Invasion of Île de France
Encyclopedia
The Invasion of Île de France was a complicated but successful amphibious operation in the Indian Ocean
, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars
. During the operation, a substantial British military force was landed by the Royal Navy
at Grand Baie
on Île de France
. Marching inland against weak French opposition, the British force was able to overwhelm the defenders in a series of minor engagements, culminating in the capture of the island's capital Port Napoleon and the surrender of Charles Decaen, the French governor. The surrender eliminated the last French territory in the Indian Ocean
and among the military equipment captured were five French Navy
frigates and 209 heavy cannon
. Île de France was retained by Britain at the end of the war under the name of Mauritius
and remained part of the British Empire
until 1968.
The operation was the culmination of two years of conflict over the island and the neighbouring Île Bourbon between frigate squadrons commanded by Josias Rowley
and Jacques Hamelin. Hamelin repeatedly raided British trade convoys and Rowley responded with amphibious assaults on French harbours, but neither had gained ascendancy by the time Rowley sent most of his force to attack the port of Grand Port
on Île de France in August 1810. At the ensuing battle
the British squadron was destroyed and Hamelin began to blockade Rowley on Île Bourbon. As British reinforcements were urgently despatched, several actions were fought between recently arrived British ships and the more numerous French forces. At the last of these on 18 September 1810
, Hamelin was defeated and captured by Rowley. This allowed Rowley to build his forces over the next two months until they were sufficient for a successful invasion, which was led by the recently arrived Admiral Albemarle Bertie
.
had been an important strategic region for British trade since the first British trading posts were developed in India
. By the Napoleonic Wars
, millions of pounds
worth of goods crossed the ocean's trade routes every year, mostly in the heavily guarded convoys of East Indiamen
. The French recognised the economic importance of these convoys but until 1808 failed to provide sufficient forces to disrupt the Indian trade. Late in 1808, it was decided to send a strong frigate
squadron to the Ocean under the command of Jacques Hamelin to augment the forces available on the island bases of Île Bonaparte and Île de France
and raid British shipping in the region. Hamelin was an able commander and between May 1809 and July 1810 his ships captured seven East Indiamen and a large number of small merchant ships and warships.
The British response to Hamelin's deployment was provided by Admiral Albemarle Bertie
, who collected a squadron of ships from those available at the Cape of Good Hope
and placed them under the command of Commodore Josias Rowley
. Bertie gave Rowley instructions to blockade the islands and prepare for invasion attempts once the required forces could be spared. During 1809 and the spring of 1810, Rowley maintained the blockade and launched a series of small raids, the largest being at Saint Paul on Île Bonaparte in September 1809. By July 1810, Rowley had developed sufficient forces at his island base on Rodriguez
to successfully invade and capture
Île Bonaparte, which he restored to its former name of Île Bourbon. In August, Rowley attempted to extend his blockade of Île de France by seizing small islands off the main ports that could control the passage of shipping through the coral reefs that surround the island. The first operation was to capture Île de la Passe
off Grand Port
, which was successfully secured on 13 August. Shortly afterwards a French squadron forced passage into the harbour and Captain Samuel Pym
ordered the four frigates of the blockade squadron to attack the ships anchored in the bay. The ensuing Battle of Grand Port
was a disaster for the British, as two frigates were wrecked on the reefs and two others captured with their entire crews: only the very seriously wounded, including Captain Nesbit Willoughby
, were repatriated to Île Bourbon.
With his squadron reduced to a single frigate, Rowley sent urgent messages to the British bases at Madras and Cape Town
requesting reinforcements. The naval authorities responded by sending the forces they had available to join Rowley at Rodriguez. The first two frigates to arrive, HMS Africaine and HMS Ceylon
were both attacked while sailing alone and captured by Hamelin's squadron, which was now blockading Île Bourbon. Rowley was able to recapture both ships within hours of their loss, and was also able to seize Hamelin and his flagship Vénus
at the Action of 18 September 1810
. The loss of the French naval commander was a serious blow to the squadron on Île de France, which was also beset by supply problems resulting from a lack of naval stores and food supplies. Unable to make the lengthy cruises needed to disrupt the Indian Ocean trade routes, they were forced to remain in harbour as Rowley was heavily reinforced during September and October 1810.
and Lord Minto
at Madras and on a tactical level by Rowley and his British Army
counterpart Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Keating
on Rodriguez. The transport ships and soldiers would come from the Indian garrisons at Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, to be led by General John Abercromby (although they were also accompanied by Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury
, whom Bertie ordered to return to Madras before the invasion) while the naval forces to protect and support the invasion force were to be provided by Bertie from the Cape of Good Hope. These forces were to gather at Rodriguez in preparation for the invasion. The landings themselves were planned by Rowley and Keating, who relied on Willoughby's intimate knowledge of the coastline of Île de France and a series of careful surveys of the reefs that surrounded the island to select a landing site.
