Action of 28 June 1803
| Action of 28 June 1803 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the blockade of Saint-Domingue | |||||||
Fight of the Poursuivante against the English ship Hercules, 28 June 1803 Louis-Philippe Crépin, 1819 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| France | Great Britain | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Jean-Baptiste Willaumez Jean-Pierre Bargeau |
Henry William Bayntun Charles Brisbane John Hills | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
1 frigate 1 corvette | 3 ships of the line | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
10 killed 15 wounded 1 corvette captured | Unknown | ||||||
The action of 28 June 1803 was the opening engagement of the blockade of Saint-Domingue after the collapse of the Treaty of Amiens and the British declaration of war on France on 18 May 1803 as part of the War of the Third Coalition.
The French frigate Poursuivante and corvette Mignonne, both partially armed en flûte and unaware of the recently outbreak of war, met three British 74-gun ships of the line. Mignonne was overhauled and captured, but Poursuivante, sailing close to shore, managed to outmanoeuvre HMS Hercule and deliver a raking broadside before escaping into Môle-Saint-Nicolas.
The feat of a frigate managing to escape a ship of the line yielded high praise for Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez, who had commanded Poursuivante. A large painting by Louis-Philippe Crépin was commissioned in 1819 to commemorate the event.