| British expedition against Martinique | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Seven Years' War | |||||||
 The Capture of Martinique, 11 February 1762 by Dominic Serres | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 France | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Robert Monckton George Rodney | Francis V de Beauharnais | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 8,000 regulars and militia | 1,200 regulars 7,000 militia 4,000 hired privateers | ||||||
The British expedition against Martinique was a military action that took place in January and February 1762. It was part of the Seven Years' War.
After the surrender of Dominica to a British expeditionary force, the French in Martinique fully expected the same expedition to head into their direction. Accordingly, they took measures for their defense. The French force in Martinique consisted of 1,200 regulars, 7,000 local militia and 4,000 hired privateersmen. Furthermore, the mountainous nature of the island made it rather easy to defend.
The neighbouring British islands did what they could to help the mother-country:
The first troops to arrive in Carlisle Bay were a detachment from Belle-Isle, Newfoundland consisting of:
On 24 December 1761, the main army from America under the sails of Admiral Rodney and command of Brigadier Robert Monckton arrived in Carlisle Bay. This army was made up of eleven regiments:
In all, the force entrusted to Monckton must have amounted to 8,000 men.
On 5 January 1762, the British transports weighed anchor and sailed away to leeward, under escort of Admiral Rodney's fleet, past the Pitons of Saint Lucia and past the port of Castries. Two days later the British amphibious force anchored in Sainte-Anne Bay, just round the southern extremity of Martinique, on the western side. Two brigades were then landed in Les Anses-d'Arlet, a bay farther up the western coast, from which they marched to the south of the bay that forms the harbor of the capital, Fort-Royal. Finding the road impracticable for transport of guns, they were re-embarked.
On 16 January, the entire British army was landed without loss of a man at Case Navire, a little to the north of Negro Point. This point forms the northern headland of the harbour, and had at its foot a road leading due east over the mountains to Fort Royal, some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) away. The way was blocked by deep gullies and ravines, and the French had erected redoubts at every strategic point, as well as batteries on a hill beyond, named Morne Tortenson. Monckton was thus compelled to erect batteries to silence the French guns before he could advance farther.
By 24 January, British batteries were completed, and at daybreak a general attack was made under the fire of the batteries upon the French defenses on Morne Tortenson, a party being at the same time detached to turn the enemy's right flank. The turning movement was completely successful and the redoubts by the sea, on the enemy's left, having been carried, the troops stormed post after post, until at 9:00 they were in possession not only of the detached redoubts but of the entire position of Morne Tortenson, with its guns and entrenchments. The French retired in great confusion, some to Fort Royal and some to Morne Grenier, a still higher hill to the north of Morne Tortenson. Simultaneously two brigades under Brigadiers Haviland and Walsh attacked other French posts to the north of Morne Tortenson and, after great difficulty owing to the steepness of the ground, succeeded in driving them back to Morne Grenier. The losses of the British in this action amounted to 33 officers and 350 men killed and wounded.
On 25 January, Monckton, now within range of Fort Royal, began to throw up batteries against its citadel. However, the persistent fire from Morne Grenier led him to instead target that position first. On the afternoon of 27 January, before Monckton had time to launch an attack on them, the French entrenched at Morne Grenier suddenly debouched in 3 columns and launched an attack upon Haviland's brigade and the Light Infantry of the army, on Monckton's left. During this attack, one French column exposed its flank to the Highlanders and was almost instantly routed. The two remaining columns thereupon gave way, and the whole fled back to Morne Grenier with the British in chase. The pursuers plunged down into the intervening ravine after the French and swarming up Morne Grenier "by every path, road, and passage where men could run, walk, or creep," hunted the fugitives headlong before them. Night came on, but the British officers would not stop until they had cleared every Frenchman off the hill and captured all of the works and guns. Monckton at once sent off more troops to support the pursuers. By 1:00 am on 28 January, Morne Grenier was securely occupied, at a cost of little more than 100 British killed and wounded. The batteries on Morne Tortenson were then completed, new batteries were constructed within 370 metres (1,210 ft) of the citadel.
On 3 February, Fort Royal surrendered. By 12 February, the rest of the Island had been reduced.
