Action of 3 February 1812 The Action of 3 February 1812 was an unusual minor naval engagement off the western coast of Haiti between a British frigate and a large pirate ship manned by a loose collation of Haitian rebels . The battle was fought against the background of the Napoleonic Wars and the collapse of government in Haiti in the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution eight years earlier . After the French had been expelled from Haiti in 1804 , the newly independent nation was first ruled by Jean - Jacques Dessalines , who was murdered in 1806 and replaced by two of his advisors , Henri Christophe and Alexandre Pétion . These rulers divided the country between them and in the confused political situation that followed a number of minor fiefdoms appeared , including one led by Jérôme Maximilien Borgella in the south of the island called the Department of the South . The small Haitian Navy defected to Borgella , who crewed the vessels with a collection of sailors from various countries , led by a notorious privateer named Gaspard . Stationed off Haiti was the British frigate HMS " Southampton " under Captain Sir James Lucas Yeo , tasked with observing the political situation but with orders not to interfere in the intermittent conflict between Christophe and Pétion . Yeo ' s orders did not include Borgella ' s ships and Yeo reasoned that the Haitian flagship , the large frigate " Heureuse Réunion " ( recently renamed from " Améthyste " and often reported under its former name ) , presented a serious threat to international trade in the region . Sailing to intercept the Haitian ship , Yeo discovered her in the Gulf of Léogane and ordered Gaspard to surrender . The Haitian refused , and the frigates exchanged shots at 06 : 30 . The superior seamanship and discipline on " Southampton " prevented Gaspard from boarding the British ship with his greater numbers and within half an hour " Heureuse Réunion " was dismasted and battered . At 07 : 45 the Haitian ship surrendered , Yeo depositing the crew ashore and bringing " Heureuse Réunion " to Port Royal , Jamaica . At Jamaica , his actions were approved by his superiors and " Heureuse Réunion " , renamed " Améthyste " , was returned to Henri Christophe . Background . During the Napoleonic Wars , the Caribbean Sea was initially an important theatre of naval conflict , as ships operating from the various French , British , Spanish and Dutch colonies preyed on enemy trade . During 1809 and 1810 however , the Royal Navy launched a series of co - ordinated amphibious operation s that eliminated the French and Dutch colonies and brought the conflict in the Caribbean to an end . With the threat of attacks on British trade in the region significantly reduced , the Royal Navy correspondingly reduced their presence in the Caribbean and the remaining British ships were distributed to observe trouble spots in the region , which in 1812 included the independent nation of Haiti . Haiti had won its independence from France in 1804 , the first Caribbean nation to do so . The Haitians had fought a lengthy and bloody war against the French known as the Haitian Revolution , in which armies of former slaves led by Toussaint Louverture and then Jean - Jacques Dessalines succeeded in driving the French into their fortified ports and then systematically eliminating their enclaves . With the start of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803 , French reinforcements for the garrison on Haiti were delayed and intercepted by the British Royal Navy , who blockaded the island and took the surrenders of the last garrisons in 1804 , removing them and their dependents to prevent a massacre . Dessalines rapidly established himself as monarch of Haiti , but his reign was cut short in 1806 when his closest advisors , Henri Christophe and Alexandre Pétion organised his assassination . Assuming control of Haiti , Christophe laid claim to the northern part of the country and Pétion the south , the two sides waging a constant low - level civil war during the next decade . Many minor rulers sprang up during this period , especially in the south , where Pétion gave parcels of land for his followers to establish their own private fiefdoms . One such warlord was Jérôme Maximilien Borgella , who took over command of a small state in the region of Léogane following the death of its ruler , André Rigaud . In early 1809 , the French sent a number of reinforcement convoys to their blockaded colonies in the hope of strengthening the garrisons before the British invasions began . Many ships , including four frigates , were lost in these missions and few reached their destinations successfully . Among these failed attempts was Troude ' s expedition to the Caribbean , which arrived in April 1809 at the Îles des Saintes . Finding that Guadeloupe was the only surviving colony , Amable Troude intended to anchor at Basse - Terre and unload his supplies , but was blockaded in the Îles des Saintes by a British squadron under Vice - Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane . Attempting to break out on 14 April , Troude led his main squadron northwest towards Puerto Rico while two " en flûte " frigates slipped out northeast to Basse - Terre , arriving safely . Troude ' s squadron was defeated on 17 April , but the frigates " Félicité " and " Furieuse " remained at Basse - Terre until 14 June , when they attempted to break out and return to France , laden with trade