Gibraltar
Gibraltar

Author: Roy Adkins

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2018-03-13

Total Pages: 482

ISBN-13: 0735221634

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A rip-roaring account of the dramatic four-year siege of Britain’s Mediterranean garrison by Spain and France—an overlooked key to the British loss in the American Revolution For more than three and a half years, from 1779 to 1783, the tiny territory of Gibraltar was besieged and blockaded, on land and at sea, by the overwhelming forces of Spain and France. It became the longest siege in British history, and the obsession with saving Gibraltar was blamed for the loss of the American colonies in the War of Independence. Located between the Mediterranean and Atlantic, on the very edge of Europe, Gibraltar was a place of varied nationalities, languages, religions, and social classes. During the siege, thousands of soldiers, civilians, and their families withstood terrifying bombardments, starvation, and disease. Very ordinary people lived through extraordinary events, from shipwrecks and naval battles to an attempted invasion of England and a daring sortie out of Gibraltar into Spain. Deadly innovations included red-hot shot, shrapnel shells, and a barrage from immense floating batteries. This is military and social history at its best, a story of soldiers, sailors, and civilians, with royalty and rank and file, workmen and engineers, priests, prisoners of war, spies, and surgeons, all caught up in a struggle for a fortress located on little more than two square miles of awe-inspiring rock. Gibraltar: The Greatest Siege in British History is an epic page-turner, rich in dramatic human detail—a tale of courage, endurance, intrigue, desperation, greed, and humanity. The everyday experiences of all those involved are brought vividly to life with eyewitness accounts and expert research.

Gibraltar
Gibraltar

Author: Marc Alexander

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2011-11-08

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 0752475347

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A history of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar and Its Sieges, with a Description of Its Natural Features
Gibraltar and Its Sieges, with a Description of Its Natural Features

Author: Frederic George Stephens

Publisher: Good Press

Published: 2019-12-16

Total Pages: 109

ISBN-13:

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This book delves deep into the historical event known as the twelfth siege of Gibraltar, fought between September 1704 and May 1705 during the War of the Spanish Succession. The members of the Grand Alliance, including the Holy Roman Empire, England, the Netherlands, Pro-Habsburg Spain, Portugal, and Savoy, had joined forces to prevent the unification of the French and Spanish thrones by supporting the claim of the Habsburg pretender Archduke Charles VI of Austria as Charles III of Spain. They were opposed by the rival claimant, the Bourbon Philip, Duke of Anjou, who ruled as Philip V of Spain, and his patron and ally, Louis XIV of France. The war began in northern Europe and was largely contained there until 1703, when Portugal joined the confederate powers. From then on, the English navy focused on mounting a campaign in the Mediterranean to distract the French navy, disrupt French and Bourbon Spanish shipping, or capture a port for use as a naval base. The capture of Gibraltar was the outcome of that initial stage of the Mediterranean campaign.

Gibraltar
Gibraltar

Author: Ernle Bradford

Publisher: Open Road Media

Published: 2014-04-01

Total Pages: 89

ISBN-13: 1497617189

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Since ships first set sail in the Mediterranean, The Rock has been the gate of Fortress Europe. In ancient times, it was known as one of the Pillars of Hercules, and a glance at its formidable mass suggests that it may well have been created by the gods. Sought after by every nation with territorial ambitions in Europe, Asia, and Africa, Gibraltar was possessed by the Arabs, the Spanish, and ultimately the British, who captured it in the early 1700s and held onto it in a siege of more than three years late in the eighteenth century. The fact that that was one of more than a dozen sieges exemplifies Gibraltar’s quintessential value as a prize and the desperation of governments to fly their flag above its forbidding ramparts. Bradford uses his matchless skill and knowledge to take the reader through the history of this great and unique fortress. From its geological creation to its two-thousand-year influence on politics and war, he crafts the compelling tale of how these few square miles played a major part in history.

Fire Over the Rock
Fire Over the Rock

Author: James Falkner

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2009-05-21

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1844159159

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The great siege of Gibraltar was the longest recorded in the annals of the British army. Between 1779 and 1783 a small British force defended the Rock against the Spanish and the French who were determined take this strategically vital point guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean. The tenacity and endurance shown by the attackers and defenders alike, and the sheer ingenuity of the siege operations mounted by both sides, make the episode an epic of military history, and the story gives us a fascinating insight into the realities of siege warfare. In this, the first full study of the siege for over 40 years, James Falkner draws on a wide range of contemporary sources to tell the exciting tale of a huge and complex operation.

A Perfect Gibraltar
A Perfect Gibraltar

Author: Christopher D. Dishman

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

Published: 2012-10-01

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0806184507

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For three days in the fall of 1846, U.S. and Mexican soldiers fought fiercely in the picturesque city of Monterrey, turning the northern Mexican town, known for its towering mountains and luxurious gardens, into one of the nineteenth century's most gruesome battlefields. Led by Brigadier General Zachary Taylor, graduates of the U.S. Military Academy encountered a city almost perfectly protected by mountains, a river, and a vast plain. Monterrey's ideal defensive position inspired more than one U.S. soldier to call the city "a perfect Gibraltar." The first day of fighting was deadly for the Americans, especially the newly graduated West Point cadets. But they soon adjusted their tactics and began fighting building to building. Chris D. Dishman conveys in a vivid narrative the intensity and drama of the Battle of Monterrey, which marked the first time U.S. troops engaged in prolonged urban combat. Future Civil War generals and West Point graduates fought desperately alongside rough Texan, Mississippian, and Tennessean volunteers. General Taylor engineered one of the army's first wars of maneuver at Monterrey by sending the bulk of his troops against the weakest part of the city, and embedded press reporters wrote eyewitness accounts of the action for readers back in the States. Dishman interweaves descriptions of troop maneuvers and clashes between units using pistols and rifles with accounts of hand-to-hand combat involving edged weapons, stones, clubs, and bare hands. He brings regular soldiers and citizen volunteers to life in personal vignettes that draw on firsthand accounts from letters, diaries, and reports written by men on both sides. An epilogue carries the narrative thread to the conclusion of the war. Dishman has canvassed a wide range of Mexican and American sources and walked Monterrey's streets and battlefields. Accompanied by maps and period illustrations, this skillfully written history will interest scholars, history enthusiasts, and everyone who enjoys a true war story well told.

The Fortifications of Gibraltar 1068–1945
The Fortifications of Gibraltar 1068–1945

Author: Darren Fa

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2013-09-20

Total Pages: 143

ISBN-13: 1472806336

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Gibraltar, located at the meeting points of Europe and Africa, preserves within its fortifications a rich testament to human conflict spanning 600 years. In 1068 the ruling Spanish Muslims built a large fort there. Between 1309 and 1374 Gibraltar underwent a period of intensive building and fortification, and following the Spanish reconquest of 1462 the inhabitants carried out further works. In 1704 the latest, uninterrupted period of British rule began. The 18th century saw three sieges including the most severe, known as the Great Siege, which lasted from 1779 to 1783. During World War II the 'Rock' served as a vital stop for supply convoys and naval staging base, complete with a veritable warren of secret tunnels. This book documents Gibraltar's rich history, and charts the development of these fascinating fortifications.