Battle of the Saintes

Plan of the early ship movements leading to the Battle of the Saintes April 1782

The British flagship was HMS Formidable under Admiral Rodney. Second in command was Admiral Samuel Hood and third was Vice Admiral Francis Samuel Drake. As was the convention of the day the fleet was split into three sections: Rodney had individual control as Admiral of the White of 12 ships flying the White Ensign; Drake had command of 12 ships flying the Blue Ensign as Admiral of the Blue; Hood was Admiral of the Red with 12 ships flying the Red Ensign.[19]

The Formidable was accompanied by three 98-gun ships: HMS Barfleur (commanded by Hood), HMS Prince George and HMS Duke plus the 90-gun HMS Namur. The remaining 31 ships ranged from 64-gun to 74-gun. In total the British fleet had 2620 guns compared to the French total of 2526. Most of the British fleet was equipped with carronades on the upper decks, which had a major advantage of flexibility, and were a great advantage at close quarters.[19]

In March 1782, Formidable was stationed at Gros Islet Bay between the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies and Pigeon Island. It was under the command of Admiral Admiral Rodney, serving as his flagship at the head of 36 ship of the line. Meanwhile the French admiral, De Grasse, headed 34 ship of the line at Fort Royal Bay in Martinique. Rodney had been dispatched from Britain with 12 well-fitted ships to rescue the West Indies from a series of attacks from the French which had already resulted in the loss of several islands. They joined 24 ships on St Lucia which had already seen action against the French and were undergoing repairs.[19]

The French had allies in the Spanish, who had 13 ship of the line at Cape Haitien in San Domingo. Together with transport ships the Spanish had a considerable force of 24,000 men. They awaited the arrival of a further 10,000 French troops dispatched from Brest, under escort of five men-of-war, to further boost their strength. The plan was that de Grasse's fleet, with at least 5000 further troops, would unite with the Spanish at Cape Haitien, and from there would attack and capture the island of Jamaica with their conjoined armada of some 60 ships and some 40,000 troops.

Rodney had been in communication with De Grasse during March organising the exchange of prisoners, which were conveyed by HMS Alert under Captain Vashon. The two officers had much mutual respect. Rodney's task was to intercept the French fleet en route to Cape Haitien.

De Grasse's vice admiral at the time was Louis-Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil. Third in command was Louis Antoine de Bougainville. The French flagship was the huge 104-gun Ville de Paris. The troops were under the command of the Marquis de Bouille. The French fleet was also split into three squadrons: De Grasse led the "Cornette Blanche"; Bougainville led the "Escadre Bleu"; de Vaudreuil as a second-in-command flew the mixed blue and white colours of the "Blanche et Bleu".[19]

Other British commanders included Lord Robert Manners of HMS Resolution. Admiral William Cornwallis was in command of HMS Canada. HMS Monarch was under the command of Captain Reynolds. Other aristocrats present included Captain Lord Cranstoun on the Formidable. Sir Charles Douglas, a nephew of Charles Douglas, 3rd Duke of Queensberry, was Captain of the Fleet. Sir James Wallace was also present. Other commanders included Captains Inglefield, Parry, Dumaresq, Buckner, Graves, Blair, Burnett, Savage, Symons, Charrington, Inglis, Cornish, Truscott, Saumarez, Knight, Wilson, Williams and Wilkinson.[20]

A look-out squadron, a line of frigates headed by Captain George Anson Byron on HMS Andromache, reported all of de Grasse's movements at Fort Royal. This squadron included the speedy HMS Agamemnon and also HMS Magnificent.[21]

On 3 April it was signalled that the repairs on the French fleet were complete. On 5 April it was reported that the French troops were boarding the ships. At 8am on Sunday 8 April it was reported that the French fleet were leaving Fort Royal. Rodney's fleet called all men to join their ships and ships began leaving Gros Islet Bay at 10.30am.[22]

The total French armada comprised 35 ship of the line, 10 frigates, and over 100 smaller ships. The smaller ships moved in advance of the men-of-war, heading for St Pierre.[22]

Just past 4pm HMS Barfleur (under Hood) at the head of the British fleet espied 5 sails ahead which she presumed to be part of the French fleet. These came into view of the Formidable around two hours later, just before sunset. They pursued the French through the night. At 2am on 9 April HMS St Albans dropped alongside Formidable, reporting that she, along with HMS Valiant, had located the French fleet in the darkness. Rodney rested for the remainder of the night.

