Capture of Rosily Squadron

Capture of the Rosily Squadron

Map of Cádiz

Date	9–14 June 1808.
Location	Cádiz, Spain
Result	Spanish victory, French squadron surrenders to Spain

Belligerents

French Empire

Spain

Commanders and leaders

François Rosily (POW)

Juan Ruiz de Apodaca

Tomás de Morla y Pacheco

Strength

5 ships of the line,
1 frigate,
4,000 sailors

5 ships of the line,
1 frigate
At least 2,000 sailors and militia,
Numerous gunboats

Casualties and losses

13 dead,
46 wounded,
3,676 captured,
6 ships captured
Total: 3,735

4 dead,
50 wounded,
15 gunboats sunk
Total: 54

The Capture of the Rosily Squadron took place on 14 June 1808, in Cadiz, Spain, nearly three years after the Battle of Trafalgar, during the uprising against the French invaders. Five French ships of the line and a frigate were still in the port, having remained there since the British victory. French Admiral Rosily, after an engagement with the Spanish lasting five days, surrendered his entire squadron with the four thousand seamen then on board.

Under difficult circumstances, Rear-Admiral Rosily acted in the manner that was most suitable to his situation, endeavouring to gain enough time for the arrival at Cadiz of those troops which had been dispatched from Madrid to Andalusia. He took up defensive positions, beyond the reach of the land batteries, in the channel which leads to the Caracas. While anchored there, he first offered to quit the bay, in order to quiet the multitude; he next proposed to the British, who were blockading the port, to send his cannon ashore, to keep his crews on board and to conceal his flag. In exchange, he required hostages for the safety of his sick and for the French inhabitants of Cadiz, and a pledge that he should be safe from attack. The British would not consent to this.

The Spanish governor of Cadiz, Tomás Morla, refused to comply with the Rosily's demands, and instead required that he should surrender his forces. On Rosily's refusal, the Spaniards sited batteries on the Isle of Leon and near Fort Louis.

The French ships and their numbers of guns were:

Neptune 80
Héros 74
Pluton 74
Algesiras 80
Argonaute 74
Cornélie 44

On 9 June, at 3 PM, a division of Spanish gun and mortar boats and the batteries erected on the Isle of Leon and at Fort Louis commenced hostilities against the French ships with steady fire, which was kept up until nightfall. The Spaniards had even requested that two ships of the line, Principe de Asturias (112) and Terrible (74), help them.

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Wikipedia