Anglo-Spanish War (1864)
| Anglo-Spanish War (1864) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) HMS Charlotte, the main British battleship used in the war. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |
 Spain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
William V John Fisher |
Casto Mèndez Nùñez  Félix María de Messina Iglesias | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 65,000 men, 265 ships | 58,700 men, 241 ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 15,500 killed, 14 ships sunk | 26,450 killed, 46 ships captured, 5 ships captured | ||||||
The Anglo-Spanish War was a military conflict fought between the British and Spanish empires. The war, which lasted for 7 months saw the continuation of the rise of the British Empire and the subsequent decline of the Spanish Empire.
Background
Since the ratification of the 1863 Williamite Act, the militaristic William V was granted further prerogatives in regards to Britain's foreign policies. This, coupled with recent developments of the Hispano-Moroccan War which ended in a Spanish victory allowed William to instinctively take action against those that were deemed as a threat to "Britain's security". In addition, William himself had then previously quarrelled with his Prime Minister Palmerston over a possible British intervention on behalf of Denmark in the Second Schleswig War.
War
While the Royal Navy was vastly superior to their Spanish counterparts, William hoped to fight a Spanish Navy smaller in terms of size, which would result in lesser casualties in return. Luckily, with the onset of the Chincha Islands War in South America, several Spanish ships were concentrated in the region.
Soon enough, exactly 65,000 men were enlisted for the expedition under the King's supreme command while the Royal Navy was tasked under the rising Lieutenant John Fisher who was given command of the new British warship, HMS Charlotte.
Canary Islands Expedition
The Spanish government, upon being told of the British declaration of war quickly organized the defences surrounding the Canary Islands archipelago. The defending fleet was tasked under Commodore Casto Mèndez Nùñez. Upon executing a reconnaissance operation on the Spanish positions, Fisher then sought to intimidate and confuse the Spanish by sending a diplomat in secret to the Portuguese king Luis I. Subsequent rumours that the Portugal was willing to harbour British forces with access to Spain became an instant panic for the Spanish government. What followed later was a naval raid on the coastal cities on the Asturian coast and a naval blockade, prompting the Spanish fleet at the archipelago to send a sizable detachment of ships under Valentín de la Cruz, a Spanish officer to relieve the blockade. Sadly, the attempt ended in failure with a Spanish retreat, several losses incurred and the lead officer, de la Cruz himself held hostage as a bargaining chip to force the Spanish to surrender.
With no initial response, Fisher's fleet then sailed for the archipelago and after a brief but tense engagement, was able to inflict considerable damage and oust the Spanish navy, which retreated to the Caribbean islands.
Caribbean Theatre
With the loss of the archipelago, the British government back home had hoped that it would be enough to force their Spanish counterparts to the negotiating table. This was initially made possible when the Spanish Prime Minister, the Duke of Tetuán successfully asked for a period of truce in order to discuss potential terms. However, Palmerston himself suggested that there should only be an unconditional surrender as he believed that the Spanish does not have any leverage for their terms.
Unexpectedly, the "negotiations" quickly broke down when the governor of Gibraltar, Sir William Codrington alarmed his superiors of the Spanish trickery, citing an earlier failed attempt by their enemy to retake the fortified British territory in secret. Subsequently, an infuriated Fisher suggested to the king a mass naval bombing of Spanish coastal cities in order to cripple their nation as a whole but the latter however chose to pursue the main Spanish navy in the Caribbean islands, hoping to end the war with a decisive victory.
On early April, the British then set sailed for the Caribbean while leaving a small but strong detachment in the occupied archipelago. At the same time however, the Spaniards had then attempted to take the British colony of Jamaica but their initially successful attempt was thwarted by effective local resistance, coupled with the mountainous terrain.
Anticipating British forces nearby, Nùñez hastily abandoned the attempt and retreated to Cuba in order to prepare against their vastly superior foe, while the British then swiftly reclaimed Jamaica.
Consequently, Fisher then went for Puerto Rico in retaliation but his attempt met a similar fate. Almost immediately, the fleet was forced to retreat upon hearing of a nearby Spanish fleet heading towards the island. For a surprising amount of 2 weeks, neither side refuse to engage the other and relied on proxy engagements and blockade. However, the British blockade proved far more effective, forcing the Spanish to confront the British in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. In a confrontation that lasted for around 3 hours in broad daylight, the British fleet's superior technology and tactics were able to swiftly overwhelm the Spanish with considerable casualties. The defeated Nùñez himself quickly surrendered upon being unable to retreat to Cuba.
Aftermath
With the disastrous defeat of Nùñez's fleet in the Caribbean, the Spanish government, now facing massive protests to end the war as soon as possible was finally bowing to reality. In the end, following a failed attempt to recapture the strongly defended Canary Islands from the British, the Duke of Tetuán officially surrendered on the 15th of August 1864.
As the Spanish government was occupied in dealing with civil unrest, a special representative was sent to the British through the Portuguese king Luis I, culminating in the Treaty of London which officially ceded the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico, and the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands, alongside huge war reparations.
In the events following the end of the war, the Spanish governor of Puerto Rico Félix María de Messina Iglesias was given an honourable send-off by the British forces in the handover ceremony of Puerto Rico while back in mainland Spain, a nearly successful assassination attempt was targeted towards the Spanish queen Isabella II, who luckily escaped with considerable injuries. In a popular occasion, the devastated Isabella II reportedly penned a personal letter to the British king in order to ask for a temporary safe haven in Britain but this was famously ridiculed and mocked by Queen Charlotte in a private gathering with several members of the British nobility. In an energetic speech, the former said, "It is quite a mockery towards our prestige when this stout, no-good woman has finally come to us, pleading for help. Let it be known that my poor William had been tormented many times by this woman's unruly acts".