The Mauritius Command recap

With Jack Aubrey stranded on shore after earlier victories, Stephen Maturin helps obtain for him an independent command against the French islands of Réunion and Mauritius. Flying his broad pennant in Boadicea, Jack must combine naval attack, intelligence, and army cooperation while managing captains divided by rivalry and temperament. Early seizures and the conquest of Réunion are followed by disaster at Grand Port, where a British squadron enters confined waters and is defeated or captured. Jack rebuilds what remains, contests the French frigates, and keeps the campaign alive; Corbett is killed and Africaine is briefly lost during the costly recovery. A larger British invasion then compels Mauritius to surrender. The objective is won, but ships and lives have been lost, Lord Clonfert dies after the collapse of his hopes for heroic distinction, and Admiral Bertie receives the foremost official credit. Jack returns from his first major independent command proven but not wholly rewarded.

Previously: Jack Aubrey rose from commander of the sloop Sophie to post-captain, surviving lost ships, debt, and uncertain Admiralty favour while establishing himself as an aggressive and gifted sea officer. Stephen Maturin became his closest friend and ship's surgeon while secretly serving British intelligence against Napoleonic interests. Jack's long courtship of Sophia Williams endured family opposition and financial trouble, and they are now married with children. Stephen's attachment to Sophia's cousin Diana Villiers ended painfully when Diana left with the wealthy American Johnson. Jack's latest voyage in HMS Surprise brought him professional success and restored prospects, but not continuous employment; Stephen remains connected to the intelligence service and troubled by Diana's absence.

Jack Aubrey is living uneasily ashore with Sophia and their children, delighted by his family but frustrated by unemployment and the expense and confusion of domestic life. Stephen arrives with a prospect shaped by both naval strategy and secret intelligence: Jack is to sail in Boadicea, take a broad pennant, and direct operations against the French bases at Réunion and Mauritius. The islands support French frigates that prey on British trade in the Indian Ocean. At the Cape, Admiral Bertie confirms Jack's authority but can offer only a scattered, uneven squadron and limited immediate support. Jack begins gathering ships and information, aware that his new rank gives him independence but also responsibility for captains whose ambitions and methods differ sharply from his own.

Jack has left his shore-bound life to command the Mauritius expedition from Boadicea. At the Cape he receives the local squadron and starts forming a campaign from ships spread across a difficult theatre. He establishes a forward base on Rodriguez and works with Colonel Keating so naval mobility and soldiers can be used together. His captains include the severe Corbett, the active Pym, and Lord Clonfert, whose charm and bravery coexist with an uneasy need to distinguish himself from Jack. Stephen gathers political and military knowledge ashore while maintaining the expedition's intelligence purpose. British forces strike French possessions and shipping, building toward the seizure of Réunion. The early successes show that the islands can be attacked, but French frigates remain a strong mobile force and personal tensions within Jack's command are becoming part of the operational problem.

The British have established Rodriguez as a base and, through combined operations with Keating's troops, captured Réunion. Jack now tries to turn scattered successes into control of the approaches to Mauritius. An audacious action gains the fortified passage at Île de la Passe, offering an apparent route into Grand Port. French ships enter the confined anchorage, and British captains move to attack them. The operation promises the decisive frigate victory the squadron wants, but reefs, uncertain navigation, divided local judgment, and the difficulty of coordinating ships under fire narrow every choice. Willoughby and the other officers press the assault while Jack, separated from the immediate action, cannot directly control events. By the end of the chapter the squadron is committed inside dangerous waters, with the expected tactical advantage already giving way to a grave risk of entrapment.

The Grand Port attack has ended in catastrophe. British frigates ground or are battered in the enclosed harbour; ships are burned, surrendered, or captured, and wounded survivors fall into French hands. The reverse wipes away much of the advantage gained at Réunion and leaves Jack with too few effective vessels to dominate the enemy squadron. He refuses to abandon the campaign. With Boadicea and whatever support can be assembled, he resumes the contest at sea and confronts the consequences of Corbett's harsh command and Clonfert's increasingly destructive concern with reputation. Corbett is killed when Africaine is defeated and briefly captured, but British action recovers the ship and prevents the French from converting one victory into permanent command of the ocean. Jack must now preserve the force and wait for strength sufficient to finish an invasion.

Jack's expedition began with a thin squadron, secured Rodriguez and Réunion, and then suffered the loss or capture of most of the attacking ships at Grand Port. He kept Boadicea active, contested French movements, and prevented the campaign from collapsing while reinforcements gathered. Once major army and naval support arrives, Mauritius can no longer be defended against a full invasion. The island capitulates, ending its value as a French base against British trade. The victory completes Jack's orders, though Admiral Bertie's senior arrival means that the largest official honour does not fall to Jack. Lord Clonfert, badly wounded and broken by the gulf between his ambitions and events, dies. Stephen's strategic and intelligence objective has been achieved. Jack leaves the theatre with his reputation strengthened by persistence and command, returning toward family life without the permanent elevation he had hoped conquest might bring.

After the defeats at Grand Port and the costly struggle to restore British control at sea, reinforcements turn Jack's depleted force into an army and fleet strong enough to invade Mauritius. The French position becomes untenable, and the island capitulates. Jack has fulfilled the object of his independent command despite losing ships and officers along the way. Corbett is killed in the fighting around Africaine, while Clonfert, grievously wounded and unable to reconcile his self-image with the campaign's judgments, also dies. Admiral Bertie arrives in time to assume senior direction and receives the chief public distinction attached to the conquest, leaving Jack with professional success rather than the full measure of glory he had imagined. Stephen's intelligence purpose is served by the removal of the French Indian Ocean base. Jack relinquishes the broad authority of commodore and turns homeward to Sophia and his family, his naval standing enhanced but his hunger for employment and recognition unchanged.