Battle of Grand Port
Battle of Grand Port | |
---|---|
Part of the Grand Port, Isle de France 20°23′25″S 57°44′02″E / 20.39028°S 57.73389°E | |
Result | French victory |
1 corvette
2 merchant ships.
Indirectly involved:
3 frigates
1 brig
1 troopship
112 wounded
1 merchant ship captured
163 wounded
2 frigates destroyed
2 frigates captured
1 troopship captured
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle fought on 20–27 August 1810 between squadrons of
Four of the five French ships managed to break past the British blockade, taking shelter in the protected anchorage, which was only accessible through a series of complicated routes between reefs and sandbanks that were impassable without an experienced
The British defeat is often considered the worst suffered by the Royal Navy during all of the Napoleonic Wars. It left the
Background
During the early 19th century, the Indian Ocean formed an essential part of the network of trade routes that connected the
The French had recognised the importance of these islands as bases for raiding warships during the
Commodore Josias Rowley was given command of the British response, a hastily assembled force composed mainly of those ships which happened to be available at the Cape of Good Hope in early 1809. Ordered to stop the French raiders, Rowley was unable to spread his small squadron wide enough to pursue the roving French frigates, instead using his forces to blockade and raid the French islands in anticipation of Hamelin's return. In August, Caroline arrived with her prizes at Saint-Paul on Île Bonaparte and Rowley determined to seize the frigate. He planned a successful invasion of the town, launched on 20 September, which resulted in the capture of the port's defences, Caroline, and the captured East Indiamen. With his objectives complete, Rowley withdrew five days later.[5] Almost a year later, Rowley returned with a larger task force and made a second landing around the capital of Île Bonaparte, Saint-Denis. Marching on the seat of government, Rowley's troops rapidly overwhelmed the defences and forced the island's garrison to surrender, renaming the island Île Bourbon and installing a British governor.[6]
Hamelin had used the British preoccupation with Île Bonaparte to send additional frigates to sea during 1809 and early 1810, including his flagship
Operations off Grand Port
With Île Bourbon secured in July 1810, the British now occupied a large fortified island base within easy sailing distance of Île de France. Even before Île Bourbon was completely in British hands, Rowley had detached
Grand Port was an easily defensible natural harbour because the bay was protected from the open sea by a large coral reef through which a complicated channel meandered, known only to experienced local pilots.[9] Île de la Passe was vitally important in the control of Grand Port because it was equipped with a heavy battery that covered the entrance to the channel, thus controlling the passage to the sheltered inner lagoon. The British planned to use the troops on Nereide, under her captain Nesbit Willoughby, to storm Île de la Passe and capture the battery. Willoughby would then use a local man serving on his ship named John Johnson (referred to in some texts as "the black pilot"),[9] to steer through the channel and land troops near the town, distributing leaflets promising freedom and prosperity under British rule in an attempt to corrode the morale of the defenders.[11]
The first attack on Île de la Passe was launched on the evening of 10 August, with Staunch towing boats carrying over 400 soldiers, Royal Marines, and volunteer sailors to the islet under cover of darkness, guided by Nereide's pilot. During the night the pilot became lost; the boats were scattered in high winds and had not reassembled by dawn. To distract French attention from the drifting boats, Pym directed Captain Henry Lambert in Iphigenia to sail conspicuously off Port Napoleon, where the main body of the French squadron, led by Hamelin in Vénus, was based. Pym joined Lambert later in the day and the frigates subsequently returned to the waters of Grand Port by different routes, confusing French observers from the shore as to British intentions.[10] By 13 August, the boats originally intended for the attack had still not been assembled and Pym decided that he could not risk waiting any longer without the French launching a counterattack.[12] Launching his own boats at 8:00 PM, guided by the pilot and commanded by Pym's second-in-command, Lieutenant Norman, Pym's marines and sailors landed on the island in darkness under heavy fire from the defenders. Norman was killed in the initial exchange of fire, but his deputy, Lieutenant Watling, seized the island by storming the fortifications surrounding the battery. Seven British personnel were killed and 18 wounded in the battle, in which the storming party managed to seize intact French naval code books and took 80 prisoners.[13][14] Willoughby was furious that Pym had assumed command of the operation without his permission and the officers exchanged angry letters, part of an ongoing disagreement between them that engendered mutual distrust.[15]
With Île de la Passe secure, Pym gave command of the blockade of Grand Port to Willoughby and returned to his station off Port Napoleon with Iphigenia. Willoughby used his independent position to raid the coastline, landing at Pointe du Diable on 17 August on the northern edge of Grand Port with 170 men and storming the fort there, destroying ten cannon and capturing another.[16] Marching south towards the town of Grand Port itself, Willoughby's men fought off French counterattacks and distributed propaganda pamphlets at the farms and villages they passed.[17] Willoughby re-embarked his troops in the evening but landed again the following day at Grande Rivière to observe the effects of his efforts. Burning a signal station, Willoughby advanced inland, but was checked by the arrival of 800 French reinforcements from Port Napoleon and returned to HMS Nereide.[11] The brief expedition cost the British two men wounded and one missing, to French casualties of at least ten killed or wounded. Willoughby followed the attack on Grande Rivière with unopposed minor landings on 19 and 20 August.[14]
Duperré's arrival
Willoughby's raiding was interrupted at 10:00 AM on 20 August when five ships were sighted, rapidly approaching from the southeast.
