In 1762, at the end of the Seven Years War, a small but technically proficient force of British Army regulars and East India Company soldiers supported by the ships and men of the East Indies Squadron of the Royal Navy, sailed from Madras to capture Manila. This is an account of how the force, commanded by General William Draper and Vice-Admiral Samuel Cornish, captured the greatest Spanish fortress in the western Pacific and attempted to establish a trade with China.