The attack on Cawsand was a minor Spanish raid on the coast of Cornwall, England, on the night of 14 March 1596 in the context of the Brittany Campaign during the Anglo-Spanish War.

[5] In August 1595 the area of Mount's Bay in Cornwall had been attacked by a Spanish raiding force led by Carlos de Amésquita.

[6] In March 1596 a Spanish pinnace arrived in Cawsand Bay just below Mount Edgcumbe with upwards of 25 men armed with muskets.

The heights were then manned by 170 pikemen, 300 musketeers and cavalry commanded by Sir Nicholas Parker and maintained by sole expense of Richard Carew.

[3][4][8][9] Years later, when the Mayflower's Pilgrims had a port of call at Cawsand, they recalled the Spanish forces’ burning of the village, and how they spared the brick walls by the beach.