Coffee production in Martinique Coffee production in Martinique Coffee production in Martinique dates to 1723 and its establishment is credited to the French naval officer Gabriel de Clieu. It later spread to other places in the Caribbean and South America from Martinique, an overseas region of France. Jules Rossignon wrote that in 1723, Royal Physician Pierre Chirac gave Gabriel de Clieu, a French navy lieutenant, a coffee tree to be planted in Martinique. In spite of King Louis XV refusing permission to do so, de Clieu took a cutting from a coffee plant in the royal gardens and planted it in Martinique. He gave
Invasion of Martinique (1809) Invasion of Martinique (1809) The invasion of Martinique of 1809 was a successful British amphibious operation against the French West Indian island of Martinique that took place between 30 January and 24 February 1809 during the West Indies Campaign 1804–1810 of the Napoleonic Wars. Martinique, like nearby Guadeloupe, was a major threat to British trade in the Caribbean, providing a sheltered base from which privateers and French Navy warships could raid British shipping and disrupt the trade routes that maintained the British economy. The islands also provided a focus for larger scale French operations in the region and in the