The Raid on Teignmouth was a military action by French forces that took place during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

on 13 July 1690. French naval forces having control of the English Channel after their victory at the Battle of Beachy Head, attacked the small of town of

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14 ...

. After a naval bombardment, French troops were landed, who then ransacked and burned the place, before leaving unmolested.

Background

With the beginning of the Nine Years War, the French under King Louis XIV, supported the deposed Catholic King James II in the fight against the Protestant King William III. On June 23, 1690, the French admiral, Anne Hilarion de Tourville, sailed the combined Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets out of Brest with orders to destroy the Anglo-Dutch fleet led by the Earl of Torrington. The French fleet which outnumbered the allied English and Dutch fleet met in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

off

Beachy Head Beachy Head is a Chalk Group, chalk headland in East Sussex, England. It is situated close to Eastbourne, East Sussex, Eastbourne, immediately east of the Seven Sisters, Sussex, Seven Sisters. Beachy Head is located within the administrative ar ...

. Torrington sailed towards the French with the Dutch in the vanguard, but the French managed to surround the Dutch ships which were badly mauled, with the English unable to help them. After hours of fighting, Torrington broke off the fight abandoning the Dutch ships too damaged to follow. Torrington was then imprisoned and

court-martialed A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the mili ...

, but was cleared of failing to support the Dutch but lost his post. Tourville, meanwhile having now gained control of the English Channel was able to roam without hindrance, heading towards the Devon coast.

Raid

Anne Hilarion de Tourville intended to sail the fleet to Ireland to cut Williams lines of communication. However, they diverted into

Torbay Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of ...

and decided to raid the place. Tourville’s ships dropped anchor and with the presence of the French close to shore, beacons were lit along the coast which roused up spirits of the memory of 1588. On observing Torbay's strong defences along with a strong force of militia lined up, he decided to leave his ships of the line where they were and sent several galleys Eastwards towards

instead. The galleys were rowed by slaves carrying in total 2,800 sailors and troops which were designed for inshore work. At Torbay a small French detachment made a false attack onshore to occupy the militia force. Meanwhile as the French galleys approached the town the ships opened up a bombardment. Firing nearly 200 shot which set fire and also damaged parts of the towns, the French then landed around 700 troops under

Victor-Marie d'Estrées Vice-Admiral Victor Marie d'Estrées, 5th Duke of Estrées (30 November 1660 – 27 December 1737) was a French military officer, politician and nobleman. Born in Paris, he was made a Marshal of France and was subsequently known as the ''"M ...

. The inhabitants managed to escape, and the only defences that could stop them was a small force of around 100 poorly armed militia but they were easily swept aside. After this the French then ransacked the town for twelve hours and destroyed eleven ships. After examining 'creditable persons' the Justices of the Peace concluded that:

Aftermath

The defeat of Beachy Head and the attack on Teignmouth caused panic in England. The diarist

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...

wrote, ''The whole nation now exceedingly alarmed by the French fleet braving our coast even to the very Thames mouth''. With the French having command of the Channel an invasion was now feared, only 6,000 troops, along with the militia, were prepared by the Earl of Marlborough. For the French however the raid proved controversial - it was seen as a failure to exploit the success of Beachy Head. This was compounded even more when William decisively defeated James II, at the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ) took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and James's daughter), had acceded to the Crowns of England and Sc ...

in Ireland. Subsequently the Louis XIV saw to it that Tourville was relieved of his command. The inhabitants returned and the vast majority were left homeless. As a result,

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

issued a church brief that authorised the collection of £11,000 for the aid of Teignmouth. Churches from as far afield as

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

contributed, and the collections enabled the further development of the port. The attack on Teignmouth was the last foreign invasion of England.

Legacy

The town's 'French Street' with its museum is named in memory of the occasion.

References

;Bibliography * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raid on Teignmouth 1690 in England Military history of Devon Conflicts in 1690 Military history of the English Channel