Order of battle at the Battle of Tory Island
The Battle of Tory Island was a naval action fought on 12 October 1798 off the north coast of Ireland. The battle contested an attempted French invasion of Donegal in support of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with a French squadron under Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart facing a hastily assembled Royal Navy blockade squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren. Bompart's force had been dispatched from Brest the month before with orders to reinforce a French army under Jean Humbert which had landed two months earlier.[1]
Unbeknown to Bompart's force, Humbert's army and the rebellion as a whole had been defeated by the
frigates which followed him for a week until he was able to lose them in heavy weather. This weather persisted throughout the campaign, causing significant damage to both sides in a series of storms.[3]
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The delay caused by the pursuit of Bompart by the frigates under
United Irishmen, whose capture and subsequent death signified the end of the rebellion.[5] Over the next week, the scattered French survivors desperately attempted to reach the safety of French harbours in the face of dozens of British warships cruising along their homeward route. Only two made it, three others being hunted down and captured, one just a few miles from the entrance to Brest.[6]
The French never again attempted an invasion of Ireland.
Action of 12 October 1798
| Commodore Warren's squadron | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Commander | Casualties | Notes | |||||
| Killed | Wounded | Total | ||||||||
| HMS Robust | Third rate
|
74 | Captain Edward Thornbrough | 11 | 38 | 49 | Badly damaged. | |||
| HMS Magnanime | Fifth rate
|
44 | Captain Michael de Courcy | 0 | 7 | 7 | Damaged. | |||
| HMS Ethalion | Fifth rate
|
38 | Captain George Countess | 1 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| HMS Amelia | Fifth rate
|
38 | Captain Charles Herbert
|
0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| HMS Melampus | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Graham Moore | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| HMS Canada | Third rate
|
74 | Commodore Sir John Borlase Warren | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| HMS Foudroyant | Third rate
|
80 | Captain Sir Thomas Byard | 0 | 9 | 9 | ||||
| HMS Anson | Fifth rate
|
44 | Captain Philip Charles Durham | 2 | 13 | 15 | Badly damaged by weather conditions. | |||
| Total casualties: 15 killed, 72 wounded, 87 total | ||||||||||
| Commodore Bompart's Squadron | ||||||||||
Sémillante
|
Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Martin-Antoine Lacouture | 0 | 0 | 0 | Returned to Brest. | |||
| Romaine | Fifth rate
|
40 | Captain Mathieu-Charles Bergevin | 0 | 3 | 3 | Returned to Brest. | |||
| Bellone | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Louis-Léon Jacob | 20 | 45 | 65 | Badly damaged and captured. Purchased for the Royal Navy as HMS Proserpine but never saw active service. | |||
| Immortalité | Fifth rate
|
40 | Captain Jean-François Legrand | 0 | 0 | 0 | Escaped, captured on 20 October. | |||
| Loire | Fifth rate
|
40 | Captain Adrien-Joseph Segond | 10 | 24 | 34 | Escaped, captured on 18 October. | |||
Hoche
|
Third rate
|
74 | Commodore Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart Captain Desiré-Marie Maistral |
270 | Badly damaged and captured. Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Donegal. | |||||
| Coquille | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Léonore Deperonne | 18 | 31 | 49 | Captured. Accidentally exploded at Hamoaze claiming 13 lives. | |||
| Embuscade | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Nicolas Clément de la Roncière | 15 | 26 | 41 | Captured. Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Ambuscade. | |||
| Résolue | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Jean-Pierre Bargeau | 0 | 5 | 5 | Escaped, captured on 14 October. | |||
Biche
|
Schooner | 8 | Lieutenant Jean-Marie-Pierre Labastard | 0 | 0 | 0 | Detached from the battleline and not engaged in the action. Returned to Brest undamaged. | |||
| Total casualties: 460[7] | ||||||||||
| Source: James, pp. 124–132, Clowes pp. 344–351 | ||||||||||
Action of 13 October 1798
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Commander | Casualties | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killed | Wounded | Total | ||||||||
| HMS Melampus | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Graham Moore | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Résolue | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Jean-Pierre Bargeau | 10 | Several | - | Captured. Purchased for the Royal Navy as HMS Resolue but never saw active service. | |||
| Source: James, pp. 135–136, Clowes pp. 344–351 | ||||||||||
Flight of Loire, 15–18 October 1798
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Commander | Casualties | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killed | Wounded | Total | ||||||||
HMS Mermaid
|
Fifth rate
|
32 | Captain James Newman Newman
|
4 | 13 | 17 | Badly damaged. | |||
| HMS Kangaroo | Brig | 18 | Commander Edward Brace | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| HMS Anson | Fifth rate
|
44 | Captain Philip Charles Durham | 2 | 13 | 15 | ||||
| Total casualties: 6 killed, 26 wounded, 32 total | ||||||||||
| Loire | Fifth rate
|
40 | Captain Adrien-Joseph Segond | 46 | 71 | 117 | Badly damaged and captured. Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Loire. | |||
| Total casualties: 46 killed, 71 wounded, 117 total | ||||||||||
| Source: James, pp. 137–141, Clowes pp. 344–351 | ||||||||||
Action of 20 October 1798
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Commander | Casualties | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Killed | Wounded | Total | ||||||||
HMS Fisgard
|
Fifth rate
|
38 | Captain Thomas Byam Martin | 10 | 26 | 36 | Badly damaged. | |||
| Immortalité | Fifth rate
|
36 | Captain Jean-François Legrand † | 54 | 61 | 115 | Badly damaged and captured. Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Immortalite .
| |||
| Sources: James, pp. 142–143; Henderson, p. 77, Clowes pp. 344–351 | ||||||||||
Savary's retreat, 28–30 October 1798
| Captain Saumarez's squadron | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Commander | Casualties | Notes | |||||
| Killed | Wounded | Total | ||||||||
| HMS Caesar | Third rate
|
80 | Captain Sir James Saumarez
|
0 | 0 | 0 | Damaged by weather conditions, retired from the chase on 28 October. | |||
| HMS Terrible | Third rate
|
74 | Captain Sir Richard Bickerton
|
0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| HMS Melpomene | Fifth rate
|
38 | Captain Sir Charles Hamilton
|
0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Commodore Savary's Squadron | ||||||||||
| Concorde | Frigate
|
40 | Commodore Daniel Savary Captain André Papin |
0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Franchise | Frigate
|
44 | Captain Jean-Louis Guillotin-Gonthière | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Médée | Frigate
|
32 | Captain Jean-Daniel Coudin | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Vénus | Corvette | 28 | Captain André Senez | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Source: James, pp. 145–147 | ||||||||||
References
Key
- A † symbol indicates that the officer was killed during the action or subsequently died of wounds received.
- The ships are ordered in the sequence in which they formed up for battle.
Specific
- ^ Henderson, p. 76
- ^ Brooks, p. 625
- ^ James, p. 126
- ^ Gardiner, p. 114
- ^ Elliott, ODNB
- ^ James, p. 135
- ^ As the casualties from Hoste were not broken down to distinguish between killed and wounded in the dispatches immediately following the battle, only an overall casualty total is available for the French squadron.
General
- Brooks, Richard (1959). Battlefields of Britain & Ireland. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-36333-2.
- ISBN 1-86176-013-2.
- Elliott, Marrianne (2008). "Tone, (Theobald) Wolfe". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1996]. "The Channel and Ireland". Nelson Against Napoleon. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-86176-026-4.
- Henderson, James (1994) [reprint of 1970]. The Frigates. Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-432-6.
- ISBN 0-85177-906-9.