Caribbean theater of the American Revolutionary War: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox military conflict

|conflict=Caribbean theater the American Revolutionary War

|partof=the [[American Revolutionary War]]

|image=[[Image:Central america (cia).png|300px]]

|caption=The West Indies theatre

|date=1775–1783

|place=[[West Indies]], [[Central America]], northern [[South America]]

|territory=Britain cedes [[Tobago]] to France; all other territories restored ''[[status quo ante bellum]]''

|result=[[Treaty of Paris (1783)]]

|combatant1={{flag|Kingdom of France}}<br />{{flagicon|Spain|1748}} [[Enlightenment Spain|Kingdom of Spain]]<br />{{flag|Dutch Republic}}<br>{{flag|United States|1777}}

|combatant2={{flag|Kingdom of Great Britain}}

|commander1={{flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[François Joseph Paul de Grasse|Comte de Grasse]]<br>{{flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing|Comte d'Estaing]]<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1748}} [[Bernardo de Gálvez]]<br>{{flagicon|Spain|1748}} [[Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo|Matías de Gálvez]]

|commander2={{flagicon|Kingdom of Great Britain}} [[George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney|George Rodney]]

|strength1=

|strength2=

|casualties1=

|casualties2=

|campaignbox=

{{Campaignbox American Revolutionary War: American Waters}}

{{Campaignbox American Revolutionary War}}

}}

The '''Caribbean theater of the American Revolutionary War''' was the scene of several naval and amphibious engagements between 1778 and 1782 that primarily involved the forces of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and [[Early modern France|France]].

==Background==

{{main|American Revolution|American Revolutionary War}}

Britain's numerous island colonies in the [[West Indies]] were politically divided with respect to the issues that eventually drove the [[Thirteen Colonies]] in North America to revolution. Some colonial assemblies expressed sympathy for the rebel movement, but the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War]] in April 1775 did not result in similar mobilizations in the Caribbean. [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] military authorities, in fact, drew resources from these island colonies to support their activities against the rebel colonies in the early years of the war.

The main impact on the British West Indies in those early years was economic. The islands were dependent on North America for a number of resources, including [[lumber]] for construction and food to feed the [[Slavery in the British and French Caribbean|large slave population]] that worked on plantations producing [[sugarcane]] for export. This trade fell substantially after the [[Royal Navy]] began blockading major ports in North America. Some trade continued, but the Americans, desperate for supplies (particularly military supplies, like [[gunpowder]]) from Europe, engaged in trade with [[Kingdom of France|French]] and [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] possessions in the Caribbean. The Dutch island of [[Sint Eustatius]] in particular became a major supply point where Dutch merchants and officially sanctioned French traders did business with American merchants.

This situation changed following the entry of France into the war [[Franco-American alliance|as an American ally]] in early 1778.

==1778-1779==

News of France's entry into the war reached the French governor at [[Martinique]], the [[François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé|marquis de Bouillé]], in August 1778. He immediately planned and executed the [[Invasion of Dominica]], successfully taking the island on September 7.

The French Admiral the [[Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing|comte d'Estaing]], after an unsuccessful attempt to capture [[Newport, Rhode Island]], sailed from [[Boston]] for the West Indies on November 4. On the same day, Commodore [[William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham|William Hotham]] was dispatched from [[New York City|New York]] to reinforce the British fleet in the West Indies. Admiral [[Samuel Barrington]], the British admiral in the [[Leeward Islands]], retaliated against the capture of Dominica by [[Capture of St. Lucia|seizing]] [[Saint Lucia]] on December 13–14, after the arrival of Hotham from North America. D'Estaing, who followed Hotham closely, was [[Battle of St. Lucia|beaten off]] in two feeble attacks on Barrington at the Cul-de-Sac of Santa Lucia on December 15.

