The Raid on St Malo took place in June 1758 when an amphibious

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

naval expedition landed close to the French port of

St Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the Alli ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

. While the town itself was not attacked, as had been initially planned, the British destroyed large amounts of shipping before re-embarking a week later. The naval forces were under the command of

Richard Howe Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe, (8 March 1726 – 5 August 1799) was a British naval officer. After serving throughout the War of the Austrian Succession, he gained a reputation for his role in amphibious operations a ...

while the army was led by the

Duke of Marlborough General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, (26 May 1650 – 16 June 1722 O.S.) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reign ...

and Lord Sackville.

Background

As part of an effort to provide a diversion in support of Britain's German Allies, William Pitt had conceived the idea of a series of naval descents, or amphibious attacks. In 1757 a large expedition was sent to Rochefort where it captured an offshore island, but failed to make an attack on the town itself before returning home. Pitt believed that the failure was due to insufficient vigour by the expedition's commanders, and planned to launch further expeditions against the French coast in the coming year.

Raid

By early 1758 the British cabinet planned the next raid and began to assemble a force on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. Pitt had learned a number of lessons from the Rochefort expedition. New landing-craft were designed, and the process of assembling the force improved to speed up the departure date. The selected target of the expedition, St Malo - a

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

port on the northern coast of Brittany - would allow the British force to remain in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

so it could return home at short notice in case of a French invasion of Britain. On 1 June the expedition sailed from England, reaching

Cancale Bay Cancale (; ; Gallo: ''Cauncall'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is known as the birthplace of Saint Jeanne Jugan. Population Inhabitants of Cancale are called ''Cancalais'' in French. To ...

near St Malo on 5 June. That evening the landing craft carrying the soldiers were put ashore. St Malo stood at the end of a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

, and the British hoped to cut off the

fresh-water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

supply that ran along it. Once ashore the only immediate opposition they faced was a French artillery battery, which was subdued by the guns of the British warships. The troops then marched towards St Malo, but it soon became apparent they would need to conduct a full-scale siege to take the town - something they did not have the time to do. Instead the British occupied St Servan, a nearby port, and burned 30

privateers A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

and 100 other vessels. Troops were sent on a reconnaissance eastwards towards Dol. They reported the approach of a sizeable French force - and Marlborough decided that it was the right time to withdraw. On 11 and 12 June the British expedition re-embarked. The force remained off St Malo for more than a week, and then sailed along the coast in an attempt to scout out fresh targets. Attacks on

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Cherbourg in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. However, bad weather forced them to abort planned landings on 29 June and 3 July. With his force short of water and other provisions Marlborough made the decision to return home, and the expedition sailed for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Aftermath

While the expedition had failed to seize St Malo, it was widely considered a success. The French became alarmed when the expedition had set off, believing it was destined for

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

where it could link-up with the German army under the

Duke of Brunswick Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...

which had recently crossed the

River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...

. When it was discovered that St Malo was the correct destination, the general French reaction was relief. However, as with the Rochefort raid, the sudden descent made the French more concerned about the coast and increasingly large numbers of troops were deployed on coastal defence duties. In September of the same year, following a successful descent on Cherbourg a second British force under

Thomas Bligh Lieutenant General Thomas Bligh (1685–1775) was an Kingdom of Ireland, Irish-born Kingdom of Great Britain, British soldier, best known for his service during the Seven Years' War when he led a series of amphibious raids, known as "Naval Descen ...

attempted another raid on St Malo. Caught ashore by a larger force of French troops they were only able to re-embark with considerable difficulty following the

Battle of St Cast The Battle of Saint Cast was a military engagement during the Seven Years' War on the French coast between British naval and land expeditionary forces and French coastal defence forces. Fought on 11 September 1758, it was won by the French. Du ...

. This brought an end to the policy of descents as government policy had changed to support a more direct British military presence in Germany. It was announced that the Prince Edward, Duke of York, younger brother of the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, was to join the next expedition.Tyllard p.42-43

References

Bibliography

* Anderson, Fred. ''Crucible of War: The Seven Years War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766''. Faber and Faber, 2000. * Corbett, Julian Stafford. ''England in the Seven Years' War: A study in Combined Operations. Volume I''. London, 1907. * Middleton, Richard. ''The Bells of Victory: The Pitt-Newcastle Ministry and the Conduct of the Seven Years' War, 1757-1762''. Cambridge University Press, 1985. * Syrett, David. ''Admiral Lord Howe: A Biography''. Spellmount, 2006. * Szabo, Franz A.J. ''The Seven Years War in Europe, 1756-1763''. Pearson, 2008. * Tyllard, Stella. ''A Royal Affair: George III and his Troublesome Siblings''. Vintage, 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Malo, Raid on Conflicts in 1758 Battles of the Seven Years' War 1758 in France Battles involving France Battles involving Great Britain Military raids Military history of Brittany