Battle of the Saintes: Encyclopedia II - Battle of the Saintes - Battle

Battle of the Saintes - Battle

On the 12th, De Grasse bore up with his fleet to protect a dismasted ship that was being chased by four British ships as she made for Guadaloupe. Rodney recalled his chasing ships and made the signal for line of battle. As the French line passed down the British line, a sudden shift of wind let Rodney’s flagship Formidable and several other ships, including the Duke and the Bedford, break through the French line, raking the ships as they did so. The resultant confusion in the French line and the severe damage to several of the French ships including De Grasse's flagship Ville de Paris, 104, led eventually to De Grasse’s surrender and the retreat of many of his ships in disorder. This action split the French battle line into two. A general chase ensued. In all, four French ships were captured and one, César blew up after she was taken.

The British lost 243 killed and 816 wounded, and 2 captains out of 36 were killed. The French loss in killed and wounded has never been stated, but must have been considerably higher than that of the English; of captains alone, 6 were killed out of 30. An estimated 2000 French sailors were killed or wounded.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Battle", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki