The Newfoundland expedition was a naval raiding expedition led by English Captain John Leake between August and October 1702 that targeted

French colonial French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. French colonial architecture has a long history, beginning in North America in 1604 and being most active in the Western Hemisphere (Car ...

settlements on the North Atlantic island of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

and its satellite, Saint Pierre. The expedition occurred in the early days of

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) or the Third Indian War was one in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Gr ...

, as the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n theater of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

is sometimes known. Leake's fleet descended on French settlements on the southern shore of Newfoundland, destroying

fishing stage A fishing stage is a wooden vernacular building, typical of the rough traditional buildings associated with the cod fishery in Newfoundland, Canada. Stages are located at the water's edge or "landwash", and consist of an elevated platform on the sh ...

s and other infrastructure. They captured fishing and trade ships, and destroyed most of the settlement at Saint Pierre. In a final flurry of activity before returning to England, Leake captured several ships from the French merchant convoy as it headed for Europe. More than 50 ships were taken in total, and six seasonal settlements were destroyed. The strongly fortified French base at Plaisance was not attacked.

Background

Hostilities in the

had begun in 1701, but

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

did not get involved until 1702, planning a major naval expedition against targets in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. On 9 June 1702 (

Old Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, they refer to the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries betwe ...

)

also became a target when George Churchill, chief advisor to the Lord High Admiral, Prince George, informed Captain John Leake, "I have proposed to the Prince, your going to command a squadron to Newfoundland; you will be a Chief of Squadron". Leake's commission, issued on 24 June, came with instructions to investigate the military strength of the French in Newfoundland, and to "annoy them there in their fishing harbours and at sea". He was also to convoy merchant ships in both directions, report on the conditions of the English settlements and fisheries, and act as governor of the territory while he was there. To accomplish this he was given command of and a small fleet of ships. On 22 July 1702, he departed from

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

with a fleet of nine ships, including six

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

. His ships included (in addition to ''Exeter'') the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a complement of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers, a six-tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided ...

s , , , , and . Newfoundland had been the site of much conflict during

King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand Allian ...

(1689–1697). The most ambitious expedition had been conducted by French and Indian forces led by

Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...

in 1696. His raiding expedition was highly destructive: it completely destroyed almost all of the English settlements on the island. Many of these were rebuilt shortly afterwards, and the chief English port at St. John's was strongly fortified. Permanent French settlements on Newfoundland were relatively few. Most of their settlements, such as those in

Trepassey Bay Trepassey Bay is a natural bay on the southeast end of the Avalon Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland, in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the countr ...

and St. Mary's, were only used in the summertime by fishermen who returned to Europe at the end of the season.Prowse, p. 185 The principal town of Plaisance was permanently settled, and its fortifications housed a small garrison. In 1702 it was temporarily under the command of

Philippe Pastour de Costebelle Philippe Pastour de Costebelle ( 1661 – October 1717) was a French naval officer and Governor of Newfoundland and then Louisbourg. He was born in Languedoc, France and died in Louisbourg, New France. Costebelle served in the French Navy as ea ...

, a captain of the French Marines in Canada, who was awaiting the arrival of the next governor,

Daniel d'Auger de Subercase Daniel d'Auger de Subercase (February 12, 1661 – November 20, 1732) was a naval officer and the French governor of Newfoundland and later Acadia. Subercase was baptised a Protestant to Jean Daughter, a rich merchant and bourgeois who had p ...

(who did not arrive until 1703). The permanent French population of Newfoundland was fairly small—only 180 French settlers left Newfoundland when the colony was abandoned in 1713. The French also had a small settlement on the island of Saint Pierre, just south of Newfoundland in the

Gulf of Saint Lawrence The Gulf of St. Lawrence is a gulf that fringes the shores of the provinces of Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, in Canada, plus the islands Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, possessions of France, in ...

. Its governor,

Sébastien Le Gouès, Sieur de Sourdeval Sébastien is a common French given name. It is a French form of the Latin name ''Sebastianus'' meaning "from Sebaste". Sebaste was a common placename in classical Antiquity, derived from the Greek word ''σεβαστος'', or ''sebastos'', mea ...

, had only arrived in July 1702, and erected a crude wooden fort armed with a few guns.

