February 6th, 1806 - The Battle of Santo Domingo

Conflict: War of the Third Coalition

Combatants: British vs. French

Location: Santo Domingo

Outcome: British victory

In 1805, Austria, Russia, and Sweden joined Britain in pursuit of destroying Napoleon Bonaparte's Grande Armee. While war raged across the continent of Europe, the small but brave French Navy dared challenge the might of the British Royal Navy.

On this day in 1806, a British squadron under command of Sir John Duckworth defeated a squadron of French ships off of Santo Domingo in the West Indies. All five of the French warships commanded by Admiral Corentin Leissegues were captured or sunk. Duckworth lost none of his own vessels and suffered only light casualties.

The Battle of Santo Domingo by Nicholas Pocock

Points of Interest:

• Just five weeks later, the French surrendered two more warships to the British in the Indian Ocean.

• In June of 1809, the French surrendered Santo Domingo to the Spanish.

Admiral Corentin de Leissegues (1758-1832) by an unknown artist

Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth (1748-1817) by William Beechey

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Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.