The chosen point was at Grand Baie
, on the northwestern coastline approximately 12 miles (19.3 km) north of the island's capital Port Napoleon. The intention was to prepare an elite force of 1,555 men formed from the Grenadier and light
companies of the regiments attached to the invasion. This vanguard would storm ashore and advance rapidly towards the capital closely supported by a naval brigade of sailors and Royal Marines
and followed by the main body of the army, numbering 5,293 soldiers. The entire force would have logistical assistance and artillery support from Royal Navy ships that would shadow the advance along the coast. The army's orders were to seize Port Napoleon and capture Governor Charles Decaen, which action, it was hoped, would be sufficient to force the surrender of the entire island. Subsequent landings would be made to the west of the capital if French resistance was stronger than expected.
On 15 October, Bertie arrived at Rodriguez with his squadron from Cape Town. On 3 November troops from the Bombay garrison arrived, followed on 6 November by the Madras contingent. On Rodriguez the invasion plans were finalised, HMS Staunch
sent to reconnoitre the northern coastline of Île de France to seek a suitable beach. Command of the landing and the naval support role was given to Captain Philip Beaver
, who had a reputation as an expert in amphibious operations. Keating was placed in command of the vanguard of the land force, with Captain William Augustus Montagu
commanding of the naval brigade and Abercromby in overall charge. Rowley would remain offshore in HMS Boadicea
as would Bertie, who took Africaine as his flagship.
The French response to the impending British invasion was to mobilise the island's 10,000 strong militia. Despite their large numbers, this force was untrained, poorly armed and poorly motivated. Decaen himself recognised that they would be unreliable in the face of attack by British regular soldiers. He also bolstered his forces by attempting to recruit volunteers from among the hundreds of prisoners of war held in the island's prisons (a principal cause of the food shortages on Île de France). Over 500 volunteers agreed to join his army, the majority of them Irishmen
promised French assistance in obtaining Irish independence from Britain. Altogether, Decaen could muster 1,300 regular soldiers to defend the capital, which he placed under the command of General Edmé-Martin Vandermaesen
.
, supplemented by the firepower of the larger ships offshore. Although there was some disruption in the early stages of the attack caused by adverse weather conditions, by 21:00 the entire vanguard and naval brigades were ashore. The landing had been effected with just two casualties, both men who died of natural causes. Keating took command of the vanguard and advanced on Fort Malartic, the garrison retreating before his troops and blowing up the fort as they left. During the morning of 30 November, Keating pushed southwards to the River Tombeau
which overlooked Port Napoleon, his front units skirmishing with French defenders across the river, during which Decaen himself was lightly wounded by a musket
ball. The bridge over the river had been held by a force of militia, but they fell back before the British advance and failed to properly demolish the bridge, allowing Keating to rapidly cross and threaten Port Napoleon. At Grand Baie, the remainder of the invasion force were coming ashore, so that the entire army had landed by midday, although Abercromby himself elected to stay with Beaver on HMS Nisus and follow the advance from offshore.
On 1 December, Vandermaesen made a stand before Port Napoleon, defending the entrance to the town with his available regular troops and some small cannon. Keating attacked him, engaging the French front while a second attack by Madras sepoys outflanked the French line and disrupted it, allowing a successful frontal assault. With their defences breached the French fell back and on 2 December Decaen proposed a ceasefire, which was accepted. The following day Decaen surrendered, although with guarantees that he and the garrison would be repatriated and allowed to retain their personal arms and Eagles
. Although some in the British force were unhappy with the terms of the surrender, the British commanders were relieved to have the invasion complete before the hurricane season began later in the month. The danger to the 70 ships in the British fleet from such a storm was serious and it was vitally important that they were in a safe harbour when the hurricane season began.
and the towns renamed under Decaen (such as Port Napoleon) were restored to their pre-Revolutionary
names. Governor Robert Townsend Farquhar
of Île Bourbon was placed in administrative control of the island, Île Bourbon taken over by Keating. Although the French garrison was repatriated, the invaders captured six French frigates and several smaller warships in the various harbours of Île de France as well as 24 merchant ships. Also seized were the East Indiamen Ceylon, Charlton and United Kingdom and 209 heavy cannon. Among the hundreds of prisoners released were the survivors of the Battle of Grand Port and the crews and passengers from the Indiamen captured over the previous year. Among the French prisoners, were discovered 12 deserters from the British Army or Royal Navy (at least 40 successfully passed as Frenchmen and were repatriated to France). These 12 were put on trial on their return to Britain: two were later hanged and five transported
. Rewards were forthcoming, particularly for Bertie, who was made a baronet
. This created a scandal when Admiral Drury accused Bertie of taking credit for the work of others (principally Drury himself). Mauritius, unlike Île Bourbon, remained in British hands after the end of the war in 1814 and was retained as part of the British Empire
until granted independence in 1968.
