 At 05 : 00 on 21 September 1809 , Nereide entered the bay of Saint @-@ Paul under the cover of darkness and successfully landed the British force , without any sign they had been sighted from the shore , at the Pointe des Galets . The Pointe des Galets was 7 miles ( 11 km ) north of Saint @-@ Paul , the distance allowing the force , divided into Keating 's soldiers from Rodriguez and the naval force led by Nesbit Willoughby , to approach the heavy gun batteries that guarded the port unobserved . Storming the strongest batteries , Lambousière and la Centière , at 07 : 00 , the British force surprised the garrisons , captured the fortifications and turned their cannon onto the shipping moored in the harbour , firing grape shot at the decks of the frigate Caroline . 
