Battle of Genoa (1795)

Coordinates: 44°02′N 08°28′E / 44.033°N 8.467°E / 44.033; 8.467
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"Battle of Genoa" redirects here. For other uses, see Battle of Genoa (disambiguation).

Battle of Genoa
Part of the naval operations during the War of the First Coalition

"The 'Agamemnon' engaging the Ça Ira', 13 March 1795". Nicholas Pocock, 1810. NMM
Date13–14 March 1795
Location
Gulf of Genoa, Ligurian Sea
Result Anglo-Neapolitan victory
Belligerents
 Great Britain
Naples
France
Commanders and leaders
William Hotham
Pierre Martin
Strength
14 ships of the line (OOB) 13 ships of the line (OOB)
Casualties and losses
74 killed
254 wounded		 400–750 killed and wounded [Note A]
2 ships of the line captured

The Battle of Genoa (also known as the Battle of Cape Noli and in

ships of the line while the British Royal Navy and Neapolitan fleet, under Vice-Admiral William Hotham
mustered 13 ships of the line. The battle ended with a minor British-Neapolitan victory and the capture of two French ships.

The battle was part of a naval campaign in the spring of 1795, during which Martin sought to assert French control over the waters off Southern France. These had been effectively ceded to the British 18 months earlier when the British captured the French Mediterranean naval base of

encountering and capturing
a British ship of the line en route. Off Genoa Martin found himself pursued by Hotham's fleet and, after two days of manoeuvres in calm weather, the French admiral turned back towards the French coast.

Hotham pursued, and on 13 March his leading ships caught the French rearguard. For two days Martin's rearmost ships fought a series of running engagements with the British fleet in which several ships from both sides were badly damaged. Martin's flagship the 120-gun

Horatio Nelson, to continue pursuit, but refused and withdrew his fleet for repairs. One British ship, HMS Illustrious, was later wrecked on the Italian coast. Martin sent his damaged ships into Toulon for repairs and anchored the rest of the fleet in the Îles d'Hyères in preparations for further operations; four months later the fleets fought a second engagement, the Battle of the Hyères Islands
, which also ended in a minor British victory.

Background

The

laid siege to the city and four months of heavy fighting followed until the Royalists and their allies were expelled on 18 December. During the chaotic evacuation of the city most of the French Mediterranean fleet was set on fire by British and Spanish boarding parties.[4]

In the aftermath, the British launched an

ships of the line which was forced to shelter at Gourjean Bay to escape an attack by Lord Hood's fleet.[7] Problems stemming from the French Revolution several years earlier meant that the French fleet was suffering severe reductions in experience and morale in comparison with the British fleet.[8]

By 1795 the full surviving strength of the French Mediterranean Fleet had been restored, Martin mustering 15 ships of the line and six

Nicolas Bassville there two years earlier.[10]

Martin's cruise

See also: Order of battle at the Battle of Genoa

Martin was reluctant to leave Toulon until he could be certain that the lax British blockade of the port had been temporarily retired.[5] Hood had been replaced in late 1794 by his deputy Vice-Admiral William Hotham, who based his ships in San Fiorenzo Bay on the northern coast of Corsica during the winter.[11] There they had attempted partial refits and one ship, HMS Berwick, had been badly damaged due to poor handling during a gale. In late February Hotham sailed for more extensive repairs at Leghorn in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, leaving Berwick behind.[5] Martin received news of Hotham's departure at the start of March, and sailed from Toulon on 3 March.[12]

The French fleet faced a series of gales, and it took four days to reach the Corsican coast; two ships were partly dismasted during the passage.

bar shot tore the head off Captain Adam Littlejohn on Berwick.[13] With other ships coming into range, Berwick unable to escape and their captain dead, the surviving officers decided to surrender. Martin ordered the captured Berwick and the damaged Alceste to detach for the protected anchorage at Gourjean Bay, while his fleet continued eastwards into the Gulf of Genoa.[15]