Although there were no further British operations in the region, the Mauritius campaign was not quite over. When news of the victory at Grand Port had reached France, there was pressure to resupply and reinforce the victorious squadron under Hamelin and a small squadron commanded by Commodore François Roquebert was ordered to sail for Île de France. This squadron included three frigates: Renommée
, Clorinde
and Néréide
and carried extensive stores to repair and rearm Hamelin's frigates. The journey from France to the Indian Ocean was a long one, and it was not until February 1811 that Roquebert's squadron arrived at Mauritius. Discovering that the island was in British hands, Roquebert attempted to return to France but was chased by the frigates stationed on Mauritius and captured at the Action of 20 May 1811. Only Clorinde escaped the British pursuit.
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, launched in November 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. During the operation, a substantial British military force was landed by the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
at Grand Baie
Grand Baie
Grand Baie, is a seaside village and large tourist beach in the district of Rivière du Rempart on the island of Mauritius. The village is on the western side of the northernmost point of Mauritius and was the site of the British Invasion of Île de France in November 1810.Grand Baie may well be the...
on Île de France
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
. Marching inland against weak French opposition, the British force was able to overwhelm the defenders in a series of minor engagements, culminating in the capture of the island's capital Port Napoleon and the surrender of Charles Decaen, the French governor. The surrender eliminated the last French territory in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
and among the military equipment captured were five French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
frigates and 209 heavy cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
. Île de France was retained by Britain at the end of the war under the name of Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
and remained part of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
until 1968.
The operation was the culmination of two years of conflict over the island and the neighbouring Île Bourbon between frigate squadrons commanded by Josias Rowley
Josias Rowley
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG , known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was a naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in 1810.-Naval career:...
and Jacques Hamelin. Hamelin repeatedly raided British trade convoys and Rowley responded with amphibious assaults on French harbours, but neither had gained ascendancy by the time Rowley sent most of his force to attack the port of Grand Port
Grand Port
Grand Port is a district encompassing much of the south-eastern part of the island of Mauritius. Its capital is Rose-Belle but the most important town of the district is Mahebourg...
on Île de France in August 1810. At the ensuing battle
Battle of Grand Port
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France during the Napoleonic Wars...
the British squadron was destroyed and Hamelin began to blockade Rowley on Île Bourbon. As British reinforcements were urgently despatched, several actions were fought between recently arrived British ships and the more numerous French forces. At the last of these on 18 September 1810
Action of 18 September 1810
The Action of 18 September 1810 was a naval battle fought between British Royal Navy and French Navy frigates in the Indian Ocean during the Napoleonic Wars. The engagement was one of several between rival frigate squadrons contesting control of the French island base of Île de France, from which...
, Hamelin was defeated and captured by Rowley. This allowed Rowley to build his forces over the next two months until they were sufficient for a successful invasion, which was led by the recently arrived Admiral Albemarle Bertie
Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB, was a long-serving and at time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career but also courted controversy with several of his actions....
.
Background
The Indian OceanIndian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
had been an important strategic region for British trade since the first British trading posts were developed in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. By the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, millions of pounds
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
worth of goods crossed the ocean's trade routes every year, mostly in the heavily guarded convoys of East Indiamen
East Indiamen
An East Indiaman was a ship operating under charter or license to any of the East India Companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries...
. The French recognised the economic importance of these convoys but until 1808 failed to provide sufficient forces to disrupt the Indian trade. Late in 1808, it was decided to send a strong frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
squadron to the Ocean under the command of Jacques Hamelin to augment the forces available on the island bases of Île Bonaparte and Île de France
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
and raid British shipping in the region. Hamelin was an able commander and between May 1809 and July 1810 his ships captured seven East Indiamen and a large number of small merchant ships and warships.
The British response to Hamelin's deployment was provided by Admiral Albemarle Bertie
Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet
Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB, was a long-serving and at time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career but also courted controversy with several of his actions....
, who collected a squadron of ships from those available at the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
and placed them under the command of Commodore Josias Rowley
Josias Rowley
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG , known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was a naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in 1810.-Naval career:...
. Bertie gave Rowley instructions to blockade the islands and prepare for invasion attempts once the required forces could be spared. During 1809 and the spring of 1810, Rowley maintained the blockade and launched a series of small raids, the largest being at Saint Paul on Île Bonaparte in September 1809. By July 1810, Rowley had developed sufficient forces at his island base on Rodriguez
Rodrigues (island)
Rodrigues , sometimes spelled Rodriguez but named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues, is the smallest of the Mascarene Islands and a dependency of Mauritius...
to successfully invade and capture
Invasion of Île Bonaparte
The Invasion of Île Bonaparte was an amphibious operation in 1810 that formed an important part of the British campaign to blockade and capture the French Indian Ocean territories of Île Bonaparte and Île de France during the Napoleonic Wars...
