Action of 4 August 1800 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Action of 4 August 1800
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Date 4 August 1800 Location Off the coast of Brazil Result British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
Henry Meriton	Jean Landolphe
Strength
1 ship of the line 7 merchant ships 1 whaler	3 frigates
Casualties and losses
None	2 frigates captured

The action of 4 August 1800 was a very unusual naval engagement (a battle at sea) that happened off the coast of Brazil during the French Revolutionary Wars. A group of French warships, called frigates, had been attacking British trading ships near West Africa. They then tried to attack a group of valuable British ships called East Indiamen. These were large, strong merchant ships that sailed between Britain, British India, and China.

The British group also included two ships going to Botany Bay (in Australia) and a whaling ship. A small British warship, HMS Belliqueux, was protecting the convoy. The other ships had to use their own guns to defend themselves.

From a distance, the large East Indiamen looked like powerful warships. The French commander, Commodore Jean-François Landolphe, got nervous when the British ships lined up for battle. He thought they were a fleet of strong warships. So, he decided to escape. The British commander, Captain Rowley Bulteel, immediately ordered his ships to chase them. To keep up the idea that his ships were warships, he also told four of his biggest East Indiamen to join the chase.

Belliqueux quickly caught up to Landolphe's main ship, Concorde. Landolphe had no choice but to give up without a real fight. The other French ships kept running away separately during the night. Each was chased by two East Indiamen. After about an hour and a half, as it got dark, the East Indiaman Exeter got close to the French frigate French frigate Médée. The Exeter made itself look like a large warship by using lights.

Thinking he was outmatched, Captain Jean-Daniel Coudin of Médée surrendered. He only found out that his attacker was just a merchant ship when he went aboard Exeter. This battle is the only time during the war that a British merchant ship captured a large French warship.

Why This Battle Happened

By 1800, Britain and France had been at war for seven years. Britain mostly controlled the seas after winning many important battles against French, Dutch, and Spanish fleets. Outside every French port, large groups of British warships waited. They tried to stop and destroy French trading ships and warships whenever possible.

British trading ships traveled in large groups called convoys, often with many guns. French ships had to sneak between ports to avoid the British blockade (a naval force that stops ships from entering or leaving a port). To fight back against Britain's control of the seas, France sometimes sent groups of ships to attack British trade routes. This happened especially off West Africa and in the South Atlantic, where the British navy had fewer ships.

The large convoys of East Indiamen were a main target for French raiders. These huge ships sailed from Britain carrying goods, military supplies, or troops to India, Southeast Asia, or China. There, they would sell their cargo and load up with spices, tea, silk, and other valuable items. Then they would sail back to Britain. A round trip took over a year. An East Indiaman sailing back to Britain often carried goods worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. For example, one large convoy from Canton in 1804 was worth over £8 million.

East Indiamen were well-protected. They had up to 30 guns. They usually traveled in big convoys where the ships could protect each other. These convoys often had a British Royal Navy warship as an escort, usually a large ship of the line.

On March 6, 1799, a French group of ships sailed from Rochefort. It included the frigates Concorde (led by Commodore Jean-François Landolphe), Médée (led by Captain Jean-Daniel Coudin), and Franchise (led by Captain Pierre Jurien). This was a strong force that could cause a lot of damage to lightly defended merchant ships.

The French ships avoided the British blockade off Rochefort. They sailed south to the coast of West Africa. There, Landolphe's ships began attacking British trade. They caused serious damage to the West African trade for the rest of the year. Eventually, the ships needed repairs from being in tropical waters. All three had to go to Spanish shipyards in the River Plate in South America. Repairs took six months. Landolphe then felt his ships were ready to sail again in the summer of 1800. They soon captured an American schooner (a type of sailing ship) and used it as a small support ship. At that time, France and the United States were fighting in the Quasi War.

The Sea Battle

The British convoy included the East Indiamen Bombay Castle, Exeter, Dorsetshire, Coutts, and Neptune. It also had the Botany Bay ships Royal Admiral and Anne, and the whaler Seringapatam. The only British warship was Belliqueux. On August 4, they were near the island of Trinidade off the Brazilian coast. From there, the East Indiamen would catch the westerly trade winds to reach Saint Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, and their final destinations.

