Qualla: Raid on Manila https://qualla.com/raid-on-manila en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/t/f/raid-on-manila-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Raid on Manila https://qualla.com/raid-on-manila Raid on Manila: Introduction https://qualla.com/raid-on-manila/ Photo credit Emmanuel Roquette, CC BY-SA 4.0. Captain Edward Cooke raised a glass and proposed a toast: to the downfall of England. The Spanish officers around the table in the cabin of HMS Fox drank heartily, unaware that their gracious French host was, in fact, a captain in the Royal Navy, that the frigate beneath their feet was HMS Sybille's consort flying a false tricolor, and that their own boat crews were being disarmed on deck at that very moment. It was the afternoon of January 14, 1798, and the most theatrical naval deception in the history of Manila Bay was unfolding over wine and pleasantries.

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/t/f/raid-on-manila-wp/wdtf-raid-on-manila-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Raid on Manila: Silver, Tea, and the Shifting of Alliances https://qualla.com/raid-on-manila/ Photo credit Emmanuel Roquette, CC BY-SA 4.0. The raid grew from a tangle of European politics and Asian commerce. When Spain signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1796 and turned from Britain's ally into its enemy, the strategic calculus of the entire East Indies shifted overnight. Britain controlled the major Indian Ocean ...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/t/f/raid-on-manila-wp/wdtf-raid-on-manila-silver-tea-and-the-shifting-of-alliances.mp3 0:06 2 full Raid on Manila: French Colors in the Bay https://qualla.com/raid-on-manila/ Photo credit Emmanuel Roquette, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cooke sailed from Macau on January 5, 1798, aboard the 40-gun Sybille with Captain Pulteney Malcolm commanding the 32-gun Fox. Both ships flew French tricolors, Sybille disguised as the powerful French frigate Forte and Fox masquerading as the Prudente. Off Luzon, they intercepte...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/t/f/raid-on-manila-wp/wdtf-raid-on-manila-french-colors-in-the-bay.mp3 0:06 3 full Raid on Manila: Toasts and Treachery https://qualla.com/raid-on-manila/ Photo credit Emmanuel Roquette, CC BY-SA 4.0. What followed was espionage disguised as hospitality. Fox, first into the anchorage, was approached by a Spanish guard boat. Malcolm, fluent in French, welcomed the officers aboard and introduced himself as commander of a pair of French frigates seeking supplies and allies for co...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/t/f/raid-on-manila-wp/wdtf-raid-on-manila-toasts-and-treachery.mp3 0:06 4 full Raid on Manila: The Dinner Party Ends https://qualla.com/raid-on-manila/ Photo credit Emmanuel Roquette, CC BY-SA 4.0. The harbor captain arrived furious, demanding the gunboats be returned. Malcolm received him with a tirade of incomprehensible French and brought him below to join the growing collection of captives. At four in the afternoon, Cooke and Malcolm hosted a grand dinner for all their ...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/t/f/raid-on-manila-wp/wdtf-raid-on-manila-the-dinner-party-ends.mp3 0:06 5 full Raid on Manila: An Audacious Footnote https://qualla.com/raid-on-manila/ Photo credit Emmanuel Roquette, CC BY-SA 4.0. Rainier expressed satisfaction with the intelligence Cooke had gathered: the Spanish squadron posed no immediate threat. Historian C. Northcote Parkinson speculated that more might have been achieved had Cooke joined forces with HMS Resistance, which was also in Philippine waters...

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]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/d/t/f/raid-on-manila-wp/wdtf-raid-on-manila-an-audacious-footnote.mp3 0:06 6 full