Île Bonaparte, which he restored to its former name of Île Bourbon. In August, Rowley attempted to extend his blockade of Île de France by seizing small islands off the main ports that could control the passage of shipping through the coral reefs that surround the island. The first operation was to capture Île de la Passe
Île de la Passe
Ile de la Passe is a rocky islet in the bay off Grand Port on the island of Mauritius. Between 20–25 August 1810, during the British campaign to capture the island from the French, it was the scene of the Battle of Grand Port...
off Grand Port
Grand Port
Grand Port is a district encompassing much of the south-eastern part of the island of Mauritius. Its capital is Rose-Belle but the most important town of the district is Mahebourg...
, which was successfully secured on 13 August. Shortly afterwards a French squadron forced passage into the harbour and Captain Samuel Pym
Samuel Pym
Sir Samuel Pym KCB was a British admiral, brother of Sir William Pym.In June 1788, Pym joined the Royal Navy as captain's servant of the frigate Eurydice...
ordered the four frigates of the blockade squadron to attack the ships anchored in the bay. The ensuing Battle of Grand Port
Battle of Grand Port
The Battle of Grand Port was a naval battle between squadrons of frigates from the French Navy and the British Royal Navy. The battle was fought during 20–27 August 1810 over possession of the harbour of Grand Port on Île de France during the Napoleonic Wars...
was a disaster for the British, as two frigates were wrecked on the reefs and two others captured with their entire crews: only the very seriously wounded, including Captain Nesbit Willoughby
Nesbit Willoughby
Sir Nesbit Josiah Willoughby was an officer in the British Royal Navy who was knighted in 1827, and made rear-admiral in 1847. He is related to Sir Hugh Willoughby , who also figures in British naval history....
, were repatriated to Île Bourbon.
With his squadron reduced to a single frigate, Rowley sent urgent messages to the British bases at Madras and Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
requesting reinforcements. The naval authorities responded by sending the forces they had available to join Rowley at Rodriguez. The first two frigates to arrive, HMS Africaine and HMS Ceylon
HMS Bombay (1805)
HCS Bombay, later HMS Bombay and HMS Ceylon, was a 672 ton fifth rate, 38-gun wooden warship built in the Bombay Dockyard for the Honourable East India Company and launched in 1793. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1805 and renamed her HMS Bombay. She served with the Royal Navy under that name...
were both attacked while sailing alone and captured by Hamelin's squadron, which was now blockading Île Bourbon. Rowley was able to recapture both ships within hours of their loss, and was also able to seize Hamelin and his flagship Vénus
French frigate Vénus (1808)
The Vénus was a Junon class frigate of the French Navy.On 10 November 1808, she departed Cherbourg, bound for Île de France, where she served as Hamelin's flagship, leading a squadron also comprising the frigate Manche and the sloop Créole....
at the Action of 18 September 1810
Action of 18 September 1810
The Action of 18 September 1810 was a naval battle fought between British Royal Navy and French Navy frigates in the Indian Ocean during the Napoleonic Wars. The engagement was one of several between rival frigate squadrons contesting control of the French island base of Île de France, from which...
. The loss of the French naval commander was a serious blow to the squadron on Île de France, which was also beset by supply problems resulting from a lack of naval stores and food supplies. Unable to make the lengthy cruises needed to disrupt the Indian Ocean trade routes, they were forced to remain in harbour as Rowley was heavily reinforced during September and October 1810.
Planning
The invasion of Île de France, although prompted by the defeat at Grand Port, had been the ultimate intention of Rowley's squadron since its creation in 1809 and had been planned carefully both on a strategic level by Bertie at Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
and Lord Minto
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto
Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto PC , known as Sir Gilbert Elliott between 1777 and 1797 and as The Lord Minto between 1797 and 1813, was a Scottish politician diplomat....
at Madras and on a tactical level by Rowley and his British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
counterpart Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Keating
Henry Sheehy Keating
Lieutenant General Sir Henry Sheehy Keating KCB was born at Bansha, County Tipperary in Ireland and was an officer of the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who served in two important operations against French colonies...
on Rodriguez. The transport ships and soldiers would come from the Indian garrisons at Madras, Bombay and Calcutta, to be led by General John Abercromby (although they were also accompanied by Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury
William O'Bryen Drury
Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Drury served as commander of the ship of the line HMS Powerful during the French Revolutionary Wars, during which he was heavily engaged at the Battle of Camperdown, at which a Dutch fleet...
, whom Bertie ordered to return to Madras before the invasion) while the naval forces to protect and support the invasion force were to be provided by Bertie from the Cape of Good Hope. These forces were to gather at Rodriguez in preparation for the invasion. The landings themselves were planned by Rowley and Keating, who relied on Willoughby's intimate knowledge of the coastline of Île de France and a series of careful surveys of the reefs that surrounded the island to select a landing site.
