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THE ROYAL NAVY
A HISTORY
FA'OM THE EAKUESt TIMES TO THE MESEXT
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A History From the Earliest Times to the Present
By
Wm. Laird Clowes
Fellow of Kings College, London; Cold Medallist U.S. ff,iva! Institute- Hon. Member of the RM.S. Institution
Assisted by
Sir Clements Markham, K.C.B., F.R.S. Captain A. T. Mahan, U.S.N.
Mr. H. W. Wilson
Col. Theodore Roosevelt, late Assist. Sec. U.S. Navy Mr. L. Carr Lau^hton
Twenty -five Photogravures
and
Hundreds of Full Page and other Illustrations
Maps, Charts
etc,
7
/;/ ^frVc Volumes VOL. III.
LONDON
SAMI-SON Low, MARSTON AND COMFANV
LIMITED
£t. Sunsttan's ffiousr, dfetter Hanr, iE.C. 1898
-
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME III.
SOME of the causes which contributed to delay the appearance of the second volume of this History of the Royal Navy, have tributed to delay the appearance of this, the third. Thr --
of the work has. as before, been hampered by my ill-health an 1 my enforced residence in the high Alps during the greater part of the year. A certain amount of delay, moreover, has iv~ indirectly from the recent war between the- United State- and Spain. Captain A. T. Mahan. whose critical narrative <>: the uiajor operations of the War of the American Revolt;:: n fills about a third of the present volume, was employed in the ~crvice of his country1 at Washington during the late cannier, and wa- thus prevented for a time from devoting his at:* nti n : matters. So much of the delay as has been caused by i.i- pre- occupation will. I am sure, be readily forgiven, seeing tha: • has now been able to revise proofs, etc.. which must otherwise have been sent to press without his final imprimatur. This book has much to say concerning the beginnings and the early exploits of the United States" Xavv. which, in the day» of Hull and Decatur. proved itself to be as capable and chivalrous an opponent as Great Britain ever had to meet upon the seas, and which since. — and not only in the days of Tatnall. — has shown itself as true and loyal a friend to Britain and her Xavy, in peace time, as it was gallant a foe in war. I cannot, therefore, refrain from expressing here a sentiment which, in the course of the late short but brilliant struggle, must have welled up often in the
1 I should mention that my other American collaborator, Mr. Theodore Koosevelt, resigned his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the U. S. Xavy, in order to take an active part in the war, and, having obtained a commission as Lieut.-Colonel of the now famous " Rough Riders," fought with very distinguished bravery before Santiago- de Cuba. He has since been elected Governor of the State of New York.
vi INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME III.
heart of many a Briton. We triumph wherever the race wins fresh glories ; and we feel proud in the thought that tbe victory has been gained by men speaking our speech, bearing our names, sharing our blood, and inspired by the traditions bequeathed equally to both nations by Howard, Drake, Hawkins, Blake, Boscawen and Hawke. Not to us has it fallen in these recent years to illustrate those traditions, and to add to them fresh epics. Yet, since our brothers of the New World have shown themselves at Manilla and Santiago the same men that they were at Mobile and New Orleans, we are surely justified in hoping that we, should the hour for action come again, shall be able to prove that our branch of the old stock retains, in a similar manner, the old grit and the old sea virtues.
Although, as I have said, the progress of the work continues to be somewhat delayed by my personal disabilities, I am not conscious that the book suffers in any other way in consequence of my ill- health. Thanks to my numerous and indefatigable helpers and correspondents, I am not, in spite of my necessary absence from home, obliged to forego reference to any documents, state papers, or books which ought to be consulted. Happily, too, most of the materials for my part of the work were collected, and, to some extent, set in order, ere I became a prisoner here ; and although, of course, I still very often have to appeal for further particulars to the public libraries, the Itecord Office, private muniment rooms, and other storehouses of fact, there is, I find, remarkably little supple- mentary research of this kind which cannot he carried out for me by my assistants. It is a longer process, and a costlier, but not, I hope, a less effective one.
I make this explanation because some friendly critics who have been so good as to point out certain small errors of omission or commission in the previous volumes, have generously hinted their conviction that, were I not the invalid I unfortunately am, these errors would not have appeared. If I really believed that my state of health were incompatible with the carrying out of the work in hand, I should assuredly try to find someone else to take over my duties and responsibilities. But the fact is that such errors as I have had brought to my notice, — and fortunately they are neither serious nor numerous, — are inevitable imperfections in any book of this nature ; for, paradoxical though it be, I can safely assert that in nothing is it so impossible to attain to absolute correctness and finality as in a critical record of historic facts. The difficulty
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME III. vii
would beset me equally, were I sound instead of sick, and in London instead of in Switzerland. There are conflicts of evidence which appear irreconcilable ; there are original authorities which cannot be laid hands upon, or which even the most studiously careful will by chance overlook ; and there are many questions, the discussion of which cannot be seriously attempted in a work to which limits have been set. I am sure that some at least of the critics to whom I have alluded, have made the mistake of supposing that it is because of my condition and my position that I have ignored this witness' testimony on a court-martial, have seemed to pay little or no heed to the statements contained in that document, or have failed to enter upon such and such an interesting, but wide point of criticism. I am obliged to say that such shortcomings as are to be found in these volumes are due, for the most part, to very different causes. Firstly, I am restrained by the space at my command from touching upon many subjects with which I should otherwise like to deal at length, and from entering upon long discussions as to the credibility of evidence. The same consideration even obliges me to omit many footnotes and references which I should otherwise gladly include. Secondly, I am guided by the conviction that anyone who aspires to complete a book so voluminous as this History, must perforce proceed upon principles somewhat similar to those which Dr. Johnson sketched in a very famous passage.
"Failures," he wrote, "however frequent, may admit of extenuation and apology. To have attempted much is always laudable, even when the enterprise is above the strength that undertakes it. To deliberate whenever I doubted, to enquire whenever I was ignorant, would have protracted the undertaking without end, and perhaps wilhout improvement. I saw that one enquiry only gave occasion to another, that book referred to book, that to search was not always to lind, and to find was not always to be informed ; and that thus to pursue perfection was, like the lirst inhabitants of Arcadia, to chase the sun, which, when they had readied the hill where he seemed to rest, was still beheld at the same distance from them."
If, to put matters in other words, one were determined, in an undertaking of this kind, to be content with nothing short of absolute completeness and finality, neither the initiator, nor, after his death, any of his successors, would live long enough to finish the work. I make bold to recommend this reflection to all my critics, and especially to one of them, who, in his review of my second volume, said, speaking of the account there given of the first Dutch War (1652-54), that it v/as " premature." I do not doubt that it will be possible, say a hundred years hence, to write a better and completer
viii INTUODUCTION TO VOLUME III.
history of that war than can be written now ; but to admit so much is surely not the same thing as to agree that a history, carefully written now, and illustrated with scores of previously unpublished facts, is written too soon. It is surely not " premature " to brush away even a single published error or misconception concerning the course of our naval history ; and, I think, I may safely say that this volume and those volumes which have preceded it,— although they, too, possibly contain many errors on minor points, — give, upon the whole, a much fairer and more accurate version of that history than has been hitherto presented. One dares not hope for— much less can one wait for, — absolute finality. But, by means of an under- taking planned and carried out as this one is, in accordance with the principles set forth in my General Preface, one may at least be instrumental in enlarging general knowledge of a great subject, and in rendering impossible the future acceptation of some of the gross and astonishing inisstatemcnts on naval matters which one finds in almost every English history. I have no wish to say here anything unkind about any of my brother men of letters: but I cannot abstain from citing from one particular book a few misstatements of the sort to which I allude, in order that it may be seen that the present work is not " premature," and that there does exist already a real necessity for something of the kind. I speak of a book, dealing with English history generally, and consisting of upwards of eleven hundred large pages of small type. It bears the imprint of reputable publishers ; and upon the title-page are the names of two distin- guished university men, one of whom is described as a lecturer on modern history, and the other as a late professor on history, in a well-known English college. The second edition of this book, dated IHHo, is responsible for the following extraordinary statements, among others.
Of Admiral Edward Vernon (1), it is said that he was a " rear- admiral at twenty-four," and that he " failed in his attempt to seize Porto Bello, from an insufficiency of force." The truth is that Vernon was made a vice-admiral in 1731), when he was fifty- five, that he had never before held flag-rank, and that, far from failing at Puerto Bello, he brilliantly captured that place on November 22nd, 1739, "with six ships only," as may be seen on reference to pp. 54-57 of the present volume.
Surely there is some unconscious suppressio veri in the assertion that, "foiled in his attempt to catch the Spanish treasure-ship,
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME III. ix
Anson sailed westward from America with the Centurion, his sole remaining ship, and arrived at Spithead in June 1744." The story of what really happened, and of how the Manilla galleon was taken, will be found on p. 323 of this volume.
Episodes, localities, and individuals are curiously jumbled and confused in the following passage : — " On the 1st of June, 1794, the division of the Channel fleet commanded by Lord Howe attacked and utterly defeated the French fleet off the Hyeres Islands. In this action Hood played a conspicuous part, and in the following August he was created Baron Bridport, in the Irish peerage." It is true, of course, that a great battle was fought on " The Glorious First of June," 1794 ; but it was fought, not off the Hyeres Islands, which lie near Toulon, in the Mediterranean, but off Ushant, near the mouth of the British Channel. The only important action fought off Hyeres during the war of 1793-1802 was fought in July, 1795, by a British fleet under Admiral William Hotham (1). That force was not a division of the Channel fleet, nor were the French utterly defeated on the occasion. Moreover, Lord Bridport was not upon the scene.
Rodney is described as "the son of a naval officer of some renown." Henry Rodney, his father, is usually supposed, neverthe- less, to have been a country gentleman, living at Walton -on-Thames. It is further said of Eodney that, while he was residing in France, " offers were made by the French to tempt him to desert his country; but he rejected the overtures, and was rewarded in 1778 by being promoted to be an admiral." It is news that promotion in the Navy has ever been a reward for a flag-officer's refusal to become a traitor : yet, seeing that when Eodney was made an Admiral of the White, on January '29th, 1782, he was still in France, and that, according to the generally accepted story, he owed his ability to return to England to the fact that a French gentleman lent him the necessary money, it is difficult to believe that the authorities at Whitehall, if they had ever suspected him of treasonable proclivities, could have felt sure, when they promoted him, that their suspicions were baseless.
Of Sir Charles Napier it is said : "in 1829 he was employed off the coast of Portugal in the Galatea. He supported the Constitu- tionalists ; defeated the fleet of Don Miguel, and settled Donna Maria on the throne. Don Pedro was unbounded in his gratitude : created him Viscount of Cape St. Vincent ; gave him all the
X INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME III.
Portuguese orders, and named him admiral-in-chief." From this it would certainly appear to the ordinary reader that, while com- manding H.M.S. Galatea, Napier took an active part in the internal affairs of Portugal and defeated Don Miguel ; and that, in conse- quence of his action, he was given command of Don Pedro's fleet. Yet, in fact, Napier quitted the Galatea early in 1832; succeeded Sartorius in command of Don Pedro's fleet in 1833, and did not, until he was already serving in that capacity, defeat Don Miguel.
I might, if it were worth while, cite scores of other misstate- ments, equally astonishing, from the book in question, and from other recent works dealing with English history. Surely, when such misstatements are being circulated broadcast, it is not •• premature " to put forward a Naval History which, though it may possibly contain errors on obscure points of fact or criticism, and though it make no pretence to be absolutely complete and linal, bus been, at least, prepared witli a vast amount of care, which is the outcome of reference,- not, of course, to all existing original authorities, but to many thousands of unpublished docu- ments, private and public, and to many thousands of printed histories, biographies, othcial papers, Navy lists, pamphlets and periodicals ; and which has involved research in, and, in some cases, special journeys to, not merely many parts of England, but also France, America, Spain, Holland, Kussia, Denmark and Italy.
For Chapters XXVI, XXVI I, and XXX, of the present volume, and for the appendix and some of the notes to Chapter XXXI, I am directly responsible. Sir Clements Markham contributes Chapter XXIX ; Captain Mahan, Chapter XXXI, and Mr. L. Carr Laughton, Chapter XXVIII, and the appendix thereto.
Captain Mahan desires me to express here, on his behalf, very cordial thanks to Professor J. K. Laughton, K.N., who has kindly assisted him in many ways in the preparation of Chapter XXXI, in the present volume.1 "With regard to that chapter, I ought to point out that the plan, on p. 37-3, of the naval attack on Fort Moultrie, Charleston, in 177(5, will be found to differ, in some small and un- important details, from Captain Mahan's description of the disposi- tions of the ships and of the guns in the works. Seeing, however, that the plan in question is based upon a contemporary drawing
1 " He kiudly jilaced at my disposal numerous notes made by him at the Record Office. These have been of great, and indeed of indisi>ensable assistance in the narrative." — Letter of Captain Mahan to \V. L. C.
INTRODUCTION TO VOLUME III. xi
made upon the spot by a British naval officer, and intended to accompany and illustrate the dispatch of Commodore Sir Peter Parker (1), I have deemed it to be of more than sufficient interest to warrant its reproduction. For its inclusion, however, Captain Mahan is not responsible. Among other supplementary illustrations which I have ventured to add to his chapter, is the valuable note on p. 396. It is but a brief note ; but it represents the results of many days' labour ; and we should not have been able to obtain the figures contained in it, had we not had the co-operation of Colonel H. Hozier, Secretary of Lloyd's, who most kindly allowed some of the clerks in his office to compile the table from the original documents.
To Lord Yernon, for information concerning his distinguished kinsman, Admiral Edward Vernon (I), and to Captain Thomas Suckling, R.N. (retd.), I desire also to express special thanks.
I regret that, owing to the fact that more than one chapter of the present volume has extended to greater length than was originally intended, I have found it impossible to conclude the history of the period 1762-1793 with Mr. H. W. Wilson's account of the minor operations of the War of American Revolution. That account will form the first chapter of Vol. I.Y, which, since most of it is already in type, will, I hope, be in a condition for publication very early in the year 1899.
\V. L. C.
DAVOS-AM-PLAT/, SWITZERLAND. Nov. 1898.
E BE AT A.
The reader is requested to correct the following errors, the presence of which was not discovered until after the greater part of the volume had been sent to press.
P. 9, at end of the table, in the two lower lines, under Cables,
for Diameter of bower cables, read Circumference of bower cables. P. 37.°i, line 4 from 'bottom,
for Captain James Reid, read Commander James l!rid. „ line 2 from bottom,
for Christopher, rend Tobias. P. 380, line 5,
for Admiral Lord Howe, read Vice- Admiral T.i.nl Ifuwc. P. :',87, If,,'- 21,
for Caulfield, r.W Caulffild. P. -100, in table in not*-, under Vigilant,
for Com. Hugh Ck'hcrry Christian, r<:ad Com. Braba/cni Christian P. 171, line 18,
for Thomas Graves (1), rutd Thomas Graves (2). P. 473, lin,- 25,
for Cavilficld, r>-ad C.iulfeild. „ line 20,
for Bonovier, read Bonavia. P. '474, line '2 from bottom,
fur Caulfield, read CaultY-iM.
P. 505, in '2nd col. of table,
for Capt. Cieorge Murray, rend Capt. Hon. George Murray.
for Capt. Robert Suttmi, n-ntl Capt. Robert Manners Sutt<>n. P. 5:',8, line 14,
for Pachard Hughes, Bart. (2), rend Pilchard Hughes (:!;, Part. „ in first foot-note,
for Pilchard Hughes, Bart. (I), mid Richard Hughes (2), Part. P. 54G, in 3rd col. of note,
for Heros, read llaros.
P. 550, in line 8 of 4th col. of tulle,
for Lapalliere, read Lapelliere.
P. 554, line 35,
for Batacalo, read Batticaloa.
P. 557, line 12,
for Batacalo, read Batticaloa.
CONTENTS.
VOLUME III. CHAPTEi; XXVI.
PAGE
CIVIL HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, \l\\-\~c\-i , . \
CHAPTER XXVII.
MILITARY HISTORY OF TIIK ROYAL NAVY, 1714-1702:
MAJOR OPERATIONS .... L>4
CHAPTER XXY.ITT.
~-vy —~-
MILITARY HISTORY OF THE ROYAI/NAVY, 171-l-17fi° •' ^
^J MINOR OPERATIONS . . ' . — "\ . . 051;
APPENDIX TO CHAPTERS XXVII. AND XXV HI. :
LOSSKS OF THE BELLIGERENT Po\VERS
(«) LOSSES OF H.M. SHIPS FKOM 17U-17G3 . . . ;UO
(b) LOSSES OF THE FRENCH NAVY, 1714-48 AND 1755-62 . .'ill'
(c) LOSSES OF THE SPANISH NAVY, 1718-19, 1739-48,
AND 17Gi' ... . . 314
CHAPTER XXIX. VOYAGES AND DISCOVERIES, 1714-1762. . . . 31G
CHAPTER XXX. CIVIL HISTORY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1763-1792 .... 325
XVI CONTENTS OF VOLUME 111.
CHAPTER XX XT.
FAGK
.MILITARY HlSTOKY OF THE KOVAL NAVY, 1 70.'?-! 792 :
MAJOR OPERATIONS ........ 353
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XXXI. :
LIST OF HHITISII FLAG-OFFICERS ON THK ACTIVE LIST, 1762-1793 505
INDEX . 509
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
VOLUME m.
FULL-PAGE PHOTOGRAVURES.
GEORGE, LORD ANSON, ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET . . . Frontixpia-e
GEORGE BRYDGES, LORD RODNEY, ADMIRAL . . . Fncimj pmjf 21'2
CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, R.N. . . . .'(Hi
RICHARD, EARL HOWE, ADMIRAL OK THE FLEET . ., 4U(>
SIR EDWARD HUGHES, K.B., ADMIRAL . . ,, ~>~>0
FULL-PAGE ILLUSTR ATK >XS.
H.M.S. " GRAFTON," FITTED WITH A .iritv HTDDEI:. ETC., KOI;
HER VOYAGE TO ENGLAND, AFTKH THE STORM (IFF Lofllv
IIOTIRG, 1757. (From HERVEY'S ' NAVAL HISTORY') . F<«-n<ij /«<;/<• Hi!)
ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE, 177(5 . /'";/' :'1""1
PART OF NORTH AMERICA AND THE NORTH ATLANTIC. AND
THE WEST INDIES . . „ ^77
NEW YORK HARBOUR, AND NEIGHBOURHOOD . . ,. :5Sl
MARTINIQUE ..... ... 4S5
INDIA AND CEYLON . . ,, '">44
ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.
[Ttie illnntratimiK Unix marknl (') urr tiikni fnnii ' A Xnrul Kf/nmtur' lm Tl* minx Ililnt Hlum'lilry :
Jjillilull, I'M.] •
THE FRENCH " INVINCIBLE," 74 . G
THE SPANISH " GLORIOSO," 74 .. 6
THE FRENCH " TERRIBLE," 74 HADLEY'S QUADRANT .
b
XV111 ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
1 ROYAL STANDARD, OP GEORGE II. .
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF MATHEWS'S ACTION, 1744
SIR JOHN NORRIS, KT., ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET .
GEORGE BYNG, VISCOUNT TORRINGTON, ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF BYNG'S VICTORY, 1788
ADMIRAL NICHOLAS HADDOCK ..... .49
ADMIRAL EDWARD VERNON. ..... .53
ATTACK ON PUERTO BELLO, 1739 ... .56
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES KNOWLES. ... .60
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF OPERATIONS AT CAHTAGUNA, 1741. . 73 THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF TOULON .....
SIH WILLIAM ROWLEY, ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET . . 93
MATHEWS'S ACTION OFF TOULON, 1714 .... .98
ADMIRAL THOMAS MATIIEWS ....... 99
VICE-ADMIRAL Sin PETER WARREN . .114
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL <>F ANSON'S VICTORY, 1717 . . . 1-7 ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES KNOWLES. ...... 133
PORT Louis, HISPANIOLA . . . ... 134
BYNG'S ACTION, 17.r>(i. T., •_' P.M. . ... 149
BYNG'S ACTION. 1756. II., 2.30P.M. . . 149
BYNG'S ACTION, 1756. 111., 3 P.M. . 150
ADMIRAL THE HON. .Joiix BYNG ... . 159
VICE-ADMIRAL CHARLES WATSON. . .... 162
CAPTAIN MAURICE SUCKLING, R.N. ...... 166
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES SAUNDEHS . . ... 170
ADMIRAL SIR GEORGE POCOCK ....... 173
REAR-ADMIRAL RICHARD KEMPENFELT ...... 180
THE HARHOUR OF Lorisiioi m; . . .... 184
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF THE CAPTURE OF LOUISIIOUKG, 1758 185
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF THE BATTLE OF QUIUERON, 1759 . . 222 SIR PETER PAKKEI:. ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET . . . 237
ADMIRAL SIR RICHARD KING ..... ;MO
1 BlTTACLE, OR BlNN\CLE, 1750 . . . 255
1 VOYAL BLOCK .......... 256
'Snips' FIRE-ENGINES, 1750 ..... 309
'Loo, 1750 . . . .316
HAND SCREW, OR JACK, 1750 ..... 324
SIGNATURE OF RICHARD, EARL HOWE, ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET 325
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF KEPPEL'S ACTION, 1778 353
LAKE GHAMPLAIN ...... 355
MANOEUVRES OF HOWE AND D'ESTAING . . . 407 ADMIRAL AUGUSTUS VISCOUNT KEPPEL. . . .
ILL USTBA TJONS.
PAGE
KEPPEL'S ACTION OFF USHANT, 1778, I., 2.30P.M.. . . . 419
KEPPEL'S ACTION OFF USHANT, 1778, II., 6 P.M. .... 421
ADMIRAL THE HON. SAMUEL BARKINGTON ..... 427
NOETHEEN PART OF ST. LUCIA .... . 430
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR HYDE PARKER (1) ...... 433
BYRON'S ACTION OFF GRENADA ....... 436
ADMIRAL MARRIOT ARBUTHNOT ....... 441
ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES HARDY (2) ...... 444
RODNEY AND DE GUICHEN, APRIL 17TH, 1780, I., 8 TO 9 A.M. . 455
RODNEY AND DE GUICHEN, APRIL 17™, 1780, II., NOON TO 1 P.M.. 457
RODNEY AND DE GUICHEN, MAY 15TH, 1780 .... 465
CORNVVALLIS AND DE TfiRNAY, JUNE 20'HI, 1780 .... 475
ADMIRAL THE HON. SIR WILLIAM COUNWALLIS .... 476
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF THE CAPTURE OF ST. EUSTATIUS . . 480
PART OF THE WINDWARD ISLANDS ...... 48.3
ARBUTHNOT AND DBS TOUCHES . . . . . . .491
GRAVES AND DE GRASSE ........ 498
HOOD AND DE GRASSE, JANUARY 25™, 1782, I. . . . . 514
HOOD AND DE GRASSK, JANUARY 25rni, 1782, II. . . . . 515
HOOD'S ANCHORAGE AT ST. KITT'S, 1782 . . . . .517
RODNEY AND DE GKASSE, APRIL 9™, 1782, I., 9.45A.M. . . 522
RODNEY AND DE GKASSE, APRIL 9™, 1782, II., NOON . . . 523
COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL OF RODNEY'S VICTORY, 1782 . . . 524
RODNEY AND DE GRASSE, APRIL 12™, 1782, A. . . . . 526
RODNEY AND DE GRASSE, APRIL 12™, 1782, B. .... 527
RODNEY AND DE GRASSE, APRIL 12™, 1782, C. . . . . 52S
RODNEY AND DE GRASSE, APRIL 12™, 1782, D. . . . . 529
SUFFREN AND JoiINSTONE, PoRTO PltAYA, 1781 .... 547
SUFFREN AND HUGHES, FEBRUARY 17™, 1782 .... 551
SUFFREN AND HUGHES, APRIL 12™, 1782 ..... 553
SUFFREN AND HUGHES, JULY GTH, 1782 ..... 555
SUFFREN AND HUGHES, SEPTEMBER 3ni>, 1782 . . . 559
NAVAL HISTORY.
