11 ^f^^^^^^^^^^^ y. ROYAL CLASSICAL SCHOOL. THIS IP i^ IE i!^ I TJ nvn WAS AWAKDED TO ^ _, / C^ /7t ^^ f /// ^'hC^c< Xf GOOD CONDUCT AND DILIGENCE DUEING THE 'C/ Signed, Session ending . . . frr^. s^. .?'. . . Zj. . <:. C. : . /f.C j 1 m v^. ^^y^GNS&^dGNS^S^'oGNS'&^DGNS' IRENE D. PACE EX LIBRIS G-. C. I BM3T1SM HAYAL BIOGJierAPHY from iOX JiON : XNGKAVED TOK SCOTT'S EJTGUSH CLASSICS 18 46. BRITISH NAVAL BIOGRAPHY COMPRISING TffE LIVES OP THE MOST DISTINGUISHED ADMIRALS, FROM HOWARD TO CODRINGTON: •WITH AN OUTLINE OF THE NAVAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME. * Britannia needs no bulwarks. No towers along the steep — Her march is o'er the mountain-wave, Her home is on the deep.' CampieH. FOURTH EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR ADAM SCOTT, CHAETEBH,OUSE SaUAllE. 1853. Uniform with this vrork Is pablished, llBinSH MILITARY BIOGRAPHY: comprising the L1t« of <^• most distinguished Commanders, from Alfred to WeUineton : coi^ neeted by an outline of the Military History of England, from the earliest to the present Time. Fourth Edition, with portniit of WellingtOD, and Vignette, Price Ss. Xr. a. BULCKIB AND CO.. PKi.NTZS*, nu-tJiBini PREFACE. ' Defend your country with wooden bulwarks ! ' is a command delivered to Britons, by a more authorita- tive voice than that of the oracle of Delphos. It is the dictate of reason and strong necessity ; and it was enforced by many a disastrous invasion, in which Bri- tain was repeatedly overrun by an enemy. The warning, although so long disregarded, was at length happily adopted, and ages have now passed away since our country discovered, that her independence and power reposed upon her naval supremacy ; and for ages to come, we trust, the same principle will continue to be recognised, as the foundation of our national politics, and the same security and glory be evolved from it, which have enabled us to advance in wealth and civilization so as to render our island the envy of the world. \Miile, on these accounts, it is universally felt that the nautical spirit of our countrymen should be cherished, as the most valuable of their national characteristics, it is important to mark how little, comparatively, has been done for such a desirable purpose. The history of England is essentially a naval history : and yet, the rise and progress of our maritime greatness, and the exploits of our fleets, <•■ ■•! iv PREFACE. have been undervalued, or lost sight of, by our popu- lar historians, as if a ship were but a vulgar thing, and a sea-fight perfectly unclassical. It is true, in- deed, that this defect has been partially remedied; and Naval Histories of Great Britain have been pro- duced, of very superior merit. But these works have invariably been too voluminous and expensive for general readers. A Naval History has hitherto been wanting for the fire-side of the tradesman or me- chanic, and the cottage of the peasant — for the young boy let loose from school into the world, and eager for general information — for him whose time is so occupied with the labour of the day, that no leisure remains for extensive reading — for those who will be satisfied with the general results of maritime achieve- ments, but whose taste or capacity unfits them for those long political dissertations with which the move- ments of our fleets are connected, in our bulky naval annals. This was a desideratum, hitherto lost sight of, which the present volume is designed to supply ; and with what success, the public must now deter- mine. Besides this desire of extending the sphere of in- formation upon such an important topic, and diffusing more widely a British feeling upon our maritime history, and present position, a more professional and specific object has been kept in view, in the present work. In several of the lives, the manoeuvres which led to important results have been described, and other professional details have been retained, which may be as instructive as entertaining to the young officer and seaman. Occasional observations have also been made on the conduct of those officers who are admitted to have disgraced themselves and the PREFACE. V naval profession, although such misconduct is for- tunately of rare occurrence in our naval history. In justice to the memory of other commanders also we have attempted to place their services in that light in which it is now admitted they ought to be re- corded in history. If this volume succeeds in exciting in the minds of officers and seamen the desire to maintain the renown of our navy, and to perform their duty to the utmost of their ability, it will have accomplished a very important part of its object ; for it is well known, that few of these, especially when they embark for the first time, have the Naval Histories of Campbell, Charnock, James, or Brenton, in their sea-chests. With these works, indeed, they might profitably occupy many a leisure hour ; but their bulk and price will always be an objection with the sailor. And yet, it is upon the nautical know- ledge and professional enthusiasm of these very persons, that the honour of our flag and the safety of our shores depend! The juvenile midshipman, as yet scarcely half-schooled, or the sailor before the mast, who has been merely taught to read, shews the want of some work adapted to his particular sphere, by the awkward remedies he adopts to sup- ply the deficiency. He listens to the stories of Howe, Nelson, and Jervis, that circulate through the fore- castle or about the mess-table; and devours the tough yarns of those privileged veterans, who have been at Trafalgar, Algiers, or Navarino ; and out of these scanty materials he forms for himself a history — a wofully imperfect one however — of the heroes he is required to emulate, and the service he is expected to adorn. Under these circumstances, an outline of the Naval History of Britain from the ^ PREFACE. earliest period to the battle of Navarino, and the lives of our most distinguished naval commanders from Howard to Codrington, comprised within the compass of a portable volume, and at a price which' all could afford, was considered to be much wanted, at a time when the demand for instructive and exciting reading has so greatly increased. It i« only by some such a work as the present, that the popular feehng for this important national service can be cherished, and the mass of our brave seamen become acquainted with the naval history of their country, so as to animate them to equal, or if pos- Bible to excel, the deeds of their glorious predeces- sors. And such an attempt is not uncalled for. Though all as yet is peace, the period is perhaps at hand when Britain shall again require her seamen to come forward to man her wooden bulwarks and look around her for new Blakes and Nelsons to lead them; and have to telegraph her fleets once more with the inspiring motto, ' England expects every man to do his duty.' Should this volume, therefore, be found to deserve a place in the Nautical Library, and be adopted as the Sailor's Book of His- tory, a more important and more generous purpose will be secured, than that of mere literary popula- nty. Nay, even though it should only direct atten- tion to the subject, and point the way to better and more successful attempts, it will not have been pro- duced in vain. May, 1839. CONTENTS. Cbap. I. — The Origin of Navigation, and its Rise and Progress in England, until the Norman Conquest 1 Chap. II. — An outline of Naval History, from the Norman Conquest to the death of queen Elizabeth 15 Howard, earl of Nottingham, bom 1536, died 1624 35 Sir John Hawkins . . 1520 — 1595 48 Sir Francis Drake . . 1545 — 1596 53 Chap. III. — From the accession of James I. to the death of queen Anne 64 Robert Blake . . born 1598, died 1657 86 Monk, earl of Alberaajle . 1608 — 1669 94 Montague, earl of Sandwich . 1595 — 1672 102 Sir Edward Spragge • . — 1672 107 Herbert, earl of Torrington . — 1716 110 Russel, earl of Orford . . 1652 — 1727 117 Sir George Rooke . . . 105U — 1709 122 John Benbow .... — 1702 132 Sir Cloudesly Shovel . . 1650 — 1707 144 Chap. IV. — From the peace of Utrecht to the death of George II 150 Byng, viscount Torrington, born 1663, died 1733 166 Sir Charles Wager . . . 1664 — 1743 176 Thomas Matthews ... — 1751 183 viii CONTENTS. Edward Vernon . Lord Anson The Hon. John Byn^ Lord Hawke . born 1684, died 1757 . 1697 — 1762 . 1704 — 1757 . 1705 — 17S1 The Hon. Edward Boscawen 1711 — 1761 Sir George Pocock . . . 1706 — 1792 Sir George Saunders . . — 1775 Chap. V. — From the accession of George IIL to the peace of Amiens . . . . . . Lord Rodney . Sir Francis Geary , Viscount Keppel Earl Howe Sir Edward Hughes Lord Graves Sir Peter Parker Viscount Duncan Viscount Hood Viscount Bridport . Earl St. Vincent Viscount Keith Sir Sidney Smith Lord de Saumarez . born 1718, died 1792 . 1710 — 1796 . 1725 — 1786 . 1725 — 1799 — 1794 — 1801 . 1717 — 1811 . 1731 — 1804 . 1724 — 1816 . 1727 — 1814 . 1734 — 1823 . 1746 — 1823 . 1764 — 1840 . 1757 — 1836 Chap. VL — From the peace of Amiens to the battle of Trafalgar Sir Robert C alder . . bom 1745, died 1818 Viscount Nelson . . . 1758 — 1805 Chap. VII.— From the battle of Trafalgar to the battle of Navarin Lord Collingwood . . . 1750 — 1810 Sir John Duckworth . . 1748 — 1817 Lord Gambier .... 1756 — 1833 Lord Cochrane . . . 1775 — Lord Exmouth . . . 1757 — 1833 Sir Edward Codrington . . 1770 — 1851 Appendix Page 193 21) 232 246 268 287 306 336 361 403 416 423 431 444 449 454 466 478 491 501 512 519 573 585 597 604 608 624 637 651 NAVAL HISTORY. CHAP. I. The Origin ofNavviation, and its Rise and Progress in England, until the \orman Conquest. The origin of Navigation, like that of otber useful arts, is to be traced to tbe necessities of mankind. The desire to cross a river, to convey a burden from one place to another by water, or to procure a supply of food by fishing, may have suggested, first, a single plank, and then a raft; some more reflective genius among the primitive tribes of mankind, on observing the superior buoyancy of a split reed, or even a cup in the water, may have seized the happy idea of applying tbe prin- ciple to navigation ; and thus the raft was superseded by the canoe, the coracle, or the boat. When thus the commencement was made by which man was enabled to brave an element he had hitherto regarded with awe, improvements would gradually follow; and these, as in the other useful arts of life, were probably suggested by the works of nature. To some tribes the feet of the water-fowl may have suggested the invention of the paddle, and to others the fins of a fish may have given the hint of an oar. When boats of large size were after- wards constructed, the power of directing their course through the obstacles of winding shores and rivers by sometning else than the main force of rowers, would be f'^it as a desirable acquisition — and some great but for- gotten benefactor of the world, observing the use of the tail in directing the movements of a fish through the water, applied an oar in like manner from the stern of nis bark, and was delighted to find that its course would thus be regulated by a very slight efi'ovt. Upon these facts the history of antiquity is indeed silent ; but they are not the less obriou? to our view. Even, too, in the su- 2 NAVAL HISTORY. perior stages of navigation, we perceive that the same close observation of the fonus and movements of aquatic animals had been maintained, so that vessels became stronger, lighter, more commodious, and better fitted for sailing, in proportion to the correctness with which they were copied from the fish or the waterfowl. In navigation, however, as in the other arts, there is a point to which man is conducted by the book of nature, after which he is left to the resources of his own inven tiou. Men were too restless to be confined to inland navigation or coasting, so long as their cupidity or am bition was tempted by the unknown lands that loomed in the horizon, or the isles which fancy pictured upon the void ; but while the vast distance of stormy sea that intervened bade defiance to the labour of the oar, no analogy of either fish or fowl could have suggested the use of the sail. This was the discovery of the human intellect unaided ; and, like many such, it perhaps re- sulted from accident The loose long cloak of the fisher- man bellying in the wind, and bearing his light skifi rapidly onward, was perhaps the origin of that compli- cated apparatus, by which the sea has become the con- necting link of the whole human family. Thus the mast was raised, the sail hoisted to the wind, and the inconvenient row-boat improved into the ship, gathering the breezes into its canvas, and launching forth to astonish distant nations still in a state of barbarism. Visits, such as these, performed by the earliest navi- gators, were converted into great national eras, and the event itself, from the impotency of a rude people to explain such a phenomenon, was converted into some mythological tale. Hence the stories of flying horses and winged men, so common in the earliest traditions of savages ; and the legends of Icarus, Medea, Triptole- nius, Jupiter and Europa, and other such fables of Gre- cian history. When ship-building, during a course of progressive impi'ovemeuts, was supposed to have attained perfection, the merchant-ships of the ancients were made of an oval form, as best calculated for the stowage of goods, and accommodation of passengers ; and the length was about four times that of the breadth. They were also flat-bottomed, and drew little water, that they might be fitted for coasting voyages, or hauling up on shore. TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 3 The bulk, however, of these ships was insignificant com- pared with those of tJie moderns, their general burden beini^ about fifty or sixty tons : and although we some- times read of vessels of enormous size, constructed by the Syrians and Egyptians, yet these seem to have been too unwieldy for the skill of ancient mariners, and were built chiefly from ostentation, or for temporary purposes. Merchant-ships were furnished with sails of various forms and materials, according: to the habits and the produce of diflerent nations ; but most of them seem to have been made of linen, and were generally of a white colour, which the ancients considered as an omen of good fortune. Instead of one, two helms were gene- rally used, one of which was placed at the stern, and the other at the prow, in which case the course of the vessel could be reversed without the necessity of tack- ing ; and as anchoring was a frequent process in the timid navigation of antiquity, each ship was pr-ovided with several anchors, of from one to four flukes; and these, contrary to the modern practice, were dropped from the stern. When the vessel was under sail, a boat was towed after it : but on the approach of foul weather It was drawn up, and made fast to the ship. While thus utility was studied in the architecture of a ship, there seems to have been no lack of tasteful ornament. A figure-head surmounted the prow, from which the vessel derived its name ; and over the stem, which was formed like a shield, and filled with elaborate carved work and paintings, rose the image of the god to whose care the ship was intrusted, while streamers fluttered from the poop and masts. Frequently, too, as we find from ancient coins and monuments, the whole prow of the vessel was carved, and painted, to resemble the face of some animal, or imaginary monster. It was in ships such as these that the Greeks and Romans, but espe- cially the Phoenicians, interchanged the commodities of different countries, and made the sea a medium of com- mon communication to all civilized nations. When we read however of the splendid voyages of antiquity, whether undertaken from the love of wealth or science, we are always reminded of the difficulties and imperfections of the ancient navigation. Although the sliips of Tarshish brought gold from the far-distant Ophir, yet it was at the expense of a three yearn' 4 NAVAL HISTORY. voyage; and the case could not be much amended in subsequent ages, so long as the mariner's compass was unknown. It was only when the smooth seas of summer gave promise of security that a trading voyage could be undertaken ; and then the ship, which had been laid up on shore during the winter, was launched, and freighted with a cargo. After sacrifices had been oflered, if propitious omens were secured, the trembling sailors ventured to hoist sail ; and while they crept cautiously forward, they directed their course during the day by the distant shores and head-lands, and at night by the stars. If, however, the evening threatened storms or darkness, the sailoi-s made for the nearest shore, and anchored in some creek, till the moi'ning. To leave the sight of land was an appalling idea in early navigation, until the use of the polar star was completely understood, by which the situation and bearing of distant places were ascertained, or at least surmised. When winter arrived, or when the desired port was reached, the ship was urged upon the land, stern foremost, and hauled up upon the beach by the crew. When the vessel was encountered by a storm, the sailors made haste to get the vessel on shore ; but if this could not be done, they threw out one anchor after another, to ride out the tempest ; and last of all the sacred anchor (their forlorn hope), that at least they might not lose the knowledge of their course. If these expedients were useless, so that they were still driven out to sea, their case became desperate : each man resigned his labour, and called upon the gods, while the vessel was buffeted hither and thither by winds and waves ; and when a calm succeeded, it be- came a difficult matter to determine the place to which they had been driven. When the ship was allowed to drive before the storm, the rudders were drawn up out of the water, and secured by the rudder-bands, that they might not be carried away by the waves ; and when the planks began to start with the labouring of the vessel, they were secured by the process of under- girding, that is, passing a strong cable several times round its sides ; an experiment sometimes adopted with effect in modern navigation.* * A very srraphic and minute description of the various resources jf ancient navigation in a scorm is contained in the account of St. Paul's shipwreck. See Acts of the Apostle?, chaji. xxvii. TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 5 The war-ships of the ancients were necessarily of a different fonn from those of the merchant service : being desiipied for swift sailiny:, rather than hazardous or tedious navigation, their length was eiirht times that of their breadtii ; and they were impelled, not by sails, but rowers. As a great number of oars was necessary for rapid manoeuvres, the ingenuity of the ancients was tasked to accommodate the greatest number of rowers, and therefore benches were gradually raised over benches, until sometimes the galley had forty or fifty banks of oars. But as this was an excessive refinement upon the principle, such vessels were too unwieldy for ordinary management ; and therefore the nations most skilled in naval warfare were contented with the quiu- quereme, or five-benched galley, as their chief line-of- battle ship, the usual complement of which was three hundred roN-'ere, and two hundred fighting men. The prow was armed with a strong, brazeii beak, which being driven violently against a ship's side, would sink it as effectually as a broad-side of modern artillery ; and to gain a favourable position for such an assault, required much dexterous manoeuvring : one stratagem in this case was to steer the ship obliquely against the enemy, and sweep away his oars, by which he was rendered defence- less. To counteract the fatal stroke of the beak, the sides of vessels were generally fortified with strong pieces of timber, called the ears of tlie ship. In addition to theje modes of annoyance, the forecastle was surmounted by a tower, filled not only with archers and slingers, but fre- quently with engines, that threw large stones and darts; stages were erected upon the deck, and platforms round the sides of the vessel, for the accommodation of the com- batants ; and sometimes coverings of hides or skins were constructed, as a protection from the enemy's missiles. In drawing up a fleet for battle, the form of a wedge, but more frequently that of a half-moon, was adopted, in the centre of which the best ships were placed, for the purpose of breaking the enemy's line. When a fleet was weak, and wished to stand upon the defensive, it was drawn up occasionally in a complete circle. Thus the tactits of warfare among the ancients, whether by land or water, seem to have been the same. The signal for battle was given from the admiral's ship, which occupied the centre of the front rank ; it consisted in 6 NAVAL HISTORY. raising a gilded shield or banner, and sounding a trum- pet. As the hostile navies approached eacli other, showers of missives were interchanged ; and when the battle closed, each ship exhausted every resource in manoeuvring, to gain a favourable position so as to beak its antagonist. At length, as the conflict deepened, the ships grappled for a hand-to-hand trial of strength, which was continued until the weaker party yielded. The Romans, who generally despised navigation, and were little skilled in its tactics, preferred this last mode of arbitration, when they fought at sea against a naval power. Confident in their superior valour and weapons, they were only eager to come to blows ; and where they contrived to grapple with an enemy, they seldom failed to be victorious. When the troops of Caesar were brought from Gaul to the invasion of Britain, in ships such as those we have already described, the Britons themselves appear, as far as navigation was concerned, to have been in a condi- tion of the most helpless barbarism. This is the more sing-ular, when we consider not merely the insular cha- racter of the country, and the mechanical ingenuity of the people displayed in the construction of their war- chariots, but the visits which they had received from foreign ships, for some ages previous. But the emula- tion which had once inspired the rude but enerj-'etic Romaus, in the early stages of the republic, to build a fleet from the model of a Carthaginian galley driven ashore by a storm, seems to have been unknown to the first inhabitants of our island ; and therefore, although they had often been visited by the ships of the Gauls and Phoenicians, they appear to have had nothing better than canoes and coracles. The former were small boats constructed out of the single trunk of a tree, like those still used by the rudest tribes of savages ; while the latter were light vessels formed of wicker-work, and covered with skins, like the coracles still used in some parts of Wales. Such vessels were by no means fitted to meet the tower-like galleys of the Romans, and, therefore, the experiment was never attempted. The Britons could only make a bold resistance from the shore, which they did so effectually, that the legions were unable to effect a landing ; but when the engines began to discharge their deadly showers of stone* TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 7 and darts from the decks of the galleys, the Britons wavered, and then retreated. They were astonished at such a new method of attack, and tlieir invaders were enabled to land under the protectioti of their armament. When the Romans, at a subsequent period, accom. plishedthe conquest of South-Britain, and reduced it to a province, they endeavoured, according to their established custom, to instruct the natives in the arts of civilization; and among these we are certain that ship-building and navigation were not omitted. The immediate success with which the experiment of transforming the Britons into good sailors was attended, has not been mentioned ; but towards the end of the third century we find the island occupying a high rank as a maritime power. This was occasioned by the revolt of Carausius, a Menapiau of humble birtb, but skilled in naval affairs, and who was appointed to protect the British seas from northern pirates. In 289, Carausius, perceiving the weakness of the empire, and encouraged from this to aim at independent authority, sailed from Boulogne to Britain, where he persuaded both Romans and natives to espouse liis cause ; and having assumed the title of Emperor, he built ships upon the Roman model, in- structed bis British subjects in naval tactics, and carried his victorious invasions over the coasts of Gaul, Spain, and Italy. This British emperor became at last so formidable, that Diocletian and Maximian were obliged to make peace with him as an independent sovereign. When the power of Rome had failed against him, he fell under the dagger of a pretended friend ; but his singular career was an important lesson to this country, as well as an ominous intimation to future ages. It shewed that the bulwarks of British strength are not on land, but upon the deep — that with fleets, Britain, even when weakest, could defy the mistress of the world — and that when her period of maturity came, even the united world would be unable to accomplish her over- thiow. The civilization of the Britons was as superficial as it had been hasty ; and while the ferocious leaven of the old character still remained, the arts of Rome had only introduced effeminacy and ambition, under the aspect of improvement. This was evident on the removal of 8 NAVAL HISTORY. the legions from Britain ; for while the whole land was rent into factions that wasted each other in mutual conflicts and massacres, the Britons were too spiritless to resist the Picts and Scots, who broke through the barriers of the south, and ravaged the country at will. These barbarian tribes of the north were in the same lude condition with those Eritous who had opposed the landing' of Ccesar; and the ciirraghs, in which they attacked the southern coasts, were nothing njore than the light, ozier- framed, skin-covered skiffs, which we have already mentioned. And yet, they seem to have found the shores and seas undefended — a sure proof how completely the memory of Carausius had passed away ! In this emergency, without ships or native courai-e, the provincial Britons sent repeatedly to Rome for aid ; but when help could no longer be granted, instead of endeavouring to defend themselves, they resolved to call in the terrible Saxon pirates as their hired champions and protectors. In 443, when this unfortunate plan was adopted, it happened that Hengist and Horsa, two celebrated Saxon chiefs, were cruising in the channel ; and as soon as the welcome summons arrived, they gladly landed in Britain. The deliverers came in three long chiules fkeels) that scarcely held in all two hundred mien ; but their superior valour and discipline, aided by the confirmed spiiits of the Britons, sufficed to beat back the Picts and Scots. Perhaps, even already, the crafty rovers, who had seen the fatness of the land as well as the feebleness of its occupants, may have conceived the possibility of making it their own — at all events, Hengist and Horsa represented the necessity of being reinforced by their countrymen ; and the Britons, who perhaps were delii:hted with the thought of having the burden of their defence laid upon othei-s, very willingly ac- ceded to the measure. The consequences were, that one armament after another of Jutes, Angles and Jsaxons aiTived, until at last they were an over-match for both friend and enemy; and the Britons soon found, that their auxiliaries were greater evils than even the Scots and Picts, against whom they had been summoned. It is foreign to our purpose to describe the long seiies of conflicts that followed ; but throughout the whole war the Saxons possessed the command of the sea, by which TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 9 they could receive reiuforcements, or change their operations at pleasure. Tiie conflict ended in so com- plete a subjugation of the IJritons of the south, that they ceased to be recognised as a nation, while their place was filled by a new people, the subjects of the Ijaxou Heptarchy. While these new inhabitants of England were pi rates, the sea had been their dwelling, and with its storms they had become so familiar, that when even the best-appointed ships did not dare to venture from their harbours, the Saxons delighted in the tempest as the season of attack, and spoil. It was then they rushed forth to the assault of some devoted coast that least expected such a visit ; and so wide and terrible were their ravages, that the fleets of the Komuns trembled at the slightly constructed keels of the marauders. But this character was totally changed when they hail obtained settled homes in England. The Anglo Saxons became cultivators of the soil, and learnt to prefer it as the surest and least hazardous means of support ; and when they warred, it was among themselves, and by land, upon subjects of political controversy. Thus, the coast was once more as defenceless as when Hengist and Horsa had visited it, and it invited the coming of even more teixible enemies than the bands of Hengist and Horsa. These were the Danes, who had adopted the marauding life of the earlier Saxons— men as brave on land, and as skilful at sea, with the addition of being more fierce and pitiless, than their predecessors. In 787, the Danes made their first appearance in England on the Hampshire coast, where they defeated and slew the Reeve ; in a second descent, 793, they plundered the church of Lindisfarne ; and in a third, 794, they spoiled the monastery of Wearmouth. Em- boldened by the facilities of landing in England, and the plunder that might be won, these visits were repeated upon a larger scale. It would be tedious to particularise these descents, or the battles fought with various success for a course of foity years. Even when the Danes were routed, they still secured the spoil ; and when driven to their ships in one part of the island, they retired, only to re-appear in some more unguarded quarter ; which kept every part of the coast in a con- stant state of alarm. 10 NAVAL HISTORY. During the foregoing period, the Danes had acted only as marauders ; but after they had fully tried the strength of the land, they determined to obtain a permanent possession ; and in 852 they commenced by fortifying themselves in the isle of Thanet, and afterwards in the isle of Sheppey, and from these encampments they were enabled to direct their ravages with gi-eater extent and precision. The coasted counties most exposed to these inroads, after trying the fortune of arms in vain, endeavoured to purchase an exemption from such inroads ; but the Danes, after they received the price of forbearance, were not long in breaking their promises, and in returning to treat with contempt the cowardly natives of Britain. It was while England was in this con- A. D. dition that Alfred succeeded to the almost 872 — 901- powerless sceptre. The question of whether Saxon or Dane should be the perniauent master of Britain, seemed all but settled in favour of the latter ; for although Alfred defeated them eight times in one year, yet they swarmed upon the coast, and landed in such numbers, that the superstitious Saxons believed themselves abandoned by Heaven, and Alfred was compelled to seek his safety in concealment, so that it was long believed that he was dead, both by friends and enemies. And what English heart does not know and cherish the tale of his re-appearance, and the glorious results that followed ? It is only necessary in this place to point out the difficulties of his situation, by a view of the facilities which the Danes possessed as invaders, and in which they seem to have differed from all the preceding northern pirates. They were as well adapted for land as for naval service, so that on dis- embarking they seized every horse they could find, by which they were transformed in an instant from a crew of sailors into a baud of skilful cavaliers. In the arts of castramentation, also, they far surpassed the English ; and when they wished to establish themselves on any favourable spot, they fortified themselves so strongly that it was difficult to dislodge them. Such were the men headed by Guthrum, and afterwards by Halfdeue, two of the most skilful leaders of Denmark, against whom Alfred had to contend for the possession of Eng- land, and over v/hom he finally prevailed. TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. H Among- the many claims of Alfred to the undying gratitude of his country, that of being the founder of the English navy is not the least. The ship.s of the Danish, Saxon, and other northern piratical tribes, had hitherto been chiefly slight, skin-covered fabrics, that, tio far from being fitted for naval conflicts, were im- perfect as mere transports, while ships of the old classical size and proportions were only to be found in the Mediterranean. Alfred, after he had driven out the Danes, was resolved to make their exclusion permanent, and for this purpose he constructed ships upon the ancient principles. These vessels were twice as long as those of the Danes; they rose higher in the water, and were more steady in sailing ; and in order to man them with skilful mariners, he invited rovers from Friesland who were willing to abandon piracy. These men served him ably and faithfully; and the English, after the example of their king, became such bold navii^ators, that instead of waiting for the landing of the Danes, they attacked them on their own element, and gained several victories. The same good fortune distinguished the successive reigns of the son and grandson of Alfred ; and at length, in the reign of Edgar (O-OQ — 975), England had become so decidedly a maritime power, that eight kings rowed his barge on the river Dee, in token of vassalage ; and he appears to have been the first king of England, who claimed to be the ' lord of the seas which surrounded his kingdom, and sovereign over all the princes of the adjacent isles.' This pompous show of naval power however expired with Edgar ; for in 980, and the two following years, the Danes renewed their attacks on England, upon several points successively, and carried off an immense quantity of spoil. After a cessation of a few years, they returned in greater force ; and as the lords of England had now become a profligate, unpatriotic race, the ill- governed English endeavoured, each county for itself, to buy off the invaders. Even when the English ships and forces were mustered for a stout resistance, such was the treachery of their chiefs, that they often betrayed their trust to the enemy. In addition to the distraction and defeat produced by these causes, there was a colony in the Danelagh, composed of those rovers whom Alfred had subdued, and located in Nonhumber- 12 NAVAL HISTORY, laud but who had never been reclaimed from their old predilections; and these Au^^lo-Danes were alwavs ready to call in the enemy, and give them a footini n the country. The miserable expedients adopted by tl e Eng ish were shamefully unworthy of the descendVn s of Alfred's heroes. They levied an odious tax, under the name of Dane-gelt, ostensibly for the defence of the country, but virtually to bribe the forbearance of the enemy ; they- hired a Danish chieftain, to defend them with a Danish fleet against his own countrymen-an^ having thus turown away their swords, and shewn themselves unworthy of freedom, thev had recourse to a national three days' fast on bread, roots, and water, in the fond hope that the angels would fight their battles. dLftn.'r' "■^'^^^''^°'^- ^"^^^« heavens were deaf to the cnes of men who would not join exertion odirn H f"^^^"'^' "P°° a^ appointed day; and the atioHtvr/K'',P''P'''''''^ "■^''^ '^'^y circumstance of atiocity and barbarity (a. d. 1002). This last expedient was only the cause of a terrible retiubution and the shores of Denmark resounded w^h clamours for revenge. A large fleet was soon collected ren'tl /r?""'' °' ^"^5°; and such was the scrength and barbaric splendour of this armament, that t seemed to have been fitted out for nothing less than the assured conquest of England. It was more nu- .nerous than any that had ever been prepared a.ainst nation 1 'h'"^ ". '' ""' '"PP^^^'l ^° embark ~^ in a national and sacred cause, there was neither old man noi slave on board : every combatant was a freeman, and m the prime of life. The ships cai-ried upon their prows images of burnished metal, representing lions' buU^, dragons, fishes, or ai-med men; the top-masts w^re surmounted with the figures of eagles and ravens, that turned with the wind; the sides V each vessel were buSlT^'' T'l '^^'^'^"^ ^"^'"^^^' -^i^« shields of burnished steel, that glittered in the sun, were sns- u^" mo \Tf- '"^ .'^^'' ^^ ^^^P °^ Swe'yn hLl^f uas moulded into the form of an enormous serpent, the head of which foi-med the prow, while the tTil c^ilel Z7 .i' P°"P- ^"^" '-'' E"^-^^"d' "" defended by honest hearts, had hands and wealth sufficient for the TO THE NORMAN CONQUEST. IS emergency ; but traitors commanded in her fleets and armies, and presided over her councils, so that the national resources were in vain.* In A. D. 1003, the expedition lauded ; and ten years after — years of con- tinual defeat, aud suflering, and disgrace to the land — Sweyn was acknowledged as ' Full King' of England. When a Danish dynasty was thus settled on A.D. the throne, and a Danish population araalga- 1013- mated with the native English, a new maritime character was infused into the national spirit, by Canute, a wise and brave prince, which fifty years of freedom from invasion helped to mature. It is inte- resting, however, to observe, from the foregoing sketch, the difficulty with which England was raised to her natural position as a naval power — and how the cha- racter required to he J'orced upon her by a succession of events the most untoward, and conquests the most humiliating. After the Danish succession had been superseded by the restoration of the Saxon line, in 1012, we find that England abounded in good ships and able naval commanders, so that when earl Godwin and his sens revolted from Edward the Confessor, most of the engagements that ensued, in consequence, were by sea. In 1066, when Harold ascended the throne, England was threatened with invasion by William, duke of Normandy, and Harold Hardrocda, king of Norway. Harold, without auy legitimate claim to the crown, had been called to the throne by the united voices of the nobles and people. William, on the contrary, preteuded tliat the crown had been bequeathed to him by the will of Edward the Confessor ; and although his title only rested upon such a pretended disposition, he had resources in the shape of wealth and soldiers to support it. He therefore mustered not only his own Normans to assist in the prosecution of his claim, but allured foreign adventurers to his standard from every country, by the promise of rich possessions in P2ngland. The Normans were originally Danes, who had been more fortunate in France than in England ; but after « In A. D. 1008, F.thelred decreed that every 310 hides of land (about 31,000 acres) should build and equip one ship for the deience of tlie kingdom, and every nine hides provide one man armed with a helmet, and an iron ijrs'astplati-. Had this tax been honestly appropriated, ijOO ships and 3.>,000 drmed men should have beea provided. 14 NAVAL HISTORY. they had acquired a fertile territory, they so completely relinquished their nautical habits, that William wa^ obliged to depend upon his neighbours for ships ami transports. These, however, were so liberally furnished, that a thousand vessels of various sizes were mustered, to convey sixty thousand soldiers to England. Thus the Norman and Norwegian invasions bad been pre- paring at the same period ; and for some time it was questionable whether, on landing in England, William would have to fight for tlie crown against Harold tht son of earl Godwin, or Harold Hardroeda. The English king had stationed a well-appointed fleet off the Isle of Wight, to watch the motions of the opponent he most dreaded, while he encamped in the neighbourhood with a powerful army. These prepara- tions prevented William from venturing to sea during the whole summer, as he knew that it would be certain destruction for his light transports to set sail in the face of such opposition. But at last, the English fleet and army were called off by the arrival of the Norwegians, under the command of Harold Hardroeda* and Tosti, the traitor brother of the English king, who had been deposed from his earldom of Northumberland. The Nor- wegian king and Tosti sailed up the Humber v/ith 360 sail, landed their forces, and marched towards York ; they at first were successful and defeated the English earls, J.Iorcar and Edwin, but on the arrival of Harold with the southern army, the Norwegians were entirely defeated at Standford bridge, and Hardroeda and Tosti were slain Sept. 25. The English fleet having also aiTived,the whole of their ships and the remains of their army were obliged to capitulate. The Norwegians in twenty vessels were allowed to return home to convey the mournful tidings of their discomfiture, and the remainder of their fleet with all their plunder became the spoil of the con- queror — and in this manner terminated the last Norwe- gian invasion of England. Every thing seemed to conspire in favour of the Norman invasion, for W^illiam immediately, on being informed that the English fleet and army had been withdrawn to oppose Hardroeda, set sail and lauded without resistance at Pevensey, in Sussex, September 30, 1066, after which he burnt his own ships and dis- * Or Helfager, according to Hume and others. TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 15 missed those which he had hired, because he well knew that they were unable to contend with the English. The intelliirence of this new invasion was quickly trans- mitted to Harold in the north, from whence he marched with the greatest expedition. The English army, weak- ened as it had been in the severe contest with Hardroeda, juijjht fctill have proved an over-match for the forcea of William, had not Harold, who was flushed with his late success, hastily advanced to meet him, and imprudently resolved to venture all on one decisive battle. The battle of Hastings, October 14, lOtiG, was long and bloody, and terminated in the total defeat of the English army, and in the death of Harold. This victory and his subsequent successes put William in pos- session of the throne, and established a new race as the lords and masters of England. It is, however, deservijii^ of remark, that the three sons of Harold carried off the greater part of the fleet, wViich enabled them to make many attempts against the power of the Normans; but proving always unsuccessful, they re- tired to Denmark, and there died. CHAP. II. An Outline of Naval History from the Norman Con- quest to the death of Queen Elizabeth. During the reigns of the latter Anglo-Saxon kings, the naval defence of the kingdom appears to have been placed upon a respectable footing, as the piratical in- cursions of the Northmen were eS'ectually prerented. We have also seen, that Harold on his accession as- sembled a great fleet, and vigilantly watched the coast of Normandy during the entire summer, and pre- vented the expected invasion from that quarter until his fleet was withdrawn to oppose the united fleets of Hardroeda and Tosti, which had entered the Humber. The fact that the Isorwegian fleet of 360 sail did sur- rejider to the English, and that the duke of Normandy did immediately on his landing either bum or dismiss his ships, is a satisfactory proof that the fleet of Harold must have been more powerful than either the one or the other. Historians have not supplied us with any 16 NAVAL HISTORY. satisfactory account of the fatal uegligence which led to the disembarkatiou of so large a force without tlie slightest opposition ; but it may have arisen in the fol lowing' manner. The great battle of Standford was fought on September 25, and the Norwegian Heet may have surrendered to the English fleet in the Humber a few days after, which would not leave suiScient time for the English ships to return to their former station off the Isle of Wight to prevent the disembarkation at Pevensey, the 30th September. From whatever circum- stances it arose, it was fatal to Hai'old. The accession of William of Normandy to the English throne produced a considerable change in the maritime condition of the country, as the sons of Harold had succeeded in carrying off nearly the whole shipping ; and as the Conqueror had either destroyed or dis- missed his own ships, England was thu.« deprived at once of her naval defence. To add to the insecurity of William's conquest, the Norwegians, the Danes, and the sous of the late king, were severally preparing strong fleets to invade England, and he neither knew the point nor the period at which a landing might be effected. But the singular good fortune that had hitherto attended him was still at hand. The sons of Harold first tried the experiment, after procuring strong reinforcements in Ireland; but they were so severely handled on their landing in 1067, and in the following year, that out of sixty ships only two returned. The next storm, 1059, was from Denmark. Two hundred and forty ships from the land of the sea-kings, being joined by reinforcements from the Anglo Danes of Northumberland and the Scots, entered th3 Humber, burned the city of York, and, but for the severity of the winter, would have continued their march to the capital. They, however, wintered between the Ouse and the Trent. With the return of spring, the Conqueror was upon them ; he defeated the Northumbrians and Scots with terrible slaughter, and purchased the peaceable departure of the Danes. The third and most terrible of all the threatened invasions ?ti!l impended from the united forces of Den- mark, Norway, and Flanders, amounting in all to about a thousand sail, and the case of the Conqueror appeared more hopeless than ever. But his skilful negotiations and persuasive gold found their way among the chiefs of TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 17 this coalition ; and these, combined with several unfore- seen accidents, disjoined and finally dispersed the ar- mament. But these dangers sufficed to convince the Norman of the insecurity of his conquest without a naval force to maintain it, and as commerce only could create the materials of an effective navy, he began to patronise the merchants, and invite foreigners to the English ports with promises of protection and encourage- ment. His son and successor, William Rufus, adopted a plan more consonant still with the spirit of that marauding age. As he was exposed to continual attacks from Normandy, he granted license to his subjects to fit out vessels at their own expense, and cruise airainst the enemy at pleasure ; and this privateering principle was adopted upon so large a scale, that the attempts ol the Normans were frustrated. For some time after the conquest of England, the state of the country was too restless and insecure for the pro- secution of commerce ; and consequently the naval power was greatly defective, whether for defence or annoyance. During the reign of Henry Beauclerk more peaceful years succeeded, and under his just and able administra- tion, the ports of England were filled with ships that traded to foreign countries. But during the usurpation of Stephen, this temporary security vanished ; armed violence assumed the place of peaceful traffic, and the laud was divided between his claims and those of the empress Matilda. It required all the abilities as well as the long reign of Henry II., to remedy the evils of this comparatively short interval ; and the effect of his measures upon the naval strength of England was chiefly conspicuous under the reign of his successor, Richard I. This lion-hearted king devoted his whole euer- A. D. gies to the second Crusade, of which he became 1190- the hero ; and as a large fleet was necessary for the conveyance of his numerous army, the naval power of England was tasked to the uttermost for a display worthy of the occasion. His ships con- sisted of thirteen large vessels, called dromonds, each of which earned three masts; fifty-three galleys, each of three banks of oars, and a hundred and fifty busses or canacks, besides an immense number of small craft. It would appear, also, that vessels had increased greatly in size, compared with the fii-st-rates in use before the 18 NAVAL HISTORY. Normau Conquest, as the largest now carried about four hundred men. This splendid fleet, when it entered the poit of Messina, struck the Sicilians with wonder, and the French king with envy. During the voyage oi Richard from Cyprus to the siege of Acre, an opportu- nity occurred of testing the goodness of his ships, and the hardihood of their crews. A mountainous dromond was descried as they sailed along ; and on being hailed, it displayed French colours. The Christians soon dis- covered, on a nearer inspection, that it vv'as a Saracen ship, carrying seven Emirs and fifteen hundred soldiers, with a large quantity of military stores, for the relief of Acre ; and therefore immediately commenced an attack. ^Notwithstanding the disparity in point of numbers, the event was for some time doubtful. Such was the height of the Saracen's deck, that the English were unable to board it; and Greek tire, a terrible instrument of naval warfare in the middle ages, was showered upon them with such effect, that the stoutest of the assailants quailed. It seemed as if the dromond would have broke through the crowd of enemies, and continued her voyage in triumph, till the desperate Richard exclaimed, ' I will crucify all my soldiers, if this vessel is pei-mitted to escape !' The onset was then renewed with fresh vigour, and the high deck scaled by multitudes, while the Saracens, who fought desperately to the last, finally endeavoured to sink their ship, that the Christians might go down in their company. Before this could be accomplished, several of the crew were taken prisoners, and part of the cargo was saved. This incident had considerable influence upon the subsequent succes.^es of the crusaders ; for bad the stores reached Acre in safety, that city might have defied their utmost efforts. The revival of the naval character of England A. D. under Richard 1. was ably supported and ad- 1199. vauced by John, who, although his political blunders were neither few nor trivial, was a very Alfred so far as the navy was concerned. This consideration might at least somewhat lighten that load of monkish odium under which his name has descended to posterity. In the year 1200, he revived the glorious national claim to the sovereignty of the seas, which for a considerable period had been lost sight of, enacting, with full consent of his barons, that if any ship of other TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 19 nations, even though at peace with England, refused to btrifce to the royal flag, it should be made a lawful prize ; and the crew, if they resisted, were to be pu uished with imprisonment.* The g-reat naval enga^cenient during: his reisrn was that of Damme (1213), in which the French, who had obtained possession of Normandy, and thereby become a maritime power, first tried their strength with Eng- land by sea. On this occasion, live hundred sail were dispatched by John to the relief of the earl of Flanders, and on approaching the port of Damme, they saw it crowded with an immense forest of masts; upon which they sent out some light shallops to reconnoitre, and bring tidings of the enemy's condition. The report was, that the ships had not hands enough to defend them, both soldiers and sailors having gone on shore for plunder. Upon this, the English pressed forward, and captured the large ships without difficulty, while the smaller ones they burnt, after their crews had escaped. After having thus mastered the ships in the outside of the harbour, the English advanced to attack those within it ; and here the full rage of battle commenced. The port was so narrow, that numbers aud skill were unavailing, while the dispersed French, perceiving the tokens of conflict, came running from every quarter to assist their party. The English upon this, after grap- pling with the nearest ships, threw a number of their • Tills ' lordship and sove rei:,'n guard of the narrow seas,' appears to have been conceded to the king« of England from an early period. In virtue of this authority, they exercised a sovereis^n jurisdiction, to ' niake laws, statutes, and prohibitions of arms, and of ships, other- v/ise furnished than merchant-men used to be, and of taking security for g^ooU behaviour in all cases where a reasonable suspicion may arise of an intention to commit acts of pinicy or otiier misdoings.' TliPse ri^lits were also recoirnieed in various treaties with the mari- time powers until a late period. The homage to this autliority was required to be observed in the following manner. ' When any of the ships belonging to the crown of Britain shall meet with any ship, or ships, in the service of any foreign tale, within the English seas, from Cape rinisterre to the middle point of the laud Ktiu Slaten, in Norway, it is expecttd that the said fiireign ship do strike her top-sail, and take in her dag, in ac- knowledgment of the Sovereignty of England, in those >eas; and if she shall refuse or offer lo resist, it is enjoined on all flag officers and commanders to use their utmost endeavours to compel her thereto, and not sutTer any dishonour lo be done to the nation. And it is to be observed, that in the English seas, the English ships are i:i no ways to strike to any ; and tha: in other parts, no English ship is to strike her Hag or topsail to any foreigner, unless such foreign ship shall have first done the same to her ' A refusal of this homage has often been the cause of quarrels and wrirs. 20 NAVAL HISTORY, forces on land ; these arranging themselves on both sides of the harbour, a furious battle commenced on land and water at the same instant. In this desperate melee the English were victorious: three hundred prizes, laden with corn, wine, oil, and other provisions, were sent to England ; a hundred other ships, that could not be carried off, were destroyed; and the French king, during the temporary retreat of the English, perceiving the impossibility of saving the rest of his fleet in the event of a fresh attack, set it on fire, that it might not fall into the enemy's hands. Thus the first great naval victory of the English destroyed the first fleet that had been possessed by France. The next greatvictory which England gained A. D. by sea was off the coast of Dover, during the 1217. minority of Henry 111. On this occasion, Louis the Dauphin, who had been invited into Eng- land by a party of the turbulent barons, to assist in deposing king John, under the promise of obtaining the crown for himself, was now hard pressed, and desirous to make an effort to maintain his ground. He therefore ordered considerable reinforcements to be sent to him —these were embarked in eighty stout ships, besides transports, and set sail from the port of Calais. Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, governor of Dover Castle, with two other commanders, determined to oppose this arma- ment, and having gathered a small force of forty vessels, sailed to meet them at sea. As the English fleet was greatly inferior to that of the enemy, the prudent com- manders availed themselves of stratagems, unusual in those days when hostile navies encountered each other. They gained the weather-gage of the enemy, and then tilted so successfully with the sharp beaks of their vessels against the French transports, that many were sunk with all on board. The English decks were also furnished with pots of unslaked lime, into which when water was thrown, the smoke was carried by the wind into the faces of the French, so that they could neither board, nor take aim with their missiles, while their antagonists plied them with cross-bow bolts and arrows in full security. A complete victory was the result ; and Louis was so disheartened by this failure, that he was glad to renounce all his pretended rights to the crown of England for a safe return to France. TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 21 Durinjj the long: and feeble reig-n of A. i». Henry 111., the ascendancy of England 1210 — 1272« by sea was lost anudst the conteutions between the king and his barons, while the naval power of the French increased, from theii' possession of Noriuaiidy. la fact, even the shipping of the English at this time, so far from benefiting, seemed only to have injured the distracted country, by increas- ing the confusion. The wardens of the Cinque Ports also, who had received permission from John to make prizes of all vessels belong, ing to the enemy, interpreted this permission by the scale of their own selfishness, and in piratical fashion they plundered friend and foe, according to their own good pleasure, while the English barons, the heroes of Magna Charta, countenanced the atrocity, and shared in the spoil. Such were the de- structive eflecta of this misrule, that when the civil disturbances were at length quieted. Prince Edward could muster no more than thirteen small vessels to carry a thousand seamen and soldiers to the Crusade il'HiO) — a woful contrast to the departure of Richard I. ou a similar expedition. When Edward I. ascended the throne of A. D. England, his plans of ambition were so vast, 1272. and his consequent wars so numerous, that he was obliged to attend to his navy ; and by irreat efforts he in some measure succeeded in rescuing it from the degradation into which it had fallen.* Among other methods adopted for this purpose, one was the extension of the privileges of the Cinque Ports, for which they were bound to serve him at notice with fifty-seven ships, for fifteen days, at their own cost. • At this period the title of ' Admiral of the English sea' was for the fir»l liiue couferrt'd on \V. de Lej bourne ; and tlie jurikdiction of the F.ii?lihh seas was committed to tliree or four admirals, who held their otHce at the pleasure of the Crown. Tliey had diii'ereiit stations on the eoa>t assigned to them, and cruist-d ahout as lle^us^ity required. In 1300, Edward IK. created the diijnily ol' Lord Hiijh Admiral of Eiiirland.aiid conferred it upon John de Beanchamfi, Lord Warden of the Cinque Foru ; it was \.vted. in one iiidi\idual from tliat time, with few exceptions, until 1632, when it w.is intrusted to Commis- sioners. In the reiijn of William and Mary, it was vested by statute in seven Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty ; and its duties have continued ever since to lie administered in that manner, except for short jK-riods by I'rince George oi' Denmark, the husband of Queen Anne, and the late William IV. when Duke of Clarence. The Ad- miralty possesses very extensive jurisdiction in all mariiime cases, both civil and criminal. 22 NAVAL HISTORY. These ships were to be furnished with crews amounting to 1187 men, and fifty seven hoys, making a complement of twenty-one men and a boy for each vessel ; and as these hands were evidently for the pui-poses of navi- gation only, the ships could have been nothing more than transports. In the wars conducted by Edward against the Welsh, Scots, French, Normans and Spa- niards, his fleets fought against each enemy successively, and with various fortunes, but the naval engagements of this reign, however numerous, were too unimportant in their results to merit particular mention. We may observe, however, that the naval power of France considerably preponderated over that of England, so that it was enabled to invade the English coast, and burn the towTi of Dover. It would appear also that, in an age of feuds and divisions, the sailors of Edward were not a whit behind his knights and barons in aptitude for mutual quaiTel. Thus in the year 1297, an expedition of great magnitude and importance was landed at Sluys, in aid of the Earl of Flanders, who was in alliance with Edward. But the instant the king disembarked, the sailors of the Cinque Ports, who hated those of Yarmouth and the other coast towns, prepared to fight out their feud, undeterred by the royal presence. The parties accordingly separated ; a furious sea battle commenced ; and such was the desperation with which it was fought, that the Yarmouth party had twenty-five ships destroyed, while the ship containins the king's treasure was ' tolled forth into the high sea, and quite conveyed away' by the victors, under the very eyes of their astonished sovereign. A more important act of Edward than these indecisive expeditions, was his asserting and maintaining the English sovereignty of the seas, in spite of the naval preponderance" of his enemies. He proclaimed this right to have belonged to the country from time immemorial, and the enemy did not deny the claim : they only endeavoured te shew that they had not violated its authority. The wretched administration of Ed- A.D, ward II. had its natural effects upon 1307— 1327. the naval prosperity of the country ; and while his father had been able, in the year 1296, to collect a fleet capable of transporting 00,000 men to Flanders, the unworthy son was obliged TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 23 to purchase galleys from Genoa for the Scottish war. When Edward III. succeeded hira, it was found that most of the smaller craft beloniring to the crown had been shamefully sutJered to fall into decay, so that when he invaded France, he was obliged to hire ships and galleys from the Genoese for the transport of horses (1338). Notwithstanding the victories, however, with which this invasion was distinguished, and the subue- quent disasters of the French, they still maintained their superiority by sea ; so that in a. d. 1339, they were enabled to fit out an expedition against Eniiland, which landed on the south coast, burnt I'ortsmouth, and pro- duced such havoc and dismay, that London itself dreaded a hostile visit. On this account orders were given to fortify tlie city, and the bank.s of the river ; and along the coast only one church-bell was to be rung on religious occasions, except on the approach of the enemy, when the whole peal of every steeple was to be wakened, to rouse the country to arms. Never had the metropolis been so threatened or alarmed, since the days of Sweyn and Canute ! The victory gained atSluys,on the succeeding A. D. year, in some measure tended to wipe away 1340- this national disgrace. The French had fitted out a fleet of four hundred sail ; and such was the force with which it was manned, that the admirals had confidently promised to bring Edward alive or dead to Paris. While this great armada was riding in the harbour of Sluys, the fleet of England, consisting of two hundred and sixty ships, and commanded by the king in person, advanced to the encounter. It was the first time an English sovereigTi had commanded as admiral of the fleet ; and that sovereiirn was the con- queror of Cressy. The admirable dispositions of Edward, on this occasion, were worthy of the success that crowned them. The French ships were so strongly fortified in the harbour, that it would have been impos- sible to break their line : he therefore pretended a hasty retreat, by which the enemy were allured from their strong position; and whun he had thus got them iuto the open sea, he so manoeuvred as to gain the advantaures of sun and wind. So complete was the discomfiture of the French on this occasion, that two hundred and thirty of their ships were taken, while 2i ^iaval history. their loss in men has heen variously estimated from ten to thirty thousand. None of the courtiers of Paris had couragre to tell their sovereign ( Philip VI.) of this calamity, and the office was at length committed to the court fool, who discharged it in his own professional manner. 'What heartless cowards these English are]' he exclaimed, when he thought he had found the opportunity. • Why do you think so V demanded the monarch. ' Because,' replied the motley official, * they had not courage to leap overboard like our French and Normans at Sluj's!' This naval hattle is worthy of attention in several respects. It was one of the last of tliose great engage- ments by sea in which the ancient system prevailed, before gunpowder began to change the whole science of maritime warfai'e; and in the skilful combinations that distinguished its movements, it resembled some master- piece of the Athenians or Carthaginians, rather than the furious and random onset of a sea-fight during the middle ages. It differed, however, in this respect from the naval engagements of antiquity, that the use of the oar for a considerable period had been abandoned, so that the manoeuvres depended upon the skilful navi gation of the English, and their adroit management of the sail, in which they appear, even already, to have materially surpassed their rivals. The cross-bow consti- tuted the chief hand artillery of the French, and the long bow of the English ; and the superiority of the latter weapon over the former, was as effectually shewn at sea, as on land. In addition to these missives, large machines were carried by several ships, from which huge stones, bars of iron, and javelins, were thrown with deadly effect. The French ships were drawn up in three squadrons, and the English, on account of their inferior numbers, in two, of which the front rank was the strongest ; and each third vessel was occupied by men-at-arms, to work the military engines. Naval architecture had been improving with the progress of other arts, so that, although fleets no longer swelled to the pompous number of thousands, as in earlier periods, the vessels now in use were much larger and 6ti'onger, as well as better fitted both for war and navigation. As far as we can learn from the figures on the coins which Edward III. struck in honour of this TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 25 event, we find that the vessels of the period were con- siderably elevated at prow and stern, and depressed in the midships, so that they curved into a halt-moou ; the masts did not exceed two in number; and as sailing in the same -directiqu with various winds, was a refine- ment of which the fourteenth century was ignorant, the sails and rigging were of the simplest description. When the use of gunpowder became general, the form of the vessel was necessarily altered, to be better fitted for artillery. During the reign of Richard II., the A. D. usual eflects of an imbecile adminis- 1377—1399. tration befel the navy, so that even the pomp of his coronation was disturbed by the tidings of a destructive invasion. The French and Spanish fleets, in 1377, made a descent on the coast of Sussex, and burned the town of Kye, after which they landed in the Isle of Wight, and laid it under contribution. Tliey then burned Dartmouth and Ply- mouth ; and proceeding towards Dover, they burned the town of Hastings. The cause of so successful an attack. by the enemy, was explained in a speech by the speaker of the House of Commons, a few weeks afterwards: •One town in former days,' he said, ' possessed more pood ships than the whole nation had now.' Such in- deed was the supineness of the nobles under these national insults, that one Mercer, a Scotchman, having gathered together a small fleet, came to Scarborough, and made prize of every ship he found, while there was none to oppose him. At length help arrived ; but it was neither from belted Earl, nor yet warlike Admiral. Master John Philpot, a worshipful Alderman and a rich, feeling wroth at the indignity and loss, mustered a fleet at his own proper charges, with which he defeated and captured the plunderers ; but for this doughty deed he had like to have been punished, on account of its legal informality. In 1380, a fleet of French and Spanish ships having burned Portsmouth, Hastings, Winchelsea, and Rye, boldly entered the Thames, and came up to Gravesend, the greater part of which town they burned, and then departed without molestation. These attempts, however, were like the light skirmishes that precede a general engagement. The French having in these cases discovered the feebleness of England, resolved 26 NAVAL HISTORY. upon one grand effort of invasion beyond all they had hitherto projected ; and such were their preparations on this occasion, that in the month of September (a. d. 1386.) 12S7 ships v.^ere assembled at Sluys, to carry C0,000 men to invade England, and only waited the signal to weigh anchor. So great was the utter helplessness of the English to oppose even a tithe of such an armament, such was the spirit of division and irresolution among their leaders, that had the landing been made, the future triumph at Agincourt would in all probability have never happened. But the evil consequences of the measure recoiled upon the French themselves. After the whole substance of the land had been exhausted in such vast preparations, so many delays ensued, that the season of action elapsed; and when the attempt was finally made in very shame and desperation, the storms of winter scat- tered the enemy's ships, or diove them back to the port. Thus, an instrument that might have been wielded for victory and conquest, was nothing but a burden in the feeble hands that called it forth, and it fell idly to the ground without a blow. A long period now occurs in the history of England, in which the existence of a fleet can scarcely, if at all, be recognised ; in consequence of which, stupendous political changes take place with a rapidity that reminds us rather of the shadows of a dream, than solid, na- tional realities. In the end of the month of May, 1399, Richard sailed on an expedition to Ireland, with a splendid rather than a strong fleet, and which character- istically enough was manned chiefly by gay courtiers and flatterers ; and on the twentieth of the succeeding month, his deadly enemy Bolingbroke landed unopposed at Ravenspurg, with only fifteen knights and men-at- arms, and a few attendants ; and by this bold deed established a new dynasty on the throne of England. During the reign of Henry IV., able A. n. though he was, yet he could not regain 1E99— 1413- such a command of the sea as to protect the coasts from insult. Happily, how- ever, for England, the French navy seems to have been in an equally helpless condition ; for instead of seizing the favourable opportunities that frequently occurred of boldly inva'.iing their rivals with an eifective force, they contented themselves with a few paltry expeditions. TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 27 that resembled the doinjis of pirates, and which were retaliated in a similar spirit. After this, the frightful divisions of France left that country no leisure or power for distant enterprises ; and Henry IV. was sufficiently occupied in England, in confirming his usurped power. Thus the channel, which so long had been the scene of conflict between the two hostile nations, remained for a period undisturbed, except by its own storms, until Henry V. embarked to the conquest of France in 1414 : and even when this momentous enterprise was executed, England could not furnish ships for the transportation of his army. About a thousand small vessels, therefore, were liired from Ireland, Holland, and Friesland, in which his soldiers embarked ; and although tlie attempt might have easily been met mid-way, yet not a single vessel of the enemy interrupted his course. After Henry's return to England, they made indeed an effort, in the following year, to retrieve their naval honour, by hiring a fleet from the Burgundians and Genoese, with which they not only blockaded the English conquest of Hartieur, but made a descent on Southampton and the Isle of Wight, after which they returned to the blockade of Harfleur. But here they were encountered by the English fleet under the duke of Bedford, and defeated, with the loss of five hundred sail. In 1417, the English, under the command of the earl of Huntingdon, again defeated the united fleets of France and Genoa, and captured, not only tlieir admiral, and four large Genoese ships, but also the welcome booty of a quarter's pay of the navy, that happened to be on board. Thus the Chan- nel was cleared for the transport of the army, by which the conquest of France was to be accomplished; and after this Henry dismissed his ships, as there was no longer a French naval force to interrupt his commu- nication with England. Those divisions in France, by which the land was all but undone, were now to be acted in England ; and the strange landing of Henry IV. at llavenspurg, and the results that followed, were now to be repeated alter - nately by the heads of the houses of York and Lancaster. To understand the strange events that took place at this time, we must remember that the conquest of France, by making an English navy unnecessary, had left the coasts defenceless, so that the couuti-y might be suo- 28 NAVAL HISTORY. cessfully invaded by a single bark that carried a popular partisan. In 1451, the Duke of York being displeased with the state of affairs in England, came over from Ireland in hostile fashion to rectify them ; but although his coming was dreaded by the court, they had no means to prevent it. He landed unopposed, and the best blood of England flowed in consequence upon many a well-fought field. The great earl of Warwick, who was governor of Calais, during a brief residence in this place, when his party was depressed, gathered ships, took possession of the English channel, and plundered every Lancastrian vessel that fell in his way. Margaret, the heroic queen of Henry VI., having received in France a small armament of two thousand men, was enabled to land in Northumberland, and renew the war. Tlie scene shifted ; and Warwick, who had changed sides, and fled the kingdom, returned with a small force from France, and in an instant over- turned the power of Edward IV., and led Henry VI. from his prison to the throne. Again the scene shifted — and Edward, who had fled by sea in such an unpro- vided state that he had to part with his gown in lieu of passage-money, returned about five months after with some seventeen Easterling vessels, and regained his crown as rapidly as he had lost it. The very day on which the battle of Barnet was fought, and Warwick killed, Margaret landed at Plymouth with a body of French auxiliaries. Such was the defencelessness of the English coast during the wars of York and Lan- caster ! The winding-up of this singular tragedy was in perfect character with the events we have enume- rated. On the 7th August, 1485, the earl of Richmond landed unopposed at Milford Haven with a small force, defeated Richard III., and after being proclaimed king, ended the contentions of the rival houses by his marriage with the princess Elizabeth. Such for nearly a hundred ^ears was the inglorious and degraded history of the English navy. We already had occasion to consider the diflSculty with which England was raised into mai'itime power during the Saxon dynasty ; and the case was not altered for the better by the Norman accession. That change introduced the reign of chivalry, which was decidedly unfavourable to naval enterprise. Good fleets could TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 29 only be raised from a well-supported national commerce; and so conscious were the wisest Saxon kings of this truth, that a merchant, wlio had made three voyag'es on his own account, was invested with tlie honours of Thaneship. BiK the proud Norman nobility disdained the tliouirht of such a brotherhood, and looked down upon traUic with mag-nificent contempt. Besides this feeling-, so detrimental to the cultivation of nautical superiority, the cliivalrous education of the middle asres was wholly for the land service. A knigrht who had been trained to deeds of arms, by careering^ in jousts and tourna- ments, could do his devoir most valiantly in a pitched field ; but he loathed the thought of exchanging his cay pavilion for a ship's crib, and his grood war-horse for an unstable plank. At sea, also, he was humbled by a sense of his own helplessness, when he found that his efforts depended upon evolutions of which he was wholly ignorant. He was ready to dare the uttermost in the shock of regular battle, and amidst the shivering of spears ; bat in the confusion of the tempest he found his courage laughed to scorn by the resistless elements, while to be drowned was considered as the most ignoble of all deaths. The feudal tenures, also, into which the lands of England were parcelled o\it, had reference to military service on shore, rather than at sea ; and the holdere of these, therefore, had as little interest as inclination to study naval tactics. While thus the whole land was held in fee, an attempt was made, at a very early period, to create tenures for the maintenance of a naval establishment out of the mercantile resources of the country ; and certain coast towns, as well as inland corporations, were endowed with extraordinary privileges, on condition of furnishing a certain number of ships and men at the royal summons. Such espe- cially was the case of the Cinque Ports — Hastings, Roraney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich. It will thus be easily perceived what a miscellaneous assemblage an English fleet had been hitherto, even at the best. Independently of the contingents fuinished by the chartered ports and other towns, there were ves- sels hired and furnished by wealthy nobles or merchants, ships impressed for the royal service upon the plea of necessity, and others purchased or hired from conti- nental powers. Every vessel indeed was put in requisi- 30 NAVAL HISTORY. tion, from a tall ship to an undecked boat. Still, a fleet of such incongruous materials was sufficient for the ser- vice in which it was eiig-aged : this was to transport an invading' army merely, and not for the purposes of a naval encounter. A battle by sea, indeed, was an un- desirable adventure ; and it only happened when such an event was unavoidable, from the accidental meeting of hostile navies. In this case, neither party thought of scientific evolutions : they were eager to join at once, and lock deck to deck, when the aftair could be settled on the principles of a land encounter. During the reign of Henry VII., the A. D. English navy was placed upon a more 1485—1509- regular and respectable footing. The sagacious policy, as well as the avarice of this sovereign, encouraged commerce as the source of national power; and it was at this period that the principle of a royal navy may be said to have originated, in vessels being set apart exclusively for the use of the sovereign, instead of the naval mili- tia that hitherto had constituted an English fleet. Henry also built ships upon a larger scale than those generally used ; and as they were let out to hire to the wealthy merchants, this practice increased the na- tional wealth, as well as the royal revenue. The com- mercial spirit too which was now superseding the chivalrous, throughout Europe, improved the construc- tion and navigation of ships ; but above all, the sudden burst of new life that animated the spirit of maritime enterprise, by the discoveries of Vasco de Gama and Columbus, roused the English to a similar spirit of adventure, which was manifested in the sub- sequent reigns. The project of the discovery of Ame- rica was at one period fraught with awful importance to England. The illustrious Columbus, when he was obliged to hawk his magnificent scheme through the courts of Europe, and ofiTer the boon of a new world for the loan of a few barks, took courage from the far-famed sagacity of Henry to send his brother Bartholomew to the Eng- lish court, with the proposals which had so often been rejected elsewhere. But the journey of the messenger ivas so disastrous, that his anival in London was too tate. Columbus, during the interval, had set sail from Spain, and discovered the reality of his pi-ophetic hopes. TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 31 England was thus saved from that national guilt of conquest by which Spain has suffered such fearful re- tribution ; and English industry, and enterprise, and moral worth, which miirht all have sickened and ex- pired in the mines of Peru and Mexico, were secured for a happier destiny, as well as a uobler aud more lastinsj career. When Henry VIII. succeeded to the throne, A. D. the sea was considered as the native element 1509. of the English ; aud the French, who had been previously employed in increasing their navy, encountered the fleet of the former off Brest iu a. d. 1512. The fight was long and desperate; the two admirals' ships grappled, and caught fire, when both blew up, the French vessel with nine hundred, aud the English with seven hundred men ; and victory inclined at last to the French, but with the loss of Primauget, their brave commander. This success, however, so exhausted the resources of the conquerors, that they were obliged to hire assistance from Rhodes, Genoa, and other naval allies, before they could sustain another effort ; and even then they were obliged to act on the defensive. In 1513, Sir Edward Howard, the lord admiral of Eng- land, blockaded them effectually within the harbour of Brest; and then— like Joab— he wrote to his royal master, inviting him to come in person, that he might reap the whole glory of their destruction. But instead of Henry, there aiTived a sharp letter from the council, blaming the admiral for his presumption, aud command- ing him to do his duty. It was a maxim of Howard, that a naval commander was good for nothing unless he was brave to a degree of madness; and being stung, moreover, by this angry message, he made a dash into the harbour, in the hopes of carrying the enemy by boarding. He lashed his ship to that of the French admiral, and leaped upon the deck, sword in hand, followed only by seventeen men ; upon seeing which the enemy cast the grapplings loose, and cut in pieces or threw overboard this handful of Englishmen, before the fleet could come to their rescue. The last act of the gallant Howard, before he fell, was to take the gold chain and whistle of office from his neck, and throw them into the sea, vowing that such trophies should never belong to an enemy. The English, disheartened 32 NAVAL HISTORY. by the los3 of their leader, retired ; and the Freuch were emboldened to veuture out, aud make some de- scents on the coast of Sussex; but they were soon put to flight on the appearance of the English fleet, which resumed possession of the Channel. The naval wars of Henry Vlll. were of so desultory a character as to require no farther notice : they were carried on against the French and Scotch ; and such was the superior power of England by sea, that the enemy were glad to avoid so unequal a contest. Among other attributes of this sovereign, he possessed the full merit or demerit of having originated the modern pri- vateering system, by granting full license to his subjects to fit out vessels against the enemy, aud make prizes on their own behaU".* This important proclamation, which was made in 1554, became an established Jaw in maritime warfare; and its tremendous effects were largely illus- trated in the deeds of those naval commanders who distinguished the reign of Elizabeth. Henry VIII., in spite of his manifold vices, was still a king worthy of England ; he was the great champion of its sovereignty at sea, and to his improvements of the navy may be traced, aud not very indirectly, the de- struction of the Spanish Aj-mada. His father had formed little more than the nucleus of a royal fleet; this the son expanded into a gi'cat national defence worthy of the country it guarded; and to accomplish this grand result, he availed himself of that maritime impulse which was enabling the commercial states to rise to wealth and power. He therefore invited skilful naval architects from foreign countries, and especially from Italy, and rewarded their labours with royal munificence, so that ships upon the best construction were launched in the English ports ; he formed a navy oflice to superintend the interests of his mariners, and he established arsenals at Porrsmouth, Woolwich, and Deptford. In this busy age of ship-building, which was so pre- paratory to the most important epocli of English histojy an idea of a first-rate may be formed from the king's largest ship, called the Henry Grace a Dieu. It was of a thousand tons burden; its complement of men was 349 soldiers, 301 sailors, and 50 gunners; and it was * We have seen that the same or a similar plan had prevailed durii.? ihe r«ign of VVillidm Ruhis. TO THE DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 33 armed with nineteen brass pieces of onlnance, and lOH of iron. This ship, as well as others of the period, pig- sents lis with a startlint;- amount of artillery ; but th wonder ceases, when we remember the great dlvei'sity of calibre in the cannon then in use. Thus we find a sinsrle vessel mounted with demi-cannon, or thirty-two pouiidei-s, cannon-petronels or twenty-four pounders, sakers or five pounders, minions or four pounders, fal- cons or two pounders ; and lower still there were fal- conets, serpentines, rabinets, and several other pieces of ordnance with equally singular names, the largest of which carried a ball of only a pound and a-half weijjht. The deck, from the use of cannon and the invention of port-holes, had become more level in the midships, while the elevation at the prow and stern was still continued; and therefore the war-ships of the sixteenth century had considerable resemblance to the Chinese vessels of the present day. The largest ships had five masts, which were still very scantily and simply furnished with sails, but very plentifully accommodated with flags, streamers, and other ornaments ; and in naval as in land warfare, the ancient and the modern weapons were still so oddly mingled together, that the cannon, and the leaden weight suspended from the yard-arm, were employed indifferently to sink a ship ; the mus- keteer and the archer fought side by side; and the boarders performed their desperate duty armed in helmets, cuirasses, and other iron paraphernalia of the chival- rous ages. As this reign bad presented few op- A. IJ. portunities of testing the naval strength 1347— 1€03- of England, there were fewer still under Edward "VI. and Mary. The all-absorb- ing subject of religious reformation predominated at this period, with an intensity unfelt even in modern politics, and this, combined with the absence of immediate dan- ger, may have caused the state of the royal navy to be overlooked ; at all events, we know that from the end of the reign of Heniy VIII. to the accession of Elizabeth, it had greatly decreased. In consequence of this defect, the earliest enterprises of the energetic queen were ma- terially incommoded, so that she found great difficulty in sending a small fleet to the assistance of the Scotch re- formers, in 1560, although it was a measure in which U NAVAL HISTORY. her feelings and interest coincided. Even twenty years after her accession, the largest ship of her fleet wa only 1000 tons burden, while the smallest was scarcely sixty. But such a sovereign, and the stirring influence of such a period, would have sufficed for the creation of ileets, even though a single bark had not existed in England. The immense increase of national resources, from the extension of commerce, and the improvement of art and science, sufficed for the production of ships ; the spirit of the age supplied dauntless hearts to man them ; her sagacious eye discovered and selected fit commanders — and it is difficult to decide whether the greatest glory of her reign consisted in her choice of those able statesmen who promoted the prosperity of England, or those great naval heroes who protected it. The important mari- time events of her reign are best seen in the history of her admirals ; and first of these, in office if not in talent, must be placed the hero who led the fleet to the destruction of the Invincible Armada — the illustrioui Howard of Effingham. 35 CHARLES HOWARD, SECOND BARON HOWARD OF EFFINGHA5I, FIRST EAUL OF NOTTINGHAM, AND LORD HIGH ADMIRAL. 153G-1624. This eminent naval comnjander was the eldest son of William lord Howard, of EHinj^baiii, and grandson of Thomas, second duke of Norfolk, by Margaret, the daughter of Sir Thomas Gamage, of Coity, in Glamor- ganshire, and born in 153h fleet out-numbered it bv about sixty, but in tonnasfe it only amounted toone-half. In the Aniiada there were only three ships Uiat exceeded in size the Triumph, but there were no fewer than forty- five between 600 and lOOO tons burden. 38 NAVAL HISTORY. iquadrons: the principal squadron, under Howard, Drake, and Hawkins, was stationed at Plymouth ; and the smaller squadron, of twenty-three coasters, under the command of lord Henry Seymour, together with the Dutch fleet of about thirty-five sail, under count Justin, of Nassau, cruised on the coast of Flanders to prevent the prince of Parma from attempting to transport the army which was kept in readiness to make a descent upon England. Various statements have been given as to the amount of the land defence which was collected by Elizabeth, but every account is agreed thatshe succeeded in rousing the national spirit throughout the whole kingdom. The lords-lieutenants of counties were required to muster the militia in each county, and to furnish a return of the number of men which they could raise. From these returns it appears there were about 130,000 men enrolled for the defence of the kingdom, exclusive of the 10,000 men which were maintained by the city of London. In addition to these preparations, the queen had three armies ; the first consisted of about 20,000 men, cantoned along the south coast ; another, of 22,000 foot and 2,000 horse, which was encamped at Tilbui-y, under the com- mand of the earl of Leicester, and intended for the defence of London; and the third, amounting to 30 or 40,000 chosen men, especially intended for the defence of the queen's person, and to march wherever the enemy might appear, was commanded by lord Hunsdon, a brave, active, and resolute nobleman, her own kinsman. Whilst every human means was provided by the queen and her ministers, she did not neglect to implore that aid without which all human efforts wonld have been unavailing. A foiTu of prayer, ' necessary for the present time and state,' was set forth and enjoined to be used on Wednesdays and Fridays every week in all parish churches. In this faith, with these preparations, and with a national spirit thus roused, the queen and the English people awaited the coming of the enemy. When the preparations of Philip were completed, he was so confident of success, that instead of concealing the strength of the expedition, he caused a very accurate account of it to be published in Latin, and various other languages, except English. According to this account, the ' happy armada,' as it was termed, consisted of one HOWARD. 39 bundred and thirty vessels, of four kinds; first, the ordi- nary ships of war, formed after the chiule or keel of the ancient northern nations ; second, the galley, which employed oars, and carried cannon on the prow and the stern ; third, the galeasse, one-third larger and broader than the gralley ; fourth, the galleon, being the ordinary ships of war extended in length, with cannon on each flank, and powerful batteries on the prow and stern. The tonnage amounted to srjStiO, and there were 2630 pieces of cannon ; the united crews amounted to 876C ; and on board were 21,855 soldiers, besides 2088 galley slaves. In addition to the above, the prince of Pamia had pre- pared in the ISetherlands a flotilla of flat-bottomed boats, fitted to convey across the Channel an army of 30,000 men ; and at the same time the duke of Guise was ad- vancing to the coast of Normandy at the head of 12,000 veterans whom he meant to land on the western coast of England. This great force, destined for the conquest of England, and for the destruction of the Protestant religion, might have shaken the courage of a sovereign less firm than that of Elizabeth, but her constancy and resolution were never seen to waver for a moment. The pope of Rome sent to Philip a consecrated ban- ner, together with his special benediction in favour of the enterprise, and at the same time named it ' The Invincible Armada.' It was intended to have left Lis- bon in the beginning of May, 1588, but the marquess de Santa Cruz, who had been appointed admiral, at the moment fixed for the departure was seized of a fever, of which he died in a few days; and by a singular fatality, the duke de Paliano, the vice-adroiral, died likewise at the same time. Santa Cruz was reckoned the first naval officer in Spain, and Philip found it extremely diflicult to supply his place ; he at last filled it with the duke de Medina Sidonia, a nobleman of high reputation, but en- tirely unacquainted with maritime alTairs. Martinez de Recaldo, however, a seaman of great experience, was made vice-admiral. In these arrangements so much time was lost, that the fleet could not leave Lisbon till the 2yth of Alay, when the cardinal Albert, of Austria, then viceroy of Portugal, gave it liis blessing, and it set sail with all the confi- dence that could be derived from military and naval 40 NAVAL HISTORY. strength, and an entire belief that all the saints in the Komau litiirg'y would befriend it. When the fleet ap- proached Cape Finisten-e, they were overtaken by a vio- lent storm, which dismastedsome of theirships, dispersed others, occasioned the loss of four Portug'uese galleys, and obliged them to put back to refit in the port of Co- ruuua. The English fleet, of about one hundred sail, under lord Howard and Sir Thomas Drake, had sailed frim Plymouth, on the 30th ?.Iay, to meet the Spanish fleet, ' endured a great storm for seven days,' and returned to Plymouth, June 6th. The Spanish fleet was refitted with the greatest expedition, the king sending messen- gers every day to hasten their departure ; yet it was not until the l'2th of July that they were in a condition to resume the voyage. In the mean time a report was brought to England that the Armada had suffered so much by the storm as to be unfit for proceeding in the intended enterprise ; and so well attested did the intelligence appear, that, at the queen's desire, secretary Walsingham wrote to the Eng- lish admiral, requiring him to lay up four of his largest ships and to discharge the seamen. Lord Howard was happily less credulous on this occasion than either Eliza- beth or Walsingham, and desired that he might be allowed to retain these ships in the service, even though it should be at his own expense, till more certain infor- mation was received. In order to procure it, he set sail with a brisk north wind for Corunna, intending, in case he should find the Armada so much disabled as had been reported, to complete its destruction. On the coast of Spain he received correct intelligence : at the same time, the wind having changed from north to south, he began to dread that the Spaniards might have sailed for England, and therefore returned without delay to his former station at Plymouth. Soon after his arrival lord Howai'd was informed by one captain Thomas Fleming, a pirate, who hastened to Plymouth with the intelligence, that the Armada was in sight. He immediately weighed anchor, and sailed out of the harbour, with only six ships ; some fourand- twenty came out on the moiTOw, and with these, though they were some of the smallest of the fleet, he stood out to meet the ene.nay, resolving to impede their progress at all hazards. On the next day, July 20, he perceived HOWARD. 41 thera steering directly towards bim, drawn up in the form of a crescent, which extended seven miles from one extremity to the other. Plymouth was at first sup- posed to be the place of destination ; but it was soon apparent that the duke de Medina adhered to the plan which had been laid dovrn for him by the court of Madrid. This was, to steer quite through the Channel till he should reach the coast of Flanders, and, after obliging the English and Dutch ships to raise the block- ade of the harbours of Nieuport and Dunkirk, to escort the prince of Parma's army to England, as well as land the forces which were onboard his own fleet. Lord Howard, instead of coming to close and unequal fight, allowed them to pass him, so as to gain the advantage of the wind, and that lie might engage them in the rear with a greater prospect of success. He commenced the attack on the morning of the '2lst, did considerable damage to the enemy, and obliged them to concentrate their fleet. Lord Howard issued orders to avoid a clo.se en- gagement only to annoy them at a distance — and to await the opportunity which winds, tides, and accidents, would afford. It was not long before he observed a favourable opportunity of attacking the vice admiral Recaldo. This lord Howard did in person, and on that occasion displayed so much dexterity in working his ship, and in loading and firing his guns, as greatly alarmed the Spaniards for the fate of their vice-admiral. Fi*om that time they kept closer to each other ; notwith- stauding which, the English on the same day attacked one of the largest galeasses. Other Spanish ships came up in time to her relief, but in their hurry one of the principal galleons, which had a great part of the trea- sure on board, ran foul of another ship, and lost one of her masts. In consequence of tliis misfortune she fell behind, and was taken by Sir Francis Drake, as well as another capital ship, which had been accidentally set on fire. The prize was sent to Plymouth, and the treasure, about 5.5,000 ducats in gold, was divided among the cap- tors. On the 24th the Spaniards were off Portsmouth, when several other rencontres happened, and in all of them the English proved victorious. Their ships were lighter, and their sailors more dexterous, than those of the Spaniards. The Spanish guns were planted too high, while every shot from the English proved effectual. 42 NAVAL HISTORY. The Spaniards, however, still continued to advance till they came opposite to Calais, July 27, where the duke de Medina, having ordered them to cast anchor, sent infor- mation to the prince of Parma of his an-ival, and en- treated him to hasten the embarkation of his forces. But the prince, though he embarked a few of his troops, informed Medina that the vessels which he had pre- pared were proper only for transporting the troops, but were utterly unfit for fighting; and for this reason, till the Armada was brought neai-er, and the coast cleared of the Dutch ships which had blocked up the harbours of Nieuport and Dunkirk, he could not stir from his then station (at Bruges) without exposing his army to certain ruin. In compliance with this request, the Ar- mada was ordered to advance ; and it had arrived within sight of Dunkirk, between the English fleet on one hand and the Dutch on the other,* when a sudden calm put a stop to its motions. By this time lord Seymour and Sir William Winter had joined the lord-admiral with the second division of the fleet which had been stationed off Dunkirk, and the united fleet now amounted to one hundred and forty ships of war. On the 28th, when the two fleets were at anchor, loi'd Howard perceived that the duke of Medina had so stationed his larger ships as to render it difficult to thro»v them into confusion; he therefore selected eight of his worst and smallest vessels, and filled them with pitch, sulphur, and other combustible materials, and set fire to them, and sent them before the wind against the different divisions of the Spanish fleet. The Spaniards beheld these ships in flames approaching them, with great dismay : the darkness of the night increased their terror, and the panic flew entirely through the fleet. The crews of the difl^'erent vessels, anxious only for their own preservation, thought of nothing but how to escape from immediate danger. Some weighed their anchors, whilst others cut their cables, and suff"ered their ships to drive before the wind. In this confusion many of the ships ran foul of one another, and several of them re- ceived such damage as to be rendered unfit for future service. * The Dutch had by this time assembled a fleet of about thirty ships under Rosendael ; and about thirty-five ships of from about 80 to 2.5C tons under admiral count Justin of Nassau, and vice-admiral Does^ with 1,200 picked soldiers on board. HOWARD 43 When daylight returned, lord Howard had the satis- faction to perceive that his stratagem had produced the desired effect. The enemy were still in extreme dis- order, and their ships widely separated and dispersed. His fleet having received a great augmentation by the ships fitted out by the nobility and gentry, as well as by those of lord Seymour, who had left Justin de Nassau as alone suflicient to guard the coast of Flanders, and being bravely seconded by Sir Francis Drake and all the other officers, he hastened to improve the advantage which was now presented to him, and attacked the enemy in different quarters at the same time with the utmost im- petuosity. The engagement began at four in the morn- ing of July 30, and lasted till six at night. The Spaniards in every rencontre displayed the most intrepid bravery; but, from the causes already mentioned, did little execution against the English, while many of their ships were greatly damaged, and ten of the largest were either run aground, sunk, or compelled to surrender. The principal galeass, commanded by Moncada, having on board Manriquez, the inspector-general, with 300 galley-slaves, and 400 soldiers, was driven ashore near Calais. Fifty thousand ducats were found on board of her. One of the capital ships, having been long battered by an English captain of the name of Cross, was sunk during the engagement. A few only of the crew were saved, who related that one of the officers on board hav- ing proposed to suiTender, he was killed by another who was enraged at his proposal ; that this other was killed by the brother of the first, and that it was in the midst of this bloody scene that the ship went to the bottom. The fate of two other of the galleons is particularly mentioned by contemporary historians, the St. Philip and St. Matthew : after an obstinate engagement with the English admi- ral's ship, they were obliged to run ashore on the coast of Flanders, where they were taken by the Dutch. The duke de Medina now not only despaired of suc- cess, but saw clearly that by a continuance of the com- bat he should risk the entire desti-uction of his fleet. The bulk of his vessels rendered them unfit not only for fighting, but for navigation in the narrow seas. He therefore determined to abandon the farther prosecution of his enterprise ; yet even to get back to Spain was difficult: he lesolred, therefore, to sail northwards, and 41 NAVAL HISTORY. return by making the circuit of the British isles. Lord SejTDOur was detached to follow in his rear, but from the want of ammunition was deteiTed from renewing an attack which, in all probability, would have led to the duke de Medina's surrender. A dreadful storm aroi^e, after the Spaniards had rounded the Orkneys, and the whole fleet was dispersed. Horses, mules, and baggage, were thrown overboard to lighten a few of the vessels. Some of the ships were dashed to pieces on the rocks of Norway ; some .sunk iu the middle of the North Sea; others were thrown upon the coasts of Scotland and the Western Isles — the wreck of one being still visible, it is said, at Tobermoray, in the Isle of Mull; and more than thirty were driven by another storm, which overtook them from the west, on difTerent parts of the coast of Ireland. Port na Spagna, on the coast of Antrim, near the Giants' Causeway, obtained its name from this circumstance. Of these, some afterwards reached home in the most shattered condition, under the vice-admiral Recaldo ; others were shipwrecked among the rocks and shallows, and many of the crews were barbarously murdered. The duke de Medina having kept out in the open seas, escaped shipwreck; and according to the official ac- counts, arrived at Santander in the Bay of Biscay about the end of September, * with noe more than sixty sayle cute of his whole fleete,and those verye much shattered.' Str5-pe, in his ' Annals," i-eckons the Spanish loss upon the coast of England to have amounted to tifteen ships and above 10,000 men, besides seventeen ships and 5,394 men sunk, drowned, and taken upon the coast of Ireland. Such, in the space of a single month, was the fate of the Invincible Armada, which the Spaniards had fondly hoped the English fleers would never venture to oppose. It is recorded of the king of Spain, that, when he heard of the extent of the calamity, ' he received it as a dispensation of Providence, and gave, and commanded to be given throughout Spain, thanks to God and the saints that it was no greater.' England having thus been delivered from the threat- ened danger, Elizabeth ordered a solemn tlianksgivin;- to be celebrated at St. Paul's, where eleven of the Spanish ensigns we}-e hung upon the lower battlements — many of the trophies were also deposited in the Tower HOWARD. 45 where they are still to be seen — and the whole country resounded with rejoicing. Lord Howard was rewarded with a pension for his dis- tinguished services, and the queen on many occasions commended him and his captains, as men born for the preservation of their country. The queen, also, at the request of the admiral, granted a pardon and a pension to Fleming, the pirate, for having brought the first intel- ligence of the approach of the Spanish fleet. In 159G, a report was circulated, tliat the king of Spain had again entered into formidable preparations for the invasion of England. It was, therefore, detei"mined to send out a fleet of one hundred and fifty sail, and an army, to destroy the Spanish fleet in the port of Cadiz, as had been done before ; and the connnand was jointly couferred upon lord Howard and the earl of Essex. This fleet was also joined by a Dutch squadron of twenty-four sail, under the command of admiral Van Duvenvoord. On the first of June, 159G, the united fleet sailed from Plymouth, and on the 12th arrived at Cadiz ; ou the following morning they entered the hai'bour, and commenced the attack upon the Spanish ships, which was carried on with great finy on both sides until noon, when the enemy's ships were much shattered, and rather than surrender to the English, they came to the desperate resolution of setting fire to the greater part of them, which was done with so much precipitation, that numbers of the men were obliged to plunge into the sea, and would have perished had not the English listened to their cries for quarter, and rescued them from certain destruction. In the time of this general conflagration, the Spanish admiral's ship and several others were blown up with all their crews on board. The few remaining vessels, which were not either sunk or burned, were run on shore. This daring and successful enteiiirise was followed up by the capture of Cadiz by 800 men under the command of the earl of Essex, and 020,000 ducats were accepted as a ransom for the lives of the Spaniards, when a pro clamation was issued to restrain the perpetration of any violence against them. Lord Howard then dispatched Sir Walter Raleigh with several of the light frigates, to Puerto Reale,for the purpose of destroying the merchant- men which had retreated thither. To preserve these the 46 NAVAL HISTORY. Spaniards offered a composition of 2,500,000 ducats ; but this offer was refused by lord Howard, who answered that * he came to burn, ahd not to ransom.' Alarmed at the determination of the enemy, and perceiving that the fleet must be taken, the duke de Medina Sidonia, gave orders for it to be burned, the remains of which together with 20,000,000 ducats were buried in the ocean. On the return of the fleet from this most fortunate expe- dition, the queen was overpowered with gratitude for the signal success which had attended her arais, and she soon after advanced lord Howard to the title of earl of Nottingham, which had formerly been enjoyed by the house of Mowbray, from which he was descended. The next great service in which the earl was employ- ed was in 1599, when the kingdom was again menaced with invasion from abroad, and by the rash and treason- able designs of Essex. The queen, in this emergency, appointed him to the sole and supreme command of all her forces by sea and landj with the high and very unusual title of lord lieutenant-general of all England, an office which he held with almost regal authority for the space of six weeks, being sometimes with the fleet, and sometimes on shore with the forces. It was to him that the earl of Essex, after his insane insurrection, yielded himself a prisoner; and it was to him that the queen upon her death made that wise and constitutional declaration concerning her successor, — ' My throne has been held by princes in the way of succession, and ought not to go to any but my next and immediate heir." On the accession of James I. 1603, he was continued in his post of lord high admiral, and ofiiciated at the coronation of that monarch as lord high steward. He was, in 1604, appointed ambassador to Spain, whither he went with a splendid retinue, wherein were six peers and fifty knights, and was treated with exti-aordinary respect by Philip III., who at his departure loaded bira with presents to the value of £20,000. In 1613, he had the honour to convey the elector Pa- latine and his bride the princess Elizabeth, with the royal navy, to Flushing; which was the last public service he performed for his country-. Having become old and infirm, he resigned the post of lord high admiral, in 1616, which he had held with great honour for thirty -two years, and from that time he passed the remaining HOWARD. 47 years of his life iu honourable ease and retirement. The death of this great admiral happened on the 14th December, 1624, when he was in the 8Sth year of his age. He was succeeded in )iis hi«rh office by the duke of Buckingham, the favourite of James I., and is said to have been induced to resig:n in his faiour from a desire to make a provision for his youthful countess, the daughter of the earl of Murray, and her children. This favourite obtained for him the remission of a debt of £1300. which he owed to the crown, a pension of £1000. a year, and that, as earl of Nottingham, he should take precedence according to the descent of his ances- tors, so created by Richard II., and not as a new-made peer. He was also gratified by having his friend Sir Robert Mansel confii-med in his office of vice-admiral for life; and after all the arrangements were completed, the duke of Buckingham made his countess a present of £3000, and ever after styled his venerable predecessor father, and bent his knee when he approached him.* Historians represent him to have been graceful in his personal appearance, just and honourable iu his dis- position, and incapable of doing wrong himself, or of seeing it done by others without correction. His steady loyalty to the crown preserved his reputation unstained, and his fortune unhurt, when the rest of his family were in the utmost danger. His qualities as a com- mander were of the first order: he possessed a courage which no dangers could daunt ; perseverance to overcome difficulties ; and quickness of thought in action to avoid errors or improve advantages. The defeat of the Spanish armada has stamped immortality on his name, and it will descend with honour to posterity while English tnnals remain. • CampbeU'i Naval History. 48 NAVAL HISTORY. SIR JOHN HAWKINS. 1520—1595. This disfinaruished seaman was born at Pl3Tnouth, about the year 1520. His father, William Hawkins, was also a great seaman, and the first Englishman who made a Yoyage to Brazil. He took his son with him to sea at an early period, and instructed him in the practice of navi- gation in many voyages to Spain, Portugal, and the Canary islands, which at that time were considered extraordinary adventures. Under such instruction the son acquired an experience beyond almost any of his contemporaries, and acquired a great reputation at an early period of life. In the spring of 1562, he formed the design of his first famous voyage, which opened anew trade to the rapacity of his countrymen. In his voyages to the Canarie.s he had acquired a knowledge of the Slave Trade, and of the great gains which were to be obtained by the purchasing or the kidnapping- of negroes in their own country, and in the reselling of them tothe Spaniards in the West Indies. After revolving the scheme in his own mind, he induced some of his friends who were merchants in London to join with him in the adventure, and three ships were accordingly provided: one of 130 tons, one of 100, and the other of 40. With these vessels he sailed in October, 1562, and proceeded to Sierra Leone, and there stayed some time, ' and got into his possession, partly by the sword, and partly by other means, to the number of 300 negroes at the least, besides other merchandise which that country yielded.' With this prey he sailed for His- paniola, where he disposed of the negroes to great advantage, obtaining in exchange for them great quan- tities of pearls, hides, sugar, ginger, and other commodi- ties, enough to load his own vessels, and to freight two hulks besides ; and so, with prosperous success and much gain to himself and the aforesaid adventurers, he came home, and arrived in September, 1563. In 1564 he made another vovage to Guinea, with ships of greater burden, and sold his slaves in the island of Cuba to great advantage, so that, on his return home, his HAWKINS. 49 eLiU and success had acquired hiiu so much reputation, that queen Elizabeth granted him by patent for his crest a {tctni moor, in his proper colour, bound with a cord* His next voyage, in 1508, proved less fortunate. Haviniy collected a cargo of slaves on the coast of Guinea, he sailed for Spanish America, but the governor of Rio de la Hacha refused to pemiit him to trade. He landed with his seamen, took the town, and entering into a ca- pitulation with the governor, they afterwards traded in a friendly manner together, till most of his slaves were sold. From thence he sailed to Carthagena, where he disposed of the remainder ; but returning in home he was overtaken by a violent storm on the coast of Florida, which obliged him to seek shelter in the harbour of St. Juan de UUoa, in the bottom of the Bay of Mexico. He entered this port on the Ifith of September, 1508, and when the Spaniards came on board, and found that he was an Eng- lishman, they were extremely alarmed at their mistake, conceiving he had belonged to their own nation. Haw- kins treated tliem with great civility, assuring them that he came into their harbour with no hostile intention, but only to shelter his ships from the storm, and to procure refreshment for his men. He, however, seized two per- sons of distinction as hostages, while an express was sent to Mexico with an account of his arrival. The next day the Spanish fleet appeared in sight, which gave Hawkins great disquietude ; for, if he refused to admit them into the port, he was sensible they must he lost with all they had on board, which amounted to nearly two • It is now fortunately no liononr to have been tlie firvt English- man who engatrud in the Slave Tra/le ; but it must be borne in mind that this iniquitous trade grew up without being regarded as in the Blighlest degree repuirnant either lo natural justiie or to the princi- ples of Christianity. INI'idern slavery had its rise in a mitigation of that niirelentin? butchery which characterised the early wars between the Christians and Mahometans ; and particularly in Spain and Portugal it came to be tacitly acted u])on, that the Moors or Christians who submitted in war should only be reduced to slavery. After the Por- tuguese had succieded in clearing their country of the Moors, they invaded them in IJarbary, and carried the cajitured Moors into fheir own country: and to so great an extent did this prevail, that negro slavery wiis "almost as common in Portugal in the early part of the sixteenth century, as it afterwards became in the sugar islands. It was then the vice of tlie age, and therefore Hawkins cannot be indi- vidually condemned, if he looked upon dealing in negroes, and the »ei7.ing of them in their own country, ae a lawful branch of Inide. E»en in the nineteenth century it was an outrage to the civilization of iJie world, that there was to be found men of great consideration who defended the taiiie 'vstciii.— 5p«ing into importance, with whom England was soon to contend for the sovereignty of the seas. These were the Dutch, who at present enjoyed the full benefit of James's pacific system, so that they repeatedly insulted the English coast, by attacking and capturing their enemies, even under the protection of its batteries. But the redress of these grievances, as well as the atrocious affair of Amboyna,* which gave birth to the national hatred against the Dutch, was reserved for a more vigorous aclministrution. The unfortunate reign of Charles I. was almost as barren of nautical events as that of his father, so ihat the only two expeditions worthy of notice were those against Cadiz and Rochelle, both of which ter- minated in failure and disgrace. In consequence of war being declared against Spain, an Enj;lish fleet was fitted out, in 1625, to act in the Mediterianean, aided by Dutch reinforcements, the whole strength of which amounted to above eighty sail commanded by lord Wim- bleton, and carrying an army of 10,000 men. Such, however, were the delays, occasioned by the debates between the naval and military commanders, that the Spaniards had leisure to anticipate the attack by forti- fying Cadiz ; so that, although the city was finally obliged to surrender, it was at a great expense of men, while the enemy were enabled to save their shipping. In the mean time, the English soldiers and sailors were allowed » This is one of the Moluccas, at which the Engflisli, by treaty, had a factory, as well as the Dutcli. The Dutch were the mo^'t power- ful, and, iiiider simie preteuce, sei/eil the priniijial persons of the English fiu t<)i7 am) put theiu to deuili, jikI e\pelled the others from the island. 1 2 68 NAVAL HISTORY. to go on shore at pleasure; and there they drank so largely of the rich wine of the country, that a conta- gious disease spread through the whole lieet. On this account, the armament was obliged to return to England, after haying accomplished nothing, and suffered all the consequences of the most ruinous discomfiture. The expedition to Rochelle, undertaken in 1627, for the relief of the French Protestants, was, if possible, still more disgraceful to the English nation. The war itself had been entered into at the instigation of the duke of Buckingham, who was moved by mere personal pique and envy against France, or rather against its minister, backed by his vain-glorious love of the French queen ; and, as if this cause had not been enough to render it unpopular, the duke himself was appointed to the com- mand. The fleet consisted of a hundred ships ; the French had no naval force with which they could meet it at sea ; and, although they received such reinforce- ments from the Spaniards as enabled them at last to out number their enemies, they still kept aloof from a naval combat. But the imbecility of Buckingham soon destroyed these advantages, by selecting the most dif- ficult point of attack, which was the port of St. Martin, in the island of Rhe ; and the French ships so effectually reinfoi'ced the garrison, that the English commander wasted time and resources in a hopeless siege. In this situation, the French army, which had gradually been collected to the spot, made a furious attack upon the besiegers, in consequence of which a complete rout ensued ; and the English, having lost 2000 men, fled to their ships, and returned home. The religious and political feelings of the nation were equally maddened by this termination, the whole weight of which fell first upon the unfortunate favourite ; and while he was making every effort for a second expedition, to retrieve his lost reputation, he fell by the stroke of an assassin, and was succeeded, as high admiral, by the earl of Lyndsay. (Aug. 23, 1628.) The misfortunes of the expedition to Rochelle did not terminate with the death of the obnoxious Buck- ingham. They had commenced with the first idea of the measure, by occasioning the levying of ship-money, a tax which, although common in former times, was unfitted for England in the seventeenth century ; and CHARLES I. 69 although the money was honourably expended in the national defence, yet the nature and extent of kingly authority were now so much better understood, that the royal pleasure to impose the tax was justly called in ques- tion. This too, unfortunately, was not the only occasion in which Charles was obliged to try tlie experiment. The French, who were unable to cope with the navy of England, endeavoured to excite the jealousy of the Dutch ag^ainst the English claim to the sovereignty of the seas. Happily, however, the war on this occasion, between England and Holland, was upon paper only, in which Grotius and Selden were the chief combatants ; and much ink. was shed in the dissertations of ' Mare Liberutn,' and • Mare Cluusum.' Charles regarding this contest as a prelude to more weighty demonstrations, proceeded to reinforce his ileet ; and here again the obnoxious tax was brought into operation. In 1635, however, a fleet of forty sail was sent out against the French and Dutch, under the command of the earl of Lyudsay, with orders not to attack, but rather to prevent hostilities ; and this was so effectually done, that although the enemy had a large force at sea, nothing on their part was attempted. In the succeeding year, a similar expedition was necessary, and the same means were adopted to fit it out ; and fifty sail, with several smaller vessels, were sent under the earl of Northum- berland. The French, Dutch, and Spaniards, were quelled by this display ; and the latter were compelled to recognise the claims of Britain to maritime sove- reignty. When the rupture commenced between Charles and his parliament, the possession of the royal navy was a matter of the utmost moment ; and when the latter obtained the command of the shipping, they were enabled to prevent the arrival of reinforcements to the king's party from abroad. But on displacing the earl of Warwick from the command, a large portion of the fleet deserted the cause of the parliament, in disgust, and placed itself under the command of prince Rupert. Thus, the naval as well as the military force of Britain was divided into two parties, at war with each other, and employed in the task of mutual destruction ; and .such was the ardour with which the civil contest was carried on ac sea, that when the parliament assumed 70 NAVAL HISTORY. tbe government, it could muster no more than fourteen ships of two decks. But so great was the energy of the new administration, and the zeal with which it endea- voured to repair this deficiency, that only three years after the execution of Charles the parliament had twenty-three ships of first, second, and third rates, thirty-two fourth rates, and fifty of inferior size. (1651.) Nothing can give us a more striking idea of the spirit of the English rulers at this period, than the naval war of the Commonwealth against Holland, in 165-2. The Dutch, by the practice and victories of half a century, had become the great maritime power of Europe : their navy amounted to a hundred and fifty liue-of-battle ships; and their mercantile resources were so extensive, that they could create fleets with a rapidity incompre- hensible to more powerful, but less industrious, nations. On the other hand, the English parliament had but a small fleet; the sailors were unskilful, and the officers unpractised in naval tactics ; and the maritime history of the country, for the two previous reigns, had been little calculated to inspire them with courage and confi- dence. A case such as this was well qualified to call forth the energy of the British character, and motives were in store to justify the measure. The parliament, echoing the cry of the nation at large, complained of the still uurevenged massacre of the Enerlish at Ara- boyna, the recent assassination of Dr. Dorislaus its ambassador, and the refusal of the Dutch to recognise the British sovereignty of the seas, while its real motive was to counterpoise the ascendancy of Cromwell, by the establishment of a naval power. The Dutch met these open remonstrances by complaints of the insults they had endured from the English at sea, and the almost piratical fashion in which their shipping and commerce had been attacked. But, like their enemies, they had also a motive for war, which they could not openly avow. The parliament had prohibited the importation of goods except in English bottoms, or the ships of those countries in which the goods had been produced ; and as Holland produced nothing, and could only subsist by traffic, this edict destroyed its trade with Biitain, which had formed a great source of its national pros- perity. It is not our purpose, in this place, to enter into the DUIUNG THE COMMONWEALTH. 71 particulars of the war, as they constitute an important part of the achievements and triumphs of Blake. One great advantage possessed by the Enu,li:sh, during the whole contest, was derived from their superior naval aichitecture, which tliey owed in a great measure to the exertions of Charles, and the expenditure of the unfortunate ship-money. The Dutch, from the nature of their coasts and harbours, were obliged to coiistruct their ships with flat bottoms, to draw as little water as possible ; while those of the English were larger, deeper in the keel, and swifter in sailing, so that they cculd easily weather the enemy in an engagement. The result was, that the Dutch suffered more in this war of two years, than during the whole of their eighty years' »ti-uggle against the Spaniards, having- expended six millions sterling, and lost eighty ships, twenty frigates, and seventeen hundred merchant vessels ; and they were obliged, in the treaty of peace, to acknowledge in its full extent the English sovereignty of the seas, abandon the cause of the Stuarts, surrender the island of Polerone in the East Indies, and pay £300,000 as an indemnification for the massacre of the English at Amboyna. Even with all the losses sustained during the war, England, at the termination of hostilities, possessed one hundred and fifty ships, more than a third of which had two tier of guns. Never before had Europe so learned the secret of where the strength of Britain lay. The aspiring views of Cromwell were now directed to further exploits ; and two fleets, the one under Blake, and the other under Penn andVenables, were dispatched to sea, the former to proceed against the Barbary states and Tuscany, and the latter to act against the Spaniards, in the West Indies. The conquest of Hispaniola had been projected, and Penn accordingly landed his force in that country ; but owing to an unfortunate series of disasters, the attempt wholly failed. The fleet next sailed to the island of Jamaica; and on being summoned, it was surrendered without resistance. So little, how- ever, was the importance of this conquest understood, that on their return Penn and Venablos were committed to the Tower, for having failed in the ex]>edition. The Spaniards, in retaliation, seized all the British goods in their dominions ; upon which Blake and Montague 72 NAVAL HISTORY. were sent to capture the rich Spanish flota, on its way to Cadiz. The English fleet, on this occasion, was divided into three squadrons, to multiply the chances of intercepting the prize ; and admiral Stayner, v/ho had the good foi-tune to discover its approach, attacked it with a very iui'erior force. The Spaniards looked scorn- fully from their lofty decks at the English ships, which appeared like fishing-boats beside their antagonists : but when the battle joined, the feeling was soon altered. The vessels of the flota were sunk, dispersed, or cap- tured, and £600,000 was the spoil of the conqueror. A sort of triumphal procession honoured the return of Stayner, in which the treasure was transported by land, and paraded through the streets of London, on its way to the Treasury. By these expeditions, Cromwell fulfilled his heroic boast, that he would make the name of an Englishmac to be as honoured as that of an ancient Roman citizen ; and the fleets of England rivalled the legions of Rome, in the awe they occasioned and the conquests they achieved. When Charles IL, therefore, was restored to the throne of his ancestors, he possessed advantages which none of them had enjoyed. A resistless navy, a devoted people, and the respect impressed by a series of victories upon the whole of Europe, — all seemed to pro- mise an illustrious era for England, while the tastes of the sovereign, devoted to mechanical studies, and skilled in ship-building and naval aflairs, seemed to fit him for the country and the ciisis. la such a case, a new war might naturally have been expected ; and circumstances pointed the direction. The duke of York was at the head of an African company newly formed, whose trade was checked by the activity and numerous settlements of the Dutch, and a war with these commercial rivals was accordingly resolved on. The commencement, however, was far from being ho- nourable to Charles ; for, without any announcement of hostilities, be sent Sir Richard Holmes, in 1664, to seize Uape Verde, the island of Goree, and the settlement of New York. This shameful exploit was performed accordingly, but so loud an outcry ensued, that the king pretended that his admiral had acted without orders, iiud to complete the farce Holmes was sent, for a short period, to the Tower. The Dutch were too shrewd to CHARLES II. 73 be deceived by such ;i flimsy pretence ; and they dis- patched secret orders to De Kuytei-, to recover the settli-- nients of which they had been thus dispossessed. De Huyter accordingly recovered them as speedily as they hod been lost; and after such proceedings, uo alternative remained but open and immediate war. Although this rupture had been stronj,ly deprecated by the Dutch, ou account of the damage it would indict upon tUeir commerce, yet their long-suflering had been completely exhausted ; and when nothing but war remained, they prepared for it with their wonted energy. A powerful British fleet was soon at sea, consisting of one hundred and fourteen ships of tlie line, and twenty-eight frigates and bomb ketches, under the command of the duke of York, which was encoun. tered by a nearly equal Dutch force under the command of admiral Obdam. Both nations fought with the most determined perseverance, until Obdam's ship blew up ; upon which the Dutch retreated, after having lost nine- teen ships, while the English lost only one, which was a fourth-rate. This battle was fought otf LowestofF, on the 3i-d of June, Itibj ; and was the most signal victory the Englisli had ever gained, and the severest blow the Dutch ever felt at sea. They had 6,000 men killed and 2,300 taken prisoners, and it is generally supposed that if the Eng- lish rteet had not slackened sail during the night, none of their fleet would have escaped. The Dutch were besides unfortunate this year in losing the vice-admiral and rear-admiral of their East India fleet, and four ships of war, which were captured by tive English frigates ; and also four ships of war, two tire-ships, and thirty mer- chantmen, which had been separated from the main fleet in a storm, and having joined the English instead of their own, were by this mistake all taken. The States, reinforced by France and Denmark, were soon in a condition again to contend with the victor ; their united fleet consisted of ninety-one ships of war, carrying 4,716 guns, and 22,402 men. The hostile fleets came in sight of each other on the 1st of June, 1666, when a furious action commenced, in which the Dutch, under their fained De Ruyter, and the English, com- manded by Aljcuiark', maintained the conflict for four 74 NAVAL HISTORY. days, until the latter were partially defeated, and both were willing to retire to repair their losses.* After this terrible conflict, the Dutch had the credit of appearing at sea before the English, as tueir ships had received less injury, and they affected to brave the ene- my on his own coast; cut tiiis superiority they were not long permitted to enjoy. The English fleet of eighty sail and nineteen lire-ships again put to sea, under the command of prince Rupert and the duke of Albemarle, and, on the 2Jth of June, came up with the enemy off the North Foreland, when a desperate battle was fought, which terminated in the complete defeat of the Dutch, with the loss of twenty ships, four adjnirals, many captains, and about 4,000 men killed and 3,000 wounded. 'I'he Dutch fleet was commanded by their two great admirals, De Ruyter and Van Tromp. The English loss is said only to have been one ship burnt, and three cap- tains and about 300 men killed. This was so severe a blow to the Dutch fleet, that it was obliged to keep within the shelter of its ports for a whole year, while the English swept the seas, insulted the coasts of Holland with impunity, and even burnt its ships within the protection of their harbours. Charles by this time was weary of the war; and supposing the enemy sufficiently humbled to listen to tei-ms, he sent such as Holland could scarcely have accepted with honour. The Dutch, however, had recourse to the arts of diplomacy ; and they spun out the negotiation until they could extricate themselves from their difliculties, and inflict a terrible i-etaliation. This opportunity soon ari-ived. The English, in the fond idea that peace was certain, had neglected their naval force, so that at last only two small squadrons were kept up to act against cruisers. The Dutch, therefore, threw off the mask, and rejected the proposals of Charles, while their fleet of seventy ships of %var, besides fire-ships, which had been kept in a state of efficiency, weighed anchor, and ai*- rived in the mouth of the Thames, June 7, 1667. Every obstacle that stood in their way was surmounted ; Sheerness was taken, and the ships in the river were captured or destroyed. London itself now trembled with a new alarm, while every hour brought tidings of some fresh triumph of the enemy, who were continually * For dii account ot this conflict, see the life of Albeniarlt. CHARLES II. 75 approaching nearer. Even the worst fears of the in- habitants might have been realized by an attack upon the capital itself, had Louis XIV. joined his fleet to the Dutch, according to previous agreement. But it was the policy of this monarch not to destroy either of the rival powers, but to keep the one as a check, upon the other, so that the Dutch, notwithstanding the panic they occasioned, were not strong enough to venture an attack on London. At last the countiy recovered slowly from the stunning effect of this insult; and au efficient plan was adopted to remove the hostile armament, by dis- patching a fleet to the northward, under Sir Jeremiah Smith, to intercej)t a richly laden Dutch convoy return- ing homeward from Norway and the Baltic. De Uuyter was accordingly summoned by the States from his post of triumph to the defence of their commerce, and this call he obeyed the more gladly as his situation was daily becoming more dangerous. After this signal success on the part of Holland, terms of accommodation were pro- posed, and finally ratified at Breda, August 24, 1607 ; but these were reckoned so disgraceful by the English, and so disadvantageous to their interests, that to satisfy the popular rage a victim was considered necessary. The virtuous Clarendon, who was represented as the author of this treaty, was accordingly deprived of the chaucel- loi-ship, and driven into banishment. It would be foreign to our purpose to detail tLe causes that led to the next war between England and Holland, which took place five years after the treaty of Breda. Louis XIV., in pursuing his schemes of aggran- dizement, found the latter country the strongest barrier to liis ambition; and therefore, while he assailed it by laud with his forces, he was anxious to crusli its power at sea. For this purpose he applied to Charles II.; and the co-operation of the needy profligate was soon pur- chased by the present of a French mistress, and the grant of a French pension. Charles accordingly pre- pared for action ; and the commencement of the war was in perfect character with that of the preceding one. Ill 1672, without puJilishing a declaration of hostilities, the subservient Sir Robert Holmes was sent to intercept a rich Dutch convoy, consisting of seventy sail, on its passage from Smyrna ; and the fleets met at sea, like those of two nations that were at peace with each other. 70 NAVAL HISTORY. The English admiral endeavoured to cajole the Dutch <:ommanders on board his ship ; but they were cautious, and declined the invitation : he then commenced a furious onset ; but was met with such a stubborn resist ance, that he was finally beaten oif with great damage, while the Dutch pursued their voyage in safety. After such a shameful attempt, embittered by so shameful a defeat, Ciiarles proclaimed war in regular fashion ; but for this the Dutch were prepared, as they had ninety ships of the line, and fifty frigates and fire-ships — and moi-e than all, they had the brave De Ruyter as their admiral. The first great naval engagement that took place was that of Soleby, fought May 19, in which the Dutch, with an inferior force, encountered the English and French fleets, under the command of the duke of York and maveschal D'Etrees. In this battle, the French are accused of having kept aloof from the fire, while the English had to sustain the whole brunt of the enemy, who fought with desperate courage. Even under these unfavourable circumstances, it was thought that the victory miglit have been secured for England, but for certain symptoms of dilatoriness on the part of the duke of York, which were never sufficiently explained. As it was, the advantages of the fight belonged to the Dutch, who would have gained a still more decided victory, but for the devotedness of the earl of Sand- wich. This brave nobleman, who had been maddened by a stinging insult from the duke, rushed into the thickest of the fight, and, with the loss both of ship and life, created a diversion in favour of the English fleet, until it was withdrawn in safety. During the rest of this short war, several engagements of minor import- ance followed, in which Holland, although single-handed and outnumbered, was able to make head against her enemies, and render their effoi-ts indecisive. At length, the Dutch and English mutually opened their eyes to the ruinous consequences of this war, in which the former were losing their commerce, while the latter were only advancing the ambitious projects of the French king ; and accordingly a separate peace was concluded between them, independently of Louis, in 1674, the terms of which gave satisfaction to both nations. The only naval act of importance during the rest of trie reign of Charles II., was the expedition sent out agaiust CHARLES II. 77 the corsairs of Ti-ipoli, the particulars of which belong' uiore properly to the life of Sir Cloudesly Shovel. Under such men as De Ruyter, Van Troinp, Blake, and Albemarle, it was to be expected that the tactics of naval war would undergo a considerable chany;e. This was the case, and the luost nniterial alteration was that of making a battle depend, not upon a series of individual combats of one ship against another, but of squadron against squadron. Thus the manoeuvres were upon a more general scale, and depended upon the movements of a number of vessels simultaneously, where the one supported the other. This method, however, had a ten- dency to make the combatants more indirt'erent as to the size and strength of individual ships, so that naval archi- tecture, for a time, underwent fewer improvements than before. The principal missives used in a sea-fight were round shot, double-head, bar-spike, crow-bar, case, and chain-shot ; and in addition to these, arrows with fire- works at the end were sometimes shot from the wind- ward against the sails and rigging of the enemy. When the vessels neared each other and were ready to close, hand-grenades and stink-pots were hurled at each other, to sweep the deck or drive the sailors from their quarters. After a mutual cannonade, if one squadron shewed symp- toms of yielding, fire-ships were then sent into the midst of it ; and thus, almost every battle was followed by a conllagration. We have already seen the part which the French adopted during the wars of the two couiitries ; siding alternately with each, but bringing ellective assist- ance to neither. It was in this way that Louis was enabled, by rapid degi-ees, to create almost out of nothing an im- ))0sing and numerous navy : his alliance with the Dutcli taught the French to build ships, and his subsequent union with England taught them to fight them. Thus a third naval power had stolen upon the scene to profit by the wars and disasters of the other two. During the latter part of Charles II. 's inglorious admi- nistration, thenavy appears to have shared in that neglect which was extended over other departments of national interest, so that it dwindled at last to eighty-three sail of various rates, of which several were falling to decay. His successor, James II. was not likely to nesilect a ser- vice from which he had derived his chief distinction ; and therefore, when he ascended the throne, he endea- 78 NAVAL HISTORr. voured to restore the fleet to its former efliciency. He assigned £'400,000. a-year for this service, and he issued a special commission for settling all things relating to it, and for putting- the management thereof into such a method as might need few alterations. This commission was the wisest act of bis reign, and the individuals whom he appointed performed their duty with so much diligence and skill, that in two years every department of the navy was placed upon the most efficient footing, and means were provided to prevent future abuses. At the Revolution, England possessed one hundred and seventy-three ships of various rates, requiring 42,000 seamen to man them. A force like this, under a popular sovereign, might have rendered the thought of invasion ridiculous ; but the measures of this king were beyond the mortal remedies of fleets and armies. Irresolution, treason, and mistrust, had bewildered every brain, and paralyzed every movement ; so that when William of Orange landed at Torbay, there was no fleet to oppose him, although forty ships of the line were in commission, and flt for immediate service ; and thus it appears how iueflectual fleets and armies are when princes have lost the confidence of those who command them. On the accession of William to the British throne, a closer union was er=tablished between England and Hol- land, that menaced the naval power of France ; and the latter accordingly espoused the cause of the dethroned James, as much from policy as pity. Louis XIV. now endeavoured to reinstate the English king by an invasion which James was to superintend in person ; and a fleet, consisting of thirty ships of the line, five frigates, and thirteen other vessels, conveying a powerful land force, set sail with the fallen monarch to Ireland. The desti- nation was reached, and the army oebarked in safety. An English fleet of equal force had been put in commission for the danger ; but such delays interposed before it was ready to act, that Herbert the admiral was obliged to set sail with only twelve ships of the line and five smaller vessels. He was afterwards reinforced with about ten ships of war, and he attacked a superior French fleet of twenty-four ships of the line in Bautry Bay ; the action was kept up for some hours with great spirit, but as ad- miral Herbert was unable to bring up all his ships, and as he found the contest very unequal, he did not risk WILLIAM in. 79 coniintr to a close fight. This prr.ilent conduct of the admiral was hi.rhly approved of by kinir William, and he waa created a peer by the title of Earl of Torrinijton, This was only a slijiht experiment on the part of France ; for in the followinir year (1690) Lonis, who had skilfully concentrated his naval forces, while those of Britain were divided, unexpectedly sent an invaling fleet to sea, consistini:: of seventy-ei^ht ships of war and twenty-two fire-ships. To oppose this large armament the Engplish admiral could only collect thirty-four ships, which were joined by the Dutch fleet of twenty-two sail. Under such circumstances lord Torrint^ton was unwilling to risk his own honour and the nation's safety, until he received the queen's* commands to fight at all events in order to force the French to withdraw. In obedience to this order, at day-break on the 3d of June, the admiral bore down upon the enemy ; hut from the great inferiority of the Eng- lish and Dutch fleets, they sustained a severe defeat ofl^ Beach y-head, the former losing two, and the latter six, of their largest ships. The indiiination of the Dutch on this occasion was so great, that they complained (and with some show of reason) that they had been ex- posed to the chief brunt of the battle ; and to appease their mummrs, lord Torrington was sent to the Tower. Such also was the popular terror inspired by this defeat, that the English expected nothing less than a landing of the enemy, to follow up tVieir success. This was a ground- less, but also a wholesome fear ; every naval preparation was so quickened in consequence, that the French were reduced to inactivity, while an English and Dutch fleet, under the command of Russel, kept possession of the sea. Louis now prej^ared for a decisive naval effort — the invasion of England, to restore James to the throne — and to ensure its success more completely, the attempt wiis to be made while William was occupied in Holland. Thr«!e hutidred transports were to land a Fiench army of '20,000 men upon the coast of Sussex. But in this plan Louis was obliged to assume as certain, that the de- tached portions of the British navy could not be gathered together in sufficient time ; and that the Dutch, who were discontented with England, would not furnish their contingent at the necessary period. He might thus com- mand the Channel with his ships of war, until the amia- * The f]iieen was at this time recent in the absence of kiii^ William iu In-luixJ. 80 NAVAL HISTORY. ment could be debarked. Fortunately, the calculation in both circumstances was fallacious ; and the French, instead of obtaining a temporary command of the Chan- nel, found themselves opposed by a hundred sail, while their own fleet consisted of only sixty-three ships of the line. Under these circumstances they joined battle at la Hogue, and the French sustained so terrible a defeat, that the few ships that escaped were oblitred to seek the shelter of their harbours, while the combined navy of their enemies rode the sea in triumph. After this signal success, the English, in the confi- dence of victory, began to remit their naval vigilance, while Louis, on the contrary, made surprising efforts to lepair the damage v/hich his navy had sustained. He purchased several large vessels and converted them into ships of war, and he suspended the commerce of France until his fleet should be fully manned. These prepara- tions being completed, he was enabled to send into the Mediterranean, in the year succeeding the battle of la Hogue, a fleet of seventy-one ships of war, besides bomb- ketches, flre-sliips, and tenders, under the command of marshal Tourville. This superior fleet was then in turn triumphant; a series of minor disasters befel the Britisli flag, and at last Sir George Rooke, while convoying the Mediterranean fleet, was encountered oft" Cape St. Vin- cent, and after a hard-fought engagement, in which he was ovei'powered by the superior numbers of the enemy, be lost a portion of his convoy, the value of which was estimated at one million sterling. Sir George had, how- ever, the good fortune to bring off the greater part of his ships of war, as well as the greater part of the convoy, and after touching at Madeira he conveyed them to Cork. The French admiral, in place of following up his ad- vantage, and pursuing the English fleet to Madeira, contented himself with destroying some shipping at Malaga, Cadiz, and Gibraltar. In this year the English fleet was also unsuccessful in the West Indies, and Sir Francis Wheeler, in returning from that station with his squadron, was shipwrecked ofl' Gibraltar, when the ad miral's ship and several others were lost with all on board. These miscarriages at sea led to a parliamentary inquiry, which was the means of discovering variou.s abu.ses in the management of that service, but Sir George Rooke was acquitted of any blame. WILLIAM in. 81 Early in the following year, ltj94, a powerful English and Dutch fleet was sent to sea under the command of admiral Russel, to cover a descent in Camaret Bay ; but this expedition was unsuccessful, and it returned to Portsmouth after having suffered a severe loss from the batteries which had been erected by the celebrated Vauban. These advantages over the English and Dutch navy led the French to style themselves lords of both seas, that is, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In June a still more powerful combined English and Dutch fleet was sent to tlie Mediterranean, the intelligence of the approach of which induced the French admiral Tour- ville to make a precipitate retreat to Toulon, which completely prevented the designs of the enemy for this year. From this time to the termination of the war, the French were unable to contend with the British and Dutch fleets, and the war dwindled into a series of minor engagements, which will be best understood by referring to the lives of Kooke, Beubow, and ShoveL These ope- rations were so much in favour of the English, that the whole coasts of France were kept in a perpetual state of alarm, and Louis was obliged to expend great sums of money, to the impoverishment of his kingdom, in erecting foitihcations to protect the towns on the coast. He at length became convinced that he could not con- tend with the English in fleets or squadrons, and he therefore determined to change his mode of warfare, and to send out small squadrons to harass the trade of bis enemies, by which he could wound them in the most vulnerable point; he was ably served by his principal seamen, Jean du Bart, du Guay-Trouin, the count St. Paul, and chevalier Forbin. His ships were also admi- rably fitted for this kind of service. They were con- structed on such scientific principles, that in sailing they surpassed the vessels of every other country : on this account they pounced upon thi'ir prey like hawks, and, if baffled, they could soon distance pursuit. This supe- riority in naval architecture was so sensibly acknow- ledged by the British, that when a French ship was captured it was considered a valuable acquisition to our navy, as well as a model for study and imitation. This system of desultory warfare was crowned for a time with complete success ; single ships of war and merchant fleets were captured in great numbers ; and F 82 NAVAL HISTORY. the spirits of the Euijlish were kept in such a state of ir- ritation, by incessant annoyance and loss, that they felt as if Louis had at last discovered the secret of becominjj truly the sovereign of the seas. The king of England as well as his subjects had now become tired of the war, and although he had gi-eatly humbled the arrogant pretensions of Louis XIV. he was willing to promote a peace on more favourable terms to France than that country had a right to expect. The negotiations which followed terminated in the peace of Rystwick, and the only advantage which England ap- peared to gain by the long and destructive war, which had wasted her resources and disturbed the peace of the world, was the recognition of William III. as king of Britain, and the supremacy of the English navy. This peace, which had been so dearly purchased, was not of long continuance. A new war was brought about by the French king declaring, upon the death of James II. for his son, as the lawful king of England, together with the disputes which arose concerning the Spanish succession. In the expectation of war, the English go- vernment, early in 1701, assembled a powerful English and Dutch fleet under the command of Sir George Rooke, which cruised about in the Channel during the summer, and overawed the French coasts; and vice-admiral Beu- bow was sent to the West Indies with a strong squadron, to be in readiness to act in that quarter if hostilities should break out. Whilst these preparations were going forward William III. died, but the same foreign policy was pursued by his successor. On the accession of queen Anne, in 1702, she gave a proof of her partiality for the naval service by appoint- ing her consort, prince George of Denmark, lord high admiral. She determined to support her allies against the ambitious designs of Louis XIV., and on the ground that he had insulted the English nation in having de- clared the Pretender king of England, Scotland, and Ireland, she declared war against France, May 4, 1702. On the declaration of war. Sir George Rooke, who had been appointed admiral of the fleet and vice-admiral of England, assumed the command of the grand fleet of thirty English and twenty Dutch ships of the line, ex- clusive of small vessels and tenders, which made in all about 160 sail with 14,000 troops on board under the com ANNE. 83 □land of the duk.e of Ormond; they put to sea on the 19th of June, and appeared before Cadiz, but the attempt miscarried. They were, however, completely successful iu their attack upon the French and Spanish squadrons in the harbour of Vigo. The passaiie into the harbour was strongly fortified with batteries, forts, and breastworks on each side; — by a strong boom, consisting of iron chains, top-masts, and cables, moored at each end with a seventy gun ship; and fortified with five ships of the same strength, lyi«ig athwart the Channel with their broadsides to the offing. As the first and second rates of the combined fleets were too large to enter, the admirals shifted their flairs into smaller ships. In order to facilitate the attack, the duke of Ormond landed with 2,500 soldiers, and took by as- sault one of the forts at the entrance of the harbour. The British ensign was no sooner displayed in the fort, than vice-admiral Hopson, in the Torbay, crowding all sail, ran directly against the boom, which was broken by the first shock: then the whole squadron entered the harbour, through a prodigious fire from the enemy's ships and batteries. The French finding themselves unable to re- sist such an attack, sunk and burned a number of their ships ; but ten ships of war and seven galleons were taken, together with treasure to a great amount, which inflicted a severe blow upon the enemy, and added to the fame of the allies. Sir George Ilooke returned in tri- umph to England, and the fortifications were demolished by Sir Cloudesly Shovel. In the following year no important naval occurrence took place. A fleet under the command of Sir Cloudesly Shovel was sent into the Mediterranean, and a rein- forcement of ships was sent to the West Indies under admiral Graydon, whose conduct gave so much dissatis- faction that tlie House of Lords addressed the queen on the subject, and he was dismissed the service. In J704, the English were more successful at sea. Sir George Hooke and Sir Cloudesly Shovel were again sent to the Mediterranean to look after the French fleet, when tUey resolved to make an attempt upon Gibraltar, which they attacked on the 21st June, and carried by assault with a very trifling loss. The English fleet then proceeded up the Mediterranean, and on the 9th of August the French fleet was seen and chased ; on i 2 84 NAVAL HISTORY. the 13th it was overtaken. A furious eugagement followed, which was continued with doubtful success till two in the afternoon, when the van of the French gave way ; nevertheless, the fight was maintained till night, when the enemy bore away to the lee- ward. The English admiral endeavoured to renew the contest on the two succeeding days, which the count de Toulouse declined, and at last he disappeared. The Eng- lish fleet in this action consisted of fifty-three ships of the line exclusive of frigates, and the French fleet num- bered fifty-two ships of the Hue and twenty-four galleys. The loss was pretty equal on both sides, though not a ship was taken or destroyed by either; but the honour of the day certainly remained with the English. After the battle the English fleet sailed to Gibraltar to refit, and, leaving a squadron under the command of Sir John Leake, returned to England, where the admiral was received with every demonstration of respect which was due to his long services and distinguished success. The French also made an attempt to recover Gibral- tar in the following October, in the absence of the English squadron; but on its return to the station, the French were forced to withdraw with the loss of two frigates and a number of smaller vessels. The loss of Gibraltar was so severely felt, that the French made another attempt in January, 1705, to sur- prise it with a squadron under the command of De Fonti ; but this attempt was more unfortunate than the last, for Sir John Leake and Sir Thomas Delkes having arrived with a powerful fleet, they either captured or destroyed the whole of the French squadron. In the course of this summer the English fleet assisted at the capture of Barcelona, and in every quarter maintained its superiority at sea, and prevented the enemy's ships from disturbing the operations of the allies. From this time to the termination of the war the navy of France was not permitted to appear at sea, and so great were its losses, that it was reduced from a formidable naval power, and from being individually superior to the English, as it was at the commencement of the war in 1688, to scarcely more than thirty ships of war. After having carried on a furious and destructive war- fare for eleven years, the contending parties all became ANNE. 85 desirous of peace, which was at length conchided by what has been called the treaty of Utrecht. The details of this war will ever be memorable in English history — the power of England was paraTuoiint by land as well as by sea ; but even after all the glory that was acquired by Marlbo.ough and the army, and the daring bravery that was displayed by Russel, Rooke, and the navy, it is to be regretted that so much wealth and so many lives should have been sacrificed for the trifling advantages that were gained in the struirgle. This era found Britain occupying a commanding posi- tion among the nations ; she might now be said to stand pre-eminent and alone, through the heroic exertions of her navy, conducted by such men as Torringron, Rooke, Shovel, and Benbow ; and her ocean-sovereignty, which could no longer be contested, made her the arbiter of the destinies of Europe. In the mean time, what mari- time powers had fallen ; what navies had vanished, as she thus ripened slowly from youth to manhood ; — and how little had that manhood now to fear ! The fleets of Spain and Portugal, once so illustrious both for war and discovery, and so enriched by the treasures of India and America, had faded into a state of insignificance; the navy of France, which the energies of Louis XIV. had created and matured in so short a period, was now ex- hausted by its own eftorts.and had sunk even more rapidly than it had risen; the ships of Sweden and Denmark, the hardy representatives of the ancient sea-kings, had been diminished and broken amongst the ambitious schemes of Charles XII. ; and as for the Russian navy, it was but now starting into existence, while none could anticipate that a future period would make its name terrible among civilized nations. Even Holland, the only rival which Britain had cause to fear, on account of its mercantile enterprise and maritime power, was now evidently on the wane, so that its courage seemed daily to diminish with the gainful trade for which it had fought so often and so bravely. Amidst all these symptoms of decay, the fleet of England was at the height of its power and prosperity ; while England was allowed, by universal concession, to hold in her hand the balance of Europe. 86 NAVAL HISTORY. ROBERT BLAKE. 15C8— 1657. Under the reign of the two first princes of the bouse of Stuart, the navy of England lost much of the repu- tation it had acquired in the glorious days of Elizabeth. James I. was a prince incapable of any great under- taking, and entirely governed by favourites, who, studious only to enrich themselves, were regardless of the honour and claims of their country. Charles I. understood maritime afl'airs and the interest of his crown better than his father, and would probably have restored the navy to a respectable footing, had not the civil war diverted his attention to other objects. On the fall of the monarchy, the fleet revolted from the parliament, and hoisting the royal standard, sailed to Holland, where James duke of York, assisted by prince Rupert, and other royalists of quality, assumed the command. But this revolt was not of long continuance. The royal fleet was ill paid ; the States General were afraid to aff"ord the exiled princes their protection, lest they should incur the displeasure of the new common- wealth of England ; and dissensions breaking out in the fleet, most of the ships abandoned the royal cause, and were brought back by their crews to England. The parliament thus became possessed of a fleet and seamen, but they wanted officers to command them, most of the old naval commanders preferring to remain in exile, rather than serve under the new government. Their loss, however, was not long felt, and we now come to a new series of naval heroes, who nobly emulated the renown of Di'ake, and infused a courage into seamen which led them to contemn every danger, and to attack the enemies of their country in the most resolute manner. The first of these, as well as one of the most intrepid and successful admirals that have adorned the British navy, was Robert Blake. He was born at Bridgewater, in Somersetshire, in August 1598, and was the eldest son of Humphry Blake, who, having acquired a coiisi< derable fortune as a Spanish merchant, purchased a small estate in that neighbourhood. He was educated BLAKE. 