English Tangier
English Tangier | |||||||||
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1661–1684 | |||||||||
Flag | |||||||||
Status | Territory of the English Empire | ||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Given by Portugal as dowry | 1661 | ||||||||
1684 | |||||||||
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Today part of | Morocco |
English Tangier was the period in Moroccan history in which the city of Tangier was occupied by England as part of its colonial empire from 1661 to 1684. Tangier had been under Portuguese control before Charles II of England acquired the city as part of the dowry when he married the Portuguese infanta Catherine. The marriage treaty was an extensive renewal of the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance. It was opposed by Spain, then at war with Portugal, but clandestinely supported by France.
The English garrisoned and fortified the city against hostile but disunited Moroccan forces. The exclave was expensive to defend and fortify and offered neither commercial nor military advantage to England. When Morocco was later united under the
History
Background
Portugal
The
By 1657, the position had changed. The Saadi dynasty steadily lost control of the country to various warlords and finally came to an end with the death of Ahmad al-Abbas.[1] The main warlord around Tangier was Khadir Ghaïlan (known to the English of the time as "Guyland"). He and his family had taken control of much of the Gharb, the Rif, and the other coastal areas around Tangier. He appears to have considerably increased attacks on Portuguese Tangier.[2]
Meanwhile, after the
The Treaty of the Pyrenees in November 1659 specifically pledged that Louis XIV of France would withdraw support from Portugal under the Braganzas and released Spanish troops and ships to pursue the continuing Portuguese Restoration War. Portugal, severely weakened and with little support in other countries, sought a renewal of its alliance with England to counterbalance the renewed Spanish threat to its independence.
The alliance—which had
The Portuguese government was content to part with Tangier,[5] though many within the country had reservations.[6] The anchorage was not particularly safe for shipping[7] and, exposed to the Atlantic and to destructive winds from the east, it was expensive to maintain, requiring significant improvement. Khadir Ghaïlan had mounted a major attack on the city in 1657, forcing the governor and garrison to appeal to Lisbon for assistance.[8] Portugal, hard pressed in its war of independence from Spain and struggling against Dutch aggression in the East Indies, could not hope to maintain all of its overseas possessions without English assistance and could not afford to commit troops to the defence of Tangier while fighting Spain in the Iberian peninsula. Indeed, Portugal had even offered Tangier to France in 1648 to try to solicit support against Spain.[9]
However, cession of Tangier to England was not popular with the general public and with many in the army. The governor of Tangier,
Spain
Spain had tolerated Portuguese occupation of Tangier as part of the Treaty of Tordesillas and had left its Portuguese administration largely undisturbed during the Iberian Union and even under the long-running Restoration War, lest a weakened position expose it to Moroccan reconquest. Nonetheless, Spain was strongly opposed to English possession of Tangier and insisted that the cession would be illegal. Indeed, the note presented by the Spanish ambassador in May 1661 openly threatened war.[11]
A strongly established English naval presence at the Straits of Gibraltar posed a threat to its ports on both the Atlantic and Mediterranean and to communication between them. It also threatened communication not just with Spain's colonial empire but with the maritime links between Spain and the Habsburg's Italian possessions in Sicily and Naples. English fleet activities in the Mediterranean under Robert Blake and Edward Montagu between 1650 and 1659 had shown just how vulnerable Spain's shipping lanes had become. With its emphasis on its transatlantic possessions, Spain had no Mediterranean fleet and could not protect its shipping there: the presence of a hostile naval force at Tangier would make the transfer of Spanish troops from Italy to Spain for the intended war against Portugal much more difficult.
By a proclamation of 7 September 1660 (announced in Spain on 22 September), Charles had declared peace with Spain,[12] but in the same month the Commons passed a bill annexing Dunkirk and Jamaica. Both had been taken under Cromwell and both had been demanded back by Spain upon the ascension of Charles II.[13] There was a fear in England that the Portuguese commander at Tangier would hand the port over to Spain rather than "heretic" England or that Spain would otherwise attempt physically to prevent the handover, even if its actions fell short of war.[14] There were further fears that Spain had enlisted Ghaïlan's assistance to attack by land while Spain attacked by sea.[15]
Dutch Republic
The Dutch had suffered intensely during the First Anglo-Dutch War. Although they were at peace for the moment, they were still competing intensely for trade and had no wish to see the English navy further establish the Mediterranean power it had developed under Cromwell.[16] They were at war with the Portuguese and did not want to see the Anglo-Portuguese alliance renewed. The Dutch hoped to seize more of Portugal's overseas possessions and had equipped a fleet for that purpose in 1660.[17][18] They tried, unsuccessfully, to strengthen relations with King Charles II by the Dutch Gift in July of the same year.
