In 1741, a vast British naval force died in a disastrous attack trying to capture Cartagena. They were repelled by a wily and mutilated Spanish naval commander, named Blas De Lezo, who managed to withstand the invasion with his much smaller force. This is the story of when the British tried to invade Colombia.
A controversial plaque
Fast forward almost 300 years and in 2014 the then Prince Charles (now King to the UK) visited Cartegena to unveil a granite plaque that acknowledged “the valour and suffering of all those who died in combat whilst seeking to take the city”.
The tribute appeared very close to a statue of Blas de Lezo, the Spanish hero of the battle, which characteristically shows him peg-legged, wielding a sword, and staring out with his one good eye.
The locals, who consider de Lezo a hero, reacted angrily to the plaque’s salute to an invading force.
“In London, why don’t they put up a tribute to the Nazi pilots that bombed the city during World War II?” asked Juan Carlos Gossaín, the governor, as reported by the New York Times.
El Universal, the local newspaper, speculated that de Lezo would rise from his grave if he knew of the plaque.
The back-garden of the Iberian Peninsula and Jenkin’s ear
During the age of discovery, the Spanish had the immense fortune of being the first to arrive in the Americas.
Despite the vast distances and limitations in technology, in less than a century, the new world had become the ‘back garden of the iberian peninsula’. A fabulous garden full of riches, gold, silver, tobacco and spices.
But at the same time, its sheer size made it difficult to defend and rival European powers wanted their piece of the cake.
One such example was in 1739 when Britain and Spain went to war in a dispute over market access and Spanish resentment of increasing British colonisation of North America.
The conflict was posthumously christened the War of Jenkins Ear, so called after Spanish coastguards cut off the ear of a British Captain, Robert Jenkins, accused of smuggling off the coast of Florida. “Go, and tell your King that I will do the same, if he dares to do the same”, Jenkins was told
The British public were outraged by this perceived insult to Britain’s honour and the incident was seen as a justification of war, or casus belli.
Cartegena was the most important port in Virreinato de Nueva Granada, the Spanish colonial territory that today makes up Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador. The city was vital to the empire for the export of Bolivian silver to Spain and for the import of enslaved Africans. See my post on the history and origin of the Colombian people in which Cartegena played a vital role.
The British eyed up Cartegena as a means to effectively control entry and exit to South America.
The foiled attack on Cartagena
The Battle of Cartagena is little known in the UK. With so much colonial history, this particular embarrassment has mainly escaped the history books. (See my other post on Spain’s five most influential wars).
It was a sizable defeat. The British, led by Vice Admiral Edward Vernon, had 186 ships, including dozens of large warships, with about 23,600 sailors and soldiers, and 300 artilleries. Part of the contingent included American colonists, among which was George Washington’s older brother, Lawrence.
It was one of the largest fleets ever assembled, with 60 more ships than the famous Spanish Armada.
The Spanish had just six warships and about 4,000 men. They were led by De Lezo, a storied veteran who years before had lost his left leg and his left eye in battle. His right arm was virtually useless due to a previous wound.
The British enjoyed early success in the battle, chasing the Spanish from some forts protecting Cartagena’s harbour. But they were later held back by infighting between Vernon and his troop commander. Delay and bad weather set in. Dysentry, yellow fever and starvation soon ravaged the troops.
When the weakened British forces attacked the city’s most strategic fort, San Lazaro, where De Lezo’s statue now stands, they were unable to breach the walls, which had been recently fortified. At the mercy of the Spanish, the British were slaughtered and forced to depart in defeat.
The death toll was enormous, mostly from disease. Overall, the British lost between 9,500 and 11,500 men.
Nonetheless, Lawrence Washington went home full of admiration for Vernon and named his estate after him. It later became the home of his brother, George.
After news of the attack reached Britain, Robert Walpole, the de facto first ever prime minister, was forced to resign. The Spanish consolidated their hold over its colonies and shipping routes, while the hero of the hour, Blas de Lezo, died of illness weeks later.
A hammer to the plaque?
Back to 2014 and the unpopular plaque to the British soldiers.
Finally, the mayor of Cartagena bowed to pressure and asked the historical association responsible for its erection to remove it. But before they had a chance, it was smashed up by a local wielding a hammer, Senor Mr. Rendon, a retired electrical engineer, who soon became a local folk hero. A modern day de Lezo for some.
Rendon was later quoted as saying, “You don’t play around with history here, You’re not going to put up a plaque in New York in honour of the people who knocked down the twin towers, isn’t that right? For us it’s the same thing.”