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Battle of Beachy Head (1690)
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Beachy Head (Fr. Battle of Bévéziers) was a naval engagement fought on 10 July 1690 during the Nine Years' War. The battle was the greatest French tactical naval victory over their English and Dutch opponents during the war. The English and Dutch lost some 11 ships in total (sources vary), whereas the French did not lose a single vessel; but although control of the English Channel
temporarily fell into French hands, Admiral Tourville
failed to pursue the Allied fleet with sufficient ardour, allowing it to escape to the river Thames.
Tourville was heavily criticised for not following up his victory and was relieved of his command. English admiral Torrington
– who had advised against engaging the superior French fleet but had been overruled by Queen Mary
and her ministers – was court-martialled for his performance during the battle. Although he was acquitted, King William
dismissed him from the service.
was campaigning in Ireland as a first step to regaining his throne following his deposition after the 'Glorious Revolution
'. In August 1689 Marshall Schomberg
had been sent from England to bolster the forces loyal to King William, but his army had stalled through the winter of 1689–90, suffering from sickness and desertion. As early as January 1690 it was clear to William that he would have to sail personally to Ireland, with substantial reinforcements, in order to salvage the situation.
The main Allied fleet under Admiral Torrington was stationed in the English Channel
; a substantial part of the fleet was in the Mediterranean under Vice Admiral Henry Killigrew, which the Earl of Nottingham
, William's Secretary of State
and chosen naval advisor, hoped would neutralize the French Toulon
squadron. Sir Cloudesley Shovell
remained in the Irish Sea, but his squadron was much too small to stop the French controlling these waters if they chose to do so. However, the French decided not to use their fleet as a subsidiary to the Irish campaign; King Louis XIV
instead directed his navy against Torrington in the Channel. Although 6,000 French troops under the command of the Comte de Lauzun
were successfully ferried across to Ireland to aid James on 17 March, the French fleet under the Comte de Tourville
returned to Brest
on 1 May and there remained inactive during May and June whilst the grand fleet was assembling.
This French inaction had provided William with the opportunity he desired. On 21 June William embarked his forces at Chester
on board 280 transports, escorted by only six men-of-war commanded by Shovell. On 24 June, unmolested by the French fleet, William landed in Carrickfergus
with 15,000 men for his Irish campaign, much to the consternation of James' chief lieutenant in Ireland the Earl of Tyrconnel
, who later wrote "The want of a squadron of French men-of-war in St George's Channel
has been our ruin ... "
After evading Killigrew off Cadiz
, Château-Renault
's Toulon squadron joined Tourville's fleet on 21 June. Tourville, now commanding the combined Brest and Mediterranean fleets totalling 75 ships of the line and 23 fireships, sailed on 23 June into the Channel; by 30 June, the French were off the Lizard
. Torrington sailed from the Nore
already convinced the French would be stronger – much of the Royal Navy had been diverted to protect their maritime commerce from privateers, and the Allied fleet now only had 56 English and Dutch ships of the line, totalling 4,153 guns, to Tourville's fleet of 4,600 guns.
Torrington's fleet reached the Isle of Wight
and was joined by a Dutch squadron under the command of Cornelis Evertsen
. On 5 July, Torrington sighted the French fleet, calculating their strength at almost 80 ships of the line. Unable to proceed to the westward to link up with Shovell and Killigrew (who was on his way home), Torrington announced his intention of retreating before the superior French fleet to the Straits of Dover, believing the loss of the 'fleet in being
' would strategically be too great.
