Action of 22 January 1809

Last updated

Action of 22 January 1809
Part of the Napoleonic Wars
Guadeloupe map.png
Red pog.svg

Location of the action of 22 January 1809
Date22 January 1809
Location
Off Pointe-Noire, Caribbean Sea
16°12′50″N61°48′00″W / 16.21389°N 61.80000°W / 16.21389; -61.80000 Coordinates: 16°12′50″N61°48′00″W / 16.21389°N 61.80000°W / 16.21389; -61.80000
Result British victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Flag of France (1794-1815).svg  France
Commanders and leaders
Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg Samuel Pechell Flag of France (1794-1815).svg Pierre Lahalle
Strength
2 frigates
1 sloop		 1 frigate
Casualties and losses
3 killed and wounded 26 killed and wounded
1 frigate captured

The action of 22 January 1809 was a minor naval engagement fought off the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe during the Napoleonic Wars. The action was fought as part of the blockade of Guadeloupe and neighbouring Martinique by a large British Royal Navy squadron, which was seeking to cut the islands off from contact and supplies from France by preventing the passage of shipping from Europe to the islands. The British blockade was part of their preparation for planned invasions during the next year.

Contents

The French made numerous efforts to supply their colonies during this period, attempting to use fast frigates to bring food and military stores to the Caribbean past the British blockades, themselves a response to Napoleon's Continental System, but often losing the vessels in the process. One such attempt was made by the French frigate Topaze, despatched from Brest to Cayenne with a large cargo of flour. Driven away from Cayenne by Portugal (allies of Britain, and fighting France themselves in be Peninsular War), who had recently captured the colony, Topaze took refuge under the gun batteries of Guadeloupe.

Discovered at anchor off Pointe-Noire on 22 January by the British brig HMS Hazard, Topaze was isolated and attacked by two British frigates, led by Captain Samuel Pechell in HMS Cleopatra. In the ensuing engagement, the British ships outnumbered and overwhelmed their opponent, capturing the ship and her cargo, despite heavy fire from a French gun battery that overlooked the anchorage. The British ships were drawn from a force gathered for the impending invasion of Martinique, which was launched six days after Topaze had been captured and successfully completed in a campaign lasting just over three weeks.

Background

By the summer of 1808, the Napoleonic Wars were five years old and the British Royal Navy—whose success during the 1793–1801 French Revolutionary Wars had continued into the new conflict—was dominant at sea. In an effort to restrict French movement and trade, the British fleet actively blockaded French ports, maintaining squadrons of fast frigates and large ships of the line off every important French harbour and smaller warships off less significant anchorages to intercept any vessel that attempted to enter or leave. [1] This strategy was practised across the French Empire, particularly in the West Indies, where lucrative British trade routes were at constant risk from raiding French warships and privateers. As a result, the economies of the French colonies, especially the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, collapsed and their food stocks, military supplies and morale all began to run low. Messages requesting assistance from France were despatched but many were intercepted by British ships, convincing the Admiralty to order invasions of the French colonies. [2] During late 1808 and early 1809 therefore, expeditionary forces were sent to occupy the smaller colonies while a major army and naval fleet were assembled on Barbados under Sir Alexander Cochrane in readiness for an attack on Martinique. [3]

In France, news of the situation in the West Indies forced the authorities to take action. During the autumn of 1808, a number of ships were despatched carrying much needed food and military supplies, but several were intercepted, including the frigate Thétis , captured during the action of 10 November 1808 in the Bay of Biscay. [4] Despite the losses, some ships did reach their destination intact and further supply ships were prepared, including the frigate Topaze, ordered to transport 1,100 barrels of flour to Cayenne. The cargo was loaded during late November and early December, the frigate also carrying military supplies and 100 soldiers to augment the Cayenne garrison. The ship, under the command of Captain Pierre-Nicolas Lahalle, was only three years old and carried 40 heavy guns. [5]

In early December 1808, Topaze departed Brest and travelled across the Atlantic, encountering the British frigate HMS Loire in the Bay of Biscay. Loire fired on Topaze, but was unable to catch her and, despite minor damage, the French ship was able to reach the Caribbean without further incident. [6] Nearing Cayenne on 13 January 1809, Lahalle was surprised to see the small British ship HMS Confiance emerge from the harbour and manoeuvre threateningly towards his ship. Realising that Cayenne was in British hands, he turned and sailed northwards, concerned that stronger British forces might be nearby. In fact Confiance was the only British ship in the vicinity and she was severely underarmed, with a crew of just 47 men, including 20 local inhabitants recruited on the spot. The colony had been captured just three days earlier by a combined British and Portuguese expeditionary force under Captain James Lucas Yeo. [7]