At 7:00 AM on August 4, the French ships were sailing off the Brazilian coast. Their lookouts saw sails on the horizon. The French ships slowly got closer during the morning, unsure who the strange ships were. Landolphe could see seven large ships and three smaller ones, all clearly British. But he couldn't tell if they were naval warships or East Indiamen.

At first, he thought they might be merchant ships. But at noon, he saw what looked like two rows of gunports along the side of each ship. He then called off the attack. He turned away and signaled for his ships to split up. He believed the enemy ships were large warships that could easily destroy his small force. Captain Jurien argued against Landolphe's order. He insisted that the convoy was made of merchant ships, not warships. But Landolphe ignored Jurien's protests. In fact, Jurien was right.

With the French ships running away, Captain Bulteel decided to keep up the trick that his convoy was made of warships. While he and Belliqueux chased Concorde, he signaled for his largest East Indiamen to follow the other French ships. This was to make sure they didn't come back and attack the convoy while Belliqueux was busy.

Exeter, led by Captain Henry Meriton, and Bombay Castle, led by Captain John Hamilton, were to follow Médée. Coutts, led by Captain Robert Torin, and Neptune, led by Captain Nathaniel Spens, were to follow Franchise. All four of these merchant ships were very large (over 1200 tons). Each carried 30 cannon. However, none had more than 130 crew members. They could not shoot as accurately or as fast as the 315 men on each French ship.

The chase continued all afternoon. Belliqueux steadily gained on the French flagship. Meanwhile, Franchise, with the American schooner, gained on her pursuers. At 5:20 PM, Bulteel was close enough to shoot at Landolphe's ship. The French ship fired back when it could. During this exchange of gunfire, neither side was damaged or had anyone hurt. But the large British warship was clearly catching up to the frigate. Within ten minutes, Landolphe surrendered. He chose to give up rather than see his ship destroyed and his men killed in an unfair fight.

By 7:00 PM, Franchise had thrown her lifeboats and many guns and supplies overboard. This made the ship lighter, allowing her to easily outrun her pursuers. As night fell, the French frigate completely escaped from the British force.

However, Médée had not escaped. Even though Bombay Castle was many miles behind, only barely visible, Exeter had been able to follow the frigate closely. Meriton knew that the French warship was much stronger than his merchant ship. But he realized that since the frigate hadn't tried to fight, its commander must think Exeter was a warship. To make this idea stronger in the quickly approaching darkness, Meriton put lights behind every gunport, even if there wasn't a cannon there. This created an effect that was described as "a fearsome, leering jack-o'-lantern."

As his ship got next to the French frigate, Meriton called out to the enemy's deck, telling them to surrender. Captain Coudin was scared by this large and seemingly powerful enemy. He decided his only choice was to strike his flag (surrender) and come aboard the British ship to formally give up. When he arrived on board, he was shocked to see far fewer and smaller guns than a warship normally had. When Coudin asked who he had surrendered to, Meriton is said to have replied, "To a merchantman." Coudin was horrified. He demanded to be allowed to return to his ship and fight a proper naval battle, but Meriton refused.

What Happened Next

In the battle on August 4, 1800, no one on either side was killed or hurt. But the action was a big defeat for a strong French frigate force. It ended their successful attacks on trade. Captain Jurien in Franchise spent another three weeks off the Brazilian coast before returning to France. On August 9, he met the merchant ship Wellesley, which was on its way to the Cape. But after about an hour of fighting, the British ship managed to drive off its attacker. Jurien followed Wellesley for two days but then gave up the chase. He didn't see another ship until he left the area.

Captain Bulteel's convoy continued on. They stopped at Rio de Janeiro on August 12 to get more supplies. The East Indiamen then went on to Saint Helena on their way to Asia. The two Botany Bay ships sailed to Australia, and the whaler Seringapatam sailed for the South Seas.

The captured frigates were valuable prizes (money from captured enemy ships). But the British Royal Navy only took Medée. They used her as a prison ship for a few years before selling her in 1805. The frigates had arrived in port shortly before the Peace of Amiens (a peace treaty). So, they were not needed by the Navy. The ships and their equipment were sold privately. The money from the sale was paid as prize money in February 1803. The British crews also got "head-money," a financial reward for each French sailor captured during the battle.

Bulteel and Meriton were praised for their actions. Meriton later fought two more naval battles against the French. He helped defend the China Fleet successfully at the Battle of Pulo Aura in February 1804. He was badly wounded and captured by a French frigate group after a strong defense at the action of 3 July 1810.