The States General also sought in negotiations from July 1660 until September 1662 to secure a treaty or pact of friendship with England, but refused to extend such a treaty to any colonies outside Europe with the sole exception of the island of Pulo Run.[19] While that negotiation went on, Charles offered to mediate between the United Provinces and Portugal. (The Anglo-Portuguese treaty, a very short time later, required this.) His intervention resulted in the Treaty of The Hague on 6 August 1661, although it was ignored by the Dutch East India Company. The Company seized Cranganore, Cochin, Nagapattinam, and Cannanore from Portugal in 1662 and 1663.
At the same time, King Charles sought the advancement of his nephew William (later William III) as
France
In France,
England
In 1659,
English occupation
Sandwich and Portugal 1661–1662
Before the treaty with Portugal and marriage to Catherine was announced at Charles's coronation on 8 May 1661, Admiral Sir
In England, a Tangier Committee of the King's Privy Council was appointed, with its members including Samuel Pepys, Secretary to the Admiralty, and Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Pepys later claimed that all Rupert did in meetings was to laugh and swear occasionally.[38]
Portuguese raid and handing Tangier to the English
On 14 January 1662, the Portuguese garrison consisting of 140 cavalry attempted a sally out into the surrounding countryside, taking about 400 head of cattle, and also capturing 35 women and girls. Unsurprisingly, the Moroccans numbering around 100 counter-attacked and recovered the booty, killing some 51 of the Portuguese, including the Aidill (the military commander) and twelve knights, pursuing the remainder of the force to the city gates. Alarmed, the Governor (Luis de Almeida) requested assistance from Sandwich's fleet in the bay. Sandwich sent parties of seamen ashore to man the defences, under the command of Sir Richard Stayner, effectively (but not formally) taking control of the city to help protect it against attacks by Ghaïlan (supported by Spain) and, perhaps, to ensure a withdrawal by the Portuguese.[10][39] By 23 January, Sandwich had three to four hundred men ashore.[40]
Peterborough, Teviot, Bridge, FitzGerald, Belasyse and Ghaïlan 1662–1666
On 6 September 1661, King Charles had appointed Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough, as governor and captain general of all the forces in Tangier.[a] Peterborough quite quickly raised a regiment in England, probably in large part from the Parliamentary forces which were being disbanded, but otherwise took some time over the preparations; he finally sailed for Tangier on 15 January 1662, arriving, with a considerable force, on 29 January. When Peterborough landed he found the fleet already in possession. The Tangier Garrison (his new regiment augmented by units from Flanders) disembarked on 30 January and the city keys were handed over with due ceremony.[42]
The start was far from auspicious. The available accommodation was completely insufficient for the three thousand or so troops, who had little in common (neither language nor, for the most part, religion or custom) with the Portuguese population; the money (such as was available to the new occupants) was English currency, unfamiliar to the townspeople. The basis of the Portuguese garrison had, in large part, been a militia of the men of the town and they, of course, had been driven back within the walls. Given that Portugal had been seeking (and, latterly, expecting) to dispose of Tangier; had a major war with Spain at home; and needed to raise a very significant dowry for the marriage; it is not surprising that some neglect may have crept in but it is also clear that Peterborough was not well prepared. The list of the stores which were immediately required, even after Sandwich had provided much from the fleet, is a tacit admission of the inadequacy of those brought with the occupation force.[43] Peterborough reported that the Portuguese, leaving, had carried off the very ffloers, the Windowes, and the Dores,[44] but since most of the inhabitants, and their possessions, were repatriated by the English fleet, that may be an exaggeration.
Moreover, the idea that the Portuguese inhabitants would enrol as soldiers for the new Government[45] is nowhere reflected in the forecast expenditure of the garrison, except in respect of a troop of horse which did, in fact, enrol.[46]
At the time when Peterborough arrived, Ghaïlan was engaged at Salé, fighting with
Perhaps indicative of the problem with borders or limits to English possession of the city is the map of the forts around Tangier in 1680.[49] To the East, beyond York Fort, and beyond the ominous, all-embracing, area marked as "The Moors", are the words "To Portugal Cross". It is perfectly likely that this refers to a form of padrão marking what the Portuguese considered to be the border. English occupation never came close to establishing such a distant frontier.
These units were augmented later in 1662 by elements of Rutherfurd's (Scottish Royalist) Regiment
Each redoubt had four hundred men guarding the excavation site, while to the front balls of spikes, stakes and piles of
Norwood, Middleton and Inchiquin 1666–1680
In 1674, William O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Inchiquin took up the post of governor, in succession to the Earl of Middleton. In 1675, a garrison school was founded, led by the Rev. Dr George Mercer.
