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Action of 12 December 1782


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Main page Action of 12 December 1782


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Recent changes HMS Mediator engaging French and American vessels,
Upload file 12 December 1782 L’Aimable Eugénie on the right
captained by Nicolas Baudin is seen fleeing from the
Tools action.
What links here Date 12 December 1782
Related changes
Location Off Ferrol, Spain
Special pages
Permanent link Result British victory
Page information Belligerents
Cite this page Great Britain France
Wikidata item United States

Print/export Commanders and leaders


James Luttrell Nicolas Baudin
Download as PDF
Strength
Languages 1 Roebuck-class fifth rate 1 ship of the line (en flûte)
Add links 1 frigate
1 armed transport
2 American privateers
Casualties and losses
7 casualties 1 ship of the line captured
1 privateer captured
9 killed
16 wounded
340 captured

v· t· e American
Revolutionary War:
European & Atlantic
Waters
North Channel · 17 June 1778 · 1st Ushant ·
English Channel · 1st Jersey · 14 September 1779 ·
Flamborough Head · 6 October 1779 ·
11 November 1779 · 20 November 1779 ·
8 January 1780 · Cape St. Vincent · Madeira ·
Cape Santa Maria · 10 August 1780 · 13 August 1780 ·
Bermuda · 4 January 1781 · 2nd Jersey ·
25 February 1781 · Málaga · 1 May 1781 · 30 May 1781
· Porto Praya · Dogger Bank · Minorca · 2nd Ushant ·
16 March 1782 · 3rd Ushant · 4 September 1782 ·
Gibraltar · Cape Spartel · 12 December 1782

The Action of 12 December 1782 was a naval engagement fought off the coast of Spain near Ferrol, in which
the British 40-gun fifth rate HMS Mediator successfully attacked a convoy of five armed ships. Mediator
succeeded in capturing one American privateer, the Alexander, and then captured the French ex-ship of the
line La Ménagère. The convoy was part of Pierre Beaumarchais's supply chain to the American colonists.
Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Action
3 Aftermath
4 References

Background [edit]
The Frenchman Pierre Beaumarchais founded a commercial enterprise, Roderigue Hortalez and Co., supported
by France and Spain. The French and Spanish supplied the American rebels with weapons, munitions, clothes,
and provisions that would never be paid for. Beaumarchais contracted for the transport of the supplies in
convoys. Even so, the Royal Navy captured many of the transport vessels.
Beaumarchais assembled one convoy in December 1782. He met his captains in Bordeaux and then supervised
the loading of his vessels. The plan was to sail for Port-au-Prince, Saint Domingue and then on to America to
supply the American colonists.[1]
The convoy consisted of five ships:
Alexander was a corvette that Beaumarchais purchased in 1781 in Bordeaux.[2] She was under the
command of Commander Stephen Gregory, who had an American privateer commission issued in France (a
"Congress" commission) and sailed under a French ensign and an American pennant. She had a mixed
American and French crew of 102 men and was armed with twenty-four long 9-pounder guns. She was of
about 500 tons burthen and carried a cargo of stores and provisions.
Aimable Eugénie, which was named after Beaumarchais' daughter, was under the command of Nicolas
Baudin. She mounted 36 guns and had a crew of 130 men; she was the primary escort for the convoy.[1]
Beaumarchais had bought her at Nantes in March 1782 for £t300,000.[3]
Ménagère, which was under the command of François Jérome Foligné-Deschalonges, had a burthen of 600
tons (bm) and was a two decked vessel, launched in 1775 or '76.[4] She was a former 64-gun ship of the
line, and now armed en flûte, with twenty-six 12-pounders on her main deck and four 6-pounders on her
forecastle and quarterdeck. She had a crew of 212 men and carried 100 tons of gunpowder plus naval
stores and bale goods.
Dauphin Royal was under the command of Antoine Chambert. She was a transport purchased and armed at
Bordeaux for the Marine Royale.[5] She was of 300 tons burthen (bm), armed with twenty-eight guns and
carried a crew of 120 men.
The convoy also included an unknown American privateer brig with 14 guns and a crew of 70 men.
On 9 December 1782 the convoy sailed from the mouth of the Gironde for the West Indies and from there
America.[6] On 12 December, at 7:00am, HMS Mediator, under the command of James Luttrell, was sailing off
Ferrol when she sighted the convoy.[7]

