A massive Imperial army, accompanied by bodies…

Spain becomes involved in the Seven Years' War (1756-63) on the side of France against Britain in 1762; in October of this year, forces of the British East India Company capture Manila after fierce fighting.

Spanish resistance continues under Lieutenant Governor Simón de Anda, based at Bacolor in Pampanga Province, and Manila is returned to the Spanish in May 1764 in conformity with the Treaty of Paris, which formally ends the war.

The British occupation nonetheless marks, in a very significant sense, the beginning of the end of the old order in the Philippines.

Spanish prestige suffers irreparable damage because of the defeat at British hands.

A number of rebellions break out, of which the most notable is that of Diego Silang in the Ilocos area of northern Luzon.

In December 1762, Silang expels the Spanish from the coastal city of Vigan and sets up an independent government.

He establishes friendly relations with the British and is able to repulse Spanish attacks on Vigan, but he is assassinated in May 1763.

The Spanish, tied down by fighting with the British and the rebels, are unable to control the raids of the Moros of the south on the Christian communities of the Visayan Islands and Luzon.

Thousands of Christian Filipinos are captured as slaves, and Moro raids continue to be a serious problem through the remainder of the century.

The Chinese community, resentful of Spanish discrimination, for the most part enthusiastically supports the British, providing them with laborers and armed men who fight de Anda in Pampanga.

The British Ministry has approved Colonel Draper's plans for invading the Philippine Isles and the HMS Seahorse (1748), under Captain Cathcart Grant, is sent to intercept Manila bound vessels.

The first portion of the invasion fleet sails from India on July 21, under Commodore Teddinson, followed by the remainder under Admiral Sir Samuel Cornish, 1st Baronet, and Col. Draper on August 1.

The HMS Norfolk (1757) serves as the admiral's flagship.

On August 1, 1762, a British fleet of eight ships of the line, three frigates, and four store ships, sails away from Madras with a force of six thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine regulars, sailors and marines.

The commander of the expedition is Brigadier-General William Draper.

He is assisted by Colonel Monson as second in command, Major Scott as adjutant-general and Captain Fletcher as brigade-major of the East India Company.

The expeditionary force consists of:

    79th Draper's Regiment of Foot (567 men)
    company of Royal Artillery
    East India Company artillery (29 men)
    610 sepoys
    French deserters, Kaffirs, pioneers and Portuguese half-castes (314 total men)
    Nawab irregulars (51 men)

Manila is garrisoned by the Life Guard of the Governor-General of the Philippines, the 2nd Battalion of the King's regiment under Don Miguel de Valdez, Spanish marines, a corps of artillery under Lieutenant General Don Felix de Eguilux, seconded by Brigadier the Marquis de Villa Medina, a company of Pampangos, and a company of cadets.

Admiral Cornish's fleet, fourteen vessels, of which ten carried more than fifty guns, anchor in Manila Bay on September 23.

A landing is planned two miles south of the city, covered by HMS Argo, under Captain King, HMS Seahorse, under Captain Grant, and HMS Seaford under Captain Pelghin.

The three-pronged landing force of two hundred and seventy-four marines is led by Colonel Draper, center, Major More, right, and Cololnel Monson, left.

The next day, they are joined by six hundred and thirty-two seamen under Captains Collins, Pitchford and Ouvry.

Fort Polverina is captured on September 25.

Further reconnaissance reveals that the fortifications of Manila are not formidable, in fact they are  incomplete.

On September 30, a British storeship arrives with entrenching tools, but is driven ashore by a gale.

Fortunately, she has run aground so that she screens the rear of Draper's camp from a large force of Filipinos.

Her stores are landed with greater speed and safety than would have been possible had she remained afloat for the gale continued for several days and forbids the passage of boats through the surf.

A strong gale starts on October 1, cutting off communication with the British fleet.

On the morning of October 4, a force of a thousand local Pampangos attacks a cantonment built by the British overnight but is beaten back with three hundred Filipinos killed.

After this failure, all except eighteen of the Pamgangos abandon the city.

On October 6, sixty volunteers under Lieutenant Russell advance through the breach in the Bastion of St. Andrew.

Engineers and pioneers follod, then comes Colonel Monson and Major More with two divisions of the 79th, the seamen and then another division of the 79th.

Preventing further slaughter, acting Governor-General Archbishop Manuel Rojo del Rio y Vieyra surrenders both Manila and Cavite to Draper and Cornish.

The British will hold Manila until it is returned to Spain according to the peace settlement.

News that it had been lost did not reach Spain until after the cessation of hostilities between the two powers.

Oidor Don Simon Anda y Salazar had been dispatched to Bulacan in order to organize resistance.

There he organizes an army of ten thousand Filipinos under the command of Jose Busto.

Manila is placed under the authority of civilian Deputy Governor Dawsonne Drake, appointed by the East India Company as the leader of the Manila Council.

Major Fell commands the garrison as another member of the council.

During their time in the Philippines, the British find themselves confined to Manila and Cavite in a deteriorating situation, unable to extend British control over the islands and unable to make good their promised support for an uprising led first by Diego Silang and later by his wife Gabriela, which is crushed by Spanish forces.

The British expedition is rewarded after the capture of the treasure ship Filipina, carrying American silver from Acapulco, and in a battle off Cavite the Santísima Trinidad, which carried China goods.

However, when Cornish sails for Madras with the East Indies Squadron in early 1763, he has only collected $516,260 of the two million dollar ransom.

The balance consists of bills of exchange, though Spain never does pay the Manila ransom.

The city will remain under British rule for eighteen months and will be returned to Spain in April 1764 after the Treaty of Paris.

Draper and Cornish are thanked by Parliament on April 18, 1763, Cornish was made a Baronet of Great Britain, and Draper will eventually receive as Knighthood of the Bath.