Naval Battles In French Revolutionary Wars, 1792-1815

By André Geraque Kiffer

During the French and Napoleonic Revolutionary Wars the British Royal Navy established its reputation as one of the most effective fighting institutions in history. The Navy not only played a key role in defeating France, but periodically opposed, usually with notable success, against its allies, Holland, Spain and Denmark, then establishing a maritime supremacy that would remain unchallenged for the next hundred years. The French Revolution is believed to have been a disaster that destroyed a good navy. However, although the French Marine Royale had achieved recent successes in the American Revolution, it already suffered from deep-seated problems. In the development of the simulation of these battles we will use the board game “Flying Colors” from GMT Games. The rules of the game when they appear for the first time, will appear in a footnote.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 3, 2024

Book preview

ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

Naval  Battles  in  the

French  Revolutionary  Wars,

1792-1815.

A  historical  simulation

Author's  Edition

Resende

2021

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

Naval  battles  in  French  Revolutionary  Wars,  1792-1815.  A historical  simulation.  André  Geraque  Kiffer.

Author's  Edition,  Resende,  2021.

Bibliography:  180  p.  74  im.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  Science  of  War.  4.  War Games.  I.  Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-65-00-21154-2

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3 PROLOGUE

Supported  by  a  summary  of  the  historical  fact  (war, campaign  and  /  or  battle),  I  try  to  analyze  and highlight  the  decisive  factors,  before  simulating alternative  what  if…  hypotheses  through  a  board game.  In  the  simulation,  all  the  possibilities  of  the study's  purpose  are  completed,  when  the  past  of history  is  analyzed  based  on  the  theory  of  the present  and  designed  for  similar  situations  in  the future.  So  far  I  have  published  the  following  series: I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Wars  of  the  First Empires,  since  2010;  VIII.  Historical  Simulation  of the  First  World  War,  since  2011;  II.  Historical Simulation  of  the  Wars  in  Classical  Greece,  since 2012;  III.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Roman  Wars, since  2016;  IV.  Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the Medieval  Era,  since  2018;  V.  Historical  Simulation of  Wars  in  the  Modern  Era  (1453  to  1774),  since 2019;  and  VI.  Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the Age  of  Revolutions  (1775-1860),  particularly  the

Napoleonic  Wars  (1803-1815),  since  2021.  I  plan  to

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publish  the  following  series:  VII.  Historical Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Industrial  Age  (1861  to 1913),  particularly  the  American  Civil  War  (1861- 1865);  IX.  Historical  Simulation  of  World  War  II; and  X.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Cold  War  (1917 to  1989).  After  being  based  on  this  comprehensive view  of  Military  History  since  1560  BC  in  Ancient Egypt,  and  on  the  knowledge  acquired  in  my  studies for  a  doctor’s  degree  of  Military  Science  in  2000  and a  bachelor's  degree  in  History  in  2019,  I  will complete  the  project  by  writing  and  publishing  an own  theory  on  the  Art  and  Science  of  War. Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  Science  of  War.  War

Games.

5 SUMMARY

FRENCH  REVOLUTIONARY  WARS…………...…6 FOURTH  BATTLE  OF  USHANT  ISLAND....….….23 BATTLE  OF  CAPE  SÃO  VICENTE……….....……50 BATTLE  OF  KAMPERDUIN..………………………77 BATTLE  OF  THE  NILE……….……………………..94 BATTLE  OF  COPENHAGEN.....………………….117 BATTLE  OF  CAPE  FINISTÈRE………...………..136

ANNEXES........…………………………………….157

6 FRENCH  REVOLUTIONARY  WARS

Im  1:  The  Theater  of  War.

Between  1700  and  1789  the  French  population increased  from  18  to  26  million,  leading  to  a  large number  of  unemployed  people,  accompanied  by sharp  increases  in  food  prices  caused  by  years  of bad  harvests.

The  generalized  social  crisis  led  to  the  calling  of the  General  States  in  May  1789,  the  first  since 1614.  In  June,  the  States  were  converted  into  a

National  Assembly,  which  swept  the  existing  State

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with  a  series  of  measures,  the  abolition  of  feudalism and  control  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  the extension  of  the  right  to  vote.

Thus,  the  Ancien  Régime  was  abolished  in favor  of  a  constitutional  monarchy.  Its  replacement in  September  1792  by  the  First  French  Republic  led to  the  execution  of  King  Louis  XVI  in  January  1793 and  a  long  period  of  political  turmoil. Then  came  the  French  Revolutionary  Wars  1

1  ,  a series  of  comprehensive  military  conflicts  that  lasted from  1792  to  1802.  They  pitted  France  against Great  Britain,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  Prussia, Russia  and  several  other  monarchies.  They  are divided  into  two  periods:  the  First  Coalition  War (1792–1797)  and  the  Second  Coalition  War  (1798– 1802).  Initially  confined  to  Europe,  it  gradually assumed  a  global  dimension.

