Battle of Leghorn
Who Fought
15 warships
16 warships
History & Significance
The naval Battle of Leghorn took place on 4 March 1653 (14 March Gregorian calendar), during the First Anglo-Dutch War, near Leghorn (Livorno), Italy. It was a victory of a Dutch squadron under Commodore Johan van Galen over an English squadron under Captain Henry Appleton. Afterwards, another English squadron under Captain Richard Badiley, which Appleton had been trying to join up with, reached the scene in time to observe the capture of the last ships of Appleton's squadron, but was outnumbered and forced to return to Porto Longone.
In 1652 the government of the Commonwealth of England, mistakenly believing that the United Provinces after their defeat at the Battle of the Kentish Knock would desist from bringing out fleets so late in the season, split their fleet between the Mediterranean and home waters. This division of forces led to a defeat at the Battle of Dungeness in December 1652, and by early 1653 the situation in the Mediterranean was critical too. Appleton's squadron of six ships (including four hired merchantmen) was trapped in Leghorn by a blockading Dutch fleet of 16 ships, while Richard Badiley's of eight (also including four hired merchantmen) was at Elba.
The only hope for the English was to combine their forces, but Appleton sailed too soon and engaged with the Dutch before Badiley could come up to help. Three of his ships were captured and two destroyed and only one (Mary), sailing faster than the Dutch ships, escaped to join Badiley. Badiley engaged the Dutch, but was heavily outnumbered and retreated.
The battle gave the Dutch command of the Mediterranean, placing the English trade with the Levant at their mercy, but Van Galen was mortally wounded, dying on 13 March.
One of the Dutch captains at the battle was son of Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp, Cornelis Tromp, who was to become a famous admiral himself and one of the most celebrated and controversial figures in Dutch naval history due to his actions in the Anglo-Dutch Wars and the Scanian War.
Vereenigde Provincien/Zeven Provincien (United Provinces/Seven Provinces) 40 (flag)
Maagd van Enkhuysen (Maiden of Enkhuysen) 34 (Jan Roetering)
Julius Caesar 28 (hired merchantman) (Jacon Janszoon Roocher)
Witte Olifant (White Elephant) (hired Italian merchantman Elefante Bianco) 28 (Sijbrant Janszoon Mol)
Madonna della Vigna 28 (hired merchantman) (Harman Sonne) - Ran aground north of Livorno harbor, but salved
Zwarte Arend (Black Eagle) 28 (Pieter Janszoon van Bontebotter)
Salomons Oordeel (Judgment of Salomon) 28 (hired merchantman) (Meijndert Theunissen van Oosterwout)
Roode Haes (Red Hare) 28 (hired merchantman) (Adriaan Rodenhaes)
The ground they fought on
The site of Battle of Leghorn lies on Strathclyde Group, bedrock that formed in the Visean. The rock here is sedimentary rock cycles, strathclyde group type.
- 2 ships sunk; 3 ships captured; 150 dead or injured; 50 captured
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything a full report reveals about Battle of Leghorn
This page covers Battle of Leghorn. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Leghorn
Battles near Battle of Leghorn
Explore the landscape around this battlefield
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
- Battle of Leghorn · Wikipedia