Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) Battle of Cape St Vincent (1797) The Battle of Cape St Vincent (14 February 1797) was one of the opening battles of the Anglo-Spanish War (1796–1808), as part of the French Revolutionary Wars, where a British fleet under Admiral Sir John Jervis defeated a larger Spanish fleet under Admiral Don José de Córdoba y Ramos near Cape St. Vincent, Portugal. After the signing of the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796 allying Spanish and French forces against Great Britain, the British navy blockaded Spain in 1797, impairing communications with its Spanish Empire. The Spanish declaration of war on Britain and
St Vincent Whitshed Erskine Erskine married in 1870 to Alice Lindley Buchanan 5th daughter of David Dale Buchanan (born 1819, died 4 Sep 1874 in Cape Town), the founder of the "Natal Witness" (The Witness (South African newspaper)) and his wife Mary Amm. St Vincent Erskine and Alice Buchanan had six children: St Vincent Erskine was a friend of Thomas Baines the well known artist of African Exploration, who had accompanied David Livingstone along the Zambezi in 1858. St Vincent Erskine died from the Spanish flu on 8 July 1918 aged 72 years and is buried in the Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town. Alice Erskine