The Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth

by Edward Osler

At the commencement of hostilities, whose extent and duration none can foresee, it is the wisdom of those to whom England will hereafter commit the honour of her Flag to study well the example of the great sea-officers whose services illustrate the annals of their country.

Among these bright examples, none is more worthy of careful study than Admiral Lord Exmouth. Entering the service a friendless orphan, the success which he achieved by merit alone is most encouraging to all who must rise by their own deserts. In his perfect seamanship, his mastery of all that relates to his profession, his zeal and energy, his considerate forethought, his care to make his crews thorough seamen, and the example by which he spurred and encouraged them, the secret may be found, not less available to others, of his many brilliant successes, and of the little loss with which he obtained them. His truly parental care for his young officers to train them to their duties and to advance their interests, as conspicuous when commander-in-chief as in his first frigate, is a lesson for all in authority. Nor will his personal qualities be less admired: the honourable independence which he maintained as an officer and a peer, and the moral excellence which marked his life, and was finally proved on his death-bed.

And here I may relate an anecdote, as the praise it gives is only for the subject of the biography, and for which I am indebted to Vice-Admiral Sir Fleetwood Pellew. Soon after the first appearance of this work, one of the first officers in the French navy, Vice-Admiral Bergeret, whose name appears more than once in the following pages, presented a copy to a young relative he was sending to sea, and bade him to learn from the example it afforded to become all that his friends and his country could desire.

Lord Exmouth's attack on Algiers, the most memorable occasion on which men-of-war have attacked fortifications, is peculiarly instructive now. The immediate destruction of the enemy's works opposed to the Queen Charlotte, and the comparative impunity she thus obtained, shows the wisdom of laying the ships as close as possible, where the concentrated fire of her batteries may overwhelm the enemy, and destroy the few guns which alone can be opposed to her; whereas, by anchoring at a distance, the enemy's guns from a great extent of the works may be trained to bear on her, while her own shot strike with uncertain aim and diminished effect. The results of this latter course may be learnt from the fate of the floating batteries at the siege of Gibraltar, and from the Impregnable at Algiers; the ships having anchored at too great a distance, were exposed to a destructive fire, while their own attack was comparatively harmless.

This biography of Lord Exmouth was written at the desire and under the eye of his eldest brother; in youth his second father, and through life his confidential friend. Every incident relating to points of service was supplied or corrected by officers personally engaged; and the whole was finally revised by four officers who were the most constantly and intimately acquainted with the Admiral—Mr. Gaze, master of the fleet in the Mediterranean and at Algiers, and who sailed with him in every ship from 1793 to the last day of his command; Sir Christopher Cole and Captain Crease, his intimate friends; and his only surviving sailor son, Captain, now Vice-Admiral Sir Fleetwood Pellew.

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CONTENTS.

