In April 1731 the brig “Rebecca” was boarded off the Cuban coast by a Spanish coast guard under the command of Captain Juan León Fandiño. They suspected that the English ship was loaded with contraband material. Its captain, Robert Jenkins, was captured, and although the Spanish captain could find nothing, legend has it that they tied the unfortunate Englishman to the mast and cut off his ear. The English government demanded compensation from Madrid without reaching an agreement, and in full patriotic indignation declared war on Spain.
That legend is false, and under that pretext the English government declared war in 1739. The war on the Spanish side would be called the “War of the Seat”, in the United Kingdom it was called “War of Jenkins' Ear” and in the British colonies in America it was known as “King George's War”. Jenkins appeared with his ear in a jar in the middle of parliament and although his “terrible experience” had little to do with the real causes, it was in the English interest to publicize Spanish cruelty in the South American colonies, which was ironic considering that one of the things Great Britain went to war for was the right to continue selling African slaves in America. But the main hidden objective was to obtain a place on the American continent and thereby cut off communications with the metropolis. The idea was to wear down Spain until its final defeat.
The war lasted nine years, and in it a Spanish empire in full decline gave its best against the new master of the board: the British Empire.
Starting in 1742, the conflict merged with the War of the Austrian Succession, a fact that made the English hurry to attack continental America. The chosen place was Cartagena de Indias. The clash was to happen in 1741. The English suffered a humiliating defeat in that attempt. So much so that they deliberately forgot it from the history books, because of the affront. The British fleet, under the command of Admiral Vernon, of 186 ships and almost 27,000 men, crashed before the Spanish garrison composed of about 3,500 men and six ships of the line. Don Blas de Lezo was key to the Spanish victory in the Caribbean. His body battered by the wear and tear of the battles fought (he was lame, one-armed and one-eyed) hid a brilliant mind that the English could not break.
Two years later another admiral set his sights on the Canary Islands. With the entry of the War of the Austrian Succession, the theater of operations had moved to Italy. The idea was the same: cut communications between America and the Iberian Peninsula. The plan was to take an island and establish a permanent base where they could wage privateering against the Indies Fleet. The chosen island was La Gomera.
Between May 31 and June 1, 1743, Admiral Charles Windham appeared before San Sebastián de La Gomera. The three British ships, of 70 and 60 guns, point against the fragile population of La Gomera. The English added a 24-gun privateer frigate that they had captured on the trip from England to the Canary Islands. With all this arsenal, they bombarded the weak defenses of the island. Against the all-powerful “Royal Navy”, the mayor of the island can only oppose unprepared militias, which only had 15 outdated artillery pieces, farming tools and a handful of rifles for their defense.
Windham, feeling victorious upon seeing the island's weak defenses, sends a letter with the conditions for total surrender. The clauses were very humiliating for the Gomeros. The response was immediate and would go around Europe. The phrase of the island's commander, Don Diego Bueno, was worth highlighting:
For my country, for my law and for my king, I must lose my life, and thus, he who has the most strength will win!”
But let's summarize the almost telegraphic attack.
Windham was spotted from the heights of Vallehermoso and Chipude. On May 29 at dusk they appear on the horizon north of the island of La Gomera. At dawn on the 31st they arrived at the port of San Sebastián. Windham sends the letter and receives a refusal from Diego Bueno (mayor of La Gomera). During the next two days there was intense cannonade. The English tried to land on June 1 in San Sebastián. The English thought they had the surprise factor but suffered a setback. They did not have internal communications in La Gomera. The Whistle played a fundamental role, since all men over 16 years of age who were capable of carrying a weapon were notified. The Gomeros had turned the situation around. The surprise fell at the hands of Philip V's troops.
The islanders, knowing the terrain, knew how to hide before the ships reached San Sebastián. The English did not correctly calculate the number of islanders they were facing; they only saw a dilapidated village. Rifles in hand, the English - who were estimated to number between 300 and 350 - attempted to storm the square. The Gomeros, for their part, gathered around 1,525 men. Seeing that the entire island was waiting for them on the beach, the English captain saw what was coming and had to retreat, flee, retreat, cannonade to the rear to ensure his escape route. That escape tasted like victory for a people who united to fight against an enemy that was Goliath himself, the threatening English Royal Navy. Windham left with his tail between his legs, leaving behind a battered village that had suffered the ferocity of a cannonade. The victory was as unexpected as it was miraculous, so in the church of the Assumption of San Sebastián in La Gomera we can see a fresco that captures this attack and the altarpiece of the Pilar, where there is a portrait of Diego Bueno in a praying attitude.
La Gomera had its episode in the Asiento War, but this fact was forgotten, and there are a few of us who, with great effort, want to put it back in the place it deserves. Today, the Blas de Lezo Cultural Association, to which I have the honor of belonging, has made this historical event its own and is contributing to its dissemination outside the islands. A story that, as told by the writer Carlos Fernando Hernández Bento, author of '1743. The Royal Navy in the Canary Islands', reflects the nature of the Gomeros in the face of adversity. These days we are celebrating 275 years of this feat, an anniversary in which the “jocicos del diablo”, the enemies of the king of Spain, had a cure of humility.
I recommend the following video for more information, made by Televisión Canaria:
https://www.facebook.com/BDCanariasTV/videos/1881474151902704/
