Band of Brothers.

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In accord with the Drome who produce biographies of the leading pilots of the era, I am about to embark on a series of posts reflecting on the famous Naval personalities of our period here on the Anchorage. Because it is a large undertaking, I decided to begin with the Battle which Sven is putting on at Doncaster this year.

Firstly the British Captains. Nelson's band of brothers.

Nelson's Band of Brothers.
The Nile Campaign.

Commander	Ship	Notes
Capt. Edward Berry	Vanguard	Nelson's flag captain
Capt. Alexander Ball	Alexander
Capt. Davidge Gould	Audacious
Capt. Henry D'Esterre Darby	Bellerophon
Capt. Thomas Troubridge	Culloden
Capt. John Peyton	Defence
Capt. Thomas Foley	Goliath
Capt. George Blagdon Westcott	Majestic	Killed during the battle
Capt. Thomas Louis	Minotaur
Capt. Sir James Saumarez	Orion	Nelson's second in command
Capt. Benjamin Hallowell	Swiftsure
Capt. Ralph Willet Miller	Theseus
Capt. Samuel Hood	Zealous
Capt. Thomas Boulden Thompson	Leander
Lt. Thomas Hardy	Mutine

Rob.

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Edward Berry.


He was the son on a London merchant, born in 1768. Berry's father had died at an early age leaving a widow, 5 daughters and 2 sons with very little money. Edward Berry was educated by an uncle in Norwich and entered the Navy as a Midshipman in Burford through the patronage of Lord Mulgrave. He was Signal Midshipman in Duke when she attacked St. Pierre in Martinique - Berry was standing on the poop deck 'when a shot across him deprived him of all sense and feeling so that he was carried down as dead and intense was the surprise of those around him when he recovered the shock'.

Berry was promoted Lieutenant for bravery in boarding and his conduct came to the attention of Admiral Sir John Jervis. Nelson wrote to Jervis, 'I have as far as I have seen every reason to be satisfied with him, both as a gentleman and an officer'. Jervis sent Nelson's report on to the Admiralty and added, 'Lieutenant Edward Berry, of whom the Commodore writes so highly, is a protégé of mine and I know him to be an officer of talents, great courage and laudable ambition'. Lt Edward Berry was First Lieutenant to Captain Nelson in Agamemnon.

At St. Vincent, Berry, by now a Commander, was a passenger aboard Captain. When rejoining his flagship from Minerve on 13th February, Nelson was extremely pleased to find Berry aboard. In the subsequent battle, Berry had no particular duty on board. However, when Nelson laid Captain alongside the San Nicolas and gave the order for boarders, Berry was the first man over the side. With the help of soldiers from the 69th Regiment he jumped across to the San Nicolas. By the time Nelson arrived on board, Berry and the soldiers had taken possession of the poop deck and Berry was hauling down the Spanish flag. As soon as the surrender of the San Nicolas was complete, Berry and Nelson led the boarding party on to the San Josef. The Spanish Captain presented Nelson with his sword and told him that his Admiral, Don Francisco Winthuysen, was dying from his wounds.

Edward Berry was commended for his actions and promoted to Captain. He fought at the Nile and commanded Agamemnon at Trafalgar. Knighted and promoted Rear Admiral, he died in 1831.

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Alexander John Ball.

After serving for some time in the Egmont with Captain John Elphinstone, was on 7 Aug. 1778 promoted to the Atalanta sloop as lieutenant, and served in her on the North American and Newfoundland stations till May 1780. On 17 Aug. 1780 he joined the Santa Monica, a frigate lately captured from the Spaniards, and went in her to the West Indies, where in April 1781 he had the good fortune to be moved into the Sandwich, Sir George Rodney's flag-ship, and followed the admiral to the Gibraltar, for a passage to England. There he was appointed to Sir George's new flag-ship, Formidable, on 6 Dec. 1781, went out with him again to the West Indies, and served with him in his great victory of 12 Apri11782. Two days afterwards he received his commander's commission and was appointed to the Germain, in which he continued on the same station until posted on 20 March 1783. Very shortly after his return to England he, like many other naval officers, went over to France on a year's leave, partly for economy whilst on half-pay, partly with a view to learning the language. Nelson, then a young captain, was one of those who did the same, and was at St. Omer whilst Ball was there. He wrote to Captain Locker on 2 Nov. 1783: 'Two noble captains are here - Ball and Shepard: they wear fine epaulettes, for which I think them great coxcombs. They have not visited me, and I shall not, be assured, court their acquaintance.' Epaulettes were not worn in our navy till 1795, but in France they marked the rank, and possibly enough were found to serve in lieu of letters of introduction. On 4 Nov. 1784 Ball, writing from Gloucester, reported himself as having returned from foreign leave. He continued, however, on half-pay, notwithstanding his repeated applications to the admiralty, till July 1790, when, on the occasion of the Spanish armament, he was appointed to the Nemesis (28), a frigate which he commanded on the home station for the next three years. He was then appointed to the Cleopatra (32), and continued for the three following years on the Newfoundland station under Vice-admiral Sir Richard King and Rear-admiral Murray. He was then transferred to the Argonaut (64), and returned to England in August 1796. On his arrival he was appointed to the Alexander (74), and spent the following winter off Brest, under the command of Vice-admiral Colpoys. Some little time afterwards he was ordered out to join Lord St. Vincent off Cadiz, and in the beginning of May 1798 was sent into the Mediterranean under the orders of Sir Horatio Nelson. When he went on board the Vanguard to pay his respects, Nelson, perhaps remembering his pique of fifteen years before, said, 'What, are you come to have your bones broken?' Ball answered that he had no wish to have his bones broken, unless his duty to his king and country required it, and then they should not be spared. The Vanguard, with the Orion and Alexander, sailed from Gibraltar on 9 May, and on the 21st, off Cape Sicie, was dismasted in a violent gale of wind. Her case was almost desperate, and after she was taken in tow by the Alexander the danger seemed so great that the admiral hailed Captain Ball to cast her off. Ball, however, persevered, and towed the ship safely to St. Pietro of Sardinia. Sir Horatio lost no time in going on board the Alexander to express his gratitude, and, cordially embracing Captain Ball, exclaimed 'A friend in need is a friend indeed!' (Nelson's Despatches, iii. 21n). It was the beginning of a close and lifelong friendship, which took the place of the former jealousy; and Nelson, being reinforced bya considerable squadron, proceeded to look for the French fleet, which he found and destroyed in the Battle of the Nile on 1 Aug. The Alexander and Swiftsure had been detached in the morning to look into Alexandria, and did not get into the action till two hours after its commencement, when they found themselves directly opposed to the French flag-ship I'Orient, which blew up about ten o'clock.

He afterwards played a key two-year role in the blockade of Malta, previously captured by Napoleon, but when the French capitulated in 1800 it was not to him but newly arrived officers. Aggrieved at not being appointed governor, he left the Island in April 1801 but returned in June 1802 as the minister-plenipotentiary to the order of St John. From 1803 to his death there in 1809 he was the island's civil commissioner and de facto governor. A man of wide humanity and culture, he showed great diplomatic skills in the role, and made significant improvements to the island's infrastructure and governance in various areas. He was widely admired, including by his secretary for a time there, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. On his death there (as a rear-admiral from 1805) he was buried at Fort St Elmo, overlooking the entrance to Grand Harbour and the Maltese willing subscribed to the imposing classical-temple public monument to him which still stands in the Lower Barracca Gardens, Valletta.


Rob.

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Davidge Gould


Gould was born at Bridgwater, Somerset, the son of the Reverend Richard Gould, of Sharpham Park. He was distantly related to the authors Henry and Sarah Fielding, and the naturalist William Gould. His uncle, Sir Henry Gould, was a Justice of the Common Pleas. Davidge joined the navy in May 1772, serving as a volunteer in the Mediterranean aboard HMS Alarm. He later moved to the North American coast, where he was advanced to midshipman. He was promoted to lieutenant on 7 May 1779, later serving aboard HMS Winchelsea and HMS Phoenix. He saw action in the American Revolutionary War, taking part in attacks on shore batteries and cutting out American ships.
He served in succession aboard HMS Ulysses, HMS Bristol and HMS Conqueror, and was present aboard the Conqueror at Admiral Sir George Rodney's victory at the Battle of the Saintes in 1782. He then moved aboard HMS Formidable and promoted to commander in June 1782, after which he was given command of the sloop Pachahunter, and then HMS Pylades and HMS Ferret, on the Home and Mediterranean Stations. Gould spent 13 months aboard the Pylades, during which time he was active in anti-smuggling operations. He then spent four years on half-pay, before being promoted to post-captain on 23 March 1789, and assigned to the command of the frigate HMS Brune.
Captaincy.