87 at the free-school of that place until he was of age to be removed to Oxford, where lie became successively a member of Alban Hall and Wadham College. He con- tinued there for about seven years, when he abandoned the pursuits of literature, havinir been unsuccessful both for a studentship at Christchurch and a fellowship at Mcrton Colloire. He returned to Bridgewater when he was about twenty-five years old, accordinsr to Clarendon, ' enough vereed in books for a man v.ho intended not to te in any profession, having sufficient of his own to maintain him in the plenty he aiiected, and having then no appearance of ambition to be a greater man than he was.' He lived quietly on his paternal estate till l(i40, with the character of a blunt miin, of ready humour, and fearless in the expression of his opinions, which, both on matters of politics and religion, were opposed to the views of the court. These qualities gained for him the confidence of the presbyterian party in Bridgewater, which returned him for that borough to the short pailia- ment of April, 1640. Tbe speedy dissolution of that assembly (May 5) gave him no opportunity of trying his powers as a debater ; and at the next election he lost his seat. On the breaking out of the civil war he entered the parliamentary army, and in 1643 we find him intrusted by colonel Fiennes with the command of a fort at Bristol, when that city was besieged by the royalists. On this occasion having maintained his post, and killed some of the king's soldieis after tbe governor had agreed to sur- render, prince Rupert was with difficulty induced to spare his life, which, it was alleged, was forfeited by this violation of the laws of war. He served afterwards in Somersetshire with good repute ; and in 1644 was ap- jiointed governor of Taunton, a place of great importance, as being the only parliamentary fortress in the west of England. In that capacity he gave eminent proof of skill, courage, and constancy, in maintaining the town durinsr two successive sieges in IM5. In February, 1649, colonel Blake, in conjunction with two officers of the same rank, Deane and Popham, was appointed to command the fleet ; for the military and naval services were not tl:en kept separate and distinct as in later times. For this new office Blake soon shewed signal capacity. On tiie renewal of war after the king's 88 NAVAL HISTORY. death, he was ordered to the Irish seas in pursuit of prince Rupert, whom he blockaded in the harbour of Kiusale for several mouths. At length, being pressed by want of provisions, and threatened from the land, the prince made a desperate eflort to break throusrh the parliamentary squadron, and succeeded, but with the loss of three ships. He fled to the river Tagus, pursued by Blake ; who, being denied permission by the king of Portugal to attack his enemy, captui'ed and sent home several richly laden Portuguese vessels on their way from Brazil. He finally attacked and destroyed the royalist fleet, with the exception of two ships com- manded by the princes Rupert and Maurice, in the harbour of Malaga, in January, 1651. In returning home be captured a French frigate of 40 guns, because the captain, whom he had hailed to come on board, refused to give up his sword ; and as an illustration of the singularity of his character, he desired the Frenchman to return to his ship and to fight it out. These actions appear, at fir.st sight, to be breaches of international law ; but Blake's creed seems to have been, that in maintaining the supremacy of the British flag every where and at all hazards, he could hardly do wrong — a doctrine which has always been too palatable to our national vanity, and which has led us into many foolish wars. These services were recompensed by the thanks of parliament, together with the office of warden of the Cinque Ports ; and in March of the same year, Blake, Deane, and Popham, were constituted admirals and generals of the fleet for the year ensuing, in that capa- city Blake took the Scilly islands, Guernsey, and Jersey, from the royalists, for which he was again thanked by parliament ; and in the same year he vjras elected a member of the council of state. In March, 1652, Blake was appointed sole admiral for nine months, in expectation of the Dutch war, which did in fact break out in the following May, in conse- quence of the Dutch fleet of forty-two sail, under admiral Van Tromp, standing over to the English coast, and refusing to salute the English flag. Blake, who was then U-ing in Rye Bay with fifteen sail, immediately sailed to the eastward, and fell in with the Dutch fleet Jn the straits of Dover. When he drew near he fired two guns, to require the Dutch to pay the customary BLAKE. 89 honotirs to his flag:; upon which Tromp, in contempt, hred two shots from the opposite side ; and on Blake repeating: his sie him ill no condition to follow him. This adventure, *'hich happened in the seventeenth year of bis a^e, obliged Monk to abscond, and shortly after he went on board the fleet which sailed for Cadiz, under the com- mand of lord Wimbleton. When he was of aire, he went over to Holland to per- fect himself in the art of war, and was present at several battles and eiei^es ; but receiving? what he conceived to be an afiVont from the prince of Orange, he quitted the service of the States General, and never saw the Dutch after as a friend. On his return he found his country involved in the confusion of civil war, and possessing a s])irit too active to remain neutral at so important a crisis, he accepted a commission as lieuter.aiit-colonel in the army which was sent to Ireland to suppress the dis- turbances which had arisen in that country. He re- turned to England in 1G43, and was appointed by the king major-general of the Irish brigade ; but being soon after taken prisoner by the parliamentary forces, he was carried to the Tower, where he remained several years in confinement, and was not releabed until the total ruin of the royal party. As the nature of this work will not allow of a detail of Monk's exploits by land, it must be sufficient briefly to mention, that he was employed in the republican army under Cromwell, and soon became one of his most dis- tinguished officers. In 1653, on the death of colonel Popham, he was appointed, at the age of forty-five, one of the admirals of the fleet, and commanded, along with Deane, in the great battle on the third and fourth of June, with the Dutch fleet under Van Trnmp. In this fight one of the first broadsides killed the brave admiral Deane, whose body was almost cut in two by a chain shot, at that time a new invention, and gene- rally ascribed to De Witt. Monk is reported to have instantly covered the body with his cloak, lest the appearance of it siiould dcpreas the spirits of bis crew. 96 NAVAL HISTORY. and having encouraged the men to do their duty, he coolly ordered it to be removed into his cabin. The ac- tion continued two days with ^eat fury, and terrai- nared in the total defeat of the Dutch with great loss. Monk obtained great reputation on this occasion, which was further increased by another conflict with his great rival, Van Tromp. The fleets met on the evening of the 29th of July following, but the weather proving very stormy on tlie following day prevented the final decision of the combat until the 31st, when the Dutch received a reinforcement of twenty-five large ships. The fight con- tinued for eight hours, and terminated in the total defeat of the Dutch, with the loss of twenty-five ships and the death of their gallant admiral, which so discouraged the Dutch as to induce them to conclude a peace upon any terms.* For these important services Monk was highly caressed by Cromwell, who, at a public feast given by the city of London on the 25th of August, put a gold chain round the admiral's neck, and required him to wear it during the entertainment. On the conclusion of the Dutch war. Monk was appointed commander-in- chief of the forces in Scotland, where he remained till the death of Cromwell, when, entering England at the head of a veteran army, he became the prime insti'ument of the restoration of Charles II. Charles landed at Dover on Friday, May '25, 1660, and was received by Monk, not with the assumed pride of a man who had bestowed a kingdom, but with the decent and humble demeanour of a subject who came to pay his duty to his sovereign. Two days after he was made a knight of the garter, and on the 12th of June he was created duke of Albemarle, master of the horse, and one of the lords of the king's bed-chamber. He had also a pension of seven thousand pounds a-year settled on him ; and the house of commons, to shew their re- spect, attended him in a body to the door of the house of lords when he went to take his seat. In the early part of the first Dutch war, which broke out in 1664, he was charged with the administra- tion of the admiralty at home, while the duke of York * Monk had in his fleet a considerable number of sliips hired from the merchants, and, before the tig-ht com nit^ need, he shifted the com- manders into each otlier's ships, to prevent ihem takinir any concern for tlieir owners' properly. The event fully answered his expectation, for no ships in his fleet behaved with more g^allauiry. MONK. 97 coinnianded at sea ; but tliat prince resigning his com- umnil, the duke of Albemarle was sent for by the king-, and pressed to accept the appointment of admiral of the fleet, in conjunction with prince Rupert. The duke begged a day to consider of this proposal, in which time he consulted with his friends, who were of opinion that he ought not to accept the command at his advanced age, lest the great reputation which he had acquired might be lost by the fate of a single battle. The duke thanked them for their consideration for his person and character, but at the same time added, ' These were out of the case ; that lie valued neither farther than they were useful to his country ; and that he was determined to obey the king's commands, since he was sure he either could accomplish them or die in the attempt.' On these noble principles he accepted a commission ; and it was no sooner known that he was to command the fleet, than great numbers of seamen entered from all quarters, • because,' as they expressed themselves, ♦ they were sure honest George (for so they called the duke) would see them well fed and justly paid.' Prince Rupert sailed to the westward to prevent the French fleet from coming to the assistance of the Dutch, and the duke of Albemarle, with not more than fift^'-six. sail, went into the North sea. On the 1st of June he discovered the Dutch fleet, consisting of about seventy- six sail, under De Ruyter and Van Tromp the younger, and, notwithstanding this disparity of force, instantly bore down upon them with the utmost bravery. The action soon began, and was supported with great resolu- tion on both sides until night separated the combatants. The intrepid conduct of Sir John Harman, who com- manded the Henry in this engagement, deserves parti- cularly to be noticed. His ship being surrounded and assailed from all quarters by the Zealand squadron, admiral Evertzen, who commanded it, hailed and offered him quarter ; to which the brave officer replied, ' No, sir, it is not come to that yet.' The next broadside killed the Dutch admiral, by which means their squa- dron was thrown into confusion, and obliged to quit the Henry. Three fire-ships were now sent to burn her; one of them grappled her starboard quarter, but the smoke was too thick to discern where the grappling 98 NAVAL HISTORY. irons had hooked, until the blaze burst out. when the boatswain resolutely jumped on board, disentangled the ii-ons, and instantly recovered his own ship. Scarcely was this effected before another fire-ship boarded her on the larboard side ; the sails and riggiug- taking- fire, de- struction seemed inevitable, and many of the crew threw themselves into the sea ; upon which Sir John Harman drew his sword, and threatened to kill any one who should quit the ship. At length the exertions of the remaining crew extinguished the flames. Sir John Harman, al- though his leg was broken, continued on deck giving directions, and sunk another fire-ship which was bearing down upon him. In this crippled state he got into Harwich, and repaired the damages his ship had sus- tained in time to sliare in the succeeding actions. During this day's engagement the English fleet suffered severely, and two of their ships were taken. The night was spent in repairing damages on both sides, and the next morning the duke of Albemarle held a council of war, the members of which he nobly addressed to the following effect ; ' If we had feared the number of our enemies, we should have fled yesterday ; but, though we are inferior to them in ships, we are in all things else superior. Force gives them courage ; let us, if we need it, borrow resolution from the thoughts of what we have formerly performed. Let the enemy feel, that though our fleet be divided, our spirit is entire. At the worst, it will be more honoinable to die bravely here on our own element, than to be made spectacles to the Dutch. To be overcome is the fortune of war ; but to fly is the fashion of cowards. Let us teach the world that English- men had rather be acquainted with death than fear.' In consequence of this generous speech, the engagement w as renewed, and continued till night, m hen the English fleet had suffered so severely from the superior force of the enemy, that a retreat became expedient. This was performed the next day with great prudence and honour, and in the evening the squadron under prince Rupert rejoined the fleet. This accession of strength enabled the duke again to offer the Dutch battle. On the 4th, at eight in the morning, the attack was made, and support- ed with gi-eater violence and resolution than before, and the action continued with unremitted ardour until seven MONK. 99 in the evening, when a thick fog put an end to this dreadful and bloody contest, each fleet retiring to its own shore, and clairains: the honour of victory. The Dutch, as mijyht have been expected from their superior numbers, seem to have had the advantage. They lost fifteen ships, and had twenty-one of their captains killed ; and the English lost sixteen ships, ten of which were sunk, and six taken, and between five and six thousand men killed and wounded. As a proof of the high opinion the enemy held of their valour the pen- sioner de Witt is reported to have said after the battle, ' If the English are beaten, their defeat did them more honour than all their former victories ; their own fleet could never have been brought on after the first day's fight, and he believed none but the English could ; and all the Dutch had discovered was, that Englishmen might be killed, and English ships burnt, but that English courage was invincible.' After this severe contest both parties returned to their ports to repair their losses, and to prepare for another trial of strength. Monk, having refitted his shattered ships with the utmost expedition, and being also rein- forced by some which had not been in the late action, was enabled to put to sea on the 19th July, and on the 25th gained a most signal victory over his former antagonist de Ruyter, having taken or destroyed upwards of twenty ships of war. The consequences of this success were greater than the victory itself, for it was immediately followed by the destruction of a Dutch convoy, consisting of two ships of war, and upwards of one hundred and fifty merchantmen, lying within the islands of Ulie and Schelling. Tbe English fleet returned into port in the middle of August, and the duke of Albemarle quitted his command with the greatest eclat. From this time the duke of Albemarle retired from the fatigues of naval life, but he continued to enjoy, without diminution, the confidence of his sovereign and the af- fection of his country. When the Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway, and burnt several of our ships of war, in June 1667, he commanded the forces on shore, and was exceedingly instrumental in rendering that bold attempt of the enemy less hurtful t'nau it threatened to be. It was on this occasion, when exposing himself to the greatest danger to set anexample tohismen,thathemad9 100 NAVAL HISTORY. the celebrated reply to one of his attendants who remon- strated with him on the danger he ran : ' Sir, if I had been afraid of bullets, I should have quitted the trade of a soldier long- ago.' This unflinching bravery was also dis- played by his captains , and it is deserving of being re- corded that, on mis same occasion, captain Douglas of the Royal Oak, a first rate, had received orders to defend his ship to the last extremity, but never to retire ; and therefore, when his ship was set on fire, he chose rather to perish in her than to quit his station in the Medway, saying- heroically, ' a Douglas was never known to quit bis post.' The duke of Albemarle had been in the previ- ous May appointed first commissioner of the treasury; so that at one time he was general and commander-in- chief of the laud forces, joint-admiral of the fleet, and, prime minister. This great man was very ready to serve his country when called upon, and like an illustrious commander of our o\vn day (the duke of Wellington) he discharged his various duties with a moderation and simplicity which obtained the admiration of every one. His vast and long-continued exertions both of body and mind soon after this time induced a rapid and premature decay, and obliged him to retire from public life, and bafliing every assistance of medicine, he died on the 3rd of January, 1669, in the sixty-second year of his age. In his person Monk was strong and well-made, of a good aspect, and very able to endure fatigue. The ad- vantages he derived from nature were much improved by his manner of living. He rose early, was abstemious in his diet, and used much exercise. When in power he gave audience without distinction to all who desired it, and was remarkably solicitous to dispatch poor men's aflfairs without subjecting them to the inconvenience or delay. He was an enemy to all oppression in the service, and used frequently to say, that his officers should have power to command and protect his men, but not to tj- rannise over them or to ill use them. He was, however, a strict observer of discipline, of ■which he gave a conspicuous instance at the conclusion of the first Dutch war in Cromwell's time. The seamen came in crowds to the navy office, to demand their prize- money: he told them that there were one thousand five hundred ships to be sold, and when they were disposed of they should have their money. With this answer MONK. 101 they Beenied satisfied ; but in the afternoon they came armed to the number of between four and five thousand towards Whitehall ; Monk, when in company with Crom- well and some other officers, met them at ('haring Cross, and after much expostulation he drew his sword, and wounded several of them, upbraiding them with not depending upon his word, who had never broken it. This had such an effect upon the seamen that, for- getting their former fury, they retired peaceably, and in the end their demands were punctually discharged. The character of this great man having been already sufficiently displayed by the narrative of his actions, it becomes unnecessary to add any general eulogium upon his character. In private life he was no less worthy than we have seen him to be in public : as a friend sin- cere, as a parent affectionate, and as a husband it is suf- ficient to say, that the grief occasioned by his death so affected his duchess as to occasion her death on the twentieth day after. His remains were honoured with a public funeral, which was attended by the principal nobility and officers of the king's household, and interred on the 30th Aj^ril, 1GC9, in Henry the Seventh's Chapel, Westminster Abbey. 102 NAVAL HISTORY. EDWARD MONTAGUE, EARL OF SANDWICH. 1625— 16r2 This noble coiuruander, whose life was an uniform scene of patriotism and public spirit, and his death worthy the most heroic courage, was the only surviving son of Sir Sydney Montague, and bom on the 2rth of July, 1625. He entered very early and warmly into the cause of the parliament, and distinguished himself greatly as a military commander on various occasions during the civil war. When the royal authority was overthrown, he appears to have stood high in the estimation of Crom- well, who appointed him one of the admirals of the fleet, and joined him in command with Blake in the expedi- tion into the Mediterranean, in 1656. Ke served in all Cromwell's naval wars with great success and reputation, and on the death of the protector was sent into the Baltic with a formidable fleet to com- pose the differences between the northern powers. After this expedition, suspicion falling on him that he corre- sponded with the exiled prince, he was removed from his command, and Lawson, who had the character of a strict republican, appointed in his stead. Montague retired to his estate in the country, and on the turn which affairs took on Monk's arrival from Scotland, he openly joined the movement, and was requested to resume the command of the fleet, and shortly after sailed over to Holland, with the fleet appointed to convoy Charles II. to England. For the active part he took in the resto- ration, he was immediately on his majesty's landing at Dover created a knight of the garter, and on the I4th July following he was created baron Montague, viscount Hinchinbrooke, and earl of Sandwich. He was also sworu of the privy council, made master of the king's wardrobe, admiral of the narrow seas, and vice-admiral to the duke of York, as lord high admiral of England. At his majesty's coronation the earl of Sandwich earned St. Edward's staff, and was now looked upon as one of the king's principal ministers, as well as the person chiefly intrusted with the care of the fleet. In 1661 he was appointed admiral and commander in- MONTAGUE. 103 chief of a fleet seut to chastise the Algeiines, and to oc- cupy Tangiers ; from thence he repaired to Lisbou, where taking the infauta, the intended queen of England, on Doard, he brought her safely to England iji May, 16C2. From this time he was unemployed till the breaking out of the Dutch war, in 1664, when he was sent with a fleet to watch the motions of the enemy. In 1G65 he com- manded the blue squadron under the duke of York, and captured one hundred and thirty sail of the Bourdeaux fleet of merchantmen. In the great battle fought ou the 3rd of June, 1665, wherein the Dutch lost their admiral Opdam, and had eighteen men of war taken and fourteen destroyed, the chief honour of the victory was justly given to the earl of Sandwich, who about noon broke the centre of the Dutch licet with his squadron, and threw the enemy into such confusion and disorder as brought ou a general flight. Most writers are of opinion, that if this victory had been followed up with vigour, the Dutch fleet would have been totally ruined, and this neglect was ascribed to the duke of York, who, having retired to rest, ordered his captain to shorten sail, by which means the shattered remains of the Dutch fleet eflected their escape into their own harbours. On his return the king received him with distinguished marks of favour ; and the duke of York's conduct being much censured, he retired from the fleet. The earl of Sandwich's conduct in the same engagement pointed him out as a proper person to succeed the duke, but the court thought this would imply too marked a disapproba tion of the prince's behaviour, and therefore the earl, instead of being appointed to the fleet, was sent on an embassy to Madrid, to negotiate a peace between the crowns of Spain and Portugal. The eminent character of lord Sandwich contributed greatly to the success of his mission ; he was received with unbounded respect by the court of Spain, and that of Portugal placed the most perfect reliance on his firmness, integrity, and abi- lities. He remained in this employment, with high honour to himself and to his counti-y, for upwards of twelve months, and having at length settled aflairs to the satisfaction of all parties, he returned to England in September, 1668, and was received by the king and the duke of York with signal marks of approbation. 104 NAVAL HISTORY. The English settlements in America and the West Indies flourished exceedingly at this time, and their commerce was highly advantageous to the mother country, which induced the king to institute a hoard for the government and regTilation of all matters relative to trade and plantations. The earl of Sandwich was placed at the head of this board, as the person best acquainted of any in the king's councils with maritime and com- mercial afiairs, and this gave general satisfaction to the public. On the death of the duke of Albemarle, the earl of Sandwich succeeded him in the confidence and affection of the fleet. The seamen regarded him with veneration as their father and protector, the ofiicers looked up to him with attachment and respect, as their just and dis- criminating patron. In the strict sense of the word, he was the seaman's friend. It was a settled maxim with him, that in the preferments of the navy no other quali- fication should be required than a man's individual merit, and he strongly reprobated the practice of grant- ing proraotion to persons who had nothing to recommend them but their relation to peers, or interest at court. This rendered him the idol of his profession, and justly endeared him to all good men who had the true interest of their country at heart. On the breaking out of the second Dutch war, in 1672, the earl of Sandwich went to sea with the duke of York, and commanded the blue division ; the white was commanded by a French admiral, count d'Estrees, for the French then happened to be our allies. The fleet put to sea early in May, IC72, and on the 28th of the same montli being anchored oflT Southwould, Dunwich and Aldborough were unexpectedly surprised by the sudden appearance of the Dutch fleet. The English immediately cut or slipped their cables, and put to sea. The earl of Sandwich in the Royal James, mounting 100 guns, and carrying 800 men, led the van, and com- menced the action with a furious attack on Van Ghent's squadron, but being ill supported by many of the ships cf his own division, he was left almost suiTounded by the enemy. Just at this time the Dutch admiral was killed, and his ship being much disabled sheered off. Another Dutch man-of-war, the Great Holland, of 60 guns, observing the shattered state of the Royal James, MONTAGUE. 105 attempted to board her with three fire-ships, which she sunk, and disabled the raan-of-war that covered them. At lengrth a fourth fire-ship boarded her on the quarter with more success, and the ship was soon in flames. The earl, previous to goiu;; into action, had expressed his determination to defend his ship to the last extre- mity. When he perceived that it was impossible to save the ship, he begrged his captain. Sir Richard Haddock, who was almost the only surviving officer, and the crew, to get into the boats and save themselves, declaring that he would be the last man to quit the ship. Many of the seamen, however, with a noble dis daia of death, that ought never to be forgotten, refused to leave their admiral, and the ship blowing up soon after they perished with him. Thus nobly fell, with all the heroism of ancient Rome, the ear) of Sandwich, in the 77th year of his age. His body was found at sea near a fortiii:^ht afterwards, and the king honoured his re- mains with a public funeral, which is thus described in the Gazette. ' liar ivich, June 10, lfi72. ' This day the body of the right honourable Edward, earl of Sandwich, being, by the order upon his coat, dis- covered floating on the sea by one of his ketches, and brought into this port ; where Sir Charles Littleton the governor receiving it, took immediate care of its em- balming and honourable disposing, till his majesty's pleasure should be known concerning it. For the obtaining of which, his majesty was attended at White- hall the next day, by the master of the said vessel, who, by Sir Charles Littleton's order, was sent to present his majesty with the George found about the body of the said earl, which remained at the time of its taking up in every part unblemished, saving some impressions made by the fire upon his face and breast. Upon which his majesty, out of his princely regard to the great (leserviugs of the said earl, and his unexampled per- formance in this act of his life, hath resolved to have his body brought up to London, there at his charge to receive the rites of funeral due to his great quality and merit. • The earl of Sandwich's body being taken out of one of his majesty's yachts at Deptford, on the 3rd of July, P9 106 NAVAL HISTORY. 1672, and laid in the most solemn manner in a sump- tuous barge, proceeded by water to Westminster bridue, attended by the king's barges, his royal highness the duke of York's, as also with the several barges of the nobility, lord mayor, and the several companies of the city of London, adorned suitably to the melancholy occasion, with trumpets and other music, that sounded the deepest notes. On passing by the Tower, the great guns there were discharged, as well as those at White- hall, and about five o'clock in the evening the body being taken out of the barge at Westminster bridge, there was a procession to the Abbey church, with the highest magnificence. Eight earls were assistants to his son Edward, earl of Sandwich, chief mourner, and most of the nobility and persons of quality in town gave their assistance to his interment in the duke of Albemarle's vault in the north side of King Henry the Seventh's chapel, where his remains are deposited.' After this account of the respect shewn by his sove- reign to his remains, it may not be improper to subjoin some instances of the tribute paid by illustrious persons to his memory. The duke of Buckingham, who was himself in the engagement, concludes his account of the battle in these terms : ' The enemy had no success to boast of, except the burning our Royal James ; which, liaving on boai'd her not only a thousand of our best men, but the earl of Sandwich himself, vice-admiral of England, was enough almost to style it a victory on their side, since his merit as to sea aftairs was most extraordinary in all kinds.' Bishop Parker, in his his- tory of those times, speaking of the battle, says, 'The English lost many volunteers, and ten captains of ships ; amongst these were the earl of Sandwich, and Digby, son to the earl of Bi-istol, who, almost alone, fought with the third squadron of the Dutch : yet, at length, when Digby was shot through the heart, and the ship that he commanded was bored through with innumerable shots, the seamen with difficulty brought her into the harbour; out Sandwich, having miserably shattered seven of their ships, and beat off three fire-ships, at length being over- powered with numbers, fell a saci'ifice to his country.' SPRAGGE. 107 SIR EDWARD SPRAGGE. DIED IN 1673. Little is known of the early history of this great com- uiauder, who, like the earl of Sandwich, lost his life in the service of his country. In the first engagement with the Dutch after the restoration, on the 3rd of June, 1005, he commanded a ship, and behaved so gallantly in tne action, that on the return of the fleet to port, he received the honour of knighthood. He was likewise present at the four days' successive engagements in Jfune, 1666, where he was particularly noticed by the duke of Albemarle ; and in the battle which was fought on the 24th of July, he carried a flag under Sir Jeremiah Smith, admiral of the blue squadron, who engaged Van Tromp, shattered his vice-admiral, so that he was obliged to haul out of the line, and having also disabled the ship of the rear-admiral, and killed its commander, contributed greatly to the glory of that day. When the Dutch attempted to burn the ships at Chatham, he was intrusted to defend the fort of Sheerness, attacked by the enemy, and though it was unfinished, his garrison very small, and the place in no condition to make aa eOectual resistance, he defended himself till it would have been an act of rashness to have exposed his gar- rison any longer. When he found it impracticable to render his country any eflectual service by laud, he set himself to collect as great a force as he could by sea. This amounted to no more than five frigates, seventeen fit e-ships, and some tenders — and with these, when the Dutch admiral Van Ness came up the river, after his attempt upon Harwich, Sir Edward Spragge gave him battle. The fight was very unequal ; but there being at first little or no wind, Sir Edward took advantage of that circumstance, and, by dexterously towing his ships, burnt eleven or twelve of their fire-ships with the loss of six of his own. The wind at length freshening, he was obliged to shelter himself from the enemy's su- periority of force under the cannon of Tilbury Fort. The next day the weather being favourable, he again attacked the Dutch, and by the skillul management of 108 NAVAL HISTORY. his fire-ships threw them into such disorder, that thev were obliged to retreat, and bum their last tire-ship to prevent her being- taken. Sir Edward followed them in their retreat to the mouth of the river, where, being joined by a reinforcement of fire-ships from Harwich, he attempted to burn the vice-admiral of Zealand and another large ship, and had so nearly succeeded in his design, that many of their crew leaped overboard, and were drowned. This was his last exploit during that war. In the spring of the year 1671, the complaints of the merchants against the corsairs of Algiers obliged the court to send a squadron into the Mediterranean, to chastise the insolence of these barbarians. Sir Edward Spragge was appointed to the command of this expe- dition, which consisted of five frigates and three fire- ships, and was afterwards joined by some other ships, which made his whole force amount to twelve vessels. On his arrival in the Mediten-anean, he received intel- ligence that there were several Algerine men-of-war in Bugia bay; on which he held a council of war, when it was resolved immediately to attack them, but in con- sequence of the state of the weather he could not at- tempt it until some days after. In the mean time the Algerines unrigged their ships, and for their better se- curity made a strong boom with their yards, topmasts, and cables, buoyed up with casks, which the admiral was unable to prevent from the wind blowing against him ; and, to add to his mortification, he lost another of his fire-ships through the negligence of her gunner, so that he had now only one remaining, which drew too much water to enter that part of the bay where the Algerines lay. On the 8th of May, Sir Edward directed the fire-ship to be lightened, so that she might not draw above eight feet, and at noon a fine breeze springing up, the admiral made the signal for the ships of war to form in a line and bear up into the bay. The wind failing them, they were not able to accomplish this till two in the afternoon, when the admiral came to an anchor in four fathoms water, close under their castle walls, which con- tinued to fire on them without intermission for two hours. As soon as the ships came to an anchor. Sir Edward dis- patched the boats of the squadron to break the boom, SPRAGGE. 109 which being performed, the fire-ship was towed amoug the corsairs, and burnt with such success that the whole of the Algerine fleet was destroyed. This was a severe blow to the Algerines, who had equipped this fleet on purpose to fight Sir Edward Spragge, furnished it with their best brass ordnance, manned it with their choicest seamen, and given the command to old Terky, an officer of great reputation. This exploit was accomplished with the loss of only seventeen men killed and forty-one wounded, and added greatly to the renown of Sir Ed- ward, as other admirals employed on the same service had met with very indifferent success against these pirates. Soon after his return from the Mediterranean, the second Dutch war broke out, and Sir Edward was im- mediately appointed to a command. He was present in the memorable battle of Solbay, on the 28th of May, 1672, and distinguished himself in that engagement by sinking a Dutch ship of sixty guns. After the death of the earl of Sandwich, he was promoted to the rank of ad- miral of the blue, and in the next battle which happened with the Dutch, he fought V;tnTromp seven hours, forced him to shift his flag four times, and would have taken him, had not De Ruyter borne down to his assistance. In the second battle. Sir Edward engaged Van Tromp again, obliged him to change his ship twice, and would inevitably have taken this great Dutch commander, had not some of the ships of his squadron come to his relief. In the third battle, on August the Ilih, 1G73, Sir Edward again singled out Van Tromp for his antagonist. He had promised the king before he went to sea, that he would bring him Van Tromp alive or dead, or lose his own life in the attempt — a promise he too faithfully kept. These admirals, indeed, seem to have had a rival ambition each to overcome the other, for they had constantly fouglit in every battle from the time that Sir Edward Spragge succeeded the earl of Sandwich, and Van Tromp came again to command the Dutch fleet in the room of Van Ghent. Sir Edward was at first on board the Royal Prince, and attacked Van Tromp in the Golden Lion ; but after an action of about three hours, in which the Dutch admiral avoided coming to a close engagement. Sir Edward's ship was so disabled that he was obliged 110 NAVAL HISTORY. to remove his flag to the St. George, as Van Tromp did at the same time to the Comet. The fight was then renewed hetween them with greater animosity than be- fore. At length his second ship becoming disabled, Sir Edwai-d judged it expedient to leave her, and to go on board the Royal Charles ; but the boat had scarcely rowed ten times its own length from the St. George when it was struck with a cannon shot, which instantly sunk it, and the admiral and crew perished. His death was lamented by the whole country, and even by the Dutch, who acknowledged him to have been a brave man and a most valiant and distinguished commander. He died as he had lived, an example even to the brave. ARTHUR HERBERT, EARL OF TORRIKGTON. DIED IN 1716. We now approach that memorable period of the British history the Revolution, of which great event admiral Herbert was one of the chief instruments and promoters. He was the son of Sir Edward Herbert, attorney-general to Charles I., and afterwards lord-keeper of the gTeat seal to Charles II. when in exile. Being bred to the sea, he was appointed lieutenant of the Defiance in the beginning of the year 16(36, and in November following was promoted to the command of the Pembroke frigate. In this ship he had an early oppoj'tuuity of distinguishing himself, for sailing soon after his appointment to the Mediterranean, he there fell in with a Dutch frigate of superior force, and gallantly engaged her from two in the afternoon till night separated them. That his enemy might not lose company in the night, captain Herbert very spiritedly hoisted a light : in the morning, how- ever, his adversary wishing to decline all farther contest HERBERT. Ill UttTc Hway, and, hciii;^- the better sailer of the two, made bis escape into Cadiz. Herbert also put into that port to refit, and the bottom of his ship being very foul, slie was obliged to be hove down to repair. While she lay in that defenceless state, the Dutchman made almost daily boasts of his prowess, and fired his truns in defiance of the En-rlish frigrate. When the Pembroke was repaired, he put to sea, and captain Herbert immediately slipped his cable, and stood after him to engage. A second combat ensued; but the Dutch captain finding he had the worst of the engagement bore away again to Cadiz, and effected his retreat a second time into a neutral port, by his superiority of sailing. After this gallant action captain Herbert returned with a convoy to England, and lost the Pembroke ofF Portland, by running on board another ship of war ; but this misfortune did not keep him long without employ ment, for very soon after his arrival he was appointed to the Constant Warwick, and sailed again to the Mediter- ranean. In May IG71, he engaged during almost three days successively two Algerine frigates, and would have captured them had not his ship been too disabled to pursue them. In 1678, he commanded the Rupert, of sixty-four guns, and sailed again to the Mediterranean, where on many occasions he particularly di.-=tinguished himself against the Barbary corsairs, and in an action with one of their chips, of a force nearly equal to hisown,whichhe took, had the misfortune to lose an eye. On the return of Sir John Narborough to England in 1679, he succeeded to the commaud-in-chief in the Mediterranean, and in the year following was raised to the rank of vice-admiral within tlie limits of that station. His chief exploit in this quarter, after he had obtained a flag, was the defence of the town of Tangier against a very powerful army of Moors; and in this service he proved himself as brave and expert an officer by land, as he had before shewn himself by sea. When it was resolved in the council at home to abandon Tangier, he was charged with the de- molition of the pier and fortifications, which he per- formed so effectually, that to the present day the Moors have never been able to repair the harbour, and the walla of the town are little better than a heap of ruins. For these services on the 3rd of February, 112 NAVAL HISTORY. 16S3, he was constituted rear-admiral of England, and shortly after one of the commissioners of the admiralty. On the accession of James II. admiral Herbert was considered one of the persons most in favour with the new monarch, who caressed him greatly, and ap- pointed him master of the robes. But this gleam of court sunshine was soon overcast. James was resolutely bent on invading the civil and religious liberties of his subjects, and Herbert, from principles of the purest patriotism, opposed his designs. He was particularly active in his opposition to the king's favourite object of the repeal of the Test Act, which gave such high offence to the bigot- ted prince, that James dismissed him from all his em- ployments. Soon after his disgrace, Herbert retired to Holland, where he was received with much distinction by the prince of Orange, and became one of his prin- cipal confidants and advisers in all the measures re- specting the revolution. The States General conferred on him the command of their fleet, in which station he proved himself deserving of their confidence. On the 19th of October, 1688, the prince of Orange sailed from Helvoetsluys with a fleet of five hundred sail. Admiral Herbert commanded the van ; the prince the centre, bearing the flag of England and his own arms with this motto, • I uill maintain the Protestant religion, and the liberties of England ;' the rear was commanded by the Dutch admiral Evertzen. The day after the fleet sailed, it encountered a violent storm, and was obliged to return to port. On the 1st of Novem- ber the fleet sailed again. The pHnce intended to have gone northward, and to have landed in the Humber, but a strong east wind rendered this impracticable. He then steered westward ; and in a foggy day passed the English fleet, which lay at anchor in the Gun fleet, nndiscerned, except a few transports which sailed in sight, while the English fleet lay with their yards and top-masts down, and could not weigh their anchors on account of the violence of the wind. On the 4tb of November at noon it was resolved, at a coun- cil of war, that part of the ships should go into Dart- mouth, and the rest into Torbay ; but in the night the pilots overshot them both, and it was then determined to sail on to Plymouth ; but the wind suddenly changing from east to south corrected the error of the pilots and HERBERT. 113 brou-ht them back to Torbay, where the priuce of Orangre auspiciously hmded on the 5th of November, and thus happily terminated the naval part of this great and glorious undertaking. Under the new crovernment, which was established early in 1689, admiral Herbert was appointed first com- missioner for executing the office of lord high admiral ; and in the beginning of April sailed with a force con- sisting of twelve sail of the line to oppose the French fleet under M. Chateau Renard, which had convoyed king James and his army to Ireland. His fleet was afterwards increased to eighteen sail of the line, two frigates, a fire-ship, and tM'o or three small vessels. On the 21st of May the English admiral discovered the French fleet, consisting of twenty-four sail of the line, at anchor in Bantry bay. The French, as soon as thev perceived the English fleet, got under sail, and stood out to sea in a well-formed line of battle, both admirals seeking an action with equal eagerness. The fleets were soon warmly engaged, and continued so till five in the evening, when they mutually separated. The enemy retired into Bantry bay, and the English fleet bore away for Scilly. Admiral Herbert continued to cruise for some time in soundings, in hopes of a rein- forcement ; but none arriving, he sailed to Portsmouth. William came down to visit him soon after his arrival, and notwithstanding his ill success, which indeed wa.** by no means imputable to him, but might justly be ascribed to the inferiority of his fleet, he created him an English peer by the title of baron Herbert of Torbay and earl of Ton-ington. The fleet having been reinforced by a squadron under admiral Russel, and some Dutch ships, and those vessels repaired which had sufiered most in the late action, the earl of Torringtou proceeded to sea in the beginning of July. But the French continued in their harbours during the remainder of the year, and aflbrded him no fresh opportunity of proving his courage. In the month of January following, he resigned his post of first lord of the admiralty, in consequence of some complaints in the house of commons respecting the management of that board, and was succeeded in his office by the earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, a nobleman whose great populaiity was thought most 11 114 NAVAL HISTORY. likely to allay the popular clamour. The earl of Tor- rington, however, was still continued in the command of the fleet. During the winter, the French had used their utmost exertions to render their marine superior in force to that of England, and with so much success, that in the month of June, 1600, they entered the Channel with a fleet of eighty-four sail of the line, besides frigates, fire- ships, and small vessels. The utmost force that the earl of Torrington could collect to oppose this formidable armament, consisted of lifty-six sail of the line, English and Dutch ships. Notwithstanding this great dispropor- tion of force, the admiral continued to follow, preventing them by his presence from the power of mischief, but wisely wishing to avoid an action till his fleet should, by further reinforcements, acquire sufficient force to render conquest certain. This was the state of things when an express arrived from the queen (then regent) commanding him instantly to engage. He immediately took every step prudence as well as bravery could suggest, to ensure all the success that could reasonably be hoped for. He convened all the flag officers, imparted to them his orders, and prepared for battle. At day-break on the morning of the 30th of June, he made the signal for his fleet to fall into line, and as soon as this was efiected, he bore away for the enemy ; and at eight o'clock made the signal for close action. The French fleet, com- manded by the count de Tourville, prepared for the contest. Their fleet was ranged, not as is usually the case, in a straight line, but in a curve, generally called a half-moon. At nine in the morning the whole French fleet began the attack upon the EngUsh blue and Dutch squadrons : and the red or centre, commanded by the earl in person, being much separated, occasioned a great opening between the combined fleets. The French took advantage of this to surround the Dutch and blue squa- drons, which made a most gallant defence, and to save themselves from inevitable destruction came to an anchor. The earl of Tomngton observing the perilous situation of this part of his fleet, bore down with several ships to their assistance, and rescued them from the enemy. At five in the afternoon it fell calm, and the ebb tide making strong, the English fleet anchored. The earl of Torrington, on examining the state of bis HERBERT. 115 fleet, fouuJ that both it and the Dutch had suffered so inaterially, that no advantage could be gained by a re- newal of the action ; he therefore at night weighed, and stood to the westward. On the next day it was resolved at a council of war, tliat it would be most advisable to pre- serve the fleet by retreating, and rather to destroy the dis- abled ships than, by protecting them, to hazard another engagement. The French fleet, although it was driven a considerable distance down the Channel, continued to pui-sue the combined fleets. The Anne, of seventy guns, which was entirely dismasted, was forced on shore near Rye bay, and destroyed. The enemy also at- tempted to destroy a Dutch ship of sixty-four guns, which was driven on shore, but her commander de- fended her with so much bravery, that he obliged them to desist, and she was afterwards got otF, and arrived safe in Holland. The earl of Torrington retreated into the river Thames, leaving a few frigates to watch the motions ef the enemy, who remained masters of the Channel. Tourville stood to the westward, and anchored the French fleet in Torbay, where it remained till the 5th of August, when the wind shifting to the eastward, he sailed for Brest. The English lost in this unfor- tunate battle two ships and 350 men ; the Dutch were much greater suff'erers, losing six ships of the line, two admirals, and a very considerable number of men. The earl of Torrington was examined before the privy council, and justified his conduct with great firmness. The council, however, committed him prisoner to the Tower, and directed an examination to be taken at Sheer- ness relative to the causes of the late disaster. It was soon resolved to bring the admiral to a trial ; but a con- siderable difliculty arose as to the marnier of proceeding. The king was resolved that he should be tried by a court martial ; but the earl's friends maintained that he ought to be tried by his peers. A doubt was also started as to the power of the lords of the admiralty ; for though it was allowed that the lord high admiral of England might have issued a commission for trying him, yet it was Huestioned whether any such authority was vested in the commissioners of the admiralty. To remove this doubt a new law was made declarative of the power of the board of admiralty, and as soon as the act passed, the commissioners gave orders for a court-martial to be held H2 116 NAVAL HISTORY. on the earl of Torrington. It assemblecl at Sheerness, on the lOth of December, on board the Rent frigate, and Sir Ralph Delaval, vice-admiral of the blue in the engage- ment, was appointed president. The charge against the earl was, that in the engagement off Beachy head, he had through treachery or cowardice misbehaved in his office, drawn dishonour on the British nation, and sacri- ftced our good allies, the Dutch. The admiral defended himself with great clearness of reason, and extraordinary composure of mind. He took notice of the order of coun- cil, which obliged them to fight against their own opinion, and without any probability of success. He remarked the inequality between the confederate and the French fleets ; the former consisting but of fifty-six and the latter having eighty-two actually engaged. He asserted that the Dutch were destroyed by their own rashness, and that if he had sustained them in the manner they expected, the whole confederate fleet must have been surrounded as they were. He concluded his defence with saying, that his conduct had saved the English fleet ; and that he hoped an English court-martial would not sacrifice him to Dutcli resentment. After a full hear- ing and strict examination of the evidence on both sides, the earl was unanimously acquitted.* The king, however, was so dissatisfied with this find- ing of the court-martial, that the next day he dismissed the earl of Torrington from all his employment. This it has generally been supposed was done to allay the resent- ment of the Dutch for the loss of their ships. The con- duct of the king has been censured as unwovthN of his character, and ungenerous to one who had so ably pro- moted his accession to the throne of England : in place of protecting an able commander who was exposed to the malice of a faction, and to the irritating feelings of the populace, he encouraged the public discontent by the sanction of his authority. But the veteran commander had the courage to withstand such treatment, and the satisfaction to know that he had best consulted the inter- est of his country, by securing the safety of the kingdom * ft is surely a striking- proof of national vanity to expect that a British fleet shall always be able to destroy its oppoiieni without refer- ence to their comparative strength. The British navy has performed wonders, but it must be borne in mind that it cannot perforin impos- sibilities, and that the only way to preserve its supremacy is to main- tdin its relative equality to any opposing force. RUSSEL. 117 at so trifling a loss as had been sustained in the late unequal contest. The French fleet was so disabled in the encounter as to be obliged to return to their own ports, without performing any service which deserves to be recorded. His lordship after this event retired from public life, but continued to give his support to every measure of government which he considered for the good of his country ; and when he felt bound in con- science to oppose it, he always gave his reasons, and en- tered a formal protest. He died on the 13th of April, 1716, at an advanced age, without issue. EDWARD RUSSEL, EARL OF ORFOKD. 1652—1727. The second great naval promoter and partisan of the revolution was Edward Rnssel, the son of Edward Rus- sel, fourth son of the earl of Bedford, and brother to the amiable but unfortunate lord William Russel. He pro- bably entered the navy previous to the second Dutch war, at which time he was one of Sir Edward Spragge's lieutenants ; and in 1072 was advanced to the command of the Phoenix frigate. After serving some time on the Mediterranean station, he commanded a ship of the line at home ; but towards the latter end of the reign of Charles II. he appears to have withdrawn from the ser- vice, and no further mention is made of him as a naval character until after the revolution. When the arbitrary measures of James II. obliged many English persons of distinction to take refuge in Holland, Mr. Russel was one of the exiles who repaired to the court of the prince of Orange, and soon acquired his confidence and friendship. After the revolution, he was appointed admiral of the bhie squadron, and hoisted his fla^ on board the Duke, of 90 guns. In this ship he served some time under the earl of Torrington, after the battle of Bantry bay ; and in the winter sailed to Hol- land with a small squadron to convoy the queen of Spain to the Groyne. 118 NAVAL HISTORY. On the disgrace of the earl of Torring'toii , Russel v-as appointed, in December 1690, commander-in-chief of the fleet which had then returned into port for re-equipment. When ready for sea its appearance was truly formidable — it consisted of fifty seven English and seventeen Dutch ships of the line. With such a force what might not have been expected? Yet such was the delay, occasioned by contrary winds, and such was the extreme caution of the French, that the summer was passed away in pro- jecting attacks upon the enemy's ports, which were never can-ied into execution. In the following year the eyes of Europe were turned, in the utmost expectation and anxiety, on the struggle which was to determine whether the British were to succeed in maintaining the king of their choice upon the throne, or that James II. should be restored by the power of Louis XIV. In May, 1G92, admiral Russel received intelligence that a French fleet, under the count de Tourville, was a^ sea; when the united English and Dutch fleets, amount- ing to ninety-nine ships of war, sailed from St. Helen's on the 18th of May, and stretched over to the coast of France. The next morning, at day-break, the frigate ahead made the signal for discovering an enemy. Orders were immediately given to form the line of battle, and at eight o'clock it was completed. The French were inferior to the combined fleets, their force amounting only to sixty-three sail of the line ; but it is said that Tour\'ille, like the earl of Torrington on a simi- lar occasion, had received peremptory orders from his court to fight.* At ten, the French being to wind- ward, the count de Tourville bore down with great reso- lution ; and at eleven this ever-memorable action began ofi" Cape la Hogue. About one, the French admiral's ship was so much shattered in its masts and rigging, that it was obliged to be towed out of the line. Bat the battle con- * It is only by comparing the nesrtitive victory of lord Torrlng-ton off Beachy headj with the fatal disi-teroffla Hogue, that the judicious and skilful conduct of the British admiral is fully displayed. Both were ordered to risk a battle under similar circumstances. In the first con- test the English fleet is the weakest, and the admiral keeps out to sea and avoids a decisive battle, but succeeds in crippling: the enemy with- out suffering any unequal loss. In the other the strength of the fleets is reversed. The French admiral keeps in shore, invites a contest, and leaving himself no means of escape, his fleet is totally destroyed by a superior enemy. It is probable that the English fleet would have suffered iu the same manner iiad Torrington risked a close action. RUSSEL. 119 tiuued to rage with gieat violence till four, when so thick a fog came on that the enemy could not be seen. When it cleared up, the French admiral's ship was discovered towing: away to the northward, and followed by his ships much shattered, and in gn-eat disorder. Admiral Russel immediately made the signal for a general chase; but iiniuckily the fog coming on much darker than before, he was obliged to anchor in order to keep his fleet col- lected. The weather clearing a little, they weighed again, and stood in pursuit of the tiying enemy. About eight in the evening, the blue squadron got up with the French, and engaged them about half an hour, when the enemy having lost four of their ships, bore away for Con- quet Road. In this short action rear-admiral Carter was killed, who, when he found himself mortally wounded, is said to have sent to his captain, and desired him to fight t^ie ship as long as it could swim. On the t\.o following days the weather proved so dark and foggy, that although the hostile fleets were frequently in sight of each other, nothing important could be done. The French continued standing to the westward, the Erglifih pursuing them. On the 22nd, about seven in the morning, the English fleet continued the chase with all the success they could desire. About eleven, the French admiral's ship ran ashore, when her masts were cut away ; his two seconds and some other ships plied to his assistance, and remained by him. Admiral Russel observing their situation, ordered Sir Ralph Delaval, who was in the rear, to keep a suffi- cient number of ships in his division ready to destroy those of the enemy, and to send the rest to join the body of the fleet. In the evening many of the enemy's ships were seen standing ofl" la Hogue, where, on the2.Jrd and following day, they were destroyed by Sir George Rooke. By this signal defeat the French lost the Soleil Royal, their admiral's ship, of 112 guns, one of 104, one of 90, two of 80, three of 76, one of 74, two of C8, two of 60, one of 56, and about eighteen or more Icsier ships of war. The remainder of their fleet escaped by pushing through the race of Aldemey, and taking shelter in St. Maloes. We attach a more particular account of this decisive victory, for the benefit of naval readers, from the journal of captain John Tyrrel, of the Ossory : — 120 NAVAL HISTORY. BATTLE OFF LA HOGUE. i 1692, May 18. — In the afternoon fell into a line of battle; about five next morning- got sight of the French fleet : they bore down upon us, and at ten came within pistol shot: we engaged, and so lay till noon firing very smartly. At two we gained the weather-gage of the enemy. The Dutch intended to tack upon them but fell to leeward, but our red and the rear-admiral of the blue surrounded them. It proving calm, we got our boats a-head and towed towards the enemy, and renewed the actioa About throe the wind chopped to the eastward, and presently proved calm with a great fog, insomuch that we could not see the enemy to fire at them. At four the weather cleared up, and we got sight of them to the north- ward of us. At seven the French vice-admiral of the blue was set on fire by one of our ships and blew up. Three third, rates were also burned, and two more three-decked ships sunk. The night approaching, and the wind veering to the north- cast, gave the enemy the weather-gage, and about nine we lost sight of them. Rear-admiral Carter was wounded in this day's engagement, lost his leg, and soon after died. The French fleet consisted of about sixty-five fighting ships. May 19, chased. May 20, chase continued. May 21, the enemy lay under Cape la Hogue, some of them aground. The admiral called a consultation to destroy the said ships, which was un- dertaken by the rear-admiral of the red. May 22. Yesterday in the afternoon all our blue, and the red, that stood in after the French admiral of the white, with the Dutch, anchored here, having burned three of the enemy's three-decked ships, and two more ships of war. The Dutch also brought off a French fire-ship from Aldemey, but could efi'ect nothing against the other fire-ships which lay there. Towards night Sir George Rooke, vice-admiral of the blue, with about twenty sail of third and fourth-rates and several fire-ships stood in for the enemy's ships ; we likewise sent our long-boats with arms, and well manned ; Sir George having shifted his flag on board the Eagle. After some contest with the batteries on shore, at eight our boats went on board the enemy's ships, and burned four three-decked ships and four third-rates. In the morning we sent all our boats as before, our third-rates riding in shore ; the boats burnt three third- rates and four three-decked ships. In all we burnt and sunk in the engagement and otherwise fourteen sail of three- decked ships, and eighteen sail of third and fourth-rates. About eleven this morning the boats and third-rates came ofl', having received no harm. Sir George hoisted his flag on board the Neptune again. Notwithstanding" the eminent service he bad performed, admiral Russel was received with great coolness on his retura to England, and the king even expressed his dis- RUSSEL. 121 appointment, on the ojjening of parliament, that the success of the fleet had not been more complete. The house of commons, indeed, thanked him for his conduct off La Hogue, but afterwards harassed him and the offi- cers who served under him with so many tedious inquiries and examinations, that they raised a popular clamour against the admiral ; and the nation at large en- tering into these jealousies, the ministers found it neces- sary, to allay the popular clamour, to dismiss Russel from the command of the fleet ; upon which he very spiritedly resigned the treasurership of the navy, which he had held from the revolution. But his absence fnmi the service proved of no long duration, for the ill success of our naval operations, during the summer of 1693, induced the king to call him into employment again, and, to remove all unfavour- able impressions of his fonuer dismission, appointed him first lord of the admiralty, as well as commander- in-chief of the grand fleet of one hundred and thirty- six ships, eighty-eight of which were of the line of battle. This fleet sailed for the Mediterranean, in June 1G94, and compelled the admiral of France, count de Tourville, to retire with precipitation to the harbour of Toulon, and convinced all the European powers of the supremacy of the British fleet. He returned to Englanfl in the autumn of 1G95, and appeared no more in the character and station of a naval commander. In itiOT he was created a peer, by the title of baron of Shingey, viscount Barfleur, and earl of Orford ; and during tlie king's absence in Holland, was appointed one of the lords justices of the kingdom. But in 1699, falling again under the displeasure of the popular party, he was removed from his employments, and remained in retire- ment till the eighth year of the reign of queen Anne, when, on the death of prince George of Denmark, the lord high admiral, he was again appointed to the im- portant post of first commissioner of the admiralty. On this occasion, it is said, he was off'ered the appointment of lord high admiral, but with singular modesty declined that elevated and honourable appointment. He did not long, however, continue to hold the post he had accepted, for on the removal of the earl of Oodolphin from the office of lord treasurer, the earl of Orford resiimed the presidency of the admiralty board, G 122 NAVAL HISTORY, and again retired from public life till the decease of the queen ; upon which event he was chosen one of the lords justices of the kingdom, until the arrival of king George I. from Hanover. This monarch immediately appointed him one of his privy council; and on the 13th of October following recalled him to his former post of first commissioner of the admiralty, which he continued to hold till the ItJth of April, 1717, when he retired altogether from public employment. He died on the 20th of November, 1727, in the seventy-fifth year of his age, and, leaving no issue, his title became extinct. SIR GEORGE ROOKE, Knt. 1C50— 1703. This distinguished officer, the son of Sir William Rooke, knight, of an ancient and honourable familj-, in the county of Kent, was born in the year 1650. His father, on account of the quickness of his capacity, and the solidity of his judgment, designed him for one of the learned professions, and gave him a suitable education ; but the inclination of young Rooke for a naval life was too powerful to be overcome, and his father yielding to his entreaties, allowed him to make a voyage at sea. Nothing is known of his early services, except that he attained the rank of captain in the reign of Charles II. before he was thirty years of age, which must be taken as a proof of his merit, since the command of ships at that time was rarely given to men so young. Under James II. he was appointed to the Deptford, a fourth- rate, and commanded that ship at the revolution. He appears to have entered zealously into the support of the new govei-nment ; for in 1689, the year following the revolution, he was appointed commodore of a squa- dron on the Irish coast, and sailed to the relief of Londonden-y. This service being performed, which gave the first effectual check to king James's arms in Ireland, he was employed in transporting the duke of Schom- berg's army to Carrickfergus, and assisted with his ships ROOKE. 123 fn the reduction of that place. He continued on the Irish station diiring the remainder of the year, but with too inconsiderable a force to perform any thing deserv- ing: particular notice. In the beginning of the year 1G90, on the recom- mendation of the earl of Tori'ington, he was appointed rear-admiral of the red, and served in that station in the engagement oft' Beachey Head. No part of the disgi-ace which fell on tlie commander-in-chief being imputable to Rooke, he retained his command, and immediately after had the honour to convoy the king to Holland, as he had likewise the following year. In the spring of 1692, he was promoted to the rank of vice- admiral of the blue, and gathered his full share of laurels at the glorious battle off La Hogiie.* For his brilliant services on that occasion he was rewarded with an annual pension of £1000, and received the honour of knighthood. About this time, he was likewise promoted to be vice-admiral of the red, and continued to command a division of the grand fleet. In 1093, he was sent with a squadron of twenty-three Eng- lish and Dutch men-of-war, to convoy the Smyrna fleet through the straits. As the misfortune which befel this fleet caused a great sensation at home, and has been considered as one of the chief blemishes of William's reign, a more detailed account of it than we should otherwise think proper to insert may not be unaccept- able. The French wishing to strike a signal blow, that might in some measure alleviate the misfortune of the last year at La Hogue, had selected Lagos bay as the rendezvous of their squadrons from Brest and the Mediterranean, and in this way, almost unknown to the Engliijh ministry, collected a very powerful fleet, which lay there as it were in ambush, for the purpose of intercepting the Smyrna convoy ; and the design seems to have been managed with great prudence and secrecy. On the 17th of June, Sir George Kooke, being off" Lagos bay, discovered at day-break ten sail of the enemy's ships of war and some vessels stretching out from the land, with their boats ahead towing, as if they were endeavouring to escape from him. In this idea he was confirmed by the report of the crew of a French flreship, which was permitted to fall into his hands for * See the life of Riisscl. 124 NAVAL HISTORY. the pui"pose of deceiving him, and who saiil, that the French squadron consisted of no more than fifteen sail of the line, — that they had with them about fifty sail of merchant vessels and other store ships, and were bound to Toulon and other ports in the Mediterranean. This intelligence, which seemed corroborated by the retreat of their ships of war, induced the admiral to pursue them, but about noon the enemy's true force was plainly discovered to consist of about eighty ships of war. After consulting with the Dutch admiral, who served under his orders, he found it impossible to contend against so great a superiority of force, and therefore he made the signal for the convoy to disperse, and take shelter, if possible, in the neighbouring ports of Faro, St. Lucar, or Cadiz. In the evening the enemy got up with the rear of the combined fleets, and took, after a most noble resistance, one English and two Dutch ships of war. About ninety sail of the convoy were taken or destroyed and the loss sustained by the nation was computed at upwards of one million sterling. Sir George Rooke, after this disaster, sailed with part of his shat- tered fleet to Madeira, and from thence proceeded to England, where he was very favourably received, and sufflered nothing in his reputation for a misfortune, which, on his part, was wholly unavoidable. He even acquired additional honour for having effected his escape from so very superior a French force ; he received the thanks of the merchants for his conduct, and was promoted by the king to be vice-admiral of the red ; and as a further mark of his confidence and favour, was made one of the lords of the admiralty. But great complaints were made against the admiralty board for their want of correct intelligence, from whence this misfortune had arisen, and strong insinuations of treachery were thrown out against him. Sir George continued principally employed at the admiralty board till the spring of the year 1097, when he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Channel fleet, having been made admiral of the white some time previous ; but nothing of impoi'tance occurred during the time he held this command. In the following year he was chosen member of parliament for the borough of Portsmouth, and, from motives of conscience, voting chiefly with the opposition, the king's ministers were ROOKE. - 125 extremely urgent with his majesty, that he should b(^ removed from his seat at the admiralty board. But this William would not consent to, and he said, with that yrenerous magrJinimity which is characteristic of a patriot king, ' As Sir George Rooke served me faithfull y at sea, I will never displace him for acting as he thinks most for the service of his country, in the house of commons.' In 1700, Sir George sailed with a strong fleet into the Baltic, to mediate a peace hetween Sweden and Den- mark ; but the latter being unwilling to subscribe to the terms which he was instructed to demand, he bom- barded Copenhagen, and obliged the Danes to sue for peace. They consented to the articles, which he was authorized to propose, and this matter being concluded, he returned to England. To the king of Sweden, the celebrated Charles XII. who pressed him to take more rigorous measures with the Danes, he very calmly re- plied, * Sir, I was sent hither to serve your majesty, but not to ruin the king of Denmark.' His conduct in this expedition was so particularly acceptable to the States General, some of whose ships served under his orders, that they thanked king William for having in- trusted his fleet to so prudent aud able a commander. At this time Sir George Rooke was considered by the Dutch, who were certainly then no bad judges of naval merit, to be the best officer and greatest seaman of the age. On the accession of queen Anne, Sir George was con- stituted vice-admiral and lieutenant of the admiralty of England, and also lieutenant of the fleets and seas of the kingdom ; and on the rupture with France, was imme diately called out into active employment. He hoisted the union flag on board the Royal Sovereign, of 110 guns, and sailed from St. Helen's on the 19th of June, 1702, with a fleet of thirty English and twenty Dutch sail of the line, having upwards of 13,000 soldiers on board, on an expedition to the coast of Spain. To under- stand the nature of our dispute with Spain at this period, it may be right to observe, that the succession to the crowTi of Spain was disputed by the houses of Bourbon and Austria ; that Louis XIV. espoused the claim of his grandson Philip, and that of the archduke Charles was •upportcd by the maritime powers. If the Spaniards 126 NAVAL HISTORY. were disposed to acknowledg-e Charles as their sovereign, the Eng:lish commauders were instructed to treat them as allies ; if otherwise, they were to act hostilely towards them, and by every means in their power to reduce them to submission to the house of Austria. On the 12th of Aug:ust the combined fleets anchored before Cadiz, and the next day the duke of Ormond, commander-in-chief of the laud forces, sent a letter to the governor, requiring him to surrender the place. This being refused, he landed on the 15th, and in a few days made himself master of the forts of St. Cathe- rine and St. Mary. But it being found difficult to approach Cadiz while the Spaniards were in possession of Alataguarda fort, oppoiits to the Puntal, which could not be taken without exposing the town to a bom- bardment, a council of war was held to determine on the measures necessary to be pursued. At this council it was represented that so severe a proceeding as bom- barding the town would alienate the affections of the Spaniards from the house of Austria, whose allies the combined forces declared themselves to be ; and there- fore the troops were re-embarked, and the fleet prepared to return home. The expedition, which had been prepared at much expense, would probably have terminated here, had not captain Hardy, of the Pembroke, accidentally put into Lagos bay for water, where he received intelligence from Mr. Iklethuen, the British envoy at Lisbon, that the Spanish galleons from the West Indies, laden with an immense treasure, had put into the harbour at Vigo, under convoy of a Frencix squadron. Captain Hardy immediately sailed in quest of the fleet, which he fell in with on the 6th of October, and communicated this important intelligence to the admiral. Sir George Rooke, in a council of war, composed of the English and Dutch flag officers, determined immediately to attack them ; but a strong gale of wind drove the fleet to the northward of Cape Finisterre, which prevented their getting off Vigo before the 11th of October. Ou their arrival, they found the passage into the harbour was extremely narrow, not above three quarters of a mile over, and well defended by batteries ou both sides. A strong boom was likewise laid across the entrance, the top chain of which was moored at each end to a ROOKE. 127 seventy gun ship ; and within the boom were moored tive ships, from seventy to sixty guns, with their broad- sides to the sea, to defend the passag-e. But nothing could withstand the ardour of the assailants. There not being water enough to admit first or second-rate ships into the harbour, Sir George Rooke shifted his Hag into the Somerset, a third-rate, and the other admirals followed his example. A choice body of troops under the duke of Ormond were landed to make a di- version and attack the batteries, while fifteen sail of English and ten Dutch men-of-war, with all the frigates, boiub-vessels, and fire-ships, were ordered to stand into the harbour. The two services on this occasion seem to have been actuated by a spirit of glorious emulation, for the duke of Ormond, in much less time than could have been expected, made himself master of the batteries ; and vice-admiral Hobson, in the Torbay, who had the honour to lead the attack, carrying a press of sail, ran against the boom, broke it, and thereby opened a passage for the rest of the combined squadron. In the mean while the enemy defended themselves with great resolution and bravery. The Torbay was severely shattered, and would have been burnt by a fire-ship, but for the un- common exertions of her officers and crew. She sus- tained a loss of 115 men killed and wounded : but the other ships of the squadron coming to her relief, the enemy struck their colours, and abandoned their ships. The loss sustained by the enemy in ships amounted to seventeen men-of-war, seven of which were burnt, and the remainder brought away, and divided between the confederate fleets. Six galleons were taken by the English, and five by the Dutch, who sunk six. As to the treasure on board the galleons, it is very difficult to form a satisfactory estimate. 'I'hey are reported to have had on board twenty millions of pieces of eight, besides merchandise which was thought to be of equal value. But previous to the attack the French had removed four- teen millions of the treasure, and five millions of the -uods, on shore. Four millions of the plate were de- stroyed, with ten millions of merchandise ; and about two millions in silver, and five in goods, were brought away by the English and Dutch. 128 NAVAL HISTORY. The thanks of both houses of parliament were voted to Sir George Rooke, and the other commanders, for this great service, and the speaker of the house of commons complimented him in his place in so just and elegant a manner on his success, that we cannot deny ourselves the satisfaction of inserting here a short extract from his speech : * In former times,' said he, * admirals and ge- nerals have had success against France and Spain sepa- rately ; but this action at Vigo hath been a victory over them confederated together: you have not only spoiled the enemy, but enriched your own country : common victories bring terrors to the conquered ; but you brought destruction upon them, and additional strength upon England. France hath endeavoured to support its ambi- tion by the riches of India ; your success, sir, hath only left them the burthen of Spain, and stripped them of the assistance of it. The wealth of Spain and ships of France are, by this victory, brought over to our juster cause.' Among his other honours. Sir George was raised to the rank of a privy councillor. Early in the year 170-1 he sailed from Spithead, with a numerous fleet, to convoy the archduke Charles, who was acknowledged king of Spain by the allies, to Lisbon. A continuance of stormy weather retarded his passage, so that he did not reach Lisbon till nearly six weeks after his departure from England. Previous to the land- ing of the king of Spain, a dispute arose concerning the ceremony of the flag, which, from the punctilious spirit of the Portuguese court, required some time to adjust. The disputed point was as follows : the king of Portugal required, that, on his coming on board the admiral's ship in his barge of state, and striking his standard, the English flag should be struck at the same time ; and that when his catholic majesty, with himself, should go off from the ship, his flag might be hoisted, and the admiral's flag continue struck until they were on shore. This pro- position was made from the king of Portugal by the king of Spain, who was then on board Sir George's ship ; to which the admiial replied, that his majesty , as long as he continued on board, might command the flag to be struck when he pleased, but that whenever he left the ship, he was himself admiral, and obliged to execute his commis- sion by immediately hoisting his flag. This, and some other reasons, satisfied the king of Spain, as well as his ROOKE. 129 Portuguese majesty ; so that the flag: of England was no longer struck than the standard of Portugal. After this, the fleet sailed into the Mediterranean, with a view to attack Barcelona, but having been misinformed as to the disposition of the inhabitants, which was re- presented to be more favourable to king Charles than iu reality it was, Sir George relinquished his design, returned throui^h the straits, and cruised for some time ofl' Lagos bay, in hopes of falling iu with a French squadron from Brest, wliich was supposed to be bound for the Mediterranean. On this station he was joined by a strong squadron from England, under Sir Cloudesly Shovel, and determined immediately to attack Gibraltar. The wind favouring, on the 21st of July, the fleet en- tered the bay, and in order to cut off all communication between the rock and the country, the prince of Hesse was directly landed on the isthmus with 1,800 marines. His highness having taken post there, he summoned the governor to surrender, who answered, that he was resolved to defend the place to the last extremity. On this, the admiral determined to cannonade the town, and having moored his ships in a line for that pui-pose, began a vigorous and incessant cannonade at day-break on the morning of the 2;Jrd. After the firing had con- tinued between five and six hours, and more than fifteen thousand cannon balls were expended, the Spa- niards fled froA their batteries, which Sir George Rooke observing, he immediately ordered the boats of the fleet to be manned and armed, and to proceed to secure the great platform. Captain Hicks and captain Jumper, of the navy, had the conduct of this glorious enterprise, which was crowned with complete success, but not with- out considerable loss, for the Spaniards sprung a mine, by which two lieutenants and forty seamen were killed, and sixty seamen wounded. The next day reinforce- ments of seamen were landed under captain Whitaker, who carried, sword in hand, a redoubt half-way betv/eeu the south mole and the town, and likewise made them- selves masters of many of the enemy's cannon. Sir George Rooke, on this, proposed terms of capitulation to the governor, which he readily accepted. Thus, in little more than two days, was this important bul- wark of the Mediterranean reduced by the valour of British seamen. Gibraltar, at the time of itji conqneHt, 130 NAVAL HISTORY, was not thought to be a place of much value, and it was taken possession of in the name and for the use o; king Charles III. At the peace of Utrecht it was ceded to the British crown ; and its value as a naval station has long been too well understood to require any obser- vation on that head. Leaving as many men as he could spare for a garrison at Gibraltar, under the command of the prince of Hesse, Sir George sailed, with the fleet to take in wood and water at Tetuan. Here he Jearnt that a French fleet, commanded by the count de Toulouse, was at sea, and, having got on board the necessary supplies, sailed up the MediteiTanean in pursuit of them. On the 13th of Au- gust, he discovered the enemy off" Malaga, and at ten o'clock bore down with the combined fleet, consisting of forty-one English and twelve Dutch ships of the line, in order of battle. A furious engagement commenced soon after, which was maintained on both sides with great resolution till about two in the afternoon, when the enemy's van gave way, and was towed to leeward by their galleys ; in other parts of their line the action continued till night, when their whole fleet bore away. During the night the wind changed, which brought the enemy to windward ; the two following dajs Sir George Rooke endeavoured to bring them to battle, but they as cautiously avoided it, and at last bore away for Toulon. From the loss sustained by the combined squadrons in this action, we may judge it to have been very severe ; on board the English ships 687 men were killed, and 1,632 wounded; the Dutch had 400 killed and wounded. The French were superior to the combined fleets by seven sail of the line and twelve galleys, which proved extremely useful in the engagement ; and the English and Dutch ships were very foul, and several of them were obliged to withdraw from the fight for the want of am- munition. These circumstances prevented the combined fleets from gaining a more decisive advantage over the enemy; and the French, as is usual with them after an undecisive baitie, claimed the victory : but it is worthy of remark, that this was the last considerable naval armament which France sent to sea for many years afterwards, and Louis XIV. was thus compelled tacitly to acknowledge, that it was in vain for him to contend with England at sea. ROOKE. 131 Sir George returned to England without having lost a single ship in his long voyage, either by accident or by the enemy, — a circumstance which is rather remarkable, when the capture of Gibraltar and the battle of Malaga were the services performed. Notwithstanding these eminent services he was removed from the command of the fleet; and finding party dissensions to run vio- lently high, he retired from public concerns to the en- joyment of a priyate life. He carried with him the esteem and veneration of the most enlightened and virtuous of his contemporaries, and his retirement must have been cheered by the reflection of a long series of splendid achievements, and a life actively, honourably, and successfully devoted to the service of his country. He died on the 2ith of January, 1708-9, in the fifty- eighth year of his age. Considering the great employ- ments he had held, in which some would have raised princely estates, he left but a very moderate fortune behind him, — so moderate, that on making his will some of his friends are reported to have expressed their sur- prise at the narrowness of bis circumstances, which drew from this good and great commander the following reply: 'I do not leave rauch, but what I leave was honestly gotten; it never cost a sailor a tear, or the uatiou a farthing.' 13 132 NAVAL HISTORY. JOHN BENBOW. DIED 1702. This famous admiral was the son of colonel John Benbow, who distinguished himself at the battle of Worcester in the royal army, and being taken prisoner by Cromwell, narrowly escaped being put to death. Dur- ing the usurpation his father lived in retirement in the country, and at the restoration he was appointed to a small office in the Tower, barely sufficient to afford him and his family a scanty maintenance. He was in this situation when, a little before the breaking out of the first Dutch war, the king came to the Tower to examine the state of the magazines. There the king saw the good old colonel, whose hair was grey with age, and immediately recognised him. Calling him to him, he embraced him with much cordiality, and inquired with great condescension after his fortunes. The colonel told him he had a place of fourscore pounds, in which he served his majesty as cheerfully as if it was four thou- sand. The king said it was too small a recompense for a man who had fought by his side at Worcester, and turning to one of his attendants, desired him to bring the colonel to him the following day, that he might pro- vide more liberally for him and his family. But short as the time was, the colonel did not live to receive or even to claim the effects of this gracious promise — his sense of the king's condescension and goodness so overcame his spirits, that sitting down on a bench he breathed his last, before the king was well out of the Tower ; and it does not appear that his family derived any benefit from his majesty's beneficent intentions. The subject of our present memoir was bred to the sea in the merchants' service, and in the latter part of the reign of Charles II. was owner and commander of the Benbow frigate, one of the most considerable vessels then employed in the Mediterranean trade. He was considered by the merchants as a brave, active, and skil- ful seaman, and no man was better known or more re- spected upon the Royal Exchange, than captain Benbow. BENBOW. 133 It docs not appear, however, that he sought any prefer- ment in the navy during this reign, nor probably would he in the next, but for the following remarkable accident, which led to his future distinction. In 1686, captain Benbow, in his own vessel the Ben- bow frigate, was attacked in his passage to Cadiz by a Sallee corsair, against whom he defended himself, though very inferior in his complement of men, with the utmost liravery, till at last the Moors boarded him, but were quickly beaten out of his ship again, with the loss of thirteen men, whose heads Benbow ordered to be cutoff, and thrown into a tub of salt brine. When he arrived at Cadiz, he went on shore, and ordered a negro servant to follow him, with the Moors' heads in a sack. He had scarce landed before the officers of the revenue inquired of his servant what he had in his sack? The captain answered, ' salt provisions for his own use,' but declined to allow the sack to be examined. The officers told him, that it would be necessary to appear before the magis- trates, and that if they should be satisfied with his word, his servant might carry the provisions where he pleased. The captain consented to this proposal, and went to the custom-house, accompanied by his man in the centre, and the officers in the rear. The magistrates, when he appeared before them, treated him with great politeness, and were sorry to make a point of such a trifle, but that since he had refused to shew the contents of his sack to their officers, their duty required them to examine it ; and that, as they doubted not they were salt provisions, the shewing them could be of no consequence. ' I told you,' said the captain, ' they were salt provisions for my own use. Ca?sar, throw them down upon the table ; and, gentlemen, if you like them, they are at your service.' The Spaniards were exceedingly struck at the sight of the Moors' heads, and no less astonished at the account of the captain's adventure, who, with so small a force, had been able to defeat such a number of barbarians. They sent an account of the whole affair to the court of Madrid, and Charles II. then king of Spain, was so pleased with it, and expressed so strong a desire to see the English captain, that Benbow made a journey to court, where he was received with great testimonies of respect, and not only dismissed with a handsome present, but his Catholic majesty was also pleased to write a letter in his 134 NAVAL HISTORY. behalf to king James II., who upon Benbow's return gave him a captain's commission, and appointed him to the command of a ship in the royal navy. After the revolution, Benbow distinguished himself by several successful cruises in the Channel, where he was employed at the request of the merchants, to protect their trade, and annoy the enemy. In this service he acquired a perfect knowledge of the French ports, and for that reason he was appointed, in 1693, to command a small squadron of frigates and bomb-ketches to bombard St. Maloes. He arrived off" the town on the 16th of Novem- ber, and bombarded it during three successive days. On the fourth day he sent in a new description of fire-ship of his own construction, which has ever since been quaintly termed an infernal. It was filled with one hundred baiTels of gunpowder and all sorts of combus- tible materials, as well as missiles, grenades, and pieces of iron and glass. This infernal was intended to be laid alongside the town wall, but it grounded at a little dis- tance. Notwithstanding this miscarriage, when she took fire the explosion was terrible beyond description : it shook the town like an earthquake, broke the windows for three leagues round, and shattered the roofs of above three hundred houses. One extraordinary circumstance was, that the capstan of the vessel, which weighed two hundred weight, was carried over the walls, and falling upon a house beat it to the ground. A great part of the wall towards the sea was likewise thrown down, and had there been a sufficient number of land forces on board the squadron, the place might have been taken and plundered with facility. The expedition neverthe- less proved of great use. It elated the spirits of the nation by shewing what execution could be done by a small squadron of English ships, when commanded by men of resolution and courage, and at the same time it so alarmed the inhabitants of St. Maloes, as considerably to damp the spirits of privateering in that, as well as in many other ports on the French coast. In 1696, he was employed under the orders of Sir Cloudesly Shovel to bombard Calais, but in this attack he had not the same success that attended him at St. Maloes, and was wounded in the leg. He did every thing, however, that could be expected from a brave man, and king William was so satisfied with his zeal BKNBOW. 135 and diligence, that he promoted him to the rank of rear- admiral of the blue. After this he was geiierallj- em- ployed in watching the motions of the French at Dunkirk., and to prevent as much as possible the depredations of that active partisan du Bart, who infested the North Seas with a squadron of light frigates. The merchants felt the benefit of his services in having their trade pro- tected, and they justly considered admiral Benbow as one of the most vigilant and meritorious officers in the navy. About this time a dispute arose in the king's councils, as to the propriety of preferring mere seamen, or as they were then called tarpaulins, or gentlemen in the navy. Admiral Benbow was personally consulted by the king on the subject, and constantly gave it as his opinion, that it was advisable to employ both ; that a seaman should never lose preferment for want of recommenda- tion, nor a gentleman obtain it merely from that motive. He was also an enemy to all party distinctions, and thought that a naval commander should be judged by his actions at sea, and not by the politics he might hold on shore, and therefore he maintained a free intercourse with men of all parties, and was universally esteemed for his honesty, courage, and conduct. After the peace of Uyswick, considerable doubts still existed as to the sincerity of the French, and the events which might take place on the death of Charles II. of Spain, in regard to the succession to his dominions. It was therefore deemed necessary to send a naval force to the West Indies, to place our colonies in a proper state of defence, and to be ready to act in that quarter should hostilities be renewed. The command of a squadron of seven sail was given to admiral Benbow, who arrived in the West Indies in January, 1699. Having landed some troops in the leeward islands, he proceeded according to his instructions to Carthagena, and there, by his spirited remonstrances, notwithstanding many evasions of the Spanish governor, procured the restitution of some Eng- lish merchants' ships, which had been seized by the Spaniards, by way of reprisal for the settlement made by the Scots on the isthmus of Darien. He afterwards proceeded to Porto ficllo on the same account, and there likewise by his firmness obtained the satisfaction he re quired. On his return to England, in June, 1700, he 13G NAVAL HISTORY. brought such favourable testimonials of his services from the planters and merchants, that he was very graciously received at court, and the king as a mark of his royal approbation was pleased to grant him an augmentation of arms, by adding to the three bent bojvs, which he and his family already bore, as many arrows. He was likewise promoted to be vice-admiral of the blue, and was sent to blockade a French squadron which was fitting out at Dunkirk, whence considerable fear was entertained of an invasion. But the admiral satis- fied government that there was no real gi-ound for alarm in that quarter, and therefore it was resolved to employ liim where his talents and devotion to the interests of his country might be more usefully exerted. The king of Spain having died and left the grandson of Louis XIV. his heir, it was considered impossible that peace could be much longer preserved. The English ministry therefore determined to send to the West Indies without delay a more powerful fleet than that of the previous year. They were desirous to have given the command to admiral Benbow, but the king objected to it from an unwillingness to subject him to such inces- sant exertion, and the more particularly as he had lately returned from that station. He therefore ordered that some other commander should be selected ; and on some names being submitted to him which did not meet his approbation, he is reported to have said, ' No, these are all fresh-water beaus ; the service requires a beau of an- other sort, — therefore we must send honest Benbow.' This anecdote will illustrate the estimation in which he was held by king William, for it was seldom that he indulged in punning upon words. The king accordingly sent for him, and asked whether he was willing to go to the West Indies, assuring him if he was not that he should not be otfended if he desired to be excused. Benbow honestly and bluntly replied, ' He knew no diflerence of climates, and for his part he thought no officer had a right to choose his station ; that he himself should be, at all times, ready to go to any part of the world to which his majesty thought proper to send him.' This dutiful and becoming answer was verygia- tifying to the king, and the business was soon settled. The vice-admiral hoisted his flag on board the Breda of 70 guns, and sailed from Spithead with ten ships of the BENBOW. 137 line about the end of August, and arrived at Barbadoes on the 3rd of November, 1701. The object of this expedition was to induce the Spa- nish governors in the West Indies not to acknowledge Philip, the gi'andson of Louis XIV. who, by the will of Charles II., bad been nominated to succeed to all the dominions of the Spanish monarchy ; and in case that could not be effected, he was to endeavour to make himself master of the galleons, or treasure-ships. The French, who knew well the importance of the Spanish possessions in the West Indies, lost no time in providing for their security. They dispatched three squadrons to the West Indies, each of them superior in strength to Benbow, and having a considerable body of land forces on board. This very formidable fleet rendered every exertion necessary on the parts both of the admiral and the colonist-*. On a junction of two of these squadrons off St. Domingo, Benbow, as a measure of necessary pru- dence, was obliged to retire to Jamaica, where be took the most effectual steps for the protection of that island, and distributed his cruisers so judiciously, that but little damage was done to British commerce within the limits of his station. As soon as Benbow received official information of war having been declared against France, he prepared to act upon the offensive, and some of his cruisers met with considerable success. On obtaining intelligence that the French fleet had separated, and that a squadron of ten sail under the command of M. du Casse, the governor of the French port of St. Domingo, was cruising off the east coast of Jamaica, he put to sea, July II, with eight ships of the line, a fire-ship, a bomb-ketch, and a sloop. Nothing of consequence occun'ed until the 21st, when he took a small sloop near cape Tiberoon, and drove on shore and burnt several others. He continued in pur- suit until the morning of the 19lh, when he got sight of the enemy, consisting of ten sail, off cape St. Martha. On approaching near enough to distinguish their force, he found it composed of four ships from 6(j to 70 guns, one large Dutch-built ship of 30 or 40, another full of troops, a sloop, and three small vessels, which were steering along-shore under easy sail. Benbow's force consisted of one ship of 70 guns, one of 64, one of 60, one of 54, and three of 48 guns each. The admiral 138 NAVAL HISTORY. made the signal to form the liue of battle a-head, dis- posing it as follows, viz. the Defiance, Pendeiinis, Wind- sor, Breda, Greenwich, Ruby, and Falmouth, and bore away under an easy sail, that his ships astern and to ieeward might the more readily get into their stations. Night approaching, the admiral steered alongside the enemy, and endeavoured to get near them, without intending to attack them until the van ship of his squa- dron was abreast of the enemy's headmost ship ; but before this could be effected, the French rear began to fire, and obliged Benbow, contrary to his intention, also to engage. The Defiance and Windsor, the two head- most ships of the English line, hauled their wind after they had received two or three broadsides from the enemy, and withdrew out of gun-shot. This allowed the two stemmost ships of the French to attack the admiral and expose him to a severe fire, which continued till it was dark, the English squadron keeping them com- pany all night. The admiral, highly displeased with the conduct of his captains in this encounter, changed his line of battle, and detei-mined to lead on both tacks himself, hoping that his example would shame them into the performance of their duty. On the 20th, at daylight in the morning, the admiral was within gun-shot of the enemy, who were so civil as not to fire, because they saw that he was unsupported by the ships of his squadron, except the Ruby of 48 g-uns, commanded by captain Walton, a brave and ex- cellent officer ; the remainder were four or five miles astern, and made no eflTorts to come up with the flag ship. At two in the afternoon, the enemy, taking advantage of the sea breeze, formed a line, and made olT with what sail they could carry. They were pursued by the Breda and Ruby, which fired on them with their bow chases till night ; then they left off, keeping them company all night; but the remainder of the British squadron kept out of action. The remaining account of this unfortunate and dis- graceful encounter is extracted from the journal of one of the officers of the admiral's ship : — ' On the 21st, at daylight, the admiral being on the quarter of the second ship of the enemy's squadron, and within point blank shot, the Ruby being ahead of him, the French ship BEN BOW. 139 lireil at the Ruby, which the Ruby returned. The two French ships which were ahead fell off, and there being little wind brought their guns to bear on the Ruby. The Breda brought her guns to bear on the French ship, which first began, and shattered her Tery much, obliging her to tow away ; but the Ruby was likewise so much shattered in her masts, sails, and rigging, that the admiral was obliged to lay by her, and send boats to tow her off. The action continued almost two hours; during which the rear ship of the enemy was abreast of the Defiance and Windsor, who never fired one gun, though within point blank shot. At eight o'clock in the morning, a gale of wind springing up, the enemy made what sail they could ; and the admiral chased them in hopes of coming up with them. Being then abreast of the river Grande, at two in the afternoon, the admiral got abreast of two of the sternmost of the enemy's ships; and. in hopes to disable them in their masts and rigging, began to fire on them, as did some of the ships astern ; but he laying abreast of them they pointed wholly at him, which galled the ship much in her rigging, and dismounted two or three of her lower deck guns. This lasted about two hours. They then got without gun-shot, the admiral making what sail he could after them, and they using all the shifts they possibly could to avoid fighting. ' On the 22nd, at daylight, the Greenwich was about three leagues astern, though the signal for the line of battle was never struck night or day ; the rest of the ships indifferently near (except the Ruby) ; and the enemy about a mile and a-half a-head. At three in the afternoon the wind, which before was easterly, came to the southward. This gave the enemy the weather- gage ; but in tacking the admiral fetched within gun- shot of the sternmost of them, firing at each other ; but our line being much out of order, and some of our ships three miles astern, nothing could be done. This night the enemy were very uneasy, altering their courses often between the west and north. * On the 23rd, at daylight, the enemy was about six miles a-head of us ; and the great Dutch ship separated from them, out of sight. Some of our squadron, at this time, were more than four miles astern, viz. the De- fiance and Windsor. At ten o'clock the enemy tacked. 140 NAVAL HISTORY. the wind being then at E. N. E. but very variable. 11)6 admiral fetched within point blank shot of two of them, liring broadsides at each other. Soon after, he tacked and pursued them as well as he could. About noon we took from them a small English ship, called the Ann, galley, which they had taken off Lisbon. The Ruby being disabled, the admiral ordered her for Port Royal. At eight this night our squadron was about two miles distant from the enemy, they steering S. E. and very little wind, then at N. W. and variable, the admiral standing after them, and all his ships, except the Fal- mouth, falling much astern. At twelve the enemy began to separate. ' On the •24th, at two in the morning, we came up within hail of the sternmost. It being very little wind, the admiral fired a broadside with double and roimd below, and round and partridge aloft, which she re- turned. At three o'clock the admiral's right leg was shattered to pieces by a chain shot, and he was carried below; but presently ordered his cradle on the quarter- deck, and continued the fight till day, when one of the enemy's ships of about 70 guns appeared in a very disabled condition ; her main-yard down and shot to pieces, her fore-top-sail yard shot away, her mizen-mast shot by the board, all her rigging gone, and her sides bored through and through with our double-headed shot. The Falmouth assisted in this matter very much, and no other ship. Soon after day the admiral saw the other ships of the enemy coming towards him with a strong gale easterly ; at the same time the Windsor, Pendenuis, and Greenwich, ahead of the enemj', ran to leeward of the disabled ship, fired their broadsides, passed her, and stood to the southward; then the De- fiance followed tbem, passed also to leeward of the disabled ship, and fired part of her broadside. The disabled ship did not fire above twenty guns at the Defiance, before she put her helm a-weather, and ran away right before the wind, lowered both her top-sails, and ran to leeward of the Falmouth (which was then a gun-shot to leeward of the admiral, knotting her rigging) without any regard to the signal for battle. The enemy seeing our other two ships stand to the southward, expected they would have tacked and stood with them. They brought-to with their heads to the northward; BENBOW. 141 but seeing those ships did not tack, bore down upon the admiral, and ran between the disabled ship and him, firing all their gruus ; by which they shot away his main top-sail yard, and shattered his rigfii"? much. None of the other ships being near him, nor taking notice of the battle signal, the captain of the Breda ordered two guns to Le fired at the ships a-head, in order to ptit them in mind of their duty. The French seeing this disorder of the English squadron, brought-to, lay by their own disabled ship, and remanned and took her in tow. The Breda's rigging being much shattered, she lay by till ten o'clock; and being then refitted, the admiral ordered the captain to pursue the enemy, who were then about three miles distant, and to leeward, having the disabled ship in tow, and steering N. E., the wind at S S. W. The admiral in the mean time made all the sail after them he could, and the battle signal was always out. But the enemy taking encouragement from the behaviour of some of our captains, the admiral ordered captain Fogg to send to the captains to keep their line, and behave themselves like men, which he did. Upon this captain Kirby came on board the admi- ral, and pressed him very earnestly to desist from any farther engagement, which made the admiral desirous to know the opinion of the other captains. Accordingly he ordered captain Fogg to make tlie signal for all the captains to come on board, which they did, and most of them concurred with captain Kirby in opinion, that they had better desist from engaging. Upon this the admiral perceiving they had no mind to fight, and not being able to prevail on them to come to any other reso- lution, though all they said was erroneous, he thought it not fit to venture any farther. At this time the admiral was abreast of the enemy, and had a fair op- portunity of fighting them ; the masts and yards in a ?ood condition, and few men killed, except those on board the Breda.' The foregoing narrative sets this disgraceful affair in so clear a light, that we have nothing to add to it. Admiral Benbow performed all that could be expected uf a brave man for the honour of his country, but finding himself most basely and treacherously deserted by his captains, nothing was left for him but to bear away for Jamaica. Du Casse, the French admiral. 14J NAVAL HISTORY. who, as a brave man, mast have felt for the distress and ill usagre of his heroic opponent, is said to haye written the following letter to Benbow a few days after the engagement : — * Sir, — I had little hopes on Monday last but to haye supped in your cabin, but it pleased God to order it otherwise ; I am thankful for it. As for those cowardly captains who deserted you, hang them up, for by - — they deserve it. ' Yours, DU CASSE.' On the Gth of October, Benbow issued a commission to reai-admiral Whetstone, and some captains, to hold a court-martial, for the trial of the following captains who had misbehaved in the late engagement : — Captain Kirby, commander of the Defiance of 64 guns. ,, Constable Windsor 60 ,, ,, Wade Greenwich 54 ,, „ Hudson Pendennis 48 , The charges exhibited against them were cowardice, breach of orders, and neglect of duty, in the fight with Du Casse, for six days off the coast of Carthagena. Kirby was first brought to trial, and the crimes charged against him being fully proved by the evidence of the admiral, ten commissioned officers, and eleven warrant and inferior officers, he was sentenced to be shot, but the execution of his sentence was reserved to the plea- sure of the lords commissioners of the admiralty. Con- stable was acquitted of cowardice, but found guilty of the other charges, and sentenced to be cashiered, dis- missed the service, and imprisoned during the queen's pleasure. Wade was the next tried, and convicted on the clearest evidence of the same charges that were proved against Kirby, and also that he had been drunk during the whole time of the action : he received sen- tence to be shot. Hudson died a few days previous to his trial, and by that means probably escaped the fate of his companions. Fogg the admiral's captain, and Vin- cent the captain of the Falmouth, were likewise tried, for having, at the instigation of Kirby, signed a paper not to fight the French. This fact was proved, but it appeared in mitigation, from the evidence of the BENBOW. 143 admiral and others, that they had behaved with much jrallantry in the action, and therefore the court only sentenced them to be suspended, which sentence was not to take effect till the pleasure of the admiralty was known. In the following sprincr, Kirby and Wade were sent prisoners to England, and the queen was so justly ex- asperated against them, that death warrants were sent to all the western ports, ordering the sentence to be carried into execution immediately on their anival, that there might be no delay in punishing those who had so disgraced the honour of the British flag. They arrived at Plymouth on the 4th of April, and on the 6th they were shot. On his arrival at Jamaica, the admiral was obliged to have his wounded leg amputated, and this operation causing a fever, he died on the 4th of November, 1702, regretting to his last moments the misconduct of his captains, which had robbed him of so fair an oppor- tunity of rendering an eminent service to his country. In the heat of the engagement, when he was wounded, one of his lieutenants condoled with him for his mis- fortune. ' I am sorry for it too,' said the gallant Ben- bow ; ' but I would rather have lost both my legs, than have seen this dishonour brought upon the English nation : and hear me, should another shot deprive me of life, behave like men, and fight it out whilst the ship can swim.' As to hi-! character, his bitterest enemies could not deny him the honest reputation of a brave, active, and able commander; while on the other hand, his warmest friends and admirers admitted that he wanted those con- ciliatory manners which were necessary to secure the personal attachment and regard of the officers he com- manded. Honesty, integrity, and blunt sincerity, were the prominent features of his private character ; and we can only lament the depravity of human nature, when we find ourselves obliged to confess that these truly va- luable qualities are not sufficient to acquire the love of our contemporaries, though they can scarcely fail of engaging the warmest esteem of every succeeding generation. The remains of this brave man were sent, it is sup- posed, to England, and deposited without pomp or cere- 144 NAVAL HISTORY. raonial iu the buryin^-gromid of St. Nicholas, Deptford —but this is merely a tradition, that has been handed down by the unconcerned. The queen in whose service he so boldly fought and died, and the numerous posterity ■which he left behind, were alike regardless of his fame, and reared no monument to indicate the last resting place of a valiant naval commander. SIR CLOUDESLY SHOVEL. iGJO— iror. The many opportunities which the naval service affords for the display of personal bravery, skill, judgment, and the capacity of mind which it peculiarly requires, have been the means of calling into notice a succession of men who have been raised from the lowest employ- ments in the service to the highest honours of the profession; and these candidates for distinction have infused a courage, a daring-, and an energy, into this arm of war and of national defence, which have rendered it more effective than that of any other country. These observations are fully illustrated in the life of the distinguished commander whose services are now to be brought under notice. Sir Cloudesly Shovel was the child of humble parentage, in the county of Norfolk, and was bom in 1650. His parents intended to appren- tice him to a shoemaker, but on trial the last and the awl were not agreeable to his taste. He was then recom- mended to Sir John Narborough,* who made him one of his cabin boys. When in this capacity, on hearing the admiral express au earnest wish to have sonae orders of consequence conveyed to a ship at a considerable dis- tance, he immediately undertook to accomplish it ; and actually did so by swimming through the line of the enemy's fleet, with the dispatches in his mouth. * Sir John was a Norfolk man, which will partly account for his patronage of young Shovel : according to Campbell, Sir Johu himself had been cabin boy to admiral Sir Christopher Myns^. SHOVEL. 145 Sir John Narborough was so much pleased with this action, that he from that time took a great interest in his advancement. In IG74, he had attained to the rank of a lieutenant ; and when Sir John, in that year, was appointed commander of a squadron to act airainst the Barbary corsairs, he carried Shovel with him in his own ship. As a farther proof of his confidence, when they arrived ofi' Tripoli, he sent Shovel on shore, on two occasions, to negotiate with the dey. He failed in this mi.ssion ; but in his two visits he made such accurate observations on the force and distribution of the ships in the harbour, and the strength of the forts, that he was able to propose a plan for destroying the Tripoliue vessels as they lay moored under the very guns of the town. His project being approved of by the admiral, he was considered the fittest person to can-y it into execu- tion, and was sent on accordingly at night with all the boats of the fleet. He first seized the guard boat, then entered the mole, and burnt four large armed ships, without losing a single man. This brilliant exploit con- tributed not a little to increase the regard and aHection of the admiral, who soon after promoted him to the com- mand of the Sapphire, a fointh-rate. In November 1079, captain Shovel was employed on shore, with a party of seamen, in the defence of Tangier, which then belonged to the English crown, and was be- sieged by a Moorish army. On the 8th of the month, the enemy made a desperate attempt to carry the place by storm, but were repulsed with great loss. Captain Shovel displayed the highest bravery on this occasion, and received a wound which prevented him from serving for some time after. During the remainder of the war with the Barbary powers he lost no opportunity of signalizing himself. He took or destroyed several of their most powerful cruisers, and was very successful in interrupting the little commerce which these piratical states can-ied on. He returned to England in 1630, and James, duke of York, who then conducted the affairs of the navy with- out the assistance of a board of admiralty, thought so highly of his merit, that he immediately appointed him to the command of the Dover frigate. He continued in tltis ship till the levolutiou, when be was appointed to the Edgar, a third-rate, and signalized himself so greatly Jv 146 NAVAL HISTORY. in the battle of Bantry bay, that king- William coiifeiTert on him the honour of knighthood. He soon after re- moved into the Monk, of 60 guns, and was appointed commander of a small squadron, consisting of four ships of v/ar, and five inferior vessels, stationed to cruise up and down the Channel and oft' the coast of Ireland. In this service he met with considerable success, intercept, ing many of the supplies from France., which were in- tended for the use of king James's army in Ireland. In the following year he was commodore of the squa- dron which conveyed William to Ireland, and acquitted himself so much to the satisfaction of his sovereign, that he was immediately afterwards raised to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue. In the course of the year he assisted general Kirk in the reduction of Duncannon Castle, and in January following served as rear-admiral in the fleet which conveyed king William to Holland. On his return he joined the grand fleet under admiral Russel, and was ordered to look into Brest. When he arrived off that harbour, he saw forty sail of merchant ships coming out, under the protection of three men-of- war. Sir Cloudesly, to deceive them, hoisted French colours, and this stratagem had nearly proved successful, for the enemy did not discover their danger until they were almost close to the English squadron. The ships of war escaped, but seven or eight of the convoy were taken, and others destroyed. At the memorable battle off cape la Hogue, Sir Cloudes- ly Shovel had his flag, as rear-admiral of the red, on board the Royal William, a new ship of 100 guns, and had his full share of the danger and honour of that glo- rious day. In 1694, he commanded under lord Berkley in the expedition to Camaret bay, and afterwards, by the express desire of the king, had the chief management of an expedition against Dunkirk ; but the attempt did not succeed. Campbell, in giving an account of this ser- vice, very handsomely observes, that ' Sir Cloudesly took care to demonstrate that no fault lay in him; for he went with a boat within the enemy's works, and so be- came an eye-witness of the impossibility of doing what his orders directed to be done ; and, therefore, on his return, he was perfectly well received, and continued to be employed as a man who would command success, where it was possible ; and omit nothing- in his power. SHOVEL. 147 wliere it was not.' Durinfr the remainder of the war he was employed in various parts, hut without meetinff with any opportunity of adding- to the laurels he had already acquired. On the accession of queen Anne, he was advanced to the rank of admiral of the white; and in the autumn of 1702, was sent with a squadron of twenty sail to rein- force Sir George Rooke off Vigo. The place being: taken before his arrival, and his services rendered unnecessary, he returned to Enjiland with the disabled ships of the British fleet, and the captured vessels of the enemy. In the following' year he commanded in chief in the Mediteixanean, with a fleet of thirty-five English and twelve Dutch ships of the line. The object of this power- ful armament was to assist the Protestant inhabitants of the province of Languedoc, who, on being severely per- secuted on account of their religion by Louis XIV., had implored the assistance of the maritime powers. Sir Cloudesly used every effort to afford them succour, but, from the peremptory orders under which he was laid, he was obliged to return to England without having an opportunity of performing any great service. In 1704, he served under Sir George Rooke, and was present at the taking of Gibraltar ; and commanded the van of the combined fleet of England and Holland in the action off Malaga. On this occasion he narrowly escaped being surrounded by the French ; but Sir George Rooke perceiving their design bore down immediately to his assistance ; which seasonable succour Sir Cloudesly re- turned in the latter part of the engagement, when several ships of the admiral's division being forced out of the line for want of ammunition he gallantly came in to their aid. In January 1705, he was appointed rear-ad- miral of England, and in the May following, commander- in-chief in the Mediterranean, with a fleet of twenty-nine sail of the line, besides frigates, fire-ships, bombs, &c. ; and on arriving off Lisbon, he was joined by a squadron under Sir John Leake, and some Dutch ships of war, ■which made his whole force amount to forty-eight sail of the line. With these he cruised some time between cape Spartel and the bay of Cadiz, to prevent a junction of the Toulon and Brest squadrons, and then returned to Lisbon. On the 23rd of July, the king of Spain, Charles III., embarked on board the fleet, which immediately K2 148 NAVAL HISTORY. proceeded to the Mediterranean. They anchored in the bay of Attea on the 11th of August, and the next day ap- peared before Barcelona. The land forces were imme diately debarked under the command of the prince of Hesse and the earl of Peterborough, and the ships of war hauled in shore, to co-operate with the army, and to bombard and cannonade the town, which held out until the 23rd of September, when the governor capitu- lated. This service being performed, Sir Cloudesly pro- ceeded to England with part of the fleet, and left the remainder in the Mediterranean under the command of Sir John Leake. In the succeeding summer. Sir Cloudesly again assumed the command in the Mediterranean, and when at Lisbon the following indignity was offered to his flag by one of the younger princes of the royal family. He had or- dered some of his ships to sea on a cruise, ani in passing down the i-iver they were fired upon from the castle of Belam. The admiral demanded an explanation, and on 6ome frivolous excuse being offered, he gave the Portu- guese to understand, that, if such an insult were offered again to the British flag, he would not wait for in- structions from home how to proceed, but would take immediate satisfaction from the mouth of his cannon. iSir Cloudesly continued to command on the Mediter- ranean station, and in the summer of 1707, sailed to Toulon to assist the operations of the duke of Savoy and prince Eugene, who invested the arsenal by land. But the French having compelled the allies to raise the siege, the British fleet retired from before the port. Sir Cloudesly Shovel felt the greatest chagrin at this dis- appointment, as he confidently calculated upon capturing the forty sail of the line which were then blockaded in the harbour ; but no part of the failure of the expedition was in any way imputed to him. Leaving Sir Thomas Dilkes in the Mediterranean, with a squadron of thirteen sliips of the line, he sailed homewards with the remainder of the fleet ; and, painful to relate, the Association, of 90 guns, the admiral's ship, and two other ships of war, one of 70 and another of 50 guns, were unfortunately lost on the rocks called the Bishop and his Clerks, off Scilly, on the evening of the 24th October, 1707, when every person on board perished. The admiral was in the fifty-seventh year of his age, SHOVEL. 149 and his body is stated by Campbell to have been found among' the rocks of St. Mary the day after by some fish- ermen, who shipped it, and buried it in the sand ; and that it was only discovered by his valuable emerald ring- becoming known to be in the possession of these people, which induced one of the officers to compel them to point out where it had been concealed. The body was then conveyed to Plymouth, and thence to London; and after having lain in state for some days, it was in- terred with great funeral pomp at the national expense in Westminster Abbey, where a stately monument was erected to his memory.* Sir Cloudesly Shovel married the widow of his early friend and patron. Sir John Narborough, by whom he left two daughters. To delineate the character of this great naval commander it is sufficient to observe, that he was equally praiseworthy and estimable in all re- lations of life. He discharged his public employments with ability, honour, and integrity, and in the private walks of life conducted himself with so much tender- ness, affection, and regard, towards all connected with him, that as no man lived more beloved, so no man died more lamented. * Charnock states, upon the authority of lord Ronniey, a grandson ol Sir Clouueslv, that the admiral was not drowned, but ruurdered by a woman on reai'hinsc the shore, and that she confessed her ?uilt many years after to the parish clergyman on her death-bed. But as not one individual was saved out of many hundreds, we must tor the take of humanity conuider this accouut too incredible to deserve the slightest belief. 150 NAVAL HISTORY. CHAP. IV. From the Peace of Ltrecht to the Death of George II. When the peace of Uti-eclit was ratified, on the 3lst of March 1713, the overwheliuing naval superiority of Britaisi -was so manifest, that the chief European states felt humbled by the comparison ; and as there were many indications that the peace which had just been concluded would not be of long continuance, they set about repairing and increasing their ships of war with the greatest expedition. The death of queen Anne and the accession of George I., in the following year, were the immediate causes of again dragging this country into an expensive connexion with the Continent. Spain had been actively preparing for war. Cardinal Alberoni then presided over its councils; and. as his schemes of conquest and aggrandizement were upon a gigantic scale, he set himself in earnest not merely to augment, but to create anew, a Spanish navy. He therefore par- chased vessels from difierent counti-ies, and built others ; and such was the indefatigable character of his pro- ceedings that, only three years after the peace of Utrecht, Europe was astonished at the appearance of a Spanish fleet in the Mediterranean, consisting of thirry ships of war, destined for the reduction of Sardinia. George I., on his accession, continued the foreign policy of his immediate predecessors, and entered into what has been termed the quadruple alliance with Austria, France, and Holland, to preserve the balance of power on the Continent, and to settle the dispute between Spain and Austria. The king of Spain was dissatisfied M'ith this treaty, and he employed the arma- ment which he had collected in the reduction of Sar- dinia, which belonged to Austria. The emperor of Gennany hastened to the assistance of his Italian sub- jects, and called upon his British ally to co-operate by sea. To bring about a settlement of these disputes, the English government dispatched a squadron of twenty- GEORGE I. 151 two ships into the Mediterranean under Sir George Byn!?. The ambitious Alberoni, anticipating that his proceed- ings might involve his master in hostilities with Britain, increased his exertions in proportion to the expected resistance. Five hundred transports, which carried a formidable lai»d force, were protected by a fleet of twenty-seven ships of various rates, two lire-ships, four bomb-ketclies, and seven tralleys. But this lleet was en- countered by Sir George Byug off capo Passaro, on the llth of August, 1718, and so utterly discomfited, that all the ships were taken except three, which were saved by the conduct of their vice-admiral, a native of Ireland. Open hostilities between Spain and Britain were now inevitable, and accordingly, on the following December, war was proclaimed. Alberoni now contemplated the most efTectual method of annoying Britain, by espousing the cause of the Pre- tender ; and as his naval resources were diminished, he hoped that an invasion of Scotland, in behalf of the Stuarts, might be accomplished successfully with a very moderate force. The duke of Ormond was fixed upon to conduct this expedition, and he obtained from the Spa- nish court a fleet of ten ships of war and transports, having on board 6,000 regular troops, with arms for 12,000 more. The expedition set sail from Cadiz at the end of 170S ; but after having doubled cape Finisterre, this formidable armament encountered a tremendous Btorm, by which it was dispersed in all directions. Some of the vessels foundered and were cast away, others were driven back to port, a few scattered ships took refuge in neutral harbours, and only one found its way to Scotland with the marquis of Tullibardin, and a small number of Spanish soldiers on board, who were made prisoners immediately on their arrival. These schemes of the Spanish minister were so much beyond the exhausted powers of the country, and at- tended with such disastrous results, that a fierce outcry was raised against him, in consequence of which he was dismissed. A change of measures was the natural consequence, one of which was the renewal of peace with England in June 1721. Having thus controlled the antiquated and worn-out monarchy of Spain, the naval terrors of Britain were now 152 NAVAL HISTORY. summoned forth against the youthful and rising empire of Russia. The king of England being desirous to bring; about a peace between Sweden and Russia, sent a fleet into the Baltic, under the command of Sir John NoiTis, to act against the czar Peter, in case he should not be inclined to accede to reasonable proposals of peace. This interference of England very much enraged the czar, but the red-cross flag was no sooner displayed in the Baltic, than the Russian fleet withdrew itself into Revel, and peace was speedily restored. On the death of Peter, his empress Catharine suc- ceeded to the Russian throne, and began, in 1726, to assemble troops, and a formidable fleet, the purposes of which were studiously enveloped in mystery ; but as every circumstance seemed to intimate that the storm would burst upon Sweden, George 1. felt himself com- pelled to interpose, in behalf of his helpless ally. A strong British squadron was therefoi-e sent into the Baltic, under the command of Sir Charles Wager; and this demonstration was so elfective, that Russia disman- tled her navy, and abandoned the expedition. The next naval operations in which Britain was en- gaged were conceived in injustice, and ended, appropri- ately enough, in disgrace and disaster. In spite of the cessation of hostilities, there was no cordial feeling of amity between the English and Spaniards ; and each party seemed only to lie in wait, to become the assailant with advantage. The first decided movement was on the part of England. Two squadrons were fitted out to act against the Spaniards, one of which, under the command of Sir John Jennings, was to cruise along the coast of Spain, and alarm the country ; but the other, under the command of Hosier, was commissioned upon a service that would have been worthy of the buc- caneering heroes of queen Elizabeth. This was, to block up the Spanish treasure-galleons in the West India ports, and on their venturing out, to seize, and bring them to England. Hosier departed in April, 1726, upon this unworthy expedition, with seven ships of war. The enemy however had been fortunately forewarned of the design; upon which they unloaded the galleons, and sent the treasure, valued at six millions sterling, back to Panama. The English admiral, in the mean time, arrived at the station, and kept watch in the Basti- GEORGE I. 153 mentos, near Porto Bello, to the infinite mirth of the Spaniards ; and on losini^ a great portion of his crews by sickness, ho set sail to Jamaica, remanned his ships, and came back, in quest of that golden fleece, to gain which he bad already sacrificed so many valuable lives. But such was the unliealthiness of the station, that con- tagious diseases again broke out ; the unfortunate men died by hundreds, and Hosier, who was prevented by his instructions from assuming a more active part, and striking some decisive blow, died broken-hearted. Con- science undoubtedly imbittered those feelings of rage and shame that maddened the English when the relics of the fleet returned home, thus baflled and vanquished without a blow. The Spaniards attempted to retaliate for such indirect hostilities; but the resources of the country having become exhausted, and their naval power destroyed, they only made a feeble attempt to recover Gibraltar, and the fleets of England prevented them from being able to make any impression upsn that fortress. This attempt was quickly followed by a peace with Spain, which terminated the naval opera- tions of this reign. Such was the general naval history of Great Britain during the reign of George I., — a history void of interest, merely because there was no equal opposing principle to furnish life and incident to the narrative. Hostile countries could only ground their hopes of success upon dividing the strength of England, and involving it in a civil war ; and therefore the Pretender's cause was adopted, as the most efl'ecti»'e means of producing this discord. But an open invasion of Britain for such a pur- pose was impossible, while its fleets kept possession of the seas, and watclied the movements of every port ; and a stolen descent, even if practicable, would have been necessarily on too small a scale to be eff'ective. Dur- ing this reign also of so many bloodless victories by sea, the navy had been increased by the addition of sixteen sail. But even this tide of undisputed success now threatened to become fatal to England, by inspiring a vain-glorious confidence that rejected the idea of ini provement ; and thus, while the French and Spaniards, humbled by frequent defeats, endeavoured to improve their marine architecture, and succeeded, the English doggedly adhered to the old principles of shipbuilding. 154 NAVAL HISTORY. Their vessels therefore were crauk, and heavy in sailing ; awkward in stowage, and confined in the decks; and in the largest meu-of-war the guns of the lower deck could not be used except in calm weather. It was no small merit of our gallant seamen, that wit i such ships they had annihilated the fleets of France and Spain : but the same result could have been accom- plished more promptly, and with less expense of life and treasure, if England had but condescended to imitate the industry, or even the models, of her ad- versaries. On the acces.sion of George II. negotiations for 1727- a general peace were entered into, and con- tinued from time to time, until they terminated in the treaty of Seville, November 9, 1729, to which Spain, France, England, and Holland, v/ere parties. But although peace had been concluded, the Spaniards gave many proofs that necessity, and not choice, had induced them to give up their open hostility to Eng- land. The many losses they had sustained were too heavy to be easily forgotten. They had not yet ac- quired a salutary estimate of their own national weak- ness and inferiority ; and they anxiously employed themselves in strengthening their navy, to try once more at no distant period the fortune of arms by sea. These hostile piii-poses were especially manifested in America, where the Spaniards harassed the trade, and captured the ships, of British subjects; and wben the court of London remonstrated with that of Madrid, the latter only replied with counter accusations or unmean- ing apologies. The English, therefore, clamoured loudly for war ; but such were the difficulties of Walpole's position, that he was unwilling to accede to the wishes of the people ; and he attempted to allay the national discontent, by entering into a treaty with Spain. In this ti-eaty it was stipulated that Spain should pay £95,000 to the English as a satisfaction for all demands ; but this sum was not considered a sufficient equivalent for the damage which had been sustained, and esti- mated by many persons at £'340,000. Violent discussions were constantly arising in parliament, when fresh complaints were made against the acts of the Spanish authorities in America. These complaints arose from Spain having prohibited all intercourse with her colo- GEORGE II. 155 iiios, and in enforcing her policy with severity ; she had seized many British subjects, and condemned them to slavery in the mines of Fotosi. These repeated com- plaints at length induced Sir Robert Walpole to consent to reprisals. Accordingly, in 1739, although war was not formally announced between the two powers in Europe, letters of marque and reprisal were granted against the Spaniards in America. The principal events that happened in consequence were scarcely calculated to shed additional lustre upon the British navy. Admiial Vernon, who was sent with a fleet to the West Indies, to annoy the Spanish trade in that quarter, had often boasted tliat with six. ships only he could take Porto Bello ; and being permitted to try the experiment, he succeeded, by a combination of extraordinary temerity and good fortune. As the war was thus successfully begun, sup- plies were cheerfully granted to prosecute it with all imaginable vigour. Commodore Anson was sent with a squadron to distress the enemy in the South Seas, and a more formidable armament was placed under the comraaiid of the hero of Porto Bello. But scarcely had the foolish delirium of the English on account of this exploit subsided, when they were depressed in an equal degree by his unfortunate failure in the expedition to Carthagena, in which a noble lleet and laud force were miserably sacrificed, between the blunders and dissen- sions of the two English commanders.* Even the return of lord Anson from his lonjj periplus of the globe, with tiie large Spanish treasure he had captured, was insufli- cient to heal the popular irritation; and the wealth he brought to England, and by which a few individuals were enriched, was thought to be no recompense to the nation at large for the loss of a fine squadron of ships, which his expedition had necessarily occasioned. The French, who had looked on, and beheld the dis- asters of their ancient rivals, were no%v eager to share in the anticipated triumphs of Spain : they therefore got their navy in readiness, and resolved upon an invasion of England, in behalf of the Pretender. To this measure they were the more encouraged, by the dissensions that now prevailed among the English, and the undisguised longings of the Tories for the restoration of the ancient * See life of Vcrno:!. 156 NAVAL HISTORY. dynasty. An army of ] 5,000 Frencli soldiers, under the command of the celebrated count Saxe, was to be escorted to England by a strong convoy under admiral de Roquefeuille, and landed upon the coast of Kent. The armament accordingly set sail from Brest, in Ja- nuary, 1743, but the measure which depended so much on secrecy for success had been discovered, and Sir John Norris set sail to meet them with such a superior force, that the enemy were obliged to return to port. After this failure, France proclaimed war against England. We can only mention a few of the piincipal events of this war, and refer the reader for the rest to the lives of lord Anson and his contemporaries. The united fleet of France and Spain, after having been blocked up in the harbour of Toulon, was encountered by admiral Matthews, on February 11th, 1744, with a very superior force. The engagement consisted of a series of skirmishes through four successive days ; but such was the confusion of pur- poses between the British commanders, that the result was wholly indecisive, although, fi-om the advantages possessed by the English fleet, the destruction of the enemy seemed inevitable.* A coui-t-martial was held in England upon the occasion, at which Matthews, who had gallantly rushed upon the enemy, was dismissed the service, while his second in command, who had looked coolly on after refusing to co-operate, was acquit- ted of having acted improperly, and immediately pro- moted and intrusted with the command of a powerful armament of sixteen sail of the line, eight frigates, two bomb-ketches, together with a land force of 5,800 etCi- cient men.+ L'Orient was the object of attack; but from mismanagement this expedition completely failed. To this strange treatment of a gallant and distinguished * See life of Matthews, t This was one of the best appointed expeditions that ever sailed from Plymouth, and in none was less gallantry displayed. It anchored in diiiniperly bay, September 18, 1746, and, as if it mi?ht have lessened the glory to attack a warlike enemy unprepared, four clays were allowed to elapse before the army was directed against the city. Hostilities were nnw expected to commence in earnest; but lo, after a few desul- tory attacks, the warfare ceased at the very instant the enemy was preparing to surrender, in consequence of the fortifications being deemed untenable. The troops re-enibarked unmolested, and, that the enemy roigbt retain some trophy of this foolish disembarkntion, four pieces of cannon, a mortar, and a large quantity of ammunition, were left behind. As mijht have been expected, the iuinistry at home were led at last to perceive that much depended upon their choice of cora- manders-iu-chief, and Lestock was never agaiu employed. GEORGE II. 157 comniander may in some degree be attributed the in- decisive result of another naval contest which the viru- lence of party spirit denounced as a disijrace to the British flatr, and which shall be noticed in due season. In the succeeding: year some compensation for this mischance was obtained by the capture of Louisbourg:, in tlie isle of cape Breton, which tlie French had fortified at a vast expense. It was taken by commodore Warren, on June 17th, 1745. In a few days after the surrender of LouisbourfT, two French East-India ships, and a Spa- nish ship from Peru, laden with treasure, sailed into the harbour on the supposition that it still belonged to France, and were taken by the En^jlish squadron. In addition to this important territorial loss, the French, in October, 1747, suffered a severe naval defeat. Rear-admiral Hawke, who had been sent with fourteen ships of the line to intercept a fleet of French merchantmen, fell in with nine ships of the enemy, besides frigates, under the command of de Letendeur, in the latitude of Belle- isle. The Enirlish admiral immediately gave signals for chase, and in half an hour the two fleets were in actual contact. The battle, which was bravely contested on the part of the French, lasted from noon till night, when all their ships struck except two that escaped in the dark. Amidst these important movements a minor warfare had been incessantly kept up by privateers and cruisers, in which the strength of the enemy was chiefly exerted. As the combined navies of France and Spain did not muster above fifty ships of the line, they wisely avoided general engagements, in which they could have no hope against the superior strength of the enemy : instead of this they harassed the British trade by flying squadrons, and compelled their adversaries to keep watch in every sea, and waste their efforts in destructive assaults upon fortresses. But the French and Spaniards were obliged to perceive throughout, that they were engaged in a most perilous experiment ; and while they felt the loss of every ship as a serious diminution of their strength, they saw that the navy of England only increased at every successive disaster. These feelings led to the peace of Aix la Chapelle, between England and France, in I74S, and in which Spain consented to be included in 1750; and it was no small tribute to the exertions of the enemy 158 NAVAL HISTORY. that no national loss -was sustained by them in the terms of pacification. The belligerent powers had so effectually annoyed each other, that each nation celebrated the peace with the most extravagant demonstrations of tri- umph, while the interests of the unfortunate Pretender, whose name had served as a watchword alternately to France and Spain, were completely and for ever abandoned. In the year 1755, symptoms appeared on the part of France, which shewed that the peace of Aix la Chapelle was drawing to a close. At Brest and other French ports, there was a suspicious refitting and mustering of ships ; and while it was avowed that this armament was to act in North America, the British ministry were amused with professions of peace until the fleet had actually set sail. Upon this, admiral Boscawen was sent out with eleven ships of the line, and one frigate, to watch the motions of the enemy ; and on hearing after- wards that the French fleet consisted of twenty-five ships of the line besides frigates and transports, six ships and one frigate were sent to reinforce the English admiral. Boscawen repaired to the banks of Newfoundland, at which the French also arrived, but there was so thick a fog at the time, that neither party was aware of the other's neighbourhood After having thus missed each other, lord Howe fell in with a part of the French fleet at cape Race, and in the action that ensued, he succeeded in capturing two of their ships. After this commence- ment of hostilities, the French proclaimed war ; and as they had greatly strengthened their marine, they were confident of success. But the British fleet, although at this time an overmatch for the united navies of Europe, continued to be augmented so rapidly, as to make these hopes ridiculous; and such was the success of our cruisers, that before the year had closed, they had cap- tured above three hundred merchant ships, and 8,000 French seamen. Such indeed was the danger attending the ships of France, that on going out of port they were insured at thirty per cent., while those of the English continued to pay nothing more than the common in- surance. Irritated by these losses, the Frencli now endeavoured to alarm the English with the threats of an invasion, and GEORGE II. 159 begran to mnster a powerful armament at Toulon. The jilan succeeded so efl'ectually, that England was filled with groundless apprehension ; and a strong force of Hessians and Hanoverians was summoned for the de- fence of the nation, as if the enemy had been already at our gates. But although France was conscious of her in- ability to execute such a thi-eat, her ships were not assembled at Toulon for a mere idle bravado ; and in the beginning of 1756, the fleet sailed on an expedition against Minorca, which was then occupied by an English garrison. The Enjrlish ministry had long been officially and repeat- edly informed of the extent of the French preparation, as well as of the positive destination of the armament, but, for reasons that have never transpired, they neither sent a lleet into the Meditenaneau to prevent the sailing of the expedition, nor did they send such reinforcements to the garrison as to give it the slightest chance of a successful resistance. On the same day that the French sailed from Toulon, admiral Byng was sent with a very inadequate force to oppose their matured pre- parations ; and his only chance of success depended upon his arrival before them. But as the French fleet had arrived some weeks sooner, and without re- sistance landed a powerful and efficient army upon the ii'land, the delay was fatal to his success. The Froncli fleet was more powerful and efficient than that of the British ; but still Byng bore down upon it, and, after an undecisive action, obliged it to withdraw, and finally to escape during the night. The English admiral could easily have landed reinforcements ; but a handful of men had only been sent for that purpose which it was deemed unnecessary to land, as they would only have added to the number of prisoners. The brave gan'ison of Port Pliilip made a spirited resistance in the face of an overwhelm- ing force, but when relief was hopeless they surrendered upon an honourable capitulation. The admiral then returned to Gibraltar to refit, and be ready for a second contest. The conduct of Byng became the subject of violent complaint: he was loaded with reproaches, and denounced as a traitor and a coward, because he failed in destroying the superior fleet of the enemy. It was never borne in mind, that the French admiral 160 NAVAL HISTORY. had accomplished his object, and had no inducement to risk the safety of his fleet in a general action. This he studiously avoided, which he was easily enabled to do by the superior sailing of his ships. It was said that Byng ought to have engaged without reference to his line of battle ; but they who said so forgot that a court- martial had only five years before dismissed from the service the gallant Matthews, for having done what they were determined the unfortunate Byng should now be punished for not having attempted. To the lasting disgrace of the English ministry, they encouraged this national clamour to divert the public odium from themselves. In the present day a secretary of the ad- miralty (Sir J. Barrow) has candidly admitted that such was their object, and that the fate of Byng was a 'judi- cial murder,' promoted and directed by two administra- tions. In fact, he was sentenced by the popular feeling before the investigation commenced, and his appeal only availed in behalf of his memory with posterity. His judges acquitted him of cowardice, and recommended him to mercy ; but the full penalty of an arbitrary, base, and strained conviction was insisted upon by an inex- orable ministry.* In the following year, the British ministry determined that a descent on the coast of France should be made, to counteract the effect of Byng's unfortunate failure ; and a fleet was prepared for this purpose, consisting of eigh- teen ships of the line, besides frigates, fire-ships, bomb- ketches and transports, under the command of Sir Edward Hawke, while a formidable land force was embarked under the command of Sir John Moidaunt. The pur- poses of this expedition were kept a profound secret to the last, so that when the armament set sail in September, the enemy were in suspense as to its precise object. Thus far, circumstances were promising ; but public expectation was disappointed in the result. The secret instructions of the British commanders were, to attempt a descent at, or near Rochefort ; and after taking it, to burn and destroy all the docks, magazines, and shipping, they could find there. They therefore landed in Aix, a small island in the mouth of the river Charente, leading up to Rochefort, and finding there a paltry, half-finished fort, they attacked and demolished it. After this, they * See the life of Byngf. GEORGE II. ICl should have pi-oceeded directly to the main object of their commission ; but instead of doing this, they spent several days in deliberating what should next be done; while the French, during the interval, fortified themselves so strongly, that when the discussions of Hawke and Mor- daunt were ended, these commanders discovered that the opportunity for action had been suffered to escape. In this dilemma, they resolved to return home, which they did accordingly, to the ureat indignation of their coun- trymen, who had expected far different results from such extensive preparations. The favourite remedy of a court- mai'tial was not forgotten on this occasion ; and Hawke and Mordaunt were tried, but acquitted. During the rest of the year, the naval operations were confined to priva- teering ; and many brilliant exploits were performed by English ships, on a small scale, which collectively had a powerful moral effect upon the French, in making them feel their inferiority by sea, as well as diminishing their resources. During the earlier part of the following year (1758) two naval deeds were achieved, tliat redounded to the honour of England. Admiral Osborne had been for some time employed in blocking up a French fleet in the har- bour of Carthagena, when he saw four ships of war, commanded by the marquis du Quesne, coming to it-* relief. Osborne immediately sent a detachment of his fleet to encounter them ; but the enemy, instead of awaiting the attack, fled in different directions. Each English ship selected its chase, and pursued ; the enemy were overtaken, and compelled to stand at bay ; and after a hard fight, the French were so completely worsted, that only the smallest vessel of the squadron escaped by supe- rior sailing. The Foudroyant, a ship of 80 guns, and carrying 800 men, and the Orphee, of 64 guns, were cap- tured on this occasion, and added to the list of British ships ; and the Oriflamme, of 50 guns, was driven on shore. A few days after this. Sir Edward Hawke attacked a French fleet, consisting of five ships of the line, six frigates, and forty transports, lying at anchor off the island of Aix, and having 3000 soldiers on hnai-d, besides a large quantity of provisions and stores, for the supply of their settlements in North America. As soon as Hawke stood in to attack, them, the French slipped their cables, and fled in different directions ; but the greater number 162 NAVAL HISTORY. of their ships, in their eagerness to escape, were groundt- il in shoal water. Here they threw their cannon, stores^, and cargoes overboard, that they might be warped nearer the shore, and thus they secured their escape; but from the destruction of their materiel, the purposes of this expedition were for the present completely defeated. The course of German politics, to which those of Eng- land were now subserrieut, made it desirable to effect a diversion in favour of our allies, by a descent on France; and preparations were accordingly made in England commensurate with the importance of the attempt. Two squadrons were fitted out: the one, of eleven ships of the line, under the command of lord Anson and Sir Edward Hawke, was to repair to the bay of Biscay, to watch the enemy, and harass their navigation ; while the other, consisting of four ships of the line, and seven frigates, under commodore Howe, was to escort a hundred tran- sports, conveying a powerful land force under the duke of Marlborough (grandson to the great duke), on tiie chief object of the expedition. The two fleets set sail in company on the beginning of June ; after which Anson repaiied to his station, and Howe and Marlborough stood over for the coast of Eritany. The capture of the strong town of St. Maloes was the chief object of the English; but the land forces that andved first, found that they could not make the attack without the co-operation of the fleet; the ships of war, however, having been detained for several days by contrary winds, the French had time to increase their defences, so that when the fleet arrived, the town appeared impregnable. Disappointed in this purpose, the duke of Marlborough landed his forces about six miles to the eastward of St. Maloes, and proceeding to St. Servan, he there destroyed a very large quantity of shipping and military stores. He now found that the enemy was mustering in great force, upon which he re- treated, and re-embarked his troops. This was the only exploit he had an opportunity of performing ; for, al- though subsequent trials were repeatedly made to eflect a landing, on various parts of the coast, the English were hindered by violent and contrary winds, until scarcity of provisions compelled them to return. In the following August, the fleet and army renewed the attempt, the latter being now under the command of general Bligh,who was con,sidered an experienced sol- GEORGE II. 1C3 dier; and although the French intrenched themselves strongly, and made a stout resistance, the English troops accomplished a landing- at Querqueville ; the lice of de- fences, which the French abandoned, was destroyed ; and elated by this success, the British commanders hoped to taiie St. Maloes, but found it still too strong, even for their combined forces. Unfortunately, however, Bligh was resolved not to leave the coast without performing something ; and therefore he landed, made a bold dash some miles into the country, and defeated the enemy in several light skirmishes. It was now time to retreat to the beach of St. Cas, where the fleet waited to receive him ; but instead of retreating expeditiously, and in si- lence, the English marched slowly, and with drums beating, by which the enemy, who had assembled in great force, were guided upon their track during the night. When the English troops arrived at the beach, in the morning, fresh delays occurred in embarking; the Fiench made a furious assault ; and our soldiers, who seem to have lost all presence of mind, were put to flight in five minutes, and the greater portion of them bayo- neted, or driven into the sea. A thousand of their num- ber weie slain or taken prisoners, in this shameful embarkation ; and England, that had been intoxicated with the tidings of the capture of Querqueville, was astounded at the return of this ballied and disgraced armament. But if the British were immeasurably de- pressed at the event, the enemy were as extravagantly elated ; and having been of late rather unaccustomed to success, they magnified the paltry affair of St. Cas into a great national triumph. After this untoward expedi- tion, the war as usual dwindled, for a time, into deeds of privateering, where the English sailors, untrammelled by the operations of land forces, could act in their own fashion ; and here, as usual, they were successful, inso- much that not a French ship could venture out of the harbour without being taken. This was so completely the case, that English cruisers, for want of prizes, actually rifled on some occasions the ships of neutral powers. In the succeeding year, the French, still meditating an invasion of England, had collected a great number of flat-bottomed boats in the harbour of Havre-de-Grace ; and in consequence of these and other preparations, two English fleets were fitted out for service, the one L2 164 NAVAL HISTORY. being- placed under Rodney, and the other under Bos- cawen. The first of these admirals repaired to Havre, where he commenced a thundering bombardment, by which he overturned or destroyed certain boats, and frightened the town's people ; while the latter made an unsuccessful attempt upon Toulon. A French fleet, which lay in this harbour, stole out after the English retired ; and Boscawen, on hearing this circumstance, immediately gave chase, and overtook it ofl" the coast of Barbary. An engagement commenced, and the French were defeated, with the loss of four large ships, two of which were sunk, and two that were captured be- came important additions to the British navy. But in spite of these losses, the French still persevered in their purpose of invasion, in consequence of which the British established a system of close blockade that extended over the whole French coast. Thus, Dunkirk was watched by commodore Buys ; Havre-de-Grace by lord Rodney; Toulon by Boscawen; and Brest, by Sir Ed- ward Hawke ; while lines of British cruisers connected these several armaments so closely, that not a single ship could issue from the hostile ports without notice. While the different portions of the French navy were thus watched in their respective harbours, each was upon the alert to discover an opening : the blockading squadron of Brest was driven off the coast by foul weather, and obliged to return to England, upon which admiral Conflans, who commanded the French arma- ment in this quarter, rushed out with twenty-one sail of the line and four frigates, in the hope of surprising and overpowering the smaller fleet that had acted in concert with Hawke, during the blockade. But just when the French admiral had almost succeeded in his purpose, Hawke suddenly re-appeared, and gave chase to the enemy. The French, although of equal force, fled to their own coast, where they hoped the English would be wrecked among the shoals and rocks with which the place abounds; but Hawke continued the chase, and overtook them in the neighbourhood of Belle- isle. Heie a furious encounter took place (November 20th, 1759), which continued till evening, and the French fleet, after a considerable loss, made their escape in the dark, and fled in a shattered state to Rochefort. This victory not only ruined the hopes of invasion, but decided the whole fate of the war, as the French after GEORGE II. 165 fliis blow were unable to accomplish any important naval enterprise. While such was the fate of the chief portion of the French marine, we can contemplate with a certain melancholy satisfaction one of their last eflForts, whicli threw a glorious lustre over their expiring cause. Thurot, one of the first, if not the first name in French naval aihievements, had, unfortunately for his country, held a very inferior command in the pui-posed descent upon England ; and was closely blocked up in Dunkirk, by a superior force, under admiral Buys. But watching his opportunity, he managed to issue from his confinement ; and although his force consisted of only five small ships of war, and about ly)00 soldiers, stich was his known character, that the news of his escape spread terror through the whole of England. So great, however, was the overwhelming force by which he was immediately jmrsued, that he was obliged to fly for refuge to the northern seas, where he endured incredible hardships. But indignant at the thought of returning home with- out performing some exploit worthy of his reputation, Thurot actually landed in Ireland, and took the town of Carrickfergus. This was the close of his brilliant career. On February 'iSth, 1760, he was attacked by commodore Elliot, and slain in the engagement, upon which his ships surrendered. In this summary we have been unable even to refer to the numerous conquests and victories gained in the East and West Indies, in Africa, and North America, by the direct agency or co-operation of our navy, during the course of the preceding events. These were so numerous, and so splendid, that while they augmented the renown of England beyond every former example, they established its political power and resources upon a basis that the world could not shake. At the death of George II., every sea was commanded by the British flag ; and the war, which had been so ruinous to the commerce of France, had only immeasurably extended that of our country, by making British bottoms the only safe conveyances of merchandise. It was circumstances such as these that made the death of that monarch so deeply regretted, and his character so extravagantly panegyrized, notwithstanding his very limited capa- city, and his blind devotedness to Hanoverian interests, which entailed so many miseries on England. IGG NAVAL HISTORY. GEORGE BYNG, LORD VISCOUNT TORRINGTON. 