Raid on Lorient
The raid on Lorient was a British amphibious operation in the region around the town of Lorient from 29 September to 10 October 1746 during the War of the Austrian Succession. It was planned as an attempt to force the French to withdraw their forces from Flanders to reinforce their own coast. At the same time, as Lorient was used by the French East India Company as a base and supply depot, its destruction would serve British objectives in the East Indies.
Around 4500 British soldiers were embarked, but the ships carrying them had to wait off the Lorient coast several days, allowing the town to organise its defences and call in reinforcements from other towns in the region. The British troops only arrived in the outskirts of the town on 3 October and negotiations for the town's surrender were ended by the bombardment of 5–7 October. On 7 October the British force was ordered to retreat. The British engineers' incompetence and losses to disease and fatigue forced the commander to stop his offensive. At the same time, the French commander originally planned to surrender, believing his enemy to have an overwhelming numerical superiority and knowing the weakness of his defences and the poor training and weaponry of his own troops. He made a surrender offer on 7 October, shortly after the enemy's departure, and never received a reply.
The raid is notable for its military results, such as forcing the French to develop fortifications in southern Brittany, but also for its cultural consequences, such as starting a controversy between David Hume and Voltaire and giving rise to a cult of the Virgin Mary in the town along with several songs describing the siege.
Background
War of the Austrian Succession
Following the capture of Louisbourg in 1745, the British government contemplated launching an attack on Quebec which would hand Britain control over Canada. The Duke of Bedford was the leading political supporter of a campaign. A force was prepared for this with troops under Lieutenant General James St Clair, to be escorted by a naval force under Admiral Richard Lestock. It was ready to sail by June 1746.However, it was decided that it was too late in the year for an Atlantic crossing and operations up the St Lawrence River and the British were alarmed by the sudden departure of a French fleet under d'Anville. As it would be impossible to re-integrate the British force back into another one, Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle suggested to James St Clair that it be used for a landing in France. George II of Great Britain heard about the proposal and asked the general if a plan had been prepared. The general told him there was not yet any such plan and that he did not know where such a landing might be made, but proposed the generals study possible landing places on the French coast. In a meeting with the king, Newcastle insisted that the plan be carried through and on 29 August St Clair received orders to proceed to Plymouth to await orders for the operation.
Origin of the British plan
Decision to attack Lorient
At Plymouth, St Clair received orders to sail for the French coast and attack Lorient, Rochefort, La Rochelle, Bordeaux or any other town as opportunity presented itself. In a letter of 29–30 August, he favoured an operation against Bordeaux, an area he already knew and which was unfortified. Lorient was also far enough to draw off French troops from Flanders, where they were proving very successful under the maréchal de Saxe, overrunning Austrian territory and winning several victories such as Fontenoy, Rocourt and the BrusselsAdmiral Anson was also in Plymouth. He met St Clair and informed him that he knew the town of Lorient in southern Brittany was poorly fortified. It was therefore decided to send the naval force to identify possible landing or raiding sites along that coast. At the same time, Newcastle began to support a plan to land in Normandy which had been produced by major McDonald of the general staff. McDonald was sent to Plymouth to defend his plan in person before St Clair, but St Clair decided that McDonald was ignorant in military matters and if he switched from Lorient to Normandy now he would have to send his ships out on another reconnaissance mission. It was finally decided to send the expeditionary force against Lorient, since it would reap a double benefit - firstly, the town was the headquarters of the French East India Company, whose activities could be stopped by a raid on the town, and secondly it would act as a diversion for the French force in Flanders.
British preparations
British tactics had evolved since the War of the League of Augsburg. Instead of bombarding ports and raiding the coast of Brittany as it had done during that conflict, Britain shifted more and more to larger amphibious operations such as the 1694 Battle of Camaret.Vice admiral Richard Lestock was court-martialled due to his implication in the defeat at the Battle of Toulon and appointed to head the British fleet for the new operation in Brittany in February 1744. He had at his disposal 16 ships of the line, 8 frigates and 43 transport ships. Shortly before the expedition's departure the historian and philosopher David Hume became secretary to James St Clair, in command of the land offensive. St Clair's force was made up of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment, the 5th Battalion of the Highlanders Regiment, the 3rd Battalion of Bragg's Regiment, the 2nd Battalion of Harrisson's Regiment, the 4th Battalion of Richbell's Regiment, part of some battalions from Frampton's Regiment and some companies of marines, numbering a total of 4,500 men.
