Sardinia was reoccupied in 1717 but when they landed on Sicily in July 1718, the Royal Navy destroyed the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape Passaro, beginning the War of the Quadruple Alliance.
[2] To divert British resources from the Mediterranean, Alberoni devised a plan for 7,000 Spanish troops to land in south-west England, march on London and restore James Stuart.
Cape Passaro demonstrated the Royal Navy's power in far less favourable circumstances, which meant the Spanish fleet was unlikely to even reach England, let alone be allowed to disembark large numbers of troops.
On 13 April, they learned of the failure elsewhere; Tullibardine, who was commander of Jacobite land forces, recommended retreat, but Keith prevented this by ordering the two frigates back to Spain.
[7] On 10 May, a British naval squadron captured the castle, blocking any escape by sea, while Joseph Wightman's force of around 1,000 men with four Coehorn mortars advanced towards Glen Shiel.
[b] John Henry Bastide, a subaltern in Montague's regiment who had a long career as a military engineer drew a detailed plan of the battlefield and the movements of the opposing forces soon after the battle.
[1] The battle lasted until 9:00 pm; several accounts claim the heather caught fire and smoke combined with failing light enabled the bulk of the Scots to disappear into the night.
[10] Tullibardine concurred; in his letter of 16 June 1719 to the Earl of Mar, he provides a description of the battle, and states "it bid fair to ruin the King's Interest and faithful subjects in these parts".
[15] Now owned by the National Trust for Scotland, the stone breastworks built on the northern slope are a rare example of surviving fieldworks in Britain, and designated a scheduled monument.