Siege of Gibraltar and The Battle of Trafalgar
July 1779 saw the start of the Great Siege of Gibraltar, an attempt by France and Spain to wrest control of Gibraltar from the British. The garrison survived all attacks, including an assault on September 13, 1782 that included 48 ships and 450 cannon. In October 1805, the Battle of Trafalgar took place, which involved 60 vessels, 27 British, and 33 French and Spanish. The British did not lose a single ship, and destroyed the enemy fleet, but Admiral Lord Nelson died in the battle. It was the most significant naval battle of the beginning of the 19th century, and confirmed the British Navy’s supremacy of the time.
Read more about this topic: Maritime History Of Europe
Famous quotes containing the words siege of, siege, battle and/or trafalgar:
“One likes people much better when they’re battered down by a prodigious siege of misfortune than when they triumph.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“One likes people much better when they’re battered down by a prodigious siege of misfortune than when they triumph.”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)
“A great work by an Englishman is like a great battle won by England. It is an unfading bay tree.”
—Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889)
“Now stiff on a pillar with a phallic air
Nelson stylites in Trafalgar Square
Reminds the British what once they were.”
—Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990)