Editing War of Jenkins' Ear (section)

===Destruction of the fortress of San Lorenzo el Real Chagres (22–24 March 1740)===
[[File:El Castillo de San Lorenzo.jpg|thumb|left|200px| [[Fort San Lorenzo|Fortress of San Lorenzo el Real Chagres]]]]
After the destruction of Portobelo the previous November, Vernon proceeded to remove the last Spanish stronghold in the area. He attacked the [[Fort San Lorenzo|fortress of San Lorenzo el Real Chagres]], in present-day [[Panama]] on the banks of the [[Chagres River]], near Portobelo. The fort was defended by Spanish [[patrol boat]]s, and was armed with four guns and about thirty soldiers under Captain of Infantry Don Juan Carlos Gutiérrez Cevallos.

At 3 pm on 22 March 1740, the British [[squadron (naval)|squadron]], composed of the ships ''[[HMS Strafford (1735)|Stafford]]'', ''[[HMS Norwich (1693)|Norwich]]'', ''[[HMS Falmouth (1708)|Falmouth]]'' and ''[[HMS Swallow (1732)|Princess Louisa]]'', the frigate ''Diamond'', the [[bomb vessel]]s ''Alderney'', ''Terrible'', and ''Cumberland'', the [[fireship]]s ''Success'' and ''Eleanor'', and [[troopship|transports]] ''Goodly'' and ''Pompey'', under command of [[Edward Vernon|Vernon]], began to bombard the Spanish fortress. Given the overwhelming superiority of the British forces, Captain Cevallos surrendered the fort on 24 March, after resisting for two days.

Following the strategy previously applied at Porto Bello, the British destroyed the fort and seized the guns along with two Spanish patrol boats.

During this time of British victories along the Caribbean coast, events taking place in Spain would prove to have a significant effect on the outcome of the largest engagement of the war. Spain had decided to replace Don Pedro Hidalgo as governor of [[Cartagena de Indias]]. But, the new governor-designate, Lieutenant General of the Royal Armies [[Sebastián de Eslava|Sebastián de Eslava y Lazaga]] had first to dodge the [[Royal Navy]] in order to get to his new post. Starting from the [[Galicia (Spain)|Galician]] port of [[Ferrol, Galicia|Ferrol]], the vessels ''Galicia'' and ''San Carlos'' set out on the journey. Hearing the news, Vernon immediately sent four ships to intercept the Spanish. They were unsuccessful in their mission. The Spanish managed to circumvent the British interceptors and entered the port of Cartagena on 21 April 1740, landing there with the new governor and several hundred veteran soldiers.{{sfn|Sáez Abad|2015|p=57}}