I have recently come across an account, by a British frigate captain off Toulon in December 1809, of a supposed attempt to release Spain's deposed King, Charles IV, from his comfortable captivity at Marseilles, presumably in order to use him as a figurehead for the Spanish uprising. Apparently Collingwood was dubious about the bona fides of the plotters (as was the captain they had contacted), and nothing came of it. Does anyone know if this was a real attempt to 'free' the King, or was it a French ruse de guerre to obtain intelligence about the British fleet, as the naval officers seemed to suspect?
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Thanks Rob and Tom for the information and references. It sounds as if the events described by the frigate captain off Toulon were part of an ongoing series of abortive attempts to 'rescue' the King, by a varied cast of characters, rather than a deep-laid plot by the French to gain intelligence on the British fleet. Interestingly Heywood (the captain in question) refers to a general (unnamed) who is the main instigator of the plot, but who was too sea-sick to board the vessel intended to communicate with the British fleet, and sent his 19-year-old son instead!