23 September, 1762

TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY:

The British flotilla landed in Manila, which marked the beginning of the British invasion of the Philippines. General William Draper, who was in the service of the British East India Company, led the expeditionary forces to capture Manila, which at that time was a Spanish colony.

Draper’s forces consisted of European and Indian (known as Sepoy) regulars, volunteers and mercenaries. They encamped south of Intramuros. The British occupation of the Philippines was short-lived as the Seven Years’ War ended in Europe on February 10, 1763 with the signing of the peace treaty in Paris (Treaty of 1763). The British invaders returned Spanish sovereignty over Manila and its environs in March 1764 and sailed back to India in April of the same year.

(Ref: Philippine News Agency)