Childers Incident 1793
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 2 January 1793 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1793 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the First Coalition | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | French First Republic, Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 48.3167, -4.5972 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Childers Incident of 2 January 1793 marked the opening shots between British and French forces during the French Revolutionary Wars, the first phase of a 23-year-long war between the two countries. Following the French Revolution of 1789, diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the French Republic had steadily deteriorated and France was in political and social turmoil. One of the strongest hotbeds of republican activity was the principal Atlantic naval base of the French Navy at Brest in Brittany, the scene of a significant mutiny in 1790.
On 2 January a small British warship, the 14-gun brig HMS Childers under Commander Robert Barlow, was ordered to enter the Roadstead of Brest to reconnoitre the state of readiness of the French fleet. As Childers entered the Goulet de Brest, the vessel came under fire from French batteries flying the tricolour. Although Barlow clearly identified his brig as a neutral British vessel the fire continued until he was able to withdraw. Although Childers had been struck by a 48 lb (22 kg) cannonball, none of the crew were wounded.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Childers Incident (revision 1369996689), 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
- Battle of Camaret 1694 · 4 km
- Siege of Brest (1342) 1342 · 10 km
- Siege of Fort Crozon 1594 · 11 km
- Battle for Brest 1944 · 12 km
- Battle of Saint-Mathieu 1512 · 13 km
- Battle of Pierres Noires 1944 · 26 km
Other battles of the War of the First Coalition
- Battle of Marquain 1792
- Battle of Valmy 1792
- Capture of Porrentruy 1792
- Siege of Lille (1792) 1792
- Siege of Mainz (1792) 1792
- Battle of Aldenhoven (1793) 1793
- Battle of Arlon (1793) 1793
- Battle of Avesnes-le-Sec 1793
- Battle of Caesar's Camp 1793
- Battle of Famars 1793
All 84 battles of the War of the First Coalition →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · Early modern battles