On same day as the capture of Berwick, news of the French departure from Toulon reached Hotham at Leghorn from Genoa, with reports that the French had passed

Cape Noli in the Gulf of Genoa, steering westwards, back towards Toulon.[17]

Chase

The weather was calm, and it was not until 11 March that ships from the main body of the British fleet sighted the French, now south and to

larboard.[17] The weather remained calm with choppy seas which made manoeuvring very difficult and prevented either fleet from closing for battle; when presented with the opportunity to attack, Martin declined.[18]

A breeze from the south in the evening gave Hotham the opportunity to form up his fleet into a

squalls, and the French ship Mercure lost a topmast; the damaged ship detached to join Berwick at Gourjean Bay, accompanied by a frigate, while continuing to steer his fleet to the west away from the British.[19] At 08:00 the following morning another of Martin's ships, the large 80-gun Ça Ira from the rearguard of the French fleet, collided with the neighbouring Victoire and its fore and main topmasts collapsed overboard.[7]

By the morning of 13 March it had become clear to Hotham that Martin had no intention of engaging the British fleet, and the British admiral decided to authorise a general chase, permitting his captains to break from the line and pursue the French to the best of their ships' ability.[20] The leading ship of the chase was a frigate, the 36-gun HMS Inconstant under Captain Thomas Fremantle, which reached the damaged Ça Ira within an hour of the collision and opened fire at close range on the larboard quarter.[19]

Seeing that Ça Ira was under threat, the French frigate

Horatio Nelson was able to open fire on the French ship.[19]

Agamemnon, supported briefly by

Samuel Reeve, retained contact with Ça Ira, firing on the French ship at long range for three and a half hours.[21] Nelson had been able to position his ship off the stern of Ça Ira and weave back and forth behind the French ship, unleashing a devastating raking fire.[22] The attack killed or wounded 110 crew on the French ship, and shattered the masts and rigging. Nelson had just seven men wounded in the encounter.[23] Efforts by Sans Culotte and Barra to intervene were driven off and Ça Ira was severely damaged by Agamemnon's fire. Eventually parts of the French centre dropped back in support and Hotham ordered Nelson to fall back rather than risk being overwhelmed.[24] While this combat continued other British ships had come up, HMS Bedford and HMS Egmont engaging three French ships, including Timoléon and Martin's flagship the 120-gun Sans Culotte.[21] Egmont was hampered during the engagement by an explosion of a bursting cannon on the lower deck, which caused nearly 30 casualties among the gun crews.[25] Hotham's fleet was unable to fully engage with the retreating French throughout the day however, and when night fell both fleets continued westwards, the French withdrawing with the British line in pursuit.[20]

Battle rejoined

During the night Martin and Letourneur transferred from Sans Culotte to the frigate Friponne, which allowed them to move through the fleet more easily and direct operations more effectively, and was part of French standing orders when in a fleet battle.[26] Orders were given for the French fleet, now in full retreat towards Toulon, to sail close to the wind on the larboard tack away from the British.[21] For unexplained reasons Sans Culotte did not follow these orders and dropped out of the fleet during the night,[19] while Ça Ira dropped further and further behind the main body of the French force. To better protect the damaged ship, Vestale was withdrawn and replaced with the ship of the line Censeur, towing Ça Ira back towards Toulon.[21]

In the morning the fleets were manoeuvring 21 nautical miles (39 km) southwest of Genoa, the British closing on the French line to the west. Ça Ira and Censeur had fallen a long way back from the French fleet, and Hotham sent his fastest ships in pursuit, propelled by a northwesterly breeze. By 06:30 Bedford and Captain had caught up with the French stragglers, Captain in the lead fighting both for 15 minutes before Bedford reached the engagement.[21] Captain suffered severe damage to its rigging, sails and masts and by 07:50 was unmanageable and drifting out of the action, and was towed to safety.[27] Shortly afterwards Bedford too was forced to withdraw with extensive damage to the sailing rig. Both French ships had also been badly damaged, and were left drifting out of control, unable to unite with Martin's main fleet.[20]

