Volume 141, The Channel Fleet And The Blockade Of Brest, 1793-1801
ed. Roger Morriss (2001)

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During the French Revolutionary War the Channel fleet formed the first line of defence of Great Britain against invasion from France; it protected Britain's trade in home waters; and it had responsibility for preventing the French Brest fleet from escaping, either to mount and expedition, to protect French convoys, to succour French colonies, or to reinforce the French fleet in the Mediterranean or in other allied ports. During the war the last of these functions came to predominate, because by it in theory the first two could also be fulfilled. However, like the blockade itself, the strategy within which the Channel fleet operated, the central government bureaucracy which directed it, and the terms upon which its Commanders-in-Chief managed the fleet, only evolved as the French Revolutionary War proceeded.

This volume had its origins in a collection of transcripts of extracts from documents made by the late Richard Saxby. His aim was to provide a forerunner in content to the two volumes dealing with the blockade of Brest between 1803 and 1805 edited by John Leyland and published by the Navy Records Society in 1899 and 1902. Unfortunately, partly on account of his deteriorating health, Richard Saxby's work was not ready for publication by the Navy Records Society at the time he died. It nevertheless contained sufficient material of interest to warrant revision of the standard reQuired for publication by the Society and the addition of further documents to enlarge its scope. It is this enlarged work that is here published, edited by Roger Morris.

Contents

Extracts