In December 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, a French
expeditionary force departed from Brest on an expedition to invade Ireland. This
army of 18,000 French soldiers was intended to link up with the secret
organisation of Irish nationalists known as the United Irishmen and provoke a
widespread uprising throughout the island. It was hoped that the resulting war
would force Britain to make peace with the French Republic or risk losing
control of Ireland altogether. Led by Vice-Admiral Morard de Galles, General
Lazare Hoche and leader of the United Irishmen Wolfe Tone, the invasion fleet
included 17 ships of the line, 27 smaller warships and transports and carried
extensive field artillery, cavalry and military stores to equip the Irish
irregular forces they hoped to raise.
Departure from Brest
Morard de Galles planned to sail his fleet from the French naval fortress of
Brest under cover of darkness on the night of 15–16 December. The British
Channel Fleet normally maintained a squadron off Brest to blockade the port, but
its commander, Rear-Admiral John Colpoys, had withdrawn his force from its usual
station 20 nautical miles (37 km) offshore to 40 nautical miles (74 km)
northwest of Brest because of severe Atlantic winter gales. The only British
ships within sight of Brest were an inshore squadron of frigates under Sir
Edward Pellew in HMS Indefatigable, accompanied by HMS Amazon, HMS Phoebe, HMS
Révolutionnaire and the lugger HMS Duke of York. Pellew was already renowned,
having been the first British officer of the war to capture a French frigate:
the Cléopâtre at the Action of 18 June 1793. He later captured the frigates
Pomone and Virginie in 1794 and 1796, and saved 500 lives following the
shipwreck of the East Indiaman Dutton in January 1796. For these actions he had
first been knighted and then raised to a baronetcy. Indefatigable was a razee,
one of the largest frigates in the Royal Navy, originally constructed as a
64-gun third rate and cut down to 44 guns in 1795 to make the ship fast and
powerful enough to catch and fight the largest of French frigates. Armed with
24-pounder cannon on the main decks and 42-pounder carronades on the quarter
deck, she had a stronger armament than any equivalent French frigate.
Observing the French fleet's departure from the harbour at dusk, Pellew
immediately dispatched Phoebe to Colpoys and Amazon to the main fleet at
Portsmouth with warnings, before approaching the entrance to Brest in
Indefatigable with the intention of disrupting French movements. Believing that
the frigates in the bay must be the forerunners of a larger British force, de
Galles attempted to pass his fleet through the Raz de Sein. This channel was a
narrow, rocky and dangerous passage, and de Galles used corvettes as temporary
light ships that shone blue lights and fired fireworks to direct his main fleet
through the passage. Pellew observed this, and sailed Indefatigable right
through the French fleet, launching rockets and shining lights seemingly at
random. This succeeded in confusing the French officers, causing the Séduisant
to strike the Grand Stevenent rock and sink with the loss of over 680 men from a
complement of 1,300. Séduisant's distress flares added to the confusion and
delayed the fleet's passage until dawn. His task of observing the enemy
completed, Pellew took his remaining squadron to Falmouth, sent a report to the
Admiralty by semaphore telegraph, and refitted his ships.
Failure of the Expédition d'Irlande
During December 1796 and early January 1797, the French army repeatedly
attempted to land in Ireland. Early in the voyage, the frigate Fraternité
carrying de Galles and Hoche, was separated from the fleet and missed the
rendezvous at Mizen Head. Admiral Bouvet and General Grouchy decided to attempt
the landing at Bantry Bay without their commanders, but severe weather made any
landing impossible. For more than a week the fleet waited for a break in the
storm, until Bouvet abandoned the invasion on 29 December and, after a brief and
unsuccessful effort to land at the mouth of the River Shannon, ordered his
scattered ships to return to Brest. During the operation and subsequent retreat
a further 11 ships were wrecked or captured, with the loss of thousands of
soldiers and sailors.
By 13 January most of the survivors of the fleet had limped back to France in a
state of disrepair. One ship of the line that remained at sea, the 74-gun Droits
de l'Homme, was commanded by Commodore Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse and
carried over 1,300 men, 700–800 of them soldiers including General Jean Humbert.
Detached from the main body of the fleet during the retreat from Bantry Bay,
Lacrosse made his way to the mouth of the Shannon alone. Recognising that the
weather was still too violent for a landing to be made, Lacrosse acknowledged
the failure of the operation and ordered the ship to return to France, capturing
the British privateer Cumberland en route.
