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Battle of Genoa order of battle

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The Order of battle at the Battle of Genoa recounts the British-Neapolitan and French fleets which participated in a short campaign in the Gulf of Genoa during the French Revolutionary Wars. The campaign featured the principal Battle of Genoa on 13–14 March 1795, and an earlier smaller battle off Cap Corse on 8 March. Losses were even: although the British succeeded in capturing two French ships in the main action, two British ships were also lost elsewhere during the campaign. The French foray into the Ligurian Sea was driven back to a safe harbour, resulting in a restoration of the British blockade of Toulon, and leading to a second battle later in the year.

"The 'Agamemnon' engaging the Ca Ira', 13 March 1795", Nicholas Pocock, 1810. NMM

The campaign began on 3 March when the French Mediterranean Fleet sailed from the naval base at Toulon for an operation in the Ligurian Sea.[1] During the winter they had been under constant blockade from a British fleet based at San Fiorenzo on Corsica, which had been captured in a British invasion the previous year.[2] In February the British fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral William Hotham, had sailed from San Fiorenzo to Leghorn for repairs, leaving behind HMS Berwick, damaged in a January storm.[3] When news of Hotham's withdrawal reached Toulon, Contre-amiral Pierre Martin sailed the French fleet out and caught Berwick off the northern coast of Corsica. The damaged ship was unable to outrun pursuit and surrendered at the action of 8 March 1795 after the captain was decapitated by French shot.[4]

Hotham discovered Martin's movements and sailed to meet him, encountering the French near Cape Noli on 10 March.[5] For several days both fleets lay becalmed, unable to come to action. On 13 March the wind increased and Hotham attacked, Martin falling back under pursuit. One of Martin's rearguard, Ça Ira, collided with another ship and fell back.[6] Ça Ira was engaged by first the frigate HMS Inconstant and then HMS Agamemnon under Captain Horatio Nelson.[7] Elsewhere there was scattered fighting between other British and French ships. Over night the French flagship accidentally detached from the fleet, and in the morning Hotham renewed the attack, overwhelming Ça Ira and the Censeur, sent to support it.[8] A French counterattack was beaten off, although HMS Illustrious and HMS Courageux were badly damaged.[9]

Hotham declined to renew the action due to concern for his damaged ships, to the frustration of his subordinates, particularly Nelson.[10] The French withdrew to Gourjean Bay and then Toulon, and the British to the Gulf of La Spezia.[11] There a storm drove the damaged Illustrious ashore, and the ship was destroyed.[12] In the aftermath both fleets refitted and prepared for another engagement; in early July the French fleet was again attacked by the British, at the Battle of the Hyères Islands, and the rearmost ship Alcide was overrun and destroyed.[13]

Hotham's fleet

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Note that as carronades were not traditionally taken into consideration when calculating a ship's rate,[14] these ships may have been carrying more guns than indicated below. Officers killed in action are marked with a  † symbol.

