British invasion of Havana by Stephen Kulchock

The British arrived on the island of Cuba in the town of Havana on June 6th, 1762, but the landing started on June 7th. Before the attack the Spanish king Charles III made an attempt to fortify the city by commanding the Governor of Havana Don Juan de Prado, but nothing was done by the city. The attack on Havana by the British was the largest attack by a nation at the time due to the vast number of troops from the Americas being “included approximately 12,500 soldiers, 10,000 sailors, and 2,400 enslaved people from Africa. Around 3,500 additional troops arrived in July from North America, for an approximate total of 28,400 men”1 then as well during the time Havana was seen as one of the most flourishing cities in the world even ahead of the Americas. The Naval bombardment was considered initially but then done by the British to take the castle swiftly while also discouraging the military and militias that are stationed on El Morro castle. While also having Navy ships, HMS Stirling Castle, HMS Dragon, and HMS Marlborough would also all attack the castle with guns being fired from their respective ships as well while they are bombing the castle. Then the militias that were stationed in Havana and El Morro castle were not exact but there was an estimate of “Spanish corps numbered 1,500 regular troops, 4,000 sailors, and 2,100 militiamen”2 Due to the vastly smaller sizer of the forces in Havana they suffered severe losses from guns and bombs but another source of a vast amount of killing was the Yellow fever that was spreading throughout everyone. After the siege of the city the Governor of Havana Juan de Prado called together a war council of all the commanders in the city to create an effective plan to protect the city from the British. To start the siege 4000 British troops went ashore to fight against the 600 Spanish militia men that manned a breastwork. Then the first village that was taken on the way to capturing Havana was Guanabacoa by Colonel Carleton, with a force of British light infantry on the 8th of June 1762 and by June 29th the British were capturing Cabana heights despite the push back from Havana militias but were repelled as well as still capturing El Morro castle due to the constant batteries by the British along the coast. During the battle for Havana the British were constant and unrelenting in their attempts to capture the city and all the surrounding villages around that led up to Havana in the process. By July of 1762 all but two Spanish guns were operable from the success of the British in due to the constant barrages from the Spanish warships and artillery. Then towards the end of July the British sent out 3 regiments that attacked separate locations the first being by boat and attacking the high ground El Morro castle and La Cabana heights, the second regiment attacked the northeast section of morro Castle from the ground and the third regiment attacked La Cabana from the south. Throughout all the capture of Havana the British maintained consistent in achieving their goal while also having men from both Britian and having America send troops as swell to the Island to support because of the heavy barrage of batteries from British ship a well as having troops land on the ground as previously discussed to start the march of taking over smaller cities on their way to capturing Havana on “August 13, 1762 and after the capture the British flag was hoisted in the city.”3  Right after the British were able to secure Cuba, they immediately abolished the taxes and as well as the British opening all the ports trade with merchants and traders from England and the North American colonies therefore increasing the income and the relations between the three nations. Then because of the opening of the ports to the two nations the Cubans were finally allowed to trade with other nations other than Spain because while under Spanish rule they were banned because of British law. Also during the time of the British occupation, the island was introduced to over ten thousand slaves to the island, there was a massive surge in the agriculture and prices of the products especially sugar while also introducing Cuba to African cultures like music, food, and religion due to the high influx of slaves that were brought to the nation by the British. Finally, the ultimate reason why the British capture of Havana was crucial because it gave the Cuban people to see just how profitable it is to trade with other nations besides Spain as shown by sugar becoming the most valuable crop of Cuba due to such a high demand for the crop as well as despite Spain losing the Island for a period of time the Spanish were able to retain the powerhouse island but had to secede the state of Florida to the British due to how important the island is to Spain during that time period.