Chase
Pellew too was on his way back to Brest in Indefatigable, accompanied by Amazon
under the command of Captain Robert Carthew Reynolds. While the rest of the
Channel Fleet had been unsuccessful pursuing of the French, Pellew had had his
ships refitted and resupplied at Falmouth so that both frigates were at full
complement, well armed and prepared for action. At 13:00 on 13 January, the
British ships were approaching the island of Ushant in a heavy fog when they
spied another ship through the gloom ahead. This ship, clearly much larger than
either of the British vessels, was the Droits de l'Homme. At the same time,
lookouts on the French ship spotted the British, and Lacrosse was faced with the
dilemma of whether or not to engage the enemy. He knew that his ship was far
larger than either of his opponents, but had earlier spotted sails to westwards
he believed to be British and thus considered himself outnumbered and possibly
surrounded. British records show that no other British vessels were in the
vicinity at the time and it is likely that Lacrosse had seen the French ships
Révolution and Fraternité returning to Brest from Bantry Bay. In addition,
Lacrosse was concerned by the increasing gale and rocky lee shoreline, which
posed a considerable threat to his over-laden vessel, which was already damaged
from its winter voyage and carried a regiment of the French Army and Humbert,
neither of which could be placed at risk in an inconsequential naval action.
Determined to avoid battle, Lacrosse turned southeast, hoping to use his wider
spread of sail to outrun his opponent in the strong winds. Pellew, however,
manoeuvred to cut the Droits de l'Homme off from the French coast, at this stage
still unsure of the nature of his opponent. As the chase developed, the weather,
which had been violent for the entire preceding month, worsened. An Atlantic
gale swept the Ushant headland, driving a blizzard eastwards and whipping the
sea into a turbulent state, making steering and aiming more difficult. At 16:15,
two of Droits de l'Homme's topmasts broke in the strong winds. This dramatically
slowed the French ship and allowed Pellew, who had recognised his opponent as a
French ship of the line, to close with Droits de l'Homme.
Battle
Pellew was aware that his frigate was heavily outclassed by his much larger
opponent, and that Amazon, which was 8 nautical miles (15 km) distant, was not
large enough to redress the balance when it did arrive. He correctly assumed,
however, that the ocean was too rough to allow Lacrosse to open his lower
gunports without the risk that heavy waves would enter them and cause Droits de
l'Homme to founder. In fact the French ship was totally unable to open her lower
deck gunports during the action: an unusual design feature had the ports 14
inches (36 cm) lower than was normal and as a result the sea poured in at any
attempt to open them, preventing any gunnery at all from the lower deck and
halving the ship's firepower.[19] Although this reduced the number of available
guns on the French vessel, Lacrosse still held the advantage in terms of size,
weight of shot and manpower. The French situation was worsened however by the
loss of the topmasts: this caused their ship to roll so severely in the high
seas that it was far more difficult both to steer the ship and to aim the cannon
than on the British vessels.
Three ships, the middle one badly damaged and flying a French flag, exchanged
cannon fire in heavy seas
To the surprise of Lacrosse and his officers, Indefatigable did not retreat from
the ship of the line, nor did she pass the ship of the line at long-range to
leeward as expected. Instead, at 17:30, Pellew closed with the stern of Droits
de l'Homme and opened a raking fire. Lacrosse turned to meet the threat and
opened fire with the guns on the upper deck accompanied by a heavy volley of
musket fire from the soldiers on board. Pellew then attempted to pull ahead of
Droits de l'Homme and rake her bow, to which Lacrosse responded by attempting to
ram Indefatigable. Neither manoeuvre was successful, as Droits de l'Homme raked
the British ship but caused little damage as most of her shot scattered into the
ocean.
Indefatigable and Droits de l'Homme manoeuvred around one another, exchanging
fire when possible until 18:45, when Amazon arrived. During this exchange, one
of Droits de l'Homme's cannon burst, causing heavy casualties on her packed
deck.[21] Approaching the larger French ship with all sail spread, Reynolds
closed to within pistol shot before raking Droits de l'Homme. Lacrosse responded
to this new threat by manoeuvring to bring both British ships to face the
westward side of his ship, avoiding becoming trapped in a crossfire.[20] The
battle continued until 19:30, when both Amazon and Indefatigable pulled away
from their opponent to make hasty repairs.[22] By 20:30 the frigates had
returned to the much slower French ship and began weaving in front of Droits de
l'Homme's bow, repeatedly raking her.[23] Lacrosse's increasingly desperate
attempts to ram the British ships were all unsuccessful and what little cannon
fire he did manage to deploy was ineffectual, as the rolling of the ship of the
line prevented reliable aiming.[19]
By 22:30, Droits de l'Homme was in severe difficulties, with heavy casualties
among her crew and passengers and the loss of her mizzenmast to British fire.
