers or for a hurricane destroying the British fleet. Accordingly, the Spanish fleet was kept in the harbour while its sailors, gunners and marines were sent to garrison the fortresses of Morro and Punta which were placed under the command of naval officers. Most of the shot and powder of the fleet as well as its best guns were also transferred to these two fortresses. Meanwhile, regular troops were assigned to the defence of the city.
The channel entrance was immediately closed with the boom chain. Furthermore, 3 ships of the line (Asia (64), Europa (64) and Neptuno (74)) were selected among the fleet for their poor condition and sunk behind the boom chain. Realising the importance of the Morro, the Spanish commanders gave it top priority.
On 7 June the British troops were landed northeast of Havana, and began advancing west the next day. They met a militia party that was easily pushed back. By the end of the day, British infantry had reached the vicinity of Havana. The defence of the Morro was assigned to Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla
Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla
Luis Vicente Velasco de Isla was a Spanish sailor and commander in the Royal Spanish Navy. He is known for his valiant defense against the British expedition against Cuba in 1762, during which action he was killed....
, a naval officer, who immediately took measures to prepare and provision the fortress for a siege.
On 11 June a British party stormed a detached redoubt on the Cavannos heights. Only then did the British command realise how strong the Morro was, surrounded by brushwood and protected by a large ditch. With the arrival of their siege train the next day, the British began erecting batteries among the trees on La Cabana hill overlooking the Morro (some 7 metres (23 ft) higher) as well as the city and the bay. Surprisingly, this hill had been left undefended by the Spanish army despite its well known strategic importance. The king of Spain had even instructed Prado to fortify this hill, a task that he considered the most urgent among those confided to his commander.
On 13 June a British detachment landed at Chorera, on the south side of the harbour. Meanwhile, Colonel Patrick Mackellar, an engineer, was overseeing the construction of the siege works against the Morro. Since digging trenches was impossible, he resolved to erect breastworks instead. He planned to mine towards a bastion of the Morro once his siege works would have reached the ditch and to create a runway across this ditch with the rubble produced by his mining activities.
By 29 June, the British batteries had increased their daily direct hits on the Morro to 500. Velasco was losing as many as 30 men each day, and the workload of repairing the fortress every night was so exhausting that men had to be rotated into the fort from the city every three days. Velasco finally managed to convince Prado that a raid was necessary against the British batteries. At dawn on 29 June 988 men (a mixed company of grenadiers, marines, engineers, and slaves) attacked the siege works. They reached the British batteries from the rear and started to spike guns, but British reaction was swift, and the attackers were repulsed before they caused any serious damage.
On 1 July, the British launched a combined land and naval attack on the Morro. The fleet detached 4 ships of the line for this purpose: HMS Stirling Castle
HMS Stirling Castle (1742)
HMS Stirling Castle was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment, and launched on 24 April 1742....
, HMS Dragon
HMS Dragon (1760)
HMS Dragon was a 74-gun Bellona-class third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 4 March 1760 at Deptford.She was commissioned in 1760, under the command of the Hon. Augustus Hervey, as part of the Western Squadron...
, HMS Marlborough
HMS St Michael (1669)
HMS St Michael was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Tippetts of Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1669....
and HMS Cambridge
HMS Cambridge (1755)
HMS Cambridge was an 80-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Deptford Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 21 October 1755.-Early career:...
. The naval and land artilleries simultaneously opened fire on the Morro. However, naval guns were ineffective, the fort being located too high. Counter-fire from 30 guns of the Morro inflicted 192 casualties and seriously damaged the ships, three of which later sank, forcing them to withdraw. Meanwhile, the bombardment by the land artillery was far more effective. By the end of the day, only 3 Spanish guns were still effective on the side of the Morro facing the British batteries.
On 2 July, the British breastworks around the Morro caught fire and the batteries were burned down, destroying the product of much of the work undertaken since mid June. Velasco immediately capitalized on this event, remounting many guns and repairing breaches in the fortifications of the Morro.
Since its arrival at Havana, the British army had heavily suffered from yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
. It was now at half strength. Since the hurricane season
Hurricane season
Hurricane season refers to a period in a year when hurricanes usually form. For more information see: Tropical cyclone#Times.* The Atlantic hurricane seasonFor a lists of past seasons, see:...
was approaching, Albemarle was now engaged in a race against time. He ordered the batteries to be rebuilt with the help of men of the fleet. Many 32-pdrs were taken from the lower deck of several ships to equip these new batteries.
By 17 July the new British batteries had progressively silenced most of Velasco's guns, leaving only two of them operational. With the absence of artillery cover, it now became impossible for the Spanish troops to repair the damage being inflicted on the Morro. Mackellar was also able to resume construction of siege works to approach the fortress. With the army in such a bad condition, work progressed rather slowly. All hope of the British army now resided in the expected arrival of reinforcements from North America.
On 20 July the progress of siege works allowed the British to begin the mining towards the right bastion of the Morro. Meanwhile, the now unopposed British artillery was daily hitting the Morro up to 600 times, causing some 60 casualties. Velasco had now no hope but to destroy British siege works. At 4 am on 22 July 1,300 regulars, seamen and militia sallied from Havana in three columns and attacked the siege works surrounding the Morro. The sortie did not succeed and the siege works were left relatively intact.
On 24 July Albemarle offered Velasco the opportunity to surrender, allowing him to write his own terms of capitulation. Velasco answered that the issue would rather be settled by force of arms.
