Raid on La Goulette (1609)

Raid on La Goulette (1609)
Part of Ottoman–Habsburg wars
Date 30 July–August 4 1609 Location Halq al-Wadi, Ottoman Tunisia Result Spanish–French victory
Belligerents
Spanish Empire Kingdom of France	Eyalet of Tunis
Commanders and leaders
Luis Fajardo Juan Fajardo Philippe de Beaulieu-Persac	Uthman Dey Jack Ward Francis Verney Richard Bishop
Strength
9 galleons 4 galleys	22 armed ships 1 galiot 20,000 land soldiers
Casualties and losses
3 dead 40 wounded	21 vessels destroyed 2 vessels captured Over 780 dead

The raid on La Goulette of 1609 was a naval attack by Spanish captain Luis Fajardo, at the head of a Spanish fleet and a French ship, on La Goulette, the main port of Ottoman Tunisia. The attack was done in response to previous acts of Barbary pirates based off Tunis and led to the destruction of the local fleet in port, which included English renegades like Jack Ward and Francis Verney.^[1]

In January 1609, after several victories against the Dutch in the Atlantic, Fajardo was promoted to the royal council of war. Some months later, during the Expulsion of the Moriscos, Fajardo was ordered to take command of the fleets of Andalusia and Portugal and disrupt the movements of Barbary pirates in North Africa, while leaving Antonio de Oquendo the rest of the effectives to watch the southern Spanish coast.^[2] Clearing the North African coasts to dissuade pirates was essential during the Expulsion, as the crown had reports of Barbary sympathizers and agents hiding among the Morisco population, who often encouraged and assisted them in attacking the coasts of Spain in order to fuel the lucrative Barbary slave trade.^[3]

The same year it was fount that Zymen Danseker, a Dutch privateer allied to the Muslims, hounded around Cape St. Vincent with a 18-ship fleet and had already taken several Spanish merchants. Marking him as the first target to capture, Fajardo gathered eight galleons and four galleys and sailed off Cádiz in June, with his son Juan Fajardo de Tenza as his lieutenant.^[4]

Upon leaving Cádiz, Fajardo ordered the flee to divide in three sections: one captained by his son Juan to patrol the coast of Africa, a second one to gather reinforcements in Málaga and Almería, and the last captained by himself between both in order to assist wherever it was necessary. Once reunited again, the fleet arrived in Oran, stopping at Mers El Kébir on day 28.^[2]

Warned by the governor of Oran, Felipe Ramírez de Arellano, Count of Aguilar, that a suspicious vessel had been sighted in the mouth of river Tafna in Tlemcen, Fajardo sent Juan with seven local pataches and 200 men stationed in Oran.^[5] Juan found and captured the ship near the island of Limacos,^[4] finding out it belonged to Danser's fleet^[2] and was carrying a cargo of weapons, with a crew of English and Jews.^[5][6] Resuming the journey, the Spanish explorers sighted then eight sailing ships and four galleys refuged in Algiers, but the harbor was too well defended and Fajardo opted to continue towards Tunis.^[4]

On day 21 they captured two ships, one of which belonged again to Danser, and the following day they found a flotilla of three French vessels captained by Philippe de Beaulieu-Persac, severely damaged by a recent defeat against the Barbary ships. Beaulieu warned them about the presence of at least 23 enemy ships being supplied in Tunis.^[7] Due to the Peace of Vervins, which had ensured a truce between Spain and France, Beaulieu joined Fajardo's ship with his only ship in condition to fight, a galleon.^[5] On day 30, Fajardo arrived in Tunis and ordered to attack.

Spain (Fajardo)
San Francisco
Santa María Magdalena
Nuestra Señora de los Remedios
San Fulgencio
Nuestra Señora del Rosario
San Augustín
Nuestra Señora de Regla
Santa Margarita
Santa Ana (frigate)
Nuestra Señora de Buen Viaje (caravel)
San Juan Bautista ("canoa")

France (Beaulieu)
Lune/Maan 50

Some of the Tunisian ships names were given as Madaleyne 24, Perle (French), Comte Maurice 50, Faulcon (Portuguese), as well as 1 700-ton ship and 1 500-ton ship of 31 guns. The 16 real fighting ships and the galley had 435 guns total.

Fajardo ordered a raid with small boats,^[2] employing seven pataches and two chalupas, with father and son leading the Spanish marine infantry. They penetrated the lake of Tunis through the channel of La Goulette while the rest of the fleet covered them and attracted the attention of the local artillery, exchanging fire with them.^[2] The Spanish soldiers reached the port and used incendiary devices to set fire to the 23 ships, which turned out to belong to Danser and pirates and privateers of multiple nationalities.^[2] They inflicted many casualties among the locals, who were taken by surprise.^[2]

Seeing that the artillery of La Goulette failed to interrupt the raid, the commander of Tunis, Uthman Dey, mobilized 20,000 soldiers of infantry and cavalry and rushed to the lake. However, Fajardo had summoned several of his ships, which bombarded the Tunisian reinforcements when they arrived, causing over 500 dead and stopping their advance.^[2] By this point, Fajardo was effectively in control of the field.^[5] The English privateers Jack Ward, Francis Verney and Richard Bishop were present during the battle and managed to escape among the confusion.^[8]

Next morning, a new African ship arrived to La Goulette ignoring the recent events. Warned about the Christians by the fortress' artillery,^[5] its crew ran it aground and attempted to escape by land. Fajardo captured several of them and took the ship, in which the found much booty and 40 French prisoners.^[2] Another pirate ship was abandoned and scuttled in the channel when its crew realized the situation, with the Spanish seizing its cargo again.^[5] Not wanting to risk himself to a turnaround of the situation, Fajardo sent an embassy to negotiate with Tunis the ransom of the prisoners, for which he obtained 2,000 gold sequins. On August 4, the Spanish fleet finally left Tunis.^[2]

Fajardo arrived loaded with booty in Cádiz,^[2] where he was ordered to heas for Cartagena to assist the transport of Moriscos to Africa.^[9] His success would not be the last of the Spanish navy in North Africa, greatly increasing its reputation, although it failed to extinguish the local outbreaks of Barbary piracy.^[3] Ward and Bishop took refuge in La Mámora and relocated their base there,^[10] although shortly after the Spanish reached them and burned their ships again, forcing them out to the Atlantic temporarily (La Mámora would be also conquered by Fajardo in 1614).^[11] The captains of Spanish galleys in Naples and Sicily, the Castilian Álvaro de Bazán y Benavides and the Italian Ottavio d'Aragona respectively, coontinued hunting down pirates after Fajardo's departure.^[11]