At Water's Edge: Britain, Napoleon, and the World, 1793-1815
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AT WATER’S EDGE: BRITAIN, NAPOLEON, AND THE WORLD, 1793-1815 ______________________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board ______________________________________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ______________________________________________________________________________ by Christopher T. Golding May 2017 Examining Committee Members: Dr. Gregory J. W. Urwin, Advisory Chair, Department of History Dr. Travis Glasson, Department of History Dr. Rita Krueger, Department of History Dr. Jeremy Black, External Member, University of Exeter (UK) © Copyright 2017 by Christopher T. Golding All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the influence of late eighteenth-century British imperial and global paradigms of thought on the formation of British policy and strategy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. It argues that British imperial interests exerted a consistent influence on British strategic decision making through the personal advocacy of political leaders, institutional memory within the British government, and in the form of a traditional strain of a widely-embraced British imperial-maritime ideology that became more vehement as the conflict progressed. The work can be broken into two basic sections. The first section focuses on the formation of strategy within the British government of William Pitt the Younger during the French Revolutionary Wars from the declaration of war in February 1793 until early 1801. During this phase of the Anglo-French conflict, British ministers struggled to come to terms with the nature of the threat posed by revolutionary ideology in France, and lacked strategic consistency due to acute cabinet-level debates over continental versus imperial strategies. The latter half of the work assesses Britain’s response to the challenges presented by Napoleonic France. Beginning with the debates surrounding Anglo-French peace negotiations in late 1801, the British increasingly came to define Napoleonic France as a regime harboring imperial aspirations that represented an explicit threat to British imperial interests. By defining the Napoleonic regime as an aspirational imperial power, British opponents of the Peace of Amiens provided the intellectual framework for the hegemonic struggle between land and sea powers that iii would define the Anglo-French struggle until its conclusion in June 1815. While Britain ultimately proved successful in defeating France in Europe, the expanse of the conflict also exposed the strengths and weaknesses of British force projection outside of Europe at the beginning of the nineteenth century. iv For Carolyn. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the years ranging between 1793 and 1815, the British Admiralty dispatched a steady stream of orders to naval officers. These orders represented the blood flow of British maritime power—an essential component of Britain’s ability to project and aspire to naval dominance on a global scale. Within many of these missives, Admiralty secretaries inserted a mundane but significant formulaic expression that preceded the officer’s orders. The Admiralty’s orders were immediate, but their execution awaited “the moment wind and weather will permit.” The statement represented both a necessary caveat for operations at sea in the age of sail, and an awareness that the Admiralty ultimately operated at the discretion of powers beyond its direct control. In many respects, the research and writing of a dissertation occurs at the discretion of and with the support of its own “wind and weather,” and numerous individuals and institutions deserve recognition for their role in aiding the completion of this work. First and foremost, I must express gratitude to the community of faculty, staff, and graduate students of the history department of Temple University. In particular, I wish to thank Drs. Gregory J. W. Urwin, Rita Krueger, and Travis Glasson for serving on both my comprehensive exam and dissertation committees. As an advisor, Dr. Urwin has challenged my thinking and writing when necessary, and provided ample and much appreciated support throughout my graduate studies. Similar thanks go to Drs. Krueger and Glasson, who played vital and significant roles in my intellectual development and the ultimate completion of this project. Thanks are owed as well to Martin Clemis and Jean-Pierre Beugoms, who read and commented on early drafts of chapters. vi Additionally, the commiseration and friendship of Earl Catagnus, Eric Klinek, Jason Smith, and Joshua Wolf over the years have played an important counter to the often solitary nature of dissertation research and writing. Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not express gratitude for the help of the department’s secretaries over the years, with specific thanks to Vangeline Campbell. I owe debts of gratitude beyond the confines of Temple University, as well. Dr. Jeremy Black agreed to serve as the external member of my dissertation committee at a late hour, which is no small thing for a scholar of his stature and I greatly appreciate his willingness to take on the role. While at the University of Pennsylvania I benefited immensely from participation in a small reading group run by Dr. Arthur Waldron, which stimulated an early interest in British maritime power during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. At the University of St. Andrews, where I began my graduate work, Drs. Guy Rowlands and Steve Murdoch deserve particular thanks for their support of a fledgling student. Closer to home, I would like to thank the Masséna Society for including me on a panel at the 2014 Consortium on the Revolutionary Era and the encouragement I received at the conference—particular thanks are owed to Drs. Mark Gerges and Donald D. Horward. Additionally, portions of Chapter 3 and 6 benefited from the comments and suggestions of anonymous readers during the review process for publication. Like most historical research projects, this dissertation represents the final result of years working with archival material. As such, I cannot express enough thanks to the various staff members of the archives and libraries I visited. The bulk of the archival vii material that supports this work comes from the British National Archives, which is a model of archival efficiency—to the nameless and faceless staff members that kept my reserved cubby filled with documents, thank you. Additional praise and appreciation go to the staff of the British Library, National Maritime Museum, William Clements Library, Rubenstein Library, and the National Library of Scotland. To the staff of Paley Library at Temple University and the many affiliated libraries and librarians that filled numerous loan requests over the years, many thanks. In researching this project, I also benefited greatly from two research grants from the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University. Most important of all, I need to express immense gratitude to my family. My mother and father committed to and supported my education at all levels throughout my life. To them I owe my love of reading and intellectual curiosity. This dissertation testifies to their investment in me as much as anything else, and a debt I will never fully repay. Thanks for the support and patience of my mother and father-in-law, who I am not sure entirely appreciated the scope of working on a dissertation until they aided in a move and came face-to-face with the many boxes of books accumulated during research. To Maxx, Winston, Wellington, and the sadly departed Pepper, you provided a (sometimes) welcome distraction from the doldrums of the computer or book. To Everett, who will one day understand all of this, thank you for mercifully starting to sleep on a schedule. To Emmeline, who arrived a fortnight following the defense of this dissertation, thank you for waiting your turn. viii Lastly, Carolyn, to whom this work is dedicated. We met, married, and became Everett’s parents between the inception and completion of this dissertation. “Thank you” is well shy of the necessary mark owed to the partner of a dissertating graduate student, but forever thank you. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT……………………………………………………..………………….…………….iii DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………………v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………………….vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………………...…………..xi LIST OF FIGURES………………………………………………………….…………………...xii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: “THE IRRESISTIBLE STREAM OF EVENTS”…………………...…...1 2. MISPERCEPTIONS AND FAILURES: THE WAR AGAINST FRANCE, 1793-95...……19 3. “A CONTENTION OF PURSE”: THE IMPERIAL COUNTER-REVOLUTION, 1795-98…………………………..……...58 4. A WAR FOR EUROPE, OR FOR EMPIRE?: THE WAR OF THE SECOND COALITION, 1798-1801……………………..…………103 5. THE SHEPHERD AND THE WOLF: THE PEACE OF AMIENS, IMPERIAL INSECURITY AND THE OUTBREAK OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS, 1801-5…..………….…………….145 6. THE LIMITS OF MARITIME HEGEMONY, 1806-9………………………...……………187 7. THE FRAYING EDGE OF EMPIRE: BRITAIN AND NORTH AMERICA, 1807-15……………………………….………….236 8. CONCLUSION: THE “SMALL SPOT IN THE OCEAN”...……………...………………291 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………...………………….305 x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BL British Library, London BNA British National Archives, Kew Castlereagh Corr. Correspondence, Despatches, and other Papers, of the Viscount Castlereagh, Second Marquess of Londonderry, ed. Charles William Vane, 12 vols. (London: William Shoberl, 1851) Dropmore Papers