WILLIAM ANDERSON (SCOTTISH 1757-1837)THE CAPTURE OF FORT ROYAL, MARTINIQUE, 22ND MARCH 1794 BY CAPTAIN FAULKNOR OF THE ZEBRA AND OTHER FORCES UNDER ADMIRAL SIR JOHN JERVISInscribed with title (on the reverse)Oil on canvas 70.5 x 104cm (27¾ x 40¾ in.)ExhibitedLondon, The Royal Academy, 1795The Parker Gallery, LondonCatalogue Note:The capture of Fort Royal, Martinique, on 22nd March 1794, by Captain Faulknor of the Zebra and other forces under Admiral Sir John Jervis - William AndersonOriginally discovered by the Spanish and named by them Martinico, the West Indian island of Martinique was first colonised by France in 1635. Captured by the British towards the end of the Seven Years' War (1756-63) in February 1762, it was restored to France by the Treaty of Paris only to be retaken again twice during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, first in March 1794 [restored 1802] and a second time in February 1809. Finally returned to French rule in 1815, it was one of France's principal sources of raw sugar throughout the eighteenth century and beyond, and supported a hugely profitable enterprise and its society in the colony. Thus, when Revolutionary France declared War on England early in 1793, Martinique proved an irresistible temptation for British arms and, when Admiral Sir John Jervis (later Lord St. Vincent) was appointed Commander-in-Chief, West Indies, that autumn, he was tasked with formulating plans for a spring offensive the following year.Flying his flag in the 98-gun practically new 2nd rate H.M.S. Boyne, Jervis arrived in Barbados to take up his new command towards the end of January 1794, and had an expeditionary force of twenty ships-of-war, with 6,100 troops aboard, ready to sail on 2nd February. Arriving off Martinique on the 5th, Jervis found the island poorly defended, with only two warships mounting fifty guns between them to protect it. The troops were disembarked at three points and, by 16th March, the island was under British control except for the heavily armed fortifications at Fort Royal and Fort Bourbon. In fact, the entire operation was a model of co-operation between soldiers and sailors, with the culmination of their joint efforts just days away.The main assault on Fort Royal - and its principal citadel Fort Louis - took place on 20th March during which Captain Robert Faulknor and the men of Zebra played a crucial role. Faulknor ran the Zebra so close under the walls of Fort Louis that he was able to jump ashore with his crew and storm the fortress which instantly capitulated. Smaller boats loaded with troops landed elsewhere and attacked Fort Royal, taking it after a furious fight. Two days later, on the 22nd, General Rochambeau, the island's governor, surrendered himself and his forces at Fort Bourbon and Martinique passed entirely into British hands.It seems highly probable that this work was commissioned by Captain Faulknor to commemorate his exploits with Zebra on 20th March 1794, and the artist's inscription on the reverse giving the date of 22nd March is therefore slightly erroneous.With thanks to Michael Naxton for his kind assistance with cataloguing this lot