Attack on Cawsand

The Attack on Cawsand was a minor Spanish raid on the coast of Cornwall, England, on the night of 14 March 1596 during the Anglo-Spanish War.

In August 1595 Cornwall had been attacked by a Spanish raiding force led by Carlos de Amésquita. In that attack over two days, Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul were raided and torched.

In March 1596 a Spanish pinnace appeared in Cawsand Bay just below Mount Edgcumbe with upwards of 25 men armed with muskets. The Spanish managed to land on the beach and were making their way to the village. They fixed barrels of gunpowder and brimstone to the doors of several houses and to two boats in the harbour, setting them on fire. The Spanish were spotted by one member of the militia who had gone ahead of the main force; he promptly opened fire with is caliver, scaring the intruders off. Shortly after, the main militia force arrived in the village from Plymouth, and prevented the fire from spreading to the whole settlement.

The defences were strengthened as it was feared that the Spanish would try again. The heights were were then manned by 170 pikemen, 300 musketeers and cavalry commanded by Sir Nicholas Parker and maintained by sole expense of Richard Carew.

The Spanish would try much larger descents on the British isles; an attempt in October the same year known as the 2nd Spanish Armada failed due to storms. The following year an attempted landing also failed after a storm in the English channel dispersed the fleet and a number of ships were captured.

A second naval raid on Cawsand Bay took place in April 1599, when four Spanish warships captured five fishing boats from the harbour.