1812: The Invasion of England
Napoleon and his armies had to move fast. Despite the defeat and death of Horatio Nelson and his fleet, the British still had hundreds of other ships and several other large fleets. Even with Cartier's brilliance and the bravery of the French sailors, the reformed French Navy would never be able to defeat the Royal Navy in it's entirety. Napoleon's armies got onto their respective transport fleets and set sail for England. Napoleon had now entered the point of no return.
The British had anticipated the invasion of England, and sent men to protect the coastline of England, heavily fortifying the shoreline. Each French/Allied army was to take one key port city and occupy it, disrupting British international trade. If all four attacks were successful, the British would soon find over 300,000 men on their doorsteps. Emperor Napoleon, even with all his thirst for glory and conquest, knew that he could not occupy all of the British Isles. He was hoping that France and the British would be able to create peace.
Battle of Penzance: July 7
General Riviera was assigned the task of taking the city of Penzance, in western England. Riviera had an army of 60,000, most of them being experienced Spanish soldiers who tasted victory at the Battle of Vigo. Along with his Spaniards were 15,000 Frenchmen.
On July 7, Riviera's men landed on the plains near the town of Penzance. His army laid siege to the city. The British defenders numbered 26,500, most of them being Fencibles: British militia. After heavy bombardment by Riviera's artillery, the walls broke and the British sallied out to meet the invaders. The Spaniards were in a long line with the French in the back as reserves, along with a force of cavalry on Riviera's left wing. The British ran out and the two lines began to exchange fire in the late afternoon. The Spanish troops, who were newly equipped and trained, performed exceptionally well against the British. Within an hour of heavy fighting, the British right flank began to falter. Sensing the weakness, Riviera ordered his cavalry to slam into the Redcoats, which resulted in a mass rout. The battle was very short, with the entire British defense force collapsing within a few hours. After the retreat of the British, Riviera marched into Penzance, securing a victory for the invasion force. Riviera however, would have the easiest time out of the four armies.
Bloody Battle at Ramsgate: July 7-8
Under General Ruyter were 40,000 Dutchmen and 10,000 Frenchmen. Compared to their Spanish counterparts, the Dutch soldiers were equipped and trained better. This was due to the fact that the Batavian Republic had been a client state of France for years now. The Dutch army had constantly been reforming for several years, after having Napoleonic and revolutionary ideals spread to it.
While Riviera was fighting in western England at Penzance, Ruyter invaded Ramsgate. The British had been expecting an invasion force to land and attack at Ramsgate, and so, it was heavily fortified. Cannons and hastily-made stone walls lined the upper shore. When the predominantly Dutch army landed on the shore, they were immediately fired at. Ruyter, being the charismatic leader he was, rallied his troops and led the attack. Ruyter's army advanced towards the British defenses, with French artillery blasting at the stone walls.
The 32,000 British defenders formed a line in front of the walls and fired at the advancing Dutchmen, causing many casualties as they advanced up the shore. Cannonballs and bullets flew like locusts; the Dutch lost a considerable amount of life in their advance up the shore. Ruyter, not one to let down the Emperor of the French, continued to rally and inspire his men. Finally, when the Dutch reached the British lines, intense fighting ensued. Fire, smoke, and death filled the battlefield, people falling down left and right. The heavy fighting dragged on for hours, and at 9:18, the British defenders succumbed and retreated into the town. They were not defeated however, and prepared for a second fight. The two armies nervously rested, but at 1:04 in the middle of the night, Ruyter got his men to renew the attack on Ramsgate. The surprised- and sleepy British, were forced back and slowly retreated through the town. By the end of the hour, the British were all forcefully expelled from Ramsgate, retreating in disarray. However, Ruyter's losses were extremely heavy; from the 50,000 men that he led at the beginning of the invasion, only 33,548 men remained- nearly half of his army was killed in the battle.