The regiments employed in Martinique, complete or in detachments, were the 4th, 15th, 17th, 22nd, 27th, 28th, 35th, 38th, 40th, 42nd (two battalions), 43rd, 48th, 3/60th, 65th, 69th, Morgan's 90th, Rufane's 76th (two battalions), 77th (Montgomerie's Highlanders), Vaughan's 94th, Stuart's 97th, Grey's 98th, Campbell's 100th, two companies of American Rangers, ten companies of Barbados Volunteers. The American Rangers included 150 Native Americans from Carolina, including Silver Heels. [1]
From 26 February to 3 March, Monckton sent detachments to the islands Saint Lucia, Grenada and Saint Vincent, all of which fell without resistance. Monckton had already made arrangements for the capture of Tobago when he received orders requiring the presence of his troops for the attack on Havana, Cuba.
Martinique was returned to France after the 1763 Treaty of Paris.
The 63rd Regiment of Foot was a British Army regiment raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms, it amalgamated with the 96th Regiment of Foot to form the Manchester Regiment in 1881.
The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah, from September 16 to October 18, 1779. On October 9 a major assault against the British siege works failed. During the attack, Polish nobleman Count Casimir Pulaski, leading the combined cavalry forces on the American side, was mortally wounded. With the failure of the joint attack, the siege was abandoned, and the British remained in control of Savannah until July 1782, near the end of the war.
The siege of Pensacola, fought from March 9 to May 10, 1781, was the culmination of Spain's conquest of West Florida during the Gulf Coast Campaign of the American Revolutionary War.
Lieutenant-General Robert Monckton was an officer of the British Army and colonial administrator in British North America. He had a distinguished military and political career, being second in command to General James Wolfe at the battle of Quebec and later being named the Governor of the Province of New York. Monckton is also remembered for his role in a number of other important events in the French and Indian War, most notably the capture of Fort Beauséjour in Acadia, and the island of Martinique in the West Indies, as well as for his role in the deportation of the Acadians from British controlled Nova Scotia and also from French-controlled Acadia. The city of Moncton, New Brunswick, and Fort Monckton in Port Elgin, New Brunswick, are named for him. A second more important Fort Monckton in Gosport, England, is also named for him. It remains an active military establishment, and currently houses the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) training section. Monckton sat in the British House of Commons between 1774 and 1782. Although never legally married, he raised and was survived by three sons and a daughter.
The Battle of Beauport, also known as the Battle of Montmorency, fought on 31 July 1759, was an important confrontation between the British and French armed forces during the Seven Years' War of the French province of Canada. The attack conducted by the British against the French defense line of Beauport, some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Quebec was checked, and the British soldiers of General James Wolfe retreated with 443 casualties and losses.
The 35th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1701. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 107th Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Sussex Regiment in 1881.
The 40th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1717 in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 82nd Regiment of Foot to form the Prince of Wales's Volunteers in 1881.
The 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1758. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 106th Bombay Light Infantry to form the Durham Light Infantry in 1881, the 68th Regiment becoming the 1st Battalion, and the 106th Regiment becoming the 2nd Battalion in the regular Army. It saw action during the Seven Years' War before being converted to Light Infantry in 1808, fighting with distinction in the Peninsular Army under Arthur Wellesley. It would go on to fight with some distinction during the Crimean War, served during the Indian Mutiny and the New Zealand wars before returning to India between 1872 and 1888.
The siege of Havana was a successful British siege against Spanish-ruled Havana that lasted from March to August 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War. After Spain abandoned its former policy of neutrality by signing the family compact with France, resulting in a British declaration of war on Spain in January 1762, the British government decided to mount an attack on the important Spanish fortress and naval base of Havana, with the intention of weakening the Spanish presence in the Caribbean and improving the security of its own North American colonies. A strong British naval force consisting of squadrons from Britain and the West Indies, and the military force of British and American troops it convoyed, were able to approach Havana from a direction that neither the Spanish governor nor the Admiral expected and were able to trap the Spanish fleet in the Havana harbour and land its troops with relatively little resistance.
The British invaded and captured the French colony of Martinique 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.
Castle Hill is an area containing the remains of both French and British fortifications, overlooking the town of Placentia in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The site was originally established in order to protect the French fishing interests in Terre-Neuve (Newfoundland) and the approaches to the French colony of Canada.