Raising a
With Willoughby's ambush plan ruined, the scattered boats sought to rejoin Néréide, passing directly through the French squadron. Although several boats were in danger of being run down by the French ships and one even bumped alongside Minerve, all eventually rejoined Néréide safely. The opportunity to cause significant damage to the French in the narrow channel had been lost, with Bellone joining the squadron in passing through the channel with minimal resistance. In addition to British losses in the explosion at the fort, two men had been killed and one wounded on Néréide.
Battle
From prisoners captured on Windham, Pym learned of the nature and situation of Duperré's squadron and sent orders to Port Napoleon with Captain
British attack
On 22 August, at 2:40 PM, Pym led an attack on Duperré's squadron without waiting for Iphigenia and Magicienne, entering the channel that led to the anchorage at Grand Port.[31] He was followed by Néréide, but Willoughby had refused to allow Pym to embark the harbour pilot, the only person in the British squadron who knew the passage through the reefs. Without guidance by an experienced pilot, Sirius was aground within minutes and could not be brought off until 8:30 AM on 23 August. Néréide anchored nearby during the night to protect the flagship.[32] At 10:00 AM, Iphigenia and Magicienne arrived and at 2:40 PM, after a conference between the captains as to the best course of action, the force again attempted to negotiate the channel.[33] Although the squadron was now guided by Néréide's pilot, Sirius again grounded at 3:00 PM and Magicienne 15 minutes later after over-correcting to avoid the reef that Sirius had struck.[34] Néréide and Iphigenia continued the attack, Iphigenia engaging Minerve and Ceylon at close range and Néréide attacking Bellone. Long-range fire from Magicienne was also directed at Victor, which was firing on Néréide.[32]
Within minutes of the British attack, Ceylon surrendered and boats from Magicienne sought but failed to take possession of her.[35] The French crew drove the captured East Indiaman on shore, joined shortly afterwards by Minerve, Bellone, and later by Victor, so that by 6:30 PM the entire French force was grounded and all but Bellone prevented from firing their main broadsides by beached ships blocking their arc of fire.[36][37] Bellone was ideally positioned to maintain her fire on Néréide from her beached position, and at 7:00 PM a cannon shot cut Néréide's stern anchor cable. The British frigate swung around, presenting her stern to Bellone and pulling both her broadsides away from the French squadron.[38] Raked by Bellone and desperate to return fire, Willoughby had the bow anchor cable cut, bringing a portion of his ship's starboard broadside to bear on Bellone.[31] At 8:00 PM, Duperré was seriously wounded in the cheek by shrapnel from grapeshot fired by Néréide; Ensign Vigoureux concealed his unconscious body under a signal flag and discreetly brought him below decks while Bouvet assumed command of the French squadron on board Bellone, placing Lieutenant Albin Roussin in charge of Minerve.[39] Building an improvised bridge between the French ships and the shore, Bouvet increased the men and ammunition reaching Bellone and thus significantly increased her rate of fire.[40] He also had the rail removed between the foredeck and the quarterdeck of Minerve, and had iron hooks nailed to the freeboard below the starboard gangway so as to provide attachment points for additional guns, thus building a continuous second deck on his frigate where he constituted a complete second battery.[41] By 10:00 PM Néréide was a wreck, receiving shot from several sides, with most of her guns dismounted and casualties mounting to over 200: the first lieutenant was dying, the second was severely wounded, and Willoughby's left eye had been dislodged from its socket by a wooden splinter.[42] Recognising her battered state, Bouvet then diverted fire from Néréide to concentrate on Magicienne.[43]
