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Battle of Jersey
Part of American War of Independence
Death of Major Peirson by John Singleton Copley
Date January 6 1781 Location Saint Helier, Jersey Result Decisive British victory
Belligerents
Great Britain	France
Commanders and leaders
Major Francis Peirson	Baron Phillipe de Rullecourt
Strength
2,000	1,000
Casualties and losses
Around 30	30 dead and wounded

The Battle of Jersey was a battle during the American War of Independence and was technically the last battle fought on British soil (coming after the Battle of Culloden in 1745). It was the last attempt by France to invade Jersey militarily.

The Baron Philippe de Rullecourt, colonel in the French military service, had been promised by the French king Louis XVI the rank of General and the Cordon rouge as soon as he would be at the head of the town of Saint Helier, the island's capital. The Second Commander was an Indian prince, named Prince Emire, who had been taken by England in wars in India, had been sent to France with other French prisoners and whom the French had since retained in their service; a member of the British service wrote of him: "He looked quite barbarian, as much as his discourse; if our fate has depended on him, it would not have been of the most pleasant; he advised the French General to ransack everything and to put the town to fire and to blood."

The French sent 2,000 soldiers in four divisions. The first, consisting of 800 men, landed at La Rocque, Grouville, and passed next to the body of guards without being noticed; a French officer even said that he had slept under the body of guards, but that the guard had not heard the French. The guards were subsequently put on trial. The first division of the French stayed there the greatest part of the night and, between six and seven o'clock in the morning of January 6 1781, went to camp in the market while a deep sleep was still reigning throught all the town. The second division of the French, consisting of 400 men, was entirely lost, upon loading, in the rocks. The boats that contained the third division, consisting of 600 men, were separated on the previous night from the rest of the fleet and were unable to join it. The fourth division, consisting of 200 men, landed early in the morning at La Rocque. The total of the French troops unloaded on the island was therefore of 1,000, half the number of soldiers that France had expected to fight the British with.

The first division surprised the Island's governor, Moses Corbet, in bed in Government House. De Rullecourt convinced Corbet that thousands of French troops had already overwhelmed Jersey. Corbet, unable to ascertain the true situation, surrendered. He was taken to the Royal Court building in the Royal Square and was persuaded to order Elizabeth Castle's commander Captain Mulcaster and 24-year old Major Francis Pierson's troops at Saint Peter's Barracks to surrender as well. However, both officers, who were better informed as to the real military situation than Corbet, refused to surrender. Pierson then marched his troops to the Royal Square and engaged the French forces. Peirson was killed early in the battle, but his troops, spurred on by Lieutenant Dumaresq, outflanked the French forces and defeated them. Baron de Rullecourt was also mortally wounded in the course of the battle.

Later, parts of the 83rd Regiment of Foot attacked the French landing point at La Rocque and the French withdrew.

John Singleton Copley painted a dramatized version of the death of Major Peirson. That painting now appears on Jersey's 10 pound note and is in the Tate Gallery.

British units that took place in the battle include the 71st and 95th Regiments of Foot, the 78th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, and the Jersey Militia.

References

• Bulletins Volume 5. Jersey Library: Société Jersiaise. 1905. pp. pp. 268–275. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)

External links

• Jersey Heritage Trust page
• BBC Page
• BBC My Island page
• Tate Gallery
• Regiments.org
• About Jersey
• JerseyWeb battle summary
• British War with France and Spain, 1778-1783

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