Invasion of Jamaica
The Invasion of Jamaica took place in May 1655, during the 1654 to 1660 Anglo-Spanish War, when an English expeditionary force captured Spanish Jamaica. It was part of an ambitious plan by Oliver Cromwell to acquire new colonies in the Americas, known as the Western Design.
Although major settlements like Santiago de la Vega, now Spanish Town, were poorly defended and quickly occupied, resistance by escaped slaves, or Jamaican Maroons, continued in the interior. The Western Design was largely a failure, but Jamaica remained in English hands, and was formally ceded by Spain in the 1670 Treaty of Madrid. The Colony of Jamaica remained a British possession until independence in 1962.
Background[edit]
In 1654, Oliver Cromwell and his Council of State planned a surprise attack on Spanish America. There were a number of reasons for this, including the Commonwealth's weak economic position, and finding an outlet for large numbers of disgruntled veterans from the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.[2]
The expedition left England in December 1654, comprising a fleet of 17 warships and 20 transports, carrying 325 cannons, 1,145 seamen, and 1,830 troops (later reinforced by contingents from other English West Indian colonies to 8,000 strong).[3] Command was jointly held by Admiral William Penn, and Robert Venables, an experienced soldier recently returned from Ireland. The Spanish had been aware of these preparations since July, and ordered improvements to the defences of Hispaniola, correctly assumed to be the main target.[4] The fleet arrived in Barbados at the end of January 1655, and after two months of refitting, sailed for Hispaniola; on 13 April, Penn landed 4,000 men under Venables near Santo Domingo.[3] Suffering from dysentery, and harassed by black and mixed-race Spaniards on the march,[5] the expedition failed with the loss of 1,000 men.[3] The English troops evacuated on 25 April.[3]
Even before this, Penn and Venables had barely been on speaking terms, and their relationship now completely broke down. Since they had been given wide discretion, Venables decided to salvage something from the expedition by attacking Jamaica, which was poorly defended. However, having failed to take the main objective of Hispaniola, Penn strongly opposed the attempt, to the extent Venables worried that once disembarked, his men would be abandoned by the fleet.[6]