# Battle of Cuddalore (1783)

The Battle of Cuddalore in 1783 was a naval battle between a British fleet, under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes with Admiral L.J. Weiland, and a smaller French fleet, under the Bailli de Suffren, off the coast of India that took place right before the Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War. This war sparked the Second Mysore War in India. In the battle, taking place near Cuddalore on 20 June 1783, Suffren commanded the engagement from the frigate Cléopâtre and won what is generally considered a victory. Peace had already been agreed upon in Europe, but that news had yet to reach India, making this the final battle of the war.
On the death of French ally Hyder Ali, the British decided to retake Cuddalore. They marched troops from Madras, and began preparing for a siege. The French fleet, under Suffren, appeared at Cuddalore on 13 June. A week of fickle winds prevented either side from engaging until 20 June, when Suffren attacked. No ships were seriously damaged, but each side lost about 100 men with around 400 wounded. The British fleet retreated to Madras after the action, preventing the landing of transports carrying additional troops en route to Cuddalore to reinforce the siege. A sortie from the town weakened the British forces, and word of peace officially arrived at Cuddalore on 29 June.

## Background

Following the December 1782 death of French ally Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore and previous controller of Cuddalore, British commanders at Madras decided to attempt the recapture of Cuddalore. The army marched south from Madras, circling around the city then encamping south of it. The British fleet, eighteen ships of the line under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, anchored to the south of Cuddalore in order to protect the army and its supply ships. By early June 1783, the Siege of Cuddalore was under way.
French Admiral Suffren was ordered on 10 June to sail with his smaller fleet of fifteen ships from Trincomalee to support the besieged city. When he arrived, Hughes, who sought to avoid battle, moved away from the city and again anchored. After five days of adverse winds, Suffren was able to anchor near the city, where he made contact with the city's commander, Sayed Sahib of Mysore. Since it appeared that the success of the siege would be decided by naval action, 1,200 troops were embarked onto Suffren's ships to increase his gunnery complement. His fleet weighed anchor on 18 June, and the two fleets began maneuvering for advantage.

## Battle

Both fleets were at first frustrated by light and variable winds. When a consistent west wind developed on 20 June, Hughes lined-up for battle on a northward-trending port tack and awaited Suffren's action. Lining-up in a similar formation, Suffren gave to the order to attack, and battle was engaged shortly after four in the afternoon. The action lasted about three hours resulting in no major damage to ships in either fleet, despite all ships being engaged.

## Aftermath

Suffren's fleet anchored about 25 nautical miles north of Cuddalore after the battle, while Hughes anchored near the city. On 22 June, Hughes sighted the French fleet while he was en route to Madras; a number of his ships had been disabled, and he reported that many men were suffering from scurvy and that he was short of water.
Suffren returned to Cuddalore on 23 June, forcing the British supply fleet to withdraw. In addition to returning the 1,200 troops he had borrowed from the city's garrison, he landed an additional 2,400 men to support the defense. A sortie from the city was repelled but weakened the besieging British, and on 29 June a British ship flying under a truce flag brought news of a preliminary peace agreement between the two nations, resulting in a mutually-agreed suspension of hostilities on 2 July.