The chosen point was at Grand Baie
Grand Baie
Grand Baie, is a seaside village and large tourist beach in the district of Rivière du Rempart on the island of Mauritius. The village is on the western side of the northernmost point of Mauritius and was the site of the British Invasion of Île de France in November 1810.Grand Baie may well be the...
, on the northwestern coastline approximately 12 miles (19.3 km) north of the island's capital Port Napoleon. The intention was to prepare an elite force of 1,555 men formed from the Grenadier and light
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
companies of the regiments attached to the invasion. This vanguard would storm ashore and advance rapidly towards the capital closely supported by a naval brigade of sailors and Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
and followed by the main body of the army, numbering 5,293 soldiers. The entire force would have logistical assistance and artillery support from Royal Navy ships that would shadow the advance along the coast. The army's orders were to seize Port Napoleon and capture Governor Charles Decaen, which action, it was hoped, would be sufficient to force the surrender of the entire island. Subsequent landings would be made to the west of the capital if French resistance was stronger than expected.
On 15 October, Bertie arrived at Rodriguez with his squadron from Cape Town. On 3 November troops from the Bombay garrison arrived, followed on 6 November by the Madras contingent. On Rodriguez the invasion plans were finalised, HMS Staunch
HMS Staunch (1804)
HMS Staunch was a Royal Navy 14-gun , built by Benjamin Tanner and launched in 1804 at Dartmouth, Devon. She served in the Indian Ocean and participated in the Action of 18 September 1810 before she foundered with the loss of all hands in 1811.-Service:...
sent to reconnoitre the northern coastline of Île de France to seek a suitable beach. Command of the landing and the naval support role was given to Captain Philip Beaver
Philip Beaver
Philip Beaver was an officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries...
, who had a reputation as an expert in amphibious operations. Keating was placed in command of the vanguard of the land force, with Captain William Augustus Montagu
William Augustus Montagu
Vice-Admiral Sir William Augustus Montagu, KCH, CB was a senior and successful officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who served in a number of sea battles and was also in command of the naval brigade in the brief land campaign to capture Île de...
commanding of the naval brigade and Abercromby in overall charge. Rowley would remain offshore in HMS Boadicea
HMS Boadicea (1797)
HMS Boadicea was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the Channel and in the East Indies during which service she captured many prizes. She participated in one action for which the Admiralty would award the Naval General Service Medal...
as would Bertie, who took Africaine as his flagship.
The French response to the impending British invasion was to mobilise the island's 10,000 strong militia. Despite their large numbers, this force was untrained, poorly armed and poorly motivated. Decaen himself recognised that they would be unreliable in the face of attack by British regular soldiers. He also bolstered his forces by attempting to recruit volunteers from among the hundreds of prisoners of war held in the island's prisons (a principal cause of the food shortages on Île de France). Over 500 volunteers agreed to join his army, the majority of them Irishmen
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
promised French assistance in obtaining Irish independence from Britain. Altogether, Decaen could muster 1,300 regular soldiers to defend the capital, which he placed under the command of General Edmé-Martin Vandermaesen
Edmé-Martin Vandermaesen
Edmé-Martin Vandermaesen was a French general of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars...
.
Invasion
On 22 November 1810, all the British troops and ships were assembled and Bertie ordered the squadron to rendezvous off Grand Baie, which was reached early on 29 November despite adverse winds. The vanguard landed unopposed, their landing craft supported by ship's boats carrying cannonCannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
, supplemented by the firepower of the larger ships offshore. Although there was some disruption in the early stages of the attack caused by adverse weather conditions, by 21:00 the entire vanguard and naval brigades were ashore. The landing had been effected with just two casualties, both men who died of natural causes. Keating took command of the vanguard and advanced on Fort Malartic, the garrison retreating before his troops and blowing up the fort as they left. During the morning of 30 November, Keating pushed southwards to the River Tombeau
Rivière du Tombeau
Rivière du Tombeau is a river in northwestern Mauritius. Its source is on the slopes of Pieter Both Mountain, from where it flows north and then west for a total of 16 kilometres, reaching the Indian ocean at Baie du Tombeau, north of the capital of Port Louis....
which overlooked Port Napoleon, his front units skirmishing with French defenders across the river, during which Decaen himself was lightly wounded by a musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
ball. The bridge over the river had been held by a force of militia, but they fell back before the British advance and failed to properly demolish the bridge, allowing Keating to rapidly cross and threaten Port Napoleon. At Grand Baie, the remainder of the invasion force were coming ashore, so that the entire army had landed by midday, although Abercromby himself elected to stay with Beaver on HMS Nisus and follow the advance from offshore.
