Invasion of Jersey (1779)

1779 battle

Invasion of Jersey

Part of the Anglo-French War (1778–1783) and American Revolutionary War

Major Moses Corbet, Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, Phillippe Jean
| Date| May 1, 1779

|

Location|

Jersey

Result|  British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain|  France
Commanders and leaders
Moses Corbet
Mariot Arbuthnot|  Karl von Siegen
Phillipe Rullecourt
Strength
78th Regiment
Jersey Militia|  Several warships
Casualties and losses
Unknown wounded|  15–18 drowned
20 captured

* v
* t
* e

American Revolutionary War:
European naval theater

* North Channel
* 17 June 1778
* 1st Ushant
* English Channel
* 1st Jersey
* 14 September 1779
* Flamborough Head
* 6 October 1779
* 11 November 1779
* 20 November 1779
* 8 January 1780
* Cape St. Vincent
* Madeira
* Cape Santa Maria
* 10 August 1780
* 13 August 1780
* Bermuda
* 4 January 1781
* 2nd Jersey
* 25 February 1781
* Málaga
* 1 May 1781
* 30 May 1781
* Porto Praya
* Dogger Bank
* Minorca
* 2nd Ushant
* 16 March 1782
* 3rd Ushant
* 4 September 1782
* Gibraltar
* Cape Spartel
* 12 December 1782

* v
* t
* e

France in the American Revolutionary War

Europe and Mediterranean

* 17 June 1778
* 1st Ushant
* 20 October 1778
* 11 September 1778
* 31 January 1779
* 1st Jersey
* 13 May 1779
* English Channel
* Plymouth
* Gibraltar
* Flamborough Head
* 6 October 1779
* 15 June 1780
* Cape Santa Maria
* 10 August 1780
* 13 August 1780
* Brest
* 2nd Jersey
* Minorca
* 2nd Ushant
* 3rd Ushant
* Île-de-Batz
* Cape Spartel
* Ferrol

Atlantic

* Madeira
* Bermuda
* Porto Praya

Caribbean

* Dominica
* 1st St. Lucia
* 2nd St. Lucia
* Saint Vincent
* 1st Grenada
* 2nd Grenada
* 1st Martinique
* Guadeloupe
* 2nd Martinique
* Fort Royal
* Tobago
* Brimstone Hill
* Frigate Bay
* Demerara & Essequibo
* Montserrat
* The Saintes
* Mona Passage
* 18 October 1782
* 6 December 1782
* 15 February 1783
* Grand Turk

North America

* Rhode Island
* Charles Town
* Savannah
* 1st Long Island
* Cape Henry
* Cape Breton
* Cape Ann
* Yorktown
* Chesapeake
* Yorktown
* Hudson Bay
* 2nd Long Island
* Delaware Bay
* 2nd Chesapeake

East Indies

* Pondicherry
* Sadras
* Providien
* Negapatam
* Batticaloa
* Pisang
* Trincomalee
* Bay of Bengal
* 1st Cuddalore
* 2nd Cuddalore

The invasion of Jersey was a failed French attack on British-held Jersey in 1779, during the American Revolutionary War.

## Battle

[edit]

A letter from Major Moses Corbet, Lieutenant Governor of Jersey, reported that on 1 May 1779, a French force attempted a landing at St Ouen's Bay. Early that morning, lookouts sighted five large vessels and a great number of boats some three leagues off the coast, proceeding towards the coast in order by a coup de main to effect a landing. Guns on the cutters, and small craft supporting the landing, fired grapeshot at the defenders on the coast. By fast marching, the 78th Regiment of Foot and Jersey militia had arrived in time to oppose the landing, dragging with them some field artillery through the sand of the beaches. The defenders were able to prevent the landing, suffering only a few men wounded when a cannon burst.[1]

As the tide was ebbing, the French warships could not get close enough to support any landing, and without their support, the captains of the transports were unwilling to bring their vessels inshore. By some reports, the first and only vessel that attempted to land was either struck with a shot or dashed upon a rock. Twenty men got ashore and surrendered, 15 or 18 men drowned, and the rest got off safe. The French vessels held off a league from the coast, but eventually left the area.

On 2 May, a vessel from Jersey fell in with a convoy under Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot that had left Spithead en route to North America. Arbuthnot sent the convoy to Torbay and proceeded to the relief of Jersey with his ships. However, when he arrived, he found that Captain Ford of HMS Unicorn had the situation well in hand.[1] Arbuthnot returned to his convoy, but his deviation resulted in the convoy not clearing the Channel until end of June, with consequent hardship for the troops in North America who were awaiting it.[2]

Sir James Wallace in command of HMS Experiment in the action against the French at Cancale Bay on 13 May 1779

On 13 May Captain Sir James Wallace captured the French frigate Danae, and a brig and cutter, in Cancale Bay.[3] The squadron had sailed to the relief of Jersey after the failed French invasion.

## Aftermath

[edit]

In 1787 the British placed a battery of three 24-pounder guns on the spot where the Rector of St Ouen, le Sire du Parcq, had placed guns to repulse the French attack. In 1834, the British built a Martello tower there. Known as Lewis Tower (or St Ouen's No. 1), it survives to this day. During the German occupation of the Channel Islands 1940–1945, the Germans built a large bunker next to Lewis Tower; today it houses the Channel Islands Military Museum.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "No. 11976". The London Gazette. 4 May 1779. pp. 2–3.
2. ^ Campbell et al. (1827), Vol. 5, pp.456-7.
3. ^ "No. 12100". The London Gazette. 11 July 1780. p. 4.

## Sources

[edit]

* Campbell, John, John Berkenhout, Henry Redhead Yorke, William Stevenson (1817) Lives of the British admirals: containing an accurate naval history from the earliest periods. (Printed for C.J. Barrington, and J. Harris)

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