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

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

HE year 1704 was the year of Blenheim, that wonderful victory of Marlboroughs which dissipated Lewis the Fourteenths dreams of universal empire. As stars are extinguished in the light of dawn, so in the lustre of this great triumph Englands minor successes by sea and land were forgotten. And to this day, while most men remember when Blenheim was won, few are mindful of the year in which Gibraltar was taken. Yet it may well be doubted whether the latter, though the less famous, was not, so far as British interests are concerned, the more important success. It is{10} difficult, perhaps, to determine any direct advantage which England gained by the battle of Blenheim; but by the possession of Gibraltar she secured the command of the Mediterranean and of the highway to India. While the Duke of Marlborough was leading his troops to the Rhine, the Archduke Charles, who had assumed the title of King of Spain, had landed at Lisbon, with the view of taking the command of an army collected on the western frontier of the kingdom to which he laid claim. This army was composed of contingents furnished by England, the Netherlands, and Portugal; but it was prevented from making any progress by the military genius of the Duke of Berwick, natural son of James II., who was at the head of the Spanish forces. At the opposite extremity of the Peninsula, an effort was made to provoke a rising of the Catalans on behalf of King Charles. For this purpose, a division of five or six thousand men was placed under the command of the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, who embarked at Lisbon in May, in an English fleet of which Sir George Rooke was the admiral.{11} ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 58402
Author: Stephens, Frederic George
Release Date: Dec 2, 2018
Format: eBook
Language: English