1663—1733. This successful and judicious commander obtained the honour of nobility, by the zealous discharge of the rarious services intrusted to him. He was the eldest son of John Byngr, Esq. of Wrotham, in Kent, and was born at his father's seat on he 27th of January, 16S3. He was of a slender constitution, but well supplied with spirit, and a stiong inclination to be engagred in some of the stirring employments of life, which led him to sea at the early age of fifteen. He entered the navy, as a volunteer, under the auspices of James duke of York, some time in the year 1678. In 1681, he quitted the sea service for a short time, and served as a cadet in the grenadiers belonging to the garrison of Tangier. On a vacancy which happened in this corps, he was appointed by general Kirk an ensign ; and shortly afterwards was promoted to a lieutenancy. This last was the highest rank he attained in the army; for in 1083-4, when the fortifications of Tangier were demolished, and the place evacuated, he returned to the navy, and was appointed lieutenant of the Oxford, commanded by captain John Tyrrel. In the following year, he sailed in the Phoenix frigate, under the same commander, to the East Indies, where be had a signal opportunity, at gTeat personal risk, of first manifesting that courage and intrepidity which ever afterwards marked his conduct through life. In a desperate encounter with a Cingelese pirate, he was ordered to board the enemy, who making a most de- termined resistance, the greatest part of his men were killed, and himself dangerously wounded. He was at length finally successful ; but the pirate had previously received so much damage in the action, that she sunk almost as soon as she had struck ; and Mr. Byng was, with much difficulty, taken out of the water, with scarce any remains of life. BYNG, LORD TORRINGTON. 1G7 He returned to England the year of the revolution; and though he continued in the subordinate station of a lieutenant, he appears to have been engaged in all the intiigues relative to the fleet, which preceded that great event. These services were considered of so much im- portance as to lead to his rapid promotion. In May 1(390, he commanded the Hope of 70 guns, in the battle off Beach y Head, as one of the seconds to adniiial Rooke, and acquitted himsielf on that occasion with the utmost gallantry and resolution. In May ld92, he commanded the Royal Oak. of 70 guns, in the memorable encounter olf La Hogue ; and at the close of the year, when admiral Russel was so un- meritedly dismissed the service, he resigned the com- mand of his ship, and did not serve again until hia friend and patron was recalled to his command. When this took place, he was appointed fust captain of the Britannia, the ship on board which admiral Russel hoisted his flag as commander-in-chief. He served on this station during the years lG9i and 1695, but the fol- lowing year retired from the service, until after the accession of queen Anne. In March 1703, Mr. Byug was promoted to be rear- admiral of the red ; and, having hoisted his flag on board the Ranelagh, of 80 guns, was sent to the Me- diterranean, under the orders of his former comman- der, Sir Cloudesly Shovel. While on this station, he was dispatched with a squadron of five ships to renew a treaty of peace with the dey of Algiers ; and when that business was concluded, he returned to England. In the following year he likewise served in the Meditf rranean fleet, and commanded in chief at the attack on Gibraltar; and at the battle of Malaga, his ship suffered severely, having twenty-four men killed and forty-five wounded. On his return home he received the honour of knight- hood for his service on this occasion, and tlie value of this distinction was enhanced by the flatteiing expres- sions of royal favour with which it was conferred, the queen declaring that she bestowed it solely ' in testimony of her high approbation of his behaviour in the late action.' In 1705, Sir George Byng was promoted to be vice- admiral of the blue, and appointed to the command of a squadron of ci'uisei's, stationed at the enti-auce of the 168 NAVAL HISTORY. Channel, and on the coast of Ireland, to check the de- predations of the French, -whose small ships of war and privateers occasioned much mischief to the commerce of the nation. By his judicious disposition of the force under his command, he effectually protected trade, and g-reatly annoyed the enemy, taking from them a frigate of 44 guns, twelve sail of large privateers, and seven merchant ships, with valuable cargoes, from the West Indies. In the summer of the same year, he was chosen member of parliament for Plymouth, and con- tinued afterwards to represent that town until 1721, when he was i-aised to the peerage. hi 1706 he served under the orders of Sir John Leake and Sir Cloudesly Shovel, who were sent with a fleet of forty sail of the line, to co-operate with the English army, which was then in Spain. On his return to England %vith Sir Cloudesly Shovel, in October 1707, he narrowly escaped the fate of his brave but unfortunate commander-in-chief. The Royal Anne, which bore Sir George's flag, was within half a mile of the Association when she struck and almost instantly disappeared, and would also have been lost, but for the great presence of mind in the officers and men, who in a minute's time set her top-sails, and weathered the rocks, one of which was not more than a ship's length to leeward of her. In 170S, he was advanced to be admiral of the blue, and appointed to command a squadron stationed oflF Dunkirk, to watch the armaments going forward in that port for the avowed purpose of invading Great Britain. The naval part of the enemy's armament was com- manded by the chevalier de Forbin, one of the best and most successful officers in the French service ; the land forces by the chevalier de St. George, better known by the name of the Pretender. On Sir George's ap- pearance before Dunkirk, the projected invasion was deferred, but being blown off the French coast by a gale of wind, Forbin took advantage of his absence, and im- mediately putting to sea, steered for the coast of Scotland. Sir George as soon as he received the intelligence of their sailing pursued them, and on the 13th of March got sight of the French squadron in the Firth of Edin- burgh ; but Forbin manoeuvred so dexterously, by pre- tending to ofi'er battle and quickly making off" to the north- ward, as to escape with the loss of but one ship, the Sails- BYNG, LORD TORRINGTON. KiO bury, formerly in the English service, but which had been taken by the French. The designed invasion, however, was defeated by the promptness and decision of Sir (-oortre's measures, and Forbin's squadron only escaped flora his ships being clean, and out-sailing the English which were foul. In the autumn of the year, he con- veyed Mary Anne, daughter of the emperor Leopold and betrothed queen of Portugal, to Lisbon ; and was l)romoted to be admiral of tlie white. In 1709, he com- manded in chief in the Mediterranean ; but the naval power of France being reduced to a low condition by a succession of defeats, nothing of moment occurred in that quarter. On his return to England, in the following year. Sir George struck, his flag, and had no employment at sea during the remainder of the reign of queen Anne ; but, with the exception of a short interval, he filled the situation of one of the lords of the admiralty. Soon after the accession of George I. the Pretender landed in Scotland ; and as Sir George Uyng had always displayed an extraordinary zeal for the house of Bruns- wick, he was deemed the most proper person to be intrusted with the commaud of the fleet fitted out for the purpose of intercepting any supplies that might be attempted to be sent to Scotland, where many of the highland clans only wanted arms to rise in open rebel- lion. This service he performed eflectually, and the rebels, receiving no supplies from France as they had expected, were speedily reduced. The conduct of the admiral on this occasion was so satisfactory to his new sovereign, that he created him a baronet, and, as a mark of his personal favour, presented him with a diamond ring of considerable value. In 1717, Sir George Byng was sent into the Baltic with a strong fleet to overawe the Swedes ; whose king, Charles XII., oflTended with George I. in his character of elector of Hanover, threatened to transport an army into Scotland, and to maintain the claims of the Pre- tender. But the appearance of an English fleet quickly disconcerted this extravagant project, and the death of Charles XII., which happened not long after, freed the nation from the alarm of an invasion from the north. In 1713, he was sent to the Mediterranean with a powerful fleet to prevent the Spaniards from disturbing the stipulations of the treaty of Utrecht; on which occasion 170 NAVAL HISTORY. he greatly distinguished himself. The fleet consisted of twenty- sail of the line, two fire-ships, and some small vessels, and was joined off Gibraltar hy two ships of war under vice-admiral Cornwall. On the 1st of August he ari-ived in the bay of Naples, where he was received with every demonstration of respect by the imperial viceroy. The viceroy presented Sir George v.'ith a sword set with diamonds, and a very rich staff of com- mand ; and to the admiral's son he likewise presented a very handsome sword. The viceroy also sent re- freshments to the fleet, consisting of a hundred oxen, six hundred sheep, six hundred pounds of sugar, seventy hogsheads of wine, forty hogsheads of brandy, and se\ eral other refreshments. On the 6th he sailed with a fleet of Tartans under his protection, having 10,000 Gei'maii soldiers on board, to relieve the citadel of Mes- sina, then closely besieged by the Spanish army of 30,000 men, commanded by the marquis de Lede. But as he had orders to try pacific measures before he pro- ceeded to hostilities, he sent a letter to the Spanish general, acquainting him ' that the king, his master, being engaged by several treaties to preserve the tran- quillity of Italy, had honoured him with the command of a squadron of ships, which he had sent into those seas ; and that he came fully empowered and instructed to promote such measures as might best accommodate all differences between the powers concerned. He therefore proposed a cessation of arms in Sicily for two months, in order to give time to the several courts to conclude such resolutions as might restore a lasting peace :' but he added, ' that if he was not so happy as to succeed in this offer of his service, nor to be instrumental in bringing about so desirable a work, he then hoped to meiit his excellency's esteem in the execution of the other part of his orders, which were to use all his force to prevent any farther attempts to disturb those dominions which the king his master stood engaged to defend.' The Spanish general replied with equal courtesy and polite- ness : ' That it would be an inexpressible satisfaction to him, to contribute to so laudable an end as peace ; but, as he had no powers to treat, he could not of conse- quence agree to any suspension of arms, even at the expense of what the courage of his master's arms might be put to ; but should follow his orders, which directed BYNG, LORD TORRINGTON. 171 him to seize on Sicily, for his master the king of Spain. That he had a true sense of his accomplished exprcs- .sions; but that his master's forces would always be universally esteemed in sacrificing themselves for the preservation of their credit.' Upon receiving this answer. Sir George Byng sailed from the hay of Naples, as we have already mentioned, oD the Cth of August, and on the Pth arrived ofl' the harbour of Messina. According to the intelligence he had received, he was led to believe that the Spanish rteet had sailed to Malta, in order to avoid him, but on approaching the Faro of Messina, he discovered two Spanish look-out frigates, and at the same time was informed by a felucca from the Calabrian shore, that the Spanish fleet was then lying-to oft' the coast. On this information, he altered his original intention of landing the German troops at Messina ; ordered them to Reggio under convoy of two ships of v/ar, and stood through the Faro with a press of sail. About noon he discovered the Spanish fleet lying-to in a line of battle. It consisted of twenty-seven sail of men-of-war, besides two fire-ships, four bomb vessels, seven galleys, and several ships laden with stores and provisions, and was commanded by admiral don Antonio de Castaneta, who had under him f.'ur rear-admirals. As soon as the Spaniai'ds perceived the English fleet, they stood away, but in good order of battle. Admiral Byng followed during the remainder of the day and the following night, but, owing to the scantiness of the wind, did not get up with them till the morning of the 11th. On the British fleet nearing the enemy, the Spanish admiral made a signal for rear- admiral Mari, with six ships of war, and all the galleys, fire-ships, bomb vessels, and store ships, to separate from the main fleet, and stand in for the Sicilian shore. Upon which Sir George Byng directed captain Walton in the Canterbury, with five more ships, to pursue them, whilst he continued to chase the main body of their fleet. About ten o'clock the action began oft' cape i'as- sora, between the headmost ships of the British and the rear of the Spanish fleet, and soon after the engagement became general through the whole of both lines. The Spaniards fought with much bravery, and maintained the contest until dark, by which time Sir George Byng Lad captured the Spanish admiral and a rear-admiral, 172 NAVAL HISTORY. five ships of the line, and two large frigates. The admiral lay-to for some days to repair the damages the pi'izes had sustained, which were considerable, and to refit the rigging of his own squadron. On the 18th of August he received the following laconic letter from captain Walton, who had been dispatched in pui-suit of rear-admiral Mari. ' MR, We have taken and destroyed all the Spanish ships and vessels which were upon the coast, the number as per margin. Canterbury , off Syracusa, I am, &c. August 16, ins. G.Walton.' In a French account the ships that captain Walton had put with so much indifference into his margin, would have furnished matter for many columns of a Moniteur. It appeared that he had taken four Spanish men-of-war, the Royal, of 60 guns, rear-admiral de Mari ; one of 54 guns, one of 40, and another of 24 guns, with a bomb vessel, a ship laden with arms, and three transports laden with provisions. The vessels he destroyed were one ship of 54 guns, two of 40, and one of 30, with a fire-ship and a bomb vessel ; making altogether nine vessels taken, and sis burnt. Admiral Byng dispatched his eldest son with the in- telligence of these brilliant successes to England, where he aiTived overland in fifteen days after his departure from Naples, and met with a most gracious reception from the king, who made him a handsome present, and sent him back with full powers to the admiral, to nego- tiate with the princes and states of Italy, as he should judge expedient ; and at the same time he issued a royal grant to the officers and seamen of all the prizes they had taken from the Spaniards. Previous to the arrival of Mr. Byng with the official dispatches, the news of the defeat of the Spaniards had reached England, and the king wrote a letter, with his own hand, in French, to the admiral, of which the following is the translation : ' Sir George Byng, * Although I have received no news from you di- rectly, I am informed of the victory obtained by the fleet BYNG, LORD TORRINGTON. 17S under your command ; and would not, therefore, defer ifiving you that satisfaction which must result from my approbation of your conduct. I grive you my thanks, and desire you will testify ray satisfaction to all the brave men wlio have distinguished themselves on this occasion. Nfr. secretary Craggs has orders to inform you more fully of my intentions; but I was willing myself to as- sure you, that 1 am, ' Hampton Court, ' Your good friend, At/g. 23, 1718. ' George R.* The naval force of the Spaniards being no longer in any condition to resist the British fleet, the only service that remained for Sir George Byng to execute was, to keep the shattered remnant of their navy blockaded in tliose ports whither it had fled for refuge, and to support the land operations of the army in Sicily by his advice and protection, and by facilitating the transportation of troops, stores, and ammunition, where they were neces- sary. The Spanish court at length finding itself unable to continue the war with any prospect of success, acceded to the quadruple alliance in the month of February, 1719*20, and hostilities ceased in March following, on the arrival of a courier from Spain with the intelligence that the preliminary articles of peace had been signetU ' Thus,' as it is obsei'ved by the historian of the expedi- tion to Sicily, ' ended this war, wherein the fleet of Great Britain bore so illustrious a part, that the fate of the island was wholly governed by its operations; both com- petitors agreeing that one could not have been conquered, nor the other have been subdued, without it. Never was any service conducted in all its parts with greater zeal, activity, and judgment; nor was ever the British flag in so high reputation and respect in those distant parts of Europe.' Nothing remains for us now to mention of this officer, but his civil preferments. On the 9th of September, 1721, he was created a peer of the realm, by the titles of baron Southill, and viscount Torrington. lu 1725, on the revival of the ancient military order of the Bath, he was installed one of the knights companions ; and continued during the whole of the reign of George I. to possess, in the highest degree, the favour and personal attachment of that monarch. On the accession of George 11. he was 174 NAVAL HISTORY. appointed first lord commissioner of the admiralty, which high office he continued to hold till the time of his death, which happened on the 17th of January, 1733, in the 70th year of his age. The following' character of this distinguished officer has been given by Mr. Corbett, who lived in much intimacy with his family: — 'The late king (George I.) who had named the admiral for the command in chief in the Mediterranean, used to say to his ministers, when they applied to him for instructions to be sent to the admiral for his guidance on certain important occasions, that he would send him none, for he knew how to act without any; and, indeed, all the measures he took abroad were so exact and just, as to agree -^vith the councils and plan of policy at home. The cause of the emperor (of Ger- many) having become the cause of his master, he served the interest of that prince with a zeal and fidelity that stood a pattern to his own subjects. He lived in such harmony with the Imperial viceroys and generals, as has been seldom seen among fellow-subjects united in com- mand ; the want of which has proved the ruin of many important expeditions. He was incapable of performing his duty in a cold and negligent manner ; and when any service was committed to his management, he devoted his whole time and application to it ; nor could any fatigue or indisposition of body ever divert or interrupt his attention from any point that required dispatch. To this it might be in a great measure owing, that he was never unfortunate in any undertaking, nor miscarried iu any service that was intrusted to his direction. ' He always proceeded upon solid principles, and left nothing to foi'tune that could be accomplished by fore- sight and application. His firmness and plain-dealing were so apparent to the foreigners who treated with him upon business, that it contributed much to the dispatch and success of their transactions with him, for they could depend upon what he said : and as they saw he used no art or chicane himself, and had too discerning a spirit to suffer them to pass unobserved in others, they often found it their best policy to leave their interest in his hands and management, being very sure of a most impartial and punctual performance of whatever he engaged in. ' His reputation was ^o thoroughly established in this RYNG, LORD TORRINGTON. 175 particular, that, in the frequent disputes and altercations which arose between the Savoyards and Germans, in the course of the war ; and between the latter and Spaniards at the conclusion of it, when little confidence was liiven to the promises or asseverations of each other, he was the common umpire between them, always stemminij and opposing: any extravatrant or unjust demands which the overbearinji- temper of the German g:eneral was very apt to suggest, where he had the supeiior hand, and recon- ciliu^, as much as possible, the violeucesof war with the rules of honour and justice. * When he departed from Italy to attend his late ma- jesty in Hanover, the kin^, among- many liracious ex- pressions, tnld him, that he had found out the secret of obliging' his enemies as well as his friends ; and that the court of Spain had mentioned, with great acknowledg- ment, his fair and friendly behaviour in the provision of transports and other necessaries for the embarkation of their troops, and in protecting them from many vexa- tions and oppressions that had been attempted. No wonder tliat a man endowed with sucli talents and such a disposition, left behind him, in Italy and other foreign parts, the character of a great soldier, an able statesman, and an honest mau I 176 NAVAL HISTORY. SIR CHARLES VvAGER. 1664—1743. This excellent officer, and truly estimable man, was ont of those brave and enterprising seamen who, by dint of their own merit, unassisted by powerful connexions or influence, have acquired an enduring reputation, and attained the highest ranks in their profession. His iirst appointment was that of captain of the Fuzee fire-ship, in 1692; soon after that he was removed into au armed ship of 44 guns, and sent to convoy a fleet of merchantmen bound to New England. During the latter part of the reign of king William, and the early part of that of queen Anne, he commanded different line of battle ships, under Sir George Rooke, Sir Cloudesly Shovel, and ad- miral Byng, and participated in the dangers and glory of those great men. His regular and constant attention to every point of his duty, his perfect knowledge of it in every branch, whether considered in the light of an ofiicer or a seaman^ raised him to the highest reputation both with the minis- ters and people, which was never exceeded by those who had happily met with the most singular opportunities of acquiring renown. This estimation of his qualifications led him to be selected to command in chief in the West Indies in 1707. His rank in the service at this time was only that of captain of the Expedition, of 70 guns ; but he had by his commission the privilege of appointing a captain under him, and hoisting a broad pendant as commodore when clear of the Channel. He sailed from Plymouth on the 10th of April, having under his orders nine ships of m ar, with which he was to convoy the West India fleet of forty-five merchantmen. His first care on his arrival in the West Indies was to provide for the security of the British settlements ; where be in- troduced such prudent regulations, and was so attentive on all occasions to the protection of commerce, that both the colonies themselves and their trade flourished more during his continuance on that station, than they bad ever done since the revolution. WAGER. 177 F.arly in 1708, the commodore received advice that tlie celebrated French chef d'escadre, du Cassc, was daily expected in the West Indies with a squadron of great force, destined, as it was generally supposed, for an at- tack on the island of Jamaica. This apprehension, how- ever, was soon removed, for certain intelliiceuce arrived that du Casse's real destination was to the Havannah, to convoy from thence the galleons bound to Spain, wiiose whole ma'ine at that time was in such a wretched con- dition, as to be utterly inadequate to the protection of so vast a treasure. The commodore immediately formed a project for attacking the galleons before they had joined their pro- tectors, as M. du Casse's force was too great for him to expect any success afterwards. Campbell, who appears to have carefully considered the character of this great man, very properly observes, that the idea of making this bold attempt did not originate from the hope of enriching himself, but merely from a desire of doing his duty, and effecting every thing that was in his power against the enemy. The route of the galleoua was perfectly known to him ; they were to sail from Porto Bello to Cartha- pena, and from thence to the Havannah, where the French commander was to receive them ; he, therefoie, resolved to try if it was not possible to intercept them in their passage from Porto Bello to Carthagena. With tiiis view he sent as many ships as he could spare over to the Spanish main to watch the enemy, and if possible to obtain information of their motions. He himself put to sea and cruised about, to be at hand and in readiness. About the 14th of March be received intelligence from captain Pudner, who commanded the Severn, one of his cruising ships, that the galleons intended to sail from Porto Bello on the 1st of May. To deceive the enemy, he then returned to Jamaica to refit, and sailed again from Port Royal on the i4th of April. He crui.^ed about until the 27th of May, when not meeting with them, he began to fear that they had intelliirence of his being on the coast, and were gone for the Havannah. On the 28th of May, about noon, the galleons, in all seventeen in number, were discovered from the mast bead, and the Spaniards at the same time had sight of the British squadron, but despising the small force the commodore had with him, they did not alter M 178 NAVAL HISTORY. their course. The British squadron consisted of the following ships : Expedition . . 70 guns J Commodore Wager ( Captain . . Long. Kingston ... 60 Bridges. Portland .... 60 Windsor. Severn 4S Pudner. Vulture fire-ship. The commodore immediately gave chase to the Spani- ards, which continued until evening, when the enemy finding they could not weather the Baru, an island in their passage to Cartbagena, resolved to contest the matter, and drew out as well as they could in line of battle, under easy sail. At sun-set the engagement com- menced between the two commanders-in-chief, and con- tinued for an hour and a half, when the Spanish admiral's ship blew up ; a vast quantity of the flaming wreck fell on board the Expedition, but was happily extinguished without doing much damage. After this accident the Spaniards began to separate, and the night being very dark favoured their escape, but the commodore discover- ing one of them, which was the rear-admiral, he made sail after her, and coming up with her about ten at night, fired so effectual a broadside as disabled the enemy. The Spaniard, however, continued to defend his ship with great gallantry till two in the morning, when the Kingston and Portland coming up, he struck liis colours and called out for quarter. At daylight four sail were seen dii-ectly to windward, which the commo- dore made the signal for the Windsor and Portland to chase, his own ship being too much disabled, besides having no less than 300 prisoners on board. The commodore having repaired his own damages and refitted the prize as well as circumstances would permit, resolved to proceed without loss of time to Jamaica, but being greatly straitened for provisions and water, and the wind contrary, he yielded to the urgent entreaties of his prisoners, and put them ashore at the island of Baru. The Spanish rear-admiral as long as he lived retained a grateful sense of this act of humanity. On the olst the conimodore was joined by the Kingston and Port- land, whose captains informed him that the ship they had pursued was the Spanish vice-admiral, who running among the shoals of Salmadinas offCarthageua,they were WAGER. 179 obliged to tack, aud stand off, although they had got so near as to rire several broadsides into her. This gave tlie commodore great dissatisfaction, und he determined to bring the captains to a court-martial ; but, in the mean time, he sent them to take or destroy a galleon of 40 guns, which he understood by a Swedish ship that had been trading at Baru, had taken shelter in that island. The galleon was coming out of the harbour just as tlie Kingston and Portland appeared ; but on sight of the English ships, the Spaniards ran their vessel on shore and burnt her. After this the commodore returned to Jamaica, and arrived in safety at Port Royal on the l.ltli of July. The captains of the Kingston and Portland were tried by a court-martial on a charge of neglect of duty, in not pursuing the Spanish vice-admiral when the pilots offered to caiTy the ships within the shoals ; and being found guilty of part of the 12th and 14th arti- cles of war, were sentenced to be dismissed from the command of their respective ships. According to the accounts given the commodore by his prisoners, the loss sustained by the enemy must have been immense. The admiral's ship, which blew up, mounted 64 brass guns, had a complement of near seven hundred men, seventeen of whom only were saved, and had on board about seven millions in gold and silver. The bhip which was captured mounted 44 guns, and had on board thirteen chests of pieces of eigVit, and a very con- siderable treasure in silver. The galleon destroyed had a rich cargo of merchandise on board, but we do not find any estimate made of her value. It is related as an anecdote of commodore Wairer, that in private con- versation he used to say, a man who would not fight for a galleon would fight for nothing ; and this probably was said in allusion to the misconduct of his captains, who permitted the Spanish vice-admiral to escape, on b')ard whose ship were six millions in gold and silver. In the distribution of the captured property, the com- modore exhibited a most honourable proof of integrity and disinterestedness. Previous to this year there was no established regulation for dividing the property taken from an enemy among the captors, but each individual plundered and appropriated to his own use as much as could be found out of the hold. There were indeed some ill defined regulations, which custom had in a certain M2 180 NAVAL HISTORY. degree erected into law ; but these were as often broken through as observed, and even when they were most strictly maintained, were, to the major part of the crew, inequitable and unjust. To remedy this defect, and to animate the seamen to more spirited exertions, by hold- ing out to them a liberal recompense, an act of par- liament was passed settling the future distribution of captured property. This arrived in Jamaica a short time before the commodore's return with the galleons, and though he had, according to what was then the usual custom of the service, permitted the people to plunder at the time of taking the prize, he now appointed regular agents for the captors, in compliance with the law; and to satisfy the sailors of the fairness of his intentions, he ordered his captain to deliver up near £'30,000. worth of silver and effects, which he had seized between decks for the commodore's use and his own. This honourable instance of self-denial made a strong impression on the minds of the seamen under him, and rendered him ever afterwards one of the most popular characters in the ser- vice. His generous conduct to his seamen undoubtedly enabled him to accomplish the many important services which he rendered to his country during his command. His cruisers took a greater number of prizes than had been taken at any former period, and he effectually pro- tected the trade of the British merchants in those seas. Soon after these splendid successes, he received a com- mission appointing him rear-admiral of the blue, and was ordered to return home. Immediately on his arrival in England he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the red, and the queen conferred upon him the honour of knighthood. With these flattering but justly deserved marks of royal approbation, and the esteem and love of all ranks of his countryuien, Sir Charles retired into private life, and enjoyed a relaxation from the fatigues of service, during tiie remainder of queen Anne's reign. On the accession of George I. he was appointed cora- mander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, and at the same time made compti'oller of the navy. His Mediterranean command produced nothing interesting, it being a period of profound peace ; and on his return from thence, he ren^ained unemployed as a flag ofiicer till the year 1722, when some disputes with Portugal caused a fleet to be equipped, to the command of which Sir Charles Wa^er WAGER. 181 was appointed. Matters not proceeding to extremities with the court of Lisbon, the British fleet was dismantled, without even putting to sea, and Sir Charles was not ajrain called into service till the year i72ti. On this occasion be commanded the lleet in the Baltic, but the naval campaigm like most in that quarter proved a pacilic one, and afforded Sir Charles no opportunity of gathering laurels. In the following year he hoisted his flag as vice-admi- ral of the red, and sailed with a squadron of six ships of the line and two frinates to the relief and protection of Gibraltar, which was then openly threatened by the Spaniards. On his arrival, the admiral found the conde de las Torres, the Spanish general, encamped within a league of the place, with an army of 15,000 men. No hostilities, however, had commenced ; the Spanish boats and small vessels were permitted to pass by the English squadron without any molestation ; but on the 10th of February, the intentions of the enemy became more apparent, by the Spanish general openly commencing the erection of a battery, pointing directly against the fortifications of the British garrison. This produced a correspondence between Sir Charles and the Spanish general, which not ending to the satisfaction of the for- mer, the admiral ordered three of his ships to anchor in a station where they could enfilade the enemy's in- trenchments. This was followed by hostilities ; and a variety of those enterprises and transactions which ne- cessarily ensue between assailants and defenders took place, but none of sufficient importance to demand ex- planation. On the 23rd of June, the Spaniards agreed to a suspension of arms, which early in the ensuing year was followed by a treaty of peace. After this period. Sir Charles commanded successively in the Mediterranean, the Channel fleet, and a squadron of observation in the Downs. On the death of lord vis- count Torrington, in 1733, he was appointed first lord of the admiralty, and never went to sea afterwards. In 1734, he was advanced to be admiral of the white, under the apprehension that Great Britain might be ultimately involved in tlie war which had spread over the Conti- nent, and in which case it was determined that Sir Charles Wager should command the grand fleet. The nation, however, continued at peace, and Sir Charles 182 NAVAL HISTORY. was not called out into service. He continued to hold his high office at the board of admiralty, with much le- putation and inflexible integrity, till the 19th of March, 1741, when he quitted it, and was appointed in the month of December following to the lucrative post of treasurer of the navy. This appointment he did not long- enjoy, dying on the 24th of May, 1743, in the seventy- ninth year of his age. Private gratitude has erected a sumptuous monument to his memory, in Westminster Abbey, which bears a very just and faithful delineation of his character : — ' To the memory of Sir Charles Wager, Knt. admiral of the white, first commissioner of the admiralty, and privy councillor; a man of great natural talents, im- proved by industry and long experience ; who bore the highest commands, and parsed through the greatest employments, with credit to himself and honour to his country. He was, in his private life, humane, tempe rate, just, and bountiful; in public station, valiant, pru- dent, wise, and honest ; easy of access to all ; steady and resolute in his conduct ; so remarkably happy in his pre- sence of mind, that no danger ever discomposed him : esteemed and favoured by his king, beloved and ho- noured by his country ; he died the 24th of May, 1743, aged seventy-nine. This monument was erected by- Francis Gashry, Esq. in gratitude to his great patron, A. D. 1747.' MATl'HKWS. 183 THOMAS MATTHEWS. DIED IN 1751. This brave and uufortunate commander was the de- scendant of a very ancient and respectable family, who had long possessed considerable property at Landaff, in the county of Glamorgan. We liave no account of his naval services until May, 1703, when he was appointed captain of the Yarmouth. Some time after he was re- moved into the Dover, a cruising^ friijate, iu which ship he continued without any opportunity of distinguishing- himself till the year 1707, when he had the good fortune to capture a French frigate named the Bieu Ainie, mounting 20 guns, for which service he was removed into the Chester, a new ship of 50 guns. Tliis vessel foi-mcd part of a cruising squadron in the Channel, under the command of lord Dursly. In the month of March, 1709, being the headmost ship of the squadron, he gave chase to and captured, after a short but spirited action, the Glorieux, a French frigate of 44 guns, one of the ships attached to the flying squadron under the command of that celebrated naval partisan l)u Guai Trouin. During the remainder of the war, captain Matthews was employed iu the West Indies, or North America, but does not appear to have met with any farther opportunities of signalizing himself. He lived in retirement till the year 1718, when he was appointed to command the Kent of 70 guns, one of the ships equipped for the Meditei'ranean, under the orders of Sir George Byng. In the memorable engagement wich the Spanish fleet off Messina captain Matthews dis- tinguished himself greatly, having' not only captured and taken possession of the St. Carlos, a ship of GO guns, commanded by the prince de Chalay, but afterwards considerably assisted captain Master of the Superbe in taking the Spanish admiral himself in the St. Philip, of 74 guns. In January, 1719, he was left by the comman- der-in-chief, with a small squadron, to cruise off Ponte- nielia, in order to watch the Spanish rear-atlniiral, who bad taken refuge in the bason of Messina, and to prevent 184 NAVAL HISTORY. bis escape to the southward. He was so active and dili- gerit ill this service, that he drove ou shoi'e, and totally destroyed, the Santa Rosalia, of 64 guns, one of the Spa- nish admiral's best ships, and would have taken the rear- admiral himself had he not quitted her, and made his escape in an open boat. Cbarnock, speaking- of his services at this period, says, ' His activity did not grow torpid by repeated success, nor his zeal for the service and good of his country's flag, as if sated with the honour he had gained. He continued to be employed on every service where ability was re- quired ; but from an enemy so completely beaten, from a fleet so totally annihilated as that of Spain, little repu- tation could be gained in addition to that which he had already so justly acquired. He appears, during the le- mainder of this expedition, to have been one of the per- sons principally consulted by the admiral as to the measures he should take, according to the exigencies of his very complex and delicate command, and to have been, on all occasions, one of the first persons employed to carry them into execution. On his return to England, after the conclusion of the war, he appears to have re- tired from active service for a considerable time, as we do not find that he held any command in the fleets which were occasionally, and, almost as a matter of course, annually equipped during the fifteen succeeding years.' In January, 1736, he was appointed resident commis- sioner of the navy at Chatham, which office he continued to fill until 1742, when he was promoted to be vice-admi I'al of the red, and appointed to succeed admiral Haddock in the command in chief in the Mediterranean. He was also invested with the character of minister-plenipoten- tiary to the king- of Sardinia, and the states of Italy. On the 25th March, he hoisted his flagon board the Namur, of 90 guns, and having sailed, on the IGth of April, with three other ships of the line, arrived at Gibraltar on the 7tb May ; and shortly after assumed the command of the fleet, which had been under the control of vice-admiral Lestock since the resignation of admiral Haddock, on account of ill health. Immediately on taking possession of his command, admiral Matthews ordered captain Norris to destroy five Spanish galleys, which had put into the bay of St. Tropez ; and this service was eflTectually per- formed. In May, he detached commodore Rowley, with MATTHEWS. I^*) eijrht sail, to cruise off tlie harbour of Toulon ; and a ^eat number of merchant ships belouiriii'r to the enemy fell into his hands, in August, ho sent commodore Mar- tin, with another squadron, into the bay of Naples, to bombard that city, unless the kin^ would immediately recal his troops which had joined the Spanish army, and pi-omise to remain neuter durintr the continuance of the war. Naples was immediately filled with consternation ; the king subscribed to these conditions; and the English squadron rejoined the admiral in the road of Hieres, near Toulon, which he had chosen for his winter quar- teTs. He also ordered two of his cruisers to attack a Spanish ship of the line, which lay in the harbour of Ajaccio, in the island of Corsica; but the Spanish captain set his men on shore, and blew up his ship, rather than that it should fall into the hands of the English. By these energetic proceedingrs, the Biiri;ih fleet over- awed all the states that bordered on the Mediterranean. In June, the admiral receivin:^ intelligence that fourteen xebecqucs, laden with artillery and ammunition for the Spanish array, and under the convoy of a Spanish sloop of war, had been chased by one of his frigates into the port of Genoa, he himself sailed from his station oft' Hieres, and anchored in the road of Genoa, on the 1st of July, with six ships of the line, and four bomb vessels. Deputies were immediately sent off to cora])linient him on his arrival, and civilly to inquire into the cause of a visit which was totally unexpected, and not a little dis- agreeable. The admiral answered with much firmness, ' That he came there to demand that the Spanish vessels laden with stores should be forthwith obliged to quit the port ; or, that the republic should sequester the artillery and warlike stores till the conclusion of a general peace.' After some negotiations, it was at length ajjreed, that the stores should be put on board other vessels, and trans- ported to Corsica, under convoy of the English squadron, there to be deposited in the castle of Bonifacio, and to be guarded by a Genoese g-arrison till the war terminated ; and that after the due performance of this agreement, the Spanish vessels should have permission to retire un- molested. The terrors of a bombardment obliged the Genoese, who favoured the S\ianiards, to their great mortification, to submit to these terms. The remainder of the admiral's operations during this 186 NAVAL HISTORY. year were confined to the assistance he gave the king of Sardinia, in order to enable him to repulse the Spaniards at Chateau Dauphine. For this purpose he landed the greater part of his marines and a considerable train of artillery at Villa Franca ; by which means he seemed that important place against the enemy's incursions, and etfectually prevented them from penetrating into Savoy by that pass during the remainder of the year. The French court, weary of having- their own fleet as well as that of the Spaniards blockaded in Toulon, sent M. de Court to take the command of their ships, with peremptory orders to put to sea in conjunction with the Spaniards, and to support them to the utmost of his power, in case they should be attacked. The united squadrons of the enemy consisted of twenty-eight sail of the line and six frigates; that under admiral Matthews was superior in point of force, htit had this disadvantage, that many of his ships were in a very indift'ereut state of equipment, both with respect to men and the condition of the ships, from having been a long time from England ; while on the other hand, the French and Spanish ships were just come out of port, and in as good a state for service as any fleet belonging to those powers that had ever gone to sea. M. de Court, on his arrival at Toulon in January, 1744, hoisted his flag on board the Terrible, of 74 guns, and assumed the command of the whole fleet. Admiral Matthews about the same time returned from Turin, whither he had been to concert the measures necessary to be pursued in carrying on the war ; and having received intelligence that the combined fleets were preparing to put to sea, he stationed a number of cruisers to look out, and give him the earliest intelligence of the enemy's motions. The memorable action which ensued, and which forms so prominent an event in the naval history of Britain, became long the subject of political discussion and party dispute ; but now, when the dishonourable motives of faction have ceased to influence the understandings of men, the indignation of every generous mind will be di- rected against the memory of the man who could basely and cowardly sacrifice the interests of his counti-y to the gratification of personal malice — in abandoning his com- mander in the day of battle. Happily for the honour of the British navy this is but the second instance of tha MATTHEWS. 187 kind which has stained its annals to the present time, and it is to be hoped that many a generous sacrifice will yet be made to support the honour and bravery of a com- mander, to atone for the disgraceful abandonment of a Benbow and a iMatthews. The French and Spanish fleets had been blockaded in Toulon for about eighteen months, when M. de Court, in obedience to his instructions, was observed, on the morn- ing of the l!>th of February, to stand out of the road formed in line of battle : admiral Matthews immediately weighed from Hieres bay, and in half an hour after made the signal to form the line of battle ahead. The British fleet continued plying to windward between the islands and the main during the remainder of the day ; but the con- federate fleets not choosing to bear down, the admiral at night returned to his anchorage in the bay, after Laving left cruisers out to watch their motions. At day-break on the morning of the 10th, the signal was again made to weigh, and the fleet stood out to sea in a line a-breast : but both fleets did nothing more than manoeuvre in sight of each other during the whole of the day. On the 1 1th, admiral Matthews began to suspect that M. de Court's intention was to decoy the British fleet towai-ds the straits of Gibraltar, where there was a probability of his being joined by the Brest squadron. In order to prevent this design of the French admiral, Matthews determined to endeavour to bring him to an action without loss of time. Accordingly, at half-past eleven, he made the signal to engage. At this time the fleets were at such a distance from each other, that it was one o'clock before the Namur, which bore admiral Matthews's flag, got a-breast of the Real of 100 guns, the flag-ship of don NavaiTO the Spanish admiral, and rear- admiral Rowley abreast of the Terrible, the flag-ship of M.de Court, which was in the centre of the confederate fleet : a very few captains followed the example of their commanders ; but vice-aJmiral Lestock, with his whole division, remained at a great distance astern ; and several captains who were immediately under the eye of Mat- thews behaved in such a manner as reflected disgrace upon their country. To give his ships an opportunity of coming up to his assistance, admiral Matthews engaged with the utmost intrepidity, within pistol shot of the 188 NAVAL HISTORY. Spanish admiral, and rear-admiral Rowley opened a heavy fire on the Terrible. The admiral was nobly supported by his seconds, the Marlborough, captain Cornwall, and the Norfolk, captain Forbes. Rear-admiral Rowley' was not less ably supported by captain Osborne, in the Princess Caroline ; and captain Hawke, in the Berwick, gave his country an admirable foretaste of that bravery which he afterwards exhibited in a more pro- minent capacity. Observing the Poder, one of the Spa- nish ships, firing very briskly at several of the British ships, without their making any eflfectual return, Hawke most gallantly bore out of the line, and brought her to close action. The first broadside dismounted seven of the Poder's lower deck guns, and killed twenty-seven of her men. Not long after all her masts went by the board, and she struck her colours.* The Norfolk obliged the Constant to quit the line, but she was in too disabled a condition to pursue her. The Marlborough was still more crippled ; her main and mizen masts were shot away, and their fall put an end to the existence of her gallant commander, captain Cornwall, who, a few minutes before, had both his legs shot ofi*. Lieutenant Cornwall (his nephew) supported the action after the death of his uncle with becoming good conduct and bravery, until his right arm was shot off. By this time the Spanish admiral don Navan-o, in the Real, was lying a perfect wreck, and bis seconds beat out of the line, and unable to support him. In this situ- ation, admiral Matthews made a sigmal for the Anne galley fire-ship to go down and bum the Real ; and for the boats of his division to tow the Marlborough out of the line. At four o'clock the Anne galley bore down on the Spanish admiral, but as the ship which was ordered to cover this movement did not obey the signal, the fire-ship was exposed to the whole fire of the enemy. Captain Mackay, her brave commander, ordered all his people ofi" the deck, and boldly steered the ship himself, with the match in his hand. As he approached he found * So extraordinary were all the circumstances connected with tliis iction that Hawke, for this noble and g-enerons service, was tried t)j rourt-inarrial, and sentenced to be dismissed the service, for hariu? broken the line and foujht without orders! He was, however, re- stored to his rank by the express command of Georgre II. Charnock well observes, that if every captain on that day had acted with equal bravery, the combined fleet would have been destroyed. MATTHEWS. 189 the enemy's shot had such an effect that the ship was rapidly sinkinir, and at the same time observing a larg'e Spanish launch vowing towards him, he ordered his guns to be discharged at her, when, on a sudden, the fire-ship appeared in a blaze, and almost instantly blew up, but at too great a distance either to trrapple the Real, or to do her any material injury. Her gallant commander, with his lieutenant, gunner, mate, and two quarter-masters, perished. The French admiral, M. de Court, perceiving' the perilous situation of don Navarro, ceased engaging rear- admiral Rowley, and with his division bore down to the assistance of the Spanish squadron. The rear-admiral tacked and pursued him ; but about this time admiral Matthews hauled down the signal for battle, and night put an end to the contest, which had been partial and severe. The N'amur was so much shattered that the admiral shifted his flag to the Riissel ; and the Poder, which had struck, being unable to keep up with the fleet, was retaken in the night by the French squadron. At day-break on the 12th, the enemy were observed to leeward making off, with their disabled ships in tow. Admiral Matthews made a signal for a general chase, and soon after to draw into a line of battle abreast. The enemy observing the British fleet gaining on them, cast oft" and abandoned the Poder, having set lire to her, and she soon after blew up. At half-past five in the evening there was little wind, and there being no pros- pect of getting up with the enemy before dark, the admiral brought the fleet to, that he might be joined by the ships astern. On the morning of the 13th they were perceived at a considerable distance, and pursued till the evening. In the morning of the 14th twenty sail of them were seen distinctly. Vice-admiral Lestock with his division was ordered to chase, and had gained upon them consider- ably by noon ; but admiral Matthews displayed the signal for leaving oflf chase, and bore away for port Blahon, to repair the damage he had sustained. Mean- while the combined squadrons continued their course towards the coast of Spain. Admiral Matthews was so dissatisfied with Lestock's conduct, that on his arrival at Minorca he suspended him from his command, and sent him prisoner to England. Lestock on his arrival. ISO NAVAL HISTORY. in turn, accused his accuser. Long before the engage- ment, these two officers had expressed the most vi- rulent resentment against each other.* Matthews was brave, open, and undisguised ; but proud, imperious, and precipitate. Lestock had given many former proofs of courage, and perfectly understood the whole disci- pline of the navy ; but he was cool, cunning, and vindictive. He had been treated superciliously by Matthews, and to gratify his revenge he betrayed the interests of his country. It never has been doubted but that he might have come up in time to engage, and in that case tbe fleets of France and Spain would in all likelihood have been destroyed; but he intrenched himself within the punctilios of discipline, and saw with pleasure his antagonist expose himself to the hazard of death, ruin, and disgrace. In defence of Les- tuck it was urged, that, if he had been permitted to continue the chase on the third day, when the enemy appeared disabled and in manifest disorder, it is pro- bable that they would have fallen an easy prey to tbe vice-admiral. In answer to this, admiral Matthews assigned as a reason for his conduct, that had he con- tinued the chase he might have been drawn too far down the Mediterranean, and in that case have left the coast of Italy unprotected, and deviated from his instructions. If admiral Matthews in his turn recalled the vice-admiral to prevent his obtaining an easy victory over the disabled ships of the enemy, it can only be regretted that the public service of the country should at any time be sacrificed to gratify the personal ani- mosity of indi^'iduals. The loss sustained by the British fleet in this unfor- tunate encounter was 92 men killed, and 1S5 wounded, besides those who perished in the fire-ship. Captain Cornwall t of the Marlborough fell in the action, and captain Russel of the Namur was mortally wounded. The slaughter on board the combined fleets was much * This bad feeling' is said to have arisen in the disappointment which Lestock felt at being^ superseded in his temporary cooimaud. He had been instructed to send a frigate to meet admiral Matthews on his arrival in the Mediterranean— this was nesflected, and the admiral viewed it as an insult offered to him, and reprimanded Les- tock at their first meeting- in the presence of some foreig-n officers, which Lestock never forgave. + A \er\ handsome nionumentwas erected in Westminster Abbey at the national expense to perpetuate the memory of this brave man. MATTHEWS. 191 more considerable. The Real had 500 men either killed or wounded ; the Neptune '200 ; the Isabella 300 ; and the other ships in proportiou as they shared in the action. Admiral Navarro received two slight wounds. On the return of the combined fleets into port, don Navarro ex- pressed himself to the Spanish ministry dissatisfied with the conduct of M. de Court, and on a complaint beinjj: made to the French government, that old officer, then in the eitrhtieth year of his age, was superseded in the com- mand of the fleet. When the intelligence of these proceedings reached England it caused such a public clamour, that the house of commons addressed the king:, ' That he would be gra- ciously pleased to give directions that a court-martial might he hnld, in the most speedy and solemn manner, to inquire into the conduct of admiral Matthews, vice- admiral Lestock, and several other oflScers, in and re- lating to the engagement between his majesty's fleet and the combined fleets of France and Spain, off Toulon, in order to bring those to condign punishment through whose misconduct it should be found that such discredit had been brought on his majesty's arms, the honour of the nation sacrificed, and such an opportunity lost of doing the most important service to the common cause.' Courts-martial were accordingly ordered, but by this time Lestock, to screen himself, had accused admiral Matthews, six captains, and four lieutenants of the ad- miral's division, of misconduct. Much delay took place in collecting evidence. The court was opened in October, 1745, and in June following vice-admiral Lestock was honourably acquitted ; several of the conimandeis of ships weie cashiered, and others reprimanded. Admiral Mat- thews was then ordered to be tried, and after various adjournments until June 1747, the court at length pro- nounced the following sentence : — ' The court having examined the witnesses, produced as well in support of the charges as in behalf of the prisoner; and having thoroughly examined their evi- dence, do unanimously resolve, that it appears thereby, that Thomas Matthews, Esq. by divers breaches of duty, ^'.as a principal cause of the miscarriage of his majesty's fleet in the Mediterranean, in the mouth of February, 1744, and that he falls under the I4th article of an act of the 13th of Charles H. for establishing articles and 192 NAVAL HISTORY. orders for regulating the better goveruraent of his ma- jesty's navies, ships of war, and forces by sea; and the court do unanimously think fit to adjudge the same Tho- mas Matthews be cashiered, and rendered incapable of any employ in his majesty's service.' When this sentence was communicated to the king, he is reported to have said, 'That he did not understand the nature of naval evolutions, and consequently could not say whether Matthews had observed the line of battle or not ; but he knew that he had fought bravely, and therefore he was astonished at the severity of his sentence.' Such decisions are not to be accounted for except from prejudice aud faction. The nation was not less sm-- prised at this sentence than bis majesty. The people naturally inquired for the person who had best acquitted himself, in the splendid, brilliant, and ever-favourite character of a gallant man ; and when they found that the commander-in-chief had actively and spiritedly en- gaged in the centre of the enemy's fleet, and that he was left exposed to a destructive fire whilst his vice- admiral refused to come up to his assistance, and who did not even venture within gun-shot, they felt the impulse of a generous indignation, and considered that if admiral Matthews were justly condemned, the other ought to have been shot, or the code of naval discipline was what they could not understand. The admiral was charged with rashness and precipitation in engaging before his line of battle was formed ; to this he replied, ' That if he had waited till that was effected, no action whatever would have taken place, as their manoeuvres evidently indicated that their object was not to fight, but to lead him down the straits ; and therefore he had no other chance of bringing on a general action but by bearing down and engaging with such ships as were near him, in the hope ol stopping them till the rest of the fleet, particularly Lestock's division, could come up.' The pro- priety of this spirited mode of attack had been repeatedly justified by its success, and in later times it has been adopted on many occasions. Only three years after, in 1747, when Hawke captured the greater part of Lenten- deur's fleet, and defeated Conflans, he wrote, that 'Jiiiu- ing we lost time informing the line, at eleven 1 made the signal for the whole squadron to chase.' Hawke VERNON. 193 l^eatly distinguished himself in the action off Toulon, and his adopting the mode of attack which led to the disjjcrace of his commander, is surely the best testimony which can be given of the injustice of that procedure. Admiral Matthews is said to have been a strict disci- plinarian, and as he had always paid the utmost obedi- ence to command, he expected the same conduct from those who acted under him. He was extremely jealous of the authority of his station, and considered any indig- nity offered to it an injury to the seivice of his country. His bravery and gallantry were never questioned, and all that his enemies were able to adduce against him was, ' that he himself knew better how to fight than to command others to do it.' The few remaining years of his life he passed in peaceful retirement, and died about the year 1751, justly considered b^' most people as entitled to their honour- able compassion, and as a martyr to political injustice. EDWARD VERNON. 16S4— 1757. This distinguished commander was the descendant of an ancient family, which had settled in England at the time of the Nonuan conquest, and obtained landed possessions of considerable extent. Some of his ancestors enjoyed the honours of the peerage, and the name of Vernon frequently appears with approbation in the annals of English history. He was born at Westminster, Novem- ber 12, 1C84. His father, who was some time secretary of state under William and Mary, bestowed on him an excellent education, intending to qualify him for some civil employment, but he made choice of the sea service, to which his father, with considerable reluctance, at length consented ; and he pursued from that time, with great application and success, those studies which were connected with his intended profession. He made his first expedition to sea under the care of viceadmira) Hopson, when the French fleet and Spanish galleons N 194 NAVAL HISTORY. were destroyed in the harbour of Vigo. In 1702 be served in an expedition to the West Indies under com- modore Walker ; and in 1704, on board the fleet com- manded by Sir George Rooke, which convoyed the king of Spain to Lisbon, on which occasion, probably in con- sideration of his father's rank in the state, he had the honour of receiving a valuable ring and a hundred guineas from that monarch's own hands. He was also present at the battle off Malaga, on the 13th of August in the same year. Having passed through the subordinate stations of the service necessary to qualify him for the rank of post captain, he was promoted to that rank on the 22nd of January, 1706, and appointed to command the Dolphin frigate. In this vessel he was employed on the Meditei-- ranean station under Sir John Leake, who toon after- wards appointed him to the Rye, and sent him to England in the month of August following, with news of the sur- render of Alicant. He returned to the Mediterranean in the same ship, and continued there till the end of the year 1707, under the command of Sir Cloudesly Shovel, but without distinguishiui; himself in any way so as to be noticed by those who have written on naval history. Early in 1708, captain Vernon was appointed to the Jersey fiigate of 48 guns, and sailed to the West Indies, in company with a reinforcement for the squadron under Sir Charles Wager. On his arrival at Jamaica, the Jersey was employed as a cruiser, and captain Vernon's Success was highly honourable to his vigilance and acti- vity He continued to command the Jersey, and remained in Ihe West Indies till the end of the war. In May, 17 IJ, being on a cruise to the windward of Jamaica, he captured a French ship of 30 guns, and 120 men ; and during the remainder of the summer the Jersey com- p)sed one of the squadron under commodore Littleton, which was employed in watching the movements of the enemy in the port of Carthagena. The peace of Utrecht, which happened soon after, gave almost thirty years of repose to Europe, after the tranquillity of half the civilized world had been for nearly an equal time disturbed by the profligate ambi- tion of Louis XIV., and placed captain Vernon, with many other naval officers of the highest merit, for the greatest part of that time, in the obscurity of a private station. VERNON. 195 On the accession of Georire II., in 1727, captain Ver- non was chosen menibei* of parliament for the borough of Penryn, in Cornwall, and soon distinguished himself by an active opposition to the pacific measures of Sir Robert Walpole's administration. As a frequent speaker in the house of commons, captain Vernon was one of that minister's most troublesome opponents. He had no pretensions, indeed, to that high description of oratory, which by way of pre-eminence is called eloquence ; nor was there much of logical arrangement in his arguments; but he possessed a suflScient command of words, and always delivered his opinions with generous warmth and manly freedom. The honour of England he thought en- dangered by the pacific coiin-sels of Sir Robert Walpole, and his opposition was not that of a man educated at the bar, or in the senate, — of one whose words were uttered according to the scientific rules of disputation, and who with equal facility could espouse either side ol the ques- tion, — but originated in the unbiassed decisions of his own mind. His opinions, which were always forcibly de- livered, invariably proceeded from a conviction in his own mind of their rectitude ; and this conviction, which was perhaps most apparent when his judgment erred, as at such times it assumed a more prominent shape, wrought greater effects on his auditory, than axioms better founded, and delivered by more eloquent men, could have done. From a constitutional violence of temper, he was hasty and impetuous in debate, and often let fall unguarded expressions, which in his cooler moments he would probably have been happy to have retracted. The expedition against Porto Bello is sup- posed to have originated in some hasty remarks which were made by him in the debates relative to the ag- gressions of the Spanish guarda castas in the American seas. Reproaching the administration with the shameful inactivity of their measures, he pledged himself that he would reduce the town of Porto Bello with a force not exceeding six sail of the line, and the ministers accepted his offer, probably glad of an opportunity to remove so troublesome an opponent from the house of commons, and probably not without a secret wish that Vernon might disgrace himself and his party, by failing to exe- cute what he boasted he could achieve. On the 9th of July, 1739, he was advanced to the rank N J 196 NAVAL HISTORY, of vice-admiral of the blue, and appointed commander- in-chief of all his majesty's ships in the West Indies. The force he had required being collected, he hoisted his flag on board the Burford, of 70 guns, and sailed with his fleet for Jamaica, where he arrived on the 23rd of October. Having refitted his squadron with the utmost diligence, the admiral was enabled to sail from Port Royal on the 5th of November, with the following ships under his command : — The Burford of 70 guns, the flag ship, captain T. Watson ; the Hampton Court of 70 guns, commodore Brown, and captain Dent ; the Norwich of 50 guns, captain Robert Herbert ; the Worcester of 60 guns, captain Perry Mayne ; the Stafford of 60 guns, captain T. Trevor; the Princess Louisa of 60 guns, captain T. Waterhouse ; and the Sheerness frigate. On the 7th, the squadron being at sea, the admiral delivered his orders to the commodore and captains, appointing the following dispositions for the attack : — • Upon making the land of Porto Bello, and having a fair wind to favour them, and daylight for the attempt, to have their ships clear in all respects for immediate service ; and on the proper signal, to form themselves into a line of battle, as directed ; and being formed, to follow in the same order of battle to the attack, in the manner hereafter directed. And as the north shore of the harbour of Porto Bello is represented to the admiral to be a bold steep shore, on which, at the first entrance, stands castle de Ferro, or Iron castle (built upon a steep rock, at the N. E. point of the bay, and Gloria castle on the opposite side, on an ascent a little nearer the town), commodore Brown and the ships that follow him are directed to pass a cable's length distance, giving the enemy, as they pass, as warm a fire as possible, both from great guns and musketry ; then commodore Brown is to steer away for Gloria castle, and anchor as near as he can to the easternmost part of it, for battering down all the defences of it, but so as to leave room for captain Mayne, in the Worcester, to anchor astern of him against the westernmost bastion, and to do the same there, and to follow such orders as the commodore may think proper to give him for attacking the said castle. Captain Her- oert of the Norwich, after giving his fire at the Iron castle, was to push for the castle of St. Jeronimo, lying VERNON. 197 to the eastward of the town, and to anchor as near it as he possibly could, and batter it down : and captain Tre- vor in the Stafford, following- the admiral, to come to an anchor a-breast of the easternmost part of the Iron cas- tle, so as to leave room for captain Waterhouse in the Princess Louisa to anchor astern of him, for battering- the westernmost part of the castle, and continue there until the service is completed, and make themselves masters of it : the youn^:t'St officers to follow the far- ther orders of the elder in the prosecution of the attack; and if the weather was favourable for it on goiu^ in, each ship, besides having: its long-boat towing- astern, to have its barg-e alonjrside to tow the long-boats away, with such part of the soldiers as could conveniently £r(» in them, and to come under the admiral's stern, for his directing a descent with them where he should find it most proper to order it. From the men's inexperience in service, it would be necessary to be as cautious as possible to prevent hurry and confusion, and a fruitless waste of powder and shot ; the captains to give the strictest orders to their respective oliicers to take tlie greatest care that no gun was fired but what they or those whom they particularly appointed first saw level- led, and directed the firing of; and that they should strictly prohibit all their men from hallooing or making irregular noise that would only serve to throw them into confusion, till the service was performed, and when they had nothing to do but glory in the victory. Such of the ships as have mortars and cohorns on board are ordered to use them in the attack.' On the 20th of November the squadron came in sight of Porto Bello, and there being little wind, the admiral made the signal to anchor about six leagues from the shore, lest he should be driven to the eastward of the harbour. The next morning he plied to windward in line of battle, but the wind proving ea.sterly, he was oblit:ed to confine his attack to the Iron castle only. The Hampton Court, in the van, attacked it with great fury, and was soon assisted by the Norwich and Worcester. The admiral coming up soon after, together with these ships, kept up so severe a fire on the enemy, that the Spaniards deserted their batteries, and fled for security to their ambuscades. This being perceived by the ad- miral, he made the signal for landing-, which was so 198 NAVAL HISTORY. promptly executed, that in a few niiijutes the seamen and troops were safely landed in the front of the enemy s lower battery, with the loss of only two soldiers. As a substitute for scaling ladders, one man set himself close to the wall under an embrasure, whilst another climbed upon his shoulders, and entered under the mouth of a great gun, so that in a very few minutes they were mas- ters of the platform, struck the Spanish flag, and hoisted British colours. The Spaniards in the castle, struck with consternation at the boldness of the assailants, hung- out the white flag, and surrendered at discretion ; and the following day the castles of St. Jeronimo and Gloria capi- tulated on honourable terms, which put the British forces in full possession of Porto Bello and its dependencies. The loss sustained in killed and wounded did not ex- ceed twenty men, of which three were killed and five wounded on board Vernon's ship. The intelligence of this important conquest, effected with such unprecedented ease and expedition, was received in England with the liveliest emotions of joy : both houses of parliament voted their thanks to admiral Vernon for his conduct, and the city of London presented him with the freedom of the city in a gold box. The name of Vernon excited a degree of enthusiasm unparalleled on any other occasion ; medals were struck in honour of him, and his efiigy was dis- played throughout the kingdom. In his conduct towards the vanquished foe, the admiral was as distinguished for his humanity, as he had been for his gallantry in attacking them. The soldiers and seamen were strictly prohibited from plundering the inhabitants of the town; and to reward their merit, he distributed among them 10,000 dollars, which had been sent to Porto Bello for the payment of the garrison, a few days before the place fell into the hands of the English. As it had never been the intention of government to retain Porto Bello, which from its unhealthiness was termed by the Spaniards the grave of the new world, the admiral di- rected the cannon found in the castles and fort to be spiked and destroyed, except forty pieces of brass can- non, ten field-pieces, four mortars, and eighteen patte- raroes, all of the same metal, which were taken on board the fleet on account of their intrinsic value, and as trophies of his victory. The fortifications of the place were then blown up, and completely destroyed, that it VERNON. 199 mijrht uo longer aflbrd au asylum to the guarda castas, whose chief point of rendezvous it was, and from whence they had for a series of years annoyed the British com- merce in that quarter by their incessant depredations. I'hese different services being performed, the admiral sailed from Porto Bello ou the 13th of December, and shortly afterwards arrived in safety at Jamaica. Having refitted his ships, Vernon, anxious of an op- portunity of again distinguishing himself, sailed from Port Royal on the '^.')th of February, 1740, and on the 1st of March made the highlands of St. Martha, ou the Spanish main, from whence he bore away for Cartlia- gena. Ou the 3rd in the evening, he anchored with bis squadron before the town, in nine fathom water, in the open bay called Play a Grande. On the (5th be began a bombardment, and in three days discharged about 350 bombs, whi';h destroyed several edifices, and did consi derable damage to the town ; but the force lie had with him being inadequate to a regular attack, of the place, he bore away with the fleet to Porto Bello. Having repaired his damages, and completed the water of hix squadron, the next objtct of his attack was the castle of Chagre, situate at the entrance of the river of that name, a few leagues distant from Porto Bello. He arrived in the river Chagre on the 13th of the mouth, and after bombarding the castle for two days, it surrendered at discretion, and the fortifications were blown up. The plate, merchandise, &C. which were of great value, were taken on board the squadron, and on the 30th the admi- ral returned to Porto Bello, and from thence to Jamaica, where the fleet lay for some time inactive, being in want of stores and supplies from Europe. The easy reduction of Porto Bello determined the govern- ment at home to send out such a reinforcement to the West Indies as should enable admiral Vernon to attack the most formidable of the Spanish settlements in the new world. A fleet consisting of twenty-five sail of the line, under the command of rear-admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle, with a proportionate number of frigates, and a large body of transports, having on board upwards of 10,000 land forces, were accordingly dispatched from England to join admiral Vernon. The land forces were commanded by lord Cathcart, a nobleman of high cha- racter, and great military experience, but unhappily for 200 NAVAL HISTORY, the expectations of his country, he died soon after his an-ival in the West Indies, and the command devolved on general Wentworth, an officer without judgment, ex- perience, or authority, and utterly unqualified for the important post of a commander-in-chief. This armament joined admiral Vernon, at Jamaica, on the 9th of January, ir-11, and the force under his command then amounted to thirty-one sail of the line. With this formidahle fieet, the most powerful that had ever heen collected in the American seas, the admiral sailed from Jamaica on the 23i:h of January. His first object was to proceed oflf Port Louis, in the island of St. Domingo, in order to ascertain the strength and inten- tions of the French squadron, which was supposed to be at anchor in that harbour, and against which the admi- ral thought it necessary to be on his guard, as he had strong reason to believe the disposition of the French cabinet was unfavourable to the interests of Great Britain. On the 12th of February he ariived oflf the isle of Vache, about two leagues from Port Louis, where he learnt that the French squadron had sailed for Europe, being greatly distressed for want of provisions, and a dreadful mor- tality raging in their fleet. On this intelligence it was resolved in a council of war, composed of admirals Ver- non and Sir Chaloner Ogle, and generals Wentworth and Guise, that the fleet, after having taken in water and wood in Tiberoon bay, should proceed from thence directly to Carthagena, on which place they resolved to make a vigorous attack both by sea and land. The fleet anchored on the 4th of March in Playa Grande bay, where Vernon made the necessary dispo- sitions for lauding the troops and conducting the attack, and issued his instructions to the rear-admiral and captains of the squadron. On the 9th, the admiral, with his own division and that of Sir Chaloner Ogle, followed by all the transports, got under weigh, and brought-to under the fort of Bocca Chica, which defends the en- trance of the harbour. The following description of Carthagena will probably render our account of the operations which took place against it more intelligible. Carthagena la ?^"euva, or New Carthagena (so called to distinguish it from Carthagena in Old Spain), lies south of Jamaica, on the continent of Spanish America, to the east of the g-ulf of Darien, in lat. 10". 26 N. long. 75 W. VERNON. 201 It was begun to be built in 1532, and in about eierht years became a wealthy, stately, and well-inhabited city. it has one of the noblest basons or harbours in the world, being: some leairues in circumference, and land- locked on all sides. The entrance is defended by th* strong: castle of Bocca Chica, and three lesser forrs. Between this harbour and the town are two necks of land, on which are the strong fortresses of Castillo Grande, and fort Manzanella, which defend the lesser harbour that runs close to the town. There is likewise fort St. Lazar, which defends the town on the land side, and though the sea beats against the town walls, there is no approaching it but through these harbours, the surf is so violent. The first successes of the assailants promised a speedy and honoiirable termination of their enterprise. In less than an hour the enemy were driven by the fire of the shipping from the forts of Chamba, St. Jago, and St. Philip, which mounted in all forty puns, and in the evening a detachment of grenadiers was landed, who took possession ot them. The next day the regiments of Harrison and Wentworth, and six regiments of marines, were landed without opposition, and by the 15th all the artillery and stores of the army were brought on shore. The following day the general having informed the admiral, that his camp was much incommodpd by the enemy's fire from a fascine battery on the west shore of Barradera side, he ordered captains Watson and Boscawen, having under them captains Laws and Coats, witU 300 soldiers, and a detachment of seamen, to destroy it. This party were surprised at their landing by a masked battery of five guns, which immediately commenced a heavy fire on them, but which they soon obtained possession of. From thence they proceeded to storm the battery they were sent to take, and quickly made themselves masters of it, with very inconsiderable loss, notwithstanding it mounted twenty 24-pounders, and was defended by a proportion- ate number of men. Having spiked the cannon, and destroyed their platforms and carriages, the detachment returned with some prisoners to the fleet. Vernon was so pleased with the spirit and boldness evinced by the seamen on this occasion, that he gave a reward of a dollar to each common man. This success proved an inexpressible relief to the 202 NAVAL HISTORY, army, and the general began to bombard the castle of Bocca Chica, against which, on the 22rid, he opened a battery of twenty 24-pounders. On the 23rd,coniaiodore Lestoct was ordered in with five ships to batter the castle on the west side, which service he performed with the greatest bravery, though exposed to a very hot fire, by which the gallant lord Aubrey Beauclerk, captain of the Prince Frederic, was killed. A tolerable breach being made in the castle, the general determined to carry it by assault, and accordingly the necessary pre- parations were made for that purpose. On the 25th, at midnight, the troops marched to the attack, and no sooner entered the breach, than the enemy, to their great surprise, fled from the castle without firing a gun. Captain Knowles, of the Litchfield, observing the con- fusion and dismay of the Spaniards, immediately landed his men, and stormed fort St. Joseph, the garrison of (vhich deserted their guns with like precipitation. The enemy, alarmed at these successes, prepared to sink some of their ships in the channel, leading into the Inner harbour, in order to prevent the nearer approach of the British fleet, which admiral Vernon perceiving, •directed the seamen to board and take possession of as many of them as they could. This could not be carried so speedily into execution but that the Spaniards had time to sink the Africa and the Don Carlos, two 70 gun .«hips, and to set fire to the St. Philip of CO guns, which blew up. The seamen, however, boarded and took the Gallicia of 80 guns, the Spanish admiral's ship, and succeeded in bringing her off". They next proceeded to cut the boom which was moored across the channel ; and the following day the admiral, with several of the ships of war, warped into the inner harbour. Fortun^ continuing to favour the assailants, the Spaniards aban- doned the strong fort of Castillo Grande, and about the same time deserted fort Manzanella,on the opposite shore. After surmounting so many difiiculties with such faci- lity, and forcing the narrow channel, defended by a strong castle, three forts, a boom, four ships of the line, and two batteries, we need not wonder that the besiegers entertained the most sanguine hopes of their ultimate success, and thought that little remained for them to do, but to take possession of Carthagena. A ship was accord- ingly dispatched to England with intelligence to this VERNON. 203 elfect, and jmblic reioicintrs were made over the whole kiiigdora, scarcely inferior to what might have been re ceived of the absolute conquest of the place. Vernon was undoubtedly persuaded, after the ease with which he had overcoiue past difficulties, that Carthauena must inevitably sunender; but in this instance he had formed hi3 opinion too hastily, and was destined to experience the severe mortification of a repulse. In the early part of April the troops became very sickly, and died in {rreat numbers : but what was most prejudi- cial to the service, no good understanding subsisted between the general and the admiral. That cordiality between the commanders-in-chief, so requisite fur con ducting with success the conjoint operations of a fleet and an army, was at an end between Vernon and Went- worth, and each seemed more anxious for the disgrace of his rival, than zealous for the honour of his country. The only place that was wanting to complete the reduc- tion of Carthagena was fort St. Lazar, and as the Spa- niards were daily throwing up new works, and making all possible preparations to defend themselves to the last extremity, the general, who was severely reproached by Vernon for his inactivity, determined, without consulting the admiral, to attempt to cany the place by storm. Generals Blackeney and Wolf protested against this as a rash and fruitless measure ; and, as these experienced officers had foretold, the enterprise completely failed, and more than 600 men, the flower of the British army, were killed in the attack. After this desperate and injudicious attempt, the be- siegers gave up all hopes of being able to reduce the place; and the rainy season set in with such violence, as rendered it impossible for the troops to live on shore* They were, therefore, re embarked, after the fleet had made an unsuccessful attempt to bombard the town ; and the armament returned to Jamaica, having lost, in the different attacks and by sickness, upwards of 3000 men. * The heat is excessive and continual atCartha^enn.and the torrents of water that are incessantly pouring' down, from May lo November, have this singularity, that they never cool the air, which is sometimes a little moderated, during the dry season, by the nortli-easi winds. The nieht is as hot as ihe day. Hence the inhabiianis, wasted by profuse pefiipi ration, have the pale and livid appearance of sick persons ; all their motions are languid and slug-g^ish; thfir speech is soft and slow; and their words generally broken and interrupted. Every thing rela- tive to them indicates a relaxed habit of body. 234 NAVAL HISTORY The fortifications which had fallen into the hands of the English were destroyed, under the directions of captains Knowles and Boscawen, and the damage done to the Spaniards was supposed to amount to half a million sterling. The fleet arrived at Jamaica on the 19th of May ; and soon after the admiral, agreeable to instructions he had received from the ministry, sent commodore Lestock to Europe with eleven sail of the line, and the homeward- bound trade under his convoy. While the remaining ships of war and transports were refitting at Port Royal, it was agreed in a council of war, assembled at the go- vernor's house, on the 26th of May, that an attack should be made on the island of Cuba ; and Vernon, anxious to wipe away from the British arms the stain of their ill success at Carthagena, exerted himself to the utmost to render his department fit for service. A supply of naval stores from England, with 3000 recruits for the army, enabled the expedition to sail from Jamaica on the 1st of July. The force under Vernon consisted of eight ships of the line, one of fifty guns, twelve frigates, fire-ships, and small vessels of war, and a fleet of forty transports and store-ships, and with these he anchored in Walthen- ham bay, on the south side of the island of Cuba, on the I8th of July. The following day the troops were landed without opposition, and encamped in a plentiful country. Vernon, with his usual sanguine disposition, changed the name of the port he had taken possession of into Cumberland harbour, and sent a dispatch to England expressive of his hopes, that the whole island of Cuba would soon be in possession of the British forces. It was resolved, in a council of war, that the troops should march over land to St. Jago, a town of consider- able extent, about sixty miles from Walthenham bay, and which was reported to be wholly defenceless on the land side, while the difficulties of the navigation secured it from any danger of an attack by sea. Nothing, how- ever, of moment was attempted in consequence of this resolution. The general continued inactive, except oc- casionally sending out a few small desultory parties, which rarely met with any enemy to oppose them : and at length informed the admiral, that he feared it would be impossible for him to penetrate to St. Jago by land. In consequence of this representation, the troops were VERNON. 205 re-embarked on the 20th of October, Jiiid soon after re- turned to Jamaica. About this time Vernon wrote to the duke of Newcastle, then secretary of state, earnestly soliciting' to be recalled, and requesting as the only favour he should ask of the crown, ' that his conduct in the expeditions against Car- thagena and Cuba might be strictly and publicly inquired into. He assured the duke, that, until such orders should arrive, he would forward every service for the honour of his king and country with the utmost care and diligence; daily praying for a deliverance from being conjoined to a gentleman, whose opinions he had long experienced to be more changeable than the moon, though he had en- deavoured, agreeable to his orders, to maintain the most civil correspondence in his power with general Went- worth.' When such was the opinion entertained by Vernon of his colleague, which posterity has not reversed- can it excite surprise that their operations should have been attended with so little success ? or can we hesitate where to attach the blame of their miscarriage ? A reinforcement of 2000 marines, with two ships of 50 guns and a frigate, having arrived from England on the V5th of January, 1742, Vernon once more began to enter- tain hopes, that he should be able by some successful enterprise to obliterate the disgrace of the two former fruitless expeditions. After frequent councils of war, which appear to have been held too often for the good of the service,* it was determined to land at Porto Bello, and, after marching across the isthmus of Darien, to attack Panama, a rich town situate on the South Sea, which Sir Henry Morgan, having formerly marched across the isthmus, with 500 buccaneers, had taken with little difficulty. Accordingly, the necessary preparations were made for the expedition, and the admiral put to sea about the middle of March, with eight sail of the line, five smaller vessels, and forty transports, having on board 3000 effective men, besides a body of 500 negroes, raised for the expedition by general Trelawney, the governor of Jamaica, who, with several volunteers, accompanied it himself. * It is related of the ?reat duke of Marlborough, that he never held a council of war until he had previously determined in his own mind how he would act ; and whatever mig-nt be the opinion of the council, he invariably adhered to his own. On whatsound judgment tliis method ot actinar w:w formed the glorious life of this illustrious general can best elucidate. 206 NAVAL HISTORY. The anuament arrived at Porto Bello, after a tedious passage of three weeks, occasioned by contrary winds and tempestuous seas. The Spaniards on the appearance of the British fleet immediately quitted the town and fled to Panama, so that the troops landed without opposition. Vernon now believed that something decisive might be effected against the enemy; but to his great mortification he learnt, that it was resolved in a council of war, com- posed solely of land oflicei-s, to give up the enterprise ; and, after many ineflfectual remonstrances, he was obliged to re-embark the troops a very few days after they were landed. After this the fleet returned again to Jamaica, and nothing of consequence occurred during the subse- quent part of the time that admiral Vernon held the chief command on that station. In the month of September an order arrived at Port Royal for the admiral and general to return home. In December the admiral took his pas- sage in the Bojne for England, and was soon after fol- lowed by Wentworth, with the soldiers that survived. Before the departure of Vernon from the West Indies, he addressed the secretary of state, informing him, ' that he ould not be insensible how great a concern the dis- appointments in the several expeditious must have been to his majesty ; but begged leave, at the same time, to say, in behalf of himself and the officers and men that had served under his command, that no part of the dis- appointment was justly to be attributed to the sea forces ; nor did he think it was any want of courage or inclination to serve his majesty in the land forces ; but that this un- happy event was principally owing to the command falling into the hands of general Wentworth, who had approved himself no way equal to it. And though the vice-admiral pretended to little experience in military afi'airs, yet it was his opinion, that if the sole command had been intrusted to him, the British forces would have failed in neither of the expeditions, but would have made themselves masters both of Carthagena and St. J ago, and with the loss of much fewer men than had died through the imprudent conduct of general Went- worth.' Though there is doubtless no small share of vanity and self-confidence in this vindication, and we can- not allow all to admiral Vernon that he lays claim to him- self, yet we are decidedly of opinion, that if he had been intrusted with the sole command of the armaments above VERNON. 207 alluded to, the results would have been rery diiTereiit, and we must acquit him of having in the slightest degree contributed to their failure. Entick. (in his Naval His- tory) asserts, that if the sole command had been in the hands of admiral Vernon, the whole of the Spanish pos- sessions in the West Indies must have been conquered by the British forces; but the opinion of this writer must be received with some caution, when we consider that his work was dedicated to Vernon, and that he would naturally incline to overrate the merits of the commander to whom he inscribed his labours. We must, however, observe, that Eutick's opinion was embraced by the nation at large, and Vernon's popularity suflered no di- minution from the reverses of fortune he had experienced while acting in conjunction with general Weutworth. After his return to England, Vernon continued unem- ployed till the memorable year 174.5. During his retire- ment, being passed over in a promotion of flag office7's, he wrote the following indignant and sarcastic letter to the secretary, which is so excellent in its kind, and so characteristic of the temper and feelings of the writer, that we need offer no apology for inserting it here : • Nacton, June 30, 1744. ' Sir, — As we that live retired in the country often con- tent ourselves with the information we derive from the newspapers on a market-day, I did not so early observe the advertisement from your oflice of the 23rd of this month, that, in pursuance of his majesty's pleasure, the right honourable the lords commissioners of the admiralty had made the following promotions therein mentioned, in which I could not but perceive there was no mention of my name amongst the flag officers, though by letters of the 10th instant you directed to me as vice-admiral of the red, and, by their lordships' orders, desired my opinion on an affair of his majesty's service, which I very honestly gave them, as I judged most conducive to his honour ; so that their lordships could not be unin- formed that I was in the land of the living. ' Though promotions are said to be made by their lord- ehips' orders, yet we all know the communication of his majesty's pleasure must come from the first lord in com- mission, fi'om whom principally his majesty is supposed to receive his information, on which his royal orders 203 NAVAL HISTORY. are founded; and as it is a known maxim in our law, that the kin^ can do no wrong, founded, as I apprehend, on the persuasion that the crown never does so but from the misinformation of those whose respective provinces are to inform his majesty of the particular affairs under their care, the first suggestion that naturally occurs to an officer, that has the fullest testimonies in his custody of having happily served his majesty in the command he was intrusted with, to his royal approbation, is, that your first commissioner must either have informed his majesty that I was dead, or have laid something to my charge rendering me unfit to rise in my rank in the royal navy ; of which being insensible myself, I desire their lordships would be pleased to infonn me in what it consists, having, both in action and advice, always, to the best of my judgment, endeavoured to serve our royal master with a zeal and activity becoming a faithful and loyal subject, and having hitherto received the public approbation of your board. I confess, at my time of life, a retirement from the hurry of business, to pre- pare for the general audit, whicn every Christian ought to have perpetually in his mind, is what cannot but be desirable, and might rather give occasion to rejoice than any concern, which (I thank God) it does very little ; yet, that 1 might not be thought by any one to have declined the public service, I have thought proper to remind their lordships I am living, and have (I thank God) the same honest zeal reigning in my breast that has animated me on all occasions to approve myself a faithful and zealous subject and servant to my royal master : and if the fii'st lord commissioner, Daniel, earl of Winchelsea, has represented me in any other light to my royal master, he has acted with a degeneracy unbecoming the descendant of a noble father, whose memory I reverence and esteem, though I have no compliments to make to the judgment or conduct of the son, &:c. &c. ' EDWARD VERNON.' To Thomas Corhett, Esq. Secretary to the Admiralty. That Vernon was passed over without promotion, as he here complains, is rather to be attributed to the parsimo- nious manner in which promotions were at that time VERNON. 209 distributed, than to any intentional neglect of that gal- lant officer ; for almost on the first occasion of danger we lind him called into service, and intrusted with a con»- mand of the hitrhtst consequence. In the spring of the year 1745, he was promoted to be admiral of tlie white, and appointed to command a squadron of observation in the North Sea, to watch the equipments of the French at Dunkirk, and elsewhere, which were evidently intended for the invasion of Great Britain. The grandson of James II., encouraired by promises of support from the French ministry, and allured by invitations from the disartected in Scotland and Eui:land, detennined to make an attempt to recover the crown of his ancestors, and at that time the kingdom with the utmost consternation beheld itself on the point of being invaded by a popish )'retender, supported in his chiims by the power of France. At such a crisis the voice of the nation imperi- ously demanded that the ablest commanders should be called into service, and admiral Vernon's appointment was received with universal approbation. In August, admiral Vernon had his flag flying on board the St. George, in Portsmouth harbour, but soon after shifted it to the Norwich, and sailed to the Downs, to watch the French armaments in the opposite ports. ' This period of his command,' says Charnock, ' was, perhaps, the most interesting of his whole life ; and it is but justice to his meiuory to confess, no man could have been more diligent or more successful in that par- ticular service to which the necessities of his country called him.' He continued in this station till the Ist of January, 174G, when, in consequence of some disputes with the l)oard of admiralty, he was ordered by the lords coni- misiiouers to strike his flag, which he accordingly did, and was never afterwards employed in his majesty's service. Various reasons have been assigned for the disagreement between Vernon and the board of admi- ralty. There were probably faults on both sides. The naval administration of that period was feeb'e and im- becile, and Vernon was not a man to conceal his senti- ments. Constitutional pride, popular favo\ir, and the self- consciousness of no ordinary deuTee of desert, had ren- dered Vernon naturally of a lofty disposition, arrogant, unaccommodating. He submitted to his compulsive 210 NAVAL HISTORY. retirement with the greatest impatience, and published some pamphlets in vindication of his character. In these he is said to have inserted some private correspondence between hirasell and the board of admiralty, the publi- cation of which gave such offence to the king, that Vernon, by his majesty's especial command, was struck off the list of admirals. This happened on the 11th of Api-il, ir-io, and he was never afterwards restored to his rank. From this period he lived almost wholly in re- tirement, troubling himself but seldom with public affairs, except in attending the house of commons as member for the borough of Ipswich. He died suddenly at his seat at Nacton, in Suffolk, on the 30th of October, 1757, in the seventy-third year of his age. The character of Vernon may be summed up in a few words. He was brave and courageous to an excess; his abilities as a seaman were of the first class ; and as a man, his honour and integrity were unsullied. But his temper was so extremely irritable, that he was often led into an extravagance of conduct which justly lessened the reputation which he had acquired ; he had a high opi- nion of himself, with too great a contempt for the talents of others ; and was impatient of any species of control. These faults were considerably increased by the uoard the ships; nor did they meet with any interrup- tion from the enemy, though vastly superior to them in number, and apparently well armed and disciplined. While the treasure was removing, commodore Anson made various overtures to treat with the governor for the ransom of the town and the merchandise itcontained, but these being rejected with great insolence, when the place was evacuated he ordered it to be set on fire, which was accordingly done. The treasure taken at Paita amounted to upwards of £30,000. sterling, but the loss of the Spaniards was far greater, and was estimated at a million and a half of dollars. The vessels found in the harbour were destroyed, except the Solidad, the largest and best ship, which the commodore kept, and appointed lieutenant Hughes of the Tryal to command her. As commodore Anson had nobly supported the charac- ter of his country by gallantry and enteiimse, so he gave the enemy an example of humanity, well worthy of their imitation. He now set at liberty the prisoners collected from the various prizes before mentioned, whom he had treated during their confinement with so much generosi- ty and tenderness, as to impress them with the strongest sentiments of gratitude and admiration. On the 10th of November, the squadron weighed and put to sea, and two days after were joined by the Glou cester, which had taken two small prizes, the one laden with wine, and about £7,000. in money and plate ; the other, with a pretended cargo of cotton, but in reality 220 NAVAL HISTORY. carrying a quantity of doubloons and dollars, to the amount of nearly £12,000. The commodore learnt from some papers on board a prize, that the English expedition against Carthageiia had failed ; and, therefore, as he could not hope to be reinforced across the isthmus, and was too weak to attack Panama, he determined to steer as soon as pos- sible to the southern parts of California, or to the ad- jacent coast of Mexico, there to cruise for the Manilla galleon, which he knew was now at sea, bound for the port of Acapuico. The force under the commodore amounted to eight vessels, including prizes ; two of them sailing so badly as greatly to retard the progress of the squadron, they were ordered to be cleared of the most valuable part of their cargo and burnt, as was a third soon afterwards. The squadron being in want of water the commodore proceeded to the island of Quibo, in the bay of Panama, where he supplied his ships with that necessary article, and also obtained a large quantity of tuitle, which proved a great refreshment to his men. On the 12th of December, the squadron stood from Quibo to the west- ward, but owing to contrary winds and other unfavour- able circumstances, did not get into the track of the galleon till near the end of January. The prisoners on board endeavoured to persuade them, that it was no un- common thing for the galleon to arrive at Acapuico so late as the middle of February, and the propensity oi men to believe whatever flatters their wishes, led them to credit this account; but having cruised for some days off Acapuico without having seen the object of their earnest wishes, the commodore resolved to send a boat, under cover of the night, to see if the Manilla ship was in the harbour, in order that, if she was not there, they might be animated by the prospect of her capture to continue their cruise ; or, if she was arrived, that they might be at liberty to consult their necessities, or act as circumstances should render most advisable. Accord- ingly a boat, well-manned, was dispatched from the Centurion, with lieutenants Denis and Scott, to cruise off the harbour of Acapuico, for i'^'ormation respecting the galleon ; and after six days' abstnce they returned with three negro prisoners, whom they surprised in a canoe, ANSON. 221 fi:ihing off the port. From these nieu the commodore learnt, that the K^lleou arrived at Acapulco on the 9th of January, had delivered her cargo, and was taking in her lading for Manilla, for which place the viceroy had ordered by proclamation, that she should depart on the 3rd of March. This information raised the spirits of the squadron to a high pitch, and particularly as the Indians seemed confident that the Spaniards had no suspicion of an Eng- lish force heing off the port, and consequently would not prevent the sailing of the galleon at the appointed time. As it was on the I9th of February that the boat returned and brought the above intelligence, the commodore resolved to continue the greater part of the intermediate time to the westward of Acapulco, conceiving that in that situation there would be less danger of his being seen from the shore; and this interval he employed in making such an arrangement of his force as his skill and prudence dictated. On the 1st of March, the com- modore made the high lands of Acapulco, and the squa- dron got with all possible expedition into the stations prescribed by his orders. The disti'ibution of the ships on this occasion, both for intercepting the galleon, and for avoiding a discovery from the shore, was the most judicious that could have been conceived. The ships were ranged in a circular line, at three leagues distance from each other, so that the whole sweep of the squadron, within which nothing could pass undiscovered, was at least twenty-four leagues in extent ; and to render this disposition still more complete, and to prevent even the possibility of the galleon's escaping in the night, two cutters, belonging to the Centurion and Gloucester, were manned and sent in shore, and commanded to lie all day at the distance of four or five leagues from the entrance of the port, where by reason of their small- ness they could not be discerned ; but in the night they were directed to stand nearer to the harbour's mouth, and, as the light of the morning approached, to come back to their stations. On the dawn of the day fixed for the departure of the galleon, every one was eagerly engaged in looking out towards Acapulco, from whence neither the casual duties on board, nor the calls of hunger, could easily divert their eyes: but that and the three succeeding days 222 NAVAL HISTORY. passed in a state ct fruitless expectation. They did not, however, yet despair : all were disposed to flatter them- selres, that some unforeseen accident had intervened, which might have put off her departure for a few days ; and suggestions of this kind occurred in great plenty, and were eagerly listened to. But nearly a mouth being spent in this state of anxious suspense, the commodore began, with reason, to imagine, that he was discovered to be on the coast, and that the sailing of the galleon would of course be defeiTed until the ensuing season. On this he formed a plan for attacking the town of Aca- pulco, and making himself master of the wished-for prize in the harbour; but the reduced number of his men rendered this scheme impracticable ; and the squa- dron being at length in great want of water, he was obliged to steer for the harbour of Chequetan, about thirty leagues to the westward of Acapulco, where he anchored on the 7th of April. Lieutenant Hughes, in a cutter with six armed men, was ordered to cruise for a few days longer off Acapulco, in the forlorn and lingering hope, that the Manilla ship might yet make her appear- ance, and in that case he was directed to join the com- modore with all possible speed ; but the galleon not venturing to put to sea, the cutter joined the squadron. The crews of the British ships were by this time so much reduced by sickness, that their united numbers did not amovmt to the full complement of a fourth-rate man- of-war. The commodore, therefore, found it necessary to destroy his prizes, having hrst removed their cargoes, and to divide their people between his two remaining- ships. These proceedings, together with the time em- ployed in obtaining a necessary supply of water, detained them near a month in the harbour of Chequetan ; and the commodore, after sending some prisoners on shore, resolved to give up for the present all hopes of intercept- ing the galleon, and to steer immediately for the river Canton, in China. On the Gth of May, he took his departure from the coast of Mexico. The passage proved favourable till the beginning of June, when the scurvy broke out afresh on board both ships, and threatened to renew its former ra- vages. Encountering severe gales of wind, and with a crew reduced to sixteen men and eleven boys, fit for duty, the Gloucester became in so crazv and disabled a condi-> ANSON. 223 tion, that the captain and her officers represented to the commodore the necessity of abandoning her, as it was impossible to keep her above water. The crew were ac- cordingly taken on board the Centurion, together with what money, goods, and stores, could be saved, and the ship was burnt. The Centurion was the only ship now remaining in the South Seas, of a potent squadron that had passed the straits le Maire. But in the most adverse circumstances the constancy and unshaken resolution of the commo- dore never forsook him ; struggling under the most formidable difficulties from disease and reduction of men, and commanding a vessel leaky in her hull, and materially injured in her masts, rigging, and sails, he set an example to the crew of patience, activity, and benevolence, cheerfully sharing with the healthy the fatigues and hardships of the service, and kindly ad- niiiiistering to the sick all the relief and comfort in his power. In this situation, as the commander of a single ship, he gave a happy earnest to his country of those services which he afterwards performed, when raised to a higher station, and invested with a more important command. The Gloucester was destroyed on the 15th of August ; and on the 28th of the same month, the Centurion came to an anchor atTinian, one of the Ladrone islands, in a condition nearly as deplorable as when they reached Juan Fernandez, so that had the ship continued much longer at sea, the whole crew must inevitably have perished. Some idea may be formed of the wretched situation of the Centurion's company, when it is mentioned, that all the hands they could muster capable of acting upon the greatest emergencies, including likewise some negroes and Indian prisoners, amounted to no more than seventy- one ; and this was the whole force that could be collected, in their present feeble condition, from the united crews of the Centurion, the Gloucester, and the Tryal, which when they departed from England were manned alto- gether with nearly a thousand hands. The sick, amount- ing in number to one hundred and twenty-eight, were brought on shore with the utmost dispatch, and the com- modore himself humanely assisted in providing every thing for their accommodation. Huts and tents were erected to receive them, and the commodore took care that 224 NAVAL HISTORY. they should be abuudantly supplied with the excellent vegetables and fruits which the island produced. By these means the sick recovered with as much rapidity as, under similar circumstances, they had doue at Juau Fernandez. But whilst Ansou was emploj'ed in these benevolent cares, an accident occurred which had nearly' brought the expedition to an unfortunate termination. In a se- vere gale of wind the Centurion parted from her anchors, and was driven to sea, leaving behind the commodore with many other officers, and a great part of the crew, amounting in the whole to one hundred and thirteen persons. The weak state of the Centurion's crew, the bad condition of the ship, and the violence of the storm, led n»ost of them to conclude that she was lost ; and those that believed her safe had scarcely any expectation that she would ever be able to make the island again. In either of these views, their situation was indeed most deplorable. They were at least six hundred leagues fi-om Macao, the nearest amicable port, and the only means they had of transporting themselves thither was a Spanish bark of about fifteen tons, which they had seized on their first ar- rival, and which could not hold even a fourth of their number. J'his vessel they hauled on shore and sawed asunder, to lengthen her twelve feet, which would enlarge her to nearly forty tons burthen, and enable her to carry them to China. Owing to the indefatigable exertions of the commodore, and the patience and industry of his peo- ple, the work of lengthening the bark was advancing rapidly, when to their great joy the Centurion was db- scried in the offing, after an absence of nineteen days. This event proved full as satisfactory to the distressed on board as to the destitxite on shore, for during their absence they had sulfered inc-redible hardships, and the ship was so leaky, that they could scarcely keep her afloat with the constant use of all their pumps. The commodore now resolved to stay no longer at Tinian than was absolutely necessary to complete his stock of water. A second gale of wind drove the ship again to sea, but her crew was considerably stronger than before, and also animated by the presence of their commander ; and the weather soon proving favourable, she returned to an anchor after about five days' absence. Having completed his water, and laid in a large quan- ANSON. 225 tity of the fruits of the island, the conimodore took hi:) departure from Tiuian, and steered directly for Macao. Ou the 5th of November he made the coast of China, without having- met with any remarkable occurrence ou his passatre ; and on the 12th anchored in the road of Macao. The Chinese, a people extremely jealous of stranijers, harassed our commodore for some time with every species of vexation and delay, but his firmness, ioined to a certain degree of conciliatory conduct, at leng-th succeeded in removiufj all difficulties ; and the Centurion was thoroughly repaired, and fitted for sea. No way discouraged by his former disasters, the com- modore determined once more to brave the stomis of the Pacific Ocean, in hopes of meeting the galleon, and expecting that, instead of one annual ship from Aca- pulco, there would in all probability be two this year, since by being on their coast lie had prevented one of them from putting to sea the preceding season. He therefore resolved to cruise for these returning vessels off cape Espiritu Santo, wliich is the first land they make at the Philippine islands; and the better to conceal his intentions, lest by any means the enemy should become acquainted with them, he gave out at Macao that he was bound to Batavia, and from thence to England. On the 10th of April 174.'i, the Centurion sailed from Macao, and on the "iOth of May arrived olF cape Espiritu Santo, their intended station. Sensible of the weakness of his crew, and that their success must in a great mea- sure depend on their discipline and skill, the commodore ordered them to be exercised almost every day in work- ing the great guns, and practising the use of small arms. These precautions were extremely necessary, as it was well known that the galleons were vessels of great force, and should they fall in with two of them, as they ar- dently wished for, the contest must ueces.sarily be severe, and they could only hope for victory from their superior skill in the management of their ship and arms. As the month of June advanced, the expectations and impatience of the commodore's people daily increased. No better idea can be given of their sanguine eagerness at this time, than by the following extracts from the iournal of one of the officers : 'June 5th. Begin now to be in great expectation, this being the middle of June, their style. P £26 NAVAL HISTORY. 'llth. Begin to g-iow impatient at not seeing the g-alleous. ' 13th. The wind having blown easterlj' for the forty- eight hours past, gives us great expectations of seeing the aalleons soon. ' 15th. Cruising- off and on, and looking out strictly. ' I9th. This being the last day of June, N. S. the galleons, if they arrive at all, must soon appear.' From these extracts it will appear how entirely the treasures of the galleons had engrossed their thoughts, and how anxiously thej' passed the latter part of their ci-uise, when the certainty of the arrival of those vessels had dwindled down to a probability only, and that pro- bability became each hour more and more doubtful. On the 20th of June, however, being just a month after their gaining their station, they were relieved from this anxious state of uncertainty, for at sun-rise they dis- covered a sail from the mast head in the S. E. quarter. On the communication of this welcome intelligence, a general burst of joy ran through the ship, for they had no doubt but this was one of the galleons, and expected soon to descry another. The commodore instantly stood towards her, and at half an hour past seven they were near enough to see her from the Centurion's deck ; at which time the galleon fired a gun, and took in her top- gallant sails. This was supposed to be a signal to her consort to hasten up, and therefore the Centurion fired a gun to leeward to amuse her. The commodore was surprised to find, that during this interval the galleon did not change her course, but continueu to bear down upon him, for he hardly believed, what afterv/ards appeared to be the case, that she knew his ship to be the Cen- turion, and resolved to fight him. An action commenced between the two ships within pistol-shot, which was maintained by the galleon with great gallantry for an hour and a half, when she struck her colours, and was taken possession of by Mr. Brett, the first lieutenant of the Centurion. The prize was commanded by a Spanish admiral, who was wounded in the engagement, and the treasure on board amounted to 1,313,843 pieces of eight, and 3.5.682 ounces of virgin silver and plate, amounting in value to £313,000. Scarcely had the galleon struck when one of the lieutenants came hastily to Anson, and whispering in ANSON. 227 his ear, told him that the Ceuturion was dangerously oa tire near the powder room. This appalliug; information was received by Anson withoiit any apparent emotion, and he cave his directions witli the greatest composure, desiring that care should be taken not to alarm the people, or to throw tjiem into a state of confusion ; by this judicious conduct and making use of the proper means, the fire was happily extinguished. The com- modore proceeded, without loss of time, to the river Canton with his prize, whei'c he became anain involved in a dispute with the Chinese, who insisted that the Centurion and her prize should pay the same dues which are levied on trading vessels that put into the ports of China; but commodore Anson, considering this as an indignity to his majesty's flag, refused to submit to it, and iu the end his tii niiiess gained the point. Having removed the treasure into his own ship, the commodore not being able to procure a sufficient num- ber of people to navigate her to England, sold the galleon to the merchants of Macao, for GOOO dollars, a sum far less than her value, but which his impatience to get to sea induced him to accept. The Centurion sailed from Macao on the 15th of December, and arrived in safety at Spithead on the 15th of May following. That the signal perils which had so often threatened them in the preceding parts of their Toyage, might pursue them to the very last, and the watchful care of Providence be farther exercised towards them, the com modore learnt on his arrival, that there was a French fleet of considerable force cruising in the chops of the Channel for the express purpose of intercepting him, which, from the account of their position, he found the Centurion had run through, and ha#. been all the time concealed from them by a fog. ' Thus,' to use the words of the author of the voyage, 'was this expedition ended, when it had lasted three years and nine months, after having, by its event, strongly evinced this important truth, — that though prudence, intrepidity, and perse- V erance united, are not exempted from the blows of adverse fortune, yet in a long series of transactions, they usu^y rise superior to its power, and in the end rarely fail of proving successful.' The commodore, as might naturally be expected, met with a most flattering reception from all ra.iks of people, 22S NAVAL HISTORY, and eiiht days after his arrival was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue. The treasure of the {ialleou was drawn in triumph throug^h the city of London, in thirtj-two wasrgons, which were preceded by a band of military music, playing patriotic airs, and g'uarJed by a detachment of the officers and seamen of the Centurion. Soon after his return Anson was engaged in a dispute with the lords of the admiralty, who refused to con- firm lieutenant Brett in the rank of post-captain, to which the commodore had appointed him in the river Canton, when he himself was under the necessity of visiting the viceroy. This dispute occasioned Anson not only to remain some time unemployed, but caused him to decline accepting- the rank of rear-admiral, which, a3 we hefore mentioi»ed, was conferred on him eiirht days after his arrival. In December 1744 a very ex- tensive change took place in the administration, when the duke of Bedford became first lord of the admi- ralty, and honoured Anson with a seat at the new board. Anson received the farther satisfaction of having his commission to Mr. Brett confirmed, and in the follow- ing April he obtained two steps of rank at once, by being appointed vice-admiral of the white. About this time, he purchased the borough of Hedcn, in Yorkshire, with a part of the spoils of his expedition, which ga\ e him a seat in the house of commons until he was ad- vanced to the peerage. This borough continued for many years to be represented, on his nomination, by ofiicers who had served under him in the South Seas. The great wealth which he had acquired invested him with considerable influence, and promotion flowed rapidly upon him. The French king, having resolved to renew his efibrts against our colonies in America and our settlements in the East Indies, had fitted out two squadrons at Brest, which were intended to set sail at the same time. The En;^lish ministry determined to intercept these squadrons, and appointed vice-admiral Anson, and rear-admiral Wairen, to the command of fifteen sail, a sloop, and fire-ship. This fleet sailed from Plymouth on the 9th of April, 1747, and steM-ed their course to cape Finisterre, on the coast of Gallicia. From some delay, the squadron under the command of Jou- quiere only sailed at this time, which proved fatal to him ANSON. 229 and hi.s convoy, as that under Anson was so greatly superior. The English fleet had been cruising about tor name time, between Ushant and cape Finisterre, when on the 3rd of May they discovered the enemy's squadron of six large ships of war, as many frigates, and four armed vessels, equipped by their East India company, having under their convoy about thirty ships laden with iji(-rchandise. Admiral .\nson at first made the signal ro form the line of battle, but when he observed that Junquiere was manoeuvring to gain time, to favour the escape of the convoy, he struck, his signal for the line, and hoisted one for a general chase, and for each ship to engaiie as she could get up and close with the enemy. This brouirht on an action, in which the French defended themselves with great bravery for three hours, when the commodore was obliged to strike, after being- dismasted ; the rest of the squadron surrendered soon after. The elegant compliment of the French commo- dore, on presenting his sword to the conqueror, deserves to be recorded — pointing to two ships, L'Invincible and la Gloire, he said, ' Sir, you have vanquished the Invin- cible, and Glory follows you.' Admiral Anson returned to Portsmouth with the cap- tured squadron, and upwards of £'300,000 in money, which had been destined to pay the French forces in America and the East Indii s. This was brought to London in twenty waggons, and conveyed to the Bank in great state. For these repeated services admiral Anson was rewarded, June 13th, with a peerage, by the title of lord Anson, baron of Soberton, in the county of Southampton ; and in July he was ad- vanced to be vice-admiral of the red. In May, 1748, he was farther advanced to be admiral of the blue, and appointed to command the squadron that convoyed George II. to Holland, and ever after constantly had the honour of attending the king on his going abroad, and on his return to England. In the following year lord Anson was appointed vice-admiral of Great Britain, and in July \7CA, he was made first lord of the admiralty, in which post he continued (with a very short interrup- tion) to his death. He was likewise, at different times, during his majesty's absence in Germany, one of the lords justices of the kingdom. On the 1st of July, 1758, being then admiral of the '230 NAVAL HISTORY, white, and having hoisted his flag on board the Royal George, of 100 guns, lord Anson sailed from Spithead, Sir Edward Hawke commanding under him, with twenty- two sail of the line, and a proportionate number of fri- gates and smaller vessels; and by cruising continually before the port of Brest, he covered the descents that were made by the duke of Marlborough and commodore Howe, at St. Maloes, Cherburg, Sec. Returning to port in the autumn he applied himself sedulously to the duties of his high station, as first lord of the admiralty, and a series of the most brilliant successes crowned his ad- ministration. He had the satisfaction of reflecting, that under no previous administration had the honour and character of the British navy shone with more conspicu- ous splendour. The fleets of France were confined within her ports, or if they put to sea experienced the most humiliating defeats ; her coasts were insulted by British squadrons, which made repeated descents, plundering her towns, and destroying her harbours and fortifications. Louisbourg and Quebec, in North America ; Goree, on the coast of Africa ; and Poudicheri-y, in the East Indies, the capitals of their possessions in those parts, were all subdued by the efforts of British valour. In short, to use the words of Voltaire, speaking of this period, ' the Eng- lish were victorious in every quarter of the globe.' The last service performed by lord Anson at sea was the convoying to England, in September 1761, the prin- cess Charlotte of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, the betiothed queen of George III. On his return from this service, his lordship, whose health had been on the decline, was recommended by his physicians to try the effect of the Bath waters, from which he was thought to have received some benefit; but soon after his departure fiom thence he was suddenly seized with a violent indisposition, and after lingering a few days, he died at his seat at Moore Park, in Hertfordshire, ou the Cih of June, 1762. His lordship was married, in 1748, to the eldest daughter of the lord chancellor Hardwicke : the lady died the year preceding him, without issue, and he left the greater part of his fortune to his sister's son, George Adams, Esq. No man had a larger share of good fortune than lord An- son, but it should be remarked, that few men deserved it more ; and his successes were not the result of blind chance, but of well-concerted and well-executed designs. ANSON. 231 As an officer and a man, the memory of lord Anson is entitled to the hiuhest honour and respect. As an officer, he was cool and steady in the execution of his duty, of au enterprising spirit, yet patient under difficulties, perse- vering in adverse circumstances, and of a courage that no dangers could dismay. He had the welfare of his country truly at heart, and served it with a zeal that has been surpassed by none. Among the many services that will immortalize his name, his discreet and fortunate choice of his officers was none of the least, as will readily be allowed, when it is observed, that Sir Charles Saun- ders, captain Philip Saumarez, Sir Piercy Brett, Sir Peter Denis, and lord Keppel, were his lieutenants in the Centurion. As a man, he was warm and steady in his friendships, and particularly careful of the interests of those whom he had taken under his protection, if they continued worthy of his patronage. In his disposition he was mild and unassuming, and could boast of no great acquaintance with the world, which exposed him to the artifices of gamesters, and caused it to he humorously observed of him, ' that though lord Anson had been round the world, he had never been in it.' On professional subjects, his judgment was quick and comprehensive ; and Chatham, who seldom bestowed praise where he did not think it due, allowed him to be one of the ablest of his colleagues. During his administration of the afTairs of the navy, it attained a pitch of power and pre-eminence to which it had never before arrived : while the fleets of France and Spain were corapletily humbled, and almost annihilated, and their remaining ships were shut up in their ports during the latter years of the war. He was the principal means of improving the construction of the ships of war, and during the seven years' war he caused ships of a larger class to be built, and greatly increased their num- ber; and the copper sheathing, which was an important means in increa.sing their sailing, was introduced under his direction. He also introduced many beneficial re- gulations respecting promotions ; and the only portion of his conduct whilst he held the office of first lord of the admiralty which is deserving of censure, is the part which he must have taken in conjunction with his col- leagues in their proceedings against the unfortunate Byug. 26i NAVAL HISTORY THE HONOURABLE JOHN BYNG. 1704 — 1757. The naval supremacy which this country has so loug- en- joyed, has transmitted the belief that an English fleet ought always to desnoy the fleet of the enemy; and that com- mander who avoids an engagement or is unable to bring it about, or who after a contest can only oblig-e the ene- my to withdraw, is sure to have his i-eputation exposed to popular clamour or sacrificed to political partisanship. The life of Byng is an unfortunate illustration of this unreasonable national peculiarity ; and now, when the facts connected with his sad story can be calmly investi- gated, his memory oug-ht to be rescued from the disgrace which a vindictive ministry, in two administrations, has attached to it, in subjecting to a coward's death a com- mander, who had on every occasion displayed the skill and bravei-y which his counti-y or the service had any just right to expect. The honourable John B\nig was the fourth sou of that distinguished commander, lord viscount Torrington. He was born in 1704, and entered the navy under the au- spices of his father at the age of thirteen. After pass- ing through the subordinate stations of the service, he was, in 1727, appointed captain of the Greyhound fri- gate, one of the ships at that time employed in the Me- diterranean. He afterwards served in vessels of a higher class, an.i in 1742 was appointed governor of Newfound- land, and to the command in chief on that station. In August 1745, he obtained the rank of rear-admiral of the red, and was appointed to the important and confiden- tial command of a squadron stationed off the coast of Scotland, for the purpose of preventing any supplies from being obtained from France drndng the rebellion in that part of the kingdom. This was a service of the high. St moment, when it is considered that half Scot- land was in arms to support the claims of the house of Stuart, in the person of the grandson of James II , and nothing but the want of adequate assistance from France prevented the stability of the throne from being endan- BYNG, 233 crercd. In this service Byug eliectually hindered any supplies ot onnsequence from beins*' thrown into Scotland, and most of the maritime parts of the country adhered to their allegiance. He was afterwards ordered to the Mediterranean, and in July, 1747, was advanced to be vice-admiral of the blue. On the 5th of August follow- ing:, he succeeded, on the death of admiral Medley, to the command in chief, and continued to act on every possible occasion in concert with the Austrian creneral ; contirrainu-, while employed on the above service, that character which he had before acquired. Nothintr re- markable, however, occurred to him duriiig- the conti- nuance of the war ; nor have we any thing farther to record until hostilities recommenced with France. In May, 17'18, admiral Byug- was advanced to be vice- admiral of the red; and, in 1755, he succeeded Sir Ed- waid Hawke in the command of the squadron which cruised off cape Finisterre, and in the bay of Biscay. At the end of this year, it became known that the French were making? considerable naval preparations at Toulon, and, to cover their real desigrn, it was announced that it was intended to make a descent upon England. In the be^rinning of 1756, the British ministry received repeated infoiTuation, not only from foreign gazettes, but from English ministers and consuls residing in Italy and Spain, that the Toulon squadron, consisting of twelve or fifteen ships of the line, with a number of transports, and provisions for two months, was ready to put to sea; and that strong bodies of troops were on their march from different parts of France to be embarked. Not- withstanding these particulars of infoi-mation plainly indicated that Minorca was the object of the expedition ; and notwithstanding the repeated remonstrances of general Blakeney, the deputy governor, that the weak- ness of the garrison of foit St. Philip was such, that it would be impossible to withstand the formidable force which was preparing to attack him ; these remon- strances were unattended to by the ministry, and they did not even order the officers belonging to the garrison who were then in England to return to their stations, until the French were ready to make a descent upon the island. This intelligence at length awakened the ministry as if from a sleep, and, like persons suddenly awaking, they acted with hurry and precipitation. 234 NAVAL HISTORY. Byng was advanced to be admiral of the blue, and appointed to command the expedition intended for the relief of St. Philip. The force assigned to him was un- equal to the service ; it consisted of ten ships of the line, poorly manned, and unprovided with either hospital or fire-ship : he was besides detained one month at Ports- mouth after receiving his appointment before the squa- dron could be got ready for sea, from the ships being short of their complement of men. He was refused a repeating frigate, though he failed not to make the strongest representations and solicitations on that head. This conduct on the part of the admiralty was the more remarkable, as there were at that time, exclusive of his squadron, seventeen ships of the line, and thirteen fri- gates ready for sea, besides eleven sail of the line and nineteen frigates nearly equipped. It appeared as if it had been determined to send him out with an inferior force. He was an officer by no means popular, he was a strict disciplinarian, and of a haughty manner; but no one ever accused him of being deficient in personal spirit, and that intrepidity necessary to form a great commander; yet it had never been his fortune to have met with any of those brilliant opportunities of distin- guishing himself which would have established his fame above the malice of his enemies: nor did he possess that enthusiastic respect and popular adoration which, at times, are indispensably necessary to enable the best commanders to surmount the gTeatest difficulties. The expedition sailed from Portsmouth, April 10, 1756, having on board a regiment of soldiers for the relief of Gibraltar, with thirty or forty officers whose regiments were in garrison at Minorca, and near one hundred recruits as a reinforcement to St. Philip's fortress. Even at this time it appeared, from the nature of the instruc- tions given to tlie admiral, that the ministry did not anticipate that Minorca was to be the object of attack, as he was instructed to detach a part of his squadron, under rear-admiral West, to America, if he should learn on his arrival at Gibraltar that the French fleet had passed through the straits. But this uncertainty was removed on the arrival of the squadron at Gibraltar, on the "Ind of May. The admiral was informed, by captain Edgecumbe, that the French armament, commanded by M. de la Galissoniere, consisting of thirteen ships of the BYNG. 235 line, with a great number of transports, having on board 13,000 land forces, had sailed from Toulon, on the 10th of April, and made a descent on the island of Minorca, from whence he (captain Edgecumbe) had been obliged to retire at their approach. This intelligence the ad- miral dispatched to the lords of the admiralty on the 4th of May, and in his letter he expressed his belief that he should be unable to accomplish the relief of St. Philip, and that such was the opinion of the engineers who were best acquainted with the situation of the fort. He complained of the condiiionof his ships — that there were no magazines at Gibraltar for supplying the squadron with necessaries — that the sailing of the squadron had been too long delayed, and, therefore, that he had lost the opportunity of preventing the landing of the French army, which, with the limited force under his command, was the only chance which he ever could have had of relieving Minorca; and that now fort St. Philip could not be succoured without a laud force sufficient to raise the siege. He, besides, signified his opinion, even if it should be found practicable, it would be very impo- litic to throw any men into St. Philip's castle, as it would only add to the number that must fall into the hands of the enemy. These unpleasant reflections were supposed to have irritated the lords of the admiralty, and to have led them thus early to take measures to transfer any blame from themselves to the officer who had presumed to complain of their conduct. At Gibraltar admiral Byng was I'einforced by captain Edgecumbe with a ship of 60 guns, one of .00 guns, two frigates, and a sloop, without which addition to his squadron be would have been unable to face the French fleet, every ship of which was in the most perfect state of equipment, just out of port, consequently clean, and all of them prime sailers. The English fleet sailed from Gibraltar on the 8th of May, but unfortunately the pas- sage was so retarded by contrary winds and calms, tliat it did not make Minorca until the 18th. On the following day the admiral sent his frigates ahead to reconnoitre the harbour of Mahon, and to open, if possible, a com- munication with the besieged garrison. When the fri- gates had approached within a league of the harbour, this was found impracticable ; and the enemy's fleet appearing at this time, he recalled the frigates, and made 230 NAVAL HISTORY. a signal for his ships to stand towards the enemy. The admiral manoeuvred during- the greater part of the day to bring the enemy to an action, but without success. On the ■20th, in the moi-niug, the weather was so ex- tremely hazy, that the French fleet could not be seen ; but clearing up towards noon, they were again discovered ; and about two in the afternoon both fleets had formec" their line of battle. The French squadi-on consisted of twelve sail of the line and five frigates, carrying to gether 976 guns and &550 men, and commanded by M. la Galissouiere ; that of admiral Byng, of thirteen sail of the line, four frigates, and a sloop of war, carrying to- gether 948 guns and 7035 men ; but, from a point of ho- nour, he ordered the Deptford to quit the line, so as not to engage the enemy with superior numbers. The British admiral having the advantage of the wind, made the signal for his ships to lead large, and to bear down and engage the opponent that fell to their lot. The van, commanded by rear-admiral West, soon closed with the enemy ; that gallant officer began the action with great bravery and judgment, and in a little time forced one of the enemy's ships to quit the line. As Byng was bearing down to engage the enemy, the Intrepid, one of the ships ahead of him, unfortunately had her fore- top-mast shot away, and became unmanageable, which threw the ships astern into some confusion, and occa- sioned a great space between the van and rear of the British line, leaving rear-admiral West's division ex- posed to the fire of almost the whole French line. The smoke prevented admiral Bj'ng from seeing for some minutes the situation of bis van, but so soon as it was obsei'ved he ordered the Chesterfield to lay by the In- trepid, and the Deptford to supply the Intrepid's place in the line, and the ships ahead to make sail to assist the rear-admiral and to get into close action. On observ- ing this movement the enemy edged away constantly, and as they outsailed the English fleet they never would permit it to close with them, but confined their efforts to destroying the rigging. Allien Galissoniere observed that the English fleet was gaining upon him, he grew sick of the action, and about six o'clock in the evening bore away with his whole squadron. The English fleet gave chase, but the superior sailing of the enemy pre- vented Admiral Byng from beinj able to bring them BYNG. 237 again into action tliat night. He, therefore, bronght-to about eight o'clock to join the Intrepid, and to refit the squadron during the nii:ht, so as to be in a condition to renew the action. In the morning the enemy was not to be seen, tliough the English squadron continued to lay-to, port Mahon being distant about ten leagues. Cruisers were sent to look out for tlie Chesterfield and Intrepid, which joined in the course of the day. On in- quiry into the state of the squadron, it was found that the Captain, Intrepid, and Defiance (which latter had lost her captain) were so much damaged in their masts and rigging, as to be unfit to keep the sea with any de- gree of safety; and also that tlie crews in general were very sickly; many killed and wounded, and without any vessel which could be converted into an hospital.* Under these circumstances the admiral called a council of war, to which he desired the attendance of the following offi- cers of the army— general Stuart, lord Effinirham, lord Bertie, and colonel Cornwallis. The unanimous opinion of the council of war was, that the relief of Minorca was impracticable, and that considering the disabled condi- tion of the fleet, and the danger wliich threatened Gib- raltar, it should sail there to refit, and to be at hand to protect that fortress. In consequence of these resolutions, the fleet steered for Gibraltar, and anchored in the bay on the 19th of June. Here admiral Byng found a rein- forcement of four ships of the line, and a 50 gun ship, and prepared to put to sea again with all possible expedition. The French account of this action was the first intel- ligence that reached England : it claimed the advantage to the French fleet, and stated that the English had appeared unwilling to fight, — that the engagement had not been general,— that night had separated them, and that on the following morning, to the surprise of the admiral, the English fleet had disappeared. This intel- ligence was industriously circulated, and the public indignation was therel)y excited ; and at this day it could scarcely be believed, if it were not an oflicial histo- » The loss sustained by iho opposite fleets in this encounter was nearly equal. On board the Britisli lleet 43 were killt.-ri, and 168 wounded: the French had 38 killed, and ibo wounded. It was re- marked, however, afterwards, to the admiral's disadvantajre, that on board the Ramilies, his flag ship, none were killed or wounded ; but tliis applied equaMv to five other of his sliijts of the line, and also to five of the French. 238 NAVAL HISTORY. rical fact, that immediately on the strength of the above vapouring account from the enemy's admiral, and with- out waiting to receive admiral Byng's dispatches,* the ministry appointed admiral Sir Edward Hawke, and admiral Saunders, June 16th, to supersede admirals Byng and West, and to place them under arrest and send them home as prisoners to England. This feverish and unusual haste was at once Byng's cojidemnation, and it had that effect upon the public mind. Hawke and Saunders landed at Gibraltar on the 3rd of July, Byng and the other officers were sent home on the 9thj and arrived at Portsmouth on the 26th of July. Byng was immediately placed under strict confinement, and every indignity was shewn to him.+ In order to convey some idea of the rigorous measures v/hich were determined to be adopted against this un- fortunate commander, it may not be improper to mention, that orders had not only been dispatched to all the ports where it was probable he might arrive, to put him im- mediately under a close arrest, but this order, to give it publicity, was inserted in the gazette. 'All the little attorneys on the circuit,' says Walpole, ' contributed to blow up the flame against the admiral, at the same time directing its light fiom the original criminals. If the clamoui's of the people rose, so did the terrors of the administration ; and the very first effects of their fear shewed that, if they had neglected Minorca, they were at least prepared to transfer the guilt to others.' From Portsmouth he was sent to Greenwich to await his trial, and on his arrival there, Townsend, the governor, caused the apartment in which he was confined to be strongly secured ; he was guarded with extraordinary vigilance ; and these circumstances were industriously made known, as if to convey an insinuation, that the greatest precau- tions were necessary to prevent his escape from justice, and to impress on the minds of the unwary that the admiral himself was afraid to meet the injured counte- * It is believed the adminil's dispatches were received on the 16th, the day ou which the two admirals sailed from Portsmouth to super- sede and place him under arrest, but they were not published until the 26th of June, and then not as written by Bynj^, but with omis- sions and interpolations to suit the views of his enemies. t On his arrival at Portsmouth his younger brother, colonel E. Bynar, hastened down to meet hira, and was so struck with the abuse which lie evei-y where met with, that he fell alarmingly ill at the sig'ht of the admiral, and died on the following day in convulsions. BYNG. 239 uances of his countrymen. Nothing could be more remote from the truth. Byntr was so far from conceiving himself criminal in the least depree, that he persisted in declaring tliat he had beat the French and oblisied them to put into port, and that he wished for nothing with so much anxiety as the comniencenient of his trial, con- sidering it as the termination of his sufferings, and of the malice of his enemies, which had been displayed with such uncommon inveteracy aszainst him. Every action of his mind indicated an innate conviction that he went to a certain and most honourable acquittal, when, in the month of December, he was lemoved back to Portsmouth, with the same parade of guards and attention to his safe custody as had been displayed when he was conveyed to Greenwich. The court-martial appointed to try him assembled on board the St. George, in Portsmouth harbour, on the ^th of December, 175G, and held every day afterwards, Sundays excepted, till the 27th of January, 1757, inclu- sive, and was composed of the following members : President : Vice-admiral Thomas Smith.* Heur-Admirals : Francis Holbourne, Harry Norris. Thomas Broderick, Captains : Charles Holmes, Francis Geary, William Boys, John Moore, John Simcoe, James Douglas, John Bentley, Hon. Augustus Keppel. Peter Denis, The charges against him were seventeen in number, and the court agreed upon thirty-seven resolutions, of which the last five imputed blame to Byng. The prin- * Adniir.tl Smitli was grenerally known in the navy by the narae of Tom of Ten Ihoiisiand. He was' indtbttd lor his promotion to the rollowing^ circumsiances: When he was a lii'Utenant on board the Gosport, in Plynioiuh sound, and her captain was on shore, IMr. Smith directed a shot to be fired at a French frigate, which, on passing, had neglected to pay the usual compliment to' ilie fla?. The French captain consi- them act with more propriety, both for the good of offi- cers and men. I take it for g^ranted, that the great ones will let you have no rest till they get you out to sea again. * Although I am in a good deal of pain, and much in the invalid order, yet I cannot refuse myself the pleasure of wishing you all ima-rinable good fortune when you go out again, and trust in God your next cruise will prove a happy and glorious one, both for your country and yourself. My good friend, I have always wished you well, and have ever talked freely and openly to you upon every subject relative to the service. Recollect some of these passage." ; and for God's sake, if you should be so lucky as to get sight of the enemy, get as close to them as possible. Do not let them shuffle with you by engaging at a distance, but get within musket-shot if you can ; and that will be the way to gain great honour, and will be the means of making the action decisive. By doing this, you will put it out of the power of any of the brawl- ers to find fault. I am fully persuaded you will faithfully do your part, therefore hope you will forgive my saying so much on the subject. ' My good friend, may God bless you ; may the hand of Providence go with you, and protect you in the day of battle, and grant yday, April 13th, 1742. In the morning it blew fresh, wind N. E.; at noon'vve veered away to a cable and a half on the small bower. From one till fmir o'clock we were employed in setting' up the lower ris^ins. Hani crales and squally, with a very heavy sea. At six o'clock ro.le very well ; it half an hour after had four feet water in the hold. Immertia'iely we cut the small bower cable, and stood to sea under our courses. Our mate, who cut the cable, was up to Ins waint in the water at the bitts. At half-past seven we had six feet of water in the hold ; when we hauled up our courses, and hove overboard most of our upper deck, and all the quarter deck guns to leeward, by three quarters after eifjht, the water was up to our orlop crratines, and there wa- a ereat quantity bi'tween decks, so that the ship was water los^L'ed, till we cut a in great spirits. A little after nine we sounded, and fo'ind ourselves In nine fathoms water; the master called to cu* away the sheet anchor, which was done immediately, and we veered awav to a little better than a cable; but before she came heail to sea, shi- parted at the chestree. By this time it b;ew a hurricane. It is easier to conceive than to describe what a dismal melancholy scene now [ire sented ilself ; the shriekin;rs, cries, lament.) tions, ravinsrs, anddespail of above 50J poor wretches verunn? on the brink of eternity. ' I had presence of mind, however, to consider that the Goil Almiarhtv WHS the God all-merciful, with the comfortable reilectioi; and hofie, th;t I had ever put my whole trust in him. 1 then made a short prayer foi his protection, and jumped overboard, the water at that time was up to tlie jrratiiigrs on the poops from whence I leaped. The first thinp I PT^ppleH was a capstan bar, from which with seven more I got to the l)avid ; but in le»s than an hour 1 had the melancholy siijht to see thera 282 NAVAL HISTORY. ships escaped, by taking a route that liad never before been veutured on by line of battle ships ; bnt two of them, the Alcide and Lys, were taken. It was a circumstance somewhat singular, that by the capture of the Alcide, M. de Hocquart, who commanded her, became a third time Boscawen's prisoner. He had taken that officer first in the Medea, in 1744, when in command of the Dreadnought : secondly, in the Diamond, when in com- mand of the Namur, in Anson's action with de la Jon- quiere, in May, 1747 ; and a third time in the Alcide, as above stated. On his return to port from this cruise, Boscawen did not accept any command till February 1758, when being advanced to the rank of admiral of the blue, he was ap- pointed commander-in-chief of the fleet equipped to cover the descent at, and siege of Louisbourg, On the arrival of the fleet, which consisted of twenty-three sail of the line, six frigates, and several sloops and smaller vessels at Ha- lifax, early in May, the admiral was joined by general Amherst and the army. The necessary arrangements being made, the fleet, which, including transports, now all washed away, and myself remain alone upon it almost spent. 1 had now been above two hours in the water, when, to my unspeakable joy, 1 perceived a large raft with a great many men driving towards me. When itcame near, I quitted the David, and with greaiidifficultyswam to it, and, by the assistance of one of the quarter gunners, got upon it. The latt proved to be the Namur's booms. As soon as we were able we lashed the booms close together, and fastened a plank across, and by these means made a good catamaran. It was at this time one o'clock in the morning ; soon after the seas were so mountainous as to turn our machine upside down, but providentially with the loss of one man only. ' About four o'clock we struck ground with the booms, and in a very little while all that survived got on shore. After returning God thanks for his almost miraculous goodness towards us, we took each other by the hand, for it was not yet day, and trusting still to divine Providence for protection, we walked forward to tind some place to shelter us from the inclemency of the weather, for the spot where we landed offered nothing but saiid. When we had walked about for a whole hour, but to no manner of purpose, we returned back to the place where we had left our catamaran, and to our no small uneasiness found it gone. Day- light appeared soon aftenvards, when we found ourselves on a sandy bank, a little to the southward of Forto Navo, and as there was a river running between us and the Dutch settlements, we were under the necessity of fording it, and soon afterwards arrived at Porto Navo: we lost four of our company, two at the place where we were driven ashore and two in crossing the river.' Mr. Alms, who was thusprovidentially saved, was soon after promoted by admiral Bnscawen to a lieutenanlcy in the Syren frigate, and in the year I7ti2, he was made post-captain, in which situation he distinguished himself on many occasions, particularly when commander of the .Mon- mouth in the East Indies, towards the close of the American wan BOSCAWEN. 283 anioiinted to oue hundred and fifty-se-ven sail, having on board an army of 12,000 men, sailed from thence on the 28th of May. On the 2nd of June, the fleet anchored in Gabarus bay, about seven miles to the westward of Louisbourg'. Commodore Uurell, who was ordered to ex- plore the coast, was of opinion that the troops might be landed under cover of some frigates, in a small bay, with- out much danger from the surf, which by its violence in many places made the coast inaccessible : admiral Boa- cawen accordingly gave orders for seven frigates to place themselves opposite to the enemy's batteries, and cover the debarkation ; which was effected with the greatest order and regularity, under the command of brigadier general Wolfe, in defiance of a heavy fire of cannon and musketry from the enemy, who fled and abandoned their works on the approach of the British troops, leaving be- hind them several cannon and mortars. By this time the surf began to break with such violence as to dash many of the boats to pieces ; several soldiers and seamen were drowned, and the ammunition greatly damaged. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the troops were all landed before night. The weather now became tem- pestuous, and continued so for several days, which cut oflT all communication with the fleet. General Amherst, as he advanced, drove the enemy from their out-posts, and obliged them to take shelter in the town, against which, by the 25th, he had erected batteries, and opened upon it with great success. On the 2Sth the enemy sunk a ship of the line, a frigate, and two corvettes, across the mouth of the harbour. On the 21st of July, the Eutreprenant, of 74 guns, took fire, and before it could be extinguished she blew up, and the flames communicating to two other ships, they were also destroyed. There remained now but two ships of the line in the harbour, which the admiral was determined either to take or destroy. For this purpose, on the 25th at night he ordered 600 seamen to be sent in the boa^ of the fleet, under the command of captains Leforey and Balfour, who rowed into the harbour, and executed this service with the greatest resolution and bravery, amidst an incessant fire from the enemy's ships and batteries. Captain Leforey boarded la Prudente, but finding she was aground, and also moored with a strong chain, he set her 2&4 NAVAL HISTORY. on fire. The Bieufaisent, the other ship, was carried by captain Balfour, and towed into the N. E. harbour. The enemy's ships being all either taken or destroyed, admiral Boscawen informed the general that he was de- termined the next morning (the 26th) to send six sail of the line into the harbour ; but before that period, M. de Drucour, the governor of Louisbourg, desired to capi- tulate, and the same evening the terms of surrender were agreed to. On his return to England in November, Boscawen re- ceived the thanks of both houses of parliament, and on the 2nd of February 1759, he was, by his majesty's com- mand, sworn a member of the privy council, and took his seat at the board accordingly. Immediately afterwards he was invested with the command of a squadron, con- sisting of fourteen sail of the line and two frigates, ordered to the Mediterranean. He sailed from St. Helen's on the I4th of April, and immediately after his arrival on his station, repaired to Toulon, off which port he cruised for some days, in hopes of provoking M. de la Clue, who lay with a squadron consisting of twelve large ships and three frigates, to come out and engage him. Finding the enemy unwilling to hazard a battle, Bosca- wen sent three of his ships close into the harbour's mouth, to attempt the desti-uction of two French ships which lay there. Captain Smith Callis, an oflicer who in the former war had signalized himself greatly in a similar enter- prise, had the command, and would have succeeded could courage have insured success ; but the fire of several heavy masked batteries, which were not known to the assailants until they felt the weight of their shot, com- pelled the British squadron to retire, after having in the most spirited manner persevered in the attack for up- wards of three hours. They attempted with equal gallanti-y to destroy two forts v/hich defended the entrance, and cannonaded them for a considerable time with the greatest Yivacity ; but finding at length that the superiority of the enemy rendered all attempts ineffectual, the several com- manders were reluctantly obliged to abandon an enter- prise, in which they could not be said to have gained any thing but honour. The ships being towed out of the reach of the enemy's fire, though not without some difficulty, the admiral found BOSCAVVEN. 