Capture of Montserrat | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
France | Great Britain | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Comte de Barras Charles François Joseph, Comte de Flechin | Gov. Michael White | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
4 ships 500 men | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown, minimum | Unknown casualties 68 artillery guns taken |
The Capture of Montserrat was accomplished by a French naval expedition that seized the island of Montserrat from the British on 22 February 1782 during the American Revolutionary War.
Following the Franco-American success in the October 1781 Siege of Yorktown, French Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse returned to the West Indies to continue campaigning against British-held islands there. In concert with the French governor of the West Indies, the Marquis de Bouillé, he sought to capture Barbados, a key British possession. However, two separate attempts failed to reach the island, which is to the windward of most of the Caribbean islands and can require a lengthy journey against the prevailing easterly trade winds to reach. The leaders then turned to other targets, beginning with St. Kitts, which was besieged on 11 January 1782. St. Kitts fell on 13 February, at which time de Grasse detached a squadron to take Montserrat.
The Comte de Barras, commander of the squadron, dispatched the Count of Flechin, along with 500 men from the Régiment Auxerrois, to capture the island from the British. At the time of its surrender, British artillery on Montserrat consisted of 62 pieces of cannon of different bores and six howitzers.
Montserrat was occupied by the French until it was returned pursuant to the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Versailles. [1]
Saint Kitts and Nevis have one of the longest written histories in the Caribbean, both islands being among Spain's and England's first colonies in the archipelago. Despite being only two miles apart and quite diminutive in size, Saint Kitts and Nevis were widely recognized as being separate entities with distinct identities until they were forcibly united in the late 19th century.
The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, contemporary with the War of American Independence (1775–1783), broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that war.
Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney, KB, was a British naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the American War of Independence, particularly his victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. It is often claimed that he was the commander to have pioneered the tactic of breaking the line.
François Joseph Paul, Comte de Grasse, Marquis of Grasse-Tilly SMOM was a career French officer who achieved the rank of admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 in the last year of the American Revolutionary War. It led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown and helped gain the rebels' victory.
The Battle of the Saintes, also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The British victory was considered their greatest over the French during the American Revolutionary War.
The Battle of Saint Kitts, also known as the Battle of Frigate Bay, was a naval battle fought on 25 and 26 January 1782 during the American Revolutionary War between a British fleet under Rear Admiral Sir Samuel Hood and a larger French fleet under the Comte de Grasse.
Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, was a Royal Navy officer. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, British commander at the siege of Yorktown. Cornwallis took part in a number of decisive battles including the siege of Louisbourg in 1758, when he was 14, and the Battle of the Saintes but is best known as a friend of Lord Nelson and as the commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. He is depicted in the Horatio Hornblower novel, Hornblower and the Hotspur.
Ville de Paris was a large three-decker French ship of the line that became famous as the flagship of Admiral De Grasse during the American Revolutionary War.
Fort Charles is an abandoned British fort on the island of Nevis. It is now mostly in ruins.
HMS St Albans was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 12 September 1764 by Perry, Wells & Green at their Blackwall Yard, London.
Sir Hugh Cloberry Christian KB was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary Wars.
César was a 74-gun ship of the French Navy. Ordered in the spring of 1767 from the Toulon shipyard, she was launched on 3 August 1768. César saw service in the American War of Independence, during which she was destroyed in the Battle of the Saintes.
The Battle of St. Kitts or St. Cristopher was a successful Spanish expedition that seized the islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis from the English and French during the Anglo-Spanish War (1625–30).
The Invasion of Tobago was a French invasion of the British-held island of Tobago during the Anglo-French War. On 24 May 1781, the fleet of Comte de Grasse landed troops on the island under the command of General Marquis de Bouillé. By 2 June 1781, they had successfully gained control of the island.
Concorde was a 32-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class. Built in Rochefort in 1777, she entered service with the French early in the American War of Independence and was soon in action, capturing HMS Minerva in the West Indies. She survived almost until near the end of the war when HMS Magnificent captured her in 1783. Not immediately brought into service due to the draw-down in the navy after the end of the war, Concorde underwent repairs and returned to active service with the outbreak of war with France in 1793 as the fifth-rate HMS Concorde.
The French invasion of Saint Kitts also known as the siege of Brimstone Hill, from 19 January–13 February 1782, was a part of the American Revolutionary War. After landing on Saint Kitts, the French troops of the Marquis de Bouillé stormed and besieged the fortress of Brimstone Hill. After a month of battle, the heavily outnumbered and cut-off British garrison surrendered. The Comte de Grasse, who delivered de Bouillé's troops and supported the siege, was outmanoeuvred and deprived of his anchorage by Admiral Samuel Hood. Even though Hood's force was inferior by one-third, de Grasse was beaten off when he attempted to dislodge Hood. Hood's attempts to relieve the ongoing siege were unsuccessful, and the garrison capitulated after one month. About a year later, the Treaty of Paris restored Saint Kitts and adjacent Nevis to British rule.
The Capture of Sint Eustatius took place in February 1781 during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War when British army and naval forces under Lieutenant-General Sir John Vaughan and Admiral George Rodney seized the Dutch-owned Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius. The capture was controversial in Britain, as it was alleged that Vaughan and Rodney had used the opportunity to enrich themselves and had neglected more important military duties. The island was subsequently taken by Dutch-allied French forces in late 1781, ending the British occupation.
Jacques-Melchior Saint-Laurent, Comte de Barras was a French Navy officer of the eighteenth century. He notably served in Yorktown Campaign of the War of American Independence.
The Anglo-French War, also known as the War of 1778 or the Bourbon War in Britain, was a military conflict fought between France and Great Britain, sometimes with their respective allies, between 1778 and 1783. As a consequence, Great Britain was forced to divert resources used to fight the American War of Independence to theatres in Europe, India, and the West Indies, and to rely on what turned out to be the chimera of Loyalist support in its North American operations. From 1778 to 1783, with or without their allies, France and Britain fought over dominance in the English Channel, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean.
Events from the year 1782 in France: