The French Navy and the Seven Years' War

1758 A Year of Desperation

BOB — University of Nebraska Press / Page 105 / / 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] [105], (1) Lines: 0 to 22 ——— 2.71pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [105], (1) 5 1758 A Year of Desperation louisbourg lost, canada again spared The terrible news from Silesia did not alter the French navy’s mission. Despite shortages of sailors and money, it had to defend French trade and France’s overseas possessions from the North Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Moras again planned to send as many ships as possible to defend Louisbourg and to spend whatever funds he could find to resupply Canada. A memoir from the end of 1757 listed a dozen ships of the line, five frigates, and two armed supply ships to be sent to New France by the end of March. 1 All other theaters of war, even India where France still remained on the offensive, were subordinated to preserving Canada in the hope that somehow events in Europe would force France’s enemies to the peace table. On 14 February Moras wrote to promise the governor of Louisbourg, Capitaine de vaisseau Augustin de Boschenry de Drucour, two battalions of reinforcements .2 He also made an enormous effort to match the ships and supplies sent the previous year to Louisbourg and Canada. By the end of June he had sent or attempted to send to North America sixteen ships of the line plus the East India Company ship of the line Brillant, 54; this was almost as many as the eighteen ships of the line sent by early May 1757. The British, however, with much larger resources from which to draw, were able not only to match but to drastically increase their own commitment to North America. By early summer they concentrated twenty-three ships of the line near Louisbourg, as compared with sixteen early in the previous summer.3 This alone would have made it difficult to save Louisbourg again, but unlike 1757, a sizable portion of the French ships never reached their destination. Machault and Moras in 1757 had been able to send their ships in three major squadrons, which arrived safely in Louisbourg within a few weeks of each other. BOB — University of Nebraska Press / Page 106 / / French Navy and the Seven YearS’ War / Jonathan R. Dull 106 A Year of Desperation 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 [106], (2) Lines: 22 to 36 ——— 0.0pt PgVar ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [106], (2) The terrible shortage of sailors in early 1758 led Moras to send his ships individually or in small groups as soon as they were ready, before their crews deserted or became ill. Consequently his ships of the line departed in ten separate sailings spread over five months: (1) At the beginning of the year the Aigle, 50, sailed from Rochefort en flûte, carrying supplies. She delivered them safely at Louisbourg and then returned to France, arriving at Brest by 20 February. (Another convoy with the frigates Frippone and Heroïne and four provisions ships left Rochefort for Canada about the same time but was intercepted by the British and forced to turn back.) (2) On 31 January the Magnifique, 74, and Amphion, 50, sailed from Brest. The Amphion, disabled by storms, returned to Brest in April. The Magnifique reached Louisbourg at the end of March, but could not enter because of ice. With most of her crew ill from typhus she returned to Europe, putting into Corunna in May and not reaching Brest until 11 November. Her subsequent career was virtually unrivaled, as she participated in six battles over the next twenty-five years before she finally was shipwrecked off Boston. (3) The Prudent, 74, and Raisonnable, 64, sailed from Rochefort on 9 March, escorting a convoy of five navy supply ships and two chartered merchant ships. The Prudent reached Louisbourg on 24April. Her captain,Jean-Antoine Charry, marquis des Gouttes, became commandant of the entire squadron that eventually assembled there, as he was the senior capitaine de vaisseau...