• [PREFACE.]
• [CHAPTER I.]
  • FAMILY HISTORY.
  • Birth and education—Anecdote of early daring—Enters the Navy—Leaves his ship, with one of his companions, at Marseilles—Joins the Blonde, Captain Pownoll—His activity—Anecdote of General Burgoyne—Instance of extraordinary boldness—Campaign on the Lakes of Canada—Distinguishes himself in the actions, of October 11th and 13th, 1776—Complimented by Sir C. Douglas, Lord Howe, and Earl Sandwich—Appointed to command the Carleton—Nearly takes General Arnold—Narrowly escapes being made prisoner—Commands a brigade of seamen in Burgoyne's campaign—In danger of killing his brother—Events of the campaign—Constructs a bridge, by which the army crosses to Saratoga—His brother killed in action—Recaptures a provision vessel from the enemy—Admitted to the Council of War, and pleads that the sailors may be exempted from the capitulation—Sent home with despatches in a transport—Defends her against a privateer—Promoted to be a Lieutenant.
• [CHAPTER II.]
  • HIS SERVICES FROM 1778 TO 1791.
  • Influence of the late campaigns on his character—His extraordinary strength and activity—Narrow escapes from drowning—Appointed to a guard-ship—Presses for active employment, and proposes to resign his commission—Appointed to the Licorne—Becomes First Lieutenant of the Apollo, Captain Pownoll—Action with the Stanislaus, French frigate; Captain Pownoll killed, enemy driven on shore—His letter on the occasion to Earl Sandwich—Promoted to be a Commander—Anecdote in relation to his promotion—Appointed to the Hazard—Appointed to the Pelican—Gallant action—Promoted to be a Post-Captain—- Appointed to the temporary command of the Artois—Captures an enemy's cruiser—Anecdote of Captain Macbride—Marriage—Appointed to the Winchelsea frigate—Conduct in her—Appointed to the Salisbury, Vice-Admiral Milbanke—Anecdote of Lord Thurlow.
• [CHAPTER III.]
  • THE NYMPHE AND CLEOPATRA.
  • Becomes a farmer—Remarks on naval officers' farming—His ill success—Omen of his future fortune—Offered a command in the Russian Navy—Remarks on serving foreign states—War of the French Revolution—Appointed to the Nymphe 36-gun frigate—Enters a number of Cornish miners for her—Cornish miners—Equipment and movements of the Nymphe—Captain Israel Pellew joins her as a volunteer—Sails from Falmouth—Remarkable dream of one of the officers—Falls in with the Cleopatra; her high state of equipment—Gallantry of both ships—Cap of Liberty—Action—Death of the French Captain, Mullon; his heroism—Captain Pellew's letter to his brother.
• [CHAPTER IV.]
  • THE WESTERN SQUADRONS.
  • Presented to the King and knighted—His liberality to the widow of Captain Mullon—Use of carronades—He suggests the employment of independent squadrons in the western part of the Channel, to check the enemy's cruising frigates—Value of these squadrons—Appointed to the Arethusa, and joins Sir J.B. Warren's squadron—Action of April 23rd, 1794—Engages and captures La Pomone—Action of August 23rd, 1794 A second squadron fitted out, and placed under his orders—Artois and Revolutionaire; chivalrous conduct of Sir Sidney Smith—Conveys important intelligence to the Admiralty—Appointed to the Indefatigable, 44—His dispute with the Navy board—Allowed to fit her according to his own plans—Success of them—Accuracy of his judgment on a ship's qualities—Indefatigable strikes on a rock—Sir Edward nearly lost in attempting to save two of his people—His success on different occasions in saving lives—Wreck of the Dutton at Plymouth—He boards her, and saves all the people—His report of the service—Honours and rewards; created a Baronet—Captain Cole, and L'Unité French frigate—Sir Edward's letters on the occasion to Earls Chatham and Spencer—Notice of Captain Cole—His death, and Sir Edward's feeling—Action of Indefatigable and La Virginie—Conduct and gallantry of her Captain, Bergeret.
• [CHAPTER V.]
  • EXPEDITION AGAINST IRELAND.
  • State of parties—Enemy's preparations for invasion—Reflections on Ireland—Lord Exmouth's opinion on the Roman Catholic question—Sir E. Pellew watches Brest with his frigates—His perseverance and hardihood—Sailing of the expedition—He embarrasses its movements—Arrives in England—Misfortunes of the British fleet—Enemy arrive at Bantry Bay—Prevented from landing, and driven off the coast by gales—Reflections on the failure of the expedition—Sir Edward puts to sea with the Indefatigable and Amazon—Meets and engages the Droits de l'Homme, 74—Finds himself on a lee-shore, hauls off, and saves the Indefatigable with difficulty—Amazon wrecked—Admirable conduct of her officers and crew—Droits de l'Homme wrecked—Horrible circumstance of her fate—Anecdote of the French Commodore—Eventual fate of the Captain of the Amazon.
• [CHAPTER VI.]
  • THE MUTINY.