Battle

With Cayenne under British control, Topaze made all speed for Guadeloupe, Lahalle intending to land his food supplies and reinforcements on French held territory before attempting the return journey to Europe. For nine days Topaze crossed the Caribbean without encountering any British warships, but at 07:00 on 22 January she was spotted approaching Guadeloupe from the southwest by the brig HMS Hazard under Captain Hugh Cameron, which was part of a squadron detached from Cochrane's invasion fleet on Barbados to watch the French islands. Although his lookouts had also sighted a French schooner close inshore, Cameron gave orders for his brig to close with the much larger French frigate instead. [5] Within two hours, Hazard was joined by the frigates HMS Cleopatra under Captain Samuel Pechell and HMS Jason under Captain William Maude. Although both ships were smaller than Topaze, together they held a considerable advantage over the overladen French ship. [8]

With Hazard approaching from the northeast, Cleopatra from the southeast and Jason from the south, Lahalle had only one clear route available, eastwards directly towards Guadeloupe. By 11:00, Topaze was 200 yards (180 m) offshore, sheltering in the anchorage off Pointe-Noire, which was protected by a small gun battery manned by soldiers from the island's garrison. [6] Over the next three and a half hours, the British ships steadily approached the bay, hampered by light winds. The breeze strengthened at 14:30 and by 16:30 Cleopatra was close enough for Topaze to open fire on her from 25 yards (23 m). Under fire, Pechell manoeuvered into an advantageous position off Topaze's bow and began to fire on his opponent, shooting away one of the French ship's anchors. This caused her to swing with her bow towards the shore and Cleopatra was able to repeatedly rake Lahalle's ship from close range. [5]

Severely damaged, Topaze was unable to effectively respond, the only serious danger to the British ships coming from the battery onshore. [9] By 17:10 Jason and Hazard had joined Cleopatra, the brig bombarding the battery while Jason opened fire on the other side of the French ship, causing further damage. Recognising that his situation was hopeless, Lahalle surrendered at 17:20. As the French colours fell, approximately a third of the 430 soldiers and sailors on board Topaze attempted to escape captivity by diving overboard and swimming for the shore. Many drowned, and more were killed when Jason opened fire on the swimmers, although exact losses in the water are unknown. The remainder of the survivors, including Lahalle, totalled almost 300 men and were all made prisoners of war. The badly damaged Topaze was towed out of the bay and taken to a British port for repairs. [9]

Aftermath

With the exception of the aforementioned Topaze, casualties were minimal: none were recorded on Jason and Hazard and none in the French battery on shore. Cleopatra, due to the poor position and accuracy of her opponent, lost only two men killed and one wounded, the most serious damage being to her masts and rigging, which were badly cut up. [9] Losses among the French that didn't attempt to flee crew in the engagement were also relatively light, with 12 dead and 14 wounded, although a number of men were killed in their attempt to swim for shore after Topaze had surrendered. The French frigate was badly damaged, particularly in her hull, and required extensive repairs before she was fit for service in the Royal Navy, commissioned under the new name of HMS Alcmene. [9]

On 28 January, Cochrane's fleet at Barbados, including Jason, Cleopatra and Hazard, sailed for Martinique, arriving two days later and conducting successful landings at three points on the island. Within a week, all of the French colony was in British hands except for Fort Desaix, which held out for a further three weeks before surrendering after a heavy bombardment. [10] The following month, a major reinforcement fleet arrived from France but was unable to affect the situation on Martinique and anchored in Îles des Saintes, a small archipelago to the south of Guadeloupe. There they were blockaded and attacked by Cochrane's squadron and in the ensuing Action of 14–17 April 1809 were defeated, with the ship of the line D'Hautpoul captured and the remainder driven back to Europe. [11] Two frigates reached Guadeloupe, but both were later captured. Subsequent attempts to resupply Guadeloupe, the only remaining French position in the West Indies, were made during 1809, and a squadron under Commodore Francois Roquebert managed to capture a British frigate at the action of 13 December 1809. However, this force was intercepted by a British blockade squadron near Guadeloupe at the action of 18 December 1809 and defeated, with two frigates destroyed and two others forced to return to Europe without reaching their destination. [11] Guadeloupe was subsequently invaded in January 1810 and captured, ending direct French interest in the Americas during the Napoleonic Wars. [12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Gardiner, p. 17
  2. ↑ Clowes, p. 283
  3. ↑ Woodman, p. 242
  4. ↑ James, p. 82
  5. 1 2 3 James, p. 148
  6. 1 2 Clowes, p. 431
  7. ↑ James, p. 213
  8. ↑ Gardiner, p. 78
  9. 1 2 3 4 James, p. 149
  10. ↑ Clowes, p. 284
  11. 1 2 Gardiner, p. 79
  12. ↑ Gardiner, p. 80