The sun rose at 5.30am. The French fleet extended from 6 miles to 12 miles distant, navigating the waters between Dominica and Guadeloupe. The majority of the warships lay off Prince Rupert's Bay.

Due to a dead calm from 3am until 7am neither fleet could move. The initial wind only reached the Barfleur and its eight support ships, causing it to detach ahead of the main fleet, which lay in the lee of Dominica. De Grasse saw the opportunity to cripple this advanced section and wheeled to begin the first attack.

Battle of the Saintes April 1782 by Nicholas Pocock

Hood's section of the fleet, headed by HMS Barfleur, braced for the first attack. HMS Alfred taunted the 18 French ships under de Vaudreuil which approached, as the first action, by exposing her broadside to the approaching French but without consequence. The British patiently awaited the formal signal from Rodney on the Formidable, some six miles behind, and eventually received a red flag signal telling them to "engage the enemy". As the wind rose around noon, it enabled most of the French fleet and part of the British fleet (including Rodney in the Formidable) joined the melee. At this point the French outnumbered the British two to one.[24] Captain William Bayne on the Alfred was killed during this action.[25]

After an inconclusive encounter in which both sides suffered damage, Grasse realised that the remainder of the British fleet would soon be upon them. He broke off the engagement to withdraw a safe distance.[16] Grasse moved his ships to the Saintes islands to the north (south of Gaudeloupe. Meanwhile Rodney reversed the order of his line to bring Drake's thus far undamaged ships to the front, and allow Hood to undertake repairs in the rear lines.[26]

On 10 April the French began 10 miles distant but did not turn to engage, but instead continued on their original course. By nightfall that increased their separation to 15 miles. This appears partly due to a wrong presumption on Rodney's part that the French were going to turn to engage.[26]

On Wednesday 11 April two French ships (the Zélé and the Magnanime) which had accidentally collided, and had fallen behind the main French fleet, came into view around noon. Rodney decided that attacking these two ships would cause de Grasse to return to protect them. This tactic worked and a large section of the French fleet turned to protect the pair. These movements were done without any physical attacks.[26]

On 12 April, the French were ranged from 6 miles to 12 miles distant and were not in formation, as the two fleets manoeuvred between the northern end of Dominica and the Saintes, in what is known as the Saintes Passage. The unfortunate Zélé had had a second collision during the night with one of its rescuers, the Ville de Paris. It was now being towed to Basse Terre in Guadeloupe by Astrée (with General de Bouille on board. They were chased by four British ships: Monarch, Valiant, Centaur and Belliqueux. De Grasse made for Guadeloupe and bore up with his fleet to protect the ship and at the same time Rodney recalled his chasing ships and made the signal for line of battle.[27]

Rear-Admiral Hood's van division were still making repairs from the action three days earlier, so he directed his rear division, under Rear Admiral Francis S. Drake, to take the lead. At 7:40, HMS Marlborough, under Captain Taylor Penny, led the British line and opened battle when he approached the centre of the French line.[18] Having remained parallel with the French, the ships of Drake's division passed the remaining length of de Grasse's line and the two sides exchanged broadsides, a typical naval engagement of this time.[16]

Map showing main stages of the battle

HMS Marlborough under Captain Taylor Penny of Dorset headed the British attack.[28] As the battle progressed, the strong winds of the previous day and night began to temper and became more variable. As the French line passed down the British line, the sudden shift of wind let Rodney's flagship HMS Formidable and several other ships, including HMS Duke and HMS Bedford, sail toward the French line.[29]

At 8 am, Formidable raised the red flag to permit the Marlborough to open fire and engage the French. At this point the Marlborough was opposite the Dauphin Royal who received her full broadside.[28] Sixteen ships in line separated the Marlborough from the Formidable and each stood 200 metres apart. As each circled passed the French they fired a broadside against the French. Second, behind Marlborough was HMS Arrogant which had been recently re-equipped, managed three broadsides against one from the French as they passed. Third in line was HMS Alcide under Captain Charles Thomson. Then followed HMS Nonsuch under Captain Truscott then HMS Conqueror under Captain George Balfour.[28]

