BATTLE // August 16, 1801

Raids on Boulogne

Name: Raids on Boulogne
Start: 1801-08-16
End: 1801-08-16
Location: Raids on Boulogne

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Significance

The August 1801 raid on Boulogne was part of the Royal Navy's effort to neutralize the French invasion flotilla assembling at the port during the final phase of the French Revolutionary Wars. Nelson's attempt to destroy or capture the anchored French vessels failed on both occasions he led forces against them. The earlier August 4 bombardment by bomb vessels inflicted fewer losses than the British sustained before a withdrawal. The larger night attack on August 16, deploying seventy boats and nearly two thousand men in four divisions, was repelled by the French defenders under Latouche Tréville, who inflicted 126 casualties on the attacking force. The twin failures demonstrated that the French flotilla could not be easily neutralized from the sea, leaving the invasion threat formally unresolved until the Peace of Amiens brought the war to a close the following year.

Tactics

Nelson organized the August 16 night attack into four divisions, committing seventy boats and nearly two thousand men in an attempt to seize or destroy the French vessels at anchor. The earlier August 4 action had employed five bomb vessels moved forward to open fire on the French line. Despite the reported inferiority of French artillery powder and the volume of fire the bomb vessels delivered, the British sustained greater casualties in that exchange and withdrew. The night assault was likewise repelled by the port's defenders.