  • Remarks on Sir Edward's character as a seaman and an officer—His conduct when his ship was on fire—His consideration for his officers and men—The Duke of Northumberland—Mutiny at Spithead—Preparations for a second invasion of Ireland—General Daendels—Proposed expedition baffled—Sir Edward off Brest—Proposes to burn the French fleet—Success in capturing the enemy's cruisers—La Vaillante—Royalist priests and Madame Rovère—His liberality—Appointed to L'Impetueux, 78—Her mutinous state—Observations on the mutinies in the Navy, from 1797—Sir Edward's opinions on the subject—His precautions—Attempted mutiny in the Indefatigable—Conspiracy in the Channel fleet—Mutiny on board the Impetueux—His firmness and promptitude in suppressing it—Court-martial—Earl St. Vincent's opinion of his conduct—His conduct at the execution—His decision on the court-martial on a mutineer—Illustrative anecdote—He commands an expedition to Quiberon—Proposes to attack Belleisle—Cruises off Port Louis—Mr. Coghlan cuts out La Cerbère—He directs the landing of the army at Ferrol.
• [CHAPTER VII.]
  • BLOCKADE OF FERROL.—PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY.
  • Peace—Made Colonel of Marines—His popularity—Envy in consequence—Anecdote—Elected M.P. for Barnstaple—State of parties—Renewal of hostilities—Appointed to the Tonnant, 80—Pursues a Dutch squadron—Blockades a French squadron in Ferrol—His seamanship and exertions in maintaining the blockade—Difficulty of supplying the ships—His recall—Earl St. Vincent's naval reforms—Mr. Pitt's opposition—Naval inquiry, March 15, 1804—Sir Edward's speech—Its effect—Promoted to be a Rear-Admiral, and appointed to be Commander-in-chief in India.
• [CHAPTER VIII.]
  • SIR EDWARD'S COMMAND IN INDIA.
  • Character required for a Commander-in-chief—Hostility of the new Ministry—Sir T. Troubridge sent to take the more valuable part of the command—Oversight of the Admiralty—Dispute between the two admirals—Sir Edward confirmed in his command—Melancholy fate of the Blenheim, Sir T. Troubridge—Sir Edward sends Captain Troubridge in search of his father—Actions in the Indian Seas—San Fiorenzo and Psyché—Piedmontaise and Warren Hastings—Ferocity of the French first lieutenant, and Sir Edward's general order in consequence—San Fiorenzo and Piedmontaise—French privateers—Murderous contest between the Victor and Malay pirates—Attack on Batavia Roads, and destruction of the shipping—Captain Fleetwood Pellew at Samarang—Attack on Griessée, and destruction of the line-of battle ships—Sir Edward's protection of commerce—Convoy system—Resolutions of the Bombay merchants—His care of the fleet—Establishes a naval hospital at Madras—Punishment: Sir Edward's regulations—Encounters a hurricane on his homeward voyage.
• [CHAPTER IX.]
  • NORTH SEA AND FIRST MEDITERRANEAN COMMANDS.
  • Declines an offer to be second in command in the Mediterranean—Commander-in-chief in the North Sea; his activity and energy—Receives the Mediterranean command—Affair off Toulon—His expectations of a battle—Disposition of his force—System of the fleet—His attention to discipline; to economy—Frigate affairs off Toulon—Care of his officers—Nature of the service in the Mediterranean—Daring of the crews—Effect of their successes—Diplomatic responsibility—Sir Edward's anxiety for a battle—Anecdote of Napoleon—Affair of November 5th, 1813—of February 13th, 1814—Capture of Genoa—Peace.
• [CHAPTER X.]
  • SECOND MEDITERRANEAN COMMAND.
  • Sir Edward created Baron Exmouth—His letter on the occasion—Made Knight of the Bath—Renewal of hostilities—Resumes the command in the Mediterranean—Services at Naples—Services at Marseilles—Instructed to negotiate with the Barbary Powers—Anecdote of the Pope—Causes the city and defences of Algiers to be surveyed—Previous ignorance of the place—General order to the fleet—Peace made with Algiers—Abolition of slavery at Tunis and Tripoli—Second visit to Algiers—Violent discussions, negotiation broken off, danger of the party, hostile proceedings—Negotiation renewed—Arrangement—Lord Exmouth's anxiety at having exceeded his instructions—Debate in the House of Commons—Massacre at Bona—Determination of the Government to enforce the abolition of Christian slavery.
• [CHAPTER XI.]
  • THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS.
  • Description of the defences—Force demanded by Lord Exmouth—Surprise of the Admiralty at the small force he required—Lord Exmouth's confidence—His entire satisfaction with the arrangements of the Admiralty—He refuses to allow his relations to accompany him—His promptitude—Sails—Preparations for the battle—A Dutch squadron joins at Gibraltar—Preparations made by the Algerines—Particulars of the battle—Fleet hauls off—Lord Exmouth's conduct after the battle—His very narrow escapes—Submission of the enemy—Lord Exmouth's account of the battle, in a private letter—Closing remarks.
• [CHAPTER XII.]
  • LORD EXMOUTH'S RETIREMENT AND DEATH.
  • Honours paid him—His exertions for his officers—Thanks of Parliament—Activity of his mind—Command at Plymouth—Trial of the Queen—His unpopularity, and remarks on it—His independence in politics—Catholic question—His religious principles and conduct—Peace of his declining years—Anxiety for the safety of the country—Death of his daughter—Death of his grandchild; his reflection on the occasion—Made Vice-Admiral of England—Death of Sir Israel Pellew—Lord Exmouth's attachment to the Church, and confidence in God's protection of it—His last illness and death.

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