The main goals of Spain were the recovery of Gibraltar and Menorca from the British, who had owned them since 1704, and to damage British trade through the actions of privateers. The siege of Gibraltar, June 16, 1779, to February 7, 1783, was the longest-lasting Spanish action in the war. Despite the larger size of the besieging Franco-Spanish army, at one point numbering 33,000, the British under George Augustus Elliott were able to hold out in the fortress and were resupplied by sea three times. Luis de Córdova y Córdova was unable to prevent Howe's fleet returning home after resupplying Gibraltar in October 1782. The combined Franco-Spanish invasion of Menorca in 1781 met with more success; Menorca surrendered the following year, and was restored to Spain after the war, nearly eighty years after it was first captured by the British. In 1780 and 1781, Luis de Córdova's fleet captured America-bound British convoys, doing much damage to British military supplies and commerce.