CHAPTEE XXVI.
CIVIL HISTOEY OF THE ROYAL NAVY, 1714-1762.
Administration of the Xavy— The Admiralty Board— The Sick and Wound-id Board— The Admiralty Buildings — The Xavy Office- -The Xavy Pay Office — First Lords and Secretaries of the Admiralty, and Principal Officers of the Xavy, 1714-17(12 — Xaval Expenditure — Increase in various classes of ships — State of the Meet in 1714, 1727, 1752 and 17(!0 — The introduction of the true frigate — The dimensions of ships — Complements — Small arms — Anchors — Cables — Method of computing tonnage — Service ordnance — The armament of ships-— Some typical men-of-war — Cost of men-of-war in 171!), 173.'! and 1741 — Hadley's <|uadrnnt — Harrison's timekeeper — Coppering — Sail-cloth' — The Eddystone Light — Lighthouses — Lightships — The King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions — Pilots — Smugglers — Vernon on smugglers and their dangers — Repression of piracy — The Articles of War — Greenwich Hospital — The encouragement of seamen — Pri/.e money — Bounties to seamen — Pay and half-pay — Officers' servants — Promotion to tlag-rnnk — Super- annuation of Captains — The establishment of uniform for officers — The rough life of the service — The character of officers — Immorality on the lower deck — Health of the Xavy.
"PvUltlNG- the period 1714-1 7(5'2 very little change took place in the character of the machinery whereby the lioyal Navy was administered. That machinery had attained a certain degree of perfection, and was in fairly good working order. The Act of AVilliam and Mary,1 which specified and defined the functions of the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of England, continued to be the authority in virtue of which the Admiralty Board acted; and the patent granted to her Admiralty Board by Queen Anne was substantially reproduced from time to time as fresh Boards succeeded one another. In the civil depart- ment, the most important alteration was the appointment, in 1740, of a Sick and Wounded Board. The sick and hurt seamen of the Navy had been looked after by a Commission in the reign
1 2 W. & M., sess. 2, c. 2. VOL. III. B
'2 CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1762. [1714-1762.
of William III. ; but in 1692 the business had been transferred to the Commissioners of the Kegister Office, and thence, in 1702, to another separate Commission, which had lasted until 1713. There- after, for some years, things remained unsettled ; but in 1740, in consequence of the war with Spain, a Commission was specially granted to three persons, who were entrusted not only with the care of sick and wounded seamen, but also with the superintendence of medical stores supplied for the use of the Navy, the management of naval hospitals ashore and arloat, the examination and appointment of naval surgeons, and the maintenance and exchange of prisoners of war. From 1745 to 1749, this Board consisted of four instead of three Commissioners ; from 1749 to 1755, of two only ; from April to November, 1755, of three, as at first; and from 1755 to 1763, of four. Its offices were on Tower Hill.
The old Admiralty buildings at Wallingford House fell into decay about the year 1722, when the office of the Commissioners was temporarily transferred to a house in St. James's Square. The older part of the present Admiralty buildings in Whitehall, was completed and occupied in 1725, though not until 1760 was the colonnade or screen built across the street-side of the court-yard to mitigate the unpleasant effect produced by the attenuated propor- tions of the columns on the western side of the square. The Navy Office remained during the period at the corner of Seething Lane and Crutched Friars ; and the Navy Pay Office was in Old Broad Street.
The succession of the more important administrative officers was as follows : —
FIRST LOUD OK Tin: ADMIRALTY.
Oct. 14. 1714. Edward, Karl of Orford, Admiral. Ap. 16, 1717. James, Karl of Berkeley, Admiral. Aug. "2, 1727. George, Viscount Torrington, Admiral. June 21, 1733. Sir Charles Wager, Kt., Admiral. Mar. 19, 1742. Daniel, Karl of Winchelsea. Dec. 1744. John, Duke of Bedford.
Feb. 20, 174H. John, Karl of Sandwich. June 22, 1751. George, Lord Anson, Admiral. Nov. 20, 1756. Kichard, Earl Temple. Ap. 1757. Daniel, Earl of Winchelsea.
June 30, 1757. George, Lord Anson, Admiral. June 19, 1762. George, Earl of Halifax. Oct. 16, 1762. George Grenville.
1714-1762.] PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF THE NAVY.
Feb. Dec.
April June
SECRETARY OF THE ADMIRALTY.
Josiah Burchett. 1742. Thomas Corbett. 1751. John Clevland (with, as assistant and deputy,
John Milnes). TREASURER OF THE NAVY.
John Aislabie. 1718. Richard Hampden. 1720. Sir Geo. Byng, Kt., Adm.
1724. Hon. Henry Pattee Byng.
1725. William Corbett. 1734. Arthur Onslow. 1742. Thomas Clutterbuck.
1742. Sir Charles Wager, Kt.,
Admiral.
1743. Sir John Rushout, Bart.
1744. George Doddington. 1749. Hon. Henry Bilsou Legge.
1754. George Qrenville.
1755. George Doddington.
1756. George Grenville.
1757. George Doddington. 1757. George Grenville.
1762. William Wildman, Vis- count Harrington.
May
Sept.
April
Aug.
July
Jan.
Mar.
LI
CONTROLLER OF THE NAVY.
Sir Charles Wager, Kt., Rear-Admiral.
April 1718. Thomas Swanton (1), Captain, R.X.
Jan. 1722. James Migliells, Viee-Ad-
iniral.
Mar. 1734. Richard Haddock (2), Captain, R.X.
Mar. 22, 1749. Savage Mostyn, Captain, E.N.
Feb. 1755. Edward Falkinghain (1), Captain, R.N.
Nov. 1755. Charles Saunders, Cap- tain, R.N.
June 1756. Digby Dent (2), Captain, R.X.
Dec. 1756. George Cockburne, Cap- tain, R.N.
SURVEYOR OF THE NAVY.
William Lee.
Mar. 1715. Jacob Ackworth. June 1746. Joseph Allin. , ..„,. (Thomas Slade.
ad'\ William Bateley
Feb.
Mar. Dec.
Aug. Mar.
1717 1727
17
CLERK OF THE ACTS. Samuel Atkins.
1719. Tempest Holmes.
1720. Thomas Pearce. 1743. John Clevland.
1746. Robert Osborne.
1747. Daniel Devert. 1761. Timothy Brett. 1761. Edward Mason.
CONTROLLER OF TIIK TREASURER'S ACCOUNTS.
Dennis Liddell. Richard Burton. Sir George Saunders, Kt., Captain and Rear- Adm. ">. George Purvis, Captain,
R.N.
1740. John Philipson. 1743. William Corbett. 1753. Richard Hall. 1761. Timothy Brett.
CONTROLLER OF TIIK YiriTAi.UNO ACCOUNTS. Benjamin Tinievvell. Nov. 1714. Diehard Burton. Nov. 1717. John Fuwlcr. June 1744. Francis Gashry. July 1747. Robert Osborne.
CONTROLLER OF TIIK STOREKEEPER'S ACCOUNTS.
Thomas Jennings, Cap- tain, R.N.
Nov. 1714. Charles Cornwall, Cap- tain, R.N.
July 1716. Thomas Swanton (1), Captain, R.X.
April 1718. William Cleveland, Cap- tain, R.N.
May 1732. Robert Byng.
May 1739. John Philipson.
Mar. 1740. George Crowle.
Mar. 1752. Richard Hall.
Aug. 1753. George Adams.
Mar. 1761. Hon. William Bateman, Captain, R.N.
B 2
CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1762.
[1714-1762.
Xov. Dec.
Jan.
Mav
EXTKA COMMISSIOXKHS. June 1754. Arthur Scott, Captain,
Isaac Townesend, Captain, R.X.
K.N. Xov. 1755. Thomas Cooper, Captain,
Lawrence Wright, Ca]>- B.X.
tain, R.N. Jftn- 1701. Thomas Hanway, Cap-
1714. John Fawler. tain, R.N.
1717. Thomas Colby. Portsmouth : — •
1727. Sir George Saunders, Kt., N(1V im ]S!lacTowl,eseml, Captain,
R.N.
Captain, H.X.
1729. Sir Isaac Townesend, Kt., Mav 172!I. Richard Hughes (1), Captain, R.X. Captain, R.N.
1 T'JI !>..! . IJ '
May 1731. Robert Byng. May 1732. Lord Yere Beauclerk, Cap- tain, H.X.
May 1738. George Crowle.
Mar. 1740. Francis Gasliry.
A]iril (1, 1743. James Compton, Captain, R.X.
April (1, 1743. Alexander Geddes, Cap- tain, R.X.
Jan. 1744. James Oswald.
May 1741!. Kdward Falkingham (.1), Captain, H.X.
July 1717. John Russell.
Feb. 1755. Thomas Cooper, Captain,
H.X.
Xov. 1755. Arthur Scott, Captain,
Mar. 175(1. Digby Dent (2), Cap-
tain, R.N.
May 175(1. I Inn. William Mateman,
Captain, H.X.
Dec. 175(1. Dighy Dent (2), Captain,
Ii.X. (again).
Jan. 17(11. Kdward Mason.
Mar. 17(11. Sir Richard Temple.
Mar. 1701. Sir John Bentley, Cap-
tain, H.X.
COMMISSION KIIS AT ll.M. Do< K-
YAIIDS, inv.
1754. Richard Hughes (2), Captain, H.N. (Bart. 1773). Plymouth : —
Xov. 1714. Sir William Jumper, Kt., Captain, H.X.
Mar. 1715. Thomas Swanton, Cap- tain, H.X.
Julv 171(1. Francis Dove, Captain, R.X.
April 172(1. Sir Nicholas Trevanion, Kt., Captain, H.N.
Dec. !i, 1737. Matthew Norris, Captain, H.X.
Jan. 17:!!i. Philip Yanbriigh, Captain,
R.X.
Oct. 1753. Frederick Rogers, Captain, H.X. (Ban. 1773).
flrjiffnril unit }\'i,cl in'rh ' :- -
Henry (ireenhill.
May 20, 174 I. Thomas Whorwood, Cap- tain, H.X.
Jan. 1715. Kdward Falkingham (1),
Captain, H.X.
May 1740. James Compton, Captain, R.N.
Dec. 1717. William Davies, Captain,
R.X.
Xov. Mar. July
Ajiril
171! James Littlet Captain Dec. 1O, 1742. Kdward Falkingham (1),
and Hear-Adiniral. Captain, H.X.
1722. Thomas Kemptlu.rne, June 2H, 1744. Thomas Trefusis, Captain,
Captain, 1!.X. l',.\.
173U. Thomas Mathews, Caj)- Feb. 25, 1747. John To wry, Captain,
tain, H.X. K.X.
1742. Charles Brown, Captain, June 22, 175(1. Charles Colby, Captain
1!-*- R.N.
after
1 The business of these Yards was conducted by the Commissioners in London, r the death of Captain Davies on February 10th, 175'J.
1714-1762.]
THE NAVY ESTIMATES.
The following statement of the sums annually voted by Parlia- ment for the " extra " and for the " ordinary " expenses of the Eoyal Navy, and of the number of seamen and Marines authorised for each year, is taken from Derrick's ' Memoirs of the Eise and Progress of the Koyal Navy.'-1 It should be explained that the money voted under the head of "extra," was almost invariably used for building or repairing ships, for providing furniture and stores for such vessels, or for improving the Koyal Dockyards ; but that, occasionally, portions of the money were employed for the replenishment of the supplies of hemp, timber, etc., when the quantities in hand happened to be low, and for other special services : —
|
Year. |
Extra. |
Ordinary. |
No. of Seamen and Marines.' |
Year. |
Extra. Ordinary |
Xu. of Seamen ami Marines. 1 |
|
|
£ |
S. |
£ £ |
|||||
|
1715 |
237,277 |
233,47] |
(((Oio,ooo 1(6) 16,000 |
171(1 |
222,1181) 11)1). 701 |
12,000 35 ,(ioo |
|
|
1716 |
230,623 |
233,841) |
10,000 |
1711 |
184,111)1 |
4(),ooO |
|
|
1717 |
200,761 |
226,71)1) |
10,000 |
1742 |
188,7511 |
40,000 |
|
|
1718 |
165,. ",17 |
224,857 |
lo, 0( )() |
174", |
188.558 |
40,000 |
|
|
171!) |
88,4!)4 |
212,638 |
13,500 |
1744 |
11)2,834 |
lo,ooo |
|
|
1720 |
71), 72:; |
217,1118 |
l:!,5(>0 |
1745 |
2oi),47'J |
4o , ( u ii ) |
|
|
1721 |
50,200 |
2111,04!) |
10,000 |
1746 |
11)8,048 |
4o,ooo |
|
|
1722 |
218,7!!!) |
7 , ooo |
1747 |
1!I6,25!) |
40,000 |
||
|
1723 |
216,388 |
10,00(1 |
1748 |
1 18 , 827 |
40,000 |
||
|
1724 |
214.622 |
lo,ooo |
174!) |
85 , 878 |
I7,ooo |
||
|
1725 |
214,21)5 |
1 u , ( 101 i |
1 75( i |
1H7, 811(1 1 |
1)3,1125 |
lo,ooo |
|
|
1726 |
212,181 |
lo 'oOO |
1751 |
140,257 1 |
HO, 302 |
8 , 1 K)l ) |
|
|
1727 |
11111,071 |
L'O , 1 « K 1 |
1752 |
100,000 •_ |
77,718 |
1 0 , ooo |
|
|
1728 |
205,5(11 |
15,000 |
1753 |
80, 2(1(1 |
1 0 , ( II K ) |
||
|
172!) |
206,025 |
1 5 , ( K II ) |
1 754 |
1(111, OOO '_ |
1 8 , 1 4 1 |
1O,OOO |
|
|
1730 |
120, (118 |
213,1(18 |
1O, III III |
I 755 |
Kill. (II HI 1 |
81 ) . 288 |
12,OOO |
|
1731 |
212,034 |
It 1, (II III |
1756 |
LOI ),()()() L |
11), 021 |
"it ) , OOO |
|
|
1732 |
60,000 |
212,885 |
8 , 1 >00 |
1757 |
LOO, OOO 1 |
23,!i:i!) |
55,OO() |
|
1733 |
101,003 |
211,4115 |
8 , ( K)l ) |
1758 |
LI 10 ,OOO |
21, 121 |
(10, OOO |
|
1734 |
202,670 |
20,000 |
1751) |
LOO, ooo i |
38,41)1 |
110,000 |
|
|
1735 |
11)8, !)14 |
30,000 |
1760 |
LOO, ()!K) |
32,62!) |
70,000 |
|
|
1736 |
3D, 167 |
217,2(111 |
1 5 , < K)( ) |
17HI |
LOO, 000 |
58 , 624 |
70,000 |
|
1737 |
of) , OOI ) |
2111,201 |
10,000 |
1762 |
LOO, ODD L72,226 |
70,000 |
|
|
1738 |
40,000 |
222,885 |
j'(V) 10,000 \ (020,000 |
i The cost of these was in addition to the sums specified in the " Extra " and ' • Ordinary " columns, (a) Number to Midsummer, (d) Number from Midsummer to December 31st. (c) Number to April 10th. t;ii) Number from April loth to December 31st.
For several years after the death of Queen Anne, the number of ships belonging to the Eoyal Navy showed no increase, but rather a slight diminution. Nevertheless there was, even in those days, an increase in the total tonnage. But, from the death of George I.
1 4to. London, 1806.
CIVIL msTonr, 1714-1762.
[1714-1762.
onwards, the Navy grew enormously There was no tendency to add to the number of the first and second rates— vessels which were only useful for special purposes, and which, as late as the middle of the eighteenth century,1 it was customary to lay up every winter. Of the third, fifth, and sixth rates, and of the sloops, on the other hand, increasingly greater numbers were built. The third rates were the vessels which experience showed to be, upon the whole, most serviceable for the line-of-battle. The fifth and sixth rates were the ships with which the country found it could best deal with the enemy's cruisers ; and the sloops were
•nil: i'i:i:xrn Im'ini-H
Tuba I'll l'i,-i-Ailiinr,il Ai
. 1717. it'nnn 1/jc tlrtiu'iuijx hi/
TIIK SPANISH (i/i)-,-iosti, 71. Takfn lii/ tin Kussell. sil, 1747.
the natural foes of small privateers, and the natural agents for the general policing of the seas. That the number of fourth rates did not increase is attributable to the gradual discovery of the fact that fifty and sixty-gun ships, while too small and light for the line-of-battle, were too large and heavy for ordinary cruising purposes. They continued to be built in small numbers, chiefly because they were suitable craft for service in the colonies, and, as flagships, on the less important stations, in war, and almost every- where in peace ; and, because they continued to be built, they occasionally found their way into the line-of-battle. But occupying,
1 Vernon's correni>ondence with the Admiralty in 1745 is full of references to the danger of keeping three-deckers at sea during the winter months.
1714-17G2.]
STRENGTH OF THE FLEET.
as they did, an intermediate position between the line-of-battleships and the regular cruisers, and belonging positively to neither, their value was limited in both directions.
The " state" of the fleet at four different dates during the period now under review is given below : —
|
Death of |
Deatl. of |
Death of |
||||
|
Queen Anne. Aug. 12th, 1714. |
George I. June loth, 1727. |
Dec. 31st, 17E2. |
George II. Dct. 25th, 1760. |
|||
|
KATES on CLASSES. |
|
|
- |
|
||
|
\o |
linrthcn |
Hnrthen |
^- Hurthen |
.. lilirthen |
||
|
Tons. |
Tons. |
TOMS. |
Tom. |
|||
|
First-rates, 100 guns . |
7 |
11,703 |
i |
12,945 |
5 | 9,002 |
5 9,958 |
|
Second-rates, 84 to 90 puns . |
13 |
19,323 |
13 |
20,125 |
13 21,250 |
13 22. 8-25 |
|
Third-rates, 04 to 80 guns . |
42 |
47,708 |
40 |
47,958 |
47 05,277 |
74 109,49-1 |
|
Fourth-rates, 50 ' to UO guns. |
09 |
51,379 |
04 |
50,754 |
07 09,155 |
;:; 07,901 |
|
Ships of the line, or of 50 <runs| and upwards . . . . i ' |
130,173 |
121 |
131,782 |
132 105,281 1 |
~>5 210,177 |
|
|
Fifth-rates. 30 to 44 irnns . 42 19,830 |
27 |
15,1105 |
39 28,813 |
•4 39,173 |
||
|
Sixth-rates, 10 s to 80 guns . 25 0,031 |
•>'- |
9,700 |
39 19,129 |
;i 31,018 |
||
|
Sloops, 8 to 20 guns ... 7 8(19 Bombs I 597 |
13 |
1.39H 417 |
34 8,o:;o 1 , 1.1(14 |
Vi 12, S.V.I It 4,117 |
||
|
Fireshij>s ... 1 ^O'i |
• i |
I 057 |
8 •' 3'i7 |
|||
|
Busses |
||||||
|
Storeships 1 .">I(I |
1 |
540 |
1 078 |
'' 1 Vvl |
||
|
Hospital ships |
| |
53'' |
3 ''.791 |
|||
|
Yachts ].", 1 ,r)"l |
1" |
1 37S |
Hi 1,195 |
!•' 1.518 |
||
|
Hoys, lighters, transports . 13 1,009 |
14 |
1,210 |
23 2,037 |
!3 i 2,701 |
||
|
Hulks |
8 5,774 |
9 |
7,719 |
9 | 8,048 |
12 11,957 |
|
Ships under the line, or of less than 50 guns . . . I
Total ships of all classes
110 i 37,040109 ; 39,0-8(1 159 247 107,219233 17(1,802291
09,040257 i 110,927 234.924412 321,101
' The 50-Buu ships were not counted as of the liue-nf-battlo alter about 1756.
- Most ships of ninler 'JO guns were conute.l as sloojis, /.t'., Commanders' toinmniuls, after almut ITTii).
The Seven Years' War (175G-17(i'2) saw the introduction to the service of a class of vessel which, for nearly a hundred years after- wards, was of the highest value. This was the regular frigate, built to cruise at good speed, and carrying a reasonably heavy armament on one deck. There had previously been no vessels that thoroughly fulfilled this ideal. The forty-four, and even the forty-gun ships of an earlier date were cramped two-deckers ; and below them, until after 1745, there was nothing more formidable than the wretched twenty-gun ship, carrying nine-pounders as hex- heaviest weapons. Genuine frigates, mounting twenty-eight guns, began to be built about 1748 ; but still no larger gun than the nine- pounder found a place in them. The twelve-pounder thirty-two- gun frigate appeared at about the same time, the earliest examples
8
CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-17G2.
[1714-1762.
being the Adventure (1741), and Diana, Juno, Southampton, and Vestal (1757). Then came the twelve-pounder thirty-six-gun frigates, the best British fighting cruisers of the days before the accession of George III. The first of these, the Pallas and the Brilliant, were built under the superintendence of Sir Thomas Slade in 1757. Yet even they were inferior to thirty-six-gun frigates which were in possession of the French at about the same time. In a table given hereafter, the student will find materials for comparing the British Brilliant, 3(5, of 1757 with the French An rare, which was captured from her original owners in 1758, and added to the Royal Navy as the Aurora, 36.
TIIK Trrrililr 71. TAKKN I-MIOM TIM-: ri;i:M n, 1717. If'niui a ilruiriii'i Inj Juli/i Clinriiiifk.t
The first halt' of the eighteenth century witnessed repeated efforts to establish unvarying standards of si/.e, tonnage, and armament for each of the classes of men-of-war then in most general use. At least two of these efforts — those of 1719 and of 1745 — met with considerable success ; and the rules tentatively adopted in each of those years were for some time largely, though not exclusively, adhered to in the construction of ships. But it was probably discovered that to aim at rigorous uniformity was to check improvement ; and, after about the year 1755, all efforts in this direction were wisely relinquished. Seeing, however, that many vessels were built according to these successive "establishments,"
1714-1762.]
