Order of battle in the Atlantic campaign of 1806 The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was one of the most important and complex naval campaigns of the post - Trafalgar Napoleonic Wars . Seeking to take advantage of the withdrawal of British forces from the Atlantic in the aftermath of the Battle of Trafalgar , Emperor Napoleon ordered two battle squadrons to sea from the fleet stationed at Brest , during December 1805 . Escaping deep into the Atlantic , these squadrons succeeded in disrupting British convoys , evading pursuit by British battle squadrons and reinforcing the French garrison at Santo Domingo . The period of French success was brief : on 6 February 1806 one of the squadrons , under Vice - Admiral Corentin Urbain Leissègues , was intercepted by a British squadron at the Battle of San Domingo and destroyed , losing all five of its ships of the line . The second French squadron , under Vice - Admiral Jean - Baptiste Willaumez , cruised in the South Atlantic and the Caribbean during the spring and summer of 1806 , conducting several successful raids on British islands in the West Indies . His ability to affect British trade was hampered by the deployment of British squadrons against him and the disobedience of Captain Jérôme Bonaparte , the Emperor ' s brother . On 18 August , an Atlantic hurricane dispersed his ships , causing severe damage and forcing them to take shelter in friendly or neutral harbours in the Americas . Waiting British ships destroyed one vessel , and several others were so badly damaged that they never sailed again , the four survivors limping back to France individually over the next two years . The various British squadrons deployed against him failed to catch Willaumez , but their presence had limited his ability to raid British trade routes . The campaign included a number of subsidiary operations by both British and French ships , some taking advantage of the campaign to conduct smaller operations while the main enemy forces were distracted , others operating as diversions to the principal campaign to attack undefended areas or lure British ships away from the principal French squadrons . Among these operations was the return of the squadron under Contre - Admiral Charles - Alexandre Durand Linois from the Indian Ocean , which was captured at the Action of 13 March 1806 ; the raiding cruises of L ' Hermite ' s expedition and Lamellerie ' s expedition , which captured a number of merchant ships but each lost a frigate breaking through the blockade of the French coast ; and the destruction of a convoy of seven French ships destined with supplies for the French West Indies at the Action of 25 September 1806 . French squadrons . Admiral Leissègues ' squadron . Both of the principal French squadrons departed Brest on 13 December , remaining together for the first two days before dividing in pursuit of separate British merchant convoys on 15 December . The squadron under Leissègues clashed with the convoy ' s escort , before breaking off and sailing south for the French Caribbean , where Leissègues was intending to land the 1 , 000 soldiers carried aboard as reinforcements for the garrison at Santo Domingo , via the Azores . The voyage was long and difficult , Leissègues struggling through winter storms that divided his squadron and inflicted severe damage to his ships . Arriving at Santo Domingo on 20 January , Leissègues disembarked his troops and began extensive repairs to his ships in preparation for raiding cruises in the Caribbean . On 6 February , Leissègues was surprised at anchor by a squadron under Vice - Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth , which had been taking on fresh supplies at Basseterre when news of Leissègues ' arrival reached him . Joined by ships from the West Indian squadron , Duckworth ' s force was larger than Leissègues ' and also had the advantage of the wind that prevented the unprepared French squadron from escaping . Sailing westwards along the coast in a line of battle , Leissègues ' flagship " Impérial " was the first to be attacked , eventually driving ashore along with the next in line , while three others surrendered at the Battle of San Domingo . Leissègues himself escaped ashore ; the only surviving ships of his squadron were the frigates , all of which eventually returned to France later in the spring . Admiral Willaumez ' s squadron . After separating from Leissègues on 15 December , Willaumez sailed south , capturing a number of vessels from a British troop convoy and sending the prizes , with the frigate " Volontaire " , to Tenerife . Willaumez ' s intention was to raid the China Fleet , a large convoy of valuable East Indiamen that sailed from the Far East to Britain every year . However on 23 December he was pursued by Duckworth and driven far off course , so that by the time he reached the Cape of Good Hope , where he planned to resupply his ships , it had already been captured