» manengineer; after which the gitrrison was thought 
to be impregnable. |, far sshd 
From that period there is achasm in the history of 
, Gibraltar down to the year 1704, when this fortress 
was wrested from the dominion i a6 by the Eng- 
lish, under Sir. Rooke. Sir’ eorge had been 
18 . sent into the Mediterranean with a strong fleet, in the 
ane Fnac that year, ‘to the assistance of Charles, Arch- 
uke of Austria; but not'having been able to succeed 
in any enterprise of importance, it was at length resol- 
ved, ina council of war, to make a sudden and vigor- 
ous attempt upon Gibraltar, Theflect arrived in the 
bay on the 2ist of July ; and 1800 English and Datch, 
commanded by the Prince of Hesse d’Armstadt, were 
landed on: ee The governor having refused 
to surrender upon being summoned, the cannonade 
was perennials grits such vivacity and effect, that, in 
five or six hours, the enemy were driven from their 
especially from the New-mole head. The armed 
were then dispatched to take possession of that 
fortification ; but some. pinnaces having pushed ashore 
before the rest came up, the oe sprung a mine, 
which blew:up the works, and killed a number of men. 
The assailants however advanced, and took a small 
bastion half-way between the mole and the town } upon 
which the governor, ‘bei 
Sh was capitulate; 
, on the ' 24th, 
tes. 
& the’ English could not 
alarm in the courts of Madrid 
and Versailles ;- and its recovery being considered as of 
the last . to the cause, the Marquis de Vil- 
ladarias, a grandee of Spain, was ordered to besiege 
it. On the 11th of October, ‘the Marquis Foe his 
~ trenches against the town; and on the night of the 
_ 29th -he'had resolved to attack the place by 
_ Jand, at five different points, had it not been most 
; pwr reinforced and supplied, on that very day, 
the fleet under Sir John Leake. N. evertheless, the 
Spaniards still entertained hopes of taking the fortress, 
and formed the d te design of ee ge the gar- 
tison, although the British admiral was before the town. 
On the 31st of 
, they were vigorously attack. 
detachment wel ease: and the whole 
prisoners. In the be- 
he pest received nae long- 
expected succours ; e Spanis eral being also 
reinforced with a considerable body of infan : 
"With of January 1706, made an attack with na 
diers‘on the works at the extremity of the King’s Lines; 
but two. officers ing ki Te, 
or 600 grenadiers, French and 
My 1000 Spaniards, under Lieute- 
heir disposition was to storm a 
| i been made in the Round Tower, at 
: the extremity of the King’s Lines, and another in the 
nant General Tuy. 
intrenchment on the hill. ~ The detachment for the up- 
per breach mounted the rock at dead 
2 arty who defended it to retreat. 
_ Same time the Round Tower was stormed by 800 men, 
‘imspite.of a vigorous defence, But the garrison being: 
GIBRALTAR. 
' trenches, 
, on the- 
269 
at length alarmed, the assailants were charged with Gibraltar. 
such bravery, that they were repulsed ; and the Tower —— 
was retaken after it had been in their possession up- 
wards of an hour, The Marquis de Villaclarias was The siege 
soon afterwards superseded by the’ Marshal Tessé, a tured into 
French general ; but the place was now so well sup. * Dlockade. 
plied, that the Marshal withdrew his troops from the 
and converted the siege into a blockade ; 
drawing an intrenchment across the isthmus to prevent 
the 2 mbar from ravaging ‘the country. The Prince 
of Hesse remained in the place while the batteries ' 
were repaired. He also made some additions to the 
fortifications, and left the garrison much stronger than 
it was before the siege. Major General Ramos, who 
had been present during the siege, was then appointed 
vernor. He was succeeded-by Colonel Roger Elliot; a ; 
uring whose government, in the month of April 1706, port by “¥ 
Gibraltar was made a free port, by a special order from Queen 
her Majesty Queen Anne. Anne, 1706, 
In the year 1720, the Spaniards formed a secret de- The Spa- 
sign of surprising Gibraltar, under the pretence of re- niards form 
lieving Ceuta, then besieged by the Moors. A’ formi- a secret de- 
dable force was accordingly assembled in Gibraltar Bay, *ign of sur- 
under the command:of the Marquis de Leda; but the so pep 
British ministry had timely notice of these proceedings ; ® 
and such precautions were taken, that the Spaniards but are obli+ 
were obliged to. abandon the project. From that pe- ek: = 
riod, Gibraltar remained unmolested, till the latter end 1720. 
of the year 1726, when the Spaniards, having assembled ils 
an army in the neighbourhood of Algeziras, encamped bes ed by 
on the 20th of January 1727, on the plain below St y,. Ps 
Roque, and began to-erect: a on the beach to niards, 
protect their camp. The fortress had undergonie consi+ 1727. 
derable alterations since the siege in 1705. Several 
new works had been constructed on the heights above 
the lines, which were distinguished by the name of 
Willis’s batteries ; the Prince’s lines were also extended 
to the extremity of the rock ; and an inundation was 
formed out of the morass in front of the grand battery. 
The Count de Las Torres pockeler di the Spanish 
forces, amounting to near 20,000 men ; and soon after 
his camp was formed, he advanced within reach of the 
fam The British military and naval commanders, 
ving no instructions, were for some time at a loss how 
to act ; but the Spaniards having, at length, sufficiently. 
discovered their hostile intentions, the lieutenant-gover- 
nor withdrew the out-guard, and on the afternoon of 
the 11th of February, opened the old mole, and Willis’s 
batteries, on the enemy’s workmen. The enemy, how- 
ever, still persisted in carrying on their works; and on 
the morning of the 22d, the Count opened on the garri- 
son, with 17 pieces of cannon, besides mortais. On 
the 3d of March he opened a new battery of 22 guns 
on-the old mole and town ; and on the Sth another of 
15 guns, bearing also upon the old mole, which, it 
seems, proved a troublesome battery to the western 
flank of their approaches. On the 21st of April, 
Lord Portmore, the governor, arrived with reinforce- 
ments to the garrison. On the 26th the Count opened 
a new battery against Willis’s, and the extremity of the 
Prince’s lines. Their batteries now mounted 60 pieces 
of cannon, besides mortars. The firing continued on oe 
both sides, until the evening of the 12th of June, when enero 
dispatches arrived with a copy of the preliminaries of eee 
a general peace, upon which all hostilities ceased. liminaries 
Overtures had been made by his Majesty George I. of peace. 
to restore Gibraltar to Spain, if the parliament would 
consent to the restitution; but the measure being 
strongly opposed, was relinquished by the minister. In 
