Skirmish on the Restigouche River

Skirmish on the Restigouche River

Part of: Seven Years War in North America

date	July 8, 1760
place	Restigouche River
output	British victory

Parties to the conflict
Great Britain	France
Commander
John Byron	Francois de La Giraudais Francois D'Angeac
Troop strength
3 ships of the line 2 frigates	1 frigate 5 merchant ships 400 sailors and soldiers Mi'kmaq Akadier

The battle on the Restigouche River took place on July 8, 1760 during the French and Indian War ( Seven Years War ) (1754–1763) between British and French naval forces in a river flowing into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and ended with a British one Victory. Although relatively few ships and crews were involved in this battle, it is still of great historical importance, as it represented the last attempt by the French to save their possessions in Canada ( New France ).

prehistory

After the severe military setbacks of the French in 1758 and 1759 (including the loss of Louisbourg , Fort Frontenac , Fort Duquesne , Fort Ticonderoga , the defeat in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the subsequent surrender of Québec ), the last support remained Defense of New France Montréal .

Since the city was in a precarious situation at the beginning of 1760, a fleet of six frigates was put together in Bordeaux at the urging of Governor Vaudreuil to bring urgently needed supplies there. Vaudreuil hoped with this support not only to hold Montréal, but also to be able to recapture Québec. On April 10, the ships were able to sail, but the following day British warships blocked the French ports and scattered them. Only three ships, the flagship Machault (32 cannons) under the command of Captain Giraudais , the Marquis de Malauze (16 cannons) and the Bienfaisant (22 cannons), met again and were able to continue the voyage, while the Soleil and the Aurore of were taken from the British and fidelite was lost due to bad weather. Of the crew, only the captain, four officers, two soldiers and eleven crew members were able to save themselves in an open boat to the Azores .

When the French reached the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, they learned that the Royal Navy had gotten ahead of them and advanced up the Saint Lawrence River . Thereupon the three frigates withdrew with some captured British ships into the Chaleur Bay at the mouth of the Restigouche River. From there they sent messengers to Montréal asking for further orders.

Course of the battle

In the meantime, however, the British had learned of the arrival of the French through Indians . A squadron under Commodore John Byron , consisting of the ships of the line Fame (74 cannons), Dorsetshire (70 cannons) and Achilles (60 cannons), as well as the frigates Repulse (32 cannons) and Scarborough (20 cannons), invaded Chaleur Bay to put the French ships to battle. Byron added four armed schooners to his fleet, making it easier for his sailors to penetrate the shallow waters of the Restigouche River. The British numbered 1,700 men, while the French could muster only 450 men. Their only advantage was their better knowledge of the river. On June 22nd, the two fleets sighted each other. The French then withdrew to the Restigouche River, tried to block it with sunk ships, and set up gun batteries on the banks with cannons removed from their ships. After two weeks of maneuvers and several skirmishes, on July 7, after two unsuccessful attempts, the British were able to turn off the French battery on the Pointe aux Sauvages headland . In their attack efforts against the French ships, the British were hindered by the shallow water, as the two ships of the line could not penetrate far into the river. On July 8th, Byron ordered the decisive attack. The British frigate Repulse was so badly damaged in the French crossfire that it had to be set aground by its crew. However, the sailors managed to get the ship afloat again and intervene in the battle. When the situation became hopeless for the far inferior French because they ran out of ammunition, Captain Giraudais of the Machault gave the order to sink the ship. The crew went ashore. The Bienfaisant suffered the same fate, the Marquis de Malauze was also given up, but not sunk because there were British prisoners on board who had been brought there to safety from the Indians. The abandoned ship was boarded by the British, who set it on fire after freeing the prisoners. After an attempt at landing had been repulsed by the French, the British withdrew to Halifax , while the French recovered everything that could be used from the wrecks and returned to France with a few small sailors across the Atlantic.

consequences

The battle on the Restigouche was the final battle between British and French warships in North America during the French and Indian Wars . Despite the comparatively low casualties - the British had six dead, the French a little more - the battle was of considerable importance. With the loss of the ships, Montréal finally lost the connection to mainland France and thus important supplies. As a result, not only was a counterattack to retake Québec finally impossible, but the defense of Montréal was now with no prospect of success. The defeat on the Restigouche sealed the loss of New France to the British.

Archaeological exploration

More than 200 years after the battle, the wreck of the Machault was discovered at the bottom of the Restigouche and excavated between 1969 and 1972 using methods of underwater archeology . During this research, a large number of artifacts were discovered, ranging from remains of the ship's hull and its equipment to numerous merchandise that suggests that there were also business people on board. The finds have greatly enhanced our knowledge of the battle, the material culture of the French colonies and the trade at the time. Finds from the wreck are on display at the Battle of the Restigouche National Historic Site of Canada visitor center .

See also

• List of naval battles
• History of Québec

literature

• Willis Stevens: Machault. In: James P. Delgado: Encyclopedia of Underwater and Maritime Archeology. Yale University Press, London 1997, ISBN 0-300-07427-1 , pp. 250-251.

Web links

• Battle of the Restigouche National Historic Site of Canada (English)