| Capture of Belle Île | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofSeven Years' War | |||||||
 An exact presentation of the capture by the British fleet | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Great Britain |  France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Studholme Hodgson Augustus Keppel | Gaetan Xavier | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 9,000 | 3,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheCapture of Belle Île was aBritishamphibious expedition to capture theFrench island ofBelle Île off theBrittany coast in 1761, during theSeven Years' War. After an initial British attack was repulsed, a second attempt under GeneralStudholme Hodgson forced abeachhead. A second landing was made, and after a six-week siege the island's maincitadel atLe Palais was stormed, consolidating British control of the island. A French relief effort from the nearby mainland was unable to succeed because of British control of the sea. The British occupied the island for two years before returning it in 1763 following theTreaty of Paris.
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In 1756, Britain and France had formally gone to war afterinitial clashes in North America. The French began the war successfully bycapturing Menorca a British island in theMediterranean. After this Britain had gained the initiative at sea and had begun a series of naval incursions on the French coast, such as theRaid on Rochefort (1757) and theRaid on Cherbourg (1758), pioneered by theSouthern SecretaryWilliam Pitt. While the practical success of these was limited, they caused serious alarm throughout France and forced the French government to detach large numbers of troops to guard coastal areas against further British raids. Pitt suspended the campaign in late 1758 following an unsuccessful landing atSaint Cast, while remaining open to the idea of further operations against the vulnerable French coast.
In 1759, France attempted to launch amajor invasion of Britain, but following the naval defeats ofLagos andQuiberon Bay and a near continuousBritish blockade of French ports, this plan had to be abandoned; for much of the remainder of the war the French navy remained at anchor. From 1757, the British launched a series of attacks on French colonies around the globe, leading many of them being captured. TheConquest of Canada in 1759-60 left Britain in control of a large area of formerly French territory, and Pitt anticipated that this would lead to a peace agreement, as many in Paris sought to bring an end to the costly war.
Pitt had planned to send an expedition to captureMauritius, a major French naval base in theIndian Ocean. However, with the likelihood of apeace congress fast approaching Pitt wanted something more immediate and tangible which could be exchanged for captured British or German territory, rather than the Mauritius which would take a long time to capture and news of which would take months to reach Europe. He was also aware of Spain's potential entry into the war, which would also make it prudent to keep ships closer to home to protect against a possible invasion.[1]
Pitt now decided to switch the focus of an expedition to the French coast. The island of Belle Île was located close toLorient and the major naval centre ofBrittany and offered command of theBay of Biscay.[2] He now advocated that it should be seized and turned into a British military base which could then be used as a staging point for further attacks on the French mainland. Pitt had originally proposed an attack on Belle Île in October 1760, but it was strongly opposed by theDuke of Newcastle and vetoed by KingGeorge II on the grounds that more focus should be given to the ongoing campaign in Germany.[3] Pitt now revived the project, helped by the fact that the old King had died and been succeeded by his grandson.
BothLord Anson andSir Edward Hawke were opposed to such an expedition, but Pitt was not put off by the opposition of two of Britain's most respected admirals.[2] On 25 MarchGeorge III signed secret orders now making Belle Île the target.[4] The command of the army was to be given to GeneralStudholme Hodgson while AdmiralAugustus Keppel, already experienced inamphibious operations from his role in theCapture of Goree, was to command the naval elements.
The expedition was assembled atPlymouth and sailed on 29 March 1761. It arrived off Belle Île, delayed by bad weather, on 6 April.[5] After an initial reconnaissance of the southern end of the island it was decided to try the area around Port Andro on the south of Belle Île. A force was landed underGeneral John Craufurd which attempted to make a landing. Afeint was made to the north with two battalions of infantry and a contingent of H.M. Marines (not Royal till 1802), in the hope of diverting attention from Craufurd.[6]
Craufurd's force encountered much heavier opposition than had been expected. The French were well-entrenched and their fire took a heavy toll on the British attackers. A company ofgrenadiers managed to scale the nearby cliffs, but they were not supported, and many were killed and captured. Realising that they had lost any chance of surprise, and apparently faced with little alternative, Craufurd's troops abandoned the attempt and withdrew back to the ships. A violent storm then blew up wrecking many of thelanding craft vital for the operation. The expedition's commanders believed a further attempt was not practicable, and after further reconnaissance they wrote home to Pitt suggesting that no assault was now possible, raising the likelihood that the force should sail for home.