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action of 25 September 1806</span> Minor naval engagement during the Napoleonic Wars

The action of 25 September 1806 was a naval battle fought during the Napoleonic Wars off the French Biscay port of Rochefort. A French squadron comprising five frigates and two corvettes, sailing to the French West Indies with supplies and reinforcements, was intercepted by a British squadron of six ships of the line that was keeping a close blockade of the port as part of the Atlantic campaign of 1806. The British ships, under the command of Commodore Sir Samuel Hood, spotted the French convoy early in the morning of 25 September, just a few hours after the French had left port, and immediately gave chase. Although the French ships tried to escape, they were heavily laden with troops and stores, and the strong winds favoured the larger ships of the line, which caught the French convoy after a five-hour pursuit, although they had become separated from one another during the chase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811</span> Amphibious and naval operations by the British during the Napoleonic Wars

The Mauritius campaign of 1809–1811 was a series of amphibious operations and naval actions fought to determine possession of the French Indian Ocean territories of Isle de France and Île Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign lasted from the spring of 1809 until the spring of 1811, and saw both the Royal Navy and the French Navy deploy substantial frigate squadrons with the intention of disrupting or protecting trade from British India. In a war in which the Royal Navy was almost universally dominant at sea, the campaign is especially notable for the local superiority enjoyed by the French Navy in the autumn of 1810 following the British disaster at the Battle of Grand Port, the most significant defeat for the Royal Navy in the entire conflict. After their victory, the British used the original Dutch name of Mauritius for Isle de France. In 1814, Île Bonaparte was returned to France, who eventually renamed it La Réunion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasion of Île Bonaparte</span> Invasion of the Napoleonic Wars

The Invasion of Île Bonaparte was an amphibious operation in 1810 that formed an important part of the British campaign to blockade and capture the French Indian Ocean territories of Île Bonaparte and Isle de France during the Napoleonic Wars. These islands formed a fortified base for a French frigate squadron under Commodore Jacques Hamelin to raid British convoys of East Indiamen travelling between Britain and British India. Hamelin's ships had destroyed two convoys the previous year despite the attention of a squadron of Royal Navy ships under Commodore Josias Rowley. Rowley had responded by raiding the fortified anchorage of Saint Paul on Île Bonaparte and capturing one of Hamelin's frigates and two captured East Indiamen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasion of Martinique (1809)</span> British invasion of Martinique during the Napoleonic Wars

The invasion of Martinique was a successful British amphibious operation against the French colony of Martinique that took place between 30 January and 24 February 1809 during the West Indies campaign of 1804–1810 of the Napoleonic Wars. Martinique, like the nearby island of Guadeloupe, was a major threat to Britain's trade in the West Indies, providing a sheltered base from which privateers and French Navy warships could raid British merchant shipping and disrupt the trade routes that maintained the economy of the United Kingdom. Both islands also provided a focus for larger-scale French operations in the region and in the autumn of 1808, following the Spanish alliance with Britain, the Admiralty decided to order a British squadron to neutralise the threat, beginning with Martinique.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troude's expedition to the Caribbean</span> Naval operation of the Napoleonic wars

Troude's expedition to the Caribbean was a naval operation by a French force under Commodore Amable-Gilles Troude during the Napoleonic Wars. The French squadron departed from Lorient in February 1809 in an attempt to reach and resupply the island colony of Martinique in the Caribbean Sea, then under invasion from a British expeditionary force. The force arrived much too late to affect the outcome of the successful invasion and took shelter from a British squadron in the Îles des Saintes, where they were blockaded by part of the British invasion fleet, led by Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane. Two weeks after the French ships arrived, British troops invaded and captured the Saintes, constructing mortar batteries to bombard the French squadron. With his position unsustainable, Commodore Troude decided to break out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action of 10 November 1808</span> Minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars

