Invasion of Tobago

Invasion of Tobago
Part of the American Revolutionary War
French depiction of the invasion
Date 24 May – 2 June 1781 Location Tobago and St. Lucia Result French victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
George Brydges Rodney George Ferguson Anthony St Leger Francis Samuel Drake	Comte de Grasse Marquis de Bouillé Philibert François Rouxel de Blanchelande Albert de Rions
Strength
800 regulars and militia 6 ships of the line	4,500 troops 24 ships of the line
Casualties and losses
Unknown troops lost to heat or captured, the rest surrendered 1 ship of the line lost	46 killed 105 wounded

The Invasion of Tobago was a French invasion of the British-held island of Tobago during the American Revolutionary War. On May 24, 1781, the fleet of Comte de Grasse landed troops on the island under the command of General Marquis de Bouillé. By June 2, 1781, they had successfully gained control of the island.

In March 1781, France sent a large fleet consisting of 20 ships of the line and a convoy with 6,000 troops to the West Indies under the command of de Grasse. They arrived off the coast of Martinique on 28 April. The French drove off the British fleet led by Sir Samuel Hood, which had been blocking Fort Royal. Hood and the British station commander Admiral George Brydges Rodney joined forces on May 11, 1781 between St. Kitts and Antigua to discuss the French threat.

De Grasse met with Martinique's governor, Marquis de Bouillé, and developed a plan for capturing Tobago. The French forces were to be divided, with one convoy accompanied by a small number of battle ships to head for Tobago, with the rest of the forces to land on St. Lucia as a diversion. The forces used in the diversion would then be withdrawn and sent to Tobago, reinforcing the first convoy.

Led by de Bouillé and accompanied by de Grasse, the St. Lucia platoon withdrew from Martinique on May 8, 1781. The Tobago-bound platoon, led by Blanchelande and accompanied by two ships of the line and a number of frigates, departed on May 9, 1781.

Bouillé's force, numbering between 1,200 and 1,500, landed at Gros Islet, a village at the northern tip of St. Lucia, early on May 10. They surprised the small British garrison there, taking about 100 prisoners and seizing military supplies. This prompted General Anthony St Leger, the island's lieutenant governor, to organise the defence of Castries and fortify the slopes of Morne Fortune above that port.

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