Times of the Islands Spring 2017

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astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum ANGLOTOPIA.NET Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson commanded a squadron that was defeated by the French on Fire Hill, Grand Turk, in 1783. The French Connection The ill-fated Coquette Expedition. By John de Bry, Center for Historical Archaeology They say histories are usually about wars and always written by the victorious. It is refreshing to be able to look at a well-known conflict through the eyes of a participant on the losing side. Following a (very) minor engagement on Grand Turk in 1783, during which the squadron he commanded was unable to defeat a 60-man French force dug in on Fire Hill, none other than Capt. Horatio Nelson concluded his dispatch with “With such a force, and their strong situation, I did not think anything farther could be attempted.” But there is another, far more informative and thrilling account written by the commander of the opposing French naval force, Lt. Grasse-Brianson. 62 www.timespub.tc
astrolabe newsletter of the Turks & Caicos National Museum The following account was transcribed, interpreted and translated by Dr. John de Bry of the Center for Historical Archaeology in 1994 during a TCNMsponsored search for old records pertaining to the Turks & Caicos Islands in various French repositories. The attempt on the part of France to take over the Turks Islands in 1783 was largely a privateering endeavor rather than an initiative emanating from Versailles. It is easy to imagine the Sieur de Courrejeolles, mentioned in the first paragraph of the account below, as a shady character straight out of “Pirates of the Caribbean.” Courrejeolles remains an enigmatic player. His role in the invasion and capture of Grand Turk is surely understated and deserves elaboration. Additional research has so far failed to fully identify him. His name does not appear on any official naval papers, which only confirms that he was either a privateer or a pirate with a certain flair and sophistication. After all, he was the one who managed to sell the Turks Islands to the Prince and Princess of Nassau-Siegen several years later, even though he had absolutely no right to any property title on these islands! Although the direct involvement of the Governor of Saint- Domingue, Comte Robert d’Argout, is evidenced by the commission he gave to the Sieur de Courrejeolles on 11 September 1778, it is equally clear that Versailles strongly disapproved and condemned the actions of d’Argout and Courrejeolles. Abstract of the expedition of the King’s corvette la Coquette to the Turk Islands Followed by details of its capture Monsieur de Bellecombe, Governor-General of Saint- Domingue (modern Haiti), assigned the corvette la Coquette to the Turk islands expedition, along with two vessels of the colony, the Dauphin and Cornwallis. I [naval officer Grasse Brianson, in my capacity as acting captain and expedition leader] immediately endeavored to load all the necessary material, everything being ready on 8 February. Four detachments from different infantry regiments came aboard, as well as Monsieur de Courrejolles, Engineer of the Colony, who would take control of these Islands away from the English. The bay of Cap-Français [modern Cape Haitian] was blockaded by the English. But on the morning of the 9th, seeing the fleet somewhat distant, I took advantage of this situation to set sail with the vessels under my command, closely hugging the coast. We anchored at Port -Français, two leagues to the West to have the advantage of leaving during the night, which was done, thus allowing us to get under way without being seen. We sighted the Turk islands on the morning of the 12th, but the hour at which we arrived exposed us to the danger of being spotted from a long distance, so in order to avoid this inconvenience, I anchored at the Petite Saline [Salt Cay], one of the islands which is uninhabited, from which, without being seen, it was easy to observe if any vessels were at the Grande Saline [Grand Turk]. I only saw fishing boats. During the night I sent the brigantine Cornwallis to cruise to the North in order to be within range of intercepting any isolated vessel which might report [to the enemy] our presence. We also wanted to take the commanding English officer by surprise; to this effect, Monsieur de Courrejolles left during the night aboard rowboats and long boats, and landed with part of the troops on the South point, while I arrived in daylight in front of the dwellings. As soon as I was anchored, I landed the rest of the detachments; all of our plans succeeded, and we took control of the island of Grande Saline without encountering any resistance. I immediately sent ashore all the workmen I could find among the crews and, further, assigned daily sixty men to work under Monsieur de Courrejolles, at the various tasks which had to be performed at the same time, I unloaded ammunition and cannon as and when required. We had brought with us four 24-pounder cannon with which Monsieur de Courrejolles built a battery on the seashore, in front of his ammunition stores and living quarters. We anchored the ships a quarter of a league away, a reef line preventing us from coming any closer. It was unanimously determined that we could not be adequately protected in this situation, and that I would have no other choice than to set sail, should I be in danger of being attacked. Wanting to contribute all of my resources to the establishment [of the stronghold], I provided Monsieur de Courrejolles everything that he asked, even an additional nine quintals [1,980 pounds] of powder and two of my cannons, in order to build a battery on a small island located east of the Grande Saline [called Gibbs Cay today, it appears on French maps as Isle de Fort Castries, Times of the Islands Spring 2017 63
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