  •   British Royal Navy
  •   Navy of the Kingdom of Naples
  •   Ships in this colour were destroyed or captured during the campaign
Vice-Admiral William Hotham's fleet
Ship Rate Guns Fleet Commander Casualties Notes
Killed Wounded Total
Van squadron
HMS Captain Third rate 74   Captain Samuel Reeve 3 19 22 Heavily engaged 13 March, damaged.
HMS Bedford Third rate 74   Captain Davidge Gould 7 18 25 Heavily engaged 13 March, badly damaged.
Tancredi Third rate 74   Captain Chevalier Francesco Caracciolo 1 5 6
HMS Princess Royal Second rate 98   Vice-Admiral Samuel Goodall
Captain John Child Purvis 		3 8 11 Engaged 14 March.
HMS Agamemnon Third rate 64   Captain Horatio Nelson 0 13 13 Heavily engaged 13 and 14 March.
Minerva Fifth rate 32   0 4 4 Heavily engaged 13 March.
Pilade Fifth rate   0 0 0
HMS Lowestoffe Fifth rate 32   Captain Benjamin Hallowell 0 0 0 Heavily engaged 14 March, damaged.
HMS Poulette Sixth rate 26   Commander Ralph Willett Miller 0 0 0
HMS Tarleton Brig 14   Commander Charles Brisbane 0 0 0
Centre squadron
HMS Illustrious Third rate 74   Captain Thomas Frederick 20 70 90 Heavily engaged 14 March, badly damaged. Lost main and mizzenmasts. Wrecked on the Italian coast, 17 March.
HMS Courageux Third rate 74   Captain Augustus Montgomery 15 33 48 Heavily engaged 14 March, badly damaged. Lost main and mizzenmasts.
HMS Britannia First rate 100   Vice-Admiral William Hotham
Captain John Holloway 		1 18 19
HMS Egmont Third rate 74   Captain John Sutton 7 21 28 Heavily engaged 13 March, damaged.
HMS Windsor Castle Second rate 98   Rear-Admiral Robert Linzee
Captain John Gore 		6 31 37
HMS Inconstant Fifth rate 36   Captain Thomas Fremantle 3 14 17 Heavily engaged 13 March, damaged.
HMS Meleager Fifth rate 32   Captain George Cockburn 0 0 0
Rear squadron
HMS Diadem Third rate 64   Captain Charles Tyler 3 7 10
HMS St George Second rate 98   Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker
Captain Thomas Foley 		4 13 17
HMS Terrible Third rate 74   Captain George Campbell 0 6 6
HMS Fortitude Third rate 74   Captain William Young 1 4 5
HMS Romulus Fifth rate 36   Captain George Hope 0 0 0
HMS Moselle Brig 18   Commander Charles Dudley Pater 0 0 0
Fox Cutter 14   Lieutenant John Gibson 0 0 0
Total casualties: 74 killed, 254 wounded
Sources: James, p. 261; Clowes, p. 272.
HMS Berwick
Ship Rate Guns Fleet Commander Casualties Notes
Killed Wounded Total
HMS Berwick Third rate 74   Captain Adam Littlejohn  † 1 4 5 Defeated and captured at Action of 8 March 1795 while sailing independently off Cap Corse.
Sources: James, p. 255.

Martin's fleet

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Note that the number of guns refers to the official complement, traditionally taken into consideration when calculating a ship's rate,[14] and that these ships may have been carrying more guns than indicated below, although obusiers were not carried on French ships in this battle,[15] Officers killed in action are marked with a  † symbol.

  •   Ships in this colour were destroyed or captured during the campaign
Contre-amiral Martin's fleet
Ship Rate Guns Fleet Commander Casualties Notes
Killed Wounded Total
Sans Culotte First rate 120   Contre-amiral Pierre Martin
Captain Lapalisse
Représentant Letourneur 		Unknown Engaged 13 March. Martin and Letourneur transferred to frigate Friponne in evening. Ship subsequently detached from fleet and anchored at Genoa.
Duquesne Third rate 74   Captain Zacharie Allemand Unknown Heavily engaged 14 March. Damaged.
Victoire Third rate 80   Captain Daniel Savary Unknown Heavily engaged 13 March. Damaged.
Tonnant Third rate 80   Captain Julien Cosmao-Kerjulien Unknown Heavily engaged 14 March. Damaged.
Ça Ira Third rate 80   Captain Louis-Marie Coudé c.400 Heavily engaged 13 and 14 March. Badly damaged and captured. Later became HMS Ca Ira.
Mercure Third rate 74   Captain Catteford 0 0 0 Damaged in storm 12 March and detached from fleet. Did not participate in the battle.
Censeur Third rate 74   Captain Pierre Benoît c.350 Heavily engaged 14 March. Badly damaged and captured. Later became HMS Censeur.
Alcide Third rate 74   Captain Leblond Saint-Hylaire Unknown
Barra Third rate 74   Captain André Maureau Unknown Engaged 13 March
Conquérant Third rate 74   Captain Lemancq Unknown
Généreux Third rate 74   Captain Louis Unknown
Guerrier Third rate 74   Captain Louis Infernet Unknown
Heureux Third rate 74   Captain Charles Lacaille Unknown
Peuple Souverain Third rate 74   Captain Charbonnier Unknown
Timoléon Third rate 74   Captain Joseph Khrom [fr] Unknown Heavily engaged 14 March. Damaged
Vestale Frigate 36   Lieutenant Foucaud[16] Unknown Engaged 13 March.
Minerve Frigate 40   Lieutenant Delorme[17] - - -
Alceste Frigate 32   - - - Heavily engaged in action with Berwick on 8 March. Badly damaged and withdrew from fleet.
Artémise Frigate 32   Lieutenant Decasse[18] - - -
Courageuse Frigate   - - -
Friponne Frigate   Captain Louis-Léonce Trullet[19]
Contre-amiral Pierre Martin (after 13 March) 		- - -
Alerte Brig 10   - - -
Hazard Brig 18   Lieutenant Amand Leduc[20] - - -
Scout Brig 18   Ensign Charabot[21] - - -
Total casualties: 400–750 [Note A]
Sources: Troude, p. 424; James, p. 261; Clowes, p. 272.

