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Battle of Cape Passaro
Part of the War of the Quadruple Alliance
The Battle of Cape Passaro, 11 August 1718 by Richard Paton (oil on canvas, 1767)
Date 11 August 1718 Location Cape Passaro, Sicily Result Decisive British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
Sir George Byng	Antonio de Gaztañeta
Strength
21 ships of line, several bomb vessels	27 ships of line and frigates, 7 galleys, 4 bomb vessels, 2 fireships
Casualties and losses
Minor	13 men of war captured and 3 burned. Unknown small vessels

The Battle of Cape Passaro (also known as Battle of Avola or Battle of Syracuse) was a major naval battle fought on 11 August 1718 between a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Byng and a Spanish fleet under Admiral Antonio de Gaztañeta off Cape Passaro, in the southern tip of the island of Sicily. The battle was the most significant naval action of the War of the Quadruple Alliance and resulted in a decisive victory for the British fleet, which captured or burned 16 Spanish ships of line and frigates and several small vessels. The war had broken in 1717, as an attempt by Spain and his prime minister Giulio Alberoni to recover the former Italian possessions of the Spanish Crown lost after the Treaty of Utrecht. Major naval works were sustained in Spain following the peace, and in 1717 a large Spanish fleet conquered the island of Sardinia from the House of Habsburg. Great Britain, as a member of the Triple Alliance, created to preserve the European balance of power along with France and the Dutch Republic, diapatched a fleet of 21 ships of line and a few small vessels to the Mediterranean in order to avoid further Spanish advances.

Shortly afterwards, a large Spanish naval force sailed from Barcelona with secret instructions of invading Sicily, then a neutral possession of Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. This force consisted of nearly 450 vessels, of which 40 were warships, and an army of 44.000 soldiers. The naval commander was Admiral Antonio de Gaztañeta, while the army was in charge of the Marquis of Lede. The de facto leader of the expedition was, however, José Patiño, general quartermaster and virtually founder of the Bourbon Spanish Navy. A landing near Palermo was effected and the campaign promptly extended all over Sicily. Despite Byng's presence at Cádiz, the British ambassador to Spain, William Stanhope, failed to persuade Cardinal Alberoni and Philip V of put end to the war, so the British fleet continued its way towards Naples. On 1 August, Byng anchored in the Bay of Naples. The Austrian Viceroy, Wirich Philipp von Daun, asked him for help to avoid the surrender of Messina. Lacking of transport ships, Byng only was able to brought 2,000 men aboard his fleet. Together with them, the British admiral dispatched one of his officers with the aime of obtaining a suspension of hostilities from the Marquis of Lede, which was rejected.

The Spanish fleet under Gaztañeta sailed then from its anchorage in the Point of the Faro, heading to Malta in order to linking up with a squadron in charge of Baltasar de Guevara, one of Gaztañeta's officers. Confident of Cardinal Alberoni's notes on the British neutrality, Gaztañeta no defensive dispisition on its way. Admiral Byng

Background

Philip V of Spain around 1720. Oil on canvas by Miguel Jacinto Meléndez in the Prado Museum. The recovery of the Italian lands linked to the Spanish Monarchy before its cession by the Treaty of Utrecht was the major goal of his foreign policy.

On 11 April, 1713, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the Treaty of Utrecht was signed in the Dutch city of the same name between France on the one hand, and the Kingdom of Great Britain, the United Provinces, the Kingdom of Prussia, the Kingdom of Portugal and the Duchy of Savoy on the other. After a successfull French campaign in Germany during this year, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI also saw the need to negotiate, and peace between France and Austria was signed on 7 March 1714, by the Treaty of Rastatt. This supposed the end of the war except at Catalonia and the Balearic islands, which continued offering resistance to Philip V of Spain, but Barcelona fell on 11 September and the islands submitted the following summer. The Treaty of Utrecht sanctioned the settling of the House of Bourbon in the Spanish throne and the preservation of the Spanish West Indies and American possessions, but also also marked the end of the Spanish Empire in Europe, as the Spanish Netherlands, the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Milan and Sardinia were ceded to Austria, the Kingdom of Sicily to Savoy, Gelderland to the Kingdom of Prussia, and Minorca and Gibraltar to Great Britain. France had succeeded in placing a king of her own royal house on a neighboring throne, but the ambitions expressed in the wars of Louis XIV had been defeated and the European system based on the balance of power, preserved.

