Expedition to Ostend facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Expedition to Ostend
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
Date 18–20 May 1798 Location Ostend, Batavian Republic Result Bruges–Ostend Canal disrupted British landing force captured
Belligerents
Great Britain	France Batavian Republic
Commanders and leaders
Home Riggs Popham Eyre Coote (POW)	Augustin Kellar
Strength
27 ships 1,400 soldiers	Local garrisons
Casualties and losses
163 killed and wounded 1,134 captured

The Expedition to Ostend was a daring mission by the British in May 1798. It happened during the French Revolutionary Wars, a big conflict between France and other European countries. The main goal was to destroy French gunboats and port facilities in Ostend, a city in what is now Belgium. These gunboats were meant to be part of a planned French invasion of Britain.

The British also wanted to ruin the Bruges–Ostend Canal, especially its locks and gates. This would stop French ships from moving easily between different ports. The mission involved both the Royal Navy (Britain's navy) and the British Army. Captain Home Riggs Popham led the navy, and Major-General Eyre Coote led the soldiers. The British managed to destroy their targets. However, bad weather made it impossible for the soldiers to get back to their ships. After a short fight, the French captured them.

Why the British Attacked Ostend

France's Invasion Plans

In 1798, the French Revolutionary Wars were still going on. For several years, France had been planning to invade Britain. This was a big worry for the British government. Even though many French invasion forces had gone to Egypt, enough remained to keep Britain on edge.

The British Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, and his government looked for ways to stop or defend against these plans. They even studied how England defended against the Spanish Armada way back in 1588!

Stopping French Ships

To avoid being attacked by British warships in the English Channel, the French were moving their invasion boats. They used the new Bruges–Ostend Canal to move boats from ports like Flushing to Ostend and Dunkirk.

Captain Home Riggs Popham of the Royal Navy suggested a bold plan. He proposed a surprise landing at Ostend. The goal was to destroy the canal's gates and sluices. This would make it hard for the French to use the canal. It would also stop the Dutch part of the invasion fleet from gathering.

Getting the Mission Ready

The British government liked Popham's idea. However, the Admiralty (the navy's leaders) had a problem with Popham leading the mission. He was only a junior captain, and this was a very big operation.

To make sure he got the command, Popham got support from General Sir Charles Grey. With Grey's backing, Popham was given charge. This mission faced several delays before it could even start.

For the mission, Popham had a fleet of 27 warships. Five of these ships were specially changed to carry troops. The army's landing force was about 1,400 soldiers, led by Major-General Eyre Coote. These soldiers came from different famous regiments like the Grenadier Guards. Popham knew the mission was risky. He even wrote a letter asking for a fair trial if he failed. The force was finally ready to sail on May 14.

The Ostend Expedition Begins

Landing on the Beach

Captain Popham kept his plans a secret until the ships were at sea. They hoped for a quick trip across the English Channel. But a strong storm near the coast of Kent delayed them. They finally reached Ostend on May 16. Popham planned to attack that very night.

Five warships were sent to attack the west side of Ostend. Their job was to distract the enemy and destroy their gun batteries. Five other ships kept the harbour mouth open and attacked any enemy ships. Two bomb ships were to bombard the town. The rest of the ships and Coote's soldiers would handle the main attack. Sailors from the navy ships joined the soldiers to help. Other sailors carried explosives to destroy the canal gates.

Bad weather forced Popham to cancel the first attack. The expedition stayed at sea for two more days. On May 18, a captured ship revealed that French invasion boats were heading for Ostend. With the weather improving, they decided to attack immediately.

The ships reached their starting points at 1 a.m. on May 19. But the wind picked up again, and the sea became rough. Popham thought about delaying again. However, new information from a captured pilot boat said the nearby French garrisons were very small.

Hearing this, General Coote urged Popham to go ahead with the landings. He believed the weather would calm down after their mission was done. Coote's troops began landing quietly on sandbanks about 3 miles (5 km) east of Ostend. The Dutch didn't report the British presence for several hours. At 4:15 a.m., the Ostend batteries opened fire on the British ships. Popham's bomb ships fired back, causing fires in the town. By 5 a.m., all of Coote's soldiers were ashore with their gear.

Destroying the Canal Gates

The weather at sea kept getting worse, so Coote wanted to finish the attack quickly. Around 6 a.m., warships moved closer to the shore to provide covering fire for the troops. As these ships took heavy damage, Popham rotated them to keep the distraction going. But as the water level dropped, the ships couldn't get close enough to the batteries. This left Coote's soldiers exposed.

To distract the French guns while the explosives were brought up, the British sent a request for surrender to the Ostend commander. Major-General Harry Burrard and some soldiers managed to secure the approaches to the harbour. They faced attacks from many sharpshooters.

Other British soldiers made sure the French couldn't send more defenders across the harbour. They set up defensive positions around the sluices. Parts of the 11th and 23rd light infantry took control of Bredene and the coastal road. At 9:30 a.m., the missing troopship, HMS Minerva, arrived. The sea was too rough for its soldiers to land safely. The operation on shore continued. At 10:20 a.m., British sailors and engineers successfully blew up the canal locks and sluices.

Coote's Troops Trapped

After destroying the canal gates, Coote's force started heading back to the beach. They met very little resistance and had only five casualties. They reached the beach around 11 a.m. Popham hoped to get them all back on the ships by noon.

However, the weather had gotten much worse. It was now impossible to get any men off the beach. Coote couldn't communicate with Popham's ships. He tried to send some boats of troops to the ships, but the boats quickly filled with water. The men barely escaped drowning. Seeing that further attempts were hopeless, Coote decided to set up a defensive position on the sandbanks, facing inland. His engineers quickly built small walls, and they set up their field guns and howitzers.

The soldiers stayed in their positions through the next day and night, as the weather worsened. News of the attack had reached nearby French garrisons. Soldiers from Ghent, Bruges, and Dunkirk gathered to fight the British. Around 4 a.m. on May 20, these French troops attacked Coote's force on the beach.

Popham watched the French attack from his ships, but the rough sea meant he couldn't help Coote. The French pushed back the British flanks for two hours. Coote himself was badly injured while trying to rally his troops. The British then decided to surrender. Before giving up, the Royal Artillery pushed their guns into the sea so the French couldn't capture them. Coote's force lost 163 men killed or wounded, and 1,134 men were captured.

What Happened Next

Once it was clear that Coote had surrendered, Popham sailed his ships out to sea. There had been plans for similar attacks on other French ports, but these were cancelled.

Even though Coote's soldiers were captured, the main goal of the mission was achieved. The destruction of the canal gates had a big impact. Lord Buckingham called it a "complete success." Naval historian Sir Julian Corbett also believed the expedition was "a thoroughly well-designed, and brilliantly-executed enterprise" because it achieved its main goal. Some people blamed the Admiralty for Coote's capture, saying that if Popham's plan had been approved faster, the mission could have happened before the bad weather hit, avoiding the losses.