"And you will give the provincials the strongest assurances of their being set down at New York as soon as the campaign shall be over... and ... offer any farther douceurs to these troops that you shall think proper and reasonable should it be necessary. "

--Earl of Egremont's January 13, 1762 orders to Major-General Sir Jeffery Amherst, Commander-in-Chief of the Army in North America, to induce the American provincials to participate in the Havana campaign.

Spain's impetuous decision in August of 1761 to tie her fate with a virtually defeated France through the Third Family Compact led inevitably to England's declaration of war on January 4,1762. Immediately, England seized the initiative to attack the overseas outposts of the Spanish empire. The offensive strategy against Spain had been conceived in advance of the outbreak of hostilities by a Secret Committee composed of Lord Viscount George Anson (First Lord of the Admiralty), the Duke of Newcastle (First Lord of the Treasury), George Greenville, Duke of Devonshire (Treasurer of the Navy), the two Secretaries of State, Lord Bute and Lord Egremont, and Lord Ligonier (Commander-in-Chief of the Army). Under the plan, an expedition under General Sir William Draper was to be sent from India against the Philippine Islands in the East Indies. In Portugal, Lord Tyrawley and the Earl of Loudon were deployed to counter an expected combined French and Spanish attack. The boldest stroke was an attack in the West Indies against Havana, Cuba at the very heart of the Spanish Caribbean. The project was quickly approved at a Cabinet meeting held on January 6. George III delighted in his assent noting: "It gives me no small satisfaction that Cuba ... and the Manillas seem to be agreed on by those who assembl'd to day..."

Havana was one of the richest and largest cities in America, second only to Lima and Mexico City. [147]

Its population exceeded that of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, the three largest cities of North America. As the rendezvous point for all Spanish fleets carrying the riches of the New World to the coffers of imperial Spain, the convoy that assembled there every year during the months of August and September was considered the richest of the world in its time. The gold, silver, precious stones and merchandise aboard were seldom worth less than thirty million pieces of eight. Shipbuilding at Havana had been fostered through royal decrees that had set off a flurry of activity making its shipyard the most productive in the Americas. Between 1724 and 1761 alone it yielded 43 ships of the line. Mante [148] described it as " by far the most considerable place in the West Indies, with docks in which ships of war of the first magnitude are built" and a harbor "spacious enough to receive 100 ships of the line".

Command of the Havana expedition was entrusted to George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle. He owed the appointment to his connections in Court and his personal fortune but lacked experience and had been dismissed by Wolfe as a parade officer "one of those showy men who are seen in palaces and the courts of men." He was ably assisted, however, by Admiral Sir George Pocock as commander in chief of the naval forces, an officer with a distinguished service record in the East Indies.

A force of 18,000 men was envisioned by the planners as adequate for the task but England's military resources had been stretched to the point that only 4,365 men were available in England to accompany Albemarle. The balance was to be made up from troops in the Caribbean under General Robert: Monckton engaged in the siege of Martinique, and a brigade of 4,000 to be sent from New York by Sir Jeffrey Amherst. In order to reduce the further drain of redcoat regulars from the North American continent, [149] half of the contingent to be sent by Amherst was to consist of American provincials. [150]

Quick action was essential for success in order to take advantage of the short season fit for operations and to achieve surprise.

The assembling of this army from three separate sources required considerable planning, timing, and luck. Albemarle sailed towards the West Indies on March 5 with instructions for Monckton that the attack against Havana was to be given priority over the siege of Martinique, whether or not it had already been concluded by the time Albemarle arrived there. Once these forces joined, they were to sail towards Cape St. Nicolas at the northwest corner of the island of St. Domingue (Haiti) where they were expected to rendezvous with the North American contingent having sailed down from New York. The combined force was then to proceed to Havana through the Old Bahama Channel along the North coast of Cuba. Anticipating that the American brigade might not be at the rendezvous at the appointed time, Albemarle was instructed not to wait for it but to proceed to Havana with the force at hand, leaving a vessel at the spot to effect the liaison.