Next in line was Admiral Drake on HMS Princessa who was in command of the first twelve vessels and was followed by HMS Prince George under Captain Williams. Then came the hundred year old HMS Torbay under Captain Keppel and the year-old HMS Anson under Captain William Blair, who being on the main deck was struck by round shot at waist level and horrifically sliced in two. The blue squadron was then completed by HMS Fame and HMS Russell under Captain James Saumarez.[30]

The white squadron under Rodney followed in exact formation after the blue. This was headed by HMS America under Captain Thompson. HMS Hercules under Captain Henry Savage followed. Then came HMS Prothee under Captain Buckner and HMS Resolution under Captain Robert Manners. The 24-year-old Manners was the first casualty on his ship, and was severely injured in both legs and right arm and later died of these wounds.[31] Resolution was followed by HMS Duke under Captain Alan Gardner.[31]

As Formidable was in the centre of the British line it took her almost an hour to reach the centre of the action. All ships had to maintain a steady speed and a she passed de Grasse's flagship, Ville de Paris of 104 guns the two met for the first time. The Ville de Paris was already damaged by the fifteen ships ahead of Formidable in the line. Although it was a sunny day the smoke of the battle was like a dense fog.[32] Formidable entered the smoke and approached the Ville de Paris at 8.40am.[33]

The counter movement of the fleets brought a series of ships opposite the Formidable in sequence behind the Ville de Paris, the movements bringing about a different pairing of enemies every five minutes. Next was Couronne, followed by Éveillé under Le Gardeur de Tilly then the Sceptre under the command of de Vaudreuil.[33]

Lord Rodney’s flagship Formidable breaking through the French line at the battle of the Saintes, 12th 1782; painted by William Elliott

Within an hour, the wind had shifted to the south, forcing the French line to separate and bear to the west, as it could not hold its course into the wind. This allowed the British to use their guns on both sides of their ships without any fear of return fire from the front and rear of the French ships they were passing between. The effect was greater with the use of carronades, with which the British had just equipped nearly half their fleet; this relatively new short-range weapon was quicker to reload and more of them could be carried. Glorieux moving in the wake of the Ville de Paris under command of Captain D'Escars was the next victim; virtually a sitting duck due to damage in the previous ten minutes from HMS Duke, she was quickly pounded and dismasted by intense fire. In the confusion, four French ships beginning with Diadem broke out of sequence (partly due to the uncontrollable speed of the mastless Glorieux). Formidable turned to starboard and brought her port guns to bear on them.[16] As a result, Formidable sailed through the gap, breaking the French line. This breach was further followed through by five other British ships.[27] The breach was later recorded by Charles Dashwood who was a midshipman on the Formidable on the day.[34]

Although the concept of "breaking the line" was born here, the concept is logically of mixed blessings, since in breaking the enemy line, one breaks one's own line. Whilst the movement has the advantage that guns can be fired on both port and starboard sides, it also exposes the ship to attack on both sides. The advantage in this instance was that many of the French gunners left their post, in fear of the Formidables three tiers of guns bearing down on them.[35]

The Diadem appears to have fully withdrawn from the battle at this stage, and many presumed her to be sunk. The Formidable was followed by HMS Namur under Captain Fanshawe, then HMS St Albans under Captain Inglis. These were followed by the deadly HMS Canada under Captain William Cornwallis, HMS Repulse under Captain Thomas Dumaresq, and HMS Ajax under Captain Nicholas Charrington. Each of these fired further upon the hapless and already crippled Glorieux.[36]

The Battle of the Saints, 12 April 1782 by Thomas Mitchell

Simultaneously, by accident of the smoke, Commodore Edmund Affleck on HMS Bedford, the hindmost ship of the central white squadron, accidentally sailed through the confused French line, between Cesar and Hector, only discovering this error when no enemy lay on his starboard side in the clearing smoke.[37]

The Bedford was followed by Hood's red squadron and this broke the French line into three sections. In the confusion the two leading ships of the rear red squadron, HMS Prince William and HMS Magnificent had somehow passed the Bedford, who was now third in line within the red squadron, completely detached from its own white squadron.[37] The whole red squadron then passed between Cesar and Hector, causing each to be crippled. The final ship of the red squadron, HMS Royal Oak, passed the stern of the Cesar and delivered a final blow a few minutes after 11am. Both fleets then drifted apart for some time and became temporarily becalmed.[37]