Notes

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  1. ^
    Note A: French casualties in the battle are uncertain. William James records a figure of 400 killed and wounded on Ça Ira and Censeur alone, and notes that further losses on the French ships were inevitable but unknowable.[9] His figures are supported by William Laird Clowes.[22] In his biography of Nelson, Geoffrey Bennett records a total of 750 casualties on the captured ships,[23] a figure presumably drawn from Ernle Bradford's estimate of 400 on Ça Ira and 350 on Censeur.[24] Digby Smith's book on Napoleonic statistics, apparently drawing on James and Clowes, lists much higher figures of 600 killed and 1,000 wounded.[25] This may come from French histories; Onésime-Joachim Troude reports 600 French sailors as killed in the battle.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Clowes, p. 268.
  2. ^ James, p. 254.
  3. ^ Troude, p. 426.
  4. ^ James, p. 255.
  5. ^ Clowes, p. 269.
  6. ^ Gardiner, p. 116.
  7. ^ Bennett, p. 42.
  8. ^ James, p. 260.
  9. ^ a b James, p. 261.
  10. ^ Forester, p. 75.
  11. ^ James, p. 264.
  12. ^ Grocott, p. 11.
  13. ^ Mostert, p. 163.
  14. ^ a b James, p. 32.
  15. ^ James, p. 262.
  16. ^ Fonds Marin, p. 136.
  17. ^ Fonds Marin, p. 133.
  18. ^ Fonds Marin, p. 131.
  19. ^ Fonds Marin, p. 134.
  20. ^ Roche, p. 238.
  21. ^ Roche, p. 408.
  22. ^ Clowes, p. 272.
  23. ^ Bennett, p. 44.
  24. ^ Bradford, p. 116.
  25. ^ Smith, p. 102.
  26. ^ Troude, p. 431.

Bibliography

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  • Bennett, Geoffrey (2002) [1972]. Nelson the Commander. London: Penguin. ISBN 0-141391-29-4.
  • Bradford, Ernle (1999) [1977]. Nelson: The Essential Hero. Ware: Wordsworth Military Library. ISBN 1-84022-202-6.
  • Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume III. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-012-4.
  • Forester, C. S. (2001) [1929]. Nelson. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-178-3.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1996]. Fleet Battle and Blockade. London: Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-363-X.
  • Grocott, Terence (2002) [1997]. Shipwrecks of the Revolutionary & Napoleonic Era. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-164-5.
  • Ireland, Bernard (2005). The Fall of Toulon: The Last Opportunity the Defeat the French Revolution. Cassell. ISBN 0-3043-6726-5.
  • James, William (2002) [1827]. The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 1, 1793–1796. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-905-0.
  • Mostert, Noel (2007). The Line upon a Wind: The Greatest War Fought at Sea Under Sail 1793 – 1815. Vintage Books. ISBN 9-78071-260-9272.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours. Vol. 1. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922. (1671-1870)
  • Smith, Digby (1998). The Napoleonic Wars Data Book. Greenhill Books. ISBN 1-85367-276-9. OCLC 231766509.
  • Troude, Onésime-Joachim (1867). Batailles navales de la France (in French). Vol. 2. Challamel ainé. pp. 424–431.
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