94 THE SEA. 



Dutch admirals determined to attack Gibraltar, believed to be weak in forces and stores. 

 On the 21st of July, 1704, the fleet, which consisted of forty-five ships, six frigates, besides 

 fire and bomb-ships, came to an anchor off the Rock, and landed 5,000 men, so as to at 

 once cut off the supplies of the garrison. The commanders of the allied forces sent, on 

 the morning after their arrival, a demand for the surrender of Gibraltar to the Archduke 

 Charles, whose claims as rightful King of Spain they were supporting. The little garrison*' 

 answered valiantly; and had their brave governor, the Marquis Diego de Salinas, been 

 properly backed, the fortress might have been Spain's to-day. The opening of the contest 

 was signalised by the burning of a French privateer, followed by a furious cannonading : 

 the new and old moles were speedily silenced, and large numbers of marines landed. The 

 contest was quite unequal, and the besieged soon offered to capitulate with the honours 

 of war, the right of retaining their property, and six days' provisions. The garrison 

 had three days allowed for its departure, and those, as well as the inhabitants of the 

 Rock, who chose, might remain, with full civil and religious rights. Thus, in three days' 

 time the famous fortress fell into the hands of the allies, and possession was taken in the 

 name of Charles III. Sir George Rooke, however, over-rode this, and pulled down the 

 standard of Charles, setting up in its stead that of England. A garrison of 1,800 English 

 seamen was landed. The English -were, alone of the parties then present, competent to 

 hold it; and at the Peace of Utrecht, 1711, it was formally ceded "absolutely, with all 

 manner of right for ever, without exemption or impediment/'' to Great Britain. 



The Spaniards departed from the fortress they had valiantly defended, the majority 

 remaining at St. Roque. " Like some of the Moors whom they had dispossessed, their 

 descendants are said to preserve until this day the records and family documents which form 

 the bases of claims upon property on that Rock, which, for more than a century and a half, 

 has known other masters." 



Rooke went absolutely unrewarded. He was persistently ignored by the Government 

 of the day, and being a man of moderate fortune, consulted his own dignity, and 

 retired to his country seat. The same year, 1704, the Spanish again attempted, with the 

 aid of France, to take Gibraltar. England had only three months to strengthen and repair 

 the fortifications, and the force brought against the Rock was by no means contemptible, 

 including as it did a fleet of two-and-twenty French men-of-war. Succour arrived; Sir 

 John Leake succeeded in driving four of the enemy's ships ashore. An attempt to escalade 

 the fortress was made, under the guidance of a native goat-herd. He, with a company of 

 men, succeeded in reaching the signal station, where a hard fight occurred, and our troops 

 killed or disabled 160 men, and took the remnant prisoners. Two sallies were made from 

 the Rock with great effect, while an attempt made by the enemy to enter through a narrow 

 breach resulted in a sacrifice of 200 lives. A French fleet, under Pointe, arrived; the English 

 admiral captured three and destroyed one of them that of Pointe himself. To make a 

 six months' story short, the assailants lost 10,000 men, and then had to raise the siege. 

 Although on several occasions our rulers have since the Peace of Utrecht proposed to cede 

 or exchange the fortress, the spirit of the people would not permit it; and there can be 



* In a memorial presented to Philip V. after the capture, it was stated that the garrison comprised " fewer 

 than 300 men ; a few poor and raw peasants." Other accounts range from 150 to 500. 