Around noon, to the horror of both fleets, it was spotted that the waters were teaming with sharks attracted by the noise and blood. French casualties were greatly increased due to the high number of troops packed onto the lower decks: a minimum of 900 per ship and no less than 1300 on the Ville de Paris. In order to lessen the confusion the French had been throwing the dead (and perhaps the near dead) overboard, and this was a rich feast for the sharks.[37]

The French now lay totally to the leeward of the British fleet and the fleet stood between them and their destination. They had little option on the re-emergence of the wind but to sail west with the wind, and try to escape. At 1pm the frigate Richemont, under command of Captain De Mortemart but with Denis Decrès in charge of the marines, was sent to join a towing cable to the heavily crippled Glorieux. Souverain moved alongside to provide covering fire. However the British, with both wind and cannon-power in their favour, moved a number of ships up to block this movement. The captain of the Glorieux was already dead, and she was under command of the senior officer remaining: Lieutenant Trogoff de Kerlessi. Souverain and Richmond retreated under heavy fire and Kerlessi had little option but to tear the flag from the mast and surrender, which was done to the Royal Oak. Captain Burnett used this opportunity to restock his depleted powder supplies. Meanwhile HMS Monarch stood alongside HMS Andromache who was acting as a supply ship to the British fleet, and forty barrels of powder were exchanged.[38]

In the next action, around 1.30, HMS Centaur and HMS Bedford attacked the stricken César, captained by Bernard de Marigny. Marigny refused to surrender and was seriously wounded in the first five minutes. Command then fell to his captain, Captain Paul.[38]

Depiction of the battle by François Aimé Louis Dumoulin

With their formation shattered and many of their ships severely damaged, the French fell away to the southwest in small groups.[16] Rodney attempted to redeploy and make repairs before pursuing the French.[5] By 2pm, the wind had freshened and a general chase ensued. As the British pressed south, Ardent. After taking possession of Glorieux they caught up with the French rear at around 3pm. Admiral de Grasse signalled other ships to protect the Ville de Paris, but this was only partially fulfilled. Nine ships from de Vaudreuil's squadron came to his aid. The British fleet bore down on this small group. In succession, Rodney's ships isolated the other three ships. César, which was soon totally dismasted and in flames, was captured by Centaur.[39] Soon after 5pm the Hector having been flanked by HMS Canada and HMS Alcide and soon became a complete dismasted wreck. Following the mortal wounding of its captain, De la Vicomte, his first lieutenant De Beaumanoir, lowered the ship's flag and surrendered to the Alcide.[40]

Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who commanded Auguste, had ordered eight ships of his own division[16] to aid Ville de Paris but only the Ardent had proceeded and its isolation caused it to be flanked by HMS Belliqueux and HMS Prince William and this soon led to its capture.[40]

At 5.30 pm, de Grasse with Ville de Paris, stood practically alone and had Barfleur in close pursuit, and Formidable close behind. Five ships from de Vaudreuil's squadron were trying to protect her, but none in close formation. These were Triumphante (Vaudreuil's flagship), Bourgogne (under De La Charette), Magnifique (Macarty Macteigne), Pluton (De Rion) and Marseillais (De Castellane-Majastre). Three ships from De Grasse's squadron also still remained: Languedoc, Couronne and Sceptre.[41]

De Grasse's closest protector, the Couronne, moved away at the approach of HMS Canada, which began the final attack on the Ville de Paris. With little support and suffering huge losses in men, De Grasse made another attempt to signal the fleet and gave the order "to build the line on the starboard tack", but again this was not done.[42] By this time, most of the French fleet, apart from those ships that were surrounded, had retreated.