ESTABLISHMENTS AND SATES.
it may not be deemed improper to give here some particulars of them : —
|
°JL |
No. of guns .... |
Three-deckers. |
Two-deckers. |
24 20 |
||
|
93 100 i and ' 80 90 |
I | 74 70 64 60 53 |
44 40 |
||||
|
Established Dimensions. |
1719 |
Length on gundeck, ft. ill. Length of keel fur ton 1 uage,l ft. in . ] |
174 0 164 0 158 0 140 7 132 5 128 2 50 0 47 2 44 (i 20 0 18 10 IS 2 1869 1566 1350 |
.. 151 0 .. 144 0 134 0 .. 123 2 .. 117 7 109 8 . . 41 6 . . 39 0 36 0 17 4 .. 16 5 15 2 1128 .. 9J1 755 |
.. 124 0 101 8 33 2 14 0 534 |
. . 106 0 . . 87 9 . . 28 4 92 . . 374 |
|
Breadth, extreme, ft. in. . Depth in hold. It. ill. . . Hurthen in tons |
||||||
|
1733 |
Length on gundeck, ft. in. Length of keel for ton-l nage. ft. in f |
174 0 166 0 158 0 140 7 134 1 127 8 50 IJ 47 9 45 5 20 6 11) 6 18 7 1»69 i 1623 1400 |
. . 151 0 . . 144 0 134 0 .. 122 0 .. llli 4108 3 .. 43 5 . . 41 5 38 6 17 9 .. 16 11 15 9 1224 .. 1008 853 |
124 0 100 3 35 8 14 0 678 |
. . 106 0 . . 85 8 . . 30 6 95 . . 421) |
|
|
Breadth, extreme, ft. in. . Depth in hold, ft. in. . . Burthen in tuns |
||||||
|
1741 |
Length cm gundeck, ft. in. Length of keel for ton-; nage, ft. in j |
175 0 KH 0 161 0 142 4 137 0 130 10 |
.. 154 0 .. 147 0 140 0 .. 125 5 .. ll'.l 9 113 9 44 0 .. 42 0 -10 0 .. IK 11 .. IS 1 17 -2i 12'.ll .. 1123 968 |
1 20 0 102 i; :iil n 15 5* .. 700 |
. . 112 0 91 fi . . 32 1) 110 . . 4'JS |
|
|
Depth in hold, ft. in. . . Burthen in tons |
21 0 211 2 19 4 1892 11179 1472 |
|||||
|
1745 1 |
Length on giimlcck, ft. in. Length of keel for ton-, nage, ft. in J |
178 0 1711 0 105 0 144 f,t 138 4 131 10| |
. . 100 0 . . I",!) 0 144 0 .. 131 4 .. 123 Hi 117 8j .. 4.-J 0 .. 42 8 41 0 .. , 111 4 . . 1< 0 17 8 .. ' 1411 .. 1191 1052 |
133 0 .. 113 I) III" HI .. 93 4 :{7 11 . . 32 0 111 II .. 11 0 SU .. 5118 |
||
|
Depth in hold, ft. in. . . |
21 (i 20 0 20 0 2000 1730 1535 |
|||||
|
Hurthen in tons |
||||||
|
lj |
1719 1733 1741 1745 |
Complement of men |
780 <;st> r>2o sTill 750 COO 850 7"»0 tillll 850 7f)0 Ix'tO |
440 . . 3115 2*0 4MI . . 400 1100 4*0 . . 4011 3110 tlnil 520 47(1 4211 3."iO |
lllll 2."ill 2"tU 280 .. 1 |
Kill 140 110 |
( Muskets, bayonets, curt- 1 1 ridge- boxes . . . . t
I'.iirs of pi>t..ls ....
I'ole-axes (boanliiig-axps)
Swords (cutlasses) with i belts /
Hand gr mules ....
f Weight of bower anchurs,)
I cwts I
Weiglit uf bower antliurs, , cuts |
/Diameter of Ixirtcr cables,)
t in /
(Diameter of bower cables, |
r:u
40
IS -5 •2(1
i In 1719 tlic method of determining the length of keel for tonnage, ami the rule for computing tonnage, were settled by the Lords of the Admiralty as follows:—
" On a straight Hue with the lower part of the rabbit of the keel erect a perpendicular or square line to the upper edge of the wing transom, at the afterpart of the plank ; and, at the stem, 10 the forepart of the plank at ;.">• part of the height of the wing transom. The length between the saiil perpendiculars, adde I to .,',»' of the extreme breadth (allowing for the stern and stern post without: the rabbit), from which subtract ;'.'!" of the height of the wing transom for the rake abaft, and also ;"'« of ti.e main breadth for the rake afore, leaves the length of the keel for tonnage. Multiply this by thj breadth, ami the product by half the breadth, and divide by 94. The result gives the tonnage."
A simpler and more commonly-used method, both before and after the official adoption of the above Mghly- conventional formula, was: to multiply the length of the keel into the extreme breadth of the ship within-board, taken along the midship beam, and to multiply the product by the depth of the hold from the plank joining to the keelson upwards to the main deck ; and to divide the last product by 94. The result gave the burtheu iu tuns. See Derrick; • Merns. of the Roy. Xavy,'301; Falconer, ' Diet, of the Marine'; Willett, in ' Archicologia,' ii. 154. The last erroneously says that the number to be divided by was 96.
The establishments of 1733 and 1741 were proposed, but never
10
CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1762.
[1714-170-'.
officially adopted. Many ships were nevertheless built in accord- ance with them.
The establishment of 1745 was generally adhered to for about ten years. There was never afterwards any regular establishment so far as dimensions were concerned.
The mode in which these and other vessels of the period were armed can be seen at a glance on reference to the tables on the following pages.
Although practically all the ships of the Navy were armed ac- cording to a regular "establishment" as thus indicated, many vessels were built upon lines which differed from any of the " establish- ments " for dimensions and tonnage ; and it is therefore well to give particulars of a few craft, both British built ships and prix.es taken from the enemy and added to the service, which may be regarded either as typical specimens of the best home constructions of the time, or as models, the capture of which drew the attention of British constructors to points wherein foreign designers excelled them. These will lie found on page \-2.
The estimated cost of building and equipping a ship of each of the principal classes, and of storing her with eight months' boat- swain's and carpenter's stores, according to the Navy .Board Regula- tions, was, in 171'.), 17.'W, and 1741 respectively: —
|
I71D |
173.", |
1711 |
|||||||||
|
HATE. |
Uuxa. |
( '( is r |
or |
Tutal |
(osr OF 1 utal |
fl.ST |
OF |
Total |
|||
|
ii Ma- |
nil. t- and |
anil |
rpady |
Masts anil anil /''.-uly |
Hull, Masts anil |
anil |
Cost ready |
||||
|
Yar.ls. |
M'irrs. |
fur Spa. |
^ |
anls. Stores. ' |
Yards. |
Slurps. |
fur Sea. |
||||
|
£ |
£ |
£ |
£ £ |
£ |
£ |
£ |
£ |
||||
|
1 |
Inn |
3'* |
7n7 |
7,470 |
40,183 |
"i" |
,725 7,1)57 4(1,082 |
•!3,lln |
8 . 1 )5( > |
11 ,151 |
|
|
II |
00 |
20, |
022 |
0,201 |
32,880 |
27 |
,51)1 0,81)7 |
34,488 |
28,543 |
7,1. ".5 |
35,078 |
|
III |
81) |
21, |
1)37 |
5 , 400 |
27,337 |
99 |
,750 5,1)50 |
28,701) |
23,1)20 |
0,250 |
30,170 |
|
7O |
IT, |
2( )2 |
4,512 |
21,714 |
18 |
,000 5,202 |
23 , 808 |
11), 087 |
5,488 |
25,175 |
|
|
IV |
on |
14, |
027 |
3,804 |
17,831 |
15 |
,753 4,53!) |
20,2112 |
10,504 |
4,780 |
21,350 |
|
50 |
I", |
11)2 |
3,020 |
13,212 |
11 |
,75.", 3,025 |
15,14c |
13,004 |
4,117 |
17,185 |
|
|
V |
40 |
0, |
355 |
2,350 |
8,731 |
7 |
,254 2,881 |
10,135 |
7 ,554 |
3, on:! |
10,557 |
|
VI |
20 |
'•>, |
210 |
1,41)0 |
4,712 |
3 |
,08!l 1,823 |
5,512 |
4,282 |
2,117 |
0,31)1) |
Many improvements which increased the material efficiency of the Eoyal Navy were made in the period 1714-1762. One of these was the invention of the reflecting quadrant, an invention usually associated with the name of Doctor Hadley, and introduced by him
1714-1702.]
GUNS.
11
PARTICULARS OF SERVICE GUNS (ESTABLISHMENT OF 1743).1
|
NATURE.' Length. |
Weight. |
Calibre. - Proof. |
CHARGES. Service. Saint |
ng- |
Scaling. |
Windage Allow- ance. |
||
|
Ft. |
In. |
Cwfc |
In. Lb. oz. |
I.b. oz. Lb. |
oz. |
Lb. oz. |
In. |
|
|
42-pounder |
10 |
0 |
66 |
7- 03 25 0 |
17 0 11 |
4 |
3 4 |
•35 |
|
32-pounder |
9 |
(i |
55 |
(i-43 ' 21 8 |
14 0 | it |
4 |
2 12 |
•33 |
|
24-pounder (a) |
9 |
G |
50 |
5-84 18 0 |
11 1) 7 |
0 |
2 0 |
•30 |
|
(b) |
!) |
0 |
4(5 |
|||||
|
18-pounder (a) |
!) |
(i |
42 |
5-3 15 0 |
!l"o (i" |
0 |
l" 8 |
' l/>7 |
|
(6) |
8 |
0 |
30 |
|||||
|
I'J-pounder (a) |
9 |
6 |
•'10 |
4-64 12"o |
60 4" |
12 |
l" 0 |
•24 |
|
(6) |
9 |
0 |
32 |
> i |
||||
|
W |
8 |
6 |
31 |
|||||
|
0 -pounder (a) |
9 |
0 |
28 • 5 |
4:22 9"o |
4"8 4" |
0 |
"l2 |
• >)*> |
|
(*) |
8 |
c, |
27 |
11 |
; » * * |
|||
|
(c) |
8 |
0 |
26 |
» * • » |
||||
|
(<*) | 7 |
i; |
24 |
||||||
|
(0 7 |
i) |
23 |
||||||
|
6-pounder («) It |
it |
24 ' 5 |
:!-(>7 «"() |
."> 0 .", |
0 |
8 |
•19 |
|
|
(6) « |
i; |
'>>> |
• > |
|||||
|
oo |
8 |
0 |
L'l |
> ' ? |
||||
|
(<0 7 |
(i |
20 |
, , ii |
. . |
||||
|
W 7 |
0 |
1!) |
» > |
|||||
|
(/) 'i |
6 |
17 |
||||||
|
4-pounder |
3'22 4 'o |
20 L' |
0 |
(i |
• is |
|||
|
3-poumler . 4 |
6 |
1 |
2'!U 3 (» |
I 8 L |
S |
4 |
• 14 |
|
|
i-piiuiidcr3 . ! 3 |
i; |
i •:> |
1 • 1 i! 1 S |
4 |
4 |
1 |
i From Mountaine, 'Practical Sea-Guoner's Companion,' 1747.
- The reference letters in this column refer to the similar letters employe. 1 in tlie next table (Disposition of (lunsX
3 These were swivels, usually mounU'il on the bulwarks, etc., ami sometimes rel'ci n-il to as patererues.
DISPOSITION OF THE GUNS IN THK VAiuors CLASSKS OF IL ^F. SHIPS, 17H!, 1743, 1757.
|
*f . |
Lo» |
er Deck. |
Middle Deck. |
Uppe |
r Heck. |
rr i-—"- |
|||||
|
CLASSES OF SHIPS. |
||i |
|
- |
||||||||
|
C2~ |
No |
I'rs. |
Xo. |
I'rs. |
So. |
I'rs. |
Xo. |
I'rs. Xo. |
I'rs. |
||
|
loo |
guns. |
1710 |
28 |
(42 or 1 32 |
}^ |
24 |
28 |
12 |
12 |
0 4 |
0 |
|
.. |
„ |
174:: |
28 |
42 |
28 |
24 (n) |
28 |
12 (.<) |
12 |
0(c) 4 |
6(a) |
|
42 |
28 |
24 |
28 |
12 |
12 |
0 4 |
|||||
|
90 |
„ (largo class) . |
1757 |
28 |
32 |
30 |
IS |
30 |
12 |
•_> |
:i |
|
|
„ |
(ordinary class) . |
1710 |
20 |
32 |
20 |
18 |
20 |
'.i |
10 |
0 2 |
o |
|
,, |
„ „ |
1741! |
20 |
U>> |
20 |
18 (a) |
20 |
12 (ft) |
10 |
0(«) 2 |
o <<•) |
|
,, |
„ „ |
]757 |
20 |
32 |
20 |
18 |
20 |
12 |
10 |
0 2 |
0 |
|
80 |
,, (large class) . |
1 757 |
20 |
32 |
20 |
18 |
24 |
11 |
4 |
(i |
|
|
„ |
,, (ordinary class) . |
1710 |
20 |
32 |
20 |
12 |
24 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
., |
'. n |
1741! |
20 |
32 |
26 |
18 (ft) |
24 |
9(o) |
4 |
6W) .. |
|
|
M |
»5 1* |
1757 |
20 |
32 |
20 |
12 |
24 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
|
|
74 |
„ (large class) . |
1757 |
28 |
32 |
30 |
24 |
12 |
9 4 |
II |
||
|
„ |
„ (ordinary class) . |
1757 |
28 |
32 |
28 |
18 |
14 |
9 4 |
11 |
||
|
70 |
„ |
1710 |
20 |
24 |
26 |
12 |
14 |
0 4 |
i; |
||
|
,, |
„ |
1757 |
2S |
32 |
28 |
IS |
12 |
9 2 |
9 |
||
|
(J4r |
1743 |
'*(> |
32 |
26 |
18 (ft) |
10 |
9 (<7) 2 |
9 (ft) |
|||
|
1757 |
•"•o |
24 |
26 |
12 |
10 |
0 2 |
i; |
||||
|
60 |
„ (largo class) . |
1757 |
20 |
24 |
20 |
12 |
8 |
0 2 |
0 |
||
|
„ |
„ (ordinary class) . |
1710 |
24 |
24 |
26 |
•I |
8 |
6 2 |
0 |
||
|
„ |
M )' i< |
1757 |
20 |
21 |
26 |
12 |
0 |
0 2 |
0 |
||
|
,( |
„ (small class) . |
1757 |
24 |
24 |
26 |
9 |
8 |
0 2 |
0 |
||
|
58 |
1743 |
24 |
24 (<0 |
24 |
12 (a) |
8 |
Old) 2 |
6 (ft) |
|||
|
50 |
„ (large class) . |
1757 |
22 |
— i yiiy 24 |
22 |
12 |
4 |
\ S G 2 |
6 |
12
CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1762. DISPOSITION OF THE Guxs, ETC. — continued.
[1714-1 7C2.
|
•si- |
Lower Deik. |
Deck" Upper Deck. ^^ Forecastle. |
||
|
CLASSES OF SHIPS. |
43g |
|||
|
;-? E |
||||
|
No. I'w. |
So. 1'rs. No. |
1'rs. No. 1'rs. No. 1'rs. |
||
|
50 guns (ordinary class) . |
1710 1743 |
22 18 22 24 (I) |
.. 22 . . 22 |
9 4 G i 2 6 12 (c) 4 6(e) 2 0 (c) |
|
1757 |
22 18 |
. . 22 |
9 4020 |
|
|
44 „ (larfie class) . |
1757 |
20 18 |
. . 22 |
9 .. ..2 6 |
|
„ (ordinary class) . |
1743 |
20 18(fc) |
. . 20 |
9 (f) 4 0 (/)..- |
|
1757 |
20 18 |
. . 20 |
9 . . . . 4 0 |
|
|
40 |
1710 |
20 12 |
. . 20 |
6 ' •• |
|
30 |
1 757 |
. . 20 |
12 8 0 2 0 |
|
|
32 |
1757 |
12 4 0 2 0 |
||
|
30 |
1~ 10 |
8 9 |
. . 20 |
0 2 4 .... |
|
28 |
1757 |
. . 24 |
9 4 3 |
|
|
24 |
1757 |
'' 9 l» |
. . 20 |
9(e) 2 3 |
|
20 |
— ' \ ) |
. . 20 |
0 |
|
|
1743 |
. . 20 |
9 |
||
|
1757 |
. . 20 |
9 |
||
|
14 .. (ship-rigged) |
1757 |
. . 14 |
0 |
|
|
12 .. |
1757 |
.. 12 |
4 |
|
|
10 .. |
1757 |
.. 10 |
4 |
|
|
8 |
1757 |
8 |
3 |
|
|
TYPICAL |
SHIPS OF WAIC, 1714-1702. |
|||
|
1. flit-til .if |
||||
|
hut. .if S|IM'- . Launch X. |
I)e"k |
It. |
,111. lii'i'ih. i'1,"1,',',!!'" Win-re, iin.l by whom Huill. |
|
|
It. ill. Hoijal Sovereign loo 1728 175 o |
ft. in. it. 40 7 50 |
in. ft. in. 3120 1 18S3 Chatham, J. liosewcll. |
||
|
litiyiil George . loo 1750 178 o |
43 51 51 |
9121 0 204 |
7 Woolwich, ,1. Pownall. |
|
|
Hiirllair '. . 90 1710 103 0 |
31 9 47 |
3" 18 0 15() |
5 Deptford. |
|
|
Bhnhtim . . 911 1701 170 1 |
42 3 19 |
1 21 0 182 |
7 Woolwich. J. I'ownall. |
|
|
Cornwall . . so 1720 1 |
•>8 0 |
28 2 41 |
(i 18 2 1350 Pepllord. |
|
|
Prinrett Amelia SO 1757 105 0 |
33 II 17 |
3 20 0 157 |
.1 Woolwich. .1. I'ownall. |
|
|
Jurinriblf . . 71 *1747 1 |
71 3 |
39 0149 |
3 21 3 7! |
3 Taken from the French. |
|
Terrible. . . 74 * 1747 104 1 |
33 if 47 |
3 20 71 5! |
0 Taken from the French. |
|
|
Mart ... 74 1759 105 (J |
31 4 10 |
3 19 9" 550 Woolwich. .1. I'ownall. |
||
|
Priucftii . . 70 *174() 105 1 |
30 3 49 |
8 22 3 71 |
9 Taken from the Spaniards. |
|
|
MiHuiiiiiitli . . 70 1742 151 0 |
23 2 43 |
5 17 9 22 |
5 Dcptford. |
|
|
Diirnflrhirr . . 7(1 1757 102 0 |
34 4JJ44 |
10 19 8 130 Portsmouth. K. Allen. |
||
|
Captain. . . 01 1743 1 |
51 o |
22 0 43 |
0 17 9 230 Woolwich. J. Holland. |
|
|
Plymouth . . 00 1722 111 7 |
IS 0 39 |
0 10 5 954 Chatham. |
||
|
Jd'/Htn . . . 00 1758 1 |
55 5 |
28 (1 12 |
7 18 7 124 |
2 Woolwich. J. Pownall. |
|
Conquistador . 00 *17'J2 155 9 |
28 0 43 |
3 111 3 127 |
8 Taken from theSpaniards. |
|
|
Orford . . . 50 1727 1 |
34 0 |
109 10 30 |
3 15 2 70" Portsmouth. |
|
|
Roiuney . . . 50 1752 110 li |
120 8130 |
41 17 2 1040 Woolwich, .J. Harris. |
||
|
Lmllow Cattli- . 44 1744 120 10g |
103 8" 30 |
'A 15 51 725 Thames. |
||
|
Plitx/tix ... 44 1759 140 9 |
110 10J37 |
IjjlO o" 850 Thames. M. liatson. |
||
|
lirilliant . . 30 1757 128 4 |
100 2-35 |
8 12 4 i 718 I'lvinonth. |
||
|
Aurora . . . 30 "1758 144 o |
118 9 3S |
8J15 2 940 * Taken from the French, |
||
|
Juno ... 32 1757 1 |
27 10 |
107 0434 |
3" 11 10 007 ThameH, Alexander. |
|
|
Cnsrent. . . 32 *175S 1 |
30 5 |
107 0$35 |
9 11 2 731 "Taken from the French. |
|
|
Corentrij . . 28 1757 118 4j |
97 01 34 |
OJ 10 0 599 Beaulicu, H. Adams. |
||
|
IMltkiu. . . 24 1751 113 0 |
93 4" 32 |
1 11 0 511 Woolwich, Fellowes. |
||
|
Gibraltar . . 20 175ii 107 8J |
88 0 30 |
498 430 IJeanlieii, H; Adams. |
||
|
Scorpion . . 14 1740 |
91 2 |
74 11£20 |
4 12 0 270 Jieaulieu. |
|
|
Furnace, bomb. 14 1740 |
91 0 |
73 11J26 |
4 11 0 27 |
3 Thames. |
|
Terror, bomb . 8 1759 |
91 0 |
74 Ij27 |
8 12 1 301 Harwich, Barnard. |
|
|
Prineeu Aui/ufta vt. 1710 |
73 8 |
57 7J 22 |
OJ 9 0 155 Deptford, J. Allen. |
|
|
lioyal Charlotte yt. 1749 |
90 0 |
72 2J 24 |
7 11 0 2: |
2 Deptford. J. Holland. |
1701.]
HARRISON'S TIMEKEEPER.
13
about 1731. But after Hadley's death, there was found among his papers a document in the handwriting of Sir Isaac Newton, con- taining a drawing and description of an instrument somewhat similar to Hadley's ; so that, apparently, the credit of the innova- tion should be divided between these men of science, if not given altogether to the elder of them.
The efforts which had been made under Queen Anne to induce inventors to turn their attention to the perfection of methods for discovering the longitude at sea, were continued ; and in 1753 a new
IIADLKV 8 yUADBAXT. (Fniiil Julill Solnrtsun i ' Elr incut* »/ Xuriiju timi.' Linnluii, 174±>
Act was passed in furtherance of the desired object. In 1761 the Board of Longitude decided to give official trial to the timekeepers of Mr. Harrison, a watchmaker who had produced a clock or chronometer of unusual accuracy ; and at the instance of the Board, the Admiralty placed the Deptford, 50, Captain Dudley Digges, at Mr. Harrison's disposal for the purpose. The ship, with Harrison on board, sailed from Portsmouth on November 18th ; and, both at Madeira and at Jamaica, it was found that the timekeeper which had been experimented with still showed the correct time. From Jamaica, Harrison returned to England in the Merlin, 14, Captain
14 CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1702. ' [1755.
Richard Carteret. On March '23rd, 1762, the Merlin fell in with the Essex, 64, Captain Alexander Schornberg, which had been off Scilly on the preceding evening. Her reckoning agreed exactly with that of the timekeeper; and on the 26th, when Harrison reached Portsmouth, he found that his instrument, in spite of much shaking owing to bad weather, had lost only 1 minute 54 • 5 seconds since it had left England more than four months earlier. This result marked a great advance upon anything that had been attained up to that time.
It was at about the same time that the experiment of coppering ships' bottoms to preserve them against the worm was first officially tried in the Navy. In 1761, the Alarm, 32, was so treated, but, although the effect was found to be satisfactory, the general introduction of the improvement was impeded for several years, owing to the galvanic action which was set up between the copper and the iron bolts of the vessel's hull, and to the evils which this action wrought. The difficulty was ultimately got over by using only copper fastenings in the under- water portion of ships' hulls; yet it was not until 1783 that this measure of precaution was ordered to be generally adopted, and, until then, copper sheathing, while applied to specimens of every class of ships, was very far from being universal in the service.
To encourage home manufactures, it was enacted in 1746 that every ship built in Great Britain or in the American colonies should, when first prepared for sea, be provided with a suit of sails made of cloth woven in Great Britain, under penalty of ±'50 ; and that every sailmaker in Great Britain or the plantations should, upon failing to place his name and address legibly and fully upon each new sail made by him, be fined £10.
After the burning of Kudyard's wooden tower in 1755, the lessees of the Eddystone Light, by the advice of the lioyal Society, placed the work of constructing a new lighthouse in the hands of John Smeaton, F.K.S., a distinguished engineer. Smeaton built his tower entirely of stone, dovetailing every block into its neigh- bours, and so making the column practically solid. Operations were begun on August 5th, 1756 ; the first stone was formally laid on June 12th, 1757, and the last on August 24th, 1759; and a light from twenty-four candles, weighing five to two pounds,1 was shown
1 Smeaton invented a timepiece, which struck a single blow every half hour, and so warned the kee]>ers to snuff these candles. The original now belongs to the Corporation of Trinity House.
1731.] KING'S REGULATIONS AND ADMIRALTY INSTRUCTIONS. 15
from the rock on October 16th, 1759, and thenceforward every night until 1810, when the candles gave place to oil lamps and reflectors. Smeaton's tower, it is almost needless to add, remained effective until, in 1879-81, owing to the base 011 which it stood having been seriously shaken by the sea, a new tower, Douglass's, had to be built 011 a neighbouring rock. Part of Smeaton's tower was there- upon removed, and reconstructed on Plymouth Hoe.
Several other lighthouses which were in their day triumphs of engineering, were erected during the first half of the eighteenth century. One of the best known towers, that on the island of Skerries, near Holyhead, dates from 1730. At about the same time, also, lightships began to be placed round the coasts. The one first moored in English waters was fitted out in 1731 by Mr. liobert Hamblin for the Nore Sand, at the mouth of the Thames ; the next, in 1736, by Mr. Daniel Avery for the Dudgeon Shoal, Norfolk.
Until 1730, every commander-in-chief, with the sanction of the Admiralty, issued his own code of instructions. In that year the volume of material provided by the accumulations of lapsed codes was in some measure digested ; many additional instructions were set forth ; the principles of naval usage were crystallised ; and in 1731 there appeared the first issue of ' The King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions.' This book has since been revised at intervals, but it remains in substance very much what it was in 1731, and most of the important alterations that have been made in it are merely such as have been necessary to bring it into conformity with modern ideas and modern conditions.1
In 1717, the rate of pilotage for pilots of Deal, Dover, and Thanet, taking charge of ships in the Thames and Medway, was fixed by Act of Parliament at ten shillings per foot of draught. The Act was subsequently amended with a view to prevent these pilots, who, of coiirse, possessed exceptional opportunities for smuggling, from engaging in that pursuit. The repression of smuggling, indeed, was a burning question during the whole of the period now under review, and especially in war time. The smuggler, besides being a professional cheater of the revenue, was, of necessity, a man of lax patriotism and easy conscience, .and one whose success depended upon his maintenance of good relations with both sides of the
1 ' The King's Regulations and Admiralty Instructions ' contain, as it were, the civil code of the Navy. The penal code is supplied by the Naval Discipline Act. See p. 17, infra.
16 CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1762. [1745.
Channel. He was, consequently, ever available as a spy. The frequency with which he impeded, and sometimes even confounded, the operations of the Navy, appears in the correspondence of several of the flag-officers of the time ; and there is very little doubt that the many treacherous betrayals, which, in the reigns of the first two Georges, prevented the secret carrying out of naval plans and combinations, were, as often as not, attributed to grave Jacobite and French sympathisers, when they were really the work of persons owning no more serious political conviction than that he who paid duty was a fool. There are several pregnant references to this subject in the letters of Admiral Edward Vernon, who was in command in the Downs at the time of the young Pretender's descent in 1745. Advocating the more extensive recruiting of the Navy from the seaport towns, he writes of men who " are now thought to be principally employed in the ruin of their country by the smuggling trade, and as daily spies to give the enemy intelligence of our proceedings," and goes on to say : —
•' I ciin't but think it a seasonable time to suggest to their Lordships that there are said to lie in this town of Deal not less than two hundred able young men and seafaring people who are known to have no visible way of getting a living but by the infamous trade of smuggling, many keeping a horse and arms to be ready at all calls. At Dover, it is conjectured, there may be four hundred: at Itamsgate and Folkestone, three hundred each. And it is said that, within these three weeks, no less than nine cutters at a time have gone off from Folkestone to Boulogne; and it is conjectured that, from the town of Folkestone only, a thousand pounds a week is run over to Boulogne in the smuggling way. And, about six or seven days past, a Dover cutter landed goods in the night under the Castle, that was carried off by a party of sixty horse, and the cutter supposed to have done it came into Dover pier next day; and, though most believed it was she, no one proceeded against them in any inquiry about it. This smuggling has converted those employed in it, first from honest, industrious fishermen, to lazy, drunken, and protligate smugglers, and now to dangerous spies on all our proceedings, for the enemy's daily information." '
And again : —
"Captain Scott, in the Badger, is just returned from his cruise off the coast of Sussex. On the 25th of last month he was informed of a cutter being going from Fairleigh to Boulogne that night; but she was gone over before he could get there. On the 3rd of this month, he got sight of the French dogger privateer, and chased him, ami neared him as the other was edging down to get to leeward of him ; and, when he got within shot of him, he exchanged some guns with him; but the other, getting afore the wind and hoisting her studding sails as the night was coming on, he soon lost sight of him. He has the repute there of being a confederate with the smugglers, and a convoy to them. I send you enclosed Captain Scott's day's work, when he seized two of the smugglers' boats, in which you have the names of the two reputed notorious
1 Letter of November 13th, 1745. Letter Book in Author's Coll.
1749] THE ARTICLES OF WAR. 17
smugglers they belong to : which are George Harrison and Zebulon Morphet ; and a copy of the Collector of Customs' certificate that they are reputed as such. And a little before that, above a hundred horse had been upon the shore to carry off goods brought by another cutter ; and, by all accounts, they carry on as great an intercourse with the French now as they did in time of profound peace with them : by which they are undoubtedly their daily spies to inform them of all our proceedings. I am informed there are lawyers who say, as the laws now stand, such an intercourse with his Majesty's enemies is now by our laws high treason ; and, if so, I should think we want a speedy proclamation to inform these infamous wretches that it is high treason ; and they shall be prosecuted as such ; for, surely, no nation but this would suffer itself to be daily betrayed with impunity."
While smuggling and smugglers' treachery at home engaged the attention of the authorities, piracy required, once more, their energetic interference in the West Indies ; and on September 5th, 1717, a proclamation was issued, offering a pardon for piracies committed before January 5th, 1717, to all such pirates as should surrender themselves within a twelvemonth. After the expiration of that period of grace, a reward would be paid to any of his Majesty's officers, by sea or land, upon the legal conviction of a pirate taken by him. The rewards promised were : for a captain (master) £100 ; for any officer from a lieutenant down to a gunner, £40 ; for any inferior officer, £80. Any private seaman or other man who should deliver up a pirate captain (master) or "commodore," would, upon the offender's conviction, be entitled to i'-200.
In 1749, there was brought in "a Bill for amending, explaining, and reducing into one Act of Parliament, the laws relating to the Navy." One of the results of this Bill, had it been passed in its original form, would have been to subject officers on half-pay to martial law. The measure was, in consequence, strongly opposed and petitioned against. The upshot was that the obnoxious clauses were deleted. The Bill then passed ; all older laws for the govern- ment of the Navy were repealed ; and, in place of them, the first regular Articles of War l were established. In the same year, another Act authorised the Admiralty for the first time to grant commissions to flag-officers, or officers commanding-in-chief, to assemble courts- martial in foreign parts.
The changes and alterations which more intimately affected the
1 This was the Consolidation Act of George II. 22. It was based upon the Act of 13 Car. II. c. 9. Being found to be too stringent, it was amended in 19 Geo. III. In the amended form, it is the foundation of the existing Articles of War; which, in almost exactly their present guise, date from 1847. The proper name of the measure is The Naval Discipline Act. It receives small alterations and amendments from time to time.
VOL. III. c
18 CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1762. [1714-1762.
personnel of the Koyal Navy between 1714 and 1762, were numerous. The more important of those relating chiefly or exclusively to the seamen may be first noted.
In 1735 an Act l appropriated the forfeited Derwentwater estates to the completion and support of Greenwich Hospital, and extended the benefits of the Hospital so as to allow maimed merchant seamen to participate more fully in them. A little- later two naval Acts were passed. One was for procuring a better supply of seamen to serve in the Navy ; for permitting merchant vessels to be navigated by foreign seamen in a proportion not exceeding three-fourths of the crew ; and for giving the right of naturalisation to such foreigners, after two years' service in British ships. The other was to prevent the impressment of seamen aged fifty and upwards, or aged less than eighteen ; of foreigners serving in merchant vessels ; of sea apprentices of under three years' service ; and of all persons under- going their first two years' service at sea.2 In 174U, Mr. Henry Pelham brought in a Bill to revive the system of registering seamen ; but, it being violently opposed, he withdrew it. In 1758, another Bill, lirought in by Mr. George Grenville, though opposed in the Upper House, was ultimately carried. It provided in general for the encouragement of naval seamen, and, in particular, for the establishment of more regular and frequent payment of wages ; and for enabling seamen to remit money for the support of their wives and families by means of tickets payable in cash on demand by any collector of customs or excise. An Act of 1747 authorised masters of merchant vessels to detain from the wages of their seamen sixpence a month, as a provision for the widows and children of men drowned.
On April 3rd, 1744, a royal declaration assigned to the officers and crews of men-of-war all property in prizes taken by them : and, to the officers and crews of privateers and letters of marque, such a proportion as might be conceded to them by the agreement of the owners. It also provided that shares not claimed within three years should go to Greenwich Hospital.
Bounties to seamen were several times offered. In 1734, the rate was 20s. for an able-bodied seaman, and 15s. for an able-bodied landsman. In 1740, it was 42s. for an able-bodied, and 30s. for an ordinary seaman. In 1742, it rose to 100s. for an able-bodied, and 60s. for an ordinary seaman; and it was further ordered that the '8060.11.0.29. 2 13Geo. II. c. 3.
1740.] OFFICERS' PAY. 19
widows of such bounty men as should be killed on service were to be granted a sum equivalent to a year's pay of their late husbands. In the same year, apparently to keep down rivalry, pay in the merchant service was, for a time, restricted by Act of Parliament to a maximum of 35s. a month.
'- The pay of officers remained as it had been at the conclusion of the period 1660-1714 ; but the position of officers of nearly every rank was improved in various ways. Surgeons were, for the first time, given half-pay in 1729; and, in 1749, an increased number, both of surgeons and of masters, were granted half-pay. The number then entitled to it was, in each case, fifty, of whom the first thirty received 2s. 6d., and the remaining twenty, 2s. a day.
The number of domestics and servants allowed to officers had been considerably reduced at the end of the seventeenth, but was again increased in the first half of the eighteenth century ; and, in 1740, it stood thus : — l
Admiral of the Fleet . 50, of whom 16 only to be borne as servants on the books.
Admiral .... 30, „ 12 „
Vice-Admiral . . . 20, „ 10 „ ,, „
Rear-Adrairal . . . 15, „. 10 „ „ „
Captain .... 4 per 100 of the complement.
Lieutenant, Master,
Second Master Pur- m hn (;Q ]nen ()[. &]M^
ser, Surgeon, Chap- lain and Cook, each
Boatswain, Gunner,1) 2, in ships having 100 men or upwards, and 1 in ships Carpenter, each . . J having between 100 and 00.
This generous allowance of servants permitted captains to take to sea with them young gentlemen who aspired to the position of officer ; and the better captains usually benefited the service by having with them a large proportion of "servants" of that kind, training under their own eyes. Yet, even captains who were heartily devoted to the interests of their profession, took with them to sea, in those days, many retainers of a class that would, nowadays, be deemed very superfluous in a man-of-war. Tailors, barbers, footmen and fiddlers, followed their patron. As late as 1785, Commodore Edward Thompson, who, it is true, always had his quarter-deck crowded with such young gentlemen as were destined, a few years later, to shine in the front ranks of the service, had a painter on his personal staff, and used to summon the poor artist on deck at
1 And so remained until April, 1794.
c 2
20 CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1762. [1718.
strange hours to record impressions of sunrise effects or nocturnal storms.
In 1718, it was, for the first time, formally ordered that captains should, if duly qualified, be promoted by seniority to flag-rank, and so onward to the rank of full admiral. But since, in those days, the entire flag establishment consisted only of nine officers, viz., an Admiral of the Fleet, an Admiral of the White, an Admiral of the Blue, and Vice and Kear- Admirals of the Keel, White and Blue respectively, captains soon began to grow very old ere, in con- sequence of deaths above them, they became eligible for advance- ment. If, also, the order had been loyally carried out — which it was not — and had not been followed by other modifications, it would presently have resulted in a flag-list composed exclusively of officers too aged to go afloat. The threatened evil was fended off by the gradual increase of the flag-list in 174H and subsequent years, and by the provision, in 1747, of arrangements in virtue of which senior captains, indisposed, or too infirm, to accept active flag-rank, might bo superannuated as rear-admirals, with pay at the rate of 17x. («/. a day. The first officers to be superannuated under this scheme were captains of 171H, or, to put it otherwise, captains of thirty-four years' service in that rank. Some of them were septuagenarians.
The establishment of a regular uniform for certain officers of the lioyal Navy dates from 1748. Three years earlier, some officers appear to have petitioned the Admiralty for the boon ; and, in 174(5, sundry captains, at Alison's wish, prepared tentative coats from which a uniform pattern might be selected. But, though a captain may have designed the uniforms which were finally adopted, King George II. himself decided upon the colours of them. Having noticed the Duchess of Bedford, wife of the First Lord, riding in the Park in a habit of blue, faced with white, his Majesty chose blue and white for the first uniform dress of his officers. The innovation applied only to admirals, captains, commanders, lieu- tenants, and midshipmen, and the wearing of the new uniform was made compulsory, as regards these ranks, by an order dated April 14th, 1748. But there were difficulties in the way of obedience. Patterns were not sent to foreign stations, nor were the regulations sufficiently explicit to enable officers, by their aid only, to instruct their tailors concerning what was required. It is therefore probable that, for several years, the order was not fully carried out.
1748.] OFFICERS" UNIFORM. 21
Admiralty patterns of these uniforms were lodged at the Navy Office and the Dockyards, but they have not been preserved. A few coats, waistcoats, breeches and hats, for captains and lieutenants, were, however, found at Plymouth, in 1846, and are now in the Royal United Service Institution.
" The hats are three-cornered in shape ; one is trimmed with silver or tarnished gold lace ; and both bear the silk cockade instituted by George I. Lace and frills being then worn, there are no collars to the coats. They are made of thick blue cloth ; the lappels, which button back, are blue ; but the cuffs of the captain's coats are white, and the sleeves of all are purposely made short to allow the laced sleeves of the white kerseymere waistcoats to show beyond. There are two kinds of buttons, one flat, bearing a rose ; the other round and plain. Although we have not the patterns, pictures of the dress of the admirals and midshipmen have come down to us, the embroidery and lace on those of the flag officers being must elaborate." '
Some written advice, given by Edward Thompson,2 in 1756, to a relative who was about to enter the Navy, throws light upon the condition of young gentlemen in the men-of-war of the time.
" Here," he says, " are no back doors through which you can make your escape, nor any humane bosoms to alleviate your feelings; at once you resign a good table for no table, and a good bed for your length and breadth ; nay, it will be thought an indulgence, too, to let you sleep where day ne'er enters, and where fresh air only comes when forced." ..." Your light for day and night is a small candle, which is often stuck at the side of your platter at meals, for want of a better convenience ; your victuals are salt, and often bad ; and, if you vary the mode of dressing them, you must cook yourself. I would recommend you always to have tea and sugar; the rest you must trust to, for you'll scarce find room fur any more than your chest and hammock, and the latter at times you must carry upon deck to defend you from small shot, unless you keep one of the sailors in fee witli a little brandy (which is a good friend at sea, but always drink it mixed with water.") ..." Low company is the bane of all young men; but in a man-of-war you have the collected filths of jails. Con- demned criminals have the alternative of hanging, or entering on board. There's not a vice committed on shore but is practised here. The scenes of horror and infamy on board of a man-of-war are so many and so great that I think they must rather disgust a mind than allure it. I do not mean, by this advice, to have you appear a dull inactive being, that shudders amidst these horrors. No; I would wish you to see them in their own proper shapes, for, to be hated, they need to be seen." ..." You will find some little outward appearance of religion— and Sunday prayers ! — but the con- gregation is generally drove together by the boatswain (like sheep by the shepherd), who neither spares oaths nor blows." "
1 'The British Fleet,' 500. The lirst Admiral's uniform is well shown in the portrait of Lord Ausou, forming the title-page to this volume. This was painted between 1748 and 1761.
2 Died Commodore on the West Coast of Africa, January 17th, 178(5. He edited some old writers; wrote plays, stories, and songs; and was a friend, and also probably a benefactor, of Dr. Samuel Johnson.
3 ' Seaman's Letters,' i. 147.
22 CIVIL HISTORY, 1714-1762. [1756.
Concerning subordinate officers, and the abuse of power by superiors, Thompson wrote :—
" The disagreeable circumstances and situations attending a subaltern officer in the Navy are so many, and so hard, that, had not the first men in the service passed the dirty road to preferment to encourage the rest, they would renounce it to a man. It is a most mistaken notion that a youth will not be a good officer unless he stoops to the most menial offices ; to be bedded worse than hogs, and eat less delicacies. In short, from having experienced such scenes of filth and infamy, such fatigues and hardships, they are sufficient to disgust the stoutest and the bravest, for, alas! there is only a little hope of promotion sprinkled in the cup to make a man swallow more than he digests the rest of his life. The state of inferior officers in his Majesty's service is a state of vassalage, and a lieutenant's preferment the greatest in it ; tlie change is at once from a filthy maggot to a shining butterfly. Many methods might be introduced to make the lower officers of more consequence on their duty, and their lives more agreeable to themselves ; for that power of reducing them to sweep the decks, being lodged in the breast of a captain, is often abused through passion or caprice ; besides, it is too despotic an authority to exercise on a man who has the feelings of an Englishman.
" We are likewise to recollect that nil commanders of men-of-war are not gentle- men, nor men of education. 1 know a great part are brave men, but a much greater, seamen. I allow the maxim of learning to obey, before we command ourselves; but still there is no reason to be vulgar, for we are to consider these young people are the active machines of duty, the wheels which give motion to the main body ; and it is absolutely necessary to give them authority in their office to carry on the duties of the ship: but rendering them low in the eyes of the people creates a contempt for midshipmen in general, and turns that necessary respect due to them into contempt.
" I propose to warrant this bixly of officers, and make them answer to the Board of Admiralty for their conduct. They should possess a third table in the ship, and have the countenance of their superiors. This would enliven their servitude, and make them of consequence on their duty." '
But some improvement was already to be noticed, for Thompson continues :• —
" The last war, a chaw of tobacco, a rattan, and a rope of oaths were sufficient qualifications to constitute a lieutenant; but now, education and good manners are the study of all ; and so far from effeminacy, that I am of opinion the present race of officers will as much eclipse the veterans of KiD'J as the polite the vulgar." 2
There was, however, as yet little improvement either in the code of morals, or in the sanitary provisions on board his Majesty's ships. There is evidence that, towards the end of the seventeenth century, women were systematically carried to sea in the proportion of so many per company of Marines ; and Thompson, writing in the middle of the eighteenth, after describing the unsavoury persons and dwellings of the negroes of Antigua, goes on :—
" But bad smells don't hurt the sailor's appetite, each man possessing a temporary lady, whose pride is her constancy to the man she chooses ; and in this particular they
1 ' Seaman's Letters,' i. 140. 2 Ib. 144.
1756.]
SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE NAVY.
are strictly so. I have known 350 women sup and sleep on board1 on a Sunday evening, and return at daybreak to their different plantations." 2
As for sanitation, suffice it to say, by way of example, in addition to the many cases which will be cited in the two following chapters, that, in 1756, at the time of the outbreak of war with France, when she had been on no long cruise, and had been exposed only to the hardships of a few months of service in the Channel, the Stirling Castle, 64, Captain Samuel Cornish, arrived at Portsmouth with four hundred and eighty men, of whom two hundred and twenty-five were the pressed refuse of gaols and scum of streets. She was full of fever and other sickness, and, when the diseased had been sent ashore, but one hundred and sixty men remained for duty. Less than three months later, when, having filled up her complement in England, she had proceeded to New York, Edward Thompson wrote from her : " We have now one hundred and fifty-nine people ill in fluxes, scurvies, and fevers." Two months afterwards, ashore at English Harbour, Antigua, he added—
" I have been long declining with the white flux, and, for recovery, am stalled into a small room with twenty-six people ; but am now in better health. I officiate as chaplain, and bury eight men in a morning. Fluxes and fevers are the reigning distemper, and both I attribute to the water drunk by the seamen, which is taken out of tanks or cisterns, built by Admiral Knowles. It is all rain water, and covered close up, which, for want of air, breeds poisonous amraalculse, and becomes foul and putrid. The melancholy effects it produces might be in a great manner prevented by boiling the water before it is issued, or ordering the people to do it. This would destroy the vermin, and correct the putrefaction. I am convinced from long observa- tion that most of the distempers in southern climates arise from the water drunk, as ship sicknesses do from the bilge water ; which is evidently proved in leaky ships being always healthful. I therefore recommend to all officers, naval and mercantile, to let in salt water every day, and boil their fresh, for the good of themselves and cargoes."
1 He speaks of H.M.S. Stirling Castle, 64, carrying 480 men.
2 ' Seaman's Letters,' ii. 24.
CHAPTER XXVII.
MILITARY HISTORY OF THE KOYAL NAVY, 1714-1762. MAJOR OPERATIONS.
