Battle of the Tagus

Battle of the Tage

The French fleet forcing the entrance of the Tagus, by Horace Vernet.

Date	11 July 1831
Location	Mouth of the Tagus river, Belém Tower, Lisbon
Result	French victory

Belligerents

Kingdom of the French

Miguelist Portugal

Commanders and leaders

Rear admiral Albin Roussin

Strength

6 ships of the line
3 frigates

3 corvettes

Casualties and losses

3 killed, 11 wounded

6 ships of the line
3 frigates

The Battle of the Tagus was a naval engagement that took place on 11 July 1831 at the mouth of the Tagus river, in Portugal. A French fleet attacked and subdued Portuguese fortifications at the entrance of the Tagus, with the aim to strong-arm the government of Miguel I into recognising the newly established Kingdom of the French. The damage to the forts defending access to the Tagus and the arrival of French warships at Lisbon forced the Portuguese to cave in and comply with French demands.

The accession of King Miguel I to the throne of Portugal and abolition of the Constitutional Charter had put the country under the rule of an absolutist monarch. Liberals challenged this usurpation, and the struggle of the Liberal Wars ensued. The government of Miguel I was hostile to France, and became even more so when the popular insurrection of the July Revolution deposited the absolutist Bourbon king Charles X, and established a constitutional monarchy in which Louis-Philippe had become "King of the French". Miguel Refused to recognise the Monarchy of July, while neither the French nor the British government recognised his.

In early 1831, a French citizen, Edmond Potentin Bonhomme was sentenced to public flogging, a fine and exile for allegedly profaning a church, a claim that French officials dismissed as "they had good reason to believe that many of the statements it comprehends, have no other foundation than the bigotry and malevolence of the Portuguese priesthood". Several other French citizen were similarly detained in what the French government judged to be arbitrary manners.

The French consul in Lisbon, Cassas, was tasked to present a diplomatic demarche to the Portuguese government, but he was rebuffed as not having the diplomatic credentials of an ambassador. Viscount d'Asseca requested a mediation of the British Foreign minister, Viscount Palmerston, who advised the Portuguese to comply with French demands. A squadron under Captain de Rabaudy, comprising the 60-gun frigate Melpomène and the 18-gun brig Endymion, under Nonay, was sent to the mouth of the Tagus river to show the flag and give weight to the demands of the French consul. They arrived on 16 March 1831. Upon her departure from Brest, Melpomère ran aground on Basse Beuzec, and had to double back, leaving Endymion to continue her route. When Melpomère finally arrived on 16 May 1831, Endymion was already returning to France, with the consul aboard. Rabaudy Stated the purpose of his mission to Portuguese authorities and delivered the French ultimatum, demanding:

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