On 4 August 1704, Gibraltar was captured by an Anglo-Dutch force after a short siege which ended when Governor Diego de Salinas Gibraltar to Prince George, who took it in the name of the Archduke, as Charles III, king of Castile and Aragon. Two days later, on 6 August 1704, Nugent was appointed Governor of Gibraltar, with the rank of Major General. He was described as "an Irish Catholic, not well regarded by the English" (). Brigadier Fox, commander of the English Marines, and junior to Nugent, demanded to go home. Hesse gave a refusal to Fox, prompting antagonism between Nugent and Fox.