Raid on Saint-Paul facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Raid on Saint-Paul
Part of the Napoleonic Wars
The capture of Saint Paul near the Isle de Bourbon, 21 September 1809, Thomas Whitcombe
Date 21 September 1809 Location Saint Paul, Île Bonaparte 21°0′S 55°16′E / 21.000°S 55.267°E / -21.000; 55.267 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	France
Commanders and leaders
Josias Rowley Henry Keating	Nicolas Des Bruslys
Strength
604 1 ship of the line 3 frigates smaller warships	1 frigate 5 gun batteries local militia
Casualties and losses
15 killed 58 wounded 3 missing	1 frigate and military stores captured

The Raid on Saint-Paul was a military attack by British forces against the French port of Saint Paul. This happened on Île Bonaparte, which is now known as Réunion. The attack took place during the Napoleonic Wars on September 20, 1809.

The main goals were to prepare for a bigger invasion of the island later. They also wanted to capture a French warship called Caroline. This ship had recently taken some valuable British merchant ships, called East Indiamen, and brought them to Saint-Paul. The attack was a big success for the British. Their soldiers stormed the forts guarding the port. This allowed their navy, led by Commodore Josias Rowley, to sail in and capture the ships.

Even though the French defenders fought back at first, they couldn't stop the British. The British later left the town. But before they did, they burned warehouses filled with valuable silk. This silk was worth a lot of money, about £500,000 at the time. The French governor, General Des Bruslys, didn't try to fight the British directly. Instead, he pulled his troops back to Saint-Denis. This raid helped the British learn a lot. It showed them how to work together with land and sea forces. It also showed them how the French defended their island. This knowledge was very useful for the bigger invasion of Île Bonaparte in July 1810.

Why the Raid Happened

French islands like Île de France and Île Bonaparte were like strong forts. From these islands, French warships could attack British trade ships. These trade ships traveled across the Indian Ocean during the Napoleonic Wars.

In late 1808, a group of four French warships left France. They were led by Commodore Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin. Their job was to attack the valuable British trade convoys. These convoys were groups of East Indiamen ships. In the spring of 1809, these French ships spread out. They attacked British ships and ports around the eastern Indian Ocean.

The Royal Navy (British navy) was also planning something big. They wanted to block, isolate, and then capture both Île de France and Île Bonaparte. This would get rid of the last French bases east of Africa. Admiral Albemarle Bertie was in charge of the British forces in the region. He put Commodore Josias Rowley in command of a group of ships. Rowley's job was to block the islands and capture any French ships. He also had to get ready for the invasions. Rowley's fleet included the old warship HMS Raisonnable and some smaller ships. He also got soldiers from Madras in British India. With these forces, he captured the nearby island of Rodriguez. This island became a base for British attacks.

On August 14, one of Rowley's ships, HMS Otter, attacked a French ship at Rivière Noire District. This was on Île de France. The attack wasn't fully successful. But Otter's captain, Nesbit Willoughby, and his landing party showed they could get in and out of the harbor. This made Rowley think about a bigger attack on a stronger French position.

Two months earlier, in May 1809, the French warship Caroline had captured two British East Indiamen. These were the Streatham and Europe. The French captain, Jean-Baptiste-Henri Feretier, took his captured ships back to the French islands. He arrived near Île de France on July 22. Rowley's ships were blocking the main port, Port Louis. So, Feretier took his ships to Saint-Paul on Île Bonaparte instead. There, he unloaded his captured goods and got more supplies.

The Attack on Saint-Paul

Getting Ready for the Raid

Rowley soon found out that Feretier and his ships were at Saint-Paul. He decided to attack the port and get the valuable British ships back. This operation was also a practice run for a future invasion. It would give the British forces experience with landing troops from ships. Rowley talked with Lieutenant Colonel Henry Keating on Rodriguez. They decided that Keating's soldiers would land behind the gun batteries that protected the town. Then, they would storm these batteries. This would let Rowley bring his ships right into the harbor. They could then capture the ships and maybe even the town.

Rowley learned from a failed attack on Saint-Paul in 1806. Back then, two British ships, HMS Sceptre and HMS Cornwallis, had attacked the harbor without soldiers. They couldn't get past the strong forts and had to leave.

On September 16, 1809, the British troops got ready. About 368 British Army soldiers boarded the British ship HMS Nereide. They were also on Captain Robert Corbett's Otter and the Honourable East India Company schooner Wasp. This group of ships met the rest of Rowley's fleet near Saint-Paul on September 18. The rest of the fleet included Rowley's main ship, Raisonnable, and the frigates HMS Sirius and HMS Boadicea. These ships brought 236 more volunteer sailors and Royal Marines. All the attacking forces then boarded Nereide. Captain Corbett knew the coastline of Île Bonaparte well. The attack was planned for the early morning of September 21.

The Assault Begins

The attack on the 21st. The advanced British Frigate, is the Sirius Capt. Pym raking the French frigate La Caroline

At 5:00 AM on September 21, 1809, Nereide sailed into the bay of Saint-Paul. It was still dark, and the British forces landed successfully at Pointe des Galets. No one on shore seemed to notice them. Pointe des Galets was about 7 miles (11 km) north of Saint-Paul. This distance allowed the British troops to approach the heavy gun batteries without being seen. The force was split into Keating's soldiers and a naval group led by Nesbit Willoughby.

