Battle of the Basque Roads
Videos
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also known as the Battle of Aix Roads, was a major naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars, fought in the narrow Basque Roads at the mouth of the Charente River on the Bisc
Destruction of the French Fleet in Basque Roads Thomas Whitcombe, 1817
The British navy, led by Theseus, preventing the French Mediterranean Squadron from joining with the Brest Squadron near the Isle de Groix on 21 February 1809.
Zacharie Allemand, the French commander at the battle
Copy of an 1807 portrait of Lord Cochrane
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Marquess of Maranhão, styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a British naval officer, politician and mercenary. Serving during the French Revo
Battle of the Basque Roads
…under observation during March by the British fleet under the dour Admiral Lord Gambier. The Admiralty, desiring an attack on the French fleet, ordered Lord Cochrane, an outspoken and popular junior captain, to lead an attack, over the objections of a number of senior officers. Cochrane organised an inshore squadron…
Portrait by James Ramsay, c. 1830
Cochrane's father, the 9th Earl of Dundonald (1748–1831)
Speedy under Cochrane capturing El Gamo in the action of 6 May 1801