Raid on Nassau (1720)

The Raid on Nassau was a Spanish military expedition that took place in February 1720 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance. Spanish forces assaulted the British settlement of Nassau in order to seize the island of New Providence. A strong Spanish force of twelve ships and some 1,300 sailors, militia, and soldiers troops attempted to capture the island. Although the Spanish managed to raid outlaying posts the assault on Nassau itself was repelled and the invasion was a failure.[5][6]

Raid on Nassau (1720)
Part of War of the Quadruple Alliance

Map of the Island of New Providence with Nassau and Hog Island in the South West
Date24 February - 1 March 1720[1]
Location
Nassau, British West Indies (present-day Bahamas)
25.06°N 77.345°W / 25.06; -77.345
Result British victory[2][3]
Belligerents
Spain Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Francisco Cornejo
José Cordero		 Woodes Rogers
Strength
3 frigates
9 brigantines & sloops
1,300[4]-2,000[5] sailors soldiers and sailors		 2 frigates
500 militiamen[6]
Casualties and losses
1 sloop wrecked[1] unknown

Background

In 1718, the British sought to regain control of the Bahamas, dominated by pirates, and appointed Captain Woodes Rogers as royal governor. He successfully suppressed pirates, reformed the civil administration and restored trade. By February 1719 Rogers had received news that the Spanish intended to invade and conquer the Bahamas. This large feet which composed of twelve warships and 3,000 troops were diverted to Florida as the French had seized Penascola.[7] Not till the following year was Rogers in a much stronger position after the reconstruction work of Fort Nassau was completed in January 1720.[3]

By then, in the Caribbean there was armed aggression between British and Spanish ships due to the clandestine trade of the former.[8][9] This increased with the outbreak of the War of the Quadruple Alliance and the governor of Cuba, Gregorio Guazo, seeing how Rogers continued to colonise the Bahamas, organised a military force to capture Nassau.[10] Guazo for this attack took advantage of the stay in Havana with three frigates of the Armada de Barlovento, under Commander Francisco Cornejo, increasing his forces with nine privateer brigantines and sloops, crammed with 1,300[4] to 2,000 men including 1,400 regular soldiers.[6]

Raid

At the end of February, 1720, the Spaniards from Havana delivered their long delayed attack upon New Providence and sailed through the Florida Straits to reach the island.[11] Rogers had at his disposal Old Fort of Nassau with fifty guns and a ten gun eastern battery. In addition he had around a hundred soldiers and nearly 500 local militia men many of whom were ex pirates.[5] Rogers also had two ships - the Delicia of 32-guns and the frigate HMS Flamborough of 24-guns under Captain Johnathan Hildesley.[11]

The Spanish sailed to attack New Providence from the North - the two large warships Principle and Hercules sat out in the deeper water where they anchored themselves.[12] On February 24 Cornejo in the San Jose of 36-guns with the smaller warships including the San Cristoforo of 20-guns and eight sloops unfurled their Spanish colours off Nassau harbour.[7][12] The Spanish appearance in Nassau caught the British by surprise, but Cornejo however did not directly attack the port due to the presence of Delicia and Flamborough. Rogers nevertheless had to browbeat Hildesley of the latter to stay and defend the island.[11] Cornejo waited for the next day to attack but high winds the following morning but turned into a storm in the afternoon which forced the Spanish to cut their cables and Cornejo had to head for the open sea.[1]

The Spanish frigate and the sloops made another attempt, this time to avoid the heavy defences of Fort Nassau.[5] They cruised along Hog Island which sheltered the city's harbour, to the east and West in order to block the entrance. [12] On the night of 25 February the Spaniards attempted to landed three columns on the backside of Hog island and cross the narrow eastern channel in small boats.[13] Quietly they rowed towards the shore but they were met with musket and canon fire.[5] The Spanish in the boats realised that surprised was lost; in confusion and panic they fell back, disembarked and then rowed hard to get out of range.[14] According to the Flamborough's log book, just two black (possibly ex slaves) sentries in a small redoubt repelled this Spanish force.[1] To the West the Spanish made an attempt to land where 500 militia, mostly ex pirates waited. After causing some considerable damage to outlaying property[4] the attack was also repelled which eventually degenerated into a minor skirmishing until the Spanish again withdrew.[12][2]

