Order of battle at the Battle of San Domingo facts for kids

Duckworth's Action off San Domingo, 6 February 1806, painted by Nicholas Pocock.

The Battle of San Domingo was the very last big sea battle of the Napoleonic Wars. It happened on February 6, 1806, off the coast of what is now the Dominican Republic. A British fleet of seven large warships, led by Vice-Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth, surprised a French fleet. The French fleet had five large warships, commanded by Rear Admiral Corentin Urbain Leissègues.

The French ships were sailing west along the coast when the British attacked. Duckworth used his greater number of ships and their speed to hit the front of the French line. His faster ships attacked first. Meanwhile, the slower British ships caught and captured the French ships at the back. Only two French frigates and one corvette managed to escape. Three French warships were captured, and two were destroyed. This included Leissègues' huge flagship, the 120-gun Impérial.

More than 1,500 French sailors were killed or wounded. The British had about 350 casualties. The battle lasted just over two hours.

Leissègues' French fleet had left Brest on December 13, 1805. They slipped past the British ships that were blocking the port. Leissègues was sailing with another French fleet led by Rear Admiral Jean-Baptiste Willaumez. After two days, Leissègues' ships separated from Willaumez's. They sailed north of the Azores, where bad winter storms damaged and scattered them.

Leissègues headed for Santo Domingo to fix his ships and gather his fleet again. He arrived on January 20, 1806. Meanwhile, Duckworth was supposed to be watching the French and Spanish fleets in Cádiz. This was after the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. But in November, Duckworth went looking for a French raiding fleet. On his way back, he met a frigate that told him Leissègues and Willaumez had escaped.

Duckworth chased them and found Willaumez on December 25. But he chose not to fight. Instead, he sailed to the West Indies to get more supplies. News reached him at Basseterre on February 1 that the French had arrived. He immediately sailed to find them. Part of the West Indies fleet, led by Rear-Admiral Alexander Cochrane, joined him.

British Naval Forces

Duckworth's fleet was mostly made up of his ships from Cádiz. One ship, HMS Powerful, had been sent to the Indian Ocean. Two ships from the West Indies fleet joined him: HMS Northumberland and HMS Atlas.

Smaller ships like frigates joined the fleet as it sailed north. But these smaller ships did not fight in the main battle. They only helped tow the more damaged warships later. As Duckworth got close to the French, he split his force into two groups. His own group was to the west, and a slower eastern group was led by Rear-Admiral Thomas Louis.

During the battle, these groups became separated. Duckworth's group fought the strongest French ships at the front of the line. Louis's group first fought the French ships at the back. Later, Louis helped Duckworth fight the huge French flagship, Impérial.

The British recorded their casualties in detail. These numbers came from each ship's reports. However, the losses were not spread evenly. HMS Agamemnon arrived late and had very few losses. Northumberland fought hard against the French flagship and had many casualties.

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French Naval Forces

Rear Admiral Leissègues' fleet was the same group of ships that left Brest on December 13. However, all the ships, especially Jupiter and Diomède, had been badly damaged by storms. These storms happened off the Azores in late December.

Repairs were not finished when Duckworth attacked. Most of the fleet was still being fixed at Santo Domingo. Leissègues knew that if he stayed anchored, his fleet would be destroyed. So, he sent orders from Santo Domingo for the fleet to sail. He joined them later by a small boat.

With the wind blowing from the west, Leissègues had no choice. He had to form a battle line and wait to meet the British fleet. His ships fought hard, but they could not help each other well. They were quickly defeated. Three ships surrendered. Diomède and Impérial were driven onto the shore and wrecked. This stopped the British from capturing them.

Only the two frigates and one corvette escaped. They slipped between the French battle line and the land early in the fight. They sailed west and eventually made it back to France.

It is hard to know the exact number of French casualties. The best information comes from Duckworth's reports to the Admiralty. He estimated, based on reports from the French officers on Alexandre, Jupiter, and Brave, that these three ships had 760 casualties in total.

Later, historian William James questioned these numbers, thinking they were too high. James also doubted the numbers for Impérial and Diomède. These are even less certain, but were reported as 500 and 250 casualties, respectively. Besides those killed and wounded, all the surviving crews of Alexandre, Jupiter, and Brave were taken prisoner. Also, 150 men from Diomède and six from Impérial were captured by British boarding parties on February 8.

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