The great naval feat of this war was the daring attack Rooke made on
Gibraltar in 1704 with the help of some very gallant Dutch. Landing
all the Marines ("Soldier and Sailor too") on the narrow neck of ground
joining the famous Rock of Gibraltar to the mainland of Spain, and
ranging all his broadsides against the batteries on the seaward front,
Rooke soon beat the Spaniards from their guns and forced them to
surrender a place which, if properly defended, should have kept out a
fleet ten times as strong. No sooner had Gibraltar fallen than a
French fleet came to win it back. But, after a fierce battle off
Malaga, with over fifty ships a side, the French gave up the idea; and
from that day to this Gibraltar has been British.
British sea-power won many advantages by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
France and Spain agreed that one king should never rule both countries.
The British kept Gibraltar and Minorca, which together made two
splendid bases for their fleet in the Mediterranean; while France gave
up all her claims to Newfoundland and the Territory of Hudson Bay,
besides ceding Acadia (Nova Scotia), to the British Crown.
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