The commanders were doubtful as to whether Brittany was the best target for the raid, preferring Normandy. Brittany was not well known to the British - St Clair could not acquire a map of the region and had to use a small-scale map of France instead, whilst Lestock knew nothing about the town's defences. The landing force was also unable to acquire horses. The fleet left Plymouth on 26 September and passed Ushant without being intercepted by the French.
French context
Intelligence and preparations
The French staff had been informed of the importance of the troops stationed at Plymouth by their intelligence services through interrogating British prisoners, but this had not revealed the force's intended target. An agent on the ground sent a message that the force had little food and few horses, suggesting a small-scale raid on the French coast. The commanders of French ports on the English Channel and Atlantic coasts were notified, notably Port-Louis on 24 September. Coastguard militias were sent to the coast, though British reconnaissance along the coast went unreported. At the same time ships under Mac Nemara were ordered to head for Lorient and wait.Situation around Lorient
At the end of the 17th century, the coast of Brittany was gradually covered in new fortifications, but the area around Lorient itself was still poorly defended. The citadelle de Port-Louis which closed off the Lorient roads had not been modernised and only low ramparts protected the city's rear, whilst its coast had no other defences.The place had become a trading port and a strategic point. Arsenals were built to construct ships for the French navy and the East India Company - the latter had chosen to move its base from Nantes to Lorient in 1732. It was also a centre for cabotage between Brest, Nantes and Bordeaux. To the town's south-east, Belle-Île gave shelter to ships returning from the East Indies and heading for Lorient. The nearby islands of Houat and Hoëdic were fortified at the end of the 17th century to defend the approaches to the main island.
A cult of the Virgin Mary developed in the area from the 1620s onwards. Apparitions of saint Anne were reported in the era near Auray and several miracles were attributed to her during earlier British raids, against a background of Protestant British forces fighting Catholic Breton ones.
Raid
The expedition sailed in September, reaching the French Atlantic coast shortly afterwards. The two commanders were distinctly uncomfortable with their orders, as they believed the equinoctial gales would make the operation extremely risky, and they lacked any firm intelligence about Lorient and its defences.The troops were landed on 20 September, and advanced towards the town. They reached its outer defences and came under fire – which led to their withdrawal. St Clair reboarded his troops and the expedition sailed back to England. In fact the townspeople had been about to surrender, so lightly defended was Lorient, and the lack of sea defences meant that Lestock could have sailed his ships into the harbour and landed them on the quayside.
Opening phase
Landing
The British fleet arrived off Lorient on 29 September after six days crossing the Channel and joined up with its reconnaissance vessels. A barque from Port-Louis sighted them but confused them with Mac Nemara's ships, which were expected at the same time. Lestock chose the entry to the Lorient roads as his landing point due to his poor knowledge of Lorient's defences. The fleet started to anchor in Pouldu bayfrom the evening of 29 September onwards, near the mouth of the Laïta. Despite favourable weather, a full moon and a good wind blowing inshore, Lestock postponed the landing until the following day, leaving time for the French to prepare their defences. Even so, the landing site presented several issues - it was exposed to the wind, running the risk of running the ships against the shore if a storm blew up, whilst it was 16 miles away from Lorient.The landing took place on Saturday 1 October after being cancelled due to lack of time the day before. The landing could not take place early in the morning due to unfavourable weather, allowing the Lorient coast-guards definitely to identify the fleet as British and not Mac Nemara's, and time to organise their defences. The British forces approached three beaches and landed in groups between 400 and 1000 men under a bombardment from Lestock's ships.
The first available French forces were the coast-guards, mainly made up of ill-equipped peasants, with only staffs, pikes and a few muskets. Since 1744 they had been trained for 15 days each year, to limited effect. There were also three companies of cavalry - with the coast-guards, this made a total of around 2,000 men under the command of marquis De L'Hôpital. Even so, only two of the three beaches could be guarded effectively, and St Clair took advantage of this to land his troops.