THE ENGLISH GARRISON OF TANGIER: Charles II's Colonial Venture in the Mediterranean, 1661-1684

1-230030

Assesses the raising, equipping, and composition of the standing army of Charles II and the role played by the garrison of Tangier between 1661 and 1684 as well as the wider military, political, and strategic context of expansionism and warfare in Europe. Includes 43 b/w illustrations, four b/w photos, nine maps, and 53 tables.

When Charles landed in Dover in 1660 he inherited two regular armies, both owing him allegiance. First, the New Model (by then regular or standing army) was in England under Monck. Second was a force of exiled royalists in Flanders and Dunkirk. Neither army was in particularly bad health, although being much in arrears of pay. On paper, the New Model Army was an effective power, but its morale was broken by the events leading to the Restoration.

The exile army (Charles II's 'Forgotten Army') was a body of Irish, Scottish, and English soldiers fighting with the Spanish and habituated to periods of hardship and privation. The acquisition of the Moroccan city of Tangier via the marriage agreement between Charles II and Catherine of Braganza, daughter of John IV of Portugal, in May 1661 brought about a period of English occupation, which lasted until 1684. England garrisoned and fortified the city against hostile Barbary forces.