Accession of George 1.— Trouble with Sweden— Xorris to the Baltic— Co-operation with Holland, Denmark, and Russia— A Swedish conspiracy— Byng to the Baltic in 1717— The Quadruple Alliance— Irritation of Spain— Byng to the Mediterranean in 1718— Spanish operations in Sicily— The battle off Cape Passaro— The British and Spanish accounts— Mahan's comments— War with Spain— Projected invasion of England— Dispersal of the Spanish licet— The Ross-shire fiasco — Reduction of Sicily — Peace with Spain— Xorris in the Baltic in 1718— Alliance with Sweden — Xorris in the Baltic in 171ii, 17-!0, and 17LM — Peace between Russia and Sweden —The Treaty of Vienna— The Treaty of Hannover — Jennings to the coast of Spain — Wager to the Baltic — Hosier to the West Indies — Sickness in the fleet — Death of Hosier, Hnpsonn, and St. Loc — Wager relieves Gibraltar — Xorris in the Baltic— Death of George I. — The Treaty of Seville— Difficulties in the New World — Xorris to Lisbon — Haddock to the Mediterranean — Spanish depredations — Jenkins's ears- -Reprisals granted — War with Spain — Alison's expedition — Kdward Vernon — Vernon to the West Indies — Capture of Puerto Hello — Enthusiasm in England — Co-operation between France and Spain — Vernon reinforced — France holds her hand — Vernon at Chagres — Vernon again reinforced — Death of Cath- cart — Beauclerk and de Boisgeroult — Unsuccessful cruises of Haddock, Balcben, and Xorris — Junction of the French and Spanish fleets in the Mediterranean — Vernon's difliculties with Wentworth — Attack upon Cartagena — Early success — Failure of the attempt — Attack on Santiago de Cuba —Abandonment of the plan — Criticism of the scheme — The commanders censured — Projected ex|iedition against Panama — Collapse of the venture — Recall of Vernon and Wentworth — Lestock joins Haddock in the Mediterranean — Lestock's character — Mathews Commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean — Friction between Mathews and Lestock — Blockade of Toulon — Martin at Naples — Martin to Alassio— Ogle in the West Indies — Repulse of the attack on La Guayra — Repulse at Puerto Cahello — France supi>orts Spain — Norris in the Channel — Escape of de Roquefeuil — War with France and Spain — The Dutch join Great Britain — Disposition of the fleets — Navarro and de Court leave Toulon — Mathews's action off Toulon — Suspension and trial of Lestock — Trials of captains — The court-martial and the Lord Chief Justice — Trial of Matliews — Rowley in the Mediterranean — Gabaret escapes him — Hardy blockaded— Balchen relieves him — Loss of the Victory — Barnct in the East Indies — Davere at Jamaica — French intrigues in North America — Annapolis summoned in vain — Schemes of the Pretender — He lands in Scotland — His escape — Capture of Louisbourg — Townsend to the West Indies — Affairs in the Mediter- ranean— French failures in North America — Lestock on the coast of France
Peyton and La Bourdonnais— Fall of Madras — Duplicity of Dupleix — Lisle and de Conflans — Disgrace of Mitchell — Medley in the Mediterranean — French ex- pedition to Cape Breton — Auson's action with de La Jonquiere— Hawke defeats de L'Elenduere — Trial of Captain Fox- Exhaustion of France — Boscawen to the
1714.]
DIFFICULTIES IN THE NORTH.
25
East Indies — Failure at Pondicherry — Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle — Surrender of Madras — Knowles takes Port Louis —Attempt on Santiago de Cuba— Knowles's victory off Havana — Trial of Knowles— Pocock takes a French convoy — Losses during the war — Terms of the peace — French aggressions — Keppel to North America — French designs on Canada — Boscawen to North America — Capture of the Alcide and Lys — Threatened invasion — French expedition to Minorca — Operations against Angria — Success of Holmes — Iteconnaissance of Brest — British weakness in the Mediterranean — Byng ordered to Minorca — Byng's action with de La Galissonniere — The dispatches — Byng superseded, tried, and executed — Conclusions on his case — Fall of Minorca — Watson takes Calcutta — Fall of Chandernagore — D'Aehe to the East Indies — Forrest's action with de Kersaint — Expedition to Louisbourg — Misfortunes of the fleet — The expedition abandoned — Escape of du Eevest — Expedition against Hochefort — Pocock's action off Cudda- lore — Capitulation of Fort St. David — Pocock's action off Negapatam — With- drawal of d'Ache — Kempenfelt relieves Madras — Siege and capture of Louisbourg — Boscawen and du Chaffault — Marsh to West Africa — Keppel takes Goree — Capture of the Orphet and Fovdroyanl — Hawke at lie d'Aix — Howe's expedition to the French coast — Capture of Cherbourg — Disaster at St. Cas — Renewed French preparations — Pocock again engages d'Ache — The Dutch at Chinsura — Failure at Martinique — Operations at Guadaloupe — The conquest of Canada — Saunders in the St. Lawrence — Boscawen to the Mediterranean — Boscawen defeats de La Choe — Rodney off Le Havre — Blockade of Brest — Hawke defeats de Contlaus — Blockade of Poudicherry — Hurricane in the East Indies — Fall of Pondicherry — Norbury's action in the West Indies — French attempt against Quebec — Montreal occupied — Elliot defeats Thurot — Boscawen and Jlawke in Quiberon Bay — Further operations in the East Indies — Keppel's expedition against Belleisle — The Family Compact — War with Spain — Capture of Manila — Conquest of Martinique — Conquest of Grenada and St. Lucia — Pocock reduces Havana — Misfortunes of Pocock's fleet — De Terney at Newfoundland — Recapture of St. John's — The raid on Buenos Ayres — Enforcement of the right of search — The Treaty of Fontaine- bleau — Results of the Seven Years' War.
ALTHOUGH, at the accession of George I., Great Britain was at peace with all the world, the re- lations of the country with certain north- ern powers were far from being satisfac- tory ; and from
the first it was foreseen that difficulties were likely to arise, and to call for the active employment of the Navy towards their solution.
POPULAR MEDAL COMMKMOHATIVK (IK MATHKWS S ACTION OFF TOULON; FEBRUARY llTH, 1744, AM) OK THE Fltl'STHATION OF TIIF THREATENED INVASION OF ENGLAND AT ABOUT THK SAME TIME.
(From an oriijiital kittdlf) Ii'iit hi/ H.S.If. Cti^inin Battcnhenj, It.X.1
1 Ltjuin of
26 MA JOS OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1716.
Sweden had not yet allied herself with Russia, and was, in fact, still at war with her and with Denmark ; and Swedish privateers had seized many British ships which were alleged to contain arms, ammunition, and -stores, destined, in contravention of treaty, for the service of the Tsar. Eemonstrances had been made by the British minister at Stockholm, but they had produced no results. The Duteh, who had similar causes of complaint against the government of Charles XII., found it equally difficult to obtain either redress or apology ; and it was therefore determined by Great Britain and Holland to despatch a combined fleet to the Baltic in 1715 to intimidate the Swedes, and to convoy, and prevent further undue interference with, the trade.
The British contingent, under Admiral Sir John Norris (B.) and Hear- Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy (B.), was made up of twenty ships of the line, besides a few small craft. It sailed from the Nore on May 18th, and, reaching the Sound on June 10th, there joined the Dutch contingent of twelve sail under Kear-Admiral Lucas de Veth. The merchantmen were escorted to their ports, but nothing of importance happened during the rest of the year. In 171(5, Sir John, unwilling to adopt strong measures against Sweden unless he had the gravest reasons for doing so, sent an officer to Stockholm to inquire whether or not the practice of seizing British and Dutch ships was to be persisted in. A vague and ambiguous reply being returned, it was determined by the allied commanders, in pursuance of orders from home, to make a demonstration of an exceptional nature. A Danish squadron lay at Copenhagen. There also lay a Russian squadron under the Tsar Peter himself. After the necessary negotiations had taken place, it was agreed that, while the Dutch, then under Commodore Hendrik Grave, with five British men-of- war, should convoy to their destinations such merchantmen as had followed the fleets, the British, Russian, and Danish squadrons, forming for the moment a single fleet, should proceed up the Baltic, in order to let it be seen that, rather than permit any further meddling with her trade, Great Britain would take active part against Charles XII. The Tsar Peter became, for the nonce, com- mander-in-chief ; Norris assumed command of the van, and Count Gyldenlove,1 the Danish admiral, took the rear under his orders.
1 Ulrich Christian Gyldenlove, known in England as Count Gueldenlew, was a natural brother of King Frederick IV. of Denmark, and had commanded the Danish fleet at the time of Rooke's operations against Copenhagen in 1700.
1716.] THE EANNOVERIAN ENTANGLEMENT. 27
The confederate fleet assembled in Kjb'ge Bay, and thence proceeded to Bornholm, where, learning that the Swedes had retired to Karlskrona, unwilling to hazard an action, the Tsar gave directions that the convoys might continue their voyages to their various ports. He then, with his squadron, sailed to the coast of Mecklenburg. Norris and Gyldenlove took measures for collecting the homeward-bound trade, most of which joined them at Bornholm on November 9th, and with them entered the roadstead of Copen- hagen on the day following. The remaining merchantmen, chiefly Dutch, anchored there on the 12th. Sir John Norris left behind him in the Baltic Captain William Cleveland, with seven ships, to act, if necessary, in concert with the Danes ; and, with the rest of the fleet, he returned to England. On his voyage he met with terrible weather, and, although he succeeded in preserving his convoy, he had the misfortune to lose the Auguste, 60, and the Garland, '24. 1 The fleet arrived at the Nore on November 29th, 1716.
The ostensible reasons for this Baltic expedition have been given above. It must be borne in mind, however, that the situation, as between Great Britain and Sweden, was exacerbated by the fact that George I., besides being' King of Great Britain, was Elector of Hannover. In his latter quality he had purchased from Denmark territories which had been conquered from Sweden ; and, in order to defend these, he had declared war against Sweden, and carried on the conflict at a time when, in his quality of King of Great Britain, he was at peace with Charles XII. The Swedish monarch did not scruple to charge King George with having prostituted the honour of the British flag in order to serve the interests of Hannover ; and, although it may be that Charles, in his natural resentment, failed to do exact justice to his opponent, it cannot be denied that the personal union of the crowns of Great Britain and Hannover, if not in 1715-16, at least on many subsequent occasions, led Great Britain into ventures which, had her own interests only been consulted, she would never have embarked upon.
The irritation of Sweden was increased by Norris's demonstration in the Baltic ; and one of the results was that, soon afterwards,
1 So say all historians, but no authority cnn he found for one part of the statement. The Auguste, Captain Robert Johnson, ran ashore, it is true, on November 10th, her captain and most of her people being saved. The Garland, however, remained in commission, under Captain Ellis Brand, until February 22nd, 1717 ; from which fact it may be concluded that, if she went ashore, she did not at once become a total loss. There seems, too, to have been no court-martial. MS. List in Author's Coll.
28
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762.
[1717.
certain Swedish diplomatists, including the minister in London, associated themselves in plots, having for their object the further- ance of the cause of the Pretender. The discovery of these intrigues aroused the liveliest indignation throughout Great Britain ; and when Parliament met in 1717, it was formally resolved by the House of Commons to introduce a Bill to authorise the King to prohibit commerce with Sweden "during such time as his Majesty shall think it necessary for the safety and peace of his kingdom." On
Sill JOHN XOIiltIS, KT., ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET. 1 1-i'inn Hi- j.h'ti re l>u .S'/r fV. Km Hi r, bit iitruiixxinn »( II, ('. ,\""/r/x, A'sv/. )
March '2nd, the Bill having in the meantime been passed, a proclamation in accordance with its provisions was made public. To properly enforce the prohibition, it was requisite to send another fleet to the Baltic ; and on March 80th, twenty-one ships of the line, with frigates and fireships, sailed for Copenhagen under Admiral Sir George Byng. A few days later, though in face of strong opposition, the Government obtained a grant of a quarter of a million sterling to enable the King " to concert such measures with foreign princes and
1718.] THE QUADRUPLE ALLIANCE. 29
states as may prevent any charge and apprehension from the designs of Sweden for the future."
Byng agreed upon a plan of united action with Denmark, and made various dispositions to ensure the carrying out of the objects for which he had been sent to sea ; but his proceedings were, upon the whole, uneventful, the Swedes not venturing outside their ports. Returning at the beginning of winter, he arrived in the mouth of the Thames on November 15th. A note of such small services as were performed by the cruisers of the fleet will be found in the next chapter. In the meantime, thanks largely to the good offices of France and Russia, the difficulties in the north were for the moment smoothed over, although, for many years afterwards, they remained a source of much anxiety and expense to the Court of St. James's.
"But this," says Campbell, " was not the only affair of consequence that employed the thoughts of the administration. We were then in close confederacy with the Emperor and France; and, in conjunction with these Powers, had undertaken to settle the affairs of Europe on a better foundation than the Treaty of Utrecht left them. With this view, the Triple Alliance was concluded on January 4th, 1717 ; and, that not answering the end expected from it, we next entered, as will be shown, into the famous Quadruple Alliance,1 which was intended to remedy all these defects, and to fix the general tranquillity for ever. Yet, by unforeseen accidents to which human policy will be always liable, this alliance proved the cause of an immediate war between us and Spain, and, in its consequences, was the source of all the troubles that disturbed Europe from the time of its conclusion 2 to the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle."
The terms of the alliance were decided upon some months before the treaty was actually signed. It was determined that Spain should restore Sardinia to the Emperor, and that the King of Spain should renounce his claim to succeed to the French crown, while the Emperor was to renounce his claim to what had been guaranteed to Philip V. under the Treaty of Utrecht, and Philip was to surrender his claim to the Netherlands and to the Italian possessions of the Emperor. In return for Sicily, the Emperor was to hand over Sardinia to the King of Sicily, and was to recognise the right of the House of Savoy to succeed to the crown of Spain in the event of the failure of the heirs of Philip V. France and Great Britain undertook to assist the Emperor to acquire Sicily ; and France and the Empire undertook to maintain the Protestant succession in Great Britain.3
1 Of Great Britain, France, Holland, and the Empire.
2 August, 1718.
3 Koch & Scholl, ' Hist, des Traites de Paix.'
30 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1718.
The arrangement was excessively displeasing to Spain ; and no sooner had the House of Savoy transferred Sicily to the Emperor than Spain, whose policy was then controlled by Cardinal Alberoni, made preparations for attacking that island. Great Britain made corresponding preparations for enforcing the provisions of the still unsigned treaty, and, early in 1718, commissioned a large number of ships. The Spanish minister in London remonstrated. George I. rather bluntly replied that it was not his intention to conceal the object of his armaments, and that he purposed to send Sir George Byng to the Mediterranean with a powerful force " to maintain the neutrality of Italy against those who should seek to disturb it."
In March, 1718, Byng was accordingly appointed Commander-in- Chief in the Mediterranean ; and on May 24th he received his written instructions. They were not as explicit as might have been wished ; but they appear to have been explained and supplemented in the course of an interview which the Admiral, ere he left London, had with Lords Sunderland and Stanhope, and Mr. Secretary Craggs.1 He was, upon his arrival upon his station, to inform the King of Spain, the Viceroy of Naples, and the Governor of Milan, that he had been sent to sea to promote all measures that might best contribute to the arrangement of such differences as had arisen between the two crowns, and to the prevention of any further violation of the neutrality of Italy, which he was to see preserved. He was also to enjoin both parties to abstain from acts of hostility, so that negotiations for peace might be begun and concluded. But, should the Spaniards persist, after all, in attacking the Emperor's territory in Italy; or should they land in any part of Italy for that purpose; or should they endeavour to make themselves masters of Italy (which would be a step towards the invasion of the kingdom of Naples), Byng was, to the best of his power, to hinder and obstruct them. If, however, they were already landed, he was to try by amicable means to induce them to abandon their project, and was to offer to help them to withdraw their troops ; and, should all his friendly offices prove ineffectual, he was to defend the territories attacked, by keeping company with, or intercepting, Spanish ships and convoys, and, if necessary, by openly opposing them.
Sir George Byng sailed from Spithead 011 June 15th, 1718, with twenty ships of the line, two fireships, two bomb vessels, a store- 1 See a letter from Craggs in Campbell, iv. 348.
1718]
BYNG TO THE MEDITERRANEAN.
31
ship, a hospital-ship, and two tenders, and, passing Lisbon, sent the Eupert in thither for intelligence. Being off Cadiz on June 30th, he despatched the Superbe with a letter to the British minister at Madrid, desiring him to inform the King of Spain of the presence of the British fleet, and of the instructions under which it was to act. The Spanish reply, returned after some delay, was curtly to the effect that Byng might execute his sovereign's orders. The
GEORGE HYNG, VISCOUNT TORRIXGTON, ADMIRAL OK THE FLEET. (From T. Ho/ibmkr/t'K engraving after the imrtniit !>// tiir (1. KneUrr.)
minister, Colonel Stanhope, continued, almost up to the very outbreak of hostilities, to endeavour to induce Spain to give way ; and in the meantime, foreseeing the probable futility of his efforts, he did his best to warn British merchants in the Spanish ports to take such measures as would protect their property against the results of any sudden rupture.
Sir George, who had to contend with unfavourable winds, did
32 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1718.
not make Cape Spartel until July 8th. He was there rejoined by the Rupert and the Superbe, and learnt that Spain had been making great preparations for war, and that a considerable Spanish fleet had quitted Barcelona on June 18th for the eastward. Off Gibraltar, the Admiral was joined by a small division of ships under Vice- Admiral Charles Cornwall. The fleet subsequently watered at Malaga, and thence proceeded to Port Mahon, where it landed troops and took off the soldiers who had been in garrison there. It sailed again on July 25th, upon receipt of news that the Spanish fleet had been sighted on June 30th near Naples ; and on August 1st it anchored in the Bay of Naples. Sir George had previously taken care to apprise the imperial Viceroy, and the governor of Milan, of his arrival in the Mediterranean.
The Spaniards had not been idle. They had landed the Marques de Lede in Sicily ; and, except the citadel of Messina, the whole island had quickly fallen to him with little or no resistance. The citadel was held by Savoyards; and as Savoy, under the terms of the understanding, was presently to surrender Sicily to the Emperor, it could scarcely be expected that the fortress would hold out for long. In these circumstances, the imperial Viceroy of Naples hurriedly embarked two thousand German troops i on board the British ships, and requested Sir George Byng to endeavour to throw them into Messina citadel, and the neighbouring Fort Salvatore. The fleet quitted Naples on August (>th, and on August 9th arrived off the Faro of Messina.
The Spaniards were besieging the place which Byng desired to relieve ; but Sir George does not seem to have known how near their fleet was to him. Indeed, he had some reason to suppose that it was endeavouring to avoid him. Instead, therefore, of moving onwards to Messina and striking at once, he sent ashore the Captain of the Fleet, George Saunders, with a letter to the Marques de Lede, proposing a cessation for two months of the operations on shore, and adding that, unless a truce were agreed to, he would use all his force " to prevent further attempts to disturb" the dominions which his master stood engaged to defend. De Lede replied that he had no powers to treat, and that he intended to carry out his orders. Upon receiving this answer, Sir George weighed, with a view to place his fleet in front of Messina and to relieve the garrison of the citadel.
1 These troops, under General Wetzel, were, before the battle off Cape Passaro, set ashore at Reggio.
1718.] BATTLE OF CAPE PASSAHO. 33
The story of what followed is given in the formal relations which will be presently printed.
"The engagement which ensued can," says Mahan, "scarcely be called a battle, and, as is apt to happen in such affairs, when the parties are cm the verge of war, but, war has not actually been declared, there is some doubt as to how far the attack was morally justifiable on the part of the English. It seems pretty sure that Byng was determined beforehand to seize or destroy the Spanish Meet, and that as a military man he was justified by his orders. The Spanish officers had not made up their minds to any line of conduct ; they were much inferior in numbers, and, as must always be the case, Alberoni's hastily revived navy had not within the same period reached nearly the efficiency of his army. The English approached threateningly near : one or more Spanish ships opened fire: whereupon the English, being to windward, stood down and made an end of them. A few only escaped. . . ."'
The forces in face of one another were, as Captain Mahan indicates, as unequal in numbers as in discipline. Over leaf is a comparative statement of them. The ships of the British fleet are arranged according to Sir George Byng's order of battle, in which the Canterbury was to lead with the starboard, and the Rochester with the larboard tacks on board. The exact order of the Spaniards cannot be determined.
Sir George Byng, in his despatches,1 thus describes the events of August 10th, and the following days : —
FitoM ox ito.Mtii •mi-: Jim-Jlem; OFF OF SYIIACTSA, August <>th (O.S.).
"Early in the morning, on the thirtieth of July,'2 as we were standing in for Messina, we saw two scouts of the Spanish licet in the Faro, very near us ; and, at the same time, a felucca, coming off from the (Jalabrian shore, assured us they saw from the hills tlie Spanish Meet lying by. Upon which the Admiral stood through the Fam after the scouts, judging they would lead us tn their Meet ; which they did; for, before noon, we had a fair sight of all their ships as they were drawing into line-of-battle.
"On our approach, they went from us large, hut in their order of battle, their Meet consisting of six and twenty men-of-war, great and small, two tireships, four bomb vessels, seven galleys, and several ships with stores and provisions.
"The Admiral ordered the Kent, Superb?, Graf ton, and Orfonl, being the best sailers in the fleet, to make what sail they could to come up with the Spaniards; and that the ships which could get headmost, and nearest to them, should carry the lights usually worn by the Admiral,3 that he might not lose sight of them in the night ; while he made what sail he could, with the rest of the fleet, to keep up with them. It being little wind, the Spanish galleys towed their heaviest sailers all night.
"The thirty-first,4 in the morning, as soon as it was day, they finding us pretty near up with their fleet, the galleys and smaller ships, with the fireships, bond) vessels,
1 Sent home by his son, Pattee Byng. Gazette, Xo. (iliTIj.
2 I.e. August 10th, N.S.
3 An Admiral commanding in chief carried three lights on the poop and one light in the main-top.
4 La. August llth, N.S.
VOL. III. D
34
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1711-1762.
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1718.] HFXG'S DESPATCH. 35
and storeships, separated from the admiral and bigger ships, and stood in for the shore : after whom the Admiral sent Captain Walton, in the Canterbury, with the Argyle and six ships moie. As those ships were coming up with them, one of the Spaniards ' fired a broadside at the Argyle. The Admiral, seeing those ships engaged with the Spanish, which were making towards the shore, sent orders to Captain Walton to rendezvous, after the action, at Syracusa (where the Viceroy for the King of Sicily was, with a garrison). The like orders he despatched- to the flags, and to as many ships as were within his reach, that place being defended against the Spaniards, and being the most proper port on that coast for the fleet to gather together again.
" We held on our chase after the Spanish admiral, with three of his rear-admirals, and the biggest ships, which stayed by their flags till we came near them. The captains of the Kent, Saperbe, Grafton, and Orford, having orders to make what sail they could to place themselves by the four headmost ships, were the first that came up with them. The Spaniards began, by firing their stern-chase[rs] at them : but they, having orders not to fire unless the Spanish ships repeated their firing, made no return at first. But, the Spaniards firing again, the Orford attacked the Santa llosa, which, some time after, she took. The St. diaries 2 struck next without much opposition, and the Kent took possession of her. The Grafton attacked the Prim-,' of Aftin-ifia, formerly called the Cumberland,3 in which was Hear- Admiral Chacon: but, the Hml« and Captain coming up, she left that ship for them to take, which they soon did ; and stretched ahead after another sixty-gun ship, which was on her starboard while slit- was engaging the Prince of Ast arias, and kept firing her stern-chase into the Gi-nj'l/>n.
"About one o'clock, the Kent and Superie engaged the Spanish admiral,4 which, with two ships more, fired on them, and made a running fight until about three ; when the Kent, bearing down upon her, and under her stern, gave her a broadside and went away to leeward of her. Then the Si/jierlir, put for it, and laid the Spanish Admiral on board, falling on her weather quarter: "but the Spanish admiral shifting her helm and avoiding her, the Superbe ranged up under her lee quarter; on which she struck to her. At the same time, the Barfleur being within shot of the said Spanish admiral astern, inclining on her weather quarter, one ot their rear-admirals," and another sixty-gnu ship, which were to windward of the Uarjleur, bore down and gave her their broad- sides, and then clap'd upon a wind, standing in for the land. The Admiral, in the Jiarjieur, stood after them till it was almost night, lint, it being little wind, and they galing from her out of reach, he left pursuing them, and stood away to the fleet again ; which he joined two hours after night. The Ass.- a; took the •luitu; the Muuttuju and Rupert took the Vohuite. Viee- Admiral Cornwall followed the (Irufttiii to support her; but, it being very little wind and the night coming on, the Spaniard galed away from the Grafton.
