of target was left to his discretion. When Rooke arrived in the region several targets were considered. An attempt to incite the inhabitants of Barcelona to revolt against Philip V failed, and a plan to assault the French naval base at Toulon was abandoned, and an earlier attempt to take Cádiz had failed. Casting around for an easier target, Rooke decided to attack Gibraltar for three principal reasons: it was poorly garrisoned and fortified, it would be of major strategic value to the war effort, and its capture might encourage the inhabitants of southern Spain to reject Philip. The attack was launched on 1 August 1704 as a combined operation between the naval force under Rooke's command and a force of Dutch and English marines under the command of Prince George of Hesse-Darmstadt and Captain Edward Whitaker of HMS Dorsetshire. After a heavy naval bombardment on 2 August, the marines launched a pincer attack on the town, advancing south from the isthmus and north from Europa Point. Gibraltar's defenders were well stocked with food and ammunition but were heavily outnumbered and outgunned. The Spanish position was untenable and on the morning of 4 August, the governor, Diego de Salinas, agreed to surrender. The terms of surrender made it clear that Gibraltar had been taken in the name of Charles III of Spain, described in the terms as "legitimate Lord and King". The inhabitants and garrison of Gibraltar were promised freedom of religion and the maintenance of existing rights if they wished to stay, on condition that they swore an oath of loyalty to Charles as King of Spain. As had happened two years previously in the raid on Cádiz, the discipline of the landing forces soon broke down. There were numerous incidents of rape, all Catholic churches but one (the Parish Church of St. Mary the Crowned, now the Cathedral) were desecrated or converted into military storehouses, and religious symbols such as the statue of Our Lady of Europe were damaged and destroyed. Angry Spanish inhabitants took violent reprisals against the occupiers. English and Dutch soldiers and sailors were attacked and killed, and their bodies were thrown into wells and cesspits. When the Spanish garrison marched out on 7 August almost all of the inhabitants, some 4,000 people in total, evacuated the town. They refused to swear allegiance to Charles III, instead professing their loyalty to Philip V. They had