Invasion of Trinidad (1797)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2010) |
Capture of Trinidad | |||||||||
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Part of the French Revolutionary Wars | |||||||||
"The Capture of Trinidad, 17 February 1797" by Nicholas Pocock | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Great Britain | Spain | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Ralph Abercromby Henry Harvey | José María Chacón | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
10,000 soldiers & marines[1] 18 ships: 9 ships of line, 3 frigates, 3 corvettes, 3 sloops[2] |
2100 soldiers, seamen & marines (including ~700 sick)[1] 4 ships of line 1 frigate[2] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
1 killed[3] |
2,100 captured (~700 sick)[3] 4 ships of the line scuttled 1 ship of the line captured[4] |
On 18 February 1797, a fleet of 18 British warships under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby invaded and took the Island of Trinidad. Within a few days the last Spanish Governor, Don José María Chacón surrendered the island to Abercromby.
As a result of the signing of the
Background
Spain, previously an ally of Great Britain, had been defeated in the
His first target was the Spanish island of Trinidad, near the island of Tobago, which had been captured early in the war. Trinidad had been Spanish since the third voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1498 and since 1777 was a province of the Captaincy General of Venezuela.
Landing
On 12 February, an expedition composed of four ships of the line, two sloops and a bomb-vessel, under the command of Rear-Admiral Henry Harvey, in Prince of Wales, having on board his ship Lieutenant-general Sir Ralph Abercromby, as the commanding officer of the troops to be employed, quit Port-Royal, Martinique. On 14 February, the rear-admiral arrived at the port of rendezvous, the island of Carriacou, and was there joined by another sail of the line, the 74-gun third-rate (Invincible), two frigates, three sloops, and several transports, containing the troops destined for the attack.
By 15 February, the squadron and transports again set sail, running between the islands of Carriacou and Grenada. On the morning of the next day, the whole flotilla arrived off Trinidad and steered for the
The apparent strength of the battery on Gaspar Grande island, mounting 20 cannon and two mortars, commanded and might have disputed, the entrance to the enemy's anchorage, caused Hardy to order the transports, under the protection of Arethusa, Thorn, and Zebra, to anchor a little further up the gulf, at the distance of about five miles from the town of Port-d'Espagne, while Alarm, Favourite, and Victorieuse kept under sail between the transports and Port-d'Espagne, to prevent any vessels escaping from the latter.[Note 1] In the meantime, the rear-admiral, with his four ships of the line, anchored, in order of battle, within random-shot of the Spanish batteries and line-of-battle ships, to be prepared in case the ships, having all their sails set and appearing to be ready for sea, should attempt during the night to escape.
The British began to observe flames bursting out from one of the Spanish ships. In a short time three others were on fire and all four continued to burn with great fury until daylight. The Spanish had set the ships on fire as most of the marines and seamen were ashore. The San-Damaso escaped the conflagration and, without any resistance, was brought off by the boats of the British squadron.
Aftermath
On 17 April 1797, Sir Abercromby fleet invaded the island of Puerto Rico with a force of 6,000–13,000 men,[7] which included German soldiers and Royal Marines and 60 to 64 ships. Fierce fighting continued for the next days. Both sides suffered heavy losses. On Sunday, April 30 the British ceased their attack and began their retreat from San Juan. The next year the British invasion force shared in the allocation of £40,000 for the proceeds of the ships taken at Trinidad and the property found on the island.[8] The governor Picton held the island with a garrison he considered inadequate against the threats of internal unrest and of reconquest by the Spanish. He ensured order by vigorous action, viewed variously as rough-and-ready justice or as arbitrary brutality. During the peace negotiations many of the British inhabitants petitioned against the return of the island to Spain; this together with Picton's and Abercromby's representations, ensured the retention of Trinidad as a British possession. The
The King of Spain Charles IV set up a "Council of War" to look into the surrender. By Royal Decree, the ex-governor of Trinidad, José María Chacón, and Rear Admiral Sebastián Ruiz de Apodaca (who had scuttled his small fleet) were banished for life from the "Royal Domain". Apodaca's case was reconsidered and he was reinstated in 1809, but Chacón died in exile in Portugal.[10]
Notes
- Footnotes
- Revolutionary France.[5]
- Citations
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7146-1939-2.
- ^ a b Laborda, Antonio: La ocupación de la isla de Trinidad por los británicos en 1797, Revista de Historia Naval (in Spanish)
- ^ a b Southey, Thomas (1827). Chronological history of the West Indies. Vol. 3. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. p. 137.
- ISBN 978-0-7146-1939-2.
- ^ Trinidad history
- ^ "No. 13995". The London Gazette. 27 March 1797. p. 286.
- ^ Confirmation of troop count is unattainable, only Spanish and Puerto Rican sources are available regarding troop count.
- ^ "No. 15084". The London Gazette. 27 November 1798. p. 1144.
- ^ Brereton, Bridget (1981). A History of Modern Trinidad 1783–1962. London: Heinemann Educational Books.[ISBN missing][page needed]
- ^ Carmichael (1961), pp. 40–42.