by a British expeditionary force . Turning westwards , Willaumez raided shipping in the South Atlantic until April , when he anchored at Salvador in neutral Brazil . By early May , Willaumez was at sea again , stopping at Cayenne and then splitting his force to raid shipping in the Leeward Islands prior to reuniting at Fort - de - France on Martinique in June . On 1 July , Willaumez sailed again , attacking shipping at Montserrat , Nevis and St . Kitts before sailing to Tortola in preparation for an attack on the Jamaica convoy . Before he could reach the convoy , Willaumez was intercepted off the Passage Islands by a squadron under Rear - Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and driven northwards into the Bahamas . There he waited for the Jamaica convoy to pass , seizing any ship of any nationality that came within sight , in case they should reveal his position . After several weeks of waiting , Captain Bonaparte , the Emperor ' s brother and commander of the ship " Vétéran " , decided that he would no longer submit to Willaumez ' s command and sailed north during the night of 31 July , without orders or even notifying the admiral . " Vétéran " eventually returned to France on 26 August , after destroying six ships from a Quebec convoy . Panicked by the unexplained disappearance of one of his ships and its illustrious captain , Willaumez struck north in search of the vessel and as a result missed the passage of the Jamaica convoy , also narrowly avoiding an encounter with the squadrons under Warren and Strachan . On 18 August a hurricane dispersed his ships , severely damaging them and scattering them along the Atlantic Seaboard of the Americas . One was destroyed by a British patrol , two others were too badly damaged to be repaired and were broken up , and three of his ships successfully made the journey back to France over the next two years . Admiral Linois ' s squadron . One of the minor French squadrons that participated in the campaign was the force under Contre - Admiral Linois , who had sailed for the Indian Ocean with a ship of the line and four frigates in March 1803 during the Peace of Amiens . After brief stops at Puducherry and Île de France , Linois sailed on a raiding cruise to the South China Sea only to be driven off by a British merchant convoy at the Battle of Pulo Aura . Despite subsequent minor success against merchant ships , including the Battle of Vizagapatam , Linois ' s failure to inflict significant damage to British trade in the Far East enraged Napoleon , and in late 1805 , with supplies running low and his ships in need of repair , Linois began the return journey to Europe with just his flagship and a single frigate remaining . By the early morning of 13 March 1806 he was in the Mid - Atlantic when his lookouts spotted sails in the distance . Turning his force around to investigate , Linois hoped to encounter a merchant convoy but instead discovered the large British second rate HMS " London " looming out of the darkness ahead . Unable to escape , Linois fought until his ships were battered and he himself was badly wounded , but he eventually surrendered to the squadron under Admiral Warren that had followed " London " . Napoleon ' s fury at Linois was unabated and the French admiral remained a prisoner of war for the next eight years . Commodore L ' Hermite ' s squadron . One of the principal French diversionary operations during 1806 was by a force that had been sent to sea in October 1805 as a diversion during the Trafalgar campaign , which by then was almost over . Sailing from Lorient to West Africa , L ' Hermite was supposed to have been reinforced by a squadron under Jérôme Bonaparte and attack and capture British forts on the West African coast , thus forcing the detachment of British forces from the main campaign in pursuit . The events of the end of the Trafalgar campaign cancelled these plans , and the scheduled reinforcements were instead attached to Willaumez ' s squadron . Despite this setback , L ' Hermite continued with elements of the original plan and attacked British merchant ships and slave ships off West Africa during the spring of 1806 , inflicting some local damage but failing to capture a trading post or to affect the wider strategic situation . In June , L ' Hermite sailed to Cayenne for supplies and then returned to Europe the following month , encountering part of the British blockade squadron under Rear - Admiral Thomas Louis on his return and losing the frigate " Président " . Commodore La Meillerie ' s squadron . One of the French squadrons that operated in the Atlantic campaign of 1806 was the result of opportunity rather than strategy . After the Battle of Trafalgar , most of the French survivors had retreated to Cadiz , where they remained until Duckworth ' s blockade squadron abandoned the port in November 1805 . Although Duckworth ' s ships were replaced by forces under Lord Collingwood , the replacements