Battle of St. Lucia explained

Conflict:Battle of St. Lucia
Partof:the American Revolutionary War
Date:15 December 1778
Place:Off Saint Lucia, Caribbean Sea
Map Type:Caribbean
Map Relief:yes
Result:British victory
Commander1: Samuel Barrington
Commander2: Comte d'Estaing
Strength1:7 ships of the line
3 frigates
Strength2:12 ships of the line
4 frigates
Casualties1:230 killed and wounded
Casualties2:850 killed and wounded[1]

The Battle of St. Lucia or the Battle of the Cul de Sac was a naval battle fought off the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies during the American Revolutionary War on 15 December 1778, between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.[2]

Background

The French had entered the American Revolutionary War on behalf of the rebels and were conducting actions in the Caribbean to try to take over British colonies there. On 7 September 1778, the French governor of Martinique, the marquis de Bouillé, surprised and captured the British island of Dominica. On 4 November, French Admiral Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Comte d'Estaing sailed for the West Indies from the port of Boston, Massachusetts. On that same day, Commodore William Hotham was dispatched from Sandy Hook, New Jersey, to reinforce the British fleet in the West Indies. Hotham sailed with "five men of war, a bomb vessel, some frigates, and a large convoy."[3] The convoy Hotham was escorting consisted of 59 transports carrying 5,000 British soldiers under Major General Grant.[4] The French fleet was blown off course by a violent storm, preventing it from arriving in the Caribbean ahead of the British. Admiral Samuel Barrington, the British naval commander stationed on the Leeward Islands, joined the newly arrived Commodore Hotham on 10 December at the island of Barbados. Grant's men were not permitted to disembark and spent the next several days aboard their transports. Barrington and Hotham sailed for the island of St. Lucia on the morning of 12 December.

On the evening of 13 December and morning of 14 December, Major General James Grant,[5] supported by additional troops under Brigadier General William Medows[6] and Brigadier General Robert Prescott,[7] landed at Grand Cul de Sac, St. Lucia. Grant and Prescott took control of the high ground around the bay, while Medows continued on and took Vigie the following morning (14 December). On 14 December the French fleet under d’Estaing arrived, forcing Admiral Barrington to move his ships into line of battle and forgo his plan of moving the transports into Carénage Bay.[3]

Battle

Admiral Barrington was alerted to the presence of the French fleet by the frigate Ariadne and organised his line of battle so that Isis and his three frigates (Venus, Aurora, and Ariadne) were close to shore guarding the windward approach, and he placed his flagship, Prince of Wales, toward the leeward.[1] Barrington, in a defensive strategy, placed his transports inside the bay but behind his battle line, which took him the entire evening of 14 December. By 1100 hours the next day, most of the transports had been safely tucked behind his line.[4]

At 1100 hours 15 December Admiral d’Estaing approached St. Lucia with ten ships of the line, and was fired on by one of the shore batteries. D’Estaing moved to engage Barrington from the rear, and a "warm conflict" raged between the two fleets, with the British supported by two shore batteries.[1] D’Estaing was repulsed but succeeded in reforming his line of battle. At 1600 hours d’Estaing renewed his assault by attacking Barrington's centre with twelve ships of the line. Again, heavy fire was exchanged, and the French were eventually repulsed for a second time.[8]

Outcome

On 16 December Admiral d’Estaing appeared to be preparing for a third assault against Admiral Barrington's line, but then sailed away towards the windward.[1] On the evening of 16 December d’Estaing anchored in Gros Islet Bay, where he landed 7,000 troops for an assault on the British lines at La Vigie. Three assaults were made but British control of the high ground enabled them to repulse the French. The French troops were re-embarked, and when d'Estaing's fleet left on 29 December, the island surrendered to the British.[9]

Order of battle

French line of battle

Vice-amiral d'Estaing' squadron
width=8%; align= center rowspan=2 Divisionwidth=17%; align= center rowspan=2 Shipwidth=5%; align= center rowspan=2 Typewidth=25%; align= center rowspan=2 Commanderwidth=9%; align= center colspan=3 Casualtieswidth=36%; align= center rowspan=2 Notes
width=3%; align= center Killedwidth=3%; align= center Woundedwidth=3%; align= center Total
<--Third Division-->align= left Zéléalign= center 74align= left Barras Saint-Laurentalign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Tonnantalign= center 80align= left Bruyères-Chalabre (flag captain)
Breugnon (Lieutenant général)		align= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Marseillaisalign= center 74align= left La Poype-Vertrieuxalign= center align= center align= center align= left
<--Third Division-->align= left Languedocalign= center 80align= left Boulainvilliers (flag captain)
Estaing (Vice-amiral)		align= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Hectoralign= center 74align= left Moriès-Castelletalign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Césaralign= center 74align= left Castellet (flag captain)
Broves (chef d'escadre)		align= center align= center align= center align= left
<--Third Division-->align= left Fantasquealign= center 64align= left Suffrenalign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Guerrieralign= center 74align= left Bougainvillealign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Protecteuralign= center 74align= left Saint-Germain d'Apchonalign= center align= center align= center align= left
<--Second Division-->align= left Vaillantalign= center 64align= left Chabert-Cogolinalign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Provencealign= center 64align= left Desmichels de Champorcinalign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Sagittairealign= center 50align= left Albert de Rionsalign= center align= center align= center align= left
Reconnaissance and signals
<--Second Division-->align= left Chimèrealign= center 32-gun frigatealign= left Cresp de Saint-Césairealign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Engageantealign= center 26-gun frigatealign= left Gras-Prévillealign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Alcmènealign= center 26-gun frigatealign= left Bonnevalalign= center align= center align= center align= left
Division information-->align= left Aimablealign= center 26-gun frigatealign= left Saint-Eulaliealign= center align= center align= center align= left

British line of battle

Ship[10] RateGunsCommander
align= center Third ratealign= center 74Admiral Samuel Barrington
Captain Benjamin Hill
align= center Third ratealign= center 70Captain Herbert Sawyer
align= center Fourth ratealign= center 50Commodore William Hotham
Captain Samuel Uppleby
align= center Third ratealign= center 64Captain Richard Onslow
align= center Third ratealign= center 64Captain Walter Griffith
align= center Fourth ratealign= center 50Captain Richard Braithwaite
align= center Fourth ratealign= center 50Captain John Raynor
align= center Fifth ratealign= center 36Captain James Ferguson
align= center Sixth ratealign= center 28Captain James Cumming
align= center Sixth ratealign= center 20Captain Thomas Pringle

References

Notes and References

  1. Navies and the American Revolution, 1775–1783. Robert Gardiner, ed. Chatham Publishing, 1997, pp. 88–91.
  2. Orr, Tamra. St. Lucia. Marshall Cavendish, 2008; p. 31. .
  3. [Charles Ekins|Ekins, Charles]
  4. Ekins, p. 93.
  5. Jaques, Tony. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007; p. 882. .
  6. Book: Cunningham, George Godfrey . George Godfrey Cunningham . A History of England in the Lives of Englishmen . A. Fullarton . 1853 . 133 .
  7. Wilson, James Grant, and John Fiske. Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography. D. Appleton, 1900; p. 5:109.
  8. Ekins, pp. 92–93.
  9. Book: Clowes, William Laird. 1996. 1900. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume III. 431–432. Chatham Publishing. London. 1-86176-012-4.
  10. Ekins, pp. 91–93.

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