Refusing to surrender until all options had been exhausted, Willoughby dispatched boats to Sirius, asking Pym if he believed it would be practical to send boats to tow Néréide out of range. Pym replied that with the boats engaged in attempting to tow Sirius and Magicienne off the reef it was not possible to deploy them under fire to tow Néréide. Pym also suggested that Willoughby disembark his men and set fire to his ship in the hope that the flames would spread to the French ships clustered on shore. Willoughby refused this suggestion as it was not practical to disembark the dozens of wounded men aboard Néréide in the growing darkness and refused to personally abandon his men when Pym ordered him to transfer to Sirius.[44] At 11:00 PM, Willoughby ordered a boat to row to Bellone and notify the French commander that he had surrendered. Willoughby's boat had been holed by shot and was unable to make the short journey.[37] The message was instead conveyed by French prisoners from Néréide who had dived overboard and reached the shore during the night. Recalling the false flags used on 20 August, Bouvet resolved to wait until morning before accepting the surrender.[40]
Attempted withdrawal
At 1:50 AM on 24 August, Bellone ceased firing on the shattered Néréide. During the remaining hours of darkness, Pym continued his efforts to dislodge Sirius from the reef and sent orders to Lambert, whose Iphigenia had been blocked from firing on the French by Néréide and also prevented from pursuing the Minerve by a large reef blocking access to the beach.
At 7:00 AM, Lambert notified Pym that he had cleared the reef separating Iphigenia from the French ships and suggested that if Pym sent reinforcements from Sirius he might be able to board and capture the entire French squadron. Pym refused permission, insisting that Lambert instead assist him in pulling Sirius off the reef.[48] Although Lambert intended to subsequently attack the French alone, Pym forbade him and sent a direct order for Lambert to move out of range of the enemy.[44] At 10:00 AMA, Iphigenia reached Sirius and together the ships began firing at French troops ashore, who were endeavouring to raise a gun battery within range of the frigates. Magicienne, irretrievably stuck on the reef, rapidly flooding, and with her capstan smashed by French shot, now bore the brunt of long-range French fire from both Bellone and the shore until Pym ordered Curtis to abandon his ship, transferring his men aboard Iphigenia.[49] At 7:30 PM, Magicienne was set on fire, her magazines exploding at 11:00 PM.[50] On the shoreline, Duperré had been unable to spare any men to take possession of Néréide until 3:00 PM. A party under Lieutenant Roussin, second in command on Victor and temporarily in command of Minerve,[51] was sent but had orders to return once the ship had been disarmed: freeing the remaining French prisoners, Roussin spiked the guns to prevent their further use, administered basic medical care, and returned to shore, recounting that over 100 men lay dead or dying aboard the British frigate.[44]
At 4:00 AM on 25 August, the newly erected French gun battery opened fire on Sirius and Iphigenia, which returned fire as best they could. Accepting that Sirius was beyond repair, Pym removed all her personnel and military supplies, setting fire to the frigate at 9:00 AM, shortly after Iphigenia had pulled beyond the range of the battery, using a cannon as an anchor after losing hers the previous day.