Observing the battered state of their opponent, Pellew and Reynolds closed on
the stern quarters of the French ship, maintaining a high rate of fire that was
sporadically returned by Droits de l'Homme.[24] Having exhausted the 4,000
cannonballs available, Lacrosse was forced to use shells against the frigates.
In the high winds, these proved even less effective than solid shot but did
drive the frigates to a further distance.[23] With their opponent almost
immobilised, the British frigates were able to remain outside her arc of fire,
effect repairs when necessary and secure guns that had broken loose in the heavy
seas.[25] For the rest of the night the three battered ships remained locked in
a close range duel, until suddenly, at 04:20, land was spotted just 2 nautical
miles (3.7 km) to leeward by Lieutenant George Bell of the Indefatigable.[25]
Shipwrecks
Pellew immediately turned seawards in an effort to escape the shore and
signalled Reynolds to follow suit. Although both ships had suffered severe
damage from the battle and weather, they were able to make the turn away from
land, Amazon to the north and Indefatigable, at the insistence of its Breton
pilot, to the south.[18] Initially it was believed that the land spotted was the
island of Ushant, which would have given the ships plenty of sea-room in which
to manoeuvre. However at 06:30, with the sky lightening, it became apparent on
the Indefatigable that there were breakers to the south and east, indicating
that the three ships had drifted during the night into Audierne Bay.[26] On
discovering his situation, Pellew was determined to bring his ship westwards,
attempting to work his ship out of danger against the wind. Hasty repairs had to
be made to the damaged rigging before it was safe to alter their course.[27] Due
to her northwards turn, Amazon had even less room to manoeuvre than
Indefatigable and by 05:00 she had struck upright on a sandbank.[28] Efforts to
bring her off failed and at 08:00 Reynolds ordered his men to prepare to abandon
the ship.[29]
Droits de l'Homme had been more seriously damaged than the British frigates, and
was closer to shore at the time land was spotted. As Lacrosse's crew made
desperate efforts to turn southwards, the ship's foremast and bowsprit collapsed
under the pressure of the wind. With the ship virtually unmanageable, Lacrosse
ordered the anchors lowered in an attempt to hold the ship in position until
repairs could be made. This effort was futile, as all but two anchors had been
lost during efforts to hold position in Bantry Bay, and British gunfire had
damaged one of the anchor cables and rendered it useless.[30] The final anchor
was deployed, but it failed to restrain the ship and at 07:00 (according to the
French account), the Droits de l'Homme struck a sandbank close to the town of
Plozévet. This broke off the remaining mast and caused the ship to heel over
onto her side.[31]
Amazon
As daylight broke over Audierne Bay, crowds of locals gathered on the beach. The
Droits de l'Homme lay on her side directly opposite the town of Plozévet, with
large waves breaking over her hull; 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) to the north,
Amazon stood upright on a sandbar, her crew launching boats in an effort to
reach the shore, while Indefatigable was the only ship still afloat, rounding
the Penmarck rocks at the southern edge of the bay at 11:00.[28] On board the
Amazon, Reynolds maintained discipline and gave orders to launch the boats in an
orderly fashion and build rafts in which to bring the entire crew safely off.
Six men disobeyed his command, stole a launch and attempted to reach the shore
alone, but were swept away. Their boat was capsized by the waves, and all six
drowned. The remaining crew, including those wounded in the previous night's
action, were safely brought ashore by 09:00, where they were made prisoners of
war by the French authorities.[32]
Droits de l'Homme
Droits de l'Homme was irreparably damaged. Each successive wave swept more men
into the water and desperate attempts to launch boats failed when the small
craft were swept away by the waves and broken in the surf. Rafts were
constructed, but several were swamped in attempts to carry a rope to the shore
and the men on the raft that remained upright were forced to cut the rope to
prevent them from foundering in the heavy seas.[31] Some of the men on this raft
reached the beach, the first survivors of the wreck. Subsequent attempts were
made by men to swim to shore with ropes, but they were either drowned or driven
back to the ship by the force of the sea. With no aid possible from the shore,
night fell on 14 January with most of the crew and passengers still aboard.
