Western Design

Western Design
Part of Anglo-Spanish War (1654–60)
Oliver Cromwell; the Design was part of an ambitious plan to oust Spain from the Americas
Date 19–27 May 1655 Location Spanish West Indies Result Inconclusive Territorial changes Jamaica occupied by England
Belligerents
Spain	England
Commanders and leaders
Juan Ramírez de Arellano Bernardino de Meneses	William Penn William Goodsonn Robert Venables James Heane †
Strength
2,400 (Hispaniola) 1,500 (Jamaica)	8,000 troops 30 ships
Casualties and losses
	over 1,000

The Western Design was an English expedition against the Spanish West Indies during the 1654 to 1660 Anglo-Spanish War.

Part of an ambitious plan by Oliver Cromwell to end Spanish dominance in the Americas, the force was short of supplies and poorly trained. Leadership was split between Robert Venables, commander of land forces, and Admiral William Penn; the relationship between the two quickly broke down, and they regarded each other with distrust and suspicion. The attack on Hispaniola was a failure but the English then subsequently took Jamaica and claimed it for the English Commonwealth.