were inadequate and on 26 February 1806 , while the blockade squadron , which had been pulled back in the hope of luring the French out of the port , had been blown off station , four frigates and a brig escaped . Chased by the British frigate HMS " Hydra " , Commodore Louis La - Marre - la - Meillerie refused battle and abandoned the brig " Furet " to the British in his haste to escape . Sailing to Senegal and then Cayenne , La Meillerie ' s operations had little effect and by 18 May he was already on the return journey to France , hoping to anchor in the Biscay port of Rochefort . On 27 July , the frigates were spotted by HMS " Mars " , a ship of the line of the British blockade squadron , and chased with the frigate " Rhin " rapidly falling behind . Declining to support the straggler , La Meillerie ran on towards France while " Mars " took possession of " Rhin " , and the surviving ships found safe ports along the Biscay coast . Commodore Soleil ' s squadron . The final French operation in the Atlantic during the campaign was an attempt to send seven frigates and corvettes to the French West Indies in September , laden with supplies to help maintain the strength and morale of the garrisons . With Willaumez believed to be still at sea , September 1806 seemed a good time to send a squadron into the Atlantic , but in fact the force was spotted within hours of leaving Rochefort by the British blockade force under Commodore Sir Samuel Hood . Hood ' s force gave chase and the large ships of the line soon caught up the frigates in heavy weather . Sending four of his ships off in different directions , Soleil attempted to give them cover with his three largest vessels , but after a hard - fought battle in which Hood lost an arm , four of the French frigates were captured . British squadrons . Admiral Warren ' s squadron . The squadron under Admiral Warren prepared at Spithead in December 1805 included one second rate , one 80 - gun ship of the line and five 74 - gun ships of line , but no frigates or smaller vessels to operate as scouts . Prevented from sailing during December by high winds , Warren remained off St Helens on the Isle of Wight until the middle of January , when the winds lifted and he set a course for Madeira . There he was to search for information of the French squadrons and , if no information was forthcoming , to sail for Barbados and augment the squadrons in the Caribbean . For the next two months , Warren remained in the central eastern Atlantic Ocean , aware that Willaumez was cruising to the south and that Leissègues had been destroyed off San Domingo . During February his force was joined by the independently sailing frigate HMS " Amazon " . On 13 March 1806 , Warren ' s squadron sighted and pursued two sails to the northeast , which were eventually recognised as the squadron under Admiral Linois , returning to France from an extended cruise in the Indian Ocean . In the ensuing Action of 13 March 1806 , " London " and " Amazon " were able to defeat and capture the French ships " Marengo " and " Belle Poule " , the resulting damage and prizes prompting Warren to return to Britain . During the return journey his squadron was struck by a spring storm and several ships suffered damage and were separated , eventually rejoining Warren ' s main force and returning to Spithead . In Britain , Warren ' s ships underwent repairs and " London " and " Repulse " were detached , replaced by HMS " Fame " under Captain Richard Bennett . In late June Warren ' s squadron sailed again , under orders to intercept Willaumez off the Bahamas . Arriving in the Caribbean on 12 July , Warren narrowly missed intercepting Willaumez ' s squadron , which had sailed to the north in search of " Vétéran " . Admiral Strachan ' s squadron . Admiral Strachan ' s squadron was ordered to prepare for sea during December at Plymouth , but like Warren ' s force , Strachan was trapped by strong winds in Cawsand Bay and could not sail until mid - January . Strachan ' s orders were to sail for Saint Helena and search for signs of the French squadrons . If their whereabouts could not be discovered , Strachan was to join the squadron under Admiral Sir Home Riggs Popham detailed to invade the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope . During February and March Strachan searched in vain , eventually receiving the news that Willaumez had anchored in neutral Salvador in Brazil during April . Steering northwest in the hope of intercepting the French squadron , Strachan was hampered by the presence of HMS " St George " , which proved too slow for a flying squadron . Returning to Plymouth , Strachan detached " St George " and " Centaur " , which had been made the flagship of the Rochefort blockade squadron and was given HMS " Belleisle " , HMS " Audacious " and HMS " Montagu " as replacements , as well as two frigates . Departing Plymouth on 19 May , Strachan sailed for the Caribbean , passing Madeira