In William's absence, Queen Mary
and her advisors – the 'Council of Nine' – hastened to take measures for the defence of the country. Carmarthen
thought that it was advisable to fight; as did Nottingham and Admiral Russell
, who were unconvinced that the French were as strong as Torrington reported, and considered that only the admiral's pessimism, defeatism or treachery could account for his reports. As the two fleets moved slowly up the channel (with Torrington keeping carefully out of range), Russell drafted the order to fight. Countersigned by Nottingham, the orders reached the admiral on 9 July whilst he was off Beachy Head
. Torrington realised that not to give battle was to be guilty of direct disobedience; to give battle was, in his judgment, to incur serious risk of defeat. Torrington called a council of war with his flag-officers, who concluded that they had no option but to obey.
near Eastbourne
Torrington advanced towards the French in line of battle. He placed the Dutch white squadron with 21 ships – commanded by Cornelis Evertsen
– in the van. Torrington himself was in the centre red squadron; the rear blue squadron, commanded by Vice-Admiral Ralph Delaval
, comprised both English and Dutch ships.
The French Admiral divided his force into the customary three squadrons, with white and blue, white, and blue pennants respectively. Tourville, aboard the Soleil Royal
, commanded the centre, white squadron. The blue squadron in the French van was commanded by Château-Renault
; Victor-Marie d'Estrées
commanded the rear white and blue squadron. In each fleet the squadron commanders were in the centre of their respective squadrons, and the division flag officers in the centre of their divisions.
At about 08:00 the Allies, being to windward, ran down together in line abreast, elongated in order to cover the whole French fleet and prevent doubling at either end. The Dutch squadron bore down on the leading French squadron to engage on a parallel course, but left the leading division of Château-Renault's squadron unmarked. This division cut across Evertsen's path and, doubling on the Dutch squadron, was able to inflict heavy losses.
Vice Admiral Ashby of the red squadron failed to help the Dutch, as the Marquis de Villette
succeeded in tacking
ahead, placing Ashby between two fires. When Torrington brought the remainder of the red squadron into action, he found difficulty in getting close enough because of the sag in the French line, and came no closer than twice gunshot range. Admiral Tourville, finding himself with few adversaries in the centre, pushed forward his own leading ships which Torrington's dispositions had left without opponents, further strengthening the French attack in the van. The Dutch were now opposed by the whole of Château-Renault's squadron, and the van and centre divisions of Tourville's squadron.
Delaval's greatly outnumbered blue squadron fought a desperate battle with d'Estrées in the rear. Evertsen in the van, however, having lost his second-in-command and many other officers, was forced to withdraw. The Dutch had maintained the unequal contest with very little assistance from the rest of the Allied fleet; he left two Dutch ships sunk, one shattered and dismasted vessel captured, and many badly damaged. Outmatched, Torrington ended the battle late in the afternoon, taking advantage of the tide
and the drop in wind; while his ships dropped anchor, the French – who were not sufficiently alert – were carried off by the current and out of cannon range.
The eight-hour battle was a complete victory for the French, but was far from decisive. When the tide changed at 21:00, the Allies weighed anchor. Tourville pursued, but instead of ordering a general chase, he maintained the strict line-of-battle, reducing the speed of the fleet to that of the slower ships. Nevertheless, Torrington burnt seven more badly-damaged Dutch ships and one English ship to avoid capture before gaining the refuge of the Thames; as soon as he was in the safety of the river, he ordered all the navigation buoys removed, making any attempt to follow him too dangerous.
wrote – "The whole nation now exceedingly alarmed by the French fleet braving our coast even to the very Thames mouth;" a fear compounded by news from the Continent of French victory at the Battle of Fleurus
on 1 July. To oppose the threatened invasion, 6,000 regular troops, together with the hastily organised militia, were prepared by the Earl of Marlborough
for the country's defence.
In the prevailing atmosphere of paranoia, no-one attributed the defeat to overwhelming odds. Nottingham accused Torrington of treachery, informing William on 13 July "In plain terms ... Torrington deserted the Dutch so shamefully that the whole squadron had been lost if some of our ships had not rescued them." Nottingham was anxious to shift blame, but no one disputed his interpretation. "I cannot express to you," wrote William to the Grand Pensionary
Anthonie Heinsius
in the Dutch Republic, "how distressed I am at the disasters of the fleet; I am so much the more deeply affected as I have been informed that my ships did not properly support those of the Estates, and left them in the lurch.