On 1 December, Vandermaesen made a stand before Port Napoleon, defending the entrance to the town with his available regular troops and some small cannon. Keating attacked him, engaging the French front while a second attack by Madras sepoys outflanked the French line and disrupted it, allowing a successful frontal assault. With their defences breached the French fell back and on 2 December Decaen proposed a ceasefire, which was accepted. The following day Decaen surrendered, although with guarantees that he and the garrison would be repatriated and allowed to retain their personal arms and Eagles
French Imperial Eagle
French Imperial Eagle refers to the figure of an eagle on a staff carried into battle as a standard by the Grande Armée of Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars....
. Although some in the British force were unhappy with the terms of the surrender, the British commanders were relieved to have the invasion complete before the hurricane season began later in the month. The danger to the 70 ships in the British fleet from such a storm was serious and it was vitally important that they were in a safe harbour when the hurricane season began.
Aftermath
The surrender of Île de France marked the final British operation of the campaign and the capture of the last French territory east of Africa. The island was restored to its pre-1715 name of MauritiusMauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
and the towns renamed under Decaen (such as Port Napoleon) were restored to their pre-Revolutionary
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
names. Governor Robert Townsend Farquhar
Robert Townsend Farquhar
Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, 1st Baronet was an influential British merchant of the early nineteenth century who served as a colonial governor and Member of Parliament.During his lengthy service for both the East India Company and the British government,Farquhar gained a reputation as an...
of Île Bourbon was placed in administrative control of the island, Île Bourbon taken over by Keating. Although the French garrison was repatriated, the invaders captured six French frigates and several smaller warships in the various harbours of Île de France as well as 24 merchant ships. Also seized were the East Indiamen Ceylon, Charlton and United Kingdom and 209 heavy cannon. Among the hundreds of prisoners released were the survivors of the Battle of Grand Port and the crews and passengers from the Indiamen captured over the previous year. Among the French prisoners, were discovered 12 deserters from the British Army or Royal Navy (at least 40 successfully passed as Frenchmen and were repatriated to France). These 12 were put on trial on their return to Britain: two were later hanged and five transported
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
. Rewards were forthcoming, particularly for Bertie, who was made a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
. This created a scandal when Admiral Drury accused Bertie of taking credit for the work of others (principally Drury himself). Mauritius, unlike Île Bourbon, remained in British hands after the end of the war in 1814 and was retained as part of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
until granted independence in 1968.
Although there were no further British operations in the region, the Mauritius campaign was not quite over. When news of the victory at Grand Port had reached France, there was pressure to resupply and reinforce the victorious squadron under Hamelin and a small squadron commanded by Commodore François Roquebert was ordered to sail for Île de France. This squadron included three frigates: Renommée
HMS Java (1811)
HMS Java was a British Royal Navy 38-gun fifth-rate frigate. She was originally launched in 1805 as the Renommée, described as a 40-gun Pallas-class French Navy frigate, but the vessel actually carried 46 guns...
, Clorinde
French frigate Clorinde (1808)
The Clorinde was a 40-gun Pallas-class frigate of the French Navy, designed by Sané.From June 1809, she was stationed with the 16-gun Milan and the 38-gun Renommée. In September, she sailed with Renommée, Loire and Seine to Guadeloupe...
and Néréide
HMS Madagascar (1811)
The Néréide was a 38-gun frigate of the French Navy designed by Sané.In 1810, she sailed to Guadeloupe but was repelled by the blockade off Basse-Terre, and returned to Brest after a fight with HMS Rainbow and HMS Avon....
and carried extensive stores to repair and rearm Hamelin's frigates. The journey from France to the Indian Ocean was a long one, and it was not until February 1811 that Roquebert's squadron arrived at Mauritius. Discovering that the island was in British hands, Roquebert attempted to return to France but was chased by the frigates stationed on Mauritius and captured at the Action of 20 May 1811. Only Clorinde escaped the British pursuit.
