Battle of Diamond Rock 1805
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 31 May 1805 – 2 June 1805 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1805 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | 19th century (1800–1913) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Napoleonic Wars | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | First French Empire, Spanish Empire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 14.4431, -61.0389 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Diamond Rock (French: Bataille du rocher du Diamant, Spanish: Batalla de la roca del Diamante) took place between 31 May and 2 June 1805 during the War of the Third Coalition, when a Franco-Spanish force dispatched under Captain Julien Cosmao was able to retake Diamond Rock, on the approach to Fort-de-France, from the British forces that had occupied it over a year before.
The French in Martinique had been unable to oust the defenders from the strategically important rock, allowing the British garrison to restrict access to Fort-de-France Bay, firing on ships attempting to enter it by the quickest route with guns they had placed on the cliffs and thus forcing them to take a slower route, allowing interception by the blockading vessels. The arrival of a large combined Franco-Spanish fleet in May changed the strategic situation. The fleet's commander, French Vice-admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, had orders to attack British possessions in the Caribbean, but instead waited at Martinique for clearer instructions. He was finally persuaded to authorise an assault on the British position, and a Franco-Spanish flotilla was dispatched to storm the rock.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Diamond Rock (revision 1378412199), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Invasion of Martinique (1674) 1674 · 18 km
- Battle of Martinique (1779) 1779 · 20 km
- Battle of Martinique (1794) 1794 · 25 km
- Invasion of Martinique (1759) 1759 · 26 km
- Invasion of Martinique (1762) 1762 · 26 km
- Battle of Fort Royal 1781 · 29 km
Other battles of the Napoleonic Wars
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- Raid on Boulogne 1804
- Action of 10 August 1805 1805
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All 50 battles of the Napoleonic Wars →
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