He sailed to the West Indies Station aboard her, but by 1794 he was in the Mediterranean, in command of HMS Cyclops at the reduction of Corsica, and then HMS Bedford at the Naval Battle of Genoa in March 1795, and the Naval Battle of Hyères Islands in July 1795, as part of Vice-Admiral William Hotham's fleet. During the action off Genoa, the Bedford came under fire from the Ça Ira and the Censeur, resulting in nine killed and seventeen wounded aboard the Bedford. Gould took command of HMS Audacious in 1796, and was present at Admiral John Jervis's attack on Cadiz. He was still in command of Audacious when she was ordered to join Nelson's squadron in their search for the French. On 1 August Gould commanded Audacious at the Battle of the Nile, engaging the French ship Conquérant and helped to force her surrender. Gould then took part in the blockades of Malta and Genoa for the rest of 1798 and into 1799.^[1]
Later life and flag rank.

The Audacious escorted a convoy to Britain in late 1800, and on arrival was paid off. In spring 1801 Gould was appointed to command HMS Majestic, serving in British waters, and in the West Indies. He commanded HMS Windsor Castle in between 1803 and 1804 but was forced to resign command owing to ill-health. He never again served at sea. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral in October 1807, Vice -Admiral in July 1810 and Admiral in May 1825. He was awarded a gold medal for his service at the Nile, and was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815, followed by being invested as a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1833. He was also appointed to the post of Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom on 17 November 1846, a post he held until his death.

Rob.

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Henry D'Esterre Darby

This officer was a native of Ireland, and nephew of the late George Darby, Esq. Vice-Admiral of the Red, and Rear-Admiral of Great Britain. During the period his uncle commanded the Channel fleet, Mr. Darby served as Lieutenant in his flag-ship, the Britannia, of 100 guns, and thence was promoted to the command of the Infernal, fire-vessel, in which he accompanied Commodore Johnstone, on an expedition destined against the Cape of Good Hope; but the British squadron being surprised by a superior French force, whilst lying at anchor in Porto Praya, the Infernal unfortunately fell into the hands of the enemy.

Having at length regained his liberty, Captain Darby was advanced to Post rank Jan. 15, 1783; but we find no further mention of him until the commencement of the war with France, in 1793, when he obtained the command of the Amphitrite, of 28 guns; from which vessel he soon after removed into the Pomona frigate. His next appointment was to the Adamant, of 50 guns, employed in escorting the trade to and from the Mediterranean and West Indies, in which service Captain Darby continued until the summer of 1796, when he joined the Bellerophon of 74 guns; and after cruising some time with the Channel fleet, was sent to reinforce the fleet under Earl St. Vincent, on the Mediterranean station.
Previous to this, Captain Darby appears to have had a miraculous escape; for having been engaged to dine with Captain Israel Pellew, on board the Amphion, the day on which that ship blew up in Hamoaze, he had come round from Cawsand bay, where the Bellerophon lay, for the purpose of fulfilling his engagement; but having some business concerning his ship to transact with the Port-Admiral, it detained him about half an hour longer at Stone house than he intended; and he was just getting into his boat to proceed up the harbour, when he heard the fatal explosion!

The Bellerophon was one of the ships detached from Earl St. Vincent’s fleet, in May 1798, to reinforce Sir Horatio Nelson, then off Toulon, watching the motions of an armament about to sail from that port. At the battle of the Nile, she was opposed to l’Orient, of 120 guns, bearing the flag of the French Commander-in-Chief. The undaunted magnanimity with which Captain Darby placed her alongside her mighty antagonist, excited at the moment the highest admiration. The Bellerophon, however, sustained such serious damage from the overwhelming fire of l’Orient, that her brave commander was reluctantly compelled to withdraw from the action, himself being wounded, two Lieutenants killed, and one-third of his men slain or wounded. His only remaining mast falling soon after, and in its fall killing another Lieutenant and several of his people, he was never able to regain his station.

The total loss sustained by the Bellerophon on this memorable occasion was 49 killed, and 148 wounded. Darby returned to England in the spring of 1800, and in addition to the gold medal, which was presented to him in common with the other Captains, who shared in the dangers and glories of the above battle, he received the flattering compliment of being appointed to the command of a new 74-gun ship, named after Earl Spencer, the nobleman under whose administration, as First Lord of the Admiralty, so many splendid victories had been achieved.

Towards the latter end of Jan. 1801, a French squadron, consisting of six sail of the line, two frigates, and a lugger, under the command of Rear Admiral Gantheaume, found means to escape out of Brest. Sir Robert Calder was detached in pursuit, with an adequate force, of which the Spencer formed a part. From the intelligence which he had received, Sir Robert laid a course for the West Indies; but on his arrival at Jamaica, he learnt that the enemy had entered the Mediterranean, whereupon he returned to England, and resumed his station in the Channel fleet.

Captain Darby was subsequently employed in the blockade of Cadiz, under the orders of Sir James Saumarez; and in the attempt made by that officer on a French squadron near Algeziras, July 6, 1801, the Spencer had 30 men killed and wounded.

In the month of Dec. following, Captain Darby and others were sent to Jamaica to watch the motions of an armament, which the consular government of France, taking advantage of the suspension of hostilities occasioned by the treaty of Amiens, had sent to St. Domingo, to reduce the natives in that island to submission.

In Sept. 1802, he returned to England with a broad pendant, as Commodore of a squadron sent home in consequence of the surrender of Toussaint to the French forces.
Darby was advanced to the rank of Rear-Admiral, April 23, 1804; Vice-Admiral, July 31, 1810; and Admiral, August 12, 1819. On the 20th May, in the following year, he was nominated an extra K.C.B.

Rob.

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Thomas Troubridge.


1758-1807. He was born in London of Irish descent and uniquely humble origins, being the only son of Richard Troubridge, a baker in the Strand, and of his wife Elizabeth Squinch. He was the father of Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Thomas Troubridge.
Troubridge was educated at St. Paul’s School in London from 1768 and went to sea on a merchantman bound for the West Indies five years later. On 8 October 1773 he entered the navy as an able seaman aboard the frigate Seahorse 24, Captain George Farmer, at the instigation of the venerable Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, whose gout Troubridge’s sister had nursed as a child. Going out to the East Indies and enjoying the company of Horatio Nelson as a shipmate, he was rated midshipman on 21 March 1774, and was appointed master’s mate on 25 July 1776. He was present at the operations off Pondicherry from 10-25 August 1778, and on the latter day he led the boarding party in the capture of the French frigate Sartine 32.

In recognition of his efforts at the capture of the Sartine Troubridge was taken aboard the Superb 74, flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Hughes, and he was commissioned lieutenant on 1 January 1781. He next joined the small Chaser 18, which was commanded by Lieutenant Robert Montagu, and he rejoined the Seahorse with Montagu after that officer was posted her captain on 3 March 1781. He fought at the Battles of Sadras on 17 February 1782, and Trincomale on 12 April, and after rejoining the Superb on the next day he fought in Hughes’ next two actions with the Balli de Suffren at Negapatam on 6 July and Trincomale on 3 September. By 10 October he had risen to become the first lieutenant of the Superb, and the next day he was promoted to the command of the sloop Lizard, remaining in the East Indies.
On 1 January 1783 he was posted captain of the frigate Active 32 in which he was present at the Battle of Cuddalore on 20 June 1783. After moving to the Defence 74 in December he exchanged with Commodore Andrew Mitchell into the Sultan 74 as flag-captain to Hughes in November 1784, and he returned to England in 1785.
During the Nookta Sound dispute of 1790 he recommissioned the frigate Thames 32 in June and went out to the East Indies to serve under Commodore Hon. William Cornwallis in action against Tippoo Sahib. On returning to England the Thames was paid off in 1791.


In February 1793 Troubridge recommissioned the Castor 32, going out to the Mediterranean with the fleet in May and serving at the occupation of Toulon from August. Whilst escorting the outward bound Newfoundland convoy from the Channel Islands his command was captured off Cape Clear on 10 May 1794 by the Patriote 74 from Rear-Admiral Joseph Marie Nielly’s squadron. Happily Captain Francis Laforey’s Carysfort 28 recaptured the Castor nineteen days later on 29 May. Meanwhile Troubridge was taken aboard Nielly’s Sans Pareil 80, and after being placed in the boatswain’s storeroom during the Battle of the Glorious First of June he spent the entire action haranguing his guard before having the good fortune to see her captured by the British.
After returning to England at the helm of the Sans Pareil as her prize-master, Troubridge was acquitted for the loss of the Castor and appointed to the Culloden 74 in the Channel fleet. On 3 December the crew mutinied whilst Troubridge and his officers were ashore at Spithead, and although Admiral Lord Bridport, Vice-Admiral Hon. William Cornwallis and Rear-Admiral John Colpoys were unable to persuade them to return to their duty, the popular and silver-tongued Captain Hon. Thomas Pakenham of the Invincible managed to do so. The ringleaders were tried within the week despite being Pakenham’s pledge to the contrary, and on 13 January five men were hung at the yardarm of the Culloden.

