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The author of the Mauritius Command is Patrick O’Brian, a British writer retelling in the fictional way the campaign that really happened in 1810. It is a naval and historic novel with number four in the Aubrey-Maturin stories series following the Captain Jack Aubrey and surgeon Stephen Maturin partnership. The action retells the royal navy campaign under the commodore Josias Rowley. Like in the rest of the stories, the tactical seamanship of Aubrey is a proper for the Machiavellian and dramatic scheming of Maturin, an intelligence master and doctor. In the Mauritius Command, France and Britain both have to protect the trade routes preying on enemies in the Indian Ocean.
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La Reunion and Mauritius are situated juts right to be wanted bases for the two countries. In the beginning of the novel, France holds the islands and also captures the British ships. Mauritius was blocked by Britain in 1794 and the Rodrigues Island was used as supply base for fuel, water and so on. The British navy was set out to capture Mauritius again in 1808. The commodore Byng and HMS Belliqueux set up their camp at the Rodrigues Island, in Port Mathurin, with 200 sepoys and 200 infantry. The lieutenant colonel Keating was the one leading the army forces. On July 9th, 1810, around 4.000 soldiers went to capture the Reunion. The Mauritius invasion was delayed till December 3rd because of the Vieux Grand Port battle, the British forces remaining on the Rodrigues Island till April 1812. Mauritius Command begins in Hampshire Jack Aubrey being married with his beloved Sophie.
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They have two girls (twins) but missing one green thumb: the bugs and the caterpillars eaten away his dream of having one ordered garden. The Mauritius Command begins with the French frigates that come to Mauritius and take two merchant ships.
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The harbours of the island are Saint Paul’s, Port South East and Port Louis, all with deep waters. The mission of Stephen Maturin and Jack Aubrey is to conquer Mauritius and the Reunion Island.
The frigates of France had forty guns, each of them with 24 pounders (Caroline, Bellone, Manche and Venus) while the British had: Sirius (18 pounders) with Captain Pym as leader, Nereide with 36 guns (12 pounders) with Captain Corbett as commander,
Boadecia with Jack Aubrey as commander, Raisonable (64 guns) and Otter (18 guns) with captain Clonfert as leader. The author of the Mauritius Command, O’Brian used the literary license to make Aubrey a commodore although he was a junior captain.
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In those times, a captain had to spend about 20 years or even more on the list of the captain before being able to be promoted as admiral. The appointment of the commodore was an important plum and it was received by the senior captains only.
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