Orders of battle
| Admiral Bertie's squadron | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Notes |
| HMS Illustrious HMS Illustrious (1803) HMS Illustrious was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 3 September 1803 at Rotherhithe.Illustrious served as a gunnery ship from 1854, and was broken up in 1868.... |
Third rate | 74 |  |
Captain William Robert Broughton William Robert Broughton William Robert Broughton was a British naval officer in the late 18th century. As a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, he commanded HMS Chatham as part of the Vancouver Expedition, a voyage of exploration through the Pacific Ocean led by Captain George Vancouver in the early 1790s.-With Vancouver:In... |
|
| HMS Cornwallis HMS Cornwallis (1801) HMS Cornwallis was a Royal Navy 54-gun fourth rate. Jemsatjee Bomanjee built the Marquis Cornwallis of teak for the East India Company. The Company sold her to the Royal Navy in 1801 shortly after she returned from an expedition against the Mahe Islands... |
Fifth rate | 44 | |
Captain James Caulfield | |
| HMS Africaine | Fifth rate | 38 | |
Vice-Admiral Albemarle Bertie Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, KCB, was a long-serving and at time controversial officer of the British Royal Navy who saw extensive service in his career but also courted controversy with several of his actions.... Captain Charles Gordon Charles Gordon (Royal Navy officer) Admiral Charles Gordon, CB was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the nineteenth century. Gordon's most notable action was the Action of 18 September 1810, when he was seriously wounded in battle and his frigate HMS Ceylon captured by the French frigate Vénus... |
|
| HMS Boadicea HMS Boadicea (1797) HMS Boadicea was a frigate of the Royal Navy. She served in the Channel and in the East Indies during which service she captured many prizes. She participated in one action for which the Admiralty would award the Naval General Service Medal... |
Fifth rate | 38 | |
Captain Josias Rowley Josias Rowley Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG , known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was a naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in 1810.-Naval career:... |
|
| HMS Nisus | Fifth rate | 38 | |
Captain Philip Beaver Philip Beaver Philip Beaver was an officer of the Royal Navy, serving during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries... |
|
| HMS Clorinde | Fifth rate | 38 | |
Captain Thomas Briggs | |
| HMS Menelaus HMS Menelaus (1810) HMS Menelaus was a Royal Navy 38-gun fifth rate frigate, launched in 1810 at Plymouth.Menelaus entered service in 1810 under the command of Captain Peter Parker, and within weeks of commissioning was involved in the suppression of a mutiny aboard HMS Africaine... |
Fifth rate | 38 | |
Captain Peter Parker Sir Peter Parker, 2nd Baronet Captain Sir Peter Parker, 2nd Baronet was an English naval officer, the son of Vice-Admiral Christopher Parker and Augusta Byron.... |
|
| HMS Nereide French frigate Vénus (1808) The Vénus was a Junon class frigate of the French Navy.On 10 November 1808, she departed Cherbourg, bound for Île de France, where she served as Hamelin's flagship, leading a squadron also comprising the frigate Manche and the sloop Créole.... |
Fifth rate | 38 | |
Captain Robert Henderson Robert Henderson (Royal Navy officer) Rear-Admiral Robert Henderson was an officer of the British Royal Navy who fought in several colonial actions and operations during his service in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars... |
|
| HMS Phoebe HMS Phoebe (1795) HMS Phoebe was a 36-gun fifth rate of the British Royal Navy. She had a career of almost twenty years and fought in the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812... |
Fifth rate | 36 | |
Captain James Hillyar James Hillyar Admiral Sir James Hillyar KCB KCH was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century, who is best known for his service in the frigate HMS Phoebe during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812... |
|
| HMS Doris HMS Doris (1808) HMS Doris was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy that served between 1808 and 1829. She was the second ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the mythical Greek sea nymphe Doris.... |
Fifth rate | 36 | |
Captain William Jones Lye | |
| HMS Cornelia HMS Cornelia (1808) HMS Cornelia was a Royal Navy 32-gun fifth-rate frigate, launched in 1808 at South Shields.Cornelia joined the service in 1808, under the command of Captain Henry Folkes Edgell and in 1810 was deployed to the squadron at the Cape of Good Hope... |
Fifth rate | 32 | |
Captain Henry Folkes Edgell | |
| HMS Psyche | Fifth rate | 32 | |
Captain John Edgcumbe | |
| HMS Ceylon HMS Bombay (1805) HCS Bombay, later HMS Bombay and HMS Ceylon, was a 672 ton fifth rate, 38-gun wooden warship built in the Bombay Dockyard for the Honourable East India Company and launched in 1793. The Royal Navy purchased her in 1805 and renamed her HMS Bombay. She served with the Royal Navy under that name... |
Fifth rate | 32 | |
Commander James Tompkinson | |
| HMS Hesper HMS Hesper (1809) HMS Hesper was a Royal Navy 18-gun ship-sloop of the Cormorant class, launched in 1809 at Dartmouth. Her original builder, Benjamin Tanner, became bankrupt during her construction, so John Cock completed her. In 1810 she was reclassed as a 20-gun sixth rate ship ; in 1817 she was again re-rated,... |
Brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... |
18 | |
Commander David Paterson | |
| HMS Eclipse HMS Eclipse (1807) HMS Eclipse was a Royal Navy built by John King at Dover and launched in 1807. She served off Portugal and then in the Indian Ocean at the capture of the Île de France. Shortly thereafter she captured Tamatave. She was sold for mercantile service in 1815.-Service:Eclipse entered service in... |
Brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... |
18 | |