Raids

Newfoundland

Leake's fleet arrived in late August at Bay Bulls. From the inhabitants they learned that two French fishing ships were loading at

, and that two French warships were at anchor near the French capital at Plaisance. He also learned that the French routinely posted spies to observe activities at Bay Bulls, and were likely to report the fleet's presence to Plaisance—a three-day overland trek.Leake, p. 96 SirJohnLeake

Leake consequently moved with speed, heading south and west toward the French settlements. On 28 August the fleet made its first captures, taking a French ship recently arrived from the French

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West In ...

isle of

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, the two at Trepassey Bay, and two more that ''Lichfield'' chased down. The next day Leake captured another French ship in St. Mary's Bay, and was rejoined by ''Montagu'', which had taken three prizes the day before. Ordering ''Montagu'', ''Lichfield'', and ''Charles Galley'' to make for Colinet, Leake took the rest of the fleet to St. Mary's, where he chased a ship aground, and then sent out boats to refloat her. Landing parties were sent ashore, where they destroyed

s, houses, shipbuilding equipment and unfinished ships, and many small boats.Leake, p. 97 After destroying the facilities at Colinet, the fleet regrouped on the 30th. Leake ordered a few of his ships to escort the captured prizes to St. John's, and then to cruise off

Cape Race Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland, in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", mean ...

for 14 days looking for prizes. Leake detached ''Montagu'' and ''Lichfield'' to destroy St. Lawrence while he sailed for Saint Pierre.

Saint Pierre

Leake's account places his first arrival off Saint Pierre on 1 September. Bad weather prevented him from entering the harbour until the next day. He was therefore only able to capture two of the eight ships that had been in the harbour, because the rest got away through a shallow channel. On the 3rd he again approached the harbour, but did not report landing, and left then Saint Pierre to head for St. John's. Leake's fleet reassembled at St. John's on 7 September. He then detached about half the fleet, led by the ''Medway'' and ''Charles Galley'', to return to Saint Pierre to destroy it, while he took the other half north toward Bonavista. There he hoped to acquire experienced pilots with knowledge of other French harbours. Failing in this endeavour (none of the pilots he found had the needed experience, and also expressed concerns over the advancing winter conditions), he returned to St. John's. He was met there on 2 October by the other half of the fleet, which had completed the destruction of Saint Pierre. Saint Pierre's Governor Sourdeval reported in a letter dated 11 October (presumably New Style, thus 30 September Old Style) that the English had twice landed men, on 7 and 8 October. He reported the second landing to consist of 400 men, who besieged him in his small fort. He surrendered after they exchanged gunfire for several hours, after which the English destroyed most of the facilities. They then deposited 52 French prisoners captured earlier in the expedition, and left.

Cruising for the French convoy

Leake then divided the fleet to begin the return to Europe. ''Montagu'' and ''Looe'' were assigned to convoy merchants and prizes destined for Portugal, while ''Reserve'', ''Charles Galley'', and ''Firebrand'' were set to escort those destined for England. Leake took the rest of the fleet and cruised off Cape Race for several weeks, hoping to intercept the French convoy that would have to pass nearby before winter set it. Weather conditions were often quite stormy, but Leake managed to take eight prizes before he finally sailed for England in mid-October.

Aftermath

Leake reported taking 51 ships. Sixteen were sent to England, six to Portugal, and five were sold at St. John's. He left two ships at St. John's as part of its defence force. The remaining ships, including their cargoes and trade goods that had not been loaded before they were taken, were destroyed. Six French settlements were destroyed: Trepassey, St. Mary's, Colinet, Great and Little St. Lawrence, and Saint Pierre. Upon his return to England, Leake was received with favour by Queen Anne. He was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

for his actions, and went on to have a distinguished career for the rest of the war, serving in European waters. Newfoundland continued to be contested throughout the war, with each side waging economic war against the other's settlements, destroying fishing stages and other infrastructure. The main English settlement at St. John's was besieged in 1705 and captured in 1709 by French forces from Plaisance. Sovereignty of the entire island passed to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

with the 1713

Treaty of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...

, although the French were granted some rights to dry fish on shore. Saint Pierre also came under British control, but it and neighboring

Miquelon Miquelon-Langlade () is the larger but less populated of the two communes (municipalities) making up the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, located to the south of Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It consists ...

were eventually given to France after the

War of the Austrian Succession The War of the Austrian Succession was a European conflict fought between 1740 and 1748, primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italian Peninsula, Italy, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Related conflicts include King Ge ...

.Prowse, p. 313

Notes

References

* * * {{coord, 47.08733, -54.6698, display=title, type:event Military history of Newfoundland Conflicts in 1702 Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving England Naval battles of the War of the Spanish Succession involving France History of Saint Pierre and Miquelon New France 1702 in North America Pre-Confederation Newfoundland Military expeditions Queen Anne's War Expeditions from the Kingdom of England