285 it necessary to proceed to Gibraltar, as well for the pur- pose of refitting those ships, as to furnish the squadron with water and other stores. The French commander, M. de la Clue, taking advantage of the absence of the British squadron, put to sea with eleven sail of the line, two fifties, and two frigates, and stood over to the Barbary coast, in hopes of being able to elude the vigilance of the British ad- miral ; but Boscaweu had stationed his cruisers so judi- ciously, that he had early intelligence of the approach of the French fleet. On the rth of August, at eight in the evening, the Gibraltar made the sii:nal of their appear- ance, fourtten sail, on the Barbary shore, to the eastward of Ceuta. The admiral got under sail as fast as possible, and was out of the bay before ten o'clock, with fourteen sail of the line, a frigate, and a fire-ship. At daylight the next morning, he got sight of seven of the enemy's ships to the westward, and made the signal for a general chase. A fresh gale brought the British ships fast up with them, till about noon, when it fell almost calm. About half-past two the headmost ships began to engage ; but Boscawen in the Namur could not get up with the French admiral in the Ocean till near four. A spirited contest ensued be- tween the two commanders-in-chief for about half an hour, when the Namur having lost her mizen mast, and both topsail yards shot away, de la Clue made otf with all the sail he could carry. Admiral Boscawen then shifted his flag to the Newark., and soon after the Centaur of 74 guns struck. Leaving a ship of the line in charge of the prize, the admiral pursued the enemy all night. At daylight on the morning of the 19th, only four of their ships were in sight, and those making for Lagos bay. At nine o'clock three of them came to an anchor, the Ocean ran among the breakers, and soon after her masts went by the board. The Intrepid and America were sent to destroy her ; and upon the latter firing a few shot, she struck her colours. When captain Kirk took possession of her, he learnt that M. de la Clue had been dangerously wounded, and with some other officers were put on shore. The Ocean was found to be so fast aground, that it was impossible to get her off"; captain Kirk therefore took out the remainder of her crew, and set the ship on fire. Of the other ships, one was driven on shore and burnt, and two taken ; so that the whole loss to the enemy amounted to three sail of the line captured, and two destroyed. The loss sustained by 266 NAVAL HISTORY. the British fleet in the engagrement, amouuted to 56 men killed, and 196 wounded. That of the enemy could not be ascertained, but must have been infinitely more severe. M. de la Clue died soon after of his wounds.* On his return to England after this sij^nal victory, ad- miral Boscawen was most g-raciously received by the king-, who ordered him a present of £'500. to buy a sword ; and in the month of December following, was declared general of the marines, with a salary of £3,000. a year. The magistrates of Edinburgh about the same time presented him with the freedom of their city in a gold box. The spirit and energy displayed by Mr. Pitt at this time infused a congenial feeling into the adminis- tration, who resolved to follow up the successful blow sti-uck at the enemy both by sea and land. To carry this purpose into effect, they obtained a vote of 51,645 seamen, and 18,355 marines, for the service of the year ireo. Admirals Hawke and Boscawen were appointed to the command of the Channel fleet, and to relieve each other as it might be necessary. Boscawen sailed from Plymouth on the 6th of February, for his old sta- tion id Quiberon bay, with a squadron of six sail of the line, to watch the shattered remains of Conflan's fleet, which in the preceding November had been defeated by Hawke. He was not, however, long able to keep his station, being driven back to Spithead, by tempestuous weather, before the end of the month. On the 16th of February he put to sea a second time, eager to return to that spot where his spirit and abilities were likely to be serviceable to his country ; but being again unfortunate euough to meet with continued and violent gales of wind, blowing contrary to his course, he was obliged on the 15th to put into Plymouth, several of the ships belonging to his squadron being very much shattered, and the Ra- milies of 90 guns lost, with all her crew, except a mid- shipman and twenty-five seamen. On the 9th of March, he again sailed for Quiberon bay, having shifted his flag on board the Namur, where he continued till August, when he was relieved by Sir Edward Hawke. This was the last public service done by this brave oflicer, who, if he had an equal, had 7io superior. He died at his seat * In this running fi^ht Boscawen was not pleased with the conduci of some of his captains, and was heard to say the day afier the battle, ' It is well, but it might have been a great deal better.' POCOCK. 287 at Hatcblaud, near Guildford, of a bilious fever on tbe JOth of January, 1701, in the fiftieth year of his age, universally regretted by his brother officers and the pub- lic at large. He was a thorough seaman, strongly at- tached to his profession, and always ready to quit a life of comparative ease at the admiralty (of which he con- tinued till his death as one of the lords' commissioners), and to engage with alacrity in any service that his colleagnics at the board might require him to under- take. He lies interred in tbe parish church of St. Michael, at Penkevel, in Cornwall, where a monument of exquisite workmanship, designed by Mr. Adam, and executed by Mr. Rysback, stands erected to his memory. SIR GEORGE POCOCK, K. B. 1700—1792. Sir G educe Pocock was bora on the Gth of March, 1706, and was the son of the Rev. Thomas Pocock, one of the chaplains of Greenwich hospital, by Margaret his wife, grand-daughter of Sir Christopher Turner, knt., one of the barons of the exchequer, in the reign of Charles II. He entered the navy in the twelfth year of his age, and served under his uncle Sir George Byng, afterwards viscount Torrington, in the memorable ex- pedition to the Mediterranean, in 1718, which terminated so highly to the honour of the British arms, and contri- buted to the restoration of the peace which gave nearly twenty years' repose to the maritime powers of Europe. Having passed through the subordinate stations in the navy with approbation and credit, Pocock, in 1732, was appointed first lieutenant of the Namur, and on the 1st of August, 17.38, he was promoted to the rank of post captain, and received the command of the Ald- horougli frigate, in which ship he immediately sailed to the Mediterranean, to join the squadron on that station, under the command of rear-admiral Haddock, where he continued till 1741. When war was formally de<:lared against Spain, in 1739, the squadron in which captain 288 NAVAL HISTORY. Pocock served had the good fortune to make several rich captures. Among- these v.ere two rich ships from the Caraccas, besides several of very great though inferior value, and a considerable number of privateers. When he returned home, in August, 1742, he was appointed to the Woolwich, and employed as a cruiser in the Channel or North sea, until 1744; when he commanded the Su- therland, a 50 gun ship, and in April, 1745, he proceeded to the East Indies with four of the company's ships under his protection. Of his services, during his ab- sence on that station, we have no particulars, as the complexion of affairs in the East Indies at that time was passive and tranquil, and consequently unfavourable to the labours of the naval historian ; but probably his time was judiciously employed in acquiring a knowledge of the Indian seas, afterwards a scene of a part of his splendid achievements. On his return from India, he was ordered to the West Indies, where, on the death of commodore Legge, which happened on the 19th of September, 1747, he succeeded to the command in chief on the Barbadoes station, and towards the end of the following year he greatly dis- tinguished himself by the activity and judgment with which he stationed his cruisers for the purpose of inter- cepting the French convoy from Europe, which had been so successfully attacked immediately on its quitting France, by admiral Hawke.* By this means nearly forty of the enemy's vessels were captured by himself or the cruisers acting under his orders, exclusive of those captured in consequence of their complete disper- sion by different privateers. The war being terminated soon after these events by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, captain Pocock remained unemployed till the end of 1754, when he was appointed to the Cumberland of 5(j guns, in which ship he sailed to the East Indies, making part of a squadron under the command of rear-admiral Watson. The British empire in India was at this period in its infancy, and assailed by various enemies, native and European. The first operation of the fleet was against the forti'ess of Geriah, the residence of the famous Angria, the most powerful naval prince in India, which, after an obstinate resist- ance, was reduced. » See page 256, &c. POCOCK. 289 On the 4th of June, l/SS, Pocock. was advanced to the rank, of a Hatr officer, bein^ made rear-admiral of the white, and the following year was farther promoted to be rear-admiral of the red squadron. In 1757 he assisted at the recovery of Calcutta, from the nabob Surajah Dowlah, and afterwards served at the reduction of Chan- dernasrore, the principal settlement of the French in Bengal, and a place of srreat strenjith, situated ou the river Hnuhley, a little above Calcutta. On the death of vice-admiral Watson, which happened at Calcutta, on the 16th of August, 1757, a short time after the reduction of Chandernagrore, Pocock. succeeded to the chief command of his majesty's ships in the East, and on the 31st of January, 1758, he was advanced to be vice-admiral of the red. As the season now approached when it was hig:hly probable that a French squadron would appear in the Indian seas, admiral Pocock. took every precaution to be prepared to erive them a warm reception. In the month of March he was joined iu Madras road by commodore Stevens, with a reinforce- ment from England of four sail of the line and a frigate, when the squadron under his command consisted of the following vessels : Ships. Guns. Men. Commanders. Yarmouth . . CI . . r,35 . S Vice-adm. Pocock. I Capt. J. Harrison. ^ Commodore Stevens. ^ Capt. Kempenfelt. Elizabeth . . . CI . , , . 525 . Tiger . . . . m . . 420 . . T. Latham. Weymouth . . «o . . . . 420 . . . N. Vincent. Cumberland . 56 . . 3-20 . . W. Brereton. Salisbury . . . 50 . . . 300 . . . J. S. Somerset. Newcastle . . 50 . . 300 . . George Legge. With the Queenborough frigate and Protector store-ship. With this force under his command, the admiral put to sea from Madras road on the 17th of April in search of the French squadron, which he had intelligence was on the coast, or expected daily to arrive. He steered first for Negapatam, and afterwards for fort St. David, where, about half past nine o'clock on the morning of the 29th, he discovei-ed seven ships getting under sail from the road, and two which were cruising in the ■I 290 NAVAL HISTORY. offing. This was the squadron of which the British commander was in search, and the strange ships not answering: the private signal, he immediately ordered a general chase. The enemy, under the command of the count d'Ache, one of the bravest and best officers, that the French marine ever produced, formed the line of battle ahead on the starboard tack, standing to the east- ward under their topsails, with the wind nearly south. About three o'clock in the afternoon, the van of the Bf-itish squadron being then nearly within random shot of the enemy, the admiral bore down to the Zodiaque of 74 guns, which ship carried the flag of the French commander-in-chief. After receiving the fire of the different ships astern of the count d'Ache, as well as that of the French admiral himself, Pocock would not permit a gun to be discharged from his ship, until he had got within pistol-shot of his antagonist. He then opened a dreadful fire on the French leader, and made the signal for close action. This was very promptly and gallantly obeyed by the van of the British squadron, but greatly to their discredit the Cumberland, Newcastle, and Weymouth, the ships forming the rear, were at a con- siderable distance astern, and appeared remarkably dilatory in getting into action, which gave the French ships astern an opportunity of lying on the admiral's quarter, who sometimes had three ships on him at once, and never less than two. From this circumstance the French fleet had nearly surrounded the British admiral, when the captains of the above mentioned ships, to retrieve their error, made sail, and came to his assist- ance. The French commander perceiving that the rear of the British line were now inclined to do their duty, and probably fearing the event of the contest, if he continued to fight, broke through the line, and put be- fore the wind under a press of sail, the rest of the fleet following his example, and discharging their broadsides in succession at the British admiral as they passed him. The signal was now made for a general chase, but the Biitish ships which had been in the action were by this time extremely disabled, particularly the admiral's ship, the Yarmouth, so that he could not possibly keep up with the squadron; and the French having received, between the hours of five and six, a reinforcement of a 74 line of battle ship and a 24 frigate, and evening POCOCK. 291 coming' on, he thought proper to recal his ships, and haul close ou a wind, in the hope of weathering: the enemy during the night, and hy that means compelling them to renew the engagement the next morning. The Queenhorough frigate was ordered ahead to keep the enemy in sight, and make the necessary signals to the sqiiadrou ; but the French neither shewing lights, nor making any signals, effected their escape, and at day- light were totally out of sight. The loss sustained by the British squadron in this en- gagement amounted to twenty-nine men killed, and eighty-nine wounded. The French sustained a more severe loss, near six hundred being killed and wounded, and the Bien Aime, one of their finest ships, mounting 58 guns, but pierced for 74, received so much damage iu the action, that the crew to save their lives were obliged to run her ashore a little to the southward of Alamparva, where she was totally lost. The French retreated to Pondicherry, and the British squadron returned to Madras, after having cruised some days without having been able to meet with the enemy. The ships were here refitted with the greatest alacrity, so that by the 10th of May the admiral was enabled to put to sea. His principal object was the relief of fort St. David, which at this time was besieged by the French, and the troops of the nabob of the Carnatic ; but con- trary winds, and a strong current from the southwai"d, prevented him from making much progress, and on the «th of June he received the disagreeable intelligence that the place had been obliged to surrender. On this infurniation the admiral returned to Madras to victual and water his ships; and, on his arrival, he caused the conduct of those captains whose behaviour he deemed reprehensible in the late engagement to be inquired into by a court-martial, which sentenced captain Vincent to be dismissed from the command of the Weymouth; captain George Legge to he cashiered ; and captain Brereton to lose a year's rank as post-captain. This unpleasant though necessary duty being dis- patched, the admiral sailed from Madras on the 25th of July, and the next day took a snow, and Inirnt seven small vessels belonging to the enemy. On the evening of the 27th, being within three leagues of Pondicherry, they discoTcred the French fleet at anchor, consisting 292 NAVAL HISTORY, of eight sail of the line and a frigate. Next morning the count d'Ache got under sail, standing to the south- ward, in hopes of being able to avoid the British squa- dron, from the advantage he possessed in having the land breeze. Admiral Pocock. made the signal for a general chase, but the French ships being better sailers, he was not able to get up with them, and having pursued them as far as Porto Novo, he lost sight of them. On the 30th he drove on shore and destroyed a vessel bound to Pondicherry, laden with ammunition and military stores, which proved a serious loss to the garrison of that place, as they were in great want of the articles with which she was freighted, and had not the means of obtain- ing a second supply. On the 1st of August, Pocock was once more gratified with a sight of the enemy, but though he used every endeavour to bring them to action, and by carrying a press of sail had gained on them, the cautious conduct of count d'Ache, and the superiority of his ships in point of sailing, prevented him from being able to bring on an engagement, and he again lost sight of the enemy. The admiral, however, persevered in keeping his station, and getting sight of the enemy again, was fortunate enough to bring them to action on the 3rd of August. The sub- ioined account of the engagement which ensued, as well as the preceding transactions of the squadron, extracted from the journal of an officer on board the admiral's ship, will be interesting to the professional reader, and will give to others a very excellent idea of a chase and running fight : — ' August 2, 1758, moderate breezes and fair weather, the wind from S. to S. W. ; at one the enemy was edging down upon us in a line of battle abreast, the command ing ship under her three top-sails on the cap appeared to be close reefed, and steering for our centre. At half past one, the Cumberland being pretty well up, we made the sig-nal for the line of battle ahead, and at two it fell little wind, and came round to the southward. About three our line was well formed, and we stood to the east- ward under our top-sails, the fore top-sail full, the main top-sail square, and the mizen top-sail sometimes full, and sometimes aback, as the different stations in the line re- quired. At three we made the signal to speak with the fire-ship, and soon after with the Queenhovough ; all this POCOCK. 293 time the enemy continued bearing down upon us with the same sail, and our squadron continued in a very re- {^iilar close line. At five the enemy's van was upon our beam, at about two miles distance, and about an hour after they made some signals, hauling their wind almost immediately; the van ship hoisted her top-sails, and set her courses ; the commanding ship hoisted her top-sails, hauled her foretack on board, and stood close upon a wind to the S. E. in about ten minutes. When that ship had got before our beam, we made the signal for our van to fill, and stand on, which we did with the whole squadron under our top-sails and fore-sail. The enemy from dark till eleven o'clock made several signals by guns, and judging by the sound they were firing on our quarter, concluded they had tacked, upon which, a little before twelve, we made the signal to wear, and wore with the whole squadron to the westward. ' August 3, 1758, moderate and fair weather. At four A. M. the Salisbury made the signal for seeing four sail to the N. W. At five A. M. we saw the French squadron about three miles to the westward of us, in a Kne of battle ahead, standing to the southward ; we then made the signal for the battle ahead, which was very soon formed. At six Negapatam bore VV. S. W. half W. dis tance about three leagues. At eight minutes past seven, we made the signal for the Tiger and Cumberland to make more sail. At twenty minutes past seven, we stood to the S. E. in a well-formed line, the enemy'.'* van at the .^ame time bearing W. half N. distant about four miles. At half-past eight, the enemy's van began to edge down upon us. At forty minutes past eight, made the signal for the Tiger and Elizabeth to change places in the line of battle; and at forty-five minutes past nine, the Tiger made the Salisbury's signal to close the line. At ten, the enemy bore away, as if they intended to run under the stern of the rear of our line. At ten minutes after, we made the signal for the leading ships to steer two points away from the former course. We edged away, and steered south. At twenty-five minutes past ten, made the Weymouth's, and the Weymouth the Newcastle's signal to close the line. From this time till twenty minutes past eleven, we were employed in towing particular ships into their stations ; for there was little or no wind, and the squadron in some disorder. At twenty minutes past 294 NAVAL HISTORY. eleven, the sea breeze set in from the S. E. which brought the enemy on our larboard and lee quarter. At half-past eleven, the enemy's van was on our lee beam, distant about one mile and a half. At noon our squadron was in a very good line, and preparing to bear down on the enemy. The Elizabeth and Queenborough repeated all the signals we made during the action. ' August 4, 1758, moderate and fair. At twenty mi- nutes past twelve P. M. made the leading ships' signal to steer six points from the former course, our squadi'on be- ing then in a well-formed close line. At fifty-five minutes past twelve, made the rear ship's signal to close the line. At one, took in our top-gallant sails. At this time the enemy seemed to be drawn up in a half moon, their van and rear being to windward of their centre. At twenty mi- nutes after one, observing the French admiral made the signal to eng'age, and their van ships beginning to fire on the Elizabeth, we immediately made the signal for engaging also, which was repeated by the Elizabeth and Queenborough, and obeyed by the whole squadron. In ten minutes after, the French admiral set his fore-sail, and kept more away. The rest of the squadron did the same, and their line was soon broken. The remainder of the action was a running fight. At thirty-five minutes past one, the signal for the line was shot away, and another instantly hoisted. Two minutes after that, our main top-sail yard was shot down on the cap, and the main top-mast much damaged at the same time. At for- ty-five minutes past one, the signal for battle was shot away again, and another hoisted directly. At two, the enemy's leading ship in the van put before the wind, having cut away her mizen mast on account of the sail being on fire. The French admiral put before the wind eight minutes after, and was followed by all the ships of the enemy, from the van to the centre. At twenty-five minutes past two, the enemy's rear put before the wind, at the same time we made the signal for a close engage- ment, that our ships might bear down as fast as possible after them. At fifty minutes past two, the enemy wore, and hauled up a little to the southward, as we did at the same time. At three, made the general signal to chase, at the same time hauled down that for the line of battle and close engagement, making all the sail we could after them. The enemy being at too great a distance for us to POCOCK. 295 fire at them, they crowded with studding sails and everj thing- else from us ; their boats were all cut adrift, thej atauding about N. N. VV. We were employed in knotting and splicing the old, and reeving new rigging, to enable us to make more sail ; the less disabled ships about three miles ahead, and the enemy's rear about five. At six, observing the enemy increased their distance, we made the signal to leave off chase, hauling that for battle at the same time. After joining our ships to leeward, we hauled close to the wind, with the larboard tacks on board ; at eight we made the signal, and ancliored in nine fathom water. Carical W. half N. distant about three ot four miles.' The loss sustained by the English iu this encounter, amounted to thirty-one killed and one hundred and six- teen wounded, among whom were commodore Stevens, and captain Martin, who commanded the Cumberland. The loss of the enemy was much more severe, upwards of five hundred and fifty men being killed and wounded, among the latterof whom were the French chef d'escadre and his captain. After the engagement the enemy fled to Pondicherry road, and from thence, having repaired their damages, to the Mauritius ; thus leaving the com- mand and sovereignty of the Indian seas to the English admiral, whose fleet from the beginning of the war had been much inferior to the French squadron in number of ships and men, as well as in weight of metal. Admiral Pocock proceeded with his squadron to Bom- bay, where he continued during the winter monsoons, according to the general custom on that station, it being extremely dangerous to remain on the coast of Coroman- del during that period of the year. Whilst in port he was indefatigable in his exertions to put his squadron into the best state of equipment, so as to enable him to deter- mine with the French admiral which of them was master at sea. He sailed from Bombay on the ITth of .April, 1759, and arrived off the island of Ceylon before the French had taken their departure from the Mauritius. Here he continued to cruise till the 1st of September, when want of water obliged him to quit his station, and proceed to Trincomalee. The next day the French fleet was dis- covered by the Revenge, a frigate in the East India Company's service, which the admiral, in the absence of the British squadron, had directed to cruise in the ene- 296 NAVAL HISTORY. my's track, in order to obtain the earliest intelligence oJ their approach. The Revenge having communicated to admiral Pocock that the enemy's squadron was in sight he immediately made the signal for a general chase, and stood to sea under a press of sail. The count d'Ache, according to his usual practice, though he possessed a superiority of two ships of the line, thought proper to decline an engagement, nor could Pocock bring him to action, though every manoeuvre was tried for that pur- pose which the most expert seamanship could dictate. 'J'he adverse fleets continued three days in sight of each other, but never within gun-shot, and the weather proving hazy, the French at length efl'ected their escape. Dis- appointed in his hopes of an engagement from having lost sight of the enemy, Pocock steered directly to Pon- dicherry, to which place he conj ectured they were bound, and where he fortunately arrived eight hours before the French admiral. The particulars of the action which ensued, and the subsequent transactions, we cannot give with more propriety than in the gallant admiral's own words : ' I arrived off Pondicherry on the 8th, early in the morning, and saw no ship in the road, but at one in the afternoon we discovered the enemy to the south east, and by three counted thirteen sail. We were then steering to the southward with the sea breeze, and to prevent their passing us kept a good look out the following day. At two in the afternoon of the 9th, the wind springing up, I made the siznal for a general chase, and at four their squadron appeared to be formed in a line of battle abreast, steering right down upon us. In the evening I ordered the Revenge to keep during the night between our squadron and the enemy's, to observe their motions. On the 10th, at six in the morning, the body of the French squadron bore S. E. by S. distant eight or nine miles, and was formed in a line of battle ahead, on the starboard tack. We continued beaiing down upon them in a line of battle abreast, with the wind about N. N. W. At five minutes past ten the enemy wore, and formed the line ahead on the larboard tack. At five minutes after eleven we did the same, and kept edging down upon them. At ten minutes past two in the afternoon, the Yarmouth being nearly abreast of the French admiral's second in the rear, and within musket-slutjM. d'Ache made POCOCK. 297 the signal for battle. I immediately did the same ; on whicli both squadrons began to cannonade each other with great fury, and continued hotly engaged until ten minutes after four; when the enemy's rear began to give way, the Sunderland having got up some time before, and engaged their sternmost ship ; their centre very soon after did the same. Their van made sail, and stood on, and with their whole squadron bore away, and steered to the S. S. E. with all the sail they could make. We were in no condition to pursue them, the Tiger having her inizen mast and main top-mast shot away, and appear- ing to be greatly disabled. The Newcastle was much damaged in her masts, yards, and rigging, and the Cum- berland and Salisbury in our rear were not in a condition tu make sail. Tlie Yarmouth had lier fore topsail shot away in the slings ; and the Grafton and Elizabeth, though none of their masts or yards fell, were greatly disabled in them and their rigging ; so that the Wey- mouth and Sunderland were the only ships that had not suffered, because they could not get properly into action, occasioned by M. d'Ache's beginning to engage before they could close, so that by those means they were thrown out of the engagement, seven of our ships only sustaining the whole fire of the enemy's fleet till near the conclusion, and then no more than eight. 'The enemy continued their retreat to the southward until dark, at which time I ordered the Revenge to keep between us and the enemy, to observe their motions, and brought to with the squadron on the larboard tack, in order that the disabled ships might repair their damages. At daylight in the morning we saw the enemy to the S. S. E. lying to on the larboard tack, as we were, about four leagues distant, the wind being about W. The enemy upon seeing our squadron immediately wore, and brought-to on the other tack, continuing so until night, when their distance was so much increased that we could scarcely discover them from the mast head. At this time the wind coming from the southward, I made the signal, wore, and stood under an easy sail to the N. W. the Sunderland having the Newcastle in tow, the Weymouth the Tiger, and the Elizabeth the Cumberland. On the 12th at daylight, we saw the ships in Negapatam road, and seeing nothing of the enemy, at ten o'clock in the forenoon I anchored with the squadron about three leagues 298 NAVAL HISTORY. to the southward of that road, and iu the evening dis- patched the Revenge to Madras, with letters to the governor and council. On the i5th, in the evening, we stood into the road, and having anchored, continued re- pairing our damages and refitting the squadron until the 2oth, by which time, having put the ships in as good condition for service as the time permitted, I weighed at live o'clock that morning, stood to the northward, and at six was joined by the Revenge from Madras, who brought sixty-three men belonging to the Bridgewater and Triton, who had been exchanged at Pondicherry, and ten men impressed from the Calcutta Indiaman, whom I or- dered on board the Tiger and Newcastle, those ships having suffered most in their men. ' On the 27th, at daylight in the morning, I was close iu vyith Pondicherry road, where the French squadron was lying at anchor in a line of battle. As attacking both the ships and fort at the same time did not suit our con- dition, I made the signal for the squadron to draw into a line of battle ahead, upon the starboard tack, the wind being offshore, and about W. S. W. We lay with cur top- sails to the mast, just keeping a proper steerage way for the line to continue well formed. Being iu this situation, the French admiral made the signal at six o'clock to heave apeak; in half an hour after, to weigh; and by the time all their squadron, which consisted of eleven sail of the line and two frigates, was under sail, it was near ten o'clock, at which time we were to leeward of them, as before mentioned, expecting they would bear down directly and engage. But instead of taking that step, M.d'Acbe made the signal for his squadron to keep close to the wind, and also to make sail, stretching away to the southward in a line of battle ahead ; by which method of acting they increased their distance from about a random shot at daylight, to near four leagues to wind- ward at sun-set. Had they cut or slipped their cables on first discovering us, we must have come to an action by seven o'clock ; and after they got under sail, had they bore directly, might have been close alongside by eleven. Finding by their manner of working a great disinclina- tion to come to a second action, I desired the opinion of the rear-admiral and captains, who all agreed, that as the present condition of the squadron would not permit us to follow them to the southward, it would be most advis- POCOCK. 299 able to proceed to Madras: accordingly we anchored there on the 2Sth in the eveninjr.' In this entragement the English lost above 300 killed, in- cluding captain Miche, who commanded the Newcastle, captain Gore of the marines, two lieutenants, a master, gunner, and boatswain : the captains Somerset and Brereton, with about 250 wounded ; and many of the ships were considerably damaged. The loss of the French is supposed to have been very considerable, as their ships were crowded with men. The French made the best of their way to the Mauritius, and thus left the English the undisputed command of the Indian seas, which su- periority was still more confirmed by the arrival of rear- admiral Cornish, with four ships of the line, on the 18th of October. In the spring, admiral Pocock returned to Eng land, leaving the command in the Indian seas with admiral Ste''ens, and on his arrival he was honoured with the order of the Bath, and promoted to be admiral of the blue, as a reward for his important services in India, and received the thanks of parliament. The court of directors also, as a testimony of their gratitude, pro- posed to the admiral, either to place his statue in mar- ble, or his portrait in their hall ; the admiral preferred the first, as it would be a more lasting memorial ; and an elegant statue of Pocock, together with another of lord Clive, now adorn one of the principal apartments of the India-House. Admiral Pocock was not allowed to remain long un- employed ; he had only returned to England in Septem- ber, and on war being declared against Spain, on the 4th of January, 1762, he was again called upon to assume the command of an expedition to the West Indies, which was then determined upon. This was the memorable expedition against tJie Ha- vannah, the capital of Cuba, one of the most daring and best conducted enterprises of its magnitude that was ever undertaken by any nation, and which would have ushered in the new reign of George III., under the most brilliant auspices, had the ministry at home conducted the national aflairs with an energy equal to that of the naval and military officers abroad. The announcement of the family compact between the princes of the house of Bour- bon, who occupied the thrones of France and Spain was the cause of the declaration of war asrainst the lattei 300 NAVAL HISTORY. country, and the expedition against the Havanuah : but to prevent those apprehensions and precautious on the part of Spain, which the direct equipment and sailinc^ ot a formidable armament from England would probably have given rise to. Sir George Pocock sailed from St Helen s, on the 5th of March, with only four sail of the line, one frigate, and some transports, on board which were embarked four regiments of infantry. On his arrival in the West Indies, April 22, he assumed the chief command of his majesty's ships, which composed a powerful fleet, consisting of twenty-six ships of the line, titteen frigates, and a considerable number of sloops of war and bombs, making altogether a fleet of more than fifty vessels of war. After a very fortunate passage through the old straits of Bahama, a navigation of con- siderable difficulty for so large a fleet, the armament ar- rived ofi" the Havannah on the 6th of June, 1762. The same day he issued directions to the captains of the fleet and masters of transports, with regard to the landin- of the army, which consisted of 10,000 men, under the c°om- maiid of the earl of Albemarle ; and having appointed commodore Keppel to conduct that part of the service, leaving witn him six sail of the line and frigates, he bore away, to deceive the enemy, with thirteen sail of the line, t«-o frigates, the bomb-vessels, and thirty sail of victuallers and store-ships, and ran down ofl" the har- bour as It he intended to attack it. In the harbour were twelve Spanish ships of the line, and several merchant vessels. Tue next morning the admiral embarked th«> marines in the boats and made a feint of landing about four miles westward of the town. This stratagem had the desired eflect, for about the same time the earl of Albemarle landed with the whole army, without oppo- sition, between the rivers Boca Noa and Coximar, about six miles to the eastward of the Moro castle. On the appear- ance of a body of men near the shore, commodore Kep- pel ordered the Mercury and Bonetta sloop to scour the beach and woods; and a more considerable body of troops appearing afterwards, as if they intended to op- pose the earl of Albemarle in Coximar river, he ordered captain Harvey (afterwards earl of Bristol), in the Dra gou, to run in and batter the castle which defended it which m a short time was silenced, and the army passed over unmolested. POCOCK. 301 On the 8th he sent two frigates in shore, to sound as uear the Puntal tort as they could and alon^ the west shore, where they found anchoring ground for three leagues down the coast, from twenty to five fathom water, and easy landing for any body of men. The same afternoon the enemy sunk one of their large ships at the entrance of the harbour, and another early the next morning. On the lOth the fleet made a diversion, and battered the cas- tle of Chorea, on the west side of the harbour, which greatly facilitated an attack, by the land forces, on the Cavanois, a hill above the Moro castle, which was carried with very little loss. These bomb-vessels were ordered to anchor at night to throw shells into the town, which they accordingly performed under cover of the Edgar, Stirling Castle, and Echo. On the r2th, a third ship was sunk at the entrance of the harbour, which entirely blocked it up. The ad- miral upon this ordered four ships of the line to conti- nue cruising in the offing, and anchored with the rest off Chorea river, about four miles to the westward of the Uavaniiah. A detachment of seamen and 800 ma- rines were landed to co-operate with the army in prose- cuting the siege. On the 10th, the bomb batteries began to play against the Moro, but the want of earth retarded the planting of the heavy artillery till the 1st of July, when it was ar- ranged between the general and the admiral, that three ships should be placed against the N. E. part of the cas- tle, in order to cannonade it, while a vigorous attack should be made on the land side. In consequence of this the Dragon, Marlborough, and Cambridge, proceeded to attack the Moro ; and in order to draw off the enemy's attention from these ships, the Stirling Castle was di- rected to lead in, until the first ship should be placed : and then to make sail, and stand out to the fleet; but captain Campbell, her commander, having neglected to execute his service in conformity to the orders he had received, was the cause of the Dragon getting aground, by which accident she became exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy, and was with difficulty got afloat. After the siege, captain Campbell was tried by a court- martial, and sentenced to be dismissed the service. The Dragon, Cambridge, and Marlborough, sustained a most furious cannonade, from eight iu the morning 302 NAVAL HISTORY, until two in the afternoon, when the Cambridge was so much damaged in her hull, masts, yards, sails, and rigging, with the loss of so many men killed and wounded, that it was thought proper to order her off, and soon after the Dragon, which had likewise suffered great loss of men and damage in her hull ; and it being found that the Marlborough, captain Burnet, could no longer be of service, she was ordered off also. The number of killed and wounded on board each ship was as follows : — Dragon .,.16 killed . 37 wounded Cambridge . . 24 . . . .95 Marlborough . 2 .... 8 Captain Goostrey, the brave commander of the Cam- bridge, was among the number of the slain : after his death, his ship was fought by captain Lindsay of the Trent frigate, who on his return to England received the honour of knighthood for his gallant behaTiour, and, dis- tinguishing himself on other occasions, was made a knight of the Bath. On the 30th of July, a practicable breach was made in the Moro castle, and the same day it was carried by storm, with very inconsiderable loss on the part of the assailants, while the slaughter among the Spaniards veas immense. Don Louis de Valasco, captain of a ship of war, and governor of the Moro, made a most gallant de- fence, and was mortally wounded in the storm, defend- ing the colours sword in hand : and his second, the marquis de Gonzales, was killed. The Catholic king, with a degree of feeling that did him honour, to com- memorate the fate of the brave don Valasco, created his son viscount Moro, and directed that for ever after there should be a ship in the Spanish navy called the Valasco. On the 11th of August, the governor of the Havannah desired to capitulate, and the articles of surrender being agreed to, the Biitish forces were put in possession of the Puntal and Landgate on the 14th. In the harbour were nine large ships of the line in a condition for sea, two upon the stocks, and three others sunk at the en- trance of the harbour, together with a large galleon. Without violating the terms of capitulation, which se- cured to the inhabitants their private pi-operty, the con- POCOCK. 303 querors found a booty computed at near three millions sterling, in money and merciiandise, and the naval aiul military stores delivered up with the town and arsenal. Sir Georg-e, after the capitulation was executed, was as industrious in the civil duties attendant on his high station, as he had before been in those of a hostile nature. He became the friend and protector of the vanquished, shielding them by every means in his power from those acts of intemperance which, notwithstanding the best regulations, sometimes take place on such occasions. It is to be regretted, that the distribution of the prize- money for the capture of the Havannah, was by no means conformable to the rules previously observed in the ser- vice, nor at all agreeable to the maxims of justice and good policy. The inferior ofBcers, seamen, and soldiers, received a very unequal and undue reward for the bravery they had shewn, and the hardships they had endured on so perilous and fatiguing a service, as will be seen by tlie following statement : — • Abstract of the prize-money paid to the navy, for the capture of the Havannah, at hve separate payments. £ s. d. £ s. d. Admiral Pocock . 122,097 10 6 Comod. Keppel . 21,533 10 1 42 Captains . . . 67,225 11 each 1,000 10 10 183 Lieutenants . . 42,941 2 8 — 234 13 3 363 Warrant-officers 42,944 2 8 — lis 5 11 1,303 Petty-officers . 22,494 10 11 — 17 5 3 12,100 Seamen & marines 45,247 13 7 — 3 14 9 Total 308,092 11 4 The distribution to the army was conducted on a simi lar principle. £ s. d. £ .«. d. Earlof Albemarle 122,097 10 Lieut.-Gen. Elliot 24,539 10 1 2 Major-Generals . ]3,'J33 1 1 each 6,816 10 6 7 Brig.-Generals . 13,633 1 1 — 1,947 11 7 51 Field-Officers . 28.092 8 5 — 564 14 6 185 Captains . . . 34.032 12 10 — 184 4 7 599 Subalterns . . 69.528 11 11 — 116 3 763 Serjeants . . . 6,816 10 6 — 8 18 8 749 Corporals . . . 5,112 7 10 — 6 i6 6 12,100 Privates . . . 49,419 16 8 — 4 1 3 Total 363,155 U 1 304 NAVAL HISTORY. The courts of France and Spain were so intimidated at the conquest of the Havannah, which laid at the mercy of Britain all their settlements in the West Indies, that they immediately commenced neg^otiations for peace, which was concluded at Paris in the month of February, 17G3, on more favourable terms for the enemy than the great and brilliant successes of the British arms, in every quarter of the globe, might seem to justify. On his return to England, Sir George Pocock received the thanks of both houses of parliament, of the city of London, and other public bodies, for his distinguished services in the West Indies ; but never accepted of any subsequent command, and, in 1766, he resigned his rank as admiral of the blue, apparently in disgust, and con- tinued during the remainder of his life in peaceful and honourable retirement. He died at his house in Curzon street. May Fair, on the 3rd of April, 1792, at the ad- vanced age of eighty-seven years. It has generally been supposed that Sir George was induced to withdraw from the service in which he had so greatly distinguished himself, and in which he had obtained ' wealth enough,' as the reward of his successes, from a personal feeling of disappointment at Sir Charles Saunders, his junior officer, having been appointed first lord of the admiralty in preference to himself. It is stated, that when he was first informed of the appoint- ment, he went to the gallant Hawke, and complained of the indignity that had been offered to himself and other older flag officers who had eqtially distinguished themselves. Sir Edward Hawke was at that moment on the point of going out to wish Sir Charles Saunders joy of his appointment ; and when he informed Sir George of his intention, the opinion of that great and good man had so much weight with him, as not only to moderate his displeasure, but even to induce him to adopt a simi- lar conduct himself. His offended pride, though mode- rated, was not got rid of, and, some time after, he acted upon his first resolution, and retired from the service for ever. A perfect evenness of temper cannot always be commanded, and a mind too susceptible to entertain supposed indignities is often more deserving of pity than of condemnation. After having given the above illustration of his temper, it is but just to add the elegant summary of his charac- POCOCK. 305 ter which has been drawn by Chamock : ' It has else- where beeu recorded, and with the greatest apparent truth, that his history, both iu public and private life, was of so exemplary a nature as to demand a tribute of the higrhest respect, a tribute most justly due to the me- mory ot so worthy, so gallant a man. He was admired, he was revered, even by his enemies; he was esteemed by all the officers who had served under him, and held almost in adoration by every seaman who had ever been under his command. Nor were his private virtues less the subject of regard and honour than those of greater and more public notoriety. As a parent he was, with the greatest truth, unequalled ; as a brother, most truly benevolent ; and as a relative, aflectioiiate in the highest degree to all his connexions. His modesty rendered him unconscious of his own merits ; he added a huma- nity, improved by an extensive generosity, which raised him up as a blessing to all his neighbours whose indi- gence called forth his ever attentive bounty. It is said of him, that, unlike most naval officers, he was tiever known to swear, even on board his ship ; and as he cer- tainly possessed the greatest courage, so did he unite with it the greatest resolution and the most serene temper.' His remains were interred in the family vault at Twickenham, near those of his lady, by whom he left one son, George I'ocock, Esq.; and one daughter, who was married to earl Powlet. 306 NAVAL HISTORY. SIR CHARLES SAUNDERS, K. B. DIED 1775. This brave and distinguished officer, to whom fortune was particularly munificent in affording him numerous oppor- tunities of acquiring renown, by di.splaying that gallan- try he naturally possessed, entered at a very early age into the service of his country, and passed through all the subordinate stations of the navy with the approbation of his superiors. He had attained the rank of lieu- tenant some time before the memorable expedition of commodore Anson to the South Sea, and, at the solici- tation of that brave and judicious officer, was appointed first lieutenant of the Centurion, on board which ship the commodore hoisted his broad pendant. This appointment, at the express request of so accurate a judge of naval merit, affiards a strong presumption, that Saunders had already given a clear promise, by his zeal, activity, and conduct, that he would prove an honour to the ser- vice, and an ornament and benefit to his country. The squadron under commodore Anson sailed fi-om Spitbead on the 18th of September, 1740, and the captain of the Pearl frigate dying on the coast of Brazil in the month of January following, he was advanced to the command of the Tryal sloop. Saunders sharing the ge- neral sickness which pervaded the squadron, was at this time dangerously ill of a fever, and obliged to remain on board the Centurion, so that Mr. Sauraarez, who succeeded him as first lieutenant, was appointed provi- sionally to command the Tryal, until the re-establish- ment of his health should enable him to undertake the charge himself. Oa his recovery captain Saunders proceeded on board the Tryal; and his skill and courage as a seaman were eminently displayed in the passage of that vessel round Cape Horn. The squadron entered the straits of le Maire on the 7th of March 1741, and from that time until the end of May they experienced, with little intermis- sion, a succession of the most furious tempests. To add to their distresses, as we have more porcicularly related SAUNDERS. 307 in the life of commodore Anson, the scurvy rag'ed so violently among them, that the mortality in the squadron daily amounted to six or seven men, beside disabling many whose services were peculiarly required, at this period of calamity and dauirer. On the 7th of April the Pearl and Severn separated from the commodore, and, in- timidated by the continuance of the storm, or reduced by sickness, gave up all hopes of prosecuting the voyage, and returned to England. On the '23rd of the same month, the Tryal was no longer able to keep company with the Centurion, but parted in a gale of wind more terrible than any they had hitherto experienced. A less resolute and enterprising commander than captain Saunders, would probably on this occasion have judged it prudent to follow the example of the Pearl and Severn, and return to Eng land ; but his zeal for the service of his country, assisted by the firmness of his mind, and a courage which no difficulties could affright, determined him to persevere in the prosecution of the voyage. Already he had sutiered incredible hardships ; his crew was weakened and hourly suffering by sickness ; and his vessel much damaged by the storms it had encountered ; but his anxiety to perform his duty prevailed over all the considerations of future safety, which thes^ distressing circumstances rendered extremely doubtful, and it was the happiness of this in- trepid commander that his perseverance was crowned with success. The Tryal arrived at the island of Juan Fernandez two days after the Centurion had reached that hospitable, though uninhabited spot. Captain Saunders had by this time buried nearly one half of his crew, and so deplorable was the condition of the survivors, that the commander, lieutenant, and three seamen, were the only persons on loard capable of enduring the fatigue necessarily at- tendant on the navigation of the ship. The vegetable productions of Juan Fernandez, with the advantage of having tents on shore for the accommo- dation of the sick, soon stopped the progress of the scurvy ; and the crew of the Tryal being recovered, captain Saunders was dispatched by commodore Anson to cruise oflf the island of iNlasa Fueru, in hopes of finding some of the missing ships of the squadron, which might have mistaken the latter island for the appointed place of rendezvous. After a fruitless cruise, during which cap- U2 308 NAVAL HISTORY. tain Saunders examined every bay and harbour in the island of Masa Fuero, he returned to Juan Feraandez, About this time the Centurion had the good fortune to capture a Spanish prize. The prisoners on board this ves- sel were astonished at seeing a ship of so small a rate as the Tryal at Juan Fernandez. They believed, at first, that she had been built on the island by the English, -whose indefatigable diligence and almost incredible exertions they could not sufficiently commend, in having, under the most adverse circumstances, reduced in numbers, and weakened by sickness and the complicated calamities of a long and disastrous voyage, constructed and equipped in so shoi't a space of time a vessel of her description. Some of them had probably experienced, and all of them had heard of, the dangers and hardships of the passage round Cape Horn ; and they were at a loss to conceive how a vessel of the Tryal's small dimensions was capable of performing a passage that was considered almost as the ne plus ultra of navigation, and had frequently been attempted in vain by the finest vessels and most skilful commanders of the Spanish navy. Flat- tery could scarcely have conceived a compliment more pleasing to captain Saunders than this mistake of the Spanish seamen. Although a part of the squadron belonging to this ex- pedition was still missing, the commodore, as it was bis opinion that the Spaniards were still unacquainted with the arrival of the English in the South Seas, and there- fore probably had many ships at sea richly laden, dis- patched captain Saunders on a cruise in the month of September. This afforded him an opportunity of display- ing as much vigilance and activity as a cruiser, as he had before shewn skill and intrepidity as a navigator. In a few days he fell in with, and after a tedious chase cap- tured, a valuable merchant ship of six hundred tons burthen, bound from Callao in Peru, to Valparaiso in Chili. This was the second prize which the English squadron had made in the South Seas, and as the captured vessel and her cargo were estimated to be worth upwards of £'18,000, it must have been considered as an auspicious omen of their future success. The good fortune of cap- tain Saunders was not, however, without some abate- ment. The Tryal sprung a mast during the chase, and was afterwards so much damaged in a squall, that the SAUNDERS. 3(H) utmost exertions of the crew at the pumps were necessary to preserve her from sinking. Beiujy in this condition, and unable to repair her daiaa2:es, commodore Anson determined to destroy the Tryal, and ordei'ed captain Saunders and his crew to repair on board the prize, •which, in honour of the Tryal and her meritorious oUicers and company, was now named the Tryal's Prize. As this vessel had formerly been employed as a frigate in the Spanish service, commodore Anson commissioned her as a frigate in the British navy, and captain Saunders was appointed to i.onimand her as post captain, by a commis- sion bearing date the '2Gth September, 1741. The guns of the Tryal were put on board the prize, and likewise those of a victualler belonging to the squadron, which to^^ether amounted to twenty ; and having scuttled the Tryal, captain Saunders, in his new ship, proceeded in company with the Centurion to cruise off the island of Valparaiso. This cruise did not prove successful : captain Saunders, however, had the satisfaction of being present at the tak- inj^^ of Paita, and though it does not appear that he was actively concerned, it can scarcely be doubted but that he assisted in contributing to the success of the enter- prise. Shortly after this event, the condition of the squa- dron became so bad, and the crews of the five ships so greatly reduced in number by sickness, as not to exceed 330 persons, which made it impossible any longer to navigate them with safety. These circumstances determined the commodore to de- stroy the Tryal's Prize, the Carmelo, and Carmin, and divide the officers and men between the Centurion and Gloucester. This resolution was accordingly carried into execution in the harbour of Chequetan, when captain Saunders removed on board the commodore's ship. He remained some time longer with Anson in the South Seas, but was not present at the capture of the famous Acapulco ship, having quitted the Centurion at Macao, where she refitted previous to the cruise on which she took the galleon. Captain Saunders sailed from Macao ^n a Swedish vessel in November, 1742, having under his care dispatches from the commodore for England; and arrived in the Downs, after an agreeable passage, in the month of May following. His departure from Macao terminated his share of the dangers and glory of 310 NAVAL HISTORY. the celebrated South Sea expedition ; but %ve may be allowed to observe, that though a young officer, he rose superior to difficulties that proved fatal to old and ex- perienced commanders ; and the enemy themselves testi- fied their admiration of his conduct, by doubting the possibility of what his perseverance had achieved. His fortune might have received an addition, had he been present at the capture of the Acapulco ship, but any share in that victory could have added little to his fame, which already announced him one of the most promising officers in the service. On his arrival in England, in 1743, captain Saunders was appointed to the Sapphire frigate, of 44 guns, o«e of the ships of war employed during the ensuing spring- in cruising off the coast of Flanders and blockading the port of Dunkirk. His success on this station does not appear to have been very conspicuous, for the only cap- ture he is recorded to have made is that of a galliot hoy from Dantzick, having on board nearly two hundred officers and soldiers belonging to count Lowendahl's regiment at Dunkirk, which had been raised in Prussia for the service of the French king. His vigilance probably kept the enemy within their ports, and to this we must in the greatest degree attribute his want of success. Captain Saunders remained in the Sapphire, we be- lieve, till he was promoted to the command of the Sand- wich, of 90 guns, which appointment took place in the month of May, 1745. This ship was employed as a guard- ship ; but so inactive a station being unsuitable to the energy and enterprise of captain Saunders's character, he was, according to his wishes, in the month of April following, removed into the Gloucester, a new ship of 50 guns, just launched to supply the place of that lost with commodore Anson. Being now employed on actual service, captain Saun- ders had an early opportunity of distinguishing himself. In 174G, when cruising in company with the Lark, captain Cheap, one of the officers who had served with him in Anson's expedition, they captured the Fort de Nants, a register ship from Spanish America, valued at £'100,000. Captain Saunders was probably concerned in the capture of other prizes ; but we are in want of authentic infor- mation respecting him until October 1747, when he com- SAUNDERS. 311 nianded the Yarmouth of 64 guns, one of the fleet com- manded by rear-admiral Hawke, which engaged and captured nearly the whole of the French squadron under the orders of M. de Letenduer.* The following account of his gallant conduct in this action was furnished by one of the officers on board the Yarmouth, and bears too honourable a testimony to his fharacter to be omitted here : — ' Though the Yarmouth without dispute had as great a share as any single ship in the fleet, if not a greater, in the engagement with the French, October the 14th, yet, in all the accounts I have seen, she is not so much as mentioned, as though no such ship had been there. It is something surprising that admiral Hawke should see and notice, in his long account, the behaviour of the Lion, Louisa, Tilbury, and Eagle, and yet could discover nothing of the extraordinary courage and conduct of captain Saunders of the Yarmouth, who lay two hours and a half closely engaged with the Neptune, a 70 gun ship, with 700 men, which he never quitted till she struck, although the Monarque, a 74 gun ship, which struck to us likewise, lay upon our bow for some time, and another of the enemy's upon our stern. When the Neptune struck, after having 100 men killed, and 140 wounded, she was so close to us, that our men jumped into her, and notwithstanding such warm work, and our ship being much disabled in her masts and rig- ging, with twenty-two men killed and seventy wounded, his courage did not cool. He could not with patience see the French admiral in the Tonnant and the Intrepide, a 74 gun ship, getting away, nor could he tbink of pre- ferring his own security to the glory and interest of his country, but ardently wished to pursue them ; he proposed it therefore to captain Saumarez, in the Nottingham, and captain Rodney in the Eagle, who were within hail of us ; but captain Saumarez being unfortunately killed by the first fire of the enemy, the Nottingham hauled her wind, and did no more service, and the Eagle never came near enough to do any, so that the Yarmouth had to deal with both of the enemy's ships for some time, till at length they got out of the reach of our guns.' In 1750, he had the honour to be elected member of parliament for the borough of Plymouth, and in January • See pn^e 247, tic. 3J2 NAVAL HISTORY. 1752, he was appointed commodore and commander-in- chief at Newfoundland. He sailed shortly afterwards for this station, on board the Penzance, of 40 guns, andj was instructed to look for a supposed island in lat. 40 deg. 40 min. long. 24 deg. 30 min. from the Lizard, in search of which commodoi'e Rodney, some weeks before, had cruised ten days in vain. It is almost unnecessary to add, that commodore Saunders had no better success ; what had been mistaken for land had probably been a fog bank, or ice island. After remaining the usual time on the Newfoundland station, the commodore returned to England ; and in April, 1754, was appointed treasurer of Greenwich hospital, an office which on his farther promotion he resigned. The same year he was chosen member of parliament for the borough of Hedon, in Yorkshire, through the influence of his great and con- stant friend lord Anson, then first lord of the admiralty. In May, 1755, in consequence of the appearance of a war with France, which every day became more threat- ening, he was appointed to the command of the Prince, a new ship of 90 guns ; and in June he entertained with the utmost magnificence, on board his ship at Spithead, a numerous and splendid assemblage of the first nobility in the kingdom, who came to view the re- joicings of the fleet on the anniversary of the king's accession. Captain Saunders continued to command the Prince till the month of December following, when he quitted his ship on being appointed comptroller of the navy. This lucrative post he probably obtained through the patronage of lord Anson, who was at that time at the head of the board of admiralty. Having accepted a civil appointment under government, he vacated his seat in parliament, but was immediately re chosen for the borough he had before represented. About the same time he had the honour to be elected one of the elder brethren of the Trinity-house, a strong proof of the high respect in which his character was held. In June, 1756, when intelligence was received of the indecisive action of admiral Byng in the Mediterranean, and probable loss of Minorca, a large promotion of flag officers was made purposely to include captain Saunders, who sailed immediately afterwards, with Sir Edward Hawke, in the Antelope, for Gibraltar, to supersede ad- mirals Byng and West in their command. On the return SAUNDERS. 313 of admiral Hawke to Encrland, in January 1757, the command in chief of the Mediterranean fleet devolved on him ; but no opportunity was afforded of signalizing- himself during his continuance on that station. In 1758, he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the white, and in February, 175!), to be vice-admiral of the blue, when he was appointed commander-in-chief of the naval arma- ment destined to assist in the reduction of Quebec. The fleet consisted of the Neptune of 90 guns, bis flag ship ; the Royal William, of 84; the Dublin, Shrewsbury, and W'arspite, of 74; the Oxford, of 70; the Alcide and Stirl- ing Castle, of 04: the Lizard frigate and Scorpion sloop; and six bomb-vessels and fire-ships. The admiral sailed from Spithead on the 17th of February, having with Vim, as ' his colleague in war,' the gallant Wolfe, who commanded the land forces employed in the expedition. A detachment under the command of rear-admiral Holmes, a junior olficer, had sailed from Spithead a few days before. On the '21st of April, the fleet made the island of Cape Breton, but not being able to enter the harbour of Louisbourg on account of the ice, the admiral was obliged to bear away for Halifax in Nova Scotia. From this station he dispatched a division of the fleet, under rear-admiral Durel, to cruise oft" the island of Coudres, at the entrance of the river St. Lawrence, in order to intercept a small fleet of French victuallers and transports, which, he understood, had sailed for the relief of Quebec : but though every possible exertion was made by the English squadron, the French convoy had the good fortune to reach their destination before admi- ral Durel appeared ott" the mouth of the St. Lawrence. Towards the end of iMay, when the navigation was deemed sufficiently open, admiral Saunders sailed from Halifax with the remainder of the armament, and ou the 0th of June stood in for the river St. Lawrence. The fleet now consisted of twenty-one sail of the line, besides frigates, smaller ships of war, and a numerous body of transports, and owing to the difficult navigation of the St. Lawrence did not reach the island of Orleans the place of disembarkation, until the 26th of June. On the approach of the British fleet the French had removed all the buoys and marks which facilitated the navigation of the St. Lawrence, and therefore it became of the utmost importance to the success of the expedition. 314 NAVAL HISTORY. that correct soundings and surveys of the channel of the river should be obtained, between the island of Or- leans and the north shore, directly in front of the French fortified camp at Montmorency and Beaufort, in order to enable the admiral to place ships against the enemy's batteries, and to cover the army in a general attack which the heroic Wolfe intended to make on the camp. To perform this service a petty oflacer was recommended to admiral Saunders, who, from that circumstance, was enabled to display an intelligence and professional know- ledge which led to his rapid advancement and to his future fame. This individual was the illustrious Cook, who had entered the navy as a common sailor only two years before this time, and who now, in the situation of a master, was selected and intrusted to perform a service of the first importance, and upon the correctness of whose judgment the lives of thousands of men depended. To the eternal honour of humble merit, this uneducated son of genius obtained * during the night time for several nights together' the information which enabled him to furnish to his admiral* as correct and complete a draught of the channel and soundings, as could have been made after our countrymen were ia possession of Quebec' Sir Hugh Palliser afterwards stated, ' that he had good reason to believe that, before this time, Cook had scarcely ever used a pencil, and that he knew nothing of draw- ing. But such was his capacity, that he speedily made himself master of every object to which he applied his attention.'* After Cook had surveyed the river the fleet reached in safety the island of Orleans, which is situated a little below Quebec, and on the 27th of June the land forces were disembarked; immediately after the troops had been landed the wind increased to a furious storm, which blew with such violence, that many transports ran foul of one another and were disabled. A number of boats and small craft foundered, and divers large ships lost their anchors. The enemy, having resolved to take advantage of the confusion which they imagined this disaster must have produced, prepared seven fire-ships, and at midnight sent them down fi'om Quebec among the transports, which lay so thick as to cover the whole surface of the river. The scheme, though well contrived and seasonably executed, was entirely defeated by the * Kippis's life of Cook. SAUNDERS. 315 promptitude of the British admiral, and the dexterity of his sailors, who resolutely boarded the fire-ships and towed tliem fast aground, where they lay burning to the water's edge, without having done the slightest injury to the English squadron. Ou the very same day of the succeeding month they sent down a raft of fire-ships, or redeaux, which were likewise consumed without pro- ducing any etiect. In all the subsequent events of the memorable siege of Quebec, admiral Saunders and the naval department took, a distinguished share, and greatly contributed to the general success of the enterjirise. The blaze of glory which deservedly crowns the memory of Wolfe, who fell, like Epaminondas, in the field of victory, ob- scures the glory of his brother in arms. Ou the 18th of September he had the honour of signing, in conjunction with general Townshend, the articles of capitulation granted to the garrison of Quebec, by which this memo- rable expedition was terminated with the most complete success. The reduction of Quebec having rendered the farther assistance of the fleet unnecessary, admiral Saunders left a squadron behind under the command of lord Col- ville, and sailed for England. On his arrival in the chops of the Channel, he received information that the Brest fleet was at sea, and immediately took, the gallant reso- lution of going to join Sir Edward Hawke, though with- out orders, and dispatched a vessel to England with intelligence to the admiralty of the measure he had pursued, and his hopes that it would meet with their approbation. But the French, under Conrtans, had re- ceived a total defeat before his arrival. On this he altered his course, and the wind not being favourable for Eng- land, he bore away for Ireland, and landed at Cork. From thence he went by land to Dublin, where he arrived on the 15th of December, and going accidentally to the theatre, he was received by the whole audience with the highest demonstrations of applause, which being most deservedly merited by his eminent services, and particu- larly by the glorious conquest he was just returned from, could not fail to have been gratifying to him, though no man was ever of a character more averse to flattery, and desirous of shunning popular applause. Leaving Dublin, admiral Saunders arrived in London 316 NAVAL HISTORY. on the 26th of December, and his reception by his sove- reigTi and all ranks of people was in the hig-hest degree flattering to him. Some days previous to his amval, without any solicitation on his part, he was appointed lieutenant-general of marines : and attending in his place in the house of commons on the 23rd of January, 1760, the thanks of the house, which sometime before had been unanimously voted him, were given him in the custom- ary form by the speaker. In the course of the spring he was appointed com- mander in-chief in the Mediterranean, and sailed from St. Helen's on the 21st of May, having his flag still on board the Neptune, with the Somerset of 70 guns, the Firme of 60 guns, and the Preston of 50 guns, under his orders. He arrived at Gibraltar on the 9th of June ; but the repeated losses of the French had nearly destroyed their naval force in the Mediterranean, and therefore, though admiral Saunders by no means continued in a state of inaction, his command was not distinguished by any remarkable events during the remainder of the year. In the parliament which was chosen in the beginning of the year 1761, he was re-elected for the borough of Hedon ; and on the 26th of May was installed, by prosy, knight- companion of the most honourable order of the Bath. During the continuance of the war. Sir Charles Saunders retained his command in the Mediterranean, but with- out anything of importance occurring ; and in his absence in the month of October, was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral of the white. In August, 17C5, he was appointed one of the lords of the admiralty, and in September 1766, he was raised to the dignity of privy councillor, and received the appoint- ment of first lord of the admiralty, which gave much oflfence to a number of senior commanders, and among others to Sir George Pocock.* He only filled his high office for about two months, when he was succeeded by Sir Edward Hawke, and never afterwards returned to any public station. In the funeral procession of his majesty's brother, the duke of York, on the 3rd of November 1767, he was one of the admirals who supported the canopy ; and in May, 1768, was again returned to parliament for the borough of Hedon. In October 1770, he was, in the regular course • See life of Pocock, p. 304. SAUNDERS. 317 of pi-omotion, advauced to be admiral of the blue. In the new pailiameut of 1744, he was a candidate for the borougrh of Yarmouth, a place that has frequently been represented by distinguished naval commanders ; but in this contest he was unsuccessful. He was, however, re- chosen a fourth time for the borough of Hedon, but did not long- survive this event. He died at his house in Spring Gardens, of the gout in his stomach, on the 7th of De- cember, 1775 ; and on the 12th his remains were privately interred in Westminster Abbey, near the monument of general Wolfe, * his gallant brother of the war.' Admiral Saunders married, in 1751, the only daughter of James Buck, Esq., a banker in London, but left no issue. He died possessed of very considerable property, nobly ac- quired from the enemies of his country, the bulk of which he bequeathed to his niece : but he likewise left several handsome legacies to some of his brother officers, which in a particular manner bespeak the excellence and kindness of his disposition. To admiral Keppel, who had served with him as lieutenant on board the Centu- rion, and with whom he had lived many years in the closest friendship, he bequeathed a legacy of £'5000. and £1200. a year : to Sir Hugh Palliser, £'5000. ; and to Timothy Brett, Esq., the son of Sir Piercy Brett, a bro- ther officer under lord Anson, and his second in the Mediterranean, a legacy to the same amount. To sum up the character of Sir Charles Saunders, he was an officer equally distinguished for his gallantry in the day of battle, and for his seamanship in the hour of danger : his conduct when he commanded the Yarmouth is a proof of the former; his passage round Cape Horn, in the Tryal, of the latter. He was steady in his friend ships, an excellent judge and a warm patron of merit. His zeal for the good and glory of the service was of the most ardent description ; and had farther opportunities been afforded him of signalizing himself, it cannot be doubted but he would have left behind him a reputation equal to that of our most illustrious naval commanders. 318 NAVAL HISTORY. CHAP. V. From the accession of George III. to the Peace of Amiens. Thk death of George II., which occurred on the 23th of October, 1760, brought no intermission to the war, that still continued to rage with great violence ; and while vigorous eiforts were made by land, still greater were ex- hibited by sea, and with various fortunes. In the following year, symptoms of a pacific arrangement appeared, and proposals of treaty were interchanged, but these were suddenly broken off, in consequence, it was said, of the insincerity of the French court ; and during the course of these negotiations Belleisle, on the west of France, was taken by commodore Keppel and major-general Hodgson, to the great triumph of the English nation. A change in the belligerent parties now occun'ed, oc- casioned by the declaration of war on the part of France and Spain againet Portugal, by which they wished to deprive the British of the use of the ports of that country. This measure, which occurred in January, 1702, instead of impeding, seemed only to redouble, the efforts and successes of the British navy, so that Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada, were taken from the French. From the Spaniards, the fortress of Havaunah, in the island of Cuba, was taken, in which capture the enemy lost nine sbips of the line and four frigates, while booty was obtained by the British to the amount of three millions sterling. Manilla afterwards fell into our hands ; so that the hostile powers were thus deprived of some of their most valuable foreign dependencies. Such losses made the enemy sincere in their desires for peace, which was at length ratified at Paris, on the nth of February, 1763. Britain might now look back with complacent feelings upon the achievements and successes with which her arms had been crowned during this arduous contest. She had gained twelve pitched battles by land and sea, conquered twenty-five islands, reduced nine fortified cities, and forty strongholds, cap- tured above a hundred ships of war, and gained about GEORGE III. 311) ten millions of plunder. But yet, amidst all these tro- phies of the war, the English murmured with their accustomed discontent. In the contest of diplomacy they conceived that their statesmen had but ill seconded the valour of their soldiers and seamen ; and in the terms of pacification had been too liberal in yielding- up or ex- chancring^ those fair acquisitions which had been gained by such heroic exertions, and at the expense of so much blood. If the English were indignant at the terms of tiie foregoing peace, the French were equally impatient of the recollections of their defeats that had preceded it. They only sought a breathing interval ; and hav- ing employed it in strengthening their marine, they anxiously waited for an opportunity of renewing offensive measures. This was afforded by the rupture between Britain and her American colonies, and accordingly the French, in February 1778, acknowledged the indepen- dence of America, and entered into a treaty by which they engaged to assist the Americans in obtaining that object ; but while by this step they only sought to mul- tiply the difficulties and dismember the empire of their powerful enemies, they little anticipated that fearful and immediate recoil with which their vengeance would return upon their own heads, in the introduction into France of the republican principles they had patronised in America, by which their country was rendered the astonishment and by-woi'd of civilized Europe. At the commencement of this war, the English fleet had been found, as at the commencement of most of our preceding wars, in a state of great inefficiency, as if the mere recollection of former naval victories had been enough for the protection of our coasts against a powerful and indefatigable enemy. Intelligence was received that the French had a squadron of twelve sail of the line and six frigates ready to sail from Toulon, under the command of the well-known count d'Estaing, to co- operate with the Americans in their efforts to obtain their independence. To oppose this fleet, admiral Byron was sent on the 9th of June ; but the boisterous weathei which the English fleet encountered unfortunately dis persed it, and enabled d'Estaing to arrive in safety at New York, and to land his supplies. The French, as on all former occasions, had made extensive preparations 320 NAVAL HISTORY. to carry on the war; in addition to the squadron of d'Estaing^, another powerful fleet of thirty-two sail of the line, and a lai'g-e number of frigates, was being equipped at Brest, under the commaad of the count d'Urvilliers. The real strength of this armament appears to have been unknown to the English ministry, for they dis- patched admiral Keppel with only twenty sail of the line, and seven frigates and smaller vessels, to watch its motions, and at the same time to protect the arrival of our commercial shipping in the Channel. Hav- ing captured one of the enemy's look-out frigates, the admiral learned the real strength of the French fleet, which induced him to return to Portsmouth for a re- inforcement before he had compromised the honour or safety of his country. Ten sail of the line were soon added to his fleet, which, although still inadequate, made him more nearly a match for the adversary. In the mean time d'Orvilliers, unaware of this additional aid, sailed from Brest, to attack the British fleet; but when he found it increased beyond his calculations, he endea- voured, although still superior in numbers, to shun an engagement. But Keppel, who closely followed the enemy through several days of flight and manoeuvring, at length brought them to action on the 27th of July, and would have gained a complete victory but for the re- missness of Sir Hugh Palliser, his second in command, who failed to come up at the signals of his superior. Even as it was, however, the loss of the French in this engagement was considerably greater than that of the British ; but this partial success did not give satisfaction to the English nation. The party disputes which it led to will be found described in the life of Keppel. In addition to France, Spain now proclaimed war against Britain ; and the two hostile countries having united their navies, a combined fleet of sixty-five ships of the line, and an immense number of frigates, swept the English Channel from shore to shore, and bore down every prospect of opposition. They would have even taken Plymouth on this occasion ; but happily their geography was at fault, as they knew not whereabouts it lay. When this new rupture commenced, the Spaniards also made extraordinary exertions for the blockade of GEORGE III. 321 Gibraltar, the Eiis^lish garrisou of which was reduced to f^reat extremities ; aud to preserve this vahiable con- quest, Sir George Rodney was sent to attempt its relief, which he performed effectually by the famous victory of St. Vincent. But in the autumn of this year, our naval .successes were perhaps more than counterbalanced by the loss of our rich East and West India fleets, that fell into the hands of the enemy. On the Kith of January, 1781, an inrasion upon a small scale was attempted by the French, for the recovery of Jersey, which had almost proved successful. The enemy lauded to the number of 800 men upon the island ; marched to St. Hilier's, which they entered ; and having seized the grovernor, they compelled him to sign terms of surrender. But major Pearson, who commanded the troops and volunteers, suddenly rushed upon them, aud drove them to their ships, with great slaughter. In the succeeding- month, St. Eustatia, Demerara, Berbice, and Essiquibo, were taken by the British. As the revolt of our American colonies was a signal of onset to every power inimical to Britain, the Dutch were now numbered among our enemies, from having aided the United States ; and here our ancient naval antago- nists displayed a prowess worthy of their former character. Admiral Zoutman, who was protecting a rich convoy, was met by admiral Hyde Parker with an equal force, off the Dogger bank, in the month of August 1781, upon which an engagement took place unparalleled for des- peration among the events of this war. For three hours and a half the two fleets continued to cannonade each other, until they sustained so much damage that they lay like logs in the water, incapable of farther annoyance. At last the Dutch admiral was able to bear away for the Texel, which he accomplished with great difficulty ; but he succeeded in saving his convoy. In the following year the chief naval event was the victory gained by ad- miral Rodney, between the islands of Guadaloupe and Dominique, in which de Grasse was defeated, wfth the loss of eight of his best ships. By this success the junc- tion of the French and Spanish fleets was prevented, and Jamaica in all probability saved from capture. With this exploit of the gallant Rodney may be classed the brilliant defence of Gibraltar during the present year by governor 322 NAVAL HISTORY. Elliot, and its relief by lord Howe, which he so intrepidly accomplished against a superior force. The war had now become so complex, that Britain, who at first had only her revolted colonies of Ameiica to deal with, was now at war with France, Spain, and Holland, in addition to her transatlantic dependencies. The gains and losses throughout had also been so equally balanced, that each power felt war to be no longer desirable. Thus Britain had been unable to subdue the colonies, and was obliged to recognise their independence. On the other hand, the French were unable to reduce the British possessions in the West Indies, the Spaniards to recover Gibraltar, or the Dutch to retrieve their sinking commerce, by conti- nuing the contest. Each of these three powers had sus- tained some notable defeat ; and they were obliged to feel that even when combined they were unable to make bead against the naval resources of England. In 1783, there- fore, a peace was ratified between Britain and each of her antagonists, in which, by a course of cessions and restitutions, the different parties found themselves nearly in the same condition as when the war commenced, ex- cept that their resources were so far exhausted as to have made farther efibrts all but impossible. With the exception of a slight interruption on the part of Spain, respecting the settlement of Nootka Sound, in 1789, which however was amicably compromised, the peace continued till that great event occurred by which the whole character of political society was changed. We allude to the French revolution, in the explosion of which every former union was torn asunder, and the landmarks of nations erased or altered. In consequence of hostile events connected with this great movement by which Britain felt herself aggrieved, George III. an- nounced to parliament on February 12, 1792, that France had proclaimed war against England and Holland. This last country, the ancient rival of Britain, but now reduced to a very subservient condition among the great European natioitte, was thus classed with her former enemy ; but the successes of the French by land had compelled the Dutch to co-operate with France. In the mean time Britain commenced the war at various points upon her own favourite element, and with general success. Tobago, Miquelen, and St. Pierre, were captured from the French, GEORGE Til. 323 and in the East Indies, Pondicherry, Fort Mabie, and other inferior settlements upon the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel. In the mean time the enemy, who hitherto had not ventured npon naval operations on a large scale, confined their efforts to privateering; and in this they were so successful, that in the month of May alone, (1793), they had captured ninety-nine British ships, while only one of theirs had been taken in return. Necessity at last compelled them to risk a general encounter by sea. In consequence of great scarcity of grain, the French had sent to America for supplies, and as the return of a large fleet of merchantmen from the West Indies was expected at the same time, admiral Villaret was sent with the Brest fleet to protect the arrival of these valuable con- voys. Lord Howe, who had been watching the motions of this annament for a long period, suspected its destina- tion, and immediately went in pursuit with twenty-six sail of the line. As soon as the French, who were of equal force, perceived the approach of the enemy, they formed the line of battle, and occupied the first day in preliminary skirmishing. On the next, (May 29, 1794), an engagement took place without advantage on either side, after which, in consequence of a thick fog for two days, nothing could be attempted. But on the 1st of June, Howe, who had now gained the weather-gage of the enemy, renewed the encounter, broke their line, and after a ten-ible cannonade obtained a decisive victory, having captured seven of the enemy, and sunk one of their greatest ships. The English fleet was so much crip- pled by this encounter, that Howe, instead of being able to give chase, by which more prizes might have been secured, was obliged to return to port. This was a dreadful blow to the French marine ; but they had the satisfaction of saving their convoy, valued at five millions. During the year also two naval engagements took place upon a smaller scale, but which were equally honourable to the British flag. Sir John Borlase Warren, while cruis- ing with five frigates ofl" Guernsey and Jersey, descried on the 23rd of April, oflf the latter island, a squadron of four large French ships, under M. Desgareu.x. The latter of- fered battle ; and the British commander, who had been enabled to gain the weather-gage, placed his squadron be- tween the enemy and their own coasts, and thus engaged X2 524 NAVAL HISTORY. tliem at great advantage. The conflict lasted for three hours, at the end of which two of the French ships struck their colours ; the rest attempted to escape, but one was overtaken and captured, while the other contrived to get clear off. The other affair was in the East Indies, where two British ships encountered a superior squadron, consisting of four ships of the enemy, off the island of Mauritius, in the month of October. The French, not- withstanding their advantage in guns and men, sheered off in a very crippled state, and escaped to port Louis, while their antagonists were unable to pursue them. In 17'J5, the British parliament voted 100,000 seamen for the prosecution of the war ; and as Holland had now been completely subdued by France, an expedition was fitted out under the command of admiral Elphinstone, against the Dutch possessions in South Africa, in conse- quence of which the Cape of Good Hope was obliged to surrender, while the British, in gaining this valuable addition to their colonies, lost only seven men. The Eng- lish ministry, who endeavoured to avail themselves of the divisions of the French people during this unhappy period, planned the expedition of Quiberon bay, to assist the royalists by a descent in that quarter ; a measure that miserably failed, as soon as the debarkation commenced, from the successful attack of Hoche, the republican gene- ral. The other naval operations of this year were of in- ferior importance. In March an engagement took place in the Mediterranean, between a British fleet under ad- miral Hotham, and one of France under admiral Richery, which was indecisive. In June, admiral Cornwallis sustained a running fight with five ships against thirteen of the enemy ; and this last fleet was afterwards defeated off L'Orient by lord Bridport. In the mean time the French had been successful in the West Indies, where the cap of liberty, which they hoisted as their standard, secured the co-operation of the slaves, who eagerly rose against their British masters. As in former times, also, the enemy were successful when they confined their operations to privateering, in which the more scientific structure and superior sailing of their vessels affoi'ded them decided advantages ; and thus, when they avoided pitched battles, they were able to secure victory in detail, by harassing the British commerce. The most important event in the follo%ving year, was an attempt of the French GEORGE III. 325 Directory to invade Ireland, for which purpose general Hoche, with 25,000 troops, embarked at Brest, on Decem- ber 16th, escorted by a fleet of seventeen sail of the line and several frig-ates. From the amount of this force, and the redoubted character of its commander, such an event menaced fearful consequences to Britain ; but a train of accidents occurred that made the whole plan abortive. The time of sailing had been delayed beyond the proper period ; and at the point of sailing a dangerous mutiny broke out among the troops. After the ships left the harbour, two of them ran foul of each other; a large 74 was wrecked ; and on the 23rd, when the fleet had reached the coast of Ireland, it was dispersed by a storm. Find- ing that the season for action had passed, the shattered squadron returned to its old station in Brest. VV^hile Britain was thus victorious by sea, the French could console themselves with their successes by land, which, under the conduct of Bonaparte, went on with a ra- pidity unprecedented since the days of Caesar or Tamerlane. But while a complete revolution was accomplished by our enemies in military tactics, by which they were enabled to bear down all opposition, a similar revolution had been accomplished by the British in naval engagements, that enabled them to be equally triumphant by sea. Thus it seems as if, in mercy to mankind, Bonaparte and Nelson had flourished at the same period, that the one might be a check upon the ascendancy of the other, so that neither France nor Britain should become the uncontrolled dicta- tor of Europe ; and while the former hero valued himself upon the admirable skill with which he broke a hostile army asunder, by attacking it in the weakest point, the latter could, with as much justice, boast of breaking the line of a fleet, which produced results equally decisive. France, on account of her superiority by land, could now avail herself of the naval resources of others in her maritime war with Britain ; and therefore Spain was induced, or rather compelled, to lend her ships, for the purposes of our enemies. A Spanish fle(3t of twenty-seven sail of the line accordingly endeavoured to effect a junc- tion with the French and Dutch armament at Brest, from whence the united fleets were to set sail for the invasion of Britain. » But as it was of the utmost importance that this union should be prevented. Sir John Jervis set sail to meet the Spanish fleet, and encountered it near St. 326 NAVAL HISTORY. Vincent, on February the 14th. The linglisL admiral had only fifteen sail of the line ; but notwithstanding the im- mense disparity, he did not hesitate an instant in giving battle, and the result was one of the most glorious victo- ries that had hitherto crowned our naval annals. Much of this success was owing to what might be termed the heroic disobedience of Nelson, who, in spite of the signals of his commander to the contrary, wore his ships to at- tack a portion of the enemy before they could form their line. While Britain had thus cause to be proud of her ocean bulwarks, an event occurred which she had greater reason to fear than the most perilous naval defeat. This was the mutiny of the navy, which first broke out at Ply- mouth, on Sunday, the 15th of April, 1797 — an even that can never be mentioned without shame and terror, and which threatened to realize the worst calamities of civil war. For some time there had been a spirit of discontent among our seamen ; they had been defrauded both in the quantity and quality of their provisions ; and indignant at such injustice in the midst of their heroic exertions, they addressed a general remonstrance upon the subject to lord Howe. His lordship, however, was not only un- able to redress the grievance, but he supposed that no grievance actually existed ; and upon this rejection of their claims, the sailors broke out into actual mutiny, and refused to proceed to sea. They appointed delegates from every ship, and drew up petitions iu respectful but de- termined language, addressed to the admiralty and the house of commons, in which they stated their wrongs, and demanded redress ; and their firmness on this occa- sion having procured them a favourable hearing, their reasonable demands were complied with, upon which they retiu-ned to their duty. But while the spirit of dis- content was thus quelled at Sheeniess and Spithead, it was far otherwise at the Nore. At this station, the seamen had increased in their proposals, requiring an abatement in the severity of naval punishments, a more punctual discharge of their wages, and a more equal dis- tribution of the prize money. Whatever might be the justice of their demands, they prepared to obtain them by force ; and having taken possession of the* ships, and chosen ofiicers from their own number, they proceeded to shut up the navigation of the Thames, and inten-upt GEORGE III. 327 the national commerce. The firmness of the government on this trying occasion was commensurate with the emer- gency, and every preparation was made in the river and upon the coast that would have been adopted to repel a foreign invasion. At length, the mutineers relented, and returned to their duty ; and Richard Parker, their ringleader, was tried and executed. Had France been able to accomplish her proposed invasion while this spirit of rebellion was at its height, it is impossible to calculate the consequences. Unless the sight of a hostile navy had recalled our seamen to their senses, and awoke their ancient feelings of rancour and rivalry, the co-operation or even the neutrality of our fleets might have been a death-blow to the prosperity of Britain. An opportunity was soon afforded of wiping off this stigma, and it was eagerly embraced. France Laving failed in her purposed invasion of Britain, resolved to make a descent in Ireland, by the aid of the Dutch navy, in the hopes of better success than that which had at- tended the expeditions of Thurot and Hoche ; and a Dutch fleet lay ia readiness, in the Texel, under the command of admiral de Winter. Admiral Duncan, who had for a considerable time blockaded this force, was obliged to retire, for a short space, from the mouth of the Texel ; upon which de Winter seized the opportunity of proceeding to sea. But be was quickly overtaken by his antagonist, with an equal force, on the Ilth of Octo- ber, 1797, upon which the Dutch fleet formed in order for action, between Camperdown and Port Egmont, with the shore at nine miles distance. Duncan, upon this, threw himself between the enemy and the shore, and ordered each of his ships to close with an antagonist, without waiting to form in order of battle. This daring and novel plan, which the peculiarity of his situation fully justified, was completely successful, and the victory of Camperdown became one of the brightest of our naval triumphs. It is worthy of remark also, as illustrating the valour of our seamen, that although the two fleets were equal in point of numbers, yet the English ships were inferior in size and condition, a considerable number of them having been formerly East ludiamen ; and al- though not more than ten of them were able to enter fully into action, yet eleven of the largest Dutch ships were taken, among which was that of de Winter. On 328 NAVAL HISTORY. board the British admiral's ship, Duncan was the only man who stood upon the deck unwounded. In the mean time, the course of events on land had been unfavourable to the opponents of France, so that Austria and Prussia were obliged to accede to the disad- vantageous treaty of Campo Formio. Britain was thus left to manage the contest alone. The French Directory had indeed made overtures of peace to the British court ; but as the basis of the treaty was the restitution of all the conquests we had made during the war, the proposal was peremptorily rejected. The French, upon this, re- newed their menaces of invasion ; and armaments were collected, and numerous bodies of ti-oops marched to the coast, as if they were to be immediately embarked. These demonstrations only raised the national spirit of the British; and such preparations were made to repel the invaders, on their landing, that the whole island re- sounded with arms, and was converted into one vast garrison. In the mean time, a far different purpose had animated the preparations of the Directory; this was nothing less than the conquest of Egypt and our East India possessions, and the removal of Bonaparte from Europe ; both of which they thought would be equally accomplished by appointing him to the command. A large army was embarked at Brest, escorted by a fleet under the command of admiral Brueys ; and after taking possession of Malta in his way, Bonaparte arrived on the coast of Egypt on the 1st of July, landed his army, and gained possession of Alexandria. The fleet, which now lay moored off" Aboukir, had performed its last service, and its destruction was at hand. Lord Nelson had been sent in pursuit of the French armament, whose destination was as yet un- known ; and, after a long and fruitless chase, in which he visited Corsica, Naples, Malta, and even Egypt, be- fore the French fleet had arrived there, he returned to this latter place on the 1st of August, where he descried the whole naval force of the enemy at anchor, and drawn up in line of battle. This was all he sought; and he advanced to conquer, and take possession. By a bold manoeuvre similar to that practised at Camper- down, he got between the shore and the enemy, broke their line, and gained, what he justly termed, not a vic- tory, but a conquest. GEORGE III. 320 Of the whole French fleet only two ships of the line and two frigates escaped. Never, indeed, since the days of antiquity had a naval exploit been attended with such important consequences. It broke at once the as c^ndancy of France in Europe, and ruined her hopes ot conquest and possession in Asia. The hitherto successful Bonaparte and his invincible army were now shut up in Epypt, where, even if victorious, he could obtain no reinforcements, and if unsuccessful there was no prospect of escape. As a counterpoise to such advantagres, the power of Britain was less successful in other quarters, while in some cases it suffered a positive repulse. An armament was fitted out airainst Minorca, and the island suiTen- dered without the loss of a man ; but at the end of the same year, the British were obliged to abandon all their strong positions upon the coast of St. Domingo. In con- sequence of an attempt to drive the French out of Hol- land, a British fleet under admiral Mitchell, that protected the land forces, entered the Zuyder Zee, upon which Storey, the Dutch commander, surrendered his fleet of twelve ships, without resistance ; but the British army, under the command of the duke of York, was so inju- diciously disembarked, and subsequently so unskilfully commanded, that after many disasters it was glad to purchase the liberty of retiring. By land, indeed, the spirit of the republic, animated by the victories of Bona^ parte and those generals he had trained, was still irre- sistible, so that during the present stage of the war the sea exclusively was the scene of British triumph and success. It was not till after Nelson had departed, that our country could produce a hero capable of meeting and conquering Napoleon upon his own element. In the mean time Bonaparte, after his power at sea had been ruined by one naval hero, was doomed to find his progress of victory in Egypt by land completely stopped by another. This was Sir Sydney Smith, who, at the head of a few English sailors, baffled the tran- scendent skill of the conqueror before the walls of Acre, and compelled him to waste his resources in a fruitless siege. This was the age of astonishing events ; and there- fore, while Bonaparte was still believed to be shut up in Egypt, he suddenly appeared in France, after having escaped as if by miracle the swarms of British cruisers ; 530 NAVAL HISTORY. and on his re-appearance, the whole scene changed like the sudden shifting' of a drama. The enemies of France were every where beaten back, and from a state of de- pression she was suddenly raised to greater power than ever. But amidst all her triumphs, she was obliged to feel that her naval fame had utterly perished : every port of her coast was so closely blockaded that, even in her widest range, she felt herself like a prisoner, who has a limit that may not be over-passed. When Bonaparte arrived at the dignity of first Consul, he endeavoured to purchase golden opinions by express- ing a desire of peace; and in furtherance of this design, he addressed, with his own hand, a letter to George III., that breathed the verj' spirit of pacification. But the action was informal, and the source of such sentiments was more than questionable — and, as Bonaparte himself had probably wished, the proposal failed. Such an offer, however, enabled him to continue hostilities with a better grace, under his new character of peace-maker, and he availed himself of the opportunity, by redoubling his exertions. Great events succeeded, by which Europe ■was shaken to its centre ; and in the course of these, every former ally was so effectually withdrawn from Britain, and aiTayed against her, that in 1800 she was obliged to lay all Russian, Danish, and Swedish ships in her ports under an embargo. Instead of a detail, how- ever, it will be only necessary to sum up the achieve- ments of Britain from the commencement of this war, to the end of ISOO. In 1793 (the year when hos- tilities commenced) we had taken Tobago, St. Pierre, Miquelon, Pondicherry, part of St. Domingo, and the fleet at Toulon — in 1794, Martinique, Guadaloupe, St. Lucia, the Saints, Corsica, and Marigalante — in 1795, Trincomalee, and the Cape of Good Hope — in 1736, Am- boyna, Berbice, and Demerara — in 1797, Trinidad, with four ships of the line destroyed or taken — in 1798, Mi- norca — in 1799, Surinam ; and in 1800, Goree, Malta, and Curacoa. Our navy had taken or destroyed eighty sail of the line, a hundred and eighty-one frigates, two hundred and twenty-four smaller ships of war, seven hundred and forty-three French privateers, fifteen Dutch, and seventy-six Spanish ships. In the mean time a formidable combination had been matured against our maritime supremacy. The French, I GEORGE III. 331 who, upon the loss of their own naval resources, endea voured to annoy the British navy with the fleets of other countries, had worked upon the weak character of the Russian emperor, to instii^ate him against Britain ; and in this they were abundantly successful. Paul, who was decidedly a madman, had set his heart with a madman's pertinacity upon the possession of Malta; but bein? re- fused by the British in this exorbitant expectation, he became from that moment our enemy. Bonaparte che- rished the resentment of the Czar, and promised him the possession of Malta as soon as he had conquered it from the English ; and in return for this, Paul au:reed to become the head of the northern confederacy for secur- ing: the liberty of the seas. The accession of Denmark and Sweden soon followed, irritated as these states had long been at the rii^ht claimed by the British to search all neutral vessels, as well as induced by the prolitable terms upon which stores of all kinds could be conveyed into the French ports. This coalition was matured in 1800, when the different northern powers began to mani- fest their hostile purposes against our commerce ; and the Czar laid an embargo upon all the British ships in his ports, to the number of three hundred, the crews of which he threw into prison. The naval resources of these states were apparently correspondent with so decisive a step. Russia had eighty-two sail of the line, and nearly forty frigates ; Denn^iark twenty-three sail of the line, and fourteen frigates ; and Sweden eighteen sail of the line, and fourteen frigates — not in- cluding the smaller vessels of war, of various deno- minations, which each of these powers possessed. I'o meet also the first bursting of the storm, which was expected to fall upon Copenhagen, both sides of the Sound were fortified, and batteries were erected on the island of Amack, and on the Sproe in the Belt, plentifully fur- nished with red-hot shot, and artillery-men to use them. The capital, also, and the whole island of Zealand, were 80 strongly fortified as to appear impregnable, even should the difficulties of approach be surmounted. The hour of trial was now at hand : a British fleet of eighteen sail of the line, four frigates, and thirty smaller vessels of various kinds, commanded by Sir Hyde Parker — and under him Nelson, the life and soul of the enter- prise — set sail from Yarmouth on the 12th of March, for 332 NAVAL HISTORY. the attack of Copenhagen, the principal stronghold of the confederacy. The fleet entered the Sound ; and by keeping to the Swedish side, it escaped the opposite bat- teries of Cronenburgh. On approaching Copenhagen, the road was found fortified wiih a strong line of ships and war-vessels, mounting altogether about six hundred and fifty guns, flanked by very formidable batteries — and farther inward, two large ships and a frigate lay at anchor, and two others without masts were moored, while a strong chain was drawn across the entrance. Fortunately Nelson oflered to lead the attack, after two days spent in reconnoitring; and on the morning of the 2nd of April, the battle of Copenhagen commenced. It would be beyond our purpose to detail, in this place, the difficulties of navigation which Nelson had to sur- mount, before his ships could be placed alongside of the enemy ; or the various changes of fortune that took place, after the action had commenced. The Danes fought with a spirit worthy of their ancestors — worthy of those who had founded the British navy, and infused its indomitable spirit.* But on the side of their enemies, equal valour was directed by superior skill, so that after a terrible cannonade of five hours, the Danish fire slack- ened, at the end of which Nelson was in possession of most of their ships and batteries. It was then that he sent his celebrated note, superscribed, 'To the brothers of Englishmen, the Danes,' in which he besought them for the sake of their own countrymen to desist from farther resistance. The prince royal of Denmark yielded, and an armistice for fourteen weeks was concluded, during which period the armed confederation, so far as it re- spected Denmark, was to be suspended. Having reduced to inaction a very important part of the Northern coalition. Nelson, who was now invested with the chief command, resolved to follow up his success by an attack upon the neighboui'iug power of Sweden ; and on learning that a Swedish squadron of six sail of the line was actually in readiness to join the Russian fleet, he shut up this small force behind the forts of Carls- crona, where he left a sufficient squadron to keep it iu * NelsoD declared tliat though the French fought bravely, they could uot have stood one hour of such a conflict. ' I have been,' lie added, ' in one hundred and five engaa:enients, in the course of my life, but that of to-dsy was the moH terrible of all.' GEORGE HI. 333 blockade. He then repaired with the rest of his fleet to the Revel Roads, iu which he anchored on the 14th of May, with the intention of making the Russian navy feel the ' Nelson touch ' — but in a fortunate hour for that navy, the measure had become unnecessary. Paul, the insane head of the luckless coalition, had been assas- sinated by a conspiracy of his officers ; and Alexander, his son and successor, disclaimed all hostility against Britain, and freed the English shipping in his ports from the embargo. A convention followed in the month of June, by which all differences were adjus'-ed, and every reasonable concession was made to onv maritime au- thority. After such great exertions, the war between Britain and her enemies dwindled into a series of petty encoun- ters, which generally terminated in favour of the former. From this character, however, we must except two severe actions fought by Sir John Saumarez. This admiral hav- ing been informed that three French ships of the line, and a frigate, had anchored off Algesiras, immediately made sail from Cadiz, off which he was cruising; and on perceiving his approach, the enemy wai-ped their ships close under the batteries of the harbour, and prepared for the encounter. Sir John immediately ordered an attack ; but one of our ships run aground, and was taken by the French, while the others, owing to the failure of the wind, and the strength of the current, were unable to come to close combat. In consequence of loss and damage, the British admiral had to return to Gibraltar, in order to refit ; but two days after, he learned that a Spanish squadron of five sail of the line, and three frigates, had entered the bay of Algesiras, from which, on being rein- forced by a French ship, they intended to depart the same evening. Sir John immediately got his fleet out of the Mole, to give chase, when the whole force of his antago- nist was seen under sail before the wind. The battle, which soon ensued, began at night, and during the darkness and confusion two Spanish ships commenced a furious cannonade against each other, by mistake. This decided the fate of the engagement. Two of their large ships were sunk, one was captured, and the remain- der crowding all sail eflected their escape. An enterprise undertaken against the French coast on tbe I5th of August of this year, was attended with un- 334 NAVAL HISTORY, fortunate results. As the favourite project of the enemy still continued to be the invasion of Britain, they had collected a great number of gun-boats and other vessels at Boulogne, notwithstanding the activity of our cruisers. In consequence of these preparations, lord Nelson was appointed to watch this station with a considerable armament. He had already done the French flotilla some damage, and being resolved to attempt its complete destruction, he sent a large force of gun-boats and other vessels, during the night, to make a sudden and secret onset, in the hope of carrying it by boarding. But when the attack was made, it was found that a very strong netting was braced up to the lower yards of the French vessels, and that each was moored at head and stern, with iron chains, and defended by nearly 200 soldiers, independently of the land batteries and musketry from the shore. These unforeseen difficulties baffled the ut- most valour of the assailants, and after a loss of 172 men in this hopeless contest the British were obliged to retii-e. During the early part of this year a successful expe- dition had been fitted out against the French army in Egypt, by which all their hopes of conquest in that quarter were entirely annihilated. After the secret departure of Bonaparte, in consequence of his repulse before Acre, the enemy had entered into a treaty with the Turkish vizier and Sir Sydney Smith, at El Arish, by which the French agreed to quit the country, on con- dition of being allowed a safe return to France. But the British government refused to ratify the treaty, and therefore the Fi-ench still remained in Egypt. This egregious blunder of our ministry made a fresh expe- dition requisite ; and a fleet commanded by lord Keith and Sir Sydney Smith, carrying an army of 16,000 men, under Sir Ralph Abercromby, set sail from Marmorice on the 25th of February, and anchored in the bay of Aboukir, in the beginning of March. Here a landing -was effected by the troops in the face of the enemy; after which the decisive victory of Aboukir was obtained on the 21st, but with the loss of the brave Abercromby, who was mortally wounded. Cairo was then blockaded by sea and land, and the French were so closely pressed that they were glad to sign a capitulation by the end of June, agreeing to abandon Egypt, on condition of being GEORGE III. 335 transported to their nearest ports in the Mediterranean with all their arms and eft'ects. Alexandria, which was now the only Earyptian possession of the French, was so closely invested by land and sea, that it surrendered on the '2nd of September. This event was the last movement of the war. A new ministry had been formed in England, more favourably inclined towards peace than their predecessors ; and a neETOtiation had been carrying on for some time, con- ducted by lord Hawkesbury on the part of Britain, and M. Otto on that of France, the particulars of which were kept a profound secret until the terms were adjusted. At lengrth the preliminary articles were signed in Lon- don on the 1st of October (1801), after which they were made public. In these, Britain agreed to the restitution of all her conquests made during the war, with the ex ception of Trinidad and Ceylon. Thus, by a magic touch of the pen, England found all her mighty acquisitions vanish into a little vapour; so that nothing remained but the fame of having won them. But the nation was now sick of war, and therefore the terms of peace were hailed with every demonstration of popular approval. After the preliminaries had been thus subscribed, the treaty itself, commonly called the Peace of Amiens, was signed at Amiens by the marquis of Cornwallis, on the •27th of March, 1802. 33G NAVAL HISTORY. GEORGE BRYDGES RODNEY, LORD KODNEY, K. B. ins— 1792. The naval distinction of his country was ably sustained by this great and skilful commander. The unfortunate ter- mination of the American revolutionary warhad depressed the national spirit and encouraged that of our enemies. France and Spain made vigorous preparations to weaken the power of Britain, and to attempt to wrest her naval supremacy from her — and in this they were partially successful. But the genius of Rodney revived the spirit of our sailors, and by his successive victories he taught the combined enemy again to dread our naval power. To him, at least, the honour is due of having first ventured to break through the line of battle of the enemy, and by tacking to overpower the ships they had enclosed before succour could reach them. This bold and successful ma- noeuvre will preserve his name in the traditions of the service, when the recollection of his victories, and the important results which they led to, shall have become forgotten or weakened by the lapse of time. He was descended from an ancient family which had possessed the estates of Stoke-Rodeney, Somersetshire, for at least five hundred years. These estates were added to the possessions of the duke of Chandos, in right of his wife Anna Bi'ydges, cousin to Rodney, and are now the property of the duke of Buckingham in right of his grandmother, the heiress of the duke of Chandos. His father, Henry Rodney, served in Spain under the earl of Peteiborough, but quitted the army and settled at Walton- upon-Thames, and married Mary, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry Newton, judge of the admiralty. His father obtained the command of the royal yacht, through the interest of his kinsman the duke of Chandos, v/ho generally accompanied George I. on his journeys to and from the continent : and having on one of these occasions been asked what mark of kindness he would wish his majesty to confer upon him, he replied, 'that his majesty would stand sponsor for his son.' Which RODNEY 337 reciuest havini; been graciously acceded to, young Rodney was named George Brydges, after bis royal and noble godfathers. His father is also said to have been recom- mended to educate the boy for the navy, under the pro- mise that his promotion would be as rapid as the rules of the service would permit. George Brydges Rodney was born on the 19th of Febru- ary, 1718, and at an early age was sent to Harrow school, where he continued until he was twelve years of age, when he received a letter of service from the king (the last ever granted), and went to sea with admiral Medley, with whom he served six years on the Newfoundland station. In February, 1739, he was made lieutenant in the Dolphin by admiral Haddock, in the Mediterranean. In 1742, he was appointed by admiral Matthews to the Plymouth 04, and was sent home with a convoy of 300 sail, which he succeeded in carrying through tlie midst of the Freucii fleet which was then cruising in the chops of the Channel to intercept them. For this service he received the warmestthanksof the merchants, and had his rank of cap- tain confirmed by the admiralty. He was then appointed to the Sheerness, a small frigate of 20 guns ; and the year following to the Ludlow Castle, of 4-1 guns, but during this period he did not meet with an opportunity of ac- quiring either fame or fortune. In May, 1746, he commanded the Eagle, a new ship of 60 guns, then employed as a cruiser on the Irish station. In this service lie had the good fortune to capture two stout privateers, the one a Spaniard of 16 guns, with 136 men ; the other a French ship, formerly the Shoreham frigate, and when captured retaining the same name, carrying 22 guns and 260 men. In the succeeding year, he formed one of the squadron under commodore Fox, which was sent to intercept a large fleet of French mer- chantmen, homeward bound from St. Domingo. This fleet consisted of 170 sail, valuably laden, and was convoyed by M. Bois de la Mothe, with four ships of war. The commodore sailed on the 10th of April with his squadron, which consisted of five sail of the line, a frigate, and two fire-ships ; and having taken his station in the bay of Biscay, discovered the expected fleet about four in the morning on the 20th of June. The British squadron chased the French, who were to windward the whole day ; but their ships being foul, in consequence of their having 338 NAVAL HISTORY. been Iciig at sea, tliey did uot gain much on the enemy until the evening- of the 21st, when M. Bois de la Mothe, during the night, crowded all the sail he could set, and effected his escape. The merchantmen, being thus aban- doned to their fate, became an easy prey to their pursuers, who captured forty-eight sail, and the remainder were so dispersed and scattered, that several of them fell into the hands of our cruising ships. Of these prizes, six were taken by captain Rodney in the Eagle. He continued in the Eagle during the remainder of the war, and was one of the commanders under admiral Hawke, at the memorable defeat of de Letenduer's squadron, October 1747.* On this occasion he behaved with the utmost spirit and resolution, and may be said to have then laid the foundation of that popularity and reputation, which he afterwards possessed in so high a degree. During the action the Eagle engaged with two ships at once, after passing through a terrible fire, from the rear to the van of the French line ; and in consequence of having been so warmly engaged, had her wheel shot away, all the men at it killed, and all her braces and bowlines gone, so that for a time the ship was absolutely ungovernable. Thig, however, did not prevent her commander, as soon as his damages were partially re- paired, from immediately joining in the proposal made by captain Saunders, of the Yarmouth, to bear down with the Nottingham, captain Saumarez, on the French admi- ral in the Tonnant and the lutrepide, who were endeavour- ing to escape under fa\ our of the night. The Eagle in consequence of her disabled condition was unable to come up with the flying enenay, but the Yarmouth and Not- tingham engaged them near an hour, and would probably have overpowered them, had not captain Saumarez been killed by a shot from the Tonnant, which induced the Nottingham to haul her wind. On the termination of the war, which happened in the month of October, 1748, captain Rodney remained but a very short time unemployed, being appointed in the following March to the Rainbow, a fourth-rate, and soon after he was sent out as goveraor anc? commander-in-chief of the island of Newfoundland. He jiroceeded thither with the small squadron annually sent thei-e, in time of peace, for the pi'otection of the fishery ; and in 1750, be was • See papc 247, ;&€. RODNEY. 330 similarly occupied, with the additional employment of searching for a small island which Captain Acton sup- posed he had discovered in 50 N. about three hundred leagues to the westward of Scilly. Commodore Rodney cruised ten days in quest of this iraajrinary island, and more than once the men at the mast head were deceived with those appearances which the sailors call fog banks. About the sixth or seventh day, the crew observed branches of ti'ees with their leaves on, flights of gulls, and pieces of wreck, which are generally regai-ded as certain signs of an adjacent shore ; but they could not discover laud for the best of reasons— because it did not exist. After his return, in February, 1750, he married lady Jane Compton, sister to Spencer, then earl of Northamp- ton. About the same time he was appointed captain of the Kent, of 70 guns, commissioned as a guard-ship at Portsmouth, and returned for the borough of Oakhampton in the new parliament; he retained the above command until the year 1755, when he was promoted to the Prince George of 90 guns. This ship not being employed on any important service, we do not find any particular men- tion made of captain Rodney till 1757, when he com- manded the Dublin of 74 guns. He served this year under Sir Edward Hawke, in the expedition against Rochfort, and being the oldest captain in the fleet was one of the members of the council of war. In the spring of 1758, he was ordered to Louisbourg with admiral Bos- cawen, and during the passage to America the Dublin took the Mount Martin, a French East India ship home- ward bound, of great value. This was the last service in which Rodney was engaged as a private captain; for in May, 1759. he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the blue, and immediately appointed to command a small squadron of ships of war and bomb- vessels equipped for an expedition against Havre de Grace, where the French had collected a great number of large flat-bottomed boats, for the supposed purpose of making a descent upon some part of England. He sailed from St. Helen's on the 2nd of July, and the following day an- chored with his squadron in the road of Havre. He im- mediately made the necessary dispositions for carrying his orders into execution. The bomb-ketches were placed in the narrow channel of the river leading to Harfleur, y 2 340 NAVAL HISTORY. that being the most proper and only place to do execution from, and at the same time the ships of war were judi- ciously stationed to protect and support them. Early on the morning of the 4th, the preparations being ready, the bombardment commenced, and continued without in- termission for fifty-two hours. So successfully was this service executed, that the town was repeatedly in flames in different parts, and their grand magazine of stores for the flat-bottomed boats burnt with great fury for upwards of six hours, notwithstanding the greatest exertions used to extinguish the fire. A number of the boats were overset, sunk, or so much damaged by the explosion of the shells, as to be of no farther service, and the intended expedition was completely frustrated. To complete the good fortune which attended the operations of this little armament, this success was effected with very inconsiderable loss to the bold assailants, though many of the enemy's shot and shells fell and burst among the bomb-ketches and boats.* In August he again repaired to his station, but no far- ther injury to the enemy remained to be effected. On the 24th of September he returned into port to victual, and so expeditious was he, that in two days afterwards he sailed again to resume his station off Havre. By thus keeping the enemy in a state of pei'petual agitation and alarm, he rendered them incapable of making the small- est effort to restore or repair those shattered remains, which the preceding conflagTation had left undestroyed. He continued in the same line of service during the year ireo, but the only remarkable occurrence that took place was the destruction of some of the enemy's flotilla in the course of the summer. On the 5th of July he drove on shore five flat-bottomed boats, that were laden with cannon and shot, and totally destroyed them , together with a fort under which they ran for protection at port Bassin. Ten others, which were in * Upon this system of warfare, Smollett makes the followin? cb- 6ervation : — ' The daiuag-e done to the enemy was too inconsiderable to make amends for the expense of the armament, and the loss of 1900 shells and ilOO carcasses, which were expended in this expedition. Bombardments of this kind are at best but expensive and unprofitable operations, and may be deemed a barbarous methodof prosecuting war, inasmuch as the dafnagre falls upon the wretched inhabitants, who have given no cause of offence, and who are generally spared by a humane enemy, unless they have coramitted some particular act of provo- cation.' RODNEY. ^l company at the same time, escaped with difficulty up the river Ome, leading to Caen. The French had sailed from Harfleur in the middle of the day, with their colours flying:, and making all possible parade, as if to set the Enslish squadron at defiance. The hills on each side of the river and the walls of Havre were covered with spectators, who were astonished that the English squadron continued sta- tionary. But the admiral was too experienced a seaman not to discern, that it would be entirely useless for him to move until the French boats should have passed the river Orae, as they could take shelter, in case of an at- tack, in several small ports : he, however, carefully ob- served their motions. When the enemy had got the length of Caen liver, they kept standing backward and forward upon the shoals, and plainly evinced their inten- tion of pushing down the Channel as soon as the day should close. Admiral Rodney therefore directed the small vessels to sail when it was dark for the mouth of the river Orne, to cut off the enemy's retreat, and with his other ships made the utmost dispatch, without signal, for the steep coast of port Bassin. This judicious disposition of his squadron had the de- sired ell'ect. The enemy were met by two of the English ships disguised like Dutchmen, off Point Perce6, who turned them. The French perceiving that their retreat was cut off, ran ashore, and met the fate just described. They were remarkably fine vessels, upwards of one hun- dred feet long, and capable of containing from three to five hundred men for a night's run. Their disaster had 8u8 NATAL HISTORY, his enemies. Tlie count de Grasse observing the rear of the British fleet coming- up fast, and having- the advantag-e of the wind, made sail, and -withdrew out of the reach of shot. His example was soon followed by the rest of the French fleet, and the wind would not permit the British admiral to force them to continue the eng:ag-ement. Two of the French line of battle ships suffered so much in the action, that they were obliged to quit the fleet, and run for Guadaloupe. The Royal Oak, Montague, and Alfred, were the British ships which suflered most, but not so much as to prevent their damagres being repaired at sea. Captain Bayne, of the latter ship, fell in the action. The necessary repairs of the British fleet were not completed before the 1 1th. During this time, the enemy, by carrying a press of sail, had stretched so far to wind- ward as to weather the Saints, and were nearly hull down. All hope of being able to come up with them, so as to force on a second engagement, seemed now at an end, when, about noon, just at the moment when the admiral was about to order the pursuit to be discontinued, twc French ships of the line, which had received damage in the late action, were perceived considerably to leeward ol their fleet, with their top-masts struck. The signal was instantly made for a general chase. As it then blew a fresh and steady gale, the Agamemnon, and some of the headmost ships, would have cut them off before the evening, had not the signals they made for assistance induced the count de Grasse to bear down to their relief. This brought the enemy so far to leeward, that the hope of forcing them to battle was again revived. Sir George Rodney recalled the ships in chase, formed a close line of battle, and carried sail to windward all night. At day-break, on the morning of the 12th, a French ship of the line, much disabled, and towed by a frigate, was observed to leeward. The count de Grasse seeing that she must inevitably be taken by the British ships which were ordered in chase, bore down with his whole fleet for her protection. It was now impossible for the enemy to avoid an engagement. The ships in chasa were ordered to their stations ; and a close line ahead formed on the starboard tack, the enemy being on the larboard. At half-past seven, rear-admiral Drake's division, which led, commenced the action, and it soon IIODNEY. 357 became general from van to rear. Towards noon, the wind shifted, so as to permit the centre of the British fleet to fetch to windward of the enemy. Captain (after- wards lord) Gardner, in the Duke, bravely attempted to force the enemy's line; but xufortunately her main- top-raust falling over the side, di-sappointed him in this bold attempt, and she dropped to leeward. Sir George Kodney, in the Formidable, supported by the Namur and Canada, was more successful; having: broken throut;h their line about three ships from the Villc de Paris, and being soon followed by those in his rear. He immediately wore and doubled upon tbo enemy, keeping up a most tremendous and destructive fire. By this bold and masterly manoeuvre the French line was broken, and thrown into the utmost confusion. Their van bore away, and en- deavoured to form to leeward ; but they were so hardly pressed by the British, that they were unable to accom- plish it. iSir Samuel Hood's division, which had been becalmed the greater part of the forenoon, now came up, and made the victory complete. The Glorieux, 74, com- manded by the viscerate d'Escar, made a most gallant ilefence ; her masts and bowsprit were shot by the board, and bhe did not striko until entirely abandoned by her consorts : her brave commander fell in the action. M. de iAIarigny, in the Caesar, 74, displayed equal braverj', having sustained the fire of several of the British ships, and being almost a wreck, was closely and vigorously attacked by the Centaur, 74. His courage was inflexi- ble ; and he is said to have ordered the colours to be nailed to the mast; but, at length, being mortally wounded, and three other ships coming up, M. de Ma- rigny surrendered his ship and life at the same moment. The Caesar had no sooner struck than her masts went over the side. Among the British ships, the conduct of the Canada 74, captain (afterwards admiral) Cornwallis, excited great admiration. After engaging a French 74, until she struck, be left his prize to be taken possession of by the ships a.->tern, and made sail after the French admiral in the V'ille de Paris, 110, who, together with his seconds, was endeavouring to rejoin his flying and scattered ships. The well-directed fire from the Canada annoyed the Vionch admiral greatly, particularly in his rigging and bills, and some other ships approaching fast made it 358 NAVAL HISTORY. impossible for him to escape. But the count de Grasse seemed determined to sink rather than to yield his noble ship to any thing under a flag. At length, Sir Samuel Hood came up in the Barfleur, and poured in a tremendous and destructive fire : the count de Grasse maintained the action with heroic bravery, engaging on both sides, when finding it in vain any longer to resist, and also being deserted by his seconds, his flag came down with the setting sun. The enemy's fleet continued going oflf before the wind in small detached squadrons, and single ships, with all the sail they could crowd, closely pursued by the British ships, v,'hich were consequently much dispersed. Upon the surrender of the French admiral, and night begin- ning to close in, Sir George Rodney made the signal to bring-to, in order to collect his fleet and secure the prizes. The fruits of this splendid victory were the Ville de Paris, 110, the Glorieux, Caesar, and Hector, 74's, and the Ardent and Jason, 64, captured ; besides one 74 sunk in the engagement. Before the prisoners could be shifted from the Caesar she was observed to be on fire, and in a few minutes blew up with a dreadful explosion : by this accident, a lieutenant, the boatswain, and fifty men belonging to the Centaur, together with about 400 Frenchmen, perished. The total loss sustained by the French must have been very great, as, besides the ship's crews, they had on board between 5 and 6000 troops destined for an attack on Ja- maica. It is believed that the killed amounted to above 3000, and double that number wounded. The British fleet did not sufi'er in a proportionate degree, when we consider the length and violence of the engagement, and the determined obstinacy with which the enemy fought. In the two actions of the 9th and 12th, the number killed amounted to 337, and wounded, 766. The signal success which had thus been obtained, is said to have been prin- cipally owing to the skilful manoeuvre, till that time nearly new in practice, of breaking through the enemy's line, which was executed about the middle of the action. As soon as the most urgent damages sustained by the fleet were repaired. Sir Samuel Hood was detached with twelve ships of the line round the island of Porto Rico, through the Moua passage, in pursuit of such fugitives RODNEY 359 as might have taken that route- He was so successful when proceeding to cape liberoon, which was the ap- pointed rendezvous, that he captured two ships of fi4 guns, a frigate of 32, and a corvette, which had not been present in the action. This superadded success, joined to the loss of one or two ships of the line which foundered or were wrecked in attempting their escapt. under Vandreuil, to St. Domingo, diminished the French fleet to nine or ten ships of the line, and two vessels of smaller rate. Sir George Rodney after this proceeded to Pdrt Royal, where he arrived on the 29th of the same month. On board the Ville de Paris were found thirty-six chests of money, destined to pay and subsist the troops in the designed attack on Jamaica. This ship had been a pre- sent from the city of Paris to Louis XV., in that fallen state of the French marine, after the victories of Hawke and Boscawen in the preceding war. No pains nor ex- pense were spared to render the gift worthy of that city, and of the monarch to whom it was presented ; so that she was said to have cost £176,000. sterling in her build- ing and fitting out for sea. When the intelligence of this important victory reached England, it was received with the most enthusiastic trans- ports of joy. Both houses of parliament unanimously voted their thanks to Sir George Rodney, and the officers and seamen under his command, for their gallant conduct. The king raised him to the dignity of a peer of the realm, by the title of baron Rodney, of Rodney Stoke, in the county of Somerset ; and this honour was followed by a pension of £2000. per annum, settled on his lordship and his heirs. The administration of lord North having been obliged to resign, jMarch 19, was succeeded by that of the mar- quis of Rockingham ; the new ministry being opposed to Sir George Rodney, lord Keppel, the first loid of the ad- miralty, determined to recall him, and admiral Pigot sailed to the West Indies with orders to supersede the gallant Rodney. His successor had only sailed a few days wlien the intelligence of the great victory over de Grasse was received in England. A swift-sailing cutter was immediately dispatched by the admiralty to recall admiral Pigot — but too late. TLe admiral arrived at Port Royal, and, agreeable to his instructions, took upon him the command of the fleet which Rodney had 550 NAVAL HISTORY. so gloriously led to victory. His lordship immediately shifted his fla^ to the Montrgrue, 74, and sailed for Eqij- land on the 23rd of July, and arrived at the Cove of Cork on the rth of September, 1782; after which time he never took upon him any command. The splendid successes of Rodney had so crippled and reduced the French navy within the space of two years, that it was uo longer in a condition to contest with Great Britain the empire of the seas. Spain also was completely disabled and disheartened; and the energies of the Dutch had been so thoroughly paralyzed by the capture of St. Eustatia, that their future exertions in the war were comparatively trilling. These reverses on tbe part of the enemy promoted a disposition for a general pacification, which happily took place on the 20th of January, 1783. From the period of his return, lord Rodney lived princi- pally in retirement, and during many of the latter years of his life he suflFered severely from attacks of gont, which as he advanced in years, increased in frequency and vio- lence. He died in London on the 24th of May, 1792, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. Laving been in the navy sixty-two years, and upwards of fifty years in com- mission, a period of active service perhaps unprecedented in the naval annals of this country. Of his character we need say little : let bis actions speak for themselves. One who knew him well has declared, ' That as an oflicer of nautical abilities, none were his su- periors, and but few his equals. He possessed a bold original genius, which always carried him directly to the object he had in view. As a man, be was generous, benevolent, and friendly. Few possessed more humanity, or knew better how to support the dignity of an elevated situation than lord Rodney. He who, when called by his country, could hurl its thunders against the foe, and lead its fleets to victory, was in times of peace the ornament of domes- tic society, and a pattern of that elegant and polished behaviour which should distinguish the higher orders of the community.' GEARY. 301 SIR FRANCIS GEARY, Bart. 1710—1790. It is rather remarkable that, during the long and impor- tant services of this fortunate commander and estimable man, accident should have prevented him from being personally engaged in any of the principal naval opera- tions of his time. He enjoyed the greatest reputation, and was intrusted in succession with the highest com- mands. But if he acquired less renown than some of his contemporaries, his success as a cruiser was equal to that of any of them. It commenced in his first command and continued to him in the last, which enabled him to acquire his full share of the wealth which the service has often enabled individuals to acquire at the expense of the enemies of their country. He was descended of an ancient family, long settled at Aberystwith, Cardiganshire, and was bom about the year 1710. He entered the navy by an admiralty order, or, as it was termed, the king's letter, in 1727, as a volunteer on board the Revenge, 70, captain Norbury, which formed one of the squadron that was then sent to the Baltic, under the orders of Sir John Norris. On the return of the Revenge to England, they were ordered to Gibraltar to reinforce Sir Charles Wager. He con- tinued in various services as midshipman and lieutenant until 1742, when he was advanced to the rank of cap- tain in the Squirrel, of 20 guns. This promotion soon gave him an opportunity of distinguishing himself in that line of service which at once advanced his reputa- tion and increased his wealth, for it appears that few captains were more successful in their captures than himself. He was first sent to cruise off the island of Madeira, when he very shortly attacked and captured a Spanish privateer, which he manned, and employed as an armed tender ; in company with which vessel, on the 29th of January, 1743, he destroyed another armed Spanish ship, and on the 10th of February he had the good fortune to make prize of a French ship, the 302 NAVAL HISTORY. Pierre Joseph, bound for Cadiz, and richly laden on Spanish account, from Vera Cruz and the Havannah. The cargo consisted of 65 chests of silver, each con- taining 3000 pieces of eight, 5 bales of cochineal, 57 of indigo, a case of vanilla, a quantity of sugar, and 3500 hides.* Captain Geary's success as a cruiser led to his ap- pointment, on the 17th of February, 1744, to the Chester, of 50 guns, and being sent to cruise with captain Brett, of the Sunderland, they captured, on the 20th, a French frigate of "20 guns and 134 men, besides many passen- gers of consequence, with a valuable cargo and 2i,00O dollars. In July, when in company with the Hamp- ton Court and Grampus sloop, captain Geary again captured eight French West Indiamen, from Hispa- niola and Martinico, carrying 13S guns and 518 men. About the same time he also took the Elephant, French frigate, after a smart skirmish, in which he had an officer and several men killed and wounded. Early in 1745 the Chester was ordered for Louisbourg to reinforce the squadron under commodore Warren, in the reduc- tion of that place ; but captain Geary having been sent with an express to England, was deprived of sharing in the immense property subsequently captured. It is said that he sustained a negative loss of £12,000. in having been sent to England. His return, however, led to his appointment to the Culloden, 74; and in 1747 he joined the squadron under the command of rear-admiral Hawke, with whom he continued on constant service till the conclusion of the war. The friendship which he then fonned with that great commander and excellent man was of the greatest benefit to him in after-life. It obtained for him the command in chief of the ships in the Med- way, with the rank of commodore, which he held until his marriage with Miss Bartholomew, of Oxenheath, Kent, a lady of large fortune. * It is said that captain Geary had made a sporting agreeraeiit with the captain of another cruiser, that they should divide the prizes they might take during a given period. It" so happened that the Pierre Joseph was not taken until the term of partnership had expired, which captain Geary considered so unfortunate for his friend, that he had the tretierosity to divide his share equally with him, declaring, that he be- lieved his friend would have acted in the same manner to him if he had been equally successful.— Such traits of generous friendship are worth preserving. GEARY, 363 Captain Geary continued unemployed until the recom- mencement of the war with France in 1753, when he was appointed to the Somerset, 70, one of the squadron which was sent to America under the command of admiral Boscawen. On his return to England at the close of the year, he again joined the Channel squadron, under the orders of Sir Edward Hawke, when the So- merset and Rochester captured two large French letter of marque ships, from Bordeaux to Quebec, laden with provisions and military stores, and a detachment of soldiers on hoard. No other circumstance of import- ance occurred at this time. He continued uninterrupt- edly employed in the Channel service during the war, as private captain, or with the rank of commodore with a captain under him when he commanded in chief at Portsmouth and the Nore. In 1758, he removed into the Lennox, 74, and in 1759, into the Resolution, 74; when he sailed with the fleet under the command of Sir Ed- ward Hawke, which was sent to watch that of Conflans in the harbour of Brest. A few days after the fleet had sailed he was ordered by the admiral to hoist a red broad pendant, as commander of a squadron of ten sail of the line, two frigates, and a fire-ship. In June he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the white, and removed his flag into the Sandwich, when he was ordered to Plymouth, in August, to refit. Having quickly refitted, the Sandwich rejoined the fleet oS Ushant, but during the stonn which drove the English fleet into Torbay in the beginning of November, the Sandwich unfortunately sprung her main-mast, and was ordered into Plymouth again to refit and to land her sick, which circumstance prevented admiral Geary from being present in the well-known action which was fought on the 20th of November. He sailed again from Ply- mouth on the 19th of November, and cruised oft' Brest until the 27th of December, when he returned to port, after having been at sea for upwards of seven mouths, with the exception of the three days which had been spent in refitting in Plymouth sound. On the 30th of April, 1760, he again put to sea with six sail of the line and a frigate under his command, to cruise off Rochfort, to intercept a French squadron which was then fitting out for the East Indies. Admiral Geary continued on that station until September, when it be- StU NAVAL HISTORY. came known tliat the French had given up their inten- tion of putting to sea, and had dismantled their squadron. Thus, althoug:h he had not the honour of lighting or cap- turing them, he had at least the satisfaction of having prevented them from reinforcing their squadron in the East Indies, which enabled admiral Pocock to maintain his superiority in that quarter against the ablest admiral, M. d'Ache, which France at that time could boast of. Admiral Geary returned to England, and was appointed port-admiral at Portsmouth, where he displayed such in- defatigable diligence and attention to his important duties, as to call forth the warmest approbation from the differ- ent commanders who required his services. His zeal was particularly displayed in the equipment of the squa- dron intended for the expedition to Belleisle, in 1761 and 1762, and also in the armament which was sent for the reduction of the Havannah, which was the most success- ful expedition ever undertaken by England. At the general peace he was ordered to stiike his flag, and, at the same time, the thanks of the house of com- mons were conveyed to himself and the otncers under his command, for their extraordinary diligence in the vari ous duties which had been imposed upon them. From this time he remained in retirement till 1770, when he was again appointed to the command at Portsmouth, on the expectation of a war with Spain, on account of the dispute about the Falkland islands. Spain having, on that occasion, had the good sense to avoid a war for such an insignificant object, admiral Geary once more returned into private life, until the death of admiral Sir Charles Hardy, in May, 1780, when the king was pleased to signify his intention to appoint him to the chief command of the Channel fleet. Admiral Geary accepted the command which had been so graciously offered to him, and hoisted his flag on board the Victory : the fleet consisted of twenty-four sail of the line, with frigates, fire-ships, and smaller vessels, commanded, under the admiral, by the admirals Eanington, Darby, Digby, and Sir John Lockart Ross. The fleet sailed for Brest in May, and had for its ob- ject to prevent the junction of the French and Spanish fleets. Nothing material occurred till the 3rd of July, when a fleet of twenty sail was discovered ; these were immediately concluded to be the enemy of whom they GEARY. 365 were in search, and the utmost alacrity was used in endeavouring to get up with them. The chase continued the whole day, and at five o'clock in the afternoon the enemy were come up with, when the admiral was disap- pointed to find that the enemy was nothing more than a convoy from Port-au-Prince, under the protection of a 50 gun ship. Fourteen sail were taken, which were valued at £120,000., and had not a thick fog come on about .seven o'clock, it is probable that the whole would have been captured.* Admiral Geary continued at sea for upwards of two mouths, and having 2500 men sick, the fleet returned to Portsmouth on the 18th of August. Shortly after the admiral was taken dangerously ill, and was obliged to resign the command. He never afterwards was able to return to the service, but spent the remainder of his life in retirement. His long and meritorious services procured him the honourable advancement to the rank of a baronet of Great Britain, on the .3rd of August, 1782. He died on the 7th of February, 179G, at the advanced age of eighty-six, most highly revered as a naval commander, and not less sincerely lamented for his benevolence, public spirit, and general worth. The admiral's grand- son is the present Sir William R. P. Geary, bart., of Oxenheath, Kent. • All anecdote is related of the admiral on this occasion, wliich fully illii(i£ratiii tlie amiable character wlilcli he is said to hav«! po:.sessed. Rear-admiral KempentVIt, who at that time acied :is his first captain, was universally and most deservedly esteemed one of the bravest and bitit-iuforoied officers in the service, as to the management and requi- site mode of manoeuvring a larife tieet previous to the commence- ment and durinsr the continuance of an action. Lord Hawke, than whom no man was a sounder judpre of nautical abilities, adds in one of his letters to admiral Geary, ' I am y'lad you have got so excellent an officer with you as I am convinced Kempent'elt is: he will be of L-reat service to yo'u.' But in the attainment of this knowledg-e, he had con- tracted u liabit of using more signals than men less practised in that particular branch of service deemed necessary : of this latter class of commanders was admiral Geary. As soon as the enemy were discovered and the signal maule for a general chase, Kempenfelt, burning with impatience to get up with the enemy, brouirht up the signal boik, which he opened, and laid on the binnacle with the greatest form and jireci- sion ; admiral Geary eagerly supposing the chase to be the Brest fleet, went up to him with Uie greatest good-humour, and squeezing him by the hand in the most afTectionate manner, said quaintly, 'Now my dear, dear friend, do pray let the signals alone to-day — to-morrow you shall order as many as you please.' This was the ' r)rave Kempenfelt' who ' went down' in the Royal George with ' twice four hundred men.' see NATAL HISTORY. THE HON. AUGUSTUS KEPPEL, LORD VISCOUNT KEPPEL. 1725— 17S6. This admiral was the second son of William Anne, se- cond earl of Albemarle, by lady Anne Lenox, daughter of Cbarles Lenox, first duke of Richmond. He was born on the 2nd of April, 1725, and went to sea in the thirteenth year of his age, under the care and protection of commo- dore Anson, whom he accompanied in the Centurion in his expedition to the South Seas. At the attack of Paita, he belonged to the storming party, under the command of lieutenant Brett, and in this service had a vei-y narrow escape, a shot having carried off the peak of a jockej's cap which he wore, close to his temple. At the capture of the Spanish galleon, Keppel behaved with so much spirit, that the commodore was induced to advance him to the rank of lieutenant. On the return of the Centurion to England in 1744, he was immediately promoted to the command of a sloop of war. He did not, however, continue long in the station of master and commander, being made post-captain, and appointed to the Sapphire frigate, in the month of De- cember in the same year. This vessel was employed as a cruiser, in which service her commander appears to have been vex'y active and successful. On the 15th of April 1745, he captured a large French ship from Mar- tinico, bound to Rochfort, with a valuable cargo of sugar, coffee, and cotton ; and on the 20th of May following he took a stout Spanish privateer, mounting sixteen guns. In 1746, he obtained the command of the Jlaidstone, a ship of 50 guns, and was employed on the same service as before ; but made onlj- one inconsiderable capture. In July, 1747, he had the misfortune to be shipwrecked in giving chase to a French privateer, by running too near the shore on the coast of France near Nantz, when the Maidstone struck on a rock, and was lost. The officers and crew got safe on shore, but were made prisoners by the enemy, who treated them with much kindness and humanity. On his return to England, captain Keppel KEPPEL. 367 was tried, as is usual on such occasions, for the loss of his ship, and honourably acquitted. After this misfortune he was appointed to the command of the Anson, a new ship of 64 guns, one of the cruising- fleet kept in the Channel during the remainder of the war. After the peace of Aix la Chapelle, in 1749, he was sent with a small squadron into the Mediterranean, for the purpose of demanding satisfaction of the government of Algiers, for a flagrant act of piracy committed by one of the cruisers of that state on a British vessel. The ho- nour of the British flag, and the peculiar character of the Algerines, rendered a great degree of firmness and discretion necessary in the performance of this service. Keppel arrived at Algiers on the 24th of June, 1750, with a small squadron, consisting of a 50 gun ship and three frigates, and immediately opened his negotiation with the Dey, in conjunction with Mr. Stanyford, the British consul, which, after much trouble, he brought to an ami- cable conclusion. In the beginning of November, 1750, he returned to Port Mahon,from whence he dispatched a sloop to Eng- land, with the treaty of peace which he had concluded with the dey of Algiers. In the April following, he received the ratification of this treaty, and again repaired to Algiei's in order to exchange it. In the meanwhile, however, another act of piracy, committed by an Alge- rine corsair, made it necessary to demand farther satis- faction before the treaty could be carried into eflTect. Keppel remonstrated against this second robbery in very strong and decisive terms, to which the Dey with great submission replied : ' That certainly one of his ofiicers had been guilty of a very great fault, which tended to embroil him with his principal and best friends, where- fore that oflicer should never more serve him either by sea or land.' And he farther said, ' That he hoped the king of England would look upon it as the action of a fool or a madman : that he would take care nothing of a like nature should happen in future ; and concluded by desiring that they might be belter friends than ever.' This declaration v/as transmitted to England, and pub- lished by the admiralty on the 22nd of May, 1751. In the course of the ensuing summer he arranged a simi- lar treaty with the states of Tripoli and Tunis. After the final adjustment of these matters, he continued 358 NAVAL HISTORY. another year in the Mediterranean, and in August, 1753, returned with his whole squadron to England. In September, 1754, he was appointed commodore of a squadron sent to convoy a body of troops to North Ame- rica, under the command of general Braddock, for the purpose of checking the encroachments of the Indian tribes, who, at the instigation of the French, were at that time continually making predatory inroads into the back settlements of Vitjania. After landing the troops at James-Town, Keppel co-operated with the army as long as the nature of circumstances would permit; and shortly after the defeat of the unfortunate general Brad- dock, he returned to England, as a passenger, on board the Seahorse frigate. On his ari-ival he found his country engaged in hos- tilities with France, and, soliciting a command, was appointed first to the Swiftsure, but afterwards removed into the Torbay, and was ordered to the Mediterranean with a small squadron consisting of four ships. He had not, however, proceeded far in his passage thither, when an epidemic disorder broke out in his squadron, which obliged him to put back to Plymouth. On his return he was directed to proceed to Spithead, to take the com- mand of another small squadron, then lying at that place under orders to cruise in soundings. With this squadron he made several cruises in the Channel, but on this occasion nothing material occurred. In the winter of 1756, he sat as one of the members of the court-martial held at Portsmouth on admiral Bj-ng, and when sentence was passed on that ill-used com- mander, he was one of those who were desirous of being released by act of parliament from their oath of secrecy, so that he mitrht be at liberty to bear testimony- to the injustice of the sentence. In the ensuing year he served in the Torbay, under Sir Edward Hawke, in the unsuc- cessful expedition against Rochfort. During the following summer he occasionally commanded a small flying squa- dron employed on short cruises in the Channel, and off the French coast, in which he was tolerably successful, having made several valuable prizes. He was next appointed to command in chief the expe- dition sent against the French settlement of Goree, en the coast of Africa, and sailed on the 19th of October, 1758, liaving his broad pendant on board the Torbay. The force KEPPEL. 3()9 utider his cotuinaiid consisted of seven ships of war, two bomb-ketches, a fire-ship, and a number of tiansports, with two regiments of troops on board. With these he left the Cove of Cork on the 11th of November, and in the early part of his voyage met with very boisterous weather, by which he had the misfortune to lose two of the ships of his squadron: the Litchfield of fiO guns, and the Somerset transport, were, on the 29th of November, wrecked upon the coast of Barbary, about nine leagiies to the westward of Saffy ; and this disaster was the more calamitous from the impossibility of saving the crews, part of whom perished, and those that reached the shore met with a severer destiny in being made captives by the Moors.* Keppel with the remainder of his force happily got to an anchor off the island of Goree on the 24th of Decem- ber. From that time to the 29th the commodore was employed in making the necessary dispositions for aa attack, which being completed the troops were landed, and the ships opened a tremendous fire on the enemy's batteries, with shot and shells, which continued with incessant fury for several hoiirs. The enemy, unable at length to support the severe fire of the British squa- dron, fled from their guns, and abandoned the fort. M. de St. Jean, the governor, was therefore compelled to surrender at discretion ; and the commodore landing the marines, took possession of the place. The loss sustained on this occasion by the British squadron amounted to one hundred in killed and wounded. The commodore having taken his prisoners on board, and left a sufficient garrison to secure his conquest, pro- ceeded to .Senegal with colonel Worge the governor, and a supply of troops. He sailed from tlience to England, where he arrived on the 1st of March, 1759. During the remainder of the year he served as a pri- vate captain in the Channel fleet, commanded by Sir Edward Hawke, and bore a very distinguished share in the memorable defeat of the French armament under * One hundred and thirty of the crew of the Litchfield peri-ihed, in- cludinsf the first lieutenant, captain, and lieutenant of marines, purser, gunner, carpenter, and several inferior officers. Captain Barton, her commander, with the rest of the survivors, were conducted lo Mo- rocco, vvhete tliey continued in captivity and were treated with much severity till the arrival of captain Milhank, wlio was sent as aisihas- ».vJor to the emperor ro treat for their ransom, which, tu includij •'>me other English subjects, was settled at 170,000 dollars. 2 A S70 NAVAL HISTORY. M. de Conflans, which happened on the 20th of No- vember; the Thesee of 74 guns having, as it is reported, been sunk by the fire of the Torbay. After this victory he continued to be employed on the home station, principally in the occasional command of one of the small squadrons stationed to watch that rem- nant of the enemy's fleet which had effected its escape from the encounter just mentioned. In the beginning of the year 1760, he was removed from the Torbay to the Valiant, a new ship of 74 guns, in which he again served under Sir Edward Hawke in Quibercn bay. As a re- ward for his services he was appointed colonel of the Plymouth division of marines. Towards the conclusion of the year he received the command of a squadron of ten ships of the line, with several frigates and smaller vessels, which were destined to cover an expedition concerted by the British ministry against the coast of France. The death of George II. which took place on the 25th of October, however, occasioned a suspension of this expedition until the next spring. On the 29th of March, 1761, commodore Keppel sailed from St. Helen's to the island of Belleisle, with a large squadron of men-of-war, and one hundred sail of trans- ports, having on board 10,000 troops, under the command of major-general Hodgson. At the same time a strong- squadron was ordered to cruise off Brest, under the command of captain Buckle, to block up that port, and to prevent any succours being sent to the relief of Belle- isle. On the 7th of April, the fleet anchored in the great road of Palais; and the next day a large detachment of ti-oops were landed in Port Andeo bay, on the south- east side of the island, under cover of the Achilles and Dragon men-of-war. But the commencement of the undertaking wore a very unpromising aspect. The enemy had taken post on the top of an almost inacces- sible mountain, where they had strongly intrenched themselves. Several vigorous attempts were made to dislodge them by forcing their intrenchments, but they all proved ineffectual, and the British troops were at length obliged to retreat, with the loss of 500 men in killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. The general and commodore, not disheartened by this severe check, were resolved to persevere in the object of the expedition. Accordingly, on the 22iid, after having KEFPEL. 