Giulio Alberoni, the cardinal and statesman who directed Philip V's foreign policy in the immediate years after the Treaty of Utrecht. Painting of unknown provenance.

The British gains corresponded nearly to the French and Spanish losses and allowed Britain to strenghten its naval power. Gibraltar and Port Mahon in the Mediterranean and the colonies of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland in North American were good bases to extend and protect the British trade. In addition, if the British fleet was better balanced than the French and the Dutch ones, having played a major role supporting the British operations in the Iberian Peninsula during the war, Britain emerged from the war being the greatest naval power of the world. By 1712, in comparison, Spain almost devoid of navy. Philip V ordered the resume of the shipbuilding in the American and Spanish shipyards. In 1714 he established the Spanish Ministry of Marine and reformed the navy by abolishing regional fleets. The major political figure of Spain in those years was the Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, who come from the Duchy of Parma. Alberoni proceeded to reorganize the royal administration and suggested Philip V, when his wife Maria Luisa of Savoy died, to marry with Elizabeth Farnese, niece of the Duke of Parma. Alberoni also promised Philip V to put Spain in a strong position to recover Sicily and Naples if he had five years of peace. His proposal, though Philip V was willing to overthrow the Regent of France, Philip of Orleans, was to allineate with France and also to grant trade benefits to Britain with the aim of isolate Austria.

The British monarch George I, who was also Elector of Hannover, received with disfavor Alberoni's advantages, which he considered intended to undermine the power of the Emperor Charles VI. Alberoni, irritated, decided to withdraw them. This, together with King Philip's claims over the French throne, turned Great Britain and France against Spain. Both countries, jointly with the United Provinces, had formed a year before the so called Triple Alliance in seeking of a system to mantain the balance of power in the continent. Meanwhile, both Austria and Spain aspired to the dominion of Sicily. The British statesmen prefered the island to be ceded to the his former allie rather than to Spain. France, under the weakness of Philip or Orleans', agreed, and it was proposed to modify the Treary of Utrecht and force Victor Amadeus II of Savoy to exchange Sicily for Sardinia. The detention of the Spanish Grand Inquisitor José Molinés at Milan by orders of the Emperor gave Spain a pretext to initiate military hostilities in Italy.

Prelude

Spanish plans had been drawn previously, and in late July, 1717, a large fleet set sail from Barcelona. The expedition consisted of 9 ships of line, 6 frigates, 2 fireships, 2 bomb vessels and 3 galleys, besides 80 troopships aboard of which were embarked 9.000 infantrymen, 600 horse, siege and campaign artillery trains, engineers, baggage and ammunition. The vessels were divided in two divisions: the first under Vice-admiral Esteban, Marquis of Mari, a Genoese native in service of Philip V with some ships of his own; the second under Squadron Chief Baltasar de Guevara. The galleys were commanded by Squadron Chief Francisco Grimau, and the army by the Flemish nobleman Jean François de Bette, Marquis of Lede, Lieutenant General and Knight of the Golden Fleece. Following orders of Alberoni, news had been spread saying that the fleet had been intended to participate in the Holy League's campaign against the Ottoman Empire at the Levant, an that the army battalions had to reinforce the garrison of Majorca. Mari sailed from Barcelona on 22 July and arrived at the Gulf of Cagliari 29 days later; De Guevara having arrived severals days before. When both commanders joined forces, the landing was effected.

Defended mostly by Spanish exiles loyals to the House of Habsburg, Sardinia was captured in less than three months. The only reliefs that the Austrians could sent were a 500-men battalion which the General of the Galleys of Naples, the Marquis of Foncalada, landed near Cagliari, and some small detachments brought from Genoa aboard feluccas. Most of this soldiers were made prisioners and Cagliari capitulated on 9 October. The viceroy of the island, Antoni Rubí de Boxadós, Marquis of Rubí and former governor of Majorca, was lucky to escape providing the darkness of the night, but most of his entourage was made prisoner by a detachment of Spanish dragoons. Alghero, Sassari and Castelo Aragonese surrendered to the Spanish fleet. On 23 November the Spanish ships and soldiers, except those which were left to garnish the island, had returned to Barcelona. Meanwhile, negotiations had ensued between Vienna, Madrid and Paris in order to avoid the war. English and French envoyes offered Philip V the Duchies of Parma and Tuscany, and also the renounce of Charles VI to the Spanish throne, if he abandoned Sicily and accepted its permutation for Sardinia. In view of Alberoni's negatives, even Gibraltar was offered. The Cardinal was strengthening Spain's position in Europe by forming of an alliance with Russia and Sweden with the aim of restore the House of Stuart in the British throne.

