Norfolk nChance Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 A Question the French Caribbean HQ in 1808... If anybody knows or can point me in the right direction... I want to know where the French Caribbean HQ was based in 1808. Martinique had overseas departments and Fort-de-France likely but Cochrane had it blockaded. Guadeloupe the same issues. The eastern part of Santo-Domingo seems the most likely area with Louis Marie Ferrand the highest ranking official. Any thoughts, much appreciated as always Norfolk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Jean-Luc Picard Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Sorry i cannot find anything, you could always try contacting the army or directly the 33 RIMA which currently does the job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagram Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 (edited) 19 hours ago, Norfolk nChance said: A Question the French Caribbean HQ in 1808... If anybody knows or can point me in the right direction... I want to know where the French Caribbean HQ was based in 1808. Martinique had overseas departments and Fort-de-France likely but Cochrane had it blockaded. Guadeloupe the same issues. The eastern part of Santo-Domingo seems the most likely area with Louis Marie Ferrand the highest ranking official. Any thoughts, much appreciated as always Norfolk "Martinique had overseas departments and Fort-de France likely" ??? Martinique was a French overseas colony (not a department, at the time) itself, and it did not have "overseas departments" but "dependencies" (in essence, the nearby island of Sainte-Lucie). Fort-de-France (ex- Fort Royal) was the capital of Martinique. The governor (with the title of Capitaine général de la Martinique) was Vice-admiral Villaret de Joyeuse. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Thomas_Villaret_de_Joyeuse Guadeloupe was another French overseas colony whose governor (Capitaine général de la Guadeloupe) was Général de divison Jean Augustin Ernouf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Augustin_Ernouf The eastern, i.e. Spanish part of the island of Santo Domingo was under French government only as long as the French-Spanish alliance was in existence and was an improvised undertaking anyway as the French" governor", Général de division Jean-Louis Ferrand, had sought refuge there with the defeated French troops after the failed attempt to reconquest the western part of the island, the former French colony of Sainte-Domingue, now independent Haiti. So, Ferrand was not actually governing a French colony but a Spanish one, tolerated by - or with the enforced (by Napoleon) "consent" of - the Spanish Crown, presumably in anticipation of a possible reconquest of Haiti for France. Logically, his "rule" came to an end when the French-Spanish alliance broke up. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Louis_Ferrand As far as I can see, there was no hierarchy among the various French governors (they all received orders directly from the ministry of the navy), so not really a single HQ for the French in the Caribbean but, as a naval station, Fort-deFrance/Martinique certainly was the most important. Edited January 12, 2019 by Wagram 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeBoiteux Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Wagram said: As far as I can see, there was no hierarchy among the various French governors (they all received orders directly from the ministry of the navy) Agree. The idea of a regional HQ goes against an authority strongly concentrated in Paris and a centralized administration that have been the way of proceeding in France for long and strengthened during the Revolution and the Empire (with the death of privileges). Edited January 12, 2019 by LeBoiteux 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norfolk nChance Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 Great Feedback fellas, many thanks Norfolk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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