The Pirate History Podcast · Matt Albers

Episode 366 - The Battle for Cadiz

·37 min·2 clips

At Port St. Mary, English marines looted warehouses, attacked locals, and changed Spanish allegiance.

1. The Pirate History Podcast episode "The Battle for Cadiz" follows George Rook, Wolfgang William Romer, and the Allied campaign in 1702. 2. Matt, the host of The Pirate History Podcast, uses naval command histories and ship names to show why these men mattered. 3. The episode asks how George Rook's career, Romer's artillery math, and the Cadiz expedition fit into the War of the Spanish Succession. 4. William III's promotions after the Glorious Revolution favored politically reliable officers with battle records over noble birth. 5. George Rook rose from a commissioned third lieutenant in 1672 to captain, rear admiral, vice admiral, and then Admiral of the Fleet. 6. Wolfgang William Romer, a military engineer from the Netherlands, built forts in Portland, Maine, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, New York, and Boston. 7. Romer also served as master gunner under the Earl of Bellamont on the Smyrna Convoy and was ignored by the admiral. 8. That convoy reached the coast of Turkey and was defeated, which Matt uses to explain why Rook later trusted Romer's advice. 9. The episode revisits HMS Nonesuch, where George Rook served with John Benbow, Francis Wheeler, and Henry Every during the capture of the pirate flagship Golden Tiger. 10. Rook's later service on HMS Deptford and at Bantry Bay, Beachy Head, Barfleur, and La Hogue marks his rise through major Anglo-French naval actions. 11. Matt says Rook's nighttime raid at La Hogue burned the French fleet and earned him a knighthood. 12. The Mediterranean campaign begins with a strategic shortage of supplies for Prince Eugene in northern Italy and the need to break the French blockade. 13. Cadiz becomes the first major objective because it is a key Spanish port and a pressure point for Portugal and King John II. 14. Rook brings a large Allied fleet of 25 ships of the line, including HMS Summer, HMS Torbay, the Zeven Provincien, HMS Kent, and HMS Boyne. 15. Prince George of Denmark insists on sailing close enough to show the flag, which gives Spain time to mobilize cavalry and militia around Cadiz. 16. The Allied landing at the Bay of Bulls meets 200 horsemen on the high ground, followed by hard fighting at Fort St. Catherine and Port St. Mary. 17. Matt describes the Port St. Mary sack as marines looting wine warehouses and behaving like buccaneers on a much larger scale. 18. That raid shifts local nobles toward King Philip and France, and Rook then loses confidence in the army's ability to finish the job. 19. The tone is historical, argumentative, and darkly comic, with long digressions, ship lists, and blunt judgments about commanders. 20. Listeners who like naval history, Atlantic warfare, and command biographies will get the most from it. 21. Listeners looking for a short, tightly edited war narrative may skip it.

As heard by us

A celebrated admiral learns that one victory cannot command the next battle.

George Rook's Mediterranean command turns a famous victory into a test of expectation. After the night raid at La Hogue, where the French fleet was burned, Rook is knighted, raised to Admiral of the Fleet, and sent to break the French blockade of the Mediterranean and retake…

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Why you'd press play

You get a naval rematch where La Hogue's bright victory makes Rook's next defeat harder to read.

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