and the Canary Islands before anchoring at Carlisle Bay , Barbados on 8 August . Five days later Strachan sail northwards in pursuit of Willaumez and on 18 August was caught in the same hurricane that dispersed Willaumez ' s squadron slightly to the north . During August and September , Strachan ' s scattered ships gathered off the rendezvous point at Chesapeake Bay in the hope of intercepting any French vessels seeking shelter in American ports . On 14 September , " Belleisle " , " Bellona " and " Melampus " sighted the limping French ship " Impétueux " off Cape Henry and drove her ashore , burning the wreck in violation of American neutrality . Admiral Duckworth ' s squadron . The third principal British squadron deployed during the campaign was never intended to take part in it . Admiral Duckworth had been ordered to lead the blockade of Cadiz in November 1805 , following the destruction of the French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October . Finding the blockade of the survivors at Cadiz dull , Duckworth sailed south in search of Allemand ' s expedition , leaving just two frigates to watch the Spanish port . Allemand escaped Duckworth , but on 23 December he was informed of the depredations by Willaumez ' s squadron and sailed to intercept him . On 25 December he discovered Willaumez but was unable to catch him eventually abandoning the chase and retiring to St . Kitts in the West Indies to take on fresh supplies . There he was joined by several ships of the Leeward Islands squadron under Admiral Cochrane and also learned of the arrival of Leissègues at Santo Domingo . Sailing to intercept the French squadron , Duckworth successfully encountered them on 6 February 1806 and in the ensuing Battle of San Domingo , captured or destroyed all five of the ships of the line , carrying his prizes to Jamaica . Duckworth then returned to Britain , leaving Cochrane with a number of vessels to patrol the Eastern Caribbean in anticipation of the arrival of Willaumez . Admiral Cochrane ' s squadron . Following the Battle of San Domingo , Rear - Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane , newly knighted , gathered a small squadron in anticipation of the arrival of the second French force under Willaumez . Based at Carlisle Bay , Barbados , Cochrane ' s forces patrolled the Leeward Islands for the French force during the spring , eventually locating Willaumez ' s ships at Fort - de - France on Martinique on 14 June 1806 . An attempt to blockade the port ended in failure as several ships were damaged in high winds , but when Willaumez sailed on 1 July , Cochrane had planned ahead , and brought his squadron to Tortola , blocking the passage through which Willaumez would have to sail to attack the valuable Jamaica convoy , then gathering off Saint Thomas . With his squadron , Cochrane successfully drove off Willaumez on 4 July without a fight , and the French admiral retired to the Bahama Banks to await the convoy ' s passage northwards . Cochrane spent the next month preparing the convoy for its voyage , which it began during August while Willaumez was out of position to the north . Rochefort blockade squadrons . Although other British forces were deployed during the year , most were engaged on other operations incidental to the main Atlantic campaign , such as the expeditionary force to the Cape of Good Hope under Commodore Home Riggs Popham . In addition , a number of blockade squadrons were deployed to the major ports of the French Atlantic coast . These forces contained the French warships still at anchor in the ports and restricted the return of French warships from service at sea during the campaign . These forces included a Channel squadron under Rear - Admiral Thomas Louis , whose ships intercepted and captured a frigate of Commodore Jean - Marthe - Adrien L ' Hermite ' s squadron on 27 September , and blockade forces off Cadiz under the distant command of Vice - Admiral Lord Collingwood and Brest under Admiral William Cornwallis . Cornwallis in particular was particularly effective : under his watch , only one French ship of the line successfully entered or departed Brest harbour during the year . There was one blockade force that played a particular role in the campaign , the force deployed to the waters off Rochefort , initially under the command of Commodore Richard Goodwin Keats . Under Keats , the French squadron under Louis La - Marre - la - Meillerie was intercepted on 17 July , HMS " Mars " capturing a frigate and chasing the others into port . In August , Keats was replaced by Commodore Sir Samuel Hood , who was to achieve one of the more notable victories of the year at the Action of 25 September 1806 , when a French convoy of seven ships sailing to the West Indies was intercepted and defeated . Although Hood ' s force captured four large modern frigates , the French fought hard and Hood himself was seriously wounded by musket fire , losing an arm .