Victory at Plymouth and the Legendary Battle: July 16-19
Davout, unlike Riviera or Ruyter, did not immediately land at his target city and begin fighting. Davout's transport force included several ship-of-the-lines and frigates, and so he took advantage of the warships. His army of 80,000 landed close to the city of Plymouth, an important British port. From there, Davout laid siege to the city from both land and sea: the French artillery rained destruction onto the city, while the port was blockaded by the small French squadron of warships. The British merchant ships docked in Plymouth were burned, and Davout asked the city for an immediate surrender. The defenders of Plymouth only numbered up to 20,300 men, mostly Fencibles. The British however, knew something that Davout didn't know. A large force under the Duke of Wellington was coming to reinforce the city, and would soon be here- it was coming before the siege had started. The British surrendered and retreated, deciding to meet up with Wellington and surprise the French by attacking and taking the city back in one swift strike. After the surrender and retreat of the British militia, Davout moved in and took the city with zero casualties. At first, the marshal was delighted, but soon realized that Plymouth was too important of a city. The British would not just let the city fall into French hands, and would send a relief force. Davout quickly got his army to move and set up positions out in the fields east of Plymouth, near the River Plym.
A few days later, on July 19, Davout's predictions came true. French scouts spotted a rapidly moving army coming south towards Davout's positions.
Marshal Davout was regarded as Napoleon's best marshal. Some even considered him better than the Emperor, which may or may not have been true. On the other hand, Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington, was regarded as the best British general. It was such a coincidence that on July 19, 1812, one of the best French marshals- if not the best, fought against the best British general. Louis-Nicolas Davout had 80,000 men and set up his army near the River Plym, early in the morning of July 19. Wellington's army of 82,500 approached Davout's positions and prepared for a battle, with both armies on the same side of the river. By now, most of Britain knew about the French victories at Penzance and Ramsgate. British morale was low, but Wellington assured victory while addressing his army before the Battle of the River Plym. At noon, the morning fog disappeared, and the British cannons began firing at the French. The French cannons quickly retaliated, and a battle between the two armies' artillery ensued. Between the two armies was flat, wet land. The French were on a small hill, while the British were on flat land. After several hours of cannon exchanges, Wellington was urged to press an attack against the French, for Plymouth needed to be restored to British control as soon as possible. Wellington had two choices: he could split his army into two and send part of it to Plymouth, which was undefended except for a few hundred or thousand soldiers. However, that would leave his original army's position vulnerable to being overwhelmed by the French. He could also commit his entire army to try and defeat the French on the hill. He also had a third option, which was to send his entire army into Plymouth, but the French were closer to it, and his army would be attacked from the back. He was in a sticky situation. Eventually, the Duke of Wellington chose to commit his army to an attack on the French artillery, knowing the French would not leave their favorable spot on the hill. When Wellington's forces mobilized and began marching towards Davout, the French marshal deployed his infantry in two lines: one at the bottom of the hill, and one up on the grade of the hill, so that his two lines could fire at the British simultaneously. Seeing this, Wellington sent a small force of light cavalry to skirmish and annoy the French lines, diverting their attention from the British riflemen who moved up to shoot at the French lines. Several officers were sniped and killed by the British riflemen, but the riflemen failed in killing Davout. The riflemen, however, forced the French lines to move up and fire at them. Wellington's rifles quickly retreated, and the British lines moved up a bit. The two lines shot at each other at almost the same time, while Davout's second line on the hill now had to rearrange itself. The British, with their thin lines which only consisted of 2 ranks, began to overpower the French lines. Seeing this, Davout attempted a hammer and anvil strike, carefully maneuvering his cavalry around the distracted British lines. The British were hit in the back, and Davout's hammer and anvil maneuver succeeded. Wellington used his reserves of cavalry to slam into the French cavalry, resulting in the French cavalry being sandwiched between the British horses and the British lines. Meanwhile, the French were doing massive damage to the distracted British infantry. The bloody battle continued for quite a long time, resulting in the destruction of Davout's cavalry- and heavy damage to British infantry. The French infantry was also depleted. At this point, Wellington bitterly swallowed his pride and withdrew his forces, slowly retreating back. Davout had also withdrawn his troops, moving them back behind the hills. The Battle of the River Plym was a bloody and inconclusive battle, with neither army being totally defeated. However, it was a French strategic victory, because they were able to stop the British from retaking Plymouth. The draw would be known as a legendary battle in the years to come.