Martin sought to defend his beleaguered rearmost ships, and gave orders for his line to

HMS Lowestoft by surprise, the frigate suddenly under the guns of the leading French ship Duquesne under Captain Zacharie Allemand.[28] Allemand fired on the frigate, and Captain Benjamin Hallowell, aware that he could not effectively respond, sent his entire crew below decks to protect them from the French gunfire. Lowestoft was badly damaged in sails and rigging, but was saved from further loss by the arrival of the Neapolitan frigate Minerva which interceded with Duquesne.[27]

In turning, Allemand failed to follow orders effectively, meaning that instead of passing to leeward of the British ships, between the enemy and Ça Ira and Censeur, he passed to windward, sailing down the other side of the British vanguard.

Tonnant,[25] and the British ships supported more distantly by Agamemnon and Princess Royal.[30] For an hour the French and British vanguards exchanged heavy fire, with Illustrious taking the worst of the exchange, drifting out of the battle heavily damaged; the mainmast had collapsed onto the mizzen mast and both had fallen over the side, while the ship's crew had suffered 90 casualties.[31] Courageux was the next to suffer, similarly losing two masts and with the hull shattered by French shot.[27] Captain Augustus Montgomery's crew had lost nearly 50 sailors killed and wounded.[31] The French ships in this exchange were reported as firing heated shot, although it had little effect on the battle.[7] Allemand's van squadron then pulled away from the drifting British ships, which were unsupported by the becalmed British fleet.[27]

The rest of the French fleet had not followed Allemand, and turned away, the van following. This left the battered Ça Ira and Censeur trapped on the far side of the British fleet, Martin abandoning them to their fate. Isolated, these ships surrendered at 10:05.[30] Without British pursuit, concerted long range firing finally ceased at 14:00; Hotham had decided that addressing the severe damage to his van ships and securing the prizes was more important than continuing the action and tacked his fleet away from Martin's rapidly disappearing ships. Nelson believed that by abandoning the prizes and disabled ships and closely following the French, Hotham could force an action which might destroy the entire French fleet. So convinced was the British captain that he took a boat to Hotham's flagship HMS Britannia to try to persuade the admiral. Hotham refused, replying that "We must be contented, we have done very well".[30] No amount of appeals by Nelson or Rear-Admiral Samuel Goodall on Princess Royal could move Hotham to continue the action, and soon the French were out of sight.[29]

Aftermath

Hotham gathered his prizes and dismasted ships and turned eastwards for the anchorage in the Gulf of La Spezia.[32] All of his battle line had been in action and taken casualties, with the heaviest losses aboard the badly damaged and partially dismasted Illustrious and Courageux. Captain, Bedford, Egmont and HMS Windsor Castle were also damaged, all suffering more than 20 casualties.[31] British and Neapolitan total losses amounted to 74 killed in action and 284 wounded. French losses were not fully accounted in the aftermath of the battle, although the cumulative total on the shattered Ça Ira and Censeur was listed in British accounts as approximately 400 casualties. [Note A] Among the surviving French ships casualties are not known with precision, but Duquesne, Victoire, Tonnant and Timoléon were all recorded as being badly damaged.[31]

Hotham's ships anchored in the Gulf of La Spezia after the action, and on 17 March were struck by a heavy gale, in which the damaged Illustrious broke its tow rope to the frigate

Avenza. Frederick attempted to anchor in an effort to save the ship, but this failed due to battle damage and strong winds and waves tore the rudder off at 22:30.[34]

The following morning Tarleton came alongside the irreparably damaged Illustrious, although it was not until 20 March that the weather had abated sufficiently to permit the evacuation to begin. Tarleton, Lowestoft,

action of 7 October 1795.[36] Ça Ira survived only a little longer, catching fire accidentally while at anchor off San Fiorenzo on 11 April 1796 and being completely destroyed, although only four of the 600 crew were killed.[37]

