The Battle of Cartagena de Indias took place during the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear between Spain and Great Britain. The result of long-standing commercial tensions, the war was primarily fought in the Caribbean; the British tried to capture key Spanish ports in the region, including Porto Bello and Chagres in Panama, Havana, and Cartagena de Indias in present-day Colombia.
British attack on Cartagena de Indias by Luis Fernández Gordillo. Oil on canvas, Naval Museum of Madrid
Botanical study, captioned "The Manzanilla Tree taken at Bocca chica to show / the men that they might neither cut not sleep near it, a bow was / pin'd at the top of every Sergeant's tent, in order to make the soldiers / acquainted with and to avoid it… F.M: J.G: (?) March the 12th 1741" – a reference to Vernon's invasion fleet, before the battle. Manzanilla (Hippomane mancinella) fruit are poisonous when eaten, and the sap causes blistering.
Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of Great Britain, from the studio of Jean-Baptiste van Loo, 1740
Sebastián de Eslava, Viceroy of New Granada from an 18th-century painting
War of Jenkins' Ear
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The War of Jenkins' Ear was a conflict lasting from 1739 to 1748 between Britain and Spain. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. It was related to the 1740 to 1748 War of the Austrian Succession. The name was coined in 1858 by British historian Thomas Carlyle, and refers to Robert Jenkins, captain of the British brig Rebecca, whose ear was allegedly severed by Spanish coast guards while searching his ship for contraband in April 1731.
Ruins of the fortress of San Jeronimo, Portobelo
Spanish Admiral Don Blas de Lezo 1741
Fortress of San Lorenzo el Real Chagres
Castillo San Felipe de Barajas (Cartagena). This (then incomplete) fortress was integral to Spain's effort to maintain the link with its colonies via the Atlantic sea lanes.