Simón Susarte Simón Rodríguez Susarte , commonly known as Simón Susarte , was a Spanish goatherd from Gibraltar , who in 1704 aided a Bourbon Spanish attempt to seize Gibraltar during the Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar by revealing a concealed path to the attackers which led to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar . Susarte then guided a Bourbon contingent along this difficult trail , aiming to surprise the Grand Alliance garrison in hopes of recovering the town . Although the resulting assault proved unsuccessful , Susarte ' s bravery and resourcefulness made him a local legend . The Gibraltar siege . Following the capture of Gibraltar by an Anglo - Dutch fleet on 4 August 1704 on behalf of the Grand Alliance , the Franco - Spanish Bourbon forces counter attacked by laying siege to the town in September , mainly attacking from the northern slopes of The Rock . Despite numerous Spanish batteries in this area , the Grand Alliance defenders managed to hold the town ' s entrance by creating an inundation , with fire support provided by a large ship at the port ' s northern end . The path . On 8 October , Simón Susarte visited the Bourbon Spanish army camp on the north end of the isthmus to advise the troops of a path which led from the east side of Gibraltar ' s sheer rockface to its summit . This path was known to Susarte and other goatherds from Gibraltar , as they had used it regularly in search of pasture for their goats . The Marquis of Villadarias was in command at the camp ; after confirming the veracity of Susarte ' s account , he decided to send a Colonel Figueroa together with 500 lightly armed grenadiers under Susarte to take the Alliance forces by surprise from the sheer rock face , in conjunction with a general attack to be launched by the remaining Spanish forces . On the night of 9 October , Figueroa ' s soldiers left the Bourbon lines and began climbing up the jagged eastern slopes of Gibraltar to the " " Paso del Algarrobo " " ( ) . They later descended , guided by Susarte , along the path to the area known to him as " " Los Tarfes " " and took refuge in St . Michael ' s Cave on the western slopes of The Rock . According to another source , the troops spent the night on the east side of the Rock in Fig Tree Cave and Martin ' s Cave before ascending Middle Hill the next day . Bourbon surprise attack . Susarte ' s party emerged from the cave before sunrise and proceeded to the " " Torre del Hacho " " ( Signal Station ) , killing the guards posted there on sentry duty . Shortly after , they took the area then known as " " La Silleta " " at Gibraltar ' s summit . Susarte ' s task as guide ended here . Having accomplished the first part of their mission , Figueroa ' s men awaited a signal from the Bourbon camp to take the Upper Town by surprise at various points . The Marquis of Villadarias planned a supporting assault across the isthmus frontier to displace Alliance troops so that Figueroa ' s men might take over their posts ; however , Figueroa saw no movement from the camp on 10 September , and so decided not to attack . Shortly after sunrise , a boy taking supplies to his father at the Signal Station found that all its occupants were dead , and immediately notified the Grand Alliance garrison . The Grand Alliance counter - attack . Prince George of Hesse - Darmstadt had anticipated the possibility of an attack from the rear and had kept a mobile force in reserve to guard against such an eventuality . It was formed by an English company and two Spanish companies : a regular company under captain Francisco de Sandoval and a Catalan company of miquelets under Jaume Burguy , numbering 300 men , all of them led by Hesse ' s brother Heinrich . This reserve immediately responded and engaged the Spanish Bourbons at Middle Hill . Although the Bourbons had the advantage of height , they were trapped against the precipice they had climbed and only had three rounds of ammunition each , as a result of travelling light ; they had not come prepared for a pitched battle . The Spanish Habsburg force led by Captain Burguy , made up of miquelets and regulars , marched ahead and dislodged the Spanish Bourbon grenadiers from the top of the hill . At the same time , Sandoval , with his remaining regulars and miquelets , charged upon the bulk of the assaulting force from one flank , while Heinrich von Hesse attacked from the other side . Around a hundred of the Bourbon force , including their colonel , were captured . Hundreds more were killed , either by defending fire or by falling off the Rock while attempting to flee . Only a few , including Simón Susarte , made it back to the Bourbon lines . The English subsequently ensured that there would be no repeat of this episode by blasting away the path used by the Spanish . Susarte ' s fate and legacy . According to some sources , Simón Susarte saved his own life by taking a path unknown to the either the Spanish or the British , thus escaping the scuffle . A park in San Roque featuring Susarte ' s statue is named after him . Existence of Simón Susarte . There is no consensus about the existence of Simón Susarte , since some contemporary sources did not mention him at all . Susarte ' s story is mentioned by Ignacio López de Ayala in its " Historia de Gibraltar " ( " History of Gibraltar " ) , in 1782 , and by Francisco María Montero in its " Historia de Gibraltar y su Campo " ( " History of Gibraltar and its Campo " ) , in 1860 . However , the official accounts of the siege published in the " Gaceta de Madrid " or the letters of Villadarias ( which generically talks about " l ' affaire de la montagne " , " the mountain affair " ) do not mention it . It has been argued , however , that it does not prove that Susarte did not exist , but only that his alleged participation was hushed up .