Algeciras Campaign - Aftermath

Aftermath

In France the campaign was represented as a victory, as Linois genuine achievements at Algeciras were followed by exaggerated reports of Troude's defence in Conil Bay in which the second battle was represented as a significant success against a more numerous British force. Troude had shown skill and bravery in the engagement, but his subsequent reputation was largely built on the strength of a report sent to Paris by Dumanoir le Pelley which was based a letter written by Captain Troude. In the letter, he claimed that he had fought not only Venerable and Thames, but also Caesar and Spencer (misidentified in the report as Superb). Troude stated that he had not only driven all of these ships off, but that he had also completely destroyed Venerable by driving the ship ashore. Troude was subsequently promoted and highly praised, holding a number of important active commands in the French Navy. In Spain, the outcome of the campaign infuriated the Spanish government and contributed to the souring of the Franco-Spanish alliance. The Spanish demanded that the Spanish forces then stationed at Brest on the French Atlantic coast return to Spanish waters, and Spanish pressure on Portugal was relaxed. This weakening of the Franco-Spanish axis was a significant factor in the Treaty of Amiens in early 1802 that brought the French Revolutionary Wars to a close.

Saumarez was lauded in Britain, the success of the second action mitigating the initial defeat. He was awarded the thanks of both Houses of Parliament and made a Knight of the Bath with a pension of £1,200 annually (the equivalent of £68,000 as of 2012).. Nearly five decades later, the second battle (although not the first) was among the actions recognised by the Naval General Service Medal, awarded upon application to all British participants still living in 1847. The campaign later played a prominent part in the novels Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian and Touch and Go by C. Northcote Parkinson. In British histories the campaign is usually considered as a single linked battle, with the overall outcome favourable to the British force despite the failure to prevent Linois linking with Cadiz and the loss of Hannibal. The severe losses inflicted on the Spanish fleet at Cadiz and the reinstatement of the blockade meant that the French plan to reinforce the army trapped in Egypt was a total failure, the garrison there surrendering in September after a hard-fought campaign against British and Ottoman forces. It also emphasised British dominance at sea by this stage of the war, reiterating that no force could sail from a French or allied port without detection and interception by the Royal Navy.