Spanish treasure fleet

[corsair91]

Cádiz expedition (1625)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A1diz_expedition_(1625)

Naval expedition against Spain by English and Dutch forces

The Duke of Buckingham, English Lord High Admiral, wanted to undertake an expedition that would match the exploits of the raiders of the Elizabethan era and in doing so, earn respect for the country

(an attempt to reenact the glorious actions of Sir Francis Drake by once again seizing the main Spanish port at Cádiz and burning the Spanish fleet in its harbour.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Villiers,_1st_Duke_of_Buckingham


The planned expedition involved several elements, including overtaking Spanish treasure ships coming back from the Americas loaded with gold and silver and then assaulting Spanish towns with the intention of causing stress within Spain's economy and weakening the Spanish supply chain

By October 1625, approximately 100 ships and a total of 15,000 seamen and soldiers had been readied for the Cádiz Expedition. An alliance with the Dutch had also been forged, with an additional 15 warships commanded by William of Nassau,
to help guard the English Channel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Nassau_(1601%E2%80%931627)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Cecil,_1st_Viscount_Wimbledon

Sir Edward Cecil, a battle-hardened soldier fighting for the Dutch,
was appointed commander of the expedition by the Duke of Buckingham.
Cecil had little knowledge of the sea.

Stormy weather causing major delays to the expedition.

By the time the fleet escaped from the storms and arrived in
Spanish waters, it had become apparent that they were too poorly
supplied to conduct the mission properly and that they were too
late to engage the West Indian treasure fleet because of the storms
they had encountered.

Cecil chose to assault the Spanish city of Cádiz.
Cádiz was found to be heavily fortified with modern defences.

The ships used in the assault were also largely merchant vessels
conscripted and converted for warfare, and the captains or owners
of those ships, concerned about the welfare of their ships,
left much of the battle to the Dutch.

When Cecil landed his forces, they realised that they had no food or drink with them.
Cecil then made the foolish decision to allow the men to drink from the wine vats found in the local houses.
A wave of drunkenness ensued, with few or none of Cecil's force remaining sober.

Realizing what he had done, Cecil took the only course left open to him and ordered his soldiers to return to their ships.

When the Spanish army arrived, they found over 1,000 English soldiers still drunk; although every man was armed, not a single shot was fired as the Spanish put them all to the sword.

After the fiasco at Cádiz, Cecil decided to try to intercept a fleet of Spanish galleons (Spanish silver fleet) that were bringing resources back from the New World. That failed as well because the ships had been warned of danger in the waters and so were able to take another route and returned home without any trouble from Cecil's ships.

With disease and sickness sweeping through the ranks, and since the ships were in a bad state, Cecil finally decided that there was no alternative but to return to England, although he had captured few or no goods and made little impact on Spain.
The expedition had cost the English a then estimated £250,000.

English Public opinion blamed Buckingham for yet another disaster,
leading to serious political consequences.
In England, internal conflict continued between the monarchy and Parliament, which would lead to the English Civil Wars of the 1640s


Later events

Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Saint-Martin-de-R%C3%A9

an attempt by English forces under the Duke of Buckingham, to capture
the French fortress-city of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, on the isle of Ré (near La Rochelle), in 1627.

Anglo-French War (1627–1629)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-French_War_(1627%E2%80%931629)


A fictionalised Buckingham is one of the characters in
Alexandre Dumas's celebrated 1844 novel The Three Musketeers.