Count de Vaux – Preparation of the Invasion of England, 1779 | SAR France

Noël Jourda de Vaux, Count de Vaux, French general and Marshal of France, commanded the land forces intended for the planned invasion of England in 1779. A veteran of thirty sieges and five major battles, wounded five times, he was made Marshal of France in 1783.

Born: 12 March 1705, Le Puy-en-Velay
Died: 14 September 1788, Grenoble
Rank: Marshal of France

At sea, France and Spain had planned a considerable combined fleet: France: 28 ships of the line, 9 frigates, 4 fireships – Spain: 28 ships of the line, 2 frigates, placed under the command of Count d’Orvilliers, who took so long to rally the Spanish elements (the Spanish court was still negotiating with London) that epidemics wore down the crews before the full deployment of a plan that Spain’s growing demands regarding the size of the landing force made increasingly unrealistic. But it triggered the “Portsmouth Panic” in England.

Army of Count de Vaux

An army assembling battalions from 41 regiments had been gathered, half at Saint-Malo and half at Le Havre, while the necessary transports massed in these ports.

38,296 men and 2,198 horses were to embark on 397 transport vessels, with a total capacity of 66,068 tons and equipped with 417 longboats capable of transporting 9,401 men per rotation to shore.

	Vessels	Tonnage	Men	Horses	Oxen	Longboats	Rotations
Le Havre Division	213	32,949	16,250	1,194	288	127	2,947
Saint-Malo Division	184	33,119	22,046	906	275	290	6,454
Total	397	66,068	38,296	2,100	563	417	9,401

The vanguard, under the command of Count de Rochambeau, comprised detachments from 10 regiments totaling 167 officers, 2,565 soldiers and 274 servants — 3,006 men in all, on 10 vessels with a total capacity of 2,443 tons, with 32 longboats capable of transporting 749 men per rotation.

Regiments	Officers	Soldiers	Servants	Transports	Captain	Tons	Longboats	Capacity
Neustrie	26	296	47	Comte de Narbonne	Emeriaux	285	3	78
Royal Roussillon	14	217	23	Cornwallis	Daguenet	220	3	55
Forez	17	296	25	Prudent	Longueville	298	3	74
Bourgogne	14	217	28	Coureur	Beaufort	195	3	57
Turenne	18	296	27	Glorieux	Boutillier	266	3	80
Languedoc	13	217	23	Cézar	Deshayes	185	3	78
La Reyne	20	296	29	Argus	Themoy	310	4	100
Médoc	13	217	22	Sartine	Pollier	158	3	59
Berwick	20	296	30	Flesselier	Ruelland	300	4	94
Walsh	12	217	20	Amitié	du Signe Péan	226	3	74
Totals	167	2,565	274	10		2,443	32	749

Main Body

Navarre Division		King’s Division		Maine Division		Normandy Division
Marquis de Langeron, Lieutenant General		Duke du Châtelet, Brigadier General		Marquis de Lugeac, Lieutenant General		Duke d’Harcourt, Lieutenant General
Count de Melfort and Marquis de Vaubécourt, Brigadier Generals		Duke d’Ayen, Brigadier General		Count de Caraman and Marquis de Crussol, Brigadier Generals		Count de Durfort, Brigadier General
Regiments		Regiments		Regiments		Regiments
Navarre	H	du Roy, 1 & 3	H	Maine	S	Normandie	S
Vexin	H	du Roy, 2 & 4	H	Beauce	H	Lorraine	H
Bourbonnais	S	Soissonnais	H	Touraine	S	Flandres	H
Lacouronne	H	Barrois	S	Orléans	S	Rl-Comtois	S
Rl des Vaisseaux	S	Limousin	S	Savoie	S	Royal	H
Boulonnais	S	Conty	S	Saintonge	S	Rl-Deux-ponts	S

Artillery		Cavalry
M. de Villepatour, Brigadier General		Regiments
Besançon	H	Lauzun Legion (mixed)	S
Toul	H	Chamborand Hussars	H
Auxonne	S	La Rochefoucauld Dragoons	H
		Noailles Dragoons	S

H = embarking from Le Havre; S = embarking from Saint-Malo.

Comte Thierry de Seguins-Cohorn, Historian of the Society in France of the SAR

References

Noël Jourda de Vaux, Wikipedia — https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki/No%C3%ABl_Jourda_de_Vaux