Surrender at Southampton! July 20-August 16th
Only a day after the draw at the River Plym, Napoleon finally reached Southampton, one of the most important British ports. A skirmish between Napoleon's escort of warships and the British ships occurred, with the British ships retreating back into harbor. The French began a blockade of Southampton, much like at Plymouth. Napoleon's men laid siege to Southampton. Napoleon's plan was to starve the city out into surrendering: the more men he had left, the better of a position the French would be in when the peace treaty was being discussed. For nearly a month, Napoleon laid siege to Southampton. Several times, the British sent in armies to help relieve the city, but Napoleon's large force of 120,000 men were able to crush all relief forces. Soon, after the third attempt to relieve Southampton failed, the cowardly general of the city's defense force surrendered to the French on August 16th.
Ending the Napoleonic Wars: Peace to Europe
By mid August, four important British ports had fallen to France. The loss of Penzance, Ramsgate, Plymouth and Southampton all in such a short time dropped British morale to an all time low. Small riots had broken out in parts of the country. Meanwhile, the four armies under Napoleon, Davout, Ruyter and Riviera moved forward through England and defeated the British in a number of small skirmishes. The invasion force won a decisive, and major victory at the Battle of Hastings, where the Duke of York lost over 80,000 soldiers to a combined Allied army. For the next couple of weeks, the British would launch several offensives onto the Allied army, but all were repulsed. The Allied forces had dropped to 202,000, but went back up to 285,000 after reinforcements came from France. At this point, the four armies laid siege to London, resulting a large skirmish outside of the city. Napoleon, knowing that taking London would be extremely difficult and would result in a large loss of life, asked the British for peace. Peace talks between France and Great Britain started formally on October 7. Most people in Great Britain were unhappy with the war and wanted an immediate end to the war. Much of southern England was devastated, even causing small riots in that area.
The quick, rapid French victories could be attributed to many things. For one, the British didn't expect such a large, and rapid, invasion. A huge majority of the British people thought that Nelson would never be defeated, let alone be killed. Most thought that as long as Nelson controlled the English Channel, Britain would never be invaded. However, with Nelson's defeat, 310,000 men landed in England. The British were unprepared for such a large invasion force, especially so quick. Another reason for the series of British defeats was the organization of the invasion. Each commander knew exactly what they were supposed to do, where, when, how, and why. The quality of the opposing armies also made a big difference. The French/Allied armies were experienced from years of fighting on the continent, battle hardened and ready for another battle. In contrast, the British were mostly made out of Fencibles, militia made for the sole purpose of defense. Wellington's army was one of the only British armies in the war to be made out of professional, regular troops. Using actual regulars helped Wellington score a tie with Davout, despite the French having an advantage. Most people agree that if the British had a larger amount of regulars ready for the invasion, the war would have gone very differently.
On October 24, 1812, the Treaty of London was signed. The treaty formally ended all hostilities between France and Great Britain, including all of France's allies. The terms of the treaty were as follows:
- All French conquests in previous Coalition wars would be recognized by the British Empire, while the four cities taken by France (namely Penzance, Ramsgate, Plymouth and Southampton) would be returned to Great Britain.
- The British professional army would not be allowed to surpass 105,000, including soldiers in its colonies.
- As a payment, every British ship that possessed over 98 guns was to be handed to France, with the exception of the HMS Victory, which was allowed to remain in British hands as a tribute to Horatio Nelson. This was a personal request from Fleet Admiral Cartier.
- Great Britain would drop all claims to eastern Australia, which had yet to be colonized. Instead, France claimed it, hoping to reestablish a colonial empire.
- 70 million francs would be paid to France, 20 million to Spain, and 10 million to the Batavian Republic. Originally, Britain was supposed to pay 90 million to France, but the French allowed the British to keep another 20 million to repair their army, navy, and devastated towns/cities.
- The Allied armies would withdraw from Great Britain.
- Trade would be established between France and Great Britain. Napoleon famously proclaimed, "Now that this bloody struggle is over, I wish for no more conflict with the great British people, but only peace and cooperative prosperity".
The terms were humiliating for the British, but agreed to it, for they had no choice- over 200,000 soldiers were outside of London! Many people found bright sides in the treaty, however. Instead of giving up wealthy colonies like the West Indies, Britain only had to give up their Australian possessions, which had not yet been colonized. The British would also get all of their towns and cities back. It was humiliating, but the British agreed to it. The alternative was destruction.
So, on October 24, the treaty was signed and the effects of the treaty were immediately put into effect. For the first time in two decades, Europe was at peace.
EDIT: British Empire lovers can rest assured, as I'm done with weakening Britain! In fact, Britain is going to make quite a resurgence later..