Martin retreated to Hyères after the battle, joined shortly afterwards by the damaged ships from Gourjean Bay and the flagship from Genoa.[34] After separating during the night of 13 March, Sans Culotte had sought to rejoin the French fleet but been sighted and chased by a Spanish squadron, sheltering in the neutral port until the route back to France was clear.[34] Martin sent the most damaged ships back to Toulon for refit, remaining at anchor off Hyères with 11 ships of the line until April, when he too returned to port, joined by reinforcements from the French Atlantic Fleet.[38] The captains of Sans Culottes, Mercure and Duquesne were reprimanded by Martin for failing to follow his orders, but subsequently cleared of misconduct by a jury, which also highly commended the captains of Ça Ira and Censeur.[39] He did not sail again until June, and was caught by Hotham once more in early July. Retreating towards Hyères, the French fleet was pursued by the British, and the rearmost ship Alcide was overrun and destroyed at the Battle of the Hyères Islands.[40]

Although the battle was a British victory, Nelson was privately scathing of Hotham's refusal to renew the action, writing that "I could never have called it well done".

Admiralty recognised the action with a clasp attached to the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847.[44]

Notes

  1. ^
    Note A: French casualties in the battle are uncertain. William James records a figure of 400 killed and wounded on Ça Ira and Censeur alone, and notes that further losses on the French ships were inevitable but unknowable.[31] His figures are supported by William Laird Clowes.[43] In his biography of Nelson, Geoffrey Bennett records a total of 750 casualties on the captured ships,[41] a figure presumably drawn from Ernle Bradford's estimate of 400 on Ça Ira and 350 on Censeur.[45] Digby Smith's book on Napoleonic statistics, apparently drawing on James and Clowes, lists much higher figures of 600 killed and 1,000 wounded.[46] This may come from French histories; Onésime-Joachim Troude reports 600 French sailors as killed in the battle.[39]

References

  1. ^ Gardiner, p.14
  2. ^ James, p.65
  3. ^ Ireland, p.178
  4. ^ Gardiner, p.105
  5. ^ a b c James, p.254
  6. ^ Clowes, p.212
  7. ^ a b c Gardiner, p.116
  8. ^ Ireland, p.74
  9. ^ a b Troude, p.425
  10. ^ Thiers, Histoire de la Révolution, vol.7.
  11. ^ Clowes, p.267
  12. ^ a b Clowes, p.268
  13. ^ a b James, p.255
  14. ^ Troude, p.426
  15. ^ a b c d James, p.257
  16. ^ a b James, p.256
  17. ^ a b Clowes, p.269
  18. ^ Forester, p.73
  19. ^ a b c d Clowes, p.270
  20. ^ a b c "No. 13766". The London Gazette. 7 April 1795. p. 305.
  21. ^ a b c d e f James, p.258
  22. ^ Bennett, p.89
  23. ^ Forester, p.74
  24. ^ Bennett, p.42
  25. ^ a b c James, p.260
  26. ^ Troude, vol., p. 427
  27. ^ a b c d Clowes, p.271
  28. ^ a b James, p.259
  29. ^ a b Forester, p.75
  30. ^ a b c d Bennett, p.43
  31. ^ a b c d e James, p.261
  32. ^ a b James, p.264
  33. ^ a b Clowes, p.273
  34. ^ a b c James, p.265
  35. ^ Grocott, p.11
  36. ^ James, p.274
  37. ^ Grocott, p.33
  38. ^ James, p.266
  39. ^ a b Troude, p.431
  40. ^ Mostert, p.163
  41. ^ a b Bennett, p.44
  42. ^ Mostert, p.162
  43. ^ a b Clowes, p.272
  44. ^ "No. 20939". The London Gazette. 26 January 1849. pp. 236–245.
  45. ^ Bradford, p.116
  46. ^ Smith, p.102

Bibliography

External links

44°02′N 08°28′E / 44.033°N 8.467°E / 44.033; 8.467

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