Invasion of Cuba (1741)

Invasion of Cuba
Part of the War of Jenkins' Ear

Castle of El Morro on Santiago de Cuba
Date4–5 August – 9 December 1741
Location
Result Spanish Victory
Belligerents
 Great Britain Spain Spain
Commanders and leaders
Edward Vernon Francisco de la Vega
Strength
4,000 regulars & militia
9 ships of the line
12 frigates & other ships
40 transports & store-ships
950 regulars and militia
unknown naval forces
Casualties and losses
3,445 killed, wounded or missing 400 killed or wounded
3 warships captured

The invasion of Cuba took place between 4–5 August and 9 December 1741 during the War of Jenkins' Ear. A combined army and naval force under the command of Admiral Edward Vernon and Major-General Thomas Wentworth arrived off Cuba and fortified positions around their landing site at Cumberland Bay. Despite facing no serious opposition, neither commander felt prepared to advance on the Spanish settlement at Santiago de Cuba. Harassed by Spanish raids and with a mounting sick list, the British finally evacuated the island after several months of inactivity.

Background

Vernon had made an unsuccessful attempt to capture Cartagena in 1741, and after his repulse he directed the fragments of his sickly and dispirited followers against the island of Cuba. The south and east of Cuba were so little populated, and so far from the capital, Havana, that they might have made a permanent establishment there.

Vernon's expedition

The land forces consisted of the remnants of the troops from Cartagena, some 3,000 British and American troops augmented by 1,000 Jamaican soldiers.

Vernon left Port Royal to capture Santiago de Cuba with the following ships:

Battle

George Stadt Camp near the River Guantamano and the intrenchments made on the adjacent hills, 1741

On the night of 4–5 August, the British force, bolstered by 1,000 reinforcements from Jamaica landed in three different beaches of the Guantanamo Bay. Without opposition, they marched against the village of La Catalina. However, the British, 105 kilometres (65 mi) short of their objective, slowed down three days later because of the growing concerns of their commander, Major-General Thomas Wentworth.

Santiago's Governor Francisco Caxigal de la Vega, garrison commander Carlos Riva Agüero, and local militia Captain Pedro Guerrero had only 350 regulars and 600 militia to hand and so retreated from the British. Nevertheless, Wentworth's army became paralyzed by fatigue and disease, spending the next four months encamped, being sporadically raided by Spanish forces. Vernon, disgusted at his colleague's inactivity, but unwilling to risk any part of the fleet against the town, sent warships to cruise independently until Wentworth's sick list grew so long—2,260 soldiers being struck with fever by 5 December—that the expedition was re-embarked, setting sail at dawn on 9 December and returning to Port Royal ten days later.

Aftermath

Admiral Vernon's enterprise accomplished nothing but the loss of many of his soldiers and his own disgrace. Vernon was forced to return to Britain in 1742.

19°57′58″N 75°08′20″W / 19.966°N 75.139°W / 19.966; -75.139


This page was last updated at 2024-02-13 10:07 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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