371 reconuoitied the coast, it was determined to make a descent at fort d'Arsie ; and in order to divert the enemy's attention, two feints were to be made at the same time on another part of the island. The ships of war which were ordered to second the operations of the anuy, haviui; brought up at their stations, opened a heavy fire on the enemy, and soon silenced their batteries. I'he ti'oops were instantly lauded, and advancing with the utmost resolution and bravery, in a short time obliged the enemy to tly from their redoubts and iutrenchments. As soon as jM. de St. Croix, the French general, found that the English had made good their landing, he col- lecttd his whole force, and retreated to the town of Palais, where he was determined to make a stand. On the 13th of May, six strong redoubts were carried with great resolution and intrepidity by the Biitish forces, and with very little loss. On the 7th of June, a practicable breach being made in the citadel, and every necessary pre- paration made for storming, the French commander beat the chamade, and offered to capitulate. The terais being accepted, the British troops marched the next day into the citadel, and were put in possession of the wlule island. Keppel remained with his fleet at Belleisle some time after the capitulation, with a view not only to protect the island against any attempt to retake it, but to block up a squadron of the enemy, consisting of eight ships of the line and four irigates. He was, however, driven from his station on the I'ith of January, by a violent storm, in which many of his ships received so much damage, that he was under the necessity of returning to England to refit them. When he arrived at Plymouth his own ship, the Valiant, had five feet of water in her hold : four ships only came into port with her, the rest of the fleet having separated in the gale. Immediately after his arrival he was chosen to com- mand a division of the fleet under Sir George Pocock, then equipping for the expedition against the Havanuah, an appointment the more gi"atifying to him, as his brother the earl of Albemarle commanded the land forces. As the prominent events of the expedition are related at large in the life of admiral Pocock, we shall only observe, that the share of service which fell to commodore Keppel to perform was executed with the greatest spirit, activity, 372 NAVAL HISTORY. and diligence. His shave of prize money on this occasion was £24,539. 10s. Id., and that of his brother the earl of Albemarle, £122,G97. 10s. 6d. On the 21st of October, 1762, he was advanced to be rear-admiral of the blue, the promotion of flag officers being extended beyond the customary limits on purpose to include him, he being then the junior on the list. He continued at the Havannah some time after its sun-ender, and in one or two cruises which he made from thence along the coasts of Cuba, he had the good fortune to capture several valuable prizes. In September he sailed for Jamaica, and in his passage thither fell in with a fleet of twenty sail of French merchantmen, richly laden with sugar, cofiee, and indigo, under convoy of four frigates, all of which he captured, and carried into Port Royal harbour. On his return to England, after the peace in 1763, we find admiral Keppel in the enjoyment of no inconsiderable share of the royal favour, being made one of the groom.s of his majesty's bed-chamber, and appointed a lord of the admiralty. But he held these situations only a short time, resigning them in 1766, when he was appointed to the command of the yachts and vessels which convoyed the queen of Denmark to Holland. In October, 1770, he was promoted to the rank of vice- admiral of the blue, and about the same time was ap- pointed to command a squadron, equipped under the apprehension of a rupture with Spain on account of the Falkland Islands. The dispute being compromised before he hoisted his flag, the appointment of course dropped, and he was not again employed till a much more im- portant occasion. The court of France having, in February, 1778, acknow- ledged the independence of America, proceeded to niake an open avowal of the hostile sentiments they had long entertained against England, by detaining all Biitish ships to be found in the French ports. Orders were, in consequence, given by the British ministry to fit out a fleet of twenty sail of the line with the utmost expedition ; the command of which was given to admiral Keppel. He arrived at Portsmouth to take upon him the command a few days after he received his commission ; but instead of finding a well-appointed fleet, as he was led to expect, he discovered that there were only six sail of the line fit KEPPEL. 373 for imruedJute service, the rest of the fleet being- greatly defii-ieut, both in men and all kinds of naval stores. He, however, accommodated himself to the circumstances and the necessities of the times, and conducted himself with such discretion as effectually prevented the public alarm, which a disclosure of these facts would have produced. He urged his applications to the admiralty in the most secret manner, but with such unremit- ting- assiduity, that a new spirit was infused into the naval department, and by the 8th of June he hoisted his flag on board the Victory, and was able to put to sea with the following fleet of twenty sail of the line and several frigates : — the Victory of 100 giuis ; the Queen of 90 guns, vice-admiral Harland; the Ocean of 90 guns, vice-admiral Palliser; two others of 90; one of 80 ; eleven of 74; four of G4 ; three frigates, two cutters, and one fire-ship. Before we proceed with our narrative, it is necessary, for the better illustration of subsequent events, to notice the peculiar difliculties that attended and embarrassed admiral Keppel, in the station in which he was now placed, together with the motives which, under such circumstances, induced him to accept it, in the then very critical situation of public afl'airs. As the ministry had in a great measure lost the confidence of the coun- try, the eyes of the whole nation were turned on Keppel, in whose appointment every one seemed to feel his own security included. On this occasion therefore he had a great deal to risk. His well-earned fame was now to be staked on the doubtful issue of a single battle. The part he had taken in politics, and the close friendship in which he lived with the leading members of the opposi- tion, augmented these difficulties, and even rendered the command that was offered him extremely hazardous; for the ministers were his political enemies, and political hostility at this time was carried to a very great height. Any failure, therefore, whether proceeding from unavoid- able accident, or those misfortunes which the wisest and bravest cannot repel, might attach censure on him, and be attended with disagreeable, if not with dangerous, consequences. A due consideration of all these incidental difficulties made him hesitate in accepting an appoint- ment so pregnant with daiiger from the hands of minis- ters; but in consequence of a royal message delivered to him through the medium of the first lord of the admi- 374 NAVAL HISTORY. ralty, he attended in the closet to i-eceive the commands of his sovereig-u ; and (as he beautifully expressed on his trial) ' although his forty years' endeavours were not marked by the possession of any one favour from the crown, except that of its confidence in the time of dan- g-er, he could not think it right to decline the service of his country.' In subsequent roj-al audiences, he deli- vered himself with that plainness, candour, and sincerity which so strongly marked his character. He particularly took the liberty of observing, that he served in obedience to his majesty's commands, that he was unacquainted with his ministers as ministers, and that he took the command as it was, without making any difficulty, and without asking a single favour ; trusting only to his ma- jesty's good intentions, and to his generous support and protection. Thus appointed, Keppel sailed from St. Helen's on the 13th of June, 1778, with the force already mentioned, and with unlimited discretionary powers. But a force of no more than twenty sail of the line, many of which were in a bad state of equipment, was extremely inadequate for the important service which was intrusted to him. On the one hand it was well known that France had a large fleet at Brest ready for sea ; and on the other the great commercial fleets of England were on their passage home frona the East and West Indies. Besides the defence of these fleets, he had to protect the extensive coast of Great Britain, together with those ' invaluable reservoirs of her naval power, in which were equally included her present strength and her future hope.' A few days after the arrival of the fleet at its station in the Bay of Biscay', two French frigates, accompanied by two small vessels, appeared in sight, and were evi- dently taking a survey of the fleet. Keppel's situation was equally delicate and difficult. War had not been declared, nor was he ordered to strike the first blow. He, however, thought it a matter of indispensable neces- sity to stop the frigates, not only with a view to obtain intelligence, but to prevent any information respecting the state of his fleet being carried to France. According- ly on the 17th of June he made a general signal to chase, and on the evening of that day the Milford frigate cama up with the French frigate Licorne, of 32 guns. The commander of the former, in the most obliging terms KEPPEL. 375 requested the French captain to come under the English admiral's stern. This was at first refused, but upon a ship of the line coming up, and her firing a single gun, the Frenchman stood to her, and was brought into the line. Keppel sent a message to the French captain, giv- ing him his assurance that every civility would be shewn him, and that he would be happy to see him, as soon as they could come up in the morning. At day- break the French frigate made a movement, which rendered it necessary for one of the ships which con- voyed her to fire a shot across her way, as a signal for her to keep her course; upon which, to the utter astonishment of Keppel, and the whole fleet, she sud- denly poured a whole broadside, together with a general discharge of musketry, into the America, of 74 guns, at the very instant that lord Longford, her com- mander, was standing on the gunwale, and talking in terms of the utmost politeness to the French captain. The frigate the instant that she had discharged her broadsido struck her colours. Many of the shot struck the America, but it was extraordinary, considering the closeness of the ships, that only four men were wounded. This behaviour on the part of the Frenchman, when resistance was totally useless, merited the severest chas- tisement, but the noble commander of the America, with singular magnanimity and a command of temper very uncommon to be met with, did not return a shot. In the mean time the other French frigate, called La Belle Poule, and a schooner of 10 guns in company, were closely pursued by the Arethusa frigate, captain Marshall, and the Alert cutter, until they got out of sight of the fleet. The Arethusa having got up with her chase, requested the French captain to bring-to, and made known to him the orders of bringing him to the admiral; which the Frenchman having peremptorily refused, captain Marshall fired a shot across his bow, and this was immediately returned by the other with a whole broadside. A desperate engagement ensued, which was continued for more than two hours with uncommon vigour and warmth on both sides. Each seemed to contend for the palm of victory with an heroic and national emulation. The Frenchman had the advantage in weight of metal and number of men ; but the English- man w^as superior in skill and discipline. At length. 37G NAVAL HISTORY. however, the Arethusa became altogether uumauage- able, owing- to her mast, sails, and rigging, being almost destroyed, and to there being hardly any wind to steady her; and having drifted during the action close upon the enemy's shore, the French ship took the opportunity, having her head in with the land, to stand into a small bay, where at daylight several boats came to hef assist- ance, and towed her into a place of safety. At the commencement of this action, a battle equally spirited was maintained between lieutenant Fairfax, in the Alert cutter, and the French schooner. Their force was pretty nearly equal ; and the Frenchman supported the contest for an hour with the most determined bravery, but at last his vessel was so shattered that he was com- pelled to strike. From the capture of this vessel, Keppel derived infor- mation of an alarming nature. He had been led to believe, that his fleet was only inferior to that of the French by one or two ships ; and he therefore concluded that he might, not only without rashness, but with perfect confidence, continue at sea to oppose them. But he now discovered that the French fleet in Brest road and Brest water amounted to thirty-two sail of the line, besides ten or twelve frigates; whereas his own consisted only of twenty sail of the line and three frigates. His situa- tion was peculiarly perplexing and difficult, and it required no common share of sagacity and resolution to determine in what manner he should act. The con- sequences of a defeat on the enemy's coast were not in this instance to be estimated by the loss of a few ships, or by a temporary diminution of personal fame, or even of naval glory. The most important interests of England were at stake : and it appeared to him unwise to commit them to the hazard of a single die. On the other hand, it was a mortifying circumstance to retreat from the shores of an enemy to whom he had offered an insult, just when that enemy was coming out to avenge it. After much mature consideration, Keppel finally resolved to yield every thing to what he conceived to be a faithful discharge of the great trust reposed in him. He wisely thought that the only fleet which was then prepared to protect the commerce and the coasts of bis country, ought not to be hazarded against vast odds, either upon personal or professional punctilio. His conquest over the KEl^PEL. 377 feelings of pride and honour was so e.x.tremely difiicult, tbat he afterwards declared, *he never in his life felt so deep a melancholy, as when he fouud himself obliijed to turn his back on France; and that his courajje was never put to such a trial as in that retreat; but that it was his firm persuasion his country was saved by it.' The ffeet returned to Portsmouth on the 27th of June, and beinjj joined by such ships as were ready, the ad- miral sailed again on the 9th of July with twenty-four sail of the line, and two days afterwards was joined by six more. In all, therefore, he had now thirty sail of the line, four frigates, and two lire-ships. The day before Keppel's departure fiom Portsmouth the great French fleet, amounting to thirty-two sail of the line, and a vast number of friirates, sailed from Brest, under the command of the count d'Orvilliers. The English fleet was divided into three divisions, the \an being commanded by Sir Robert Harland, vice- admiral of the red ; the centre by admiral Keppel ; and the rear by Sir Hugh Palliser, vice-admiral of the blue. The commander-in-chief was assisted by the voluntary services of rear-admiral Campbell, an experienced and gallant oflicer, who, from ancient friendship and a long- participation of danger and service, condescended to act as his first captain.* The French and English fleets came in sight of each other on the afternoon of the 23rd of July. The French admiral, ignorant of the increase of bis adversary's strength, seemed at first disposed to bring on an im- mediate action ; but as soon as the two fleets had ap- proached ne.ir enough to discover each other's force, he evidently relimjuished that determination ; and con- tinued afterwards to evade, with most particular cau- tion, all the endeavours which were used to force him to an engagement. In the mean time night approached, and Keppel deemed it prudent to lay-to in a line of battle, leaving the option of attack, to the enemy. A change of wind, with a fresh gale, that took place in the night, made a considerable difterence in the I'elative situation of the two fleets. The French gained the weather-gage, by which they had the advantage of either bringing on or declining an action, as might best suit their views » He served as midshipman with Keppel under commodore Ansou In his expedition lo tlie South Scus. 3TS NAVAL HISTORY. and circumstances. Two of their line of battle ships hav ing, however, fallen to leeward, admiral Keppel resolved to cut them off from the rest of the fleet, and thereby compel the French admiral either to sacrifice them, or to hazard a t^eneral engagement in their defence. D'Orvil- liers preferred the former of these ; and though the two ships, from their extreme swiftness of sailing, were not captured by the English fleet, they were nevertheless eft'ectually cut off. Thus the hostile fleets were placed ou an equality in point of number of line of battle ships. The French continued to hold the weather-gage, and for four successive days Keppel beat to windward, and in vain endeavoured to bring tliem to action. It must not, however, be attiibuted to any want of spirit in D'Orvilliers, that he thus obstinately declined a battle. The moti^ es of both commanders exactly corresponded with the different lines of conduct they pursued. Our East and West India convoys, of immense value, were on their return home, and hourly expected. The position maintained by the French fleet was extremely favourable for intercepting these convoys in the course they were expected to hold ; and from the situation of the hostile fleets and the state of the wind, they might have been captured in the English admiral's sight, with- out a possibility of his preventing it. On the other hand, Keppel's fleet effectually cut off that of his adver- sary from the port of Brest. It was, therefore, no less the object of Keppel to bring the enemy to an imme- diate action, than it was that of d'Orvilliers to avoid it. Finding it impracticable to preserve a regular line of battle, in pursuit of the French fleet, Keppel ordered the signal for action to be hauled down, and the one for chasing to windward to be kept constantly flying. The chase was accordingly continued without intermission. At half-past live on the morning of the 2"th of July the French fleet was still far to windward, and appeared as desirous as ever to decline an action. At this time vice- admiral Harlaud was about four miles distant on the Victory's weather-quarter, with most of the ships of his own division, and some of those belonging to the centre — and the rear-admiral Palliser at about three miles' distance, a point before the lee-beam of the Victory, with liis mainsail up, which obliged the ships of his division to continue under an easy sail. Upon observing this, KEPPEL. 379 Keppel made a signal for some ships of tUe rear division to chase to windward, for the purpose of streni^theniiig^ the centre of the fleet by filling up that interval between it and the rear, occasioned by Sir H. Palliser having fallen so far to leeward. The reason this signal was made to a part instead of the whole of the rear division was, that the ships must then have chased in a body, which would have retarded those that sailed swiftest. By eleven o'clock in the forenoon a violent squall, and some sudden changes of wind which it occasioned, brought the two fleets so close to each other, that an engagement was inevitable. But as this was a situation which it was the object of the French admiral to avoid, he sud- denly put about on the other tack. By which manoeuvre the heads of the ships in each fleet were directed to oppo- site points ; and as the Frfench still kept up a press of sail, the English fleet could only engage them partially in passing, and consequently could not make any eflec- tual impression. The French began the action by opening a distant fire on the headmost of the van division of the British fleet ; but Sir Robert Harland did not allow a single shot to be returned, until he came close up with the enemy. As the fleets passed each other on the opposite tacks, the cannonade was kept up on both sides with great vigour, and the eflect which it produced was considerable. The action continued for upwards of three hours. The British ships sufl'ered very much in their masts, yards, and rig- ging, by the fire of their opponents being chiefly directed to those objects; while the enemy, on the other hand, suffered considerably in men, by the lire of ilie English being levelled at their hulls. When Keppel had passed the rear of the French, and the smoke was sufliciently cleared away to admit of ob- servation, he perceived that vice admiral Hailand, with part of his division, had already tacked, and was stand- ing towards the enemy ; but that none of the other ships which were out of the action had yet tacked, and that some of them were falling to leeward, apparently em- ployed in repairing the damages they had sustained. His own ship, the Victory, had so great a share in the action, as to be unable to tack immediately, nor could he wear and stand back on the other ships coming up astern, without occasioning the utmost confusion. He, 380 NAVAL HISTORY. however, wore his ship as soon as possible, and got round towards the enemy, before any of the other ships could follow, and at last only three or four were able to close ap with him ; which induced him to haul down the signal for general action, and to make the signal to form the line of battle ahead. The situation of the British fleet at this time was re- presented by officers of the first character, who were pre- sent, to be as follows : — ' The Victory was the nearest ship to the enemy, with no more than three or four of her own division in any situation either to have supported her or each other in action; Sir Robert Harland, with six sail of his division, was to windward, and ready for instant service: but Sir H. Palliser was on the contrary tack, and totally out of the line: other ships were far astern, and five, that were disabled in their rigging, at a great distance to leeward.' Thus it appears that the admiral could not then collect together above twelve ships to renew the engagement. The French on the other hand expecting to be attacked, had hastily got together most of their ships, which after- wards gradually extended into a line of battle ; and on noticing the English ships that had dropped to leeward, they edged away with a view to cut them oflT. Keppel perceiving this design, instantly wore aud stood athwart the van of the enemy. At the same moment he ordered Sir Robert Harland to form his division astern of the Victory, to protect the rear, and keep the enemy in check, until Sir H. Palliser should come into his proper station, in obedience to the signal. At this time Keppel observed that he was nearing the enemy, and that the rear division still continued to lie to windward ; he accordingly made the signal for the ships to windward to bear down into his wake. This signal was repeated by the rear-admiral, but as he did not obey it himself, it was understood by the ships of his division as an order for coming into his wake, which was accordingly done. The French admiral finding it impracticable, in con- sequence of the evolutions just performed by the British fleet, to cut ofl" the disabled ships, ranged up to leeward in line of battle, parallel to the centre division ; upon which Keppel instantly made the signal to bear down upon the enemy's line, aud renew the action. He sent KEPPEL. 381 to Sir Robert Harlaml to stretch away ahead and take his proper station in the line, wliich order was speedily obeyed. And observing rear-admiral Palliser still to windward, witli his fore-top-sail unbent, and apparently without using any means to repair it, he sent captain Windsor of the Fox frigate, at three o'clock, with express orders to him to bear down into the wake of the Victory; and likewise to inform him, that the ad- miral only waited for his division to renew the battle. Notwithstanding this peremptory command, Sir Hugh, on the plea of the disabled state of his ship, did not think fit to comply. At seven o'clock the signal was made for each particular ship of the rear division to come into her station in the line ; but before this last signal could be obeyed, night put a period to all farther operations. The conduct of the French fleet during the night still farther confirmed the disinclination of d'Orvilliers to re- new the action. He stationed three frigates with lights in situations calculated to divert the attention of the Eng- lish, and to lead them to suppose, that the whole French line still kept that position in which it had been last seen after sun-set. By means of this deception, and the dark- ness of the night, the rest of the French fleet stood in to- wards the land, and, the wind being fair, arrived at Brest on the evening of the next day. At daylight Keppel, to his infinite mortification and disappointment, saw the deception that had been prac- tised. Tlie French fleet were only visible from his mast head, and the three frigates by which the retreat was effected were several leagues to leeward. He at first made a signal for four ships to chase them, but perceiv- ing that the pui-suit would be ineSectual, he collected his ships, and bore away for Plymouth. The damages of the ships being repaired, he sailed again on the 23rd of August, and returned with his whole fleet to his station off Brest. The French, however, did not choose to give him an opportunity of retrieving his disappointment. They never ventured out of port during the whole of his cruise, from which he finally returned on the 2Sth of October. The action of the 27th of July, not having been of that bold and decisive character which the country has been accustomed to expect from the navy, gave rise to niucb 3S2 NAVAL HISTORY. animadversiou, and at last was discussed in the ne'.'^s- papers and periodicals of the day with furious animosity. Party spirit imbittered the question ; for though admiral Keppel was employed on account of his ability and expe- rience, he was hostile to the then administration ; so that any attempt to disparage him was attributed to the malevolence of g-oTernment. The admiral, to preserve the harmony of the service, had made no complaint in his public dispatches against the vice-admiral of the blue, and his forbearance for some time had much weight in preventing remarks from being made by the officers of the fleet. But on the return of the fleet to port a va- riety of paragraphs appeared in the newspapers, charging the blue division with misconduct in the action, and the subject occasioned warm debates in both houses of par- liament. In the house of commons, of which both ad- mirals Keppel and Palliser were members, a motion was made for an inquiry, and as they both happened to be in their places, it was expected that they would afford the house some explanation on the subject, as well for the sake of their own honour, as for that of the public tranquillity. Upon this admiral Keppel rose, and gave an account of his conduct from the time he assumed the command of the fleet. He declared, 'That if he was again to go over the business of the iZth of July, he would conduct himself in the same manner. He said, every thing he could do against the enemy had been done : but observed, at the same time, that the oldest and most ex- perienced officers would discover something in every engagement, with which they were previously unac- quainted ; and he acknowledged that that day had pre- sented something new to him.' Sir Hugh Palliser defended himself with much warmth, and accused Kep- pel of inconsistency in having officially commended bis conduct, and in now wishing to insinuate that he had neglected to perform his duty. To this the admiral re- plied, ' That the official praise which he had bestowed on all the officers under his command, to obviate discord, did not oblige him to authenticate statements which would impeach himself; but now, when called upon to speak out, he would inform the house, and the public, that the signal for coming into the Victory's wake was flying from three o'clock in the afternoon till eigtit in KKPPEL. 383 the evening unobeyed ; at the same time lie did not charge the vice-admiral with actual disobedience, be- cause he was fully persuaded of his personal bravery, and believed that if any inquiry was considered neces- sary that he would be able to justify himself.' This altercation led to a great deal of mutual recrimination between the two admirals ; until at length Sir Hugh Palliser, on the 9th of December, delivered in an accu- sation to the board of admiralty, of which he was himself one of the commissioners, consisting of five separate charges against Keppel, for misconduct and neglect of duty in the action of the '27th of July ; and the board immediately ordered the admiral to be tried by a court- martial. The measure thus adopted by the admiralty of bringing admiral Keppel to an immediate trial, after having al- lowed four months to elapse, occasioned a very general dissatisfaction throughout the country, and excited in the navy a strong sentiment of indignation. It was viewed as an attempt on the part of the admiralty to sacrifice a gallant commander-in-chief who was politically opposed to them, to screen Sir H. Palliser, who, in the estimation of the officers of the fleet, was deserving of public censure for not having supported his admiral by every means in his power. In accordance with this feeling, and to save admiral Keppel from the fate of Matthews and Byng, a spirited memorial was drawn up and signed by twelve of tlie oldest and most distinguished admirals then in Eng- land, with the revered name of Hawke at their head. This memorial was presented to the king in his closet by the duke of Bolton, who was himself one of the subscribers, and had demanded an audience for the purpose ; on that occasion it is said he condemned the conduct of Sir Hugh I'alliser in every part of the transaction, and represented in strong terms the ruinous consequences which the esta blishment of the precedent and principle now introduced would inevitably bring on all naval service and disci- pline. To the general dissatisfaction of the navy and the public, the memorial did not meet with the slightest notice, which made it evident that the ministry were de- termined to attempt to obtain a conviction in the same way that the decisions of many election committees are iufiueiiced. Keppel now prepared for his approaching trial, which WHS ordered to be held at Portsmouth, on the rth of Janu 384 NAVAL HISTORY, ary, 1779. Previous to its commeucemeiit, admiral Vigot moved in the house of commons, that in consequence of admiral Keppel being in an ill state of health, leave might be given to bring in a bill to enable the admiral to order his trial to be held at some convenient place on shore, instead of its being held on board ship, which was the mode prescribed bylaw. Leave was accordingly given, and the bill passed both houses without opposition. On the 4th of January, Keppel repaired to Portsmouth, whither he was attended by a great number of his friends, among whom were some of the most illustrious persons in the kingdom for rank and talent. The dukes of Cum- berland, Richmond, and Bolton, the marquis of Rocking- ham, the earls of Effingham and Albemarle, and Messrs. Fox, Burke, and Sheridan, were his principal attendants on the occasion. The honourable Thomas Erskine (after- wards loi-d Erskine) accompanied him as his counsel, in which capacity he first displayed those splendid talents which proved so useful to his country, and so honourable ■o himself. On Thursday, January the 7th, the trial commenced at the governor's house at Portsmouth. The court-martial was composed of the following officers : Sir Thomas Pye, admiral of the white, president. Matthew Buckle, vice-admiral of the red. John Montagu, vice-admiral of the red. Marriot Arbuthnot, rear-admiral of the white Robert Roddam, rear-admiral of the white. Captains. Mark Milbank. Francis Samuel Drake. Taylor Penny. John Moutray. William Benuet. Adam Duncan. Philip Boteler. James Cranston. Admiral Keppel was attended to the court by a respect- able body of officers of the navy, drawn together by that habitual esteem and veneration which they had for him. He was received at the door of the court-house, by the crowd assembled to see him pass, with three cheers; and entering the court in a firm easy manner, bowed to the president with a cheerful complacency. The trial con- tinued for thirty-two days, until the Hth of February, KEPPEL. 385 when the court unanimously proceeded to give sentence as follows : ' That it is their opinion the charge against admiral Keppei for misconduct and neglect on the 27th of July, is malicious and iUfounded ; it having appeared, that the said admiral, so far from having, by his misconduct or neglect of duty on the day alluded to, lost an opportu- nity of rendering essential service to the state, and thereby tarnished the honour of the British navy, behaved as be- came a judicious, brave, and experienced officer : the court do, therefore, unanimously and honourably acquit the said admiral Keppei of the several articles contained in the charge against him ; and he is hereby fully and honourably acquitted accordingly.' The president then addressed the admiral in the fol- lowing words, at the same time delivering to him hia sword : • Admiral Keppei, • It is no small pleasure to me to receive the commands of the court I have the honour to preside at, that in de- livering your sword, I am to congratulate you on its being restored to you with so much honour ; hoping, ere long, you will be called forth by your sovereign, to draw it once more in the defence of your country.' The day after his acquittal, the speech of the president of the court-martial being read in the house of commons, the thanks of the house were voted to him, with only one dissentient voice, for his conduct on the 27th of July ; and four days afterwards the same honour was conferred on him by the lords, with every external appearance of unanimity. The rejoicings which took place in every part of the kingdom were never exceeded on account of the most brilliant victories. The charges which had been made against admiral Keppei having been declared to be malicious and ill- founded, his accuser, a lord commissioner of the admi- ralty, was then brought to trial, when he also was acquitted in terms of geueral commendation, on the ground that his ships were in too disabled a condition for him to have acted otherwise than he had done, and his conduct was pronounced to have been, upon the whole, meritorious and exemplary. The finding of the first count conveyed a severe censure upon Sir H. Palliser, and that of the other, upon admiral Keppei. It was im- 386 NAVAL HISTORY. possible that both could be iu accordance with impartial justice. The account of the operations of the hostile fleets, during the 27th and 23th of July, is an outline of the evidence that was given on the trial. It is unneces- sary to say that public opinion was not satisfied with the result of the tiial of Sir H. Palliser. The impression still continued that, from some motive or other, he had not heartily co-operated in support of his commander-in- chief. Many eminent naval officers considered that ad- miral Keppel had erred in accepting a command, in which a commissioner of the admiralty, who was politi- cally opposed to him, was to be employed under him. The power of the commissioners of the admiralty, in their department, is greater than that of any other officers of the crown, and as it is admitted that they can indirectly exercise an influence on all courts-martial, it was scarcely to be expected that they would have al- lowed their political opponents to triumph over them, in obtaining the disgrace or capital punishment of one of themselves. These considerations, and the violent politi- cal character which the above trials, and those of Mat- thews and Byng, exhibited, clearly shew that naval courts-martial, as at present constituted, are not proper tribunals for the trial of such grave and exciting inqui- ries. A judge who is independent of all controlling power is required; and it may perhaps be suggested, that as it has been found that justice is best administered by judges that are independent of the crown, it may be hoped that a judge-admiral may at some time be created, who shall be selected from among the admirals best qua- lified for the appointment, and rendered independent of the political intiuence of the admiralty. In this way an individual responsibility would be established, and bio- graphers and future secretaries of the admiralty might then have no occasion to complain that distinguished officers had been disgraced or 'judicially murdered,' at the instigation of any commissioners of the admiralty.* In March 1782, when the Rockingham party came into power, admiral Keppel was made first lord of the admi- ralty, and at the same time sworn one of the members of * It is necessary to state, to justify the severity of this remark, that Sir John Barrow, who has long- filled the situation of one of the secre- isries to the admiralty, has stated, in his Life of Anson, that an undue iDiiueuce was exerciied to obtain the conviction of Dyng. KEPPEL. 387 the privy council. On the 8th of April following:, he was promoted to be adiuiial of the white ; and ou the 29th ot the saiue month was created viscount Keppel, of Elvedon, iu the county of Suffolk. On the death of lord Rockingham, in January 178.1, a schism iu the cabinet was produced by the elevation of lord Shelburne to the head of the ministry, which led his lordship to resii^n his situation of first lord of the admi- ralty. He was soon, however, replaced by his friends, who were in the ensuinjj April ajj:ain brought into power. He continued to preside at the admiralty, with no less credit to himself than advantage to his country, till the elevation of Mr. Pitt to the ministry, in the beginning of 1784, when he was again displaced. After this period he finally retired from public life, and continued for two years longer to display, with unaffected cheerfulness, though harassed with severe bodily infirmities, those many amiable qualities with which he was so largely endowed ; and in the society of his private friends, he gave and received that pure pleasure which flows from the cordial sympathies of real esteem ; until the autumn of 178(5, when he was attacked with the gout in his sto- mach, of which he died on the 2nd of October, in the sixty-third year of his age. His lordship's character has been variously represented in accordance with the political bias of the writers ; but now, when the violence of party spirit has passed away, it appears to be admitted that he obtained a popularity fully equal to his merit. This arose from his general par- liamentary opposition to the unpopular administration of lord North. His bravery, prudence, activity, and dili- gence, were admitted by all parties ; and his frankness, affability, and good-humour, obtained for him the un- bounded love of the seamen, and the honourable title of ' the seamen's protector ;' and no officer in the service possessed the confidence of the navy in an equal degree to himself. To this popular feeling in his favour it can scarcely be doubted that he owed his elevation to the peerage, and, perhaps, his triumph over ministerial per- secution. 2B2 388 NAVAL HISTORY. THE HON. RICHARD SCROPE, EARL HOWE, K. G. 1725—1799. This gn-eat and distinguished commander was the second son of Sir Emanuel Scrope, lord viscount Howe, in the Irish peerage, and Maria Sophia Charlotte, eldest daugh- ter of the baron Kielmansegge, master of the horse to George I. in his capacity of elector of Hanover. He was born in 1725 ; and educated at Eton college, which he left at the age of fourteen, to share in the perils of the squadron which was sent to the South Seas under com- modore Anson. He sailed with the Severn, of 50 guns, commanded by the honourable captain Legge ; but the storm which separated the squadron in their passage through the straits of le Maire obliged the Severn to put back to Rio Janeiro, and captain Legge, after he had refitted his ship, returned to England. He next served under Sir Charles Knowles, then commodore of a squadron detached in the month of Fe- bruary, 1743, from admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle's fleet, to attempt the town of La Guira on the coast of Caraccas. Scrope, who was at this time about eighteen years of age, served on board the Burford, captain Lushington. The squadron arrived on the Curacoa coast on the 18th of February. The Burford suffered considerably in the ac- tion ; and captain Lushington having lost his thigh by a chain shot, died two hours after he was landed a* Curacoa, on the 23rd of February, 1743. The tender and grateful attachruent which our young officer entertained for his captain is pleasing to recollect, and must not be passed unnoticed. Being required to give evidence, relative to the conduct of the Burford, at a court-martial held subsequent to the action, he proceeded in a clear and collected manner until he came to relate the melan- choly death of his beloved and gallant friend ; he was then so much affected, that he was uaable to proceed, and requested the indulgence of the court, until he could SCROPE, LORD HOWE. 389 sufficiently collect hirunelf. He then related, that cap- tain Lushiug:tOD having his thi^h shot otf, continued g^iving- directions to his first lieutenant until he sunk down, fainting from loss of blood. He was then conveyed to the cock-pit. « I was soon sent,' said the young officer, ' by the first lieutenant, for orders.' " My dear Scrope," Haid the noble Lushington on seeing him approach, " since I have been brought down, I have received a mortal wound : — tell the lieutenant to use his own judg- ment.' He was then proceeding to relate the death of his commander, when he again burst into a tiood of tears, and retired. Soon afterwards Mr. Scrope was appointed acting lieutenant by commodore Knowles, and in a short time came to England with his ship ; but his commission not being confirmed by the lords of the admiralty, he re- turned to his patron in the West Indies, where he was made lieutenant of a sloop of war. An opportunity here offered to display his active and resolute character : an English merchamtman had been captured at the Dutch settlement of St. Eustatia, by a French privateer, under the guns and protection of the governor, who disre- garded the transaction. Lieutenant Scrope, unable to bear such an insult to his country, was, at his own earnest request, sent with orders to claim her for the owners; but not meeting with that reply which national faith and justice demanded, he desired leave to go with the boats, and attempt cutting her out of the harbour. It was in vain that the capiain represented the danger of so adventurous an attempt. The ardour of the young officer was permitted to operate, and the event shewed that his prudence in action was equal to the energy of his original conception. The vessel was cut out, and carefully restored to the proprietors. In the eventful year 1745, Scrope was raised to the rank of a commander, and appointed to the Baltimore sloop of war, one of the vessels employed off the coast of Scot- land under the command of admiral Smith. In one of his cruises, being in company with another armed ves- sel, he fell in with two French frigates of 30 guns, having on board troops and ammunition for the Pre- tender. Captain Howe immediately ran the Baltimore in between them, and almost close on board one of the ships. A desperate and bloody action ensued. After S90 NAVAL HISTORY, fighting: with that singular intrepidity and coolness which so much distinguished his character, he was at length severely wounded by a musket ball in the head, and carried off the deck to all appearance dead. With medical assistance, however, he soon discovered signs of life ; and during the painful dressing of his wound, re- peatedly cheered and encouraged his men. Scarcely was the operation finished, when be flew again to his post, and was received with shouts of joy. The action was now supported with redoubled spirit, until the French ships sheered ofi', leaving the Baltimore in so shattered a state, that she in vain attempted to pursue tbem. The lords of the admiralty immediately raised him to the rank of post-captain, for his gallant be- haviour on this occasion ; and on the 10th of April, 1746, appointed him to the Triton frigate, destined for the coast of Scotland. To pursue this great commander through all his infe- rior employments would occupy a greater space than the limits of our work will admit of ; we must therefore con- tent ourselves with observing, that at the conclusion of the war in 1748, he had completely established his cha- racter for a high sense of honour, and every principle that constitutes a brave and valuable officer. In March, 1750-1, captain Scrope was appointed to the command of his majesty's ships on the coast of Africa, and sailed thither in La Gloire, of 44 guns. On his arrival at Cape Coast, the governor and council represented to him the ill treatment they had received from the Dutch gover- nor, general Van Voorst. Justly indignant at their recitals, captain Scrope prepared his own ship and the Swan sloop; and proceeding immediately with them, anchored as near the Dutch castle as the depth of water would peiTuit. In this situation, he sent a letter to the general, demanding immediate satisfaction for the in- juries the English merchants had sustained, and the release of all the free negroes. The Dutch commander sending an evasive answer to the first demand, and an absolute I'efusal to the second, captain Scrope sent him another letter to acquaint him, that he should immedi- ately execute his orders, which were to distress those who interrupted the commerce of his country to the utmost of his power. Captain Scrope's vigilance in cut- ting off all communication with the Dutch ships soon SCROPE, LORD HOWE. 301 reduced the governor to reasou, when every difficulty was finally adjusted. At the close of the year 1751, he was appointed to the Mary yacht, but quitted his station in the month of May, 1752, on being commissioned to the Dolphin fri- eate. He was soon after ordered to the Meditenanean, and employed in many difficult services, which he exe- cuted with his usual spirit and ability. In the course of the year 1754, he returned to England, and early in the following year obtained the command of the Dunkirk, a new ship of (50 guns, then fitting out in consequence of an apprehended rupture with France. The Dunkirk, formed part of the squadron which sailed for North America, under admiral Boscawen, towards the latter end of April, 1755, whither a French fleet sailed about the same time. The British admiral, with a view to obstruct the passage of the French fleet into the gulf of St. Lawrence, took his station off the banks of Newfoundland ; but, under cover of a thick fog, the French commander escaped his vigilance. Whilst the liritish fleet lay off Cape Race, which is the southern- most point of Newfoundland, and was thought to be a station well adapted for intercepting the enemy, on the 8th of June, at sun-rise, on the fog clearing up, two ships appeared in sight, which afterwards proved to be the Alcide of 64 guns, and the Lys pierced for 54, but mount- ing only 22 guns, having eight companies of land forces on board. These ships had been separated from the rest of the fleet, under M. Bois de la Mothe, in a fog. Captain Scrope, carrying a press of sail, came first alongside of the sternmost ship, the Alcide, at twelve o'clock ; and, hailing the captain, delivered his orders that he should go immediately under the English admi- ral's stern. M. de Hocquart, the French commander, quaintly asked, whether it was peace or war. Captain Scrope repeated his orders, and generously exclaimed, • Prepare for the worst, as I expect every moment a signal from the flag-ship to fire upon you, for not bring- ing to.' The ships being now close together, captain Scrope had an opportunity of seeing the ofiicers, soldiers, and ladies, who were passengers, and who were assem- bled on the quarter-deck. He on this took ofi" his hat, and told them in French, that as he presumed they could have uo personal concern in the contest, he begged they 302 NAVAL HISTORY. would leave the deck ; adding that he only waited for their retiring- to begin the action. Captain Scrope then for the last time demanded that the Frenchman should go under the English admiral's stern ; and M. de Hoc- quart still vehemently refusing, was informed that the signal was out to engage. He replied with the civility and sans froidof his nation, ' Commencez, s'il vous plait ;' to which Scrope replied, with equal coolness, ' S'il vous plait, Monsietir, de commeiicer.' Orders to begin the action were given by both nearly at the same instant. After a close action of about an hour, the Alcide struck to the Dunkirk, her inferior in rate, guns, and men ; and captain Scrope perceiving this, generously exclaimed, * My lads, they have behaved like men, treat them like men.' The Lys surrendered to the Defiance, captain Andrews. The Alcide had on board nine hundred men, chiefly land forces. The general was killed, and the governor of Louisbourg, with four officers of distinction, were taken prisoners, and about £80,000. sterling. An anecdote is related of Scrope, about this period, which strongly marks the firmness of his mind. He was hastily awakened in the middle of the night by the lieutenant of the watch, who informed him, with great agitation, that the ship Wcis on fire near the magazine. ' If that be the case,' said he, rising leisurely to put on his clothes, ' we shall soon know it.' The lieutenant flew back to the scene of danger, and almost instantly re- turning, exclaimed, ' You need not, sir, be afraid, the fire is extinguished.' • Afraid!' exclaimed captain Scrope, ' what do you mean by that, sir ? I never was afraid in my life ;' and looking the lieutenant full in the face, he added, • how does a man feel, sir, when he is afraid ? I need not ask how he looks.' In the month of September, 1757, he served in the ex pedition against the isle of Aix, and led the van in the Magnanime of 74 guns. The fort began to fire upon him as soon as he was within gun-shot, but he continued to advance without returning a single shot, urging his pilot to lay his ship as close to the fort as possible, until he dropped his anchor under the very walls, and com- menced so brisk a Ccmnonade, that in about an hour the enemy's colours were hauled down. The French pilot, who served on board the English fleet, being asked by a court of inquiry which afterwards took place, why he SCROPE, LORD HOWK. 393 preferred captain Scrope to lead before any other ship, re- plied, ' Parcequ'il est jeune et brave.' In the foUowinar year he removed into the Essex, of 64 g:un9, and was appointed commodore of a squadron, des- tined to cover the landing of a body of troops on the French coast. The squadron sailed on the 1st of June, a day auspicious to the name of Howe, and the next morn- ing made cape la Hogue. On the 4th he came to an an- chor within three leagues of St. Maloes ; and the follow- ing morning, before break of day, stood into the bay of Cancalle, where the troops were intended to land. Having- destroyed above a hundred sail of shipping, together with several magazines, the fleet next reconnoitred the town of Granville, on the coast of Normandy. The squadron and transports then proceeded to Cherburg, but the un- fortunate state of the weather prevented the troops from landing, and provisions growing scarce the armament re- turned to St. Helen's on the 1st of July. This expedition was soon followed by another, in which prince Edward, afterwards duke of York, served as a midshipman under commodore Scrope. On the Ist of August the fleet sailed from St. Helen's, and on the 6th, in the evening, came to an anchor in the bay of Cherburg. A few shells were thrown into the town that night. Next morning the fleet got under weigh, and brought up in the bay of Maris, about two leagues to the westward of the town. The troops were landed the same afternoon; and the fortifications which were in- tended for the defence of the place being in a very unfinished state, were taken possession of without oppo- sition. About twenty pieces of brass cannon were taken on board the English ships, and nearly two hundred iron cannon and mortars rendered unserviceable. The celebrated bason was ruined, and twenty-seven sail of ships and vessels found in the harbour were destroyed. A small contribution, also, was levied on the town. This service being happily performed, the fleet sailed for the English coast, and on the 16th anchored in Weymouth road. Commodore Scrope next sailed towards St. Maloes. By his instructions he was ordered to keep the French coast in continual alarm, by making descents, and attacking any place which might be found practicable, between the east point of Normandy and Morlaix. The town of St. Maloes was the principal object of attack. 391 NAVAL HISTORY. and the squadron anchored two leagues to the westward of that place, in the bay of St. Luuaire, where the troops were landed. After some days spent in deliberations among the land officers as to the practicability of an attack on St. Maloes, it was finally determined that success was hopeless, and that the idea should be totally abandoned. Nothing now remained but to re-embark the troops, which being impracticable in the place where they lauded, it was determined to march them over-land to the bay of St. Cas, which on being reconnoitred was found the nearest convenient spot for that purpose. The commodore proceeded thither with his squadron, and im- mediately made all the necessary dispositions that lay within his department. In the midst of the carnage which took place on the retreat of the British troops from thence, and under a fire that staggered the resolution of the bravest seamen, commodore Scrope exhibited a noble instance of fortitude. He ordered his barge to be rowed through the thickest of the fire ; and standing up, encouraged the men by hig voice and attitude. As many as his own boat could pos- sibly contain were repeatedly taken in. The rest of the fleet, animated by such an example, shewed by their actions that it was not given in vain. About seven hundred men were by this means saved, who would otherwise have been killed, or made prisoners. This service was attended with the utmost peril and personal risk ; — in several of the boats, ten or twelve men, out of twenty, were killed, and in one of them sixteen, with a lieutenant. In the month of July this year the commodore suc- ceeded to the title of viscount Howe of the kingdom of Ireland, by the death of his elder brother, a brave officer who was killed in a skirmish between the advanced guard of the French, and the troops commanded by general Abercrombie, in an expedition against Ticonde- rago. He fell universally regretted by America, and a monument was erected to his memory in Westminster abbey at the expense of the state of Massachussets. In the following year (1759) bis lordship was employed in the Channel, on board his former ship the Magna- nime, having, immediately on his retura to port, re- moved to her from the Essex. No particular opportunity, HOWE. 395 however, offered to distinguish himself, until the month ot November, when he had the good fortune to be pre- seut at the memorable defeat of the marshal de Con- flans. Ou his arrival in England after that great event, being introduced by Sir Edward Hawke to Georg:e II., the good old monarch, who was a brave man himself, and loved bravery in others, was pleased thus to express las high opinion of his conduct: 'Your life, my lord, has been a continued series of services to your country.' Ou the 22nd of March, 1760, he was appointed colonel of the Chatham division of marines; and in September he was ordered by Sir Edward Hawke to reduce the French fort on the isle of Dumet, in company with the Bedford and Prince Frederic, which he accomplished, after a slight resistance, without any loss. During the year 1761, no particular mention is made of his lord- ship out of the ordinary routine of the service. In 1762 he commanded, alternately with Sir Thomas Stanhope, the squadron stationed in Basque road and off the coast of France ; but nothing occurred of sufficient conse- quence to require any particular detail. Towards sum- mer he remored into the Princess Amelia, of 80 guns, having accepted the command of that ship, as captaia to his royal highness tlie duke of York, who had ob- tained the rank of rear-admiral of the blue, and served as second in command in the Channel fleet, under Sir Edward Hawke. In August, I7C3, he was appointed to a seat at the board of admiralty, which he continued to hold till the 30th of August, 1765. He was then made treasurer of the navy, in which post he remained till the month of October, 1770, when he resigned it, as well as his colonelship of marines, on being pro- moted to be rear-admiral of the blue, and appointed commander-in-chief of his majesty's ships on the iMedi- terranean station. In March, 1775, he was appointed rear-admiral of the white ; and about the same time was chosen member of parliament for the borough of Dart- mouth. In December the same year, he was advanced to be vice-admiral of the blue. It was in consequence of these promotions, which occasioned some discussion in the house of lord.«, that Hawke, then first lord of the admiralty, rose in his place, and said, ' I advised bis majesty to make the appointment ; — I have tried my S96 NAVAL HISTORY. lord Howe on important occasions ; he never asked me how he was to execute any service, but always went and performed it.' We now come to a very critical and important period of the life of this illustrious admiral ; we mean the American war. His lordship was appointed commander- in-chief on the American station, soon after his promotion to the rank of vice-admiral of the blue ; and having hoisted his flag on board the Eagle, of 64 ^us, he arrived at Halifax on the 1st of July, 1776. A detail of the trans- actions which took place during the American contest being foreign to the nature of this work, it must be suf- ficient to observe, that every enterprise, in which the fleet was concerned, was uniformly successful; and every undertaking that was proposed by the general on shore, was warmly supported by the admiral and those under his orders. The conquests of New York, of Rhode Island, of Philadelphia, and of every settlement within the power or reach of a naval force, were undoubted proofs of his zeal and abilities. In 1778, France having become a party in the war, the count d'Estaing unexpectedly appeared on the lith of July in sight of the British fleet at Sandy Hook, with a force of twelve ships of the line, and several frigates and smaller vessels, in a complete state of equipment, having, it was said, no less than 11,000 men on board. Most of the ships under lord Howe had been long on service, and were wretchedly manned, with no line of battle ships of equal size with those of the enemy. The terror, however, of the British flag, and the very name of its noble com- mander, staggered the resolution of d'Estaing, who con- tinued seven days inactive at an anchor about seven miles from Sandy Hook, until the exertions of lord Howe had taken their full eftect, and the judicious defensive dispositions, which he had made, were completed. On d'Estaing's leaving the Hook, lord Howe heard of the critical situation of Rhode Island, and made every possible exertion to relieve it. He put to sea on the 9th of August, and arrived oflf the island the same evening. In his subsequent conduct, he acted chiefly on the de- fensive ; a conduct which the safety of his fleet, and the particular situation of the British cause in America, rendered necessary. He, however, notwithstanding his inferiority of force, contrived to baffle all the designs of HOWE. 397 ilie French admiral; and may be said, considering the disadvantages with which be was surrounded, to have conducted and closed the campaign with honour. Lord Howe now resigned the command of the fleet to admiral Byron ; and on his return to England, immediately struck, his flag. His lordship, for political reasons which we shall not enter upon, remained unemployed until the great change iu administration in the spring of the year 1782, when he was created a peer of Great Britain, by the title of viscount Howe of Langar, in the county of Nottingham, his patent bearing date the *20th of April ; and about the same time he was advanced to be admiral of the blue. Immediately afterwards he accepted the command of the fleet then equipping for the purpose of attempting the relief of Gibraltar. Its force, as the nature of the service required, was extremely formidable, though much inferior to the combined fleets of France and Spain, which lay in Gibraltar bay to dispute its entrance. The British fleet consisted of thirty-four sail of the line ; lord Howe had his flag on board the Victory, having under him vice-admirals Barrington and Milbank, rear-admirals Hood and Hughes, and commodore Hot- ham. That of the enemy amounted to forty-six ships of the line, under eight admirals, or chief d'escadres. The British fleet, with its convoy, entered the straits on the 11th of October, and about five o'clock in the after- noon arrived off the bay of Gibraltar. Previous to this, the necessary dispositions had been made and instruc- tions given to the Panther and Buff"alo, under whose im- mediate protection the store-ships and victuallers were placed, to pass with them under the guns of the fortress. Respecting the relief of Gibraltar, it has justly been said, ' that foreign nations acknowledge its glory, and every future age will confirm it.' Not only the hopes but the fears of his country accompanied lord Howe. The former rested upon his consummate abilities and ap- proved bravery ; while the latter could not but look to the many obstacles he had to subdue, and the superior advantage of the fleet that was to oppose him. Never- theless, he fulfilled the great object of the expedition ; the garrison of Gibraltar was effectually relieved ; the hostile fleet baffled and dared in vain to battle ; the different squadrons detached to their important destinations ; while 398 NAVAL HISTORY. the ardent and certain hopes of his country's foes were disappointed. Lord Howe returned from his expedition on the 10th of November, and arrived in safety at Portsmouth. Peace, as the effect of his success, was concluded almost imme- diately afterwards. In January, 1783, he was appointed first lord of the admiralty, which office he resigned to lord Keppel on the 8th of April following ; but succeeded to it again on the 30th of December in the same year. On the 24th of September, 1787, he was advanced to be admiral of the white ; and in July, 1788, he finally quitted his station at the admiralty. In the following August, he was created an earl of Great Britain, by the title of earl Howe ; and on the commencement of hostilities with Finance, in 1793, his lordship, at the particular request of his sovereign, accepted the important and aiduous com- mand of the Channel fleet. Ample powers, such as have seldom been delegated to any commander-in-chief, were wisely intrusted to his prudence. On the 2nd of May he sailed with the fleet, consisting of thirty-two ships of the line, and about four hundred sail of convoys for different parts of the world. The French fleet of twenty-seven ships of the line sailed from Brest nearly at the same time, under the command of admiral Villaret, an officer of great merit of the old school ; he had been selected by Robespierre, to take the command and put to sea at all hazards, for the express purpose of protecting the fleet laden with corn which was then ex- pected from America ; the scarcity of corn being so great throughout France, that the government determined ra- ther to risk a defeat than to be exposed to famine ; and Villaret assured captain Brenton, many years after, that Robespierre led him to understand, that if he allowed the convoy to fall into the hands of lord Howe, his head should answer for it under the guillotine. The hostile fleets had been at sea about three weeks, and England awaited the account of a naval action with the greatest anxiety. Lord Howe, after seeing his con- voys to the southward of cape Finisterre, detached rear- admiral Montagu with six ships of the line to protect the trade still farther; and then, to endeavour to intercept a rich convoy that was expected from America, under the escort of four French ships of the line, he returned to his station to the westward of Ushant. HOWE. 3t)9 At length the period an-ived which was to stamp the naval career of this great commander with an endurin;^ renown. On the 'iSth of May, when the French fleet was first discovered, it was blowing hard with a heavy sea; the chase was therefore arduous and difficult, the enemy being four or five leagues to windward. The van of tiie British succeeded in bringing on an action that night; and the Audacious, of 74 guns, commanded by captain William Parker, ran alongside of the French ship La llevolutiouaire, of 122 guns. These ships having disabled each other parted company, and about seven in the even ing rear-admiral Pasley, in the Bellerophon, closed with the rear ship of the enemy's line, a three-decker, on which he commenced a firm and resolute attack, supported, oc- casionally, by the ships in his division. Thus ended the 2Sth, and on the following morning the enemy wiis seen to windward, with a heavy sea running. About noon the action was renewed, and lord Howe finding that the signal which he had made for passing through the French line was not clearly understood by the head- most ships, and being impatient to close with the enemy, tacked and broke through the French line of battle ahead of the fifth ship from the rear, making the Queen Char- lotte, which bore his flag (the union at the main), the leading ship. He contin\ied along the weather side of the French line for a considerable time, cut off entirely from the rest of his fleet, and, heaving instantly about, stood unappalled on the same tack with the enemy, raking a French three-decker, which had lost her fore-top-mast, and was edging down into the line. The Bellerophon, which tacked next in succession to the Queen Charlotte, resolutely followed so glorious an example, but could not penetrate the French line until she came to the second ship's stern of the space through which the admiral had passed : when forcing a way through, she came so close to her opponent as almost to touch, and totally unrig her; bringing down her top-masts and lower yards with a star- board broadside, and raking the one to leeward at the same time. The Leviathan, with other ships in the rear, also attempted passing the line, but they were too much disabled to effect it. From the 29th at night until the 31st at noon, a thick fog prevented any decisive opera- tions from taking place on either side, and it was only at intervals, when the weather cleared, that the enemy 400 NAVAL HISTORY. could be discerned. At half-past one the fog dispersed, and the enemy was discovered in a line to leeward, about seven miles distant. Lord Howe immediately formed the line ; but the French ships keeping from the wind pre- vented his closing with them. Seeing that nothing could be effected that night, the earl made the signal to haul the wind on the larboard tack. The enemy soon after did the same, and then the English van was abreast of their centre. The frigates of each fleet were placed in the mid- dle, to observe the motions of their respective enemies ; and the two fleets continued nearly in this situation dur- ing the night, the English carrying more sail in order to be abreast of the enemy by daylight. On the morning of Sunday, the 1st of June, both fleets being dra^vn up in order of battle, the French line con- sisting of twenty-six, and the British of twenty-five, at five A. M. the British admiral made the signal to bear down ; and at half-past eight, being within three miles of the French line, to bear up, and for each ship to engage her opponent in the enemy's line. The French seemed to wait for the attack with great resolution. This is the first instance on record of the French waiting for a gene- ral action upon comparatively equal terms, and their ships not being all commanded by naval officers. At half-past nine the Queen Charlotte opened her fire, and then a most tremendous cannonade commenced from the van to rear, which raged with unceasing fury for about an hour. The enemy's line having been forced through in many places, they began to give way. Their commander-in- chief, rear-admiral Villaret Joyeuse, in La Montagne, of 120 guns, was vigorously attacked by earl Howe in the Queen Charlotte, and in a little time bore away in great confusion ; the effect upon this unfortunate ship was the loss of 300 men killed and wounded. She was followed by all the ships of his fleet which were able to carry sail, leaving those which were dismasted and crippled at the mercy of their opponents. Upon the clearing up of the smoke, eight or ten of the enemy's ships were seen, some totally dismasted, and others with only one mast stand- ing, endeavouring to make off with their spritsails. Seven of these were taken possession of, one of which Le Ven- geur sunk almost immediately, with nearly the whole of her crew. At ten minutes past one the action ended with the centre, and Villaret made sail to leeward to join bis HOWE. 40] disabled ships, but tlie firing between the fugitive and Jiritish ships did not entirely cease till four in the after- noon, by which time the French admiral had collected most of his remaining ships, and steered otf to the eastward. 'J'he Queen Charlotte having lost both her top-masts, the Marlboroui^h and Defence wholly dismasted, and many of the other ships materially damaged, earl Howe broiig-ht- to, to secure the prizes and collect his ships before night. The loss sustained by the British in this severe con- test amounted to 281 killed, and 807 wounded. On the first list was captain James Montagu, of the Montagu ; and in the latter, admirals Graves, Bowyer, and I'as- ley, and captains Berkeley, Sir A. S. Douglas, Harvey, and Hutt ; the two latter died soon after of their wounds. The killed on board the enemy's ships which were cap- tured amounted to 690, the wounded to 5S0, exclusive of about 320 lost in Le V'engeur when she sunk.* On the morning of the 13th of June, the fleet and the prizes were seen from Portsmouth in the offing. Crowds of eager spectators lined the ramparts and beach. When the Queen Charlotte came to an anchor, a salute was fired from the batteries ; and about half-past twelve the earl landed at Sally Port, when a second discharge of artillery took place. He was received on his landing with military honours and reiterated shouts of applause, the baud of the Gloucester militia playing ' See, the con- quering hero comes!' Lord Howe was in the seventy- second year of his age when this great naval victory was obtained. On the 26th of the same month their majesties, with three of the princesses, an'ived at Portsmouth, and pro- ceeded the next morning in barges to visit lord Howe's ship the Queen Charlotte at Spithead. His majesty held a naval levee on board, and presented the victorious ad- miral with a sword enriched with diamonds, valued at three thousand guineas, and a gold chain, to which the medal given on the occasion was suspended. At this * Upon tills celebrated victory captain Brenton remarks, ' that had lord Howi! burnt his captured vessels, and followed up his advantasre, he niig^ht have terminated the g-reatest naval campaign recorded in his- tory,' and comple-ted the destruction of the enemy. He su-jjfests that hliips destroyed i^hoiild be equally paid for as prizes brought into port, which would lead commanders to be more intent upon the destruction of the enemy than in capturin°: and savin? (heir ships as prizes.— Set Brenlou's Naval History, vol.T. page i32. 402 NAVAL HISTORY. Toyal interview, the earl, with the genuine modesty of a seaman, nobly transferred the compliments paid himself to his crew, savins: with an emphasis, * 'Tis not I ! 'tis those brave fellows,' pointing to the seamen, ' who have gained the victory.'* His lordship also received the thanks of both houses of parliament, and of the common council of London, with the freedom of that city in a gold box. Earl Howe continued to command the Channel fleet till May, 1795, when ill health obliged him to resign. In the next year he was appointed admiral of the fleet and general of marines, on the vacancy occasioned by the death of admiral Forbes ; and for a short time he re- sumed the command of the western squadron, but finally struck his flag in April, 1797 ; when, on the 2nd of June, he was invested with the insignia of the garter. The last public act of the life of this great man, so long and so successfully employed against the foreign enemies of his country, was exerted to compose its internal dis- sensions. It was the lot of earl Howe to contribute to the restoration of the fleet, which he had conducted to glory on the sea, to loyalty in the harbour. His experience suggested the measures to be pursued by government on the alarming mutinies which, in 1797, distressed and ter- rified the nation ; while his personal exertions powerfully contributed to remove that dissatisfaction which had, for a time, changed the very nature of British seamen, and greatly assisted to recall them to their former habits of duty and obedience. His lordship died in September, 1799. By his lady, Mary, daughter of Chiverton Hanop, esq. of Welby, county of Notts, whom he married in 17.58, he left issue— 1. Sophia Charlotte, who married the Hon. Pen Ashton Curzon, eldest son of the first viscount Curzon, and suc- ceeded her father as baroness Howe ; 2. Mary Juliana, who died unmarried, April 1800 ; 3. Louisa Catherine, who married, first, John-Dennis, first marquis of Sligo, a)id, secondly, lord Stowell. ♦ The Drize-inoney paid on this occasion, was— To each of the warrant-officers . . . . £25 To each of tlie petty-officers iO To each of the sailors 2801 HUGHES. 408 SIR EDWARD HUGHES, K. B. DIED IN 1794. This brave and prudent commander was the son of a gentleman of good property, who was many years an alderman, and once, if not oftener, mayor of Hertford. He entered the navy at an early period of life, and on the 25th of August, 1740, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant by admiral Vernon, as a reward for his merit at the capture of I'orto Bello. From this time we have no account of him till the year 1747, at which period he continued a lieutenant, and went out a passenger to Louisbourg in the Warwick, with strong recommenda- tions to cojomodore Knowles, who then commanded on that station. By that gentleman he was advanced to the rank of post-captain, on the 6th of February, 1748, and appointed to command the Lark frigate. From this period we meet with no farther mention of him, till 1756, when he was appointed to the command of the Deal Castle, of 24 guns. In 1757, he was captain of the Somerset, of 74 guns, in which ship he served in 1758, under admiral Boscawen, at the siege of Louisbourg; and the year following, in the memorable expedition against Quebec, under Sir Charles Saunders, by whom he was particularly noticed, and whose flag he soon after had the honour to carry on board the Blenheim, which ship he commanded in the Mediterranean a short time previous to the peace of 1763. He does not appear to have held any command from this time until the end of the year 17/0, when in consequence of the dispute with Spain, relative to the Falkland islands, he was appointed to the Somerset. He remained in this ship during the three succeeding years, and at the con- clusion of that time was appointed to command on the East India station, through the influence of the earl of Sandwich, with the rank of commodore ; when he sailed to that quarter in the Salisbury, of 50 guns, and after re- maining there till the year 1777, returned to England without having an opportunity of performing any im- portant service. 404 NAVAL HISTORY. On the 23rd of January, 1778, he was promoted to the rank of reai'-admiral of the blue, and in the beginninir of the ensuing year was a^ain appointed to the command in chief in the East Indies. About the same time he was honoured with the Order of the Bath, and hoisting his flag ou board the Superb, 74, he proceeded for India with the Exeter and Burford, 70, and the Eagle, Belle- isle, and Worcester, of 64 guns each, under his com- mand. On his passage he reduced the French settlement of Goree on the coast of Africa. Finding on his anival in India, that the enemy had no force in that quarter capable of contending with his squadron, and judging that their services might be wanted at home, he ordered the Belleisle, together with the Asia and Rippon, under commodore Vernon, to return to England. It has been asserted that the admiral's motive for sending these ships to England was, that his share of prize-money, ou the lucrative station where he commanded, might not be diminished by the number of ships in his squadron : but we are inclined to consider this as nothing more than a repetition of the same idle calumny, which in a similar case was applied to lord Anson, and has been attached in several instances to many honourable and disinterested characters. At this time the British affairs in India were in a very critical state, owing to the war with the Rohilla chiefs and Hyder Ally, and the discontent which prevailed in Bengal in consequence of the rapacity of the servants of the East India company, and the little attention that was paid to the laws, manners, and usages, of the natives. 'I'he English, masters of a territory containing more than thirty millions of inhabitants, had to fear not only the efforts of powerful external enemies, but to dread the struggle of discontented subjects, who beheld with an- guish and indignation the wealth of their fertile country transferred to strangers, their customs violated by foreign regulations, and the venerable institutions of their ances- tors ridiculed and abused. It has been acknowledged, whatever were the causes, that the British power in India was at this period shaken to the centre, and that it was scarcely in a more dangerous situation when the ferocious Soujah al Dowlah was in possession of the capital of Ben- gal, and the affrighted governor, with the chief of his officers, had fled to the shipping for protection. HUGHES. 405 lu this state of affairs the command in chief in India was a charge of the highest responsibility and importance, but so far as the French were concerned every thing re- mained in almost a perfect state of tranquillity till the end of the year 17SI. In this interval the only occurrence deserving of notice was the following little successful en- terprise undertaken against Hyder Ally's naval force, which was thus described by the vice-admiral in a letter to a friend : — ' On the 9th of December, 1780, being off Mangalore, the principal sea poJ-t of Hyder Ally, on the Malabar coast, 1 saw two ships, a large snow, three ketches, and many smaller vessels, at anchor in the road, with Ally's colours flying on board them. Standing with the squadron close into the road, I found them to be vessels of force, and all armed for war: on which I anchored as close to the ene- my's vessels as possible with safety to the ships, and ordered the armed boats of the squadron to attack and destroy them under cover of the fire of the company's two armed snows, and of the prize ship cut out of Calicut road, which were anchored in shoal water and close to the enemy's ships. This service was conducted on the part of our boats with a spirit and activity that did much honour to the officers, and all employed in them. In two hours they took and burnt two ships, one of '28, the other of 20 guns ; a ketch of 12 guns was blown up by the ene- my at the instant our boats were boarding her ; another ketch of 10 guns, which cut her cables and endeavoured to put to sea, was taken ; and the third ketch and the smaller vessels were all forced on shore, the snow only escaping into the harbour, after having thrown every thing overboard to lighten her.' In November, 1781, admiral Hughes, in conjunction with Sir Hector Munro, attacked the Dutch settlement of Negapatam, in the district of Tanjore. The place, though defended by a garrison of 8000 men, of which, however, only 500 were Europeans, surrendered after a slight resistance. The capture of Negapatam struck such terror into Hyder Ally, that his troops immediately eva- cuated the Tanjore district, and the Polygars, or petty princes, who, at the instigation of Hyder, had revolted from the nabob of the Carnatic, returned to their obedi- ence on the best terms they could obtain. The admiral uext undertook an expedition against Trincomalee, in the 406 NAVAL HISTORY, island of Ceylon, which was taken by assault on the llth of January 1782, together with two large Dutch East India ships, valuably laden, and several small vessels whicl were in the harbour. Hitherto the British fleet had continued undisturbed masters of the Indian seas ; but the French, who had long been preparing to re-establish their equality, if not supe- riority of force in that quarter, had dispatched thither several small reinforcements which had been permitted to proceed unmolested from Europe. They then made a great effort and sent out five ships of the line, besides seve- ral others armed en flute, under the command of M. de Suffrein, one of the ablest officers that the French marine ever produced. The BHtish squadron being in want of stores and provisions, Sir Edward Hughes sailed from Trincomalee on the 31st of January, and arrived in Madras road on the 8th of February, 1782. The same day he received advice from the governor, that a French squadron, con- sisting of thirty sail of ships and vessels, was at anchor about twenty leagues to the northward of that port. On the 9th the admiral was joined by three ships of war and an armed transport, and the utmost expedition was used to get the stores and provisions on board ; but before that could be done, the enemy's fleet appeared in the ofling, and on the 15th, at noon, came to an anchor about four miles without the road. The enemy's force consisted of twelve sail of the line, six frigates, and eight large ships armed en flute, while the British squadron consisted but of nine two-decked ships, one of them carrying only 50 guns, a 20 gun ship, and a fire-ship. The British admiral immediately placed his ships, with springs on their cablea in the most advantageous position to defend themselves and the numerous shipping which lay within them in the road. At four in the afternoon, SuflFrein suddenly weighed and stood to the southward. A detachment of soldiers from the garrison of Madras being put on board the fleet to act as marines, the British admiral got under weigh, and pursued the enemy during the night, under an easy sail. At day-break the next morning he found that their fleet had separated — the ships of the line and a frigate were about four leagues to the eastward of the British fleet, the rest of the frigates, with the transports, were about three leagues to the S. W. steering directly HUGHES. 407 for PouJicUerry. Sir Kilward Husrhes iniuieJiately made the siyriial for a general chase in that quarter, in order, if possible, to cut off the transports, which nii^ht be the means of forcing: M. de Suffrein to give him battle, should he venture down to the protection of his convoy. In the course of the chase, six sail of the convoy were captured, five of which were English vessels, taken by the enemy when to the northward of Madras, and the sixth was a large French transport named the Lauris- ton, deeply laden with military stores, and having on board many officers and 3U0 men belonging to the regi- ment of Lausanne. Aa soon as M. de Suffrein perceived the danger of his convoy, he bore down with all the sail he could set; about three o'clock in the afternoon, four of the enemy's best sailing line of battle ships were within two or three miles of the stemmost of the British, but no action took place, and the hostile squadrons continued in sight of each other all night. At daylijTht in the morning of the 17rh the enemy's squadron was about three leagues to the N. E. The weather proved extremely squally, with baffling and uncertain winds, which prevented the squadrons from approaching each other till the afternoon ; when, after various manoeuvres on both sides, a favourable squall about four o'clock permitted Suffrein to bear down with his whole force on the centre and rear of the British, who had little or no wind. Thus circumstanced. Sir Edward Hughes had not time to form in close order be- fore he was warmly attacked by eight of the enemy's best ships. The Exeter, which was the sternraost ship, and a bad sailer, being at some distance from her second ahead, was most furiously attacked by three of the French ships. M. de Suffrein, in the Hero, bore down, and fell with no less violence on Sir Edward Hughes in the Superb. The van of the British all this time lay almost becalmed, and could render no assistance to their friends , so that the brunt of the action fell on only five of the British ships, the enemy never advancing farther than the Superb. The action was supported with great vigour on ijoth sides till six o'clock, when a sudden squall gave the British fleet the advantage of the wind, who in their turn attacked the enemy with so much resolution and spirit, that in less than half an hour the French hauled 408 NAVAL HISTORY. their wind, and stood to the N. E. after having- suffered very severely. As it was evidently the design of Suffrein to disable the Superb and Exeter, those two ships were materially damaged. The Superb's maiu-yard was cut in two in the siiugs, and she had above four feet water in the hold, which gained considerably upon them, until the shot- holes were plugged up. The Exeter was almost reduced to a complete wreck, having at times from three to five ships upon her; and but for the prompt and gallant assistance aflbrded her by captain Wood, in the Hero, she most probably would have been sunk. Commodore King, who commanded her, displayed the most unshaken fortitude and presence of mind. Tov»ards the close of the action, as two of the enemy's ships were bearing down to attack the Exeter, already a wreck, it is reported that the master asked the commodore what he sho-old do with the ship, to whom he bravely replied, ' There is nothing to be done but to fight her till she sinks.' In the morning the enemy was out of sight; and Sir Edward proceeded to Trincomalee to repair his damages, where he arrived on the 24th of February. Indecisive as this engagement may appear, its consequences were of the utmost importance to the stability of the British empire in India. The French had been for years preparing this armament at a vast expense, and had formed the most flattering prospects of success. Its arrival in India was regarded by the enemies of the British government, in that quarter, as the final period of our power on the coast of Coromandel ; Hyder Ally had formed the strongest hopes of our expulsion with its assistance, and the French themselves came in the full confidence of obtaining a complete victory. The gover- nor-general and supreme council of Bengal, in their letter of congratulation to Sir Edward Hughes on this occasion, make use of the following forcible expressions, which, when we consider their rank, and the opportu- nities they had of judging of the extent of danger which threatened them, will convey a sU'oug idea of the value of the admiral's service. ' We regard,' say they, ' your late action with the French fleet as the crisis of our fate in the Carnatic, and in the result of it we see that pro- vince relieved and preserved, and the permanency oJ HUGHES. 409 the British power in India firmly established.' In another part of their letter they say, ' a proof so unequivocal of the superior courage and discipline of the officers and seamen under your command, and of their confidence in their leader, must excite in the mind of all the powers of India, a confirmed opinion of the unrivalled military character of the British nation.' The governor and council of Madras addressed the admiral in terms equally flattering. ' The very masterly and spirited manner,' say they, ' in which you bore down upon the French fleet at your departure from these roads, claimed at that time our warmest thanks ; and we now most sincerely con- gTatulate you on the new honour which the British flag has acquired by the courage and conduct so eminently displayed by you, in the late encounter against such superior numbers.' The necessary repairs having been completed with the utmost expedition, Sir Edward Hughes sailed from Trincomalee on the 4th of March, and on the i2th anchored in Madras road. He again put to sea with a reinforcement of troops and a quantity of military stores for the garrison of Trincomalee : on the 30th he was joined by the Sultan, 74, and Mai'nanime, 64, from England, both which ships were very sickly, and had suffered much from the scurvy. Sir Edward notwithstanding judged it most advantageous for the public service, as he knew the enemy's squadron was to the southwaid, not to return to Madras to land the sick and scorbutic of the two ships, but to proceed direct for Trincomalee, ' without,' to use his own words, ' either seeking or avoiding the enemy.' On the 6th of April the squadron fell in with a French ship from Mauritius, having on board dispatches from France for their commanders-in-chief by sea and land : the ship was driven on shore and burnt, nearTrauquebar, but the crew escaped with the dispatches. On the 8th, at noon, the enemy's squadron, consisting of eighteen sail, was discovered to leeward in the N. E. quarter; but agreeable to his previous resolution. Sir Edward continued his course. Daring the three following days the enemy kept in sight, without any encounter taking place ; but on the 12th, at daylight, Suffrein having obtained the weather-gage, in consequence of Sir Edward's bearing away for Trincomalee, and their copper- 410 NAVAL HISTORY. boitomed ships gaining much on the rear of the Butish squadron, the admiral, notwithstanding their superiority, determined to engage them, rather than risk even the appearance of wishing to avoid an action. At nine in the morning the signal was made for the British squadron to form the line ; but the enemy, who were then about six miles distant, spent upwards of three hours in manoeu- vring ; and at last, about fifteen minutes past noon, bore down for the purpose of commencing the action. Five of their van stretched forward to engage that of the British, while the French admiral, with seven other ships, steered directly down on the Superb, the Monmouth her second ahead, and the Monarca her second astern. At half-past one the engagement began in the van of both squadrons; and a few minutes afterwards, Suffrein, in the Hero, with her second ascem, I'Orient, bore down on the Superb within pistol-shot, and continued in that position, giving and receiving a most dreadful fire for nine minutes ; the Hero then stood on greatly damaged to attack the Monmouth, which was already closely en- gaged with another of the enemy's ships. This made room for the ships in the French admiral's rear to come up and attack the British centre, where the battle raged with the greatest violence. At three o'clock the Mon- mouth, after having sustained with unparalleled fortitude the attacks of two ships, had her mizen-mast shot away, and soon after her main-mast met the same fate. She was now compelled to bear out of the line to leeward, and would have been carried by the enemy, had not the admiral, followed by the Sultan and Monarca, instantly bore down to her relief. At forty minutes past three, the wind continuing to the northward, without any sea breeze, and being apprehensive lest the ships should be entangled with the shore, the admiral made the signal for the ships to wear, and haul their wind in a line of battle on the larboard tack, still continuing to engage the enemy. At forty minutes past five, the squadron being in fifteen fathoms water, and fearful lest the Monmouth in her disabled state might drift too near the shore, the admiral made the signal to prepare to anchor. The French squadron about this time drew off in great disorder to the eastward, and the engagement ceased. Soon after, the British fleet name to an anchor. The HUGHES. 411 Hero, Stiffrein's ship, was so raucb damaged, that he was obliged to shift his flag into the Hannibal, of the same force. Just at dark the French frigate La Fine, of 40 guns, having been either ordered to tow off the Hero, or reconnoitre the situation of the British squadron, came so close to the Isis, 50, that she fell on board her, and was obliged to strike her colours ; but taking advantage of the darkness of the night, and the disabled state of the Isis, just come out of action, in which she had a number of men killed and wounded, exclusive of her having before been so badly manned, the French frigate pro- fited by these circumstances, and escaped. The loss sustained by the Superb in this encounter was severe, amounting to fifty-nine men killed, and niuety- six wounded ; among the former were two lieutenants and the master. In this situation both squadrons con- tinued at anchor and in sight for five days, during which time ihey both were busily employed in repairing their damages until the morning of the 19th, when the enemy got under sail with the land wind, and stood out to sea close hauled. At noon they tacked with the sea breeze, and stood in directly for the body of the British squadron, as if determined on an immediate attack ; but when they arrived within two miles of the British line, they found them so well prepared for their reception, that the French admiral tacked, and standing to the eastward by the wind, was entirely out of sight by the evening. On the departure of the French fleet, Sir Edward Hughes proceeded with his squadron to Triucomalee, where he arrived on the 22nd, and immediately landed the reinforcement and military stores destined for the garrison, and the sick and wounded of his squadron, which were very numerous. Having refitted the Monmouth and the rest of his ships as well as circumstances would permit, he sailed from Trincomalee on the 24th of June, and the following day anchored in Negapatam road. Here he was informed that the French squadron was at anchor off Cuddalore, which place had surrendered to their land forces. He continued at anchor in Negapatam road till the 5th of July, when the French squadron, consisting of eighteen sail, as before, twelve of which were of the line, came in sight about noon. At three P. M. Sir Edward weighed with his squadron, and stood 412 NAVAL HISTORY. to the southward all that evening and night, in order to get to windward of the enemy. At daylight on the morning of the Cth, the admiral having gained this essential point, formed his line of battle abreast, and bore away towards the enemy ; soon after he threw out the signal for each ship to bear down directly upon her opposite in the Fiench line, and bring her to close action. These orders were admirably obeyed, and for some considerable time the engagement was close, wai-m, and generally well supported on both sides. The firing had commenced in the French line at twenty minutes before eleven o'clock, but was not returned by the British ships until they were sufficiently near for their shot to have the desired effect. The action was ge- neral from van to rear, until thirty-five minutes past twelve, when the enemy's ships appeared to have suf- fered extremely, both in their hulls and masts. The van ship had been obliged to bear away out of the line ; and the Brilliant, the French admiral's second ahead, had lost her main-mast. At this critical moment, the sea breeze set in with unusiial violence, which threw both fleets into great disorder, and SuftVein taking advantage of it, stood in shore, and collected his ships in a close body, while the British squadron remained much dis- pei-sed, and several of them ungovernable. In this situation the admiral was obliged to give up his design of renewing the engagement. At half-past four he hauled down the signal for the line of battle, and at half-past five anchored between Negapatam and Nagore. Soon after the French squa- dron anchored about three leagues to leeward. The night was employed in securing the lower masts and refitting the ships. At nine o'clock the next morning, the admiral had the mortification to see the enemy's squadron get under sail, and return to Cuddalore road, their disabled ships ahead, and those less damaged with the frigates in their rear to cover their retreat, while his own ships remained in too disabled a condition either to prevent or puisue them. Finding it impossible to pursue the enemy, and the ammunition as well as the stores of the squadron being nearly exhausted, the admiral was obliged to proceed with his ships to Madras road, the only place where he could obtain a supply of the necessaries which htt HUGHES. 413 wauted. He arrived at Madras on the 20th of July, and immediately exerted himself with his usual zeal, ac- tivity, aud perse vei'ance, to put the squadron in a con- dition for service. It was one of the characteristics of Sir Edward Hughes, that he was brave to an excess in action, and at the same time cool, considerate, and col- lected : besides, when it was necessary, he entered into all the miuutiie of the service, aud afibrded every one under his command an excellent example of attention to the duties of his station and regard for the honour of his country. The splendour of heroic achievements sheds a lustre around them, which often prevents us from bestowing a due portion of praise on the prudence, fore- sight, and cautious vigilance, of a commander; but these are qualities not less requisite than courage to the com position of a real hero; and these Sir Edward Hughes possessed in an eminent degree. On the 20tn of August, the squadron having completed its provisions, and being in a tolerable condition for ser- vice, sailed from .Madras road, with an intent to protect Trincomalee, and for the purpose of covering a reinforce- ment that was expected from Europe. The admiral used all possible diligence to get to the southward, but on his arrival off Trincomalee, on the 2nd of September, he had the mortification to discover French colours flying on all the forts, and the same French squadron at anchor in the bay which he had already engaged three times. Suffrein had been reinforced by two ships of the line and a 50 gun ship, and his squadron had also received a supply of necessaries by a convoy of transports from Europe. The next morning Suffrein got under sail with four- teen ships of the line, three frigates and a lire-ship, and stood out of the bay, with the wind off the land, which placed them to windward of the British squadron. Sir Edward Hughes immediately made the signal for the line of battle ahead at two cables length distance, short- ened sail, and edged away before the wind, that the ships might the more speedily get into their respective stations. The French kept aloof till the afternoon, when about half-past two o'clock their line began to fire on the British, which was in a few minutes returned, and the engagement soon became general. The two additional 414 NAVAL HISTORY. ships of the enemy's line fell furiously on the Worcester, the rear ship ; but she made so gallant a resistance, and was so well supported by the Monmouth the second ahead, who threw all her sails aback and poured in a close and heavy fire upon the enemy, that the attack entirely failed on that side. At the same time five of the enemy's van ships bore down together on the Exeter and Isis, the two headmost ships, and by an incessant and powerful fire forced the Exeter, much disabled, out of the line ; they then tacked, keeping their wind, and firing on the Isis and other ships of the van as they passed. The centres of the two lines, during this time, were warmly engaged, ship to ship. The rival commanders, in the Superb and Hero, fought each other with the greatest fury. At half-past three the mizen-mast of the French admiral's second astern was carried away, and at the same time her second ahead lost her fore and mizen-top-masts. At half-past five the wind shifting suddenly from S. W. to E. S. E. Sir Edward Hughes made the signal to wear, which was instantly obeyed with admirable promptness and order, the enemy's squa- dron wearing or staying at the same time, until the British renewed the engagement with fresh vigour. At twenty minutes past six, the French admiral's main- mast was shot away by the board, and soon after his mizen-mast followed it. At seven o'clock the body of the French fleet hauled their wind to the southward, and became exposed to a severe and galling fire from the British rear for twenty minutes, when the engage- ment ceased. The British squadron, after so long and obstinate an action, was in no condition to pursue the enemy, and at daylight the next morning they were out of sight. Thus in less than twelve months Sir Edward Hughes was four times severely engaged with a force consider- ably superior to his own, and commanded by an officer of as great skill and courage as the French nation ever produced. Yet under these disadvantages, he maintained the honour of the British character for naval pre-emi- nence unsullied; and if he gained no decisive victories, or signalized himself by no extensive defeat of the ene- my, the services he rendered his country were substan- tial rather than splendid, solid rather than dazzling. HUGHES. 415 After the last action Sir Edward repaired with the squadron to Bombay, the season for naval operations on the coast of Coromandel being at an end. He was joined at Bombay by a reinforcement from England, under Sir Richard Bickerton, consisting of six sail of the hne, and one ship of 50 guns. The war had termi- nated in Europe early in the year 1783, but intelligence of that event had not reached India in the month of June, when, on the 13th, being oflf Cuddalore, which was besieged by the East India company's forces, under general Stuart, Suffrein's squadron once more appeared iu sight to the southward. A variety of trifling manoeu- rres took place between this time and the 20th, when the French admiral having the advantage of the weather- gage, and probably being informed of the weak state of Sir Edward's squadron, on account of the havoc made by the scurvy amoiig the crews of the different ships, particularly those last arrived, bore down to engage about four o'clock in the afternoon, and began the action with a heavy cannonade, which was returned with the greatest spirit by the English. The action continued three hours, when the enemy hauled off, and Sir Edward collected his squadron. The loss on this occasion was less than it had been in former encounters. On board Sir Edward's ship twelve were killed and forty-one wounded ; and the total loss of the squadron was ninety-nine killed, and four hundred and thirty-seven wounded. On the 22nd, the enemy were again discovered off Pon- dicherry, but no encounter took place ; and on the 25th the British admiral arrived at Madras, where he re- ceived the intelligence that peace had been concluded. In consequence of this hostilities were mutually sus- pended, and the British fleet returned to England, at intervals, in divisions. After his arrival, Sir Edward never took upon him any subsequent command. He had been advanced, on the 19th of JIarch, 1779, to be rear-admiral of the red, and on the 26th of September, 17S0, to be vice-admiral of the blue. On the 24th of September, 1787, he was advanced to be vice-admiral of the red ; as he was afterwards to be admiral of the blue, on the 1st of February, 1793. He died at his seat at Luxborough,in Essex, on the I7th of February, 1791, full of years and honours. 416 NAVAL HISTORY. THOMAS GRAVES, LORD GRAVES, IN THE PEERAGE OF IRELAND. DIED IN 1801. The uame of this admiral is associated with two im- portant events in our naval history — the calamitous hurricane, in 1782, in which the homeward-bound fleet and convoy under his command suffered the greatest loss in ships and men which it has ever been our mis- fortune to experience; and the other, the celebrated de- feat of the French fleet on the 1st of June, 1794, when, as second in command under earl Howe, he contributed in an eminent degree to the success of that memorable action. This admiral was the second son of rear-admiral Tho- mas Graves, of Shanck.es, in the county of Cornwall, and having been intended for the naval profession, he went to sea at a very early age under the protection of commodore Medley, who was then governor of New- foundland. In 1740, he accompanied his father, then captain Graves, in the Norfolk, of 80 guns, to the siege of Carthagena, under admiral Vernon, where this ship led the attack on the forts. The Norfolk returned to England towards the end of 1741, and from thence pro- ceeded to the Mediterranean, to join admiral Matthews, where, in 1743, Mr. Graves was made lieutenant of the Romney, in which ship he was engaged in the action off Hieres in the following year. In 1746, he accompanied admiral Lestock upon the expedition against Port rOrient, as second lieutenant ; and in the following year he removed into the Monmouth, in which ship he was engaged in the May and October fights under Anson and Hawke. In 1751 he commanded the Hazard sloop of war, and at the breaking out of the war with France was ordered ofl" Brest to look for the French grand fleet, which was reported to be destined for North America ; and having the good fortune to fall in with them on their return into the port of Brest, he stood twice across their line, and was able to transmit so correct an account of the force of every ship to lord Anson, at a very critical raoment, that his lordship, as a mark of his satisfaction. GRAVES. 417 immediately promoted him to the rank, of post-captain, and promised him his future friendship. In 17G1, captain Graves was appointed to the Antelope, of 50 guns, and shortly afterwards to the command in chief on the Newfoundland station, with the rank of com- modore, where, in the following year, he re-captured the settlement of St. John's, which had been taken by the French squadron under M. de Tiernay, who meditated the conquest of the whole islund. On his return to Eng- land, after the termination of hostilities with France in 17G3, he was selected to proceed to the coast of Africa to correct various abuses which prevailed in that quar- ter, which he performed to the satisfaction of govern- ment, the merchants, and the public. In 1769, he was appointed to the Temeraire, of 74 guns, then a guard- ship at Portsmouth; in 1775, he received the honourable and lucrative appointment of colonel of marines ; and about the same time, he was chosen member of parlia- ment for the borough of East Looe, in Cornwall. In 177<>, he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue, and having hoisted his tiag on board the Lon- don, 98, he sailed to America with a reinforcement of six sail of the line. On his passage he captured a valuable East India ship; and for some time after his arrival in America, he served under the orders of admiral Arbuth- not, and was principally employed in tlie blockade of Rhode Island. In 1781 he succeeded admiral Arbuthnot in the command in chief on the American station, but the superiority of the French fleet kept him confined to the Hudson; until being joined by rear-admiral Sir Samuel Hood with a reinforcement of fourteen ships of the line, from the West Indies, he put to sea with nineteen sail ; and on the 5th of September the French fleet was discovered at anchor near cape Henry, con- sisting of twenty-four sail of the line, under the count de Grasse. As soon as the French admiral perceived the British fleet, he stood out to sea, forming his ships in line of battle, as they drew from the land. About four in the afternoon a partial engagement commenced, which lasted till sunset, when the firing ceased. The fleets remained in sight of each other for five days, during which time the enemy shewed no inclination to renew the attack, although they often had it in their power ; and admiral Graves, in pursuance of the reso- 418 NAVAL HISTORY, lution of a council of war, returned to New York. In this action the British loss amounted to ninety killed and two hundred and thirty wounded, and many of the English ships received considerable damage, particular! j- the Terrible, 74, which it was found necessary to destroy. The American war ha>ing been terminated in the fol- lowing month, Oct. 19, by the capture of earl Cornwallis's army, which admiral Graves had in vain attempted to relieve, his presence became unnecessary'; he re- signed the command to rear-admiral Digby, and pro- ceeded to Jamaica, capturing the French ship Imperieux, of 38 guns, on his passage. And having obtained leave to return to England, he was appointed by lord Rodney to command the convoy to be sent home with a nume- rous fleet of merchantmen in the month of July. The ships of war placed under his command were the Ra- millies, Canada, and Centaur, 74's, and the Pallas, frigate ; with the following French ships taken by lord Rodney on the preceding I2th of August, and being the trophies of his splendid victory : viz. the Ville de Paris, 110, the Glorieux and Hector, 74's, and the Ardent, Caton, and Jason, of 64 guns each. All these ships were in a wretched condition and badly manned : the British ships from having been a long time from England and in many engagements, and the prizes from the want of proper repairs. Admiral Graves hoisted his flag on board the Ramillies, and sailed from Bluefields on the 25th of July, 1782, with the squadron under his command and a numerous convoy. This ill-fated fleet had not long- sailed when it encountered such tempestuous weather as to induce the oSicers of the Ardent to unite in represent- ing the unfitness of that ship to proceed on her voyage. This led the admiral to order her back to Port Royal, and the Jason, by not putting to sea for want of water, never joined him. The rest proceeded ; but the Hector lost company about the 20th of August, in the Gulf stream, in latitude 34" north, and the whole convoy, after those for New Y^ork had separated, became reduced to ninety- two or ninety-three sail. On the 8th of September the Catun sprung a leak, and shewed such alarming symp- toms, that the admiral directed her and the Pallas, that had likewise become leaky, to bear away imme- diately for Halifax, which then bore N.N.W. about eighty-seven leagues. The afternoon of the 16th of Sep- GRAVES. 419 tember shewing indications of a gale and foul weather, every preparation was made on board the llag-ship, not only on account of her own safety, but also by way of example to the rest of the fleet. The admiral collected the ships about six o'clock, and brought-to under his main-sail on the larboard tack, having all his other sails furled, and his top-gallant yards and masts lowered down. The wind soon increasing, with a heavy sea, about three o'clock on the morning of the 17th the tempest was so furioiis, accompanied with rain, thunder, and lightning, that at the instant when all their exer- tions were necessary to save the ship from foundering, it was not possible for the seamen to face the weather. The Ramillies was taken by the lee, her main-sheet thrown aback, her main-mast and the mizen-mast half- way up came by the board, the fore-top-mast fell over the starboard bow, the fore-yard broke in the slings, the tiller snapped in two, and the rudder was nearly torn off. Thus was this capital ship reduced in a few minutes to a mere wreck, by the fury of the storm, and the beating of the sea, both acting in opposition to each other. At dawn of day the Dutton store-ship was perceived under their lee, water logged, with her ensign hoisted downward, in order to draw the attention of the fleet ; but to no avail, for no succour could be given, and she very soon after went down head foremost: only twelve or thirteen of the crew were saved, by sliding off one of the boats, and running with the wind, in the di- rection of one of the ships, which fortunately descried them, and flung over ropes to them, by the help of which these desperate fellows scrambled up her side, and fortunately saved their lives. Out of ninety-four or ninety-five sail seen the day before, hardly twenty could now be counted. At this time the Ville de Paris ap- peared unhurt. This noble ship was commanded by cap- tain George Wilkinson, a most experienced seaman, who had made twenty-four voyages to and from the West Indies, and on this account had been appointed to lead the fleet through the Gulf, but nevertheless she was afterwards buried in the ocean, with all on board, con- sisting of upwards of eight hundred people. The Canada was seen half-hull down, upon the lee quarter. The Centaur, far to windward, without masts, bowsprit, or 2P'2 420 NAVAL HISTORY. rudder; aud the Glorieux, without foremast, bowsprit, or mam-top-mast. Of these, the two latter perished with all their crew, except captain Inglefield of the Centaur, and ten of his people, who contrived to slip off from her stern in one of the boats without being no- ticed, and after being exposed to hunger and fatigue for sixteen days in the midst of the Atlantic, they succeeded in escaping the fate of the rest. During the three following days every effort was made to prevent the Ramillies from foundering, but the storm continuing, it became evident on the morning of the 2lst that it could not be much longer prevented. In this ex- tremity the admiral resolved not to lose a moment in removing the sick, and accordingly at dawn the signal was made for the boats of the merchantmen, which was readily obeyed. The sick were first removed, and then the people themselves were permitted to go off, and be- tween nine and ten o'clock, there being nothing farther to direct or regulate, the admiral himself quitted the Ramillies, which had then nine feet water in her hold. He was rowed to the Belle, captain Forster, which was the first of the trade that had borne up to the Ramillies the night before in her imminent distress, and by her example sixteen others were induced to follow. By three o'clock most of the men were taken out, at which time the Ramillies had thirteen feet water in her hold, and was manifestly foundering. At half-past four, the captain, with every soul except the fourth lieutenant, left her, and this latter gentleman only tarried to set fire to the wreck, which was accordingly done. The carcass burned rapidly, and the flames quickly reached the powder in the after magazine, and in thirty-five minutes the decks and upper works blew up with a ter- rible explosion, while the bottom was precipitated into the ocean. The admiral, at this time in the Belle, con- tinued near to the wreck to see his last orders executed, as well as to succour any boats that might be too full of men, the swell of the sea being prodigious, although the weather had been moderate since the noon of the previous day; but within two hours after the last of the crew were put on board the respective ships, the wind rose to a great height, and so continued without inter- mission for six or seven days successively, insomuch GRAVES. 421 that no boat in the time could have lived in the water. On so small an interval depended the lives of more than six hundred men. Upon their separation taking place, the officers were distributed with portions of the crew among the mer- chant ships, and a pendant was hoisted on board the Belle, by way of distinction, to lead, if possible, the rest ; some of the trade kept with her, and others made the best of their way, under the apprehension that they should soon be short of provisions. The Silver Eel transport, which had sailed from Bluefields with the in- valids of Rodney's fleet, ran into Falmouth on the 6th of October; but the Canada, prior to this, had arrived at Portsmouth, where she spread the news of the dis- persion of this unfortunate fleet, which being conveyed to France, her privateers immediately put to sea in hopes of capturing some of them. Two of the merchant ships, with part of the crew of the Ramillies, were cap- tured in sight of the Belle, but she herself, with the admiral and thirty-three of her crew, got safe though singly into Cork harbour on the 10th of October. Ad- miral Graves immediately hoisted his flag on board the Myrmidon frigate, which happened to be there, and sailing with the first fair wind, arrived on the 17th in Plymouth sound. Great as were the sufferings on board the Ramillies, they were mild in comparison to those endured by the officers and crew of the Centaur, which only became known from the miraculous preservation of her cap- tain (Inglefield) and ten of the crew. The suffering on board the Hector was also very great ; and after hav- ing contended with the storm until the ship was a wreck and the crew greatly reduced by exhaustion and death, they were obliged to defend themselves against two French frigates, who attacked them in concert, and which they beat off" only to endure a continuance of misery. Of eight ships of the line only the Canada re- turned to England, and the Pallas frigate was run on shore at Fayal. Many merchant vessels were lost, and it is computed that not less than 3500 persons perished on this calamitous occasion, and the ships which were the trophies of Rodney's victories. Peace having been concluded almost immediately after this melancholy event, the admiral remained unemployed 422 NAVAL HISTORY. till 1788, when he was appointed commander-in-chief at Plymouth, and he hoisted his flag on board the Impreg- nable, of 90 guns. On the commencement of the war of the French revolution, admiral Graves was promoted to the rank of admiral of the blue, and appointed second in command of the Channel fleet. In this station he bore a distinguished share in the brilliant victory obtained over the French fleet on the 1st of June, 1794. The Royal Sovereign, of 110 guns, his flag-ship, was one of the first in action, and at its conclusion the admiral was at the head of eleven sail of the line, well-formed, in pursuit of fourteen sail of the flying enemy, when the last signal was made by the commander-in-chief for the British line to close. In this memorable encounter the Royal Sovereign lost her fore and maintop gallant masts, had fourteen men killed and forty-four wounded ; among the latter of whom was the admiral himself, who was severely wounded in the right arm, of which he never afterwards perfectly recovered the use. For his spirited services on this occasion, he was cre- ated a peer of Ireland, by the title of lord Graves, baron Graves of Gravesend,in the county of Londonderry. He was likewise rewarded with a gold chain and medal, and a pension of £1000. per annum. In the following year he was raised to the rank of admiral of the white : but on account of his wound, and his advanced age, he never accepted of any subsequent command. His lord- ship died in 1801, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, having spent upwards of fifty years in the service of his country. If fortune did not favour him with one of those opportunities of distinguishing himself which fall to the lot of but few commanders, nevertheless the name of Graves will always hold a respectable rank in the annals of the British navy, and be associated to the latest times with the memory of the stupendous disaster that befel the convoy under his orders. SIR PETER PARKER. 423 SIR PETER PARKER, Bart., ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET. 1721 — 1811. This venerable naval commander belonged to a family descended from archbishop Parker, which has enjoyed the unusual honour of producing four British admirals, distinguished in the service of their country. Sir Peter was the son of admiral Christopher Parker, who entered the naval service towards the close of the seventeenth century; and, in 1712, commanded the Speedwell; in 1739, the Torbay, of 80 guns ; and finally, in 1749, was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral. He died at an advanced age in 1763. The subject of our memoir was born in 1721, aud entered the navy at an early age as midshipman ; he was made a lieutenant in 1743, and a post-captain in 1749. On the breaking out of the war with France in 1756, he was appointed to the command of the Margate frigate; and on the invasion of Minorca, he was transferred to the Woolwich, 44, on the Leev/ard Island station. In this ship, he distinguished himself at the taking of Guadaloupe, and was then appointed to the Bristol, 50 ; and, on his return to England, he was appointed to the Montague, 64, and employed during the winter of 1758 and the following spring to cruise in the Channel— a service in which he met with considerable success, having captured several private ships of war and other vessels. He next commanded the Buckingham, 70, in which ship he greatly distinguished himself, in 1761, off Belleisle ; and, in consequence of these services, he was appointed with a squadron of live sail to attack the enemy's shipping in the Basque Roads, and to destroy the fortifications that had been erected in the island of Aix. With the five ships joined to the Buckingham he entered the roads, although they were so strongly fortified with praams armed with heavy cannon, aud lying remarkably low in the water, that the enemy thought themselves in perfect safety. Sir Peter so roughly handled these praams, that they were obliged to sheer off with great precipitancy, many of them hav- ing been severely shattered ; after which he completely destroyed the fortifications. 424 NAVAL HISTORY. He continued to eommand the Buckingham till 176?, when that ship was ordered to be dismantled, and cap- tain Parker was appointed to the Terrible, a new ship of 74 guns ; but, in consequence of the peace which soon followed, this ship was put out of commission, and he remained unemployed for some years after. In the mean time, his talents and services had been so well appreciated, that in 1772 he received the honour of knigrhthood, and in 1774 he commanded the Barfleur, 90 ; but he does not appear to have had any opportunity of signalizing himself till war broke out with America. In 1775, he was raised to a command on the American tation, with the rank of commodore. Sir Peter hoisted his broad pendant in the Bristol, a ship of 50 guns, then newly launched, and sailed from Portsmouth in De- cember, with a squadron of ships of war and a fleet of transports, conveying six regiments and seven companies of the 46th, to co-operate with the loyalists in North Carolina. The voyage lasted three months, owing to the lateness of departure from Cork, at which place the troops were embarked ; so that, after rough weather and contrary winds, the armament did not arrive oflf Cape Fear till the 3d of May. Here also a delay took place, which prevented the squadron from arriving off Charlestown, in South Carolina, which it was destined to attack, till the 4th of June ; but, previous to its approach, the city had been put into a state of defence, and strong works thrown up on Sullivan's Island ; these were mounted with thirty cannons, and placed so as to command the channel leading into the harbour. The defence was directed by colonel Moultrie, one of the bravest officers in the American service. The strength of these works rendered a combined naval and military attack neces- sary, and the morning of the 28th of June was the time fixed. The squadron consisted of the Bristol, flag-ship, the Experiment, 50, the Active, Solebay, Actseon, and Syren, 23-gun frigates, the Sphynx, sloop, the Thunder, bomb, the Carcass, ditto, and the Friendship, an armed vessel of 12 guns. The troops were commanded by general Clinton, who, previous to the ships getting under weigh, landed on Long Island with about 500 men to co-operate in the attack, under the expectation that it communi- cated with Sullivan's Island by a ford passable at low SIR PETER PARKER. 425 water; but, to his great mortification, he found the channel upwards of seven feet deep, and the opposite landing-place occupied by a strong- force of the enemy, which effectually kept him in check. At eleven o'clock, the ships were abreast of the fort, and having let go their anchors with springs on their cables, opened with a tremendous fire upon the fort, which was answered with equal vigour by the batteries on the island. It was then that the ditficulties of the British began to multiply. The Acta;on, Syren, and Sphyux, got aground; the troops under Clinton being unable to act. Sir Peter, with his diminished force, was obliged to bear the whole violence of the conflict, which he did for ten hours with the most undaunted resolution. In his official account of this service, Sir Peter states that he drove large parties several times out of the fort, which were replaced by others from the main, and that the fort was totally silenced and evacuated for nearly an hour and a half; but as the troops were unable to cross the ford to take possession, the Americans returned to the fort about six o'clock in considerable numbers, and renewed the firing from two or three guns which had not been dismounted. But the commodore, to afford general Clinton an opportunity of performing his part of the service, continued in front of the fort until nine at night, when the darkness left no farther chance o< his being able to do so. The ships were then withdrawn to their former moorings, except the Actaeon, which had grounded, and which it was found necessary to destroy. The Bristol had forty men killed and seventy wounded; the Experiment twenty-three killed and fifty-six wounded ; the Active had lieutenant Pike killed and four wounded ; and the Solebay eight men wounded. On this occasion the commodore received many severe contusions, but never quitted the deck; and the following circumstance occurred, which is too characteristic of naval bravery, and of the cool intrepidity of the subject of our memoir in particular, to omit. When the gallant captain Morris was mortally wounded, and carried below in a dying state, Sir Peter, casting one mournful look after his gallant second, took a pencil from his pocket in the heat of the action, and placing his foot upon a carronade slide, wrote out on his knee, in the prescribed form, an order conferring the command of the Bristol on the senior 426 NAVvVL HISTORY. lieutenant, and presented it to him with these words — • You are a captain, fight your ship.* This determined conflict has been eloquently and gra- phically described by Burke : — ' Whilst the continued thunder of the ships seemed sufficient to shake the firm- ness of the bravest enemy, and daunt the courage of the most veteran soldier, the return made by the fort could not fail of calling for respect, as well as highly incom- moding the brave seamen of Britain. In the midst oi that dreadful roar of artillery, they stuck with the greatest constancy and firmness to their guns ; fired deliberately and slowly, and took a cool and effective aim. The ships suflfered accordingly ; they were torn almost to pieces, and the slaughter was dreadful. Never did British valour shine more conspicuous ; nor never did our marine, in an engagement of the same nature with any foreign enemy, experience so rude an en- counter. The springs of the Bristol's cables being cut by the shot, she lay some time exposed in such a man- ner to the enemy's fire as to be most dreadfully raked. The brave captain Morris, after receiving a number of wounds which would have sufficiently justified a gallant man in retiring from his station, still, with a noble obstinacy, disdained to quit his duty, until his arm being at length shot off, he was conveyed away in a condition which did not affisrd a possibility of recovery. It is said that the quarter-deck of the Bristol was at one time cleared of every person but the commodore, who stood alone, a spectacle of intrepidity and firmness which has seldom been equalled, never excelled. The others on that deck were either killed or carried down to have their wounds dressed. Nor did captain Scott, of the Experiment, miss his share of the danger or glory, who, besides the loss of an arm, received so many other wounds that his life was at first despaired of. The Bristol had one hundred and eleven, and the Experiment seventy-nine men killed and wounded, and the ships were so much damaged that the enemy was sanguine they would never succeed in getting over the bar. The Actaeon grounded in the mud, and was set fire to by our own people. Night coming on, and the tide fast ebbing- out. Sir Peter Parker withdrew his shattered vessels from the scene of action, in which, by some unfortunate accident, he had received no support from the army, aa had been arranged.' SIR PETER PARKER. 427 After this gallant and sanguinary engagement, Sir Peter sailed with his squadron to New York, according to his instructions, and put himself under the orders of lord Howe, his commander-in-chief, by whom he was employed to create a diversion in favour of our troops as they advanced to attack the lines on Long Island. For this purpose, the Asia, Renown, aud Preston, were de- tached from the fleet, and placed under his orders; and so well was the expedition conducted, that it was com- pletely successful. At the close of the same year, he was sent with a small squadron to accomplish the reduction of Rhode Island, which was ably performed ; and, at the same time, be succeeded in blockading the chief naval force of the enemy in the harbour of New Providence. To enhance the value of these important services also, they were accomplished without the smallest loss. After this, he was appointed to the command at New York, in which he remained till 1777, when he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue, aud appointed to the command on the Jamaica station. Here he so ably dis- charged his duty, by the skilful distribution of his cruisers, that many French, Spanish, and Ameiican prizes fell into his hands. It was also while he commanded on this station, that Sir Peter Parker ordered and planned the successful attack on the fortress of St. Fernando de Omoa, on the coast of South America, in which his son, captain Christopher Parker (afterwards vice-admiral of the blue), led the squadron in the Lowestoflf frigate, and greatly distinguished himself. The Spaniards had fortified this place with immense labour and expense, the walls being twenty-eight feet high and eighteen feet in thickness, and defended with forty pieces of artillery. As a regular siege would have been de- structive to the British in such a sickly climate, they resolved to carry the fort by storm, which was done in gallant style. The attack was made by land and sea at the same instant ; the ramparts were scaled ; and the panic-struck Spaniards surrendered at discretion. A valuable amount of treasure and quicksilver fell into the possession of the conquerors. In this desperate attack, an English sailor, who was determined to ' work double tides,' had scrambled over the walls with a cutlass in each hand; and, as he rushed forward in quest of adventures, he stumbled upon a Spanish officer. 428 NAVAL HISTORY. who was just waking from a refreshing nap. Jack was about to cut him down ; but on seeing that his enemy had no weapon, he paused, and offered him one of his cutlasses, with a polite invitation to take a turn with him iu single combat. The Spaniard, who had expected nothing less than to be hewn in pieces without ceremony by such a grim-looking, doubly-anned adversary, was overcome by the sailor's magnanimity, and surrendered without resistance. In February, 1779, Sir Peter was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral of the blue ; and on the 16th of Sep- tember of the same year, he was made vice-admiral of the white. He continued to command on the Jamaica station till 1782, and exerted himself with such ability and skill, that the mercantile interests of the island prospered in a degree hitherto unprecedented. He re- turned to England laden with the gratitude and good wishes of the inhabitants of Jamaica; and after his arrival, his valuable services were rewarded with the dignity of a baronet of Great Britain. It was whilst commander-in-chief at Jamaica that he discerned the merits of both Nelson and Collingwood, and advanced them as rapidly as opportunities occurred from the rank of lieutenant to that of post-captain. This patronage of the commanders-in-chief on foreign stations, which was in these instances so beneficially exercised for the future glory of the service and for the safety of the country, was subsequently withdrawn (except in cases of death and vacancies arising from sentences of courts-martial), to be administered as admiralty patronage. This alteration was often, at an after period, regretted by Nelson and Collingwood, as it prevented them from having the right to promote officers who had greatly distinguished them- selves. In L787, Sir Peter was appointed admiral of the blue ; and in 1793, on the commencement of war with France, be hoisted his flag in the Royal William, 84, as com- mander-in-chief at Portsmouth. In the following year, he was made admiral of the white; and continued in his command till 1799, when, on the death of lord Howe, he was appointed admiral of the fleet and general of marines. Whilst holding this command, his own flag and that of his son, then rear-admiral Christopher Parker, were flying at the same time at Spithead, which, it is SIR PETER PARKER. 429 believed, is the only iustance of the kind on record.* In this high situation he continued to devote his cares to the best interests of our navy, and was in great esteem with the most distinguished of our celebrated naval commanders. Of these, it is enough to mention, as an instance, the most illustrious of them all — the hero of the Nile and Trafalgar. Sir Peter had recommended his grandson (afterwards captain Sir Peter Parker) to lord Nelson for early promotion, when the latter thus ex- pressed himself in reply: 'It is the only opportunity ever afforded me of shewing that my feelings of grati- tude to you are as warm and alive as when you first took me by the hand. I owe all my honours to you, and I am proud to acknowledge it to all the world.' t Of this grandson, the venerable admiral was justly proud; and the feeling was evinced in the following characteristic manner. The youth, when only sixteen, and serving as a midshipman, had been wounded in several places, while his coat had seen such rough service that it was tojTi with shot. This coat Sir Peter hung up in the hall of his seat at Bassingboume Hall, Essex, as a trophy of his grandson's bravery; and used to point it out ♦ The fourth admiral of this family, whose name it has not been necessary to introduce in the text or this memoir, ia the present admiral SirGeorse Parker, K.C.B., nephew to the laie admiral of the fleet. He was promoted for his j^llant conduct when first lieutenant of the Crescent friiarate at the capture of La Reunion, French frisrate. In 1793; and as captain of the Stately, 64, in company with the Nassau, he captured and destroyed, after a severe action, a Danish 74, on the coast of Zealand, in 1808. The British loss was five killed and forty-five wounded ; and the Danes, out of a complement of 576 men and boy, had fifty-five killed and eighty-ei^ht wounded.— See Ja»»M'« Naval Hisloiy, new eJition, vol. v. pa^e 31. t Both Nelson and Collingwood, on many ocrasi'in* in after life, gratefully acknow edsed in their letters to Sir Peter that they owed to him ttielr |irof« -sioi.ai ailvaiuement; and Colliuuwood, in wniiii!? to him after the batle of Trafaliiar, November 1, 1805, thu* beauti- fulh commences his U ttf-r: ' You will hue seen irom tlie public ac- oiinis Ihat we have fought a great batile ; and had it not tieeii lor the fall of our noble friind, who wa-, indeed, Ihe glory of England and the admiration of all who ever saw him in battle, your pleasure wiiuld have been perfect, that two of y-ur own jjupiir.,' raised under your eye, aii'l cherished by your kindness, should render such service to their country, as I hope ihis battle will in effect be- I ara not g-oing to give >ou a deiail of ou' proceeding>, Imt to tei) you I have made advantage of our caliniities; and having lost two excellent men, I have endeavuured to replace them with those who will in due time, I hope, be as gooM. I have apprinied tantaiii Parker to the Me pomene (afterwards killed when in command of the IMenelaus), which I am sure my dear Nelson w^^uid have done had he lived. Hi* own merit de«ervis"ii, and it is hi?hly gratifying to me to give you kucli d tuken of my affectioii ( r you.' 430 NAVAL HISTORY. to his naval friends with expressions of honest triumph. This brave and enterprising officer was killed in August, 1814, whilst leading a party belonging to his ship, the Menelaus, in a most gallant attack on an American camp at Bellair, near Baltimore, on the Chesapeake. About 1760, Sir Peter married Margaret, daughter of Walter Nugent, Esq., of the family of the earls of West- meath, by whom he had issue two sons and two daugh- ters. His eldest son, vice-admiral Christopher Parker, of whom mention has been made in this memoir, married a daughter of admiral the Honourable John Byron ; and the other died in childhood. The daughters married John and George Ellis, F.R.S., Esqrs. ; the former the brother, and the latter the cousin, of the present lord Seaford,and the well-known editor of ' Specimens of the Early English Poets and Romances,' &c. In the year 1787, Sir Peter Parker was elected for the borough of Maldon, and retained his seat to the close of that parliament. It was here, as a senator, that he shewed his love of the naval service and his honour- able feelings, upon the motion of lord Rawdon respect- ing the unjust promotion of admirals. It had been the custom to superannuate the captains of long standing, however meritorious, who were thought to have grown too old for the service ; and these superseded veterans went under the equivocal title of yellow admirals, while the younger favourites of the first lord of the admiralty were raised over their heads. Sir Peter, indignant at this unjust system, reprobated it in parliament in an eloquent speech. He described the dangers and fatigues of a seaman's life, and then declared, that if neither honours nor emoluments were given to officers who had gallantly distinguished themselves, he feared the thanks of the house would be considered only as an empty com- pliment. Sir Peter continued to hold the highest dignity of his profession from 1799 till December, 1811, when he died at the advanced age of ninety, and was succeeded as admiral of the fleet by our late lamented naval sove- reign, William IV., then duke of Clarence. His title is borne by his grandson, captain Sir Charles Christopher Parker, R.N., as fifth baronet; and his portrait appro- priately hangs near those of his illustrious proteges, Nelson and Collingwood, in the painted hall at Green- wich. DUNCAN. 431 ADAM DUNCAN, BARON DUNCAN, OF LUNDIE, AND VISCOUNT DUNCAN, OF CAMPERDOWX. 1731—1804. This able and distinguished admiral, who, during the course of a long and active life, so nobly supported the honour of the British flag, and maintained his country's supremacy on the seas, was the descendant of a family of respectability which had for many years been settled at Lundie, Perthshire. He was born July 1, 1731, at Dundee, of which town his father was provost in 1745, and there he received the rudiments of his education. In his infancy he is said to have displayed that mildness and suavity of manners which marked his demeanour in all the situations of life. The debut of this great man as a naval oflicer was made in 1746, or the following year, when he was placed under the command of captain Robert Haldane, who commanded the Shoreham frigate, and with whom he continued two or three years. After the cessation of hostilities, he entered in 1749 as a midship- man on board the Centurion, of 50 guns, which was then fitting out to receive the broad pendant of commodore Keppel, who was appointed to the command in chief iu the Mediterranean, for the customary period of three years. Duncan continued under the command of that able officer during the whole time, and by his diligent attention to his duties, so attracted the regard of his com- mander, that a strict and cordial friendship took place between them, which continued without any abatement as long as admiral Keppel lived. On the 10th of January, 1755, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, when it was determined to send out general Braddock with a strong military force to North America, where the French had committed a variety of encroachments. Commodore Keppel, who was chosen to command the ships of war intended to convoy the trans- ports, was not forgetful of the merit of his protege, and accordingly seized that opportunity of recommending him 432 NAVAL HISTORY. so strongly to the board of admiralty, that he was the first selected for promotion. He was iramediately ap- pointed to the Norwich, a fourth-rate, commanded by captain Barrington, and intended as one of the squadron which was to accompany Keppel to America. After the anival of the armament in Virginia, two of the lieute- nants on board the commodore's ship being advanced to the rank of captains, Duncan was removed to the Centu- rion, that he might be in a surer channel of promotion. Duncan continued in the Centurion till that ship returned to England, and when commodore Keppel removed into the Torbay, he accompanied him as second lieutenant. After remaining near three years on the home station uninterestingly employed, owing to the extreme caution of the enemy, he proceeded on the expedition against the French settlement of Goree, on the coast of Africa. He was slightly wounded at the attack of the fort ; and soon af- terwards rose to be first lieutenant of the Torbay, in which capacity he returned to England. On the 21st of September, 1759, he was raised to the rank of commander; and on the 25th of February, 1761, was advanced to be post captain, and appointed to the Vali- ant, 74, when he again became connected, in respect to service, with commodore Keppel. An expedition having been determined on against Belleisle, Keppel was selected to conduct the naval part of the enterprise, and hoisted his broad pendant on that occasion on board the Valiant. The reduction of the citadel of Palais, and the genera? success which attended the whole of this spirited under- taking, sei'ved as an encouragement to a more formidable armament, which was soon afterwards sent against the Havannah. Thither also Duncan went as the commodore's captain. Keppel commanded the division of the fleet which was ordered to cover the landing of the troops ; and as the post of honour belongs on such occasions, as of right, to the captain of the admiral or commodore, captain Duncan was accordingly invested with the command of the boats. He was afterwards employed in important commands, and greatly distinguished himself during the siege. When the town surrendered, he was dispatched with a proper force to take possession of the Spanish ships which had submitted to the victors.* * For an account of this service, see tlie life of Keppel. DUNCAN. 433 After the surrender of the Havannah, he continued ivith Keppel, who was appointed to command on the Ja- maica station, till the conclusion of the war. He then returned to England and remained unemployed till the recommencement of hostilities with France in 1778, when he was appointed to the Suffolk, 74, and shortly after- wards removed into the Monarch, of the same rate. About this time he sat as a member of the different courts-mar- tial held on his friend admiral Keppel and Sir Hugh Palliser ; but, being free from the influence of political prejudices, he avoided offending* either party. During the summer of 1779, the Monarch was em- ployed in the main or Channel fleet, then commanded by admiral Sir Charles Hardy. In this service no encounter or other important occurrence took place, on account of the great superiority of the combined fleets of France and Spain, which placed the British admiral under the necessity of avoiding an action, and continuing merely on the defensive. At the end of the yeai-, the Monarch was put under the orders of Sir George Rodney, who sailed with a powerful armament to the relief of Gib- raltar. In the encounter with don Juan de Langara, off Cape St. Vincent, on the ICth of January 1780, captain Dun- can greatly distinguished himself. The Monarch had not the advantage of being sheathed with copper ; but, notwithstanding this inconvenience, with the additional circumstance of being foul, and when in her best trim by no means a swift sailer, captain Duncan had the honour and good fortune to get into action before any other ship in the fleet. It is reported, that when he was prejssing after the enemy with all tlie sail he could carry, and passing ahead of the copper-bottomed ships, he was warned of the danger he would incur, by dashing «o hastily amidst three of the enemy's ships which were just ahead, without support ; to which he replied, with the utmost coolness, ' I wish to be among them.' The strength of the wind, the agitation of the sea, and the swiftness with which the Monarch passed through it, put an end to any farther conversation, and Duncan speedily bad his wishes gratified, by finding himself within en- paging distance of his antagonists. One Spanish ship of the same force, but of much larger dimensions than the Monarch, was alongside of him, while two others, of the 2E 434 NAVAL HISTORY. same rate, lay within musket shot, to leeward of him. An action commenced immediately, and after it had been supported for some time, with great spirit on both sides, it was observed that the fire from the leeward ships, which while it continued did very material injury to the Monarch's fore-rigging, had totally ceased. A pause for a few moments enabled captain Duncan to perceive that they had made off with all the sail they could carry, leaving their companion to windward to make the best defence in her power. Duncan now directed his whole fire against the ship which continued near him, and after a short but animated resistance on the part of the Spa- niards, the St. Augustin, of 70 guns, struck to the Mo- narch. The rigging of his ship had by this time received so much damage, that it was impossible for him to hoist out a boat for the piirpose of taking possession of his prize, it then blowing hard on a lee-shore. He was therefore compelled to resign that honour to a fresh ship which was then coming up astern. The fate of the St. Augustin was singular, and must have been extremely mortifying to her gallant conqueror. After she was taken, she was found to be so much disabled, that it was necessary to take her in tow ; but on collecting the prizes, preparatory to the entrance of the fleet into Gibraltar bay, it was found that the only trophy of the victory which captain Duncan could claim, though he afterwards engaged several of the enemy's ships, was through necessity abandoned, after taking out the few British oflScers and seamen who had been put on board. In consequence of this, the original crew repossessed themselves of their ship, and carried her into Cadiz. Captain Duncan returned with the squadron under admiral Digby to England ; soon after his arrival he quitted the Monarch, and did not receive any other com- mission until early in 1782, when he was appointed to the Blenheim, of 90 guns, recently come out of dock, after having undergone a thorough repair. In this ship he continued during the remainder of the war, being con- stantly attached to the main or Channel fleet, at that time commanded by lord Howe. He proceeded with his lordship in the month of September to Gibraltar, and was very distinguishedly engaged in the encounter which took place in October, ofl" the mouth of the straits, with DUNCAN. 435 the combined fleets of France and Spain, being stationed to lead the larboard division of the centre, or comnaander- in-chief's squadron. On the ternjination of hostilities in 1783, he removed into the Edgar, 74, one of the guard-ships stationed at Portsmouth, and continued iu command during the usual period of three years. This was the last commission which he held as a private captain, and though it was an appointment which afforded him few opportunities of being serviceable to the public, he devoted himself to the instruction of a number of young gentlemen as midship- men, who afterwards distinguished themselves either in the navy, or in the East India Company's service. On the I4th of September 1787, he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the blue ; and on the 22nd of September 1790, to the same rank iu the white squadron. He was raised to be vice-admiral of the blue on the 1st of February 1793 ; on the lith of April 1794, to be vice-admiral of the white ; on the 1st of June 1795, to be admiral of the blue ; and, lastly, to be admiral of the white on the 14th of February, 1799. During all these periods, except the two last, remarkable as it may appear, the high merit which admiral Duncan possessed continued unknown, or, to give the treatment he received a more appropriate term, unregarded. He frequently solicited a command, but his request was not complied with, and in conse- quence it is said that he had it in contemplation to retire altogether from the service, and to accept a civil appoint- ment connected with the navy. At length, however, his merit burst through the cloud which had obscured it from public view. In April, 1795, be was appointed commander-in-chief in the North Seas, the limits of his power extending from the North Fore- land to the Ultima Thule of the ancients, or as far be- yond as the operations of the enemy he was sent to encounter should render necessary. He accordingly hoisted his flag on board the Venerable, of 74 guns, and sailed on a cruise in the North Seas, with two ships of the line, three fifties and a frigate, to can'y into execu- tion the very important trust which was confided to him. A Russian squadron of four ships of 74, eight of 66, and seven frigates of 44 guns, joined and obeyed his orders ; but these were so defective and incomplete in every respect, as to render them unavailable for any service in 436 NAVAL HISTORY. action. The demands of these ships wei-e reported by him to be innumerable, and their wants insatiable ; and when supplied, the sea stores were too often made an improper use of, by the unskilfulness or corruption of those intrusted with their expenditure. The Sufficiante and the Victoreux, two beautiful French brigs of war, of Ifi guns each, and 135 men, were captured in June, off the Texel : they were bound on a cruise against our Greenland fishery, and were both taken into the service. In August, 1795, a squadron under the command of cap- tain Alms was detached from admiral Duncan's fleet, to cruise on the coast of Norway, where they fell in with two Dutch frigates and a cutter, and captured the Alli- ance frigate of 36 guns and 240 men, after a close ac- tion, which continued for an hour — the other two ships escaped. Nothing farther of importance occurred within the limits of admiral Duncan's command, until the summer of 1797, when the mutiny, which unhappily at that period raged in the Channel fleet, and with disgraceful violence at the Nore, made its appearance in the North Sea squadron. On this distressing occasion, admiral Duncan behaved with remarkable firmness and resolu- tion ; he visited every ship in his fleet, and his presence for a short time allayed the rising discontents. The dissatisfaction of the seamen, however, was only checked, not cured. The fleet was then hing in Yarmouth roads. On the evening before the admiral put to sea, he made the signal for the Trent frigate to get under weigh, but the crew peremptorily refused to obey their ofiicers, be- cause the new regulations with respect to the weight and measure of provisions in the navy, had not been carried into execution. This unfortunately reasonable cause of complaint was sought to be excused on the ground that the alterations had taken place so lately that it was impossible they could be so soon generally adopted ; but this reasoning had no eflf'ect on the crew of the Trent, and they continued mutinous, and refused to sail. Admiral Duncan, on this alarming occasion, ordered all hands to be mustered on the quarter deck of the Vene- rable ; he acquainted them with the disobedience of the Trent's company, and informed them of his intention to go alongside the frigate the ensuing morning, and compel DUNCAN. 437 her rebellious crew to return to their duty. ' Who is there,' said he, ' that on this occasion will desert me V The question was immediately answered in the negative, his people unanimously declaring their abhorrence of such conduct, and assuring him of support in the pu- nishment of it. The next morning the frigate proceeded on the service on which she was ordered. On Sunday, the 27th of May, the disaffection again broke out. The fleet was then lying in Yarmouth roads, and consisted of fifteen sail of the line, when about four in the afternoon the crew of the Venerable, 74, the flag ship, mounted the rigging and gave three cheers ; the marines were instantly called to arms, and six of the ringleaders were seized, and brought before the admiral. He then addressed them in the following terms : ' My lads, I am not, in the smallest degree, apprehen- sive of any violent measures you may have in contem- plation ; and though, I assure you, I would much rather acquire your love than incur your fear, I will, with my own baud, put to death the first person who shall presume to display the slightest symptom of rebelli- ous conduct.' Turning round immediately to one of the mutineers, ' Do you, sir,' said he, ' want to take the command of this ship out of my hands V * Yes, sir,' replied the fellow, with the utmost assurance. The admiral immediately raised his arm, with an intent to plunge his sword into the mutineer's breast; but he was prevented by the chaplain and secretary, who seized his arm, from executing this summary act of justice, an act rendered at least justifiable, if not necessary, by the particular situation in which not only himself, but the greatest part of those whom he commanded, were at that time placed. The blow being prevented, the admiral did not attempt to make a second, but called to the ship's company, with some agitation, ' Let those who will stanH by me and my officers, pass over immediately to the starboard side of the ship, that we may see who are our friends, and who are our opponents.' In an instant the whole crew, except the six promoters of the disturbance, ran over with one accord. The culprits were immediately seized, put in irons, and confined in the gun-room ; from whence they were afterwards liberated, one by one, after having 438 NAVAL HISTORY. shewu signs of real penitence, and promised never to repeat the offence ; and it must be o\vned that the crew of the Venerable by their subsequent conduct perfectly redeemed their character. On the following day, May 2Sth, the fleet sailed for the Texel, but was becalmed outside of the sands off Yar- mouth, where the ships anchored, except the Standard and Bellequex, of 64 guns each, which returned into Yar mouth to ' redress their grievances.' Next morning the signal was again made to weigh, which was reluctantly complied with, and such ships as did weigh returned into Yarmouth roads, except the Adamant, which pro- ceeded with the admiral in the Vanguard to the Texel. At this critical period, stratagem supplied the place of numbers, for the admiral making a variety of signals, as if to ships in the offing, deceived admiral de Winter into the belief, as he afterwards confessed, that he was blockaded up by a squadron superior in force to his own. The fleet of the enemy had long been in a state of equipment for actual service : it consisted of fifteen ships of the line, six frigates, and five sloops of war: the wind was favourable for their putting to sea ; and nothing but the ingenious artifice already related in all probability prevented it. At length the admiral, in the hope of materially annoying them if they attempted to come out, the Channel being so narrow as not to admit more than one ship passing at a time, anchored along with the Adamant, at the outer buoy of the Texel, with springs on their cables. The crews were at their quarters for three days and three nights, almost in momentary expectation that the enemy would come out. Their admiral even made the preparative signal for sailing ; but the wind having changed to the westward prevented it. During the eight following days, the British admiral and his consort waited anxiously in Expectation of a reinforcement, when to their great joy they were joined by the Russel and Sans Pareil. Other ships coming in afterwards, the inequality of numbers was so far decreased, as to remove all anxi- ety for the event of the expected contest. The Venerable kept at sea for eighteen weeks and three days, without intermission, in which time many of the ships which had joined after the mutiny, had been compelled to return to DUNCAN. 439 port to refit, either on account of a want of provisions, or tlie damage they had received in the gales of wind at this period. At length the admiral, in spite of all the care and eco- nomy he could contrive, was obliged to return to Yar- mouth to re victual and procure a supply of stores, the Venerable being in want of nearly every necessary re- quisite to a ship employed on so active a service. De Winter, who had now accurate information of the move- ments of the British squadron, wearied with long con- finement in port, and urged by the French government, which had now the entire command of the Dutch marine, ventured to put to sea. Though a man of the highest cou- rage, he was too sensible of the superiority of the British to expect success, unless his force should considerably out- number them. By putting to sea he hoped to satisfy the French Directory and to quiet the minds of his country- men, without risking a defeat. He calculated that the same wind which carried his enemy from the British shorp, would render his return to port so easy, that he could avoid an action. The activity of admiral Duncan, however, disappointed him. Having dispatched orders to Yarmouth to have the different articles he stood in need of in readiness, so that no time might be lost ; the fleet had no sooner got to an- chor, than the vessels employed to victual them were alongside, and in eight days the whole squadron was ready for sea. He obtained information on the 10th that the Dutch fleet had sailed on the 8th, and on the morning of the lltb he arrived upon his old cruising ground, and Baw the Russel to leeward with the signal flying for an enemy's fleet. He immediately bore up, and at eleven o'clock, got sight of the object of his anxious wishes, which for two years he had watched and never expected to see outside of the Neiu Deep. Here was no delay, no un- necessary manoeuvring in forming lines or making dis- positions. The British admiral, to use a sea phrase, ' dashed at them,' and at half-past twelve at noon cut through their line, and got between them and their own coast. No means of retreat were allowed ; a general ac- tion ensued, and by the greater part of the Dutch fleet was bravely maintained. A wish was early shewn to withdraw from their resolute opponents, and they kept constantly edging away for their own shores, until their 440 NAVAL HISTORY. progress was arrested in nine fathoms water, off the heights or sand hills of Camperdown, about three leagues from the land. The details of this great and decisive con- test will be best explained by the annexed extract from the log-book of the Venerable : ' October 11th, 1797. ' At seven A.M. saw three large ships to leeward, stand- ing to the squadron ; on nearing them, found they had each a red flag flying at the main-top-gallant-mast head, being the signal for an enemy. These ships proved to be captain TroUope's squadron, consisting of the Russel, Adamant, and Beaulieu frigate, who had kept sight of the Dutch fleet, and watched their motions. His majesty's ship Circe, likewise one of that squadron, joined us after- wards. At half-past eight o'clock A. M. saw the Dutch fleet to leeward; made the signal, bore up with the fleet, and stood towards them. At fifty minutes past nine, made the signal for the fleet to make more sail. On ap- proaching the enemy's fleet, saw them forming their line of battle on the larboard tack, their force consisting of six- teen sail of the line, three stout frigates, and two smaller ones, with five brigs, having four flags flying, viz. one blue at the main, one white at the mizen, one blue at the mizen, and one blue at the fore-top-gallant-mast head. Their frigates and brigs drawn up to leeward of their line of battle ships, and placed opposite to the intervals, which rendered them a great annoyance to our ships, especially when passing through their line, and during the greatest part of the action. At eleven A. M. made the signal for the van to shorten sail, to let the sternmost ships come up, and connect our line as well as time would permit. The enemy at this time in a line of battle on the larboard tack, with their main-top-sail yards square, but keeping them shivering, and sometimes full, by which their line was gradually advancing towards their own shore, which, at this period, was not seven miles distant. The land in sight was situated between the villages of Egraont and Camperdown. By the inequality of sailing of several of our ships, the squadron was unavoidably going down to- wards the enemy in no regular order of battle. Brought- to for a short time on the starboard tack, in order to form them ; but the enemy being still advancing towards their own shore, it was determined by the admiral to get be- DUNCAN. 