Attack on Cawsand

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Attack on Cawsand
Part of the
Anglo–Spanish War

Cawsand village and beach
Date15 March 1596
Location
Cawsand, Cornwall England
Result English victory[1][2]
Belligerents
 England  Spain
Strength
1
militiaman[3]
 1 pinnace
25 sailors and soldiers[3]
Casualties and losses
Two boats and several houses set on fire[1][4] Unknown

The attack on Cawsand was a minor Spanish raid on the coast of

Anglo-Spanish War.[5]

In August 1595 the area of Mount's Bay in Cornwall had been attacked by a Spanish raiding force led by Carlos de Amésquita. In that attack over two days, Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole, and Paul were raided and torched.[6]

In March 1596 a Spanish

caliver, scaring the intruders off. Shortly after, the main militia force arrived in the village from Plymouth in time to prevent the fire from spreading to the whole settlement.[1][2]

The defences were strengthened as it was feared that the Spanish forces would try again. The heights were then manned by 170 pikemen, 300 musketeers and cavalry commanded by Sir Nicholas Parker and maintained by sole expense of Richard Carew.[7]

A second naval raid on the area took place on 26 April 1599, when four Spanish warships captured five fishing boats from Plymouth Sound.[3][4][8][9]

Years later, when the Mayflower's Pilgrims had a port of call at Cawsand, they recalled the Spanish forces’ burning of the village, and how they spared the brick walls by the beach.[10]

See also

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d Harrison p. 82.
  2. ^ a b Longmate p. 488.
  3. ^ a b c Carew, Richard (1953). The survey of Cornwall. Melrose. p. 37.
  4. ^ a b c Annual Reports and Transactions, Volume 6. Plymouth Institution and Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society. 1887. p. 313.
  5. ISBN 9781103397143. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help
    )
  6. ^ Publications of the Navy Records Society, Volume 22. Navy Records Society. 1902. p. 323.
  7. ^ Carrington, Henry Edmund (1828). The Plymouth and Devonport Guide: with Sketches of the Surrounding Scenery. Byers. p. 87.
  8. ISBN 0710811470
    .
  9. ^ Worth, Richard Nicholls (1890). History of Plymouth: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. W. Brenden. p. 59.
  10. ISBN 978-0-307-59300-9
    .
Bibliography
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