Charles de Courbon de Blénac
Towards the end of the Franco-Dutch War he led the land forces that captured Tobago from the Dutch before taking command of the French Antilles.
[5] In the action of March 1677 a French force under Admiral Jean II d'Estrées attempted to take the Dutch fortress of Sterrshans on Tobago but was repulsed.
[6] D'Estrees entered Klip Bay at dawn on 3 March 1677 in his flagship, the 72-gun Glorieux, accompanied by the 58-gun Précieux, 46-gun Émerillon and 38-gun Laurier.
[7] Eventually the French had to break off after three ships had been burned to the waterline, two run ashore and other badly damaged, with over 1,000 casualties.
[8] During the retreat to Grenada the French heard of the death of Jean-Charles de Baas, and Blénac was appointed to replace him as lieutenant general of the Antilles (lieutenant-général des isles d’Amérique).
Blénac ordered the bogs around the site to be drained or filled in, making room for a grid of streets centered on a main square known as the Savane (Swamp).
[13] In 1680, Blénac accused the colonial governor of Saint Croix of illegally allowing foreign merchants to conduct business, in particular slave traders.
[14] Two years later, Jean-Baptiste Colbert appointed his first cousin Michel Bégon as intendant of the French colonies in the Caribbean, head of the civil and legal administration.
[16] The king had asked Blénac to participate in drafting the slave code, but he claimed to have done little, and said only that Begin constructed the law "in his presence".
The governors were to inspect their fortifications, prepare artillery batteries, and make their militias and local defense forces ready to fight.
[12] At the start of the Nine Years' War (1688–97), in November 1688 Seignelay told Blénac to attack Sint Eustatius, to the northwest of Saint Christophe, destroy the island's fort and deport all the inhabitants.
In March 1689 Seignelay sent the 52-gun Perle to Martinique, and after Louis XIV declared war on Spain in April 1689 he sent the frigates Mignon and Friponne to the Antilles to defend the colonies and the French traders, and to attack the Dutch privateers.
The Dutch under Governor Lucas Schorer were totally unprepared for the attack, and just two ships managed to escape carrying valuables.
[19] The French landed at two places on the island, and after slight resistance the Dutch retreated into Fort Orange in the evening.
[20] In July 1689 Blénac heard that there were violent disagreements on Saint Kitts between supporters of King William III of England and Irish Jacobites.
[12] On 27 July 1689, after the dispatch vessel Perle had brought news that England and France were at war, Blénac sailed from Martinique with the warships Hasardeux, Émerillon, Loire, Dauphine and Cheval Marin, 14 merchantmen and 23 sloops.
He arrived at Basseterre on the French part of Saint Christopher and landed his army, which quickly occupied all the south of the island.
[20] Blénac settled down for a siege, and for two weeks bombarded the main gate with over 1,000 rounds, achieving little, while a trench was being dug towards the fort.
The naval officer Jean-Baptiste du Casse then obtained permission to install a battery on nearby hill from which the interior of the fort could be seen; this was done on the night of 14–15 August.
[20] In response, an English force invaded and occupied Saint Barthélemy, making off with slaves, cattle and other goods, and burned all the houses.
Early in 1690 Blénac received over 30 merchantmen escorted by four warships, but chose to take no action against the English, and did not even have the resources to defend his recent conquests.
Blénac's successor François d'Alesso, Marquis d'Éragny arrived on 5 February 1691 with 14 warships, strengthened the defenses and in May relieved the French defenders of Fort Saint-Charles in Guadeloupe, who had been besieged by the English.
[24] The English found Blénac ahead of them in his flagship, the 62-gun Vermandois, supported by the Vaillant, Léger, François, Droite, Basque, Chasseur, Solide, Bouffone, Jersey, Neptune and five smaller vessels.
[26] In 1693 Blénac and the governor of Martinique, Nicolas de Gabaret, repulsed the English when they attempted invasion with a force of 4,000 men.
[4][b] The English expedition under Admiral Wheler had 15 warships 3 fire ships, 28 transports and almost 2,000 soldiers, to which Barbados added another 1,000 men.
English reinforcements under Captain General Christopher Codrington arrived within two weeks, but the combined force did not engage in serious fighting.
