Key Facts
- Duration
- Spring 1809 – Spring 1811 (~2 years)
- Key French victory
- Battle of Grand Port, autumn 1810
- Colonies contested
- Isle de France and Isle Bonaparte
- Post-war retention
- Britain kept Mauritius; Isle Bonaparte returned to France in 1814
- French commander captured
- Commodore Hamelin taken aboard Vénus, late 1810
Strategic Narrative Overview
British forces under Commodore Rowley blockaded the French colonies and raided their ports and anchorages over two years. Britain occupied Rodrigues in 1809 and Isle Bonaparte in 1810. A French naval victory at the Battle of Grand Port in autumn 1810 temporarily halted British momentum. However, Hamelin was subsequently captured aboard his flagship Vénus by Rowley, weakening French resistance before British reinforcements under Bertie arrived.
01 / The Origins
Following Britain's occupation of the Dutch Cape Colony in 1806 and destruction of the Dutch squadron in Java in 1807, British commanders began planning operations against France's Indian Ocean colonies. The arrival of a powerful French frigate squadron under Commodore Hamelin in late 1808 accelerated British action. Hamelin's forces captured East Indiamen and disrupted British trade routes, compelling Admiral Bertie at the Cape to order a blockade of the French colonies.
03 / The Outcome
Bertie's reinforcements occupied Isle de France, renaming it Mauritius. A French relief squadron arriving too late was defeated by the British off Madagascar in May 1811, leaving Britain in complete control of the Indian Ocean. Britain retained Mauritius permanently but returned Isle Bonaparte to France under the terms negotiated in 1814, restoring a partial French presence in the region.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin.
Side B
1 belligerent
Admiral Albemarle Bertie, Commodore Josias Rowley.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.