Spanish Attack

Spanish Attack. National Trust Cayman Island. , At George Town there is a small Fort, not very well constructed and in which is mounted three guns but which is by no means well equipped. This place is the most accessible to any Enemy, but it's the only place where vessels of burden can anchor with any security. [the fort] was attacked by the Spaniards from Cuba and totally destroyed. Its desirable situation however for Shipping, led to its renewal. , Edward Corbet, Reported to Jamaican Governor Lt-Gen George Nugent, 1802. , In 1779, Spain followed France's example set the previous year and declared war on Britain in sympathy with the American Colonists. It is suggested that the attack on George Town at this time was not a random act of pirates or marauders but a deliberate military action perpetrated by Spain against one of Britain's Caribbean possessions. Tallying in his 1802 census, only 933 residents on Grand Cayman, of which 382 were white or free colored, Corbet noted that "they can muster in the Island about eighty persons capable of bearing arms."Divided by swamps and separated by cliff rocks, these defenders would , This mural is from a series of three original paintings by Caymanian artist John Broad, commissioned by the National Trust to celebrate the history of Fort George., "Spanish Attack" original 60" x 48" acrylic on canvas 2012