Byng sent to the Mediterranean

Admiral Sir George Byng. Oil on canvas by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Byng had a complex and difficult task in mediating between Spain and the Habsburg Empire around the Sicilian question.

At Great Britain, in the early months of 1718, during the negotiations, a large number of vessels began to be commissioned, amongst other measures which alarmed the Spanish ambassador, the Marquis of Monteleon. This man wrote a memorial to the British government declaring that "such powerful armament in time of peace could not but cause umbrage to the king his master, and alter the good intelligence that reigned between the two crowns." King Geroge I responded him that Admiral George Byng would be sent to the Mediterranean with a poerful squadron in order "to mantain the neutrality of Italy against those who should seek to disturb it." Admiral Byng, a man of long experience, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean on 24 March, and a month later he received his instructions. He was, upon his arrival upon his station, to inform the King of Spain, the Viceroy of Naples (at that time Count Wirich Philipp von Daun) and the Governor of Milan (the Prince Maximilian Karl of Löwenstein–Wertheim), that he had been sent to contribute to the arrangement of the differences between Spain and Austria and to aviod further violations of the neutrality of Italy. Has was also to ejoy both countries to abstain acts of hostiliy, and, if the Spaniards persisted in attacking the Emperor's territory in Italy, to hinder and obstruct them. In case of the Spaniards had already landed he was to induce them to the abandonement of their projects and to offer them his help to evacuate their troops; and, if his offers proved inffectual, to intercept Spanish ships and convoys, oppenly attacking them if necessary.

William Stanhope, British ambassador at Madrid. Portrait by James Worsdale. Stanhope played a significant role in the diplomatic relations between Spain and Great Britain during the first third of the 18th century.

Admiral Byng set sail from Spithead on 15 June with a fleet of 20 ships of line, two fireships, two bomb vessels, a storeship, a hospital ship and two tenders. On 30 June he arrived to Cádiz and dispatched one of his ships, HMS Superb, with a letter to the British ambassador at Madrid, William Stanhope, informing Philip V of the presence of the British fleet and of the instructions under which it was to act. Cardinal Alberoni, while reading this letter, told to Stanhope that "his master would run all hazards, and ever suffer himself to be driven out of Spain, rather than recall his troops or consent to any suspension of arms". Alberoni also said that the Spaniards were not to be firghtened and that he was so well convinced that in case of Admiral Byng attacked the Spanish fleet he should be in no pain for the success. Stanhope replied that Britain, though under the terms of the treaties of Utrecht and Westminster was obliged to defend the dominions of Charles VI, was acting only as a mediator. Alberoni promised him that the letter would be sent to the king and that he would get an answer in two days. Nine days later, Alberoni wrote to Stanhope that Byng might execute his sovereign's orders.

Byng resumed then his voyage, meeting with unfavorable winds. On 8 July the British fleet was rejoined off Cape Spartel by the two ships that Byng had previously dispatched, which brought news about the departure of the Spanish fleet from Barcelona on 18 June. Passing Gibratar, Byng was joined by Vice-admiral Charles Cornwall with a small division of two ships, HMS Argyll and HMS Charles Galley. At Minorca were disembarked four regiments of infantry which had been carried out from England in order to relieve the soldiers of the garrison, who were embarked to serve aboard the fleet. On 23 July Bung achored off Port-Mahon and was reported that the Spanish fleet had been seen on 30 June within fort leagues of Naples. Two days later, on 25 July the British fleet set sail, arriving at the Bay of Naples on 1 August.

Spanish invasion of Sicily

Portrait of José Patiño by Jean Ranc. He was the true commander of the Spanish expedition and the architect of the resurgent Spanish naval power, but had no experience in battle operations.