On 30 December 1676, Charles ordered a survey of the city and garrison of Tangier, which was costing about £140,000 a year to maintain. The survey showed that the total inhabitants numbered 2,225, of whom fifty were army officers, 1,231 other ranks, with 302 army wives and children. Amongst the buildings was a hospital and an army school.
On 4 June 1668, Tangier was declared a free city by charter, with a mayor and corporation to govern it instead of the army. The charter made it equal to English towns.[52]
Ossory, Plymouth, Sackville, Kirke and Mulay al-Rashid 1680–1683
In 1680, the pressure from the
In 1680 the Earl of Inchiquin resigned and was replaced by Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, who died before taking up his post.[52]
In October 1680, Colonel
The garrison at Tangier had to be constantly reinforced, having cost nearly two million
In England, in the Exclusion Crisis, the House of Commons of England petitioned the King to give his assent to the Bill of Exclusion (which had passed the Commons, but not the Lords) intended to disinherit the Duke of York (later James II and VII). The Earl of Shaftesbury (effectively the Prime Minister) urged Parliament to disapprove any taxes unless and until the bill was passed. The King refused to prejudice his brother's right of succession and dismissed the Exclusion Bill Parliament and, later, the Oxford Parliament. But he could no longer afford the cost of the colony in Tangier.
Dartmouth and evacuation 1683–1684
For some time Parliament had been concerned about the cost of maintaining the Tangier garrison. By 1680 the King had threatened to give up Tangier unless the supplies were voted for its sea defences, intended to provide a safe harbour for shipping. The fundamental problem was that in order to keep the town and harbour free from cannon fire the perimeter of the defended area had to be vastly increased. A number of outworks were built[b] but the siege of 1680 showed that the Moroccans were capable of isolating and capturing these outworks by entrenchments and mining. Although the attempt by Sultan Moulay Ismail of Morocco to seize the town had been unsuccessful, a crippling blockade by the Jaysh al-Rifi ultimately forced the English to withdraw. In 1683, Charles gave Admiral Lord Dartmouth secret orders to abandon Tangier. Dartmouth was to level the fortifications, destroy the harbour, and evacuate the troops. In August 1683 Dartmouth, as Admiral of the Fleet and governor and captain general in Tangier, sailed from Plymouth. He was accompanied by Samuel Pepys, who wrote an account of the evacuation.[52]
Once in Tangier, one of Lord Dartmouth's main concerns was the evacuation of sick soldiers "and the many families and their effects to be brought off". The hospital ship Unity sailed for England on 18 October 1683 with 114 invalid soldiers and 104 women and children, alongside HMS Diamond. HMS Diamond arrived at The Downs on 14 December 1683. Dartmouth was also able to purchase the release of many English prisoners from Ismail's bagnio, including several officers and about 40 men, some of whom had spent 10 years in the hands of the Moroccans.[c]
All the forts and walls were mined for last-minute destruction.[d] On 5 February 1684 Tangier was officially evacuated, leaving the town in ruins. Thereafter Kirke's Regiment (i.e., the Tangier Regiment) returned to England. The main force of 2,830 officers and men and 361 wives and children finally completed the demolition of the harbour wall and fortifications, and evacuated the garrison during the early months of 1684. The 2nd Tangier Regiment left late in the second week of February for Plymouth with some 600 men and 30 wives and children.[52] The Earl of Dumbarton's regiment (The Royal Scots) went into quarters at Rochester, and Trelawney's (Second Tangier) Regiment to Portsmouth.
Aftermath
Some of the departing soldiers were to be rewarded with large land grants in the newly acquired Province of New York. Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, a lieutenant-governor of Tangier, became New York provincial governor and William "Tangier" Smith, the last mayor of Tangier, obtained 50 miles of Atlantic oceanfront property on Long Island.