Later that day another storm hit the Spaniards which eventually forced their withdrawal; the San Cristoforo was found by militia to be wrecked on the Bahama Banks.[1] By 1 March the Spanish had arrived back in Havana which thus ended the threat of invasion.[14]

Aftermath

After the Spaniards had been repelled, Rogers was unaware of their withdrawal and it wasn't until several weeks that he received a letter from two Englishmen in Havana who had been informed that the Spanish fleet had been hit by a storm which forced their withdrawal.[1] Cornejo having returned to Havana had the consolation of having captured over a hundred captured slaves and considerable booty.[4]

Despite repelling the Spanish Rogers throughout the rest of the year had been unable to pay the garrison.[6] With his health failing, he set sail for Charleston on 6 December 1720. The governor had expended his personal fortune on Nassau's defenses. Troubled by the lack of support and communication from London, Rogers set sail for Britain in March 1721. He arrived three months later to find that a new governor had been appointed. Personally liable for the obligations he had contracted at Nassau, he was imprisoned for debt.[15]

Pezuela's account of events

Jacabo Pezuela, a Spanish historian tells a completely different tale of events. He does not mention the presence of British ships in the area and says that Cornejo attacked the fort with the fleet, while Cordero, with several companies, occupied Nassau,[upper-alpha 1] and that the men of the fort surrendered after three days.[10] Pezuela also states that Rogers had travelled to Bermuda when Cornejo appeared in Nassau.[10] Pezuela says that after the surrender of the fort, 200 men were evacuated with the condition of being transferred to Bermuda. He also says that while the Spanish assault was a success, since the settlers were repulsed into the countryside and the artillery of the fort, 100 slaves and other things were captured, that did not offset the raid expenses.[16]

Notes
  1. According to Pezuela, there were more than 400 settlers and soldiers in Nassau.[10]
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References
  1. Cordingly 2012, pp. 180-81.
  2. Sherry 1986, p. 274.
  3. West 2015, p. 171.
  4. Marley 1998, p. 370.
  5. Little, Bryan (1960). Crusoe's Captain. Odhams Press. pp. 193–94.
  6. Pringle 2012, p. 198.
  7. Cordingly 2012, p. 179.
  8. Fernández Duro 1900, p. 181–182.
  9. Fernández Duro 1900, p. 183.
  10. Pezuela 1868, p. 321.
  11. Sainsbury, William Noel; Sir Fortescue, John William; Headlam, Cecil, eds. (1933). Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies: Volume 32, 1720-1721. Longman, Green, Longman & Roberts. pp. V & 34.
  12. Riley & Peters 2000, p. 74.
  13. Woodard 2014, p. 306
  14. Thomas 2009, p. 212.
  15. Woodard 2014, pp. 312-14
  16. Pezuela 1868, p. 322.

Bibliography
  • Cordingly, David (2012). Spanish Gold: Captain Woodes Rogers and the True Story of the Pirates of the Caribbean. A&C Black. ISBN 9781408822166.
  • Fernández Duro, Cesáreo (1900). Armada Española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón (in Spanish). VI. Madrid, España: Instituto de Historia y Cultura Naval.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Marley, David (1998). Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the New World, 1492 to the Present. Santa Barbara, USA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0-87436-837-5.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Generally unreliable Pezuela, Jacobo (1868). Historia de la isla de Cuba (in Spanish). II. Madrid, España: C. Bailly-Baillière.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Pringle, Patrick (2012). Jolly Roger. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486147598.
  • Riley, Sandra; Peters, Thelma (2000). Homeward Bound: A History of the Bahama Islands to 1850 with a Definitive Study of Abaco in the American Loyalist Plantation Period. Riley Hall. ISBN 9780966531022.
  • Sherry, Frank (1986). Raiders and Rebels: The Golden Age of Piracy. Quill. ISBN 9780688075156.
  • Thomas, Graham A (2009). Pirate Hunter: The Life of Captain Woodes Rogers. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 9781844689859.
  • Woodard, Colin (2014). The Republic of Pirates: Being the true and surprising story of the Caribbean pirates and the man who brought them down. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9781447246084.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • West, Matthew (2015). The Pirates. New Word City. ISBN 9781612308968.
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