Sebastián de Eslava y Lassaga, in 1741, Viceroy of New Granada, as a career military officer, was in command in Cartagena de Indias when British Admiral Edward Vernon tried to take it.
Eslava was Blas de Lezo’s immediate superior who also played an instrumental role in the Spanish victory.
Sebastián de Eslava was born in 1685 in Enériz, Navarre.
His father was a military governor, and he followed in his footsteps by pursuing a military career. He joined the Navarre Military Unit and rose through the ranks until being assigned to the Regiment of Royal Guards.
He made a name for himself in the War of the Spanish Succession, fighting for Philip Duke of Anjou, who would go on to be known as Philip V, taking part in the sieges of Barcelona in 1706 and 1714, and in the campaigns in Extremadura and Portugal, as well as in battles such as Almansa, Zaragoza, Almenar, Brihuega and Villaviciosa.
The new king promoted Eslava to captain and, in Italy in the invasion of Sicily, he conquered Messina at the head of the Asturias Regiment.
While he was already a Knight of Santiago, he was rewarded with the Order of Calatrava following this achievement.
He then headed to North Africa, where he took part in the liberation of Ceuta and the conquest of Oran.
In 1739, the Viceroyalty of New Granada was restored, and Sebastián de Eslava was appointed Viceroy so that an expert like him could defend the Spanish possessions from the English.
In fact, following British Admiral Vernon’s capture of Spain’s settlement of Portobelo on the Isthmus of Panama, the trade of Spanish ships laden with spices, chocolate, corn, tobacco, gold and silver was under threat in the Caribbean.
Cartagena de Indias was then seen as England’s next target.
Eslava immediately began preparing to defend Cartagena. He fostered the manufacture of wagons and ammunition, he repaired a number of forts and the castle of Bocachica, and ramped up the city’s provisions in anticipation of a prolonged siege, as well giving military training to the Spaniards.
As expected, on 15 March 1741, the English attacked. Admiral Vernon had 2,000 cannons on board 186 ships and 27,000 men.
There was no bigger squadron until the Normandy landings in World War II.
Vernon was so sure of victory that he sent a message back to England declaring victory, and coins were minted to commemorate the English triumph.
The Spaniards were outnumbered almost tenfold in terms of the number of men and ships, an insignificant figure in comparison.
Despite all this, Blas de Lezo did not lack courage and was determined to go out to fight in the open sea with the six Spanish ships.
Eslava persuaded him to come up with a more cautious strategy, which was attrition of the English, continually attacking them to prevent them from gathering food and water.
Eslava and Lezo moved the cannons of the Spanish ships and their crews to the forts of Manzanillo, San Felipe and San Luis de Bocachica, which defended the bay, from where they were able to cause serious damage to the English ships.
The Viceroy knew that time was on his side and that the English had an enemy in their midst. They fell prey to cholera, dysentery and yellow fever, which wreaked havoc.
Despite this and the persistent Spanish resistance, the British troops managed to reach the gates of the fortress of San Felipe, which, had it fallen, would have resulted in British victory.
Vernon’s successive infantry attacks were withstood by the Spanish time and again, leading to thousands of casualties in the enemy ranks.
Vernon had to re-embark his men and ordered a 30-day cannonade, which proved unsuccessful. Finally, when the British lifted the siege of Cartagena, they burned five of their ships, as they lacked crew members due to the casualties they had suffered.
Eslava returned to mainland Spain in 1750.
He was then appointed Captain General of Infantry and would go on to become Minister of War.
For his role in defending Cartagena, King Charles III posthumously awarded him the Marquisate of the Royal Defence.
In memory of Luis Londáiz Mencos.
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