Battle of Minorca (1756)
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|
Battle of Minorca | |
---|---|
Part of the Minorca , present-day Spain | |
Result | French victory[1][2] |
5 frigates
7 frigates
184 wounded
45 killed
162 wounded
The Battle of Minorca (20 May 1756) was a naval battle between
The British failure to save Minorca led to the controversial
Background
The French had been menacing the British-held garrison on Minorca, which had come under British control during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1708. Great Britain and France had commenced hostilities in the New World colonies earlier in 1754 (the French and Indian War), and at this point the conflict was not going well for Great Britain. The government was anxious to protect her presence closer to home, and was concerned that the French might even be planning to invade Great Britain itself (as France had attempted in previous wars by supporting the Stuart claimants to the throne during the Jacobite Wars).
The long-expected French move on Minorca finally caused the British government to act, albeit belatedly, and a squadron of 10
Prelude
When Byng and his fleet, now numbering 13 ships of the line (having been reinforced by ships of the Minorca squadron that had escaped the island), arrived off Minorca on 19 May, they found the island already overrun by French troops, with only the garrison of St. Philip's Castle in Port Mahon holding out. Byng's orders were to relieve the garrison, but a French squadron of 12 ships of the line and 5 frigates intervened as the afternoon wore on. The two fleets positioned themselves, and battle was drawn up on the morning of the following day.
Battle
Facing 12 French ships of the line, Byng formed his 12 largest ships into a single line of battle and approached the head of the French line on a parallel course while maintaining the
Aftermath
The battle could hardly be considered anything other than a French victory in the light of Byng failing to press on to relieve the garrison or pursue the French fleet which inaction resulted in severe criticism. The Admiralty, perhaps concerned to divert attention from its own lack of preparation for the disastrous venture, charged him for breaching the Articles of War by failing to do all he could to fulfill his orders and support the garrison; he was court-martialled, found guilty and sentenced to death, and – despite pleas for clemency – executed on 14 March 1757 aboard HMS Monarch in Portsmouth harbour.
Byng's execution is referred to in Voltaire's novel Candide with the line Dans ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les autres – "In this country, it is thought wise to kill an admiral from time to time to encourage the others."[4]
Despite
Order of battle
In order of their place in the line of battle:
British fleet
British fleet | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ship | Rate | Guns | Commander | Casualties | Notes | ||
Killed | Wounded | Total | |||||
Defiance | Third rate
|
60 | Captain Thomas Andrews | 14 | 45 | 59 | |
Portland | Fourth rate
|
50 | Captain Patrick Baird | 6 | 20 | 26 | |
Lancaster | Third rate
|
66 | Captain George Edgcumbe | 1 | 14 | 15 | |
Buckingham | Third rate
|
68 | Rear-Admiral Temple West Captain Michael Everitt |
3 | 7 | 10 | |
Captain | Third rate
|
64 | Captain Charles Catford | 6 | 30 | 36 | |
Intrepid | Third rate
|
64 | Captain James Young
|
9 | 39 | 48 | |
Revenge | Third rate
|
64 | Captain Frederick Cornewall | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Princess Louisa | Third rate
|
60 | Captain Thomas Noel | 3 | 13 | 16 | |
Trident | Third rate
|
64 | Captain Philip Durell | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Ramillies
|
Second rate
|
90 | Admiral John Byng Captain Arthur Gardiner |
0 | 0 | 0 | |
Culloden | Third rate
|
74 | Captain Henry Ward | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Kingston | Third rate
|
60 | Captain William Parry | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Deptford | Fourth rate
|
50 | Captain John Amherst | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Casualty summary | 42 | 168 | 210 |
Attached frigates
Ship | Guns | Captain | Rate |
---|---|---|---|
Chesterfield | 40 | Captain William Lloyd | Fifth-rate frigate |
Experiment | 20 | Captain James Gilchrist | Sixth-rate frigate |
Dolphin | 20 | Commander Benjamin Marlow | Sixth-rate frigate |
Phoenix | 20 | Captain Augustus Hervey | Sixth-rate frigate |
Fortune | 14 | Commander Jervis Maplesden | Unrated brig-sloop
|
French fleet
French fleet | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ship | Rate | Guns | Commander | Casualties | Notes | ||
Killed | Wounded | Total | |||||
Orphée | 64 | Pierre-Antoine de Raymondis d'Éoux | 10 | 9 | 19 | ||
Hippopotame | 50 | Henri de Rochemore | 2 | 10 | 12 | ||
Redoutable | 74 | Chef d'Escadre Pierre-André de Glandevès du Castellet
|
12 | 39 | 51 | ||
Sage | 64 | Captain Duruen | 0 | 8 | 8 | ||
Guerrier | 74 | René Villars de la Brosse-Raquin | 0 | 43 | 43 | ||
Fier
|
50 | Captain d'Erville | 0 | 4 | 4 | ||
Foudroyant
|
84 | Lieutenant général Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière | 2 | 10 | 12 | ||
Téméraire | 74 | Captain Beaumont | 0 | 15 | 15 | ||
Content | 64 | Joseph de Sabran | 5 | 19 | 24 | ||
Lion | 64 | Paul-Hippolyte de Beauvilliers-Saint-Aignan | 2 | 7 | 9 | ||
Couronne | 74 | Chef d'Escadre Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran
|
0 | 3 | 3 | ||
Triton | 64 | Captain Mercier | 5 | 14 | 19 | ||
Casualty summary | 38 | 181 | 219 |
Attached frigates
Ship | Guns | Captain |
---|---|---|
Junon | 46 | Captain Beausfier |
Rose | 26 | Captain Costebelle |
Gracieuse | 26 | Captain Marquizan |
Topaze | 24 | Captain Carne |
Nymphe | 26 | Captain Callian |
See also
- HMS Dolphin
- Arthur Phillip, an otherwise notable midshipman
- The Expeditionary Corps Embarks for Minorca at the Port of Marseille Under the Command of Marshal de Richelieu
References
Bibliography
- Anderson, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766. Faber and Faber, 2000.
- Brown, Peter Douglas. William Pitt, Earl of Chatham: The Great Commoner. George Allen & Unwin, 1978.
- Dull, Jonathan R. The French Navy and the Seven Years' War. University of Nebraska, 2005.
- Hamley, Sir Edward Bruce (1877). Voltaire. Edinburgh; London: Wm. Blackwood & Sons. p. 177. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
- Lambert, Andrew. Admirals: The Naval Commanders Who Made Britain Great. Faber and Faber, 2009.
- McGuffie, T. H. "The Defence of Minorca 1756" History Today (1951) 1#10 pp 49-55. online