In May 1795 the Culloden was sent out to the Mediterranean, and on 13 July was in the fore of the action with the French off Hyères, losing two men killed and five wounded. In October Troubridge was detached in command of two sail of the line and three frigates in a fruitless chase of Commodore Honoré Ganteaume who had broken out with one sail of the line, five frigates, and a corvette. Upon Admiral Sir John Jervis’ arrival as commander-in-chief he placed Troubridge in command of the inshore squadron off Toulon, and in a five-month period not one French ship got to sea. During this time Troubridge also had the good fortune to capture a Spanish ship valued at 30,000 guineas. On 10 December 1796 his brilliant seamanship saved the Culloden from destruction when she was driven from her anchorage at Gibraltar in the same storm that saw the loss of the Courageux on 18 December.

On 14 February 1797 the magnificently trained Culloden led the line at the Battle of St. Vincent, Troubridge having speedily repaired her after a collision two days previously, and he was warmly praised by the commander-in-chief for his gallant conduct. During the action he lost ten men killed and forty-seven wounded. After assisting in the bombardment of Cadiz he was conspicuously unsuccessful in an attempt to land a party of seamen and marines in the attack on Santa Cruz from 21-25 July. The failure was possibly down to his being unwell, although in a characteristic display of belligerence he later brilliantly negotiated a cease-fire with the Spanish following the severe wounding of his senior officer, Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson.

In 1798 he led the squadron of ten reinforcements sent to reinforce Nelson in the Mediterranean, but the Culloden drove on to a shoal at the commencement of the Battle of the Nile on 1 August and did not see any action. Although she was re-floated the next day it was in a state of poor repair, and it took all of Troubridge’s renowned determination and resource to nurse her to Naples. Nevertheless, following heavy canvassing from Admiral Earl of St. Vincent and Nelson, and at the personal direction of the King, he eventually received a gold medal along with all the other victorious Nile captains.
Troubridge served off Malta in the autumn of 1798, and then held an independent command off Egypt before being replaced by Captain Sir William Sidney Smith in March 1799. His services were rewarded by the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, although he plainly detested the behaviour of the court, and his particular dislike of Emma Hamilton led to his estrangement from his friend Nelson. During the breakout of the Brest fleet from 25 April he was summoned from Naples to join Nelson off Sicily. From 29 June he began attacking French garrisons in collaboration with Neapolitan forces, capturing Procida, Ischia and Capri despite the hopelessness of his allies, and then leading the assault against the French garrisons around Naples. On 30 November 1799 he was further rewarded for his outstanding service by being created a baronet.
Following her capture on 18 February 1800, Troubridge was offered the command of the French prize Généreux 74 but declined it. During the early months of that year he was ordered to hoist a broad pennant as senior officer at the blockade of Malta, where once again he complained bitterly at the lack of Neapolitan support, believing that King Ferdinand could have done far more for the beleaguered Maltese population. His health deteriorated over the following months as he suffered jaundice and the coughing up of blood, and he returned to England aboard the Culloden in May.

In the meantime Admiral Lord St Vincent had been appointed the commander-in-chief in the Channel on 26 April 1800, and as soon as Troubridge was fit for duty he became the earl’s captain of the fleet aboard the Ville de Paris 110, Captain Hon George Grey. In no time he was bullying the complacent captains at his master’s behest, and over the following winter his tenacity and perseverance shone through as the fleet maintained its rigorous blockade.

From 1801-4 he was a lord of the Admiralty in the service of St Vincent, assisting the first lord in his zealous and aggressive reforms which included controversial tours of the royal dockyards and naval installations from August 1802. This campaign inevitably led to huge political fallout when the scale of the pervading corruption was uncovered. In the midst of the upheaval, in November 1802, he was called to give evidence against the traitor, Colonel Edward Despard, having typically taken the trouble to spy on a treasonable meeting from a rooftop.

On 23 April 1804 Troubridge was promoted rear-admiral, and in April 1805 with his flag aboard the aged cut-down Blenheim 74, Captain Austen Bissell, he went out as joint commander-in-chief of the East Indies, being apportioned a territory to the eastward of Point de Galle on Ceylon. The posting was something of a surprise to him, as following the fall of a government he had supported he had not expected an offer of employment. On 6 August 1805, being in passage some one hundred miles to the east of Mauritius, he fell in with the redoubtable Rear-Admiral Durand Linois’ Marengo 74 and Belle Poule 40. After a brief engagement the French fled from his ten sail convoy as soon as they identified the Blenheim as a man-of-war.

Troubridge was deemed the finest officer in the Navy by the Earl of St. Vincent
He then joined Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, who to that date had commanded the whole of the East Indian station and could not have been more outraged that the incoming prime minister, William Pitt, had given Troubridge the more lucrative eastern portion of the newly divided station. Unfortunately Pellew and Troubridge, two of the finest officers in the navy, were neither renowned for their patience or tact, and they quarrelled bitterly to the point that they almost resolved to decide the issue on the field of honour. The dispute was referred to the Admiralty for further adjudication, and consequently Troubridge was ordered to return to the Cape. This change of heart gave the impression that the initial division of the station had been a political move by Pitt, who had cause to detest both Pellew and Troubridge.

With the Blenheim having in the meantime been damaged by grounding in the Straits of Malacca, Captain Bissell advised Troubridge during a refit at Madras that she was not fit to undertake a voyage to the Cape. Nevertheless the impulsive rear-admiral insisted upon sailing, being eager to get away from Pellew before their differences developed into an outright feud, and indeed his powers of persuasion were so characteristically effective that a number of passengers decided to undertake the voyage with him.

The decision proved to be tragic. Departing Madras on 12 January 1807 in company with the Java 36, Captain George Pigot, and brig Harrier 18, Captain Justice Finlay, the Blenheim foundered with the former vessel in a cyclone to the south-east of Madagascar on 1 February. The rear-admiral’s son, Captain Edward Troubridge, who in a clear case of nepotism had rapidly been posted captain by his father, was sent by Pellew to enquire of the French at Mauritius as to the Blenheim’s fate, but as the Harrier had last seen the flagship flying the flag of distress there could be little doubt that she had been lost with a total loss of life.



Rob.

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Thomas Foley.


He was the second son of landowner John Foley of Ridgeway, the Foley family's ancestral estate in the parish of Llawhaden near Narberth, Pembrokeshire, and the nephew of Captain Thomas Foley, who accompanied George Anson, 1st Baron Anson on his voyage around the world.

He entered the Royal Navy in 1770, and, during his time as midshipman, saw a good deal of active service in the West Indies against American privateers. Promoted lieutenant in 1778, he served under Admiral Keppel (afterwards Viscount) and Sir Charles Hardy in the Channel, and with Rodney's squadron was present at the defeat of De Langara off Cape St Vincent in 1780, and at the relief of Gibraltar. Still under Rodney's command, he went out to the West Indies, and took his part in the operations which culminated in the victory of 12 April 1782
.
In the French Revolutionary War he was engaged from the first. As flag-captain to Admiral John Gell, and afterwards to Sir Hyde Parker, Foley took part in the siege of Toulon in 1793, the action of Golfe Jouan in 1794, and the two fights off Toulon on the 13th of April and the 13th of July 1795. At St Vincent he was flag-captain to the second in command on Britannia. After the battle he was transferred to the Goliath (74), in which he was sent out in the following year to reinforce Nelson's fleet in the Mediterranean.
The part played by the Goliath in the Battle of the Nile was brilliant. She led the squadron round the French van, and this manoeuvre contributed not a little to the result of the day. Whether this was done by Foley's own initiative, or intended by Horatio Nelson, has been a matter of controversy.

His next important service was with Nelson in the Baltic. At the beginning of 1801, Nelson was promoted to Vice Admiral of the Blue and after a few months, he took part as the second in command in the Battle of Copenhagen. The Elephant carried Nelson's flag and Foley acted as his chief-of-staff. During the action Nelson's commander, Sir Hyde Parker, who believed that the Danish fire was too strong, signaled for him to break off the action. Nelson ordered that the signal be acknowledged but not repeated. Legend has it that Nelson turned to his flag captain and said:
"You know, Foley, I only have one eye - I have the right to be blind sometimes" and then holding his telescope to his blind eye said "I really do not see the signal!"
Nelson's action was approved in retrospect.

Foley was one of Nelson's "Band of Brothers". Nelson himself was a sea-officer par excellence. Yet there were many who struggled, suffered and were wounded as often as he. This could not help but develop a close relationship among the men. Nelson himself was very aware of the brotherhood which had arisen. In his biography of Nelson, David Howarth makes this clear:
"...Nelson's famous phrase, "I had the happiness to command a band of brothers'...After his first great victory, Nelson called his captains 'my darling children', and none was the least embarrassed by that. Under Jervis, the captains of the Mediterranean fleet were becoming a brotherhood, bonded by skill, experience, mutual respect and a common cause. Maybe they had not thought of it in that way before; but from about this time they all did, and Nelson most of all. And the concept - so suitable to his nature - became an important, conscious element in his conduct of the war."