" Rear-Admiral Delavall, with the Royal Oak, chased two ships that went away more leewardly than the rest, (one of them said to be Rear-Admiral Cammock 6) but we, not having seen them since, know not the success. The ship which suffered most, with us, was the Grafton, the captain of which, though he had not the fortune to take
1 The San hidoro, 46. 2 San Carlos.
3 The Cumberland, 80, Captain Richard Edwards (a), had been taken by the French in 1707. See Vol. II. p. 513. In Spanish hands she carried a lighter armament than she had been built for.
4 Heal San Felipe. 5 Apparently the San Luis.
6 George Cammock had been a post-captain in the Royal Navy until 1714, and had repeatedly distinguished himself. Owing to his Jacobite leanings, he had been dismissed the service, and had entered that of Spain. The Pretender afterwards appointed him Admiral of the White. He is said to have died in banishment at Ceuta. Charnock, iii. 221.
D 2
36 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1718.
any particular ship, yet was engaged with several, behaved himself very much like an officer and a seaman, and bid fair for stopping the way of those four ships that i pursued ; who escaped, not through his fault, but failure of wind ; and his own and rigging were much shattered."
"FltOM ON HOARD THK ISarfltUT, AT SKA,
Amjust 1th (O.S.).
"Just now is returned one of the eight ships which the Admiral sent with Captain Walton to pursue those of Spain that went in with the shore, with a letter1 from that Captain, dated the fifth instant, giving an account that he, with the said ships, had taken one Spanish rear-admiral of sixty guns, one man-of-war of four and fifty, one of forty,2 which gave the Ar;/i/le the tirst broadside, one of four and twenty, one ship laden witli arms, and one bomb-vessel ; and had burnt one man-of-war of four and fifty guns, two of forty each, one of thirty, one tircship, one bomb-vessel, and one settee? At the writing of this letter, Captain Walton was making into Syracusa. The ship which brought this letter saw Kear-Admiial Delavall last night; who had taken the /aiMit, a ship of sixty guns, with which he was standing in likewise for Syracusa; to which place we are now going; and hope to get in there this night.
"When the Admiral lias joined the ships absent from the fleet, and which we judsje are now in Syracusa with their prizes, he designs to send Vice-Admiral Cornwall, in the .!','/.'/''> "'''' «'Veii or eight ships more, to carry the ships taken to Port Mahon, to be secured there till his Majesty's pleasure lie known. He will also put ash. .re, in Sicily, the Spanish admirals and commanding officers, with as many of the common prisoners as will n<>t be nece.-sary to help navigate the ships taken."
What may be regarded as an official Spanish narrative of the battle, and of the circumstances which led up to it, was compiled by the Marques de J3eretti-Landi, and published at the Hague. It is interesting, as well as fair, to append the following translation of part of it : —
"On August '.ith, in the morning, the Knglish licet was discovered off the tower of Faro. Towards night it lay by, off Cape della Mctcllc, opposite the tower in question. The Spanish fleet was at the time in the Strait, but was without the detachment commanded by Hear- Admiral Don II. de Guevara, and some ships and frigates which had been sent to other places. As the intention of the Knglish Admiral in thus approaching was unknown, the Spanish Admiral determined to quit the Strait, and to
1 The letter here alluded to is the famous one which, erroneously, has so often been cited as a model of modest brevity and sailor-like conciseness. As given by Campbell, it runs: " Sir, we have taken and destroyed all the Spanish ships and vessels which were upon the coast, the number as per margin. L am, etc., (I. WALTON." Even Mahan, following Campbell anil Charnock, accepts this docked version of the letter as genuine, and comments upon its shortness; yet, as a matter of fact, the real letter is one of some little length, and the above quotation forms only the tirst paragraph of it. Walton's blunt brevity is as mythical as certain well-known stories which are associated with Fontenoy and Waterloo.
2 The tiait Jsidoro, 4t>.
3 Some of the vessels here said to have been burnt by Walton were undoubtedly in reality fired by Mari to save them from capture. It conies, however, almost to the same thing.
1718.] THE SPANISH STORY. 37
collect his forces oft' Cape Spartivento, taking with him his vessels laden with stores, his object being the better to prepare against the designs of the English, seeing that an officer who had been sent by Sir George Byng to the Marques de Lede had not returned. This officer had had orders to suggest to the Marques a suspension of hostilities for two months; but the Marques had replied that he could do nothing without directions from his Court. And although it was believed that a courier had been despatched with the suggestion to Madrid, the Spaniards were unwilling to risk a surprise from the English fleet, and a resort to such tactics as might be prompted by perfidy.
" On the morning of the 10th, the English fleet advanced further into the Faro, and was saluted by all the Spanish ships and vessels lying there. It is to be here noted that although Admiral Byng had convoyed to Keggio some transports having on board troops * of the Archduke, the officer who had been sent to the Marques de Lede declared that this was not for hostile purposes, but merely to secure from any insults the transports which were under his protection.
"The Spanish fleet sent out two light frigates to reconnoitre the English fleet ; and although these perceived that the English, whose designs were not understood, made all possible sail to close with the Spaniards, whose Admiral was ignorant whether the English came as friends or as enemies, yet the Spaniards, who were two leagues from the strangers, decided to withdraw towards Cape Passaro under eas}' sail, in order that there might be no pretence that they anticipated hostilities. Soon afterwards a calm supervened, and thus the ships of both fleets fell among one another ; whereupon the Spanish Admiral, witnessing the danger, caused his ships of the line to be towed away from the English with a view to collecting them in one body. Vet he did not permit the galleys to commit any unfriendly act, such as they might have committed with advantage while it remained calm. When the Marques de Mari was near the land and was separated from his consorts in the rear and from the frigates and transports of his division, the weather changed, so that he strove in vain to regain the main body of the Spanish fleet. But the English, with dissimulation, held on their way, trimming their sails so as to secure the wind, and to cut off the Marques de Man's division. When they had at length succeeded in this, they attacked him with six ships, forcing him to separate from the rest of the fleet and to retire towards the shore. As long as it was jiossible, the Marques defended himself against seven ships of the line, and, when he was no longer able to resist, he saved his people by running his vessels aground. Some of them were burnt under his own direction : others were taken by the enemy.
" The rest of the English fleet, consisting of seventeen sail of the line, fell upon the Real San J'elipe, Principe de Anturian, Km/ Fernando, Hint Car/on, tianta Isabeln, and San Pedro, and the frigates Snnt'i Jtoxii, I'rrlu, Juno, and I'ofaitti', which continued to make for Cape Passaro; and as, owing to their inferiority of force, they drew off in line, the English attacked their rearmost ship with four or five vessels, and cut her off. They did the same in succession with other ships, which, in spite of the fact that they made all the sail they could, were unable to avoid being captured- Thus, every Spanish vessel being separately fought by live, six, or seven of the enemy, the English finally subdued the Re<d San Felipe,2 Principe de Asturias, San Carlos, Santa Isabela, Santa Rosa, Volatile, and Juno, though each offered a bloody and determined resistance.
" While the Real San Felijie was engaged with the English, Rear- Admiral Don Balthazar de Guevara returned from Malta with two ships of the line, and, heading for the Seal San Felipe, passed the English ships which were then alongside her, firing upon each. He then attacked such of Admiral Byng's vessels as followed the Seal
1 Under General Wetzel.
2 Admiral Castaneta subsequently died of his wounds at Port Mahon.
38 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1718.
.San Felipe. These, being very much damaged, drew off in ihe night, and, after the action, remained fifty leagues at sea for three or four days, not only to repair the Spanish ships which they had captured, and which were most severely mauled, b< also to make good their own damages. Admiral Byng, therefore, could not enter Syracuse until August 16th or 17th, and then only with much difficulty."1
After giving some account of the services of individual ships and captains, the account continues : —
" Such is the story of the action off Abola, or the Gulf of I'Ariga, in the Malta Channel, between the Spanish and English fleets. The English ships, thanks to ill faith and superior strength, were able to beat the Spanish vessels singly, one by one : but it may be conceived, judging from the defence made by the latter, that, had they acted in unison, the battle might have ended more advantageously for them.
" Immediately after the action, a captain of the English fleet, on behalf of Admiral Byng, arrived to make a complimentary excuse to the Marques de Lede, and to assure him that the Spaniards had been the aggressors, and that the battle ought not to be considered to constitute a rupture, seeing that the English did not take it as doing so. But it was replied that Spain, on the contrary, must hold it to constitute a formal rupture ; and that the Spaniards would do the English all possible damage and ill, by ordering the commencement of reprisals. In pursuance of this, several Spanish vessels, and J)on (iuevara's division, have already sei/.cd certain English ships."2
"It is dillirult," comments Mahan, "1" understand the importance attached by some writers to Bynu's action nt this lime in attacking without regard to the linc-ol'-battle. He had before him a disorderly force, much inferior both in numbers and discipline. His merit seems t" lie rather in the readiness to assume a responsibility from which a more scrupulous man might have shrunk : but in this, and throughout the campaign, he rendered good service to England, whose sea power was again strengthened by the destruction not of an actual but a possible rival; and his services were rewarded by a ] ice rage." :;
It will be well to conclude the history of the major operations of the Spanish War ere turning to the work done in the meantime by British fleets in the Baltic, where a state of unrest continued for several years.
Sir George Byng, after having taken measures to enable the imperial troops to attack the Spaniards in Sicily, and to gradually make themselves masters of the island, proceeded to Malta, and brought away some Sicilian galleys, which, under the Marchese de Kivarole, had been blockaded there by Bear-Admiral Cammock. He returned to Naples on November '2nd. In the interval, Kear-Admiral Guevara, as related in the narrative of the Marques de Beretti- Landi, entered Cadiz, and seized all the English ships there, while
1 There are, of course, discrepancies between the Spanish and the British accounts as here given ; but, upon the whole, the two agree unusually well.
2 For the translation, I am indebted to Dr. Henry Lopes.
3 Not, however, until September 9th, 1721, when he was made Baron Byng of Sou thill, and Viscount Torrington.
1719.]
SPANISH It AID ON SCOTLAND.
British merchants and their effects were laid hands upon in Malaga and other ports of Spain. Reprisals followed immediately, yet war was not formally declared until December 17th, 1718.
Spain, though weak, was exasperated and obdurate, and was even more unwilling than at first to accept the terms dictated to her by the Quadruple Alliance. She therefore collected a considerable armament at Cadiz and Corunna, and boldly projected an invasion of the west of England by troops to be led by James Butler, the attainted Duke of Ormonde. A fleet, under Admiral of the Fleet James, Earl of Berkeley,1 and Admiral Sir John Norris, was fitted out, and cruised in the Channel in April ; and troops were con- centrated, especially in the west country and in Ireland; but, long
MKIIA1, COMMEMORATIVE (IK HYMiS VICTORY <IKK C.U'K 1'ASSAIid.
(ft'vni art vri<jiinil kindly lent tin //>'.//. ('ii/tlfiin /'/•///<•< L<i"i< t>f Butttiibi'ni, li.X.)
ere these preparations had been completed, the Spanish expedition had been dispersed by a violent and long-continued storm, and the scheme had been rendered abortive. Three frigates and five trans- ports, however, conveying, among others, the Earls of Marischal and Seaforth, and the Marquis of Tullibardine, persisted in their design, and, pushing on to the coast of Ross-shire, there landed about four hundred men. These were joined by fifteen or sixteen hundred Jacobite Scots ; but they had no success. Their depot at Donan Castle was taken and destroyed by the Worcester, Enterprise, and Flambo rough, and they themselves were soon afterwards defeated
1 So appointed on March 21st, 1719. He was then also Vice-Admiral of Great Britain and First Lord of the Admiralty, and he hoisted his flag with no fewer than three captains under him, viz., Vice-Admiral James Littleton (1st) ; Captain Francis Hosier (2nd, or Captain of the Fleet) ; and the captain of the flagship.
40 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1719.
at Glenshiel, whereupon the Spanish auxiliaries surrendered at discretion.
Sir George Byng sailed from Port Mahon for Naples early in the spring of 1719, and, thenceforward, co-operated with the Imperialists in the complete reduction of Sicily. In August, when that reduction was nearly accomplished, a dispute arose between the Admiral and the allies as to the disposal of the Spanish ships that still lay in the ports of the island. As a settlement of the question, so far as it concerned the ships at Messina, Sir George proposed to General Count de Merci, the Imperialist commander, that a battery should be erected, and that the vessels should be destroyed at their anchors. L>e Merci pleaded lack of orders ; but Byng, insisting that no commander needed specific instructions to destroy the property of an enemy, gained his point, in spite of the opposition of the Savoyards ; and most of the ships were duly bombarded and burnt or sunk. The citadel of Messina, and the remaining vessels, were handed over to the Imperialists by capitulation on October 7th, 171',). The Spanish troops in the island were not permitted to evacuate it, and were kept, by the fleet on the one hand, and by the Imperialists on the other, in much discomfort ; and this fact, combined with the persuasive force of an expedition which was fitted out against Vigo under Vice-Admiral Mighells and Viscount Cobham, and which will be described in the next chapter, at length induced the King of Spain to agree with the Quadruple Alliance. A cessation of arms resulted in February, 17'2(); and, soon afterwards, both Sicily and Sardinia were evacuated under the terms of a convention, the former going to the Empire, and the latter to Savoy.1 Thus the objects for which Great Britain had entered into the war were attained. The wisdom of British interference is a matter which it is unnecessary here to discuss.
The difficulties with Sweden, suspended for the moment in 1717, again became acute in 1718, and led to the dispatch of Admiral Sir John Norris once more to the Baltic. He sailed from the mouth of the Thames on April '28th, and from Solebay on May 1st, with a squadron composed of ten sail of the line," a bomb ketch, and a
1 Authorities fur the War of the Quadruple Alliance : ' Account of the Exped. of the Brit. Fleet to Sicily ' ; ' Aunals of K. George IV.' ; ' Historical Register ' ; ' Corps Univ. Diplomatique,' viii. pt. I. ; Chandler's ' Debates,' v. and vi. ; ' Merc. Hist, et Pol.' xliv. and xlv. ; ' Hem. pour servir a 1'Hist. de 1'Espagne,' iii. ; Letters of Earl Stanhope, Alberoni, Beretti-Landi, etc. ; London Gazette.
2 Cumberland, 80, (flag), Captain William Faulknor; liuckinghvm, 70, Captain
1720.] EXPEDITIONS TO THE BALTIC. 41
fireship, with Bear- Admiral James Mighells as second in command, and with a number of merchantmen in convoy. Upon his arrival off Copenhagen, he was joined by a Danish squadron, with which he cruised to the northward; but as the Swedes, upon his approach, shut themselves up' in their ports, no naval action resulted. Sweden was, however, by no means intimidated by the action of the Allies. She. made peace with the Tsar; and, having thus freed herself from anxiety in one direction, turned with renewed energy to prosecute the land war with Denmark, whose territories she invaded with two considerable armies. In this campaign, although it was upon the whole successful, Sweden suffered the loss of her brave but quixotic king. Charles XII. was killed by a cannon ball at the siege of Frederikshald on December llth, 1718. Sir John N orris, with the fleet, had returned to England in the month of October.
After the death of Charles XII. and the accession of Queen Ulrica Eleanora l the policy of Sweden changed. She entered upon very friendly relations with Great Britain, and, on the other hand, was attacked by her late ally and Great Britain's old friend, Peter the Great. The Russians ravaged the Swedish coasts until, a fresh British fleet having been entrusted to the command of Sir John Norris in June, and having joined the Swedish fleet in September, 1719, the enemy was obliged to take refuge in the harbour of Beval. A little later, the old quarrel between Sweden and Denmark was settled by British mediation : • but when Norris, in order to avoid being frozen up there, left the Baltic in November, Sweden and Russia remained unreconciled, in spite of the efforts which had been made by Lord Carteret — afterwards Earl Granville — the British minister at Stockholm, to pacify them.
In 17'20 Russia's attitude continued as before, and Sir John Norris went back to the Baltic to protect Sweden during the open weather. He sailed on April 16th ; was joined in May by a Swedish squadron under Admiral Baron Wachtmeister ; and, after cruising off
Tudor Trevor ; Hampton Court, 70, Captain Robert Colemau ; Prince Frederick, 70, Captain Covill Mayne : Salisbury, 50, Captain John Cockburne (1); Defiance, CO, Captain Joseph Soanes ; Winchester, 50, Captain James Campbell (1) ; Guernsey, 50, Captain Charles Hardy (1) ; and Windsor, 60, Captain Francis Piercy. These were afterwards joined by a few other vessels.
Whose consort, Friedrich of Hessen-Cassel, was presently chosen king, to thy great annoyance of Russia.
2 Though the formal treaty of peace was not signed until the summer of 1720.
42 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1725.
Reval, returned to England in November.1 In 1721, Sir John was employed in the same way, his mission being, however, not only to protect Sweden, but also to lend moral support to the mediatory efforts of the British minister at Stockholm. He sailed from the Nore on April 13th with a fleet of twenty-one ships of the line, two fireships, three bombs, and two tenders, and with Eear-Admiral Francis Hosier (W.), and Eear-Admiral Edward Hopsonn (B.), in command under him. His appearance in the Baltic undoubtedly favoured the conclusion of peace between the belligerents : and on September 10th hostilities between Sweden and Kussia were formally terminated by the Treaty of Nystadt. Sir John dropped anchor at the Nore on October 20th. During these various ex- peditions to the north he seldom had occasion to fire a gun in anger, and his proceedings were throughout of an uneventful and un- exciting character ; yet, thanks to his tact, patience, and diplomatic ability, and to the recognised strength and efficiency of the forces under him, he was able to exercise a very weighty influence upon the councils of the northern powers, and to peaceably bring about results which a less capable officer might have failed to secure even by fighting for them.
From 1721 onwards, for four or five years, the Navy had no great tasks assigned to it ; but the Treaty of Vienna, concluded on April '20th, 1725, between Spain and Austria, introduced new sources of trouble to Europe. By a secret article of that treaty, marriages between the houses of Spain and Austria were arranged, and both countries pledged themselves to assist the restoration of the Stuarts, and to compel, if necessary by force, the retrocession of Gibraltar and Minorca to Spain. To oppose these schemes, Great Britain, France, and Prussia entered, on September 3rd, 1725, into the Treaty of Hannover ; whereupon, Spain began to intrigue with Kussia ; and, as the Empress Catherine, the successor of Peter the Great, was by no means amicably disposed towards Great Britain and her allies, it became advisable, in 1726, not only to send a fleet to the coast of Spain, but also to dispatch once more a strong force to the Baltic. In addition to these fleets a squadron was got ready for the West Indies.
The fleet destined to check the immediate designs of Spain was entrusted to Admiral Sir John Jennings (W.), who was afterwards
1 In a storm in the North Sea, the Monck, 50, Captain the Hon. George Clinton, was driven ashore near Golston on Nov. 24th, and lost ; but all her people were saved.
1726.] WAGER TO THE BALTIC. 43
joined by Bear-Admiral Edward Hopsonn (R.). Sir John, with nine ships of the line, sailed from St. Helen's on July 20th. The appearance of the British so much disquieted the Spaniards that, for the moment, they abandoned their hostile projects : and in October, Jennings was able to return 'to England, leaving Hopsonn, with a reduced squadron, as commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean.
The Baltic fleet, under Vice- Admiral Sir Charles Wager (R.) and Rear-Admiral Sir George Walton (B.), consisted of twenty ships of the line, a twenty-gun ship, two fireships, and a hospital ship. It quitted the Nore on April 17th, and, proceeding to Copenhagen and Stockholm, obtained the co-operation of Denmark and the friendly support of Sweden. A Danish squadron, under Rear-Admiral Bille, joined Sir Charles in May, and, with him, proceeded to the Gulf of Finland. The Russians had, in and about Cronstadt, a considerable force under the General-Admiral Apraxine, Yice-Admiral Thomas Gordon,1 and a rear-admiral said to have been an Englishman : - but, although they were much inclined to issue forth and defy the allies, Gordon succeeded in dissuading them from this suicidal course ; and eventually the ships were laid up. Wager displayed throughout great tact and diplomatic ability. In the autumn he, like Jennings, returned to England, anchoring off the Gunfleet on November 1st.
Vice-Admiral Francis Hosier :i (B.) was given command of the squadron for the West Indies. He sailed from Plymouth on April (.)th with seven men-of-war, and, after a tedious passage, arrived off the Bastimentos, near Puerto Bello, on June (5th. He was then or thereafter joined by several vessels which were already on the station, and by others from home. These brought up his total force to a strength of sixteen ships.4
1 Thomas Gordon, a captain of 1705, severed his coiiiici-t'nn with the British Navy at the death of Queen Anne, and entered that of Russia, in which lie was at once given Hag-rank. Other Jacobite naval officers, notably the gallant Kenneth, Lord Duffus, took the same service at about the i-ame time.
2 Some authorities specify him as Rear-Admiral Sannders, an ex-Master and Commander in the British Navy.
3 Francis Hosier. Commander, 1694. Captain, 1GOO. Distinguished himself as captain of the Salisbury, 1707-1713. Rear-Admiral, 1720. Second in command in the Baltic. Vice-Admiral, 1723. Died Commander-in-Chief in the West Indies, August 23rd, 1727.
4 Viz., three third-rates, the Breda, Berwick, and Lenrac ; eight fourth-rates, the liipon, Leopard, Superbe, Nottingham, Dunkirk, Dragon, Tii/er, and Portland ; one fifth-rate, the Diamond; and three sixth-rates, the Greyhound, Winchehea, and Happy.
44 MAJOK OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1727.
The appearance of the British fleet in the West Indies gave great uneasiness to the Spaniards; and, as soon as it was reported, the treasure-ships, which were then ready to make their voyage to Europe, were unloaded, and their cargo of pieces of eight and other valuables was placed on shore in security, part at Havana and part elsewhere. The men-of-war which were to have convoyed the treasure-ships were, moreover, laid up at Puerto Bello ; and it was determined that, so long as a powerful British force remained in the neighbourhood, no attempt should be made to dispatch the annual flota to Spain ; although, of course, the non-arrival of the usual supplies would inevitably put the mother country to immense inconvenience.
The governor of Puerto Bello sent a civil message to the Vice- Admiral desiring to know the reason for the unexpected visit. The real reason was that the galleons might be watched : but as there lay in Puerto Bello at the time a South Sea Company's ship, the Royal Gcorye, and as this vessel would probably have been detained if Hosier had at once proclaimed the nature of his mission, the reply returned was to the effect that the fleet had come to convoy the Jioi/al George. The governor thereupon took measures to facilitate the early departure of that ship; and, when she had joined the fleet, he politely requested the Vice- Admiral, seeing that the ostensible reason for the presence of the force had ceased to exist, to withdraw from off the port. But Hosier then answered that, pending the receipt of further orders, he purposed to remain where he was ; and, that his intentions might no longer be in doubt, he stationed a ship of the line within gun-shot of the castle, and suffered no vessel to enter or leave the port without being strictly examined. He maintained this blockade for six months, his ships in the mean- while becoming daily more and more distressed by the ravages of epidemic and other diseases ; and when, on December 14th, 1726, he proceeded to Jamaica, his command was so completely enfeebled that he had the greatest difficulty in navigating it into harbour.
