The
Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife was an amphibious assault by the
Royal Navy on the
Spanish port city of
Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the
Canary Islands. Launched by
Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson on 22 July 1797, the assault was defeated, and on 25 July the remains of the landing party withdrew under a truce, having lost several hundred men. Nelson himself had been wounded in the arm, which was subsequently partially amputated: a
stigma that he carried to his grave as a constant reminder of his failure.