441 tween them and their own land, at all events, to prevent their escape. The signal for bearinjj up was therefore made before our ships could possibly tret into any regular order of battle. Had our line been lost in making: a re- grular distribution of our ships, the Dutch fleet must have got so near their coast, that it would have been impos- sible to follow them with any view of advantage. At fifty-three minutes past eleven, made the signal to pass through the enemy's line, and engage them to leeward. Soon after the signal was made for close action, and re- peated by the Monarch and Powerful ; it was kept fly- ing on board the Venerable for near an hour and a half, when it was shot away. About thirty minutes past twelve, the action commenced by vice-admiral Onslow, in the Monarch, who broke through the enemy's line, passed under the Dutch vice-admiral's stem, and engaged him to leeward. The Venerable intended to engage the Dutch commander in-chief, was prevented by the States General, of 76 guns, bearing a blue flag at the mizen, shooting close up him ; we therefore put our helm to port, run under his stern, engaged him close, and soon forced him to runout of the line. The Venerable then fell along- side of the Dutch admiral de Winter, in the Vryheid, who was for some time well supported, and kept up a very heavy fire upon us. At one o'clock, tlie action was pretty general, except by two or three of the van ships of the enemy's line, which got olf without the smallest apparent injury. About half an hour after the commence- ment of the action on the part of the Venerable, who began only five minutes later than our own vice admiral, the Hercules, a Dutch ship of 64 guns, caught fire ahead of us ; she wore, and drove very near our ship to leeward, while we were engaged, and very roughly handled, by four ships of the enemy. A little before three o'clock, while passing to leeward of the Dutch admiral and com- mander-in-chief on the opposite tack, our starboard broad- side was fired, which took place principally among the rigging, as all her masts came immediately by the board ; soon after he struck his colours, all farther opposition be- ing vain and fruitless. Admiral Duncan dispatched the Rose cutter with a note to the secretary of the admiralty, containing an account of his having gained a victory over the Dutch fleet. During the gi-eatest part of the action, the weather was variable, with showers of rain, till half- 442 NAVAL HISTORY. past two o'clock, when it fell almost calm. On its clear iug' up, we perceived nine ships of the enemy's line and two stout frigates had struck. At four o'clock P. M. ad- miral de Winter was brought on board the Venerable by Charles Richardson, first lieutenant of the Circe, in the boat of that frigate, whose signal had been made for tbat purpose. The Venerable wore with the fleet turning our heads offshore, which was not then distant above four or five miles. Began repairing the rigging, which, with the sails, masts, and yards, had suffered much in the action. The people likewise constantly at the pumps, having re- ceived a number of shot below our water line. Made the frigates and undisabled ships signals to take possession of the prizes. During the battle, the Venerable was gallantly supported by the Ardent and Triumph, admiral Duncan's seconds, and afterwards by his majesty's ship Powerful, who, having taken her opponent, ran up, and rendered effectual assistance to us, while surrounded by enemies.' The loss sustained by the British fleet in this action amounted to 191 killed, and 560 wounded. The only offi- cer of rank killed was captain Burgess of the Ardent, who led his ship into action in the most gallant manner, and fell nobly supporting his brave admiral, one of whose seconds he was. The carnage on board the Dutch ships must have been dreadful, if we are to judge from the de- struction on board those which were captured ; the two bearing admirals' flags having not less than *250 each killed and wounded. The brave de Winter is said to have lamented with bitterness that, in the midst of the carnage which literally floated the deck of the Vryheid in blood, he alone should have been spared. The gallant Duncan arrived at the Nore on the 16th of October ; and on the 17th he was created a baron of Great Britain by the titles of baron Duncan and Lundie, and viscount Duncan of Camperdown. He also received the thanks of both houses of parliament, and the city of Loudon voted him the freedom, with a sword of the value of two hundred guineas. On the 30th of October, his majesty George lU. embarked at Greenwich, on board of one of the royal yachts, in order to visit vis- count Duncan on board of his own ship in Sheerness harbour, and thank him in person, as he had done to earl Howe on a former occasion, but a constant succes- sion of bad weather prevented the royal squadron from DUNCAN. 443 making any progress, when the king returned to Lou- don. On the 19th of December the king and all the royal family, attended by both houses of parliament, and all the officers of state, went in procession to St. Paul's, to return thanks to the Almiiihty for the mercies shewn to the nation, particularly for the great victories ob- tained over our enemies. The coloura taken on these occasions were borne by the senior officers in England, who happened to be present in the actions. Viscount Duncan carried in person the Dutch flag which he had so nobly won on the 14th of October. Thus terminated one of the most eventful years that England bad ever seen. The Venerable had received so much damage in the action, that it was witli difficulty she was brought into port; and being found unfit for farther service until she had undergone a thorough repair, she was dis- mantled for that purpose. Lord Duncan, who continued to command the North Sea squadron, shifted his flag into the Kent, a new ship of 74 guns, then just launched. He retained his command in the North Sea, until the spring of the year 1800, when there being no probability of the enemy venturing out again, his lordship retired to the enjoyment of a private life. Lord De Rev. Mr. Hood, vicar of Thorncombe in Devonshire, and youuy:er brother to admiral lord viscount Hood. He was born in 1727, and like his brother he was intended for the naval service. He was sent to sea at an early age, and was promoted to a lieutenancy in 174G. In June, 1756, he was ad- vanced to the rank of post-captain, and was appointed to the Prince George, in wJiich, however, his stay was short, as in the earlier part of the following year he removed into the Antelope, of 50 guns. Thus his promotion seems to have been as rapid as the rules of the service would permit, but it is creditable to himself that his merit was deserving of the patronage through which he was promoted. In May, 1757, Hood distinguished himself in the Ante- lope by two actions in Hieres bay, where in the first instance he attacked the Aquilon, a French ship of 48 guns, and captured her after a running fight of two hours. On the following day, he captured a French pri- vateer of sixteen carriage and swivel guns. In these actions, he had only three of his crew killed, and thirteen wounded, while the enemy had thirty killed, and twenty-five wounded. In the following year, cap- tain Hood was appointed to the Minerva, a frigate of 32 guns, forming part of the squadron of commodore Duff"; but he seems to have found no opportunity to dis- tinguish himself, in this new command, till January 17C1. It was then that he captured the Ecureuil, a privateer of 14 guns, and 122 men, which had been fitted out at Bayonne. This was only a prelude to a more important service towards the latter end of the month, in whicli he retook the Warwick, an English ship pierced for 60 guns, the capture of which had afforded great triumph to the enemy. Hood boldly save chase to the vessel, notwith- 2F 450 NAVAL HISTORY. standing her superior force ; a running fight ensued ; but he closed with the Warwick and obliged her to surrender, after a severe contest of three-quarters of an hour. The stations which he occupied after this period, and the interval of peace that occurred, aflForded captain Hood no opportunity of distinguishing himself. When war was renewed with France, in 1778, he was appointed to the Robuste, 74 guns, and was present off Ushant on the 27th of July ; but soon after the return of the fleet into port, he quitted his command. In 1780, he was appointed rear-admiral of the white, and two years after he headed the larboard division of the centre squadron, under lord Howe, in the relief of Gibraltar. Peace soon followed this skirmish with the fleets of France and Spain, at the signing of which admiral Hood was second in command at Portsmouth. In 1790, admiral, now Sir Alexander Hood, in conse- quence of the temporary alarm occasioned by a rupture with the court of Spain, was appointed fourth in command of the fleet equipped for the Channel service, and hoisted his flag on board the London, of 90 guns ; but the power- ful fleet which had been raised on this occasion was soon after dismantled, being found unnecessary. On the 1st of February, 1793, he was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral of the red, and immediately after he was appointed to a command of the Channel fleet under earl Howe. In the glorious victory of the 1st of June, 1794, he bore a distinguished part, and the Royal George, on board of which his flag was hoisted, was in the hottest of the fire ; this ship lost her fore and main-top masts, and her fore-mast, and had twenty men killed, and seventy-two wounded. In consequence of his valour on this occasion, Sir Alexander, besides receiving the gold chain and medal conferred by George III. on the other flag-oflSicers, was created baron Bridport of Cricket, St. Thomas. The enemy were so effectually humbled by this victory, that lord Bridport had no opportunity for some time of farther signalizing himself; but in the summer of the following year, he was usefully employed in cruising off the coast of France, with a strong squa- dron, to blockade the French ports, and watch the motions of the enemy. On June 'li, 1705, lord Bridport discovered a fleet of the enemy, consisting of twelve ships of the line, eleven HOOD, VISCOUNT BRIDPORT 451 frigates, and some smaller cruisers. A general cliase was ordered by his lordship, although there was little wind, and on the next day the enemy was overtaken close in with port L'Orient. Lord Bridport, who had on this occa- sion divided his fleet into two divisions on opposite tacks, determined to risk an engagement with only the half of his ships, rather than allow the French to escape. The Queen Charlotte was the first of our ships that overtook the enemy : she immediately opened a heavy fire upon them, and arrested their progress until the headmost ves- sels of the British squadron successively arrived, and en- tered the combat, which was maintained for nearly three hours with great fury. At last three of the French 74*8 were captured, and the same fate would probably have attended their whole squadron, but that it worked in close with port L'Orient, where it was protected by strong bat teries. This important victory was gained with compa- ratively little loss, only thirty-one being killed, and one hundred and thirteen wounded Previous to this event, lord Bridport had been appointed admiral of the white. On the 15th of March, 1796, he succeeded earl Howe in the command of the Channel fleet, and on the 31st of May following he was created a peer of Great Britain, still re- taining the style and title of his Irish barony. Among the efforts of the French to invade Britain, one of the most ridiculous was that of the Convention in 1796, when they proposed to land an army of 20,000 men upon our shores, under the command of general Hoche. At the «nd of the year, when the greatest part of our Channel fleet was refitting in port, eight French sail of the line and nine smaller ships sailed from Brest for Ireland, and anived at Bantry Bay ; but before the troops could be landed a strong gale drove them out to sea, after which they encountered such storms that the armament was scattered, and a unmbei of the vessels were wrecked upon the Irish coast. In February of the succeeding year, three frigates of this unfortunate fleet returned, and landed 1500 men at Fisgard in Wales ; but on being at- tacked by the militia this force surrendered without re- sistance, and it was then found that, instead of being soldiers, these poor caitiffs were nothing more than con- victs and galley-slaves, who were thus discreditably quartered upon Britain, that the then unprincipled go- veniment of France might be delivered of their presence. ■.' F -1 452 NAVAL HISTORY. This doughty expedition, however, was commenced by the enemy as only the prelude to something more seri- ous, and the Directory issued orders to the troops to hold themselves in readiness to embark, as soon as the weather would permit. But lord Bridport, who had been delaj'ed at Spithead, by the repairs that were necessary for the fleet, and by the mutiny of the sailors, had now arrived at his old station off Brest, and the blockade which he maintained was so strict, that the preparations and threats of the enemy were rendered equally useless. He had also the satisfaction of chastising two of those frigates that had so lately insulted the coast of Wales. After landing their forces, they had hurried homeward without waiting to ascertain their fate, and had almost reached Brest, when they were attacked by the frigates of the Channel fleet, and captured after a short engagement, in sight of the French fleet and batteries which was a very just retribution for the malignant service in which they had been employed. As we have on another occasion made allusion to the mutiny of the Channel fleet, we shall mention in this place a few particulars of that alarming event, in which the courage and prudence of lord Bridport were more severely tried by his own sailors than by the enemy. The griev- ances of the naval service, which had been first com- plained of in 1788, still continued to rankle in the minds of our seamen, and a mutiny was organized in 1797, that was not to be so easily suppressed as the former. By the I5th of April, all was matured for open insurrection ; and on lord Bridport making a signal to the Channel fleet lying at Spithead to weigh anchor, he only received three cheers from every ship by way of answer, after which the Bailors unanimously declared that they would not weigh an anchor unless the enemy's fleet should put to sea, in which case they would go and fight it, and then return to port to remonstrate. Expostulation was now employed with the malcontents in vain ; the whole fleet was orga- nized upon the principles of mutiny, and the authority of the officers was completely suspended. Lord Bridport, when he saw the red flag of defiance on board the Royal George, immediately caused his own to be struck, declar- ing that it should never be hoisted again. The fleet thus continued under the command of the mutineers, and with every gun shotted for resistance till the 22ud, when in HOOD, VISCOUNT BRIDPORT. 453 consequence of a letter being sent on shore to lord Brid- port, in which the sailors disclaimed any purpose of in- juring his lordship, he returned to his ship, and re-hoisted his flag. He then assured the crew of his luajesty's par- don for past offences, if they would return to their duty, and that the admiralty were willing to grant every re- quest that could be reasonably complied with. He stated that they had recommended to his majesty to make an addition of five shillings and sixpence per month to the wages of petty-officers and seamen belonging to the navy, making the wages of able seamen one shilling per day, clear of all deductions ; that there should be an advance of four shillings and sixpence to the wages of landsmen ; and that none of the allowance made to the marines when on shore should be stopped on their being employed on board any of his majesty's ships. Also, that all seamen, marines, and others, serving in his majesty's ships, should have the full allowance of provision, without any deduc- tions for leakage or waste ; and that all men wounded in action should receive the full pay until their wounds should be healed, or until, being declared incurable, they should receive a pension from the chest at Chatham, or be admitted into the royal hospital at Greenwich. With these concessions the seamen declared themselves per- fectly satisfied, and expressed their gratitude for the in- tended augmentation of their pay and provisions. It was thought after this that the mutiny had been abandoned ; but on the 7th of May, when lord Bridportonce more gave the signal for sailing, the ships refused to obey, the sailors declaring that they were given to understand that go- vernment did not mean to keep faith with them ; and when the officers endeavoured to remonstrate, the crews rose against them, threatened them with violence, and said it was their firm resolution not to lift an anchor until the improvements actually commenced, and were guaranteed by act of parliament. Uproar and mutiny then prevailed through the whole of the Channel fleet until the 14th, when earl Howe arrived at Portsmouth with full power to settle the dispute. He produced an act of par- liament that had been passed on the Dth, complying with the wishes of the seamen, and an indemnity for all past proceedings to those who should return to their duty; upon which every difference was comfortably and har- 454 NAVAL HISTORY. moniously adjusted, and lord Bridport repaired with Lis fleet in quest of the enemy.* On the 15th of March, 1796, his lordship succeeded earl Howe as vice-admiral of Great Britain ; and on the 31st of May, 1797, he was made a British peer by the same title as it was before held in Ireland. In this year he was also appointed to the command in the Channel, which he long held with honour to himself and credit to the service. In 1801, he was still farther advanced in the peer- age for his distinguished services, and was created a vis- count, when he still retained the title by which he had become so well known. He died on the 2nd of May, IS 14, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. JOHN JERVrS, KARL ST. VINCENT, VISCOUNT .ST. VINCENT, AND BARON JERVIS OF MEAFORD. 17.-54—1823. This distinguished commander was the son of Swynfen Jervis, Esq. of Meaford, in the county of Stafford, bar- rister-at-law, for some time counsel to the board of admiralty, and auditor of Greenwich hospital, and was born at Meaford, January 9, 1734. He received the rudi- ments of his education at the grammar school of Burton- upon -Trent, and was sent to sea at ten years of age, under the expectation that his father's situation in the admiralty would be of advantage to him. In 1749, young Jervis served as a midshipman on board the Gloucester, of 50 guns, on the Jamaica station. ♦ It must be admitted that the ' naval mutiny' was produced, like most other popular disturbances, by the total disregrard of the government to the just complaints of those who felt themselves oppressed, until it could be gubraitted to no lonser. The government and every one ac- qiiainttd with the service at last admitted that the seamen had griev- ances to complain of, and that they ought to be redressed. But surely me right principle is to concede to justice in time, and not to subject the country to such a risk ol anarch\. JERVIS. 435 On tlie 19th of February, 1755, be was promoted to the rauk. of lieutenant; and not long afterwards, on the prospect of a war with France, he was selected by Sir Charles Saunders to serve on board his Ua^-sbip, the Neptune. In the memorable expedition against Quebec, in 1759,* Jervis accompanied Sir Charles as his tirst lieutenant, and was by liiin made a commander in the Porcupine sloop. The operations in the St. Lawrence having ter- minated successfully, he returned to England, and pro- ceeded to the Mediterranean under the orders of his former patron, by whom he was appointed acting captain of the Experiment, of 20 guns, during the indisposition of Sir John Strachan. In this ship captain Jervis was attacked by a lar^e xebec, under Moorish colours, mounting '26 guns of very heavy calibre, besides a con- siderable number of swivels, and manned by a French crew nearly three times as numerous as tliat of the Experiment. The conflict, though furious, was short ; and the assailant* considered themselves fortunate in being able to escape. Captain Jervis soon after returned to England, and on the 13th of October, 17G0, he was posted, and appointed to the Gosport, of 40 gun». Nothing of importance oc- curred until the llth of May, 1762, when the Superb, 71, the Gosport, and Danae frigate, with a fleet of merchant men bound to the colonies, under the orders of commo dore Rowley, fell in with a French squadron of superior force, under M. de Ternay, having on board 1500 troops, destined for the attack of Newfoundland. The commo- dore, for the better protection of his char-e, dropped into the rear, formed his Hue of battle, and brought-to ; but the enemy, not choosing to risk an action, hauled his wind and made off. The Gosport proceeded to Halifax, and from tlience, in company with Lord Colville's squadron, to block up M. de Ternay, who had taken possession of the harliour of St. Johns, and thiown a boom across its entrance. On the llth of September, colonel Amherst joined the commodore with a body of troops from Louisbourg. A landing was immediately efTected in Torbay, about three leagues from St. John's; the enemy made an attempt to oppose it, but were repulsed with some loss. On the ICth, • See an account of this expedition in the life of admiral Saunderi. 456 NAVAL HISTORY. a strong westerly wind, attended by a thick, fog, droTe lord Colville from his station before the harbour; of which M. de Ternay availed himself, slipped his cables, and stood to sea. On the 18th, M. de Haussonville, who commanded the troops, finding that he was deserted by his naval colleague, and that it was impossible to hold out, oftered to capitulate ; whicli being accepted, he and his followers became prisoners of war. Captain Jervis returned to England with a convoy from Virginia, and continued to command the Gosport, princi- pally oa the home station, during the remainder of the war. He remained unemployed till the year 1769, when he was appointed to the Alarm, of 32 guns, and sent with congratulations to the court of Naples on the mari'iage of the king. It may be amusing to notice an occurrence which afforded an early opportunity of shewing the genius and peculiar character of captain Jervis. The Alarm was the first ship in the British navy that was coppered, by way of experiment, in the year 1761. In 1772, having suf- fered some damage on the rocks, she sunk at her anchors in the harbour of Marseilles. The French officers, with the utmost kindness, offered captain Jervis every assist- ance to raise his vessel; which, however, with many thanks, he declined; and, calling his crew together, he said, ' My lads, we are in a foreign port. The Intendant has voluntarily offered me any number of men I may want, for the purpose of weighing the Alarm, which offer I have declined. It is necessary here to shew what we are able to do. We must weigh her ourselves;' which was accordingly done. Captain Jervis remained in the Mediterranean till 1774, when he was appointed to the Foudroyant, of 84 guns, which had been taken from the French, and was 'ustly considered one of the finest ships in the navy ; and the discipline and order which he maintained were so much extolled, that when persons of distinction honoured the western squadron with their presence, the Foudroyant was always the ship they first visited. Jervis continued uninterestingly employed on the various services allotted to the Channel fleet, till June, 1778, when he captured the Pallas, French frigate, of 32 guns and 220 men. Soon after this, the contest be- tween the English and French fleets, under Keppel and JERVIS. 457 d'Orvilliers, was fought, an action which, from the i^v- culiar circumstances tliat attended it, was productive of more party clamour than perhaps any other event in our naval history. From the evidence given upon the trial that followed, it appears that the Foudroyant, which admiral Keppel had selected as one of his seconds, was as closely engaged, and as much disabled, as any ship in the fleet. She had five men killed, and eighteen wounded, and was in stich a crippled state as to be unable to give chase, but kept her station next the Vic- tory, as far to windward as possible. ' I was covetous of wind,' said her brave commander, 'because, disabled as 1 then was, I conceived that only the advantage of the wind could carry me again into action.' We now arrive at one of the most brilliant actions which occurred during the American war. In April, 1782, admiral Barrington sailed for the Bay of Biscay with twelve sail of the line ; and on the '20th, when within a short distance of Ushant, discovered an enemy's fleet. A general chase ensued ; when captain Jervis, in the Foudroyant, so far outstripped the rest of the squa- dron, that when night came on he lost sight of them entirely, but still pursued the enemy with unremitting vigour. The French fleet consisted of eighteen sail, laden with provisions and ammunition, and 'containing H considerable number of troops for the East Indies. They had sailed from Brest only the day before, and were escorted by the Protecteur and Pegase, of 74 guns each, L'Actionaire, a two-decker, armed en Jiute, and a frigate. The Foudroyant gained so fast upon the chase, that it was evident they could not escape with- out an engagement ; the convoy was therefore dispersed by signal, and the two 74's having consulted together, it was determined, that as the Protecteur had a large quantity of money on board, she should make the best of her way, while the Pegase should abide the conse- quence. A little before one, A.M. the Foudroyant came up, and was closely engaged with the Pegase. The action was extremely fierce whilst it lasted, but within less than an hour from its commencement captain Jervis laid the French ship aboard on the larboard quarter, and compelled her to strike. Nothing could Lave afforded a more remarkable instance of the de- cided superiority of seamanship and discipline, and of the 458 NAVAL HISTORY. advantages which these qualifications produce, than the circumstances of this gallant action. On hoard the Pegase, eighty men %vere killed and wounded, and the damage she sustained was incredible, considering the short time she was engaged ; while the Foudroyant re- ceived but little injury ; not a man was killed; and her commander was the most seriously wounded individual on board, being struck on the temple by a splinter, which for a time endangered his eye-sight. At this time the sea was so rough, that it was with great diffi- culty captain Jervis, with the loss of two boats, could put an officer and eighty men on board the prize. Soon after this the Foudroyant lost sight of the Pegase ; but the Queen fortunately coming up, took possession of ber. In consequence of this action, captain Jervis, on the '28th of May, was honoured with the insignia of a knight of the Bath. In October, 1782, Sir John Jervis accompanied earl Howe, who was sent with a powerful fleet to relieve the important fortress of Gibraltar. In the skirmish that took place outside the Gut, after the object of the ex- pedition had been accomplished, the Foudrojant had four men killed and eight wounded. Immediately on the return of the fleet to England, Sir John Jervis was chosen to command a small squadron destined on a secret expedition. He accordingly quitted the Foudroyant, and hoisted a broad pendant on board the Salisbury, of .'50 guns ; but it was soon after hauled down in consequence of the sudden cessation of hostili- ties in January, 1783. About this period. Sir John Jervis was chosen repre- sentative for the borough of Launceston, in Cornwall ; and at the general election in 1784, he was returned for Yarmouth, and soon distinguished himself by opposing an expensive plan for fortifying the dock-yards, not only as a member of parliament, but as a member of the board of officers, convened to investigate the pro- priety of the measure. He also supported every pro- posal calculated to advance the good of the service, or the welfare of his brother officers. Sir John Jervis was advanced to the rank of rear- admiral, September 24, 1787 ; and on the 21st of Septem- ber, 1790, to that of rear-admiral of the white. At the geneial election in May, 17»0, he was returned for JERVIS. 4.VJ Cbippiug Wycombe, which he represented till the com- mencement of the war with the French Republic, when he vacated his seat, and accepted the command of a squadron, which was sent to co-operate with s?eneral Sir Charles Grey in the reduction of the French West India Islands. In this toilsome service, the spirit and perse- verance of these commanders were pre-eminently con- spicuous ; so that, on the IGth of March, 1704, the whole island of Martinique was taken from the French, except the forts Bourbon and Royal, which were then closely besieged, and soon afterwards reduced. This success was the prelude to as speedy a reduction of St. Lucia and Guadaloupe; but, in consequence of the sickness of the troops and the want of reinforcements, these con- quests could not be retained. Sir John Jervis returned from this expedition with his health considerably injured, from the effects of the yellow fever, and arrived at Plymouth, January 11, 1795. No sooner had he lauded than complaints were sent to the government against himself and Sir Charles Grey, for injustice and extortion in the performance of their duty. These complaints were forcibly urged, and eagerly listened to in parliament, where it wag asserted that the loyal inhabitants of Martinique and Guadaloupe had been plundered of their private property by the admiral and general, the legality of whose proceedings was se- verely questioned. But the property so characterized was colonial produce, which was attempted to be saved from the captors under the fraudulent pretence that it belonged to British subjects. It was long before the mind of Sir John Jervis was at ease on this affair; and we tiiid him addressing letters to his majesty's ministers, complaining of persecutions which threatened him with ruin. We now know that the charges originated in fraud, and rejoice to say that parliament decided that the admiral and general had done no more than their duty. .^ir John Jervis was advanced to the rank of admiral of the blue, June 1,1795; and about the same period had the misfortune to lose all his luggage by the burn- ing of his late flag-ship, the Boyne. As soon as his health was sufliciently re-established, he was appointed to succeed admiral Hotham in the command of the fleet in the Mediterranean. He proceeded thither in the Lively 460 NAVAL HISTORY. frigate ; and on his arrival, hoisted his flag on board the Victory, of 100 guns. This naval command was now the most important, in point of extent and responsibility. The enemy had a very large fleet at their disposal ; and the armies of the French Republic having entered Spain on the side of Rousillon, that government was induced to declare against us. Nothing could have been more grateful to our seamen ; they coveted Spain for an enemy, on account of her wealth, and despised her for her want of skill. The exclusion of our ships from her ports was repaid by the capture of her valuable South American and West Indian trade; but when her fleets came to be united to those of France, they formed a force before which Sir John Jervis was compelled to retreat. This state of things, however, did not continue. A long-expected reinforcement having joined at Lis- bon, early in February, 1797, Sir John lost no time in proceeding off Cadiz, for the purpose of encountering the Spanish admiral don Josef de Cordova, then on his way to that port from Carthagena, with a fleet of twenty-seven sail of the line, twelve frigates, and a brig, whilst the British squadron consisted of only fifteen line of battle ships, three frigates, and three smaller vessels. .4t the dawn of day, on the 14th of February, the enemy were discovered off cape St. Vincent, and Sir John soon after communicated to the fleet his intention of cutting through their line. The British fleet being then in two lines of sailing, and in very close order, was readily formed into one, to complete the intended move- ment ; and by carrying a press of sail, it closed in with the enemy's fleet before it had time to connect, and form into a regular order of battle. Such a moment, to use the words of the admiral, was not to be lost: con- fiding in the skill, valour, and discipline of his oflicers and men, and conscious of the necessity of acting with uncommon resolution on this critical occasion, he ordered captain Trowbridge, in the CuUoden, to lead the van ; and after having passed through the enemy's fleet, that brave oflicer tacked, and his example being followed by the other ships of the van, they completely succeeded in cut- ting off one-third of it from the main body, and by a vigorous cannonade compelled it to remain to leeward, and prevented its rejunction with the centre till the evening. After having thus broken through the enemy's JERVIS. 4G1 line, and, by this daring and fortunate measure, dimi- nished their force from twenty-seven ships to eighteen, it was perceived that the Spanish admiral, in order to recover his superiority, was endeavouring to rejoin the chips separated from him by wearing round the rear of the British lines; but commodore Nelson, who was in the i-earmost ship, directly wore, and prevented his in- tention by standing towards him.* He had now to en- counter the Spanish admiral of 136 guns, aided by two others, each of them three deckers ; he was happily re- lieved from this dangerous position by the coming up of the Blenheim and Culloden to his assistance, which de- tained the Spanish admiral and his seconds till he was attacked by four other British ships; when, finding that he could not execute his design, he made the signal for the remainder of his fleet to form together for their de- fence. The British admiral, before they could get into their stations, directed the rearmost of them, some of which were entangled with each other, to be attacked. This was done with so much judgment and spirit that four of them were captured, one of which struck to his own ship. In the mean time, that part of the Spanish fleet which had been separated from its main body, had nearly rejoined it with four other ships, two of which had not yet been in the engagement. This was a strength more than equal to that which remained of the British squadron, lit, after so severe a contest, for a fresh conflict. Had it been renewed, the Spaniards had still thirteen ships unhurt, while of the fifteen of which the British squadron consisted, every one had suffered in so unequal an action. It drew up in compact order, not doubting of vigorous efforts on the part of the enemy, to retake their lost vessels ; but the countenance and position of the British was such, that the Spaniards, though so powerfully reinforced, did not dare to venture on a close encounter. Their fire was distant and ineffectual, and they left the British squadron to move leisurely off with the four captured vessels, the Salvator del Mundo, and San Josef, of 112 guns each, the San Nicholas, of 84, and San Isidro, of 74. The slain and wounded on board of these, before they struck, amounted to GOO; and * See life of Nelson for the account of the gallant part he took in this action. 402 NAVAL HISTORY. on board the British fleet there were 300 killed and wounded. If we estimate the merits and value of this action only by the numerical loss of the enemy, we shall form a very inadequate notion of its importance. It introduced a new era in the history of naval warfare, of which Nelson and his contemporaries availed themselves, while it restored the public confidence which had been sinking into gloomy despondency from the pressure of untoward events. France, from this period, no longer relied on the assistance of Spain. Jealousy was sown between the two countries. The Spaniards became the friends of Britain, and the secret enemies of the republic. These great political advantages were duly appreciated : Sir John Jervis received the thanks of both houses of parliament, and his majesty conferred upon him the tirle of earl of St. Vincent, the scene of his glory, and baron Jervis of Meaford, the place of his birth. He also received the gold chain and medal, and a pension of £.{,000. a year. The vote of thanks in the two houses of parliament was accompanied with the most grateful acknowledgments and the highest testimonies of appro- bation from the most distinguished members on both sides. The mutiny which had began in the spring of 1797, at Spithead, and blazed with so much fury during the month of June in the North Sea, reached the fleet off Cadiz in July. It had made great but silent progress, but the explosion was not general, being chiefly confined to the malcontents of three ships : these were quickly repressed, and the ringleaders brought to a court-mar- tial : three of them were condemned to suffer death ; and sentence was ordered to be carried into effect on board the St. George, as the ship most remarkable for turbulence in her crew. This prompt and well-timed severity, though produc- tive of the most salutary effects, did not entirely eradi- cate the contagion. The Defence, 74, and the Emerald frigate, were particularly distinguished for insubordi- nation; the boatswain of the latter recommended the crew to take the ship into Cadiz, for which he was tried, condf'mned, and executed, on board that vessel. The mutineers of the Defence were also brought to a court- martial, and received sentence of death. The energy JERVIS. 483 didplayed by the earl of St. Vincent on these occasions pave him the most perfect command of his ships at a time when the discipline of other divisions was ex- tremely doubtful. In less masterly hands the fleet before Cadiz might have been induced to relieve itself from the rigour of a long blockade, by running: into an enemy's port, or returning to England to • redress its grievances.' He saw that while the ships lay inactively at anchor before the port, the sailors would brood over the late acts of severity, and if compelled to perform their duty, would do it without heart or cheerfulness. He therefore caused the boats from all the ships of the fleet, well manned and armed, to be divided into three parts, each taking its turn, under the command of a lieutenant of the flag ship, to row guard during the night, under the very walls of the garrison ; while a bomb-vessel, the mortar boats, and launches with heavy carronades, kept up a constant fire on the place, and the unhappy Spani- ards were made to feel the effects and deplore the con sequences of a mutiny in the British fleet. The following anecdotes will perhaps more effectually illustrate the character of this brave admiral, and his judicious modes of management, than any laboured de- scription : when a mutiny took place on board one of the ships of his fleet, earl St. Vincent ordered her cap- tain to send one half of the crew to one ship, and the other half to another; after which she was re-manned by a sort of subscription from the fleet at large, and certainly not of the best men, — a proper rebuke for an officer who could not keep his ship in order without ex- ternal aid. The commander of a frigate, lying at Gibraltar, com- plained to him by letter, that the governor of that gar- rison had withdrawn some soldiers who were serving in his ship as marines. The earl replied, ' I should have had a better opinion of you if you had not sent me a crying letter: there are men enough to be got at Gibral- tar, and you and your officers would have been much better employed in picking them up, than in lying on yoiir backs, and roaring like so many bull-calves.' One night, whilst blockading Cadiz, there appeared every indication of an approaching storm : it shortly took place, and rapidly increased to such a height, as to threaten the destruction of several, if not all, of the 404 NAVAL HISTORY, ships then at anchor. Tlie only means of warding oflf the danger was to veer away more cable, but this could not be instantly given in command, as no night-signal was yet established for this pui-pose. Suddenly, earl St. Vincent called for the boatswain and all his mates, sta- tioned them on the poop, gangway, and forecastle, and told them to pipe together loudly as when veering cable ; this was heard on board the surrounding ships, when the captains, rightly conceiving the admiral was veering cable, directed the same to be done on board their re- spective ships, and the fleet rode out the gale in safety. In 1793, earl St. Vincent, whose health had long been declining, was indefatigably employed in superintending the repairs of those ships that had suffered most in the sanguinary combat off the mouth of the Nile, and for which pui-pose he had hoisted his flag in Le Souve- rain, one of Nelson's prizes, and taken up his residence in the garrison of Gibraltar, rightly considering that his presence would accelerate the public service. On his requiring of the military and civil authorities that the artificers should work at daylight (five o'clock), he was informed that the gates of the dock-yard were not opened until an hour after that time ; his lordship, therefore, applied to the governor for an alteration accommodated to this early duty. — ' The men,' said the general O'Hara, * will not be able to see.' * Perhaps not,' said the admiral, ' but they can hear me.' — The request was granted; the earl of St. Vincent was ever at his post, at the dawn of day, with stentorian voice directing the business ; and from the insignia of his rank, with which he was inva- riably decorated, he obtained the metaphorical appella- tion of ' The Morning Star.' After a long struggle with disease, earl St. Vincent recovered his health in so great a degree, as to enable him, in April ISOO, to assume the command of the Chan- nel fleet, on the resignation of lord Bridport. On this occasion he was empowered to order courts-martial, and to put their sentence in execution without delay, or report to the board of admiralty or any higher authority. This privilege belongs of course to the commander-in- chief upon evei-y foreign station, but has been very seldom, if ever, included in the commission for the Channel fleet, on account of the quick intercourse be- tween that station and the admiralty. In the course of JERVIS. 465 the same year his lordship received the honourable and lucrative appointment of lieutenant-general of marines. The various squadrons detached from earl St. Vincent's fleet, were very successful in their operations against the trade of the enemy, and by their activity kept the coast in a continual state of alann ; but as the French fleet kept within the shelter of their batteries, the noble admiral had no opportunity of adding fresh laurels to those he had already acquired. On hauling down his flag, the crew of the Ville de Paris, in which ship it had been hoisted, presented him with a St. George's jack, having his lordship's arms beautifully embroidered in the centre. In the upper division were the words, ' God save the king,' and ' Long live earl St. Vincent;' and in the lower the following inscription : 'This flag is pre- sented to earl St. Vincent, as an humble testimony of gratitude and respect, by the crew of his majesty's ship the Ville de Paris.' After this period, the naval triumphs of Nelson, and the total wreck of the enemy by sea, made the active services of earl St. Vincent as an admiral unnecessary ; but a mind of such energy as his could not sink into inglorious repose. Having been appointed first lord of the admiralty in 1801, he encountered the abuses that had crept into the British fleet as zealously as he had fought against the enemy, and with equal success, in consequence of which murh peculation was dragged to light, and many a defaulter exposed and punished. He was equally diligent in protecting the seamen from those Jews and agents who had long preyed upon them with impunity. This continued till 1801, when he was super- seded in office by lord Melville ; after which be was re- appointed to the chief command of the Channel fleet, in 1806. In the house of lords we find the energetic old seaman also employed in zealous discussions upon the great political events of the day, upon which he some- times used language more distinguished for strength and sincerity than courtier-like blandness. Indignant at the convention of Cintra, and the use to which the British ships were employed in transporting the French troops to their own country, he exclaimed, ' These transports were at last employed to convey the rascally ruffians whom Junot commanded, to that part of France which was nearest the boundary of Spain, that they might as 4CC NAVAL HISTORY. speedily as possible be again brought into action with more effect against our soldiers, and thus,' added his lordship, exalting his voice, 'these devils are at this moment harassing the rear of our retreating army!' Tlie expedition to Walcheren was justly condemned by him in the strongest terms ; and as for the victory of I'alavera, he thought it no victory at all. This aged hero, having outlived most of his pupils, died on the 15th of March, 1823, in his ninetieth year, as fall of honour as of days. The grateful nation re- corded its sense of his heroism and worth, hy a monu- ment to his memory in the cathedral of St. Paul's, ' as a testimony of his distinguished eminence in the naval service of his country, and as a particular memorial of the important victory which he gained over the Spanish fleet off Cape St. Vincent, on the 14th of February, 1797.' THK HONOURABLE GEORGE KEITH ELPHINSTONE, VISCOUNT KEITH, AND BARON KEITH, OF STONEHAVEN MARISCHAL. This commander, who owed more to his good fortune than to the splendour of his services, was the fifth son of Charles, the tenth lord Elphinstone, by Clementina, only surviving daughter and sole heiress of the last earl of Wigtoun. His maternal grandmother was lady Mary Keith, eldest daughter of William ninth earl Marischal, and niece of the celebrated field-marshal Keith. He was born in 1746, and received an education at Glasgow suitable to the profession which he had chosen. He went to sea in February, 1762, on board the Gosport, com- manded by captain Jervis, afterwards earl of St. Vincent. He subsequently served in the Juno, Lively, and Eme- rald frigates, until 1767, when he went a voyage to China ELl'HINSTONE. 4f)7 vtitb his brother, the Hon. W. Elphinstoue. In 17G9, he proceeded to India with commodore Sir John Lindsay, by whom he was promoted to the rank, of lieutenant. Soon after his return to England, he was appointed to the flag- ship of Sir Peter Dennis, commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean ; and in 1772 he was advanced to the rank of commander in the Scorpion, of 14 guns. His commis- sion as post-captain bore date March 11th, 1775; and his first appointment appears to have been to the Marl- borough, 74, stationed at Portsmouth, from which ship he soon after removed into the Pearl, and afterwards into the Perseus frigate, in which he served on the coast of America, under lord Howe and admiral Arbuthnot. At this time he was returned to parliament for the county of Dumbarton, in which his family possessed considerable influence. At the reduction of Charlestown, captain Elpbinstone commanded a detachment of seamen on shore ; and his services were honourably mentioned in the oUicial dis- patches of general Sir Henry Clinton. He was also pre- sent at the attack on Mud Inland, November 15th, 1777. On his return to England, he was appointed to the War- wick, 50 ; and in 1780 he was again elected to represent his native county. In January, 1781, he captured, after a smart action, the Rotterdam Dutch ship of war, of 50 guns and 300 men ; which had been before ineffectually engaged by the Isis, also a 50 gun ship. During the re- mainder of the war, captain Elphinstone was employed on the American station, under admiral Digby. While thei-e, H. R. H. prince William Henry, afterwards Wil- liam IV. then a midshipman in the Prince George, being desirous of a more active life, requested permission to go to sea, that he might obtain practical experience ; and added to this request, his wish to cruise in the Warwick; the admiral acquiesced, and captain Elphinstone had the honour of the prince's company. On the 11th of September, 1782, the Warwick, accom- panied by the Lion, the Vestal, and the Bonetta, while cruising off the Delaware, descried five sail which were suspected to be French, on which account a vigorous chase commenced. The Warwick and Bonetta, that pursued to windward, overtook and captured the Sophie, a fine ship of 22 guns ; and captain Elphinstone learned from the prisoners, that the other vessels were the Aigle and La 2 ti2 468 NAVAL HISTORY. Gloire, French friijates, a French brig under their convoy, and the Racoon, a British sloop of war, of which they had made a prize. The Liou and Vestal now approached, and captain Elphinstone ordered them to make with all speed for the Delaware, and there anchor so as to prevent the enemy from entering. On the 13th the strangers ap- peared, and stood into the river, but the wind, which at this period shifted to the eastward, enabled the Warwick and Vestal to weather them. In this emergency, the French commodore resolved to run in among the shoals called the Shears, for which purpose he prevailed upon the Racoon's pilot by a lai-ge bribe to take charge of his ship. Elphinstone, however, though without a pilot, de termined to follow them at every risk, and accordingly he da.shed boldly onwai-d to the astonishment of the French, who never dreamt of such an experiment. About noon there was a dead pause both with the pursuers and pursued, from the rapidly increasing shallowness of the water, upon which the British squadron anchored, and sent out boats to sound, the Bonetta going ahead to lead in the best water. Thus the chase was continued for two days, while the ships of both parties continued sounding and anchoring alternately, and creeping onward with the greatest precaution. At length, on the afternoon of the 15th, the French commodore was evidently in great confusion, and in a short time the largest of his ships, L'Aigle, grounded. Captain Elphinstone immediately manned his prize the Sophie with 150 men, and placed it under the enemy's stern ; the Vestal was run aground on his starboard quarter, and the Bonetta within a hun- dred and fifty yards on the larboard quarter. The French- man was thus unable to bring a single gun to bear upon his antagonists, and surrendered at the first fire. This ship, which was one of the finest of her class in the French navy, had on board the baron de Viominil, commander- in chief of the French army in America, the viscount de Montmorency, the due de Lauzan, and several other of- ficers of distinction, but these escaped to the shore, carry- ing with them in the boat a large quantity of public treasure that had been shipped for the payment of the troops. Two small casks and two boxes filled with money •were left behind, which fell into the hands of the captors, and L'Aigle and Sophie were purchased by the govern- ment, and added to the royal navy. EL l»H IN STONE. 4G9 At tlie general election in 1786, Captain Elphinstone was chosen representative in parliament for Stirlingshire. In 1793, soon after the war broke out with France, cap- tain Elphinstone was appointed to the Robust, 74, and sailed under the command of lord Hood to the Mediter- ranean. That nobleman was now engaged in the important but unsuccessful project of reviving the cause of royalty in the south of France. At first everything seemed to go on favourably for the English : the sections of Toulon proclaimed Louis XVII., the French fleet surrendered, and Toulon itself was occupied by our troops. But the English in their turn were exposed to the sud- den changes of warfare. A few days after their arrival, general Carteaux, at the head of a detachment of the republican army, appeared on the heights near Toulon. As he was accompanied only by an advanced guard of 750 men, and ten pieces of cannon, captain Elphinstone, who was now governor of fort Malgue, placed himself at the head of GOO British and Spanish troops, with which he marched out, put the enemy to the rout, and seized their artillery, ammunition, horses, and two stands of colours. On the 1st of October, the combined forces un- der the command of lord Mulgrave, captain Elphinstone, and rear-admiral Gravina, also obtained a complete vic- tory at the heights of Pharou, over a detachment of the French army, consisting of nearly 2000 men ; of whom about l.'iOO were either killed, wounded, or taken prison- ers, during their precipitate retreat. But the enemy soon recovered from these defeats ; and after a series of successes they found means, by the aid of Bonaparte, then a young otficer of artillery, to carry some of our posts, and to render Toulon no longer tena- ble, which led to measures for the immediate evacuation of the town and arsenal, as well as for the destruction of the ships of war. Early in the morning of the 18th of December, the embarkation commenced ; and by day- break on the 19th, the troops, to the number of 8000, to- gether with several thousands of the French royalists, were safe on board, without the loss of a single man This service was e.lected under captains Elphinstone, Hallowell, and Matthews, to whose indefatigable atten- tion the success of so important an operation was mainly attributable. In the spring of 1794, captain Elphinstone returned to 470 NAVAL HISTORY. England with the convoy from the Mediterranean, and three French men-of-war, under his protection. On the 12th of April, he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue ; and on the 4th of July, to that of rear-admiral of the white, when he hoisted his flag on board the Barfleur, of 98 guns, in the Channel fleet. On the 30th of May he was created a knight of the Bath, as a reward for his distinguished merits. In January, 1795, hosti- lities being about to take place between Great Britain and the Batavian Republic, Sir George shifted his flag to the Monarch, of 74 guns, and sailed from Spithead, April 2, for the Cape of Good Hope, having under his command a small squadron destined for the reduction of that settlement. On the 1st of June following he was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral. Sir George arrived in Simon's bay early in July, and was there reinforced by several ships of war and India- men, having on board a number of troops under the command of major-general Craig. The Dutch troops were intrenched in a strong position at Muyzenberg, six miles from Cape-Town, and well furnished with cannon, having a steep mountain on their right, and the sea on their left, difficult of approach on account of shallow water, with a high surf on the shore ; but the absolute necessity of securing the post determined the British commanders to proceed without hesitation. The vice-admiral therefore prepared a gun -boat, armed the launches with heavy carronades, landed two batta- lions of seamen, about 1000 strong, in addition to 800 soldiers and marines, and sent ships frequently round the bay, to prevent suspicion of the attack, which it was agreed should be made whenever any favourable oppor- tunity might offer. This occurred on the 7th of August. A light breeze sprung up from the N. W., and at tv/elve o'clock the signal was made ; when major-general Craig instantly put the forces on shore in motion, and at the same moment commodore Blankett, with a detached squadron, got under weigh, whilst the armed boats pie- ceded the march of the troops about five hundred yards, to prevent their being interrupted. The attack was so successful, that the enemy were soon compelled to fly with the greatest precipitation. Five Dutch East Indiamen were found in the bay, and taken possession of: three of them from Batavia, with ELPHINSTONK. 471 valuable cargoes oii board, and two from Amsterdam, which had delivered their lading previous to tlie arrival of the British. The next day the enemy endeavoured to regain the important position they had lost, having drawn out their whole force from Cape-Town, with eiijht field- pieces ; but were every where repulsed. Upon this occa- sion the seamen and marines particularly distinguished themselves, and manoeuvred with a regularity that would not have discredited veteran troops. From this period no material circumstance occurred till the 4th of September, when it was determined to make an attack upon Cape-Town ; accordingly the troops, artillery, and stores, were landed with the greatest expe- dition ; and on the morning of the 14th the army began its march, each man carrying four days* provisions, and the volunteer seamen from the Indiamen dragging the guns through a deep sand, frequently exposed to a gall- ing fire from the enemy. At Wyneberg, a post at a small distance from Cape-Town, the Dutch had deter- mined to make a firm stand ; but they were so resolutely pushed by the British, as to be under the necessity of retreating; and nearly at the same time, they were alarmed by the appearance of commodore Blankett, with several vessels, which Sir George K. Elphinstone had detached into Table-bay, to cause a diversion on that side. Farther resistance on the part of the enemy being now fruitless, M. Van Sluyskin, the governor, sent out a flag of truce, asking a cessation of arms for forty-eight hours, to settle the terms for surrendering the town : but only half that time was granted: and on the 16th, this valuable colony fell into the possession of Great Britain. The regular troops taken in the garrison amounted to about 1000 men. This conquest being secured, the vice-admiral pro- ceeded to the Indian seas, and commenced operations for distressing the enemy ; and with such effect, that in a very short time the islands of Ceylon, Cochin, Malacca, and the Moluccas, surrendered to the British arms. In the midst of this success Sir George learned, that a Dutch squadron was shortly expected at the Cape of ,Good Hope, having been dispatched by the Gallo-Bata- vian government, to make a strenuous effort for its re- covery ; upon which he immediately sailed thither, and fortunately arrived before the enemy. On the 3rd of 472 NAVAL HISTORY. August, U9G, be received intelligence that a hostile fleet was off the coast; but owing to the violence of tlie weather, it was not until the 6th that he could go in quest of them. On the Ifith, at sunset, the vice-admiral arrived off Saldanha bay, when the enemy's squadron were descried, consisting of two ships of 66 guns each, one of 54, five frigates and sloops, and one store-ship. Sir George, seeing the inferiority of their force in point of numbers, came to anchor within gun-shot, and proposed to the Dutch commander, that, to avoid the effusion of blood, he should surrender to the British fleet, instead of ex- posing his ships to certain destruction. The Dutch ad- miral, Lucas, perceiving that he could neither escape nor resist, presented terms of capitulation ; all of which were accepted by Sir George K. Elphinstone, except the second, whei'ein the Dutch commander required two frigates to be appointed cartels, to convey himself, oflScers, and men, to Holland. This was refused, in consequence of the cartel ships which had been sent from Toulon and various other places having been detained, and their crews imprisoned, contrary to the law of nations. On the 18th, the whole of the Dutch ships were taken pos- session of by the British. After the completion of these important services, Sir George sailed for Europe, and arrived at Spithead, the 3rd of January, 179*. On the 7th of March following, he was raised to the dignity of a baron of the kingdom of Ireland, by the title of baron Keith of Stonehaven Marischal. In the month of May, the same year, he superintended the naval preparations at Sheerness against the mutineers, who unhappily held the command of several ships of war at the Nore. This storm being dis- pelled, his lordship fcr a short time commanded a de- tachment of the Channel fleet. He afterwards proceeded, in the Foudroyant, of 80 guns, to the Mediterranean station, as second in command, under the earl of St. Vincent, whom he joined at Gibraltar, in December, 1798. On the 14th of February, 1799, he was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral of the red. The commander iuchief being seriously indisposed, gave charge of the fleet off Cadiz to lord Keith, who re- mained employed in the blockade of the Spanish fleet, consisting of twenty two ships of the line, until the 4th KEITH. 473 of May, 179D, when he discovered the Brest fleet, cou- eisting of twenty-four sail of the line and nine smaller vessels, at some distance to windward, steering in for the land. The vice-admiral instantly weighed, and un- discourai^ed by the numerical superiority of the enemy's force, ofl'ered them battle, which they declined : neither did the French admiral, Bruix, attempt to join his friends at Cadiz, which port was not more than seven or eight n»iles to leeward. During the ensuing night the storm was so great, that it was with much difficulty the ships could be kept together. At daylight on the morning of t'lie 5th, only four sail of the enemy were to be seen, to which cha.se was given, but without elFect. Lord Keith remained on his station until the 9th, when earl St. Vin- cent, who had received intelligence that the Spaniards meditated a descent on Minorca, dispatched him to the relief of that island. In the mean time, the French commander reached Carthagena, where he was soon after joined by admiral Massaredo, with five ships of 112 guns eacby one of 80, and eleven of 74, upon which the vice-admiral collected his whole force, and proceeded in quest of the combined fleet to Cadiz, and from thence to Brest, when he found that they had entered the port only five hours befoi'e. Alter this long pursuit, his lord- ship steered for England ; but his cruise did not prove upon the whole unfortunate, for, on the I9th of June, a part of his squadron, consisting of the Centaur, Bellona, Santa Teresa, and Emerald, captured a 40 gun ship, a frigate, and three small armed vessels, bound from Jafla to Toulon. Towards the end of November, 1799, his lordship sailed from Plymouth in the Queen Charlotte of 100 guns, to resume the command in the Mediterranean, and arrived at Gibraltar on the 6th of December. The season for operations was in some degree over in that quarter; but much praise was due to lord Keith for the excellent dis- position of the force under his command, and the judg- ment with which he stationed his cruisers, so that few of the enemy's vessels ventured out of port without falling into the hands of some of our ships of war. Early in 1800, his lordship proceeded to Malta, and cruised off the port of La Valetta, to intercept any suc- cours during the blockade ; and to ensure success, he ordered lord Nelson to cruise to windward with three 474 NAVAL HISTORY. sail of the line, while he himself remained with the flag-ship and a small squadron at the mouth of the har- bour. This judicious arrangement produced the capture of Le Geuereux, of 74 gtms, carrying the flag of rear- admiral Perree, and having a number of troops on board for the relief of the place, together with a large store-ship. On the rth of March, 1800, his lordship anchored at Leghorn, for the purpose of cooperating with the Aus- trian army against the French, under the command of general Massena,who at that time occupied the city and territory of Genoa. On the 14th he issued a proclama- tion, wherein he informed all neutral powers, that the ports of Toulon, Marseilles, Nice, and the coast of the Riviera, were in a state of blockade. Being now determined to seize on the island of Ca- brera, then in possession of the French, as a proper place for refreshing his men, he detached captain Todd with the Queen Charlotte for that purpose ; but on the 17th of March, when between Leghorn and the island of Cabrera, the Queen Charlotte was discovered to be in flames, and, in the course of an inconceivably short period, upwards of 600 gallant men lost their lives, and one of the noblest ships in the British navy was totally destroyed. His lordship was on shore at the time the conflagration hap- pened ; after which he proceeded with part of his fleet off Genoa, to co-operate with the Austrians, who were at that time besieging it. As the place could only be re- duced by famine, it was necessary to cut off all supplies by sea ; and this service was so effectually performed, tliat in the beginning of June the French general was obliged to capitulate. This achievement would not have failed to be estimated as it deserved, had not the battle of Marengo, and the convention between Melas and Bonaparte, overwhelmed Europe with dismay. It is here proper to remark, that the Austrians never fired a gun against Genoa, during the whole of the siege, and that its reduction was wholly caused by famine, which the vigi- lance of oar sea blockade had occasioned. On the 4th of September following, the island of Malta surrendered to a detachment of lord Keith's fleet. As it was now determined to strike a blow at Spain, orders were sent from England for collecting ships and troops for that pui-pose. Accordingly, on the 13th of KEITH. 475 September, lord Keith repaired with the flcf t to Gibral- tar, and the transports, with Sir James Pulteney's division of troops, having joined the forces commanded by Sir Ralph Abercrombie, amounting in all to about 18,000 men, the squadron passed the straits, and entered the bay of Cadiz, which city at that time was visited with a deadly malady. No sooner had the detachment, consisting of three 80, and four 74 gun ships, come to anchor, than the governor, don Thomas de Maria, addressed a most energetic letter to the admiral, in which he expressed a hope that he would not seek to add to the unhappy situation of the inhabitants. That unfortunate city was saved from an assault, not by the generosity of the enemy, but from the squally weather, wbich prevented the English admiral from adding to its calamity the horrors of war. Soon after this, the attention of England was directed to Egypt, where the French army was reduced to such a critical situation, that Kleber entered into a treaty with Sir Sidney Smith, and actually consented to abandon tbat country. Lord Keith, however, on being informed of this convention, injudiciously refused to accede to it, unless the French troops would surrender as prisoners of war. This declaration roused the enthusiasm of the French troops; the Turks were once more attacked, and beaten ; so that when instructions arrived to accede to the convention of El Arisch, the enemy, in turn, re- fused to agree to it, and thus fresh streams of blood were made to flow ; and an English army was sent under the gallant Sir Ralph Abercrombie to compel the French to do by force what they would willingly have done mouths before. Lord Keith was intrusted with the fleet which was assembled for that purpose, and the expedition ac- cordingly repaired to Marmorice, to wait for the co-ope- ration of the Turks ; and having sailed from that port on the 23rd of February, 1801, it anchored in the bay of Aboukir on the 22nd of March, near the very spot on which the memorable battle of the Nile had been fought. The army, to the amount of 16,150 men, with a battalion of 1000 seamen under Sir Sidney Smith, at two o'clock in the morning of the 8th of March began to enter the boats, and at nine they advanced towards the shore, preserving the form of a line as much as possible, with both flanks protected by cutters, gun-boats, and armed 476 NAVAL HISTORY. launches ; while opposed to them was a large body of troops, familiar with the country, and flushed with recent successes. Cannon and mortar batteries were placed on the heights, and the castle of Aboutir alone threatened destruction to the assailants ; while the sand-hills, still nearer to the water's edge, were lined with nausketrj-, and parties of infantry were kept in readiness with bodies of horse to charge the invaders. But although the boats were exposed to an amphitheatre of fire, and an incessant discharge of shot, shells, and grape, they rowed briskly ashore ; and, a landing being effected, the adjoin- ing hill was scaled, and seven pieces of artillery seized. It is remarkable, that, during the whole of this perilous operation, not a single naval oSicer was killed, and only seven officers and seventy-three men were wounded. The battalion of sailors continued to be of great service while on shore ; and the capture, both of Cairo and of Alexandria, depended not a little on the co-operation of the navy. These services were fully acknowledged in the official dispatches of lord Hutchinson, who had suc- ceeded to the command of the army on the death of the heroic Abercrombie. On the 1st of January, 1801, a general promotion took place, in honour of the iinion between Great Britain and Ireland, and on that occasion lord Keith was advanced to the rank of admiral of the blue. When the news arrived of the glorious termination of the operations in Egypt, his lordship received the thanks of both houses of parliament, and on the 5th of December, 1801, was created a baron of the United Kingdom, by the title of baron Keith, of Banheath, county of Dumbarton. He was also presented by the corporation of London with the freedom of that city in a gold box, together with a sword of the value of one hundred guineas ; and the grand Seignor conferred on him the order of the Crescent, which he established to perpetuate the memory of the services rendered to the Ottoman empire by the British forces. At the peace of 1802, lord Keith returned to England, and struck his flag ; but he did not remain long unem- ployed. On the re-commencement of hostilities, in ISOS, he was appointed commander in chief in the North Sea, and in the English Channel, as far to the westward as Selsea Bill. The nature of this extensive and compli- KEITH. 477 catcd command, consisting at one tinie of uiiwarcis of a hundred and twenty pennants, required that his lordship ishould he established on shore ; in consequence of which he took up his residence at East CliflT, near Ilanis^ate ; occasionally going on board his flag-ship for the purpose of reconnoitring the enemy's coast, and directing the attacks which it was thought proper to make on the llolilla destined for the invasion of England. His lordship was, en the 9th of November, 1S05, raised to the rank of admiral of the white ; and continued to hold his extensive and important command until the month of May, 1807, when the admiralty having deter- mined to divide it into three separate ones, he struck his flag. In 1812, he succeeded Sir Charles Cotton, a.s commander-in chief of the Channel fleet. On the 14th of May, 1814, he was created a viscount of the United Kingdom. During the period of the second invasion ol France by the allied powers, the noble admiral com- manded in the Channel, and, by the judicious arrange- ment of his cruisers, prevented Napoleon from having the slightest chance of escaping to America ; and in con- sequence he was induced to surrender himself as a prisoner of war — an event which secured the peace and tranquil- lity of Europe. His lordship died, at Tulliallan house, on Monday, the 10th of March, 1823, in the seventy-seventh year of hia 478 NAVAL HISTORY. SIR WILLIAM SIDNEY SMITH. BORN 1764. In the midst of our details of modern naval warfare, we are conscious that they are apt to pall upon the reader, from that systematic regularity and uniformity that must necessarily characterize them. It is therefore with peon- liar pleasure that we forsake, for a short space, the tac- ticians of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in favour of this chivalrous knight-errant of the ocean, in whose character we find all the enterprise of the ancient sea-kings of the north, and in whose deeds there is all the excitement of a tale of romance, without those repul- sive features by which such tales are generally qualified. This gallant naval commander was born in 1764. His father, captain Smith, having designed him for the naval service, obtained for him so suitable an education, that although Sidney entered the navy as midshipman at the early age of thirteen, his nautical studies on shore were cousidei-ed as so much time of actual service, in compli- ance with rules at tbat time established in the British navy. Thus the period of his early probation was so much shortened, that at the age of sixteen he was promoted to the rank of fifth lieutenant on board the Alcide, 74, com- manded by Sir Charles Thompson. Only two years after this promotion he was raised to the rank of commander; but during that short interval he was engaged in very close service, having been employed in the Alcide in the battle oif the Chesapeake in 1781, and the different skir- mishes between Sir Samuel Hood and the count de Grasse at St. Christopher's, as well as Rodney's victory of the 12th of April, 1782. He was appointed to the command of the Fury, a sloop of war, in 1783, and afterwards to the Ne- mesis, a frigate of 28 guns ; but soon after, in consequence of the peace, his ship was paid off. A state of grievous inactivity for five years now suc- ceeded, when, in 1788, a rupture took place between Swe- den and Russia, and captain Smith having obtained permission from the British government, entered into the SIDNEY SMITH. i7\) service of the fonner. Here he distiuiruished himself so highly in several naval engragenients, that Gusravus the king of Sweden conferred upon him the grand cross of the order of the Sword; after which, on his return to England, the rank of knighthood was conferred upon him by his own 80verei;^n. Sir Sidney Smith, after a short stay at home, again became impatient for action ; and finding all the Christian powers at peace, he went to Turkey, and became a volun- teer in its marine. Although he appears to have had no opportunity of signalizing himself in this service, it is probable that on this occasion he learned the Turkish fashion of warfare, of wliich he afterwards availed him- self so splendidly at Acre. He had not been long in the Ottoman fleet when the war which broke out between England and France, in 1793, induced him to return; and being determined not to enter upon the scene of action empty-handed, he gathered a motley crew of unemployed English sailors at Smyrna, and purchased one of the small lateen-rigged craft of the Archipelago, measuring between thirty and forty feet in the keel, on board of which he hoisted the English flag, and repaired with this reinforcement to the fleet under the command of lord Hood before Toulon, about a fortnight before the evacuation of the town. While Sir Sidney remained as a volunteer with lord Hood on board the Victory, he undertook the destruction of the French shipping and magazines at Toulon, a most arduous and important service, and which, contrary to all expectation, he performed with a small force, even in spite of the blunders of the Spaniards who were joined with him in the attempt. These precious auxiliaries, as if they had intended to destroy both friend and enemy at once, set fire to the Isis frigate in the inner road, laden with several thousand barrels of gunpowder, instead of scuttling and sinking her, by which Sir Sidney and his whole party were nearly blown into the air in the midst of their operations. This was not all ; for after this wrong- headed left-handed feat, Sir Sidney discovered with as- tonishment that they had failed to set fire to any of the ships in the basin before the town ; upon which he advanced in the face of the enemy to finish the task, but found the boom laid across the entrance. His services, however, had already been highly effective, for he had 48a NAVAL HISTORY. destroyed ten French ships of the line then in the arsenal, and the mast, principal store, and hemp houses. Hav- ing been sent home with the dispatches of lord Hood, upon this occasion, Sir Sidney, in 1794, was appointed to the command of the Diamond frigate. A series of brilliant exploits now distinguished the career of our hero. In the beg-iuning of 1795, Sir John Borlase Warren being employed to reconnoitre Brest, under the apprehension that the French fleet under ad- miral Villaret had sailed out on a cruise. Sir Sidney un- dertook this hazardous service, and accomplished it with success, having disguised the Diamond so effectually, that she passed within hail of a French line of battle ship un- suspected, after which he learned that the enemy were actually out at sea. In the month of May, during the same year, he aided Sir Richard Strachan in the capture of a convoy of transports. On the 4th of July, he made a bold but unsuccessful attempt on two French ships, with their convoy, near the shore of La Hogue ; but on the 2nd of September he was more fortunate in destroying a French corvette upon the same station. In the month of March, of the following year, having learned that a convoy, consisting of a corvette, four brigs, two sloops, and three luggers, had taken shelter in the little port of Her- qui, Sir Sidney proceeded against them with his frigate, a brig, and a lugger. Having surmounted the difficulties of the narrow channel, he attacked and stormed the ene- my's batteries, and burnt all the French vessels, with the exception of one of the luggei's, that fought bravely and secured its escape. After having thus signalized himself in a combination of land and sea service so full of adventure, and so much to his taste, an unfortunate reverse for our hero was at hand. Being stationed off Havre de Grace on a recon- noitring expedition, he captured with his boats a French lu'Xger privateer, on the 18th of April. This prize, in con- sequence of the strong setting of the tide into the har- bour, was driven up the Seine above the forts, and by the dawn of next morning, the enemy saw their lugger in tow of a string of English boats. The alarm was instantly given ; the prize and the boats were attacked by several armed vessels, and at the same time a lugger of larger force than the one captured was wai-ped out against it. The English being thus overwhelmed by numbers, after SIDNEY SMITH. 481 having foiislit desperately, with a loss of four killed and seven wounded, were obliged to surrender. Sir Sidney and about eighteen of his brave followers thus fell intc the hands of the enemy, while, in consequence of the dead calm that prevailed, the Diamond was unable to give any assistance. The treatment which Sir Sidney Smith received at the hands of the captors was ungenerous in the extreme ; he was even threatened with martial execution as a spy, and sent to the Abbaye, where he was kept in close confine- ment. The British government, in the mean time, made every exertion to obtain the liberty of so distinguished an offirer ; but although negotiations were entered into for this purpose, the Directory would not be persuaded to exchange him for any of their own captured officers. Af- ter two years of tedious and close imprisonment, Sir Sid- ney raanag-ed to effect his escape in the following inge- nious manner: One of his fellow-captives, who was a French emigrant, but who passed for an English jockey of Sir Sidney Smith, contrived to ingratiate himself with the keepers of the Temple, in which our knight was now imprisoned, by which mean^ihe was enabled to establish a sort of telegraph correspondence from the windows with certain females of the town, and who agreed to assist in his liberation. A more effectual auxiliary was at band in the person of the emigrant's wife. This lady, who dared not come to the Temple, had engaged a young Frenchman in her designs for the freedom of the cap- tives, and with his aid a hole twelve feet lonx was made in a cellar adjoining to the prison, during the excavation of which a child seven years old used to beat a drum within the house, to drown the noise of the mining. The partition wall was reached, and cautiously sounded, but at this crisis a stone falling out and rolling into the gar- den of the Temple, gave the alarm to the guards. They arrived immediately, and discovered the plan ; but fortu- nately the operators escaped unsuspected. The confine- ment of Sir Sidney was now more strict than ever, but this failure seemed only to excite his friends to greater activity. It was now resolved to have him removed by forged orders from the Temple to another prison, that he might be carried off in the tran:iit. The order was ac- cordingly drawn out ; the real stamp of the ministers' signature, which had been procured by a bribe, was af« 2 11 482 NAVAL HISTORY. fixed to it, and the friends of the commodore, disguised as French officers, discharged their duty with such marvel- ous effrontery and finesse, as lulled to sleep even the sus- picion of the cautious jailors. Accompanied by M. de Phelipeaux, one of his liberators. Sir Sidney lost no time iu hurrying to Rouen, where they were obliged to con- ceal themselves for several days, until means could be found for their crossing the Channel, which was at last safely accomplished. His return to London in May, 1798, after his escape from a prison so famed for its closeness and security, was hailed by the populace as a sort of na- tional triumph. In the succeeding month, he was ap- pointed to the command of the Tigre, a ship of 80 guns ; and as the invasion of Egypt by Bonapart* had brought our country into a friendly relation with Turkey, Sir Sid- ney was appointed to co-operate with the Ottoman fleets and armies in £g"ypt as a commander, and with the Bri- tish minister at Constantinople in the civil character of a plenipotentiary. He forthwith sailed to the Turkish capi- tal, where he was welcomed by a people who had enjoyed his services, and learned to appreciate them ; after which he repaired to the coast of Syria, in the hope of repaying the French with usury for the sufferings and indignities he had endured in the Abbaye and the Temple. The cause which he thus came to aid would, to an ordinary warrior, have appeared utterly hopeless. Al- though the battle of the Nile had ruined the prospects of the French by sea, yet the career of Bonaparte by land was as irresistible and triumphant as ever ; and after a series of splendid successes, by which his ad- versaries were subdued or scattered, he had bent the whole force of his wonderful mind with complete effect to organize the country into a French colony. The permanent possession of Egypt was now apparently secured, and Bonaparte, still marching eastward, seemed destined to accomplish the total overthrow of the British empire in India. Acre, the capital of Syria, was the chief obstacle that interposed in his path of victory ; a town weakly fortified, and only garrisoned by Turks; and as there was every probability of carrying it by a single onset, he hurried to the place, in hopes of reach- ing- it before the British auxiliaries arrived. But Sir Sidney, who had hastened to the relief of Acre, with par SIDNEY SMITH. 4S3 of his naval force, arrived there two days before the French, and his very coming seemed to change, in an instant, the whole character of the war. He had brought with hira colonel Pbelipeaux, the companion of his flight from Paris ; and this skilful engineer strengthened the defences of the town, while the train of artillery which Bonaparte had caused to be sent by sea, for the siege, had been captured by Sir Sidney, and was now planted upon the ancient walls of Acre. Encouraged by these powerful aids, and the i-einforcement of English sailors and marines, the old pacha of Syria, named El Djexzar, or the Butcher, determined to hold out to the last. It would be beyond our limits to enter into all the details of this wonderful siege, in which the science of Pbelipeaux, the romantic bravery of Sir Sidney Smith, the stubborn ferocity of the Butcher, and the emulous bravery of their respective followers, were severally exliibited, and tried to the utmost. Even as it was, the most fortunate circumstance in their favour was undoubtedly their possession of the French artillery, de- prived of which, even the tran.«cendent skill of Bona- parte was unable to command success. The French, however, in spite of their want of guns, and notwith- standing the tire from the British ships and boats, by whicli they were flanked, pressed onward in their operations with the most persevering valour. Having made a breach in the wall, they endeavoured nine times to storm it ; and notwithstanding the slaughter that followed each attempt, they still returned to the attack with a determination which their enemies were compelled to admire. The siege was in this state when, upon the ftfty-first day after its commencement, a long- expected reinforcement to the town, under the com- mand of Hassan Bey, appeared in the distance. The most desperate efforts on the part of the French were now necessary before the Turkish armament could arrive ; and these eftbrts were not spared. Animated by their leader, these brave men pressed onward and gained ground; a tower was stormed, on the outer angle of which the French flag was planttni, and the flanking fire of the British ships in the h.iy was ren- dered IneflTectual by two traverses, that had been erected during the night, while that from the ramparts at the same time slackened. The Turki:;h fleet in the 2 El -2 484 NAVAL HISTORY. mean time had approached; the boats were already low- ered and filled with soldiers, although still distant from the shore ; and if the garrison could but hold out till their arrival, Acre would be saved. At this moment Sir Sidney was equal to the emergency. Filling several boats of his squadron with sailors armed with pikes, he landed them at the mole, and marched them to the breach, amidst the triumphant shouts of the Turks, who were defending it by hurling stones upon the assailants. This reinforcement checked the career of the enemy, until the first body of Hassan's troops were landed, when Bonaparte, now becoming desperate, was seen upon Coeur~de-lion's mount, urging with vehement ges- ticulations his followers to a more decisive onset. A massive column of the French, therefore, a little before sun.set, advanced with a solemn step to the breach, which they were allowed to enter unmolested ; from this they descended with the same ease, and advanced even into the garden of the pacha. But here their fancied career of victory was stopped in an instant. It was a stratagem of Turkish warfare to let a certain number of the enemy in, and then close upon them with sabre and dagger. These weapons were a complete overmatch for the bayonet, and the greater pait of the column was instantly cut in pieces. This successful feint had almost cost the English dear; for although the old garrison were well acquainted with the British uniform, the new soldiers of Hassan saw no difference between the French and English hat in the twilight, on which account they hewed at friend and foe indiscriminately. Darkness at length closed upon this sanguinary and momentous struggle, which had continued for tweuty-five hours, both parties being so exhausted that they were unable to move. The heroic determination of Sir Sidney Smith at this period, amidst his exhausted followers and allies, and within an antiquated wall, with a breach through which fifty men could enter abreast, was thus characteristically an- nounced in his dispatch to Lord Nelson : ' Indeed, the town is not nor ever has been defensible, according to the rules of art ; but according to every other rule, it must and shall be defended.' The pledge thus given was most nobly redeemed. Sir Sidney felt that the breach in the wall of Acre was the Tuermopylaj of the East ; and like a second Leonidas he SIDNEY SMITH. 485 was prepared to fall amoug its ruins. During the few days longer in which the siege continued, Bonaparte, as if excited to frenzy by the opposition he experienced, where he had hoped an easy conquest, seemed to lose every principle of generalship for which he had hitherto been so renowned ; so that instead of adopting cautious measures, all his efforts were the dictates of blind fury. He urged his soldiers onward, and he threw mass after mass of the French infantry against the tottering ram- parts, until the path of the assailants was blocked up with those who fell at each successive onset, so that his soldiers refused to mount any longer over the putrid corpses of their companions. At length, the siege having lasted without interruption for sixty days, the hitherto victorious Napoleon was obliged to feel that impossible was actually a good French word, for he was obliged to make a rui.ious retreat from Acre. His soldiers were sinking under hunger, thirst, and sickness ; his van was raked by the gun-boats, and his rear was infested by clouds of Arabs after his troops had marched inland, to avoid the fire from the harbour. The bafHed and broken remains of the French array experienced in their flight all that misery and loss which was afterwards to be ex- nibited upon so gigantic a scale in the retreat of their countrymen from Moscow. This resistance, unparalleled in history, by which an un- disciplined army of Turks and Syrians, assisted and di- rected by an English seaman, and aided by a few boats' crews, made good an indefensible town against one of the bravest armies of Europe, headed by the most skilful and successful of generals, excited an indescribable feel- ing of wonderment throughout Europe ; and tacticians who had been accustomed to fight ' by the book of arith- metic,' felt themselves compelled to applaud such a mili- tary anomaly on account of its success. A shower of grateful rewards fell upon the head of the defender of Acre. The Grand Seignor, who shed tears of joy at the tidings, transmitted to Sir Sidney a splendid aigrette, and rich sable fur, similar to those bestowed upon Nelson, and the Turkish order of the Crescent; the deed was ex- tolled by George UI. in parliament, which agreed to a vote of thanks to Sir Sidney, and the officers and seamen under his command; a pension of £1000. per annum was settled upon him by the legislature, and rich pre- 486 NAVAL HISTORY. sents were decreed him by the city of London, and the Turkey company. After this, the course of events for some time in Egypt was unfavourable to the Turks, who were routed in the field by the superior science and discipline of the French. Bonaparte having thus in some measure repaired the effects of his disasters at Acre, suddenly set sail to France, where a more splendid field of ambition presented itself; and in October, 1790, Sir Sidney accompanied the Turkish vice-admiral, Seid Ali Bey, upon a fresh naval expedition for the recovery of Eg5'pt. A landing of English sailors was accomplished at the mouth of the Damietta branch of the Nile, to draw the attention of the French from the operations of the Vizier, who was advancing with the grand army on the side of the desert, and the Tigre's boats took possession of a ruinous castle, under the pro- tection of which the debarkation of the Turkish troops was effected. But at this moment the French attacked the Turks with such vigour, that they drove them into the water, so that all the English commodore could effect ■was the rescue of the fugitives. In subsequent cases, however, the co-operation of the English marines and sailors with the Vizier was so effective, that general Kleber, the French commander, was at last obliged to capitulate. On the 24th of January, ISOO, he signed at El Arisch an agreement with the vizier and Sir Sidney Smith, to evacuate Egypt, on condition that his army should be transported to France. This treaty was dis- pleasing to the British government. Nothing less would satisfy them than the entire surrender of the French army, in consequence of which, the latter indignantly renewed hostilities, and gained a splendid victory at Elhanka, in the neighbourhood of Cairo, in which the Turks sustained a loss of 8,000 in killed and wounded. The treaty was again opened with the victorious French, -who would now have obtained their own terms, but their brave general Kleber was assassinated, and the com- mand devolved upon the crazy and imbecile Menou, who determined to abide in Egypt at whatever risk. Thus, through a series of diplomatic blunders, arising out of the arrogance of our government, and by which the negotiations of Sir Sidney with the enemy were thwarted, the whole toil of battle and conquest bad to be renewed. In consequence of this, the battle of SIDNEY SMITH. 487 Aboukir was fought on the 21st of March, 1801. Sir Sid ney, on the landing of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, joined hira with a detachment of seamen and marines ; and in the victory which followed he was wounded, and had his horse shot under him, while fighting in his usual chivalrous fashion. Even after this expenditure of Bri- tish blood and courage, the French obtained the same terms which had been formerly agreed to by Sir Sidney Smith in the treaty of El Arisch ; and they were trans- ported, with all their baggage, in English and Turkish vessels, to the nearest French ports. A breathing interval now occurred in the ancient king- dom of the Pharaohs and Ptolemies, and our knight availed himself of the opportunity, to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre. Such was the respect which the Turks felt for him, on this occasion, that he and his fol- lowers were allowed to enter Jerusalem armed, and in Christian costume— a stretch of liberality never before permitted by the infidels to a Frank. The Turkish gran- dees were equally grateful for his remarkable services, so that at a splendid entertainment which was given by the capidan pacha, on board his ship, to the English hero, one of the admiral's silk .lags was presented to Sir Sidney, by v/hich he was entitled to all the honours and respect of a Turkish pacha. On the 5th of September, 1301, Sir Sidney Smitli and colonel Abercrombie em- barked at Alexandria, with the dispatches ; and on their arrival in London, on the 10th of November, the whole metropolis was eauer to welcome the son of the veteran conqueror at Aboukir, and the gallant champion of Acre. For some time after such stirring service, a compara- tively tranquil period occurs in the history of Sir Sidney. In 1802, he was chosen representative in parliament for the city of Rochester; and on the renewal of the war in 1803, he hoisted his broad pendant on board the Ante- lope, of 50 guns, as commodore of a squadron employed on the French coast. In the spring of 1S04, he was appointed a colonel of royal marines ; and near the end of the following year, he was raised to the rank of rear- admiral. In consequence of the operations of the British in Sicily in 1806, Sir Sidney arrived at Palermo on the 21st of April, on board the Pompee, of 80 guns, and as- Bumed the command of the squadron employed in that 488 NAVAL HISTORY, quarter. As Gaeta was the only place that seemed capa- ble of standing out against the French, the admiral was anxious to strengthen it, and encourage the garrison, for which purpose he opened a communication with the prince of Hesse its commander, and conveyed to him the necessary supplies. The spirits of the besieged, that had been reduced to despondency, were so invigorated by the presence of Sir Sidney, that they now determined to act on the offensive ; and a sally was planned between him and the prince, in which a small party from the garrison were to embark, and land in the rear of the enemy's bat- teries to the northward, while the British squadron was to co-operate in the sortie, and annoy the French in the most effectual manner. This attempt, which was made on the 15th of Ma5', was attended with success : the enemy were driven from their trenches, and one of their batteries, by the aid of the English boats, was taken, and its guns spiked. After this exploit, the admiral having left captain Richardson to co-operate with the garrison, repaired to Capri, from which island he re- solved to dislodge the French. The marines and a body of seamen were accordingly landed ; and notwithstand- ing the difficulties and obstacles in their way, this small parly gallantly pushed on, and gained the heights; and in the encounter that followed, the French commandant was killed by the captain of marines. Upon the death of their leader, the enemy offered terms of surrender, which Sir Sidney accepted, and the island came into our possession. In the following year, the course of political events beheld Sir Sidney an-ayed against his old allies, the Turks ; and he fully partook in all the dangers and all the glory (such as it was) of Duckworth's famous ex- pedition to the Dardanelles. The commencement of hostilities in this luckless adventure, and which augured n. very different termination, was ably conducted and triumphantly executed by Sfr Sidney, who commanded the rear-division. The British fleet having sailed up the Hellespont, and passed the castles at the narrowest points of the straits, anciently famed under the names of Cestos and Abydos, and at which it was severely handled by the fire of the enemy. Sir Sidney, who had been previously ordered by Sir John Duckworth to attack a Turkish squadron lying at anchor off Point SIDNEY SMITH. 4S() Pesquies, in the event of resistance being offered to the passajre of our ships, immediately prepared for action. Few of his former exploits requin^d {:Teater boldness, for the enemy's vessels, which were of force superior to his own, were protected by a battery mounted with guns of enormous calibre, while troops of Asiatic horse and foot were at hand, upon the neighbouring hills, to assist them. Tlie Turks now fought as fiercely against their old friend as they had fought with him against Bona- parte—but with very different results. The British ships, that were anchored among the thickest of their oppo- nents, by the steadiness and closeness of their fire, obliged the Turks, in half an hour, to cut their cables and run on shore ; the land troops were dispersed by a few shells being thrown among them, and the battery was cleared of its defenders. The Turkish ships, now completely abandoned by their crews, were then blown up, with the exception of a corvette and a gun-boat which it was thought proper to preserve. This was all that was accomplished on the part of the British worthy of notice, and the merit of which rests solely with Sir Sidney Smith. For the subsequent adventures of the fleet, in its progress to Constantinople and its return, we refer the reader to the memoir of Sir John Duckworth. After these doughty exploits against the Mussulmans, our knight was now employed in the relief of distressed princes. Portugal, our ancient ally, had been compelled, against her wishes and interest, to shut up her ports against British vessels; upon which Sir Sidney was ap- pointed to the command of a squadron, with which he proceeded to the Tagus. Instead, however, of adopting severe measures, he saw and pitied the compulsion under which Portugal laboured, and endeavoured to animate the drooping spirits of her nobles against the common enemy. This wise course was successful, so that the prince regent of the country determined to emi- grate to the Brazils, rather than co-operate any longer in the designs of Bonaparte. Sir Sidney Smith, on learning this, offered the prince the protection of the British flag, which was gratefully accepted ; in conse- quence of which the Portuguese navy, designed for the emigration, placed themselves under convoy of that Tery fleet which had originally been sent out for its destruc- tion. After he had waited upon the illustrious emigrants, 499 NAVAL HISTORY. and made every arrangemeut for their comfort and safety, Sir Sidney consigned them to the protection of the captain of the Marlborough, and departed to rejoin that division of his squadron that had been left to watch the Tagus. Scarcely had the royal family of Portugal set sail, when the French, under general Junot, made themselves masters of the kingdom without resistance, upon which our hero blockaded the coast until the 15th of January, 1808, when he was superseded in this office by Sir Charles Cotton. In the same month, he had the satisfaction of receiving dispatches from the lords of the admiralty, in which the judicious discharge of his duties, during the whole course of his Portuguese transactions, was highly and jiistly commended. The remainder of this gallant knight's career is ex- clusively of a civil and peaceful complexion. In the middle of February, 1808, he was relieved by rear-admi- ral Otway, upon which he proceeded in the Foudroyanr, of 80 guns, to South America, where he assumed the chief command ; and during his continuance on that station he so greatly benefited the commercial interests of our countrymen, that he received the thanks of the committee of merchants trading to Brazil. In 1809, he was raised to the rank of vice-admiral, while the ualver- sities of Oxford and Cambridge conferred upon him the degrees of doctor of common laws, and master of arts ; and in 1812 he was appointed second in command of the fleet in the Mediterranean. Sir Sidney was next appointed one of the Knights Commanders of the Bath, and had the honour of being invested with the insignia of the order by the hands of the Duke of Wellington, at the paiace, Elysee Bourbon, on the 29th December, 1815. He also received for his service a pension of ilOOO a-year. He attained the rank of admiral in 1821, and received the appointment of Lieuteuant-General of marines on the 23th June, 1830 — succeeding therein his late Majesty, William IV. Sir Sidney died at Paris, wliere he had resided for many years, on the 26th May, 1840. A monument has been erected, at the public expense, in St. Paul's cathedral, to commemorate his chivalrous valour. SAUMAREZ. 401 JAMES SAUMAREZ, ISARON CF. SAUMAREZ, OF THE ISLAND OF GL'tUNStY, AND A BAUONET. 1757— 183G. The important services performed by this gallant and distinguished commander justly entitled him to the ho- nours of the peerage, and his name will be transmitted in naval history as one of the bravest and most skilful of our heroes. He was the third son of Matthew Saumarez, of Guernsey, Esq., a medical practitioner, by his second wife Cartaret, daughter of James le Marchant, Esq. He was born in tlie parish of St. Peter- Fort, Guernsey, on the nth of March, 1757, and early entertained a pre- dilection for the naval service ; which was perhaps in- spired by the frequent mention of his two uncles, the captains Philip and Thomas de Saumarez, M'ho sailed under commodore Anson in the memorable expedition to the South Sea ; and afterwards greatly distinguished themselves in the service of their country. In 1770, being then thirteen years of age, young Saumarez commenced his career as a midshipman on board the Montreal, commanded by commodore Alms. He next served in the VVinchelsea and Levant frigates, and after having remained five years on the Mediterranean station, he returned home in 1775. Shortly after his arrival in England, Saumarez joined the Bristol, 50, bearing the broad pendant of Sir Peter Parker, and was present in the following year at the attack of the fort and batteries on Sullivan's island, near Charleston, South Carolina. In that determined and san- guinary conflict, tlie Bristol suffered severely; and the commodore was so well pleased with the coolness, judg- ment, and bravery of Saumarez, that he appointed him to act as lieutenant on board the Bristol, which promotion was afterwards confirmed by lord Howe.* lu August, I78S, during that period of the American war when the French fleet, under count d' Estaing, quitting Sandy Hook , arrived before Rhode Island, he commanded the SpiJifire galley ; and he afterwards acted as aide-de-camp on * See an account of this action in Parker's life, f. 4-2i. 492 NAVAL HISTORY. shore to cominodore Brisbane, and commanded a party of seamen and marines at one of the advanced posts. He then returned to England in the Leviathan, in which vessel he narrowly escaped shipwreck on the Scilly Is- lands. Soon after his arrivail, he was appointed one of the lieutenants of the Victory, of 100 guns, carrying the flag of Sir Charles Hardy. He continued in that ship un- der different flag-oflScers, until his removal as second lieutenant in the Fortitude, 74, with vice-admiral Sir Hyde Parker, who was at that time appointed to the command of a squadron fitting out in consequence of the rupture with Holland in 1780, and was present in the well- contested action on the Dogger Bank, on the 5th of August, 1781. On the return of the English fleet to the Nore, his majesty George III. paid it a visit, on which occasion Saumarez was introduced to the king, who inquired if he were related to the captains of the same name, who had circumnavigated the globe with Anson. Admiral Parker answered in the aflirmative, saying that ' he was their nephew, and as good an oflicer as either of them.' This approLation will be more appreciated when we consider by whom it was bestowed. In consequence of the bravery displayed by lieutenant Saumarez in the action otf the Dogger Bank, he was promoted to the rank of commander, and appointed to the Tisiphone, a new five-vessel then fitting at Sheerness. Intelligence having been received in England of the ex- pedition of the French fleet and convoy under tbe count de Guiclien, intended for the East and West Indies, admiral Kempeufelt was dispatched in the beginning of Novem- ber with twelve sail of the line, one 50 gun ship, four frigates, and some smaller vessels, in order to intercept it. Commander Saumarez, in the Tisiphone, was attached to this fleet. The English admiral, totally ignorant of the superiority of the enemy, and expecting that he had only an equal force to encounter, had the fortune to fall in with them in a hard gale of wind, when both the fleet and convoy were a good deal dispersed, and the latter had fallen considerably astern. Admiral Kempenfelt, with that pro- fessional judgment and dexterity by which he was emi- nently distinguished, determined to profit by his present situation, by endeavouring to cut off the convoy in the first instance, and to fight the enemy afterwards. In the SAUMAREZ. 493 moveinRnt for this purpose, the Triumphant, 84, which had stayed back to collect the convoy, in her way now to rejoin the fleet came across the Edgar, 74, which led the Eng-lish van : a sharp though short fire ensued, in which the former sustained considerable loss. The design in part succeeded ; and, if there had been a sufficient num- ber of frigates (which are particularly necessary in all attacks upon convoys) the eftect would have been much more considerable. About twenty of the prizes arrived safe in England ; two or three were said to be sunk, and several that struck escaped in the night. Commander Sanmarez mainly contributed to this success, he having first discovered the enemy ; and a ship of 30 guns, having on board 400 troops, struck to the Tisiphone. He was now dispatched to Barbadoes to report this intelli- gence to rear-admiral Sir Samuel Hood, then commander- in-chief on the West India station. On delivering his dispatches, he received a commission, appointing him, though under twenty-five years of age, to the command of the Russell, 74. In this new command Saumarez accompanied the squa- dron of Rodney that was sent out to intercept the count de Grasse, and was present at the splendid victory of April, 1782. During the action, the Russell gave thu huge Ville de Paris two raking broadsides, and count de Grasse acknowledged to captain Saumarez, some days after, that he suffered very severely from his fire. At the close of this well-contested day, the gallant com- mander of the Russell was in chase of a crippled ship, a 74, that was making off under a crowd of sail, and would have been engaged in twenty minutes, had not his victorious career been checked by a signal for the fleet to bring-to, the commander-in-chief judging it prudent to secure the ships that were the trophies of so hard-earned a victory. Whatever reluctance Captain Saumarez might feel in relinquishing the opportunity of adding another laurel to those which he had gained on this arduous day, a sense of duty prevented a mo- ment's hesitation; the Russell, however, who by her station in the line was one of the first in action, so, from the zeal of her commander, she was one of the last that hove to. After this action, the Russell, being greatly disabled, was ordered to escort the homeward-bound trade to 491 NAVAL HISTORY. Eng:land ; and as the war soon afterwards terminated, captain Sanmarez was enabled to enjoy an interval of repose in his native island. But as soon as the war broke out again in 1787, he entered into active service, and was appointed to the command of the Ambuscade frigate. In 1790, he removed to the Raisonable, of 64 g-uns. At the commencement of the revolutionary war with France he obtained the command of the Crescent, 42, the crew of which, consisting of 257 men, were principally volunteers from Guerusey. In this ship, after a close action of two hours and twenty minutes, he captured La Reunion, 36, and 320 men, 120 of whom were either killed or wounded : the Crescent had not a siiigle man hurt. This gallant action was rewarded by his majesty conferring on captain Saumarez the order of knighthood ; and as a mark of respect, the merchants of London presented him with an elegant piece of plate. It may here be remarked, in reference to this action, that the Reunion was one of the first eight vessels cap- tured from the French since the commencement of this fresh war up to the 1st of December, 1793, so that captain Saumarez was among the first of the British naval offi- cers to vindicate the superiority of the national flag. When the Crescent was refitted, she sailed on a cruize in the Bay of Biscay, in company with the Hind, a smaller frigate, when captain Saumarez captured two French privateers, called the Club de Cherbourg, and L'Espoir. Sir James Saumarez was afterwards attached to the squadron under admiral Macbride, which formed a part of lord Moira's expedition in favour of the French royalists. The next exploit performed by this distinguished sea- man displayed in a striking light both his nautical skill and his cool intrepidity. On the 9th of June, 1794, the Crescent, accompanied by the Druid frigate, and Eury- dice, 24, was chased ofi" the island of Jersey by a French squadron, consisting of two cut down seventy-fours, each mounting 54 guns, two frigates, and a brig. Sir James, perceiving the vast superiority of the enemy, ordered the Enrydice, which was the worse sailer, to make the best of her way to Guernsey, whilst the Crescent and Druid followed under easy sail, occasionally engaging the French ships and keeping them at bay, until the Eurydice had got to some distance ahead; when they SAUMAREZ. 495 made all possible sail to get off. The enemy's squadron, however, gained upon them so rapidly, that they must have been taken but for a bold and masterly manoeuvre. Sir James, seeing the perilous situation of his consorts, hauled his wind and stood along the French line, — an evolution which immediately attracted the enemy's at- tention, and the capture of the Crescent appeared to be inevitable. But, among the Cuernseymen who had vo- lunteered on board the Crescent, was an experienced king's pilot, well acquainted with all the rocks and currents round the island, named Jean Breton, from St. Saviour's parish; he pushed the frigate through numerous intricate passages where a king's ship had never before swum, and, singularly enough, sailed so near to the shore of the Catel parish, that Sir James could distinctly see his own house ; a position truly re- markable from the contrast, — for behind him he beheld a French prison, — before him, his own fireside. Success attended this bold experiment, and they effected their escape into Guei-nsey roads, greatly to the disappoint- ment of their pursuers. In the month of February following. Sir James was appointed to the Marlborough, 74; and, after a long cruise in that ship, removed to the Orion, of the same force, in which he had the honour of bearing a distin- guished station in lord Bridport's action off L'Orient on the 'iSrd of June, 1795. The official return of killed and wounded, signed by lord Bridport, makes the loss on board the Orion five seamen killed and one soldier; and seventeen seamen and one soldier wounded.* Sir James Saumarez was afterwards detached with two frigates to cruise off Rochfort, where he remained for six months, during the most tempestuous weather. He then resumed his station in the fleet off Brest, from whence he was sent to reinforce Sir John Jervis, whom he joined five days before the engagement off St. Vincent, In that memorable action the Orion was one of the six .ships that attacked the body of the enemy's fleet, and afterwards joined in the assault on the huge Santissima Trinidada, 136, which, according to the Orion's log-book, at length hauled down her colours and hoisted English ones, but was rescued by several of the enemy's fresh ships. In this engagement the Orion had only nine men wounded, * See the detnils of this action in the lives of St. Vincent and Nelson 496 NAVAL HISTORY. On the 30th of April, 1798, Sir James Saumarez, who subsequently to the above battle had been employed in the blockade of Cadiz, accompanied Sir Horatio Nelson to the Mediterranean, and shared in the honours ac- quired oft" the mouth of the Nile. The Orion had thir- teen men killed and twenty-nine wounded, including among the latter number her brave commander, who received a severe contusion on the side, notwithstand- ing- which he refused the earnest solicitations of his officers to be taken below, and remained upon deck till the action ceased. The next service performed by Sir James Saumarez was to escort six of the prizes captured in the late battle, and he arrived at Plymouth in November; but the Orion being found to want considerable repair, she was paid off early in the following year. As a proof of the moral influence exercised by lord de Saumarez over his crews, it may be remarked that, when the mutiny of the Nora broke out, the Orion escaped it altogether, owing to the subordination of the men and the attachment which they felt for their commander, with whom the greatest part had served from the commencement of the war. Sir James was now honoured, for a second time, with a gold medal and a riband ; and the inhabitants of Guernsey, as a mark of attachment and respect to their distinguished countryman, presented him with a mag- nificent vase, of considerable value. On the 14th of February, in the same year, he was appointed to one of the colonelcies of marines, and obtained the command of the Caesar, 84, the first of that force on two decks ever built in England, in which he joined the Channel fleet, and cruised off Brest during a long and tempestuous period. At the promotion which took place January 1, 1801, Sir James Saumarez became a rear-admiral of the blue ; and on the I3th of June following, he was created a ba- ronet, with permission to wear the supporters belonging to the arms of his family, which have been registered in the Herald's Office ever since the reign of Charles II. Subsequently to his advancement to the rank of a flag- officer, Sir James commanded a division of the grand fleet stationed off the Black Rocks ; and nothing can mani- fest in a .stronger light his unwearied zeal and sleepless SAUMAREZ. 497 vigilance, than by stating-, that not a single squarc-riggrd vessel of any description sailed from or entered into the port at Brest during the whole time he remained on that station. On his return from that severe dnty, the rear-adrairal was ordered to prepare for foreign service ; and on the 14th of June he sailed from Plymouth, with a squadron consisting of five sail of the line, one frigate, one brii;-, and a lugger, destined for the blockade of Cadiz, off which port he was joined by two more ships of the line. On the 5th of July he received intelligence that a French squadron, of two ships of 84 guns, one of 7*i, with a large frigate, was at anchor off Algesiras, not far from Gibral- tar. He sailed immediately with a squadron of six sail of the line, with the deteniiination to attack, the enemy under the batteries, on the morning of the 6th. The bay of Algesiras was defended by various batteries of heavy guns, placed on an island about a quarter of a mile from the shore, and also by works to the north and south of the town; the fire from which, crossing before the harbour, intersected in front the situation chosen for the French ships, and was enabled to take in flank any assailant that might approach them. The anchorage was also extremely dangerous ; the whole harbour and island being surrounded by reefs of sunken i-ocks : it had hither- to been supposed that, had there not been even a single man-of-war in the haibour, no hostile ship would have had the boldness to approach, or expose itself to the dan- gerous obstructions which both nature and art had pro- vided for the security of the place, and of the ships which it contained ; but no danger could appal or discourage our intrepid seamen and the gallant Saumarez, v/hen an enemy was within their reach. He hoped to capture the whole force of the enemy, and resume his station off Ca- diz, before the Spanish fleet could avail themselves of his absence ; and, therefore, he made preparations for battle, by anchoring from the stern, like Nelson in the battle of the Nile. The engagement, which commenced at twenty- five minutes past eight, in half an hour was general, and for some time appeared to favour the British, when un- fortunately the Hannibal, an English 74, took the ground abreast of the battery of St. Jago, while she was at the same time raked by the Formidable, a French ship of 80 guns ; and in this helpless condition she was compelled •2 1 498 NAVAL HISTORY. to strike her colours. At the same time the wiud, which had been continually varying, was most unfavourable to the assailants, so that for two hours the British ships were incessantly towed by the boats, to bring their broad sides to bear on the enemy. At half-past one Sauraarez seeing no prospect of success, drew off his shattered squa- dron, and retired to the mole of Gibraltar to reft, but with a courage, if possible, only increased by the unfortunate result of this enterprise. In the mean time the French ships, disabled in the ac- tion off Algesiras, having been reinforced by five Spanish ships of the line, a French 74, and three frigates, de- parted from Algesiras on the way to Cadiz, which they doubted not to reach in safety, when they were met by their fearless antagonist off Cabreta Point. The British admiral had employed his time so well at Gibraltar, that in five days he had refitted all his ships, except the Pom- pee ; and notwithstanding the immense addition which the French had received, by which their force was in- creased to nine sail of the line, and four frigates, whilst he had only five ships of the line, and one frigate, still he was as eager for the combat as ever. Late in the even- ing. Sir James Saumarez observed that the enemy's ships had cleared Cabreta Point : and at eight he bore up with his squadron after them. The Superb, captain Keats, suc- ceeded in opening her fire upon them about eleven o'clock. The Ctesar, the flag-ship, then came up, and prepared to engage a Spanish three-decker, which soon took fire, and communicated the flames to another ship to leeward of her ; both were soon in ablaze, and presented a most aw- ful sight. The two ships thus on fire were the San Her- menegildo and Real Carlos, of 112 guns each ; and as the Czesar could not with safety afford them any assistance, she pushed on to the attack of the San Antonio, 74, which had however been already beaten by the Superb. The two ships on fire blew up during the night, and near 2400 men were destroyed in them. The admiral bore up after the enemy, who were can-ying a press of sail and steer- ing cut of the straits ; but he lost sight of them during the night. It blew exceedingly hard until daylight, which obliged him to take in canvas. In the mean time the conflict in other quarters had been equally favourable to the British, so that early on the next morning the re- mainder of the combined fleet, consisting of five sail of SAUMAREZ. 499 the line, and four frigates, instead of renewing- the bat- tle, hauled up for Cadiz. Such was the ^/'a/ great victory of Trafalgar, gained on the I3th of July, 1801, in which the enemy lost three sail of the line, 2400 men blown up, be- sides those who were killed in action and taken prisoners. A victory gained under such circumstances would have sufficed to ennoble any age, but that it occurred at a period whtn such exploits were to become common ; while it was only the harbinger of still greater achievements, b> which all former deeds were comparatively eclipsed. The valuable services rendered to his country by Sir James Saumarez, were rewarded by the star and riband of the order of the Bath ; and in 1803 he received the thanks of both houses of parliament, and a grant of £ 1200. a year. Sir James was next appointed to the command at the Nore, whicli he retained for a short period, and then received the command at Guernsey ; and on being pro- moted to the rank of vice-admiral, he was nominated second in command of the Channel fleet, under earl St. Vincent. His lordship being absent on admiralty leave. Sir James was employed in watching the enemy's fleet in Brest, until the month of August following ; when, upon the appointment of lord Gardner to the chief com- mand of the Channel fleet, be resumed the command at Guernsey. In March, 1808, he was sent to the Baltic with a strong squadron for the protection of the Swedish dominions, on which station he continued for four years. The last naval command discharged by Sir James was that of port- admiral at Plymouth, where he won the esteem of the inhabitants. He hoisted his flag on the 24th of March, 1824, and struck it on the lOth of May, 1827. In 1831, the gallant admiral was raised to the peerage, which gave the greatest satisfaction to the people of Guernsey, as he was the first native of the island who had taken his seat in the house of lords. His lordship died on Sunday, the 9th of October, 1836. at his country residence, in Catel parish, in the island of Guernsey, in the eightieth year of his age. The general character of this great and excellent man is especially deserving of our admiration. He was brave, skilful, and enterprising, as a sailor; patriotic, liberal, and unostentatious, as a citizen ; an affectionate hus« 2 12 500 NAVAL HISTORY. band, a tender parent, a generous master ; the patron anii promoter of every religrions institution ; a friend to po- pular education; charitable to the poor; accessible to his inferiors; amiable in disposition, and unassuming in his manners. He entertained a devoted affection to the land of his birth, and Guernsey may feel an honest pride in the reflection, that the most illustrious of her sons, after having gloriously, and by his own personal merits, re- ceived the highest honours which the sovereign could bestow on a subject, preferred the simplicity of his pater- nal hearth to the fascinating allurements of the most splendid court in Europe. This feeling acoompai.ied him to the grave. Ambition would have looked to Westmin- ster abbey ; but the mortal remains of the hero and the patriot sleep within the precincts of the humble village church, situate nearly in the centre of the small i^land in vhich he first saw the light of heaven. TO THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR. 501 CHAP. VL From the Peace of Amiens to the Buttle of Trafalgar. When the preliiiiiDaiies of the treaty of Amiens were signed, 27th of March, 1802, France and England seemed equally desirous of a more friendly relationship than had hitherto subsisted between them. Each had fully tried and respected the yalour of the other; the courtesies by which ijenerous enemies are distinguished had softened, on both sides, the horrors of war; and now that a last- ing peace appeared to be established, crowds of the Eng- lish repaired to Paris, while the French reciprocated this friendly confidence by similar visits to Lf)ndon. But these symptoms, which were thought to be the com- mencement of a lasting friendship between the two great representatives of the civilized world, were so transitory, that the ink. of the treaty was scarcely dried before the causes of fresh misunderstanding and war began to operate. The high piosition attained by Bonaparte, like that of all conquerors, could only be maintained by the sword ; and when he ceased to dazzle and astonish, he could no longer expect to be the popular idol of France. Of this simple truth he was so fully aware, that his proceedings, immediately subsequent to the treaty, evinced a desire to provoke Britain to a fresh contest. He had sent out by the end of 1801 a strong armament for the reduction of St. Domingo, a measure which obliged the British to dispatch a powerful fleet to the West Indies, to watch its proceedings; he annexed Piedmont, Parma, and Placentia, to France ; and he compelled Switzerland at the point of the bayonet to submit to his domination. In order also to accomplish one of his favourite wishes, the restoration of the French navy, he obtained Louisiana from Spain, and Elba from Elruria, the last of which acquisitions he designed to convert into a strong marine fortress and depot, similar to that of Malta or Gibraltar. Although these were suspicious symptoms, still they did not amount to justifiable grounds for fresh hostilities on 502 NAVAL HISTORY. the part of Britain ; but they served to aggravate that im- portant grievance upon which the war was renewed. This was, the cession of Malta, at present in the hands of the British. By the treaty of Amiens, this important island, the great object of jealousy between France and Eng- land, was to be restored to the knights of St. John, and a prior elected by a chapter of the order : the English forces were to evacuate it in three mouths, while Britain, France, Austria, Russia, Spain, and Prussia, were to guarantee this part of the treaty ; and a Neapolitan gar- rison was to be placed in temporary possession of the island, till such time as the knights had raised a suffi- cient force to protect it. But all these powers, with the exception of Austria, refused to become guarantees in the matter. France still continued to insist upon the delivery of Malta either to the king of Naples, or to a new grand prior of the order, who had been chosen by the pope ; but as these potentates were at the mercy of the First Consul, England, by such an act, would have thrown Malta into the hands of France. In the absence of the stipulated guarantees, England refused to relin- quish Malta, upon v/hich she was branded as perfidious in breaking the main article of the treaty. Another important cession, which had been stipulated by the treaty of Amiens, was in like manner refused. This was the Cape of Good Hope, which was to be re- stored to the Dutch, on condition that the French troops should evacuate Holland, — the only sufficient guarantee that the Cape should not fall into the possession of France. Our forces in that quarter were already embarked on board, in ships that were to convey them from South Africa to England, and several of the ports had been already yielded up to the Dutch authorities, when, in consequence of the French delaying to evacuate Hol- land, orders were sent out by our government to the English commander of the Cape, to retain possession. He therefore relanded his troops, and once more took possession of the settlement, until he should be finally authorized to yield it up according to agreement.* Such were the political misunderstandings and ag- gressions that rekindled the war, which was only to terminate in the suppression of one of the rival par- * See life of lord Keith. TO THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR. 503 ties. Even so early as tbe 8th of March, 1802, it was announced by his Britannic majesty to the house of commons that, in consequence of extensive military preparations carrying on in the ports of France and Hol- land, it was necessary to be in a state of readiness for war. This was done accordingly ; and it only served to accelerate the crisis. Bonaparte, who had been pre- viously stung to frenzy by the incessant attacks of the English journalists, suddenly burst upon our ambassador, lord Whitworth, at a full levee. ' Why these arma- ments?' he exclaimed. ♦ Against what are these mea- sures of precaution ? 1 have not a single ship of the line in the ports of France; but if you wish to arm, I will arm also: if you wish to fight, I will fight also. You may perhaps destroy, but you will never intimidate France! ' This was intelligible as well as ominous lan- guage ; and on the 16th of May, only two months after this singular interview, his Britannic majesty announced war between Great Britain and France. Never at any former period was oar country menaced by such opposi- tion, or better prepared for an encounter. The magnitude of the coming conflict made all parties unanimous, and as invasion was fully apprehended, the three united kingdoms armed themselves as one man for resistance. Thus, while our fleets and forces abroad were securing possession after possession of the enemy, and keeping the ports of France under a close blockade, Britain pos- sessed a volunteer force consisting of 400,000 men, disci- plined and prepared for battle upon the enemy's landing, independently of the regular army, the militia, and the army of reserve. Whether Bonaparte was serious in his purposes of in- vading England has often been questioned; at all events, his preparations on this occasion corresponded with so perilous an achievement. France resounded with the building of flotillas ; and as fast as flat-bottomed boats could be constructed, they were mustered at Boulogne as their central depot. Before, however, these could have been used as transports, it was necessary to break through tbe British blockade ; but as France had no navy ade- quate to such an enterprise, the flotilla reposed silently upon the shore, until some favouring hour should give it a safe passage to the opposite coast. An experiment was repeatedly tried of sending off an armament fiom Roch- 504 NAVAL HISTORY. fort, in the hope that Britain would send her home- fleet in pursuit, and thus leave the Channel unguarded, if but for a few days or hours. But the blockading squa- drons remained immoveable at their stations, and the hope cf invasion was farther off than ever. Although events fully verified the declaration of Nel- son, that this projected invasion was the mad plan of a mad government ; still, as long as these flotillas existed, our country was in a fever of hope and fear. The British, to a man, talked, thought, and dreamed of nothii^ but gun-boats ; even the Spanish armada, blessed by the pope, and baptized with the title of Invincible, was nothing in comparison with these gunboats. Grave senators and skilful seamen seemed to partake in the groundless alarm; and so long as a gun-boat existed our complete command of the ocean seemed nothing better than a mere hyper- bole — and therefore various were the attempts that were made by our ships to destroy these obnoxious bugbears. But these flat-bottomed gun-boats drew so little water, that they could retreat into shallows, where an enemy could not follow ; and they were so well defended by the batteries on shore, that every attempt had been hitherto unsuccessful. This absurd hallucination now reached its crisis. It was confidently affirmed that an expedient had been adopted by the British ministi-y,by which the armament of the invaders would vanish like a vision ; and mysteri- ous preparations were in active process, by which this rpiracle was to be accomplished. The unmanly panic of the nation was to be quieted by a more unmanly remedy proposed by an American, and which our statesmen ea- gerly adopted. It was agreed, since our vessels of war could not reach these flotillas, that they should be blown into the air by ctttamerans. These were copper vessels filled with gunpowder and combustibles, that could float under the surface of the water, and explode at any given moment, by the operation of clock-work. They were to be silently piloted at night by a man upon a raft up to the chin in water, that he might be unseen by the enemy, and after fastening the exploding instrument to a ship's bottom, he would have time to effect his escape. Not- withstanding the invariable failure that has attended such villanous instruments ever since the invention of gunpowder, whether as catameran, toi-pedo, sea-devil. TO THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR. 505 or infernal machine — a failure which, in mercy to man- kind, has evidently been decreed by a higher power, to limit the atrocities of war, and the means of human destruction — statesmen and warriors exLulted in this • cheap defence of nations,' by which three kingdoms were to be saved by a few barrels of gunpowder. As a proper conclusion to this precious scheme, fire ships were to consummate the annihilation of the enemy's hopes by consuming whatever the catamerans might fail to blow up. The ftoment big with expectation arrived. The engines of destruction were embarked, and England waited the issue in breathless silence. Lord Keith, to whom had been intrusted the honourable office of protecting these explosion-vessels, commenced a furious cannonade upon the batteries of Boulogne on the 2nd of October, and un- der cover of this fire the catamerans were successfully piloted to their destination. In the mean time the French, who regarded this new mode of warfare with perfect con- tempt, coolly opened a passage through the flotilla for the catamerans as they arrived, so that they only exploded in vacancy, in this manner no loss than twelve of these engines blew up with a noise that shook the heavens, but produced no farther mischief; and the crest-fallen Eng- lish, after witnessing the termination, retired amidst the derision of their enemies. Still the experiment was rec- koned too valuable to be relinquished ; and a second at- tempt was ordered against the flotilla in the harbour of Calais, but with no better result. Although Sir Home Pophara superintended the operation with gTcat skill and valour, the explosions only killed a few fishes, and dis- placed a few sticks and stones from the pier ; and the English ministry from very shame abandoned this species of warfare, in which they had only subjected themselves and their country to the ridicule of our laughter-loving adversaries. During the course of this war, Spain had hitherto pro- fessed to be at peace with Britain, while she was covertly aiding the enemy with her treasures, by which Bona- parte was enabled to further his hostile preparations, in consequence of which our ministry, without a regular proclamation of war, resolved to retaliate upon the Spa- nish cofters. Accordingly captain Moore was sent with four frigates to cruise ofl" Cadiz, and intercept the trea- sure ships which were expected at this time from South 506 NAVAL HISTORY. America. On the .5th of October, 1804, four sail were per- ceived; the British gave chase, and soon came up with the squadron, which proved to be the expected vessels. The Spaniards made no preparations either for flight or resistance, as they anticipated no attack, so that they were taken at disadvantage; and after a short action of ten minutes one of their ships blew up, and the other three surrendered. This act, which was complained of as a shameful outrage against the law of nations, left Spain no alternative but open war, which she accord- ingly proclaimed soon after against Britain. From such questionable doings as the preceding, we now gladly turn our view to the East, where a deed was achieved by which the somewhat tarnished glory of the British flag was nobly vindicated. When hostilities bad been renewed between England and France, admiral Rainier, who commanded in the East India station, had been late in receiving the intelligence, so that admiral Linois, who had been blockaded in the road of Pondi- cherry, was enabled to escape to sea, and interrupt our Indian commerce. His force consisted of the Marengo, 80, three frigates, and a brig ; and after making several captures, he kept watch near the entrance of the straits of Molacca.in the hope of capturing our homeward-bound Indian fleet. This mercantile squadron at length appeared in sight, ofi" Pulo A'or, on the 14th of February, 1804, consisting of sixteen of the East India company's ships, twelve country ships, a Portuguese East ludiaman, and a brig. The French admiral pursued under a press of sail, and as the heavy-laden merchant ships could not outstrip pursuit, their capture seemed inevitable. In this emergency captain Dance, the senior oflicer of the fleet, who acted as commodore, conceived the daring idea of giving battle to the enemy. It was one of those wonderful inspirations that defy all established rules, and which seem to succeed just because they try to accomplish what are called impossibilities. In this unprecedented experiment, ships encumbered with merchandise, slightly armed, and scantily manned with crews, a large portion of which were timid Lascars, were to encounter the brunt of a warlike and well-appointed squadron. The very boldness of the attempt conduced to its full success. Linois, con- founded at finding himself so strongly confronted, seemed to lose his wonted presence of mind, and instead of ac- TO THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR. 507 ceptJng the challengre, he was fain to lie-to for the night. On the next morning the brave Dance, apprehending that the rear of his convoy might fall into the hands of the enemy if he remained on the defensive, resolved to become the assailant, and therefore he made a signal to his ships to tack, and bear down and engage in succes- sion. Linois immediately dosed his line, and opened an ineffectual fire, which was not returned by the English until they had got close to the enemy. This decided the conflict almost in an instant, and the French fled under a press of sail. One man killi d and another wounded was all the injury that admiral Linois, with his ships of war and superiority in sailing, could inflict upon a China fleet. The brave captain Dance and his oflicers, who had thus saved a fleet valued at eight millions and a half sterling, received, upon their return to England, those honours and rewards which they had so amply merited.* The naval history of our country, for the year 1805, was fraught with events of such magnitude as to com- mand the attention of the whole civilized world, whose political existence depended upon the struggle to be de- cided on the ocean, between the navies of Great Britain and those of France, Spain, and Holland, united against her. There were British fleets stationed before the Texel, Brest, Rochfort, Vigo, Ferrol, Cadiz, Carthagena, and Toulon; and the scene of naval operations extended from thence westward as far as the island of Trinidad, the Antilles, and Jamaica. The French Toulon fleet of eleven sail of the line and two frigates ventured to sea on the last day of March, under the command of admiral Villeneuve, when the British fleet under Nelson had been obliged to anchor in the gulf of Palma. About the same time the Rochfort squadron, consisting of six sail of the line and two frigates, under the command of Missiessy, was equally fortunate in getting out to sea. No sooner was it known in England that two fleets of the enemy were thus at large, than the greatest uneasiness was manifested, more especially as their destination was still unknown : * The honour of knig-hthood was conferred upon captain Dance by George III., and the East India company presented liim with iOOO uiiineag, and a piece of plate, with a pension of £500. a year. Captains Timmins and Moffat had respectively lOOO and 500 guineiic presented tp them, with a piece of plate. 503 NAVAL HISTORY. but it was recollected that Nelson was afloat, and every reliance was placed on his courage and vigilance. The Rochfort squadron directed its course to the West Indies, and committed some trivial devastations ; but as soon as it was known that admiral Cochrane had been sent out against them, the French hasdly retraced their course, and arrived at Rochfort in safety. The other ar- mament under admiral Villeneuve had scarcely escaped to sea, before it was pursued by the indefatigable Nelson, who swept over the whole Mediterranean in quest of the enemy, but in vain. Villeneuve reached Cadiz in safety, where he was joined by the Spanish fleet, which swelled his force to eighteen sail of the line ; and as he had 10,000 French soldiers on board, he now pi-oceeded to the West Indies, where our posses- sions were menaced with inevitable destruction. But in consequence of the national jealousy between the French and Spanish seamen, and a fatal sickness that broke out among the troops, this imposing armament remained in a state of inactivity, until they found that Nelson had set out for the West India station. There was defeat and destruction in that word ; and althougli the sea-hero had set sail with only ten ships of the line, most of which were foul after a two years' ';rLiise, yet Villeneuve, when he heard that Nelson was the com- mander, would not wait the encounter of such an in- ferior force. Thus the West Indies were saved by the mere terrors of a name ! Tbe combined fleet of France and Spain, which now consisted of twenty sail of the line, three large ships armed en flute, fiwe. frigates, and three brigs, pursued its course homeward without molestation, when it was en- countered on the 22nd of July, by Sir Robert Calder, off Cape Finisterre. The British fleet consisted of fifteen sail of the line, two frigates, a cutter, and a lugger ; but the French, notwithstanding their very superior force, and although they had the advantage of wind and weather, were content to stand on the defensive. After the commencement of the battle, so thick a fog arose, that it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe; and when the cannonade had continued for four hours, the British had captured an eighty-four and a seventy-four. Had Sir Robert Calder followed up his success, it is sup- posed that other disabled ships of the enemy might have TO THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR. 509 been taken, but he considered it prudent, in cons-cquence of the fog, to heave-to for the night ; and as the enemy constantly hauled away during the two following days when the British fleet approached, Sir Robert bore away with his prizes. Thus, no honour was lost by the British ; on the contrary, they had fouglit successfully against a superior force, and taken two valuable prizes ; but the successes of Nelson against every odds had made such negative victories cheap in the eyes of our countrymen, so that Sir Robert Calder, on his return to England, was condemned by the popular voice, and airaigned before a court-martial. He had failed in de- stroying the fleet of the enemy, and that was an unpar- donable crime. His sentence from the court, after being acquitted of the charge of cowardice, was, tliat he had not done his utmost to take and destroy the enemy's whole fleet, and that therefore he should be severely reprimanded. This was a harsh, and perhaps an unjust verdict; but after the case of the unfortunate Byng, what naval commander could hope to escape, if he failed in obtaining a complete victory 1 After the engagement off Cape Finisterre, Villeneuve reached port Ferrol ; and having there received a rein- forcement, he again put to sea and entered Cadiz, com- pelling the small squadron under Collingwond to retire from that station. In the mean time, lord Nelson had returned from a pursuit unexampled in naval history, in which, during the short spare of seventy-eight days, he had twice traversed the Atlantic ocean, without being able to find the enemy. On the 20th of Au-ust he ar- rived in London, and having- soon learned there of the arrival of the French in Cadiz, and the diligence with which they were refitting their fleet, he eagerly ac- cepted the task of encountering them. A powerful armament was fitted out, over which he was appointed with an unlimited commission; and on the 14th of Sep- tember he hoisted his flag on hoard the Victory at Portsmouth, and proceeded upon that expedition which was to be his brightest, — and his last. The chief difficulty which Nelson had anticipated arose, not from the strength or courage, but the fears of the enemy; and on arriving at the station, he was obliged to use stratagem to tempt the French into the open sea. As his fleet, therefore, was nearly equal to 510 NAVAL HISTORY. that of the enemy, instead of blockading the port of Cadivi, he kept considerably aloof, thus offering them a free passage ; and to increase the inducement, he detached a squadron from his fleet under admiral Louis, as a con- voy to Malta, knowing that a reinforcement of equal strength was on its way from England to join him. This plan completely succeeded. Yiileneuve, and the Spanish admii-al Graviua, supposing that Nelson had no more than twenty-one ships, boldly put to sea on the 19th of October, with eighteen French and fifteen Spa- nish sail of the line, in the hope of at last overpowering their dreaded antagonist. But Nelson had now received the expected reinforcement from England, and on the 21st he came up with the combined fleet, which was almost becalmed ofi" cape Trafalgar. Nelson having telegraphed that glorious motto, which will be repeated as long as we have a plank afloat, or a seaman to defend it — 'England expects every man to do his duty' — bore down for battle at noon, at the head of the weather column, while Collingwood at the same time moved forward with the leeward column. These two lines advanced in their order of sailing, to avoid the delay of forming, and on which orders had been issued several days pi-evious. The plan adopted by Villeneuve was admirable, and might have been suc- cessful against any other antagonist. Still conceiving that Nelson had only twenty-one sail, the French ad- miral had detached twelve of his ships to double upon the British after the action had closed, and thus place half of them at least between two fires. But when he discovered the real force of his enemy, he was obliged to alter this bold and happy arrangement, so that his whole force might be brought into action ; he there- fore arranged his ships in the form of a crescent, con- vexing to leeward. The onset was commenced by the brave Collingwood. At the head of the lee column be broke through the enemy's line at the twelfth ship from the rear, ex- claiming triumphantly at the same time, ' What would Nelson give to be here!' and closed his vessel upon the French and Spanish ships until the muzzles of their cannon were actually in contact. Nelson with the weather column had designed in the same manner to break the a an of the enemy at the tenth or eleventh TO THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR. 511 ship; but finding them lying too closely together for such a purpose, he ordered each vessel to close with its antagonist. Thus the conflict became a hand-to- hand trial of courage and activity, where sword was opposed to sword, and gun to gun. The French and Spaniards fought desperately on the occasion, but no- thing could withstand the determined valour of British seamen fighting in the full confidence of victory, itnder their heroic leader. After the battle had raged for about three hours, Gravina escaped from the strife with ten sail of the line, and bore away to leeward ; and in a few minutes after, five of the French under admiral Dumanoir, followed his example, and fled to the southward. The rest of the combined fleet, con- sisting of nineteen line of battle ships, fell into the hands of the British. But never was the price of victory so begrudged, or a triumph mixed with such mourning, for Nelson fell in the engagement. But his last look beheld the extinction of that navy by which Britain was to be invaded, and be died in the exulting assurance that the deliverance of his country was com- plete. This great work, for which he had lived, was ended at Trafalgar, and he only departed when there was no longer an enemy to conquer. After the death of Nelson, the good and gallant Col- lingwood took the command, and issued such orders as were necessary to secure the victory. The British ships, as might have been expected, had suff'ered severely in this hard-fought action, and a huri-icane more dan- gerous than the conflict ensued, in which, if possible, greater skill and courage were exerted to save the fleet from utter ruin. As it was found impossible, from the violence of the tempest, to preserve the prizes, the greater part of them were destroyed, so that only four could be brought into Gibraltar. As for Dumanoir, who had escaped with the relics of the French fleet, he was met— as if to seal the victory of Trafalgar — on the 2nd of November by Sir Richard Strachan, with four sail of the line, and three frigates, off Ferrol. A chase of two days commenced, in which the French were overtaken, and compelled to abide the encounter; and after a hard fight of three hours and a half, their whole force sur- rendered. 512 NAVAL HISTORY. SIR ROBERT CALDER, BART. 1745— IS18. This admiral was the second son of Sir Thomas Calder of Muirton, in Alorayshire, North Britain, and was born in the paternal mansion at Elgin, on the 2nd of July, 1745. He received his education at the gi-ammar school of that town, and entered the navy as a midship- man at the age of fourteen. In 1766, he accompanied the Hon. George Faulkner, as lieutenant of the Essex, to the West Indies ; but it was not until many years after that he obtained the rank, first of master and commander, and then of post captain, in the navy. During- the American war, captain Calder was em- ployed in the Channel fleet. In 1782, he commanded the Diana, which was employed as a repeating-frigate to rear-admiral Kempenfelt. At this period he was doomed to witness one of the most disgraceful events recorded in the annals of the Bi-itish navy. Sir Charles Hardy, wiio at that time commanded the English fleet, received or- ders not to risk an engagement with the combined squa- drons of France and Spain, which then appeared on oiir coasts, and he accoi-dingly withdrew between the Wolf- rock and the Main. On this occasion, the sailors were so indignant as to blind a fignire of the king with their hammocks, swearing, ' that his majesty George the Third should not witness their flight.' Captain Calder, who belonged to the rear division, shared in their indig- nation; and although within a short distance of one of the enemy's two-deckers, which might have sunk his vessel with a single broadside, he refused to retire, until expressly ordered by signal. At the commencement of the war with France, Calder was appointed first captain to admiral Roddam, in his flag-ship, the Barfleur. He afterwards commanded the Theseus, of 74 guns, which foraied part of lord Howe's fleet in 1794; but having been dispatched with rear-ad- miral Montague's squadron to protect a valuable convoy, destined for the colonies, he did not participate in the brilliant victory of the 1st of June. On being appointed CALDER. 513 captain of the fleet, by Sir John Jervis, he acted in that important capacity in the victory off Cadiz, and on being sent home with the dispatches, he was immediately knighted, and soon afterwards made a baronet. On the i4th of February, 1799, Sir Robert obtained his Hag as rear-admiral, by seniority; and, in 1801, was dis- patched with a small squadron in quest of admiral Gan- theaume, who had sailed from France, for the express pur]iose of supplying the army in Egypt with stores and ammunition. At the conclusion of the first peace with the French republic. Sir Robert retired to his estate of South wic. in Hampshire. On the renewal of hostilities, he was im- mediately re-appointed, and in the promotion which took place the 23rd of April, 1804, he was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral of the white. While employed in this latter capacity, he was selected, in 1805, by admiral Comwallis, who then commanded the Channel fleet, to blockade the harbours of Ferrol and Corunna. The force intrusted to him on this occasion was very inadequate; for, although there were then five French ships of the line and three frigates, and five Spanish line of battle ehips and four frigates, all ready for sea, in these ports, yet he had only seven sail allotted to him ; these indeed were afterwards increased to nine ; but although he re- peatedly requested two frigates and some smaller vessels, they never were sent to him. He, however, retained his station, notwithstanding the manoeuvres of the Brest fleet, and, on being joined by rear admiral Stirling, on the 14th of July, with five sail of the line from before Rochfort, together with a frigate and a lugger, he pro- ceeded to sea, for the express purpose of intercepting the French and Spanish squadrons from the West Indies, which were supposed to consist of no more than sixteen capital ships. Soon after this the combined fleet, of twenty sail of the line, seven frigates, and two brigs, were descried ; while the English force amounted to no more than fifteen ships of the line, two frigates, a cutter, and a lugger.* Although the disparity on this occasion was sufficiently startling, Sir Robert did not hesitate in determining to * The French fleet cnngistpd of one of 90 euns, tvyo of 84, four of 80, eleven of 74, and two of 64. The English, of three of 98 ^Mins, two of 84, eight of 74, and two of 64. 2 K 514 NAVAL HISTORY. bring the enemy to action. This battle, which gave rise to so much discussion, occurred in lat. 43° 30 north, and long. 11° 17 west, or about 40 leagues from Ferrol, on the 22nd of July. The British vice-admiral formed his fleet in compact order, and made a signal to attack the centre of the enemy ; upon which the Hero, of 74 guns, that led the van squadron, fetched close up under the lee of the combined fleet, so that when our headmost ships had reached the enemy's centre, their vessels tacked in suc- cession, which obliged Sir Robert to perform the same evolution. The battle that immediately followed lasted upwards of four hours, and the enemy, notwithstanding their great superiority of numbers, and every advantage of wind and weather, lost two large Spanish ships, the Rafael, of 84, and the Firme, of 74 guns. A heavy fog had prevailed during the greater part of the day ; and a short time after the engagement com- menced it became so dense, that the English comman- der was scarcely able to see his ships ahead or astern, by which he was prevented from following up his ad- vantage. This, in all probability, saved the enemy from total defeat. As it was. Sir Robert did not judge it prudent to hazard his fleet under such circumstances; and afraid perhaps of risking the advantage he had al- ready acquired, he brought-to, in order to cover his prizes. The French and Spanish fleet could have re- newed the engagement, during the two days that fol- lowed, having the advantage of the windward, and the British repeatedly, by hauling on the wind, incited them to the conflict, but this M.Villeneuve as constantly de- clined. On the 24th the wind changed, by which the British had the weather-gage ; but Sir Robert Calder not thinking it advisable to assume offensive measures, the two hostile fleets separated. The vice-admiral was not only conscious that he had done his duty in this aff"air, but also merited the appro- bation of his country. He had kept the sea with a very inadequate force, instead of returning into port; he had successfully blockaded a greatly superior fleet for nearly five months; and at sea, he had fought a battle, and captured two large ships, under circumstances where not to be defeated was equal to the honour of a victory. The advantage lay so wholly on his side that the adver- sary, although repeatedly menacing a farther trial, had CALDER. 515 teen content to forego the opportunity, and at last to sheer off. All this was rightly appreciated by his com- mander-in-chief, lord Comwallis, who sent him back to Ferrol on the 17th with twenty sail of the line. But unfortunately a different estimate of these circumstances was formed at home. The nation had lately been pam- pered with naval victories; the lords of the admiralty murmured ; and because the enemy had not been com- pletely worsted, it was alleged that the honour of the British flag had been sullied. Bitter representations to this effect were set forth in the public prints ; and when these reached the vice-admiral, their effects upon his honourable spirit may be easily imagined. He im- mediately demanded a public trial from the lords of the admiralty ; and in spite of the solicitations of Nelson, who besought him to remain, and share in those ap- proaching triumphs of the fleet by which every calumny would be refuted, he returned to Spithead in the Prince of Wales, on board of which a court-martial assembled on the 23rd of December, 1805. After the witnesses in behalf of the prosecution had been examined, Sir Robert proceeded to defend himself in a speech of calm, simple persuasiveness. He repre- sented to the court that circumstances might occur in which it would be imprudent to continue the engage- ment, after a British fleet had been laid in sight of the enemy. Such had been the case with earl Howe, on the 1st of June, 1794; such with the earl of St. Vincent, on the 27th of February, 1797. These great and justly popu- lar commanders had forborne to renew the engagement, and none had called the propriety of their measures in question. Although his victory had not been so complete as theirs, yet he had adopted their caution, because im- perious necessity required it. The Ferrol and Rochfort squadrons were supposed, at the time, to be at sea, and consisted of twenty sail of the line : these might easily have come up to the assistance of the enemy's fleet, already much superior to his own. At all events, had he been disabled from returning to the blockade of Fer- rol, these squadrons might have pushed out for Ireland, or even for England, and thus have facilitated the long- expected invasion of our country. The preservation of his fleet, therefore, upon which the prevention of this •i K 2 516 NAVAL HISTORY. iDvasion probably depended, made it unadvisable to risk it by a renewal of the action. But had be made even the utmost efforts to renew the combat, there were such difficulties in his way as would have made the experi- ment hazardous, if not impracticable. At day-break, on the morning after the battle, in spite of all his endeavours to keep the fleet together, to be in readiness for a fresh attack, he found that he was eight or nine miles to lee- ward; several of his ships were entirely out of sight; and many of them were so damaged that they could not carry sufficient sail to windward, to bear up against the enemy. In this case, he had adopted the only alterna- tive by which he could most eft'ectually baffle their hos- tile purposes. Believing that the object of M. Villeneuve was to reach Ferrol, and eflFect a junction with the French fleet lying there, he had resolved to prevent this by throwiug himself between the enemy and that port, which he had done for two days under an easy sail. All this time he had neither offered nor declined an engage- ment ; and when they seemed to ofl'er battle, he had hauled up his wind for the purpose of receiving them. Even when the wind had changed in his favour on the 24th, it chiefly consisted of light breezes ; there was a consi- derable swell of the sea; and the enemy were at such a distance, that it was very doubtful if he could have over- taken them. These were the chief circumstances which the vice-admiral adduced in his defence, at the end of which he indignantly complained of the injury done to himself and his brave companions after the victory they had gained, and the unworthy manner in which his dis- patches had been mutilated, and material portions of them suppressed, by which the difficulties of his situa- tion had been concealed, and the public feeling excited against him. In spite of his eloquence, and the justice of his representations, the court, on the 26th of Decem- ber, 1805, pronounced the following sentence : — ' The court is of opinion, that the charge of not having done his utmost to renew the engagement, and to take and destroy every ship of the enemy, has been proved againat the said vice-admiral Sir Robert Calder ; that it appeal's that his conduct has not been actuated either by cow- ardice or disaffection, but has arisen solely from error in judgment, and is highly censurable, and doth adjudge CALDER. 