The Vice-Admiral refreshed his people and, to the best of his ability, made up his weakened complements to their full strength ; and in February, 1727, he stood over to Cartagena, where some galleons then lay. Until August he cruised upon his station ; but his instructions were of a nature which prevented him from being of much use to his country. They authorised him to make reprisals subject to certain restrictions, but not to make war ; and although
1727-29.] MORTALITY IN THE WEST INDIES. 45
the Spaniards, after a time, began to seize the property of British merchants and to detain and condemn British vessels, Hosier was obliged to content himself with demanding a restitution which the Spaniards refused, and which he was unable to compel. During that period disease was even more rife throughout the fleet than it had been in the previous year ; and, after thousands of officers and men had perished miserably, the misfortunes of the expedition culminated on August 23rd, when Hosier himself died.1
His death has been attributed to anxiety and chagrin, but it was, in fact, caused by fever. Nor is it astonishing that the fleet was then little better than a floating charnel-house. The most elementary prescriptions of sanitary science seem to have been neglected, and there is perhaps no better illustration of the extra- ordinary indifference to the simplest laws of health than the fact that in that hot and pestilent climate the Vice-Admiral's body was given a temporary burial-place in the ballast of his flagship, the Breda, where it remained, a necessary source of danger to all on board, until it was despatched to England, late in the year, on board H.M. snow H«/)pi/, Commander Henry Fowkes. Hosier's death left Captain Edward St. Loe,- of the Siijicrl/r, (>(), as senior officer on the station.
St. Loe pursued the same policy as Hosier had followed, and pre- vented the sailing of the galleons, until he was superseded by Yice- Admiral Edward Hopsonn, who arrived at Jamaica on January 2(.)th, 17'28. Hopsonn died of fever on board bis flagship the Leojxinl, 50, on May 8th, leaving St. Loe once more senior officer. But by that time the difficulties with Spain were in a fair way of adjustment. It was still, however, necessary to keep a large force in the West Indies; and ere it was materially reduced, St. Loe also fell a sacrifice to the climate and to the insanitary condition of the ships. He died on April '22nd, 1729. :l
It is doubtful whether any other British fleet has ever suffered from disease so severely as that of Hosier suffered in 1726-27. Its horrible experiences made a deep and lasting impression upon the nation,4 and it may be hoped that they have had the effect of
1 Hosier had been promoted on August llth to be Vice-Adnriral of the White. At the time of his death, a commission empowering the Governor of Jamaica to knight him is said to have been on its way out. Charnock, iii. 139.
2 St. Loe flew a broad pennant.
3 Having been promoted on March 4th, 17^9, to be Hear- Admiral of the Blue.
4 See, for example, Glover's popular ballad, 'Admiral Hosier's Ghost.'
46 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1727.
impressing upon all later British admirals the supreme importance of taking systematic and rigorous measures for preserving the health of their men. During the two years immediately following Hosier's first arrival off the Bastimentos, the fleet, the nominal complement of which never, roughly speaking, exceeded 4750 persons,1 lost, in addition to two flag officers and seven or eight captains, about fifty lieutenants, and four thousand subordinate officers and men, by various forms of sickness.
The attitude of Great Britain with regard to the galleons pro- voked Spain to make great preparations for a siege of Gibraltar ; and as that fortress was neither thoroughly armed nor properly held, corresponding measures had to be taken for its protection. A squadron of six men-of-war and two sloops - was fitted out at Portsmouth towards the end of 17'2(> ; seventeen companies of troops and large quantities of provisions and ammunition were embarked ; and on December -J4tli Vice- Admiral Sir Charles Wager (K.) hoisted his flag in the Kent, 70, and took command. He sailed on January 1'Jth, 17'J7, and on February '2nd, having picked up the Stir/in// Caxt/i', 70, on bis way out, arrived in Gibraltar Bay, where lie found Rear-Admiral Edward Hopsonn (It.), who had remained upon the station during the winter/1 As the Spaniards, fifteen thousand strong, were seen to be working hard, troops, guns, and stores were landed ; but no actual hostilities took place until after .February 10th, when the enemy began a new battery within half gunshot of some of the. defences of the place. Colonel Jasper Clayton, the Lieutenant-Governor, made a spirited remonstrance ; but the Conde de las Torres, the Spanish commander- in-chief, returned an unsatisfactory and truculent answer; where- upon fire was opened from the Mole Head, and from Prince's
1 During much of the time the total complement was not more than 3300 officers ami men. If there had not been at Jamaica plenty of men whose ships happened to be laid up there owing to the difficulty with Spain, the deficiencies could not have been made good, and the fleet must literally have become an array of immobile and impotent hulks.
2 Kent, 70, Letter, 70, lierwkk, 70, Royal Oak, 70, Portland, 50, Tiger, 50, Hawk, 6, and Cruiser, G. The Torbay, 80, and 1'oole, fireship, 8, followed on March !»th.
3 Hopsoun had with him the Burfurd, 70, York, 60, Winchester, 50, Colchester, 50, Swallow, 60, Dursley Galley, 20, and Thunder, bomb, 4. A few days later the Solebay, bomb, 0, which had been cruising, joined. The Berwick and Lenox were detached to the West Indies on February 13th, and the Portland and Tiger on April 21st. On the other hand, several fresh vessels arrived from England and elsewhere at various times.
1727.] SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR. 47
and Willis's batteries ; and Sir Charles Wager, on the evening of the llth, sent the Tiger, 50, Dursley Galley, 20, and Solebay, bomb, 6, to throw a flanking fire upon the Spanish lines from the eastward.
From that day the Spaniards prosecuted the siege in earnest ; but as they had nothing larger than boats and small settees afloat in the Bay, they accomplished very little. Sir Charles, while always leaving a few vessels to enfilade the Spanish attack, fre- quently cruised in the Strait and off Cadiz ; and on those occasions his vessels made prizes of several merchantmen. On March llth, moreover, the Royal Oak, 70, being detached, took the new Spanish man-of-war, Nuestra Senora del liosario, 46, which was on her way from Santander to Cadiz ; and, in the meantime, the small craft employed by the enemy within the Bay were from time to time nearly all seized. So matters went on, until, on June Kith, Sir Charles Wager, having heard that the preliminaries of peace had been agreed to, ordered a cessation of hostilities.1
" But," says Smollett, '• when the siege \v;is on the point of being entirely raised, and the preliminaries ratified in form, Spain started new difficulties and urged new pretensions. The Spaniards insisted that a temporary suspension of anus did not imply an actual raising of the siege of Gibraltar. . . . Upon this, hostilities began between the ships of the two nations; and Sir Charles Wager continued to cruise on the coasts of Spain, after the cessation of arms at Gibraltar. . . . However, after many cavils and delays, the preliminary articles were at last signed at Madrid on February '24th,2 above eight months after the death of King George the First, by the ministers of the Emperor, England, Spain, France, and the States; which opened the way to the Congress."3
Sir Charles Wager, with part of his fleet, reached Spithead on April 9th, on his return from the Mediterranean. During his absence there, Admiral Sir John Norris (B.), Bear-Admiral Salmon Morrice (W.), and Bear-Admiral Bobert Hughes (1) (B.), with twelve ships of the line and several smaller ones, made another demonstra- tion in the Baltic, in order to induce the Empress of Bussia to refrain from attacking Sweden. The fleet reached Copenhagen on May 12th, 1727, and its appearance in northern waters created so powerful an impression that Bussia, in spite of the fact that she had already threatened Sweden in definite terms, laid up her ships and abandoned her designs. Sir John returned without having had occasion to fire a shot.
1 Sir Charles utilised the leisure which this cessation gave him by proceeding to Tangier, and renewing the peace with Marocco.
* 1728. 3 Begun at Soissons on June 1ft, 1728.
48 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1729.
The death of George I., which had occurred at Osnabriick on June llth, 1727, made no difference to the foreign policy of Great Britain. George II., in his first message to Parliament, while expressing a hope that peace would be re-established as a result of the deliberations then in progress, pointed out that it was still necessary to continue the preparations for war. Eleven ships had already been commissioned in January ; and, as the sincerity of Spain remained in some doubt, fifteen more were commissioned in June, 1728. When Parliament re-assembled in January, 17'29, the Congress at Soissons had failed to devise terms of peace that were satisfactory to all the numerous parties concerned, and the Spaniards in the West Indies were more troublesome than ever to British trade. But the manifest determination of the King to stand by his allies ; his plainly-expressed intention to preserve his " undoubted right to Gibraltar and the island of Minorca";' his assurance that he would secure satisfaction for Spanish depredations in the West Indies ; and his orders, issued on May 2~>th, for the commissioning of twenty sail of the line and five frigates,- were not without effect ; the result being that, by the Treaty of Seville, concluded on November <.)th, 172'.), Great Britain, Spain, and France, who were subsequently joined by Holland, became defensively allied. Gibraltar was not mentioned in the treaty ; and the fact that it was not mentioned was regarded as a tacit renunciation of the claim of Spain to the Hock ; but, in some other respects, the settlement was disadvantageous to Great Britain,3 and, upon the whole, it was beneficial rather to France than to any other country.
During the peace which followed, Admiral Sir Charles Wager,4 in 1731, assisted the Marques de Mari in convoying a large body of Spanish troops to Leghorn, in order to place Don Carlos de Bourbon in possession of Parma and Piacenza, to which, under the terms of the treaty, the Prince had become entitled by the death of the Duke of Parma. Yet, notwithstanding this friendly co-operation between Great Britain and Spain in Europe, the relations between
1 Answer of the King to the Commons, March 25th, 172!).
2 These were presently joined at Spithead by fourteen Dutch ships under Vice- Admiral van Sommelsdijck.
3 It did not, for example, secure satisfaction for the Spanish depredations in the West Indies.
* He had his flag in the Numur, 90. Rear-Admiral Sir John Bnlchen. Kt. (W.), in the Norfolk, 80, was second in command.
1735.]
PORTUGAL ASSISTED.
49
the representatives of the two countries in the New World became ever more and more strained. And even in Europe very menacing clouds arose when, in 1733, the death of Augustus II., Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, brought about a hostile combination of France, Spain, and Sardinia against the Empire. Great Britain, as a necessary measure of precaution, commissioned no fewer than
ADMIRAL NICHOLAS HADDOCK.
(7-Vom Fulm'x eiiyrttriiiu iiftir Ilir paintimj hi/ T. llihxu/i, iTiirrxfnti/ii/ Hn<i<loek it'hru Rear-Admiral nf tit/1 Itrtl, 1735.)
eighty-six1 ships of war early in 1734, recalled British sailors from the service of foreign powers, and offered bounties to seamen.
In 1735, a dispute having broken out between Spain and Portugal, the latter power solicited British aid against the Spaniards ; and, in response, a large fleet, under Admiral Sir John Norris, with Vice-Admiral Sir John Balchen (K), and Bear-Admiral Nicholas
1 Bringing up the total number in commission to one hundred and twenty. VOL. III. E
50 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1738.
Haddock1 (W.), was dispatched to Lisbon, sailing from Spithead on May 27th, and reaching the Tagus on June 9th. The demonstration was made not only in the general interests of peace, but also in the particular interests of the many British merchants whose welfare was more or less dependent upon the safety of the then homecoming Portuguese flota from Brazil ; and it was so efficacious that an actual rupture between the two countries was prevented.
Yet Spain was not to be permanently intimidated. After France, going behind the backs of her allies, had patched up, vastly to her own benefit, her differences with the Empire by the treaty of December 28th, 1735, Great Britain, awaking to the fact that she had been neglecting her own peculiar business in order to be ready to intervene on behalf of powers that deserved no such kindness at her hands, once more turned her attention to the outrages which had for years been committed upon her commerce by the Spaniards in the West Indies. In 1737 she sent Rear-Admiral Nicholas Haddock to the Mediterranean with a squadron, the appearance of which was intended to lend weight to the demands which she then felt it necessary to make. Spain haggled and temporised. In reply to an address from the Commons, King George II., on March 6th, 1738, said : "1 am fully sensible of the many and unwarrantable depredations committed by the Spaniards,2 and you may be assured I will make use of the most proper and effectual means that are in my power to procure justice and satisfaction to my injured subjects, and for the future security of their trade and navigation."
Still, however, Spain temporised. A paper presented to Parlia- ment in 1738 showed that since the Treaty of Seville the loss caused to British merchants by the operations of the Spaniards had been upwards of ,£140,000, that fifty-two British vessels had been taken and plundered by them, and that British seamen had been very cruelly treated. This caused much excitement. Then came the examination by the House of persons who had, or were alleged to have, suffered at the hands of the Spaniards. Among these persons was Kichard Jenkins, sometime master of the liebecca, brig, of Glasgow. He declared that his craft had been boarded by a guarda-costa, whose captain had wantonly cut off one of the
1 Nicholas Haddock. Born, 1686. Captain, 1707. Rear-Admiral, 1734. Vice- Admiral, 1741. Admiral, 1744. Died, 1746.
2 Accounts of some of these, and further notes about Jenkins, will be found in the next chapter.
1739.] JENKINS'S EARS. 51
deponent's ears, and handed it to him with the insolent remark : " Carry this home to the King, your master, whom, if he were present, I would serve in like fashion." " The truth of the story," says Mr. Lecky, " is extremely, doubtful." It has even been said that Jenkins lost his ear at the pillory. Yet the indignation aroused by the man's deposition was general ; and popular opinion grew uncontrollable when it became known that, upon having been asked by a member what were his feelings at the moment of the outrage, Jenkins had replied : " I recommended my soul to God, and my cause to my country."
Spain at length agreed to make some reparation, and to settle outstanding differences. The convention to this effect was sub- mitted to Parliament in 1739, and, after a most stormy debate, approved of ; yet, when the time came for it to be carried out, fresh difficulties cropped up, and Spain, possibly because she had gained by negotiation all the delay which she deemed necessary to enable her to perfect her preparations, silently declined to play her promised part. At about the same time, owing to the pre- carious state of affairs, the 'British consuls at Malaga, Alicant, and other Spanish ports, were compelled to advise British merchants and vessels to depart thence with all haste.
Great Britain was to be satisfied only by the adoption of strong measures ; and on July 10th, 1739, the King issued a proclamation in which he set forth that the Spaniards had committed depredations, and that they had promised and failed to make reparation ; and in which he authorised general reprisals and letters of marque against the ships, goods, and subjects of the King of Spain. Half-hearted endeavours were made at the last moment to preserve peace ; but Spain declared that she regarded the making of reprisals as a hostile act ; France reminded the world that she was bound to look upon the enemies of Spain as her own foes ; and Holland averred that, if called upon to do so, she could not but observe the spirit of her treaty of alliance with Great Britain.
The British minister presently withdrew from Madrid, and the Spanish minister from London ; the British squadrons abroad were reinforced ;l numerous ships were commissioned; stringent measures were adopted to procure the necessary number of seamen for the
1 Information as to the state of affairs was also sent to Commodore Charles Brown, who was senior officer at Jamaica, and who at once began reprisals. For an account of them, see next chapter.
E 2
52 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1739.
fleet ; letters of marque were announced on July 21st as ready for issue by the Admiralty ; and on October 23rd, 1739, war was formally declared against Spain, which put forward her own declaration on November '28th.
The power of Spain was then most vulnerable in the West Indies and the Pacific. An expedition under Captain George Anson, of whose proceedings an account will be found in Chapter XXIX., was prepared for the Pacific, but did not sail until the autumn of 1740. Dispatched primarily for warlike purposes, and originally intended to co-operate with another force under Captain James Cornwall, Alison's command, owing to various adventitious circum- stances, gained for its leader an even more brilliant reputation as a navigator than as a fighting officer ; and the history of it falls naturally among the chronicles of the great British voyages. But an expedition to the West Indies, which was entrusted to Vice-Admiral Kdward Vernon (1), (B.),1 was, from beginning to end, entirely a fighting venture ; and as it was not without effect upon the issue of the war, it may fitly be described here, although it led up to no fleet action, and although it did not, to any appreciable extent, directly strengthen the maritime position of Great Britain.
Edward Vernon was a blunt, well-intentioned, honest, and very popular officer, whose chief service faults were that he could not always control either his tongue or his pen, and that he was too fond of vulgar applause. He had served in the West Indies for several years after his first appointment as a post-captain, and was generally believed to have an intimate acquaintance with the whole of that station and with the weak points of the Spanish position there. He had also been for a long time member of Parliament for Ipswich and for Penryn ; and, in the course of one of the debates upon the depredations of the Spaniards, he had taken upon himself to declare in strong terms that the Spanish possessions in the West Indies might be reduced with great ease, and that Puerto Bello,' in particular, might be taken by a force of six
1 Edward Vernon was born in 1084, and became a Post-Captain in 1700, and a Vice-Admiral, without having ever been a Ilear-Admir.il, on July 9th, 1739. Having captured Puerto Bello, etc., in that and the next year, he led an attack upon Cartagena in 1741. lu 1745 he attained the rank of Admiral, but, in the following year, owing, among other things, to his fondness for pamphleteering, he was struck off the list of flag-officers. See. note on p. Ill, infra. He died in 1757.
2 Puerto Bello stands on the north side of the Isthmus of Darien, and is abou seventy miles from Panama. It has a considerable bay and good anchorage.
1739.]
VERNON TO THE WEST INDIES.
53
ships of the line. He said, moreover, that he would gladly venture his life and reputation upon the success of such an enterprise, if only he were permitted to attempt it. Vernon was popular in the country, and troublesome to the ministry ; and the Government, anxious to be temporarily rid of him, and perhaps equally ready to take credit for his triumph or to rejoice over his disgrace, promoted him, and gave him exactly the mission and force which he had demanded.
ADMIllAI. EDWA1SD VKIiNOX.
(From 3[i-At'tlrirx ciigmriHij <iftrt' tin- /tortntit ft/r T. Gainsborough, B.A.')
Vernon sailed from Portsmouth on July 24th, 1739,1 with four ships of seventy guns, three of sixty, one of fifty, and one of forty. Of these, he presently detached three of the seventies, viz., the Lenox, Captain Covill Mayne, Elizabeth, Captain Edward Falking- ham (1), and Kent, Captain Thomas Durell (1), to cruise for a month off Cape Ortegal, and to look out for some treasure-ships which were daily expected in Spain. The vessels were to return afterwards to 1 He did not, however, leave Plymouth until August 3rd.
54 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1739.
England. He also detached the Pearl, 50, Captain the Hon. Edward Legge, to cruise for three months between Lisbon and Oporto. With the rest of his force he crossed the Atlantic, reaching Jamaica on October 23rd.1 There he was joined by the senior officer already on the station, Commodore Charles Brown, whose broad pennant was in the Hampton Court, 70.
On the voyage out Vernon took every opportunity of disciplining his men, and of exercising them both at the heavy guns and at small arms ; and there is little doubt that, under his direction, his small squadron rapidly became, for its size, the most efficient that Great Britain had sent to sea for many years.
The intelligence received by the Vice-Admiral was to the effect that the Spanish galleons were about to make rendezvous at Cartagena, and to proceed thence to Puerto Bello, where they would exchange their European goods for the gold and silver which had been sent for the purpose from Panama. The news that the bullion was already at 1'uerto Bello determined Vernon to lose no time in attacking that place. He obtained pilots, embarked two hundred soldiers under Captain Newton, and, on November 5th, 1739, sailed from Port lioyal.- On the following day lie issued the following instructions to his captains : —
"Upon making the land at Puerto Bello, ami having a fair wind to favour them, and daylight for the attempt, to have their ships clear in all respects for immediate service; and, ou 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 Puerto Bello is represented to the Admiral to be a bold steep shore, on which, at the first entrance, stands the Castillo de Ferro, or Iron Castle, Commodore Brown, and the ships that follow him, are directed to pass the said fort, within less than a cable's length distant, giving the enemy as they pass as warm a tire as ]>ossible, both from great guns and musketry. Then Commodore Brown is to steer away for the Gloria Castle, and anchor as near as he possibly can to the eastermost 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 westermost 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 Herbert, in the \unricli, after giving his fire at the Iron Castle, is to push on for the castle of San Jeronimo, lying to the eastward of the town, and to anchor as near it, as he possibly can, and batter it down ; and Captain Trevor, in the titmfford, following the Admiral, to come to an anchor abreast of the eastermost part of the Iron Castle, so as to leave room for Captain Waterhouse, in the Princess Louisa, to anchor astern of him, for battering the westermost part of the Castle; and
1 Having called in the meantime at Antigua and St. Kitt's.
2 With the ships mentioned in the table infra, and the Sheerness, 20, Captain Miles Stapleton. This vessel was presently detached to reconnoitre Cartagena.
1739.] VEEN ON AT PUERTO BELLO. 55
continue there till the service is completed, and make themselves masters of it : the youngest officers to follow the further orders of the elder in the further prosecution of the attack : and, if the weather be favourable for it on their going in, each ship, besides having her long-boat towing astern, to have her barge alongside to tow the long-boats away with such part of the soldiers as can conveniently go in them, and to come under the Admiral's stern, for his directing a descent with them, where he shall find it most proper to order it. From the men's inexperience in service, it will be necessary to be as cautious as possible to prevent hurry and confusion, and a fruitless waste of powder and shot. The captains are to give the strictest orders to their respective officers to take the greatest care that no gun is fired but what they, or those they particularly appoint, first see levelled, and direct the firing of; and that they shall strictly prohibit all their men from hallooing and making irregular noise that will only serve to throw them into confusion, till such time as the service is performed and when they have 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."
LINE OF BATTLE AT TIIK ATTACK ox 1'fKKTo ]>KI,I,O, XOVKMIIKI; L'lsr, 17;!!!.
|
Ships. |
Guns. |
.Men. |
Commauders. |
||
|
Hampton Cuurt . |
• 1 7" |
-!!!.-> |
j Commodore Charles Brown. (Captain Digby Dent, (^ . |
||
|
Xorwich .... |
. i ;")( 1 |
300 |
, Itic'hard Herbert. |
||
|
Worcester .... |
00 |
400 |
, Perry Mayne. |
||
|
Burford .... |
70 |
500 |
fVic ICa, |
j- Admiral Edward Vermm, tain Thomas Watson (I). |
(B.). |
|
Stm/furd |
fill' |
4011 |
, Thomas Trevor. |
||
|
Princess Louisa, . |
(ill |
400 |
, Thomas \\ aterhouse. |
The squadron sighted Puerto Bello in the night of November '20th, and chased into harbour some small vessels, which apprised the enemy of Yemen's presence on the eoast. That he might not be driven to leeward, the Vice-Admiral anchored about six leagues from the shore. Early on the '21st he weighed, and, the wind being easterly,1 he plied to windward in line of battle ahead. At about 2 P.M., the Hampton Court, being close to the Iron Castle, began the attack, and was well seconded by the Xonrich and Worcester. The fire of the enemy, vigorous at first, gradually lessened. Seeing this, Vernon, who was rapidly approaching, signalled for the manned boats to go under his stern, and then ordered them to land beneath the walls of the castle. In the meantime, the Bur/ord, which had come abreast of the castle, had received and returned a very heavy fire. The men in her tops forced the enemy to abandon his lower battery, whereupon the landing-party made an assault, and, by climbing into the embrasures upon one another's shoulders, the men entered, and quickly carried the work, most of the defenders of
1 This prevented the attack from being carried out in the prescribed manner.
56
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-17G2.
[1739.
which fled to the town, though a few shut themselves up in the. keep, whence they presently shouted appeals for quarter.
