Spanish Alarm

The Spanish Alarm was a period from 1739-1748 in which the Spanish Government sanctioned forces to raid and pillage English port towns along the Province of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. The Kingdom of Great Britain without an adequate military presence in these provinces facilitated the provinces to devise local militias to combat the Spanish attacks.

At the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession the Province of North Carolina raised four companies of one hundred men each to join other colonial troops in the siege of Cartagena. In addition to the four hundred men raised for the Cartagena expedition, it was necessary for the colonies to raise forces for the defense of their coastal towns and ports. Spanish attacks the eastern seaboard were meant to disrupt shipping and raid port towns. These raids were continuous from 1741 to 1748.

The raids in the Province of North Carolina were made on the towns of Beaufort and Brunswick Town.

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748 effectively halted the Spanish excursions into the English Americas.