There was, however, some good news for the Allies. The day after Beachy Head, 11 July 1690 (N.S), William decisively defeated Louis' ally, King James, at the land Battle of the Boyne
in Ireland. James fled to France, but appeals to Louis for an invasion of England were not heeded. The Marquis de Seignelay
, who had succeeded his father Colbert
as naval minister, had not planned for an invasion and had thought no further than Beachy Head, writing to Tourville before the engagement – " ... I shall be content if you will let me know as soon as possible after the battle your thoughts on the employment of the fleet for the rest of the campaign." Tourville anchored off Le Havre
to refit and land his sick. The French had failed to exploit their success. To the fury of Louis and Seignelay, the sum of Tourville's victory was the symbolic and futile burning of the English coastal town of Teignmouth
in July, and he was relieved of command.
The English squadrons now rallied to the main fleet. By the end of August the Allies had 90 vessels cruising the Channel – temporary French control had come to an end. Torrington, however, had been sent to the Tower of London
to await a court martial at Chatham. The substance of the charge was that he had withdrawn and kept back, and had not done his utmost to damage the enemy and to assist his own and the Dutch ships. Torrington blamed the defeat on the lack of naval preparations and intelligence – he had not been informed that the Brest fleet had been reinforced with the Toulon squadron. He also contended that the Dutch had engaged too early, before they had reached the head of the French line. To the outrage and astonishment of William and his ministers – and the delight of the English seamen who, rightly or wrongly, regarded him as a political sacrifice to the Dutch – the court acquitted him. Torrington took up his seat in the House of Lords
, but William refused to see him and dismissed him from the service on 12 December (O.S). Torrington was temporarily replaced by a triumvirate of Sir Henry Killigrew, John Ashby and Sir Richard Haddock
; these were in turn replaced by Admiral Russell as sole commander of the English fleet.
, was set up to supply money to the King. £1.2m was raised in twelve days; half of this was used to rebuild the Navy.
As a side-effect, the huge industrial effort needed started to transform the economy, from iron works making nails to agriculture feeding the quadrupled strength of the Royal Navy. This helped the new United Kingdom
– England and Scotland were united in 1707
– to become prosperous and powerful. Together with the power of the navy, this made Britain the dominant world power in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries while France remained the world dominant military power during this Napoleonic period, particularly on the continent.
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
temporarily fell into French hands, Admiral Tourville
Anne Hilarion de Tourville
Anne Hilarion de Costentin, comte de Tourville was a French naval commander who served under King Louis XIV. He was made Marshal of France in 1693.-Military career:...
failed to pursue the Allied fleet with sufficient ardour, allowing it to escape to the river Thames.
Tourville was heavily criticised for not following up his victory and was relieved of his command. English admiral Torrington
Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington
Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington was a British admiral and politician of the late 17th and early 18th century. Cashiered as a rear-admiral by James II of England in 1688 for refusing to vote to repeal the Test Act, which prevented Catholics from holding offices, he brought the Invitation to...
– who had advised against engaging the superior French fleet but had been overruled by Queen Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
and her ministers – was court-martialled for his performance during the battle. Although he was acquitted, King William
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
dismissed him from the service.
Background
King James IIJames II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
was campaigning in Ireland as a first step to regaining his throne following his deposition after the 'Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
'. In August 1689 Marshall Schomberg
Frederick Schomberg, 1st Duke of Schomberg
Friedrich Hermann , 1st Duke of Schomberg , KG , was a marshal of France and a General in the English and Portuguese Army....
had been sent from England to bolster the forces loyal to King William, but his army had stalled through the winter of 1689–90, suffering from sickness and desertion. As early as January 1690 it was clear to William that he would have to sail personally to Ireland, with substantial reinforcements, in order to salvage the situation.
