Capture of the brig Brillante | |||||||
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Part of the Suppression of the Slave Trade | |||||||
"Slave Trade in Africa" | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | African Slave Traders |
The Capture of the brig Brillante occurred around 1832 and was considered a significant feat in the Blockade of Africa. Brillante was a slave ship that the Royal Navy succeeded in capturing after two failed attempts. The brig had a crew of sixty men and was armed with ten guns. Brillante was under the command of an English-born captain named Homans when she was seized. Homans was an experienced slaver who in ten cruises had landed 5,000 slaves on the coasts of Brazil and Cuba. Brillante reportedly fought at least two battles against the British anti-slavery patrols. She allegedly forced the crew of one British cruiser to abandon ship after a bloody action and on a different occasion, she repulsed boats from a Royal Navy sloop-of-war.
Finally, four navy vessels trapped Brillante by surrounding her. Just before his capture, Captain Homans murdered around 600 slaves by ordering that their hands be tied to the ship's anchor and that they be thrown over the side. The Britons who captured the ship arrived just after the incident and took control without resistance. [1] [2] [3]
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)HMS Galatea was a fifth-rate 32-gun sailing frigate of the British Royal Navy that George Parsons built at Bursledon and launched in 1794. Before she was broken up in 1809 she captured numerous prizes and participated in a number of actions, first in the Channel and off Ireland (1794–1803), and then in the Caribbean (1802–1809), including one that earned her crew the Naval General Service Medal.
Nathaniel Gordon was an American slave trader who was the only person in the United States to be tried, convicted, and executed by the federal government for having "engaged in the slave trade" under the Piracy Law of 1820.
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