Action of 3 February 1812

Action of 3 February 1812
The location of the island of Sud in Haiti
Date 3 February 1812 Location Gulf of Léogâne, Caribbean Sea Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Haitian Sud
Commanders and leaders
James Yeo	Captain Gaspard †
Strength
1 frigate	1 frigate 1 corvette 1 brig
Casualties and losses
1 killed 10 wounded	105 killed 120 wounded 1 frigate captured

The action of 3 February 1812 was an unusual minor naval engagement off the western coast of Haiti between a British frigate and a frigate manned by a loose coalition of Haitian rebels. The battle was fought against the background of the Napoleonic Wars and the collapse of government in Haiti in the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution eight years earlier. After the French had been expelled from Haiti in 1804, the newly independent nation was first ruled by Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who was murdered in 1806 and replaced by two of his advisors, Henri Christophe and Alexandre Pétion. These rulers divided the country between them and in the confused political situation that followed a number of minor fiefdoms appeared, including one led by Jérôme Maximilien Borgella in the south-west of the island called Sud. The small Haitian Navy defected to Borgella, who crewed the vessels with a collection of sailors from various countries, led by a notorious privateer named Gaspard.

Stationed off Haiti was the British frigate HMS Southampton under Captain Sir James Lucas Yeo, tasked with observing the political situation but with orders not to interfere in the intermittent conflict between Christophe and Pétion. Yeo's orders did not include Borgella's ships and Yeo reasoned that the Haitian flagship, the large frigate Heureuse Réunion (recently renamed from Améthyste and often reported under its former name), presented a serious threat to international trade in the region.

Sailing to intercept the Haitian ship, Yeo discovered her in the Gulf of Léogâne and ordered Gaspard to surrender. The Haitian refused, and the frigates exchanged shots at 06:30. The superior seamanship and discipline on Southampton prevented Gaspard from boarding the British ship with his greater numbers and within half an hour Heureuse Réunion was dismasted and battered. At 07:45 the Haitian ship surrendered, Yeo depositing the crew ashore and bringing Heureuse Réunion to Port Royal, Jamaica. At Jamaica, his actions were approved by his superiors and Heureuse Réunion, renamed Améthyste, was returned to Henri Christophe.