In 1655 Oliver Cromwell, England’s Lord Protector, sent a fleet to attack and seize Spanish possessions in South America. The English were flexing their muscles on the international stage and for political, religious and commercial reasons chose to attack a weakened Spain in the West Indies believing it a soft target. In late 1654 possibly the largest military force to date ever to leave English shores set sail from Portsmouth under the command of General Robert Venables and Admiral William Penn.
This is the first of two volumes about the English attack on the Spanish West Indies. This volume extensively analyses the reasons for the English attack, its preparations and plans, and the composition of their army and navy. It describes first the voyage to the West Indies and the expEdition’s delay in Barbados and then the attack on Hispaniola, including the many reasons for its dramatic failure. The book then describes the occupation of Jamaica, the beginnings of the Spanish resistance as well as initial English naval operations in the Caribbean in 1655. The English forces were quickly abandoned by their two commanders and left to fend for themselves, facing rampant disease, near starvation and an undefeated enemy. The second volume will continue the story from late 1655 up to the establishment of English civilian government in Jamaica in 1662.
This work draws upon extensive primary source material from England and Spain including a copious quantity of letters and narratives of soldiers and sailors present, from both sides. It is the first detailed account of this important campaign from a military perspective, one that laid the foundations for the state-sponsored expansion of the English empire.