Battle of Manila
Part of Seven Years' War
Date September 24 - October 6, 1762 Location Manila, Philippines Result British victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Great Britain	Kingdom of Spain
Commanders and leaders
William Draper Admiral Samuel Cornish	Archbishop Manuel Rojo
Strength
1,750 regulars, 4,500 sailors and marines	1,000 regulars, 9,000 Filipinos

The Battle of Manila of 1762 was fought in the Seven Years' War from September 24 to October 6 1762, between Britain and Spain.

British troops stationed in India were lying idle since the fall of Pondicherry. When war broke out with Spain, they were readily available to be employed against the Spanish possessions in Asia.

In June 1762, Admiral Samuel Cornish received secret orders for an expedition, which he communicated to the authorities at Calcutta. The inspiration for the attack was as much dreams of loot as plans for geopolitical advantage, and the expedition received limited support from the East India Company.

On August 1, a British fleet of eight ships of the line, three frigates, and four store ships, sailed away from Madras to eastward with a force of 6,839 regulars, sailors and marines. The commander of the expedition was Brigadier General William Draper. He was assisted by Colonel Monson as Second in Command, Major Scott as Adjutant-General and Captain Fletcher as Brigade-Major of the East India Company. The expeditionary force consisted of:

• 79th Draper's Regiment of Foot (450 men)
• composite battalions of sepoys (drawn from all the Madras Sepoy regiments) under Captain DesPlans (2,000 men)
• French deserters under Lieutenant Martin (200 men)
• other assorted troops (freed African slaves, native Christian Indians who claimed to have Portuguese descent, Nawab European infantry, ...)

On September 24, after much delay owing to stormy weather and the extremely defective condition of Admiral Cornish's ships, the expedition entered the Bay of Manila and anchored off Fort Cavite.

On September 25, Draper landed his troops unopposed through a heavy surf, about 2,5 km south from the walls of the city. A substantial numbers of Royal Marines and sailors were then detached from the fleet. The garrison of Manila consisted of the Royal Regiment (20 companies of 100 men each). These companies were far from being at full strength. Mortality, desertion and various detachments had reduced this regiment to some 565 soldiers. There were only 80 artillerymen, and those even were Filipinos.

On September 26, Draper seized a detached fort which had been abandoned by the Spaniards within 200 meters of the glacis, and began to construct a battery, while the ships sailed up to draw the fire of the town upon themselves.

On September 30, a British storeship arrived with entrenching tools, but was driven ashore on the very same evening by a gale, and there lay hard and fast. By singular good fortune, however, she had taken the ground at a point where she served exactly to screen the rear of Draper's camp from the Spanish cannon, while her stores were landed with greater speed and safety than would have been possible had she remained afloat; for the gale continued for several days and forbade the passage of boats through the surf.

On October 4, the battery and the ships opened a furious fire, which in 4 hours silenced the guns of Manila.

By October 5, the British cannonade had made a practicable breach in the fortifications of Manila.

During the night of October 5 to 6, the Spaniards made a sally upon the British position with 1,000 Filipinos who were driven back with heavy loss.

At dawn of October 6, Draper's regiment and a party of sailors attacked the breach and carried the fortifications with little difficulty. To prevent further slaughter, acting governor Archbishop Antonio Rojo surrendered the citadel and the port of Cavite as soon as the city fell, promising four million dollars for ransom of the town and of the property contained therein.

Thus fell Manila within 10 days of the arrival of the British.
On the 10th of October, Manila was placed under the authority of Lt. Gen. Dawson Drake.

The British held Manila until it was returned to Spain, though they were unable to establish control over other areas of the Philippines.

the payment of the four million dollars has never been completely made, but the expedition was very rewarding nevertheless, especially after the capture of the treasure ship Santísima Trinidad with a value of two million dollars on board.

The city remained in British hands for 15 months and was given back to Spain after the Treaty of Paris (1763).

• Manila Ransomed: The British Assault on Manila in the Seven Years War, Nicholas Tracy, University of Exeter Press 1995 (ISBN 0-85989-426-6)
• Fortescue, J. W., A History of the British Army Vol. II, MacMillan, London, 1899, pp. 544-545.
• Rojo, Journal
• NY Times
• British expedition against Manila

This article was originally based on material from [1], which is licensed under the GFDL.

• Battle of Manila for other battles
• Military History of the Philippines