Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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This place so often mentioned, was first given up to the English fleet under Lord Sandwich, by the Portuguese, January 30th, 1662; and Lord Peterborough left governor, with a garrison. The greatest pains were afterwards taken to preserve the fortress, and a fine mole was constructed at a vast expense, to improve the harbour. At length, after immense sums of money had been wasted there, the House of Commons expressed a dislike to the management of the garrison, which they suspected to be a nursery for a popish army, and seemed disinclined to maintain it any longer. The king consequently, in 1683, sent Lord Dartmouth to bring home the troops, and destroy the works; which he performed so effectually, that it would puzzle all our engineers to restore the harbour. It were idle to speculate on the benefits which might have accrued to England, by its preservation and retention; Tangier fell into the hands of the Moors, its importance having ceased, with the demolition of the mole. Many curious views of Tangier were taken by Hollar, during its occupation by the English; and his drawings are preserved in the British Museum. Some have been engraved by himself; but the impressions are of considerable rarity.—B.
History of the Garrison in Tangier.
More on the Sandwich and Tangier.
See the history of the Tangier Regiment (of foot). [slight spoiler]
For those whose geography is as weak as mine: Tangiers is a coastal city in Morocco, located across the straits of Gibraltar from Spain. Its value was that, together with the fortress city of Gibraltar, it allowed control of access into and out of the Mediterranean.
More on Sandwich and Tangier.
The above site and content has changed, for the history of the regiment formed to go to Tangier see
more useful info also see argier/ algiers http://192.5.30.113/pwrr/tangiers.html
Anice pix From Ruben See: http://historic-cities.huji.ac.il/morocco/tanger/maps/aveline_ca1700_tanger_b.jpg
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1662/02/28/index.php#c28199
“Tangier: England’s Lost Atlantic Outpost 1661-1684,” Routh, E.M.G. London. John Murray. 1912 Huge amount of information about the whole period of the English occupation of Tanger. A lot from Peyps’ journals and includes many plates of Hollar’s engravings of the fortifications.
The L&M Companion volume has a long essay on Tangier.
You can read some of it at Google Print:
http://print.google.com/print?id=J-JSalViBrMC&pg=PA407&lpg=PA407&dq=Tangier&prev=http://print.google.com/print%3Fq%3DThe%2BDiary%2Bof%2BSamuel%2BPepys%252C%2BVol.%2B10%253A%2BCompanion%26btnG%3DSearch%2BPrint&sig=w_97jPETSV2EktWq_1PSX9OiI4A
(keep hitting the forward arrows and skip over the unavailable pages). There’s a nice description of Sam’s 1683 voyage, for which he kept a journal (“a worthy appendage to the great diary though far less well known”):
“As Pepys soon found out, the place was a sink of iniquity and corruption
Encountering the Infidels: Restoration Images of the Moors
is the title of an essay by Karim Bejjit that has a lot of material relating to the English occupation of Tangier:
http://www.shu.ac.uk/wpw/morocco/Beljjitt/Beljjitt.htm
“During the Restoration period, following a long absence of the Moor from the English stage, popular notions about the Moors were more directly influenced by the numerous and regular reports published at home about the condition of the British garrison in Tangier and its encounters with the belligerent natives. The paradox that emerges, then, is that as official and public awareness of the Moors takes on a worldly and more concretised aspect than hitherto entertained, the dramatic treatment of the Moor in such renowned plays as Elkanah Settle
TANGIER: ENGLAND
Tangier (May 3rd 1663)…
On May 3rd 1663 Lord Peterborough was enticed by Guyland to let the garrison outside the city walls. They ran out “in a confused manner”, without prior knowledge of the strength or position of the Moors. The result was disaster. The British pursued the retreating Moors who led them into a prepared trap. Surrounded on three sides the British were routed and only a third of force regained the safety of the town.
This serious setback sapped the confidence of Peterborough and his garrison. No parties were sent out of the town and the gates were permanently shut; the Moors were permitted to steal cattle from under the very noses of the sentries. A change of command was required.
(Childs…The Army of Charles II)
Sam 10th September 1663…” Mr. Moore who tells me of the good peace that is made at Tangier with the Moors, but to continue from 6 months to 6 months.”
Teviot arrived on the 11th May 1663 and realized that the key to a successful defence of Tangier lay in the construction of fortifications which would allow the Garrison and not the Moors to control the circle of hills surrounding the town.
On June 19th the Moors attacked Fort Catherine, 300 yards in advance of the main gate, but were beaten off. Six days later the Moors launched an offensive against the unfinished Pole Fort, and again the assault failed. After this defeat Guyland sued for 6 months peace, and Teviot accepted as it gave time to complete to fortifications.
The Moors paid scant regard to the truce and attacked the new redoubt, but were driven off. On 16th July came decisive action. Teviot employed a “Guard of Dogs” to discover Moors hiding within the British Lines, and a 2.00 pm they found enemy horsemen waiting in ambush. The Tangier Horse charged down on the Moors, but Teviot fell back as he spotted the approach of a large body of enemy infantry. The 5 new forts were ordered to be manned. A mist had blown in from the sea and the Moors set fire to the grass before Tangier, blinding the garrison artillery. Under cover of this smoke screen, the Moors advanced within a musket shot of the forts. Then, as if through divine intervention the winds changed direction blowing the smoke back over the Moors. This was too much for Guyland who he again asked for a truce.
(Teviot the took 6 months leave in Scotland)
( Summary from…The Army of Charles II by John Childs)
On the 4th of September Dirk shows that Fanshawe returns to England from his role in Portugal.
The Spanish still believe that Tangier is their property, being at war with Portugal and not recognising Portugal to be an independent State. The Spanish could only take Tangier with the help of Guyland attacking on land, while they mount a sea attack. Philip IV tries to negotiate with Guyland, and English intelligence gets wind of this.
Fanshawe is chosen to go Madrid as Ambassador with instructions to diplomatically warn Philip that we are aware of plans without flaunting all his knowledge. However Guyland had no intention of helping the Spanish and was only interested in taking the money and playing at diplomacy.
(Intelligence and Espionage in the Reign of Charles II by Alan Marshall.)
Diet of the Garrison.
Mr. Gauden, Victualler of the Navy, supplied the garrison in Tangier.
“Private men lived on a diet of ship’s biscuit, salt beef or pork, dried peas, butter, cheese and oatmeal, with the occasional variety of fresh bread and dried fish. The provisions were sent to Tangier from England by contractors who purchased their rights from the Lord’s Commissioners for Tangier, but even if the correct amount was shipped there was no guarantee that the stores would reach their destination. Victualling vessels could be shipwrecked during the three week r voyage through the stormy Bay of Biscay, or captured by Corsairs, as happened to the Phoenix in 1677.”
The Army of Charles II by J.Childs
May 4th 1664
On May 4th a composite battalion of 500 men, commanded by the Governor (Teviot) marched towards Jews Hill, 2 or 3 miles out of Tangier. Once on Jews River, Teviot met a force of 3,000 Moors, and these he beat off. It seems the advance was a calculated risk…
After repulsing the first attack, Teviot was sufficiently confident to advance further inland… but he was moving into a trap. The Moor’s first attack had been a decoy luring the British into a heavy wooded upland where another 8000 lay hidden. Unable to assume their stylised order of battle, the British were defeated in clusters of hand to hand fighting where pikes and hangers were no match for scimitars. Teviot rallied his battalion at the summit of Jews Hill where they were cut down to a man. 30 out of the original 500 escaped to Tangier.
(Childs, The Army of Charles II)