The main Allied fleet under Admiral Torrington was stationed in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
; a substantial part of the fleet was in the Mediterranean under Vice Admiral Henry Killigrew, which the Earl of Nottingham
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham
Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, 7th Earl of Winchilsea PC , was an English Tory statesman during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.-Early life:...
, William's Secretary of State
Secretary of State for the Southern Department
The Secretary of State for the Southern Department was a position in the cabinet of the government of Kingdom of Great Britain up to 1782.Before 1782, the responsibilities of the two British Secretaries of State were divided not based on the principles of modern ministerial divisions, but...
and chosen naval advisor, hoped would neutralize the French Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
squadron. Sir Cloudesley Shovell
Cloudesley Shovell
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cloudesley Shovell , was an English naval officer. Rising through the ranks and fighting in many of the important battles of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, he became a popular British hero, whose celebrated career was brought to an end in a disastrous shipwreck in...
remained in the Irish Sea, but his squadron was much too small to stop the French controlling these waters if they chose to do so. However, the French decided not to use their fleet as a subsidiary to the Irish campaign; King Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
instead directed his navy against Torrington in the Channel. Although 6,000 French troops under the command of the Comte de Lauzun
Antoine Nompar de Caumont
Antoine Nompar de Caumont, marquis de Puyguilhem, duc de Lauzun was a French courtier and soldier. He was the only love interest of the "greatest heiress in Europe", Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, cousin of Louis XIV.-Biography:...
were successfully ferried across to Ireland to aid James on 17 March, the French fleet under the Comte de Tourville
Anne Hilarion de Tourville
Anne Hilarion de Costentin, comte de Tourville was a French naval commander who served under King Louis XIV. He was made Marshal of France in 1693.-Military career:...
returned to Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
on 1 May and there remained inactive during May and June whilst the grand fleet was assembling.
This French inaction had provided William with the opportunity he desired. On 21 June William embarked his forces at Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
on board 280 transports, escorted by only six men-of-war commanded by Shovell. On 24 June, unmolested by the French fleet, William landed in Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus , known locally and colloquially as "Carrick", is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,201 at the 2001 Census and takes its name from Fergus Mór mac Eirc, the 6th century king...
with 15,000 men for his Irish campaign, much to the consternation of James' chief lieutenant in Ireland the Earl of Tyrconnel
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnel
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell PC was an Irish royalist and Jacobite soldier.-Life:The youngest of sixteen children of Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet, of Carton, and his wife, Alison Netterville, he was descended from an old Norman family that had settled in Leinster in the twelfth century...
, who later wrote "The want of a squadron of French men-of-war in St George's Channel
St George's Channel
St George's Channel is a sea channel connecting the Irish Sea to the north and the Celtic Sea to the southwest.Historically, the name "St Georges Channel" was used interchangeably with "Irish Sea" or "Irish Channel" to encompass all the waters between Ireland to the west and Great Britain to the...
has been our ruin ... "
Prelude
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, Château-Renault
François Louis de Rousselet, Marquis de Châteaurenault
François Louis de Rousselet, marquis de Châteaurenault was a French vice-admiral, maréchal, and nobleman....
's Toulon squadron joined Tourville's fleet on 21 June. Tourville, now commanding the combined Brest and Mediterranean fleets totalling 75 ships of the line and 23 fireships, sailed on 23 June into the Channel; by 30 June, the French were off the Lizard
The Lizard
The Lizard is a peninsula in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at ....
. Torrington sailed from the Nore
Nore
The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Thames Estuary, England. It marks the point where the River Thames meets the North Sea, roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point in Kent....
already convinced the French would be stronger – much of the Royal Navy had been diverted to protect their maritime commerce from privateers, and the Allied fleet now only had 56 English and Dutch ships of the line, totalling 4,153 guns, to Tourville's fleet of 4,600 guns.
Torrington's fleet reached the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
and was joined by a Dutch squadron under the command of Cornelis Evertsen
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest is a Dutch admiral from the 17th century.Cornelis was the second son of Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Elder, nephew of Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen and cousin of the latter's son Vice-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Younger, with whom he is very often...
