Siege of Santo Domingo (1655)

Siege of Santo Domingo
Part of the Anglo-Spanish War (1654–60)
View from Hispaniola. La Española (Spanish), Hispaniola (Old Castilian)
Date April 23 – April 30, 1655 Location Santo Domingo, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic) Result Spanish victory[1] The English forces failed to capture Hispaniola[1]
Belligerents
Spanish Empire	Commonwealth of England
Commanders and leaders
Bernardino de Meneses	William Penn Robert Venables
Strength
2,400 soldiers: 1,300 lancers 700 regular soldiers 200 marines 200 militia	13,120 soldiers: 7,000 marines 6,000 infantry 120 cavalry 34 ships
Casualties and losses
13 killed[2]	3,000

The Siege of Santo Domingo of 1655, was fought between April 23, 1655 to April 30, 1655 at the Spanish Colony of Santo Domingo. A force of 2,400 Spanish troops led by Governor Don Bernardino Meneses y Bracamonte, Count of Peñalba, successfully resisted a force of 13,120 troops and 34 ships of the English Commonwealth Navy led by Admiral Sir William Penn.

The English force landed some thirty miles from their objective, the city of Santo Domingo. After a march of four days through heavy rough country with little water, the column was routed in an ambush by a few hundred vaqueros. The English fleet ineffectually tried to bombard the city into submission and the army re-embarked its survivors.^[1]

The British naval historian, N.A.M. Rodger, notes that, "In one afternoon the invincible reputation of the New Model Army had been thrown away".^[1]

Due to the valor of Don Bernardino de Meneses y Bracamonte, the site of the victory was named in his honor; Puerta del Conde.

Notes

1. Rodger 2005, p. 23.
2. Historic Cities of the Americas: An Illustrated Encyclopedia.

References

• Rodger, N. A. M. (2005), The Command of the Ocean, New York, ISBN 0-393-06050-0

Further reading

• Kris E. Lane, Pillaging the Empire: piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750.