on ropes down the cliff face. One soldier wrote despairingly in his diary: The fortifications of Gibraltar were modernised and upgraded in the 1770s with the construction of new batteries, bastions and curtain walls. The driving force behind this programme was the highly experienced Colonel (later Major General) William Green, who was to play a key role a few years later as chief engineer of Gibraltar. He was joined in 1776 by Lieutenant General George Augustus Elliott, a veteran of earlier wars against France and Spain who took over the governorship of Gibraltar at a key moment. Britain's successes in the Seven Years' War had left it with expensive commitments in the Americas that had to be paid for and had catalysed the formation of an anti-British coalition in Europe. The British Government's attempt to levy new taxes on the Thirteen Colonies of British America led to the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1776. Spain declared war on Britain and started the Anglo-Spanish War and then tried to recover Gibraltar with French aid. The Great Siege of Gibraltar lasted from 24 June 1779 to 7 February 1783 and remains one of the longest sieges endured by the British Armed Forces, as well as being one of the longest continuous sieges in history. A combined Spanish and French fleet blockaded Gibraltar from the sea, while on the land side an enormous army was engaged in constructing forts, redoubts, entrenchments, and batteries from which to attack Gibraltar. The Spanish committed increasing number of troops and ships to the siege, postponing the planned invasion of England by the Armada of 1779. The first relief of the siege came in the spring of 1780 when Admiral George Rodney captured a Spanish convoy off Cape Finesterre and defeated a Spanish fleet at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, delivering reinforcements of 1,052 men and an abundance of supplies. The British defenders continued to resist every attempt to capture Gibraltar by assault but supplies again began to run low. On 12 April 1781 Vice Admiral George Darby's squadron of 29 ships of the line escorting 100 store ships from England laden for Gibraltar entered the bay. The Spanish fleet was unable to intercept Darby's relief. The Spanish, frustrated by this failure, began a barrage of the town, causing great panic and terror among the civilian population. Deliberate targeting of civilians was unprecedented at