Lot 1642 , William Woollett after Benjamin West, engraving, 'The Battle at La Hogue', published by West, Woollett and Hall 1781, visible sheet 48 x 60.5cm

William Woollett after Benjamin West, engraving, 'The Battle at La Hogue', published by West, Woollett and Hall 1781, visible sheet 48 x 60.5cm
£100-150
The action at La Hogue occurred during the pursuit by the English of the French fleet after the Battle of Barfleur on 19 May Old Style (29 May (New Style)), 1692, during the Nine Years' War. The pursuing English fleet, under the command of Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford, destroyed a number of French ships that had been beached near the port of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue.
During the Nine Years War, the English and French fleets had engaged off the coast of Normandy. Tourville's fleet of badly damaged ships was swept by wind and tide down the coast of the Cotentin peninsula, pursued by an English fleet under Admiral of the Fleet Edward Russell, 1st Earl of Orford.
The French beached three of their most badly damaged ships at Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, where they were attacked and destroyed by an English squadron under Vice Admiral of the Red Sir Ralph Delaval. The remaining ten French ships, commanded by Tourville and four of his flag officers, were swept down the coast, to be beached on the evening of 21 May outside the small port of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue.

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