Action [edit]
At 8am the convoy formed in line of battle. Notwithstanding this formidable array, Captain Luttrell continued
bearing down and at 10:00am Ménagère initiated the action. Luttrell saw that the shot came from the upper
deck only and rightly concluded that the French vessel had no lower-deck guns. Mediator bore up in order to
bring the rear ship to action.[8]
At 10:30am Mediator opened fire on Dauphin Royal when that ship and the Alexander bore up out of the line.[7]
Aimable Eugénie, Ménagère and the American brig then wore and endeavored to protect the two rear ships.
Mediator fought her way through the Franco-American line. At 11am Luttrell
was able to cut off Alexander and compelled her to strike. He then took
possession of the Alexander while the rest of the French and American vessels
were trying to escape before the wind.[8] Once Luttrell had succeeded in
removing the prisoners and placing a prize-master and crew on board
Alexander, he pursued the retreating ships.[9]
At 3pm the Aimable Eugénie hauled off the wind in full sail. Mediator then
followed Ménagère. At 5p.m. he got within gunshot of Ménagère and started a
running fight. At 9:00pm Mediator, having got up with the Ménagère, was on
the point of firing a full broadside. Before she could do so Ménagère struck. At Captain James Luttrell who
this point the action ended. commanded HMS Mediator

Because the enemy fired high in an attempt to damage Mediator's rigging, she
sustained no casualties. Ménagere had four men killed and seven or eight wounded. Alexandre had six killed
and eight or nine wounded.[8]
Dauphin Royal and the American brig were seen next morning severely damaged but only five miles from
Ferrol. However Luttrell judged it prudent to make sail for England with his two prizes. He had 340 prisoners on
board and only 100 men to guard them while being close to Spain.[8][10]

Aftermath [edit]
Mediator sustained only seven casualties in her crew but was cut up in the riggings in masts which had been
the target of the French and American ships.[9] Alexander had six men killed and nine wounded; La Ménagère
had a passenger returning to Saint-Domingue and three seamen killed, and several men wounded.[7]
Despite being well-treated, Captain Gregory organized a party of the prisoners in an attempt to gain possession
of Mediator. He was subdued but then unsuccessfully attempted to set fire to the ship.[11] After this Luttrell had
Gregory and the American prisoners placed in irons. Although the French officers played no part in the attempt,
the British also guarded them more closely. Michael Seymour, who was later to be a rear admiral, served as a
midshipman in HMS Mediator.
Aimable Eugénie reached Saint-Domingue in March 1783, where she was wrecked on the coastal reef at Porto
Plata.[3]
Luttrell and his crew received the last of the prize money for Alexandre and Ménagere in October 1788.[12]
The action was the final clash of arms in which American forces were engaged before the Treaty of Paris
concluded the war.

References [edit]
Citations
1. ^ a b L’Aimable Eugénie
2. ^ Demerliac (1996), p.210, #2132.
3. ^ a b Demerliac (1996), p.210, #2133.
4. ^ Demerliac (1996), p.210, #2131.
5. ^ Demerliac (1996). p.192, #1910.
6. ^ La Ménagère Beaumarchais Contract
7. ^ a b c Allen, p.351.
8. ^ a b c d "No. 12399" . The London Gazette. 21 December 1782. pp. 1–2.
9. ^ a b Seymour, p.536.
10. ^ Allen, p.352.
11. ^ Lt. Stephen Gregory
12. ^ "No. 13024" . The London Gazette. 9 September 1788. pp. 440–441.
Bibliography
Allen, Joseph (1852) Battles of the British navy (H.G. Bohn) Vol. 2.
Demerliac, Alain (1996) La Marine De Louis XVI: Nomenclature Des Navires Français De 1774 À 1792.
(Nice: Éditions OMEGA). ISBN 2-906381-23-3
"No. XV. Sir Michael Seymour, of High Mount, County Cork, and friary Park, Devon, Bart. and K.C.B.; Rear-
Admiral of the Blue; and Commander-in-Chief on the South American Station". The Annual Biography and
Obituary for the Year 1835. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown. 1835. pp. 195–201.
"Rr-Adm. Sir M. Seymour, Bt.". The Gentleman's Magazine. Volume II. New Series. MDCCCXXXIV. July to
December Inclusive. 1834. pp. 536–537.
External links
Freewebs: Beaumarchais
Benjamin Franklin Papers Part 11 -- Bonds given to the President of the United Colonies through Benjamin
Franklin
Stephen Gregory, Lieutenant - Continental Navy
The Luttrells
Baudin

Categories: Conflicts in 1782 1782 in Spain Naval battles of the Anglo-French War (1778–1783)
Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War
Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War involving the United States
Naval battles of the American Revolutionary War involving France

This page was last edited on 16 August 2020, at 15:07 (UTC).


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