User:Lord Cornwallis/Naval Descents
The Naval Descents were a military strategy developed by Great Britain during the Seven Years War, largely between 1757 and 1758 - but with subsequent descents taking place later. They were essentialy amphibious raids on French coastal ports, designed to destroy ships, munitions and fortifications - as well as distract France from their military offensives against Prussia and Hanover. They were closely associated with William Pitt, Secretary of State from 1757 to 1761.
Background[edit]
The British Capture of Vigo in 1719 and an attempt to raid Lorient in 1746 had been early demonstrations of the potential of Descents.[1] On the outbreak of the Seven Years War between Britain and France, in 1756, the idea of such amphibious descents became a popular cause championed by the the opposition Patriot Whigs and Tories who were critical of potential British involvement in Germany and the Low Countries instead favouring a naval Blue Water policy which would use Britain's naval dominance to acheive maratime victory against France. Supporters of this policy were known for their association with William Pitt and the Prince of Wales and their opposition to the Prime Minister, the Duke of Newcastle who was a strong believer in Continentalism.
When Pitt agreed to form a government with Newcastle in July 1757, many of his former allies were outraged. Pitt's championing of the Naval Descents may have been to some degree an attempt to assauge the "Patriot" faction and demonstrate his continued commitment to a naval war in spite of the fact that he now also supported British financial involvement in the ongoing war in Germany, by supporting the Army of Observation.[2] An added pressure also came from Britain's ally Frederick the Great, who demanded an attack on the French coast to relieve pressure on Prussia. A raid also offered the prospect of utillising the forces kept for home defence without taking them too far from Britain in case of a French invasion.
Pitt
The targets were all on France's western coastline - facing the Atlantic Ocean and English Channel. Particularly of interest to them were shipbuilding centres and trading centres. The first expeditionary force was assembled on the Isle of White during the summer of 1757.
First Descent[edit]
The first planned expedition left Britain on 7 September, more than a month behind schedule.[3] General Sir John Mordaunt had been given command of the land forces of 8,500 troops, while Admiral Sir Edward Hawke was in charge of the naval contingent. It arrived off Rochefort on 20 September. The force captured Ile d'Aix, an offshore island in the Basque Roads. However the expedition then stalled, as the army and navy debated the prospects of a successful landing so late in the year. Ultimately it was decided to return home without attempting a landing on the mainland. Pitt was furious at the lack of an attempt, and he pushed to have the expedition sent back to capture the island of Rhe.
Mourdant faced a court of inquiry and then a court martial, at which Pitt gave evidence.
There remained in the military a deep scepticism for these kind of operations.
The wider strategic success of the operation was in part fulfilled as the sudden arrival of British troops alarmed the French, and led them to despatch regiments from Paris to bolster the forces on the coast. However, it did not force the French to withdraw any troops from Germany as had been hoped, and the expedition had been launched too late to provide a diversion in support of the Duke of Cumberland whose Army of Observation was forced to capitulate following the French Invasion of Hanover. In spite of the disapointment of the raid, Pitt made clear he planned to continue the policy of descents the following year.
Second Descent[edit]
command of the land forces was given to the Duke of Marlborough.
Lessons had been learnt from the mistakes of the previous expedition, and reforms were made to the supply and planning.
and captured the smaller port of St Severan where large amounts of French shipping were destroyed. The expedition then re-embarked, and after cruising along the coast for several more weeks were unable to find a sutiable target and returned to Britain. Although the expedition had not captured St Malo itself, it was generally hailed as a sucess in London because it had
Third Descent[edit]
Abandonment[edit]
Under the command of Admiral Edward Hawke the British had mantained a close blockade of the French ports.
the invasion schemes had been much criticised by rival politicians and many of the senior commanders of the armed forces were deeply unhappy with them. The expeditions had also been regarded as an expensive failure which had caused little real damage to the French war effort. Henry Fox likened the raids to "breaking windows with guineas".[4]
In 1758 Newcastle pushed for an amphibious attack on the French-occupied ports of Ostend and Nieuwpoort in the Austrian Netherlands, but Pitt, fearful this would provoke a war with Austria, instead diverted the troops to Germany to join the Duke of Brunswick's forces.[5] From then on there was an increasing emphasis on winning the war with Western Germany, and British troops and resources that might have been used in descents were sent to bolster Brunswick's army.
As the French realised that the British were no longer launching landings on their coast, they took 12,000 troops that had been defending Brittany and Normandy and marched them to Germany where in 1760 they were able to foil an Anglo-German offensive towards Wesel and won the Battle of Closter Camp.[6]
Later similar operations[edit]
In (mnth) 1761 the British landed on the island of Belle Île off the Britanny Coast and captured it after a six week siege. It was slightly different to the Descents as the British intended to occupy the island more permanently. Pitt saw Belle Île as a potential staging post for future raids on the French coastline. As the French armies were advancing in Germany it was again believed something was needed to check them. The accession of George III as King, and the growing influence of Lord Bute - made the possiblility of more coastal raids likely, as both men opposed British involvement to protect Hanover, and were instead commited to fighting a maratime war against France in which such Descents would feature prominently.
However, the likelehood of further such operations decreased with in the wake of two events in late 1761 the resignation of Pitt, the greatest champion of the Descents, and the declaration of war on Spain that meant British troops and resources would be needed in other theatres of war, and would not be so readily avaliable to strike against the French coast. Pitt now joined the opposition where he continued to support raids against France but within a year peace negotiations were extremely far advanced and the war ended without further descents - although Btitish forces had briefly considered a Descent on a major Spanish port.[7]
Following France's entry into the American War of Independence in 1778, there were occasional calls for a renewal of the Descents policy - but there were no attempts launched on the French coast, largely because troops were needed in other places.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Black, Jeremy. British Lives: Pitt the Elder. Cambridge University Press, 1992.