On the evening of September 23, 1762, the British flotilla landed in Manila Bay, which marked the beginning of the British invasion of the Philippines.
Admiral Samuel Cornish led the expedition to capture Manila, which at that time was a Spanish colony. General William Draper, who was in the service of the British East India Company, commanded the troops.
The English fleet entered the Manila Bay in the form of a half circle stretching from Cavite to the middle of the Bay, 13 ships in all. It was a dull misty evening, with a typhoon forming to the southwest. The Manila officials thought them a fleet of trading junks and sent out Captain Fernando Alcala to inquire as to their business. He was detained on board until the next morning, when he accompanied two English officers ashore with a demand for the surrender of the city.
The flustered Archbishop and acting Governor General Manuel Rojo, reported that:
“The city was suffocated with consternation at the approaching conflict”, but with his Council made reply that “he was determined to protect for His Catholic Majesty the City and Islands under his care, and was prepared to sacrifice all in the defense of religion and the honor of the Spanish arms.”
The naval force of the English was composed of the war and troopships Norfolk, Elisabeth, Grafton, Seahorse, Seaforth, Argo, Falmouth, Panther, Lenox and Weymouth, and the storeships Osterly, Stephen and South Sea Castle, with a complement of seamen and marines.
The military arm under General William Draper was the 79th Regiment; a company of Royal artillery with 30 Madras assistants; 600 Indian regulars known as Sepoys; two companies of French deserters, and prisoners numbering 250.
The English operations came as a result of the Seven Years’ War, which starting as a purely European issue, became almost worldwide in its scope. Austria, Russia and France had combined to crush Prussia under Frederick the Great, the stake being Silesia. England, the banker of Frederick, was drawn into the struggle which lasted from 1756 to 1763. Sweden, Saxony, Parma, Naples and Portugal were also drawn into the conflict; and Spain, her reigning house related to Austria, declared war on England.
The following day, September 24, 1762, Draper and Cornish sent an edict to the Filipinos announcing that the Filipinos need have no fear of the British fleet, provided that they do not join the Spaniards or assist them in any way.
They will be received under British protection; their women and children will be free from outrages; full prices will be paid them for food; they will be free to go and come as they please; and freedom of worship will be conserved to them. If they do, on the contrary, aid the Spanish, then they must fear the punishment that will be inflicted.
Don Simon de Anda, a judge in the Audiencia, arrived in the Islands a year before the capture of Manila, escaped to the provinces. He assumed the role of patriot in the eyes of his supine countrymen, but his usurped and self-appointed power only endured because the clergy, especially the Augustinian order, who really dominated the provinces, rallied around and upheld him in his power.
With the Spanish forces and hundreds of volunteers facing defeat against British troops, it was the native population of nearby Pampanga and Bulacan provinces who gave the British forces a lesson or two in guerrilla warfare.
About a thousand Filipino fighters, who was convinced by their Spanish parish priests that the British were invading demons, staged surprise attacks against the invaders, although they were subsequently repelled.
On the other hand, among those siding with the British were Filipino freedom fighters like Diego Silang who led an uprising in the Ilocos against Spanish rule, and Juan de la Cruz Palaris in Pangasinan who had direct or indirect ally in England during and after the war.
Sultan Azim ud Din I (Alimudin) of Sulu and Sabah also entered into a mutual defense pact with the British.
Majority of the Chinese residents in Manila aided the British and formed military units against Spain.
The British occupation of the Philippines was short-lived as the Seven Years’ War ended in Europe on February 10, 1763 with the signing of the peace treaty in Paris (Treaty of 1763).
The Spanish troops re-entered Manila May 31, 1764, possession of the city being taken by Don Simon de Anda, since the new governor ad interim, Francisco de la Torre, was sick. That night a banquet was given to the British commanders. On June 4, 1764, the British tendered a banquet to Anda and other officials on their ships. The British vessels left the bay for India on June 10 and 11, 1764.
Archbishop Manuel Rojo died in captivity on January 1763. The British respected him as a man of his word and gave him an imposing military funeral with all the honors of war.
The British occupation left a distinct features of Indian ancestry, as seen in the towns of Cainta and Taytay in the former Morong (now Rizal) province, as Sepoy members of the British forces chose to remain and married Filipino women. The war also brought about ideological change among Filipinos. Knowing that Spain was not invulnerable at all and its rule in the Philippines would not last forever, it was inevitable that Filipinos themselves would rule.
Sources:
The British Occupation of the Philippines, Percy A. Hill, American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Volume 3, Number 5, May 1923
The English Invasion, The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803, Volume 1, Number. 49, Helen Emma Blair, et al. 1911
Philippine News Agency Archives
(Filed by Jr Amigo/ai/mnm)