## Order of battle

French van squadron :
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Casualties | Casualties | Notes |
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Killed | Wounded | Total | Notes |
| Sphinx | 64-gun | 64 | | Captain du Chilleau | | | | |
| Brillant | 64-gun | 64 | | Lieutenant de Kersauson | | | | |
| Fendant | 74-gun | 74 | | Captain Thomassin de Peynier (Captain of the fleet) Captain Armand de Saint-Félix (Flag captain) (WIA) | | | | |
| Flamand | 54-gun | 54 | | Lieutenant Perier de Salvert † | | | | |
| Ajax | 64-gun | 64 | | Captain Dupas de la Mancelière † | | | | |
| Fine | frigate | 32 | | | | | | |
| Casualties: |||||||||||
French centre squadron :
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Casualties | Casualties | Notes |
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Killed | Wounded | Total | Notes |
| Petit Annibal | 50-gun | 50 | | Captain Jean André de Pas de Beaulieu | | | | |
| Argonaute | 74-gun | 74 | | Captain de Clavières | | | | |
| Héros | 74-gun | 74 | | Major de Moissac | | | | |
| Illustre | 74-gun | 74 | | Captain Bruyères de Chalabre | | | | |
| Saint Michel | 60-gun | 60 | | Captain de Beaumont-Lemaître | | | | |
| Cléopâtre | frigate | 32 | | Captain Suffren | | | | |
| Casualties: |||||||||||
French rear squadron :
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Casualties | Casualties | Notes |
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Killed | Wounded | Total | Notes |
| Vengeur | 64-gun | 64 | | Captain de Cuverville | | | | |
| Sévère | 64-gun | 64 | | Lieutenant de Maurville de Langle | | | | |
| Annibal | 74-gun | 74 | | Captain d'Aymar | | | | |
| Hardi | 64-gun | 64 | | Captain Cramezel de Kerhué | | | | |
| Artésien | 64-gun | 64 | | Captain de Vignes d'Arrac | | | | |
| Consolante | frigate | 40 | | Lieutenant de Costebelle | | | | |
| Coventry | frigate | 28 | | | | | | |
| Casualties: |||||||||||
British van squadron :
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Casualties | Casualties | Notes |
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Killed | Wounded | Total | Notes |
| HMS Defence | Third rate | 74 | | Captain Thomas Newnham | 7 | 38 | 45 | |
| HMS Isis | Fourth rate | 50 | | Captain Christopher Halliday | 3 | 30 | 33 | |
| HMS Gibraltar | Third rate | 80 | | Commodore Sir Richard Bickerton Captain Thomas Hicks | 6 | 40 | 46 | |
| HMS Inflexible | Third rate | 64 | | Captain John Whitmore Chetwynd | 3 | 30 | 33 | |
| HMS Exeter | Third rate | 64 | | Captain John Smith | 4 | 9 | 13 | |
| HMS Active | Fifth rate | 32 | | | | | | |
| Casualties: |||||||||||
British centre squadron :
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Casualties | Casualties | Notes |
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Killed | Wounded | Total | Notes |
| HMS Worcester | Third rate | 64 | | Captain Charles Hughes | 8 | 32 | 40 | |
| HMS Africa | Third rate | 64 | | Captain Robert McDougall | 5 | 25 | 30 | |
| HMS Sultan | Third rate | 74 | | Captain Andrew Mitchell | 4 | 20 | 24 | |
| HMS Superb | Third rate | 74 | | Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes Captain Henry Newcome | 12 | 41 | 53 | |
| HMS Monarca | Third rate | 68 | | Captain John Gell | 6 | 14 | 20 | |
| HMS Burford | Third rate | 64 | | Captain Peter Rainier | 10 | 20 | 30 | |
| HMS Sceptre | Third rate | 64 | | Captain Samuel Graves | 17 | 47 | 64 | |
| HMS Medea | Sixth rate | 28 | | Captain Erasmus Gower | | | | |
| Casualties: |||||||||||
British rear squadron :
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Casualties | Casualties | Notes |
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Killed | Wounded | Total | Notes |
| HMS Magnanime | Third rate | 64 | | Captain Thomas Mackenzie | 1 | 16 | 17 | |
| HMS Eagle | Third rate | 64 | | Captain William Clark | 4 | 8 | 12 | |
| HMS Hero | Third rate | 74 | | Commodore Richard King Captain Theophilus Jones | 5 | 21 | 26 | |
| HMS Bristol | Fourth rate | 50 | | Captain James Burney | 0 | 10 | 10 | |
| HMS Monmouth | Third rate | 64 | | Captain James Alms | 2 | 19 | 21 | |
| HMS Cumberland | Third rate | 74 | | Captain William Allen | 2 | 11 | 13 | |
| Casualties: |||||||||||
British lighter ships :
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Casualties | Casualties | Casualties | Notes |
| Ship | Rate | Guns | Navy | Commander | Killed | Wounded | Total | Notes |
| San Carlos | armed storeship | 22 | | George Murray, William White | | | | |
| Harriott | armed storeship | 22 | | Thomas Stephenson | | | | |
| HMS Chaser | sloop | 18 | | Edward Buller | | | | |
| HMS Juno | Fifth rate | 32 | | Captain James Montagu | | | | |
| HMS Medea | Fifth rate | 28 | | Captain Erasmus Gower | | | | |
| HMS Seahorse | Fifth rate | 24 | | John Drew | | | | |
| Pondicherry | troop ship | 18 | | Thomas Saunders Grove | | | | |
| Casualties: |||||||||||

## Citations

* ↑ Paine p.75
* ↑ Lacour-Gayet (1910), p. 546.
* ↑ Palmer p.161
* 1 2 3 Cunat (1852), p. 301-302.
* ↑ Levot (1866), p. 468—469.
* ↑ Roche (2005), p. 28.
* 1 2 3 The Scots magazine. Edinburgh: Alex Chapman. December 1783. p. 688.
* ↑ "2nd Battle of Cuddalore". threedecks. Retrieved 22 April 2020.