An amusing illustration of the affection Nelson inspired in his captains, and of the half maternal care they exercised over the fragile and stunted body of their famous leader, is supplied by a letter from Nelson himself to Ball, written from Kioge Bay in 1801. He was racked with the Baltic cold, and wroth, as was common with him, with the still chillier winds which blew from the Admiralty Board:
"But," he says, "all in the fleet are so truly kind to me that I should be a wretch not to cheer up. Foley has put me under a regimen of milk at four in the morning; Murray has given me lozenges; Hardy is as good as ever, and all have proved their desire to keep my mind easy."

That picture of one sea veteran administering warm milk to his admiral at four o'clock in the morning is amusing enough; but it shows more effectively than graver things could do the feeling Nelson inspired in his captains.
Ill-health obliged Foley to decline Nelson's offer (made when on the point of starting for the Battle of Trafalgar) of the post of Captain of the Fleet. Therefore it was Foley's fellow "brother" Thomas Hardy who was present at Nelson's death
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From 1808 to 1815, Foley commanded in the Downs from his flagship Monmouth, and at the peace was made KCB. Sir Thomas Foley rose to be full admiral and GCB. He died while serving as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth in 1833

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George Blagdon Westcott.


Westcott's year of birth is unknown, but appears to have been between 1752 and 1753, and was likely in 1753. He was the son of a baker in Honiton, Devon, and was baptised on 24 April 1753. He joined the Navy sometime between 1765 and 1768, and by 1768 he was serving as master's mate aboard the frigate HMS Solebay. He spent five years aboard the Solebay, rising to the rank of midshipman, and spending time under George Vandeput. He then moved aboard HMS Albion, where he spent the next three years under Samuel Barrington and John Leveson-Gower. He passed his lieutenant's examination on 10 January 1776 and received his promotion to that rank on 6 August 1777, moving aboard HMS Valiant. Under her captain, Samuel Granston Goodall, the Valiant was present at the First Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, after which Westcott and the Valiant joined the fleet under Sir Charles Hardy in 1779. He was present with Vice-admiral George Darby's fleet when they relieved Gibraltar in April 1781.
In November that year Westcott moved aboard HMS Victory, then the flagship of Rear-admiral Richard Kempenfelt. He was then present at Kempenfelt's victory at the Second Battle of Ushant on 12 December 1781. Wescott returned to Gibraltar under Lord Howe, and was then in action again at the Battle of Cape Spartel in October 1782. He briefly served aboard HMS Medway, before becoming first lieutenant of HMS Salisbury between 1786 and 1787. The Salisbury was at that time the flagship of Commodore John Elliot
Command.

On 1 December 1787 Westcott was promoted to commander and between 1789 and 1790 had command of the sloop HMS Fortune. He was promoted to captain on 1 October 1790, and became flag captain aboard HMS London. When the London was paid off in late 1791, Westcott went onto half-pay until becoming Rear-admiral Benjamin Caldwell's flag captain aboard HMS Impregnable in September 1793. Westcott was then present at the Glorious First of June in 1794, afterwards following Caldwell aboard HMS Majestic. He went to the West Indies, but returned with Sir John Laforey in June 1796. Majestic then joined the Channel Fleet, and was present at the Spithead Mutiny in April and May 1797. Majestic then joined John Jervis off Cadiz, where Westcott was ordered to take her to join Rear-admiral Nelson in the Mediterranean. Nelson was searching for the French fleet under Vice-Admiral François-Paul Brueys d'Aigalliers.
Death.

When Nelson located the French fleet at anchor at Aboukir Bay, he quickly ordered the British into the attack. The Majestic was towards the rear of the British line, and did not come into action until late in the battle In the darkness and smoke she collided with the Heureux and became entangled in her rigging. Trapped for several minutes, the Majestic suffered heavy casualties. Westcott was hit by a musket ball in the throat and killed. The Majestic’s first lieutenant, Robert Cuthbert took over and continued the battle. Cuthbert was confirmed as acting captain by Nelson the day after the battle.

Rob.

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Capt. Thomas Louis.

Thomas Louis was born in 1758 to John and Elizabeth Louis. John was a schoolmaster in Exeter, and family legend maintained that his grandfather had been an illegitimate son of King Louis XIV, although this cannot be verified. Louis joined the Navy in 1769 aged eleven, and first went to sea aboard the sloop HMS Fly.
In 1771 he moved to the larger HMS Southampton and under her captain John MacBride he subsequently moved to first HMS Orpheus and subsequently the ship of the line HMS Kent. In 1775 he gained his first experience of foreign service, joining HMS Martin on the Newfoundland Station.

War with America.

In 1776, at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Louis joined the frigate HMS Thetis and in her returned to Europe, there joining the ship of the line HMS Bienfaisant. In this ship he was promoted to lieutenant the following year, and in 1778 participated at the First Battle of Ushant, a British victory in the Atlantic under Augustus Keppel. In 1780, Bienfaisant was engaged at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, where the ship was badly damaged in a bitter exchange with the larger Spanish battleship Phoenix. During the storm which followed the battle, Louis took command of the captured Phoenix and saw her safely to Gibraltar. A week before, at the Action of 8 January 1780, he had performed a similar feat with another captured Spanish ship of the line, the Guipuzcoana.
After repairs, Louis commanded Phoenix on her return to Britain and was rejoined there by the Bienfaisant. In this ship, Louis was subsequently involved in the capture of the large French privateer Comte d'Artois, which mounted 60 guns. In 1781, Louis moved with his captain to the frigate HMS Artois and was then given his first independent command, the small armed vessel HMS Mackworth and escorted coastal shipping off Plymouth.
In 1782 he was posted to the impress service in Sligo and Cork and in early 1783 was made post captain. During the peace, Louis lived on his half-pay in reserve near Torquay. He married Jacquetta Belfield in early 1784 and the couple had seven children. His eldest son, John Louis would later become an admiral in his own right, and his third son fought with the Royal Horse Artillery at the Battle of Waterloo.
Captaincy.
In 1793 the French Revolutionary Wars broke out and Louis was immediately recalled to service to command HMS Cumberland in the Channel Fleet.
In 1794 he moved to the new HMS Minotaur under the command of Admiral MacBride, and participated in the Atlantic campaign of May 1794, narrowly missing the Glorious First of June.
In 1796 he convoyed supplies to the West Indies and then joined the Mediterranean fleet under Horatio Nelson.
Two years later, Louis and Minotaur were present at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798. At the battle, Minotaur fought a two-hour duel against Aquilon, ultimately forcing her surrender and there is a possibly apocryphal story that Louis was personally thanked by the seriously wounded Nelson, who is reported to have said "Farewell dear Louis, I shall never forget the obligation I am under to you for your brave and generous conduct; and now, whatever may become of me, my mind is at peace".
During 1799, Louis, under the command of Thomas Troubridge, participated in operations to disrupt the French invasion of Italy, seizing Civitavecchia and Louis personally entering Rome and raising the Union Flag over the city.
In 1800, Minotaur was Lord Keith's flagship at the Siege of Genoa and the following year Louis commanded her at the invasion of Egypt. Following the Peace of Amiens, Louis briefly took command of HMS Conqueror. Less than a year later he was promoted to rear-admiral, raised his flag in the fourth rate HMS Leopard, commanded by Francis Austen, and oversaw 40 small craft seeking to disrupt French invasion preparations at Boulogne.

Trafalgar and San Domingo.

In 1805, Louis and Austen joined Nelson's fleet in the Mediterranean, taking over HMS Canopus. Canpous participated in the chase across the Atlantic after Villeneuve's fleet and the ensuing blockade of Cadiz. On 2 October, Nelson dispatched Canopus to Gibraltar to collect supplies for the fleet, despite strenuous objections from Louis that they would miss the forthcoming battle. Despite Nelson's assurances that they would not, on 21 October the Franco-Spanish fleet sallied out and was destroyed at the Battle of Trafalgar without Louis.

Disappointed at these events, Louis was sent under John Thomas Duckworth in late 1805 to pursue a French squadron that had reached the West Indies. The British force reached the French in February 1806 off the coast of San Domingo and in a lengthy battle drove the French flagship and another ship of the squadron ashore in flames and captured the rest. In reward of his service at this action, Louis was presented with a gold medal (his second after the Nile) and made a baronet. He returned to the Mediterranean later in the year, but had contracted an illness and spent sometime convalescing.

This period was disturbed in November 1806 however when Duckworth was sent by Lord Collingwood to reconnoitre the Dardanelles.
Three months later Louis led a division of Duckworth's force in a major attempt to force passage of the channel in what later became known as the Dardanelles Operation. Although Duckworth's force reached Constantinople they were heavily battered by enemy fire and were forced to withdraw soon afterwards, Canpous suffering severely from massive stone shot fired from Turkish cannon. For his service in this operation, Louis was highly praised by Duckworth.
Louis returned with the fleet to rejoin British forces in Alexandria, Egypt, but the unidentified sickness that had plagued him in the West Indies returned and he became gravely ill. He died in May 1807 and his body was transferred to Malta for burial, being interred at Manoel Island. His death was widely mourned in the fleet, particularly among the common sailors, with whom he had always been popular.


