Walker Expedition to Quebec

The Walker Expedition to Quebec was a British attempt to attack Quebec in 1711 during the Queen Anne's War theatre of the War of Spanish Succession, that failed because of a shipping disaster on the Saint Lawrence River, when seven transport- and one storeship were wrecked and some 850 soldiers drowned.

Prelude

In 1710, during the War of Spanish Succession, a mixed force of British regulars and American Colonists captured the French fort at Port Royal on the northwestern coast of Nova Scotia. When this news reached London, it was decided to mount an assault on Fortress Quebec the following Summer, in an attempt to oust the French from Canada.

Placed in overall command of the military efforts was Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker, who was apparently chosen because of his political connections in London. He arrived in Boston from England in the Spring of 1711 with a Fleet of Royal Navy warships and heavy transports loaded with men and supplies. The Nicholson Expedition of 1711 was the associated land expedition led by Francis Nicholson.

On the Saint Lawrence River

On 30 July, the expedition consisting of nine ships of war, two bomb vessels and 60 transports and tenders, British and colonial, with some 7,500 troops and marines aboard set sail from Boston. On the morning of the 18 August, just as the expedition was about to enter the Saint Lawrence River, the wind began to blow hard from the northwest, and Walker was forced to seek shelter in Gaspé Bay. On the morning of the 20th, the wind veered to the southeast, and he was able to advance slowly past the western extremity of Anticosti Island before it died down and thick fog blanketed both shore and fleet. By 22nd, the wind had freshened from the southeast, and there were intermittent breaks in the fog, but not sufficient to give sight of land. After consulting his pilots, Walker gave the signal to head the fleet southward.

Walker had thought he was in mid-stream when he issued the order. In fact, he was about seven leagues north of his proper course, and in the grasp of strong currents which steered his ships towards the northwest. Aided by an easterly wind, the fleet was gradually closing on the “North Shore,” which in the vicinity of Île-aux-Oeufs (Egg Island) runs almost north and south. When a captain reported that land had been sighted, presumably dead ahead, Walker assumed that he was approaching the south shore, and ordered the fleet to wear, and bring-to on the other tack. Not many minutes later he was again summoned from his bed, and hurrying upon deck in dressing gown and slippers saw breakers “all round us.” By that time the whole fleet was heading for the “North Shore,” or more accurately, the coast to the westward; ships in the van were already plunging on the edge of the breakers.

Once recovered from the shock, Walker made all available sail, and stood from the shore towards mid-channel. Up to this time a gale had been blowing almost directly on shore, and had it continued it is doubtful if many of the fleet could have survived. However, in the early morning of the next day, the wind dropped, and this lull was followed by a shift of wind which enabled most of the ships to slip their anchors and escape the shoals on either quarter. Althogether, seven transports and one storeship were lost. Out of a total of 1,390, 740 soldiers (including 35 women attached to the regiments) and probably 150 sailors were either drowned or died from exposure on shore. Walker cruised in the neighbourhood of Île-aux-Oeufs for two days in an effort to save what men and stores he could. Then, following a council of war, he decided to abandon the assault on Quebec.

Ships participating in the expedition

* HMS "Edgar" (70)
* HMS "Windsor" (60)
* HMS "Montague" (60)
* HMS "Swiftsure" (70)
* HMS "Sunderland" (60)
* HMS "Monmouth" (70)
* HMS "Dunkirk" (60)
* HMS "Humber" (80)
* HMS "Devonshire" (80)

* HMS "Enterprize" (40)
* HMS "Sapphire" (40)
* HMS "Kingston" (60)
* HMS "Leopard" (54)
* HMS "Chester" (54)

Two more ships came from New York in support

* HMS "Lowestoffe"
* HMS "Feversham" (36), wrecked at Scatterie Island

Furthermore some 60 transport and supply ships of which eight sank:

* "Isabella Anne-Catherine"
* "Samuel and Anne"
* "Nathaniel and Elisabeth"
* "Marlborough"
* "Chatam"
* "Colchester"
* "Content"
* "Marchand of Smyrna"

Links

* [http://www.realtreasures.com/the_feversham_wreck.html real treasures]
* [http://www.chezramirez.com/histoire/walker.html L'expédition Walker contre Québec en 1711 (in french)]

See also

List of United Kingdom disasters by death toll