Capture of Grenada (1779)
in Saint George's, GrenadaCategory: Attraction
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The Capture of Grenada was an amphibious expedition in July 1779 during the Anglo-French War. Charles Hector, comte D'Estaing led French forces against the British-held West Indies island of Grenada. The French forces landed on July 2 and the assault occurred on the night of July 3–4. The French forces assaulted the British fortifications on Hospital Hill, overlooking the island's capital, Saint George's. The British cannons were captured and turned against Fort George. British Governor Lord Macartney opened negotiations to surrender.
Admiral d'Estaing controversially rejected Macartney's terms of capitulation, instead insisting on him adopting the harsher terms he had written. Macartney rejected those terms, choosing to surrender unconditionally. D'Estaing thereafter permitted his forces to loot the town, and Macartney was sent to France as a prisoner of war.
On July 5, French forces re-embarked when word arrived that a British fleet under Admiral John Byron was approaching. The two fleets battled the next day. The French severely damaged several British ships; however, both fleets successfully returned to their bases. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, France returned Grenada to British control at the end of the war.