. On 5 July, Torrington sighted the French fleet, calculating their strength at almost 80 ships of the line. Unable to proceed to the westward to link up with Shovell and Killigrew (who was on his way home), Torrington announced his intention of retreating before the superior French fleet to the Straits of Dover, believing the loss of the 'fleet in being
Fleet in being
In naval warfare, a fleet in being is a naval force that extends a controlling influence without ever leaving port. Were the fleet to leave port and face the enemy, it might lose in battle and no longer influence the enemy's actions, but while it remains safely in port the enemy is forced to...
' would strategically be too great.
In William's absence, Queen Mary
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
and her advisors – the 'Council of Nine' – hastened to take measures for the defence of the country. Carmarthen
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds
Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, KG , English statesman , served in a variety of offices under Kings Charles II and William III of England.-Early life, 1632–1674:The son of Sir Edward Osborne, Bart., of Kiveton, Yorkshire, Thomas Osborne...
thought that it was advisable to fight; as did Nottingham and Admiral Russell
Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford
Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, PC was the First Lord of the Admiralty under King William III.-Naval career:...
, who were unconvinced that the French were as strong as Torrington reported, and considered that only the admiral's pessimism, defeatism or treachery could account for his reports. As the two fleets moved slowly up the channel (with Torrington keeping carefully out of range), Russell drafted the order to fight. Countersigned by Nottingham, the orders reached the admiral on 9 July whilst he was off Beachy Head
Beachy Head
Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m above sea level. The peak allows views of the south...
. Torrington realised that not to give battle was to be guilty of direct disobedience; to give battle was, in his judgment, to incur serious risk of defeat. Torrington called a council of war with his flag-officers, who concluded that they had no option but to obey.
Battle
The following day, 10 July, off Beachy HeadBeachy Head
Beachy Head is a chalk headland on the south coast of England, close to the town of Eastbourne in the county of East Sussex, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. The cliff there is the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, rising to 162 m above sea level. The peak allows views of the south...
near Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
Torrington advanced towards the French in line of battle. He placed the Dutch white squadron with 21 ships – commanded by Cornelis Evertsen
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest
Cornelis Evertsen the Youngest is a Dutch admiral from the 17th century.Cornelis was the second son of Lieutenant-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Elder, nephew of Lieutenant-Admiral Johan Evertsen and cousin of the latter's son Vice-Admiral Cornelis Evertsen the Younger, with whom he is very often...
– in the van. Torrington himself was in the centre red squadron; the rear blue squadron, commanded by Vice-Admiral Ralph Delaval
Ralph Delaval
Admiral Sir Ralph Delaval was an English naval admiral.He was a member of a junior branch of the Delaval family of Seaton Delaval, Northumberland...
, comprised both English and Dutch ships.
The French Admiral divided his force into the customary three squadrons, with white and blue, white, and blue pennants respectively. Tourville, aboard the Soleil Royal
French ship Soleil-Royal (1670)
Soleil Royal was a French 104-gun ship of the line, flagship of Admiral Tourville.She was built in Brest between 1668 and 1670 by engineer Laurent Hubac, was launched in 1669, and stayed unused in Brest harbour for years...
, commanded the centre, white squadron. The blue squadron in the French van was commanded by Château-Renault
François Louis de Rousselet, Marquis de Châteaurenault
François Louis de Rousselet, marquis de Châteaurenault was a French vice-admiral, maréchal, and nobleman....
; Victor-Marie d'Estrées
Victor-Marie d'Estrées
Victor Marie d'Estrées, count then duke d'Estrées was a Marshal of France.-Biography:...
commanded the rear white and blue squadron. In each fleet the squadron commanders were in the centre of their respective squadrons, and the division flag officers in the centre of their divisions.
