Capture of Basse Terre Guadaloupe, with a View of the attack made upon it by Commodor Moore & Gov Douglas

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Artist/Maker Nicholas Pocock (British, 1740 - 1821)

Date1789

MediumGraphite and watercolor on paper

DimensionsComposition: 4 3/4 × 7 15/16 in. (12.1 × 20.2 cm) Sheet: 6 1/2 in. × 10 in. (16.5 × 25.4 cm)

Credit LineThe Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection of Hamilton College

Object number1971.15

Not on view

Description"On January 22 [1759] a British squadron commanded by Commodore John Moore, composed of the following ships, anchored off Basse Terre, Guadeloupe : — Lion (60), Captain WilliamTrelawny. Panther (60), Captain M. Shuldham. St.George (60), Clarke Gayton Burford (yo), James Gambier. Norfolk (74), Robert Hughes. Berwick (64), William Harman. Cambridge (?), Commodore John Moore. Ripon (60), Edward Jekyll. (80) Captain Thomas Burnett. After the town had been reconnoitred and a council of war held it was determined that on the morning of January 23 the citadel and batteries of Basse Terre should be cannonaded, which was carried out; and at 5 p.m. the enemy's fire was silenced. On the 24th the army was put on shore, and Basse Terre and Fort Royal were occupied. The British lost in this action thirty men, killed, and about sixty wounded." (SOURCE: Harry Parker, "Naval Battles from the Collection of Prints Formed and Owned by Commander Sir Charles Leopold Cust, Bart. K.C.V.O., C.B., C.M.G., C.I.E., R.N. The Chronological Arrangement of the Prints with Descriptive and Historical Notes" (London: T. H. Parker, 1911), pp. 60-61). After this watercolor an aquatint was engraved by J. Wells (published June 30, 1806, by J. Gold, 103 Shoe Lane, for "The Naval Chronicler Vol. XVI.") Maritime battle within island harbor.

Collections

Beinecke Collection of the Lesser Antilles

Additional Details

Published References Hough, Samuel J. and Penelope R.O. Hough, THE BEINECKE LESSER ANTILLES COLLECTION AT HAMILTON COLLEGE: A CATOLOGUE OF BOOKS, MANUSCRIPTS, PRINTS, MAPS, AND DRAWINGS (Trustees of Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, 1994), 332, catalogue no. P9b.

Signature Initialed "N.P." at lower left in pencil.

Inscribed "(B.C. 26)" at lower right in pencil; "Engraved by Wells in the Naval Chronicle/ Vol. 16. / Capture of / Basse Terre Guadaloup, with views of the / attack made upon it by Commodore Moore / & Gen. Douglas" on verso at lower center in pencil.