The Glorious First of June 1794

"The Glorious First of June 1794" describes the first great naval engagement of the Great War with France (1793-1815). Participants on both sides considered it the hardest-fought battle between them in the eighteenth century, and both sides felt they attained their objectives: the British captured or sank seven French battleships, and the French saved their big grain convoy from America.In this book, experts explore the naval campaign from both British and French perspectives, setting it in its wider context of the war strategy of the rival powers. The intensity of the encounter is demonstrated through the accounts of eyewitnesses, three of which are here published for the first time, and the impact of the battle on public imagination is traced through plays, prints and paintings, and through the artefacts and memorials by which it was commemorated.

Explores the naval campaign from both British and French perspectives, setting it in its wider context of the war strategy of the rival powers. This title traces the impact of the battle on public imagination by discussing plays, print, paintings, artefacts and memorials.

List of Illustrations, vii; 1 Introduction: The Battle of the Glorious First of June 1794 MICHAEL DUFFY AND ROGER MORRISS, 1; 2 The Prairial Battles: The French Viewpoint ANDRE DELAPORTE, 12; 3 The Glorious First of June: The British Strategic Perspective CHRISTOPHER WARE, 25; Document; 3.i. The Admiralty's Instructions to Earl Howe, 17 April 1794, 43; 4 The Glorious First of June: The British View of the Actions of 28, 29 May and 1 June 1794 ROGER MORRISS, 46; Documents; 4.i. Nicholas Pocock's Notebook, 73; 4.ii. Letter from Jonathan Wilkinson to John Clark, 2 July 1794, 80; 4.iii. Letter from William Parker to his Father, 17 June 1794, 83; 4.iv. Letter from Rowland Bevan to T. Morgan, 93; 4.v. Report of Captain George Cranfield Berkeley and Lieutenant Jonathan Monkton to Admiral Earl Howe, 6 June 1794, 96. 5 The Man who Missed the Grain Convoy: Rear Admiral George Montagu and the Arrival of Vanstabel's Convoy from America in 1794 MICHAEL DUFFY, 101; 6 The Convoy, the Grain and their Influence on the French Revolution LAWRENCE EVANS, 120; 7 The Glorious First of June: A Battle of Art and Theatre PIETER VAN DER MERWE, 132; 8 The Battle Sanctified: Some Memorials and Relics BARBARA TOMLINSON, 159; List of Contributors, 169; Index, 171.