The action of 10 November 1808 was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, in which a British frigate defeated and captured a French frigate in the Bay of Biscay. The action formed part of the blockade of the French Biscay ports during the war by the British Royal Navy, a strategy designed to prevent ships from entering or leaving French harbours, thus eliminating foreign trade with France and damaging the French economy as well as cutting France off from her overseas colonies. The French ship in the action, Thétis, was destined for the French held West Indian island of Martinique with a cargo of flour and military supplies, including over 100 soldiers to reinforce the island's garrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action of 10 February 1809</span> Naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars

The action of 10 February 1809 was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, in which a British Royal Navy squadron chased and captured the French frigate Junon in the Caribbean Sea. Junon was on a mission to carry trade goods from the Îles des Saintes near Guadeloupe back to France and was part of a succession of French warships sent during 1808 and the early months of 1809 in an effort to break the British blockade of the French Caribbean, which was destroying the economies and morale of the islands. Having landed supplies, Junon's return cargo was intended to improve the economic situation on Guadeloupe with much needed oceanic trade.

HMS Jason was a 32-gun fifth rate Thames-class frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1804 at Woolwich. She was broken up in 1815.

HMS <i>Hazard</i> (1794) Sloop of the Royal Navy

HMS Hazard was a 16-gun Royal Navy Cormorant-class ship-sloop built by Josiah & Thomas Brindley at Frindsbury, Kent, and launched in 1794. She served in the French Revolutionary Wars and throughout the Napoleonic Wars. She captured numerous prizes, and participated in a notable ship action against the French frigate Topaze, as well as in several other actions and campaigns, three of which earned her crew clasps to the Naval General Service Medal. Hazard was sold in 1817.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portuguese conquest of French Guiana</span> Anglo-Portuguese invasion and occupation of French Guiana in 1809

The Portuguese conquest of French Guiana, also known as Conquest of Cayenne, was a military operation against Cayenne, capital of the South American colony of French Guiana, launched in January 1809 in the context of the Napoleonic Wars. The invasion was undertaken by a combined expeditionary force that included Portuguese and British military contingents.

Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel John Brooke Pechell, 3rd Baronet CB, KCH, FRS was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century. Although he served in several celebrated naval actions of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars his most important achievements were made while serving as a Lord of the Admiralty, pioneering the science and instruction of rapid and accurate gunnery in the Royal Navy through training facilities and manuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of battle in the Atlantic campaign of 1806</span>

The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was one of the most important and complex naval campaigns of the post-Trafalgar Napoleonic Wars. Seeking to take advantage of the withdrawal of British forces from the Atlantic in the aftermath of the Battle of Trafalgar, Emperor Napoleon ordered two battle squadrons to sea from the fleet stationed at Brest, during December 1805. Escaping deep into the Atlantic, these squadrons succeeded in disrupting British convoys, evading pursuit by British battle squadrons and reinforcing the French garrison at Santo Domingo. The period of French success was brief: on 6 February 1806 one of the squadrons, under Vice-Admiral Corentin Urbain Leissègues, was intercepted by a British squadron at the Battle of San Domingo and destroyed, losing all five of its ships of the line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roquebert's expedition to the Caribbean</span> Napoleonic war operation by French

Roquebert's expedition to the Caribbean, was an unsuccessful operation by a French naval squadron to transport supplies to Guadeloupe in December 1809 at the height of the Napoleonic Wars. Over the previous year, British Royal Navy squadrons had isolated and defeated the French Caribbean colonies one by one, until by the autumn Guadeloupe was the only colony remaining in French hands. Cut off from the rest of the world by British blockade squadrons that intercepted all ships coming to or from the island, Guadeloupe was in a desperate situation, facing economic collapse, food shortages and social upheaval, as well as the impending threat of British invasion. In an effort to reinforce and resupply the colony, the French government sent four vessels to the West Indies in November 1809 under Commodore François Roquebert. Two of the ships were 20-gun flûtes carrying supplies and troops. The two others were 40-gun frigates, ordered to protect the storeships on their journey from the British forces operating off both the French and Guadeloupe coasts.

