Chapter Eight
Wherein certain Declarations are made, Wars are fought, Disloyalty begets Confusion
On February 2, 1666, the Commonwealth of England declared war on the Kingdom of Spain. This was the culmination of the Anglo-French pact of alliance, and the latter dutifully joined. Besides, they offered generous subsidies, deeming England’s war effort “too big to fail.”
Several factors determined the timing. The foremost being the fact Spain was currently at war with the Ottoman Empire, with whom they shared a border in North Africa. The opportunity to engage Spain whilst they were at war with another major empire could not be missed. Unfortunately this line of thinking was not unique to Commonwealth leaders. Three days after England’s declaration against Spain, Scotland threw off the bonds of vassalage and declared war.
The Scottish would come to regret their haste. Though the Commonwealth was engaged with a mighty foe, fully half of the New Model Army--16,000 men--remained in England proper. The force would be more than enough to subdue the Scottish. Braddock immediately began the march north to fight a familiar war.
Summer 1666 was a season of defeat for Scotland: By late May their army and navy had been destroyed; Early June saw their capital once again occupied; Come mid July, they had had enough.
Precedented victory
Scottish delegates came to London with an offer of white peace, and it was accepted. However, this would not be the end of hostilities between the two nations. When England agreed to return to the status quo antebellum, it was understood that meant Scotland’s return to a subordinate government. Scotland argued that declaring war was separate from declaring independence, and indeed required sovereign powers. By their logic, then, returning to the status that existed before the war meant they were sovereign. This was quite unacceptable to the Commonwealth, which continued to consider Scotland a vassal, de jure if not de facto. This misunderstanding would remain a point of contention between the two nations, and England would go on to extend their hostility to any nation that recognized Scotland as independent. Whether it could be resolved peacefully or required more armed conflict was a matter for the future.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the war against Spain began in earnest. Before the war, extensive planning was undertaken. Braddock himself drew up plans for an amphibious campaign in the Caribbean, the primary theater of operations. War declared, the Colonial Army under Fairfax immediately began embarkation. Samuel Hudson’s White Squadron would escort their transport throughout the campaign. This escort fought the first action of the war.
A Spanish line of three ships, later joined by a Portuguese of the same number, came upon the transports as they embarked troops off Antigua. Hudson’s squadron met and destroyed them. The victory was as absolute as it was inconsequential. The Spanish enjoyed such a numerical superiority on the seas that the loss of three ships-of-the-line was strategically meaningless, but it was a start.
Safe passage secured, the Colonial Army was able to make three successive, unopposed landings, capturing all Spanish possessions in the Lesser Antilles.
The three points of the so-called "Wedge Antilles"
The well-executed operations based on well-conceived plans in the Caribbean served as a contrast to the frenzied French front. On the outset of war, the sleeping giant awakened. Regiments were raised across the French country side, while the standing army moved into Spanish territory in the Low Countries, Franche-Comte, and Roussillon.
Spanish and Portuguese armies too crossed the border, and began sieges of French territory. Frustratingly, the French never used their local superiority, never concentrated force, and generally never sought engagement with the enemy. As May ended, only one battle had been fought. At Cambray, two similarly sized armies met, but Spain won the day.
The war as of May, 1666
France had unbloodied armies in the area that could have overwhelmed the Spanish victors with superior numbers and morale, but did not. An unwillingness to fight characterized both combatants on the French front.
In the Caribbean, such inaction was unknown. The Colonial Army left Puerto Rico and was back at sea. Its target: Hispaniola. As the transports and their escorts approached that island, they were set upon by a Spanish fleet--one with a slight numerical advantage over Hudson’s squadron. Hudson was not deterred in the slightest. He used the fact he had fast ships loaded with soldiers to his advantage. His van escorted some of the transports in close for a boarding action. Two Spanish wargalleons were seized in this daring move.
The four ships that escaped the melee took refuge in Barahonas. They were quickly forced from port by the Colonial Army, and met the guns of Hudson’s ships. Though Hudson won a great victory in the Eastern Caribbean, his ships were not unscathed. The transports that had participated in the boarding action were especially damaged. Ships with broken spars were towed to the shipyards at St. Lucia. There the naval component of the Caribbean campaign would repair and resupply while Fairfax subdued Hispaniola.
While this drama played out on the seas, English colonial possessions on the Spanish main were set upon by a large Spanish army.
This was unfortunate, but not unexpected. Braddock knew of the Spanish forces on the mainland, and the occupation of English territory there was written off as inevitable. Therefore, news of these defeats did nothing to damper the high spirits felt for the naval victories in the Caribbean.
The Battle of the Eastern Caribbean would be the most significant naval battle in that theater. Before and after, Hudson sunk several small Spanish squadrons, but no further noteworthy battles took place. Meanwhile, Blake had yet to meet a Spanish ship in his patrols of the home waters. The reason for Spain’s poor naval showing is apparent when reviewing intelligence reports from Madras.
Large Spanish fleets were constantly spotted off the Coromandel coast. Apparently, Spain was maintaining a large naval presence in the Pacific. This strategically questionable move by the Spaniards suited English purposes just fine.
In Fall, attentions again turned to the Mediterranean. Spain’s war exhaustion made certain populations seemingly more susceptible to rabble-rousing. Efforts at espionage were renewed, and yielded similar results. Also of interest in the area was Spain’s war against the Ottomans. The only thing that could be gleaned through the fog of war was that Tunis was occupied. Braddock hoped Spain was expending considerable strength against their North African neighbor.
By mid-September, Hudson was back at sea. New intelligence prompted swift action in the Caribbean. It had come to be known that Spain hastily fortified some of their possessions there. Such fortification would slow the island hopping considerably, putting the Commonwealth war effort at a major disadvantage by allowing Spain time to marshal force against it. There was hope, however, in the fact these fortifications were not yet fully garrisoned. Through a series of swift landings and assaults, Fairfax and the Colonial Army prevented that eventuality.
As a new year dawned, the Anglo-French war against Spain seemed to be going well. Cuba was taken without opposition, and French sieges in the Spanish Netherlands were bearing fruit.
Though, much to Braddock’s chagrin, France still refused to apply the considerable force it had mustered in the north, where they outnumbered the Spanish more than four-to-one. In the south, the French position benefitted from similar behavior on the part of the Iberian invaders.
Braddock went as far as drawing up the marching orders himself. The French could crush the Spanish in the north, he reasoned, then, leaving behind only a small sieging force, could bring their might to bear on the mostly-Portuguese armies in the south. Having done that, the French could cross the Pyrenees in force and win the war. That the French made no effort to execute his expertly-planned maneuvers infuriated Braddock to no end.
Alas, his military planning could not be limited to such hypotheticals. The Colonial Army had achieved all its original objectives, but the Spanish were obstinate, and their surrender was not forthcoming. Victory required more action on the part of Commonwealth forces.
On 15 February, 1667, one year and thirteen days after the war began, the Colonial Army again disembarked. This time their destination was Commonwealth soil. They sought to lift the Spanish occupations of Belize and Peten.
It was thought that once Spain lost this leverage on the bargaining table, they would consent to Commonwealth demands. Commonwealth diplomats had no such luck. Therefore, the Colonial Army’s mandate was expanded. Braddock ordered Fairfax to capture all unfortified coastal provinces on the Spanish main.
Entering May, the war was turning even more in England and France’s favor.
The war as of May, 1667
Though the most trying time was yet to come. The Summer of 1667 would be decisive.
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