On January 6, 1779, Admiral [[Jack Byron]] reached the West Indies. During the early part of this year the naval forces in the West Indies were mainly employed in watching one another and building in strength. But in June, while Byron went to [[Antigua]] to guard the trade convoy on its way home, d'Estaing first [[Capture of Saint Vincent|captured]] [[Saint Vincent (island)|St Vincent]], and then [[Capture of Grenada (1779)|Grenada]]. Admiral Byron sailed in hopes of saving first one and then the other, arrived off Grenada shortly after it fell. An [[Battle of Grenada|indecisive action]] was fought off Grenada on July 6, 1779 in which Byron's fleet was significantly damaged. The war diminished in the West Indies, with Byron repairing his fleet, and d'Estaing failing to capitalize on French naval superiority. Byron returned home in August. D'Estaing was ordered back to France in August, but instead answered appeals from the Americans for assistance in retaking [[Savannah, Georgia]], which [[Capture of Savannah|had fallen]] to British forces in December 1778. After the unsuccessful [[Siege of Savannah]] d'Estaing sailed for France.

[[Kingdom of Spain|Spain]] entered the war in 1779 as a French ally, further widening the war. Spanish colonial forces on the [[Yucatan peninsula]] [[Capture of Cayo Cocina|captured]] the principal British settlement in present-day [[Belize]] at [[Saint George's Caye]] in September, and British forces from [[Jamaica]] briefly [[Battle of San Fernando de Omoa|occupied]] the fortress of [[San Fernando de Omoa]] in present-day [[Honduras]]. Spain's entry into the war stretched British resources even further, since the combined Spanish and French naval forces exceeded theirs.

==1780-1781==

The 1780 campaign season was comparatively quiet. A French fleet under the [[Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen|comte de Guichen]] sparred with that of [[George Brydges Rodney]] in the inconclusive [[Battle of Martinique (1780)|Battle of Martinique]], but neither side was able to maneuver away from the other for substantive operations against the other's possessions. British authorities launched a major expedition from Jamaica, initially led by the young [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Horatio Nelson]], to gain control of [[Captaincy General of Guatemala|Spanish Nicaragua]]. The [[San Juan Expedition (1780)|San Juan Expedition]] was a disastrous failure, and one of the most expensive British ventures in the war.

In late 1780 the [[Dutch Republic]] was formally brought into the war, and the British government was compelled to withdraw part of its fleet from other purposes to protect the [[North Sea]] trade.

In the West Indies, Rodney, having received news of the breach with the Netherlands early in the year, [[Capture of Sint Eustatius|took the island of Sint Eustatius]], which had been a great depot of contraband of war, on February 3, 1781. He also authorized [[Dutch West Indies campaign|privateering against other Dutch targets]], which resulted in the capture of three Dutch colonial outposts in [[South America]]. Rodney was accused of applying himself so entirely to seizing and selling the booty taken at Sint Eustatius that he would not allow his second in command, Sir [[Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood|Samuel Hood]], who had recently joined him, to take proper measures to impede the arrival of French forces known to be on their way to Martinique. The French admiral, the [[François Joseph Paul de Grasse|comte de Grasse]], reached the island with reinforcements in April, [[Battle of Fort Royal|driving Hood away]] in the process. De Grasse then embarked on a diversionary attack on St. Lucia that masked the detachment of some of his fleet [[Invasion of Tobago|to capture Tobago]]. De Grasse and Rodney then engaged in a series of skilful but ultimately fruitless operations in which the former sought advantage to attack British holdings and otherwise avoid battle.

In one of the most significant miscalculations of the war, Admiral Rodney, in ill health, decided to return half his fleet to Europe at the start of 1781 hurricane season, leaving Admiral Hood with the other half to follow de Grasse. De Grasse, however, decided to undertake the risky proposition of taking almost all of his fleet to North America, leaving the French merchant fleet with only minimal Spanish protection. When de Grasse sailed north in August, this resulted in a significant imbalance of naval power in favor of the French in North American waters.

