The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants.
The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, John Trumbull
Martín Antonio Álvarez de Sotomayor—Spanish army commander
George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield—British Governor of Gibraltar
Panoramic view of Gibraltar under siege from Spanish fleet and land positions in foreground
Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory and city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean. It has an area of 6.7 km2 (2.6 sq mi) and is bordered to the north by Spain. The landscape is dominated by the Rock of Gibraltar, at the foot of which is a densely populated town area, home to some 32,688 people, primarily Gibraltarians.
An aerial view
Gibraltar from the air, looking north-west
View of the northern face of the Moorish Castle's Tower of Homage
Shown here during the Second World War, a Douglas Dakota of BOAC is silhouetted at Gibraltar by the batteries of searchlights on the Rock, as crews prepare it for a night flight to the United Kingdom