HMS Canada swept passed the Ville de Paris doing damage to the spars and slowing her further. HMS Russell under Captain Saumarez then moved diagonally along the stern of the flagship and fired a broadside which ripped the entire length of the ship. The Russell then moved to the leeward side to hamper the ship's retreat, whilst HMS Barfleur moved onto the opposite side. The Languedoc attempted to approach to give aid but was beaten back by HMS Duke.[43]

The Ville de Paris was in desperate condition with all masts damaged and the rudder shot away. At least 300 men were dead or injured in the cockpit. Around 6pm, being overwhelmed and suffering terrible losses, the Ville de Paris eventually struck her colours, signalling surrender.[44] Hood approached on the Barfleur, which de Grasse had indicated was his preferred method of surrender. In an ungentlemanly act Hood ordered one final broadside at close quarters, when de Grasse had already indicated surrender.[43]

The boarding crew, which included the British fleet surgeon Gilbert Blane, were horrified at the carnage;[lower-alpha 1] Remarkably Admiral de Grasse appeared not to have a scratch on him, whilst every one of his officers had either been killed or wounded. Only three men were unwounded. Rodney boarded soon after, and Hood presented Grasse to him.[16] With his surrender, the battle had effectively ended, except for a few long-range desultory shots and the retreat of many of the French ships in disorder.[42] The gallantry of William Cornwallis of HMS Canada and younger brother of Charles Cornwallis gained the admiration of the whole fleet, one officer noted that he like Hector, as if emulous to revenge his brothers cause.[46]

The Comte de Vaudreuil in Sceptre, seeing Grasse's fate through his telescope, took command of the remaining scattered French naval fleet. On 13 April, he had ten ships with him and sailed toward Cap-Français.[16] Rodney signalled his fleet not to pursue the remaining ships. The battle was therefore over.[47]

Later that night, around 9pm, fire broke out on the César, begun by the entrapped French crew on the lower decks, who had broken into the liquor stores. By 10.30pm the fire was out of control and the magazine exploded, killing more than 400 French and 58 British sailors, plus the lieutenant in charge, all from HMS Centaur. Many men jumped overboard trying to avoid the conflagration,[48] only to fall victim to the sharks below. Captain Marigny, who was confined to his cabin, was one of the many killed. None of the British prize crew survived.[49]

• 
  A 1785 engraving of de Grasse surrendering to Rodney.
• 
  The end of the César, by François Aimé Louis Dumoulin
• 
  Captued French ships after the battle by Dominic Serres

The British lost 243 killed and 816 wounded, and two captains of 36 were killed, whilst no ships were lost. The highest casualties were on HMS Duke with 73 killed or wounded.[50] The total French casualties have never been stated, but six captains out of 30 were killed. In terms of soldiers and sailors, estimates range from 3,000 killed or wounded and 5,000 captured,[51] to as many as around 3,000 dead, 6,000 wounded[52] and 6,000 captured.[53] In addition to several French ships captured, others were severely damaged. The high number of men demonstrates the considerable force the French committed to achieve the invasion of Jamaica.[50] Of the Ville de Paris' crew alone, over 400 were killed and more than 700 were wounded – more than the casualties of the entire British fleet.[4] De Grasse - the first French admiral in history to be captured by an enemy - was sent to England, where he was paroled .

News of the battle reached France in June and was met with despair. The defeat along with the loss of the Ville de Paris was a devastating blow to French King Louis XVI.[58] The navy minister the Marquis de Castries greeted the news as 'a grim disaster'.[59] The Comte De Vergennes felt undermined in the confidence of the French navy.[60] All blame lay on the Comte De Grasse, whilst he himself sought long to clear his name. He blamed his subordinates, Vaudreuil and Bougainville for the defeat, but an infuriated Louis bluntly told De Grasse to retire.[61] The battle had repercussions for France's finances - the monetary loss was huge; on the Ville de Paris alone 36 chests of money worth at least £500,000 were found; this being payment for the troops.[62] During the first four years of the war the French navy had lost four ships of the line, three of them to accidents, whereas during 1782 it would lose fifteen of the line (nearly half of these being in April alone).[63] The losses of these ships were significant - Louis nevertheless promised to build more ships after new taxes were levied.[58] The French finance minister Jean-François Joly de Fleury successfully secured the addition of a Vingtième income tax - the third and last one of its kind in the ancien regime.[64]

