Capture of Grenada (1779) 1779
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 July 1779 – 4 July 1779 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1779 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Grenada | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Revolutionary War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 12.0500, -61.7500 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The capture of Grenada was an amphibious expedition in July 1779 during the American Revolutionary War. A French fleet under Admiral Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing captured the island of Grenada from the British. The French landed on 2 July and the assault occurred on the night of 3–4 July. The French forces assaulted the British fortifications on Hospital Hill, overlooking the island's capital, Saint George's. The fortification's cannons were captured and turned against Fort George. British Governor Lord Macartney opened negotiations to surrender.
Estaing controversially rejected Macartney's terms of capitulation, instead insisting on him adopting the harsher terms he had written. Macartney rejected those terms, choosing to surrender unconditionally. Estaing thereafter permitted his forces to loot the town, and Macartney was sent to France as a prisoner of war. On 5 July, French forces re-embarked when word arrived that a British fleet under Admiral John Byron was approaching. The two fleets battled the next day. The French severely damaged several British ships; however, both fleets returned to their bases fully intact. Under the terms of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, France returned Grenada to British control.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Capture of Grenada (1779) (revision 1370608745), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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