The French Navy and the Seven Years' War

1756 France Takes the Offensive

BOB — University of Nebraska Press / Page 50 / / French Navy and the Seven YearS’ War / Jonathan R. Dull 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 [First Page] [50], (1) Lines: 0 to 20 ——— 2.71pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [50], (1) 3 1756 France Takes the Offensive victory at minorca When the French government chose to take the offensive, it picked a logical but extremely dangerous target. Some 220 miles southwest of Toulon lay the island of Minorca. A British possession since 1708, it was a major privateering center that menaced not only Toulon but also the nearby great commercial port of Marseilles. (Privateering was the capture of merchant ships by privately owned but government licensed warships.) Although its garrison contained only four regiments with a total of about 3,000 men,1 its major harbor, Port Mahon, was protected by the great fortress of St. Philip with 800 cannon. In case of attack it could withstand a siege until a squadron arrived from England. Given the superiority of the British navy, there was danger that the British would send enough ships to destroy the French Mediterranean fleet and trap a besieging French army,dependent for ammunition,food,and even water from the French mainland. France’s only hope was to convince the British that it was planning to invade England as it had attempted in 1744. Hopefully the attention of the British navy would be so fixed on Brest and Rochefort (from which the escort for such an invasion would come), that its reinforcement for the Mediterranean would be too small to save Minorca. At the end of 1755 Louis XV appointed senior army officers to command his troops along the Atlantic coast and along the Mediterranean coast. His choice as commander of the former was the duc de Belle-Isle, who began collecting a huge army of ninety-one battalions of infantry (about 65,000 officers and men) and twenty-two squadrons of cavalry (about 3,500 officers and men); no real attempt was made, though, to collect troop transports. Nevertheless, this effort caused the British to fear an invasion of England, and they diverted their attention from Minorca.2 Rumors of an attack by 60,000 or 65,000 men did not BOB — University of Nebraska Press / Page 51 / / French Navy and the Seven YearS’ War / Jonathan R. Dull 1756 51 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 [51], (2) Lines: 20 to 24 ——— 0.0pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [51], (2) impress Frederick II of Prussia, but by February Newcastle and Anson, knowing how few troops were available in England, were apprehensive.3 A second factor contributed to the British government’s fear. Typhus and scurvy aboard the ships of Boscawen, Hawke, and Byng had cost the lives of 2,000 men, and another 1,200 had been discharged from service; at year’s end only 36,000 crewmen (including sailors,marines,and apprentices) were still available,including 6,000 who were ill. Barely a dozen warships in English ports were ready for immediate use, and the navy at large was almost 15,000 men short of the complement needed by the ships in commission. By March 1756, the navy collected fortysix ships of the line in home ports to counter an invasion, but their crews were short 10,000 men.4 France thus had an opportunity to invade Minorca before the British could send reinforcements. The landing force was commanded by Marshal of France Louis-François-ArmandVignerot du Plessis,duc de Richelieu,whom Louis had placed in command of the Mediterranean coast.5 The escorting fleet was commanded by Lieutenant General of the Fleet, Roland-Michel Barrin, marquis de La Galissonnière, former acting governor general of New France. It took a huge effort to collect and man the large forces they were given to command; Richelieu ’s landing force of some 15,000 men (twenty-five infantry battalions and a battalion of artillery) required fifty transports and 130 supply ships. Meanwhile La Galissonnière had to find sailors for his five frigates and...