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Finely colored view of the Siege of Havana in 1762, part of the Seven Years' War.
The view illustrates the British naval forces bombarding and capturing the city of Havana from the Spanish in 1762.
Siege of Havana
In 1762, th British initiated a successful siege against Spanish-ruled Havana from March to August 1762.
After Spain abandoned its policy of neutrality by signing the family compact with France, the British declared war on Spain in January 1762. Britain decided to mount an attack on Havana, as a means of disrupting Spain's control of the Caribbean and improving the North American colonies. A strong British naval force consisting of squadrons from Britain and the West Indies, and the military force of British and American troops it convoyed, were able to approach Havana from a direction that neither the Spanish governor nor Admiral expected and were able to trap the Spanish fleet in the Havana harbour and land its troops with relatively little resistance.
Havana remained under British occupation until February 1763, when it was returned to Spain under the 1763 Treaty of Paris that formally ended the war.
![Cuba Insula [with] Hispaniola Insula [with] Ins. Jamaica [with] Ins. S. Ioannis [with] I.S. Margareta [with] Havana portus](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/95302.jpg)
![A New & Accurate Map of the Island of Cuba [on sheet with:] A New & Accurate Map of the Islands of Hispaniola and Porto Rico . . .](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/77174.jpg)
