1874 - John L. Stoddard - Gibraltar - Part 5
Inside The Spanish Lines
On that occasion the united fleets of France and Spain, consisting of more than fifty line-of-battle ships and many small vessels, made an attempt to take the fortress, the ultimate success of which seemed to them certain. For this imposing combination - the largest naval display since the Spanish Armada - was commanded by ten admirals, and was supported by an army on land numbering forty thousand men, with heavy batteries.
Opposed to this enormous force, "Old Eliot," (sic) the commander of the British garrison, had only ninety-six pieces of artillery and seven thousand men. The character of the combat which ensued can be in part conceived, when one considers that sometimes during its continuance four hundred pieces of the heaviest calibre were in action at the same moment, and at comparatively short range!
The combined thunder of these guns, redoubled by reverberations from the cliffs, the shrieking of the shells, and the effect of hundreds of projectiles striking and exploding simultaneously on or within the rock, must have produced the very climax of the terrible in war.
To this stupendous onslaught the British garrison replied with red-hot shot, to furnish which scores of brave soldiers worked like demons, not only at the portable furnaces and gratings provided for the purpose, but also, since these regular means were insufficient for the great demand, at bonfires, the cannon-balls thus heated being jocosely called by the gunners "roasted potatoes."
These incandescent missiles proved the salvation of the English; for, in spite of the enemy's efforts to suppress the conflagrations kindled by the fiery deluge, their wooden ships became ignited, one after another, and on these blazing cruisers, helpless in confusion and distress, a well-directed fire from the garrison caused dreadful havoc.
The conflict lasted far into the night, and surely never has the sea presented a more awful spectacle than that of these proud war-vessels floating on a mass of water red as blood, and licked by flames which etched their masts and spars in lines of fire upon an ink-black sky.
Meantime, upon the hapless ships, as well as on the others coming to their rescue, a shower of glowing shot kept falling like the bolts of doom, while the dark headland, like a rock-ribbed battleship, poured broadside after broadside from its tiers of portholes at the frigates, clearly visible in the light occasioned by their own destruction. Frequently, too, the horror of the scene was made still more intense by an explosion; when, as the fire reached a war-ship's magazine, its mighty hull rose from the water, cleft the air a moment like a molten geyser, and then with a prodigious roar fell back in splendour to its ocean sepulchre.
Where The Battle Was Fought
This confrontation – which took place in 1781 - is often referred to by British historians as “The defeat of the floating batteries”. It occurred during the 14th Siege of Gibraltar which lasted four years and is usually known as the Great Siege. The photograph above shows the middle section of Gibraltar harbour in the late 19th century and its caption is technically correct. The Franco-Hispanic floating batteries did indeed take their position somewhere within this area.
However, in 1781 this area was not considered a harbour at all. The official Gibraltar harbour at the time was at Rosia Bay, which is much further South. If it had been possible to photograph the event in 1781, the floating batteries would seem to have been positioned somewhere in the Bay of Gibraltar close to and facing the bastions that formed part of the Line Wall.
During the century which has elapsed since this unparalleled siege, Gibraltar has been practically left in peace. Since the Napoleonic wars, especially, Great Britain's ownership of the rock, whatever may be said about the clearness of her title, has been accepted by the world as an accomplished fact, and none of the European nations has been rash enough to try to take the key of the Mediterranean from the mouth of the lion crouched beside the gate.
Fortifications along the shore
The beach in the foreground is Camp Bay and the main fortification was known as Parson’s Lodge, Behind it and protected by the Line Wall is Rosia Bay which continued to be the main Gibraltar harbour used by the Royal Navy until the very early 20th century. The large buildings in the middle of the picture were large water reservoirs.
Yet England has not slept through these decades of undisturbed tranquillity, nor let herself be lulled into a false security. She has gone on still further strengthening what a century ago appeared unconquerable, and has replaced her former ordnance here with cannon of much greater calibre, whose shot is lifted to the muzzles by machinery. "Old Eliot," as has been said, had only ninety-six guns; but in 1870 the rock had seven hundred, and since then many new ones have been added.
One of many batteries
This one was called Gardiner's Battery named after the 19th century governor, Sir Robert Gardiner
Nor has this caution been uncalled for. The increased range of modern artillery has made it possible to shell the harbour of Gibraltar and the rock itself from a considerable distance within Spanish territory. It is indeed asserted that Spain is at present carrying out a plan for erecting on the mainland north of the promontory, as well as on the Spanish side of Algeciras Bay, no less than seventy heavy guns, whose fire could be concentrated on the British port.
The Rock
The photograph is taken from a Spanish beach near a place called Campamento – The name comes from the military camps set up by the Spanish and French forces during the Great Siege.
Some of these cannon are already in position, and constitute a danger not to be ignored, in view of the fact that, should a war break out between France and England, Spain would be very likely to ally herself with her immediate neighbour, Gibraltar being the anticipated reward for her assistance. So serious is this menace thought to be that British experts are advising that the two great dry-docks, which it was the plan of England to construct here, should be abandoned, and that instead of them a harbour and a floating dock should be made below the natural eastern bastions of the rock, which are assailable only from the sea.
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John L. Stoddard - Gibraltar - Part 6