Rob.

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Sir James Saumarez

Early life.

He was born at St Peter Port, Guernsey to an old island family, the eldest son of Matthew de Sausmarez (1718-1778) and his second wife Carteret, daughter of James Le Marchant. He was a nephew of John de Sausmarez (1706-1774) of Sausmarez Manor and the elder brother of General Sir Thomas Saumarez (1760-1845), Equerry and Groom of the Chamber to the Duke of Kent, and afterwards Commander-in-Chief of New Brunswick^{[4] [5]} and of Richard Saumarez (1764-1835), a surgeon and medical author. Their sister married Henry Brock, the uncle of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock and Daniel de Lisle Brock. Many of de Sausmarez's ancestors had distinguished themselves in the naval service, and he entered it as midshipman at the age of thirteen. Upon joining the navy, he dropped the second 's' to become de Saumarez.

Naval service.

In 1767 Saumarez was entered as a volunteer on the books of HMS Solebay (1763) although he never set foot on the ship, studying at a school near London until in 1770, Saumarez joined the Montreal in the Mediterranean. Placed on board HMS Winchelsea (1764) he was rated Midshipman in November 1770. A transfer to HMS Levant (1758) in February 1772 until she returned to Spithead in 1775 gave an opportunity to take his examination for Lieutenant.
In 1775, at the age of 18, he was ordered to Sir Peter Parker's flagship HMS Bristol in North America. Saumarez distinguished himself under Parker, showing courage and being promoted to acting lieutenant at the July 1776 Battle of Sullivan's Island which required the Bristol to fire broadsides at Fort Sullivan. The engagement lasted 13 hours and 111 men were killed on the Bristol.

Moved to HMSChatham (1758) as temporary 5th lieutenant, he was given his first command, the tender Lady Parker. On promotion to lieutenant in 1778 he was given his second command, the 8-gun galley Spitfire and after 47 engagements, unfortunately, he had to run Spitfire ashore and burn her on 30 July 1778 when a French fleet under Admiral d'Estaing arrived at Narrangansett Bay. Serving on land at the Battle of Rhode Island before returning to Portsmouth.

Saumarez next served as third lieutenant on the Victory, under various admirals until it became Vice Admiral Hyde Parker's flagship, by which time he had moved up to 1st lieutenant. He moved with the Admiral to HMS Fortitude, on which he was present at the Battle of Dogger Bank on 5 August 1781, when he was wounded. He was promoted commander and appointed to the fireship Tisiphone.

In 1782, Saumarez sailed his ship to the West Indies with despatches for Samuel Hood and arrived in time to witness the closing stages of Hood's operations at St Kitts on 25 January 1782.

Battle of the Saintes.

While commanding the HMS Russell (74 guns), he contributed to Rodney's victory over de Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes on (12 April 1782). During the battle and on his own initiative, Saumarez took his ship out of line to assist in the capture of De Grasse's flagship, Ville de Paris. This action prompted Admiral Rodney to remark that, "The Russell's captain is a fine fellow, whoever he is."
When the war in America was finished, Saumarez went ashore and did not go to sea again until 1793 when he was given command of the frigate HMS Crescent, a 36-gun fifth rate frigate.

Action of 20 October 1793.

It was in Crescent that Saumarez was involved in one of the first major single-ship actions of the war when he captured the French frigate Reunion, in the Action of 20 October 1793. British casualties were exceptionally light, with only one man wounded during the engagement. In reward, Saumarez was knighted by King George III and given a presentation plate by the City of London, although he later received a bill for £103 6s 8d (the equivalent of £9,700 as of 2017), from a Mr. Cooke for "the honour of a knighthood". Saumarez refused to pay, telling Cooke to charge whomever had paid for Edward Pellew's knighthood after his successful action. Saumarez later wrote to his brother that "I think it hard to pay so much for an honour which my services have been thought to deserve".

Channel Islands station.

While in command of a Guernsey-based squadron consisting of three frigates, HMS Crescent (1784), HMS Druid (1783) and HMS Eurydice (1781), a lugger, and cutter a planned invasion by 20,000 French soldiers of the Channel Islands scheduled for February 1794 was frustrated and cancelled due to Saumarez's vigilant eye.
On 8 June 1794 on the way from Plymouth to Guernsey, he encountered a superior French force of two razees, three frigates, and a cutter. The French squadron outgunned the British by 192 guns to 92, but Saumarez succeeded in getting his frigates to safety by sailing between rocks on the west coast of Guernsey and around the island to the St Peter Port anchorage. The British lugger and cutter had returned to Plymouth before the start of the action. The British threat to any invasion force stayed intact.

Battle of Cape St Vincent.

After being promoted in 1795 he was appointed to the 74-gun HMS Orion in the Channel fleet, where he took part in the defeat of the French fleet at the Battle of Groix off Lorient on 22 June. Orion was one of the ships sent to reinforce Sir John Jervis in February 1797, when Saumarez distinguished himself in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. During the early stages he helped repel a sustained attack on the British line and covered the retreat of HMS Colossus when she was forced to retire from the action.
Colossus had sustained serious damage, her sails being virtually shot away and it looked as though she would be raked by Spanish warships, until Orion intervened. Later, when the engagement had turned to a general melee, Saumarez forced the Salvador del Mundo to surrender before attacking the Santissima Trinidad with the help of HMS Excellent. Saumarez was certain he had forced her surrender too when the arrival of the remainder of the Spanish fleet forced Jervis to break off the engagement.

Battle of Algeciras and Gut of Gibraltar.

On his return from Egypt he received the command of HMS Caesar, of 80 guns, with orders to watch the French fleet off Brest during the winters of 1799 and 1800. In 1801, he was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral of the Blue, was created a baronet, and received the command of a small squadron which was to watch the movements of the Spanish fleet at Cadiz. Between 6 and 12 July, he performed an excellent piece of service, in which after a first repulse at Algeciras he routed a much superior combined force of French and Spanish ships at the Battle of the Gut of Gibraltar. For his services, Saumarez received the Order of the Bath and the Freedom of the City of London.
In 1803, the United Kingdom Parliament bestowed upon him an annuity of £1200 a year (Annuity to Admiral Saumarez Act 1803).
During the Peace of Amiens Saumarez remained at home with his family in Guernsey, and when war broke out again he was given command of the naval forces defending the Channel Islands. He therefore was not present at the Battle of Trafalgar.

The Baltic Campaign.

In 1808 he was given command of the Baltic fleet with his flag in HMS Victory. Saumarez's mission was to protect the British trade which was of vital importance for Royal Navy supplies and to blockade enemy ports such as those under French control in northern Germany. The Russian fleet was also kept under blockade until Alexander I reopened Russian ports. Sweden, under pressure from France, declared war on Britain in November 1810 but Saumarez showed conspicuous tact towards the government of Sweden and her shipping, correctly guessing that the Swedes, like their Russian neighbours, would eventually defy Napoleon. Charles XIII later bestowed on him the Grand Cross of the military Order of the Sword. Denmark, a French satellite, also needed to be kept under observation until it was invaded by the Swedish Army in 1814. In 1812 Napoleon invaded Russia with half a million troops and Saumarez's fleet was instrumental in hampering French operations.

Latter years.

At the Peace of 1814, Saumarez attained the rank of Admiral, and in 1819 he was made Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom, in 1821 Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom. From 1824 to 1827 he was Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth. He was raised to the peerage as Baron de Saumarez in 1831 and died in Guernsey in 1836. In memory of Saumarez's achievements, there is a statue of him in the National Maritime Museum in London. The public bar at the Duke of Normandie Hotel in Saint Peter Port was named after Saumarez and features a portrait of him.

Rob.

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Benjamin Hallowell


He was an admiral in the Royal Navy, one of the select group of officers, referred to by Nelson as his "Band of Brothers", who served with him at the Battle of the Nile.

1761 He was probably born on 1 January 1761 in Boston, Massachusetts, where his British father, former naval captain Benjamin Hallowell (1723–1799), was Commissioner of the Board of Customs. His mother was Mary Boylston. His father's job exposed Hallowell's Loyalist family to attacks as American revolutionary sentiment grew.

1765 Aug , the Hallowell house in Roxbury was ransacked by a mob and the family relocated to Jamaica Plain.

1774 September , his father was pursued by a furious mob of 160 mounted men who had gathered to hear news of the resignation of other customs officials.

1776 The family left the country at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and their estates were confiscated. They stayed for a short time in Halifax, Nova Scotia, then took a passage to England in July 1776, where Hallowell entered the Royal Navy.

1781 Aug 31 promotion to lieutenant.

1782 As a lieutenant in Admiral Lord Hood's fleet, he saw action in the Battles of St. Kitts and the Saintes.

1791 promoted to the rank of commander in about 1791.