517 him to be severely reprimanded; and the said vice-ad- miral, Sir Robert Calder, is hereby severely reprimanded accordingly.' Amidst the classical mania of the French republic at this period, it was the faahiou to compare itself to an- cient Rome, and England to Carthag-e. Without pausing to expose the vanity of the former part of the compari- son, or the injustice of the latter, it must be confessed that in oi^e point at least the English too much resem- bled the Carthaginians. When this commercial people had sustained any heavy discomfiture, the unlucky com- mander was almost certain to become a victim; and when he returned to Carthage, it was with the prospect of being either crucified by a verdict of the judges, or torn in pieces by the rage of the mob. But even in their wildest moods of condemnation we do not find that they punished those leaders who fought their battles bravely, and sustained no defeat : this refinement was reserved for the days of Matthews, Byug, and Calder. After such examples, a British admiral, be the difficulties of his situation what they may, must not dare to deny, or even doubt, the omnipotence of an English fleet. He must bear up against evei->' odds, and be victorious over every obstacle, whether of men or elements. Should however a feeling of humanity induce him to have com- passion upon his gallant followers, so as to withdraw them from an unequal strife and certain destruction, he must then remember that condemnation and disgrace are the only rewards that await his prudence and con- siderateness. This perilous experiment, to which our fleets are doomed, cannot always continue to be successful ; and a period may come when some enemy, hitherto de- spised, gathering skill from defeat, and strength from despair, may put the arrogance of our naval calculations most bitterly to shame. Should such a period arrive, our national love of courts-martial will then be remembered ; and the loss and degradation will be coupled with the conviction that all this is nothing more than the necessary result of our own vanity and injustice. The sentence pronounced against Sir Robert Calder did not at all prove popular ; for it was the first time in the annals of our naval warfare, that a commander who had engaged a superior fleet, and taken two of the enemy's line of battle ships, without losing a single sail 518 NAVAL HISTORY. of his own, had been ' severely reprimanded.' Mr. Yorke, ■when first lord of the admiralty, in 1810, considered that Sir Robert had been very hardly dealt with, and that his faithful services had been ill requited by his country. He therefore, greatly to his honour, and in the kindest manner, oflfered to the veteran admiral the command at Plymouth, vs'hich vyas gladly accepted by Sir Robert as a professional acknowledgment that he was not un- worthy to hold an important command. This hjjnourable appointment he filled for the usual period of three years ; and until the time of his death he continued to experi- ence the greatest respect and attention, not only on the part of the admiralty, but from persons of all ranks and degrees. The hardship of his case was also men- tioned in parliament by two distinguished noblemen, the duke of Norfolk and the earl of Romney ; and had he not been restored to the service, his disgrace would have reflected discredit on the gratitude and justice of the nation. He died at Holt, near Bishop's Waltham, in the county of Hants, on the 31st of August, 1818, in the seventy- fourth year of his age, leaving a numerous circle of friends to lament his death and ill-fortune. His vic- tory would have gained him a peerage in 1795, but a few years of successful warfare had taught the country to expect more, and the triumph at Trafalgar, which quickly followed, left all other sea fights iu the shade. NELSON. 619 HORATIO NELSON. LORD NELSON, VISCOUNT NELSON OF THK NILS, AND DUKE OF BRONTE, IN SICILY. 1758—1805. The limits of this work have only allowed a selection of the most distinguished of the commanders who have maintained the naval supremacy of England to the pre- sent time. Various modifications of commendation have been employed in succession to designate their general character. In the present instance no mistake can be made. The name of Nelson stands alone. He is admit- ted by common consent to have been the greatest naval commander of his own or any other age. He was the fourth son of the Rev. Edmund Nelson, rector of Bnmham Thorpe, in the county of Norfolk, and Catharine, daughter of Dr. Maurice Suckling, prebendary of Westminster, whose grandmother was sister to Sir Robert Walpole, earl of Orford. He was born on the 29th of September, 1758, in the parsonage house of Kurn- ham Thorpe, and received the name of Horatio from the then earl of Orford, who was his godfather. At a pro- per age he was sent to the high school of Norwich, from whence he was removed to North Walsham ; but he did not remain long at school, for when at home during the Christmas holidays, in 1770, he read in a country news- paper that his uncle captain Maurice Suckling was ap- pointed to the ReasoDable, of 64 guns. Upon which he said to his brother William (tlie late earl Nelson) who wasabout seventeen months older than himself, ' Do write to my father at Bath, and tell him that I should like to go with uncle Maurice to sea.' His father was then a widower, and had gone to Bath for the recovery of his health : his circumstances were straitened, and as he had no prospect of improving them, he did not oppose the wish of his son, who he knew was desirous to be em- ployed so as to provide for himself. Captain Suckling was accordingly written to, and in his answer inquired, ' What had poor Horatio done, who was so weak, that he above 520 NAVAL HISTORY. all the rest should be sent to rough it out at sea? But let him come ; and the first time we go into action, a cannon ball may knock ofl' his head, and provide for him at once.' Such were the domestic incidents which decided the profession of Nelson. Earlj- in the spring of 1771, his father's servant arrived at his school at North Walsham, with the expected sum- mons for Horatio to join his ship. The parting from his brother William who had been so many years his play- mate and bed-fellow, was a painful effort, and was the beginning of the many privations to which the sailor is exposed. He accompanied his father to London, and was sent from thence by the stage to Chatham to join the Reasonable, then lying in the Medway. The Reasonable having been commissioned on account of the dispute with Spain respecting the Fcilkland Islands, was paid oft' when these difierences were accommodated ; and in May captain Suckling was appointed to the Tri- umph, of 74 guns, stationed as a guard-ship in the Medway. This was considered as too inactive a life for a bo\-, and he was sent a voyage to the West Indies in a merchant ship commanded by Mr. John Rathbone, an excellent sea- man, who had served as masters' mate with captain Suck- ling, during the former war, in the Dreadnought. On his return home in July, 1772, he was again received by his uncle on board the Triumph. But from the kindly treat- ment which he had received from his uncle's friend, he came back a practical seaman, with a horror of the royal navy, and with a saying then constant with seamen, ' Aft the most honour, forward the better man.' This dislike to the navy continued for some weeks, and was only overcome by his uncle promising him ' that if he at- tended well to his navigation, he should go in the cutter and decked long boat which was attached to the com- manding ofiicer's ship at Chatham.' Thus he became a good pilot for vessels of that description, from Chatham to the Tower, and down the Swin Channel to the North Foreland, and acquired a confidence among the rocks and sands of which he often felt the value. Nelscn had not been many months on board the Triumph when his love of enterprise was excited, from hearing that two ships were fitting out for a voyage of discovery to the North Pole, in consequence of an application from the Royal Society. The conduct of this voyage was given NELSON. 521 to the honourable captain Phipps (afterwards lord Mul- grave) ; and the Racehorse and Carcass bombs, as being the strongest sort of vessels, were fitted in the most com- plete manner for the undertaking. The commanding officer's ship was the Racehorse, and the Carcass, in which Nelson sailed as the captain's cox- swain, was given to captain Skeffington Lutwidge. Thi- expedition sailed from the Nore on the 4th of June, 1773, and after having been exposed to many dangers in the Northern Seas, returned to England in the October fol- lowing, when the ships were paid off. Admiral Lutwidge has related the following adventure which occurred on this occasion, and which marked the filial attention of his gallant coxswain. Young Nelson and a daring ship- mate, to whom he had become attached, stole together from the ship one night during the mid-watch, to go in search of a bear The clearness of the night in those high latitudes rendered it difficult for them to get away from the ship unobserved ; but to prevent detection they took advantage of a rising fog, and set out armed with a rusty musket. It was not long before they were missed, and as the fog had come on very thick, the anxiety of the captain and his officers was very great. Between three and four in the morning the mist somewhat dispersed, and the hunters were observed at a considerable distance attack- ing a bear. The signal was instantly made for their re- turn ; but it was in vain that Nelson's companion urged him to obey it. He was at that time divided by a chasm in the ice from his sliaggy antagonist, which probably saved his life ; for the musket flashed in the pan, and the ammunition was expended. ' Never mind,' he cried, • do but let me get a blow at this devil with the butt end of my musket, and we shall have him.' His companion finding that entreaty was in vain, rejoined the ship. The captain seeing the young man's danger, ordered a gun to be fired to terrify the enraged animal : this had the de- sired effect, and Nelson was obliged to return without his bear, somewhat agitated with the apprehension of the consequences of his trespass. The captain could not but admire his daring disposition, but he was obliged to re- primand him sternly for his rashness, and for having withdrawn from the ship without leave : he desired to kuow what motive he had for such conduct. Nelson, 522 NAVAL HISTORY. much afl'ected by this reprimand, replied, ' Sir, 1 wished to kill the bear, that I might carry its skin to my father.' On his return from Greenland, he was placed by his uncle with captain Farmer, in the Seahorse, of 20 guns, then going out to the East Indies in the squadron under Sir Edward Hughes. He was stationed in the fore-top at watch and ward, as it is termed ; and his exemplary conduct soon attracted the attention of the master (after- wards captain Surridge) in whose watch he was. This officer having observed his steady attention to his duty during a long voyage, recommended him to the parti- cular notice of the captain ; who then placed him upon the quarter deck, and rated him as a midshipman. After he had thus obtained his first step to rank, he was fre- quently iu fine weather indulged by the officer of the watch to tack the ship, which he performed like a rough seaman, and gave his orders with all the autho- rity of a lieutenant. His appearance at this time was that of a boy with a florid countenance, rather stout and athletic; but unfortunately when he had been above eighteen months in India he caught a malignant disease, which nearly baffled the power of medicine. He was thus not only reduced to a mere skeleton, but for some time entirely lost the use of his limbs ; and if it had not been for the kindness of captain Pigot, who brought him home in the Dolphin, his spirit would have been thus early extinguished. During his continuance in the Sea- horse, no person of his yeai's ever paid more attention to his duties. On his return to England, he found his uncle, captain Suckling, had been made comptroller of the navy ; and as his health was much improved, he was immedi- ately appointed by admiral Sir James Douglas to act as fourth lieutenant of the Worcester, of 64 guns, captain Mark Robinson, then on the point of sailing with a con- voy to Gibraltar. Soon after his return, on the 8th of April, 1777, he passed his examinations, and was con- firmed in his rank of lieutenant. His uncle, captain Suckling, sat at the head of the board on that occasion, but purposely concealed his relationship from the ex- amining captains, until they had expressed themselves highly pleased with the prompt and satisfactory answers which had been given to their questions. He then intro- NELSON. 523 duced hira to them as his nephew. They expressed their surprise that he had not informed them of this rela- tionship before. ' No,' he replied, ' I did not wish the younker to be favoured : I felt convinced that he would pass a good examination, and I have not been disap- pointed.' The next day Nelson received his commission as second lieutenant of the Lowestoffe frigate of 32 guns, captain William Locker, then fitting out for Jamaica. The Lowestoffe sailed for the West Indies on the 16th of May, and arrived at Barbadoes on the 4th of July, and was employed as a cruiser against the American and French privateers which were then committing great depredations upon the merchant ships. Even a frigate was cot sufficiently active for Nelson, and he repeatedly got appointed to the command of one of the Lowestoffe's tenders. During one of tbeir cruises the Lowestoffe cap- tured an American letter of marque : it was blowing a gale, and a heavy sea running. The first lieutenant was ordered to board the prize, and went below to put on his hanger, but it being mislaid, some delay was occasioned. In the mean time, the captain being extremely anxious that the prize should be instantly taken in charge, and fearing that the boat, which was waiting alongside, might be swamped, from the heavy sea that was run- ning, he exclaimed with some degree of impatience, ' Have I no officer in the ship who can board the prize?' Nelson, with his usual sense of propriety, still waited for the return of the first lieutenant; but on hearing the master volunteer his servi':es, he immediately hastened to the gangway, and getting into the boat said, ' It is my turn now, and if I come back it is yours.' The Ameri- can vessel was so completely water-logged, from having carried a heavy press of sail, that Nelson's boat went in on deck, and out again with the scud. When he at length got on board, he was long separated from the Lowestoffe by the gale ; and for some time his captain felt very uneasy for his safety. The ill health of captain Locker rendering it doubtful that he would be able to enjoy the benefit of the ap- proaching war with France, he recommended Nelson, for whom he had formed a paternal affection, in the warmest manner, to admiral Sir Peter Parker, who had succeeded to the command on the station. Ac- cordingly, in July, 1778, he was appointed by Sir Petei 524 NAVAL HISTORY. third lieuteuant of the Bristol, his flas-ship ; and ris- ing from this in regnlar rotation to be first, he was shortly afterwards promoted to the command of the Badger sloop of war. His employment while in this vessel was cruising in the bay of Honduras, for the protection of the British commerce in that quarter. On the nth of June, 1779, at the age of twenty-one, he was advanced to the rank of post-captain, and at the same time appointed to the command of the Hinchin- brooke, of 20 guns. When the island of Jamaica appre- hended an attack from the French fleet under count d'Estaiug, captain Nelson w£is appointed to tlie important command of the batteries which defend Port Royal. Early in the ensuing year, all apprehensions for the safety of Jamaica having subsided, an expedition was planned against the Spanish settlements situate on the river St. John, in the g-ulf of Mexico. Captain Nelson com- manded the naval part of the expedition, and not content with coldly fulfilling what the strict tenor of his instruc- tions required, he gallantly volunteered his services, and very materially assisted at the capture of fort St. Juan. Captain (afterwards major) Poison, the commanding officer of the land forces, pays the following handsome tribute to his conduct, in his public dispatches: — 'I want words to express the obligation 1 owe to captain Nelson ; he was the first on every service, whether by- day or night ; and there was scarcely a gun fired but what was pointed by him, or lieutenant Despard, chief engineer.' The fatigue suffered by captain Nelson in this expedi- tion, and the uuwholesomeness of the climate, so im- paired his health, that he was obliged to return to England at the close of the year. He remained at Bath in so helpless a state, that he was obliged to be carried to and from his bed; and the act of moving him produced the most violent pain. In three months he sufficiently recovered his health to solicit a command, when, in the mouth of August, 1781, he was appointed to the Albemarle, of 28 guns. He remained during the winter in the North Sea; and the following spring was sent with a convoy to Newfoundland. During his first cruise on this station he captured a fishing schooner, which contained in her cargo nearly all the property that her master possessed, and the poor fellow had a NELSON. 525 large family anxiously expecting his return. Nelson employed him as a pilot in Boston Bay, then restored him the schooner and cargo, and gave him a certificate to secure him against being captured by any other ves- sel. The man came off afterwards to the Albemarle, at the hazard of his life, with a present of sheep, poultry, and fresh provisions; for the scurvy was raging on board : this was in the middle of August, and the ship's company had not had a fresh meal since the beginning of April. The certificate was preserved at Boston in memory of an unusual act of generosity, and is now regarded as a relic. He had a narrow escape upon this cruise. The Albemarle was chased by four French sail of the line and a frigate, which had come out of Boston harbour. Finding that the enemy gained upon him, he pushed for St. George's bank, in hopes of entangling bis pursuers among the shoals, or of inducing them to desist from the chase. The line of battle ships soon short- ened sail, but the frigate continued to pursue him till nearly the close of the day, when being almost within crun-shot of the Albemarle, captain Nelson ordered his ship to be hove-to, for the purpose of engaging the enemy. The Frenchman, dismayed by the firmness shewn by his opponent, though considerably superior in force, declined the contest, and, hauling his wind, re- joined the line of battle ships. Captain Nelson continued actively employed during the remainder of the American war, but had no oppor- tunity to distinguish himself. On the conclusion of peace, he attended his royal highness prince William Henry (the late William IV.), on a visit paid by him to the governor of the Havannah ; from thence he returned to England, and was paid off about the end of July, 1783. On this occasion, in writing to a friend, he said, ' I have closed the war without a fortune, but there is not a speck in my character. True honour I hope predomi- nates in my mind far above riches.' He did not apply for a ship, because he was not wealthy enough to live on board in the manner which was then customary. Finding it prudent to economize on his halfpay, be went to France, and took lodgings at St. Omer's, where he continued long enough to fall in love with the daughter of Mr. Andrews, an English clergyman. But in consequence of his limited income he thought it 526 NAVAL HISTORY. prudent to break off the connexion. The self-constraint v.'hich he exercised in subduing this attachment made him desirous to be at sea. He repaired to London, and on visiting lord Howe at the admiralty, he was asked if he wished to be employed. He made answer that he did. Accordingly, in March, 1784, he was appointed to the Boreas frigate, of 24 guns, then ordered to the Leeward Island station, as a cruiser on the peace esta- blishment. In this service he acted with great spirit and energy in preventing the Americans from trading with our islands, under the pretext that their ships were British registered, which merely applied to them previous to the separation from the mother country. He remained on this station tillJune, 1787, when the cus- tomary term of service being expired he returned home. In the preceding March he had married Mrs. Frances Herbert Nesbit, a young widow of property in the island of Nevis; prince William Henry, who then served as captain of the Pegasus on the same station, honoured the nuptials with his presence, and gave away the bride. From this period until the war of the French revo- lution, captain Nelson lived in retirement, at the par- sonage house of Burnham Thorpe, which his father gave him as a residence. On the commencement of hos- tilities with France, in 1793, he was appointed to the Agamemnon, 64, and soon after sailing to the Mediter- ranean joined the fleet under the command of lord Hood. He served at Toulon, and from thence he was Bent to Naples with dispatches to Sir William Hamil- ton, our envoy at that court. It was on this occasion that his acquaintance with lady Hamilton began, which afterwards led to circumstances unfavourable to his reputation and to his domestic peace. Early in 1794 he commanded a detachment of seamen on shore at the capture of Bastia and Calvi, in the island of Corsica, and the success which was obtained was principally owing to the extraordinary exertions of the seamen and the skilful management of the batteries under the direc- tion of Nelson. At the siege of Calvi he had the mis- fortune to lose the sight of his right eye, a cannon ball having struck the ground near the spot where he stood, and driven some particles of sand into it. After the fall of Calvi, his services were, by a strange omission, NELSON. 527 altogether overlooked, and his name was not even men- tioned in the list of wounded. This led him to feel that he was neglected, but the omission did not arise from any fault of the admiral, for he, in justice to his inde- fatigable exertions, sent home Nelson's journal of the siege, that they might be fully understood. It was the fault of the administration of the day. Of his services on these occasions he states, 'One hundred and ten days I have been actively engaged at sea and on shore against the enemy ; three actioRtf against ships, two against Bastia in my ship, four boat actions, two villages taken, and twelve sail of vessels burnt. I have had the comfort to be always applauded by my commander-in- chief, but never to be rewarded ; and, what is more mortifying, for services in which 1 have been wounded others have been praised, who at the same time were actually in bed, far from the scene of action. They have not done me justice. But never mind— I'll have a ga- zette of my own.' How amply was this presentiment of glory realized ! Lord Hood had now returned to England, and the command in chief in the Mediterranean devolved on admiral Hotham. The French lleet at this time was superior to that of the English, and it was ordered to leave Toulon with express injunctions to seek the English fleet and engage it. Admiral Hotham received this in- formation at Leghorn, and sailed immediately in search of the enemy. He had with him fourteen sail of the line and one Neapolitan 74 ; but his ships were only half manned, containing 7650 men ; whereas the French fleet consisted of seventeen ships of the line, with 16,900 men, intended for the re-conquest of Corsica. The fleets came in sight of each other on the 13th of March, 171)5, but the French admiral had not the same confi- dence in his superiority as his government. He there- fore allowed himself to be chased, and by superior sail- ing he was able to avoid a general action. In the chase, tlie Ca Ira, 84, carried away her main and fore-top-masts, and in this state was attacked by the Inconstant frigate : but the latter received so much damage that she was obliged to leave her. Soon afterwards a frigate took the Ca Ira in tow, and two ships of the line kept about gun- shot distance on her weather bow. The Agamemnon, cap- tain Nelson, stood towards her, having no ship of the line 528 NAVAL HISTORY. to support her within several miles : as she drew near, the Ca Ira fired her stein guns so truly that not a shot missed some part of the ship, and latterly the masts were struck by every shot. It was Nelson's intention not to fire until he got alongside ; but seeing the impossibility of being supported, and the certainty of being severely cut up if the Agamemnon's masts were disabled, he altered his plan, and resolved to fire so soon as he had a chance of hitting. As soon, therefore, as he was within a hundred yards of the Ca Ira's stern, he ordered the halm to be put a-starboard, and the driver and after- sails to be brailed up and shivered; and as the ship fell oiT, gave the enemy her whole broadside. They in- stantly braced up the after-yards, put the helm a-port, and stood after her again. This manoeuvre he prac- tised for two hours and a quarter, never allowing the Ca Ira to get a single gun from either side to bear on him ; and when the French fired their after-guns now, it was no longer with coolness and precision, for every shot went far ahead. By this time the Ca Ira's sails were hanging in tatters, her mizen-topmast, mizen-top- sail, and cross-jack yards, shot away. But the frigate which had her in tow hove in stays, and got her round. Both these French ships now brought their guns to bear, and opened their fire. The Agamemnon passed them within half-pistol shot, but almost every shot passed over her, for the French had elevated their guns for distant firing, and neglected to alter the elevation. As soon as the Agamemnon's after-guns ceased to bear, she hove in stays, keeping a constant fire as she came round ; ' and being worked,' said Nelson, ' with as much exactness, as if she had been going into Spithead.' On getting round he saw that the Sans-Culottes, of 120 guns, which had wore with many of the enemy's ships, was under his lee bow, and standing to leeward. The Eng- lish admiral at the same time made the signal for the van ships to join him. Upon this Nelson bore away, and the enemy having saved their ship, hauled close to the wind, and opened upon him a distant and ineflfectual fire. In this contest it is remarkable that only seven of the Agamemnon's men were wounded, whilst the Ca Ira lost 110 men, and was so cut up that she could not get a topmast aloft during the night. At daylight on the following morning, the French NELSON. 529 fleet was observed about five miles distant: tbe Ca Ira, 84, and the Censeur, of 74, which had her in tow, had fallen to leeward, which afforded a very probable chance of cutting them oft'; the proper measures were immediately taken, and as the French admiral attempted to save them, a partial action was brought on. The Aga- memnon became again engaged with her yesterday's antagonist ; but she had to fight on both sides the ship at the same time. The Ca Ira and the Censeur fought most gallantly ; the first lost nearly 300 men, in addition to her former loss : the last 350 men. Both at lengrth struck; and lieutenant Andrews, brother to the lady to whom Nelson had become attached in France, had the honour to hoist English colours on board them both. Nelson wished to have followed up the advantage which he had gained, but admiral Hotham replied, * We must be content, we have done very well.' — ' Now,' said Nel- son, ' had we taken ten sail, and allowed the eleventh to escape when it had been possible to have got at her, I could never have called it well done.' On this occa- Bion Nelson was dissatisfied with his admiral, and thus writes to his wife : ' Sure I am, had I commanded on the 14th, that eithe? the whole French fleet would have graced my triumph, or I should have been in a con- founded scrape.' Nelson's next service was to cooperate with the Aus- trian and Sardinian armies in resisting the progress of the French army in the Riviera di Genoa. He sailed from St. Fiorenzo on this destination on the 4th of July, with a small squadron of five ships of war, and fell in, off Cape del Mele, with the enemy's fleet, which imme- diately gave his squadron chase. The chase lasted twenty- four hours, and owing to the fickleness of the wind the British ships were sometimes hard pressed ; but the su- perior skill of Nelson enabled him to baflle them, and to rejoin the fleet at St. Fiorenzo, which was in the midst of watering and refitting, and was unable to put out to his assistance for seven hours. Admiral Hotham then in his turn went in chase of the French fleet, and hav- ing sought it for four days came in sight of it on the fifth. Baffling winds and vexatious calms, so common in the Mediterranean, rendered it impossible to close with them ; only a partial action could be brought on, and then the firing made a perfect calm. One ship of 74 guns struck, 530 NAVAL HISTORY, but before she could be taken possession of she took fi>-e, and so rapid was the conflagration, from some combusti- bles on board, that the hull, masts, and sails, all seemed to take fire at the same instant. The whole of those on board perished except about 200. Nelson then proceeded to Genoa with eight sail of fri- gates under bis command for the purpose of putting an entire stop to all trade between Genoa, France, and the places occupied by the French troops ; and to co-operate with the army opposed to them. The limits of our work are insufficient for even a brief recapitulation of the ■various exploits in which this great man was concerned. Ever i-eady to step forward when any sei-vice of difficulty or danger was to be performed, he scoured the coast of Italy with his small squadron, and cut out or destroyed nine ships of war belonging to the French in the bays of AJfasio and Languilia, in the neighbourhood of Vado. When it became necessary to evacuate Corsica, and .he viceroy (Sir Gilbert Elliott, afterwards lord Winto) thought proper to seize on the isle of Elba, captain Nel- son was employed on that service. Having effected a landing, he placed the Captain, of 74 guns, within half pistol-shot of the gi'and bastion, which he would have attacked, but the governor consented to a capitulation, and the town of Porto Ferrajo with 100 pieces of cannon was immediately surrendered. In August, 1798, Nelson received his appointment as commodore with a captain under him ; and in December he was ordered to hoist his broad pendant on board La Minerve, a frigate of 32 guns, and to take the Blanche under his command, and with them proceed to Porto Ferrajo, to convoy the troops and stores that had been landed there to Gibraltar and Lisbon. On his passage the commodore, during the night of the 19th, fell in with two large Spanish fri- gates. The commanding ship carried a poop-light, and was immediately attacked by the gallant Nelson, who at the same time directed the Blanche to engage her consort. The encounter between the commodore and his antagonist commenced about forty minutes past ten at night, and after a spirited contest, which con- tinued nearly three hours, the enemy was compelled to surrender, having had 164 men killed and wounded. The prize was named the Sabina, a frigate of 40 guns, com- manded by D. Jacobo Stuart^ a de.?cendant of the great NELSON. 531 duke of Berwick. He fought his ship with so much bravery, that he was the only surviving officer, and he had hardly been conveyed on board the Minerve, when another enemy's frigate came up, compelled her to cast off the prize, and brought her a second time to action. After half an hour's trial of strength, this new anta- gonist wore and hauled off; but a Spanish squadron of two ships of the line and two frigates came in sight. The Blanche, from which the Ceres had got off, was far to windward, and the Minerve escaped only by the anxiety of the enemy to recover their own ships. As soon as Nelson reached Porto Ferrajo he sent his prisoner in a flag of truce to Carthagena, having returned him his sword ; this he did in honour of the gallantry which D. Jacobo had displayed, and not without some feeling of respect for his ancestry. * I ftlt it,' said he, * consonant to the dignity of my country, and I always act as I feel right, without regard to custom : he was re- puted the best officer in Spain, and his men were worthy of such a commander.' By the same flag of truce he sent back all the Spanish prisoners at Porto Ferrajo ; and in exchange he received his own men who had been taken in the prize. When employed upon the above service his spirits were much depressed by the fear that a general action would take place before he could join the fleet. At length he sailed from Porto Ferrajo, the 29th of January, 1797, with a convoy for Gibraltar; and having reached that place, on the 10th of February, he proceeded to the westward in search of the admiral. Off the mouth of the straits he fell in with the Spanish fleet, and was pursued by two of their ships of the line. On the 13tb, at ten o'clock at night, he joined Sir John Jervis, off cape St. Vincent, and communicated the intelligence of the ap- proach of the enemy. Commodore Nelson was then di rected to shift his broad pendant on board the Captain, 74, captain R. W. Miller; and during the night the signal guns of the enemy were heard, when the admiral made the signal to prepare for action, and to keep during the night in close order. At day-break the enemy were in sight. The British fleet consisted of fifteen sail of the line, four frigates, a sloop, and a cutter, whilst the Spa- nish numbered twenty-seven sail of the line, with ten frigates and a brig, commanded by D. Joseph de Cordova 532 NAVAL HISTORY. The details of the victory which was obtained on this occasion more properly belong to the life of Sir John Jervis ; but as commodore Nelson undoubtedly contri- buted more to that success than any other officer, it is due to the unparalleled bravery he displayed to record the deeds which he performed. At the dawn of day on the 14th of February, 1797, the Spanish fleet was discovered extending from south-west to south, cape St. Vincent bearing east by north, distant eight leagues, and the weather hazy. By half-past ten it was ascertained that the enemy had twenty-seven ships of the line, and Sir John Jervis soon after communicated to the fleet his intention of cutting through them. Cap- tain Trowbridge, in the CuUoden, 74, was ordered to lead the van, and before the enemy could form a regular order of battle the British fleet, by carrying a press of sail, came up with them, passed through their fleet, then tacked, and thus cut off nine of their ships from the main body. The British admiral having his fleet in two lines of sailing in very close order, readily formed it into one to complete the intended movement ; as soon as Trow- bridge had succeeded in passing through the enemy's fleet, he gave his starboard broadside to the nearest of the ships as he threw in stays : his example was followed by the van of our fleet, and thus the action became nearly general by the British ships coming in the same tack with the Spanish. The nine ships that had been cut off attempted to form on the larboard tack, either with a design of passing through the British line, or to lee- ward of it, and thus rejoining their friends. Only one of them succeeded in this attempt ; and that only because she was so covered with smoke that her intention was not discovered till she had reached the rear : the others were so warmly received that they put about, took to flight, and did not appear again in the action till its close. The admiral was now able to direct his attention to the enemy's main body, which was still superior in number to his whole fleet, and greatly so in weight of metal. At eight minutes past twelve, the signal was made for the fleet to tack in succession, and soon after the sig- nal was made for again passing the enemy's line. Nelson, whose station was in the rear of the British line, per- ceived that the Spaniards were bearing up before the wind, with the intention of wearing round the rear of our NELSON. 533 line, and to prevent them he disobeyed the admiral's signal without a moment's hesitation, and ordei'ed his ship to be wore. This at once brought him into action with the Santissima Triuidada, 130, the San Josef, 1 12, the Salvador del Mundo, 112, the Sau Nicholas, 81, the San Isidro, 74, and two others. The circumstantial and animated ac- count of what followed cannot be better expressed than by the commodore's letter to the duke of Clarence : • I was immediately joined, and most nobly supported, by the Cullodeu, captain Trowbridge. The Spanish fleet not wishing, I suppose, to have a decisive battle, hauled to the wind on the larboard tack, which brought the ships aboveraentioned to be the leewardmost and sternmost ships in their fleet. For near au hour, I believe (but I do not pretend to be correct as to time), did the Culloden and Captain support this not only apparently, but really un- equal contest ; when the Blenheim, captain Frederick, in passing between us and the enemy, gave us a respite, and sickened the Dons. At this time the Salvador del Mundo and San Isidro dropped astern, and were fired into in a masterly style by the Excellent, captain Col- lingwood, who compelled the San Isidro to hoist Eng- lish colours, and I thought the large ship Salvador del Mundo had also struck ; but Collingwood, disdaining the parade of taking possession of a vanquished enemy, most gallantly pushed up with every sail set, to save his old friend and messmate, who was to appearance in a critical state. The Blenheim being ahead, the Culloden crippled and astern, the Excellent ranged up within two feet of the San Nicholas, giving a most tremendous fire. The San Nicholas lufling up, the San Josef fell on board her, and the Excellent passing on for the Santissima Trini- dada, the Captain resumed her station abreast of the«n, and close alongside. At this time the Captain having lost her fore-top-mast, not a sail, shroud, nor rope left, her wheel carried away, and being incapable of farther ser- vice in the line or chase, I directed captain Miller to put the helm a-starboard, and calling for the boarders, ordered them to board. The soldiers of the 69th, with an alacrity which will ever do them credit, and lieutenant Pearson of the same regiment, were almost the foremost on this service. The first man who jumped into the ene- my's mizen chains was captain Berry, late my first lieu- tenant. Captain Miller was iu the act of going also, but 534 NAVAL HISTORY. I directed him to remain ; he was supported by our sprit- sail-yards, -which hooked in the mizen rigging. A soldier of the 69th regiment having broken the upper quarter gallery window, 1 jumped in myself, and was followed by others as fast as possible. I found the cabin doors fastened, and some Spanish officers fired their pistols ; but having burst open the doors, the soldiers fired, and the Spanish brigadier (commodore with a distinguishing pendant) fell, as retreating to the quarter deck, on the larboard side near the wheel. I pushed immediately on- wards for the quarter deck, where I found captain Berry in possession of the poop, and the Spanish ensign hauling down. I passed with my people and lieutenant Pearson on the larboard gangway to the forecastle, where I met two or three Spanish officers, prisoners to my seamen : they delivered me their swords. At this moment a fire of pistols or muskets opening from the admiral's stern- gallery of the San Josef, I directed the soldiers to fire into her stern. Our seamen by this time were in full pos- session of every part of the ship; about seven of my men were killed and three wounded, and about twenty Spaniards. Having placed sentinels at the different foot ladders, and calling to captain Miller, ordering him to send more men into the San Nicholas, I directed my brave fellows to board the San Josef, [he himself lead- ing the way, exclaiming ' Westminster Abbey, or vic- tory!'] which was done in an instant ; captain Berry as- sisting me into the main chains. At this moment a Spa- nish officer looked over the quarterdeck rail, and said tbey surrendered. From this most welcome intelligence it was not long before 1 was on the quarter deck, where the Spanish captain, with a bended knee, presented me his sword, and said the admiral was dying of his wounds. I asked him, on his honour, if the ship was surrendered. He declared she was ; on which I gave him my hand, and desired him to call on his officers and ship's company and tell them of it, which he did ; and on the quarter deck of a Spanish first-rate, exti'avagant as the story may seem, did I receive the swords of the vanquished Spa- niards ; which as I received I gave to William Fearney, one of my bargemen, who put them with the greatest sang-froid under his arm. One of my sailors now took me by the hand, saying, ' he might not soon have such another place to do it in, and assuring me he was mo^t NELSON. 535 heartily i^lad to see me there.' I was surrounded by cap- tain Berry, lieutenant Pearson, 69th regiment, John Sykes, John Thompson, Francis Coot, and William Fear- ney, all old Agamemnons, and several other brave men, seamen and soldiers. Thus fell their ships. The Victory passin-r saluted us with three cheers, as did every ship in the fleet. The Minerve frig-ate being sent by the admiral to my assistance, 1 went on board her, and directed cap- tain Cockburn to hoist my pendant and carry me to the ran, and place me on board any of the line of battle ships then engaged ; however, before this could be efifected, the signal being made to wear and discontinue the ac- tion, I went with captain Cockburn on board the Victory, when the admiral received me on the quarter deck, and having embraced me, said he could not sufiiciently thank me, and used every kind expression, which could not fail to gratify me. From the Victory I went to the Irresist- ible, 74, captain G. Martin, who was ordered to hoist my pendant, as my own ship was completely disabled, and she was then taken in tow by the Minerve. My bruises were now looked at, and found but trifling, and a few days made me as well as ever.' From this time the old fashion of counting the ships of an enemy's fleet, and calculating the disparity of force, was entirely laid aside, and a new era may be said to have commenced in the art of war at sea. Sir John Jervis ob- served in his public letter, ' That he knew the skill and valour he had to depend upon, and that the circumstances of the war required a considerable degree of energy.' No time was therefore lost in deliberation ; his enemy was in sight, and was to be beaten. For such a resolution the gallant admiral was fully entitled to all the honour he gained. His companions in arms nobly sustained the expectations which he had formed of them. The heroic Nelson bad perfoi-med prodigies of valour, and, without detracting from the glory which was justly due to the commander-in-chief, it must be admitted that the brunt of the action fell upon him, and that the decisive move- ment which led to victory was planned and executed in neglect of orders upon his own judgment and at his peril. The action began about noon and lasted till nearly five o'clock, when the Salvador del Mundo, 112, the San Jo- sef, 112, the San Nicholas, 80, and San Isidro, 74, were taken. With these four ships Nelson was engaged foi 536 NAVAL HISTORY. some time alone, and two of them may be said to haT» been taken with his own hand. Twenty-four of the Cap- tain's men were killed, and fifty-six wounded ; a fourth part of the loss sustained by the whole squadron falling upon this ship. As a reward for the above brilliant exploits, commodore Nelson received the order of the Bath, together with a gold chain and medal ; and the city of London voted him its freedom in a gold snuffbox. On the 20th of February he was promoted to be rear-admiral of the blue ; and in April was sent up the Mediterranean to bring away the garrison of Porto Ferrajo. After performing this service, on the 27th of May, he shifted his flag to the Theseus, 74, and was appointed to command the inner squadron then blockading Cadiz. An attempt was made by him, on the night of the 3rd of July, to bombard the town of Cadiz, and he conducted this enterprise with his usual energy and resolution. The Thunder-bomb was placed by his directions within 2500 yards of the garrison, and began to throw shells with great precision ; but unfortunately the larger mortar was poon found to have been so materially injured from its former services, that Sir Horatio was obliged to call it off. The Spaniards dispatched a great number of gun- boats and large armed launches, to attempt to capture it ; but the British resisted them with such determined bra- very, that they were obliged to retire. On this occasion, the commandant of the Spanish flotilla, don Miguel Tregoyen, and Sir Horatic were personally engaged. The former, in a galley rowed by twenty-six oars and thirty men, made a desperate attack, on the British admiral, who was in his own barge, manned only with ten barge- men, captain Freemantle, and his coxswain John Sykes. They fought with their swords hand to hand, and the conflict was long and doubtful. At length, however, eighteen of the enemies were killed, and the Spanish commander and all the rest wounded, when the launch surrendered. In this encounter, Sir Horatio owed his safety to the intrepidity and affection of his coxswain Sykes, who was wounded in defending him, as were cap- tain Freemantle, who accompanied him as a volunteer, and several of the boat's crew. Two nights after, another bombardment was at- tempted, with superior success ; for the next morning NELSON. 537 ten sail of the line, including the flag-ships of admirals M azzaredo and Gravina, were obliged to warp out of the range of the shells. Lord St. Vincent concludes an ac- count of these achievements, in a letter addressed to the admiralty, with emphatically observing, 'That any praise of his would fall short of admiral Nelson's merits.' On the I4th of July, Nelson sailed at the head of an expedition to gain possession of the island of Teneriflfe, which had been represented to earl St. Vincent as by no means in a formidable state of defence. On this occasion the earl allowed Nelson to select such ships and officers as he approved from the fleet, when the fol- lowing were placed under his command : — Tv,^.,...,^ T, J Rear-admiral Nelson Iheseus . 74 guns ^ Culloden Zealous 74 , 74 „ Trowbridge S. Hood Leander 50 „ — — Thompson Emerald 44 „ Waller Seahorse 32 „ — Freemantle Terpsichore 36 „ Bowen Fox cutter 14 ,. Gibson. This armament arrived off" Santa Cm? on the evening of the 22nd of July, 1797, and anchored a few miles to the northward of the town. The admiral finding it impos- sible for the ships to approach sufliciently near the town to cannonade it with eff"ect, determined to land a body of 1000 seamen and marines, under captains Trow bridge. Hood, Thompson, Miller, and Waller. At eleven o'clock the men were all in the boats, and rowed towards the shore in six divisions. Sir Horatio^ whose gallant spirit always led him to be among the foremost where there was glory to be acquired, accom- panied them, attended by captains Freemantle and Howen. At half-past one in the morning the boats had reached within half gun-shot of the mole head undisco- vered ; when the alarm bells rang, and a most tremen- dous fire was opened from one end of the town to the other. The Fox cutter on approaching the town received a shot under water, and instantly sunk, by which un- fortunate accident her commander and ninety-six men perished. The night being extremely dark, the boatj §38 NAVAL HISTORY. were uoable to keep together. The admiral, however, and captains Thompson and Freemantle, with four or five boats, landed at the mole, which they stormed and carried, although defended by between 400 and 500 men, and six 24-pounders, which they spiked. But so heavy a lire of grape-shot and musquetry was kept up fi'om the citadel and houses at the mole-head, that it was impossi- ble for them to advance. In the act of stepping out of the boat, Nelson received a shot through the right elbow_ and fell. His son-in-law, lieutenant (afterwards cap- tain) Nesbit, on missing his gallant relative, returned, and finding him speechless, placed Sir Horatio on his back, and carried him to a boat, which conveyed him on board the Theseus, under a most tremendous fire from the enemy's batteries. In the meanwhile, captains Trowbridge, Hood, Miller, and Waller, landed with many of the boats a little to the southward of the citadel, passing through a violent surf, which stove the boats, and wet all the ammuni- tion. But notwithstanding these difficulties, they scaled the walls, and took possession of the town. Their force consisted of 80 marines, as many pikemen, and 180 small- armed seamen. Having formed in the great square of the town, captain Trowbridge determined to storm the cita- del ; but, on his approach, he found it was too strong to render such an attempt practicable. Seeing the impos- sibility of getting any assistance from the ships, he dis- patched captain Hood with a message to the governor, to propose, ' that if he should be allowed freely and without molestation to embark his people at the mole-head, in such of the ships' boats as were not stove, and if the governor would proride others to carry off the remain- der, the squadron before the town would not molest it.' The governor replied, that he thought in their situation they ought to surrender prisoners of war; but this being peremptorily rejected by captain Trowbridge, with a threat of setting fire to the town, and attacking the Spaniards sword in hand, if his proposals were not ac- ceded to, the governor thought it prudent to comply. Captain Trowbridge accordingly marched to the mole- head, where boats were provided by the Spaniards to carry the people off to the ships. Sir Horatio returned to England in the Seahorse, but it was not until some months after the amputation of his NELSON. 530 arm, owing to some mistake made in taking: up one of the arteries, that lie recovered sufficiently for service. On this occasion he went to the clerk of St. George's church, and left with him the following paper: — ' An officer desires to return thanks to Almighty God for his perfect recovery from a severe wound, and also for the many mercies bestowed upon him. December 8, for the next Sunday.' — On his first appearance at court, his ma- jesty received him in the most gracious manner, and was pleased to express regret that the state of his health and wounds were likely to deprive the nation of his fu- ture services. On this, the undaunted hero replied, with all the fire and enthusiasm peculiar to his character, ' I can never think that a loss which the performance of my duty has occasioned ; and so long as 1 have a foot to stand on, I will combat for my king and country.' As it was proposed about this time to confer a pension of £1000. per annum upon him, as a remuneration for his wounds and services, it became necessary, accoi-ding to the custom of the navy, that he should give in a dis- tinct statement of his claims. In consequence of this, he drew up the following paper, which alone, had his ser- vices ended here, would have transmitted his memory with unrivalled glory to posterity. ' TO THE king's MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. ' The memorial of Sir Horatio Nelson, K.B., and a rear- admiral ill your Majesty's Jieet. ' That, during the present war, your memorialist has been in four actions with the fleets of the enemy, viz. on the 13th and 14th of March, 1795; on the 13th of July, 1795 ; and on the 14tb of February, 1797 ; in three actions with frigates; in six engagements against batteries; in ten actions in boats, employed in catting out of harbours, in destroying vessels, and in taking three towns. Your memorialist has also served on shore with the army four months, and commanded the batteries at the sieges of Bastia and Calvi. ' That during the war he has assisted at the capture of seven sail of the line, six frigates, four corvettes, and eleven privateers of diff"erent sizes ; and taken and de- stroyed near fifty sail of merchant vessels; and your me- morialist has actually been engaged against the enemy upwards of one hundred and twenty times. 540 NAVAL HISTORY. ' In which service your memorialist has lost his right eye and arm, and been severely wounded and bruised in his body. All of which services and wounds your me- morialist most humbly submits to your majesty's most gracious consideration. ' October, 1797.' ' HORATIO NELSON.' When the admiral's health was recovered, the Van- guard, 74, was, on the 19th of December, commissioned for his flag^. On the 9th of April, 1798, he sailed from Ports- mouth, to join the fleet imder earl St. Vincent off Cadiz. On the 7th of May he was sent into the Mediterranean, with the Orion and Alexander, of the same force as the Vanguard, the Emerald and Terpsichore frigate^, and La Bonne Citoyenne sloop of war. On the 22nd,- at two in the morning, the squadron enrountered a violent storm iu the gulf of Lyons, in which the Vanguard lost her fore-mast and top-masts, and the frigates parted com- pany. The same day the French armament, commanded by Bonaparte, sailed on the celebrated expedition to Egypt. The Vanguard was taken in tow by the Alex- ander, and bore up for Sardinia. Having refitted in St. Pierre's road, the squadron put to sea again on the 28th, and on the 4th of June reached the place of rendezvous. On the 8th, Sir Horatio was joined by ten sail of the line under captain Trowbridge, and immediately sailed in pursuit of the French fleet. On the 16th, being in sight of mount Vesuvius, captain Trowbridge was sent to obtain what information he could from the British minister at Naples. He returned with a report only, that the French fleet had gone towards Malta. The admiral lost no time in pushing by the shortest route for that island, and on the 20th passed through the straits of Messina with a fair wind. On the 22nd, he received intelligence that Malta had surren- dered, and that the French had sailed from thence on the 18th, with a fresh gale at NW. This confirmed him in the belief that they had gone to Egypt, and he instantly bore up for that coast, and from information that was afterwards received, it is certain the hostile fleets must have crossed each other's track during the night of the 23rd. From this time to the 29th, the fleet had only spoken with three vessels, two of which had come from Alexandria, and the other from the Archipelago, without NELSON. 541 having seen any thing of the enemy. On the 28th he made the Pharos of Alexandria, and ran in till he bad a complete view of both the harbours — but the enemy wa» not there. Captain Hardy was sent to the governor, who was as much surprised to see a British fleet as to hear that a French one was expected. He now shaped his course for the coast of Caramanea, and steered from thence down the south side of Candia, under a press of sail, and a contrary wind, until the 18th of July, when he made the island of Sicily, and entered the port of Syracuse. Although many of the ships were short of water, not having a supply for above two months, the fleet was ready for sea in five days. On the 25th of July they again sailed, without having been able to obtain any certain intelligence of the enemy's destination. On that day, however, they received information from a Turkish officer, that the French fleet had been seen steer- ing to the SE. from Candia, about four weeks before, upon which the admiral resolved once more to visit Alexandria. On the 1st of August, about ten in the morn- ing, they came in sight of Alexandria ; the port had been vacant and solitary when they saw it last ; it was now crowded with ships ; and they perceived with exultation that the tri-coloured flag was flying upon the walls. At four in the afternoon, captain Hood, in the Zealous, made the signal for the enemy's fleet. For many preceding days Nelson had hardly taken either sleep or food : he now ordered dinner, while preparations were making for battle; and when his officers rose from table, and went to their separate stations, he said to them, • Before this time to-morrow, I shall have gained a peerage, or West- minster Abbey.' At three o'clock the signal was made to prepare for battle, and the fleet stood in under a crowd of sail. Nel- son had explained to his captains the nature of the con- test they were to expect, and, for the first time recorded in British naval history, he proposed to anchor his ships by the stem,* to prevent the enemy from having the ad- vantage of raking him. A French brig was instructed to decoy the English, by manoeuvring so as to tempt them towards a shoal lying olf the island of Bekier ; but Nel- * This mods of anchoring was common among^ the ancients; it is mentioned in Sacred Historv Aci* xxvii. 20. 5-12 NAVAL HISTORY, son was not to be deceived. As all the officers of the squadron were totally unacquainted with Aboukir Bay, each ship kept sounding as she stood in. The enemy ap- peared to be moored in a strong and compact line of battle, close in -with the shore, their line describing an obtuse angle in its form, flanked by numerous gun-boats, four frigates, and a battery of guns and mortars on an island in their van. The position of the French presented the most formi- dable obstacles ; but the admiral having viewed these with the eye of a seaman determined on an attack, it instantly struck his penetrating mind, 'that where there was room for an enemy's ship to swing, there was room for one of ours to anchor.' No farther signals were ne- cessary than those which had already been made. The admiral's designs were as fully known to his whole squa- dron, as was his determination to conquer or perish in the attempt. At a quarter-past six in the evening, cap- tain Foley led the way in the Goliath, out-sailing the Zealous, captain Hood, which for some minutes disputed this post of honour with him. The Goliath received the first fire from the van ships of the enemy, as well as from the batteries and gun-boats with which their van was strengthened ; these ships were followed by the Orion, which in passing down was annoyed by a frigate, when she yawed so much as enabled her starboard guns to bear, and then sunk her by a tremendous fire. The Orion then anchored on the larboard bow of the Frank- lin and the quarter of the Peuple Souverain, and was fol- lowed by the Theseus and Audacious, which took their station inside of the enemy's line, and were immediately in close action. The Vanguard followed, and anchored within half pistol-shot of Le Spartiate, the third in the enemy's line. Her followeis respectively passed on ahead and anchored by the stern as they came up on the out- side, as the admiral had done. The Minotaur, Defence, Bellerophon, Majestic, Swiftsure, and Alexander, came in succession. In standing in, the leading ships were obliged to receive into their bows the whole fire of the broadsides of the French line, until they could take their respective stations ; and it is but justice to admit that the enemy received us with the greatest firmness and deli- beration. They did not open their fire until the van ships NELSON. 543 were witbin half gun-shot ; and the British ships did not return the fire until they had clewed up their sails, and anchored in their stations. As soon as this was ac- complished, a most animated fire was opened from the Vane:uard, to cover the approach of those in the rear, which were following in close line. It fell to the Bellero- phon, 74, to attack the French admiral's ship I'Orient, 120, nor did her undaunted captain shrink from the un- equal contest ; but having failed to get into a proper position, that powerful ship in a short time dismasted her, and rendered her a complete wreck , k illin g 49 , an d wound- ing 148, being one-third of the Belleroplion's crew. In this state her brave commander, captain Darby, was re- luctantly compelled to allow her to drift out of the line. When darkness came on, about seven o'clock, the Eng- lish ships hoisted their distinguishing lights by a signal from the admiral ; but at times the whole hemisphere was illuminaced by the fire of the hostile fleets. The van ship of the enemy, le Guerrier, was dismasted in ten minutes ; and in ten minutes more the second and third ships, le Conquerant and le Spartiate, shared the same fate ; and the others had sulfered so severely, in that short time, that victory was already certain. The fourth and fifth ships were taken possession of at half- past eight. Meantime Nelson had received a severe wound by a splinter which struck him a little above his right or darkened eye, causing a piece of flesh to hang over it. He believed that his end was approaching, and it was on this occasion that he made the benevolent re- ply to the surgeon, who hastened to his assistance, ' No, I will take my turn with my brave fellows.' Nor would he allow his wound to be examined till every man who had been previously wounded was properly attended to. On examination the wound was found not to be dangerous, which infused additional courage into his seamen. At ten minutes after nine, a tire was observed on board I'Orient, the French admiral's ship, which seemed to proceed from the after part of the cabin, and which in- creased with great rapidity, presently involving the whole of the after part of the ship in flames." This cir- * When this accident was first obsTved, captain Hallowell, of the Swifisure, ordered as many ?uns as could be spared from firing on the Fianklin (o be dirtcted to the j'oinl whcir the flames appeared to be 544 NAVAL HISTORY. cumstance was immediately communicated to the admi- ral, who, though still suffering severely from his wound, came upon deck, where the first consideration that struck him, was concern for the danger of so many lives. He ordered captain Berry to use every exertion to save as many as possible ; and the only boat that could swim was instantly dispatched from the Vanguard ; the other ships that were in a condition to do so, immediately fol- lowed the example, by which means the lives of about seventy Frenchmen were saved. The light thrown by the fire of I'Orient upon the surrounding objects, en- abled the admiral to perceive with more certainty the situation of the two fleets ; the colours of both being clearly distinguishable. The cannonading was partially kept up to leeward of the centre, till about ten o'clock, when rOrient blew up with a tremendous explosion, and the greater part of her crew, consisting of 1010 men, perished. A most awful pause for about three minutes ensued, when the wreck of the masts, yards, and other materials, which had been carried to a vast height, fell down into the water and on board the suiTouuding ships, without doing any material injury. After this impressive scene, the firing recommenced with the ships to the leeward of the centre, and con- tinued till about three in the morning. \Vhen the victory had been secured in the van, such British ships as were in a condition to move, had gone down upon the fresh ships of the enemy. At five in the morn- ing, the Guillaume Tell, Genereux, Tonnaut, and Ti- moleon, were the only French ships of the line that bad their colours flying. At half-past five, a French frigate, L'Artemise, fired a broadside, and struck her colours ; but such was the infamous conduct of the captain, that after having thus surrendered, he set fire to his ship, and escaped with part of his crew on shore. The French frigate, La Serieuse, which had been sunk by the Orion, had her poop remaining above water, upon which her men were saved, and taken off by our boats in the morning. At eleven o'clock, the Genereux and raging, and that the marines should throw the whole of their fire into the same quarter. This was also done by the Alexander, captain Ball, which probably was the means oi preventing the enemy from over- coming; it. The calamities of war are appalling ! NELSON. 545 Guillauine Tell, with the other two frigates La Justice aud La Diane, cut their cables and stood out to sea, pur- sued by the Zealous, captain Hood ; but as there was no other ship in a condition to support her, she was recalled. These four vessels, however, were all that escaped. The 2ud of August was employed in securing the French ships that had struck, and which were now all com- pletely in possession of the British squadron. The Ton- nant and Timoleon, which were dismasted, and conse- quently could not escape, were the last to be taken possession of. On the 3rd, the Tonnant cut her cable and drifted on shore ; but was got off again, and secured in the British line : the Timoleon was set on fire by her crew. After this great conquest, on the morning of the 2nd, Nelson sent notice through the fleet, that he intended to return public thanks, on that day at two o'clock, to Almighty God, for having blessed his majesty's arms, aud recommended every ship to do the same as soon as convenient. The following are the British and French lines of battle. BRITISH LINE OF BATTLE. Ships. Guns. Men. Commanders. Killed. • Wd. Culloden* 74 590 T. Trowbridge I'heseus 74 590 R. W. Miller 5 30 Alexander 74 590 A. J. Ball i Sir Horatio Nelson, 14 58 Vanguard 74 595 < rear-adm. of the blue. f capt. Edward Berry 30 75 Minotaur 74 640 Thomas Louis 23 C4 Leander 50 .343 Tho. B. Thompson 14 Swifts ure 74 590 B. Hallowell 7 22 Audacious 74 590 D. Gould I 35 Defence 74 590 John Peyton 4 11 Zealous 74 590 Samuel Hood 1 7 Orion 74 590 Sir J. Saumarez 13 29 Goliath 74 590 Thomas Foley 21 41 Majestic 74 590 Geo. B. Westcott 50 143 Bellerophon 74 590 Hon. D'Etree Darby 49 143 LaMutine,br igl4 Total 218 677 * The Ciilloden struck the ground in leadin? in, and was prevented by tliat accident from taking : any share in the engag-emfnt. 546 NAVAL HISTORY. FR ENCH LINE OF BATTLE. Ships. Guns . Men. How disposed of. Le Guevrier 74 700 . Burnt Le Conquera nt 74 700 . Taken Le Spartiate 74 700 . Taken L'Aquilon 74 700 . Taken Le Souveiain Peup e74 700 . Taken Le Franklin 80 ^ Blanquet, first i ^^^ ^ rear-admiral \ Taken L'Drient 1-20 ^ lirueys, com- ) ^^'"^ mander-inch. } 800 . Blown up- Le Tonnant 80 Taken L'Heuveux 74 700 . Burnt Le Timoleon 74 700 . Burnt Le Mrjrcure 74 700 . C ViUeneuve, ^ Burnt Le Guillaume Tell 80 SOO \ secoud > C rear admiral ) Escaped Le Genereux 74 700 . Escaped FRIGATES. La Diane 48 300 .... Escaped La Justice 44 300 . Escaped L'Artimese 36 250 . Burnt ^ Dismasted and sunk ^50 • ^ by the Orion. LaSerieuse 36 No regular return was ever made of the loss of the French. The total number of men taken, drowned, burnt and missing:, is said to have been 5,225 ; of whom 3,105, including the wounded, were sent on shore in a cartel, upon the usual terms; but Bonaparte, who dis- regarded all treaties, formed them as soon as they landed into his nautic legion. On the 5th of August, captain Berry, of the Vanguard, sailed in the Leander, 50, and 343 men, with the admi- ral's dispatches to the commander-in-chief, off Cadiz ; but that ship was unfortunately captured on the 2Sth, off the island of Candia, after a severe action, by the Genereux, 74, and 900 men, which had escaped from the disaster at Aboukir. The Leander had 53 killed and 57 wounded ; the Genereux, 100 killed and 188 wounded. The dis- patches were consigned to the deep, but Nelson's gallant NELSON. 547 captain was deprived of the honour of carrying home the accounts of the great victory, and it was not until the arrival of the Hon. captain Capel, on the 27th of October, with the duplicate dispatches, that the British government received the ol&cial intelligence of the • Conquest of the Nile.' In his dispatches, Nelson complained that he had been unable to complete his ' conquest' fx'om the want of fi*i- grates and bomb-vessels, and said, ' Were I to die this moment, want of frigates would be found stamped upon my heart! No woi'ds of mine can express what I have suffered, and am suffering, for want of them.' With a few small vessels nothing could have prevented the destruction of the stoj-e-ships and transports in the port of Alexandria. But if Nelson was not satisfied with what he had done, the government at home and his countrymen considered it the greatest naval achieve- ment on record ; and an equal sensation was produced throughout Europe. The emperor of Germany immediately broke off the conferences for a peace at Rastadt ; the Ottoman Porte declared war against the French ; and the king of Naples marched an army to Rome, which, for a time, he obliged the republicans to evacuate. In England, the victory of the Nile was received with unbounded testi- monials of joy. The king created the gallant Nelson a peer of the realm, by the title of baron Nelson of the Nile, and of Burnham Thorpe, in the county of Norfolk, the place of his birth, and parliament decreed him a vote of thanks, and a pension of £'iOOO. a year for his own life, and the lives of his two immediate successors. He re- 3eived likewise a pension of £1000. a year from the par- liament of Ireland ; and the East India company voted him a gift of £10,000. The Turkey company presented him with a piece of plate of great value, and the city of London with a sword worth 200 guineas. Nor were foreign powers backward in acknowledging and reward- ing his great services. The Grand Seignior presented him with a superb diamond aigrette, called a chelengk or plume of triumph ; and the king of Naples granted him the title of Duke of Bronte, with an income of £3000. a year, besides bestowing on him many other valuable marks of his regard. His captains also pre- sented him with a magnificent sword, the hilt of which 2112 548 NAVAL HISTORY. was au appropriate emblematical device, representing a crocodile. But amidst the multitude of affectionate and valuable gifts offered to his lordship on this occa- sion, we must not omit a very singular one made by captain Hallowell, who commanded the Swiftsure at the battle of the Nile. A variety of trivial articles, formed from the wreck of I'Orient, and valuable only from the circumstances of kindness and attachment with which they were accompanied, had been given to his lordship by the different officers under his command. Captain Hallowell's present was made entirely of the materials of the main-mast, and accompanied by the fol- lowing note : ' Suiftsure, August, 1798. ' Sir, — I have taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin, made of the main-mast of I'Orient, that when you have finished your military career in this world, you may be buried in one of your trophies ; but that that period may be far distant, is the earnest wish of your sincere friend, ' B. HALLOWELL. ' Sir Horatio Nelson, ' Rear-admiral of the blue, &c.' The admiral received this extraordinary present with the utmost cordiality and affection ; he kept it some time in his great cabin, nor was it without apparent reluctance, that he at length consented to have it re- moved. When he had finished his career of glory, this coffin was the inner one which contained the mortal remains of o\ir hero. On the 18th of Aug-ust, Nelson having refitted his ships and prizes, sailed from the coast of Egypt, leaving captain Hood with four sail of the line and two frigates to blockade the port of Alexandria. On the 2'2nd of September he arrived at Naples, when the king instantly went off in his barge to receive the admiral, and honoured him with a visit on board the Vanguard, continuing with him until she anchored. When the hero landed, he was received by the people as their deliverer, and every demonstration of public rejoicing took place in honour of his arrival. The mind of the open and generous NELSON. 549 Nelson was unequal to the adulation, the flattery, and temptations, to which he was exposed by that corrupt and worthless court. He was induced by the Nea- politan king to continue on that station with his fleet ; but even his co-operatiou was useless to an imbecile government, which had to contend with the generals of France. Part of his squadron was employed in the siege and blockade of Malta, and he went himself to observe the progress which was making, and sailed from thence on the 30th of October for Naples, where he arrived in a few days. To him the royal family owed their safety, for without his assistance they could not have escaped from that city on its occupation by the French. He lauded on the 21st of December, and went to the palace, when the popular excitement was at its height, and brought out the whole royal family, put them in the boats, embarked them on board the Van- guard, and conducted them during a violent storm to Palermo in Sicily, where they arrived on the 2t>th of December, 1798. During the year 1799, the squadron under the command of Nelson was employed upon so many minor services that our limits will not even permit them to be enume- rated. His hatred of the French led hirai to oppose them at every point which could be reached by a ship of war. He was the principal means of expelling them from the kingdom of Naples ; aud he reconducted the king to his capital. On his passage to Malta, on the lOth of February, 1800, he fell in with a French squadron bound for its relief, consisting of the Genereux, 74, three frigates, and a corvette. One of the frigates and the 74 were taken ; and the others were prevented from reach- ing Malta. In March, the Foudroyant, Lion, and Pene- lope frigates, which formed part of his squadron, captured the Guillaume Tell, 80, after an action in which greater bravery and skill were never displayed on both sides. These successes were particulaily gratifying to Nelson, as the Genereux and Guillaume Tell were the only ships of the line which had escaped from Aboukir. He then could say that he had captured or destroyed the whole of the French Mediterranean fleet. He was also gratified for other reasons. The commander-in-chief whom he re- vered, earl St. Vincent, had resigned in June, 1799, thn 550 NAVAL HISTORY. command in the Mediterranean, and was succeeded by lord Keith. Nelson felt that his services ought to have been considered in this appointment ; and whether a jealousy or not existed between the two admirals, it is certain that there was little cordiality of feeling between them. During the absence of lord Keith in England, Nelson considered himself as holding the situation of commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, from August 17th to November 30th, 1799 ; and acted ac- cordingly. On the return of lord Keith, various differ- ences arose between them. Nelson, as on former occa- sions, had risked the disobedience of orders which he considered contrary to the intent of the service upon which he was employed. This breach of duty was re- ported to the admiralty, and Nelson was reprimanded, and might have been ' broke, if he had not succeeded.' He had also been dissatisfied with the appointment of Sir Sidney Smith to a separate command : — these and other circumstances induced him to return home. He landed at Yarmouth on the 6th, and arrived in London on the 9th of November, 1800, when his majesty and the govern- ment heaped on him every honour and kindness which his heroic deeds so justly merited. In London he was feasted by the city, drawn by the populace from Ludgate-hill to Guildhall, and honoured with the thanks of the common council, for his great victory, and a gold-hilted sword, studded with dia- monds. But during all these public distinctions, he was subjected to an influence which neither the en- treaties nor remonstrances of his friends could over- come, and before he had been three months in England he separated from his wife, at the same time declaring, ' I call God to witness, there is nothing in you or your conduct I wish otherwise.' This was the consequence of bis infatuated attachment to lady Hamilton. On the 1st of January, 1801, his lordship was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral of the blue, and having soli- cited to be again employed, he was appointed by earl St. Vincent, then first lord of the admiralty, second in com- mand, under Sir Hyde Parker, of the fleet which it was intended to send to the Baltic. The public murmured at this inferior appointment, and considered that the com- mand oucbt to have been intrusted to Nelson; but NELSON. 551 Sir Hyde Parker was the favourite of a party, and political considerations prevailed over superior claims. 'I'be admiralty, as an especial mark of respect, ordered the San Josef, 112, one of the ships which he had boarded and captured off St. Vincent, to be got ready for his flag, which was hoisted on board at Plymouth, Janu- ary 17th, 1801. It was afterwards shifted into the St. George, 98, when he joined the fleet at Yarmouth. The fleet which was there assembled consisted of seventeen sail of the line, with frigates, gun-brigs, and fire-ships, amounting altogether to about fifty four vessels. It sailed on the 12th of March, and arrived in the Cattegat on the 27th, when the admiral addressed a letter to the gover- nor of the castle of Cronenberg, which commands the entrance to the Sound, to know whether his excellency had received orders to fire on the British fleet on pass- ing the castle. This oflicer replied, that he should not permit a fleet whose destination and object were un- known to him to pass his post without using his utmost endeavours to prevent it. To this Sir Hyde Parker replied, that he considered the governor's message a declaration of war, and that in conformity with bis instructions he should commence hostilities. This cor- lespondence and the bad weather which intervened detained the fleet three days at its anchorage, outside of the Narrows, or pass into the Baltic ; but on the 30th the admiral weighed, and forced the passage without having received much damage, notwithstanding a heavy fire from the Danish forts. When the whole line had passed the enemy's batte- ries, it anchored within five or six miles of the island of Huen. Sir Hyde Parker, with lord Nelson and rear- admiral Graves, embarked on board a lugger to recon- noitre the enemy's formidable line of defence, consisting of ships, radeaus, pontoons, galleys, fire-ships, and gun- boats, flanked and supported by extensive batteries era islands called the Crowns ; the largest of which was mounted with from fifty to seventy pieces of cannon ; these were again commanded by two ships of 70 guns, and a large frigate in the inner road of Copenhagen ; and two block ships, of 64 guns each, were moored on a flat on the starboard side of the entrance to the ar- senal. The next day their position was again more 552 NAVAL HISTORY- minutely examiued, when an attack was resolved on; and this desperate service was volunteered by the heroic Nelson ; for which purpose he shifted his flag from the St. George, of 98 guns, into the Elephant of 74, carry- ing a lighter draught of water, and therefore better adapted for the service. The approaches to Copenhagen are shcal and intricate, and Nelson had been at great pains in sounding and buoying off the channel. This work being finished, he proceeded with the ships under his immediate orders to Draco Point, whence he issued his instructions, and made his arrangements for the attack. Each ship and vessel had a particular duty ; the gun-boats were so placed as to rake the enemy's hulks, the bombs were to throw their shells into the town, and detach- ments of boats were ordered to hold themselves in readi- ness beyond the line of fire to act as occasion might require. The command of the frigates and sloops was intrusted to the gallant Riou, of the Amazon, whose glorious career was now soon to terminate. The strength of the Danish line of defence and bat- teries was such as might have been pronounced by the best judges impregnable. They had six. sail of the line, and eleven floating batteries, mounting on one side from twenty-six 24-pounders to eighteen 18-pounders ; one bomb-ship, and many gun-boats ; these were sup- ported by the forts on the island of Amac, and the two Crown batteries, mounting 80 pieces of heavy cannon nearly flush with the water. It was in the presence of this tremendous force, and within a proper fighting distance, that Nelson had to take up his position, bring his ships to anchor, furl his sails, put springs to his cables, and at the same mo- ment receive the well-directed fire of an enemy, who fancied himself in comparative security. The crown prince with the inhabitants of Copenhagen were spec- tators of the scene, while a strong division of the British fleet in the offing beheld with envy the daring feats of their brethren in arms. Sir Hyde Parker supposed, after a more deliberate view of the enemy's force, that Nelson would be over- matched, and recalled him from action ; but the latter refused to acknowledge the signal, taking upon himself NELSON. 553 in this awful moment the additional responsibility in case of failure. Thus success justifies an action which de- feat would stamp with unmerited disgrace and infamy. Nelson was here consistent with his own maxim, ' when in doubt, fight.' On the morning of the 2nd of April the signal was made to prepare for battle, and about 10 o'clock the attack commenced. The line was led by the Edgar, 74 guns, captain George Murray, one of the most skilful and bravest of Nelson's captains, and the ships an- chored by the stern, as had been done in the battle of the Nile. On their way into action the Russell and Bellona took the ground in such a position as to render their assistance nearly useless to the fleet, whilst the ships themselves were much exposed to the fire from the Crown batteries; the Agamemnon, 64, also took the ground, but was entirely out of gun-shot. The conflict was one of the most determined and sanguinary that had ever been fought; it lasted four hours, and ended in the total capture and destruction of the enemy's line of defence. About two o'clock. Nelson, to whose conduct no language can do justice, perceiving the fire of the enemy to slacken, and that the floating batteries and block ships had all surrendered, though the Crown batteries still kept up their fire, seized the fortunate moment ; and whilst the work of death was going on around him, he went to his cabin and wrote the follow- ing letter to the crown prince, which was sent with a flag of truce :— • Lord Nelson has directions to spare Denmark, when no longer resisting ; but if the firing is continued on the part of Denmark, lord Nelson must be obliged to set on fire all the floating batteries he has taken, without the power of saving the brave Danes who have defended them. (Signed) 'NELSON and BRONTE.' ' To the Brothers of Englishmen, the Danes.' When he had finished the letter an aide-de-camp pre- sented him with a wafer. ' No,' said the hero ; • they will think we are afraid : let us have a candle, and seal it with wax.' 654 NAVAL HISTORY. The prince royal of Denmark sent adjutant- general Lindholm to ask. the particular object of sending the flag of truce. To which Nelson sent the following reply : • Lord Nelson's object in sending the flag of truce was humanity ; he therefore consents that hostilities shall cease, and that the wounded Danes may be taken on shore ; and lord Nelson will take his prisoners out of the vessels, and burn or carry ofl" his prizes, as he shall think fit. ' Lord Nelson, with humble duty to his royal high- ness the prince of Denmark, will consider this the greatest victory he ever gained, if it may be the cause of a happy reconciliation and union between his own most gracious sovereign and his majesty the king of Denmark. (Signed) ' NELSON and BRONTE.' In the course of the afternoon lord Nelson came in hie barge into the inner roads, and went on board the Den- mark, and proceeded ashore. After dinner, the admiral was introduced to the prince, and the negotiations com- menced. The next day his lordship came again on shore, and dined with the prince royal, as he did fre- quently till the 9th of April, when the armistice was finally concluded. At these interviews lord Nelson spoke in the highest terms of the bravery of the Danes, and particularly requested the prince to introduce him to a very young officer, whom he described as having performed won- ders during the battle, by attacking his own ship under her lower-deck guns. The British hero embraced him with the enthusiasm of a brother, and suggested to the prince, that he ought to make him an admiral; to which the prince replied, ' If, my lord, I were to make all my brave oflicers admirals, I should have no captains or lieutenants in my service.' The youth (lieutenant Villemois), however, received a medallion, and was ap- pointed to the command of one of the royal yachts. The effects of this victory were incalculable : as soon as it was known in Sweden, that power withdrew from the confederation lest it should be visited with a like disaster. The loss of men and damage sustained by Nelson's division was so great, as to render the return of some of the ships to England absolutely necessary. NELSON. 555 The loss in killed amounted to 234, and 644 wounded ; that on the part of the Danes was estimated at more than double that number. Seventeen sail of ships and block-vessels were taken ; only one of them (the Hol- stein, 74) was fit for service ; all the rest were destroyed. For services so splendid, and which produced such im- portant political results, Nelson was only advanced to the rank of a viscount; rear-admiral Graves was created a knight of the Bath ; the first lieutenants of the ships of the line, in action, were promoted to the rank of com- manders ; and the usual thanks of parliament voted ; but no medals or other honours were conferred. It is supposed to have been considered by the king as * an untoward event,' which ought to be forgotten; but Nel- son thought otherwise, and to the hour of his death com- plained of the injustice done to his captains for their distinguished service at Copenhagen. After the conclusion of the armistice, Sir Hyde Parker, leaving the disabled ships off Copenhagen under the command of lord Nelson, proceeded up the Baltic to attack the Russian and Swedish fleets, which he had received intelligence were endeavouring to form a junction; but which the presence of the British fleet prevented, and obliged that of Sweden to take shelter in the harbour of Carlscrona. It is related of lord Nel- son, that when he discovered that Sir Hyde Parker con- templated farther hostilities, he left the Elephant in an open boat in expectation of getting on board the British fleet in time to share in the action. So great was the hero's anxiety lest he should not overtake the fleet, that, notwithstanding the weather was extremely cold, he had got into the boat without a cloak; and when the master of one of the ships whom he had taken with him, offered him his great coat, his lordship refused it, saying, • No, I thank you, I am not cold ; my anxiety for my country will keep me wami.' Soon after his lordship asked if he thought the British fleet had sailed from Bornholm? The master replied, ' I should rather suppose not, my lord ; ' upon which the admiral ob- served, ' If they are, we must follow them to Carls- crona, in the boat.' A distance, it must be remarked, of at least fifty leagues. At midnight, however, they joined the fleet, and his lordship went on board the St. George. 556 NAVAL HISTORY. On the recall of Sir Hyde Parker, lord Nelson became commauder-in-chief of the fleet in the Baltic. But the death of the emperor Paul having dissolved the northern confederacy, and lord Nelson's health being consider- ably impaired by his late exertions and fatigues, he re- ceived permission from the lords of the admiralty to resign his command, and returned to England the latter end of June. In August he again returned to active service, and was employed in several attempts to destroy the enemy's flotilla at Boulogne. For this pui-pose he hoisted his flag as vice-admiral of the blue on board the Medusa frigate, and assumed the command of an armament con- sisting of two sail of the line, fifteen frigates, gun-brigs, fire-sbips, and different vessels, amounting altogether to forty sail. On the 4th of August his lordship stood over to the French coast, and made a vigorous attack on twenty-four of the enemy's armed vessels moored off Boulogne. The shells were thrown with such precision, that in the course of the day three of the enemy's flats and a brig were sunk, and six were driven ashore much damaged. On the night of the 15th a more formidable attack was made on the French flotilla, by four divisions of armed boats, which boarded several of the enemy's vessels, and would have carried them off, but for the un- lucky circumstances of their being aground, or moored with chains. In this severe service a number of brave ofiicers and seamen were killed and wounded. The peace of Amiens being concluded in the October following, his lordship retired to the enjoyment of pri- vate life. Immediately, however, on the renewal of hos- tilities with France, he offered his services, and was appointed to the command in chief in the Mediterranean. He hoisted his flag, as vice-admiral of the white, on board the Victory, and sailed from Spithead on the 20th of May, 1803. His command extended from Cadiz to the northern Archipelago of the Levant, the coasts of which he watched for eighteen months with a vigilance which never had been equalled. From May, 1803, to August, 1805, he himself went out of his ship but three times ; each of those times was upon the king's service, and neither time of absence exceeded an hour. There was a powerful French fleet at Toulon, and his object was to destroy it. The anxiety in which he was con- NELSON. 557 etantly kept by this harassing service was very great. He ardently hoped to live to fight one battle more, and then be thought his glorious race would terminate. Such were his forebodings, and such was his fate ! The station off Toulon he called his home, and he used to say, ' If I am to watch the French I must be at sea ; and if at sea, must have bad weather; and if the ships are not fit to stand bad weather, they are useless.' His mind was only at ease when he had the enemy in view. At this time the British minister at Naples proposed to send a confidential Frenchman to him with information — but this he declined, and sent the following reply : ' I shall be happy to receive authentic intelligence of the desti- nation of the French squadron, their route, and time of sailing. — Any thing short of this is useless ; and I assure your excellency that 1 would not, upon any consider- ation, have a Frenchman in the fleet except as a prisoner. I put no conndence in them — they are not to be trusted — they are all alike. Whatever information you can get me I shall be very thankful for, but not a French- man comes here. Forgive me, but my mother hated the French.' On many occasions this great man had to complain of the treatment he received from government ; and that justice was not done to the officers and seamen under his command. The war with Spain commenced in Octo- ber, 1804, with the seizure of four treasure ships, and in place of Nelson being instructed to perform that service, which was within the bounds of his command. Sir John Orde was sent with a small squadron and a separate command to Cadiz for that purpose. Nelson's feelings were never wounded so deeply as now : ' I had thought,' said he, in writing in the first flow and freshness of in- dignation ; ' I fancied, — but, nay; it must have been a dream, an idle dream ; yet I confess it, I did fancy that I had done my country service ; and thus they use me .' And under what circumstances, and with what potent aggravation ! Yet, if I know my own thoughts, it is not for myself, or on my own account chiefly, that I feel the sting and the disappointment. No, it is for my brave offi- cers ; for my noble-minded friends and comrades. Such a gallant set of fellows ! Such a baud of brothers ! My heart swells at the thought of them.' It must be admit- ted, that he had great reason to complain. The squadron 558 NAVAL HISTORY. under his command had been subjected for many months to the severest service that British ships had ever been required to perform, and yet another commander and an- other squadron were sent upon their station to snatch the ' golden prizes' which were to arrive upon it, and then to depart with their booty ! War between Spain and England was now declared ; and on the 17th of January, 1805, the Toulon fleet, having the SpEiniards to co-operate with, puttosea. Nelson was at anchor in Agiucourt Sound, where the Madelena is- lands (Sardinia) form one of the finest harbours in the world, when, at three in the afternoon of the 19th, the Active and Seahorse frigates brougnt this long-hoped-for intelligence. Not a moment was lost ; the fleet weighed, and ran through the narrow channel between the is- land Biscie and cape Ferro, which form the eastern side of the anchorage. It was dark before the fleet could get out, which they accomplished with the utmost difficulty and by the nicest skill, each following her second, the Victory leading, and the others guided by her lights. This was a great enterprise of the great Nelson. The night was dark, the channel narrow, admitting but one ship at a time, and as the gale was fresh it became very difficult to distinguish the breakers from the waves in deep water. Few officers, even of daring intrepidity and tried courage in action, would have ventured on this desperate efl^brt to get to sea ; but Nelson, who had a soul adapted to every danger, boldly led the way, and got his fleet out in safety. He ran down the coast of Sardinia on his way to Sicily, and proceeded with all possible haste to the Faro of Messina, through which he bent with a press of sail against a gale of wind, that astonished even his experienced and daring followers ; and having seen that Sardinia, Naples, and Sicily, were safe, he ran for Egypt, believing that it was the final destination of the French fleet. Nelson was again disappointed, and bore up for Malta, when he learned that the French fleet had been dispersed in the gale which he had weathered, and had put back to Toulon. He stood over to see that such was the fact, and after having got sight of the French fleet, he resumed his station off cape St. Sebastian, the southern horn of the bay of Rosas, in Catalonia, towards the end of March. His anxious mind began to fear that the French had NELSON. 559 abandoned their expedition, and that he would not have an opportunity of fighting them. In this state of anxiety he sailed once more towards Toulon, and on the 4th of April he learned that Villeneuve had put to sea on the 3Ut of March, with eleven ships of the line, seven fri- gates, and two brigs. When last seen they were steering towards the coast of Africa. Nelson first covered the chan- nel between Sardinia and Barbary, and satisfying himself that they had not gone for Egypt, he sent off frigates to Gibraltar, to Lisbon, and to admiral Cornwallis, who commanded the squadron off Brest. On the 16th he ob- tained information that the French had been seen off Cape de Gatte on the 7th ; afterwards that they had passed the straits of Gibraltar on the following day, and that the West Indies was their undoubted destination. The enemy proceeded to Cadiz, and after being joined by a Freuch 74 and six Spanish ships of the line, with 2000 troops on board, the French admiral hastened to the West Indies with a fleet which now consisted of thirteen French and six Spanish ships of the line, besides frigates and transports. When Nelson obtained this information the enemy had thirty-five days' stax't ; but he calculated that he should gain eight or ten days upon them by his exertions. His squadron consisted of only ten sail of the line and three frigates, and the pur- suit which followed was the longest recorded in history. It was estimated at 7000 miles. His instructions to his captains were, ' Take you a Frenchman a-piece, and leave me the Spaniards : when I haul down my colours, I ex- pect you to do the same, — and not till then.' He made Madeira May l.'jth, Barbadoes June 4th, the gulf of Persia on the 8th, Dominica on the 10th. Mont- serrat on the 12th, and on the same evening he anchored at St. John's, Antigua, when his mind was relieved of all anxiety as to the safety of the West Indies. The intelli- gence that Nelson was in pursuit induced Villeneuve to quit the West Indies, without having effected any thing of consequence, and to return to Europe. Nelson con- tinued his pursuit and steered for St. Michael's, which he made on the 9th of July ; on the 17th he made cape St. Vincent, while Villeneuve on the 22nd was off Fer- rol ; and on the 19th he anchored in Gibraltar bay, when his fleet stood in need of every thing which a dock-yard could afford. 560 NAVAL HISTORY. Nelson went on shore at Gibraltar on the 20th, for the first time since the 16th of June, 1803 ; and two years, except ten days, had elapsed since he had had bis foot out of the Victory. Four days sufficed for this extraor- dinary man to complete his repairs and his stores, taking in his water at Tetuan. He sailed once more on the 24th, in search of bis enemy, reaching cape St. Vincent on the 3rd of August. He hauled away to the northward, and en the 15th joined admiral Cornwallis off Ushant, from whom he learned the defeat of Villeneuve by Sir Robert Calder. Admiral Corawallis seeing how much the health of his friend had suffered by labour and anxiety, hurried him away to Spitbead in the Victory, and directing the Superb to attend him, both ships arrived at that anchor- age on the 18th, and lord Nelson immediately .set off for London. He retired to his villa at Merton, and had all his stores brought up from the Victory, with the intention to rest awhile from his labours, and recruit himself after all his fatigues and cares in the society of those he loved. But many daj's had not elapsed before captain Black- wood, on his way to London with dispatches, called on him at five in the morning. Nelson, who was already dressed, exclaimed the moment he saw him, ' I am sure jou bring me news of the French and Spanish fleets ! I think I shall yet have to beat them.' They had refitted at Vigo, after their encounter with Sir Robert Calder ; then proceeded to Ferrol, brought out the squadron from thence, and with it entered Cadiz in safety. ' Depend on it, Blackwood,' he repeatedly said, ' I shall yet give Villeneuve a drubbing.' After captain Blackwood had left, it was evident to lady Hamilton and his sisters, that his lordship's mind was disturbed. He was unwilling to leave the affectionate friends that were around him ; but he evidently felt that none ought to deprive him of the honour of destroying the combined fleet. He hesi- tated to declare his mind, lest it should be felt that he wished to withdraw himself from one for whom he en- tertained a romantic affection. But that one, lady Ha- milton, at last persuaded him to offer his services, that he might gain a quiet heart and a glorious victory, and then return to spend the remainder of his days in peace and happiness. His services were as willingly accepted as they were offered ; and lord Barham, then first lord of the admi- NELSON. 561 ralty, giving him the navy list, desired him to choose his officers. ' Choose yourself, my lord,' was his reply ; ' the same spirit actuates the whole profession : you can- not choose wrong.' No appointment was ever more in unison with the feelings and judgment of the nation — the country considered that Nelson ought to have the honour of finishing the work which he had begun. Unremitting exertions were made to equip the ships which he had chosen, and especially to refit the Victory, which was once more to bear his flag. Before he left London, this great man called at his upholsterer's, where the coffin which captain Hallowell had presented to him was deposited : he desired that its history might be engraven upon the lid, saying, that it was highly pra bable he 'might want it on his return. He seemed indeed to be impressed with the presentiment that he should fall in battle. After his departure from Merton to assume the command, he thus expresses himself in his private journal : — ' Friday night (Sept. 13), at half-past ten, I drove from dear, dear Merton,* where I left all which I hold dear in this world, to go to serve my king and country. May the gTeat God, whom 1 adore, enable me to fulfil the expectations of my country ! and if it is His good pleasure that 1 should return, my thanks will never cease being offered up to the throne of his mercy. If it is His good providence to cut short my days upon earth, 1 bow with the greatest submission ; relying that he will protect those so dear to me whom I may leave behind ! His will be done. Ameu ! Amen !' Early on the following morning he reached Portsmouth ; and having dispatched his business on shore, endeavoured to elude the populace by taking a by-way to the beach ; but the people were not to be deprived of the opportunity of expressing their unbounded admiration of his heroism, and exhibiting to him their love and admiration. They pressed upon the parapet to gaze after him when his barge pushed off, and he returned their cheers by waving bis hat. He sailed from Portsmouth on the 15th of September ; on thelSth he appeared off Plymouth, where being joined by the Ajax and Thunderer, he proceeded on his voyage. On the 27th he made cape St. Vincent, and arrived off * The house which he occupied stood on the left hand going from London to Leatherhead ; it was taken down about 1S20. 2N 5(J2 NAVAL HISTORY. Cadiz on the 29th, his birth-day. The British fleet now consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line, aud Nelson, fearful if the enemy knew his force they might be deterred from venturing to sea, kept out of sig'ht of land, and sent captain Blackwood ahead in the Eury- alus to desire Collingwood to fire no salute, nor hoist any colours, in honour of his arrival. He also wrote to Gi- braltar, to request that the force of the fleet might not be inserted in the Gazette. On the day that lord Nelson joined the fleet, admiral Villeneuve received orders to put to sea the first opportunity ; but on hearing of his lordship's arrival he hesitated, and called a council of war, at which it was determined not to leave Cadiz unless they had reason to believe themselves stronger by one-third than the British force. On the 29th, lord Nelson appointed captain Black- wood to the command of the in-shore squadron, consist- ing of five frigates aud four sloops, to watch and report the movements of the enemy. These ' eyes of the fleet' were ever watchful; and Nelson with his mighty arma- ment lay ' hushed in grim repose,' far out of sight of the enemy, otf cape St. Mary's, between fifty and sixty miles west of Cadiz, that the enemy might not remain in port fear bound. By keeping at this distance from Cadiz, Nelson pre- vented the enemy from acquiring any accurate know- ledge of his force, and ensured good sea-room in the event of a strong westerly gale. He also knew that their slightest movements would be telegi-aphed by the frigates under the orders of captain Blackwood, which were so placed as to keep up a line of communication in every state of the weather. On the 2d of October, rear-admiral Louis, in the Canopus, with the Spencer and Tigre under his orders, who had long watched the enemy in-shore, was com- pelled to withdraw from this arduous duty from want of provisions and water: he was ordered to Gibraltar, and parted company, taking with him, besides the above three ships, the Queen and Zealous ; and with these five ships was not in the action wliich after- wards took place, being ordered to proceed to Malta with a convoy collected at Gibraltar. These ships were, however, replaced between the 7th and 13th by the Royal Sovereign, Belleisic, Defiance, Agamemnon, NELSON. 5G3 and Africa, from Eng-land, and the Leviathan from Gi- braltar. Villeneuve had accurate infortnation of the movements of admiral Louis, but was ignorant that the ships thus detached to the eastward were rephiced by a like num- ber from the west; he therefore supposed Nelson to have no more than twenty-one or twenty-two sail of the line ; and under this error he sailed from Cadiz ; beginning to move on the 19th of October. At half- past nine in the morning of that day, the Mars, Defi- ance, Colossus, and Agamemnon, being the repeating ships between the frigates and the admiral, made the signal that the enemy were coming out of port. At two o'clock, the signal was repeated, that the enemy was at sea. Both admirals appear to have laboured under misapprehensions, which mutually produced the events of the subsequent days. Villeneuve, calculating on the supposed weakness of Nelson's fleet, hurried out to meet him before he should be strengthened by rein- forcements; and Nelson, supposing as Villeneuve sailed with a S.VV. wind that he was bound to Toulon, made all sail for the mouth of the straits of Gibraltar, off which he found himself on the morning of the 20th, the enemy not in sight. The British fleet then wore, and stood to the N.W., and at seven in the morning the Phoebe made the signal for the enemy bearing north, that is, close in with Cadiz. A little before sunset the Euryalus made the signal that the enemy appeared de- termined to go to the westward — ' And that tliey shall not do, if in the power of Nelson and Bronte to prevent them,' said Nelson, in his diary. The signal was then made to the Euryalus, that the admiral depended on captain Blackwood's keeping sight of the enemy during the night. It was Nelson's command that the frigates having sight of the enemy should fire a gun every three minutes, and discharge a rocket from the mast-head every half -hour. So well were these orders obeyed that darkness scarcely interrupted the communication, and at day-break the combined fleets were distinctly seen from the deck of the Victory, formed iu close line of battle ahead on the starboard tack, at twelve miles dis- tance to leeward. They had thirty-three sail of the line, of which three were three-decker;!, and one a 64. They 564 NAVAL HISTORY. had also four frigates and two brigs. Our fleet consisted of twenty-seven sail of the line, of which seven were three-deckers, and three were 64's, with four frigates. Nelson came on deck soon after daylight, and during the early part of the day he was in high spirits, and expressed great pleasure at the prospect of giving a fatal blow to the naval power of France and Spain. Confident of victory, he declared he would not be satis- fied with capturing less than twenty sail of the line ; and before the action began he retired to his cabin, and composed that remarkable prayer which, having been granted in its fullest extent, has so much endeared his memory to the British nation : — ' May the great God, whom I worship, grant to my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, a great and glorious victory ; and may no misconduct in any one tarnish it; and may humanity after the victory be the predominant feature in the British fleet. For myself, individually, I commit my life to Him that made nie ; and may his blessing alight on my endeavours for serving my country faithfully ; to him I resign myself, and the just cause which is intrusted to me to defend. Amen, amen, amen.' The British fleet, when the enemy was seen at day- light on the 2lst, was a good deal scattered : at fifteen minutes past six the admiral made the signal to form the order of sailing in two columns ; at thirty minutes past, to bear up in succession. The Victory steering for the enemy's van, made the signal to the Royal Sove- reign, that he meant to get between them and Cadiz; and at thirty minutes past eight the signal was made for the captains of the Euryalus, Naiad, Phoebe, and Sirius, who remained on board the Victory till a few minutes before the action ; at the same time to the Royal Sovereign, to form the lee line, and make more sail ; and at forty minutes past eleven the Victory made the telegraphic signal, ' England expects every man will do his duty,' when every ship crowded her utmost sail, and the spirit of Nelson pervaded the whole British fleet. The combined fleets extended in an irregular curve line from north to south ; the French and Spsmiards in- diflerently mixed : the French had eighteen, the Spa- NELSON. 565 niards fifteen sail of the line. At a quarter-past eight tlie combined fleet had wore, and come upon the larboard tack, with their heads to the northward; this Nelson was sorry to see, as it was evidently done with a view of running for Cadiz in the event of a defeat ; and to pre- vent it he hauled his line two points more to the north- ward, to cut them off. This prolonged the chase in his division so much as to afford the Royal Sovereign, with the lee line, an opportunity of being the first to engage. When the enemy began to fire on her, • See,' said Nelson, ♦ how that noble fellow, CoUingwood, takes his ship into action;' and, said CoUingwood, almost at the same mo- ment, ' What would Nelson give to be here ! ' At thirty minutes past eleven the enemy began to open their fire on the Royal Sovereign, and ten minutes after that ship returned the fire of the Santa Anna. The Victory, owing to the lightness of the wind and the heavy swell, slowly led her line towards the enemy. Eight or nine of their centre ships tried the range with single guns, but when a shot passed through the main- top-gallant-sail of the Victory, they all opened their broadsides upon her, and the slaughter became dreadful on the poop and quarter-deck, when Nelson observed with a smile, ' This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long;' and declared, at the same time, that, in all the battles he had ever been in, he had never witnessed more cool courage than was displayed by the crew of the Victory on this occasion. Thus the position chosen by the commander-in-chief and his second had exposed them to the fire of more than half the enemy's line for many minutes before they returned a shot. The Victory had twenty men killed and thirty wounded, and her mizen- topmast and studding-sail-booms were shot away before she opened her fire; but at four minutes past twelve she began on both sides, and tremendous was the execution. Nelson broke through the enemy's line about the tenth ship from the van ; CoUingwood about the twelfth from the rear, leaving eleven of their intermediate ships unoccupied. As they approached very near the Bucen- taure, the French admiral's ship, the Redoutable, com- manded by M. Lucas, gallantly resolved to interpose be- tween his own admiral and the Victory, and ran upon the weather quarter of the French flag-ship, where 566 NAVAL HISTORY. he remained in the most determined and honourable manner, and fell a sacrifice in the performance of bis duty. Captain Hardy observed to the admiral, that it ap- peared impossible to pass through the enemy's line with- out going on board of one of their ships. ' I cannot help it,' said the hero : ' it does not signify which you run on board of; take your choice; go on board of which you please.' The Redoutable had, therefore, the distin- guished honour of stopping the Victory, which was laid on board of her on the larboard side. While these two ships lay as it were lashed alongside of each other, the Temeraire had in like manner run foul of the Fougueux, and fell on board of the Redoutable on the starboard side. Thus four ships lay in a tier ; and never since we contended for naval empire, had a battle been fought with such determined courage, such undaunted con- tempt of death. Scarcely a person on the poop, quarter- deck, and forecastle of the Victory, but was either killed or wounded. So long as the masts of the Redoutable stood the men in her tops were doing, at every moment, the most fatal execution with their sroall arms ; the upper decks of the British ships were exposed to a cool and well-directed fire, which continued for one hour and a half, and pre- sented the singular spectacle of a French "4 engaging a British first and second-rate with small arms only. About half-past one Nelson was standing on the middle of the quarter-deck, and had just turned to walk aft, when a musket-ball from the mizen-top of the French ship struck him on the left shoulder, passed through the strap of the epaulet, and, grazing the collar-bone, en- tered his chest, and lodged in one of the dorsal vertebrae. The lamented chief fell with his face upon the deck. Serjeant-major Seeker, of the royal marines, and two seamen, flew to his assistance, and were raising him up when captain Hardy, who was on the larboard side, turned round and saw that the admiral was wounded. In answer to the anxioixs inquiries of the captain, the gallant chief replied, ' They have done for me at last, Hardy.' — 'I hope not,' said Hardy. 'Yes,* answered the dying hero ; 'my back-bone is shot through.' From the situation whence the shot was fired. Dr. Beatty KELSON. 567 calculates the distiuce to have been about fifteen yards ; the mizentop of the Redoutable being just abaft and below the Victory's main-yard.* The Redoutable was not taken till a quarter of an, hour after the admiral was wounded. Two men were all that remained in the mizen-top of the ship when Nelson received his wound ; one of them was shot by Mr. Pollard from the poop of the Victory, while endeavouring to make his escape down the rig-ging ; the other, who was supposed to have fired the fatal shot, met the same fate from Pol- lard or CoUingwood, two midshipmen, who fired at the same time, when he fell dead on the poop of the Redout- able. When they took possession of the prize, they went into the mizen-top, and found him dead ; with one ball through his head and the other through his breast. We now return to the Royal Sovereign, in which the brave CoUingwood, leading the lee line and larboard di- vision of the fleet, had begun the action. In running down to engage, she had the van and rear of the com- bined fleet abaft her beam, before she was in action with the centre ; a proof that their line was a curve, but so formed from the effect of accident, caused by the veering of the fleet together in the morning, when from the line ahead on the starboard tack it came to a very confused order of sailing or battle on the larboard tack. As the Royal Sovereign approached, she found nearly the same obstruction in passing through the enemy's line as had been experienced by the Victory ; their ships were so close as to off'er no apparent opening. When this was pointed out to CoUingwood, he replied, ' Steer for the bowsprit of the Santa Anna.' At this moment, a Spaniard astern of that ship shivered his main-top-sail, and made a gap in the line, through which the Royal Sovereign passed under the stem of the Santa Anna, giving her nearly a broadside and a half in that position ; then hauling on a wind under her lee on the larboard tack, the yards of the two ships touched, as they engaged with the greatest fury and resolution : while this was going on with the guns below, the seamen on deck were employed taking in their studding-sails, and trimming the sails. The situation of the Royal Sovereign was now what • The spot where he fell is now marked with a brass plate, about three inches square, inlaid in the deck, and is seen by everv one who visits the Victor; at Portsmouth. 568 NAVAL HISTORY, might be called a very warm one, with the Santa Anna on her larboard side, a Spanish two-decker on her star- board bow, and another across her stern ; she continued in this position forty minutes, until captain Tyler of the Tonnant came to her assistance, and took off the atten- tion of another ship ranging up to assist the Santa Anna, which now, completely subdued by the Royal Sovereign, surrendered, having lost 540 men killed and wounded, and Don Ignacio Maria Alava, the vice-admiral, supposed to be mortally wounded. The flag of Gravina was in the Prince of Asturias ; he was farther to leeward, and not so much engaged. The battle had, about three o'clock, assumed an appearance decidedly in our favour, when Gravina, seeing many ships dismasted, many surrendered, and some in our possession, collected all that could obey his signals, and with the frigates bore away for Cadiz, as had been foreseen from the beginning of the day. The five headmost ships of the enemy's van, under the command of rear-admiral Dumanoir, were not able to avail themselves of this opportunity, their retreat being cut off by the interposition of our ships ; they therefore made sail on the larboard tack, ujitil they could weather our van, when they wore, and passed to windward, keep- ing up a heavy fire into every ship within their reach. The only one of them whose flight was arrested, was the San Augustin, a Spanish 74, which, after a little firing, struck to the Spartiate and Minotaur ; and the battle ended with the capture of nineteen sail of the line, of which nine were French, and ten were Spanish ; of the latter, two were first-rates, the Santissima Trinidad and the Santa Anna. The account of this great and decisive victory was re- ceived in London on the 6th of November, with the dis- patch of vice-admiral Collingwood, which communicated it to the lords of the admiralty. The battle off Trafalgar was the most destructive naval contest which ever happened, and was followed by a storm which continued for several days after, in which a greater loss of human life took place than in the mur- derous conflict. It was during the continuance of the latter calamity that the victors with the greatest huma- nity made every effort to save their subdued enemy from the destructive elements, in accordance with the prayer of their departed chief. NELSON. 569 A list of the combined fleet of France and Spain in the action of the 2Ut of October, 1805, off Cape Trafal- gar, shewing how they uere disposed of; as fur- nished by admiral Collingwood : — 1. Spanish ship, San Ildefonso, 74, brigadier de Varga, sent to Gibraltar. 2. Sp.— San Juan Nepomuceuo, 74, brigadier Cherruca, sent to Gibraltar. 3. Sp. — Bahama, 74, brigadier Galiano, sent to Gibraltar. 4. Fr. — Swift-sure, 74, M. Vi'llemadrin, sent to Gibraltar. 5. Sp. — Monarca,74, D. Arguraosa.wrecked olFSan Luoar. 6. Fr. — Fougueux, 74, M. Beanuouiii, wrecked, all pe- rished, and .30 of the Temferaire's men. 7. Fr. — Indomptable, 84, M. Hubart, wrecked, all pe- rished: said to have had 1,500 men on board, be- ing her own and part of the crew of Bucentaure. 8. Fr. — Bucentaure, 80, admiral Villeneuve, comman- der-in-chief, captains Prigny and Magendie, wrecked, some of the crew saved. 9. Sp. — San Francisco de Asis, 74, D. Flores, wrecked. 10. Sp. — El Rayo, 100, brigadier Macdonel, wrecked. 11. Sp. — N'eptuno, 84, brigadier D. Valdes, wrecked. 12. Fr. — Argonaute, 74, M. Epron, escaped to Cadiz. 13. Fr. — Berwick, 74, M. Camas, wrecked. 14. Fr. — Aigle, 74, M. Courage, wrecked. 15. Fr. — Achille,74, M. Nieuport, burnt during the action. ir». Fr. — Intrepide, 74, M. Infernet, burnt by the Bri- tannia. 17. Sp. — San Aui;ustin, 74, brigadier D. Cagigal, burnt by the Leviathan. 18. Sp. — Santissima Trinidad, 140, rear-admiral D. Cis- neros, brigadier D. Uriarte, sunk by the Prince and Neptune. Ii>. Fr. — Redoutable, 74, M. Lucas, sunk astern of the Swiftsure ; Temeraire lost 13, and Swiftsure 5 men in her. •20. Sp. — Argonauta, 80, D. Parejo, sunk by the Ajax. 21. Sp. — Santa Anna, 112, vice-admiral d'Alava, captain Gardoqui, taken, but escaped into Cadiz, dismasted. 22. Fr. — Algeziras, 74, rear-admiral Magon (killed), cap tain Bruaro, taken, but escaped into Cadiz, di.s masted. 23. Fr.— Pluton, 74, M. Cosmao, got into Cadiz in a sink ing state. 570 NAVAL HISTORY. 24. Sp. — Sau Juste, 74, D. Caston, returned to Cadiz- had a foreraast only. 25. Sp. — .San Leandro, 64, D. Quevedo, returned to Cadiz, dismasted. 26. Fr. — Le Neptune, 85, M. Maistral, returned to Cadiz, perfect. 27. Fr. — Le Heros, 74, M. Poulain, returned to Cadiz. 23. Sp. — Principe de Asturias, 112, admiral Gravina, cap- tain D. Escano, returned to Cadiz, dismasted. 29. Sp. — Montanez, — , D. Alcedo, returned to Cadiz. 30. Fr. — Formidable, 80, rear-admiral Dumanoir, escaped to the southward, but (with the three following; was captured by Sir K. Strachan, November 3. 31. Fr.— Mont Blanc, 74, M. Villegris. 32. Fr. — Scipion, 74, M. Barouger. 33. Fr.— Du Guay Trouin, 74, M. Toufflet. ABSTRACT. At Gibraltar .... 4 Destroyed 15 la Cadiz 10 Escaped 4 Total 33 The order in which the ships of the British squadron attacked the combined Jleet on the 1\st of October, 1805, with the names of the fiag-officers and captains : VAN, or WEATHER COLUMN. Ships. Gmis. Commanders. Killed. Wd. Victory . 100 ^ Vice-ad. vis. Nelson ^ I Capt. T. M. Hardy S 51 75 Temeraire . . 98 Eliab Harvey . 47 76 Neptune . . 98 T. F. Freemantle . 10 34 Conqueror . . 74 Israel Pellew . 3 9 Leviathan . . 74 H. W. Bayntun 4 22 Ajax . . 74 Lieut. J. Pilfold . 9 Orion . 74 Edward Codrington 1 23 Agamemnon . 64 Sir Edward Berry . 2 7 Minotaur . . 74 C. J. M. Mansfield . 3 22 Spartiate . . 74 Sir F. Laforey, hart. 3 20 Britannia . . 100 S Rr.-ad. earl Northesk } I Capt. C. Bullen S 10 42 Africa . 64 Henry Digby . 18 44 Total NELSON. 57 FRIUATES. Euryalus . . 36 Hon. H. Blackwood Sirius . . 36 William Prowse. Phoebe . 36 Hon. T. B. Capel Naiad . 38 T. Dundas. Pickle . I'Z Lieut. J. R. Lapenotiere Entreprena ite cutter 12 Lieut. R. B REAR, Ott LEE COLUMN. . Young Slii(>s. Guns. Commanders. Killed. W.I. S Virfi-ad. Collinu-wood } Uoyal Soverei^ ^ ^"'^ I Capt. E. Rothe'rhan i" 94 Mars . . 74 George Duff . '29 69 Belleisle . . 74 William Hargood 33 93 lonnaut 80 Charles Tyler . 26 50 Bellerophon . 74 John Cooke 27 133 Colossus . . 74 J. N. Morris . 40 160 AchiUe . 74 Richard King . 13 59 Polyphemus . 64 Robert Redmill •2 4 Revenge . . 74 R. -Moorsom 28 51 Swiftsure - . 74 W. G. Rutherford 9 7 Defence . . 74 George Hope . 7 29 Thunderer . . 74 Lieut. J. Stockham 4 16 Defiance . . 74 P. C. Durham 17 53 Prince . 98 Richard Grindall Dreadnought . 98 John Conn 7 26 Total . 289 844 The British loss in the battle of Trafalgar amounted to 4J3 killed, and 1,227 wounded— total 1,670. The loss of the enemy must have been very great — many thousands. In the captured ships alone about 20,000 prisoners (in- cluding the troops) were taken and the value of the ships which were captured and destroyed may be esti- mated at £4,000,000. On the 28th of October the Victory arrived at Gibral- tar, and in one week was made capable of undertaking the voyage to England, when she sailed on the 4th of November, having on board the remains of the departed hero, and arrived at the Nore on the llth of December. The body had been carefully preserved in brandy and spirits of wine, holding a strong solution of camphor and myrrh. On being removed from the Victory, the body was apparelled in a uniform dress of the late admiral's, and laid in the coffin which had been presented to tlie 572 NAVAL HISTORY. occupant some years before by captain Hallowell. This coffin was then placed in one very richly ornamented, and on the 22ud of December it was conveyed in a yacht to Greenwich, where it lay in state for three days, after which it was removed to the admiralty, where it again lay in state until the 9th of January 1806, when it was interred in St. Paul's, at the public expense. The death of Nelson was felt as a public calamity : the usual public rejoicings had taken place in celebra- tion of his last and greatest triumph, but they were without joy, for the national hero was slain. Not only England but Europe was amazed at the sudden destruc- tion which had overwhelmed the navies of France and Spain ;— they were not defeated, but destroyed. Ho- nours were conferred upon his relatives ; his brother was made an earl, with a grant of £6000. a year; £10,000. were voted to each of his sisters, and £100,000. to purchase an estate. The policy of heaping such a profusion of wealth upon his relatives may well be questioned, when it is considered that if only a small portion of it had been bestowed upon him in considera- tion of his former achievements at St. Vincent, Copen- hagen, aud the Nile, he would have felt grateful for the gift, and our greatest of naval heroes would not have been heard to complain, in the presentiment of death, on the morning of the day of his final triumph, that his services had not been requited by the government of his country, and that he was about to die without possessing the means of performing some acts of kindness and of generosity which were among the last of his earthly wishes. TO THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO. 573 CHAP. VII. From the battle of Trafalgar to the battle of Navarino. The loss wliich the French sustained at Trafalgar could not be repaired like their previous losses. In this battle they had hazarded, not simply a fleet, but their national navy, on the destruction of which they must cease for years to act as a marine people. A few days suflSce to create an army ; but the task is different when fleets are to be constructed, and seamen trained to man them. The naval efibrts of the enemy therefore were conducted after this period upon so limited a scale, that they would be almost unworthy of our attention, were it not for their connexion with the living generation, and the events of the present day. Bonaparte, still anxious for the preservation of his West Indian colonies, gathered the wrecks of his ship- ping for an expedition into that quarter; and towards the close of 1805, admiral Villaumez and Jerome Bona- parte set sail with eleven ships of the line, and several frigates, which upon getting out to sea they divided into two squadrons, to multiply the chances of reaching the West Indies. Admiral Duckworth, who commanded on this station, was no sooner apprized of the tidings, than he set sail in quest of the enemy, whom he found at St. Dominique, in the act of getting under weigh. The French force consisted of five ships of the line, two fri- gates, and a corvette. Duckworth, who had seven sail of the line, was eager to encounter the enemy before they could be joined by the other squadron ; he therefore forced them immediately to an engagement, in which he was so successful, that only the frigates and corvette escaped. This victory was gained on the 5th of Febru- ai-y, 1806. The fate of the other squadron, although it escaped the British, was equally disastrous. After com- mitting some ravages in the West Indies, it was en- countered by a tremendous hurricane, in which every ship was wrecked except that of Jerome Bonaparte, which arrived in safety in port L'Orient. Towards the 574 NAVAL HISTORY. close of the year another attempt was made to relieve the French West India possessions, hy sending a squa- dron from Rochfort, consisting of five frigates and two corvettes, having on board 2,000 soldiers. But they had scarcely gained the open sea, when they were attacked by Sir Samuel Hood so successfully, that four of the frigates were captured. In the mean time a close blockade of the ports of France was kept up, so that the French were unable to venture out to sea. But they soon found that even their rivers and batteries were no protection for the poor remains of their navy. The British ships now dashed boldly into the French ports, cutting out and destroying their corvettes and gun-boats; and in this species of naval chivalry lord Cochrane was particularly conspi- cuous. In this year also the career of admiral Linois, in the East Indies, was brought to a close- Notwith- standing his incomprehensible act of running away from the rich China fleet, which he had pursued and overtaken so successfully, he was both a brave and a skilful commander, and had wrought feai'ful havoc among our Indian commerce and possessions. He was overtaken off the Isle of France by Sir John Warren, and compelled to strike, after a running fight of nearly three hours. The chief naval exploit of 1807, was one which excited not only a very loud, but perhaps also a just, outcry against Britain, throughout the whole of Europe. This was the bombardment of Copenhagen. In consequence of the peace of Tilsit between France and Russia, the as- cendancy of Bonaparte over the north was established, from which our statesmen apprehended that the navy of Denmark would be armed against us. It was alleged that the Danish kingdom was so wholly under French influence, that our seizure of its shipping was the only method by which it could be secured from falling into the hands of Bonaparte. It was determined therefore to strip the Danes for a time of their naval resources — and that they might be induced to submit quietly to such a deed, a force was sent out that seemed to make resistance hopeless. Forty-two ships of war, carrying a land force of 20,000 men, accordingly set sail from England, while our resident at Copenhagen endeavoured to teach the Danish ministry the reasonableness of such a process. But the TO THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO. 575 Danes were not to be so persuaded, and they prepared tor a stubborn resistance. Their plan of defence was si- milar to that which they had adopted against Nelson, and with the same unfortunate results. In spite of their gal- lant defence, Copenhagen w£is bombarded into submis- sion ; and their tine fleet, consisting of sixteen ships of the line, fifteen frigates, a multitude of brigs and gun- boats, and an immense quantity of naval stores, passed into the safe keeping of the British. Apologists have urged, that Britain acted in this case both wisely and humanely — and that it was as if a person should deprive another, for a few moments, of a weapon which a mad- man would otherwise have snatched up for his destruc- tion. But unfortunately this, and similar analogies, did not properly fit the different parties ; and the deed of an Irish rapparee plundering a peaceful mansion of its fire- arras would perhaps have been the juster comparison. The course of political events had now brought our country into collision with the Turkish government. Not- withstanding the invasion of Egypt by Bonaparte, the dexterity of the French diplomatists had not only induced the Sublime Porte to overlook this aggression, but even to proclaim war against the Russians, in subserviency to the politics of France. This measure occasioned the interference of Britain in behalf of her northern ally, but Turkey rejected the mediation ; upon which, it was de- termined to reduce the recusants to reason by the bom- bardment of Constantinople. Accordingly, admiral Duck- worth was sent to the Dardanelles with seven sail of the line, a frigate, and two sloops ; and having forced the passage of the straits, he prepared to set fire to the Turk- ish capital, but found himself unable, from the state of the weather, to bring his fleet into a favourable position. In the mean time the Turks, who laughed at the threats of bombardment, had strengthened their fortifications in the straits by the efficient aid of French engineers ; so that when Duckworth returned, they opened such a heavy fire upon his ships, as endangered the whole squa- dron. In this cannonade, the huge guns and mortars of the castles were worked so efiectively, that they threw stone bullets of immense size, one of which, of 800 lbs. weight, cut the main-mast of the Windsor Castle in two. The British ministry were unspeakably chagrined at this repulse at the hands of barbarians ; and they dis- 576 NAVAL HISTORY. covered, wheu it was too late, that a naval aud military armament of an equal force at least to that which had been sent to Copenhagen ought to have been emjioyed upon this occasion ; as the approaches to Constantinople were more strongly fortified, and the Turkish forces were more powerful, than those of Denmark. In 1808, the enemies of Britain confined their operations to the land, so that our ships were chiefly used as trans- ports, to convey troops to the different scenes of action. In 1809, Great Britain made extraordinary efforts in the prosecution of the war, and about sixty-four millions ster- ling were placed at the disposal of the government for that purpose. Sir Arthur Wellesley was sent with an army to Portugal. Sir John Stuart had 15,000 under his command in the Mediterranean, with which he kept Italy in a state of teiTor ; and it was in this year that the most powerful armament that Britain had ever fitted out was dispatched upon the ' unfortunate' Walcheren expe- dition. As it was the most extensive, so perhaps it was the worst conducted, and brought more disgrace upon the British arms than any service upon which the army or navy had ever been employed. Thirty-nine sail of the line, thirty-six frigates, and a multitude of smaller ves- sels, conveying an army of 40,000 men, would have promised success to any enterprise, but that it was com- manded by the inexperienced and incompetent earl of Chatham. On the morning of the 30th of July, this mighty armament appeared on the coast of Zealand ; the troops were landed, and Walcheren was occupied. Flush- ing alone offered resistance ; but the British commander^ instead of leaving a small force to blockade it, and press- ing on with the bulk of his army for Antwerp, commenced a regular siege of this town, in which so much valuable time was squandered, that the main purpose of the ex- pedition was lost. At length Flushing was compelled to yield, even in spite of the blunders of lord Chatham ; and then this nobleman,fiudingthat the enemy had improved the interval, and mustered in great force, left a garrison of 15,000 men in the town, and returned home with the armament. This garrison remained in possession for a few mouths, during which they only demolished the dock-yards of Flushing, while they lost half their numbers by sickness. Thus terminated this mighty enterprise, which cost twenty millions sterling, and by which the TO THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO. 577 course of the whole war was to be triumphantly termi- nated. Aftex- this ill-judged and worse-conducted enterprise, the naval warfare between England and France, in con- sequence of the maritime weakness of the latter, dwindled into a series of petty encounters between small squadrons or single ships, in which the British were so successful, that at last it was diflicult to find an enemy. This obliged them to change their operations ; and therefore, instead of waiting in the open sea for their antagonists, they searched for them in their own ports and rivers. In addition to this, our sailors now studied the practice of attacking batteries on shore, a service in which they be- came both expert and successful, after a little experience. Indeed, the history of the war of our navy with France, from this period, is so monotonous from its uniform suc- cess, that it becomes wearisome : it resembles the unva- rying tenour of a romance, in which the knight-errant always comes off victorious. A partial interruption to this career of triumph at length occurred ; and if any thing could alleviate such a mortifying circumstance, it might be the reflection, that no foreign power had produced it. It was the act of tlie United States — people sprung from our own heroic fathers, and inhei'itiug the same indomitable spirit. After the war between Great Britain and her North American colonies, there had been little cordiality be- tween the parties, and mutual jealousy had occasion- ally been imbittered by the search of American ships for British deserters. Indeed, on several occasions of this nature, war was on the eve of being proclaimed ; but a lingering feeling of relationship still survived, that led the way to mutual accommodation. At length even this feeling was disregarded. The British ministry, in the course of those measures that were provoked by Bonaparte's Berlin and Milan decrees against our com- merce, passed a law, forbidding the conveyance of French or Spanish colonial produce in neutral bottoms ; and this measure struck at the root of American prospe- rity, as the shipping of the States was the chief medium of that conveyance. Retaliation was to be expected ; and Congress proclaimed a decree of non-intercourse with Britain, by which our manufacturers were reduced to the greatest distress. In consequence of the clamoui 20 578 NAVAL HISTORY. that was raised on this occasion, our ministry repealed their obnoxious prohibition ; but the healing measure was unfortunately too late. Before the news could arrive in America, Congress had proclaimed war against Britain, which was done about the middle of June, A.D. ISI'2. The engagements by sea that took place during this war, were chiefly between single ships, and they termi- nated almost invariably in favour of America. This, however, was not to be wondered at, considering the immense superiority of the American vessels in size, weight of metal, and number of their crews^ so that those which rated merely as frigates were in all respects equal to 74's. Of this our people at home were ignorant ; and therefore they were alternately indignant or dis- mayed, %vhen they found ship after ship captured by cruisers that ranked no higher than frigates. No such results, however, occurred when the opposing parties were equal, as in the case of the Chesapeake and Shan- non.* After encounters both by sea and land, in which kindred blood was abundantly shed, and after successes which both parties had cause to deplore, this unnatural warfare terminated by a peace signed at Ghent on the 24th of December, 1S14, in which nothing was changed in respect to territorial possession — nothing mentioned about the right of searching for British seamen — nothing about the limitation of the rights of neutral traffic. All * In this action, captain Sir Philip B. Vere Broke recovered the laurels of his profession, under circumstances of a very chivalrous character. He cruised before the harbour of Boston, with' the hope of alluring to an enarasrement the American fri^te, Chesapeake, lyin? in that port. The'Shaunon mounted 4b ?uns, and had 330 men. The Chesapeake had 49 gnns, with a picked crew of 440 men on board. She therefore did not decline the combat, but on tne 1st of June sailed out of the harbour to meet the defiance of her opponent. The inha- bitants of Boston were collected on the beach to witness an engage- ment, in which two ships were to contend for the palm of national superiority, their crews being iostisated by the keenest incentives of emulation. The firing was not long, nor the combat doubtful : in a few minutes from the commencement of the action, captain Broke saw an opportunity of boarding, and gave orders for that purpose. The Euslish rushed upon the deck of the Chesapeake, dispersed her crew, and hauled down her flag. After an engage- ment which lasted a quarter of an hour, she was made a prize, and carried by her captors to Halifax. Althoush the conflict was short, it was of a" determined and sanguinary character ; captain Broke was severely wounded, and his first lieutenant and purser were killed : there were besides 24 killed, and GO wounded. The American captain (Lawrence) and four lieutenants were killed, besides 91 men killed, and 116 wounded. TO THE BATTLE OF NAVAKINO. 579 these grievances were left untouched as completely as if they bad never existed. A universal peace at length prevailed among the exhausted nations of Europe. The battle of Waterloo had been fought, and Bonaparte could no longer kindle contention. It was under these tranquil circumstances that Britain, after having been so long involved in the stormy and selfish politics of Europe, undertook a war in behalf of the pure and generous principles of hu- manity. Having previously, March 25th, 1807, abolished the trade in negro slaves, it was a proper sequel to such a deed to annihilate Christian slavery among the states of Barbary. Algiers, the most powerful of these states, had long tyrannized through the supineness of Christen- dom ; and in the midst of those jealousies by which the rival kingdoms of Europe had been agitated, the corsairs had dared to assail each in turn with impunity. Several expeditions, indeed, had been fitted out against the Algeriues between the sixteenth and nineteeuth centu- ries ; but while in most cases they were signally unsuc- cessful, the few that succeeded had failed to check the enormities of these barbarians, insomuch that, even so late as the nineteenth century, they still insulted every flag, and enslaved the prisoners of all nations. To de- stroy this monstrous power was a task, which it best befitted Britain to execute. The first attempt for the abolition of Christian slavery was made by negotiation ; and admiral Exmouth ob- tained from Tunis and Tripoli the recognition of the flag of the Ionian islands, and the abolition of Christian slavery within their territories. On the same requisition being made to the Dey of Algiers, this barbarian de- murred. He was willing to recognise the Ionian flag ; but as to the other condition, he pretended that he could not comply with it until he had gained the consent of bis master, the Grand Seignior. A sufficient time was granted hira for this purpose, and lord Exmouth came to England. But all deliberation and farther forbear- ance on our part were overcome by a sudden act of barbarity. The coral fishery at Bona is much frequented by the Neapolitans and Corsicans every year, during the month of May; and on the 23rd of this month (a. d. 1816;, while these poor people were engaged in their i-eligious worship, they were suddenly assailed by troons of horse 20 2 580 NAVAL HISTORY. and foot belonging to the Dey, and butchered without mercy, while the British flag, that was flying over the Consular house, was torn in pieces, and trampled in the mire. An insult so gross, from such a contemptible enemy^ was not to be endured ; an instant vindication of the rights of humanity was demanded; and lord Exmouth, who had conducted the former negotiations with the Dey, was sent with a fleet sufficient to bombard the bar- barian's capital ; and was joined for this purpose by a Dutch squadron, under the command of rear-admiral Capellan. The arrival of Exmouth having been delayed by contrary winds, the Dey improved the interval in strengthening his defences, and bringing down 40,000 men from the interior : he also threw the British consul into prison, as well as several officers and men, whom he had seized in the boats of the Prometheus. On the 27th of August, 1816, the British and Dutch fleet came within sight of Algiers, and a flag of truce was sent by lord Exmouth to the Dey, with a letter of proposals, to •which no answer was returned. It was evident that the Satrap was determined to hold out. The British admi- ral's ship bore up to the entrance of the mole, followed by the whole fleet in order; each ship took up its position, and a death-like silence prevailed during the whole process, which was at last interrupted by the discharge of a single gun from the mole. This was the signal for action ; and a tremendous cannonade followed, which was kept up without intermission from a quarter before three until nine, after which it continued par- tially until half-past eleven. The effects of this bom- bardment, which appeared at its cessation, were terrible. The mole was covered with wrecks, and heaps of the dead ; the batteries were silenced, and converted into heaps of ruins, while the Algerine shipping in the har- bour was in a blaze. In this battle, our Dutch allies displayed a valour worthy of the days of Van Tromp and De Ruyter, and had 141 killed and 742 wounded ; while the loss of the British consisted of 128 killed, and 690 wounded. But the enemy lost between six and seven thousand men, while their fleet and city were reduced to wrecks. On the day after the bombardment, lord Exmouth sent another letter to the Dey, still offering the same conditions of peace he had previously held out, TO THE BATTLE OP NAVARINO. 581 provided no cruel treatment had been inflicted upon the British consul, or any of the officers and men of the Prometheus. The Dey had no alternative but submis- sion ; he therefore agreed to the abolition of Christian slavery for ever in his dominions, the surrender of all his Christian slaves to the British flag', and tLe resti- tution of all the ransom money for prisoners which he had received durin;^ the course of the year. He was also obliged to make reparation to the British consul hy an humble apology, which was dictated by lord Exmouth, and delivered in public. This wholesome chastisement was so etfectual, that for seven long years the Algerines refrained from their wonted piracies against the Christian powers. But this state of order was irksome and unnatural to a people who delighted in plunder and violence, so that, in 1823, they resumed their old practices, by capturing two Spanish vessels, and reducing their crews to slavery ; and when Mr. McDonald, the British consul, remon- strated, they threw him into prison. An English frigate and a sloop of war were immediately sent to Algiers, to demand satisfaction : but on meeting with a flat re- fusal, the captain of this small force contrived to bring off Mr. McDonald and his family, in safety. War was again proclaimed against this nest of incorrigible pirates, and Sir Harry Neale, the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, was sent with a fleet to chastise them. The enemy had still so much wisdom left as to avert the trial, by unqualified submission, and they agreed to abandon for ever the practice of Christian slavery. After the nations of Europe had been stilled into uni- versal peace, their sympathies were excited by the spectacle of an enslaved nation contending against fear- ful odds, for the recovery of its freedom. Greece, which for ages had been trodden under foot by Turkish oppres- sion, had never ceased to remember that liberty, and those heroic examples, with which her very name is so identified; and in 1821, her struggles and sufferings in the contest excited the universal compassion of Chris- tendom, It was the cause of a Christian people against barbarians and unbelievers — of the descendants of those who had created European science and civilization against the race who had extinguished it — and gratitude as well as religious sympathy invoked the nations to 582 NAVAL HISTORY. the rescue. Britain heard the call, and would have plunged into the contest with characteristic ardour, but was withheld by her more reflective statesmen, who saw that the time was not ripe for interference. At length, events occurred that made neutrality no longer justi- fiable ; and on account of the exterminating' nature of the warfare on the part of the Turks, the combined navies of Britain, France, and Russia, appeared upon the scene as mediators and arbitrators. By a treaty signed at London these three powers had agreed to interpose in behalf of Greece, and for the suppression of anarchy and piracy in the Archipelago, for which purpose they furnished their contingent of ships ; and the British fleet, under the command of Sir Edward Codrington, reached its station in February, 1S27. On the 25th of September it was agreed between Sir Edward and Ibrahim, com- mander-in-chief of the Turkish and Egyptian forces, and who superintended the Turkish armament, that an armistice should be established between the Turks and Greeks by land and sea, upon the faith of which the Turkish and Egyptian fleet was permitted to anchor un- molested in the bay of Navarino. It was not long, however, before symptoms of impa- tience were exhibited in this quarter by the Turks. They were eager to violate the armistice by co-operating- with the land forces of Ibrahim at Patras, on which account a strong division of the fleet, under the most frivolous pretences, steered out of the bay. Sir Edward immediately gave chase, to recall them ; and after hang- ing upon their rear, and watching their motions, he compelled them, as well as a reinforcement of fifteen ships thatjoined them, commanded by Ibrahim in person, to return to Navarino. While the combined navy of Turkey and Eg3rpt was thus blocked up in the spacious bay, Ibrahim, who was maddened at the thought of being unable to join his army at Patras, began to vent his fury upon the surrounding country. All the atrocities of a Turkish war were let loose upon the unresisting inha- bitants ; men, women, and children, were mercilessly slaughtered, or sold for slaves; the houses were de- stroyed, the harvests consumed, and even the very trees torn up by the roots. In consequence of this savage violation of the truce, the British, Russian, and French commanders sent a remonstrance to the pacha, TO THE BATTLE OF NAVARINO. 583 Mrho, however, kept out of the way ; upon which they resolved to restrain the enemy effectually, by mooring: in the midst of them. The ships of the allies weighed anchor for this purpose on the 20th of October, and stood in for the bay ; but no sooner had the flaij-ship of admiral Codrington passed the Turkish battery than Ibrahim became visible. He dispatched a message to say that he had given no permission to the allies to euter the port. To this Sir Edward replied, that he had come to give orders, not to receive them ; and that if a single shot were fired against him, the whole Turkish and Egyptian fleet should be destroyed. In the mean time the allied fleet took up its position, the ships ranging themselves in the form of a crescent, opposite the enemy ; the anchors were dropped, and the sails clewed up ; and each vessel being secured with springs on its cables, awaited the first movement of the enemy — Sir Edward Codrington having ordered, that not a gun should be fired unless the Turks commenced the attack. The hostile fleets stood at gaze, as if neither was willing to begin ; and the silence continued so lonir, that the expectation of battle was dying away, so that the band of Sir Edward's ship had mustered upon the quar- ter-deck, with their musical instruments, when a gun was fired from one of the Turkish ships, which was fol- lowed by a discharge of musketry. The long-delayed battle now commenced and the cannonade, which was close and heavy, continued with scarcely an interval for the space of four hours. But the enemy , notwithstanding their numbers and ferocious courage, were no match for steady European valour, backed by science and experi- ence. Ship ai'ter ship belonging to the Turks was re- duced to wreck, or set ou fire by its own crew, that it might not fall into the hands of the Christians, so that the whole bay was at length covered with wrecks, and enveloped in conflagration. The Turkish ships which were destroyed were old, and in the estimation of our seamen unfit for service, but the Egyptian ships were in the best condition. The' principal loss fell therefore upon the Pasha of Egypt, and as the conflict had been brought about without any hostile intention on the part of the allies, they ceased to act as enemies when their oppo- nents were overwhelmed. The same terms were offered to Ibrahim Pacha as had been tendered before the battle. 584 NAVAL HISTORY. coupled however with the assurance, that the next infringement would be followed by the utter annihila- tion of whatever ships survived. Ibrahim was now too weak for farther resistance, and gladly consented to pacific measures. This humiliation of the most powerful vassal of the Porte led the way to the full establish- ment of Greek independence. It is said that this disaster was not unacceptable to the Pasha of Egypt, although the chief sufferer, as it afforded him a pretext for renouncing an expensive and de- structive contest, in which he must submit to act as the vassal of the Grand Seignior. Such, alas! are too fre- quently wars and victories, in which fleets and armies are sacrificed for the selfish purposes of some intriguing politician. On the other hand, when tidings of this great naval achievement arrived in England, the minis- ter who had felt so much for the regeneration of Greece, was dead — the eloquent Canning; and the ministry that followed having taken a different view of the question, it was officially announced as ' an untoward event,' which ought to be regretted; and that without benefiting Greece it would only weaken Turkey, so as to promote the selfish views of Russia. This policy of the administration of the duke of Wellington had the worst effect. It encouraged Turkey to resist the claims of humanity', and maintain a Christian country in bond- age, which, in days long gone by, had been the most distinguished. It also produced the state of things which our cabinet had represented as most to be dreaded. The regret with which they appeared to receive the account of the battle of Navarino led the Turks to sup- pose that the English admiral had acted contrary to instructions, and that England was only waiting for an opportunity to break with France and Russia, and to take part with them. The consequence was, that Turkey insulted Russia ; this brought on a war that terminated in the aggrandisement of the latter, aud the treaty which was said to have laid Turkey at the mercy of her implacable enemy. COLLINGWOOD. 585 CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD, BAUON COLLINGWOOD OFCALBURNE AND HETHPOOLE, NORTHUMBERLAND. 1750— ISIO. This admiral, not only one of the ablest, but most amiable of British naval commanders, was bom at Newcastle-upon- Tyne, on the 26th of September, 1750. The family of the Collin^woods, which traces a remote antiquity, was post- sessed of hisrh distinction in the county of Northumber- land; but in consequence of its devotedness to the house of Stuart, during^ the civil wars of England, and after- wards in the rebellion of 17 15, the hereditary estates passed to a young branch of the CoUingwoods, so that the father of Cuthbert was reduced to a very moderate fortune. Cuthbert, after some time spent at a school in Newcastle, kept by the llev. Hugh Moyses, was placed in the navy, when only eleven years old, under the protection of his cousin, captain (afterwards admiral) Brathwaite. Upon this his early entrance into active life, Colling- wood used to tell the following characteristic anec- dote. While he was crying- piteously at the thoughts of his separation from home, after he had come on board, the first lieutenant, who pitied the poor child, addressed him in terms of soothing encouragement. This sympathy had such an effect upon the gallant little midshipman, that he led the worthy officer to his box, and offered him U\e choicest treasure he thought it contained, in the shape of a large piece of plum-cake, which his mother had given him. The Shannon was the first ship in wliich Colling- wood served ; in it he continued several years ; and he was indebted to his kind relative for instruction in nautical knowledge, which he studied with great as- siduity. He afterwards served under admiral Roddam. lu entering the naval service, however, Collingwood had neither family nor court influence to advance him ; and therefore, in spite of his merits and acquirements, he did uot become a lieutenant until he had served fourteen 586 NAVAL HISTORY. years at sea, and attained the age of twenty-five. The example of one so circumstanced, who notwithstanding fought his way to the chief command and a peerage, is well worth the study of those who, like him, are entirely dependent upon their own diligence. This first promotion he received from admiral Graves, in 1775, at Boston, on the same day the battle of Bunker's Hill was fought. In 1776, be was sent to Jamaica in the Hornet sloop; and soon after the LowestofFe, of which Nelson was second lieutenant, came to the same station. Long before, these two young men had been in habits of great friendship, and upon this meeting their intimacy was renewed. Here also it happened that, as Sir P. Parker was the friend of both, whenever Nelson got a step in rank, Collingwood succeeded him, so that he was transferred to the Lowestoflfe, then to the Badger, in which he was made a commander, in 1779, and afterwards to the Hin- chinbroke, a 28-gun frigate, by which time both the friends were post-captains. A service in which Collingwood was employed at this time, is best stated in the simple language of his own brief autobiographical sketch : — 'The Hinchinbroke,' he says, ' was, in the spring of 1780, employed on an expe- dition to the Spanish main, where it was proposed to pass into the South Sea, by a navigation of boats along the river San Juan, and lakes Nicaragua and Leon. The plan was formed without a sufficient knowledge of the country, which presented difficulties not to be sui-mounted by human skill or perseverance. It was dangerous to proceed on the river, from the rapidity of the current, and the numerous falls over rocks which intercepted the navigation ; the climate too was deadly, and no consti- tution could resist its efi'ects. — My constitution resisted many attacks, and I survived most of my ship's company, having buried in four months 180 of the 200 who com- posed it. Mine was not a singular case, for every ship that was long there suffered in the same degree. The transports' men all died, and some of the ships, having none left to take care of them, sunk in the harbour ; but transport ships were not wanted, for the troops whom they had brought were no more ; they had fallen, not by the hand of an enemy, but from the contagion of the cli- mate.' From this frightful picture, we can easily per- ceive that there are far greater demands upon the truly COLLINGWOOD. 587 heroic than the mere courage necessary for battle ; as there are dangers more appalling to be faced, and miseries more overpowering to be endured, than those that ori- ginate in the hot and heady conflict. From this Upas-like station CoUingwood was fortu- nately relieved, in August 1780 ; and in the December following he was appointed to the command of the Pelican, a small frigate of 24 guns. This transition, however, at first seemed to promise no great benefit; for in August, of the following year, there was a severe hurricane, in which the Pelican was wrecked at mid- night, on the rocks of the Morant Keys. On the suc- ceeding day, the ship's company managed to get ou shore, on rafts made of the small and broken yards ; and upon these sandy islands, with little food, they remained ten days, until a boat went to Jamaica, and the Diamond frigate came and took them off. After this escape, cap- tain CoUingwood was appointed to the command of the Samson, 64 ; and when she was paid off at the peace in 1783, he was appointed to the Mediator, and went to the West Indies, where he remained with Nelson, who com- manded the Boreas, on the same station, till 1786. He here co-operated with Nelson in one of the most difficult of that hero's warfares — his attack upon the selfishness of the citizens of the United States, and forcing them to observe the provisions of the navigation laws ; and they jointly seized all the vessels they could find illicitly trading to the West Indies, notwithstanding the clamours of those English planters who were interested in its con- tinuance. ' Had it not been for CoUingwood,' says Nel- son, in one of his letters, ' this station would have been the most disagreeable I ever saw.' After this severe ordeal, which happily was short, CoUingwood returned home in 1786, where he continued till 1790, ' making,' as he says, ' my acquaintance with my own family, to whom 1 had hitherto been, as it were, a stranger.' This indeed must have been literally the case, as he left his country at the age of eleven, and did not return till he was in the middle stage of life. In 1790, an armament being fitted out against Spain, he was appointed to the command of the Mermaid, and went to the West Indies with ad- miral Cornish. Afl'airs, however, both with Spain and Russia were soon accommodated ; and captain CoUing- wood seeing no prospect of employment at sea, returned 5S8 NAVAL HISTORY. home aud married Miss Blackett, a lady of his native town, by whom he bad two daughtei's. He now felt himself happy with an amiable partner, and in the pos- session of every domestic blessing; but just when these had become most endearing, he was compelled to relinquish them, in consequence of the war that broke out with France, in 1793. He was on this occasion ap- pointed captain of the Prince, the flag-ship of rear- admiral Bowyer, and afterwards of the Barfleur, and was present in the action of the 1st of June, 1794. In this hard three-days' fight, the Barfleur was engaged in the hottest of the fire ; but although Collingwood behaved bravely, and was wounded, he was passed over in the dispatches of Howe without notice — a neglect that gave surprise to the whole fleet. It was not indeed until 1797, that he received one of the medals which had been struck in honour of this victory. From the Barfleur, captain Collingwood was removed to the command of the Hector, and afterwards to the Excellent, in which he was employed in the blockade of Toulon. From this station he was sent to reinforce the fleet under the command of Sir John Jervis, a circumstance that delighted his old friend Nelson, who exclaimed, ' See, here comes the Excellent, which is as good as two added to our number!' In the battle off" cape St. Vin- cent, the first ship the Excellent engaged was the Sal- vador del Mundo, 112, which struck after a short can- nonade; but Collingwood, unwilling to waste time, left her to be secured by some other ship, and pushed on to the attack of the San Isidro, 74, which in ten minutes was glad to haul down her colours. After making a sig- nal for some vessel behind to come up and take her, he passed onward between the British line and the enemy, and came up with the San Nicholas, 84, and the San Josef, 112, where he found Nelson hotly engaged, and, to use his own phrase, ' dreadfully mauled.' Having silenced their fire, Collingwood went on to the enormous four-decker, the Sautissima Trinidada, 132, which he engaged for an hour, until she was a complete wreck. After so glorious a victory, we find the heart of this gallant hero so comi^letely at home with his family, that he preserved for his father-in-law a double-headed shot of the Santissima Trinidada, weighing fifty pounds, to place among his curiosities, and for his wife the COLLINGWOOD. 589 image of St. Isidore, the patron saint of the San Isidro. ('ongratulations poured iu upon Collingwood, after the battle, from several of the English commanders; and of these none was more fervent or more welcome than that from Nelson.* It was a matter of course, that, as a reward for his gallantry, he should receive one of the medals struck on this occasion ; but on the intimation of lord St. Vincent to this effect, Collingwood firmly re- fused to accept it, iu consequence of the strange way in which his services had been overlooked on the 1st of June. Both medals were afterwards transmitted to him, with a civil apology from the first lord of the admiralty. Captain Collingwood continued in the command of the Excellent, under the orders of lord St. Vincent, till January 1799, when his ship was paid off; and on the following month, he was raised to the rank of rear- admiral of the white. On the 12th of May following, he hoisted his flag in the Triumph, under the com- mand of lord Bridport, on the Channel station; and in the month of June, 1800, he shitted it to the Barfleur. In the following year, he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral of the red. During all this time, he was employed in the blockade of the enemy, a service which, though requiring great vigilance and lal)our, afforded him no opportunities of displaying his high qualities, except in the negative fact that the hostile fleets did not dare to come out, to tempt the trial. On the return of the Barfleur to Spithead, with the rest of the fleet, in May 1802, admiral Collingwood revisited his family in Northumberland, where he remained till the conclusion of the peace of Amiens, happily employed in the culti- vation of liis studies, the education of his children, and his favourite pursuit of gardening and planting. This latter occupation was so much his delight, that, on one occasion, a brother admiral, after having sought him for a long time in vain, at length found him at the bottom of the garden, in a deep trench, digging very zealously with the gardener. This delightful course of domestic hap- piness, however, was short-lived. While as yet he had been so short a time at home, that, to use his own affecting expression, he was • scarcely known to his children,' he was called away by the retm-n of war. That happy home • See the account of the battle off cape St. Vincent in the life of Neliion. 