page_title: Louis-Charles Le Vassor de La Touche
section_title: Governor of Martinique (1761–62)
hierarchical_section_title: Louis-Charles Le Vassor de La Touche / Governor of Martinique (1761–62)
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Физическая карта Малых Антильских Островов. English: Relief map of the Lesser Antilles Equirectangular projection, N/S stretching 103&#160;%. Geographic limits of the map: N: 19.2° N S: 9.7° N W: 70.5° W E: 59.1° W
context_page_description: Louis-Charles Le Vassor de La Touche de Tréville, comte de La Touche, was a French naval general who was governor of Martinique and governor general of the Windward Islands.
context_section_description: In 1760 La Touche was appointed governor of Martinique in place of the unpopular François V de Beauharnais, and as a member of the island's Creole elite helped boost morale.
  He left for Martinique on the frigate Tigre in late 1760.
  From 1761 to 1762 he was commander general of the Windward Islands and governor general of Martinique.
  After La Touche arrived in Martinique in February 1761 he wasted no time.
  He inspected the small forts and batteries of the island, began to repair the roads, and ordered preparations by the army and militia officers to prepare for the inevitable attack by the British.
  He printed his ordinances and distributed them throughout the island, the first governor to do so.
  An ordinance of September 1761 declared the king's satisfaction with the loyalty of the colonists and called on them to defend the island.
  The British had invaded Guadeloupe in January 1759, and had overcome resistance after a harsh three-month struggle.
  The British commander General John Barrington was magnanimous in victory.
  He let the French planters sell their sugar at good prices in Britain, and over the next three years British ships delivered more than 17,500 slaves to Guadeloupe.
  The result was a boom in the sugar economy.
  The planters in Martinique, cut off from their markets and in desperate financial straits, were aware of this.
  When a large British force landed in January 1762 most of the militia units deserted and the local leaders in the south asked for peace on the same terms as Guadeloupe, ignoring La Touche's call for prolongued resistance.
  The island had fallen within three weeks.
  On 13 February 1762 La Touche signed articles of capitulation to the British forces led by Admiral Rodney and General Robert Monckton.
caption: Lesser Antilles
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