1793 Aug. Commissioned as a post-captain in August 1793, he and his ship took part in the evacuation following the Siege of Toulon in that year.

1794 He was involved in the Siege of Bastia under the command of Lord Hood, and then as a volunteer at the capture of Calvi, Corsica, in 1794 (in which Nelson lost the sight of his right eye); he was mentioned in despatches by Lord Hood for his part in this action, and was subsequently given command of HMS Lowestoffe.

1795 he was in command of HMS Courageux, and took part with her in the Battle of Hyères.

1796 Dec He was not aboard when the vessel was wrecked in the Bay of Gibraltar during bad weather. Her mooring cable parted and she was driven within range of Spanish shore batteries; Hallowell, ashore to sit at a court-martial, was denied permission to rejoin the ship and take her to safety, and she was subsequently wrecked off Monte Hacho in high winds during her officers' attempts to move to a safer anchorage, with the loss of almost 500 lives.

1797 Following her loss, Hallowell served as a volunteer aboard HMS Victory during the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, was commended to the Admiralty by Admiral Sir John Jervis for his actions during the battle and was given another command: HMS Lively, in which he took part in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where Nelson lost an arm.

1798 Hallowell is probably best known as the man who made Nelson a present of what would become his own coffin, after the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. Hallowell commanded HMS Swiftsure during the battle, a 74-gun ship of the line which bombarded the French flagship L'Orient at close quarters and played a major role in her destruction. Some time later he sent Nelson a coffin he had ordered to be made from a salvaged piece of L'Orient's mainmast, with an accompanying note:
Sir, I have taken the liberty of presenting you a coffin made from the main mast of L'ORIENT, that when you have finished your military career in this world you may be buried in one of your trophies. But that that period may be far distant is the earnest wish of your sincere friend, Benjamin Hallowell.
Nelson is said to have been pleased with the gift, keeping it propped against the wall of his cabin for some time, behind the chair in which he sat for dinner, and taking it with him to his next command. After he was killed in 1805 during the Battle of Trafalgar, he was buried in Hallowell's coffin.

1801 Swiftsure, her officers and crew, including Hallowell, had been captured in 1801 after a fight with a squadron of five French warships. Hallowell faced a court-martial over this incident when he was returned to England after a short time as a prisoner of war, but he was honorably acquitted of any failure of duty.

1805 Hallowell, now in command of HMS Tigre, missed the Battle of Trafalgar. His ship, along with five others in his squadron, had been sent to Gibraltar for water and on convoy duty.

1811 Hallowell remained a serving naval officer after Nelson's death. He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue on 1 August 1811; Rear-Admiral of the White in 1812; Vice-Admiral of the Blue on 12 August 1819; Vice-Admiral of the White on 19 July 1821;and Admiral of the Blue in 1830.

Hallowell was awarded the Neapolitan Order of Saint Ferdinand and Merit for his actions during the siege of Corsica, an honour also presented to Nelson. He was appointed a Colonel of Royal Marines on 31 July 1810, and was number 61 amongst those appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the restructuring of the Order on 2 January 1815, and promoted to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB) on 6 June 1831.

1828, Sir Benjamin Hallowell succeeded to the estates of the Carew family of Beddington, Surrey, on the death of his cousin, who had herself inherited them from her brother-in-law. In accordance with the terms of her will, he assumed the Carew name and coat of arms, becoming known as Admiral Sir Benjamin Hallowell Carew.
He died on 2 September 1834.

Rob.

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Ralph Willet Miller

Miller was born on 24 January 1762, the son of an American loyalist. His family's allegiance during the American Revolution caused the loss of their property and possessions. Miller was sent to England and entered the navy in 1778, serving aboard HMS Ardent with the fleet under Rear-Admiral James Gambier.

He later served during the war as part of fleets under Samuel Barrington, George Rodney, Samuel Hood and Thomas Graves.

He fought in a number of engagements, and was wounded three times.

He served under Commodore William Hotham, and after the Battle of Fort Royal, Miller was promoted by Rodney to be lieutenant aboard HMS Terrible. He was present at the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781, during which the Terrible was badly damaged, and later scuttled. Miller returned to the West Indies with Hood, and from there he went to England, arriving in late 1782, and by 20 December he was serving aboard HMS Fortitude.

French Revolutionary Wars.


By the outbreak of the wars with revolutionary France Miller was aboard the 98-gun second rate HMS Windsor Castle in the Mediterranean. After the end of the Siege of Toulon, Sir Sidney Smith placed Miller in charge of destroying the French ships and the arsenal. After the British withdrawal, Hood moved him to HMS Victory, where Miller distinguished himself leading actions against the French held towns on Corsica. He volunteered to lead an assault on the French ships moored at Golfe Jouan, and was appointed to command Poulette and ordered to fit her as fireship, with the intention of firing the fleet. He eventually made five attempts to take her into the anchorage, but the wind prevented him on each occasion. He was assigned to command HMS Mignonne on 12 January 1796, but the commander in chief, Sir John Jervis instead moved him to HMS Unite.

Jervis assigned Miller to the Adriatic, but on the arrival of Commodore Horatio Nelson, Miller became Nelson's flag captain aboard HMS Captain. Miller commanded Captain at the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797. He followed Nelson aboard HMS Theseus in May 1797, and was with him during his time with the inshore squadron. He participated in the assault on Cadiz in June, and was involved in the unsuccessful Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in July, Miller leading the landing parties from Theseus.

Miller and the Theseus were assigned to sail under Nelson, by now aboard HMS Vanguard. Miller was therefore present at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August, where he was wounded in the face, and was afterwards sent to Gibraltar with Captain Sir James Saumarez, in command of the captured French prizes. Miller and the Theseus returned to the Eastern Mediterranean in December, now acting as part of Sir Sidney Smith's fleet. He supported Smith at the Siege of Acre, and bombarded French positions between Acre and Jaffa.

Death.

News had reached Smith that a number of French frigates were preparing to sail from Alexandria to Jaffa to deliver stores and weapons for the French army. Smith ordered Miller to intercept them. Miller was preparing his ship to depart when an unknown accident occurred. Lieutenant England wrote in a report to Sir Sidney Smith:

"It is with extreme concern I have to acquaint you, that yesterday morning, at half-past nine o'clock, twenty 36-howitzer shells, and fifty 18-pounder shells, had been got up and prepared ready for service by Captain Miller's order...when in an instant...the whole was on fire and a dreadful explosion took place."

The ship was severely damaged, her aft part almost totally destroyed and the rest on fire. The crew fought the fire and were able to save the ship, but as Lieutenant England reported:

"Our loss from the explosion, I here lament, has been very great; and Captain Miller, I am sorry to add, is of the number killed, which amount to 20; drowned, 9; and 45 wounded."

Nelson wrote on learning of Miller's death that he is not only a most excellent and gallant officer, but the only truly virtuous man that I ever saw.

Another of Nelson's band of brothers who had fought at the Nile, Edward Berry, suggested that a memorial to Miller be created. Nelson supported the proposal, and one was sculpted by John Flaxman, and installed in St Paul's Cathedral. Miller left a widow and two young daughters. The government awarded his family a pension of £100 a year.

Rob.

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Samuel Hood

He was the son of Alexander Hood (son of Alexander Hood and Elizabeth, née Beach), and Ann, née Way, He entered the Royal Navy in 1776 at the start of the American Revolutionary War. His first engagement was the First Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, and, soon afterwards transferred to the West Indies, he was present, under the command of his cousin, at all the actions which culminated in Admiral George Rodney's victory of 12 April 1782 in the Battle of the Saintes.
After the peace, like many other British naval officers, Hood spent some time in France, and on his return to England was given the command of a sloop, from which he proceeded in succession to various frigates. In the 32-gun fifth-rate frigate Juno his gallant rescue of some shipwrecked seamen won him a vote of thanks and a sword of honour from the Jamaica assembly.

French Revolutionary Wars.


Early in 1793, after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, Hood went to the Mediterranean in Juno under his cousin Lord Hood, and distinguished himself by an audacious feat of coolness and seamanship in extricating his vessel from the harbour of Toulon, which he had entered in ignorance of Lord Hood's withdrawal. In 1795, in Aigle, he was put in command of a squadron for the protection of Levantine commerce, and in early 1797 he was given command of the 74-gun ship of the line Zealous, in which he was present at Admiral Horatio Nelson's unsuccessful attack on Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Captain Hood conducted the negotiations which relieved the squadron from the consequences of its failure.

Napoleonic Wars.

