Invasion of Dominica (1778)

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Invasion of Dominica
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Battle scene with French soldiers from frigates firing on the British garrison
Prise de la Dominique, engraving by François Godefroy
DateSeptember 7, 1778 (1778-09-07)
Location
Result French victory
Belligerents
 France  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé William Stuart Surrendered
Strength
2,000 men
3 frigates
1 corvette
smaller vessels and transports
100–600 men (regulars and militia)
Casualties and losses
at least 40[1] 2 killed; remainder surrendered

The Invasion of Dominica (7 September 1778) was a successful

United States of America. The French governor in the West Indies, François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé
, was notified on 17 August that France was at war, and organized the invasion, infiltrating spies to rally sympathetic French-speaking Dominican support.

Early on 7 September 1778, French forces landed on the southeastern coast of the island. They rapidly took over some of the island's defenses, and eventually gained control of the high ground overlooking the island's capital,

Roseau
. Lieutenant Governor William Stuart then surrendered the remaining forces. Dominica remained in French hands until the end of the war, when it was returned to British control.

Background

Following the pivotal

privateers who preyed on French shipping.[2]

On Dominica, Governor Thomas Shirley had been concerned about the island's security since the war began in 1775. Operating against instructions from colonial authorities in London to minimize expenses for defence, he had pushed forward the improvement of a fort at Cachacrou and other sites.[3] This work was incomplete when Shirley took leave in June 1778, sailing for England. Command was left with Lieutenant Governor William Stuart, and work to improve the defenses was still incomplete in August 1778, when François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé, the governor of the French West Indies, received word that war had been declared.[2]

Prelude

Dominica is one of the Leeward Islands. It is located south of Guadeloupe and north of Martinique in the chain of islands defining the Caribbean's eastern extent.
Position of Dominica in the Caribbean

The French frigate

Roseau, the hills that overlooked it, and at Cachacrou.[6]

See caption. Roseau, the island's capital, is roughly in the middle of the west coast.
A 1778 French map showing the island's defences at the time of the invasion. Cachacrou is at the lower left of the island, and Prince Rupert's Bay is at the upper left.

De Bouillé carefully maintained a facade of peace in his dealings with Dominican authorities while he began preparing his forces on Martinique. On 2 September he and Stuart signed an agreement that formally prohibited privateering crews from plundering. The next day de Bouillé sent one of his officers to Dominica to see whether a Royal Navy frigate was still anchored in Prince Rupert's Bay (near present-day Portsmouth). Stuart, suspicious of the man, had him questioned and then released.[4] On 5 September de Bouillé was informed that the frigate had sailed for Barbados.[citation needed]

He immediately acted to launch his invasion.

touchholes of the fort's cannons, temporarily rendering them useless. De Bouillé had infiltrated some agents onto the island who had convinced some of the local French-speaking militia to abandon their duties when called up.[7]

Invasion

After sunset on 6 September, 1,800 French troops and 1,000 volunteers departed Martinique aboard the frigates

48th Regiment's soldiers were driven over the ramparts and fell to their deaths. After securing the battery the French fired cannons and sent signal rockets skyward to signal their allies. These actions also alerted Stuart at Roseau, and the alarm was immediately raised. Many of the French Dominican militia failed to muster, as arranged.[7] About 100 militia ended up mustering for duty, and were deployed among Roseau's defences.[9]

François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé

The French proceeded to land more troops between Cachacrou and Roseau, with the objective of gaining the high ground above the capital. The main force of 1,400 men was landed about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Roseau near Pointe Michel,[1] with heavy fire from the hill batteries resulting in 40 casualties.[10] De Bouillé landed with another 600 at Loubiere, between Pointe Michel and Roseau, while another 500 landed north of Roseau, and the fleet's frigates moved to bombard Roseau's defences.[1] The French briefly captured the coastal fort at Loubiere, but were three times driven out by fire from above. They ended up withdrawing until forces were able to reach and capture the hill batteries.[11] By noon, the French occupied the high ground above the capital, and Stuart realized the situation was hopeless.[1]

Negotiations followed, and Stuart and de Bouillé signed the terms of capitulation at about 3:00 pm. The proceedings were interrupted by one of the French frigates, whose captain, apparently unaware of the proceedings, fired on Fort Young, where the British flag was still flying. The two commanders rushed to the fort to prevent further exchanges of gunfire before they completed the agreement.[1] The French then formally took control of Roseau. The British regulars were made prisoners of war, and the militia were released to return home.[12] De Bouillé, who was interested in keeping on good terms with the population, did not allow his troops to plunder the town. Instead, he levied a fee of £4,400 on the island's population that was distributed among his men.[13]

Aftermath

De Bouillé in official correspondence claimed the French suffered no casualties. Stuart reported that the French appeared to be concealing the casualties that occurred during the invasion.[1] De Bouillé left a garrison of 800 (700 French regulars and 100 gens de couleur libres militia) on the island, turned its command over to the Marquis de Duchilleau, and returned to Martinique.[14]

News of Dominica's fall was received with surprise in London. Considering a single

Governor of the Leeward Islands in 1781. He was taken prisoner by de Bouillé in the 1782 British surrender of Saint Kitts.[17][18]

Dominica remained in French hands until 1784. Much to de Bouillé's annoyance, it was returned to British control under the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris.[19] The fact that the French had supplied natives and mixed-blood locals with arms during the invasion caused problems for the British. These local forces, who were previously somewhat pacifist, resisted British attempts to expand their holdings on the island, leading to expanded conflict in 1785.[20]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Boromé, p. 39
  2. ^ a b Boromé, p. 36
  3. ^ a b Boromé, pp. 36–37
  4. ^ a b c Boromé, p. 37
  5. ^ Mahan, p. 427
  6. ^ Atwood, p. 109
  7. ^ a b c d Boromé, p. 38
  8. ^ Marley, p. 488
  9. ^ Atwood, p. 116
  10. ^ Atwood, p. 118
  11. ^ Atwood, pp. 118–119
  12. ^ Atwood, pp. 122–123
  13. ^ a b Boromé, p. 40
  14. ^ Boromé, p. 41
  15. ^ Mackesy, pp. 230–232
  16. ^ Marley, pp. 489–521
  17. ^ Sugden, pp. 282–283
  18. ^ Marley, p. 521
  19. ^ Boromé, p. 57
  20. ^ Craton, pp. 143–144

References