Battle of the Saintes

Battle of the Saintes
Part of the American War of Independence
The Battle of the Saintes, 12 April 1782: surrender of the Ville de Paris by Thomas Whitcombe, painted 1783, shows Hood's HMS Barfleur, centre, attacking the French flagship Ville de Paris, right.
Date 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782 Location Off Dominica, West Indies Result Decisive British victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Great Britain	Kingdom of France
Commanders and leaders
Sir George Rodney	Comte de Grasse  (POW)
Strength
36 ships of the line	33 ships of the line
Casualties and losses
243 dead, 816 wounded	4 ships of the line captured, 1 destroyed 2,000 dead or wounded, 5,000 captured

The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique, or Battle of Dominica) took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned invasion of Jamaica.

The battle is named after the Saintes (or Saints), a group of islands between Guadeloupe and Dominica in the West Indies. The French fleet defeated here by the Royal Navy was the same French fleet that had blockaded the British Army during the Siege of Yorktown. The British are sometimes credited with pioneering the tactic of "breaking the line" in the battle, though this is disputed.^{[citation needed]}

Origins

Main article: Caribbean theater of the American Revolutionary War

On 7 April 1782, the Comte de Grasse set out from Martinique with 35 ships of the line, including two 50-gun ships and a large convoy of more than 100 cargo ships, to meet with a Spanish fleet consisting of 12 ships of the line and 15,000 troops for the purpose of capturing the British island of Jamaica. He was pursued by Rodney with 36 ships of the line.

On 9 April 1782, De Grasse sent his convoy into Guadeloupe, escorted by two fifty-gun ships (Fier and Experiment). There was an initial inconclusive clash during which the French got the better of the van division of the British fleet that had become separated from the centre and rear divisions. Two French ships of the line were damaged.

Battle

On 12 April, De Grasse bore up with his fleet to protect a dismasted ship (Zélé'', 74-guns) that was being chased by four British ships as he made for Guadeloupe. Rodney recalled his chasing ships and made the signal for line of battle. As the French line passed down the British line, a sudden shift of wind let Rodney's flagship Formidable and several other ships, including the Duke and the Bedford, break through the French line, raking the ships as they did so. The resultant confusion in the French line and the severe damage to several of the French ships including De Grasse's flagship Ville de Paris, of 104 guns, led eventually to De Grasse’s surrender and the retreat of many of his ships in disorder. This action split the French battle line into two. A general chase ensued. In all, four French ships were captured and one, César, blew up after she was taken.

A 1785 engraving of de Grasse surrendering to Rodney.

The British lost 243 killed and 816 wounded, and two captains out of 36 were killed. The French loss in killed and wounded has never been stated, but of captains alone, six were killed out of 30. It is estimated that the French loss may have been as much as 2,000. More than 5,000 French soldiers and sailors were captured. The large number shows what a considerable force the French were willing to put ashore with the invasion of Jamaica. Of the Ville de Paris' crew, over 400 were killed and more than 700 were wounded. The magazine aboard the César exploded, killing over 400 French and 50 British sailors.

Aftermath

The battle frustrated French and Spanish hopes of capturing Jamaica from the British. Rodney was created a peer with £2,000 a year settled on the title in perpetuity for this victory. Hood was elevated to the peerage as well.

The battle has caused controversy ever since, for three reasons:

• Rodney’s failure to follow up the victory by a pursuit was much criticised. Rear-Admiral Hood said that the 20 French ships would have been captured had the commander-in-chief maintained the chase. On 17 April, Hood was sent in pursuit of the enemy. He promptly captured two 64-gun ships of the line (Jason and Caton) and two smaller warships in the Battle of the Mona Passage on 19 April. One hundred and twenty years later, the Navy Records Society published the Dispatches and Letters Relating to the Blockading of Brest. In the introduction they include a small biography of Admiral William Cornwallis who commanded the Canada at the Saintes. A poem purportedly written by him includes the lines:

Had a chief worthy Britain commanded our fleet,
Twenty-five good French ships had been laid at our feet.

• The battle is famous for the innovative tactic of "breaking the line", in which the British ships passed though a gap in the French line, engaging the enemy from leeward and throwing them into disorder. But there is considerable controversy about whether the tactic was intentional, and, if so, who was responsible for the idea (Rodney, his Captain-of-the-Fleet Sir Charles Douglas, or John Clerk of Eldin), or even if this was the first case of such a tactic. 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).^{[citation needed]}
• On the French side, de Grasse blamed his subordinates, Vaudreuil and Bougainville, for his defeat.