A British invasion of Martinique took place in January 1759 when a large amphibious force under Peregrine Hopson landed on the French-held island of Martinique and unsuccessfully tried to capture it during the Seven Years' War. Cannon fire from the British fleet was ineffective against the fortress at Fort-Royal due to its location high on the cliffs, and there were no suitable landing places nearby. Unknown to the British commanders, French governor Francis de Beauharnais had not been resupplied for some months, and even a brief siege would have led to the fort's capitulation. However, Moore and Hopson decided instead to investigate the possibility of attacking Martinique's main commercial port, Saint-Pierre. After a desultory naval bombardment on 19 January that again had little effect on the port's defences, they withdrew, and decided instead to attack Guadeloupe, home to a significant body of French privateers. The expedition was successful at Guadeloupe, which surrendered to them in May 1759. In 1762 a British force captured Martinique.
The Invasion of Tobago was a French invasion of the British-held island of Tobago during the Anglo-French War. On May 24, 1781, the fleet of Comte de Grasse landed troops on the island under the command of General Marquis de Bouillé. By June 2, 1781, they had successfully gained control of the island.
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 St Lucia was the result of a campaign from 18–28 December 1778 by British land and naval forces to take over the island, which was a French colony. Britain's actions followed the capture of the British-controlled island of Dominica by French forces in a surprise invasion in September 1778. During the Battle of St. Lucia, the British fleet defeated a French fleet sent to reinforce the island. A few days later French troops were soundly defeated by British troops during the Battle of Morne de la Vigie. Realising that another British fleet would soon arrive with reinforcements, the French garrison surrendered. The remaining French troops were evacuated, and the French fleet returned to Martinique, another French colony. St. Lucia stayed in the hands of the British.
The Battle of Tarvis from 16 to 17 May 1809, the Storming of the Malborghetto Blockhouse from 15 to 17 May 1809, and the Storming of the Predil Blockhouse from 15 to 18 May saw the Franco-Italian army of Eugène de Beauharnais attacking Austrian Empire forces under Albert Gyulai. Eugène crushed Gyulai's division in a pitched battle near Tarvisio, then an Austrian town known as Tarvis. At nearby Malborghetto Valbruna and Predil Pass, small garrisons of Grenz infantry heroically defended two forts before being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. The Franco-Italian capture of the key mountain passes allowed their forces to invade Austrian Kärnten during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Tarvisio is located in far northeast Italy, near the borders of both Austria and Slovenia.
Nova Scotia is a Canadian province located in Canada's Maritimes. The region was initially occupied by Mi'kmaq. The colonial history of Nova Scotia includes the present-day Maritime Provinces and the northern part of Maine, all of which were at one time part of Nova Scotia. In 1763, Cape Breton Island and St. John's Island became part of Nova Scotia. In 1769, St. John's Island became a separate colony. Nova Scotia included present-day New Brunswick until that province was established in 1784. During the first 150 years of European settlement, the colony was primarily made up of Catholic Acadians, Maliseet, and Mi'kmaq. During the last 75 years of this time period, there were six colonial wars that took place in Nova Scotia. After agreeing to several peace treaties, the long period of warfare ended with the Halifax Treaties (1761) and two years later, when the British defeated the French in North America (1763). During those wars, the Acadians, Mi'kmaq and Maliseet from the region fought to protect the border of Acadia from New England. They fought the war on two fronts: the southern border of Acadia, which New France defined as the Kennebec River in southern Maine, and in Nova Scotia, which involved preventing New Englanders from taking the capital of Acadia, Port Royal and establishing themselves at Canso.
The Invasion of Guadeloupe was the last conflict between French and British forces during the Napoleonic Wars, and took place after Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo.
William Rufane was a British soldier who fought in the Seven Years' War, was governor of Martinique in 1762–63 and rose to the rank of lieutenant general.
The British campaign in the Caribbean took place during the first year of the Napoleonic Wars and began shortly after the breakdown of the Treaty of Amiens. Hostilities with France resumed in May 1803 but official notification did not arrive in the West Indies until mid-June, along with British orders to attack France's valuable sugar islands. The expedition, under commanders in chief William Grinfield and Samuel Hood, set out from Barbados on 20 June with 3,149 soldiers, two ships-of-the-line, two frigates, converted to troopships, and two sloops. St Lucia was captured on 22 June 1803, after the island's main fortress, Morne Fortunee had been stormed, and Tobago nine days later. After leaving men to hold these islands, the expedition returned to Barbados.