Infrastructure
The English planned to improve the harbour by building a mole, which would reach 1,436 feet (438 m; 0.2720 mi) long and cost £340,000 before its demolition. The improved harbour was to be 600 yards (550 m) long, 30 feet (9.1 m) deep at low tide, and capable of keeping out the roughest of seas.[e] Work began on the fortified harbour at the end of November 1662, and work on the mole in August 1663.[56] The work continued for some years under a succession of governors. With an improved harbour the town would have played the same role that Gibraltar later played in British naval strategy.[57][f]
Governors
Term | Governor | Deputy/Acting | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
30 January 1662 to 9 May 1663 | Henry Mordaunt, 2nd Earl of Peterborough | John Fitzgerald
|
|
10 May 1663 to 4 May 1664 | Andrew Rutherford, 1st Earl of Teviot | John Fitzgerald
|
Rutherford killed in action in Tangier |
4 May 1664 to 7 June 1664 | Sir Tobias Bridge | ||
7 June 1664 to April 1665 | John Fitzgerald (Lieutenant-Governor) |
||
April 1665 to 1666 | John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse | Unable to take oath of conformity | |
1666 to 1669 | Sir Henry Norwood | ||
1669 to 1670 | John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton | ||
1670 to 1672 | Sir Hugh Chomondeley
|
||
1672 to 1674 | John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton | ||
1674 to 1675 | |||
1675 to 1680 | William O'Brien, 2nd Earl of Inchiquin | ||
1680 to 1680 | Palmes Fairbourne |
||
1680 to 1680 | Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory | died after appointment but before taking up position | |
1680 to October 1680 | Charles FitzCharles, 1st Earl of Plymouth | died soon after taking up position as governor | |
October 1680 to 28 December 1681 | Edward Sackville | ||
28 December 1681 to 1683 | Sir Percy Kirke | ||
1683 to 6 February 1684 | Admiral Lord Dartmouth |
See also
- List of governors of Tangier
- George Elliott, surgeon
- Roger Elliott
- Alexander Spotswood
- Tangier Protocol
- Tangier Garrison
Notes
- ^ Davis[41] sets out the full commission.
- ^ Diagrams mapping out the English 1662-1684 outworks to scale are presented in Elbl,[54] mostly based on Sir Bernard De Gomme's engineering plans and on Hollar. The work discusses the various sources and their characteristics and is sound on the topography and works but is, sadly, spoiled for British readers by Elbl's anglophobia. For instance, Elbl considers that for its temporary English occupiers Tangier was a "gravy-pot(s) for operators wise to the workings of Court and Parliament whether officers, rapacious victuallers, speculators, rack-rent landlords" in contradistinction to the previous "grinding and dogged commitment" of the Portuguese officers, victuallers, and landlords.[55]
- ^ Dartmouth's extensive papers belonging to the Dartmouth Heirlooms Trust are held by Staffordshire County Council's Archives and Heritage Service, and by the National Maritime Museum at Geeenwich.
- ^ A reassessment of the demolition, which critics of the operation deemed incomplete (as communicated by Samuel Pepys to Dartmouth, 1684), is presented in Elbl.[54]
- ^ GIS-based plans of the historic harbour and of its works with all its data in modern coordinates, prepared from English and Portuguese documents, are available in Elbl.[54]
- ^ A long study of the previous Portuguese Breakwater at Tangier and interesting notes on the English Mole and its contractors are found in Elbl.[58]
References
Citations
- ^ "African Kingdoms, North Africa". Kessler Associates. Retrieved 17 November 2016..
- ^ Stuart, p. 6.
- Tout, Thomas Frederick (1887). Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 9. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 313. . . In
- ^ Venetian Papers, vol 32, p 150, entry date 2 June 1660 (N.S.).
- ^ Corbett, pp. 5–11.
- 73, fols 612-613.
- ^ Elbl, pp. 406-409.
- ^ Leroux, p. 35.
- ^ Bejjit, p. 18.
- ^ a b Routh, p. 10.
- ^ "The Copy of a Paper presented to the King's Most Excellent Majesty by the Spanish Embassador, The third of May, 1661". Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership..
- ^ Venetian papers, vol 32, p 197, entry date 22 September 1660 (N.S.).
- ^ Davenport, F.G., p. 57, note 4.
- ^ Venetian papers, vol 33, entry dates 21 and 30 September 1661.
- ^ a b Corbett, p. 28.
- ^ Harris, vol 1, p. 196.
- ^ Davenport, p. 58.
- ^ Pepys 28 February 1661.
- ^ Davenport, p. 83, Art 15.
- ^ Treaty of the Pyrenees, Article 60 and 'Secret' Article 3.
- ^ d'Estrades, pp. 109, 128.
- ^ Venetian Papers, Vol. 32, entry dated 2 June 1660.
- ^ State Papers, Portugal SP89/4/68 fol. 156.
- ^ Hyde, Continuation, pp. 333-336.
- ^ Venetian papers vol 32, entry dated 29 October 1660.
- ^ State Papers, Portugal SP89/4/81, fol 188.
- ^ Venetian Papers vol 32, entries February to May 1661.
- ^ Davenport, p. 62.
- ^ Corbett, p. 11.
- ^ Hodgkin MSS, p. 158.