A large expeditionary force was gathered at Barcelona by following the orders of Cardinal Alberoni, comprising 12 ships of line, 17 frigates, 7 galleys, 2 fireships and 2 bomb vessels, plus 276 transports and 123 tartanes which carried aboard 36,000 infantrymen and 8,000 horse, besides artillery, supplies and ammunition. This naval force, assembled by Admiral Antonio de Gaztañeta and the General Quartarmaster of the Spanish navy, José Patiño Rosales, consisted primarly of old and comercial ships, many of them over-gunned. Gaztañeta led the naval forces, while the army was at the orders, again, of Jean François de Bette, Marquis of Lede. The true commander was, in fact, José Patiño, Gaztañeta and the Marquis of Lede having been ordered not to take any decision without Patiño's agreement. On 18 June the expedition sailed from Barcelona. Its objective was the island of Sicily, as the three commanders were informed by secret royal papers that they had been ordered to open at their arrival to Cagliari. On 30 June, having embarked reinforcements at the Bay of Cagliari between 25 and 27 June, the Spanish fleet came in sight of the city of Palermo. On 1 July the Spanish army landed at Cala di Solanto, 12 italian miles from Palermo. At the beach, the Marquis of Lede opened their secret orders, according to which he had been appointed Viceroy of Sicily. The Count Annibale Maffei, viceroy of the island for the House of Savoy, evacuated the citadel of Palermo, frightened of the large numbers of the Spanish army and the and pro-Spanish sympathies of the citizens. The Spanish fleet entered afterwards the harbour of the city and seized a newly built 64-gun ships of line.

View of the Bay of Naples with Admiral Byng's Fleet at Anchor, 1 August 1718. Painting by Gaspar Butler. Castel Nuovo emerges on the harbour while the bay is shown filled with vessels of the English fleet.

The Squadron Chief Fernando Chacón returned to Spain with 100 tansports and an escort of 4 ships of line to embark a second corps of the army. While the campaign continued through land and sea, on 18 July a supply convoy of 70 sail, only one of them of line (the 64-gun Santa Rosa), reached the island coming from Cádiz. A month later the entire island, with the exception of the citadel of Messina, had fallen to the Spaniards with little or nor resistance. The citadel was held by Savoyard troops, and as Victor Amadeus II of Savoy has agreed to surrender Sicily to the Emperor, the Austrian Viceroy of Naples, Wirich Philipp von Daun, in agreement of the Savoyard Viceroy, requested Admiral Byng to embark 2,000 German infantry under General Wetzel on board of his ships to land them into the citadel of Messina and the nearby Fort Salvatore. Byng agreed and sailed from Naples on 6 August. The Spanish fleet, meantime, was anchored off Paradiso. On 3 August Gaztañeta had detached Baltasar de Guevara to Malta with 2 ships of line and a frigate to demand the surrender of the Sicilian galleys which had sought refuge at the island. The Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, refused.

Before throwing the German reinforcements into the citadel of Messina, Byng sent one of his officers, Captain Saunders, to the Spanish camp with the aim of advising the Marquis of Lede of the British instructions of maintaining the peace. Byng therefore proposed Lede a cessation of arms in Sicily for two months, but the Spanish-Flemish general declined, excusing himself in the fact that he was not allowed to take such a decision. Byng was left with no choice but help the Imperialists and Savorayrds to defend themselves from the Spanish attack. Having been rejected his offers, the British admiral came with his squadron before Messina in order to encourage and support the garrison. The British ships were discovered by a Spanish felucca on 8 August heading to the point of the Faro, and notice was rapidly sent to the Spanish high command. The Marquis of Mari warned Gaztañeta and Patiño of the inferiority of the Spanish fleet, and the Irish-born Squadron Chief George Cammonck, former officer in the British Royal Navy, proposed the fleet to be anchored in the Paradiso roadstead and to be reinforced with shore batteries. This defensive position would, according to Cammonck, favore the Spanish ships as the strong currents of the Faro would throw Byng over the Spanish ships, thus avoiding the feared long-range cannonade. Gaztañeta and Patiño, however, were confident of the peaceful intentions of Byng thanks to Alberoni's letters, and it was decided to set sail upon Malta to join forces with Baltasar de Guevara.

