French order of battle in the Expédition d'Irlande

The Expédition d'Irlande was a French attempt to invade Ireland in December 1796 during the French Revolutionary Wars. Encouraged by representatives of the Society of United Irishmen, an Irish republican organisation, the French Directory decided that the best strategy for eliminating Britain from the war was to invade Ireland, then under British control.[1] It was hoped that a substantial invasion in the summer of 1796 would encourage a widespread uprising among the Irish population and force the British to abandon Ireland, providing a major strategic and propaganda coup for the French Republic and a staging point for a subsequent invasion of Britain.[2] Assigned to lead the operation was General Lazare Hoche, the Republic's most successful military commander, who was provided with a significant body of troops and the services of the entire French Atlantic fleet.[3][A]

View of the wreck of the French ship Le Droits D' Homme, John Fairburn

Preparation for the invasion was slow throughout the autumn, and it was not until December that the force was ready to leave Brest. The delay was principally the result of poor organisation and discipline within the French Navy, and preparations were only completed once the commander at Brest, Vice-amiral Villaret de Joyeuse, had been replaced with Vice-amiral Morard de Galles and Hoche given direct command of discipline within the fleet.[4] Departing Brest on 15 December, the French invasion fleet was almost immediately scattered: a combination of bad weather, inexperience at sea and the depredations of British frigates dispersing the force and destroying one ship of the line.[5] As separate ships and small squadrons made their way independently to the rendezvous point off Mizen Head, the flagship frigate Fraternité was chased deep into the Atlantic by a British frigate and took more than a week to return to Ireland. In that time the rest of the fleet, buffeted by the worst winter storms since 1708, broke up off the landing beaches in Bantry Bay, the weather too fierce to allow any amphibious landings.[6]

By the last week of December 1796 the fleet was in full retreat, having failed to land a single soldier in Ireland.[7] Several ships were wrecked or foundered in heavy seas, and a British frigate squadron based at Cork managed to seize a number of lone frigates and transports during the first two weeks of January.[8] The main British fleet, although ordered to intercept the invasion force, made little progress and did not arrive in the Western Approaches until 13 January, by which time all except three French ships had been accounted for.[9] Two, including the flagship Fraternité, were chased by the British fleet, eventually reaching safety at Rochefort. The third, the ship of the line Droits de l'Homme, was intercepted by two British frigates led by Captain Sir Edward Pellew and destroyed in a running action that cost the lives of over 1,000 Frenchmen.[10]

In total, French losses were 12 ships captured or destroyed and over 2,000 men drowned.[8] The Brest fleet was so badly damaged by the operation that they launched no major operations during 1797 and were unable to respond when the British fleet was paralysed by the Spithead Mutiny a few months later.[11] A second French attempt to invade Ireland was launched in the summer of 1798, in response to the Irish Rebellion, but this too ended in disaster: all of the men landed were captured a few weeks later at the Battle of Ballinamuck. A third and final invasion effort was defeated and destroyed by a British squadron at the Battle of Tory Island in October 1798.[12]

