In the spring of 1797, two English frigates boarded a Spanish frigate and a French corvette in the Santa Cruz roadstead and, taking advantage of the darkness, took them out of the bay with hardly any resistance. This action made Rear Admiral Nelson think that it would be easy to take over the Port and Plaza de Santa Cruz, proposing to Admiral Jervis an ambitious plan to prevent Spain from continuing to use the Canary ports on its stops with America and Africa. On July 15, the English would abandon the blockade of the port of Cádiz and set course for Tenerife.
On July 21, at dawn, the lookout at the Igueste watchtower spotted a British fleet on the horizon, made up of four ships of the line, three frigates, a cutter and a bombard, communicating it to the Castle of San Cristóbal by means of bonfires. In total, 2,000 marines came and their ships carried 393 cannons.
Once the “rebate” was played, General Gutiérrez, General Commander of the Canary Islands, gathered his Staff and put the planned plan into operation; that is to say, that women, the elderly and children went up to La Laguna in search of refuge, while the public offices of the Treasury, Tobacco, Post Office, and commercial stores were evicted.
1,000 men from the Canary Islands Militias Regiments of Abona, Güímar, La Laguna, La Orotava and Garachico arrived in Santa Cruz, who would join the 600 soldiers of the Canary Islands Infantry Battalion, the 387 artillerymen who defended the castles and batteries with their 89 cannons, the 60 men of the Cuban and Havana flags, the 110 sailors of the French corvette La Mutine, the pilots and sailors of the merchant ships in the bay, and the volunteer civilians.
On July 22, at dawn, 23 boats full of Englishmen tried to disembark on the Bufadero beach, but the assault was aborted thanks to a peasant woman from San Andrés spotting them who was going to the recova to sell her products and alerted the soldiers of the castle of Paso Alto.
At ten o’clock in the morning, three English frigates approached the Valleseco beach, disembarking 1,200 men who seized the Mesa del Ramonal. Quickly, a detachment commanded by the Marquis de la Fuente de las Palmas occupied the height of Paso Alto, facing the enemy.
At sunset, 300 men from the Infantry battalion, plus 50 Rozadores de La Laguna (volunteer countrymen who used rozaderas as weapons), prevented the English troops from advancing through those places. 500 militiamen would also join, led by the mayor of Taganana, Andrés Perdomo Álvarez. During the night, the English forces, taking advantage of the darkness, began their descent towards the beach, returning to their ships, leaving two soldiers dead along the way.
THE EVE OF THE COMBAT
On July 23, at three in the afternoon, the enemy squadron put to sea and headed southeast, losing sight of Barranco Hondo. Despite the apparent withdrawal, during the night, at the suggestion of Lieutenant Francisco Grandy Giraud, they placed a cannon -El Tigre- in a new embrasure opened in the Santo Domingo bastion, in order to cover the Alameda beach, which was unguarded. On the 24th, at six in the morning, the British squadron appeared again off Santa Cruz, anchoring off Valleseso.
At nine o’clock a new 50-gun ship joined him, with which the attacking force already added nine units. Nelson would gather his officers on the Theseus -captain ship- to study the strategy they would carry out to take Santa Cruz. Such was his faith in victory that he even decided to take part in the attack, leading the landing force.
At seven in the evening, a frigate and a shell approached the coast and began shelling the castle of Paso Alto, launching a total of 43 bombs that did not cause appreciable damage. To this action, the fort responded with the fire of its pieces.
On July 25, at dawn, the British landing craft divided into several groups. The one that headed towards the pier and the Castillo San Cristóbal was split in two. One of them, under the command of Captain Troubridge, managed to reach the dock stairs and disabled the seven guns in his battery.
Then they tried to reach the Castle but, when they were rejected, they took a detour and hid in the upper part of the Plaza de la Pila (La Candelaria) where, at four in the morning, when they were discovered by the soldiers of the Canary Islands Battalion, they fled and took refuge in the Santo Domingo convent, the site that today occupies the La Recova Art Center and the Guimerá Theater.
However, the second group of boats, in which Rear Admiral Nelson came, could not make it due to the strong waves, beaching their keels on the Alameda beach, so that when Nelson was about to jump ashore and drew his sword to encourage his men, he would be hit by shrapnel from the Tigre cannon. Nelson would be taken to his flagship, where his right arm was amputated at his shoulder.
The Fox cutter, which was escorting the aforementioned boats, was hit below the waterline and, in the midst of a terrifying fire, it sank in the bay with its 300 sailors, gunpowder and assault materiel.
Another group of boats, commanded by Samuel Hood, managed to disembark on Carnicería beach and went up the Santos ravine until they also took refuge in the Dominican convent.
At dawn, from the bell tower of the convent, the English began to send signals to their ships asking for help, while urging General Gutiérrez to hand over the plaza, under the threat of burning down the town, to which Gutiérrez turned a deaf ear.
CONDITIONS OF CAPITULATION
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Grandy had put the dock battery back into service, so when the 15 boats full of English sailors headed towards the aforementioned dock with the intention of helping their comrades who were in the Convent, the cannons opened fire on them, sinking several boats.
At seven in the morning, when discouragement spread among the English troops, they requested a parley; For this, Commander Samuel Hood was taken blindfolded to the castle of San Cristóbal, where he still dared to demand that General Gutiérrez surrender, but he gave up and agreed to capitulate, given the firm reply received: “The plaza still has men and gunpowder for its defense.”
Immediately, Carlos Adán, Sea Captain, went to the British flagship where he would inform Nelson of the Capitulation conditions, to which the Rear Admiral agreed and signed with his left hand; that is to say, “that the troops belonging to British SM be embarked with their weapons and that the prisoners be returned. In consideration of which, the British squadron was obliged not to attack Santa Cruz, nor any of the Canary Islands.
At nine in the morning on July 26, in the Plaza de la Candelaria, the vanquished British were distributed bread, fruit and wine, and they were transferred to their ships in the boats of the chicharrero fishermen or in their own boats that had remained intact. The following day the wounded who had been treated in the two hospitals of Santa Cruz would be re-embarked.
Nelson, impressed by such a kind act of nobility of the people of Tenerife, addressed General Gutiérrez a letter -signed with his left hand- in which he expressed his gratitude for such deferences, at the same time that he became the messenger of his own defeat.
In gratitude, he gave him some night vision goggles, cheese and a barrel of English beer, to which Gutiérrez responded with another letter and gave him two limetones (garrafones) of local wine.
PRIVILEGES FOR THE CITY OF SANTA CRUZ
The people of Santa Cruz could not imagine what that victory would mean for the future of their modest Villa because, four days later, the Royal Mayor met the authorities and residents of the Lugar and Puerto in the church of El Pilar, agreeing to designate Santa Cruz and the Apostle Santiago, on whose day the triumph over the English had been consummated, comrades.
General Gutiérrez would send what happened to the Court and, six years later, on August 28, 1803, King Carlos IV granted Santa Cruz the privilege of Villazgo, added the qualification of Noble, and granted its own coat of arms; Since then, this Place would be renamed: Muy Leal, Noble e Invicta Villa, Puerto y Plaza de Santa Cruz de Santiago de Tenerife.
Nineteen years later, on January 27, 1822, when Ferdinand VII promulgated the Royal Decree establishing the division of the Spanish territory into 49 provinces; the capital of the Canary Islands would be Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
In this capital the different political and administrative entities would begin to be established, among others, the Court of the Indies, the Development Board, the Postal Service, the Health Board…
On September 23, 1927, General Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja would decree the division of the Canary Islands into two provinces: Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas.
*Official chronicler of Santa Cruz de Tenerife
