landing a body of sailors and marines about four miles to the westward of the Havana. At the same time Lord Albemarle effected the landing of the whole of the troops, without opposition, between the rivers Bacuranao and Cogimar, about six miles from the Morr). A body of men having appeared on the beach, Commodore Keppel directed the "Mercury " and " Bonnetta" corvettes to disperse them; but a much greater number having soon afterward presented themselves with the evident intention of disputing the passage of the Rio Cogimar with the main body of the expedition, Captain Hervey in the "Dragon" was sent to bombard the fort, which afforded the enemy protection, but which very soon surrendered, leaving a free passage for the advance of the invaders.

Resistance to the Invasion.

From the prisoners taken on the 2d of June in the "Tetis" and 'Fenix," the presence of a naval force in the harbor became known to the English, together with the fact that most of the enemy's ships had completed their supplies of water, and were nearly ready for sea. Till then the governor, as has been stated, was almost wholly unprepared. The first notice he had of the actual approach of the expedition was obtained from the crew of the small schooner, which escaped from the pursuit of the "Alarm" and the "Echo."

As soon as he became convinced of the fact, the governor, as we have seen, assembled a council of war, composed of the chief officers under his command. At this junta de guerra the plan of defence was arranged, and a firm resolution was taken to resist the invasion to the last extremity. The defence of the Morro, on the possession of which the fate of the Havana in a great measure depended, was intrusted to Don Luis de Valesco, commander of the "Reyna" ship of the line, to whose gallantry and perseverance Sir George Pocock, in his subsequent report to the admiralty, pays a just tribute of commendation. His second in command, the Marques de Gonzales, commander of the " Aquilon" ship of the line, followed in all respects. the example of Valesco, dying sword in hand in defence of his flag. The defence of the Punta Castle was in like manner assigned to a

naval officer, Don Manuel Briseno, who had a friend in the same. branch of the service for his second in command. This arrangement gave deadly offence to the officers of the army, who thought themselves unjustly superseded in the post of honor and of danger; but it was urged in excuse, that naval officers were better acquainted than those of the infantry or the cavalry with the use of artillery; and as the naval squadron had become useless by being locked up in the harbor, this was the only way in which they could be advantageously employed.

B

CHAPTER XXI.

War with Great Britain.

EFORE the Governor could assemble the militia of the Island

under arms, he thought it necessary to declare war by procla mation against Great Britain. When his whole force was at length assembled, it was found in gross numbers greatly to exceed that of the invaders. It consisted of nine squadrons of cavalry, including in all 810 men; the regiment of the Havana, 700; two battalions of the regiment de Espana, 1400; two battalions of the regiment de Aragon, 1400; three companies of artillery, 300; seamen and marines of the squadron, 9000; militia and people of color, 14,000-making a grand total of 27,610.

The greater part of the Spanish force was stationed in the town ɔf Guanabacao, on the side of the bay opposite to the Havana, between the points where the invading forces had landed, in order to prevent them from turning the head of the harbor and attacking the city by land. The British force was divided into five brigades, amounting, with detachments from Jamaica and North America, to a total of 14,041 land forces. At daybreak, on the 7th, the troops were already on board the boats arranged in three divisions-the centre commanded by the Honorable Augustus Hervey; the right wing by Captains Barton and Drake; and the left, by Captains Arbuthnot and Jekyl.

The first brigade was also the first to land; and as soon as the troops had formed on the beach, Lord Albemarle took the command, and marched in the direction of the city, which he did without further molestation as soon as the Cogimar batteries had been silenced. His Excellency established his headquarters in Cogimar for the night; the troops were served with rations under arms, and several pickets were advanced to the eminences overlooking the

Havana. After a succession of attacks on the part of Lord Albemarle, and a continued bombardment of the castle, the Morro surrendered on the 30th of July, and the town itself on the 14th of August, succeeding.

The spoils seized by the captors were of great value, and the distribution was a subject of much discontent; and it must be admitted that the partition, which gave three or four pounds to a soldier or a sailor, whose life was equally exposed with that of his superiors, and 100,000l. to an admiral or a commander-in-chief, was far from being impartial.

Arrival of Troops.

The peace having been concluded in 1763, the Conde de Ricla arrived at the Havana on the 30th of June, bringing the powers conferred by the treaty for the restoration of the British conquests in the Island of Cuba, and accompanied by General O'Reilly, with four ships of the line, a number of transports, and 2000 men for the supply of the garrison. On their arrival they were received by the English with every demonstration of respect. On the 7th of July the keys of the city were formally delivered up to the Conde de Ricla, on whom the government had been conferred, and the English garrison was embarked on its return to Europe.

The restoration of the Island to the Spaniards is regarded by the native writers as the true era from whence its aggrandizement and prosperity are to be dated. It was during the administration of the first governor that the new fortresses of San Carlos and Atares were erected, and the enlargement and rebuilding of the Morro and the Cabañas were begun. The old hospitals were placed on a better footing, and new ones were built. The court of accounts, and the whole department of finance, received a fresh impulse and a distinct form; and an intendant was named, who, among other arrangements, for the first time established the aduana, and created a custom-house revenue, the duties having been first levied on the 15th of October, 1764.

The Conde de O'Reilly, as inspector-general of the army, succeeded in organizing and placing on a respectable footing the regular troops,

as well as the militia of the Island. The city of the Havana having been divided into districts, the streets named, and the houses numbered, the truth came to be known, that the capital contained materials for the formation of a battalion of disciplined white militia. Beginning with the formation of a single company, the governor appointed lieutenants, sergeants, and corporals from the regular troops of the garrison, and, after a personal inspection, he followed the same course with the other companies.

New Battalions are Formed.

Adopting this principle in the other towns of the Island, he soon succeeded in realizing his ideas, and creating a considerable force on which the government had every reason to rely. When the two white battalions of the Havana and Guanabacoa were completed, it was still found that, with the addition of the stationary regiment of regulars and the other troops of the garrison, there would not be a sufficient force for the defence of the capital, so that the idea of forming two other battalions presented itself, the one of blacks, the other of people of color, and was immediately carried into effect.

Don Diego Manrique assumed the supreme command in 1765, but died within a few months after his arrival. He was succeeded in 1766 by Don Antonio Maria Bucarelli, who prosecuted with energy the construction of the fortifications begun by the Conde de Ricla. Bucarely paid great attention to the due administration of justice, and was distinguished by the affability of his manners, the facility he afforded of access to his person, and the readiness with which he heard and redressed the grievances of the people; making it a boast that he had succeeded in adjusting differences and compromising law suits which had been pending for forty years.

When afterward appointed viceroy of New Spain, the minister for the department of the Indies announced to him, by command of the king, as an unexampled occurrence, that during the whole period of his administration not a single complaint against him had reached the court of Madrid. Another of his merits with the people was the gentleness and address with which he effected the expulsion of the