In Britain there was widespread celebration as they greeted news of the victory. In the newspaper 'Cumberland Pacquet' it was noted, a joy unknown for years past seemed to spread itself amongst all ranks of people.[65] On his return Rodney was feted as a hero, a number of cartoons and caricatures were created to commemorate the victory. He presented the Comte De Grasse personally to King George III as a prisoner, and was created a peer with £2,000 a year settled on the title in perpetuity. A number of paintings were commissioned to celebrate his victory notably by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds. Hood was also elevated to the peerage, while Drake and Affleck were made baronets.[66]

Caricature of Admiral Rodney presenting the Comte De Grasse to King George III

Following the Franco-American victory at Yorktown six months earlier and the change of Government in England, peace negotiations in Paris had begun among Britain, the American colonies, France, and Spain in early 1782. The battle had a significant effect on those talks when news arrived of its outcome in June.[1] The result of the Saintes transferred the strategic initiative to the British whose dominance at sea was reasserted. News of the defeat reached the Americans who soon realised they were unlikely to have much French support in the future - American General Nathanael Greene had high hopes of French assistance in the recapture of Charleston but the defeat led to its abandonment.[67]

The British, no longer humbled, stiffened their resolve; they objected to American claims on the Newfoundland fisheries and Canada. As a result the American negotiators led by John Jay became more amenable.[68] Not only did they drop their minimum demands and insisted on the single precondition of recognition of their Independence, they also put forward America's abandonment of its commitment to make no separate peace treaty without the French. The victory at the Saintes thus signalled a collapse in the Franco-American alliance.[68] Despite this the battle did not affect the overall outcome of the American Revolution.[69]

De Castries urged Spain to join the French to send another armada against the British West Indies. On the theory of this victory it would win bargaining power to force Britain's acceptance of American Independence.[70] Vergennes however was desperate for peace, and time was running out - France was approaching the limits of its ability to borrow money.[60] France had also promised not to make peace with England until Spain had conquered their main war aim Gibraltar. By October this attempt had been defeated; a huge Spanish attempt in September was repelled with heavy losses, following which Richard Howe with a large naval convoy then relieved the garrison. Vergnnes as a result demanded that Spain give up its claim on Gibraltar to make peace which the latter acquiesced to.[71] The Comte De Grasse who was a high profile prisoner in Britain was used to bring back and forth messages of peace between Great Britain and France.[72] A preliminary peace treaty between Great Britain and America was signed on 30 November; thus with the Americans split from their allies peace was signed with France and Spain in January 1783. Initial articles of peace were signed in July, with a full treaty following in September 1783. Owing to the military successes in 1782 the peace treaties that brought the war to an end were less disadvantageous for Britain than had been anticipated.[65]

Superior British seamanship and gunnery ruled the day in what was considered the greatest naval victory at sea for the British over the French during the American Revolutionary War. Their victory enabled the British to retain all their West Indian islands in the Treaty of Paris, helping to end the war.[6]

The battle is famous for the innovative British tactic of "breaking the line", in which the British ships passed through a gap in the French line, engaging the enemy from leeward and throwing them into disorder.[8] Arguably the battle was not the first time a line had been broken; Dano–Norwegian admiral Niels Juel did this in the Battle of Køge Bay more than a hundred years earlier and even earlier the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter used it for the first time in the last day of the Four Days' Battle in 1666 (and again in the Battle of Schooneveld and the Battle of Texel of 1673). Historians disagree about whether the tactic was intentional or made possible by weather. And, if intentional, who should receive credit: Rodney[lower-alpha 2], his Scottish Captain-of-the-Fleet and aide-de-camp Sir Charles Douglas [lower-alpha 3] or John Clerk of Eldin[9]

As a result of the battle, British naval tactics changed. The old method involved the attacking fleet spreading itself along the entire enemy line. In the five formal fleet actions involving the Royal Navy between the Battle of the Saintes and Trafalgar, all were victories for the British, which were achieved by the creation of localised numerical superiority.[74]

Not in line: frigates Richemont (Mortemart, Amazone (Ensign Bourgarel de Martignan, acting captain replacing Montguyot), Aimable (Lieutenant de Suzannet), Galathée (Lieutenant de Roquart); corvette Cérès (Lieutenant de Paroy); cutter Clairvoyant (Ensign de Daché);[103][104] cutter Pandour (Grasse-Limermont).[105]

• Hart, Francis Russell (1922). Admirals of the Caribbean. Boston Houghton Mifflin.