Capture of Gibraltar - Prelude

Prelude

Using Lisbon as an improvised forward base Admiral Rooke’s Anglo-Dutch fleet ventured into the Mediterranean Sea in May 1704. After seeing the Levant trading fleet safely through the Strait of Gibraltar Rooke headed towards Nice to put himself in touch with Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. The Allies had planned for a naval attack upon the French base at Toulon in conjunction with the Savoyard army and the rebels of the Cévennes; but with Amadeus busy defending his capital Turin from French forces, the Toulon expedition was abandoned and Rooke sailed for the Catalonian capital, Barcelona.

Accompanying Rooke was Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt who had enjoyed popularity amongst the Catalans as their governor at the end of the Nine Years' War. The Prince was the great exponent of the Barcelona plan; he had been in touch with the dissidents within Catalonia and counted on the appearance of the fleet to encourage a rising in favour of 'Charles III'. On 30 May, under cover of the ships’ guns, Prince George landed with 1,200 English and 400 Dutch marines; but the governor of Barcelona, Don Francisco de Velasco, had managed to keep the city's disaffected elements quiet and Philip V's partisans on the alert. Moreover, the dissidents were incensed by the size of the Allied force and had expected the personal appearance of 'Charles III'. Ultimatums for Velesco to surrender on pain of bombardment were ignored, and the plans for an insurrection from within the city’s walls failed to materialize. Rooke, fearing an attack from a French squadron, was impatient for departure. Prince George could do little more than order his local followers – a thousand in all – to disperse to their homes. The marines embarked on 1 June without loss.

Meanwhile, the comte de Toulouse, one of Louis XIV’s illegitimate sons, was sailing towards the Straits with the fleet from Brest. News from Lisbon of the French manoeuvres reached Rooke on 5 June. Determined to prevent the junction of the Toulon and Brest fleets Rooke decided to risk a battle. However, owing to the foul bottoms of the Anglo-Dutch ships the swifter French fleet escaped Rooke’s pursuit and arrived safely in Toulon; thenceforth, Toulouse became the commander of the enlarged French fleet, now known as the Grand Fleet of France. Rooke could not venture within range of the Toulon forts nor risk attack from a superior force so far away from any port of refuge, he therefore turned back towards the Straits where the arrival of an English squadron under Cloudesley Shovell had put the Allies on a numerical equality with the French.

Rooke met Shovell on 27 June off Lagos. Peter II and ‘Charles III’ sent word from Lisbon that they now wished another attempt to be made on Cádiz. Methuen believed the place to be ungarrisoned and easy to take, but the admirals in the fleet remained sceptical, especially when considering that they were not on this occasion carrying a force comparable to the failed attempt there two years earlier. Cádiz, however, was not the only potential target. As the Allied fleet lay off Tetuan on the Barbary Coast, a council of war aboard Rooke’s flagship discussed the need to please the two kings and save their own reputations. On 28 July the Allied commanders considered the proposal of Prince George, now commander-in-chief of Allied forces in the peninsula, for an attack on Gibraltar.

The idea of attacking Gibraltar was old and widely spread. The ‘Rock’ had caught the attention of Oliver Cromwell, and later William III's and Queen Anne’s ministers had marked it for England. The Moors had previously shown interest in the Rock and fortified it with a castle whose ruins still remained. Emperor Charles V had added many other works; but its immediate operational benefit was negligible. Gibraltar had little trade and its anchorage was unprotected – there was no question, at this time, of basing a fleet there.