Lieutenant Henry Lynne | |
| HMS Hecate HMS Hecate (1809) HMS Hecate was a Royal Navy 18-gun , built by John King at Upnor and launched in 1809. After serving in the British Navy, essentially entirely in the East Indies, she served in the Chilean Navy as Galvarino from 1818 until she was broken up in 1828.... |
Brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... |
18 | |
Lieutenant George Lucas Rennie | |
| HMS Acteon | Brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... |
16 | |
Lieutenant Ralph, Viscount Neville | |
| HMS Staunch HMS Staunch (1804) HMS Staunch was a Royal Navy 14-gun , built by Benjamin Tanner and launched in 1804 at Dartmouth, Devon. She served in the Indian Ocean and participated in the Action of 18 September 1810 before she foundered with the loss of all hands in 1811.-Service:... |
Brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... |
14 | |
Lieutenant Benjamin Street | |
| HMS Emma | Armed ship | |
Lieutenant Robert Forder | ||
| Egremont | Hired ship | |
|||
| Farquhar | Hired ship | |
|||
| Mouche | Armed ship | |
|||
| In addition to the above warships, the invasion fleet included approximately 50 small transport ships initially under the command of Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury William O'Bryen Drury Rear-Admiral William O'Bryen Drury was a senior officer of the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Drury served as commander of the ship of the line HMS Powerful during the French Revolutionary Wars, during which he was heavily engaged at the Battle of Camperdown, at which a Dutch fleet... , who was sent back to Madras before the invasion. The British Army British Army The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England... troops attached to the force included sepoys and garrison artillery from Madras and soldiers from the 12th Foot, 33rd Foot, 56th Foot 56th Regiment of Foot The 56th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment in the British Army, active from 1755 to 1881. It was originally raised in Northumbria as the 58th Regiment, and renumbered the 56th the following year when two senior regiments were disbanded... and 59th Foot 59th (2nd Nottinghamshire) Regiment of Foot The 59th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1755 in response to the threat of renewed war with France. It was amalgamated with the 30th Regiment of Foot in 1881 to form The East Lancashire Regiment as part of the Childers Reforms.-Formation and numbering:In... commanded by General John Abercromby and Lieutenant Colonel Henry Keating Henry Sheehy Keating Lieutenant General Sir Henry Sheehy Keating KCB was born at Bansha, County Tipperary in Ireland and was an officer of the British Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who served in two important operations against French colonies... . Also attached was a naval brigade of volunteer sailors and Royal Marines Royal Marines The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service... under Captain William Augustus Montagu William Augustus Montagu Vice-Admiral Sir William Augustus Montagu, KCH, CB was a senior and successful officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who served in a number of sea battles and was also in command of the naval brigade in the brief land campaign to capture Île de... . |
|||||
| Sources:James Vol. 5, p. 325, Clowes, p. 294, Woodman, p. 291–292 | |||||
| French squadron | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Notes |
| Bellone French frigate Bellone (1807) The Bellone was an 44-gun frigate of the French Navy.She departed Saint-Malo on 18 January 1809, bound for the Indian Ocean, under Guy-Victor Duperré.... |
Fifth rate | 40 |  |
Captured. Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Junon | |
| Astrée | Fifth rate | 40 | |
Captain Pierre Bouvet | Captured. Commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Pomone |
| Minerve French frigate Minerve (1809) The Minerva was a 48-gun frigate of the Portuguese navy.She was captured on 22 November 1809 by Duperré's Bellone, who gave her command to Pierre Bouvet. She subsequently served in the French Navy as Minerve. The two ships sailed together, capturing the East Indiamen Windham and Ceylan in the... |
Fifth rate | 48 | |
Captured. Broken up as unfit for service. | |
| Manche French frigate Manche (1803) The Manche was a 40-gun Hortense Class frigate of the French Navy.She took part in operations at Île de France under Captain François-Désiré Breton.... |
Fifth rate | 40 | |
Captured. Broken up as unfit for service. | |
| Iphigénie HMS Iphigenia (1805) HMS Iphigenia was a Royal Navy 36-gun Perseverance-class fifth-rate frigate. She was built at Chatham Dockyard by Master Shipwright Robert Seppings.... |
Fifth rate | 36 | |
Captured. Returned to service as HMS Iphigenia HMS Iphigenia (1805) HMS Iphigenia was a Royal Navy 36-gun Perseverance-class fifth-rate frigate. She was built at Chatham Dockyard by Master Shipwright Robert Seppings.... . |
|
| Néréide | Fifth rate | 36 | |
Captured. Broken up as unfit for service. | |
| Victor | Brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... |
18 | |
Captured. Broken up as unfit for service. | |
| Entreprenant | Brig Brig A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries... |
18 | |
Captured. Broken up as unfit for service. | |
| Note: At the time of the invasion, only two of the above ships were serviceable and as a result many ships were commanded by temporary officers or none at all. Records on which French officers commanded which ships are incomplete, and so only those that are known are inserted in the above table. In addition to the warships, none of which participated in the campaign, Governor Charles Decaen could muster 1,300 French Army French Army The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in... troops including 500 volunteers from among the British prisoners of war and 10,000 unreliable local militia. |
|||||
| Sources: James Vol. 5, p. 325, Clowes, p. 294, 560 | |||||