page_title: Fort Saint Louis (Martinique)
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Saint Louis (Martinique) / History
caption_attribution_description: English: On 5th February 1794, Sir John Jervis and Lieutenant General Sir Charles Grey, arrived at Martinique and by 20th March the whole island, with the exception of Fort Bourbon and Fort Royal, had submitted. Jervis ordered the 'Asia', 64 guns and the 'Zebra' sloop to storm Fort Louis, the chief defence of Fort Royal. The 'Asia' was unable to reach her position, and so Commander Faulknor of the 'Zebra' volunteered to attempt to capture it alone. He ran his sloop close under the walls notwithstanding a very heavy fire, jumped overboard and followed by his ship's company, stormed and captured the fort. Meanwhile the boats captured Fort Royal and two days later Fort Bourbon capitulated. The painting shows the beach, with the fort beyond on the right, where a ship's barge has run ashore. Commander Faulknor is shown leading his men up the beach towards the fort, which is shrouded with gunsmoke. To the left of the fort and close under its walls is the 'Zebra' in port-bow view, engaging to port. On the left of the picture another ship's boat is making for the shore, firing a swivel-gun from her bow. Beyond her are other boats heading for the beach and in the background is the 'Asia', starboard-bow view.&#91;1&#93; ↑ National Maritime Museum
context_page_description: Fort Saint Louis is a seaside fortress in Fort-de-France, Martinique. The present-day fort has evolved from earlier strongholds that were erected on the site as early as 1638, and has been known in previous incarnations as Fort Royal and Fort de la Republique. The modern-day Fort Saint Louis is both an active naval base and a listed historic site of France. There are daily tours of the fort, though the portion that is still a naval base is off-limits.
context_section_description: In 1635, during the reign of Louis XIII, Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc and the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique established a French colony in Martinique, which the company governed until 1650. In 1638, Jacques Dyel du Parquet (1606-1658), nephew of Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc and first governor of Martinique, decided to have Fort Saint Louis built to protect the city against enemy attacks. The fort was soon destroyed, and rebuilt in 1669, when Louis XIV appointed Jean-Charles de Baas-Castelmore, the Marquis of Baas, as governor-general. Under his orders and those of his successors, particularly the Count of Blénac, the fort was built along the lines of a Vauban design.
  On 19 July 1674, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Admiral de Ruyter led a Dutch fleet of eighteen warships, nine storeships, and fifteen troop transports bearing 3,400 soldiers in an attack on the fort. The attack lasted three days before the Dutch gave up. After the initial Dutch attack, Governor Sainte Marthe called a war council. Sieur de Gemozat, the Lieutenant du Roi (an engineering officer), was the only member to absolutely reject the option to surrender.  Still, Captain Aycard, at ruinous personal cost, scuttled his fully freighted ship to prevent the Dutch vessels from entering the Carénage; the King rewarded the captain by authorizing him thereafter to fly an admiral's pennant wherever he went.  During the siege, Thomas-Claude Renart de Fuschamberg, future Marquis d'Amblimont, and commander of the warship Les Jeux, used his vessel's guns to prevent the Dutch frigates from approaching the fort more closely, and the Dutch land forces from over-running the North Bastion.  Today, the actions of Aycard, de Baas, de Gemozat and D'Amblimont are memorialized in structures in the fort that bear their names.
  In 1677, Charles de La Roche-Courbon, comte de Blénac, became Governor-General, holding the post until 1683. He was responsible for the 10-year effort that resulted in  the building of a 487-meter wall around the peninsula, the wall being four meters high and two meters thick.  Comte de Blénac served as Governor-General again from June 1684 to February 1691, and again from 24 Nov 1691 until his death in 1696. His successor was the Marquis d'Amblimont, who had played an important role in the repulse of the Dutch.
  In January 1759, the fort repulsed an attack by the British sailor, Admiral Rodney. A second British attack three years later was more successful.  The British forces occupied two hills overlooking Fort Saint Louis, Morne Garnier and Morne Tartenson.  Fort Saint Louis, although strong on the seaward side, was ill-prepared to resist bombardment from above and an attack from the landward. The British were therefore able to force its surrender. During this and subsequent periods of British occupation, the fort bore the name Fort Edward.
  On 11 February 1763, after the Treaty of Paris returned Martinique to French control, the British left and the fort resumed its name of Fort Royal. The French proceeded to construct a second fort, Fort Bourbon, on Morne Garnier to protect Fort Saint Louis.
  In 1793, with the advent of the French Revolution, the fort's name was changed to Fort de la Republique.
  In February 1794, the British Admiral John Jervis attacked Martinique, taking it after a 28-day siege. By 20 March only Fort Bourbon and Fort Royal still held out. Jervis ordered the fourth rate ship of the line HMS Asia (64 guns), and the sloop, HMS Zebra to take Fort Saint Louis. Asia was unable to get close, and so Commander Faulknor of Zebra volunteered to undertake the capture without the help of the larger vessel. Despite facing heavy fire, he ran his sloop close under the walls.  He and his ship's company used Zebra's boats to land. The British stormed the fort and captured it. Meanwhile, the boats of the British fleet captured Fort Royal and two days later Fort Bourbon capitulated.
  The Governor-General of Martinique at the time was Donatien Marie Joseph de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau.  The British occupied the fort from 22 May 1794 until September 1802 when 
caption: Capture of Fort Saint Louis, Martinique, 1794, Artist: Nicholas Pocock
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Martinique by Anderson", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.8.10", "Image DateTime": "2015:02:22 12:44:08", "Image Artist": "Joshua Akin", "Image Copyright": "\u00a9 National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London", "Image ExifOffset": "266", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "426", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5132", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0210", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1280", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "907"}