goods . The British blockade squadron were soon in pursuit and on 18 June the frigate HMS " Latona " captured " Félicité " without a fight . " Furieuse " was captured a month later in the North Atlantic . " Félicité " was 24 years old and was therefore considered too antiquated for commissioning in the Royal Navy ; instead she was sold to Henri Christophe to form the nucleus of the new Haitian Navy under the name " Améthyste " . Battle . At some point in January 1812 the Haitian Navy defected , for reasons unknown , from Christophe to Borgella . Borgella placed a noted French privateer named Gaspard in command of the squadron , which included the frigate " Améthyste " ( renamed " Heureuse Réunion " ) , a corvette and a brig . Gaspard then armed " Heureuse Réunion " with 44 cannon , took on board a motley crew of over 600 men , a mixture of Haitian , French , American and other nationalities , and began cruising in the Gulf of Gonâve . The British observer off Haiti at this time was Captain Sir James Lucas Yeo in the frigate HMS " Southampton " , under strict orders to respect the flags of Christophe and Pétion , but not those of the minor warlords that had emerged along the coast . On 2 January word reached him at Port au Prince of Gaspard ' s movements and he immediately sailed to intercept him , concerned that if Gaspard was allowed to take his powerful squadron out of Haitian waters he might begin attacks on merchant ships regardless of nationality . At 06 : 00 on 3 February , Yeo discovered Gaspard ' s ships at anchor to the south of the island of Guanaboa and demanded that Gaspard come aboard " Southampton " with his commissioning papers , to establish under whose authority Gaspard commanded the warship . The Haitian captain refused , but sent aboard his first lieutenant with a note purported to be from Borgella , signed " Borgellat , general in chief of the south of Hayti " . As Borgella had no authority to commission warships , Yeo ordered the lieutenant to tell Gaspard that his ships must submit to " Southampton " and be taken to Port Royal , Jamaica , where their ownership could be established by the naval authorities . He would have five minutes to consider the proposal . A British officer accompanied the Haitian lieutenant back to " Heureuse Réunion " for Gaspard ' s answer , and was informed within three minutes that Gaspard had no intention of submitting to the British ship . He was also told that should Yeo be intent on fighting the Haitian ship then he should indicate it with a bow gun fired ahead of " Heureuse Réunion " . Returning to " Southampton " at 06 : 30 , the lieutenant relayed the message and the bow gun was fired , followed a few seconds later by a full broadside from " Southampton " . " Heureuse Réunion " responded to the cannonade in kind . During the engagement , Gaspard repeatedly attempted to board " Southampton " , where his vastly superior numbers could overwhelm the British crew . Yeo was aware of his enemy ' s intentions , and repeatedly manoeuvered out of the way , his more disciplined and agile vessel easily able to remain out of contact with the overloaded Haitian ship . Within half an hour the highly efficient gunners on " Southampton " had knocked down the main and mizen masts on " Heureuse Réunion " , leaving her unable to manoeuvre and vulnerable to repeated pounding at close range . Despite the severe damage the Haitian ship suffered , her crew continued to fire cannon at irregular intervals for 45 minutes , each shot prompting a broadside from the British ship . The two smaller Haitian vessels did not support the frigate , fleeing towards Maraguana near Petit Goâve to shelter under the batteries there . By 07 : 45 , after over an hour of heavy fire , Yeo hailed " Heureuse Réunion " to discovered whether or not she had surrendered . Somebody aboard replied that they had , although Gaspard had been seriously wounded and was no longer in command , so the identity of the person who gave the surrender is not known . Aftermath . As " Southampton " stopped firing , the remaining masts of the Haitian ship fell overboard . Casualties on " Heureuse Réunion " were immense : of the 600 – 700 crew , 105 were dead and 120 wounded , the latter including Gaspard , who subsequently died of his injuries . Yeo ' s loss was one man killed and ten wounded , from a crew of 212 . Seeking to rid himself of so many prisoners , Yeo landed most of them at Maraguana before sailing to Port au Prince , where the rest were landed and temporary jury masts were fitted to " Heureuse Réunion " for the journey to Jamaica . The British retained 20 prisoners for trial at Port Royal . " Heureuse Réunion " was repaired at Jamaica and subsequently restored to Christophe under the name " Améthyste " , returning to Haitian service . Yeo ' s action in attacking the Haitian ship , although not officially sanctioned by his commanding officer beforehand , was commended . The Caribbean rose in importance again later in 1812 , with the outbreak of the War of 1812 between Britain and the United States . American privateers threatened British trade routes and Royal Navy ships were sent out to defeat them , including " Southampton " , which was wrecked in the Bahamas during an anti - privateer patrol in November 1812 . There were no further significant actions in the region during the Napoleonic Wars , the presence of Royal Navy patrols deterred any large scale French or American operations in the Caribbean .