The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Battle of Dominica) took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American Revolutionary War, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse.

The battle is named after the Saintes (or Saints), a group of islands between Guadeloupe and Dominica in the West Indies. The French fleet defeated here by the Royal Navy was the same French fleet that had blockaded the British Army in at Yorktown, severing all hope of an evacuation for the vastly outnumbered troops trapped by a combined American-French army.

Origins

On April 7 1782, the Comte de Grasse set out from Martinique with 35 ships of the line, including 2 50-gun ships and a large convoy of more than 100 cargo ships, to meet with a Spanish fleet consisting of 12 ships of the line and 15,000 troops to capture the British island of Jamaica. He was pursued by Rodney with 36 ships of the line.

On 9 April 1782, De Grasse sent his convoy into Guadeloupe, escorted by his two fifty-gun ships. There was an initial inconclusive clash during which the French got the better of the van division of the British fleet which had become separated from the centre and rear divisions. Two French ships of the line were damaged.

Battle

On 12 April, De Grasse bore up with his fleet to protect a dismasted ship that was being chased by four British ships as he made for Guadaloupe. Rodney recalled his chasing ships and made the signal for line of battle. As the French line passed down the British line, a sudden shift of wind let Rodney’s flagship Formidable and several other ships, including the Duke and the Bedford, break through the French line, raking the ships as they did so. The resultant confusion in the French line and the severe damage to several of the French ships including De Grasse's flagship Ville de Paris, 104, led eventually to De Grasse’s surrender and the retreat of many of his ships in disorder. This action split the French battle line into two. A general chase ensued. In all, four French ships were captured and one, César, blew up after she was taken.

The British lost 243 killed and 816 wounded, and two captains out of 36 were killed. The French loss in killed and wounded has never been stated, but of captains alone, six were killed out of 30. It is estimated that the French loss may have been as much as 8,000. A total of over 5,000 French soldiers and sailors were captured. The large number shows what a considerable force the French were willing to put ashore with the invasion of Jamaica. Of the Ville de Paris' crew, over 400 had been killed and more than 700 were wounded

Aftermath

The battle frustrated French hopes of capturing Jamaica from the British. Rodney was created a peer with £2,000 a year settled on the title in perpetuity for this victory. Hood was elevated to the peerage as well.

The battle has caused controversy ever since, for three reasons:

• Rodney’s failure to follow up the victory by a pursuit was much criticised. Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood said that the 20 French ships would have been captured had the commander-in-chief chased. On 17 April, Hood was sent in pursuit of the enemy. He promptly captured two of the line in the Mona Passage.

• The battle is famous for the innovative tactic of "breaking the line", in which the British ships passed though a gap in the French line, engaging the enemy from leeward and throwing them into disorder. But there is considerable controversy about whether the tactic was intentional, and, if so, who was responsible for the idea (Rodney, his Captain-of-the-Fleet Sir Charles Douglas, or John Clerk of Eldin).

• On the French side, de Grasse blamed his subordinates, Vaudreuil and Bougainville, for his defeat.

Ships involved

Britain

Agamemnon (64)- Capt. Benjamin Caldwell
Ajax (74) - Capt. N. Charrington
Alcide (74) - Capt. Charles Thompson
Alfred (74) - Capt. W. Bayne
Anson (64) - Capt. William Blair
America (64) - Capt. S. Thompson
Arrogant (74) - Capt. S. Cornish
Barfleur (90) - Flagship of Sir Samuel Hood, Capt. John Knight
Bedford (74) - Commodore Edmund Affleck, Capt. T. Graves
Belliqueux (64) - Capt. A. Sutherland

(74)- Capt. William Cornwallis
Centaur (74) - Capt. J. Inglefield
Conqueror (74) - George Balfour
Duke (98) - Capt. Alan Gardner
Fame (74) - Capt. Robert Barbor

(98) - Flagship of Admiral Rodney, Capt. Sir Charles Douglas
Hercules (74) - Capt. H. Savage
Magnificent (74) - Capt. Robert Linzee
Marlborough (74) - Capt. T. Penny
Monarch (74) - Capt. F. Reynolds
Montagu (74) - Capt. George Bowen
Namur (90) - Capt. R. Fanshawe
Nonsuch (64) - Capt. W. Truscott

(98) - Capt. J. Williams
Prince William (64) - Capt. G. Wilkinson
Princessa (70) - 3rd flag of Admiral Samuel Drake, Capt. C. Knatchbull
Prothée (64) - Capt. C. Buckner
Repulse (64) - Capt. T. Dumaresq
Resolution (74) - Capt. Lord Robert Manners
Royal Oak (74) - Capt. T. Burnett
Russell (74) - Capt. James Saumarez
St Albans (64) - William Cornwallis
Torbay (74) - Capt. J.L. Gidoin
Warrior (74) - Captain Sir J. Wallace
Yarmouth (64) - Capt. A. Parrey
Valiant (74) - Capt. G.S. Goodall

France

Ardent (64) - (formerly British - captured)
Auguste (80) - Bougainville
Bourgogne (74)
Brave (74)
César (74) - (captured, but burnt)
Citoyen (74)
Conquérant (74)
Couronne (80) - Mithon de Genouilly
Dauphin Royal (70)
Destin (74)
Diadème (74)
Duc de Bourgogne (80)
Éveillé (64)
Glorieux (74) - (captured)
Hector (74) - (captured)
Hercule (74)
Languedoc (80)
Magnanime (74)
Magnifique (74)
Marseillais (74)
Neptune (74)
Northumberland (74)
Palmier (74)
Pluton (74)
Réfléchi (64)
Richemond (frigate) - Montemart
Sceptre (74)
Scipion (74)
Souverain (74)
Triomphant (80) - Vaudreuil
Ville de Paris (104) - flagship of Amiral de Grasse (captured)