Mauritius Campaign

The Mauritius Campaign developed from the struggle to protect British trade routes between India, the Cape and Europe. French frigates and privateers operating from Île Bonaparte, now Réunion, and Île de France, now Mauritius, could attack East Indiamen and force the Royal Navy to maintain a substantial Indian Ocean presence.

British forces captured Réunion in July 1810, but the naval defeat at Grand Port temporarily strengthened the French position. Reinforcements under Vice-Admiral Albemarle Bertie and Major-General John Abercromby then invaded Île de France, which surrendered in December 1810. The campaign removed the principal French base threatening British commerce in the region.

The Mauritius Command closely adapts the campaign while placing Jack Aubrey in the role occupied historically by Commodore Josias Rowley. The novel retains real figures including Robert Townsend Farquhar, Henry Keating, Albemarle Bertie and Robert Corbet, combining squadron rivalry with amphibious warfare and imperial politics.