On This Day ... in 1596 & Others
Having displayed exemplary operational security (unlike Hawkins' and Drake's disastrous West Indies expedition the previous year), Lord Howard's royal expedition made a surprise descent on the port of Cadiz, sinking or capturing the Spanish warships in the outer harbour and landing an assault force under the Earl of Essex.
The city was taken after a few hours fighting, the only local leader to have shown any resolve being the bishop. The only failure was to secure the ships of the immensely valuable West Indies flota, sitting in the inner harbour; these were looted by their own crews and then set alight - Queen Elizabeth was not pleased at the lost opportunity to seize the cargo valued at some £3.5 million, equal to ten years' normal revenue for the English crown.
The English remained in Cadiz for a fortnight, without facing any significant effort by the Spanish to oust them, before heading home with what was still a huge quantity of loot Lord Howard's chaplain had stolen from the Jesuit library and donated his ill-gotten gains to Hereford Cathedral, while the Earl of Essex gave the Bishop of Faro's library to the new Bodleian Library at Oxford.
Spain's reputation as the greatest power in Europe suffered disastrously from her failure to protect one of her most important ports. Don Pedro de Zubiaur was ordered to lead a new Armada in a reprisal against England in October, but luckily for the English, whose ships were now in dock refitting, the Armada was caught by a gale off Galicia and forced to return home having lost thirty ships.
1813: At Vittoria, Wellington who had advanced with his Allied army of 80,000 men from Portugal into Spain towards southern France, was confronted by Joseph Bonaparte with 66,000 French troops.
The battle opened with General Hill's British and Spanish troops on the right taking the Heights of Puebla. A couple of hours later, a column led by General Graham emerged in the French rear, having force-marched through the mountains, cutting off their line of retreat. On the main battlefield, the Light Division and Picton's 3rd Division led the attack over three bridges across the Zadorra. The village of Margarita was taken after fierce fighting, and the coup de grace was delivered by an attack from Cole's division which broke the final French line of defence.
The French ran, abandoning all but two of their 153 guns, and a vast hoard of Joseph Bonaparte's personal treasure. The subsequent orgy of looting disgusted Wellington, who famously described his troops as the "scum of the earth". Wellington was, however, rewarded with promotion to Field Marshal.
1854: During a bombardment of Russian coastal fortifications on the Aland Islands in the Baltic, a shell landed aboard HMS Hecla, its fuze still burning. Mr Lucas, a Mate, ran to it and threw it overboard: it exploded before it hit the sea, but thanks to his action caused no injury. He was awarded the Victoria Cross.
1864: Troops of the 43rd and 68th Regiments and 1st Waikato Militia successfully stormed the Te Ranga pa - a Maori fortification - to draw the Bay of Plenty campaign to a close. Sergeant Murray mounted a lone bayonet attack on a position held by ten Maoris, killing them all. Murray, along with Captain Smith who had also distinguished himself in the assault, was awarded the Victoria Cross.
1940: An RAF Anson, fitted with special radio receivers, managed to detect over Derby the transmissions of the German Knickebein bomber navigation system used during the Blitz, allowing jamming equipment - codenamed Headache and Aspirin - to be rapidly developed.
1941: Commonwealth and Free French troops took Damascus from Vichy control.