The immediate results of the attack resulted in dismay in both Paris and London. The French court were infuriated by the fact that Pitt had pressed ahead with the operation in spite of the ongoing peace talks, which they regarded as an act of bad faith.[7] In Britain the failure was met with a mixture of resigned acceptance by opponents of the expedition, but Pitt pressed ahead with a second attempt.Troop transports carrying forces to take part in theattack on Martinique were diverted to join Keppel along with significant reinforcements.[8] Pitt was determined to secure the island as a principal objective in the global war.
Now reinforced, a second landing was planned by Keppel and Hodgson. After lengthy examination of the island's defences it was decided that the best chance of success was another attack at Port Andro. This time two diversionary attacks were planned to draw attention away from the main effort with one in the west against Sauzon and one in the north against St Foy.[9] On 22 April, the main attack, again led by John Craufurd, met equally heavy opposition as it had last time and soon stalled. Meanwhile, the diversionary attack to the north led by BrigadierHamilton Lambart discovered the stretch of coast around St Foy undefended by troops as the French had believed that the highcliffs were a strong enough defence against any attack. Lambart decided that they could be scaled, and his troops successfully gained a position on top of the ridge. They beat off a counterattack from nearby French troops, receiving support from nearbyRoyal Navy ships.[10]
Realising what had happened, Craufurd abandoned his attack and took his troops via boat around to assist Lambart. The British commanders poured further reinforcements in to secure the beachhead. By nightfall, the whole British force was ashore. According to a pre-arranged signal, the French forces and inhabitants withdrew into the main fortification at Le Palais leaving the rest of the island to the invaders.[11] The British now occupied the island's defenceless ports allowing them to ship in fresh supplies and began to besiege Le Palais. The French commander on the island, theChevalier Sainte Croix, hoped that he would be able to resist at Le Palais long enough for some relief to reach him from the French mainland. The French Governor ofBrittany, theDuc d'Aiguillon had gathered a force atVannes with the intention of coming to the aid of Belle Île, but Britishfrigates kept a vigilant watch of the coast, and the British control of the surrounding seas made any chance of a crossing unlikely. The French government moved fresh reinforcements to mainland Brittany, suspecting that this would be the next target to be attacked.[12]
A French attempt to ready a small fleet by activating sevenships of the line atRochefort and eight atBrest was encountered by an even more vigorousblockade mounted by Keppel.[13] On 8 June, after more than a month's siege of Le Palais, Sainte Croix acknowledged he was unlikely to receive any rescue and he agreed to capitulate. Sainte Croix was allowed, through convention, to march his men out through thebreach with the honours of war and his force was then repatriated to nearbyLorient.[14]
During British rule there were three governors or administrators:
The first governor was John Craufurd, who was born in 1722. Son of Patrick Craufurd a merchant in Edinburgh. He commenced his duties on 24 December 1761.[15]
John Craufurd departed Belle Isle on 17 March 1762 and was replaced by Brigadier Hamilton Lambart, holding the post of "Senior Officer".[15]
On 21 June 1762, Lt.Col.James Forrester arrived in the island and took up his position as governor, in place of Lambart.The Deputy Governor wasLt Col. Thomas Oswald, Commandant of103rd Regiment of Foot (Volunteer Hunters), who had taken part, alongside the Marines, in the capture of the island. The force was disbanded in England in 1763.
In accordance with the terms of theTreaty of Paris (1763), which was ratified on 10 March 1763, Forrester handed over to Richard Auguste de Warren, who had been appointed French commander, on 10 May 1763.[16] Forrester and the British forces departed Belle Isle the next day.
The initial French reaction to the island's fall was to tell the British they could keep it if they wanted but could expect no compensation if they handed it back. It was soon realised that this was not a plausible stance, as the island could be used as a base forprivateers and theRoyal Navy. Ultimately after two years of occupation, the island was handed back to France in the wake of the Treaty of Paris (1763), exchanged directly for the return ofMenorca to Britain.
Belle Île was then partially settled byFrench-speakingAcadians expelled during theGreat Expulsion of Acadians following the 1755 capture of the remaining portions of Acadia. The Acadians were unhappy with conditions there, and by 1785, most of them had emigrated toLouisiana.[17]