Vice Admiral Ashby of the red squadron failed to help the Dutch, as the Marquis de Villette
Philippe, Marquis de Villette-Mursay
Philippe Levieux Valois, Marquis de Villette-Mursay was a French naval commander.-Biography:He was born in Normandy as the son of Benjamin Levieux Le Valois de Villette and Louise Arthémise d’Aubigné.Françoise d'Aubigné , the future marquise de Maintenon and second wife of Louis XIV, was his cousin...
succeeded in tacking
Tack (sailing)
Tack is a term used in sailing that has different meanings in different contexts, variously a part of a sail, and an alignment with the wind. When using the latter sense, the maneuver of turning between starboard and port tack is either tacking or jibing....
ahead, placing Ashby between two fires. When Torrington brought the remainder of the red squadron into action, he found difficulty in getting close enough because of the sag in the French line, and came no closer than twice gunshot range. Admiral Tourville, finding himself with few adversaries in the centre, pushed forward his own leading ships which Torrington's dispositions had left without opponents, further strengthening the French attack in the van. The Dutch were now opposed by the whole of Château-Renault's squadron, and the van and centre divisions of Tourville's squadron.
Delaval's greatly outnumbered blue squadron fought a desperate battle with d'Estrées in the rear. Evertsen in the van, however, having lost his second-in-command and many other officers, was forced to withdraw. The Dutch had maintained the unequal contest with very little assistance from the rest of the Allied fleet; he left two Dutch ships sunk, one shattered and dismasted vessel captured, and many badly damaged. Outmatched, Torrington ended the battle late in the afternoon, taking advantage of the tide
Stopping the tide
Stopping the tide was a manoeuver in use during the age of sail. In seas with a strong tide, such as those off the coasts of western Europe, particularly the Channel, the force of the tide on a ship could equal, or surpass, the power derived from sails...
and the drop in wind; while his ships dropped anchor, the French – who were not sufficiently alert – were carried off by the current and out of cannon range.
The eight-hour battle was a complete victory for the French, but was far from decisive. When the tide changed at 21:00, the Allies weighed anchor. Tourville pursued, but instead of ordering a general chase, he maintained the strict line-of-battle, reducing the speed of the fleet to that of the slower ships. Nevertheless, Torrington burnt seven more badly-damaged Dutch ships and one English ship to avoid capture before gaining the refuge of the Thames; as soon as he was in the safety of the river, he ordered all the navigation buoys removed, making any attempt to follow him too dangerous.
Aftermath
The defeat of Beachy Head caused panic in England. Tourville had temporary command of the English Channel; it seemed that the French could at the same time prevent William from returning from Ireland across the Irish Sea and land an invading army in England. Diarist John EvelynJohn Evelyn
John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
wrote – "The whole nation now exceedingly alarmed by the French fleet braving our coast even to the very Thames mouth;" a fear compounded by news from the Continent of French victory at the Battle of Fleurus
Battle of Fleurus (1690)
The Battle of Fleurus, fought on 1 July 1690, was a major engagement of the Nine Years' War. In a bold envelopment the Duc de Luxembourg, commanding Louis XIV’s army of some 35,000 men, soundly defeated Prince Waldeck’s Allied force of approximately 38,000 men comprising mainly Dutch, German, and...
on 1 July. To oppose the threatened invasion, 6,000 regular troops, together with the hastily organised militia, were prepared by the Earl of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
for the country's defence.
In the prevailing atmosphere of paranoia, no-one attributed the defeat to overwhelming odds. Nottingham accused Torrington of treachery, informing William on 13 July "In plain terms ... Torrington deserted the Dutch so shamefully that the whole squadron had been lost if some of our ships had not rescued them." Nottingham was anxious to shift blame, but no one disputed his interpretation. "I cannot express to you," wrote William to the Grand Pensionary
Grand Pensionary
The Grand Pensionary was the most important Dutch official during the time of the United Provinces. In theory he was only a civil servant of the Estates of the dominant province among the Seven United Provinces: the county of Holland...