HMS <i>Cleopatra</i> (1779) Frigate of the Royal Navy

HMS Cleopatra was a 32-gun Amazon-class fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had a long career, seeing service during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. During the latter wars she fought two notable engagements with larger French opponents. In the first engagement she was forced to surrender, but succeeded in damaging the French ship so badly that she was captured several days later, while Cleopatra was retaken. In the second she forced the surrender of a 40-gun frigate. After serving under several notable commanders she was broken up towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Invasion of Guadeloupe (1810)</span> 1810 British amphibious operation

The Invasion of Guadeloupe was a British amphibious operation fought between 28 January and 6 February 1810 over control of the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe during the Napoleonic Wars. The island was the final remaining French colony in the Americas, following the systematic invasion and capture of the others during 1809 by British forces. During the Napoleonic Wars, the French colonies had provided protected harbours for French privateers and warships, which could prey on the numerous British trade routes in the Caribbean and then return to the colonies before British warships could react. In response, the British instituted a blockade of the islands, stationing ships off every port and seizing any vessel that tried to enter or leave. With trade and communication made dangerous by the British blockade squadrons, the economies and morale of the French colonies began to collapse, and in the summer of 1808 desperate messages were sent to France requesting help.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic campaign of 1806</span> 1806 campaign during the Napoleonic Wars

The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres conducted by squadrons of the French Navy and the British Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean during the spring and summer of 1806, as part of the Napoleonic Wars. The campaign followed directly from the Trafalgar campaign of the year before, in which the French Mediterranean fleet had crossed the Atlantic, returned to Europe and joined with the Spanish fleet. On 21 October 1805, this combined force was destroyed by a British fleet under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar, although the campaign did not end until the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November 1805. Believing that the French Navy would not be capable of organised resistance at sea during the winter, the First Lord of the Admiralty Lord Barham withdrew the British blockade squadrons to harbour. Barham had miscalculated – the French Atlantic fleet, based at Brest, had not been involved in the Trafalgar campaign and was therefore at full strength. Taking advantage of the reduction in the British forces off the port, Napoleon ordered two heavy squadrons to sea, under instructions to raid British trade routes while avoiding contact with equivalent Royal Navy forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne</span> Minor English and France maritime conflict

The Battle of Les Sables-d'Olonne was a minor naval battle fought on 23 February 1809 off the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne on the Biscay Coast of France between a French Navy squadron of three frigates and a larger British squadron of ships of the line. The French squadron had sailed from the port of Lorient on 23 February in an effort to link up with a fleet from Brest under Jean-Baptiste Willaumez, but missed the rendezvous and was pursued by a British blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral Robert Stopford. The French commander, Commodore Pierre Roch Jurien, anchored his squadron under the batteries which protected the town of Les Sables-d'Olonne in the hope of dissuading an attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Action of 15 November 1810</span> Minor naval engagement during the French Revolutionary Wars

The action of 15 November 1810 was a minor naval engagement fought during the British Royal Navy blockade of the French Channel ports in the Napoleonic Wars. British dominance at sea, enforced by a strategy of close blockade, made it difficult for the French Navy to operate even in their own territorial waters. In the autumn of 1810, a British squadron assigned to patrol the Baie de la Seine was effectively isolating two French squadrons in the ports of Le Havre and Cherbourg-en-Cotentin. On 12 November, the squadron in Le Havre, consisting of frigates Elisa and Amazone attempted to reach Cherbourg at night in order to united the squadrons. This squadron was spotted in the early hours of 13 November by the patrolling British frigates HMS Diana and HMS Niobe, which gave chase.

HMS <i>Imperieuse</i> (1805) Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate

HMS Imperieuse was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. Built in Ferrol, Spain, for the Spanish Navy she was launched as Medea in 1797. In 1804 she was part of a squadron carrying gold from South America to Spain that was seized by the British while Spain and Britain were at peace. Medea was subsequently taken into service with the Royal Navy and was briefly named HMS Iphigenia before being renamed Imperieuse in 1805.

<i>Thames</i>-class frigate Frigate class of the Royal Navy

The Thames-class frigate was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate class of eight ships of the Royal Navy based on the Richmond-class frigate designed by William Bately. The ships were ordered to the older design, which was of a smaller type of ship compared to more modern designs, so that they could be built quickly and cheaply in time to assist in defending against Napoleon's expected invasion of Britain. The class received several design changes to the Richmond class, being built of fir instead of oak, with these changes making the class generally slower and less weatherly than their predecessors, especially when in heavy weather conditions. The first two ships of the class, Pallas and Circe, were ordered on 16 March 1804 with two more ordered on 1 May and the final four on 12 July. The final ship of the class, Medea, was cancelled on 22 October before construction could begin but the other seven ships of the class were commissioned between 1804 and 1806.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.