Battle of St. George's Caye

The Battle of St. George's Caye was a military engagement that lasted from 3 to 10 September 1798, off the coast of British Honduras (present-day Belize).

Spain recognized this trade in the Treaty of Paris (signed in 1763[3]) but did not end the dispute by ceding interest, delineating boundaries.

From 1779 to 1782 the settlement was abandoned, Baymen and their African slaves relocating to Havana, Cuba following a Spanish attack.

In this treaty, Spain gave permission to the British to cut mahogany and logwood from way down south to the Sibun River.

The Convention of London also specified that in return for the concessions Spain had made, the British were to give up all its other settlements in the region, notably the Mosquito Shore and the island of Roatan.

Dobson, N. (1979) On the morning of 10 September, fourteen of the largest Spaniard ships approached and anchored approximately one mile away from HMS Merlin, the leading vessel that was relocated from Jamaica to assist the Baymen, and the other British seacrafts.

The conflict launched approximately two hours and a half of action until the Spaniards abruptly cut their cables and departed towards Caye Chapel.

Humphreys relates that in a 1796 visit to the area, Visitador Juan O'Sullivan claimed the British were encroaching on Spanish territory in Mexico by cutting near the Hondo.

Even though he was in the midst of the Maroon Wars, Balcarres nonetheless sent muskets and ammunition to the settlement and a further shipment arrived on Commander Thomas Dundas' ship HMS Merlin in December 1796.

Barrow, a seasoned veteran of war according to Humphreys, immediately began whipping the unruly Baymen into shape, and martial law, stopping all activities in the settlement, was declared on 11 February 1797.

Barrow assured that more help would be on the way soon, to alleviate the fears of the Baymen, but Humphreys calls the actions of Potts and company "cowardly" and says that even after that reassurance morale was low.

Don Arturo O'Neill Tirone, Yucatán Governor and Commander of the expedition, had secured: ...two very large frigates, an armed brig, and two sloops carrying two 100-pounders, and four gunboats carrying each a 24-pounder in bow; with several other armed vessels, arrived... at Campeachy, and taking aboard about 300 troops, then sailed and (made a rendezvous) at the island of Cozumel;...the two frigates and the brig left the fleet there and as the deserters understood, returned to La Vera Cruz... A schooner of 22 guns, to which they (the deserters) belonged, then became commodore...All the small vessels of the fleet were to be sent to Bacalar to assist in embarking the troops at that place, said to consist of 12 companies of 100 men each...This estimate was severely reduced due to outbreaks of yellow fever and dissent in the Spanish army.

Barrow was dispatched and arrived in time to see the end of the battle and prevent the slave men from boarding the enemy.

[5] The chief advocates in the committee were Henry Charles Usher, Wilfred A. Haylock, Benjamin Fairweather, and Absalom Hyde.

The Centennial celebrations has been interpreted a means through which the middle-class Creoles sought to gain recognition in the society as "true patriots.

Map St. George's Caye in 1764