Between 1785 and 1791 the Battery was stationed at Gibraltar. Elements of the Battery are believed to have been stationed at Gibraltar before then and were therefore involved in the Great Siege by the Spanish and the French, which lasted nearly four years from 1779 to 1783. At this time there were only 25 officers and 460 NCOs and men to man 452 guns and mortars. In addition they were only getting limited supplies of food smuggled in from North Africa.