French response
When news of the arrival of Duperré's squadron reached Decaen at Port Napoleon, he immediately despatched fast couriers to Grand Port and ordered Hamelin's squadron, consisting of the frigates
The two extra days Hamelin had spent rounding Île de France saw activity from the British forces remaining at Grand Port. There had been no strong winds in the bay and Iphigenia was forced to resort to slowly warping towards the mouth of the channel in the hope of escaping the approaching French reinforcements.[35] Boats had removed the crews of Sirius and Magicienne to Île de la Passe, where the fortifications had been strengthened, but supplies were running low and Magicienne's launch was sent to Île Bourbon to request urgent reinforcement and resupply from Rowley's remaining squadron.[55] On the morning of 27 August, Lambert discovered the brig Entreprenant off the harbour mouth and three French sail approaching in the distance. Iphigenia was still 1.2 kilometres (3⁄4 mi) from Île de Passe at the edge of the lagoon and was low on shot and unable to manoeuvre in the calm weather without anchors. Recognising that resistance under such conditions against an overwhelming force was futile, Lambert negotiated with Hamelin, offering to surrender Île de la Passe if Iphigenia and the men on the island were given permission to sail to Île Bourbon unmolested.[57]
British surrender
On the morning of 28 August, Lambert received a message from Hamelin, promising to release all the prisoners under conditions of parole within one month if Île de la Passe and Iphigenia were both surrendered without resistance. The message also threatened that if Lambert refused, the French would attack and overwhelm the badly outnumbered British force. Recognising that food supplies were low, reinforcements had not arrived and that his ammunition stores were almost empty, Lambert agreed to the terms.[52] Lambert later received a message from Decaen proposing similar terms and notified the French governor that he had surrendered to Hamelin. Decaen was furious that Hamelin had agreed terms without consulting him, but eventually agreed to accept the terms of the surrender as well.[56] The wounded were treated by French doctors at Grand Port and later repatriated, although the remainder of the prisoners were placed in a cramped and unpleasant prison at Port Napoleon from which, despite the terms of the surrender, they were not released until British forces captured the island in December.[58]
Rowley first learned of the operations off Grand Port on 22 August, when Windham arrived off Saint Paul.
Aftermath
The battle is noted as the most significant defeat for the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Not only had four frigates been lost with their entire crews, but 105 experienced sailors had been killed and 168 wounded in one of the bloodiest frigate encounters of the war.[46] French losses were also heavy, with Duperré reporting 36 killed and 112 wounded on his squadron and among the soldiers firing from the shore.[56]
The loss of such a large proportion of his force placed Rowley at a significant disadvantage in September, as Hamelin's squadron, bolstered by the newly commissioned Iphigénie, now substantially outnumbered his own (the ruined Néréide was also attached to the French squadron, but the damage suffered was so severe that the ship never sailed again). Withdrawing to Isle de France, Rowley requested that reinforcements be diverted from other duties in the region to replace his lost ships and to break the French blockade of Île Bourbon, led by Bouvet.
In France the action was greeted with celebration, and it became the only naval battle commemorated on the
In literature
The battle attracted the attention of authors from both Britain and France, featuring in the 1843 novel Georges by Alexandre Dumas,[65] "Dead Reckoning" by C. Northcote Parkinson and the 1977 novel The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian.[66]
Monuments
On 30 December 1899, a monument was erected at the harbour of Grand Port in the memory of the British and French sailors who were killed in the engagement.[56]
Order of battle
Captain Pym's squadron | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Notes | ||||
Killed | Wounded | Total | ||||||||
HMS Sirius | Fifth-rate | 36 | Captain Samuel Pym | 0 | 0 | 0 | Scuttled to avoid capture. | |||
HMS Iphigenia | Fifth-rate | 36 | Captain Henry Lambert | 5 | 13 | 18 | Surrendered on 27 August | |||
HMS Nereide
|
Fifth-rate | 32 | Captain Nesbit Willoughby | 92 | 130 | 222 | Surrendered on 24 August | |||
HMS Magicienne
|
Fifth-rate | 32 | Captain Lucius Curtis | 8 | 20 | 28 | Scuttled to avoid capture | |||
Casualties: 105 killed, 163 wounded, 268 total, all survivors captured[note 2] |
Captain Duperré's squadron | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Notes | ||||
Killed | Wounded | Total | ||||||||
Bellone | Fifth-rate | 40 | Captain Guy-Victor Duperré | 13 | 35 | 48 | ||||
Minerve | Fifth-rate | 48 | Captain Pierre Bouvet | 15 | 42 | 57 | ||||
Victor
|
Corvette | 18 | Lieutenant Nicolas Morice Replaced by Henri Moisson |
4 | 1 | 5 | ||||
Ceylan[note 3] | Captured East Indiaman | 26 | Lieutenant Vincent Moulac | 4 | 19 | 23 | ||||
Windham
|
Captured East Indiaman | 26 | Ensign d'Arod[67] | 0 | 0 | 0 | Captured by HMS Sirius on 21 August | |||
Casualties: 36 killed, 112 wounded[note 4] | ||||||||||
Commodore Hamelin's reinforcements | ||||||||||
Vénus | Fifth-rate | 40 | Commodore Jacques Hamelin
|
— | — | — | ||||
Manche | Fifth-rate | 40 | Captain Jean Dornal de Guy | — | — | — | ||||
Astrée
|
Fifth-rate | 40 | Captain René Le Marant
|
— | — | — | ||||
Entreprenant | Brig | 16 | Captain Pierre Bouvet
|
— | — | — | ||||
Sources: Macmillan pp. 29–37, James pp. 273–289 |
Notes
- ^ "The enemy is cruising at Coin de Mire", a rock off the northern coast of Île de France. (Troude, op. cit., p. 90)
- ^ The British total does not include the 13 killed and 33 wounded in preliminary actions between 10 and 20 August.
