Battle of Diamond Rock
The French commander, Pierre de Villeneuve, had vague orders to attack British possessions in the Caribbean, but instead waited at Martinique for clearer instructions.[2] Patrolling off the southern end of the island, Hood saw that if Diamond Rock could be occupied, it would allow the British to effectively control the quickest shipping approaches to Fort-de-France & St. Pierre on the western side, as the strong easterly currents & prevailing easterly winds around the island made the easiest approaches mean passing within sight of Diamond Rock.They promptly fortified the small cove they had landed at with their launch's 24-pounder, and established forges and artificers' workshops in a cave at the base of the rock.[3] After fixing ladders and ropes to scale the sheer sides of the rock, they were able to access the summit and began to establish messes and sleeping areas in a number of small caves.[4] Bats were driven out by burning bales of hay, and a space was cleared by blasting at the top of the rock in order to establish a battery.In this manner the desired object was effected in the course of a week, during which time Lieutenant Maurice and the working party on shore suffered most dreadfully from excessive heat and fatigue, being constantly exposed to the sun, and frequently obliged to lower themselves down over immense precipices to attend the ascent of the guns, and bear them off from the innumerable projections against which they swung whenever the ship took a shear...[5]Despite the vulnerability of both Centaur and the Rock to a French gunboat attack while the process of fortification was being carried out, the French neglected to act.[6] With work complete by 7 February Hood decided to formalise the administration of the island, and wrote to the Admiralty, announcing that he had commissioned the rock as a sloop, under the name Fort Diamond.[10] Shortly after this it was discovered that the main cistern, holding a month's supply of water, had cracked in some earth tremors, and the leak had been made worse by the vibration from the guns.[11] There was barely two weeks left, but fresh supplies were now unobtainable as a blockade of the rock began by a number of schooners, brigs and frigates.Villeneuve felt however that his orders were not clear, and remained at Fort-de-France, hoping to be joined by a fleet under Honoré Ganteaume, which unbeknownst to him had been unable to break the blockade of Brest.[12] For two weeks Villeneuve lingered in the bay, until finally being persuaded by Villaret de Joyeuse to use his forces to capture Diamond Rock, a thorn in his side for the past seventeen months.[10][16] Cosmao began an intense bombardment while the infantry forced their way onto the landing stage, losing three gunboats and two rowing boats full of soldiers as they did so.[18] Maurice was returned to Barbados by 6 June, and sent a letter dated that day to Horatio Nelson, who had recently arrived in the Caribbean in search of Villeneuve's fleet.[13] My LordIT is with the greatest sorrow I have to inform you of the loss of the Diamond Rock, under my command, which was obliged to surrender on the 2d ist., after three days' attack from a squadron of two sail of the line, one frigate, one brig, a schooner, eleven gun-boats and, from the nearest calculation, 1500 troops.
Trafalgar campaignWar of the Third CoalitionAuguste MayerDiamond RockFranceUnited KingdomJulien CosmaoJames Mauricestone frigateCape Finisterre10 August 1805TrafalgarCape OrtegalAnglo-Spanish War(1796–1808)Gulf of CádizCape St. VincentConil de la FronteraCádizSanta Cruz de Tenerife1st CádizFerrol1st Cape Santa Maria2nd Cádiz2nd Cape Santa Maria3rd Cádiz1st CartagenaMurciaMenorca2nd Cartagena1st GibraltarMajorca2nd Gibraltar3rd GibraltarBarcelonaAlgecirasOropesa del MarNewfoundlandTrinidadSan JuanSt. George's CayePuerto CabelloRío de la PlataCardalMontevideoColonia del SacramentoParaná DeltaMiserereHavanaEast IndiesManilaCaribbean campaign of 1803–1810Saint-DomingueSt Lucia • Tobago • Demerara • Essequibo and BerbiceSurinamSan DomingoSamanáJeune RichardDanish West IndiesPalo HincadoSanto DomingoFrench GuianaPointe NoireMartiniqueLeeward IslandsTroude's expeditionRoquebert's expeditionGuadeloupeUlm campaignDonauwörthWertingenGünzburgHaslach-JungingenMemmingenElchingenMehrnbachLambachAmstettenMariazellDürensteinDornbirnSchöngrabernWischauAusterlitzVeronaCaldieroForanoCastelfranco VenetoInvasion of NaplesCampo TeneseMiletoHanover ExpeditionBattle of Blanc-Nez and Gris-NezBoulogneAnglo-Russian occupation of NaplesBlaauwbergAtlantic campaignNapoleonic WarsFort-de-FrancePierre de VilleneuveBritish possessionsflotillacourt-martialSamuel HoodprivateersHMS CentaurJames Wilkes Mauricelaunch'scarronadecapsternLouis Thomas Villaret de JoyeuseAdmiraltyfer-de-lanceFederico Gravinafalse flagruse de guerreNapoleonHonoré GanteaumePlutonBerwickSirènecorvetteschoonergunboatsMurray Maxwellspiked the gunsBarbados