8. The Spanish tried to starve the British out of Gibraltar
During the second winter of the siege of Gibraltar the Spanish were successful in keeping the British unsupplied via land and sea, and the starvation conditions were again apparent as 1780 rolled into 1781. In April 1781, a second relief expedition of nearly 100 supply ships, escorted by a British fleet of warships, arrived in the harbor, having eluded the Spanish fleet near Cadiz. As the supply ships unloaded their precious cargoes near the mole, the Spanish for the first time began a bombardment of the British garrison. The town was heavily damaged, but the ships at the mole were outside of the range of the Spanish guns, and the unloading continued unmolested. The cargoes included food, medical supplies, and ammunition.
During the unloading a council of war was held at which it was decided that the civilian population of Gibraltar would be evacuated by the same ships which delivered the supplies. The decision was made because of the Spanish bombardment and the realization that the fewer mouths to feed would allow the garrison to conserve supplies which would otherwise be consumed by non-combatants. The civilians and cargo ships again eluded the Spanish fleet on departure for England on April 21. Frustrated by their inability to starve the defenders into surrender, the Spanish and their French allies began to move batteries into more forward positions, erecting new bastions, and maintaining a steady bombardment on the British positions, who responded with a bombardment of their own.