590 NAVAL HISTORY, and family he was never more to revisit. In 1803, he left England ; and on the promotion of admirals in April 1804, he was made vice-admiral of the blue, and resumed his former station off Brest. Here the blockading system was kept up with such strictness, that Collingwood fre- quently passed the whole night on the quarter-deck, when all the other officers were worn out with fatigue. On these occasions, he would take a short and broken sleep upon a gun, from which he would rise from time to time, and sweep the horizon with his night-glass, lest the enemy should escape in the dark. He als°o shifted his flag from ship to ship, as the occasion required, so that he was always upon his station in a vessel fit for service, without being obliged to return into port for victualling or repairs. After having remained on this station till May, 1805, admiral Collingwood was called to more active service, having been detached with a re- inforcement to the blockading fleet at Ferrol and Cadiz. At the latter place, he practised a stratagem that excited the admiration of the whole British navy. With only three ships of the line, a frigate, and a bomb, he blocked up the whole fleet of the enemy in the port of Cadiz ; and to conceal the weakness of his force, he continued to make signals, as if keeping up a communication with a British fleet, in the distance, by which the enemy were completely deceived. On this account, they did not dare to venture out; but afterwards, on being reinforced, he established a strict blockade of the small ports lying between cape St. Mary's and Algesiras— a measure that occasioned the ultimate sailing of the combined fleets, and the destruction that afterwards befel them. Lord Nelson having returned to this station in Sep- tember, resumed the chief command, and was delighted to find that his 'dear Coll.' was to serve as second under him. Here they exerted themselves to allure the com- bined fleets from their harbour into the open sea ; and with what success, Trafalgar soon witnessed. It was a happy event for England, on this occasion, that one heart and one soul animated her two brave commanders, so that they could depend upon each other with the most implicit confidence, whatever might be the emer- gency. ' I send you,' writes Nelson before the battle, • my plan of attack, as far as a man dare venture to guess at the very uncertain position the enemy may be COLLI NGWOOD. 591 found in : but, my dear friend, it is to place you perfectly at ease respecting my intentions, and to ^ve full scope to your judgment for carrying: them into effect. We can, ray dear Coll., have no little jealousies : we have only one great object in view — that of annihilating out enemies, and getting a glorious peace for our country. No man has more confidence in another than I have in you.' And never indeed was such confidence better bestowed. In this place, however, it would be unne- cessary to repeat how gallantly he led the Royal Sove- reign into the midst of the enemy, while the rest of the fleet was a mile distant ; and with what rapture Nelson exclaimed, at the spectacle, ' See how that noble fellow, CoUingwood, takes his ship into action! — How I envy him r — Equally unnecessary it would be to particularize the different ships he encountered, and the eff'ects his exertions produced upon this the most illustrious of all our naval victories. Even while he was in the hottest of the conflict, before the other ships had come up, and while he was encountered by five ships at once, he was employed at one time in looking to the safety of his rigging; at another, to the preservation of his brave crew ; and frequently traversing the quarter-deck, and looking along the guns, to see that thoy were properly pointed. When the ships of the lee column at length overtook him, and entered into action, they thought the Royal Sovereign must have assuredly perished in such an unequal conflict ; and therefore it was with joy and astonishment that they saw her flag still flying triumph- antly above the smoke. At half-past two, when the Santa Anna struck, admiral CoUingwood was informed that lord Nelson had been wounded, and these tidings were accompanied with his lordship's last farewell. ' My heart,' writes CoUingwood, in his dispatch immediately after the battle, ' is rent with the most poigna'it grief, for the death of a friend to whom, by many years of intimacy, and a perfect knowledge of the virtues of his mind, which inspired ideas superior to the common race of men, 1 was bound by the strongest ties of affection, — a grief to which even the glorious occasion on which he fell does not bring the consolation which perhaps it ought.' Nelson's repeated and last command was for the Bri- 592 NAVAL HISTORY, tish fleet to anchor — and some have presumed to throw blame upon Collingwood, because he did not anchor ac- cordingly. But it must be recollected that, at the time the order was ffiven, Nelson was lying mortally wounded in his cabin, and unaware of the state of his fleet. Even the Victory was at this time so cut up, that she was incapable of being anchored. Instead of saving- their prizes by such a process, both victors and vanquished would probably have sunk together. The danger of anchoring on a lee-shore was also enhanced by the cir- cumstances of the heavy gale of wind that was blowing, and the rapidity with which the water shoals in the bay of Cadiz. While such an experiment would have been dangerous even for sound ships, it would have been imminently so for ships that had been damaged by such a victory as that of Trafalgar. Besides, in the mere article of seamanship — into which the question resolves itself — the experience and skill of Collingwood were certainly superior to those of Nelson; and these qualities were best exhibited in withdrawing the fleet from a dangerous lee-shore into the open sea. It is pleasing to turn from the carnage of battle to those indications of generosity and humanity that some- times follow it, and soften its atrocities. To alleviate the sufferings of the wounded prisoners as much as possible, admiral Collingwood, who had now succeeded to the command, wrote to the governor of Cadiz, offering to send these men to the hospitals on shore, to be cured, on receiving receipts for their number, and an acknow- ledgment of their being prisoners. This was gratefully agreed to by the governor. Boats were accordingly sent to the ships for the wounded, and the necessary promises were given that these men should not serve again either by land or sea, until they should be regularly exchanged. The governor also offered the same accommodation to the wounded Englishmen, pledging the Spanish honour that they should be carefully attended to, and faithfully returned — an offer that was gladly accepted by the con- querors, and of which they had no reason to repent. Presents of fruit and wine were liberally sent also from the shore to the admiral and ofiicers, which were reci- procated by an English cheese, and a cask of porter — gi-eat rarities at that time in Cadiz. How happy it COLLINGWOOD. 593 would be for the world if this were the only species of warfare between rival nations — a contention of bene- volence and courtesy ! In consequence of the glorious victory of Trafalgar,* honours, so well merited, were bestowed upon Colling- wood with no stinted measure. The thanks of his majesty were officially transmitted to him through the lords of the admiralty ; he was raised to the peerage by the title of baron Collingwood of Calburne and Heth- poole, in the county of Northumberland, with an honom*- able augmentation to his arms ; he received the thanks of both houses of parliament, and the freedom of the principal cities of Great Britain. In addition to these titles and honours, a pension was granted to him by parliament of £2000. per annum for his own life ; and in the event of his death, of £1000. per annum to lady Collingwood, and of £500. per annum to each of his two daughters. The following playful remark in one of his letters to lady Collingwood, after his acquisition of rank, reminds us of the elevated simplicity of an ancient Ro- man : 'I suppose I must not be seen to work in my garden now ; but tell old Scott (his gardener) that he need not be unhappy on that account. Though we shall never be able to plant the Nelson potatoes, we shall have them of some other sort, and right noble cabbages to boot, in great perfection.' At this time, while his fame resounded through Europe, he was so poor, that there was scarcely money enough at his bankers' to pay the usual expenses for his patent of nobility. His exploits had now made his life a desirable prize for authorship, and an application being made to him for this purpose, he employed a friend to draw up a memoir, of which he gives the following laughable account. ' For my birth and parentage, he has selected two or three chapters of Bamfylde Moore Carew ; for my service in the West Indies, and on the Spanish main, he has good assistance in the History of the Buccaneers ; and for my ship- wreck, he has copied a great deal out of Robinson Crusoe : all of which, with a few anecdotes from the Lives of the Admirals, a little distorted, will make, I am inclined to think, a very respectable piece of biography.' After the victory, by which the navies of France and Spain might be said to have been annihilated, lord 594 NAVAL HISTORY. Collingwood had uo opportunity of distinguishing him- self in a general action ; still however his exertions were of the most harassing description, as the blockade of the enemies' coasts was so rigidly continued, that scarcely one of their ships could venture to sea without being captured ; and therefore, instead of returning home, to realize those beautiful visions of domestic happiness to which his heart was so much alive, the service of his country required that he should continue at sea, watch- ing every hostile port, and negotiating with the several European, Asiatic, and African powers, that were either in alliance with Britain, or at least neutral. For this last service no naval commander was perhaps ever so well qualified. The sagacity of the statesman and the skill of the most practised diplomatist seemed to unite, in his character, with the qualities of the warrior ; so that •when he had no longer an opportunity of reaching the enemy with his cannon, he dived with an intuitive per- ception into their measures, detected their intrigues, and either disconcerted them by his judicious movements, or warned the British ministry, and put them upon their guard. In this way he gained victories that were noise- less and at the time unfelt, but which redounded as much to the welfare of his country, as if they had been attested in captured fleets and stormed fortresses. His ofticial correspondence was so multifarious, that, besides his own court, it embraced the courts of Spain, Naples, Turkey, Kussia, Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Egypt, and Albania. It is remarkable, also, and highly creditable to his perseverance, love of study, and mental cultivation, that though he went to sea at the age of eleven, when his education could have been little more than com- menced, yet his letters exhibit an elegance of style that would have done honour to the most accomplished scho- lar. ' I know not,' said one of our great diplomatists,' ' where lord CoUingwood got bis style ; but he writes better than any of us.' After having sustained for four years the incessant duties that were imposed upon him, in the expectation that the relics of the enemy's fleet would venture to steal out, and thus give him an opportunity of achieving a victory and terminating the naval part of the war by a single blow, bis mind and body became so exhausted by sickness, that he solicited permission to resign the COLLINGWOOD. 59a command, which another less zealous in his country's service would have abandoned in disgust. But on being informed that his services were still indispensable, he consented to linger on, in obedience to patriotism and a sense of duty — aud clinging to the hope, that he soon might meet the enemy at sea and obtain a triumph, without which he knew that his long and arduous ser- vices would make no impression upon the opinions of his countrymen. Before he had received the answer to his request to be allowed to resign the command, he thus writes of his situation to lady Collingwood : — ' You can- not conceive how I am worried by the French ; their fleet is lying in the port here, with all the appearance of sailing in a few hours ; and God knows whether they will sail at all, for I get no intelligence of them . . . I have a double sort of game to play here ; watching the French with one eye, while with the other I am directing tae assistance to be given to the Spaniards. . . • The conduct of the fleet alone would be easy ; but the poli- tical correspondence which I have to carry on with the Spaniards, the Turks, the Albanians, the Egyptians, and all the states of Barbary, gives me such constant occupa- tion, that I really often feel my spirits quite exhausted, and of course my health is much impaired ; but if I must go on, I will do the best I can.' He did indeed go on, although a fatal disease was growing upon him, brought on by confinement on board ship, and continual bending over a desk, in consequence of this multifarious correspou dence. At length, when his lordship was so much exhausted that he could no longer undergo the slightest exertion, an immediate return to England was declared absolutely necessary for the preservation of his life, and he resigned the command to rear-admiral Martin, on the 3rd of March, 1810. When theVille de Paris, in which he re- turned, was warped out of port Mahon, he rallied for a iew moments, when he felt himself out at sea, and in the hope of recovery said to his attendants, ' Then I may yet live to meet the French once more.' But this was only the last glimmer of a dying flame before its extinc- tion. On the 7th, when there was a heavy swell, and when a fear was expressed that the motion of the vessel disturbed him, he answered, ' I am now in a state in which nothing in this world can disturb me more. I am 2 r 2 596 NAVAL HISTORY. dying; and I am sure it must be consolatory to you, and all who love me, to see how comfortably I am coming to my end.' On the same evening he expired, having at- tained the age of fifty-nine years and six months. Hitherto, there had been a striking association between the steps of Nelson and Collingwood, so that in every case the one had become the successor of the other. Five times had the latter succeeded his friend — in the LowestofFe, the Bristol, the Badger, the Hinchinbroke, and in the chief command after the battle of Trafalgar. Even here, however, the succession was not to cease, so that • in death they were not divided,' and he was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, by the side of his beloved pre- decessor. But even a nobler association than this exists in their characters, so that they will descend to posterity united; and as long as the British flag shall wave, or the achievements of the British navy be recorded, the triumphs of the one will be connected with the name of the other, and the tale of Trafalgar be the common monument of Nelson and Collingwood. DUCKWORTH. 597 SIR JOHN THOMAS DUCKWORTH. 1748—1817. Thb character of this gallant admiral, like that of most unsuccessful commanders, has been subjected to great and unjust disparagement. The expedition to Constan- tinople, which exposed him to this unpopularity, -was one of the most arduous and doubtful ever undertaken. and its complete success was only prevented by the wholly inadequate force which was placed under his command. He was one of five sons of the Rev. Henry Duckworth, rector of Fulmer, Buckinghamshire, and was bom at Leatherhead.iu Surrey, on the 28th of February, 1748. He was intended from his infancy for the naval service, and was sent to sea when he was only eleven years of age, to strut about on the quarter-deck of a ship of war in his tiny uniform. We are informed thai he was sent from home at that early period of life, not because he was a strong and vigorous boy, and well qualified from education or any particular wish of his own, but because his father had a large family. It surely cannot be for the interest of the naval service to have children attached to our ships of war, that afterwards they may monopolize the honours which the country is willing to confer for distinguished services. At the present time, when the manning and efficiency of the navy is occupying so much of the public attention, it might be deserving of consideration whether it would not induce young men of respectable parents and good conduct to enter the service, if a regulation existed that gave a power to captains of ships to advance to the rank of midshipmen a proportion of the most deserving of their crews, who again might be subjected to the same examination as 'the privileged few,' before becoming eligible to hold the rank of lieutenant. In consequence of the general peace which was brought about after the accession of George III., naval prefer- ment advanced very slowly until the American war ; and 598 NAVAL HISTORY. young Duckworth only obtained his lieutenant's com- mission in June 1770. He was fortunate in being ap- pointed to the Princess Royal, 9S, the flag-ship of admiral Byron, in which he proceeded to the West Indies, and was engaged in the encounter with the French squadron under the count D'Estaing. He was within a few months after that afl'air appointed to the Rover sloop of war, with the rank of ' master and commander.'* He was ordered to cruise off Martinico, to look into the harbour of Port Royal daily, and prevent all supplies from entering — which service he performed to the sa- tisfaction of his superiors. In June, 1780, he obtained his rank of post-captain, and soon after returned to the Princess Royal, In February, 1781, he removed into the Grafton, 74, and was sent home in charge of a valuable convoy, chiefly laden with sugar. During the homeward passage, which was very tempestuous, with a sickly crew and many invalids on board, he acquired a high repu- tation for his humanity and attention to the comfort of his crew, and particularly to the sick, to whom he gave up his fresh provisions and wine, and contented himself with exactly the same salt provisions which were served out to the men. A similar conduct ought to be recom- mended to all young oflicers. He appears to have continued unemployed until the breaking out of the French revolutionary war, when, in 1793, he was appointed to the Orion, 74, and shared in the honour of lord Howe's brilliant victory of the 1st of June, 1704. On that memorable occasion, the Orion was the third ship on the larboard division. In 1793, he was intrusted by lord St. Vincent with the command of the detachment of ships employed at the reduction of Mi- norca, when he hoisted his broad pendant in the Levia- than, 74 guns. In 1799, he was advanced to the rank of rear-admiral, and sent to assume the command in chief in the West Indies. On this station he was successful in capturing many prizes, which added largely to his private fortune. He also assisted in the reduction of the islands of St. Bartholomew and St. Martin, for which services he was * The present navy rank of 'commander' was instituted July 16, 1779, and is considered a more appropriate and honourable term than the old one of ' master and commander.' DUCKWORTH. 599 created a knight of the Bath, aud obtaiued a grant of a pension of £1000. a yeai*. On the renewal of hostilities after the peace of Amiens, he was again sent to the AVest Indies ; and early in 1804 he became vice-admiral of the blue. In 1806, when cruising off Cadiz, he learned that a French fleet had sailed for the West Indies with a view of succouring the important colony of St. Domingo. He immediately col- lected his squadron, and sailed in pursuit of them. On arriving in the West Indies he formed a junction with rear-admiral Cochrane, when the English squadron, which now consisted of seven sail of the line, two fri- gates, and two sloops, steered for St. Domingo. On the morning of theCth of February they discovered the enemy in a compact line, under all sail, going before the wind for Cape Nisao, to windward of Ocoa Bay ; and as they consisted of only five sail of the line, two frigates, and a corvette, the admiral concluded that they were endea- vouring to form a junction with their remaining force; and in consequence shaped his course to prevent it, which was completely effected by a little after nine, so as to make an action certain ; admiral Duckworth then telegraphed the squadron, that the principal object of attack would be the admiral and his seconds — and at three quarters past nine, for the ships to take stations for their mutual support, aud engage tlie enemy as they got up, and then to engage as close as possible. At ten, the Superb closed upon the bow of the Alexandre, 80, the leading ship, and commenced the action ; but after three broadsides she sheered off : the signal was now made for close action, and in the words of the admiral in his dispatch, ' we were enabled to attack the admiral in the Imperial, 120, the fire of which had been heavy on the Northumberland, bearing rear-admiral Cochrane's flag. By this time the movement of the Alexandre had thrown her among the lee division, which rear-admiral Louis happily availed himself of, and the action became general, and continued with great severity till half-past eleven ; when the French admiral, much shattered and com- pletely beat, hauled directly for the land, and not being a mile off, at twenty miuutes before noon ran on shore ; his foremast then only standing, which fell directly on striking : at which time the Superb, being only in seven fathom water, was forced to haul off to avoid the same 600 NAVAL HISTORY. evil ; but not long after the Diomede, 84, pushed on shore near his admiral, when all the masts went. 1 think it a duty I owe to character and my country, to add, from the information of Sir E. Berry, that this was done after she had struck. The Agamemnon desisted from firing into heron the captain taking ofihis hat, and making eTery token of surrender ; and captain Dunn assures nie both ensign and pendant were down : to comment on which I leave to the world. About fifty minutes after eleven the firing ceased.' This spirited action terminated in less than two hours, in the capture and destruction of the five French ships of the line : the Alexandre, 80, the Jupiter and Le Brave, 74's, were taken ; the Imperial, 120, and Diomede, 84, were burnt. The two frigates and corvette escaped. The English line of battle ships engaged were, the Superb, the flag- ship, captain Keats; the Northumberland, admiral Coch- rane ; the Canopus, admiral Louis ; the Agamemnon, captain Sir E. Berry ; the Spencer, captain Stopford ; the Acasto, captain Dunn ; and the Magicienne, captain Mackenzie. On the arrival of the important intelligence in England, the tower guns were fired, and an unanimous vote of thanks passed both houses of parliament. The corporation of London, also, voted Sir J. Duckworth the freedom of the city, to which was added a sword of the value of two hundred guineas. In the mean time, one of the usual revolutions of poli- tics had brought us in collision with the Turkish govern- ment. This power, which had been adroitly pacified by Bonaparte, notwithstanding his invasion of Egypt, was disposed to co-operate with France by commencing hos- tilities against our allies, the Russians; and as it was of importance for Britain to prevent this step, she resolved to aim a blow at Turkey, similar to that which had been successful with Denmark. This measure was also re- commended by Mr. Arbuthnot, our minister at the Porte, who, like many civilians, was a thorough believer in the omnipotence of the British navy, on which ac- count he represented an attack on the Turkish capital as a very easy exploit. It was therefore resolved to send a squadron under the command of Sir John Duck- worth, to induce the Turks either to withdraw their amity from France, or to surrender their fleet ; or, in DUCKWORTH. 601 case of refusal, the admiral was ordered to bombard Con- stantinople, and destroy the Ottoman navy; but for this achievement, which was far more diflScult than the bombardment of Copenhagen, no greater force was frranted to Sir J. Duckworth than eight ships of the line and three frigates, one of which ships, the Ajax, 74, toot tire off the island of Tenedos, and was completely destroyed. It was not recollected that the Turks, al though no soldiers in the field, from want of discipline, are yet matchless in combat behind stone walls and fortresses, and would make a terrible resistance when the fate of their capital was at stake. On the 19th of February, 1807, Sir John Duckworth forced the passage of the Dardanelles, which was de- fended by the celebrated forts of Sestos and Abydos, and numerous batteries which had been erected in all direc- tions ; there were also one line of battle ship, four frigates, and three corvettes, moored in line, which were as good, if not better than batteries. This formidable defence was passed with trifling loss, and Sir Sidney Smith, in the Porapee, was left to destroy the Turkish squadron, which he accomplished in two hours, by burning and blowing them up. He also landed a party of marines, who spiked a battery of thirty guns, and otherwise de- stroyed the defences. The British squadron proceeded without farther resistance and came to anchor at the Prince's Islands, in the sea of Marmora, within a few miles of Constantinople, when a correspondence was opened with the Porte explanatory of the object of the expedition. Thus far the adventure had been prosperous ; but the aspect of affairs soon changed. Mr. Arbuthnot, who was now on board the fleet, had fallen sick, in consequence of which the negotiations were suspended ; and the Turks, who had diligently employed the interval in multiplying and strengthening the defences of the capi- tal, were now able to laugh at the threats of a bom- bardment. Their policy had been to gain time to move their own ships up the Bosphorus, and to fortify Con- stantinople. At first, confident that the British could not pass the Dardanelle forts, they had not put the city into a fit state of defence ; but, on seeing their mistake, they set to work with surprising energy; and unluckily the anchorage taken by the squadron was too distant to 602 NAVAL HISTORY. enable Duckwortli to stop their operations. They not only deceived the admiral, but, by some of their repre- sentations, Sir Sidney Smith himself, and all the English merchants and interpreters. It is easy to find fault aftei the event ; but we believe it is now the opinion of the best-informed officers in the naval service, that Sir John Duckworth,if fairly judged, did hisduty. The expedition was not strong enough to overcome by terror or conflicf such a power, assisted as it was by France. To effect such a purpose, how altogether inadequate were eight sail of the line, three frigates, and two bomb-vessels, without any additional troops, provisions, or ordnance stores — not so much as a single transport ! The squadron was now seen to be placed in a position of imminent peril. The enemy were strengthening the Dardanelles ; their fleet, which had gone only a few miles up the Bos- phorus, threatened to make an attack the first wind ; and, on the 1st of March, the admiral, shut up in a sea out of which he would have had to fight his way through dif- ficulties daily becoming more formidable, determined, as the wind was favourable, to push out, and turn the war into a blockade on the outside of the Dardanelles. The expedition, to have had even a chance, much less a certainty of success, should have consisted of at least fifteen sail of the line, ten frigates, ten bombs, and as many brigs and fire-ships, with 20,000 troops, a train of artillery, and store-ships. The situation of Duckworth was now truly critical : instead of bombarding Constan- tinople, it was questionable whether he would be able to retreat, as the castles in the straits, which had been made tenfold stronger, were ready to give him a warm farewell, on his departure. Thus, after having uttered threats which could not be executed, and lost time and opportunities that could not be recalled, a British fleet was obliged to seek a hazardous retreat from a barba- rous enemy. On the 2nd of March the admiral weighed anchor, and stood down the Dardanelles, in order of battle ; and on the following day the batteries upon the two points of the straits once more opened their tremen- dous fire, discharging missiles of a size and weight un- known in modern warfare. Some of the Turkish guns were at least two feet four inches in the diameter of their calibre, and a stone shot of eight hundred pounds' weight struck and damaged the Windsor Castle. The DUCKWORTH. 603 other ships suffered dreadfully from the formidable artil- lery, and might be accounted fortunate in having made their escape. Such was the result of an expedition, in which one of the largest and best-fortified capitals in the world, defended by a fleet of twelve large ships and nine frigates, and having within her walls an army of 200,000 soldiers, was to be subdued or utterly annihilated by seven sail of the line and three frigates ! ! The con- duct of our ministry on this occasion reminds us of the confidence of the knight of La Mancha, who proposed to crush the pagan host of Alifanfaron by the prowess of his single arm. In the mean time the Russians, for whose sake this choice experiment in warfare had been undertaken, were to have sent their fleet to co-operate with the English admiral ; but, fortunately perhaps for them- selves, it did not arrive in time to share in the blows and laurels of the conflict. It was only when Sir John Duckworth had cleared the passage of the Dardanelles that he was joined by the Russian admiral Siniavin, with eight sail of the line. He strove hard to persuade Sir John to return with him to Constantinople, to fight or negotiate, according to circumstances — but this invi- tation was declined ; and Siniavin, who was told that a Russian fleet could hardly succeed where a British one had failed, discovered so much wisdom in the hint that, instead of repairing to the Turkish capital, he set sail for the Tagus. A loud outcry was raised by those who did not consider with what a mere mockery of force Sir John Duckworth had been sent on this strange crusade — a force that, so far from being able to fight, was scarcely sufticient to nin away. The ministry at length in their profound sagacity perceived, that the means had not been calculated according to the object, and that they had forgotten to send a powerful land force that might have destroyed the castles in the straits, and then co-operated with the fleet before Constantinople. But this happy discovery, which only occurred after the disaster, was too late to be employed against the Turks; it only served to justify the conduct of the un- successful admiral, after he bad been subjected to much undeserved opprobrium. Sir John continued to be employed in the Mediter- ranean until 1810, when he returned to England. Ha C04 NAVAL HISTORY. was then seut to assume the command on the Newfound- land station, where he remained for three years ; and on his return he was appointed to the command at Plymouth. He died on the 14th of April, 1817, in the serentieth year of his ag'e. JAMES GAM BIER, KAROX GAMBIER, OF IVER, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 175*5— 1833. James Gambier was born in the Bahama Islands, the 13th of October, 1756, and was the younger sou of Samuel Gambier, Esq., then lieutenant-governor of the Bahamas. He went to sea at an early age ; and, in 1778, was com- mander of the Thunder bomb, in which he was captured by the French fleet under count d'Estaing. He was pro- moted to the rank of post-captain, tbe 9th of October in the same year, and appointed to the command of the Raleigh, 32. In this frigate he was engaged in repelling the French attempt upon Jersey, the 6th of January, 1781, and afterwards proceeded to the coast of America ; where, at the reduction of Charlestown in South Caro- lina, he served on shore with the brigade of seamen and marines. In 1781, he captured the General Mifflin, an American ship of war, mounting 20 guns. At the commencement of the war with France, in 1793, captain Gambier was appointed to the Defence, 74, one of the fleet under the orders of earl Howe. In Mav, 1794, the Brest fleet put to sea, for the purpose of pro- tecting the arrival of a fleet laden with corn from Ame- rica, the pressure of want throughout France being then so great, that the government determined rather to risk a defeat than to be exposed to famine. In the actions that ensued, captain Gambier bore a most distinguished share. On the glorious 1st of June, the Defence was the first vessel that cut through the enemy's line ; passing GAM BIER. 605 between the seventh and eighth ships. She had suc- cessively three or four ships engaging her ; the men being almost from the first divided at their quarters, to fight both sides at once ; her masts were all shot away ; the main-mast fell in-board, and the whole of the quarter-deck and forecastle guns were rendered use- less. The loss she sustained on that and the preceding- days, amounted to eighteen men killed and thirty-nine wounded. At the general promotion which followed this important victory, captain Gambler was nominated a colonel of ma- rines; in the winter of 1794, he took the command of the Prince George, 9S, fitting at Chatham ; and, on the 1st of June, 1795, he was advanced to the rank of rear- admiral : in 1799 to be vice-admiral, and admiral in 1805. In March, 1795, he was appointed one of the commis- sioners of the admiralty, which ollice he retained until February, 1801, when he was appointed third in com- mand of the Channel fleet, and hoisted his flag in the Neptune, 98. In the spring of 1802, he proceeded to New- foundland as governor, and commander-in-chief of the squadron employed for its protection. In May, 1804, he was re-appointed a commissioner of the admiralty ; and continued there during the adminis- tration of viscount Melville and lord Barham, until the death of Mr. Pitt, in February, 180(5. On the 14th of April, 1807, he again became a commissioner of the navy, under lord Mulgrave ; and in the following summer, he was sent with a squadron to demand possession of the Danish navy. The first division of the armament sailed from Eng- land on the 26th of July, 1807, and the second on the 29th : the whole arrived off Wisbeck, a village situ- ated midway between Elsinore and Copenhagen, on the evening of the 15th of August; where the army, under lord Cathcart, was disembarked without opposi- tion ; and on the following day, the joint commanders issued a proclamation of the causes which had led to hostile proceedings on the part of Great Britain. The Danes attempted to annoy the army by the fire of their gun-boats; and having refused to surrender the ships of war on the conditions which had been prescribed, the niortar-batteries which had been erected by the army (September 2) around Copenhagen, together with 600 NAVAL HISTORY. the bomb-Tessels, which had been placed in conTenient situations, opened their fire with such eflFect, that in a short time the town was in flames in different places till the evening of the 5th. After a considerable part had been consumed, the conflagration threatening the speedy destruction of the whole city, the enemy sent out a flag of truce, desiring time to treat for a capitulation. This was granted by Gambler and Cathcart, when cer- tain articles were agreed upon ; by which all the Danish ships and vessels of war, consisting of nineteen sail of the line,* twenty-three frigates and sloops, and twenty- five gun-boats, with the stores in the arsenal, were to be delivered up. This important object was attained with a loss not exceeding 259 men, in killed, wounded, and missing. Admiral Gambler immediately began to fit out the ships laid up in ordinary ; and at the end of the capitu- lation, they were all conveyed to England, together with the stores, timber, and every article of naval equipment found in the arsenal and storehouses, except one line of battle ship, that grounded on the isle of Huen, and was destroyed. The squadron arrived safely at the end of October, and on the 23th of January, 1803, the thanks of both houses of parliament were voted to the naval and military commanders, officers, seamen, &c. employed in the late expedition to the Baltic. For the able manner in which admiral Gambler had conducted this expedition, the dignity of a baron of the United Kingdom was conferred upon him by patent, dated the 9th of November, 1807 ; and a pension of £2000. was offered to him, which he generously declined. In May, 1808, lord Gambler retired from the admiralty, on being appointed to the command of the Channel fleet. Whilst at the admiralty he applied himself with great assiduity to the duties of the situation. The Plantagenet, 74, was built on a plan suggested by him, and was considered by judges of naval architecture to be of sin- gularly fine mould, and exquisite proportions. Being without a poop, she passed, at a distance, for a large fri- gate. He also compiled a code of signals for the navy; which had not been done since the imperfect sailing and fighting instructions issued by the duke of York, after- » Two of the line of battle ship? and two frigates ^rera destroyed, hcing unserviceable. GAMBIER. (307 wards James II. In that code, bis lordship inserted a list of the ships of the uavy, with numbers against their names, which was considered a great improvement : he also drew up the ' General Instructions' for the directiou and ^idauce of ollicers in the internal discipline and government of the king's ships, with the duty of every officer clearly pointed out. Nothing material occurred in the Channel fleet when under his lordship's command, until the mouth of April, 1809; when a detachment attacked a French squadron in the Aix roads, and destroyed La ViUe de Varsovie, 80, Tonnerre, 74, Aquilon, 74, and Calcutta, Titi, besides driv- ing several other ships on shore. A difference of opinion respecting the practicability of destroying the remainder of the enemy's squadron, created a misunderstanding between the commander-in-chief and lord Cochrane, who had tho command of the fire-ships ; and lord Gam- bier, in consequence, requested a court-martial to inves- tigate his conduct. A court was accordingly assembled on board the Gladiator, at Portsmouth, the 26th of July, 1809, continued by adjournments till the 9th of August ; when he was most honourably acquitted, and his sword was returned to him. Notwithstanding this decision, however, lord Cochrane rose in his place in the house of commons, on the 29th of January in the following year, and moved for the mi- nutes of the court-martial which had been held on lord Garabier — contending that he had been acquitted on in- sufficient grounds; and added, that, even if his lordship's • zeal, ability, and anxiety for the benefit of his majesty's service' could be proved, he should still oppose a vote of thanks, as being entirely uncalled for, and calculated to lower and diminish the value of that signal honour. This motion provoked an extended discussion, when it was contended that the motion cast an unmerited stigma upon the members of the court-martial, and that the evidence adduced on that occasion was sufficient and satisfactory. This motion of lord Cochrane's was lost by a majority of 152, and only 19 voted for it. A vote of thanks was then proposed, and carried by a large majority. Lord Gambier continued in command of the Channel fleet until 1811, when the three years, to which its te- nure is limited, expired. 608 f^AVAL HISTORY. On the 30th of July, 1814, lord Gambier was appointed chief commissioner for concluding a peace with the United States of America ; the first meeting for which took place at Ghent, on the 8th of August, when prelimi- naries of peace were signed on the 24th of December, and ratified at Washington, the 17th of February, 1815. For this service his lordship was nominated a grand cross of the Bath on the 7th of June following. At the accession of William IV., he was advanced to the rank of admiral of the fleet. His lordship's death took place on the 19th of April, 1833, at his house at Iver, near Uxbridge. His lordship married, in July, 1788, Louisa, second daughter of Daniel Mathew, of Felix Hall, in Essex, Esq., but left no family; and the peerage has become extinct. THE HON. THOMAS COCHRANE, EARL or DO'NDONALD AND BARON COCHRANE, IN THE PEERAGE OF SCOTLAND. BORN 1775. This distinguished ornament of the British navy was born on the 14th of December, 1775. The first ennobled ancestor of his lordship was William Cochrane, created baron Cochrane in 1667, and earl of Dundonald, in Ayr- shire, Scotland, in 1669. The father of lord Cochrane, who was the ninth earl of Dundonald, and distinguished by his love of science and his useful discoveries, had passed the earlier part of his life in the naval service ; and his mother was the daughter of captain Gilchrist, an officer of high reputation in the navy. From these circumstances, as well as the ardour at this time univer- sally felt for the maritime profession, lord Cochrane's early choice may have been directed. He was taken under the pi'Otection of his gallant uncle, admiral Sir Alexander COCHRANE. 009 CocJirane, when onl^ eleven years old ; but as his guardian had taken care to provide him witli an eKoellent tutor ou board, his scholastic studies were continued, while he was acquiring the practical knowledge and experience that were necessary for his profession. It appears that, even during this early period of his apprenticeship, lord Cochrane exhi'jited many remark- able proofs of that sagacity and courage in naval aflairs by which he was afterwards so conspicuous ; and upon these, several strange tales have been founded, that are certainly too romantic for the purposes of veritable his- tory. Notwithstanding the precocity of his merits, however, the strictness of naval regulations kept him in the humble rank of midshipman, until age, as well as services, warranted his promotion. This did not take place till towards the end of the war, after which hia rise was no longer restrained by rules, and went onward with merited rapidity. The first exploit worthy of notice, after lord Cochrane became lieutenant, occurred in December, 1797. While he was serving in lord Keith's Hag ship the Queen Char- lotte, the Lady Nelson, cutter, was observed off Cabareta point, in the bay of Algesiras, engaged with several French privateers and gun-boats, by which she was sur- rounded, and on the eve of being overpowered. Lord Keith, who was lying in Gibraltar bay, immediately dispatched the boats of the Queen Charlotte and Emerald, commanded by lieutenants Bainbridge and Cochrane, to her assistance, until she got under the guns of the ships. But before the boats could arrive, the Lady Nelson was boarded, and carried off in tow by two of the French privateers ; upon which Bainbridge boarded and re- captured the cutter, while young Cochrane gave chase to the flying enemy, and but for the darkness of the night, would have taken them all. His gallantry on this occasion was so gratifying to the admiral, that he was appointed to the command of the Speedy, a sloop of \A guns. As soon as lord Cochrane was thus able to act on his own account, a rapid career of bold exploits succeeded. In February, 1801, he took the Caroline, a French brig, laden with ordnance stores ; and in April, several Spanish xebeques. But the most important of his achieve- ments, at this time, was his attack and capture of the 610 NAVAL HISTORY. Spanish frigate El Gamo, off Barcelona, on tbe (Jth of May. The inequality of force on this occasion was truly alanning. The Spaniard mounted thirty-two guns, of which twenty-two were long twelves, eight were nines, and two were heavy carronades, and had a crew of three hundred and nineteen men, while the fourteen guns of the Speedy were only four-pounders, and her crew fifty-two men aud two boys. Such odds might have daunted any commander ; but his lordship knew the enemy well, and he rightly judged, that his chance of success lay in the boldness and suddenness of his onset. No sooner had he announced his purpose of boarding than not a man or boy of the Speedy would remain below : all swore to follow him, and even the surgeon undertook the management of the wheel. His little vessel was laid alongside her mountainous adversary, and the English sailors, led by their daring captain, climbed the rigging, and leaped upon the deck of the enemy. The resistance of the astounded Spaniards was spiritless and brief; they were soon glad to strike to such determined enemies. In this singular action, the Speedy had only three men killed, and eight wounded, while the Gamo, besides her captain, had fourteen killed and forty-one wounded. The Spanish officer who succeeded to the command, afterwards begged of his lordship a certificate that he had done his duty bravely ; and Cochrane complied in a humorous fashion with this very modest request. * I certify,' he wrote, ' that Don has behaved like a real Spaniard.' The pompous fool did not perceive the sarcasm implied in this equi- voque : on the contrary, his national vanity received it as the highest of compliments, and he bowed to his sword hilt in the very excess of his gratitude. It was not long after this event that lord Cochrane was distinguished by an equally bold exploit against the enemy. While he was cruising oflF Barcelona, on the 1st of June, he fell in with the English brig Kangaroo, commanded by captain Pulling ; and in consequence of intelligence which the two officers received from a Mi- norquin privateer, they determined to go in chase of a Spanish convoy, consisting of five armed vessels and twelve ships, about three days' sail ahead. On the morning of the 9th, they saw the convoy at anchor under the shelter of the battery of Oropeso, and farther COCHRANE. CU protected by a xebeque of 20 guns, and three gun-boats. Captain Pulling, encouraired by the aid of such an offi- cer as lord Coclirane, resolved on an immediate attack, in the face of these formidable obstacles, and accord- ingly the two English brigs anchored, in spite of a heavy fire that was poured upon them without intermission. The cannonade, which commenced at noon, seemed to slacken at two o'clock; but on the arrival of a felucca and two gunboats to the aid of the Spaniards, it was renewed with greater fury than ever. By half-past three the xebeque, and one of the gun-boats, went to the bottom ; another soon followed. The battery and the four gun boats that still remained kept up their fire till seven o'clock, when the former was silenced, and the latter were put to flight. The boats of the Kangaroo and Speedy were then employed till midnight in cutting out the vessels of the convoy, under a heavy fire of Miusketry from the shore ; and they succeeded in bring- ing oflf three brigs, laden with bread, rice, and wine, lu this perilous fight, which lasted three hours, lord Cochrane, who was never particularly scrupulous about his own personal safety, received a bruise, and was slightly singed. After having secured the three prizes, he returned once more to the shore, in the hope of bringing off" the rest of the convoy, but in this he was disappointed. The remainder of the vessels had been either sunk or driven on shore, during the interval. While lord Cochrane commanded the Speedy, a period of only ten months, he had captured thirty-three vessels, mounting in all 128 guns, and manned by 533 persons. After such an unprecedented run of success, it was ndt to be wondered at if a reverse should follow. Such did indeed take place ; but it was one which neither pru- dence could foresee, nor valour avert. Only a few days after the destruction of the Spanish convoy, the Speedy had the misfortune to fall in with the French squad- ron commanded by admiral Linois. In his flight, lord Cochrane exhausted every resource of seamanship to es- cape, but in vain ; his little vessel was overtaken, and obliged to strike. His captivity, however, was of very short duration. On the 6th of July, an engagement took place between Sir James Saumarez and Linois, in the bay of Algesiras ; and in consequence of a flag of truce, sent by the British commander on the following 2 Kl 1 612 NAVAL HISTORY. day, to treat about the exchange of prisoners, lord Coch- rane, with other officers and seamen, obtained his liberty. So highly were his distinguished services now appreciated, that on the 8th of the following month he was promoted to the rank of post-captain, in La Raison frigate, after which the peace of Amiens, that immedi ately succeeded, gave a temporary repose to the British navy. On the renewal of hostilities, in 1803, lord Cochrane was appointed to the command of the Arab ; and in the following jear, to the Pallas, a frigate of 32 guns. After the rupture that had taken place with Spain, his lord- ship was employed in cruising off that coast, where he made several valuable captures, the chief of which was II Fortuna, a galleon, laden with specie to the value of £130,000, and with merchandise of nearly equal value. In the midst of battles and victories, which of them- selves are but vulgar things, it is pleasing to contemplate such a trait of generosity as was exhibited by the captors on this occasion. The captain of the II Fortuna and the supercargo, on being taken prisoners, exclaimed with bitter tears that they were ruined men ; and on being farther questioned by their conquerors, they un- folded a piteous tale, too common, alas! in the annals of privateering warfare. They had toiled for twenty long years under the burning sun of South America, in pur- suit of a comfortable independence ; their industry had been crowned with success ; and they were now return- ing with fortunes, to spend the evening of their days among their friends, when this sudden stroke had be- reaved them of their all — so that, in their old age, they must commence the world anew. Even this was not the first occasion in which the captain had so suffered ; for in 1779, he had endured a similar cala- mity, having lost his whole fortune in the capture of his ship by a British cruiser. This piteous narrative completely melted the hearts of the victors, and opened their hands ; they returned 10,000 crowns of the spoil to the unfortunate sufferers, and these men were enabled to return to their homes in comfort, and with tears of gratitude. In the year 1806, lord Cochrane distinguished himself by a very bold and successful attack upon the enemy in the Garonne, a river the most difficult in navigation of COCHRANE. 613 all the rivers upon the French coast. Having* received important intelligence respecting the situation of several corvettes lying tliere, he resolved to capture or destroy them. Accordingly he sailed up the mouth of the river; and having anchored close to the Cordovan light-house, a little after dark, on the evening of the 5th of April, he manned the boats of the Pallas, into which his hearty crew rushed with such eagerness, to share in the ad- venture, that more volunteered than could be well admitted. After the boats had been well manned, they pulled off to the scene of action, which was more than twenty miles above the anchorage of their ship ; and such was their promptitude, that by three o'clock, a. m., they had reached the spot, and commenced operations. They boarded and cut out La Tapaguese, a corvette of 14 long twelve-pounders, 95 men, although it was lying under the protection of two powerful batteries. The morning at length dawned ; the alarm was spread, and another French corvette of still superior force gave chase, to recover the captured Tapaguese : but after an hour's fight it was so roughly handled, that it only escaped falling into the hands of the English from the rapidity of the tide. While this victory of the ship's boats was in progress, the Pallas had not been idle. Three ships of the enemy bore down upon it; but lord Cochrane, although he had scarcely hands enough left to work the vessel, resolved to meet them half-way. He weighed anchor accordingly, and attacked them with such vigour, that he drove them all on shore, where they lay complete wrecks. These three ships mounted in all 64 guns. What enhanced the pleasure of this double victory was, that it was accomplished without the loss of a man, and only three were wounded. This last circumstance suggests a very important con- sideration in the character of lord Cochrane's mode of warfare. From the peculiar daring by which all his exploits were distinguished, it might be thought that he was more indebted to rashness and good luck, than those higher qualities that are essential to a complete com- mander. But such an idea would be a miserable mistake. Never perhaps was such romantic boldness in attack, combined with such wise precaution and careful pre- paration. No disparity of numbers or strength of position would appear to have checked his efforts ; but these 614 NAVAL HISTORY. were all previously calculated, as well as every contin- gency that might be likely to happen. Before au attack, he reconnoitred the enemy in person ; took all the necessary soundings and bearings ; and often passed whole nights under the enemy's batteries, with the lead-line or the spy-glass in continual operation, ^^'hen all was ready for action, he would never allow his boats to go beyond the protection of the ship, provided it could at all be brought within reach of the vessel or battery that wEis to be attacked ; and when the wind was on shore, he moored a boat in by a light Indian rope that floated on the water, so that a communication weis esta- blished with the ships ; and in the event of a reverse or check, the boats were hove off by the capstan, so that the crews had only to attend to the management of their weapons. The happy fruits of these admirable precau- tions were visible in the fact, that perhaps no com- mander ever achieved such daring and successful feats, with so small a loss of life. In consequence of such a rare combination of character, the sailors followed him with enthusiasm, and under such a confidence of success, as was of itself half the victory; and when he was appointed to the Pallas, on the breaking out of the war in 1805, he could man his frigate almost instantaneously, when seamen for other ships were difficult to be found. In the next month (May) this indefatigable officer dis- tinguished himself by the destruction of the Semaphores that had been erected along the French coast. These had been hitherto so serviceable to the enemy, that no sooner did a British cruiser appear, than the intelligence was immediately convejed to every post, in consequence of which lord Cochrane had been disappointed of several valuable captures ; he, therefore, at a time ' when he had nothing better in view,' resolved to put a stop to this practice. Accordingly, he Icinded with his marines and boats' crews, and notwithstanding the defence of the militia, he demolished the posts at Point de la Roche, Caliola, and L'Auce de Repos ; burnt down the buildings, and carried off all the signal flags. He also carried by storm the battery at Point D'Equilon, demolished its stores, and blew up the barrack and magazine ; but the French convoy in the mean time got into a river, and managed to escape. Only four days after the foregoing exploit, lord Coch- COCHRANE. GI5 rane, while he was cruising oft' the isle of Aix, discovered a French frigate of 40 guns, that had grievously annoyed the English, attended by three brigs, all getting under sail. Confident of success, although so vastly inferior in force, his lordship remained tinder topsails by the wind, to await them ; and at half-past eleven, a smart point blank firing commenced, which was severely felt by the enemy. The batteries on the island of Aix opened also on the Pallas, and a cannonade continued till one o'clock, when lord Cochrane having gained the wind of the enemy, threw his vessel between the batteries and the French squadron. The enemy's fire slackened, upon which that of the Pallas was ordered to cease, and every preparation to be made for boarding. The collision of the two ships was terrible : the Pallas, by far the lighter of the two, had her guns driven back into her ports, and her fore-top-mast, jib-boom, fore and maintop-sail yards, sprit-sail-yard, bumpkin, cathead, chain-plates, fore- rigging, fore-sail, and lower anchor, torn away, with which last his lordship had purposed to hook on. Even as it was, the French frigate would have been captured, had not the French admiral, seeing her danger, sent two others to her rescue. In this daring exploit, the English had only one man killed, and five wounded. The Pallas being so disabled as to have become a complete wreck, made out to sea with what little sail could be set, after which she was taken in tow by the sloop Kingfisher, that came to her assistance. Lord Cochrane was then appointed to the Imperieuse, a frigate of 40 guns, in which he vigorously resumed his favourite warfare of cutting out vessels. In this he was so successful, that between the 13th of December 1806, and the 7th of January 1807, he took and destroyed fifteen ships of the enemy, chiefly laden with wine and provisions. The boats of the Imperieuse also made a successful attack upon Fort Roquette, at the entrance of the basin of Arcasson, which they laid in ruins, destroying at the same time a great quantity of military stores. This im- portant service was so well designed and conducted, that it was accomplished without the loss of a man. It is now necessary to turn from the smoke and noise of so many engagements, to the civil and political trans- actions with which lord Cochrane's career had been lately diversified. In the summer of 1805, after his 616 NAVAL HISTORY. glorious and lucrative cruise, by which all eyes had been turned upon him, he was desirous to obtain a seat in the house of commons, for which purpose he ofl'ered himself as a candidate for the borough of HoQiton,in Devonshire. In this new species of land-service he failed, in spite of his high reputation — probably on account of the lateness of his offer. In the following year, however, when a general election took, place, in consequence of the death of Pitt, he determined to renew the attack in profes- sional style ; and accordingly he posted from Plymouth, accompanied by two lieutenants and a midshipman, all in full uniform, while another carriage followed, manned by his hearty crew newly rigged out for ths occasion, and commanded by the boatswain, who was seated on the roof. This strange procession, which reminds us of that of commodore Trunnion when he went to the church to be maiTied, was more successful than the commodore's in having a fair wind — at least, it arrived at the hustings without being blown out of its course. He was returned by the electors without being obliged to carry the hust- ings by boarding ; but as the parliament was soon dis- solved, there was little call at this period upon his talenta as a senator. His chief exploit in this capacity was a vote against Catholic Emancipation. Before the revolt of the Spaniards against their French oppressors, lord Cochrane departed on an independent cruise to the coast of Spain ; but on his aiTival there, he placed himself under the command of lord Collingwood, who was employed in the blockade of Cadiz. When the Spaniards afterwards rose against the enemy, his lord- ship ably assisted their efforts, in one of which he com- pelled the castle of Mongal to surrender, by which the road to Gerona, that was besieged by the French, had been completely commanded. From Spain he returned to France, and appeared off the coastof Languedoc, where he resumed, in September, 1808, his war against the ob- noxious Semaphores. Those which had been newly constructed at Bourdique, La Pinede, St. Maguire, Fron- tignan, Canet, and Fay, he completely destroyed, with the houses attached to them, fourteen barracks of the gens-d'armes, a battery, and the strong tower upon the lake of Frontiguan. ' Nothing,' writes the commander- in-chief on that station, ' can exceed the activity and zeal with which his lordship pursues the enemy. The COCHRANE. 617 success which attends his enterprises clearly indicates with what skill and ability they are conducted ; besides keeping the coast in constant alarm, causing a total sus- pension of trade, and harassing a body of troops employed in opposing hira, he has, probably, prevented those troops which were intended for Figueras, from advancing into Spain, by giving them employment in the defence of their own coasts.' Thus the Spanish cause was materially allected, and its prosperity accelerated, by the achieve- ments of a single frigate upon the coast of France. Lord Cochrane having thus aided the good cause at a distance, returned to Spain ; and finding the fortress of Rosas besieged by the French, he volunteered for the defence of Trinity castle, an outwork of the garrison, upon which the safety of the whole depended. By the •2-ind of September (1808) the defenders, who were only about eighty Spaniards, were so much reduced, as to be on the point of surrendering, when lord Cochrane, at the head of an equal number of seamen and marines, revived their sinking spirits by his presence and exertions. On the 30th of the month a general assault was made upon the castle by a thousand picked men ; but at the head of the small garrison, his lordship drove back the assailants with great slaughter, killed their leader, and destroyed their storming equipage. At length, finding it impossible to hold out with a handful of men against an army, after the citadel of Rosas had capitulated, lord Cochrane blew up the magazines of Trinity castle, and then retired to his ship. His chivalrous personal bravery in this defence endeared him to the Spaniards; and on one occasion, when the Spanish tiag fell from the wall into the ditch below, he leaped after it alone, amidst a shower of bul- lets, and succeeded in recovering and planting it once more in its place. Although his lordship had protracted the siege for twelve days, his loss on the occasion amounted to no more than three killed, and seven wounded. In the following year (1809) lord Cochrane accom- plished the destruction of the French shipping in the Basque Roads ; an event worthy of particular mention, not only from its intrinsic importance, but the influence it afterwards exercised upon his reputation. Admiral AUemande, one of the bravest and most successful of the naval cbmmanders of France, had established his 618 NAVAL HISTORY. fleet in what he considered a secure anchorage, between the isle of Aix and the Boyant shoal, while lord Ganibier blockaded it strictly with a very strong squadron of the Channel fleet. Between the British and the enemy lay a dangerous shoal, that seemed eff"ectually to keep them asunder ; and the French fleet, which consisted of ten sail of the line, a 50-gun ship, and four frigates, was defended by such powerful batteries on the island of Aix, that an attack upon it, if possible, appeared to be at all events a hopeless attempt. Such however was not the view taken by lord Cochrane. His sagacious eye had carefully scanned the ^ arious difiiculties, and found them surmountable ; and therefore he had written to the admiralty, detailing his sentiments upon the matter, and proposing to destroy the French fleet, by means of an attack with fire-ships. His representations were efl^ectual, and on the 3rd of April he joined lord Gambler in the Imperieuse, with a commission to head the attack. No- thing could better illustrate the value that was now set upon the character and services of lord Cochrane, than the choice of one so joung, for such an important ser- vice, in preference to oflicers of much higher standing, who had grown grey in naval experience. A few days after the arrival of his lordship, the fire- ships and explosion vessels joined the fleet, and all things being now ready, he rau in with the Imperieuse, until he was sufficiently near the enemy; after which he went on board a fire-brig, with a lieutenant, and the crew of his gig. The boom, by which the enemy were defended, was broken by the Mediator; and the fire- ships immediately rushed through the opening, some of them mistaking their course, from the darkness of the night, others exploding too soon. Such, however, was the alarm, that some of the French ships cut their cables, and ran upon the sand banks. In the mean time, the greater number of the fire-ships and explosion vessels, piloted by their daring crews, were carried right into the enemy's anchorage, in spite of a furious cannonade, and discharge of shells from the batteries ; after which, these brave fellows, many of whom were wounded or exhausted from fatigue, having been foui hours in the boats, were received on board the Im- perieuse. When the morning dawned upon this scen€ of havoc, seven sail of the enemy's line were seen lying COCHRANE. 619 on the shore, upon which lord Cochrane, being deter- luiued to eft'ect their destruction, made signals to the admiral of the possibility of destroying them. Lord Gambier therefore made sia^nals for the fleet to weigh anchor ; but when he was within three miles of Aix, he again anchored, and the enemy were enabled to remove all their ships into deep water, except three sail of the line. Even as it was, the success already obtained was superb. Three ships of the line and a fifty-six were burnt; a seventy-four was lost a few days after, in con- sequence of this attack; and the ships that escaped were obliged to be dismantled, so that for a long time they were of no service to the French. Thus a powerful fleet was destroyed — destroyed in one of its best an- chorages, and under the protection of its own batteries, while the whole loss occasioned to the conquerors was only ten men killed, and thirty-five wounded. Upon this occasion, lord Cochrane's services met with the reward they so justly merited. He was created a knight of the Bath, at a time when admission into that illus- trious order could only be obtained by the most distin- guished services. In spite, however, of all this success, lord Cochrane still felt that enough had not been done : lord Gambier had delayed to co-operate, and a portion of the enemy had escaped. In the midst of the national triumph, lord Cochrane no sooner understood that a proposal was about to be made for a vote of thanks from both houses of par- liament to the commander-in-chief, than he expressed his determination to oppose it. When lord Gambier heard of this, he demanded a court-martial upon his conduct, which was granted. The charge of lord Coch- rane was, that having made signals that the ships on shore could be destroyed, these signals had been neg- lected by the admiral, in consequence of which culpable delay the vessels had escaped; and in support of these charges, his lordship produced his log-books, and minutes of signals. It is not for us to decide upon such grave charges, that for a long time were imbittered on both sides by political party contention, and which even yet have never been satisfactorily settled by the most com- petent naval tacticians. It is enough in this place to state, that after a trial, which continued from the 26th of July to the 9th of Auijust, lord Gambier was acquitted. b20 NAVAL HISTORY. After lord Cochrane had finished his naval services in behalf of his country by his exploits in the Basque Roads, It is irksome to revert to his career as a politician, for which he was so unfitted. But he was still a young: man ; his adventurous course had gone as yet but half way ; and when he embarked upon the stormy sea of politics, he was encountered by difficulties which neither his prudence could calculate, nor his transcendent cou- rage overcome. The opposition which lord Cochi-ane had oflTered, in parliament, to the vote of thanks proposed by the admi- nistration to lord Gambier, as well as his uncompro- mising hostility to their measures in general, had naturally subjected him to the enmity of those in power. It was therefore to be expected, that if his conduct in any way laid him open to blame, the advantage would be eagerly seized by those who were politically opposed to him. An unfortunate opportunity of this kind occurred, while he was member for Westminster. He had rashly specu- lated in the funds, by which he had sustained heavy losses ; and to recover himself from these, it was alleged that he had been induced by artful men, in the then excited state of the country, knowingly to circulate false reports for the purpose of raising the funds. Upon this charge he was tried, along with others, in the court of King's Bench, the 21st of June, 1S14, and convicted, al- though his guilt seemed to consist in having been a dupe rather than a deceiver. He was sentenced to pay a fine of £500., to be imprisoned in the King's Bench for twelve months, and to stand in the pillory. The latter part of his sentence was indeed remitted, for it was found that the popular feeling would have been too much excited by degrading in that manner one of the noblest of naval heroes. His disgrace was farther increased by the house of commons declaring that he had forfeited his right to continue a member (July 5) ; he was removed from his rank of a knight of the Bath, which was the first occur- rence of the kind since the establishment of the order, and struck off" the list of naval captains. The severity of these proceedings was regretted by the most mo- derate of all parties, and it led to so violent a clamour against the government that, at the new election, he was again chosen on the 16th of July, 1814, for the city of West- COCHRANE. 621 minster. When thus supported by the public voice, it is not to be wondered at that he should have been almost irritated to madness by the indig'nities which had been heaped upon him, and that his daring spirit should lead him to seek to escape from confinement. Accordingly, on the 6th of March, 1815, he scaled the prison walls, and on the 20th he appeared in his place in the house of commons. He was again conveyed to prison, when » new trial and a new fine were the consequences of this adventure. A mind so constituted could not long remain at rest ; to a man so persecuted home had but few charms ; and, therefore, when liberty appeared to dawn in the long- benighted provinces of South America, lord Cochrane accepted the offer of commanding the navy of the new state of Chili. He left England for this purpose, in 1818, and in his new sphere he distinguished himself as splen- didly as when he fought under the British flag. After a succession of victories on the coast of Peru, he finally captured, on the 20th of February, 1820, the fortress of Valdivia, the only post which the Spaniards retained in Chili. While he thus successfully combated in the cause of Colombian liberty, and at length established it on a eecure basis, he was obliged to contend, not merely against the enemy, but the more dangerous hostility of his allies and supporters. The spirit of freedom, always intoxicating to those unused to it, had unfitted many of the Chilian officers to receive and follow his orders with proper deference, while others, who envied his rank in the service, endeavoured to counteract all his measures. It was with such instruments, and in the face of such obstacles, that lord Cochrane was completely successful. Amidst the heroic actions performed by lord Cochrane in this service we cannot refuse ourselves the pleasure of transcribing from captain Basil Hall an account of the capture of the Esmeralda frigate, as peculiarly iUustra- tive of his lordship's genius and wonderful resources on the most trying and difficult service : — ♦ While the liberating army, under general San Martin, were removing to Ancon, lord Cochrane with part of his squadron anchored in the outer roads of Callao, the sea- port of Lima. The inner harbour was guarded by an extensive system of batteries, admirably constructed, and bearing the general name of the castle of Callao. The C22 NAVAL HISTORY. merchant-ships, as well as the men-of-war, consisting at that time of the Esmeralda, a large 40-gun frigate, and two sloops of war, were moored under the guns of the castle within a semicircle of fourteen gun-boats, and a boom made of spars chained together. Lord Cochrane having previously reconnoitred these formidable de- fences in person, undertook, on the 5th of November, i8'20, the desperate enterprise of cutting out the Spanish frigate, although she was known to be fully prepared for an attack. His lordship proceeded in fourteen boats, containing 240 men, all volunteers from the different ships of the squadron, in two divisions ; one under the immediate orders of captain Crosbie, the other under captain Guise, both officers commanding ships of the Chilian squadron. • At midnight, the boats having forced their way across the boom, lord Cochrane, who was leading, rowed along- side the first gun-boat, and taking the officer by sui-prise, proposed to him, with a pistol at his head, the alternative of " Silence or death!" — no reply was made — the boats pushed on unobserved — and lord Cochrane, mounting the Esmeralda's side, was the first to give the alarm. Tbe sentinel on the gangway levelled his piece and fired ; but was instantly cut down by the coxswain, and his lordship, though wounded in the thigh, at the same moment stepped on the deck. The frigate being boarded with no less gallantry on the opposite side, by captain Guise, who met lord Cochrane mid-way on the quarter- deck ; and also by captain Crosbie ; the after-part of the ship was soon carried, sword in hand. The Spaniards rallied on the forecastle, where they made a desperate resistance, till overpowered by a fresh party of seamen and marines, headed by lord Cochrane. A gallant stand was again made for some time on the main-deck ; but before one o'clock tbe ship was captured, her cables cut, and she was steered ti-iumphantly out of the harbour, under the fire of the whole north face of the castle. The Hyperion, an English, and the Macedonian, an Ameri- can frigate, which were at anchor close to the scene of action, got under weigh when the attack commenced ; and in order to prevent their being mistaken by the batteries for the Esmeralda, shewed distinguishing sig- nals: but lord Cochrane, who had foreseen and provided even for this min\ite circumstance, hoisted the same COCHRANE. 623 lights as the American and English frigates ; and thus rendered it impossible foi- the hatteries to discriminate between the three ships : the Esmeralda, in consequence, was very little injured by the shot from the batteries. The Spaniards had upwards of 120 men killed and wounded, the Chilians eleven killed and thirty wounded. ' This loss was a death-blow to the Spanish naval force in that quarter of the world ; for, although there were still two Spanish frigates and some smaller vessels in the Pacific, they never afterwards ventured to shew themselves, but left lord Cochrane undisputed master of the coast.' Lord Cochrane, after these services to the Chilians, accepted the chief command of the Brazilian fleet, and gave such satisfaction, that Don Pedro created him mar- quis of Maranham, in 1823. After peace was established between Portugal and Brazil, his lordship returned to England, and intended to enter the Greek service, in 1826, as admiral, but the steam-boats that had been built in Englai.d for the Greeks were found unfit for service, so that he was obliged to wait a long time at Marseilles and Genoa, for other vessels; and, in 1827, he was en- abled to accomplish his purpose of joining the Greeks, with whom he continued for a year, after which he re- turned to England. It is gratifying to add, that the accession of William IV. to the throne of Great Britain produced a change in favour of lord Cochrane, as the sailor-king restored him to his place in the British navy ; after which his lordship, in the course of promotion, was raised to the rank of rear-admiral. By the death of his fatlier. in 1831, he succeeded as tenth earl of Dundonald in the peerage of Scotland, and attained, in 1841, the rank of admiral. As a further public recognition of his early professional services, he was appointed, in January, 184S, to the comraand-in-chief ou the American station, which he held for the usual period of three years. Like his father. Earl Dundonald is distinguislied by a love of science and mechanical inventions, in which his leisure is honour- ably and usefully occupied. NAVAL HISTORY. EDWARD PEL LEW, VISCOUNT EXMOUTH, AND BARON EXMOL'TH C? CANONTEIGN. 1757—1833. This gallant and distinguished commander was the second son of Samuel Pellew, who commanded one of the government packets at Dover, where his son was bom on the 19th of April, 1757. On the death of his father, in 1765.. the family was reduced to considerable distress, and young Pellew had a hard struggle to obtain the education necessary for that employment upon which he had set his heart. At the age of thir- teen he went to sea, in the Juno frigate, commanded by captain Scott, with whom he sailed to the Falkland Islands, and afterwards accompanied, in the Alarm, to the Mediterranean ; where, some misunderstanding arising between captain Scott, himself, and another midshipman, the two latter were cruelly sent on shore at Marseilles, and obliged to return to England by land. At the commencement of the war with the American colonies, he became midshipman of the Blond frigate, with captain PownoU ; and was detached, in February, 1776, to serve under admiral Schank (then a lieutenant), on lake Champlain. During this arduous service they cut down trees from the neighbouring forests, and in a few weeks converted them into vessels of war, with which they drove the force under general Arnold from the lake. For this activity he received a lieutenant's commission from admiral lord Howe. With this rank of acting-lieutenant, which could not be confirmed till he returned to England, he continued to co-operate with the army under general Burgoyne, and shared in all the toils and dangers of the disastrous campaign of 1777, which tenninated in the unforttmate battle of Saratoga, and the subsequent surrender of the whole British force to the American army under general Gates, Soon after the convention was signed, Mr. Pel* PELLEW. 625 lew, beiug released on his parole, returned to England, bearing a letter from Sir Guy Carleton, expressing such high commendation 'of his gallantry and merit during two severe campaigns,' that on his arrival he was im- mediately confirmed in his rank of lieutenant. After serving some time in the Licorne, captain Bel- lew, he was appointed first lieutenant of the Apollo frigate, under his old commander, captain Pownoll,who, in the spring of 1780, was killed while closely engaured with an enemy's ship of equal force. His last words were, ' Pellew, don't give his majesty's ship away.' Nor were they uttered in vain ; for, immediately assuming the command, he continued the action with such deter- mined resolution, that his opponent fled, and gained the neutral anchorage of Ostend. For this gallant service, he was promptly rewarded by being appointed to com- mand the Hazard sloop-of-war, in which he was very actively employed till March, 1782. He then removed to the Pelican, in which, on the 3 1st of May, 1782, he was advanced to the rank of post-captain, for his spirited services in driving three privateers on shore at the isle of Bass. The termination of hostilities having restored him to more peaceful occupations, he remained on shore until 1786, when he proceeded, in command of the Winchel- sea frigate, to Newfoundland, and remained on that sta- tion till 1789. In the following year he was appointed to the Salisbury, bearing the flag of admiral Milbanke ; and was at length paid oflF in December, 1791. At the commencement of the war of the French Re- volution, captain Pellew was among the first officers called into active service, being appointed, on the 11th of January, 1793, to command La Nymphe, frigate, of 36 guns. As he was by descent a Cornishman, his popu- larity in the neighbourhood of Falmouth enabled him to man his ship principally with miners, and put to sea with his usual activity ; but he had no opportunity of proving their spirit until the morning of the I8th of June. On the previous evening, when off the Start, he descried a large vessel, to which he gave chase, and foHowed through the night. At day-break she appeared again, standing towards them ; and on her approach proved to be the French frigate La Cleopatra, of equal force. AH was silent until the ships came within hail : captain 626 NAVAL HISTORY. Pellew then ordered his crew to man the shrouds and give three cheers, with ' Long live king George the Third !' which was followed hy the French captain wav- ing his hat, and exclaiming 'Vive la nation !' which was accompanied with three cheers from his crew. Captain Pellew's putting on his hat was the signal for La Nymphe to begin the action. One more desperate was never fought : they were engaged, throughout, yard-arm and yard-arm. At length a shot from the British frigate carried away the enemy's mizen-mast, and another her wheel ; so that she became ungovernable, and fell on board her opponent. The gallant French captain was cheering on his crew to board La Nymphe, when he was shot dead, and Pellew seizing the advantage, ordered his men to board La Cleopatra, which was carried after a short struggle. He proceeded with his prize directly to Portsmouth, and was received with acclamations, it being the first important capture made since the decla- ration of war. As such, it was distinguished by peculiar reward ; captain Pellew, on being presented to the king, on the 29th of June, 1793, received the honour of knight- hood, and he had the farther satisfaction of seeing his brother advanced to the rank of post-captain for having served as a volunteer in the action. Sir Edward was now removed to the command of the Arethusa, of 44 guns, attached to the squadron under the command of Sir John B. Warren. In this ship he was present at a number of encounters, both with batteries on shore, and with the enemy's vessels at sea. Early on the 23rd of April, 1794, while cruising off Guernsey, in company with the Flora, the Melampus, La Nymphe, and La Concorde, four sail were discovered standing out to sea ; and, as day broke, they were clearly perceived to be French. The wind, changing two points, enabled the British to gain the weather-gage, and bring them to close action, while at the same time it prevented them from gaining their own shore. The battle was maintained with great resolution for three hours, when two of the enemy's ships. La Pomone, of 44 guns, and La Babet, of 22 guns, struck to the Flora and Arethusa. The other English frigates pursued the remainder of the French squadron and raptured L'Engageante, of 38 guns. On the 23rd of August, the squadron under Sir John PELLEW. 627 B. Warren, when cruising off Brest, fell in with, and drove on shore near the Penmark Rocks, La Felicity, French frigate of 40 guns, 18-pounders ; and soon after two corvettes, L'Espion and Alert, mounting 18 guns, 9-pounders. They at first took shelter under cover of three batteries in Hodieme Bay ; but being hard pressed, cut their cables and ran ashore. The boats of the squadron were sent under Sir Edward Pellew to set fire to them ; but finding them tilled with wounded men, incapable of being removed, he preferred to abandon the ships rather than destroy so many unfortunate sufferers. At the commencement of 1795, Sir Edward was again serving under Sir J. B. Warren ; whose squadron, on the 18th of February, fell in, off the Isle of Oleron, with a French frigate and twenty sail of vessels under her convoy, which were pursued ; a schooner of eight brass guns, and seven merchantmen, were captured; and eleven others were destroyed. These vessels were chiefly laden with provisions and clothing for the French fleet and army. In the ensuing month, he took and de- stroyed fifteen out of a fleet of twenty-five sail of coast- ers ; the remainder he obliged to seek refuge among the rocks near the Penmarks. But justly as his conduct was entitled to distinction, nothing gained him more deserved honour than that union of prompt resolution with constitutional philan- thropy which personally endeared him to his followers. Twice, when captain of the Winchelsea frigate, this heroic spirit had been signally displayed by his leaping from the deck, and saving two of his drowning sailors. This noble feeling was more conspicuously shewn on the 26th of January, 1796, when the Dutton East Indiaman was driven into Plymouth, during a violent gale, when it was deemed advisable to make for Catwater ; but the buoy on the reef off mount Batten having been sunk or broken adrift by the late storms, of which the Plymouth pilots were not aware, the ship touched on the tail of the shoal, and lost her rudder. Thus disabled and un- governable, she fell off, and grounded under the citadel, near the Barbican; when the sea breaking over her, occasioned her to roll so prodigiously, that at one jerk all her masts went by the board, and fell towards the shore, the ship heeling off with her side to seaward. Many of the active and able got safe on shore, with the 2K2 628 NAVAL HISTORY. captain and officers ; but there still remained on board a considerable number of seamen, soldiers, and their wives. Captain PeDew, observing that the gale increased, and knowing that a single rope from the ship to the shore was all the communication they could have with it, and that the flood tide would make a complete wreck of the vessel, earnestly entreated some of the numerous spectators to accompany him on board, for the rescue of the crew. The shore was crowded with pilots, sailors, and people of all descriptions, but none would venture to accompany him. The scene was tremendous ; the gale every moment increased, and one and all were appalled. At length Mr. Edsell, the port-admiral's signal midship- man, came forward, and nobly volunteered his services; when captain Pellew and Mr. Edsell were fastened to the rope, and hauled on board. As they had not dared to make it completely fast on shore, lest the rolling and jerking of the ship should break it, tliese brave adven- turers were at times high above, and at others under, the water. Being at length got on board, they sent a hawser to the shore, to which travellers and bawling lines were affixed ; and by this means the whole of the crew were saved. For the manly conduct displayed by Sir Edward on this occasion, the corporation of Plymouth presented him with the freedom of that borough ; and on the 5th of March, he was advanced to the dignity of a baronet of the United Kingdom, as Sir Edward Pellew of Treverry, in Cornwall. About the same time he proceeded on a cruise in the Indefatigable, a cut-down 64, mounting 46 guns, with four frigates under his command. On the 9th of April the squadron fell in with, and cap- tured, a fleet of French merchantmen, and drove La Volage, 2(5, on shore. Four days after, L'Unite, 38, with 255 men, was taken. On the 20th, whilst the squadron was lying-to under the Lizard, till the prize got safe into Falmouth, a large ship was observed standing in for the land, which, when the private signal was made, tacked, and stood off". Sir Edward Pellew, certain of its being an enemy's frigate, immediately gave chase, in company with the Amazon and Concorde. About midnight, after a chase of one hundred and sixty-eight miles, the Indefatigable got alongside of the frigate, and brought her to close action, which continued without PELLEW. 629 intermission, under a crowd of sail, for one hour and forty-five minutes. At this time the enemy's ship, whose commander defended her with great bravery, had her mizen-mast and maintop-mast shot away. In this situ- ation the Indefatigable unavoidably shot ahead ; her miaen-topmast and gaff being gone, and the main top- sail rendered useless, with her running rigging cut to pieces, she had no sail to back, until new braces could be rove ; neither did Sir Edward Pellew think it pru- dent to throw his ship in the wind, lest he should be exposed to a raking fire ; he thei-efore remained at a proper distance, ahead of the enemy, until he could renew the attack. Just at this moment the Concorde ranged up under the enemy's stem, and captain Hunt was preparing to rake her, when she fired a gun to leeward, and surrendered. She proved to be the French fri;.-ate, La Virginie, 44, manned with 340 men, and com- manded by M. Bergeret, bound on a cruise off the Lizard. When taken, her hull was a complete sieve, with four feet water in her hold. It is remarkable, that in this action the Indefatigable had not a man hurt. La Vir- ginie, on the contrary, had fifteen killed and twenty- seven wounded. The year 1797 afforded fresh proofs of the enterprise of Sir Edward Pellew. On the 13th of January, while cruising to the S.W. of Ushant, in company with the Amazon frigate, captain Reynolds, he perceived a large ship steering towards the coast of France. Chase was instantly given, and at four p.m. the Indefatigable had pained sufficiently upon the enemy to distinguish that she had two tier of guns, and no poop. At a quarter before six she was brought to close action, which was well supported on both sides, for near an hour, when the Indefatigable shot ahead: at this moment the Amazon appeared astern, and gallantly supplied her place; but; the eagerness of captain Reynolds to second his friend, had brought him up under a press of sail, and, after a well-supported and close fire for a little time, he also unavoidably ran ahead. The enemy made an ineffectual! attempt to board the Indefatigable, and kept up a con- stant fire of musketry till the end of the action, fre- quently engaging both sides of the ship at the sam€» time. As soon as Sir Edward had replaced his disabled rigging, 630 NAVAL HISTORY. and brought bis ship under a proper sail, and the Ama- zon bad reduced hers, they commeuced a second attack, placing themselves, after some raking broadsides, upon each quarter, often within pistol-shot. This attack lasted without intermission for five hours ; when the Indefati- gable was obliged to sheer off, to secure her masts. The enemy also lost her mizen-mast ; and having ex- pended nearly all her shot, latterly returned the fire of her opponents with shells ; still making a formidable resistance, though steadily pursuing her course for Brest. About twenty minutes past four in the morning, the moon, shining rather more brightly than before, lieu- tenant Bell, who was looking out on the forecastle, caught a glimpse of the land, which he had scarcely reported to Sir Edward Pellew, before the breakers were seen. At this time the Indefatigable was close under the enemy's starboard bow, and the Amazon as near her on the larboard. Not an instant could be lost — every life depended upon the prompt execution of orders. Nothing could equal the activity of Sir Edward's brave crew, who, with incredible alacrity, hauled the tacks on board and made sail to the southward. Before daylight they again saw breakers upon the lee bow, and wore to the north- ward. Not knowing on what part of the coast they were embayed, the lingering approach of daylight was most anxiously looked for; and soon after it opened, the land was seen very close ahead ; the ship was again wore in twenty fathoms water, and stood to the southward. A few minutes after, the Indefatigable discovered within a mile the enemy's ship lying on her broadside, and a tremendous surf beating over her, while the Indefati- gable had cause to apprehend a similar misfortune, having at that time four feet water in the hold, a great sea, and the wind dead on the shore. Sir Edward Pellew was now able to ascertain his situation to be that of Hodierne Bay, and that their fate depended upon the possible chance of weathering the Penmark Rocks, which, by very skilful seamanship, and the uncommon exertions of the crew, was happily accomplished at eleven o'clock ; passing about a mile to windward of them. The Amazon was not so fortunate; when the Inde- fatigable had hauled her wind to the southward, she had hauled hers to the northward captain Reynolds, not- PELLEW. 63! withstandiug- every eflbrt, fouud his masts, rigging, and sails so miserably sbattered, with three feet water iu his hold, tliat it was impossible to work oflf the shore ; in this condition, a little after live in the morning, the Amazon struck, the gi-ound. The crew (excepting six, who stole away the cutter, and were drowned) saved themselves by constructing rafts, and upon their lauding they were, of course, made prisoners. In this gallant action, which commenced at a quarter before six p.m., and lasted (except at short intervals) until half-past four a. m. the sea was so high that the people in both ships were up to their middles in water on the main deck. Some of the guns on board the Inde- fatigable broke their breechings four times over ; others drew their ring-bolts from the sides ; and many, from getting wet, were repeatedly drawn immediately after loading. The loss sustained was nineteen wounded on board the Indefatigable ; and the Amazon had three men killed, and fifteen wounded. The enemy's ship proved to be Les Droits des Hommes, 80. She was on her re- treat from the disastrous expedition to Bantry bay ; and had on board 1750 men, including soldiers ; 1350 of whom perished. Jn the following year the success of the Indefatigable and the western squadron was remarkably shewn by the capture of fifteen of the enemy's cruisers. In 1799, Sir Edward Pellew removed into L'Impetueux, 74, and served in the Channel Heet. In June, 1800, he was sent by earl St. Vincent, with a squadron consisting of seven ships of the line, one 50, nine frigates, a sloop of war, and a cutter, having on board a detachment of troops under the command of major-general Maitland, to co- operate with the French royalists and Chouans, in Qui- beron bay and the Morbihau. But this enterprise was not attended with any success beyond the destruction of the forts on the south-west end of Quiberon, and several vessels which were cut out and captured. In the autumn, Sir Edward, still in the Impetueux. was again attached to the squadron of Sir J. B. Warren, in an expedition against Ferrol ; and directed the dis- embarkation of the troops, which were landed without the loss of a single man. Two days afterwards they were reimbarked with equal success ; after which the squa- dron proceeded to Vigo, thence to Lisbon, and returned 632 NAVAL HISTORY to Plymouth. He was then placed under the orders of admiral Cornwallis ; and, as commodore of a division of line of battle ships, blockaded the French squadron at Rochfort. In 1801, he received the honorary rank of colonel of marines; and in consequence of tVie peace of Amiens, Sir Edward experienced a temporary respite from his professional labours. At the general election in 1802, he was returned to parliament, for Barnstaple. He, however, did not take an active part in the busi- ness of the house ; and on the renewal of hostilities, he was appointed to Le Tonnant, 80, and hoisted a broad pendant in command of five sail of the line, with which he blockaded the French squadi'on at Ferrol. Being soon after advanced to the rank of rear-admiral of the blue, he was appointed to the command in chief in the East Indies, and, hoisting his flag in the Culloden, 74, proceeded to that station on the 10th of July, 1804. The reduced state of the French marine at the Isle of France presented no hope of any general action, although the activity of their frigates and inferior cruisers gave constant occupation to Sir Edward's squadron. In Fe- bruary, 1805, captain Lambert, in the St. Fiorenzo, fell in with and captured ofi' Vizagapatam, after a very hard-fought action. La Psyche, 32, commanded by the admiral's former antagonist, captain Bergeret, who did not surrender until half his officers and men were killed and wounded. The meeting of the admiral and his gal- lant prisoner on the Culloden's quarter-deck was highly interesting. They embraced with lively feelings of sym- pathy ; and the manly tears then shed found an honest welcome in every heart which witnessed the interview. During the continuance of his command in the East Indies few events of importance occurred. He was successful in destroying several French and Dutch ships of war. The conquest of the Danish settlements in the East was among the last of his successes on that station. On the 28th of April, 1808, Sir Edward was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral of the blue. In February, 1809, he set sail for England, having under charge a valuable convoy of Indiaraen. Off the Isle of France they encountered a violent hunicane, in which four of the richest ships foundered with all on board, and the da^-ship had well nigh suffered the same fate, had not EXMOUTH. 633 the great exertions of the admiral and his fine crew car- ried them safe through the gale, and enabled them to reach Eng:land with the surviving ships, just five years from the date of his departure. A few months after his arrival, he was recalled into active service as commander-in-chief of the fleet then blockading the Scheldt, and hoisted his flag on board the Christian the Seventh, 98; but as the French fleet did not venture to sea, his sanguine hopes of a battle were disappointed. In the spring he was appointed to the more important command of the Mediterranean fleet, and hoisting his flag in the Caledonian, 120, pro- ceeded to relieve Sir Charles Cotton on that station. The great wish of his heart was to have the oppor- tunity of fighting a general action. Twice, indeed, the Caledonian, with a part of his squadron, had a partial engajicment with the rear of the French fleet, while exercising off" Toulon, which served but to whet his appetite for a decisive battle. His time was em- ployed in maintaining the blockade of the enemy's superior force at that port, unconscious that their impe- rious master had forbidden them to attack him — and in co-oi)erating with the British forces employed in that quarter, while at the same time he was engaged in reviving the loyal spirit of the south of France, and endeavouring to detach the Italian states from their alliance with Napoleon. At length the progress of events once more united the great powers of Europe ; and while Sir Edward was preparing for the immediate at- tack of Genoa and Leghorn, he received the unexpected intelligence that the French emperor was already a fugitive from his capital ; and shortly after, that he had been embarked as a passenger on board one of the ad- miral's own frigates, on his way to Elba. To mark the high approval of the admiral's general conduct, he was, on the 14th of May, 1814, raised to the peerage by the title of baron Exmouth of Canonteign, with the usual pension of £2000. per annum ; and upon bis return to England, he was farther honoured with the riband of the Bath ; and, a year after, he received the grand cross of the same order. On the escape of Napoleon from Elba, a squadron was hastily dispatched to rtie Mediterranean under the com- 634 NAVAL HISTORY. mand of Lord Exmouth, who proceeded tbither iu the Bojne, 98, and there he effectually prevented any hostile movement of the French fleet at Toulou, and mainly contributed to the restoration of the legitimate sovereign of Naples. In the month of March, 1816, lord Exmouth was sent to the several states of Barbary, to demand the liberation of all Christian slaves who were subjects of our allies, 'ihe beys of Tripoli and Tunis promised compliance with all the demands which were made; but the Dey of Algiers would not consent to abolish the practice of Christian slavery without the permission of the Grand Seignior ; and time was therefore allowed him to com- municate with Constantinople. This service being ac- complished, the admiral set sail for England, but scarcely had the British squadron quitted the Mediterranean when a number of Christians, employed in the coral fisheries at Bona, were wantonly murdered by the Algerines. When intelligence of this atrocity was received in .England, it was determined to send out lord Exmouth with a squa- dron to bombard the Dey's capital. Lord Exmouth hoisted his flag on board the Queen Charlotte, and on the 26th of July proceeded to Gibraltar, where he was joined by the Dutch admiral Capellan, with six frigates, and on the 14th of August he sailed direct for Algiers. In consequence of the continuance of adverse winds and calms, the land to the westward of Algiers was not made before the 26th of August. The next morning at day -break the British fleet, and the Dutch frigates by which it was accompanied, were advanced in sight of the city, though not so near as was intended. As the ships were becalmed, lord Exmouth dispatched a boat under cover of the Severn, with a flag of truce, and the demands he had to make of the Dey of Algiers, in the name of the Prince Regent. After a delay of three hours, during which the sea-breeze had enabled the fleet to reach the bay, the boat was seen returning with a signal flying, that no answer had been received. The com- mander-in-chief instantly made the signal to know if the ships were all ready, which being answered in the aflirmative, the Queen Charlotte bore up, followed by the fleet for their appointed stations ; the flag, leading EX MOUTH. 035 in the prescribed order, was anchored at the entrance of the Mole, at about fifty yards' distance, and the other ships took their stations with admirable precision. The battle commenced at a quarter before three, p. m., by a shot fired from the shore at the Queen Charlotte, which was then lashing to the main-mast of a brig, fast to the shore in the mouth of the Mole, and two at the ships to the northward then following, which were promptly returned ; a heavy fire was then kept up until nine o'clock, without intermission, and which did not ceasb altogether until half-past eleven ; when, many of the barbarian's ships being in flames, and certain of the destruction of the whole, lord Exmouth made preparations for withdrawing the squadron. After much warping and towing, by the help of a light air of wind, the whole came to an anchor out of reach of shells, about two in the morning, after twelve hours' incessant labour. The flotilla of mortar, gun, and rocket-boats, shared in the honours of this day, and performed good service ; it was by their fire that all the ships in the port (with the exception of the outer frigate) were in flames, which extended rapidly over the whole arsenal, &c., exhibitijig a spectacle of awful grandeur and interest, that no pen can describe. The sloops of war, appointed to aid the ships of the line, and prepare for their retreat, per- formed not only that duty well, but fired at every inter- val, and were constantly in motion. The shells from the bombs were well thrown by the Royal Marine Artillery ; and although crossing over the large ships, not an acci- dent occurred. The Dutch admiral Van Capellan, with his frigates, covered the British ships from the enemy's flanking batteries, on which he kept up a good fire. The result of this dreadful conflict was : — The abolition, for ever, of Christian slavery ; the liberation of all slaves in the territory of Algiers ; reparation to the British consul for all losses sustained by him in consequence of his confinement ; a public apology made by the Dey to the same gentleman ; the recovery of 382,500 dollars for Naples and Sardinia ; the destruction of four large frigates, of 44 guns each ; five large corvettes, from 24 to 30 guns each ; thirty gun and mortar-boats ; several merchant brigs and schooners ; a number of small ves- sels of various descriptions ; all the pontoons, lighters, &c. ; and a great many gun carriages, mortar-beds. 630 NAVAL HISTORY. casks, and ships' stores of all descriptious : besides the store-houses and arsenal, with all the timber and various marine articles, destroyed in part, and between 6 and 7000 Alg-erines killed and wounded. The total loss in the com- bined squadrons amounted to 141 killed, and 742 wounded ; which, according to the number of men employed, ex- ceeded the proportion in any of our former victories. This important service secured to his lordship the ap- probation of his sovereign, by whom he was advanced to the dignity of viscount, on the 21st of September, 1816. The several powers whose subjects had been thus set free, acknowledged the obligation by sending him their several iusignia of knighthood ; he received the still more flattering testimonial of the thanks of both houses of parliament, and he was presented by the city of Lon- don with a sword. The officers employed under his orders at Algiers also presented his lordship with a piece of plate, of massy size and elegant workmanship, which cost 1,400 guineas, as a mark of their admiration of his conduct. On the death of Sir J. T. Duckworth, in 1817, lord Exmouth was appointed to the chief command at Ply- mouth ; where he continued, with his flag in the Im- pregnable, 104, until the 1st of February, 1821. He was appointed vice-admiral of England on the loth of Febru- ary, 1832, and finally retired from the active duties of his profession ; and, except when attending the house of lords, passed the remainder of his days at his beautiful retreat at Teignmouth. He expired at Teignmouth on the 23rd of January, 1833, and was buried at Christowe, February 6, in which parish the mansion and estate of Cauonteign are situated. Lord Exmouth married, 28th of May, 17S3, Susannah, second daughter of James Frowd, Esq. of Knowle, in Wiltshire ; and had issue four sons and two daughters. CODRINGTON. 637 SIR EDWARD CODRINGTON, G.C.B., G.C.ST.L., K.ST.G. BORN 1770. » Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, v/ho closes our list ot British naval heroes, is descended from a family of honourable name, the Codringtons, of Codrington, iu Gloucestershire, where they have been settled since the reign of Henry IV.; and in the subsequent reign, John Codrington was the standard-bearer of the renowned conqueror of Agincourt. William Codrington, Esq., of Dodington, grandfather of the illustrious admiral, was created a baronet in 1721. Sir Edward is third sou of Edward Codrington, second son of Sir William, and of Rebecca Le Sturgeon his wife, and brother to Sir C.B. Codrington, Bart, of Dodington. He was born in April, 1770, and was bereaved of the paternal guardianship at a tender age, as his father died iu the year 1775. As Sir Edward was destined to the naval service, he commenced his career on board the Augusta, yacht, in 1783; and two years afterwards he was removed to the Brisk, sloop of war. He continued as midshipman in several vessels until April, 1790, when he was sent as acting-lieutenant on board the Ambuscade frigate ; and in June, 1793, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, in which capacity he served in lord Howe's flag-ship in the battles of the 28th and 29th of May, and 1st of June. On this glorious occasion. Sir Edward was ho- noured by the commander-in-chief to convey the dupli- cate dispatches relating the victory, and safe arrival of the fleet and prizes. Although he was now entitled to the rank of commander, yet Sir Edward, in compli- ance with the wishes of his friend and patron, lord Howe, consented to remain on board his flag-ship as lirst lieutenant, with an understanding from the first lord of the admiralty that he should be considered as a commander, and advance from that situation to the rank of post-captain. In 1795, he was appointed with post-rank to the Babet, and served under lord Bridport 638 NAVAL HISTORY. at the victory oft" L'Orient ; and iu May, 1805, he was appointed to the Orion, 74, in which he was present at the battle of Trafalgar. In this brief account of Sir Edward Codrington's services, we can only pause to mention that he was present in three of our most distinguished naval victories, and was as often included in the vote of thanks conferred by both houses of parliament upon the meritorious officers, while for the last of these he was also honoured with the gold medal. After a cessation of two years from active service. Sir Edward was appointed in 1808 to the Blake, 74, and after serving in this ship for some time in the North Sea, he invited his friend lord Gardiner to hoist his flag in her, in consequence of his lordship having no proper flag-ship, on setting out for Flushing. In the failure of this unfortunate expedition our naval captains had cer- tainly no share, and the Blake was so actively employed in the bombardment, that she was several times set on fire by the red-hot shot of the enemy. In 1810, when the course of events had transferred the war to Spain, where our court was liberal of its aid to the insurgents against French oppression. Sir Ed- ward was actively employed in this important service. Being the senior officer on the coast of Catalonia, he superintended the necessary operations in behalf of the feeble and divided Spanish patriots, and through his judiciotis arrangements the small British squadron in this quarter made a powerful diversion in May, in favour of an attack upon Figueras ; and on the 2nd of September, the Medas islands were taken from the French by captain Thomas, of the Undaunted. The castle, which the enemy had fortified, was reduced by the fire of the ship, and the garrison surrendered at discretion. So important, indeed, were these services to the cause which they were sent to aid, that captain Codringtou, and the brave officers and men who served under him, received the thanks of the lords commis- sioners of the admiralty, as well as those of the Spanish authorities. In the succeeding year, captain Codrington, still in the Blake, was actively employed in co-operating with the garrison of Tarragona. This important fortress of Catalonia was fiercely attacked by a French army of 11,000 men under general Suchet, and its garrison was CODRINGTON. 630 reduced to a feeble handful, that, in spite of repeated losses, made a gallant resistance. In this emergency, captain Codrington left Tarragona on the 16th of May, and proceeded to Murviedro, where he speedily shipped 2,300 soldiers, and 213 artillery men for the aid of the garrison, after which he supplied generals O'Donnel and Villa Campa, and colonel Manso, with military stores, by which the army of Arragon was enabled to act with that of Valencia. Having thus furthered these impor- tant military movements, he repaired to Alicaut for fresh supplies for Tarragona, with which he returned ; and having negotiated with O'Donnel for a fresh rein- forcement of 4000 men, his promptitude was so re- markable on this occasion, that this large force was embarked on the 11th, and landed in Tarragona on the lith of June Having thus increased the feeble garrison into an army, captain Codrington now proceeded to annoy the flank, of the invaders, who still pressed onward to the siege. He therefore caused the boats and launches to be manned, from wliich shot was thrown into the French camp, that gave them great annoyance. The ships in the mean time moved as closely in to the ene- my's works as the depth of water permitted, and drove them from their advanced positions, which were imme- diately occupied by the guerillas. But in spite of all that the utmost activity and valour of such devoted allies could accomplish, the fall of Tarragona was only retarded, not prevented. On the 29th of June the French opened their fire upon the town ; in the after- noon a breach was made, and the place was carried by assault. It was now that the Spaniards shewed the uncertain and transitory nature of that heroism which occasionally animates a degraded people only to fc.rsake them when it is most required. The garrison lied in every direction before the enemy ; resistance was at an end, and crowds were pursued, or tamely struck down and slaughtered, by mere handfuls of the victors. All that the British could do in such a crisis was done : the sea was covered with fugitives, who endeavoured to escape by swimming ; and all the boats of the British squadron were busy in their rescue : the shore was lined with women, children, and wounded men, and our offi- cers and sailors ventured through the incessant fire of 640 NAVAL HISTORY. shot and shells to bring them oif in safety. In this truly heroic service, by which above 600 persons were saved at the most imminent risk, captain Codrington and his brave companions secured for themselves a testimony of approval which no deed of mere vulgar heroism could have merited ; and the still small voice of which, within the recesses of their own hearts, must have often cheered them when the misdirected applause of the world would have been utterly powerless either to soothe or allevi- ate. The Spaniards who were thus rescued, after having experienced the sympathy of the British, were cured, clothed, fed, and carefully conveyed to places of safety. Services such as these — and we are proud in asserting it — have never been more highly appreciated by any coun- try than by our own ; and while the ancient Roman could bestow a civic crown upon him who had saved the life of a citizen, Britain, with a more enlarged philanthropy, can confer the same meed upon him who saves the life of an ally, or even a stranger. In 1814, while actively em- ployed in America, as captain of the fleet, captain Codring- ton was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and in the following year he was created a knight commander of the Bath. In consequence of this last distinction, an incident occurred from the expensive accompaniments of such an honour, which he related with great humour. * He recol- lected,' he said, ' when the bill of fees, amounting to £386. 7s. 2d. was originally sent to him, on his being made military grand cross, he was quite shocked at seeing its amount. It did not, however, give him much disturbance, as he was determined never to pay one farthing of it ; and had continued obstinate in his refusal. The officers, in particular, used very gracious language, but it had no effect. He thought that the demanding fees for conferring a distinction of this nature, was very like buying some- thing of equivalent value. When he received the bill, he sent it to the first lord of the admiralty, who said, that it was very hard on him ; but he replied, " Not in the least," as he had made up his mind not to pay a farthing of it. He was told that the fees were regulated by an order in council, and that he must pay them ; but he de- clared that he had nothing to do with the order, and he would not pay the fee ; he did not ask for the distinc- tion, and he would not pay a shilling for it : he wished eTery officer had done the same.' CODRINGTON. ftU Tlie long period of peace which now occurred dis- pensed with the active services of our navy ; but in 1825, Sir Edward Codringtun was promoted to the rank, of vice- admiral, and in 1826 he was appointed to the command of the Mediterranean fleet. Those who have read the life of CoIlin(^wood will be already aware that such a station is one of the highest importance. In addition to those high nautical qualities by which a British admiral should be distiiii^uished, it requires that political prudence, sa- gacity, and tact, which are not always to be found in the character of a naval hero. Sir Edward hoisted his flag on board the Asia, 84, and on reaching the station in February, 1827, he there found affairs in such a con- dition as might well try to the uttermost all his naval and diplomatic skill. But to appreciate these circumstances, and the important events that ensued, it is necessary to consider the situation of those parties between whom he was now called to arbitrate. Greece, although the victim of national oppression for centuries, had never lost sight, even in the darkest hour, of that glorious liberty for which it had been so illustri- ous ; so that even the klepht, or the pirate, who pursued his avocations in sight of the Bay of Salamis, or the plains of Marathon, endeavoured to dignify his lawless profession by the sentiments which these scenes inspired. Under such feelings, the Turkish yoke was not always tani«ly endured. The Greeks talked of the deeds of their fatliers, and frequently sought to emulate them ; and for this purpose they repeatedly rose against their tyrants : but the conflict that followed was too unequal, and with each unsuccessful attempt the bondage of the oppressor was only made more cruel and intolerable. But the pro- gress of time had now ripened the national character for a more strenuous and successful resistance, and in 1821, the war of Greek independence commenced. It was in- deed an unequal struggle ; and Greece fought and suf- fered with a heroism that seemed to recall the days of her ancient glory. Europe could not regard such a spectacle unmoved. The intellectual of every country, who re- garded Greece as the home of their spirits — the devout of every shade of doctrine, who saw a Christian nation oppressed, and about to be overwhelmed by an infidel race — all sympathized in the spectacle, while every court was successively entreated by its people to send assistance ft42 NAVAL HISTORY. to the land of Homer and Themisitocles. But political principles of profit and losa were more important in the eyes of &iropean statesmen than all that Grecian min- sti-els had ever sung, or philosophers excogitated— and therefore no aid was afforded. This indifference of the European governments led to the formation of associations in Great Britain, France, and the United States, for aiding the Greeks in their efforts at independence ; and if the exertions of these patriotic and Christian individuals contributed but little effectual aid to the oppressed, tbey at least encouraged the Greeks to continued exertions, and kept alive the feelings of sympathy in their respective countries, which at length induced their governments to terminate a struggle marked by a ruthless havoc and extermination more accordant with the principles of the middle ages than the courtesy and humanity of the nineteenth century. In the year 1826, the successes and atrocities of the able Ibrahim Pacha, who had now been intrusted with the conduct of the war, threatened the utter depopulation of the country. Men and women were unsparingly devoted to the sword, while the young of either sex, from whom no resistance could be apprehended, were carried to the ancient ' house of bondage,' and sold in droves in the Egyptian slave-markets. In this miserable crisis, the Greeks implored the aid of Christendom ; and, through the influence of Mr. Canning, a treaty was concluded at London, on July 6th, iS27, between Great Britain, France, and Russia, having for its object the termination of the sanguinary war, and to obtain for the Greeks the ac- knowledgment of their independence. In order to enforce this resolution, a French armament commanded by ad- miral de Riguy, and a Russian squadron under admiral Heiden, were stationed in the Levant, toco-operate with Sir Edward Codrington. In prosecution of the duty now imposed upon him, it was necessary that Sir Edward should prevent the de- portation by sea of all reinforcements of men and military stores that were to be employed against the Greeks — a service which, whether accomplished by force or negoti- ation, could not be otherwise than unpalatable to Turkey. Sir Edward adopted the milder alternative, according to the tenor of his official instructions, and entered mio a treaty with Ibrahim Pacha. The Pacha on this occa- CODRINGTON. 648 aion pledged his honoui that his sea and land forcei should remaiu inactive in Navarin, until he received answers from the Porte and his father, Mehemet All, which could not arrive until twenty days. This armi- stice was concluded on the 25th of September, and in expectation that the mediation of the allied powers would be accepted, the British and French ships, except the Dartmouth and L'Armide, which were left to watch the ports of Navarin and Modon, sailed to Malta, Zante, and Cervi Bay, to replenish their stores and provisions, to be ready to accompany the Turkish and Egyptian ships to Constantinople and Alexandria. Sir Edward in the Asia, with the Talbot and Zebra, arrived at Zante on the 1st of October, and the same night the Dart- mouth brought intelligence that forty-seven of the Otto- man ships left Navarin shortly after them, and were at some distance astern coming to the northward. The Asia, Talbot, and Zebra, were got out to sea during a heavy thunder storm, and kept ahead of the Ottoman fleet until daylight, when they were drawn up between them and the Gulf of Patras, for which they were steering. This chivalrous movement on the part of Sir Edward, and the intimation which he sent to the admiral in com- mand, by captain Spenser of the Talbot, that he would fire into the first ship that attemjited to pass the Asia, intimidated the Turk, and induced him to turn back on a few shots being tired at his foremost ships. The next day the returning fleet was met by Ibrahim with four- teen ships and vessels of war, who, on being communi- cated with, returned with them to the southward. After dark, when most of them had passed Zante bay, the Asia and Talbot anchored at its entrance to take on board the supplies they were in want of, leaving the Dartmouth under sail to watch Ibrahim's movements, who during the night altered his course, and was seen next morning at daybreak at anchor in the Gulf jf Patras, with several of his largest ships. The Asia and Talbot followed him, and on coming up with them, his ships refused to show their colours until fired into, thus showing a consciousness of faithless conduct. These hostile demonstrations on the part of Sir Edward prevented the intended landing at Patras, and caused the return of the expedition to the south. This is pro- bably the most remarkable naval service ever performed. It may be considered to have been fool-hardy in Sir i .s 1 644 NAVAL HISTORY. Edward with only three ships to determine to oppose forty-seven or more, but as he succeeded in his object, it shows what may be done again under such circum- stances, when the opponent having acted faithlessly is ashamed of having done so. Sir Edward was joined on his return, when off Zante, October 1."?, by the Russian squadron, by the French ships from Cervi ba»y, where they had gone for supplies, and by the English ships from Malta. With his united force be proceeded to Navarin, where he found the Otto- man fleet reassembled in the harbour, their land forces disembarked, and pursuing a systematic plan of deva.s- tation on the surrounding counti-y and its defenceless inhabitants. To prevent this violence, and to effect the object of the treaty without resorting to hostilities, the allied admirals were unanimously of opinion, that it was necessary to enter the harbour of Navarin ; the more so, as Ibrahim now refused to receive communications from them, and as it was utterly impossible to secure a blockade of the harbour, from the want of shelter and anchorage outside. It was believed that the presence of the allied squadrons would induce him to discontinue tlie cruelties he had recommenced upon the inhabitants, and to cause the return of the expedition to Egypt. It never was imagined, after desisting from his purpose against Patras, when only opposed by three ships, that Ibrahim would invite a conflict with the whole allied force. There is reason to believe that he acted under imperative instructions, as he had been several days employed, assisted by Letellier, an able Frenchman, in placing his ships in such positions as he expected might enable him successfully to resist the allies, if not to effect their destruction. The execution of the important measure determined upon by the allied admirals, and carried into efiect on the 20th of October, 1827, with the relative positions of the different squadrons, will be best understood by the following extract from Sir Ed- ward Codrington's perspicuous despatch on the subject. ' The Turkish ships were moored in the form of a cres- cent, with springs on their cables, the larger ones pre- senting their broadsides towards the centre, the smaller ones in succession within them, filling up the intervals. ' The combined fleet was formed in the order of sail ing in two columns, the British and French forming the weather or starboard line, and the Russians the lee line. CODRINGTON. (>45 ' Tlie Aitia led in, followed by the Genoa and Albion, and anchored close alongside a ship of the line, bearint? the flag of the capitana Bey, another ship of the line, and a large double-banked frigate, each thus having her opponent in the fi'ont line of tl>e Turkish fleet. The four ships to windward, part of the Egyptian squadron, were allotted to the squadron of rear-admiral de Riguy ; and those to leeward, in the bight of the crescent, were to mark the stations of the whole Russian squadron ; the ships of the line closing those of the English line, and being followed up by their own frigates. The French frigate Arraide was directed to place herself alongside the outermost frigate, on the left hand entering the har- bour ; and the Cambrian, Glasgow, and Talbot, next to her, and abreast of the Asia, Genoa, and Albion ; the Dartmouth, the Mosquito, the Rose, the Brisk, and the Philomel, were to look after six fire-ships at the en- trance of the harbour.' The forces thus brought into hostile contact, seemed to render the experiment on the part of the allies sufii- ciently hazardous. The latter had ten sail of the line, ten frigates, four sloops of war (one ship, three brigs), and three tenders (two French, one English), mounting 1324 guns. The Tiirco-Egypthan fleet consisted of three sail of the line, four double-banked frigates of 64 guns each, nineteen frigates, forty-nine corvettes and brigs, four transports, and several fire-ships, mounting 2240 guns, all arranged upon a most formidable plan of defence, and flanked by a strong battery. Sir Edward Codrington having issued strict orders that not a gun should be fired unless the enemy com- menced hostilities, the ships passed the Turkish bat- teries without the slightest molestation ; they took up their position in the same awful silence, and for some time the hostile fleets seemed to gaze at each other, as if afraid to commence hostilities by the slightest menace. This delusive calm continued so long, that the expecta- tion of resistance seems to have died away on board the British squadron ; and even the musical band of the Asia were quietly assembling as usual, to play upon the ({uarter-deck, when all at once a discharge of musketry from the enemy was poured into the boats of the Dart- mouth, which had been sent with a message, requesting the removal of the six fire-ships. This discharge killed lieutenant Fitzroy, and several of his men. Almost at 646 NAVAL HISTORY. the same instant two shots were fired into the Syrene which cut the cable of the anchor that was prepared to be let go. This aggression produced a return, and the fire of small arms soon deepened into a general cannonade. The Asia was alongside the flag-ship of Tahir Pasha, the Gapitan Bey, or Turkish admiral, and still nearer to the flag-ship of Moharem Bey, the Egyptian admiral ; but as the latter had sent a message to say that he would not fire, the Asia encountered the Capitan's ship, and after re- ceiving her antagonist's discharge, returned it so effectu- ally with her double-shotted guns, that the Turkish flag-ship went adrift, dismasted and a complete wreck. Moharem now seemed to forget his promise; a shot was fired from his ship upon a British boat, that had carried a message from Sir Edward to the Bey, by which Mr. Mitchell, his pilot, was killed ; and this aggression was quickly followed by a general fire into the Asia. The latter ship, therefore, having disposed of the Capitana, anrd a frigate acting with her against the Asia, was now hove upon her starboard spring, by which her larboard broadside was brought fully to bear upon the Eg-yptians, and discharged with such eff'ect, that the ship of Moha- rem was reduced to a mere wreck, and that of his second set on fire. In consequence of the deep canopy of smoke in which the Asia had been enveloped, during this terrible encounter, and the subsequent explosion that took place, it was thought that she had perished ; but as soon as the darkness had cleared away her flag was seen floating proudly over the seat of ruin, at which a shout of gladness from our ships resounded over the whole din of battle. For four hours this desperate con- flict continued to rage, during which the Turks fought with even more than their wonted stubbornness and ferocity ; but nothing could withstand the skill of the English leader, and the emulous valour of the sailors of the three great European nations, now fighting for the first time side by side, in the cause of justice and huma- nity. As fast as the Turkish ships were torn in pieces, or silenced by the irresistible broadsides of their antago- nists, such of their crews as survived set them on fire, and tried to escape on shore, so that the whole bay was gradually filled with masses of conflagration, and shaken by tremendous explosions. In the Asia, which had so nobly borne the chief burden of the day, nineteen men were killed, and fifty-seven wounded, and among the CODRINUTON. 647 latter was the adraiial's son, Mr. H. J. Codrington, then a inidBbipnian. Sir Edward himself seemed to have es- caped by a miracle.* He constantly kept his station on the poop, although it was at one time so completely cleared by the enemy's fire, that no person was left on it but himself; his watch was crushed in his fob by a bullet, and his clothes were torn with splinters ; and on one occasion a cannon-shot just cleared his hat, and passed through the furled -up awning under which he was standing. As for the enemy, their immense supe- riority of numbers, and the stubborn valour with which they fought, only served to make their ruin more com- plete. Seventeen Turkish vessels were blown up during the action, and twenty were subsequently destroyed by the Turks themselves, that they might not become the prizes of the victors. Even the havoc and slaughter so peculiar to a sea-fight seemed on this day to be exceeded in the bay of Navariu. It is gratifying to turn from such a spectacle to the noble conduct of the French, who now fought by the side of those whom for centuries they had been taught to consider as their natural enemies. While they emu- lated and even equalled the valour of our British sailors, their aid was as prompt, and their courtesy as great^ towards their former foes, as if extreme hate had been abandoned for an equally extreme affection. — How glo- rious and how happy an event will be that of Navarin, if Briton and Frenchman will thus ever unite, as the great representatives of civilization, and the chosen champiunfl of order and humanity! On one occasion, among many gratifying examples that might be quoted, captain Hugon, of the French frigate L'Armide, perceiv- ing about three o'clock the Talbot unequally engaged with several of the enemy, gallantly bore up to her assistance. He dexterously winded his ship through the inner Turkish line, without interrupting the fire of the English vessel, and then poured such a heavy broad- side into one of the frigates with which she had been engaged, that the Mussulman was compelled to strikew • The Turkish admiral, Tahir Pasha, stated to the officers of the Blonde frigate, when at Constantinople some years after, that before the battle commenced he observed Sir Edward, who was taller than his officers, very consfiicuous on the quarter-deck of the Asia, when he ordered that (he riflemen should direct their fire at hira, in the hope that his fall would disconceit llie allies. 648 NAVAL HISTORY. On taking possession after this seasonable relief, he hoisted the English flag along with bis own upon the prize, to intimate that he had only completed what the English bad begun, — an acknowledgment that gained him the thanks and commendations of every British sailor. This chivalrous feeling on the part of the French was nobly reciprocated by the English. During one period of the engagement, the Armide was in like man- ner almost overpowered by numbers, when the Rose, captain Davies, gallantly bore to her assistance. She anchored within pistol-shot of two Turkish corvettes, and thus relieved the Armide in a few minutes — a service that was warmly acknowledged and eulogized by the French admiral. The death of Mr. Canning, then prime minister, in the preceding August, was unfortunate for the Greeks. The treaty for their protection was a favourite object of his policy, and as such, objected to by the powerful party who were opposed to his elevation and liberalism. Ac- cordingly, whilst the victory of Navarin was the occa- sion of rejoicing at home, and throughout the civilized world, it is said to have embarrassed the ministry which was weakened by his loss, as it imposed upon them the responsibility of determining on the use to be made of the victory. This responsibility Lord Goderich, who had become prime minister, appeared indisposed or afraid to assume, probably from the conviction that he would be unable to maintain himself and the policy to which he had been a party ,^ against those he knew to be opposed to it. He therefore seemed to have determined on re- signing before the meeting of parliament, and to leave the final settlement of the affairs of Greece to his oppo- nents. These suppositions are supported by the fact, that no fresh instructions were sent by his cabinet for the guidance of Sir Edward Codrington in the altered cir- cumstances in which he was placed by the destruction of the Turco-Egyptian fleet, notwithstanding that his ministry continued in oflice for more than two months after they were informed of that event. They merely sent out a series of questions to be replied to by the ad- miral, in explanation of the circumstances connected with the battle, to enable them, when called upon, com- pletely to vindicate the grounds upon which he had acted at Navarin. They however had the courage to con- CODRINGTON. C45 fer on Sir Edward the Grand Cross of the Bath, and to give distinctions to the superior officers, and an ex- tensive promotion to the others engaged, as an acknow- ledgment of their approbation. The governments of France and Russia acted with less hesitation. They showed equal alacrity in conferring honours and pro- motion on their officers, and they also immediately con- veyed to their admirals an approval of their conduct, and urged their co-operating in the most effectual man- ner until the objects of the treaty were fully accom- plished. Sir Edward, on the contrary, was left to act on his original instructions, or on his own responsibility. The indecision of the ministry had no doubt become known to their political opponents, who characterized the victory as a misfortune, and declared that the con- flict had been brought about by the designs of Rus- sia to favour her hostile intentions against Turkey. They loudly bewailed the calamities of the Turks, as if some unprecedented enormity had been committed. In fact, they seemed completely to have forgotten, that these sufferers were just reeking from massacres by which humanity was insulted ; and that if they had not been prevented, they would soon have turned the Morea into a very Golgotha of destruction. And how were they to be prevented 1 Not certainly by appeals to their feel- ings of benevolence, which they shewed they could not understand ; nor to their sentiments of honour, which they had already so frequently violated. Sir E. Cod- rington had tried an armistice, and found it ineffectual ; though Ibrahim had been foiled at sea, he nevertheless carried on, in breach of the armistice, revengeful cruelties by land. The safety— the existence — of Greece depended upon an armistice being obtained : it was the object of the instructions, and the securing it was worth even the risk of hostile collision with the fleet whose yielding to so small an English force at Patras, justified the expec- tation that they would now, without collision, be awed into submission, by the presence of the whole allied squadron. These were the grounds for entering the Bay of Navarin. Had the safety of Greece been left to the chances of an ineffectual blockade, he might have been much more liable to be condemned for forbearance than interposition. On the resignation of Lord Goderich,the duke of Wel- lington became prime minister, January 18, 1828, and a 650 NAVAL HISTORY. few weeks after the opiuion of his cabinet on the Greek policy of their predecessors was briefly expressed in the king's speech, on the opening of parliament, by applying the term "untoward event" to the battle of Navarin. Their explanations were equally ambiguous, and as they followed the example of their predecessors in leaving Sir Edward without fresh instructions, they shewed that they had neither determined on carrying out the ob- jects of the treaty nor on withdrawing from it. This wavering conduct led the Porte to believe that the alli- ance was, or might be, dissolved, and to precipitate a war with Russia. Notwithstanding, Russia still proposed to act in concert with England and France in enforcing the ulterior objects of the treaty, and repeatedly de- clared that she had no desire to obtain advantages for herself; but England refused to assent to the application of force against the Sultan, and the Porte encouraged thereby, denied that the allies had a right to inter- meddle in their affairs, and that the demand of privileges and independence to the insurgent Greeks never could be granted, being contrary to their religion and laws. Russia then resorted to war on her own account (Apr. 26), and it was not until the Turks were overpowered, that the Wellington administration agreed to a settlement of the affairs of Greece, without regarding the further ob- stinacy of the Sultan, when Russia consented to termi- nate the war by the treaty of Adrianople, which placed Turkey at her feet. Thus the humiliation of Turkey was brought about, which had been foreseen by Canning, and which he was desirous to prevent. Russia had se- cretly aided the Greeks, and had intimated to him her desire to assist them openly and effectually, when Can- ning considered it would be more conducive to the peace of Europe, that the independence of Greece should be attained under the control of England and France. This policy, however, required, for its successful and harmonious execution, to be carried out by the head, the hand, and the name, of its author. Had the Wel- lington cabinet co-operated to effect a settlement of the affairs of Greece in the spring of 1828, as it after- wards authorized in the summer of 1829, the separate war by Russia against Turkey would have been pre- vented. The treaty of Adrianople stipulated for the un- conditional independence of Greece, which terminated all controversy with England on that subject. CODRINGTON. *651 After the battle of Navarin, Sir Edward Codriugton, in conjunction with his colleague admirals, aided and encouraged the Greeks to establish an eflFective blockade, which they were then able to perform, since the destruc- tion of the larger Turkish ships of war. This arrange- ment allowed the admirals to be employed in protecting the embassies, the consulates, and the different Christian establishments on the shores of the Ottoman dominions ; in preventing Ibrahim from devastating Greece, and ob- taining supplies, which at last reduced him to the neces- sity of returning to Egypt. These measures being suc- cessful, Sir Edward, with the approbation of his col- leagues, next proceeded to Alexandria, where he con- cluded a treaty with the Pasha, August 6, 1828, for the return of the army, under the command of his son Ibra- him, then reduced to the last extremity. So anxious was Sir Edward to complete the service with which he had been charged, that he undertook the responsibility of executing the treaty he had negotiated, that there might be no necessity for the employment of French troops in the Morea, which at first had been objected to by his own government, although he had been recalled from his command, and was then only waiting the ar- rival of his successor. Under that agreement, Ibrahim withdrew from the Morea with 22,000 men, leaving about 1,200 men in the fortresses, as agreed, to excuse his father with the Porte. By these arrangements Sir Edward left little to be performed, but that his govern- ment should detennine, in concert with France and Russia, the boundaries to be given to the new kingdom of Greece. He returned from Alexandria to Navarin, and there delivered up his command to his successor. Sir Pulteney Malcolm, August 22, 1828, ten months after the battle of Navarin. The recall of Sir Edward before the completion of the service on which he was employed, and the expiration of the usual period of command, shewed that he had not the confidence of the Wellington cabinet. It was not then alleged that he had acted with greater vigour against the Turks and Egyptians than his instructions had authorized, as the partisans of the new ministers had at the time pretended, but be was recalled on the pretext that he had not prevented the deportation of Greek slaves in the ships allowed to return to Egypt after the battle of Navarin. His colleague admirals 652* NAVAL HISTORY. felt, as they had been unanimous in theii' joint opera- tions, that their own conduct was impeached, and re- quested to be recalled also ; but their applications were not accepted by their sovereigns, on the ground, that as they had hitherto done their duty so well, it was important that they should continue in their command until the service was completed, and besides that their recall at that time might appear to sanction the English disapproval of Sir E. Codrington, and might induce the belief that they had acted contrary to their instructions, which it was desirable to prevent. Had Canning lived to see his policy carried out with the energy, discretion, and success, with which it was done by Sir Edward Codring- ton, tbere is no doubt that he would have received from his sovereign and from parliament, the honours and the rewards which have been so often conferred before and since for less distinguished, and certainly for far less important services. His name, however, will for ever be associated with the early history of the new kingdom of Greece, as the great commander who annihilated at one blow the power of the oppressor, and enabled its inhabitants to claim their independence. In April, 1831, Sir Edward was appointed by the Grey administration, which succeeded that of the Duke of Wellington, to the command of a squadron of observation in the channel, on which occasion it was stated by the first lord of the admiralty (Sir J. R. Graham), to be conferred as a mark of respect for his past services. In 1832, he was elected one of the first representatives for the new borough of Davenport, and again in 1835, and in 1837. When in Parliament, he urged the claims of the officers, seamen, and marines,, who fought xmder him at Navarino, to the allowances which had been witlilield, until they were conceded. In 1837, he was promoted to the rank of Admiral of the Blue ; and was appointed to the command at Ports- mouth, which was conferred on him to show to England and to all Europe that his services were now fully appre- ciated by the government. This appointment he held for the usual period of tliree years, and then returned to half- pay at the expiration of his command, in December, 1842. He died on the 28th April, 1851, and was privately interred in the family vault, at St. Peter's, Eaton Square. 651 APPENDIX. To assist the reader, who has been unaccustomed to nautical details, and convey to him a more perfect idea of the government of the British navy, it has been found expedient to add a few particulars explanatory of the rank and duties of its different officers, and the rating o/ sliips, with a brief tabular view of the progress of the British navy since the accession of James 11. to the pre- sent period. Admiralty. — Since IGDO, the administration of the af- fairs of the British navy has been vested in seven lords commissioners of the admiralty, with only two exceptions for short periods. The chief commissioner is styled the first lord, and is generally a cabinet minister; the others are the junior lords, and act as counsellors to the former. Previous to that time the navy was under the sole go- vernment of the lord high admiral, in the same manner as the army is, at present, under the control of the com- mander-in-chief- The term admiral seems to have been first used in the reign of Edward I., and the first admiral of England was the eai-1 of Arundel, in 1386. In the first lord of the admiralty is vested the appoint- ment to every naval command, but it is generally under- stood that he concedes the right in certain cases, subject to his approval. The admiralty possesses sovereign juris- diction in any case connected with naval affairs, and which occurs upon the high seas ; and has its own courts and officers to try all offenders. 652 NAVAL HISTORY. The commissioned officers of the navy consist of flag- officers, captains, commanders, and lieutenants. The flag-officei-s, or commanders of squadrons, are di- vided into three ranks, the admiral, vice-admiral, and rear-admiral ; and each of these ranks is again divided into three grades, which are distinguished by the coloui-s red, white, and blue, — so that there are some varieties of admirals in our classification. The admiral wears his colour at the main, the vice-admiral at the fore, and the rear-admiral at the mizen-mast head, and their grade is indicated by the colour of the flag. The commissioned officers of the navy take rank with those of the army, as follows : — NAVY. ARMY. Admiral of the fleet Admiral Vice-admiral Rear-admiral Commodore . Captain of 3 years' standing Colonel Captain under ditto Commander Lieutenant Field-marshal General Lieutenant-general Major-general Brigadier-general Lieutenant-colonel Major Captain We shall now specify the principal duties of these commissioned officers : and, first, of the Admiral. — An admiral when appointed to the command of a fleet or squadron is invested by the admiralty with very extensive authority over the officers and seamen under his command, and is responsible for the execution of such orders as are committed to him. When the fleet is numerous or the service important, junior admirals are appointed to serve under him, to whom the com- mand of certain ships is assigned ; these are called di- visions or squadrons, and are designated the vice or rear-admiral's, or by the colour of their flag, as the white or blue squadron : — thus, at Trafalgar, there was vice- admiral Nelson, as admiral-in-chief, with vice-admiral CoUiugwood, as the second, and rear-admiral Northesk, as the third in command. It is an important part of an admiral's duty to keep the ships in a condition for im- mediate service, and exercise them in naval evolutions; APPENDIX. 053 and to oblige the conimanders of squadrons and divisions to inspect the state of each ship under their flag. He is also to correspond with the secretary of the admiralty, and report the state and proceedings of the fleet. Should he be killed in battle, his flag is to be kept flying, and the oflicer next in rank is to repair on board, and assume the chief command, until the aftair is ended. Vice and Rear-admiral. — Each is required to inspect the ships under his orders, and to see that the crews are kept in a healthy state, frequently exercised, and well disciplined, for all which he is responsible to the com- mander-in-chief. In sailing, he is to take care that every ship in his division preserves the station assigned to her ; and in battle, to observe and report her conduct. Should a captain misbehave, or avoid the contest, he can send an oflicer on board to supersede him. Should the vice or rear-admiral be killed in battle, his flag is to be kept flying, and intelligence to be sent to the coui- mander-iu-chief. Captain of the Fleet. — This is a temporary rank, con- ferred upon a flag-ofiicer, or senior captain, when the admiral has ten or more ships of the line under his command. The commander-in-chief through this oflicer issues his orders, and receives all returns from the fleet. He is appointed, and can only be removed, by the lords of the admiralty. Commodore. — This is also a temporary rank. The commodore hoists a broad pendant, and exercises the authority of a flag-ofiicer over the convoy or squadron placed under his command. He ranks next to the junior rear-admiral, and above all captains, except the captain of the fleet. Captain — Is the oflicer in command of a single ship of 20 guns and upwards. When a captain is appointed to a vessel, he commissions it by hoisting his pendant on board. He superintends and enforces the regu- lations for the internal discipline, order, regularity, cleanliness, and health of his crew, all which regulations are minutely set down in print for his guidance. He causes the articles of war, the acts of parliament for the «ucouragemeut of seamen, and all rules of discipline, to 654 NAVAL HISTORY, be read to his sailors, at least once a month. He judges and punishes whatever faults are committed on board, which he specifies in a warrant, all the officers and ship's company being present; and for the prevention of injustice or severity, he is required to insert a minute of all such cases in the log-book, and send an abstract to the admiralty, at the end of every quarter. Lieutenatit — Is the officer next in rank to the captain. The number of lieutenants is always in proportion to the rate of the ship — a first-rate has six, and a sixth-rate only one. The senior lieutenant commands the ship in the absence of the captain, and is responsible, during the time, for every thing done on board. The lieutenants take the watch by turns ; and each informs the captain of every occurrence iu his watch. He sees that the ship is properly steered, the log hove, and the course and dis- tance entered on the log-board. No officer can be made a lieutenant until he has served six years at sea, nor can be promoted to the rank of commander until he has been on the list of lieutenants for two years ; nor to that of captain, until he has been a commander for one year. Lieutenants are always appointed to the command of ships of war which carry less than 20 guns. Master. — This officer receives his orders from the captain, or any of the lieutenants. His duties consist in superintending the stowage of the hold, and the sail- ing properties of the ship — its navigation and anchoring — the ascertaining of the latitude and longitude of the place at sea — the survey of harbours — and every nautical operation that may be necessary for the pai-ticular ser- vices of the vessel. No person can be appointed master of a ship unless he has served as second-master ; and to be a second-master, he must pass very strict examina- tions, and give proof of his experience and capacity. Midshipmen. — Midshipmen are naval cadets or stu- dents, who act as the principal petty officers on board, but they have no specific duties. They are generally proteges of the captain, and are carefully exercised and trained under his direction ; and after six years' service they are eligible to be promoted to the rank of lieu- tenant, after having passed an examination before com- missioners appointed by the admiralty for that purpose. APPENDIX. 055 In smaller vessels some of the senior midshipmen are intrusted with the watch, atteudinjy parties of men on shore, passing: the word of command, and seeing it car* ried into effect. Gunner. — Tliis useful officer has the charge of the ship's artillery, and powder-magazine. He sees that the locks and carriages of the guns are kept in good order, and that the powder is free from damp ; that the small arms are fit for service, the guns in action pro- perly pointed, and ammunition supplied. He also exer- cises the men at the guns, to make them correct and expeditious in firing, upon which their efficiency depends in battle. His assistants are, the armourer and his mates. Boatswain. — The duty of the boatswain is to receive and examine the ropes and rigging of the ship, to attend daily to their condition, and repair whatever may be defective. He must attend on deck when all hands are employed, and see that the men go through their duties with regularity and expedition. As he superintends the sailing materials of the ship, the sail-maker and rope- maker are placed under his orders. Gunners and boat- swains, before they are appointed, must have served- one year as petty officers, and are required to produce certificates and undergo examinations, to give proof of their characters and abilities. Carpenter. — This is an officer who attends to the wood-work of the vessel. He inspects the state of the masts and yards, the ship's hull, magazine, store-rooms, and cabins, the boat's ladders and gratings, and takes care that they are kept in good order. The caulker ia placed under him, to stop every leak in the side or deck of the ship. Previous to his naval appointment, a ship's carpenter must have served an apprenticeship to a ship- wright, and afterwards have been six months a carpen- ter's mate on board one of her majesty's ships. Picrser.— This officer attends wholly to the victualling of the ship, and occasionally to the clothing of the crew. His express duty is to receive, examine, keep, and serve out, the ship's provisions. The immense importance of this function ary'.s duty in an English ship of war is ap- G56 NAVAL HISTORY. pareut from this simple statement. As his inducements to peculation would be too great, the captain's clerk examines and checks his accounts. His assistant is the ship's steward. He is, of course, a non-combatant. Besides these officers belonging to the fleet and to single ships, there are various officers who, from the nature of their duties, are called non-combatants, be- cause they do not interfere in battle. These are, the physician to the fleet, surgeons, surgeon's-assistants, secretary to the commander-in-chief, chaplain, and cap- tain's clerk. The nature of their duties can be perceived at once from their titles. Marines — Are the naval soldiers who have been trained either to fight on ship-board or on .shore, and ■when in ships from first to fifth-rate they are com- manded by an officer holding the rank of brevet-major, or captain, with two or three subalterns under him. In fifth-rates or under, they are commanded by a subaltern, and in small'vessels by a serjeaut or corporal only. All these marine officers are under the order of the ship's captain, or the officer who commands the watch. The marines are employed on board ship as sentinels, and also in every other duty of the vessel in which their services can be available, except going aloft. Rate of Ships. In the foregoing work much has been stated respect- ing the rating of ships ; but in consequence of the con- tinual changes and improvenaents in naval architecture, the rating of one period frequently difl"ered greatly from that of another. After many changes, the lords of the admiralty suggested the following scale, which was es- tablished on the 25th of November, 1810. Complement of mtn. First-rate-lnclxxAes all three deck- ^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ g^^ ers of 100 guns and upwards . i Second-rate— lnc\Vii.es all ships of ^ 80 guns and upwards, on two J 700 to 650 decks ' Third-rate— X\\ ships of 70 guns ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^^ and upwards, but less than 80 . ^ APPENDIX. Fourth rate — All ships of 50 y,iins ^ and upwards, but less than 70 ^ Fifth rate—XW ships from 36 to 50 \ guns \ Sixth-rate— k\\ ships from 24 to 3G > guns \ G57 300 to '280 175 to 145 or 125 With regard to the increase of the British navy, it is difficult to give a correct idea from a mere statement of the number of ships and guns employed at successive periods, as these were continually varying in size and character with the changes and improvements of naval warfare. The following abstract of the number of ships of which the navy consisted at the commencement of each of the following reigns, will however, coupled with the amount of tonnage, the number of men, and the money voted by parliament for that particular service, convey a more explicit idea to the reader. Ships. Tonnage. Men. Mouey voted. William III. IGSS Anne 1701 George I. 1714 George II. 1727 George HI. 1700 1793 173 101,032 42,003 . . . 272 159,020 53,921 . . . 247 167,219 49,860 . . . 233 170,862 64,514 . . . 412 321,104 70,000 £3 640,000 411 402,555 14J85,482 2 T2 G58 NAVAL HISTORY. 0) (- a n 3 *j .—1 » o ^ ^ > r. .£3 S 2 •^ >4 F^ « V iz a> a xi '^ s S fe u- o 2 S t8 "^ s g « « I a « § !^ o -3 a o o « a ■3 1 £4,003,984 5,525,331 6,315,523 7,613,552 13,133,673 13,449,388 13,654,013 13,619,079 15,800,000 11,833,.570 10,211,378 12,350,606 15,035,630 18,864,341 16,997,837 C in III I"! O © O, © ©, O, ©, N.„ ©, ©, ©, ©, ©, ©, c *i =t *1 't, « n «. ©. q, CD ^_ « - « o - M O O »!< '^ O t » M o tf! Ci 5^ CT 2 s ?s s? s iS s s js s :5 s ^ § 5: f2 Hi " • • • • « cm ^5 c^ r) § 55 w-5t^03lN'*Cl-(N-=SC»tOO©^ 1^1 f^oocr)©ro»rr^oMC5^trcoo'* 0— M»n'«O^^OD«C0'-(N>3''0 Ships of llie Line, 60 guns and upwards. (NCD0i©OC©©O©«t^CD©C 2? S S § fe s § § © I s s 1 II APPENDIX. 65) fc?5§5 ^ ^ go ^ « « «, -« o » X o IN ■S -f "i t^ ••J ^i '■* ~i •<, OD O © n o 00 X -?« ^ 000 000 000 000 1 i *« S 2 ^ Ss •* ^ 4. Albemarle, Monk, duke ol, life of, 94. F.nipiS'CS the DiulIi, 95. Re- stores Charles II., 96. I reatetl duke of Albemarle, 96. Coniiuandi the fleet, 97. Noble ad\ice at a eouncil of war, 98. Deleats dc Ruyler, 99. Death and character, loo. Alfred defeaU the Daius, |l. Algesiras bay, battle ol', 497. Algiers bombarded bv lord Exmouth, 634. Anson, lord, life of, 211. Sails to the South Seas, 213. Takes Paita by storm, 218. Cruises for and captures the pilleon, 220—226. Commands a squadron, and defeats de la Jonquierre, 228, 229. Created a peer, ap|>oiuttd first lord of the admiralty, 229. Death and character, 2J(i. Armada, S()aiiish, defeati d, 3G,^c. Bnihotr. admiral, life of, 132. Bombards St. Maloes, 134. Sent to the West Indies, 135. Kni^ffes a French squadron, 137. Deserted by his captains, 138. Mortally wounded, 140. Dies at Jamaica, 143. IlelUisle taken by commodore Keppel and niajor-sreneral Hodi^son, 370. Blake, admiral, life of, 66. Distiuifuishes himself in the land service, 87. Appointed admiral, is attacked by VanTromp, 88. Sails to the Mediterranean and humbles the Algerines, 91. Dtsirovs six gralleons in the harbour of Santa Cruz, 92. Character of, by Clarendon, 93. Uoicawen, admiral, lite of, 268. Serves at the sieje of Carthap^eiia, 266. Appointed ailmiral and commandant of a s(|uadron ordered to the East Indies, and i^eneral of the land forces, 271. Arrives at the Cape of Good Hope, 272. Makes an attempt on the island of Mau- ritius, 273. Besieg'es Fondicherry, 27J. Appointed one of the lonls of the admiralty, 281. Sails for North America, 281. Takes Louis- boiirg', 282. Defeats the French fleet commanded by M. de la Clue, 284, Sec. Death and clianu tcr, 286, 2b7. liridport, viscount, life of, 449. Defeats the French fleet olT L'Orient, 451. Death, 454. Broke, Sir F. B. V., captures the Chesapeake, 578, note. Byng, the hon. John, life of, 232. Commands on the coast of Scot- land, 232. Sails to the Mediterranean, and ensnisfes the French fleet ofl* Minorca, 234, &c. Superseded in his command, 238. Tried by a court-martial, 239. Shot, 243. I alder. Sir Robert, life of, 512. Enga?es the combined French and Spanish squadrons, 513. Tried by court-martial, and reprimanded, Hi. Death, 319. 668 INDEX. Camperdoivn, battle oflF, 438, &c. Cape of Good Hope surrenders fo the Drilish, 470. Cherburg, harbour of, destroytd, 393. Clue, M. de la, defeated by admira Boscawcn, 284, kc. Cochrane, lord, life of, 608. Destroys the Semaphores on the French coast, 614. Burns the French fleet in the Basque Roads, 617. Cap- tures the Esmeralda, 621. Codrington, Sir E., life of, 637. Made a knight commander of the Bath, 640. His victory at Navarin, 642, kc. CoUingwood, lord, life of, o85. Conduct in tne battle oflF St. Vincent, 588. Second in command at Trafalgar, oSO. Humanity to the -prisoners, 592. Death and character, 695. Vonflans, M., defeated by admiral Hawki , 256. Copenhagen, attacked by Sir Hyde Parker and Nelson, 550. By lord Gambler, 605. Court-martial on admiral Matthews, 191. On Byn?, 239. On Kep- pel, 383. Dance, Sir N., his gallant defence of the Indian fleet, 506. Danes defeated by Alfred, U. Drake, Sir Francis, life of, 53. His expedition against Norabre de Dios, 54. Sails round the world, 55. ftuien Elizabeth diiu s on board his ship, 58. Assists as vice-admiral to defeat the Spanish ar- mada, 59. Expedition to the West Indies, 61. Death, 62. Ducknorth, Sir J. T., life of, 597. His victory of St. Domingo, 590. Expedition to the Dardanelles, 600. Duncan, viscount, life of, 431. Serves under Keppel, 431. Distin- guishes himself at the sieges of Betlelsle and the Havannah, 432. In the action with Langara's squainled first lord of the admiralty, 398. Coinraantis the Channel rieet, and obtains a glorious victory over the French fleet, 39b, \c. Assists in que ling the mutiny; his death, 40-.'. Hvghfs, Sir Eilward, life of, 403. Commands in the East Indies, 403. Destroys Hvder Ally's ships ort^ Mangalore, 405. Takes Trinconialee, 4W. His four actions with Suftrein, 406, &c. Death and charac- ter, 415. Jenkins, captain, cruelly treated by the Spaniards, 213, note. h'lith, viscount, life of, 466. Captures the Rotterdam (50), 467. Takes the Sophie and L'Aigle, 468. Takes Cape Town, h fleet m the Medi- terranean, 171. With The French and Spanish fleets off Toulon, 186. *nson and M. de la Jonquierre, 226. Byng and Galissoniere off Minorca, 234. Hawke and de L'Entenduer off cape Finisterre, 247, ice. Hawke and Conflans in Quiberon Bay, 256. Bosca- vven and de la Clue in the Mediterranean, 284, &c. Pocock and d'Ache in the East Indies, 289, &c. Parker and the Dutch fleet on the Dogger Bank, 321. Rodney and de Langara, 346. Rodney and h fleets off cape Trafalgar, 561, &c. French fleet taken by Sir R. Strachan, 570. Between the Shannon and Chesapeake, 578, note. Encounter widi the Turkish fleet in passing the Dardanelles (1607), 601. Coi>en- haeen bombarded bv lord Gamhier (1807), 605. French squadron taken bv Sir J. B Warren, 323, 627. Battle of Algier« (1806), 634. Battle of Navarin (1827), 645. INDEX, 665 Shannon, captain Broke, her fijht with the Chesapeake, S78, note. Shovel, Sir Clouilesly, life of, U4. Distinsjiiishes himself at Tripoli, 145. La Ho«:iie, 146. romniaiiiis in the >ree first Englishman en^rasjed in it, 48. Slut/s, battle of, 23. Smtth, Sir Sidnev, life of, 478. Destroys the French shipping, &c., at Toulon, 479. 1'aken prisoner by the French ; escapes from prison, 481. Defence of Acre, 482. Expedition to the Dardanelles, 488. Sotbay, battle of, 109. Spragge, Sir Edward, life of. 107. Defends Sheirness, ih. Defeats the Al!