At 7:00 AM, the British stormed the strongest batteries, Lambousière and la Centière. They surprised the French defenders and captured the forts. Then, they turned the French cannons towards the ships in the harbor. They fired grape shot at the decks of the French warship Caroline.

A small group of British soldiers then went to capture a third battery called la Neuf. They easily defeated a group of local militia who tried to stop them. The British ships in the bay also helped by firing their cannons. The militia had come from the hills. They were joined by 110 French soldiers from Caroline. But this small French force was quickly pushed aside. Keating and Willoughby then destroyed the cannons in the first two captured batteries. They then stormed the last two forts. Again, they captured them and used their cannons to fire at the ships in the harbor.

While the soldiers were fighting on land, the British ships entered the harbor. They fired heavily on the outnumbered Caroline. They also fired at the captured East Indiamen and other ships. French officers, including Feretier, saw that they couldn't win. They cut their ships' anchor cables. This let the ships drift ashore, where the French sailors abandoned them to avoid being captured. The British ships then anchored in the harbor. Their crews began to pull the grounded French ships back into the water.

The British captured Caroline and the two East Indiamen, Streatham and Europe. They also captured a 14-gun privateer ship called Grappler. This ship had been captured by the French in 1806. Five or six smaller ships were also taken. With the harbor and forts in British hands, Keating and Willoughby entered the town of Saint-Paul without any more fighting.

British Withdrawal

On the night of September 21, the British soldiers and sailors boarded their ships in the bay. They had destroyed all the forts around the harbor. On September 22, French forces started gathering in the hills around the town. They had come from other parts of the island. The island's governor, General Des Bruslys, brought them from the capital, Saint-Denis.

Rowley and Keating expected this larger French force to try and take back the town on September 23. So, they ordered Willoughby to land with his marines and sailors. Their job was to burn French government buildings along the waterfront. The biggest target was a warehouse on the docks. It was full of the valuable silk that Caroline had captured. Willoughby ordered this building to be burned. This destroyed over £500,000 worth of captured textiles. Other nearby warehouses were not destroyed because it was hard to tell who owned them quickly. Even though the French forces were near the town, Willoughby was able to land and re-board his troops without any shots being fired.

On September 22, Rowley received a request from some slaves in the town. They had escaped during the fighting and wanted weapons to attack the French. They also offered to burn the town down. Rowley wanted to have good relations with the important people on the island. He planned to capture the island soon. So, he refused their request. He sent the slaves back to their owners. Eight of them were executed for planning a rebellion. However, there was one example of a slave showing loyalty. The painter Jean-Joseph Patu de Rosemont was captured by Keating's troops. Rosemont's son tried to trade places with his father as a prisoner, but he was refused. Just before the British ships left, Rosemont's personal slave, Félix, swam to the ships to serve his owner in captivity. Because of his loyalty, Félix was freed in 1810 when Rosemont was released.

On September 23, Rowley and Keating planned another landing. This time, it was to drive away the French reinforcements. But when they landed, they found that the French forces had disappeared. The local landowners wanted the monarchy back and didn't support a counterattack. So, General Des Bruslys didn't want to order an attack that he thought would lead to a pointless loss of life. Instead, he ordered his forces to leave Saint-Paul and go back to Saint-Denis during the night.

Without support from his commander, Captain St-Michel, who was in charge of Saint-Paul, agreed to surrender the town. He pulled back his remaining forces under a flag of truce. The truce lasted five days. During this time, the British loaded their ships with French government supplies, equipment, and military goods. They also took the cargo from the captured British ships that Willoughby hadn't burned. The French did not try to stop them.

Rowley also took back the East Indiamen Streatham and Europe. He gave them back to their original captains and crews, who had been freed as part of the truce. Several smaller merchant ships were also captured. All these ships were prepared for the journey back to Britain. The newly captured Caroline would escort them. This 40-gun warship was only three years old and very strong. It was given to Captain Corbett for his good work in the operation. It was renamed HMS Bourbonaise. This name reflected the British name for Île Bonaparte, which was Île Bourbon. Willoughby was promoted to post captain and took command of Corbett's old ship, Nereide. Late on September 28, Rowley led his fleet away from Saint-Paul. They had burned or captured all government ships, supplies, and buildings in the town and nearby areas.

What Happened After the Raid

Not many people were hurt on either side during the raid. The British landing party had 15 killed, 58 wounded, and 3 missing. The British navy ships didn't have any known casualties because they weren't under heavy fire. The number of French losses isn't known, but it was probably similar to the British.

However, the raid caused a lot of damage to the spirits of the French defenders on Île Bonaparte. The death of General Des Bruslys and the failure to defend Saint-Paul weakened their efforts greatly. Because of this, the actual invasion of the island in 1810 happened without much fighting or loss. This invasion force was similar in size to the raiding party and was again led by Rowley and Keating.

The Caroline was a "tolerably fine frigate," and her capture was a big blow to the French fleet based on Île de France. Getting the East Indiamen back was also an important success. It reduced the impact of French attacks in the region during 1809. The raid also gave the British forces important experience. They learned how to land troops from ships, using Rodriguez as a base. It also showed them how strong the French defenses were on the islands. This information was very important for future operations, especially the Invasion of Île Bonaparte in 1810.

Lloyd's List reported on January 9, 1811, that the captured ships, except for Europe (which went to Bombay), had all arrived at the Cape of Good Hope.