Cartagena de Indias Expedition

Admiral Edward Vernon led a large British fleet and army against Cartagena de Indias in New Granada in 1741. The force included regular soldiers, sailors and thousands of colonial troops from British North America, among them a Virginia company commanded by Lawrence Washington.

Spanish defenders under Sebastián de Eslava and Blas de Lezo used the harbour approaches, forts and city walls to delay the invasion. Disputes between British naval and army commanders weakened the operation, while yellow fever, dysentery and other diseases caused far more casualties than direct combat.

The British withdrew after failing to capture the city, and only a fraction of the American regiment returned. Lawrence Washington survived and later named Mount Vernon after Admiral Vernon. The expedition is the central historical setting of Tim Holden’s Rule Britannia.