Zealous played an important part at the Battle of the Nile. Her first opponent was put out of action in twelve minutes. Hood immediately engaged other ships, the Guerriere being left powerless to fire a shot.
When Nelson left the coast of Egypt, Hood commanded the blockading force off Alexandria and Rosetta. Later he rejoined Nelson on the coast of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, receiving for his services the order of St Ferdinand.
In the 74-gun third-rate Venerable Hood was present at the Battle of Algeciras on 8 July 1801 and the action in the Straits of Gibraltar that followed. In the Straits his ship suffered heavily, losing 130 officers and men.
In 1802, Hood was employed in Trinidad as a commissioner, and, upon the death of the flag officer commanding the Leeward Islands Station, he succeeded him as Commodore. Island after island fell to him, and soon, outside Martinique, the French had scarcely a foothold in the West Indies. Amongst other measures Hood took one may mention the garrisoning of Diamond Rock, which he commissioned as a sloop-of-war to blockade the approaches of Martinique. For these successes he was, amongst other rewards, appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB).
In command next of the squadron blockading Rochefort, Sir Samuel Hood lost an arm during the Action of 25 September 1806 against a French frigate squadron. Promoted to Rear Admiral a few days after this action, Hood was in 1807 entrusted with the operations against Madeira, which he brought to a successful conclusion.
In 1808 Hood sailed to the Baltic Sea, with his flag in the 74-gun Centaur, to take part in the Russo-Swedish war. In one of the actions of this war Centaur and Implacable, while unsupported by the Swedish ships (which lay to leeward), cut out the Russian 50-gun ship Sevolod from the enemy's line and, after a desperate fight, forced her to strike. King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden rewarded Admiral Hood with the Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword.

Late career.

Present in the roads of A Coruña at the re-embarkation of the army of Sir John Moore after the Battle of A Coruña, Hood thence returned to the Mediterranean, where for two years he commanded a division of the British fleet. In 1811 he became Vice Admiral.

In his last command, that of the East Indies Station, he carried out many salutary reforms, especially in matters of discipline and victualling. He died without issue at Madras in 1814,.


Rob.

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Thomas Boulden Thompson

Thompson was born in Barham, Kent on 28 February 1766. His uncle, through his mother, was Commodore Edward Thompson, and it was through this relative's influence that Thomas joined the navy in June 1778, when Edward was appointed to command the sloop HMS Hyaena. He served on the Hyaena with his uncle, spending most of the time in the waters off the British Isles, before accompanying Rodney's fleet to the Relief of Gibraltar in January 1780. The Hyaena was later entrusted with carrying copies of Rodney's despatches.
Thompson later moved to the West Indies, being promoted to lieutenant on 14 January 1782. He was given command of a small schooner, with which he captured a larger French privateer. After the end of the American Revolutionary War, Thompson was moved onto his uncle's flagship, the 50-gun HMS Grampus. He served off the coast of Africa until his uncle's death in 1786, after which he was given command of the sloop HMS Nautilus. He remained in command for the next twelve months, before returning to Britain where she was paid off. He was promoted to post-captain on 22 November 1790.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife.


The Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Thompson was involved in the failed attack.
He spent a number of years on land without command of a ship until the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars provided employment. By late 1796 he had secured command of the fourth rate HMS Leander. He then joined the Mediterranean Fleet under John Jervis, and was assigned to the squadron under Horatio Nelson. Thompson took part in Nelson's attack on Santa Cruz in July 1797. Thompson was among those leading the landing parties, under the overall direction of Nelson and Thomas Troubridge. The initial attempts to force a landing were hampered by the wind, and when the parties made a successful landing in the evening of 22 July, they came under heavy fire from the Spanish defenders. Thompson's party were able to advance and spike several of the enemy's cannon, but the British forces had become dispersed throughout the town, and were forced to negotiate a truce to allow them to withdraw. Thompson himself was wounded in the battle.

Battle of the Nile.

Thompson was later given command of a squadron, and carried out cruises in the Mediterranean, intercepting French and Spanish ships.
He returned to Gibraltar, but was ordered to sea again in June 1798 to reinforce Nelson's squadron in their hunt for the French fleet that had earlier escaped from Toulon. He was with Nelson when they located the French fleet, under the command of Vice-Admiral Brueys, moored in Aboukir Bay. In the ensuing engagement Thompson came to the assistance of HMS Culloden, which had run aground on shoals in the entrance to the bay. Finding that there was nothing he could do, Thompson took Leander into the battle, despite his ship being considerably smaller than the French ships of the line. He anchored between the Franklin and Brueys' flagship the Orient, firing on them in company with HMS Defence and HMS Swiftsure until the Franklin surrendered. Thompson then took the Leander to assist the British attack on the French rear.

Fight with the Généreux..

After the battle Thompson was joined aboard the Leander by Captain Edward Berry, and sent with Nelson's despatches to Gibraltar. Whilst sailing there, they were spotted on 18 August by the Généreux, which had escaped the Battle of the Nile. The French pursued the Leander. Being a 60 gun ship to the Généreux′s 78, and still having battle damage and men wounded from the Nile, Thompson attempted to escape, but was eventually forced to come to battle. The two eventually clashed in a long running engagement, which eventually resulted in Leander being disabled and unmanageable. After conferring with Berry, Thompson agreed to surrender. The Généreux had suffered 100 killed and 188 wounded, to the Leander′s 35 killed and 57 wounded. Arriving on board the French ship, Berry and Thompson were almost immediately stripped of their possessions. The French went on to plunder their prize, even going so far as to steal the surgeon's equipment as he tried to attend to the wounded. When Thompson protested, and reminded the French captain of how French prisoners were treated under Nelson, he received the reply 'I am sorry for it; but the fact is, that the French are expert at plunder.'Thompson was later repatriated and brought to court-martial aboard HMS Alexander at Sheerness. He was honourably acquitted for the loss of his ship, the court deciding that his gallant and almost unprecedented defence of the Leander, against so superior a force as that of le Généreux, was deserving of every praise his country and the assembled court could give; and that his conduct, with that of the officers and men under his command, reflected not only the highest honour on himself and them, but on their country at large. Berry was also commended, and whilst being rowed back to shore after his acquittal, Thompson was given three cheers by the crews of the ships moored at Sheerness. He was subsequently knighted and awarded a pension of £200 per annum.

Copenhagen.

Thompson was appointed to command HMS Bellona in spring 1799, joining the fleet under Lord Bridport, off Brest. He then went to the Mediterranean, sailing with the flying squadron. He was involved in the capture of three frigates and two brigs.
He returned to England in autumn, and participated in the blockade of Brest, until being assigned to Sir Hyde Parker's Baltic expedition in early 1801. He was present at the Battle of Copenhagen, but ran aground on shoals whilst trying to enter the bay. He continued to fire on the enemy's shore batteries, but being a stationary target was heavily damaged, having 11 killed and 63 wounded. Thompson was amongst the wounded, losing a leg. He shared in the thanks of Parliament after the battle and had his pension increased to £500. He was then appointed to command the yacht HMS Mary.

Later life.


Thompson was appointed Comptroller of the Navy in November 1806, an office he held until November 1816. He was created a baronet on 11 December 1806. On relinquishing the post of Comptroller he became Treasurer of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, succeeding the late Sir John Colpoys, and also became Director of the Chest. He became Member of Parliament for Rochester in 1807, relinquishing the position in June 1818. He became a Rear-Admiral on 25 October 1809 and a Vice-Admiral on 4 June 1814. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the reorganisation of that order on 2 January 1815, and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 14 September 1822, and was formally invested on 21 April 1823. On his death three years later he was buried at the Greenwich Hospital, where his tomb monument is still visible.

Rob.

[Bligh]

Thomas Hardy.

Born the second son of Joseph Hardy and Nanny Hardy (née Masterman) at Kingston Russell House in Long Bredy (or according to some sources in Winterborne St Martin), Hardy joined the navy with his entry aboard the brig HMS Helena on 30 November 1781 as a captain's servant, but left her in April 1782 to attend Crewkerne Grammar School. During his time at school his name was carried on the books of the sixth-rate HMS Seaford and the third-rate HMS Carnatic.

Mediterranean and Nelson.


Hardy joined the fifth-rate HMS Hebe on 5 February 1790 as a midshipman; he later transferred to the sixth-rate HMS Tisiphone under Captain Anthony Hunt, and then followed Hunt to the sixth-rate HMS Amphitrite in May 1793, going out to the Mediterranean in her. Hardy served off Marseilles and Toulon and was commissioned second lieutenant of the fifth-rate HMS Meleager under Captain Charles Tyler on 10 November 1793.

