 The British commander at the Cape of Good Hope , Albemarle Bertie , had also been planning an operation in the Indian Ocean during 1809 and assembled a squadron under Commodore Josias Rowley with orders to blockade the French islands , probe their defences and capture them if practical . Rowley found that his small squadron was unable to engage the French frigates and that the nearest British military base , Madras in British India , was much too far to be practical for staging amphibious operations . To remedy the latter problem , Rowley seized the small French island of Rodriguez with a force of British and Indian soldiers and garrisoned it as a supply base for his ships and as a military reserve to use in landings on the French islands . The first such operation was the Raid on Saint Paul in September 1809 , in which the town of Saint Paul was captured , Caroline and her prizes seized and Île Bourbon 's commander Nicolas Des Bruslys driven to suicide . 
