The Charting of Arousa Bay: A Case Study in British Naval Pathfinding in the Peninsular War (1807–1814)

ABSTRACT

Military reconnaissance and mapping in the Peninsular War have been well studied; less attention has been given to the analogous provision of navigational intelligence for the Royal Navy. This depended on exploitation of such data as was held in the Hydrographical Office in London, supplemented with information from pathfinders on the front line. The present case study examines survey and charting of the rias of the Galician coast, which were of strategic importance for support to Spanish guerillas and to the Duke of Wellington’s army as it advanced through northern Spain.

Si les chercheurs ont consacré d’importants travaux à la reconnaissance britannique militaire sur terre et à la cartographie terrestre pendant la guerre d’indépendance espagnole, la fourniture analogue en renseignements maritimes pour la Royal Navy a été moins bien étudiée. Elle dépendait de l'exploitation des données détenues par le Bureau hydrographique de Londres, complétées par les informations réunies par des éclaireurs sur la ligne de front. La présente étude de cas porte sur les levés et le dessin cartographiques des rias de la côte galicienne. Ces lieux avaient une importance stratégique pour le soutien des guérillas espagnoles et de l'armée de Wellington lors de sa progression au nord de l'Espagne.

Los investigadores han estudiado a fondo los trabajos de reconocimiento y levantamiento cartográfico del ejército británico durante la Guerra Peninsular, pero han prestado menos atención a la análoga provisión de inteligencia en la navegación para la Royal Navy. Esta provisión dependía de la explotación de los datos que se conservaban en la Oficina Hidrográfica de Londres, complementados con información de los exploradores en el frente. El presente caso de estudio examina el levantamiento y la cartografía de las rías de la costa gallega, de importancia estratégica para el apoyo a las guerrillas españolas y al ejército del Duque de Wellington en su avance por el norte de España.

Forscher haben die militärische Aufklärung und Kartographie im Spanischen Unabhängigkeitskrieg umfassend bearbeitet. Weniger Augenmerk wurde auf die analogen Maßnahmen für die Royal Navy gelegt. Die Versorgung mit derartigen Angaben beruhte auf der Auswertung der entsprechenden Informationen im Hydrographical Office in London, ergänzt durch Angaben von der Front. Die aktuelle Arbeit untersucht die Vermessungen und Kartierungen der Rias an der galizischen Küste, die von strategischer Bedeutung für die Unterstützung der spanischen Guerilleros und der Armee Wellingtons auf ihrem Vormarsch durch Nordspanien waren.

KEYWORDS:

• Napoleonic Wars
• Peninsular War
• Northwest coast of Spain
• hydrographic data-gathering
• chart supply
• Thomas Hurd
• George Collier
• Howard Douglas

Acknowledgements

This article reflects the research assistance and expert advice of Richard Smith, the valued input of the anonymous reviewers, and above all, the grace and expertise of the editors, who have licked it into shape.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (hereafter UKHO) Remark Book, MP 104(De2), ‘Plan of the Port of Lisbon and parts adjacent,’ 10–11 May 1813, 12. The plan is plotted on a copy of a land map, showing coastal soundings extending into the upper reaches of the Tagus, and dispositions of small craft and boats as far as the reach at Salvaterra dos Majos.

2 UK National Archives (hereafter TNA), War Office Papers (hereafter WO) 1/251, letters during 1814, 53–54, 239; see also B. de Toy, ‘Commanders-in-chief: Wellington and Berkeley, 1809–12,’ in Wellington Studies II, ed. C. M. Woolgar (Southampton: Southampton University Press, 1999), 197 and 207 for the reconnaissance and exploitation of the rivers by the naval forces under the command of Admiral Berkeley.

3 J. V. Page, Intelligence Officer in the Peninsula (Tunbridge Wells: Spellmount, 1986), 39.

4 A copy in the Oxford University, Bodleian Library, (E)C38(101), is a single sheet, dissected into nine panels, and is probably the pages of Stockdale’s hardback atlas version of his map.