Anthonie Heinsius
Anthonie Heinsius
Anthonie Heinsius was a Dutch statesman who served as Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1689 to his death in 1720.- Life :...
in the Dutch Republic, "how distressed I am at the disasters of the fleet; I am so much the more deeply affected as I have been informed that my ships did not properly support those of the Estates, and left them in the lurch.
There was, however, some good news for the Allies. The day after Beachy Head, 11 July 1690 (N.S), William decisively defeated Louis' ally, King James, at the land Battle of the Boyne
Battle of the Boyne
The Battle of the Boyne was fought in 1690 between two rival claimants of the English, Scottish and Irish thronesthe Catholic King James and the Protestant King William across the River Boyne near Drogheda on the east coast of Ireland...
in Ireland. James fled to France, but appeals to Louis for an invasion of England were not heeded. The Marquis de Seignelay
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay
Jean-Baptiste Antoine Colbert, Marquis de Seignelay was a French politician. He was the eldest son of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, nephew of Charles Colbert de Croissy and cousin of Jean-Baptiste Colbert de Torcy....
, who had succeeded his father Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was a French politician who served as the Minister of Finances of France from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister. He achieved a reputation for his work of improving the state of French manufacturing...
as naval minister, had not planned for an invasion and had thought no further than Beachy Head, writing to Tourville before the engagement – " ... I shall be content if you will let me know as soon as possible after the battle your thoughts on the employment of the fleet for the rest of the campaign." Tourville anchored off Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
to refit and land his sick. The French had failed to exploit their success. To the fury of Louis and Seignelay, the sum of Tourville's victory was the symbolic and futile burning of the English coastal town of Teignmouth
Teignmouth
Teignmouth is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon, situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign about 14 miles south of Exeter. It has a population of 14,413. In 1690, it was the last place in England to be invaded by a foreign power...
in July, and he was relieved of command.
The English squadrons now rallied to the main fleet. By the end of August the Allies had 90 vessels cruising the Channel – temporary French control had come to an end. Torrington, however, had been sent to the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
to await a court martial at Chatham. The substance of the charge was that he had withdrawn and kept back, and had not done his utmost to damage the enemy and to assist his own and the Dutch ships. Torrington blamed the defeat on the lack of naval preparations and intelligence – he had not been informed that the Brest fleet had been reinforced with the Toulon squadron. He also contended that the Dutch had engaged too early, before they had reached the head of the French line. To the outrage and astonishment of William and his ministers – and the delight of the English seamen who, rightly or wrongly, regarded him as a political sacrifice to the Dutch – the court acquitted him. Torrington took up his seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, but William refused to see him and dismissed him from the service on 12 December (O.S). Torrington was temporarily replaced by a triumvirate of Sir Henry Killigrew, John Ashby and Sir Richard Haddock
Richard Haddock
Sir Richard Haddock was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the Anglo-Dutch Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral in August 1690.-Family and early life:...
; these were in turn replaced by Admiral Russell as sole commander of the English fleet.
Consequences
England's crushing defeat by France, the dominant naval power, in naval engagements culminating in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head, became the catalyst to Britain rebuilding itself as a global power. England had no choice but to build a powerful navy; as there were no funds available, in 1694 a private institution, the Bank of EnglandBank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
, was set up to supply money to the King. £1.2m was raised in twelve days; half of this was used to rebuild the Navy.
As a side-effect, the huge industrial effort needed started to transform the economy, from iron works making nails to agriculture feeding the quadrupled strength of the Royal Navy. This helped the new United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
– England and Scotland were united in 1707
Acts of Union 1707
The Acts of Union were two Parliamentary Acts - the Union with Scotland Act passed in 1706 by the Parliament of England, and the Union with England Act passed in 1707 by the Parliament of Scotland - which put into effect the terms of the Treaty of Union that had been agreed on 22 July 1706,...
– to become prosperous and powerful. Together with the power of the navy, this made Britain the dominant world power in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries while France remained the world dominant military power during this Napoleonic period, particularly on the continent.