On 27 July the reinforcements from North America led by Colonel Burton finally arrived. During their journey, they had been attacked by the French, who captured some 500 men. These reinforcements consisted of:
- 46th Thomas Murray's Regiment of Foot46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of FootThe 46th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, created in 1741 and amalgamated into the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry in 1881.-History:...
- 58th Anstruther's Regiment of Foot58th (Rutlandshire) Regiment of FootThe 58th Regiment of Foot was a British Army line infantry regiment. During the Childers Reforms it was united with the 48th Regiment of Foot to form the Northamptonshire Regiment.-Service history:...
- American provincials (3,000 men)
- Gorham's rangers
On 29 July the mine near the right bastion of the Morro fort was completed and ready to explode. Albemarle vainly feigned an assault, hoping that Velasco would finally decide to surrender. On the contrary, Velasco decided to launched a desperate attack from the sea upon the British miners in the ditch.
At 2:00 am on 30 July two Spanish schooners attacked the miners from the sea. Their attack was unsuccessful and they had to withdraw. At 1:00 pm the British finally detonated the mine. The debris of the explosion partly filled the ditch but Albemarle judged it passable, and launched an assault, sending 699 picked men against the right bastion. Before the Spanish could react, 16 men gained a foothold on the bastion. Velasco then rushed to the breach with his troops. He was mortally wounded during the ensuing hand-to-hand fighting. Once the British were in control of the Morro fort Velasco was transported to Havana.
At 9:00 pm on 31 July, Velasco died of his wound. The British now occupied a position commanding the city as well as the bay. They built batteries along the north side of the entrance channel from the Morro fort to La Cabana hill.
On 11 August, after Prado had rejected the demand for surrender sent to him by Albermarle, the British batteries opened fire on Havana. A total of 47 guns (15 x 32-pdrs, 32 x 24-pdrs), 10 mortars and 5 howitzers pounded the city from a distance of 500-800m. By the end of the day Fort la Punta
San Salvador de la Punta Fortress
San Salvador de la Punta Fortress is a fortress in the bay of Havana, Cuba.La Punta, just like El Morro was designed to protect the entrance to the Havana Bay that became an important and strategic entranceway to the harbor since the settlement of the town. The nonstop landings of corsairs in the...
was silenced. Prado had no other choice left but to surrender.
Surrender
On 12 and 13 August negotiations of the articles of capitulation went on, and Prado and his army obtained the honours of war. Hevia neglected to burn his fleet which fell intact in the hands of the British.On 14 August the British entered the city. They had obtained possession of the most important harbour in the Spanish West Indies
Spanish West Indies
The Spanish West Indies was the contemporary name for the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean...
along with military equipment, 1,828,116 Spanish pesos and merchandise valued around 1,000,000 Spanish pesos. Furthermore, they had seized 20% of the ships of the line of the Spanish Navy, namely Aquilón (74), Conquistador (74), Reina (70), San Antonio (64), Tigre (70), San Jenaro (60), África (70), América (60), Infante (74) and Soberano (74), together with 3 frigates, 9 smaller vessels and some armed vessels belonging to trading companies (Compañía de La Habana and Compañía de Caracas). Furthermore, two new almost-completed ships of the line were seized in the dockyards - San Carlos (80) and Santiago (60 or 80).
During the siege the British had lost 2,764 killed, wounded, captured or deserted, but by 18 October also had lost 4,708 dead from sickness. One of the most depleted brigades was transferred to North America where it lost a further 360 men within a month of arrival. Three ships of line lost were lost either as a direct result of the Spanish gunfire or severe damaged received which would affect their demise later. Shortly after the siege was declared unserviceable and was stripped and scuttled, HMS Marlborough
HMS St Michael (1669)
HMS St Michael was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by John Tippetts of Portsmouth Dockyard and launched in 1669....
sank in the Atlantic due the extensive damage received during the siege. was lost while returning to Britain for repairs .
On their return to Spain Prado and Hevia were court-martialed and convicted.
Aftermath
The loss of Havana and Western Cuba was a serious blow for Spain. Not only were the financial losses considerable, the loss in prestige was even greater. This defeat, together with the conquest of Manila by the BritishBattle of Manila (1762)
The Battle of Manila was fought during the Seven Years' War , from September 24, 1762 to October 6, 1762, between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Spain in and around Manila, the capital of the Philippines, a Spanish colony at that time.-Prelude:British troops stationed in India were...
one and a half months later, meant the loss of both the capitals of the Spanish West Indies
Spanish West Indies
The Spanish West Indies was the contemporary name for the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean...
and the Spanish East Indies
Spanish East Indies
Spanish East Indies was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries . With the seat of government in Manila, the territory encompassed the Philippine Islands, Guam and the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of...
. This confirmed British naval supremacy, and showed the fragility of the Spanish Empire
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
. Just as the earlier War of Jenkins' Ear
War of Jenkins' Ear
The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict between Great Britain and Spain that lasted from 1739 to 1748, with major operations largely ended by 1742. Its unusual name, coined by Thomas Carlyle in 1858, relates to Robert Jenkins, captain of a British merchant ship, who exhibited his severed ear in...
had forced the British government into a thorough review of its military, this war forced the Spanish government into undertaking a similar process.
Havana and Manila were returned to Spain as a result of the 1763 Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
, but Spain was required to cede Florida
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
and Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
to Great Britain and pay the Manila Ransom. Spain received French Louisiana
French Louisiana
The term French Louisiana refers to two distinct regions:* first, to colonial French Louisiana, comprising the massive, middle section of North America claimed by France; and,...
as a payment for intervening in the war on the side of the French and as compensation for having lost Florida.