5 William Faden, A New Map of Spain and Portugal Exhibiting the Chains of Mountains and with their Passes, the Principal and Cross Roads, with other Details Requisite for the Intelligence of Military Operations, Compiled by Jasper Nantian (London, 1810). There is a copy in Oxford University, Bodleian Library, series Allen LRO, 277.

6 P. Collier, ‘The Military Map of the United Kingdom and its impact on mapping in the 20th century,’ lecture at the Defence Surveyors’ Association Seminar, 2010.

7 Richard H. P. Smith, ‘Peninsular War Cartography: A New Look at the Military Mapping of General Sir George Murray and the Quartermaster General’s Department,’ Imago Mundi 65, no. 2 (2013): 234–52; Richard H. P. Smith, ‘Getting Lost and Finding the Way: the Use, Misuse and Non-use of Maps and Reconnaissance for Route Planning in the Peninsular War (1807-1814),’ The Napoleon Series (2016), n.p.

8 TNA, Admiralty Papers (hereafter ADM) 1/ 3523, Correspondence of the Hydrographer, 157.

9 Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel, Atlas Maritimo de España (Madrid: Dirección de Hidrografía, 1789).

10 British Library (hereafter BL), Maps C.10.d.20, a copy of ‘Knight’s Atlas’ into which the plans have been interleaved.

11 TNA, ADM 1/3523, Correspondence of the Hydrographer, letter dated 12 July 1808.

12 Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel, España maritima, or Spanish coasting pilot (London: W. Faden, 1812), 2 vols. There are two copies in the National Maritime Museum, PBD 1120 and 1121, one of which appears to have belonged to one of two brothers in the Percy family who served in the Royal Navy on the Spanish coast.

13 Andrew David, ‘Is it Hurd’s or Dalrymple’s Channel Atlas?’ The Map Collector 72 (Autumn 1995): 20–24.

14 UKHO, m85 on Hy.

15 TNA, ADM 1/147, letter I 847, dated 5 Sept. 1811.

16 J. Marshall, Royal Navy Biography, 4 vols. (London: Longman, Hunt, & c., 1823-5), II, part 2: 518-40; Record of Service, at TNA ADM 9/2, 192; and UKHO h38 and c15 on Hu.

17 TNA, ADM 1/146, letter I 799, dated 12 Aug. 1811.

18 UKHO, 51 on 45a.

19 TNA, ADM 51/2850, Captain’s Logs, Parts 2 and 3.

20 Principal sources for Douglas’ career and achievements are H. M. Chichester, and Roger T. Stearn, ‘Douglas, Sir Howard, third baronet (1776–1861), army officer and colonial official,’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 23 September 2004, https://www-oxforddnb-com.laneproxy.stanford.edu/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-7888; Sir William Francis Patrick Napier, History of the War in the Peninsula, 6 vols. (London: Thomas and William Boone, 1828-1840); S. W. Fullom, The Life of General Sir Howard Douglas (London: John Murray, 1863).

21 TNA, WO 1/250, War Department In-letters, Spain and Portugal, 311.

22 TNA, WO 1/261, War Department In-Letters, Officers liaising in Galicia, 601–5, 625–46, 673–8.

23 The field protractor is described on page seventeen of Captain Edward Belcher’s Treatise on Nautical Surveying (London: Pelham Richardson, 1835). It was designed for ‘rapid work’ and consisted of a combination of sextant and protractor which, ‘the instant the angle is taken’ could be ‘applied to the paper and ruled off.’

24 Naval Museum of Ferrol, chart number 945. The sheet is drawn at a scale of approximately 4.7" to the nautical mile. I am grateful to Richard Smith for assistance in studying this chart.

25 Copy at Naval Historical Branch, Vm 7.

26 Described in Michael Barritt, Nelson’s Pathfinders: A Forgotten Story in the Triumph of British Seapower (London: Yale University Press, in press).

27 British Admiralty chart 72, ‘A Chart of the River Gironde and Adjacent Coast.’ Copy at BL Maps SEC.4.(72).

28 British Admiralty chart 65, ‘A Nautical Survey of the Bay of Brest and the Ushant Islands.’ Copy at BL Maps SEC.4.(65).