The invasion of Guadeloupe occurred between 8 and 10 August 1815 during the Hundred Days. Following Napoleon's return to power, a conflict began in the French West Indian colony of Guadeloupe over whether or not to support him, which ended on 19 June when GovernorCharles-Alexandre Linois declared his support for Napoleon. A British expeditionary force under Lieutenant-generalSir James Leith, augmented by French forces from Martinique, proceeded to set sail for Guadeloupe. Following failed negotiations with Linois, British troops landed on Basse-Terre Island on 8 August and routed defending French troops. After more British troops landed the next day, Linois capitulated on 10 August, with the British occupying the colony until April 1816. The invasion was the final conflict of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
On 15 June the French schooner Argile arrived from France with orders for Linois to rally Guadeloupe and the nearby French colony of Martinique to Napoleon's cause. De Peyreleau attempted to persuade Linois to declare his loyalty to Napoleon, but was rebuffed. In response, on 18 June de Peyreleau began arresting prominent colonial officials and held Linois under house arrest; a day later, Linois reluctantly declared his support for Napoleon's restored regime.[1] Unbeknownst to them, Napoleon had been defeated at Waterloo on 18 June and abdicated again four days later. Meanwhile, in Martinique GovernorPierre René Marie de Vaugiraud de Rosnay requested British assistance in securing the colony's loyalty to Louis XVIII, with British troops landing there on 5 July.[2]
The 1st Division of Leith's force, transporting troops from the Windward Islands and the Guianas, set sail from Carlisle Bay, Barbados on 31 July and met the 2nd Division, whose troops were from Saint Lucia, Martinique and Dominica, off the Îles des Saintes. On 2 August, the ships transporting the 1st Division anchored in the bay of Saint-Louis in Marie-Galante, which allowed the division to threaten Basse-Terre.[4] Rumours of Napoleon's defeat and abdication had reached Guadeloupe in July, but were dismissed as British propaganda by Linois and Boyer-Peyreleau. On 3 August, CaptainAndrew Leith Hay, Leith's nephew and another aide-de-camp of his, arrived at Basse-Terre under a flag of truce with a proclamation detailing Napoleon's abdication. Hay demanded the French garrison lay down their arms, which was refused, although on 7 August French newspapers arrived in the colony from Barbados and Martinique which confirmed what had happened in Europe.[1]
At the time of the invasion, the French garrison on Guadeloupe consisted of 6,000 regulars and militia. The regular troops consisted of an overseas service battalion of the 62nd Line Infantry Regiment under de Peyreleau's command, which had arrived in the colony in January 1815, and a company of the 6th Foot Artillery Regiment under a Captain de La Fontaine.[5] On 8 August, the British 1st and 2nd Brigades landed at Anse Saint-Sauveur on the southeastern coast of Basse-Terre Island and drove defending French troops into the hills.[4] The 3rd Brigade landed at Baillif on the southwestern coast of the island on 9 August, preventing the scattered French garrison from regrouping.[3] Later in the day Linois sent word to the British invaders, requesting they name their conditions for a surrender. On 10 August, he signed a capitulation with the British.[6]
Aftermath
The invasion was the final engagement of the Hundred Days and more broadly speaking the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under terms Linois signed in the capitulation, Guadeloupe was placed under British occupation, which lasted until the colony was handed over to French colonial authorities in April 1816.[1] On 20 November 1816 Louis XVIII awarded Leith the Grand Cordon of the Order of Military Merit, with Moody being made a Knight of the Order of Military Merit.[7][8][9][10] However, Leith had already died by the time he was awarded by Louis XVIII, having contracted yellow fever in Barbados on 10 October and dying six days later. Leith's body was returned to England, and was buried in the nave of Westminster Abbey on 15 March 1817.[11] Upon his return to France, Linois was forced to resign and court martialled, but was acquitted on 11 March 1816, though never holding an active command again.[12]
↑The New Annual Army List, for 1849, Vol. 10, H. G. Hart, p.471
↑Bulletins and Other State Intelligence Compiled and Arranged from the Official Documents published in the London Gazette, 1820. R. G. Clarke, Cannon Row, Westminster. 26 May 1820. p.220.
↑Hart, Captain H. G. (1844). Hart's Annual Army List, Special Reserve List, and Territorial Force List, Volume 5. John Murray, Albemarle Street, London. p.288.
↑"Sir James Leith". Westminster Abbey. 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
↑Humble, Richard (2019). Napoleon's Admirals: Flag Officers of the Arc de Triomphe, 1789-1815. Oxford: Casemate. ISBN978-1-61200-808-0.
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