By that time night had come on. Owing to the wind, Commo- dore Brown and his division had been unable to get up the bay and attack the castles of Gloria and San Jeronimo, and his ships, having fallen to leeward, were obliged to anchor, ready to proceed at daybreak should the wind permit. The Burford and Stafford,
ATTACK ox PUKKTO BEI.I.O, XOVKMIIKU L'ls-r., 17.'i!>. (Front a phut bit Cum. Jamex lifnttme kindly It /it bit Lurd Vrmim
C. Wormier.
D. Noni'iffi.
E. Burj'iinl.
F. Iltiitii/ton Cttitrt. <!. Ntraffiinl.
II. Pritn-t-H* Lttttixu.
I. Two tenders. K. Two Spanish jmarda-costas. M. Throe trading sloops. O. Bouts on their way to land soldiers.
which were just within reach of the heaviest guns in Gloria, were fired at all night, but received little damage beyond the wounding of the former's fore topmast. The fire was returned with effect from the lower deck of the Burford. Early in the morning of the 22nd, the Vice-Admiral went on board the Hampton Court, and, after he had consulted with his officers, directed steps to be taken for warping his ships up the harbour during the night, in order to be able to
1739.] VERNON ON THE SPANISH MAIN. 57
attack Gloria and San Jeronimo on the following day. But these measures proved to be unnecessary. The Spanish governor, Don Francisco Martinez de Ketez, hoisted a white flag, and sent out a boat with a flag of truce to convey to Vernon the terms on which the place would be surrendered. These terms were deemed in- admissible by the Vice- Admiral, who drew up others which he was prepared to grant. He allowed the governor only a few hours in which to make up his mind ; yet, well within the specified time, the terms were accepted. Captain Newton, with two hundred soldiers, was sent to take possession of the town and castles ; and detachments of seamen boarded the vessels in port. The crews of these had, it appeared, landed during the previous night, and committed various outrages. The garrison was allowed to march out with the honours of war, and to carry off two cannon with ten charges of powder for each. The inhabitants were permitted either to remove or to remain, and were promised security for their goods and effects. The ships l were surrendered absolutely, though their crews were permitted to retire with their personal effects. And, contingent upon the duo performance of all the stipulations, the town, the clergy and the churches were guaranteed protection and immunity in their privi- leges and properties. -
Public money to the amount of ten thousand dollars was found in the place, and at once distributed by Vernon among his men. There were also taken forty pieces of brass cannon, ten brass field- pieces, four brass mortars, and eighteen brass patereroes, besides iron guns, which were destroyed, but not carried off. The fortifica- tions were then demolished — a work which needed the expenditure of one hundred and twenty-two barrels of captured Spanish powder, and which occupied three weeks.3
On November 27th, the Diamond, 40, Captain Charles Knowles, and on November 29th, the Windsor, 00, Captain George Berkeley, and the Anglesey, 40, Captain Henry lieddish, joined the flag from the Leeward Islands; and on December 6th, the Sheerness, 20,
1 One of them, a snow, was commissioned as the Triumph, sloop, by Commander James Rontone, who was sent home with Vernon's dispatches. Another prize was renamed the Asti'fsa, 12.
2 The loss on the British side during the attack was almost incredibly small, the Burford and Worcester having each three killed and five wounded, and the Hampton Court having one man mortally wounded.
3 In the service Captain the Hon. Edward Boscawen assisted as a volunteer. His ship, the ShoreJinm, 20, was at the time unfit for sea.
58 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1739.
Captain Miles Stapleton, which had been detached to reconnoitre Cartagena, returned. While the Vice-Admiral still lay at Puerto Bello, he sent to Panama a demand for the release of certain servants of the South Sea Company, who were confined in that city ; and, although Vernon, being on the wrong side of the isthmus, was scarcely in a position to 'have backed up his demand by force, the governor, who seems to have been greatly impressed by the easy capture of Puerto Bello, saw fit to comply. The Vice-Admiral sailed on December 13th for Jamaica.
The news of the success was hailed with great joy in England, and Vernon was voted the thanks of both Houses, and the freedom of the City of London in a gold box. Commander James lientone, the bearer of the intelligence, was presented with two hundred guineas, and made a post-captain. The Ministry realised that it could do nothing more popular than follow up the blow already struck, and it at once arranged to send to Jamaica, if possible in the early autumn, a strong military force composed of two regiments of infantry, and six newly-raised regiments of Marines — the whole under Major-General Lord Cathcart — to be employed by Vice- Admiral Vernon in the prosecution of further designs against the Spaniards in the West Indies and Central America. It was also decided to endeavour to recruit in the North American Colonies a corps of three thousand men, to be commanded by Colonel Spottis- wood,1 and to be sent to Jamaica to strengthen the hands of Lord Cathcart upon his arrival.
In the interval, the Spaniards, thoroughly alarmed for the security of their empire in the New World, sent to the West Indies a strong squadron,- with troops and stores, under Admiral Don Kodrigo de Torres. They also prevailed upon France to proclaim not only that she was in strict alliance with Spain, but also that she could not suffer Great Britain to make new settlements or conquests in the West Indies ; and this proclamation was succeeded by the dispatch across the Atlantic of three French squadrons. One, of four ships of the line, under the Chevalier de Nesmond, left Brest on July 28th. A second, of eighteen sail, under the Marquis d'Antin, quitted the same port towards the end of August, and, soon after its departure, suffered so severely in a storm, that two or three of its
1 Tliis officer unfortunately died in Virginia ere the troops which he had collected cou'd be embarked.
2 This sailed from Spain on July 10th, 1740.
1740.] VEBNON AT CAHTAQENA. 59
best vessels had to return. The third, of fifteen sail, under the Marquis de La Eoche-Allard, weighed from Toulon on August 25th. When he had passed the Strait of Gibraltar, the Marquis opened his orders, and, in pursuance of them, sent back to port four of his largest ships. Proceeding with the rest, he made a junc- tion with the other squadrons at Martinique in September and October.
But the force there assembled was formidable chiefly on paper. The vessels were not in good condition, and they were both ill- manned and ill-found. Many of them had been much damaged by bad weather ere they arrived ; and when they essayed to move in company from Martinique to Hispam'ola, they fell in with another storm which caused serious losses, and reduced them to a condition of impotence.
That they had been sent out to co-operate with Spain is certain. But before they had an opportunity of co-operating, reinforcements had reached Yernon ; and the situation in Europe had been changed by the death of the Emperor Charles VI., on October 20th, and by the .accession of the Elector of Bavaria as Charles VII. Erance then decided to hold her hand, to recall her squadrons,1 and to postpone her definite rupture with Great Britain. It is not necessary, therefore, to further follow the movements of the French. As for the Spanish squadron under Don liodrigo de Torres, it reached San Juan de Puerto Rico in a sorely-damaged condition in September, and there slowly refitted. In course, of time it went on to Cartagena, threw additional troops into the town, and, leaving a detachment under Don Bias de Leso in the roadstead, proceeded to Havana.
Vernon's squadron, on its voyage from Puerto Bello to Jamaica, was dispersed and shattered by a storm. All the vessels, neverthe- less, reached Port Eoyal by February 6th, 1740, except the Triumph, sloop, which had foundered off Sambala Keys, but the officers and men of which had been saved. The Greenwich, 50, Captain Charles Wyndham, with four bombs, some fireships, and several other craft, was found in harbour. The Vice-Admiral did all that lay in his power to speedily refit his command, but, finding that the Burford would take some time to prepare for sea, he transferred his flag from her to the Strafford, 60, and sailed on February 25th with the greater part of his force, leaving the rest of it, under Commodore 1 Except a few ships left at Htspaniola under the Comte de Roquefeuil.
60
MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762.
[1740.
Charles Brown, for the protection of Jamaica. His determination was to bombard Cartagena.
On March 1st, the Vice-Admiral sighted the land near Santa Martha, and, having detached the Greenwich, 50, to ply to windward of that place, to intercept any vessel that might be bound thither, he bore away ; and, on the evening of the 3rd,1 anchored in nine fathoms off Playa Grande, in the open bay before Cartagena. On the 4th
VICE-ADMIIIAL Silt CHARLES KXOWLKS. (From Ftilti'ijy mezzotint ufti'r tin' purtniit hy T. Hudson.)
and 5th he reconnoitred the place, and made his dispositions ; and on the 6th he ordered in the bombs Alderney, 8, Commander James Scott, Terrible, 8, Commander Edward Allen, and Cumberland, 8, Commander Thomas Brodrick.^ with the tenders Pompeij and Goodly, and other craft to assist them, to bombard the town. This
1 On which day he had been joined by the Falmouth, 50, Captain William Douglas.
2 This officer, who died a Vice-Admiral in 1769, in later life spelt his name Broderick ; but it was, properly, Brodrick.
1740.] VERNON AT CHAGRES. 61
they did until 9 A.M. on the 7th, receiving no damage whatsoever, and probably doing little, although they terribly frightened the inhabitants. It is difficult to understand why Vernon made this demonstration, for he knew well that the force which he had with him was insufficient to take the city. It has been suggested that his action was intended as a reply to an insulting letter which he had received from Don Bias de Leso, and this is certainly a plausible explanation, for the quick-tempered Vice-Admiral was ever fully as eager to resent a slight offered to himself as he was to resent one offered to his country. It does not, however, appear that the bombardment of Cartagena assisted, in the slightest degree, the general policy which Vernon had been sent westward to cany out.
From Cartagena he coasted along the Gulf of Darien, exchanging shots with Bocca Chica as he passed, and making observations concerning the defences of the various towns. He detached the. Windsor, 60, Captain George Berkeley, and the Gireiuricli, -~>0, Captain Charles Wyndham, to cruise off Cartagena with the object of looking out for the galleons and of intercepting three Spanish ships of war which, lie had heard, were about to attempt to join Don Bias de Leso there. Vernon then proceeded to Puerto Bello to refit and water his squadron. He was rejoined on March 18th by the Diamond, 40, Captain Charles Knowles,1 an officer in whom he appears to have reposed exceptional confidence. Knowles was ordered to go on board the Success, hreship, 10, Commander Daniel Hore,2 and, accompanied by one of the tenders, to move round to the mouth of the Kiver Chagres, there to reconnoitre and to make soundings with a view to reporting on the manner in which the fort of San Lorenzo and the town of Chagres might best be attacked. Measures were also taken to blockade the estuary. The Vice-Admiral obtained much information and assistance from an English pirate or buccaneer named Lowther, who, in consequence, received the King's pardon and permission to return home.
On March '2'2nd the Strafford,3 the Noncich, the three bomb ketches, and the small craft, put to sea from Puerto Bello, instruc- tions being left for the other vessels to follow as soon as possible.
1 Charles Knowles. Born, 1702. Captain, 17.".7. Rear-Admiral, 1747. Com- mander-in-Cliief at Jamaica, 1748. Captured Port Louis, Hispaniola. Defeated Ileggio off Havana, October 1st, 1748. Vice-Admiral, 1755. Admiral, 1758. Baronet, 1765, and Rear-Admiral of Great Britain. Served Russia, 1770-1774. Died, 1777.
2 Or Hoare.
* In which the Vice-Admiral still Hew his flag.
62 MA JOS OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1740.
The Strafford met with a slight accident on the passage, and was detained for a few hours, but the Norwich, by order, proceeded with the remaining craft, and by 3 P.M. Captain Richard Herbert, with the assistance of Captain Knowles, had not only placed his bombs in position, but had begun to bombard Fort San Lorenzo. The Diamond also opened fire in the evening ; and, during the night, the Strajford, Princess Louisa, and Fal month, arrived and took up their stations.1 The ships maintained a leisurely fire from their heavier guns until March 24th, when the governor of the place, Don Juan Carlos Gutierrez de Zaviillos, surrendered. Captain Knowles took possession in the course of the afternoon.
A large amount of booty, including cocoa, Jesuit's bark, and wool, valued at £70,000, besides plate, etc., was captured. Two guarda-costas, found in the river, were destroyed ; all the brass guns and patereroes " in the defences were embarked in the squadron ; and, after the works had been demolished, Vernon quitted the river on March 30th. He was rejoined on the 31st by the Windsor and Greenwich from before Cartagena, and on April '2nd by his old flagship, the 11 it r ford, from Jamaica. After making dispositions, which proved to be vain, for intercepting the new Spanish viceroy of Santa Fe, who was on his way out from Ferrol, the Vice-Admiral returned to Jamaica, sending Captain Knowles home with dispatches.
A little later, Vernon, advised from Lisbon of the Spanish preparations for sending out the squadron under Don Rodrigo de Torres, and of the actual departure from Cadiz of a squadron, the supposed destination of which was the West Indies, put to sea again, hoping to fall in with the enemy; but, having encountered bad weather, and having failed to get any news of his foe, he returned to Port Royal on June 21st. During the summer his cruisers were active, but he was himself detained in port by lack of supplies. On September 5th, however, a number of store-ships, convoyed by the Defiance, 60, Captain John Trevor, and the Tilbury, 60, reached him, and on October 3rd he was able to put to sea once more. On the 19th he fell in with eight transports, convoyed by the
1 The ships engaged in the attack on Chagres were the Strafford, 60, Princess Louisa, 60, f'almouth, 50, Norwich, 50, Diamond, 40, Alderncy, Terrible, and Cumberland, bombs, and Pompey and Good!;/, tenders. The commanders of all these have already been named. In addition, there were the fireships, Success, 10, Com- mander Daniel Hore, and Eleanor, 10, Commander Sir Robert Henley, Bart.
2 There were eleven brass guns and as many patereroes.
1740.] OGLE JOIXS VEBNON. 63
Wolf, sloop, 10, Commander William Dandridge, and laden with troops from North America.1 These he escorted to Jamaica. Soon afterwards he heard of the arrival at Cartagena of Don Rodrigo de Torres, and at Martinique of the Marquis d'Antin ; and not having force sufficient to justify him in risking an encounter at sea with his known enemies, even if they were not assisted by his suspected ones, he remained at Port Eoyal, anxiously awaiting news of the promised reinforcements from England.
These reinforcements, which included the transports carrying Lord Cathcart's army, were to have been under the orders of Vice- Admiral Sir John Balchen. But Balchen's division of men- of-war consisted only of one 8rd-rate, five 4tli-ratos, and one (Jth-rate ; and when, after the armament had actually put to sea and had been driven back to port by contrary w oath or in August, the Ministry learnt what powerful squadrons Spain and France bad dispatched across the Atlantic, it was decided to make new arrange- ments. Balchen's orders were cancelled, and a very much larger and entirely different squadron, under Sir Chaloner Ogle (1). was appointed to escort the trocips. The change of plan necessarily involved much delay, and it was not until October '2(>th that the fleet at length sailed.
It cleared the Channel; but on October 3 1st, when it was about seventy leagues to the westward of the Start,- it met with a heavy gale, in which the Buckingham, 70, Captain Cornelius Mitchell, Prince of Orange, 70, Captain Henry Osborn, and Hupcrhr, (SO, Captain the Hon. William Hervey, were so badly damaged that the first had to be sent back to Spithead, and the others had to proceed to Lisbon under convoy of the Cumberland, 80, Captain James Stewart. In spite of these deductions the fleet still consisted of upwards of twenty 3rd and 4th-rates, besides several frigates, fire-ships, bombs, etc., under Hear- Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1), Kt. (B.), and Commodore Richard Lestock ('2), together with transports carrying about 9000 troops, 3 under Major-General Lord Cathcart, and Brigadier-Generals Thomas Wentworth, John Guise, and William Blakeney. It anchored 011 December 19th, 1740, in Prince Eupert's
1 These troops had taken part in the fruitless attack on St. Augustine, Florida, some account of which will be found in the next chapter.
2 In lat. 17° 54' W.
3 l.e. the 15th and 24th regiments of foot, six regiments of Marines under Colonels Fleming, Robinson, Lowther, Wynyard, Douglas and Moreton, and some artillery and miscellaneous detachments.
64 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-1762. [1740.
Bay, Dominica ; and, on the following day it had to lament the loss, by dysentery, of the military coimnander-in-chief.1
Sir Chaloner weighed again for St. Kitt's, his general rendez- vous, on December 27th, and thence steered for Jamaica. On the passage thither, being off the western end of Hispaniola, he sighted four large vessels, and signalled to the Prince Frederick, 70, Captain Lord Aubrey Beauclerk, Orford, 70, Captain Lord Augustus Fitzroy, Lion, (50, Captain Charles Cotterell, Wei/mouth, GO, Captain Charles Knowles, and two more whips of the line, to proceed in chase. At 4 I-.-M. the strangers 2 hoisted French colours ; but as they did not shorten sail, it was 10 P.M. ere the headmost British ship, the Prince Frederick, got up with them. She hailed them, first in English and then in French, and then, having failed to get an answer, fired into one of the ships, which promptly returned a broadside. The Orford next got into action ; and she and the Prince Frederick engaged the chase for about an hour and a half before the remaining ships could approach within gunshot. The Weymouth was the third to overhaul the strangers ; and, upon her arrival on the scene, Captain Knowles boarded the Prince l< 'rede rick, and expressed his conviction that the enemy was French. Lord Aubrey Beauclerk thereupon made the signal to desist ; yet, as the enemy continued firing, the engagement was renewed for about half an hour. At daybreak Lord Aubrey sent an officer on board the senior ship of the chase, and at length it was satisfactorily established that the strangers were indeed French, and not, as Lord Aubrey had at first believed, Spaniards sailing under French colours. The Prince Frederick lost four killed and nine wounded ; the Orford, seven killed and fourteen wounded ; and the Weymouth, two killed ; and all three vessels were much damaged aloft,
The French, who bitterly complained of the manner in which they had been treated, suffered much more severely. They declared that, upon being hailed, they had at once replied ; and modern French writers seriously contend that the true cause of the action was the refusal of their senior officer to send a boat to Lord Aubrey, when he called for one. It is possible, seeing how un- favourable to Great Britain was the attitude of France at the time,
1 Lord Cathcart was succeeded in the command by General Wentworth, a far less exj)erienced and competent officer.
2 Ardent, 64, Captain d'Epinai de Boisgeroult ; Mercure, 54, Captain des Herbiers de PEtenduere ; Diamant, 50, Captain de 1'oisins ; and Parfaite, 46, Captain d'Estournel. Gueriii, iv. 242. These vessels formed part of d'Antin's squadron.
1740.] BALCHEN-S CRUISE. 65
that neither Ogle nor Lord Aubrey was prepared to exercise much forbearance with the French, and that the action was the result of provocation and irritation 011 both sides. The squadrons, however, parted with mutual apologies ; and Lord Aubrey proceeded to rejoin Sir Chaloner Ogle, who arrived at Jamaica on January 9th, 1741, and there placed himself under the orders of Vice-Admiral Vernon.
It is necessary to return for a time from the West Indies, and to look at the course of events elsewhere.
The outbreak of war had found Rear- Admiral Nicholas Haddock (R.) Commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean. Under him was Eear-Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1) (B.). At first, Haddock blockaded the Spaniards in Cadiz, but he was soon drawn off by the foulness of his ships and by the requirements of Minorca, which, it was supposed, might be attacked from other Spanish ports ; and while he and Ogle were at Port Mahon, such Spanish ships l as had been lying at Cadiz slipped out, under Don Koderigo de Torres, and sailed to Ferrol. Not long afterwards, when it appeared that Minorca was in no danger, and that the Spaniards in the Mediterranean were weaker than had at first been believed, Ogle, with a strong division, was sent home by Haddock. He arrived in England on July 7th, 1740, and, as had been shown, went out later in the year '- to reinforce Vice-Admiral Vernon. No event of importance occurred in the Mediterranean during the rest of 1740.
Nearer home, much was designed but little was effected. On April 9th, Vice-Admiral John Balchen (K.) was dispatched from Plymouth to intercept a Spanish treasure fleet which, escorted by a squadron under Admiral Pizarro, was 011 its way home from America. Balchen cruised in the very track which Pizarro had intended to take ; but the Spaniards, learning of the British Admiral's station and design, sent out a fast dispatch vessel which, warning Pizarro, caused him to make for Santander by way of the Lizard and Ushant, instead of for Cadiz by way of Madeira, as he had originally purposed. He consequently took his convoy safely into port. To defeat Balchen, Spain in the meantime fitted out and sent to sea a superior force under Admiral Pintado, who, however, failed to find his enemy, and, upon his return, was disgraced. Balchen, against whose conduct no objections were ever alleged,
1 These were they which subsequently proceeded to the West Indies, as has been already related.
2 He first, however, cruised for a short time under Sir John Xorris. See infra.
VOL. III. F
66 MAJOR OPERATIONS, 1714-17<i± [1741.
went back to port, having done little but capture the Princesa, 70. * Later in the year he commanded a squadron in the Channel.
The large concentration of Spanish force at Ferrol, and the knowledge that Spain cherished plans for aiding the Pretender in a descent upon Great Britain or Ireland, led to the assemblage of a large fleet'2 at Spithead. It was entrusted to Admiral-of-the-Fleet Sir John N orris, and, under him, to Admiral Philip Cavendish (B.), and Hear- Admiral Sir Chaloner Ogle (1) (B.). Sir John, who hoisted his rlag first in the Victor;/, 100, and afterwards — the Victory having been disabled by collision with the Lion,'' (50 — in the Boyne, 80, had secret instructions ; but what they were is, even now, not certainly known. It is supposed by some that he had orders to attack Ferrol, but this is upon the whole unlikely. It is more probable that his force was designed merely to convoy outward-bound merchantmen until clear of the Channel, and to be ready for any special service that might appear desirable. The Admiral of the Fleet took to sea with him as a volunteer Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland/ second son of George II. The fleet sailed from St. Helen's on July l()th, but was three times driven back into port by contrary weather: and on August '28th, Sir John, being then in Torbay, hauled down his flag and departed for London with the young Duke.
In 1741 the proceedings of the fleets in home waters were equally uninteresting. In July, and again in October, the Admiral of the Fleet and Admiral Philip Cavendish put to sea with a considerable force and cruised off the north coast of Spain ; but, beyond picking up a few small prizes, the command did nothing. It returned to Spithead on November (5th.
In the Mediterranean, Vice-Admiral Haddock, who was from time to time reinforced from England, endeavoured to prevent the junction of a Spanish squadron which lay in Cadi/ with the French fleet which lay in Toulon, and to intercept the transport of Spanish troops from Barcelona to Italy. But he failed in both objects. While Haddock was refitting at Gibraltar, the Toulon fleet, under
1 For an account of her capture, m-i- next chapter.
- Made up of one ship of 100 guns, eight ships of 80, five of 70, seven of 60, and one of 50, besides smaller craft.
3 The Victory carried away her head and bowsprit : the Lion lost her foremast, and twenty-eight men who were thrown overboard by the shock.
* The victor of Culloden, then in his twentieth year. This short cruise seems to have decided him to adopt a military instead of a naval career.
1741.] HADDOCK MISSES NAVAliRO. 07
M. La Bruyere de Court, weighed and steered towards the Strait ; and Don Jose Navarro, from Cadiz, issued forth to meet and join hands with it. Haddock suffered Navarro to pass by him,1 and only went in chase when it was too late to prevent the accomplishment of the junction. His advanced frigates sighted the allies off Cape de Gata on December 7th, 1741, and the British and Spanish fleets were distantly visible one from the other on the following morning