Order of battle
Ships of the line
Ship Guns Commander Notes
Indomptable 80 Commodore Jacques Bedout Returned to Brest on 1 January.
Droits de l'Homme 74 Commodore Jean-Baptiste Raymond de Lacrosse Wrecked on 14 January 1797 in action with HMS Indefatigable and HMS Amazon. Over 1,000 men drowned.
Constitution 74 Commodore Louis L'Hériter Returned to Brest on 11 January.
Pegase 74 Contre-amiral Joseph de Richery
Commodore Clement Laronier		 Returned to Brest on 11 January.
Nestor 74 Commodore Charles Linois Returned to Brest on 13 January.
Révolution 74 Commodore Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley Returned to Rochefort on 13 January.
Fougueux 74 Commodore Esprit-Tranquille Maistral Returned to Brest on 1 January.
Trajan 74 Commodore Julien Le Ray Returned to Brest on 11 January.
Mucius 74 Commodore Pierre Quérangal Returned to Brest on 1 January.
Tourville 74 Captain Jean-Baptiste Henry Returned to Brest on 13 January.
Pluton 74 Captain Jean-Marie Lebrun Returned to Brest on 11 January.
Éole 74 Captain Joseph-Pierre-André Malin Returned to Brest on 13 January.
Wattignies 74 Captain Henri-Alexandre Thévenard Returned to Brest on 11 January.
Cassard 74 Captain Dufay Returned to Brest on 13 January.
Redoutable 74 Captain Pierre-Augustin Moncousu Returned to Brest on 1 January.
Patriote 74 Captain La Fargue Returned to Brest on 1 January.
Séduisant 74 Commodore Jean-Baptiste Henry Wrecked on 16 December 1796 on the Stevenant Rock near Brest. 680 men drowned.
Source: James, pp. 4–5, Clowes, p. 298
Frigates
Ship Guns Commander Notes
Scévola 44 captain Le Bozec Scuttled after storm damage on 30 December 1796.
Impatiente 40 Wrecked on 30 December 1796 near Crookhaven. Nearly 550 men drowned.
Romaine 40 Returned to Brest.
Immortalité 40 Flagship of Contre-amiral François Joseph Bouvet Returned to Brest.
Tartu 40 Captured on 30 December 1796 by HMS Polyphemus.
Bellone 32 Returned to Brest.
Bravoure 40 Returned to Lorient.
Charente 36 Returned to Brest.
Cocarde 40 Returned to Brest.
Fraternité 32 Flagship of Vice-amiral Morard de Galles Returned to Rochefort on 13 January.
Résolue 32 Flagship of Contre-amiral Joseph Marie Nielly Badly damaged in collision with Indomptable. Returned to Brest on 13 January.
Sirène 36 Returned to Brest.
Surveillante 32 Wrecked in Bantry Bay on 30 December 1797.
Source: James, pp. 4–5, Clowes, p. 298
Corvettes
Ship Guns Commander Notes
Affronteur 16 Returned to Brest.
Vautour 16 Returned to Brest.
Atalante 20 Captured on 10 January 1797 by HMS Phoebe.
Voltigeur 16 Returned to Brest.
Mutine 14 Captured on 29 May 1797 at Santa Cruz.
Renard 16 Returned to Brest.
Source: James, pp. 4–5, Clowes, p. 298
Transports
Ship Guns Commander Notes
Nicodème Returned to Brest.
Justine Disarmed frigate. Captured on 30 December 1796 by HMS Polyphemus.
Fille Unique Sank in the Bay of Biscay on 6 January 1797.
Ville de Lorient Disarmed frigate. Captured on 7 January 1797 by HMS Unicorn, HMS Doris and HMS Druid.
Suffren Disarmed frigate. Captured on 30 December 1796 by HMS Jason, recaptured by Tartu and captured again and destroyed on 8 January 1797 by HMS Daedalus.
Allègre Captured on 12 January 1797 by HMS Spitfire.
Expériment Returned to Brest.
Source: James, pp. 4–5, Clowes, p. 298

Notes

A. Sources vary on the exact number of French troops that eventually participated in the campaign. Pakenham gives 12,000,[13] Clowes, James, Woodman and Henderson suggest 18,000 (although James quotes estimates between 16,200 and 25,000),[3][14][15][16] while Regan and Come indicate approximately 20,000,[2] although Come comments that they were of low quality.[17]

References
  1. Come, p. 181
  2. Regan, p. 88
  3. James, p. 5
  4. Come, p. 184
  5. Woodman, p. 85
  6. Henderson, p. 22
  7. Pakenham, p. 18
  8. Clowes, p. 304
  9. James, p. 10
  10. James, p. 19
  11. Clowes, p. 305
  12. Gardiner, p. 114
  13. Pakenham, p. 23
  14. Clowes, p. 297
  15. Henderson, p. 20
  16. Woodman, p. 83
  17. Come, p. 185

Bibliography
  • Clowes, William Laird (1997) [1900]. The Royal Navy, A History from the Earliest Times to 1900, Volume IV. Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-013-2.
  • Come, Donald R. (Winter 1952). "French Threat to British Shores, 1793–1798". Military Affairs. Society for Military History. 16 (4): 174–188. doi:10.2307/1982368. JSTOR 1982368.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (2001) [1996]. Fleet Battle and Blockade. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-363-X.
  • Henderson CBE, James (1994) [1970]. The Frigates. Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-432-6.
  • James, William (2002) [1827]. The Naval History of Great Britain, Volume 2, 1797–1799. Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-906-9.
  • Pakenham, Thomas (2000) [1997]. The Year of Liberty: The Story of the Great Irish Rebellion of 1798. London: Abacus. ISBN 978-0-349-11252-7. Rev. ed.
  • Regan, Geoffrey (2001). Naval Blunders. Andre Deutsch. ISBN 0-233-99978-7.
  • Woodman, Richard (2001). The Sea Warriors. Constable Publishers. ISBN 1-84119-183-3.
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