Battle

Fighting of the Spanish rear

Esteban de Mari, Marquis of Mari. Anonymous copy of a 18th century work. He was originally a Genoese shipowner who entered the Spanish navy with three of shis vessels for the blockade of Barcelona in 1713.

The Spanish fleet sailed from the point of the Faro in disorder. No defensive disposition was taken by Gaztañeta, except to left behind two frigates to follow the British fleet in distance. As Byng stood in about the Faro, both ships were detected. At the same time, a felucca come from the Calabrian coast informed the British admiral that the Spanish fleet had been seen from the hills lying in. Byng dispatched the German troops of General Wetzel to Reggio under the escort of two of his ships and while he headed to the Faro with most of his vessels, the scouts being ahead. At noon they discovered the Spanish fleet, drawn into a line of battle, according to the British naval historian John Campbell, consisting of 27 ships of the line and frigates, two fireships, four bomb-vessels, seven galleys and several storeships. Byng followed them during the rest of the day. A Spanish relation of the battle printed afterwards at the Netherlands said that, on the morning on 10 August, the Spanish ships saluted the British ones as they approached. The night passed with a fairy weather; small gales and sometimes calm. The following morning the Spanish fleet was in dispersion, with the ships divided into three large groups separeted from each other. Gaztañeta tried to form a line of battle by towing his ships of line with the galleys, but had no time.

Portrait of Sir George Walton, by Bartholomew Dandridge. Then Captain, Walton played a key role in Byng's victory over the Spanish fleet.

The Marquis of Mari, who commanded the Spanish rear, having under his command various men-of-war; the ship of line El Real, the frigates San Isidro, Tigre, Águila de Nantes, two bomb-vessels, a fireship and some storeships, besides the galley squadron, had lagged behind and was near the shores off Avola. The British vessels were close of them, and Byng dispatched Captain George Walton of HMS Canterbury with five more vessels to chase them. HMS Argyll fired two shots near De Mari's El Real, and Canterbury a third one. Then, Mari's ship returned the fire and the battle ensued with British advantage. The Marquis, having his ship badly mauled by the British gunfire, resolved to drove ahore his squadron and later set fire to the ships to avoid capture. His own ship sustained 50 casualties, killed and wounded, and had her rigging severly damaged. She was ran aground and her crew managed to escape inland, but the ship could be afterwards refloated by her British captors. Two of the frigates were completely burned, his crews also managing to escape. The Sorpresa, under Captain Miguel de Sada, knight of the order of St. John, was the only ship which offered battle, but was forced to surrender, having susteined high damage and casualties. The other Spanish vessels struck the colors after a brief engagement, and the British took possession of them.

Attack on the Spanish center

Admiral Antonio de Gaztañeta. 19th century anonymous copy of a 1718 portrait. Credited as a fine shipbuilder, he lacked, like Patiño, of the necessary experience of a fleet commander.

Once cut the Spanish rear from the main fleet, Admiral Byng commited most of his vessels in pursuing Gaztañeta's squadron, which were continuing its way towards Cape Passaro. The Spanish admiral had then with him 6 ships of the line and 4 frigates, but had not succeeded in forming a line of battle. HMS Oxford and HMS Grafton were the first two British ships of the line which engaged Gaztañeta's center. At 10 am, as they approached, the disorganized Spanish vessels opened fire. The two Royal Navy ships did so, having been ordered by Byng not to fire until the Spaniards repeated their firing. Oxford fell upon the 64-gun Santa Rosa and took her after a murderous cannonade, supported by other British ships in distance. The 60-gun San Carlos struck the colors to Captain Tomas Matthews' HMS Kent having opposed little resistance. Captain Nicholas Haddock's Grafton, meanwhile, confronted Príncipe de Asturias, former HMS Cumberland, under the Chief Squadron Fernando Chacón, toghether with HMS Breda and HMS Captain. Príncipe de Asturias was left much shattered by Grafton and had most of his crew killed or injured, including Chacón, who was wounded in the face by a sliver. The ship surrendered to Breda and Captain while Grafton moved to engage another Spanish ship of 60 guns on his starboard.

