Battle of Vigo Bay - Background

Background

The accession of the Bourbon Philip V to the Spanish throne in 1700 had aroused little opposition in Spain, except amongst the Catalans who were traditionally loyal to the Habsburgs. In the Spanish American empire, however, officials and colonists resisted French attempts to take over their trade. Dutch and English traders – though officially illegal – were accepted by the Spanish, but in the Caribbean, French admirals who had come to 'protect' Spanish silver home to Europe were regarded with intense suspicion. The first French squadron sailed in April 1701 under the Marquis de Coëtlogon, but the Spanish governors would not even permit him to buy victuals, and he returned empty handed. Nevertheless, the weakness of the Spanish navy left the government in Madrid little choice but to rely on French warships for escort duty. Every effort was made to ensure that the bullion was landed in Spain rather than France, from where it might never return.

The naval campaign of 1702 was therefore played out in two distant theatres of America and Spain, linked together by the trail of the Spanish treasure ships across the Atlantic. The American theatre became a scene long remembered in popular English tradition following Admiral Benbow's running battle in August off Santa Marta. However, the Royal Navy's main effort was not off the Spanish Main, but off the Spanish coasts in Europe. Under the leadership of King William III, the Maritime Powers – England and the Dutch Republic – had resolved upon a Mediterranean strategy for the Allied fleets, a policy continued under William's successors following his death in March 1702. It was hoped that this strategy would encourage Portugal to join the Allies, open the Strait of Gibraltar, and secure English naval power in the Mediterranean. Their allies, the Austrians, were also clamouring for a naval presence in the Mediterranean to assist them in achieving their own primary ambitions – the capture of Spain's provinces in Italy. To meet these ends, the Anglo-Dutch fleets would first need to seize a port in the Iberian Peninsula from which their ships could operate. The Allies, therefore, resolved upon an expedition, led by Admiral George Rooke, to capture the southern Spanish port of Cádiz, and at a stroke cut off Spain's transatlantic trade.