The Ferrol Expedition (or Battle of Brión) took place on 25 and 26 August 1800, and was an unsuccessful british attempt to capture Ferrol from Spain.

Background

The primary object of the British fleet during the year 1800 was the conquest of Belle Île

Belle Île

Belle-Île or Belle-Île-en-Mer is a French island off the coast of Brittany in the département of Morbihan, and the largest of Brittany's islands. It is 14 km from the Quiberon peninsula.Administratively, the island forms a canton: the canton of Belle-Île...

but the defences appeared too strong. The expedition therefore proceeded to the coast of Spain, where it arrived on 25 August.

Battle

After a heavy cannonade against the Spanish positions by the British ships of the line HMS Impetueux

French ship America (1788)

America was a Téméraire-class 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. The Royal Navy captured her in 1794 at the Battle of the Glorious First of June. She then served with the British under the name HMS Impetueux until she was broken up in 1813...

, HMS London

HMS London (1766)

HMS London was a 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 24 May 1766 at Chatham Dockyard.London was originally launched as a 90-gun ship, as was standard for second rates at the time, but was later increased to 98-guns when she had eight 12 pounders installed on her...

, HMS Courageux

HMS Courageux (1800)

HMS Courageux was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 March 1800 at Deptford. She was designed by Sir John Henslow as one of the large class 74s, and was the only ship built to her draught...

, HMS Renown

HMS Renown (1798)

HMS Renown was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was to have been named HMS Royal Oak, but the name was changed to Renown on 15 February 1796....

 and HMS Captain

HMS Captain (1787)

HMS Captain was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 26 November 1787 at Limehouse. She served during the French revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars before being placed in harbour service in 1799...

, under the command of under the superintendence of Sir Edward Pellew

Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth

Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary, and the Napoleonic Wars...

, the British effected a landing at a small opening near Cape Prior. The army commander was Lieutenant-general Sir James Pulteney.

The Spanish defenders of Ferrol were:

• Don Francisco Melgarejo, commander of the naval department;
• Juan Moreno, commander of the squadron stationed in the harbour;
• Don Francisco Xavier Negrété, captain-general of the province; and
• Field Marshal
  Field Marshal
  Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
  
   Count Donadio, who commanded the fortifications that protected the coast.

Aftermath

The embarkation of the troops and artillery was effected, and soon after this failure on the coast of Galicia, another expedition, equally unsuccessful was directed against the city of Cadiz

Cádiz

Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

.
After the unsuccessful attempt to capture Ferrol, the British Prime Minister William Pitt said in the House of Commons that: If Great Britain had a naval station so easy to defend as Ferrol, due to its location, it would have been surrounded by a thick silver wall.