On the coast of North America, the war came to its climax. When Hood arrived off the [[Chesapeake Bay]] in late August, de Grasse had not yet arrived, since he had deliberately taken a longer route to avoid notice. Hood proceeded on to New York, bringing news of de Grasse's approach (although ignorant of his strength) to Arbuthnot's successor, Admiral [[Thomas Graves, 1st Baron Graves|Thomas Graves]]. Word that [[Jacques-Melchior Saint-Laurent, Comte de Barras|de Barras]] had sailed from Newport with the entire French fleet led Graves to lead the combined fleet south to the Chesapeake, where de Grasse had in the meantime arrived. In the pivotal [[Battle of the Chesapeake]] on September 5, de Grasse prevailed over the British, who ended up retreating back to New York while de Barras slipped into the Chesapeake carrying the French siege train. The naval blockade completed the encirclement of the British army of [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Charles Cornwallis]] at [[Yorktown, Virginia]], where he was [[Siege of Yorktown|compelled to surrender]] on October 19. Cornwallis' surrender spelled the end of significant military operations in North America, and led to the start of peace negotiations. While they went on, the war continued in other theaters.

==1782==

[[File:Prise des Iles de Saint Christophe et de Nevis 13 Janvier 1782 Rossel de Cercy 1736 1804.jpg|thumb|''Prise des Iles de Saint-Christophe et de Nevis'', 13 Janvier 1782, [[Rossel de Cercy]] (1736-1804).]]

Following the surrender of Lord Cornwallis there was a tacit armistice on continental North America between Britain and the United States during the winter of 1781–1782. A large convoy and reinforcements for the Antilles were being prepared in France, with the aim of putting de Grasse's fleet in a state of readiness to support the struggle against Rodney's force.

De Grasse returned to the West Indies in November 1781, where he was followed by Hood, and resumed attacks on the British islands. In January and February 1782, de Grasse [[Siege of Brimstone Hill|conquered]] [[Saint Kitts|St. Christopher]], while a smaller French fleet under [[Armand of Kersaint|Kersaint]] retook the Dutch South American colonies, and de Barras took Sint Eustatius from Britain. De Grasse's action at St. Christopher was [[Battle of Saint Kitts|vigorously opposed]] by Hood, who with a much inferior force first drove de Grasse from his anchorage at [[Basseterre]] and then repulsed his repeated attacks. Hood's action was insufficient, however, to prevent the French from successfully gaining control of the island.

=== Battle of the Saintes ===

{{Main|Battle of the Saintes}}

[[Image:Whitcombe, Battle of the Saints.jpg|thumb|250px|''The [[Battle of the Saintes]], April 12, 1782: surrender of the Ville de Paris'' by [[Thomas Whitcombe]], painted 1783, shows [[Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood|Samuel Hood]]'s [[HMS Barfleur (1768)|''Barfleur'']], center, attacking the French flagship [[French ship Ville de Paris (1764)|''Ville de Paris'']], right.]]

The next objective of the French was to join with a Spanish fleet for an attack on [[Jamaica]]. Admiral Rodney, having returned to his command with reinforcements, countered this plan with a series of operations which culminated in the [[Battle of the Saintes]] on April 12, 1782.

The large convoy that had left France escorted by admiral [[Luc Urbain de Bouexic, comte de Guichen|de Guichen]] was scattered by a storm. The British regrouped all their naval forces in the Caribbean, and the comte de Grasse, despite his fleet's inferiority, set sail to convey the troops of M. de Bouillé which had had to regroup, at [[Saint-Domingue]], with those commanded by the Spanish general [[Bernardo de Gálvez|don Galvez]] for the assault on Jamaica. Admiral Rodney gave chase, manoeuvring to cut the French fleet off from its convoy, but was only able to reach the vessel ''Zélé'', the slowest ship in the rearguard, on April 9. The comte de Grasse decided to save this ship and committed his vanguard under the command of M. de Vaudreuil.

Although the French prevailed in this initial encounter, Admiral Rodney followed them and, having got the weather gage, engaged the entire French fleet on 12 April. The French admiral's flagship ''Ville de Paris'' and six others were immobilised and captured in the face of resistance. The comte de Grasse was captured and only gained his freedom the following year, when the war ended. His vessel's bridge had been completely razed by British bullets and the admiral and two officers were the only two people standing not to have been wounded when the ship finally surrendered, and Admiral Rodney could not hold onto any of the four vessels he had captured since they were too badly damaged. The ''César'' also caught fire and sank with around 400 British sailors who had taken possession of her.

Although there were a number of minor engagements in the aftermath of the Battle of the Saintes, no further major actions took place in the West Indies.

