1762 - British expedition against Manila

From Project SYW

Hierarchical Path: Main Page >> Campaigns >> 1762 - British expedition against Manila

The campaign lasted from September to October 1762

1 Introduction
2 Description of Events
3 Contemporary Accounts
4 Other Accounts
5 References

Introduction

This description is mainly an abridged and adapted excerpt from J. W. Fortescue book A History of the British Army pp. 544-545, interspersed with information from Rojo's Journal.

[edit]

Description of Events

British troops stationed in India were lying idle since the fall of Pondicherry. When war broke out with Spain, they were readily available to be employed against the Spanish possessions in Asia.

In June 1762, Admiral Cornish received secret orders for an expedition, which he communicated to the authorities at Calcutta.

On August 1, the British fleet sailed away to eastward with a force of 1,000 Europeans and 2,000 Sepoys. The commander of the expedition was Brigadier General Draper. He was assisted by Colonel Monson as Second in Command, Major Scott as Adjutant-General and Captain Fletcher as Brigade-Major of the East India Company. The expeditionary force consisted of:

79th Draper's Regiment of Foot (450 men)
composite battalions of sepoys (drawn from all the Madras Sepoy regiments) under Captain DesPlans
French "volunteers" (200 deserters) under Lieutenant Martin
some 80 coffrees (freed African slaves)
1 company (80 men) of Topasses (native Christian Indians who claimed to have Portuguese descent)
1 company (60 men) of the Nawab European infantry
artillery contingent under Major Barker of the East India Company
- 30 men from Captain Wood's battery Madras Artillery
- 60 men from Captain Winter's battery Royal Artillery
2 Engineer Officers: Captain Stevenson and Captain-Lieutenant Cotsford
60 European Pioneers recruited in Madras.

On September 24, after much delay owing to stormy weather and the extremely defective condition of Admiral Cornish's ships, the expedition entered the bay of Manila and anchored off Fort Cavita.

On September 25, Draper landed his troops unopposed through a heavy surf, about 2,5 km from the walls of the city. A substantial numbers of Royal Marines and sailors were then detached from the fleet. The garrison of Manila consisted of the Royal Regiment (20 companies of 100 men each). These companies were far from being at full strength. Mortality, desertion and various detachments had reduced this regiment to some 565 soldiers. There were only 80 artillerymen, and those even were native Indians.

On September 26, Draper seized a detached fort which had been abandoned by the Spaniards within 200 meters of the glacis, and began to construct a battery, while the ships sailed up to draw the fire of the town upon themselves.

On September 30, a British storeship arrived with entrenching tools, but was driven ashore on the very same evening by a gale, and there lay hard and fast. By singular good fortune, however, she had taken the ground at a point where she served exactly to screen the rear of Draper's camp from the Spanish cannon, while her stores were landed with greater speed and safety than would have been possible had she remained afloat; for the gale continued for several days and forbade the passage of boats through the surf.

On October 4, the battery and the ships opened a furious fire, which in 4 hours silenced the guns of Manila.

By October 5, the British cannonade had made a practicable breach in the fortifications of Manila.

During the night of October 5 to 6, the Spaniards made a sally upon the British position with 1,000 Indians who were driven back with heavy loss.

At dawn of October 6, Draper's regiment and a party of sailors attacked the breach and carried the fortifications with little difficulty.

Thereupon Manila, with the island of Luzon and its dependencies, surrendered to the British, paying four million dollars for ransom of the town and of the property contained therein. Thus fell Manila within 10 days of the arrival of the British.

[edit]