Spanish Army

The Spanish Army is the principle land warfare force of the Spanish Empire. Spanish Regulars are the foot soldiers of the Army.

History[]

Background[]

In the 16th century, the Spanish Army began to modernize from the halberd and pike wielding force to the first army that combined the use of arquebusiers and pikemen, which in turn evolved into the tercio formation.

The Spanish Army continued to be a strong military asset for the empire. They fought in numerous conflicts, such as the lengthy Dutch Revolt, the Anglo-Spanish War and defending Christian Europe from Ottoman incursions. By the 1630s, the Army had grown from 20,000 to 300,000, but this caused issues in payment.

Spain continued to be a formidable naval and military power, depending on their navy and army to guard their overseas empire in the New World.

Recent History[]

During the War of the Spanish Succession, Spain launched the Rosario Raids against Nassau, as a reprisal against Richard Guthrie and the pirates whose cargo he fenced. 200 Spanish soldiers landed and burned the structures on the beach. They then moved inland, killing and burning as they went.

Season Three[]

Woodes Rogers, the newly appointed Royal Governor of New Providence Island, reveals to Eleanor Guthrie that one of the creditors of his expensive expedition is Spain. He adds that if he fails to recover the entirety of the Urca de Lima gold and return it to Havana, a fleet of ten ships and 1,500 soldiers will be sent to raze Nassau to the ground.

Season Four[]

Woodes Rogers sails to Havana in order to enlist Spanish aid in driving the pirates out of Nassau. He is met at the docks of the city by Juan Antonio Grandal, who is accompanied by a Senior Spanish Officer and an escort of Spanish Regulars. After Rogers convinces Grandal that his visit has nothing to do with the fact that their empires are at war with each other, Rogers is taken to the Havana Governor’s Mansion. There, he convinces Governor Raja to help him. Raja leads a fleet of twelve ships and at least 1,000 soldiers to Nassau. After signaling Fort Nassau that Rogers is leading the expedition, the fort stands down.

The fleet opens fire on Nassau Town before moving their soldiers ashore, who burn much of the city before sending troops inland. Rogers tells them that the pirates had made the Underhill Estate their base before being greeted byMr. Soames and Lieutenant Utley, who inform him that Eleanor had left the safety of the fort to carry out a deal with the pirates. Rogers tries to get Grandal to order his troops that Eleanor is not to be harmed but Grandal says it is too late and they have been let loose.

Flint, Eleanor, Madi and their guards try to go back to Fort Nassau after they find out the cache hasn’t arrived on the island to allow them to go through with their deal. However, they find hundreds of Spanish soldiers marching through the island.

They retreat to the Barlow Estate, but are followed by 8 soldiers. They succeed in killing the Spaniards, but three more soldiers happen on the scene and flee. Flint leads Obi and three of the surviving Redcoats, while Zaki and another Redcoat stay behind.

One of the Spanish soldiers survives, and kills Zaki and the Redcoat. He then breaks into the house and incapacitates Madi. He then fights with and attempts to rape Eleanor. After a lengthy duel between the two, Eleanor manages to set him on fire, but only after receiving a mortal wound. She crawls out of the burning house after being unable to rouse Madi, and bleeds to death.

Long John Silver rallies 60 pirates at the Underhill Estate, hoping to hold out long enough until they are able to flee to the Walrus, which is waiting for them on the southern coast. They are also hoping for reinforcements from Julius and his army of former slaves. They are attacked by roughly 100 Spanish soldiers. They are initially able to hold them off, but the Spanish are able to breach one of the more lightly held gates of the walled plantation and attack the pirates from behind with cavalry. They are forced to retreat into the sugar mill, leaving behind 30 dead.

The pirates attempt to hold the Spanish back from the sugar mill, but the Spanish send riders with torches in order to smoke them out. However, Julius arrives with his army and they attack the Spanish from behind. The Spanish withdraw, half their men having been killed. When Flint arrives, he leads the remaining pirates and freed slaves to the waiting ships on the southern coast.

After being satisfied that their work is done, Raja returns to Havana having promised not to return.

Equipment[]

Spanish Regulars are equipped with escopeta muskets, pistols and spadroons with cup hilts. Many soldiers also carry knives. The cavalry soldiers use lances and curved sabers, and their saddles are equipped with holsters that are presumably for pistols or carbines.

Uniforms[]

Officers wear blue-grey coats with maroon cuffs and gold braiding on them. They also wear maroon waistcoats, and black hats with gold trim.

Regular soldiers wear grey coats and beige pants and shirts. They wear two white baldrics to carry their sword and ammunition pouch. They wear black hats with wide brims. Some soldiers wear short grayish-white jackets with black caps and belts instead of baldrics.

Cavalry wear similar jackets to their infantry counterparts, but they are shorter. They also wear maroon waistcoats and pants, and black, wide brimmed hats.

Members[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

A wide variety of uniforms are seen being worn by Spanish soldiers during the Sack of Nassau. This could be because the series was trying to reflect how the Spanish force was supplemented by irregular forces.