Battle of Carrickfergus (1760)
| Battle of Carrickfergus | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Seven Years' War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
.svg.png){kind=small} Great Britain |
 France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Colonel John Jennings |
François Thurot General Flobert | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 200 | 600 | ||||||
| ||||||
The Battle of Carrickfergus took place in February 1760 in Carrickfergus, Kingdom of Ireland during the Seven Years' War. A force of 600 French troops landed under the command of the Privateer François Thurot overwhelmed the small garrison of the town and captured its castle.[1]
When word of the capture reached Dublin a small force of dragoons were despatched by the Lord Lieutenant Duke of Bedford who feared, incorrectly, that it was a feint to draw British forces to the north while a main French force was to attack Cork or Dublin.
Thurot held the town for five days, menacing nearby Belfast and demanding supplies and a ransom. In the face of the mobilisation of large numbers of local militia under General Strode, and the appearance of a Royal Navy squadron off the coast - Thurot re-embarked his force and departed the town.[2]
Aftermath
Thurot was subsequently killed in a sea battle, but his feat in landing on enemy soil was widely hailed in France and he became a national hero, partly because his perceived daring was in sharp contrast to the incompetence shown by French naval officers at the recent Battle of Quiberon Bay.[3]
See also
- Great Britain in the Seven Years War
- France in the Seven Years War
References
Bibliography
- Longmate, Norman. Island Fortress: The Defence of Great Britain, 1603-1945. Harper Collins, 1993
- McLynn, Frank. 1759: The Year Britain Became Master of the World. Pimlico, 2005.
- Rodger NAM. Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815. Penguin Books, 2006.
Further reading
Coordinates: 54°42′48″N 5°48′23″W / 54.71345°N 5.80629°W