- ^ Carte MSS Shelfmark 73, fol 588, Bodleian.
- ^ Harris, p. 205.
- ^ Pepys 1 February 1662.
- ^ Carte MSS Shelfmark 73, fol 633, Bodleian.
- ^ Leroux, p. 34.
- ^ Pepys 28 February 1662. The map was sent to Pepys on 20 January (O.S.).
- ^ Heathcoate MSS, p. 25.
- ^ Frank Kitson, Prince Rupert: Admiral and General-at-Sea (London: Constable, 1999), pp. 138, 139
- ^ Samuel Pepys, Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete 1662 N.S [1]
- ^ Davis, p. 28.
- ^ Davis, pp. 14 et seq.
- ^ Routh, pp. 13-14.
- ^ Routh, p. 16, footnote.
- ^ CO 279 i at f 90.
- ^ Routh, p. 15.
- ^ Davis, pp. 21-23.
- ^ Davis, p. 29.
- ^ Davis, p. 32.
- ^ Davis opp p 174.
- ^ "Sir John Reynolds' Regiment of Foot". BCW Project Regimental Wiki. 1 April 2015. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015..
- ^ "Colonel Roger Alsop's Regiment of Foot". BCW Project Regimental Wiki. 9 March 2015. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2015..
- ^ a b c d e f Wreglesworth.
- ^ "Sackville, Edward (c.1640-1714), of Bow Street, Covent Garden, Westminster (Member of Parliament)". The History of Parliament (British Political, Social and Local History). Retrieved 29 December 2015..
- ^ a b c Elbl, Portuguese Tangier.
- ^ Elbl, pp. 73-74.
- ^ Sir Hugh Cholmley. A Short account of the progress of the mole at Tangier. Early English Books Online – Text Creation Partnership. Retrieved 29 December 2015..
- ^ Enid M. G. Routh – Tangier: England's lost Atlantic outpost, 1912; Martin Malcolm Elbl, "(Re)claiming Walls: The Fortified Médina of Tangier under Portuguese Rule (1471–1661) and as a Modern Heritage Artefact," Portuguese Studies Review 15 (1–2) (2007; publ. 2009): 103–192.
- ^ Elbl, Portuguese Tangier, Chapter Eight.
Bibliography
- "State Papers, Portugal".
- d'Estrades, Godefroi (1755). Letters and Negotiations of Count d'Estrades. CIHM/ICMH Microfiche collection. London: R. Willock. ISBN 9780665455544.
- Hyde, Edward, Earl of Clarendon (1760). The Continuation of the Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Davis, John (1887). History of the Second, Queen's Royal regiment. Vol. 1. London: Richard Bentley & Son.
- Pepys, Samuel (1893). Wheatley, Henry B (ed.). The Diary of Samuel Pepys, M.A. F.R.S. London: George Bell & Sons. as reproduced at Gyford, Phil (ed.). "Pepys' Diary".
- The Manuscripts of J Eliot Hodgkin F.S.A. London: Historical Manuscripts Commission/Eyre & Spottiswood. 1897.
- The Manuscripts of J. M. Heathcote. London: Historical Manuscripts Commission/Eyre & Spottiswood. 1899.
- Corbett, Sir Julian S (1904). England in the Mediterranean: A Study of the Rise and Influence of British Power within the Straits 1603-1713. Vol. 2. London: Longmans, Green..
- Leroux, Ernest, ed. (1912). Archives Marocaines. Vol. XVIII. Paris: Mission Scientifique du Maroc.
- Harris, F.R. (1912). The Life of Edward Mountagu, K.G. John Murray.
- Routh, Enid M G (1912). Tangier, England's Lost Atlantic Outpost. London: John Murray.
- Davenport, Frances Gardiner, ed. (1929). European Treaties Bearing on the History of the United States. Vol. II. Carnegie Institution of Washington.
- Venetian PapersHinds, Allen B, ed. (1931). Calendar of State Papers Relating to English Affairs in the Archives of Venice. Vol. 32. London: British History Online.
- Stuart, Graham H (1955). The International City of Tangier (2nd ed.). Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804743518.) URL is preview location only.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Wreglesworth, Dr J. "Tangier: England's Forgotten Colony (1661-1684)". Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - Elbl, Martin M. (2013). Portuguese Tangier (1471-1662): Colonial Urban Fabric as Cross-Cultural Skeleton. Peterborough (Canada): Baywolf Press. ISBN 978-0-921437-50-5.. URL is preview location only.
- Bejjit, Karim (2015). English Colonial Texts on Tangier. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-4724-5788-2.. URL is preview location only.