The Battle of Trincomalee

31^st August 1782, the Union Jack is hauled down and the Standard of the Kingdom of France flies in the stiff breeze as the British surrender the Port of Trincomalee to the French under the command of Admiral Pierre-André de Suffren Saint-Tropez, or 'Bailli de Suffren'.

The surrender marked a key point in the French East Indian Campaign (1782 – 1783). This Campaign is closely linked with the History of Sri Lanka (Ceylon), vestiges of which remain to this day. The engagements of this campaign are considered to be the last battles fought in the American War for Independence, albeit on the far side of the world !

From 1776 the French had tacitly supported the American revolutionaries in the War of Independence. However, after the American victory of Saratoga the French openly declared their support through the signing of the ‘Treaty of Alliance’ with the United States of America on February 6, 1778. When this news reached India, the British East India Company moved swiftly to capture French colonial outposts on the subcontinent. Pondicherry fell to the British after a two month siege in 1778. The capture of the French controlled port of Mahe’ on the Indian west Coast in 1779 precipitated the Second Anglo-Mysore war in 1780.

In the midst of this turmoil, at around the  same time that de Grasse’s larger fleet deployed to North America in direct support for the American colonies,  Chevalier - commander Pierre -Andre de Suffren put out to sea with five (05) ships of the line and seven (07) transports on 22 March 1781 from the port of Brest bound for the Indies. His orders were to assist the Dutch in the defence of the cape from an expected British attack and to proceed to the Indies (the Dutch had entered the war in support of the American revolutionaries in late 1780).

Admiral Pierre-André de Suffren Saint-Tropez, or 'Bailli de Suffren'

On 16 April 1781 he found the British fleet enroute to the cape under the command of commodore George Johnstone. He engaged the enemy at once. After the Battle of Porto Praya in the Cape Verde Islands as the engagement became know, he saved the cape from capture by offloading French troops to aid the Dutch and pressed on to Isle de France (now Mauritius). After joining up with another French Squadron there, the  combined fleet of 11 ships of the line and the transports (carrying nearly 3000 troops) continued to the Indies under the overall command of the elderly Admiral D’Estienne D’Orves.

The battle of Porto Praya by Marquis de Rossel (1739-1804)

By the time the fleet entered the Indian Ocean, the British had expelled the Dutch and occupied Trincomalee ( 8 January 1782) and most key French colonies in India were in British hands. The death of  Admiral D’Estienne D’Orves in February 1782 placed the fleet under Suffren’s direct command.

He first sailed for Madras to surprise the British garrison. Finding Admiral Edward Hughes British squadron anchored there he decided to head south and land the French troops at Porto Novo from where they could recapture French and Dutch possessions. In pursuit, Admiral Hughes managed to position the British squadron between the French ships of the line and escorted transports during the night of 16 February 1782.

The first shots of the French East Indian Campaign were fired on 17 February 1782 when the French Fleet engaged Admiral Edward Hughes British squadron off Madras in the ‘Battle of Sadras’. The fleets closed around three thirty (1530) in the afternoon. Suffren, flying his flag on board the Heros led five of his ships in to action. Of the remaining six only two joined in later. After three hours of battle the British had received the worst of it though the engagement was undecided with the fall of darkness. The engagement however was technically a French victory since Suffren was able to achieve his initial goal of safely disembarking the French troops on Indian soil. He met the Mysorean ruler Hyder Ali and then after putting in at Pondicherry set off on 23 February in pursuit of Hughes who had sailed his fleet to Trincomalee. The long term implications of the ‘Battle of Sadras’ became apparent on 4 April 1782 when a joint force of Mysoreans and French troops attacked and retook Cuddalore, just North of Porto Novo, from the British.

The fleets next met on 12 April 1782 off the small island of Providien, South East of Trincomalee when Suffren again caught up with Hughes. Broadsides were engaged just after noon and continued till night fall. The fall of darkness and a sudden storm brought an end to the engagement. Admiral Hughes sailed back to Trincomalee. Suffren anchored at Batticaloa which was still under the control of the Dutch and remained there for six weeks to repair and replenish.

June 1782 saw the French fleet operating out of Cuddalore, attempting to capture the coastal town of Nagapatnam. This time round Admiral Hughes sallied out of Trincomalee to engage the French and the fleets met on 6 July 1782 in the ‘Battle of Nagapatnam’. This time a squall scattered both the battered fleets, the French having suffered far more losses to her crews.

The Battle of Nagapatnam by Dominic Serres (1719-1793)

The climax of the campaign was in August 1782. On July 28 Suffren found that a small French fleet with two ships of the line, a frigate and transports with 800 troops had arrived off the southern tip of Ceylon. Sailing for  Batticaloa the two fleets joined up.  Suffren brazenly sailed into Trincomalee and landed 2400 French troops on 26 August. After a bombardment of three days the walls were breeched and the British garrison commander Captain McDowel was asked to surrender. The British surrendered Trincomalee on 31 August 1782. The Admiral now strongly garrisoned the fort with a contingent of French troops and waited for the British. On 3 September Admiral Hughes arrived off Trincomalee and the fleets engaged in the ‘Battle of Trincomalee’. The engagement again continued till sunset, and the Port of Trincomalee remained in French hands. The onset of the monsoon saw the two fleets moving away from centre stage. The British to Bombay and the French to Achin in Dutch Sumatra (now in Indonesia).

The Battle of Trincomalee by Dominic Serres (1719-1793) commissioned by Admiral Hughes

With the South West monsoon breaking in 1783 Suffren returned to India. Both fleets had been augmented during the previous months. The British now had eighteen (18) ships of the line to the French fifteen (15). By 1783 Hyder Ali was dead but the war against the East India Company was being effectively prosecuted by his son Tipu Sultan. In June 1783 a British force was laying siege to Cuddalore with support from Admiral Hughes fleet. On 20 June 1783 Suffren fought the last engagement of the campaign by attacking the British fleet off Cuddalore, inflicting sufficient damage on them to force Admiral Hughes to withdraw to Madras leaving the British forces on the ground with no support from the sea. The critical situation that now befell the British forces besieging Cuddalore was ameliorated by the signing of preliminary articles of peace between Britain and France ending hostilities on the Sub continent between the two powers.

During a two year period Admiral Suffren had skillfully handled his fleet while at a significant disadvantage in terms of supplies and reinforcements. His efforts along the coasts of India and Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) probably made a significant contribution to the British making peace with the French in the larger conflagration that grew out of the American Revolutionary War. The fragile colonial presence in India, foremost among other places in the world were probably not worth risking just to oppose the American colonies struggle for  independence.