=== Peace proposal ===

When news of the Saintes reached the United States, the [[Continental Congress]] considered whether to receive General [[Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester|Carleton]], who had replaced [[Henry Clinton (1738–1795)|Sir Henry Clinton]] as supreme commander of the British land forces in America, and his proposition from the British government to fully recognise the United States' independence in return for America renouncing its alliance with France. The Congress did not let itself be influenced by news of the French disaster in the West Indies and showed only indignation at it, refusing to admit the negotiator who was responsible for this suggestion. The States unanimously declared any proposition for a separate peace as [[high treason]]. These overtures, as well as the armistice demanded at the same time by the commander of [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] and refused by General [[Nathanael Greene]], were sufficient proof that (despite their success in the West Indies) the British were about to give up forcing their former colonies to submit. The Americans certainly desired peace, but showed their loyalty to their French allies and appreciation of their help by making new sacrifices to gain a peace that was as honourable for their allies as for themselves.

On their part, the French government only stopped sending help to the Americans when the poor state of their national finances left them no option but to do so. Two frigates, the ''Gloire'' and ''Aigle'', were sent from [[Brest, France|Brest]] on 19 May 1782 under the command of M. [[de la Touche Tréville]]. These ships were, however, [[Action of 15 September 1782|intercepted and defeated]] by the British in the Delaware River on 15 September 1782 and La Touche was made prisoner. This left [[Pierre François de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnal|marquis de Vaudreuil]], who took over from the captured comte de Grasse, as commander of the fleet and received the order to sail into [[Boston]] to repair and refit his squadron.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

==See also==

{{Portal|American Revolutionary War}}

* [[List of American Revolutionary War battles]]

* [[Naval operations in the American Revolutionary War]]

* [[Bibliography of early American naval history]]

* [[Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War]]

* [[Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga]]

* [[Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War]]

* [[Western theater of the American Revolutionary War]]

==References==

<references />

==Sources==

* [[Thomas Balch]], ''Les Français en Amérique pendant la guerre de l'Indépendance des Etats-Unis 1777-1783'', 1872 [[:fr:Référence:Les Français en Amérique pendant la guerre de l'Indépendance des Etats-Unis 1777-1783|Wikisource]] {{fr icon}}

* Allen, Gardner W. ''A Naval History of the American Revolution''. 2 volumes. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. [http://www.americanrevolution.org/navindex.html (available online)]

* [[Helen Augur|Augur, Helen]]. ''The Secret War of Independence''. New York: Duell, 1955.

* Chevalier, Louis E. ''Histoire de la marine francaise pendant la Guerre de l'Independence americaine''. Paris, 1877.

* Dull, Jonathan R. ''The French Navy and American Independence: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774–1787''. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1975.

* James, William Milbourne. ''The British Navy in Adversity: A Study of the War of American Independence.'' London: Longmans, 1926.

* Knox, Dudley Wright. ''The Naval Genius of George Washington.'' Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1932.

* Lewis, Charles Lee. ''Admiral de Grasse and American Independence.'' Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1945.

* [[Alfred T. Mahan|Mahan, Alfred T.]] ''The Influence of Sea Power upon History''. 1890.

* [[Alfred T. Mahan|Mahan, Alfred T.]] ''The Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence.'' Boston: Little, Brown, and company: 1913.

* Middlebrook, Louis F. ''History of Maritime Connecticut during the American Revolution, 1775-1783.'' 2 volumes. Salem, Mass.: Essex, 1925.

* Paullin, Charles Oscar. ''The Navy of the American Revolution: Its Administration, its Policy, and its Achievements.'' Cleveland: Burrows, 1906.

* [[Barbara Tuchman|Tuchman, Barbara]]. ''The First Salute: A View of the American Revolution''. New York: Knopf, 1988. ISBN 0-394-55333-0.

[[Category:1778 in the Caribbean]]

[[Category:1779 in the Caribbean]]

[[Category:1780 in the Caribbean]]

[[Category:1781 in the Caribbean]]

[[Category:1782 in the Caribbean]]

[[Category:Campaigns of the American Revolutionary War]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1778]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1779]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1780]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1781]]

[[Category:Conflicts in 1782]]

[[Category:History of the Caribbean]]