The Battle of Cape Passaro, 11 August 1718. The main action in a painting by Isaac Sailmaker which shows the Spanish flagship San Felipe flanked on either side by British ships, probably Superbe and Kent.

At 1 pm Gaztañeta's flagship, the 74-gun San Felipe, was attacked by Kent and soon after by Superb, from which he received two broadsides. A running fight took place for two hours between the Spanish admiral's ship, supported by three others, and Byng's division of seven ships of line and a fireship. Gaztañeta held off his pursuers until Kent, bearing down uner his stern, fired him a broadside and fell to the leeward while Superb fell simultaneously on his weather-quarter. San Felipe', which could only return the fire with his aft-guns, was left dismasted and had his hull badly injured, but Gaztañeta was unwilling of surrender. Byng's HMS Barfleur came close to San Felipe and the British admiral demanded Gaztañeta to struck the colors in order to avoid obliging him to dispatch one of his fireship against San Felipe. Gaztañeta resufed, responding with a broadside. When the action resumed he received a shot which pierced his left leg and wounded his right heel. Volante, commanded by Captain Antonio Escudero, knight of the order of Malta, attempted to relief San Felipe staying close to him with the aim of attract some of the British fire upon herself. Pierced by the fire of three British ships, she struck to HMS Montague and HMS Rupert at the nightfall. San Felipe, having 200 men out of action, amongst them his flag captain Pedro Dexpois and Gaztañeta, who had been hit by the pieces of a sailor cut in half by a cannonball, also surrendered. Of the remaining ships of Gaztañeta's squadron, meanwhile, Juno had been taken by HMS Essex after a three-hour fighting.

Guevara's arrival and retreat

Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, the catalan Grand Master of the knights Hospitaller. Portrait by Jacques Deher.

At the same time that Gaztañeta's San Felipe struck his colors, and in almost total darkness, Baltasar de Guevara, in San Luis with another ship of line, came in sight of the Spanish flagship, alerted by the gunfire. Guevara's two ships took the windward and bore down upon him and Byng's Barfleur, exchanging a broadside with the British flagship. As warned that San Felipe had surrendered, Guevara clapped upon the wind and commited himself to collect the few Spanish ships still holding off. The frigate Perla under Captain Gabriel Alderete, was relieved and allowed to escape of three British ships. Together with another frigate, San Juan el Chicho, they left the battlefield, heading to Malta. Byng pursued them for sometime, but given the darkness and the light wind he decided to stead with his fleet. George Cammonck, convinced of the defeat, set sail to the Venetian Corfu with his flagship San Fernando and a frigate. Francisco Grimau's seven galleys, taking advantage of favourable winds, retired to Palermo. The ships which managed to escape were, besided the galleys, 4 ships of the line, 9 frigates, a bomb galley, and a ship of Pintado. The 64-gun Santa Isabel, under Captain Andrea Reggio, was pursued all the night and surrendered the next morning ro Rear Admiral George Delaval. The British, in contrast, sustained only minor damage. Of Admiral Byng's fleet, the ship which suffered most was Grafton, that engaged and disabled several Spanish vessels. The necessary repairs of the Royal Navy ships, mostly in the rigging, and those relating to prizes taken, were done the following days. On 18 August Byng received a letter from Captain Walton:

“ Sir, We have taken and destroyed all the Spanish ships and vessels which were upon the coast, the number as per margin. ” — Captain George Walton Canterbury, off Syracuse, August 16, 1718.

Walton had succeeded in capturing, by his own account, four men-of-war, a bomb vessels and a storeship, and in burning four other men-of-war. Having repaired his damaged, Byng entered into the port of Syracuse, then held by Savoyard troops under the Count of Maffei and blockaded by the Spanish army. From there Byng dispatched 5 Spanish ships of the line anf 4 Spanish frigates to Port-Mahon under a heavy escort. One of this ships, Gatzañeta's San Felipe, took fire accidentally and blew up with most of his crew; 160 British and 50 Spaniards. According to Spanish contemporaneous account, shortly after the action, a captain of the British fleet came to make a compliment of excuse to the Marquis of Lede in the name of Admiral Byng, giving him to understand that the Spaniards had fired first, and that this action ought not to be looked upon as a rupture between their respective countries. Gaztañeta and his officers wer dispatched to Augusta in a felucca, having been taken word not to wield weapons against the Habsburg armies for four months. 2,600 Spanish prisoners, wounded or sick, were also freed. Regarding the the Spanish ships which escaped to Malta, they were denied entrance to the port, where the Sicilian galleys under the Marquis of Rivaroles were still anchored. The Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, the Catalan Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, was sympathizer of the House of Habsburg.