Order of battle

Britain

Admiral Sir George Rodney's fleet
Van
Ship	Rate	Guns	Commander	Casualties			Notes
				Killed	Wounded	Total
HMS Royal Oak	Third rate	74	Captain Thomas Burnett	8	30	38
HMS Alfred	Third rate	74	Captain William Bayne †	12	40	52	Bayne killed on 9 April
HMS Montagu	Third rate	74	Captain George Bowen	14	29	43
HMS Yarmouth	Third rate	64	Captain Anthony Parrey	14	33	47
HMS Valiant	Third rate	74	Captain Samuel Granston Goodall	10	28	38
HMS Barfleur	Second rate	98	Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood Captain John Knight	10	37	47	Flagship of van
HMS Monarch	Third rate	74	Captain Francis Reynolds	16	33	49
HMS Warrior	Third rate	74	Captain Sir James Wallace	5	21	26
HMS Belliqueux	Third rate	64	Captain Andrew Sutherland	4	10	14
HMS Centaur	Third rate	74	Captain John Nicholson Inglefield	?	?	?	No casualty returns made
HMS Magnificent	Third rate	74	Captain Robert Linzee	6	11	17
HMS Prince William	Third rate	64	Captain George Wilkinson	0	0	0
Centre
HMS Bedford	Third rate	74	Commodore Edmund Affleck Captain Thomas Graves	0	17	17
HMS Ajax	Third rate	74	Captain Nicholas Charrington	9	40	49
HMS Repulse	Third rate	64	Captain Thomas Dumaresq	3	11	14
HMS Canada	Third rate	74	Captain William Cornwallis	12	23	35
HMS St Albans	Third rate	64	Captain Charles Inglis	0	6	6
HMS Namur	Second rate	90	Captain Robert Fanshawe	6	25	31
HMS Formidable	Second rate	98	Admiral Sir George Rodney Captain Sir Charles Douglas 2nd Captain Charles Symons	15	39	53	Flagship of centre
HMS Duke	Second rate	90	Captain Alan Gardner	13	60	73
HMS Agamemnon	Third rate	64	Captain Benjamin Caldwell	15	23	38
HMS Resolution	Third rate	74	Captain Lord Robert Manners	4	34	38
HMS Prothee	Third rate	64	Captain Charles Buckner	5	25	30
HMS Hercules	Third rate	74	Captain Henry Savage	6	19	25	Captain Savage wounded
HMS America	Third rate	64	Captain Samuel Thompson	1	1	2
Rear
HMS Russell	Third rate	74	Captain James Saumarez	10	29	39
HMS Fame	Third rate	74	Captain Robert Barbor	3	12	15
HMS Anson	Third rate	64	Captain William Blair †	3	13	16
HMS Torbay	Third rate	74	Captain John Lewis Gidoin	10	25	35
HMS Prince George	Second rate	98	Captain James Williams	9	24	33
HMS Princessa	Third rate	70	Rear-Admiral Francis Samuel Drake Captain Charles Knatchbull	3	22	25	Flagship of rear
HMS Conqueror	Third rate	74	Captain George Balfour	7	23	30
HMS Nonsuch	Third rate	64	Captain William Truscott	3	3	6
HMS Alcide	Third rate	74	Captain Charles Thompson	?	?	?	No casualty returns made
HMS Arrogant	Third rate	74	Captain Samuel Pitchford Cornish	0	0	0
HMS Marlborough	Third rate	74	Captain Taylor Penny	3	16	19
Total recorded casualties: 239 killed, 762 wounded (casualties for two ships unknown)
Source: The London Gazette, 12 December 1782.

France

Admiral the Comte de Grasse's fleet
Ship	Guns	Commander	Fate
Ardent	64	de Gouzillon	captured
Auguste	80	de Castellan Chef d'escadre Louis Antoine de Bougainville	van flag
Bourgogne	74
Brave	74
César	74		captured, but burnt
Citoyen	74
Conquérant	74
Couronne	80	Claude Mithon de Genouilly
Dauphin Royal	70	Pierre, comte de Roquefeuil
Destin	74
Diadème	74
Duc de Bourgogne	80
Éveillé	64
Glorieux	74		captured
Hector	74		captured
Hercule	74	Jean Isaac Chadeau de la Clocheterie
Languedoc	80
Magnanime	74
Magnifique	74
Marseillais	74
Neptune	74
Northumberland	74
Palmier	74
Pluton	74
Réfléchi	64
Richemond	frigate	Montemart
Sceptre	74
Scipion	74
Souverain	74
Triomphant	80	Jean-François Du Cheyron †
Ville de Paris	104	François Joseph Paul de Grasse	captured

See also

• France in the American Revolutionary War
• Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War

Further reading

• Douglas, Major-General Sir Howard; Christopher J. Valin (2010-18-32). Naval Evolutions: A Memoir. Fireship Press. ISBN 1-935585-27-4. 
• Crossman, Mark World military leaders: a biographical dictionary Facts on File Inc (2006) ISBN 978-0-8160-4732-1
• Fullom, S.W., Life of General Sir Howard Douglas, Bart. (1865)
• Mahan, A.T., Major Operations of the Navies in the War of Independence (1913)
• Mahan, A.T., Types of Naval Officers, Drawn from the History of the British Navy (1901)
• Mundy, Major-General Godfrey Basil, The Life and Correspondence of the Late Admiral Lord Rodney (1830)
• Playfair, John. “On the Naval Tactics of the Late John Clerk, Esq. of Eldin.” The Works of John Playfair, Vol. III (1822)
• “Rodney’s Battle of 12 April 1782: A Statement of Some Important Facts, Supported by Authentic Documents, Relating to the Operation of Breaking the Enemy’s Line, as Practiced for the First Time in the Celebrated Battle of 12 April 1782.” Quarterly Review, vol. XLII, no. LXXXIII, January & March, 1830
• Trew, Peter, Rodney and the Breaking of the Line (2006)
• Valin, Christopher J. (2009). Fortune's Favorite: Sir Charles Douglas and the Breaking of the Line. Fireship Press. ISBN 1-934757-72-1. 

External links

• Robinson, Ian M. (2009-12-03). "The Battle of the Saintes 12th April 1782". The Realm of Chance: warfare and the balance of power, 1618-1815. http://iactaaleaest.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/the-battle-of-the-saintes-12th-april-1782/. Retrieved 2011-07-06.