Editing 1596 (section)

=== January–March ===
* [[January 6]] – [[Drake's Assault on Panama]]: Sir [[Francis Drake]], General [[Thomas Baskerville (general)|Thomas Baskerville]] and an English force of 15 ships land at the Atlantic Ocean port of [[Nombre de Dios, Colón|Nombre de Dios]] in an attempt to capture the [[Isthmus of Panama]].<ref>David Marley, ''Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere'' (ABC-CLIO, 2008) pp. 136–137</ref>
* [[January 20]] – Francis Drake, unable to receive a ransom for the town of Nombre de Dios, orders the town and all Spanish ships in harbor to be burned. At the same time, General Baskerville leads 750 men on a mission to clear the Isthmus of Spanish parties.<ref>Kenneth R. Andrews, ''The Last Voyage of Drake and Hawkins'' (Routledge, 2017) pp. 204–05</ref>
* [[January 27]] – With an epidemic of [[dysentery]] spreading through the English forces of Drake and Baskerville, Drake orders survivors to retreat to the English ships, anchored off of the island of [[Isla Escudo de Veraguas|Escudo de Veraguas]].  Drake dies of dystentery two days later on his flagship, ''Defiance''.<ref>John Sugden, ''Sir Francis Drake'' (Penguin Books, 2004) pp. 313</ref>
* [[February 11]] – [[Albert VII, Archduke of Austria|Albert of Austria]] arrives in [[Brussels]] to begin his administration as [[List of governors of the Habsburg Netherlands|Governor General]] of the [[Habsburg Netherlands]].
* [[February 14]] – Archbishop [[John Whitgift]] begins building his [[Whitgift Foundation|hospital]] at [[Croydon]].
* [[March 11]] – The [[Battle of Pinos]] is fought between the English Navy (with 14 warships) and the Spanish Navy (with 13 galleons) off of the coast [[Cuba]]'s [[Isla de la Juventud|Isla de Pinos]], with 325 English Navy men killed or captured, while Spain drives Baskerville's ships to retreat and sustains 80 dead or wounded.<ref>Cesáreo Fernández Duro, ''Armada Española desde la unión de los reinos de Castilla y Aragón'' (Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, 1898) p. 115</ref>
* [[March 15]] – During Spain's [[Brittany Campaign]] during the [[Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)|Anglo-Spanish War]], a Spanish ship carrying 25 soldiers invades England after arriving at [[Cawsand Bay]] in [[Cornwall]]. After starting a fire, the Spanish retreat.<ref>John Daniell, ''A Compendium of the History of Cornwall'' (Netherton & Worth, 1880) p. 156</ref>