Aftermath

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1716. Portrait by Jan Kupecký. Admiral Byng's victory overt the Spanish fleet ensured him the Sicilian throne.

Having achieved his goal of destroying or capturing the bulk of Spanish fleet, Admiral Byng, then at Malta, resolved to commit all his efforts to lift the Siege of Messina. To his disgrace, the Marquis d'Andorno surrendered the citadel on 29 September, though the German reinforcements had been allowed to enter and the defending force has therefore increased its strenght. The Marquis of Lede was able over the following months to occupy all the island except the towns of Syracuse, Melazzo and Trapani, which were kept by considerable Savoyard garrisons. Byng detached four of the ships whom with he remained at Malta to eliminate Cammock's squadron and to obstruct the supplying of the Spanish army. At Augusta they attacked a convoy of small vessels and forced the Spaniards to burn a bomb vessels and a fireship. Cammock, meantime, formed an auxiliary squadron with his remaining ships and three other taken to the Savoyards, one of them seized in the port Palermo, the 66-gun Santa Rosalía, and two other surrendered at Messina, Triunfo and Victoria, both of 60 guns. In all, Cammock had 5 ships of line, 5 frigates and Grimau's galleys, all of which he commited to support the land operations and, specially, to brought to the island supplies and troops from Genoa and Spain.

The Spanish situation at Sicily, however, considerably worsened over the following months, as Byng's attack virtually destroyed the Spanish Navy. The blow was felt so sever by Cardinal Alberoni that he banned the circulation of any information on the expedition and took measures against Great Britain. He requested ambassador Monteleone to left London, gave letters of marque to privateers, and ordered the seizure of all the British vessels and goods in the ports of Spain, a task in which Baltasar de Guevera played a major role when entered the port Cádiz with his few ships. During the time, Byng sent his eldest son to England with a full account of the battle. The Admiral returned to Naples on 2 November. Soon after he received from the Emperor Charles VI wrote by his own hand:

“ Admiral Sir George Byng,
I have received with a great deal of joy and satisfaction, by the bearer of this, yours of the 18th of August. As soon as I knew you was named by the king your master to command his fleet in the Mediterranean, I conceived the greatest hopes imaginable from that very circumstance. The glorious success yon have had surpasses, however, my expectations. You have given, upon this occasion, very singular proofs of your courage, conduct, and seal for the common cause: the glory you obtain from thence it indeed great, and yet my gratitude falls nothing short thereof, as Count Hamilton will fully inform you. You may always depend upon the continuance of my thankfulness and affection towards you: may God have yon always in his holy keeping. ” — Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor Vienna, October 22, 1718.

On 26 December Great Britain declared war on Spain, being imitated shortly afterwards by France, which declared war on the Bourbon Spain on 9 January, 1719. In spite of the unfavorable turn of events, Alberoni was even more unwilling than at first of accept the terms dictated by the Quadruple alliance. To reverse the course of the war, Philip V's minister began to collect armaments and shipping at Cádiz and Corunna for an expedition to Britain itself. While he sought the implication of the Swedish monarch Charles XII, he obtained the support of the Jacobite claimant to the English throne, James Francis Edward Stuart. The plan consisted of an invasion of the western England by 5,000 men under the British defector James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde. From Britain it was dispatched a squadron of then sail of the line in charge of John Norris to the Baltic, in order to avoid the Swedish involvement. The ships of the latter country remained at their ports and no naval action took place. Moreover, in 11 December Charles XII was killed by a cannon ball at the Siege of Fredriksten, and Spain was deprived of its only potential ally. Alberoni decided to continue the project and entrusted the command of the fleet destined to England to Baltasar de Guevara. Off Cape Finisterre the expedition was dispersed in a long-continued and violent storm which sank several ships and scattered the fleet. Three frigates and five transports with troops reached Scotland and disembarked about 400 men, but they were promptly defeated at the Battle of Glenshiel.