Capture of Cádiz (1596) 1596
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1596 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Spain | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 36.5500, -6.2837 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The capture of Cádiz in 1596 was an event during the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) and the Eighty Years' War, when English and Dutch troops under Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, and a large Anglo-Dutch fleet under Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, with support from the Dutch Republic, raided the Spanish city of Cádiz.
Due to the Spanish commander's lack of foresight and organisation, the Anglo-Dutch forces met little resistance. In order to deny the raiders their prize, the Spanish set fire to the treasure fleet anchored in the Bay of Cádiz. The attacking forces disembarked, captured, sacked, and burned the city and took hostage several of the city's prominent citizens, who were taken back to England to await payment of their ransom.
The economic losses caused during the sacking were numerous: the city was burned, as was the fleet, in what was one of the principal English victories in the course of the war. Despite its failure in its primary objective of seizing the Spanish treasure fleet's silver, the raid contributed to Spain's declaration of bankruptcy the following year.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Capture of Cádiz (1596) (revision 1381259574), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Cádiz expedition (1625) 1625 · 2 km
- Battle of Cádiz (1656) 1656 · 2 km
- Siege of Cádiz 1810 · 3 km
- Battle of Cádiz (1702) 1702 · 3 km
- Assault on Cádiz (1797) 1797 · 4 km
- Battle of Trocadero 1823 · 6 km
Browse more: battles in Spain · Europe · Early modern battles