A French force from

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...

under the command of ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' Jean-Michel Mahė recaptured

Gorée (; "Gorée Island"; ) is one of the 19 (i.e. districts) of the city of Dakar, Senegal. It is an island located at sea from the main harbour of Dakar (), famous as a destination for people interested in the Atlantic slave trade. Its populatio ...

from the British on 18 January 1804. The vessels consisted of a naval schooner and three privateers. The troops consisted of a contingent from the 8th Demi-Brigade and another from the Cayenne Volunteers. The French force stopped at

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, Senegal, on its way. At Dakar it added the schooner ''Rosalia'' and a detachment of troops from the 46th Brigade, and requisitioned the privateer , from Rochelle, to join the expedition. ''Mon Oncle Thomas'' had put into Dakar to request an extension of her

letter of marque A letter of marque and reprisal () was a Sovereign state, government license in the Age of Sail that authorized a private person, known as a privateer or French corsairs, corsair, to attack and capture vessels of a foreign state at war with t ...

. The Commandant promised to renew the letter on condition that ''Mon Oncle Thomas'' joined the expedition. The French force of some 500–600 men anchored off the island late in the evening of 17 January. Next morning 240 troops in eight boats landed east of the town. They met resistance from the 40–70 men of the British garrison and civilians. The British suffered 9 men killed and 10 wounded; the French suffered 43 men killed and 32 wounded. Facing an overwhelming force, Colonel John Frazer, the British commander, surrendered and signed terms of capitulation. The French then occupied the town. The French put the garrison aboard a sloop and sent them to Dakar. There the French made a

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...

of the schooner ''Marengo'' and put their British captives on board. ''Marengo'' stopped at Teneriffe to replenish her supplies and arrived at Falmouth on 17 April. In April 1804, ''

Lloyd's List ''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...

'' reported that the French had captured the British slave vessel , Bowland, master, and had taken her into

. She had been on her way from London to Africa. Recapture: The British recaptured Gorée on 7 March when Lieutenant Charles Pickford and a landing party from the 36-gun frigate forced the French garrison to surrender. Pickford had only been sent ashore to report on why the French held the island, and ''Inconstant'' returned on 8 March with an invasion force in four transports, not expecting the garrison to have been taken.

The French vessels

Citations

References

* * * {{coord missing, Senegal Conflicts in 1804 Battles of the Napoleonic Wars Battles involving the United Kingdom