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#Thread #OTD: The 6th of January 1781 The Battle of Jersey took place.
This was an attempt by French forces during the American Revolutionary War to invade Jersey and remove the threat the island posed to French and American shipping. Jersey was a base for British privateers.
This was an attempt by French forces during the American Revolutionary War to invade Jersey and remove the threat the island posed to French and American shipping. Jersey was a base for British privateers.
Landing during the night of 5th to 6th of January, a French force of 700 men under the Baron de Rollecourt (pictured below) marched to St Helier, arriving between six and seven o’clock in the morning on the 6th of January. At about eight o'clock a French patrol surrounded...
... Government House where they surprised the island's Lieutenant Governor, Major Moses Corbet (pictured below), in bed.
Corbet was taken to the Royal Court House where De Rullecourt convinced Corbet that thousands of French troops had already overwhelmed Jersey.
Corbet was taken to the Royal Court House where De Rullecourt convinced Corbet that thousands of French troops had already overwhelmed Jersey.
De Rullecourt threatened to burn the town and slaughter the inhabitants if Corbet did not sign a capitulation. Corbet was also to order the commander at Elizabeth Castle (pictured below) to surrender. Corbet replied that as he was a prisoner he had no authority and that...
...anything he signed would "be of no avail". De Rullecourt insisted and so Corbet, to avoid further harm to St Helier, signed.
The French force had already approached the commander at Elizabeth Castle, Captain Mulcaster C.R.E., who refused their verbal request to surrender. The French had advanced towards the castle where the troops in the castle fired upon the French, killing two or three men.
The French then withdrew. When the French delivered Corbet's written order to surrender, the castle's defenders signalled their persistent refusal by opening fire on the French.
The British were now alerted and with Corbet a prisoner, command fell to the next senior-most British commander this was the 24-year-old Major Francis Peirson. The British troops and militia assembled on the Mont ès Pendus (now called Westmount), to the west of the town.
Major Peirson soon had 2,000 men at his disposal, with which he resolved to descend the hill and attack into the town. The French, who were camped in the market (as seen below - a 19th century drawing of the market) , had seized the town's cannons and had placed them at the...
...different openings to the market to fire on the British troops if they approached.
Thankfully the French did not find the howitzers. The British learned through several people who had been spying on the French troops, that the French number did not exceed 800 or 900 men.
Thankfully the French did not find the howitzers. The British learned through several people who had been spying on the French troops, that the French number did not exceed 800 or 900 men.
Major Peirson detached the 78th Seaforth Highlanders under Captain Lumsdaine, and sent them to take possession of the Mont de la Ville hill (now the site of Fort Regent - pictured below), to block any French retreat.
Once Major Peirson believed that the 78th had reached their destination, he ordered his remaining troops to attack the town. The British were stopped at the edge of the town, where de Rullecourt sent the Lieutenant Governor Corbet to offer capitulation terms and to tell...
...the British that if they did not sign, the French would ransack the town within half an hour. Major Peirson and Captain Campbell responded by telling the French they had 20 minutes to surrender.
The five companies of the 83rd Regiment of Foot and the part of the East Regiment in Grouville to the east who were now covering the landing area, also refused to surrender.
When de Rullecourt received their answer he was heard to remark: "Since they do not want to surrender, I have come to die."
The British attack then commenced. The British forces in the Grande Rue (now called Broad Street) included the 78th Regiment, the Battalion of Saint Lawrence, the South-East Regiment, and the Compagnies de Saint-Jean. The 95th Regiment of Foot, with the rest of the...
...militia, advanced down the other avenues towards the market. The British had too many troops for the battle, a British soldier later saying that a third of the British troops would have been more than enough to destroy the French army.
The French resistance was of short duration, most of the action lasting no more than a quarter of an hour. The French only fired the cannons that they had at their disposal once or twice. The British had a howitzer placed directly opposite the market in the Grande Rue, which...
...at each shot "cleaned all the surroundings of French" according to a member of the British service.
Major Peirson and the 95th Regiment advanced towards the market. Then, just as the British were about enter the market, a musket ball in the heart killed Major Peirson.
Major Peirson and the 95th Regiment advanced towards the market. Then, just as the British were about enter the market, a musket ball in the heart killed Major Peirson.
His saddened troops, charged forward and continued the fight.
When de Rullecourt fell wounded, many French soldiers gave up the fight, throwing down their weapons and fleeing. Others reached the market houses from where they continued to fire.
When de Rullecourt fell wounded, many French soldiers gave up the fight, throwing down their weapons and fleeing. Others reached the market houses from where they continued to fire.
De Rullecourt, through Corbet, told the British that the French had two battalions and an artillery company at La Rocque, which could be at the town within a quarter of an hour. The British were not intimidated, knowing that the number of French troops there was less than 200.
A guard of 45 Grenadiers of the 83rd Regiment, led by Captain Campbell, resisted 140 French soldiers until the arrival of a part of the East Regiment, whereupon the French were defeated, suffering 30 dead or wounded, with 70 men taken prisoner. Seven Grenadiers were killed.
After the French surrender (pictured below), The British took 600 prisoners in all, whom they subsequently sent to mainland Britain. The British losses were 11 dead and 36 wounded among the regular troops, and four dead and 29 wounded among the militia.
The French had 78 killed and 74 wounded. De Rullecourt being seriously wounded, died that night at the house of Dr Lerrier in Royal Square (now the pub called The Peirson); he was buried in the grounds of the Parish Church of St Helier.
Major Francis Peirson was also buried in the Parish Church of St Helier where a marble monument was erected by the people of Jersey in his memory.
Major Francis Peirson is a local hero to the people of Jersey and many places around Jersey are named in his honour.
Major Francis Peirson is a local hero to the people of Jersey and many places around Jersey are named in his honour.