- ^ Ceylon had been renamed Ceylan by the French after her capture at the action of 3 July 1810 (Troude, op. cit., p. 90)
- ^ The French total does not include those killed or wounded in preliminary actions between 10 and 20 August, but does include 15 personnel wounded on shore during the battle.
References
- ^ a b Gardiner, p. 92
- ^ Gardiner, p. 83
- ^ Woodman, p. 282
- ^ Woodman, p. 283
- ^ James, pp. 197–199
- ^ Clowes, p. 458
- ^ James, pp. 201–202
- ^ Clowes, p. 457
- ^ a b c James, p. 273
- ^ a b Clowes, p. 459
- ^ a b c Woodman, p. 286
- ^ James, p. 274
- ^ James, p. 275
- ^ a b Clowes, p. 460
- ^ Taylor, p. 285
- ^ James, p. 277
- ^ Macmillan, p. 29
- ^ James, p. 278
- ^ a b c d Macmillan, p. 30
- ^ a b Clowes, p. 461
- ^ a b Taylor, p. 286
- ^ Toude, op. cit., p. 90
- ^ a b James, p. 279
- ^ a b Macmillan, p. 32
- ^ Troude, op. cit., p. 93
- ^ James, p. 281
- ^ Woodman, p. 287
- ^ Clowes, p. 462
- ^ James, p. 283
- ^ Taylor, p. 289
- ^ a b Woodman, p. 288
- ^ a b Clowes, p. 463
- ^ Taylor, p. 290
- ^ James, p. 284
- ^ a b Gardiner, p. 95
- ^ Macmillan, p. 33
- ^ a b c James, p. 286
- ^ Clowes, p. 464
- ^ (in French) Les héros de Grand-Port, Revue des 2 Mondes, 1887, tome 84, p. 106
- ^ a b Macmillan, p. 34
- ^ Troude, op. cit., p. 95
- ^ James, p. 285
- ^ (in French) Les héros de Grand-Port, Revue des 2 Mondes, 1887, tome 84, p. 107
- ^ a b c Macmillan, p. 35
- ^ Taylor, p. 293
- ^ a b James, p. 288
- ^ James, p. 287
- ^ Taylor, p. 296
- ^ Taylor, p. 297
- ^ Macmillan, p. 36
- ^ (in French) Les héros de Grand-Port, Revue des 2 Mondes, 1887, tome 84, p. 102
- ^ a b Clowes, p. 465
- ^ a b James, p. 290
- ^ a b c Woodman, p. 289
- ^ a b c James, p. 291
- ^ a b c d e Macmillan, p. 37
- ^ James, p. 292
- ^ James, p. 295
- ^ a b Clowes, p. 466
- ^ a b c James, p. 296
- ^ James, p. 297
- ^ Gardiner, p. 96
- ^ Gardiner, p. 97
- ^ Taylor, p. 299
- ^ Dumas, Alexandre (1843). "Chapitre II, Lions et léopards". Georges (in French). Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 4 July 2009.
- ISBN 0-00-222383-X.
- ^ Granier, p. 348
Bibliography
- ISBN 1-86176-014-0.
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1998]. The Victory of Seapower. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-359-1.
- Granier, Hubert (1998). Histoire des Marins français 1789–1815. illustrations by Alain Coz. Marines éditions. ISBN 2-909675-41-6.
- ISBN 0-85177-909-3.
- Macmillan, Allister (2000) [1914]. Mauritius Illustrated. W.H.& L. Collingridge. ISBN 978-81-206-1508-3.
- Taylor, Stephen (2007). Storm and Conquest, The Battle for the Indian Ocean, 1808–10. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-22465-4.
- Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 4. Challamel ainé.
- ISBN 1-84119-183-3.
External links
- Media related to Battle of Grand Port at Wikimedia Commons