In  the  continuation  came  the  Napoleonic  Wars  2

2  , so  called  by  the  recent  assumption  of  Napoleon  I  as

1

1  FREMONT-BARNES,  Gregory.  Essential  Histories:  The

French  Revolutionary  Wars.  Oxford,  UK:  Osprey,  2001.

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2  FISHER,  Todd;  FREMONT-BARNES,  Gregory;

CORNWELL,  Bernard.  Essential  Histories:  The  Napoleonic

Wars.  Oxford,  UK:  Osprey,  2004.

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emperor  of  France  in  1804.  They  were  a  series  of important  conflicts  that  opposed  the  French  Empire and  its  allies  against  a  fluctuating  set  of  European powers  formed  in  various  coalitions:  Third  Coalition (1805),  Fourth  Coalition  (1806–07),  Fifth  Coalition (1809),  Sixth  Coalition  (1813–14)  and  Seventh Coalition  (1815).

For  the  purpose  of  this  book  of  ours,  of  these historical  facts  cited,  we  will  stick  to  war  in  the  seas and  oceans.  Before  dedicating  ourselves specifically  to  the  battles,  let's  summarize  the situation,  at  the  time,  of  the  two  largest  navies  of war.

British  navy  3

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During  the  French  and  Napoleonic Revolutionary  Wars  the  British  Royal  Navy established  its  reputation  as  one  of  the  most effective  fighting  institutions  in  history.  The  primary objective  of  the  Navy  was  to  obtain  and  maintain naval  dominance  -  that  is,  control  of  the  sea  -  an

3

3  FREMONT-BARNES,  Gregory.  Battle  Orders:  The  Royal

Navy  1793-1815.  Oxford,  UK:  Osprey,  2007.

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objective  achieved  as  a  result  of  its  superiority  in leadership,  morals,  seamanship  and  artillery.

Im  2:  The  Maritime  Theater.

The  Navy  not  only  played  a  key  role  in defeating  France,  but  periodically  opposed, generally  with  notable  success,  against  its  allies, Holland,  Spain  and  Denmark,  then  establishing  a maritime  supremacy  that  would  remain unchallenged  for  the  next  hundred  years.

The  British  Navy's  largest  operational organizational  structure,  like  the  others,  was  the

fleet  with  ships  of  the  line.  Under  normal

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circumstances,  a  fleet  was  formed  in  a  single  line before  a  battle  began  and,  in  some  situations,  it separated  in  the  course  of  fighting  in  duels  between individual  ships.

Im  3:  The  fleet.

For  this  reason,  a  subordinate  admiral,  whether in  command  of  a  division  or  a  squadron,  did  not  play a  vital  role  in  the  battle.  He  was  advised  by  the Admiralty's  instructions  to  "be  attentive  to  the signals  from  the  flagship  of  the  fleet,  very  correctly preserving  the  relative  position  of  his  subordinate formation  in  relation  to  that.

The  manner  in  which  an  admiral  divided  his fleet  was  entirely  up  to  him,  although  he  usually assigned  at  least  ten  of  his  ships  of  the  line  to  each

squadron.  These  could  then  be  subdivided  into

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divisions  while  on  the  move  or  even  in  battle. No  ship  could  operate  properly  without  the  proper organization  of  its  crew.  The  warships  were  manned by  a  considerable  number  of  men,  from  300  in  the largest  frigates  to  800  or  more  men  in  the  largest ships  of  the  line.

Im  4:  The  naval  bases.

The  crew  -  minus  the  Marines,  assembled  in their  own  troop  -  was  divided  into  divisions.  Each crew  member  was  assigned  specific  tasks,  often several  at  once,  depending  on  the  ship's  mission  at any  given  time.  Among  the  functions  on  board,  we can  mention:  Commodore  (oldest  captain  in  the

temporary  command  of  a  squadron);  ship  captain;

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lieutenants  (1st,  2nd  and  3rd);  midshipman;  master; mast  and  sails  sailors;  cannon  garrison  sailors; sailors  to  operate  the  drain  pumps;  marines.

Im  5:  The  types  of  ships.

Instructions  to  commanders-in-chief  of  the fleets  were  not  issued  after  his  appointment,  but instead  he  inherited  orders  that