During the night, the waves stove in (smashed in) the stern of the ship,
flooding much of the interior.[31] On the morning of 15 January, a small boat
carrying nine British prisoners from the Cumberland managed to reach shore,
which prompted a mass launching of small rafts from the wreck in hopes of
gaining the beach. However the waves increased once more, and not one of these
small craft survived the passage.[33]
By the morning of 16 January, hunger and panic had taken over on the wreck, and
when a large raft carrying the wounded, two women and six children was launched
during a lull in the weather, over 120 unwounded men scrambled to board it. This
severely overloaded the craft and within minutes a large wave struck the heavy
raft and capsized it, drowning all aboard.[34] By the evening the survivors,
without food or fresh water, began to succumb to exposure and at least one
officer drowned in a desperate attempt to swim to shore. Through the night, the
survivors gathered on the less exposed parts of the hull, and in the hope of
staving off death by dehydration, drank sea water, urine, or vinegar from a
small barrel that had floated up from the hold.[35] The morning of 17 January
finally saw a reduction in the storm and the arrival of a small French naval
brig, the Arrogante. This ship could not come close without the risk of
grounding but sent her boats to the wreck in the hope of bringing off survivors.[34]
The brig was joined later in the day by the cutter Aiguille.[36]
On the Droits de l'Homme, many survivors were too weak to make the dangerous
attempt to reach the boats and a number of men fell from the hull and drowned in
the attempt. Many more could not find room in the small boats, and only 150 were
rescued on 17 January.[34] The following morning, when the boats returned, they
found just another 140 survivors, at least as many again having died during the
night. The last people to leave the ship were Humbert and Jean-Baptiste Lacrosse.[35]
Taken to Brest, the survivors were fed and clothed and given medical treatment.
All the surviving prisoners from the Cumberland were returned to Britain, in
recognition of their efforts to save lives from the shipwreck.[37]
Aftermath
Menhir commemorating the wreck of the Droits de l'Homme
Exact French casualties are difficult to calculate, but of the 1,300 aboard
Droits de l'Homme, 103 are known to have died in the battle and just over 300
were saved from the wreck, indicating the deaths of approximately 900 men on the
French ship between the morning of 14 January and the morning of 18 January.[38]
However, a French source suggests that up to another 500 of the crew were
rescued from the wreck by the corvette Arrogante and the cutter Aiguille on
January 17 and 18.[39] This would give a toll of only about 400. A menhir at
Plozévet, with an inscription carved in 1840 gives a death toll of six hundred.
Amazon lost three in the battle and six in her wreck, with 15 wounded, while
Indefatigable did not lose a single man killed, suffering only 18 wounded.[40]
The discrepancy in losses during the action is likely due to the extreme
difficulty the French crew had in aiming their guns given their ship's
instability in heavy seas.[40]
Reynolds and his officers were exchanged for French prisoners some weeks later
and in the routine court-martial investigating the loss of their ship were
honourably acquitted "with every sentiment of the court's highest approbation."[30]
Reynolds was subsequently appointed to the large frigate HMS Pomone. The senior
lieutenants of each frigate were promoted to commander and head money (prize
money based on the number of the enemy's crew and awarded when the defeated ship
was destroyed) was distributed among the crews.[41] Pellew remained in command
of Indefatigable off Brest for another year and seized a number of French
merchant ships. He was later promoted several times and by the end of the
Napoleonic Wars in 1815 had become Lord Exmouth, Commander in Chief of the
Mediterranean Fleet.[6] Reynolds did not survive the war, dying in the wreck of
HMS St George in 1811.[29] Lacrosse and Humbert were not censured for the loss
of their ship: the commodore was promoted to admiral and later became ambassador
to Spain, while Humbert led the next and equally unsuccessful attempt to invade
Ireland, surrendering at the Battle of Ballinamuck in 1798.[42]
In Britain, the action was lauded at the time and since: First Lord of the
Admiralty Lord Spencer described the operation as "an exploit which has not I
believe ever before graced our naval annals".[6] Historian James Henderson says
of the action: "It was a feat of arms and seamanship such as had never been done
before, and never was done again,"[32] and Richard Woodman calls it "a dazzling
display of seamanship by all concerned in the alternating darkness and moonlight
of a boisterous night".[21] Five decades later the battle was among the actions
recognised by the Naval General Service Medal, with clasps "Indefatigable 13
Jany. 1797" and "Amazon 13 Jany. 1797", awarded upon application to all British
participants still living in 1847