John Byng - Battle of Minorca

Battle of Minorca

On the approach of the Seven Years' War, the island of Minorca, which had been a British possession since 1708, when it was captured during the War of the Spanish Succession, was threatened by a French naval attack from Toulon, and was invaded in 1756.

Byng, then serving in the Channel, was ordered to the Mediterranean to relieve the British garrison of Fort St Philip, at Port Mahon. Despite his protests, he was not given enough money or time to prepare the expedition properly. His sailing orders were inexplicably delayed by five days, and this turned out to be crucial to the lack of success of the expedition. He set out with ten unseaworthy ships that leaked and were inadequately manned. Byng's marines were landed to make room for the soldiers who were to reinforce the garrison, and he feared that if he met a French squadron, he would be dangerously undermanned. His correspondence shows that he left prepared for failure, that he did not believe that the garrison could hold out against the French force, and that he was already resolved to come back from Minorca if he found that the task presented any great difficulty. He wrote home to that effect to the Admiralty from Gibraltar, whose governor refused to provide soldiers to increase the relief force.

Byng sailed on 8 May 1756. Before he arrived, the French landed 15,000 troops on the western shore of Minorca, spreading out to occupy the island. On 19 May, Byng was off the east coast of Minorca and endeavoured to open communications with the fort. Before he could land any soldiers, the French squadron appeared.

The Battle of Minorca was fought on the following day. Byng, who had gained the weather gage, bore down on the French fleet at an angle, so that his leading ships went into action while the rest, including Byng's flagship, were still out of effective firing range. The French badly damaged the leading ships and slipped away. When his flag captain pointed out to Byng that by standing out of his line, he could bring the centre of the enemy to closer action, he declined because Thomas Mathews had been dismissed for so doing. The French, who were equal in number to the British, sailed away undamaged.

After remaining near Minorca for four days without being able to reestablish communication with the fort or sighting the French, Byng realised that there was little more he could do without effecting badly needed repairs to his ships. As the nearest port available for carrying out repairs and landing his wounded men was Gibraltar, Byng's plan was to sail there, repair his ships, and try once again to get extra forces before returning to Fort St Philip. He accomplished this, and after the reinforcements arrived Byng began preparation for a return to Minorca to relieve the garrison. However, before his fleet could sail, another ship arrived from England with further instructions, relieving Byng of his command and took him back to England, where he was placed into custody. Ironically, Byng was finally promoted to full Admiral on 1 June, following the action off Minorca.

The garrison on Minorca held out against the overwhelming French numbers until 29 June, when it was forced to capitulate. Under negotiated terms the garrison was allowed passage back to England, and the fort and island came under French control.