Command of Meleager passed to Captain George Cockburn in June 1794; Cockburn took command of the fifth-rate HMS Minerve in August 1796 and Hardy went with him, swiftly rising to the rank of first lieutenant. Horatio Nelson, then a commodore, moved his Broad pennant to the Minerve in December 1796. While en route to Gibraltar, in the action of 19 December 1796, Minerve and her consort, the fifth-rate HMS Blanche, engaged two Spanish frigates and forced the Santa Sabina to surrender. Lieutenants Hardy and Culverhouse were sent aboard the Santa Sabina with a prize crew, and the three ships continued on towards Gibraltar. Before the night was out, Nelson ran into the Spanish fleet and only managed to get away when Hardy drew the Spanish away from Minerve and fought until being dismasted and captured. Hardy and Culverhouse were almost immediately exchanged for the captain of the Santa Sabina, Don Jacobo Stuart, and were able to rejoin Minerve at Gibraltar on 9 February 1797. With two enemy ships pursuing him, Cockburn ordered more sail. During this operation, a topman fell overboard. The ship hove to and a boat with Hardy in it was lowered to search for the missing mariner. As the enemy ships were closing fast, Cockburn thought it prudent to withdraw, but Nelson overruled him crying "By God, I'll not lose Hardy, back that mizzen topsail!" This confused the Spaniards who checked their own progress, allowing Hardy to return to his ship and make good his escape.


Command and the Nile.


Hardy remained with Minerve until May 1797 when, following a successful cutting out expedition of which he was in charge, he was promoted to master and commander of the newly captured corvette HMS Mutine. Under Hardy's command, Mutine joined a squadron under Captain Thomas Troubridge which met up with Nelson off Toulon in June 1798, located Napoleon Bonaparte in Egypt and destroyed the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. Afterwards, Nelson's flag captain, Edward Berry was sent home with dispatches and Hardy was promoted to captain of Nelson's flagship, HMS Vanguard, in his place on 2 October 1798. HMS Vanguard carried King Ferdinand IV and the British ambassador Sir William Hamilton and his wife Emma from Naples to safety in Sicily in December 1798: Hardy did not altogether approve of Lady Hamilton who had once tried to intervene on behalf of a boat's crew - Hardy had the crew flogged twice, once for the original offence and again for petitioning the lady. Nelson transferred his flag to the third-rate HMS Foudroyant on 8 June 1799, taking Hardy with him. In June 1799, the main fleet, led by Foudroyant, landed marines at Naples to assist with the overthrow of the Parthenopean Republic so allowing Ferdinand's kingdom to be re-established. Hardy handed over command of Foudroyant to Sir Edward Berry on 13 October 1799, transferred to the fifth-rate HMS Princess Charlotte and returned to England.

Baltic and Copenhagen.

After a year ashore, Hardy went to Plymouth Dock in December 1800 to take command of the first-rate HMS San Josef, which had just been refitted. He transferred to the second-rate HMS St George and became Nelson's flag captain once more in February 1801. Nelson was appointed second in command of the Baltic fleet, which had been sent to force the Danes to withdraw from the League of Armed Neutrality. On the night of 1 April 1801, Hardy was sent in a boat to take soundings around the anchored Danish fleet. Hardy's ship drew too much water and so took no part in the Battle of Copenhagen the following day. Hardy's work proved to be of great value. The only two ships that went aground, the third-rates HMS Agamemnon and HMS Bellona, were taken in by local pilots and did not follow Hardy's recommended route. Hardy stayed on as flag captain to the new fleet commander, Vice-Admiral Charles Pole, until August 1801 when he took command of the fourth-rate HMS Isis.

Mediterranean and West Indies Campaign.


In July 1802, Hardy was appointed to the fifth-rate HMS Amphion which after taking the new British ambassador to Lisbon, returned to Portsmouth. Nelson was in Portsmouth, as he was due to hoist his flag in the first-rate HMS Victory in May 1803, but on finding the ship not ready for him, transferred his flag to the Amphion and set sail for the Mediterranean. Nelson and Hardy finally transferred to Victory off Toulon on 31 July 1803. Hardy not only served as Nelson's flag captain, but also unofficially as his captain of the fleet. Nelson's fleet continued to blockade Toulon until April 1805, when the French escaped and were pursued to the West Indies and back. After a brief stop at Spithead between 20 August and 14 September 1805, they set sail for Cadiz arriving on 29 September 1805.

Trafalgar.


As Victory approached the enemy line on the morning of 21 October 1805, Hardy urged Nelson to transfer to another ship to avoid the inevitable melee, but Nelson refused. Victory, leading the weather column, came under heavy fire in the opening stages of the Battle of Trafalgar. At one point, a splinter took the buckle from Hardy's shoe, to which Nelson remarked, "This is too warm work Hardy, to last for long".Hardy was with Nelson when he was shot and, towards the end of the battle, as Nelson lay below dying, the two had a number of conversations together. Hardy was able to tell Nelson that 14 or 15 enemy ships had struck their flags: Nelson replied that he had "bargained for 20". In their last conversation, Nelson reminded Hardy to anchor the fleet. Nelson went on to say "take care of my dear Lady Hamilton, Hardy, take care of poor Lady Hamilton" and then when the moment came for the two men to part for the last time, Nelson then very close to death, asked Hardy to kiss him. Hardy kissed him on the cheek; "Now I am satisfied," said Nelson, "Thank God I have done my duty". Hardy stood up and then having spent a few moments looking down silently at his friend, knelt and kissed him again on the forehead. "Who is that?" asked Nelson, now barely able to see. "It is Hardy" Hardy replied. "God bless you Hardy" was Nelson's last response. Victory was towed to Gibraltar, arriving on 28 October 1805, where she underwent major repairs, before setting set sail for England on 4 November 1805 and arriving at Portsmouth on 5 December 1805. There Nelson's body was transferred to the Sheerness Commissioner, Sir George Grey, 1st Baronet's yacht Chatham to proceed to Greenwich. Hardy carried one of the banners at Nelson's funeral procession on 9 January 1806.

Later commands.

Hardy was created a baronet on 29 January 1806 and was given command of the third-rate HMS Triumph on the North American Station in May 1806. While in Nova Scotia, he married Anna Louisa Berkley, the daughter of his commander-in-chief, Sir George Cranfield Berkeley. When Admiral Berkley was sent to Lisbon, Hardy went with him as his flag captain in the second-rate HMS Barfleur. Hardy was made a commodore in the Portuguese Navy in 1811.

In August 1812, Hardy was given command of the third-rate HMS Ramillies and was sent back to North America at the outbreak of the War of 1812. On 11 July 1814, Hardy in his flagship, assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Pilkington, led four other warships and several transports carrying 2,000 men of the 102nd Regiment of Foot and a company of Royal Artillery against Fort Sullivan in Eastport, Maine. The American defending force of 70 regulars and 250 militiamen gave up without a fight. Hardy and Pilkington issued a proclamation making it clear Great Britain considered Eastport and the several nearby islands to be British territory. Townspeople were required to take an oath of allegiance to the crown or leave. Two thirds of the inhabitants took the oath, while 500 departed. For the few weeks he remained at the place, Hardy became a favourite of the locals, gaining great respect and popularity. However, Hardy's next venture, the 9–11 August bombardment of Stonington, Connecticut was a defeat; Royal Navy cannonading set 20 buildings on fire while killing a horse and a goose, while reports indicate the sizeable American defending force killed 21 and wounded 50 British attackers. Hardy was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 2 January 1815.

Hardy was given command of the royal yacht HMS Princess Augusta in July 1816 and, then having been promoted to commodore, became Commander-in-Chief on the South America Station, hoisting his broad pennant in third-rate HMS Superb in August 1819, with a mission to prevent the Spanish from interfering in the newly emerging republics of Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.

Flag rank.


Promoted to rear admiral on 27 May 1825,^] Hardy hoisted his flag aboard the third-rate HMS Wellesley and escorted 4,000 British troops to Lisbon, where they helped to quell a revolution by the eight-year-old queen's uncle in December 1826. He was subsequently given command of an experimental squadron in the Channel, moving his flag from the fifth-rate HMS Sybille to the sixth-rate HMS Pyramus before going ashore for the last time on 21 October 1827.

Hardy became First Naval Lord in the Grey ministry in November 1830 and was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 13 September 1831. As first Naval Lord he refused to become a Member of Parliament and encouraged the introduction of steam warships. He resigned in August 1834 to become Governor of Greenwich Hospital. Hardy was promoted to vice admiral on 10 January 1837.
He died at Greenwich on 20 September 1839. He is buried in the officers vault in Greenwich Hospital Cemetery, just west of National Maritime Museum. The grave lies in the enclosed railed area of the now mainly cleared graveyard, which now serves as a pocket park.

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John Peyton.


Captain John Peyton was from a Naval family.

Joining the Navy he was promoted to Lieutenant in 1772.

After service as a Lieutenant in North American waters aboard his Grandfathers Flagship, he was promoted to Commander of the Kite in 1782.

He received his promotion to Captain in 1783.

From 1794 to 96 he was Captain of the 38-gun Artois-class fifth-rate frigate Seahorse under Lord St. Vincent.

1795 the Ceres, 5th rate Frigate . Armament 32. Nothing more known.
After a series of illnesses, in 1798 he took command of HMS Defence which he fought in at the battle of the Nile.

Promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue, 1805/11/09
and Rear-Admiral of the Red, 1808/04/29

This was all I could find on this Officer which considering he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral is not a lot.
Rob.

[Bligh]

Just discovered this little gem?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzJcDmj5ghQ

Rob.