ADDITIONAL APPENDIX.
- 1. List of officers borne on the books of H.M.S. Bellerophon in July 1815 [241]
- 2. Letter from Ephraim Graebke, assistant-surgeon on board the Bellerophon, to his mother, giving an account of Napoleon's surrender, dated July 30, 1815 [242]
- 3. Extracts from Memoirs of an Aristocrat, by a Midshipman of the Bellerophon [George Home] [246]
ILLUSTRATIONS.
- Portrait of Sir Frederick Maitland
[Frontispiece] From an engraving by Henry Meyer, after Samuel Woodford, R.A. - Portrait of Lady Maitland
[lxviii] From a miniature at Lindores. - Chart of the Basque Roads [1]
- Portrait of Napoleon
[68] From a sketch taken on board the Bellerophon by Colonel Planat. - Napoleon on board the Bellerophon
[108] From the picture by W. Q. Orchardson, R.A., in the Tate Gallery. - H.M.S. Bellerophon at Plymouth
[132] From the picture by J. J. Chalon, R.A., in the Painted Hall at Greenwich. - Tumbler given to Captain Maitland by
Napoleon
[202] Photograph from the original at Lindores. - Facsimile of part of Sir Walter Scott's
Notes on the "Narrative"
[230] Photograph from the original at Lindores.
MEMOIR
OF
SIR FREDERICK LEWIS MAITLAND.
The name of Sir Frederick Lewis Maitland has found a permanent place in history as that of the captor of Napoleon. Apart from the rare piece of good fortune which befell him in the Basque Roads in July 1815, his distinguished career of public service entitles him to an honourable place in the records of the British Navy.
He was the third son of Captain the Hon. Frederick Lewis Maitland, R.N., and was born at Rankeilour in Fife on September 7, 1777. His father, Captain Maitland, was the sixth son of Charles, sixth Earl of Lauderdale, grand-nephew of Charles II.'s famous minister, and was godson to Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of George II. He held various naval commands with distinction, served under Rodney in 1782, and between 1763 and 1775 commanded the royal yacht. He died in 1786, having been promoted rear-admiral just before his death. Maitland's mother, Margaret Dick, was the heiress of the family of Makgill of Rankeilour. The estates of that family were ultimately inherited by her eldest son, Charles Maitland.
Young Maitland entered his father's profession at a very early age. He served as a midshipman, first under Captain George Duff in the Martin sloop-of-war, and afterwards with the Hon. Robert Forbes in the Southampton frigate, in which he was present at Lord Howe's great victory off Ushant on June 1, 1794,—the "glorious First of June." On April 5, 1795, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and appointed to the Andromeda, of 32 guns. From the Andromeda he was removed to the Venerable, the flagship of Admiral Duncan in the North Sea. In April 1797 he went out to the Mediterranean to join Lord St Vincent.
St Vincent had been a friend of his father's, and had promised to promote him as opportunity should occur. The flagship had her full complement of officers, so Maitland was appointed first lieutenant of the Kingfisher, a brig mounting 18 six-pounders and commanded by the Hon. Charles Herbert Pierrepont, afterwards Earl Manvers. In her he was present at the capture of four French privateers. With one of these, the Betsey, of 16 guns, a severe action was fought. When the prize-money for her capture was distributed, the crew of the Kingfisher subscribed £50 to present Maitland with a sword in recognition of his conduct.
Pierrepont was promoted to post rank in December 1798, and appointed to the Spartiate, one of Nelson's prizes taken at the Nile. A few days after his departure the Kingfisher, under Maitland's command, was leaving the Tagus, when she grounded on Lisbon bar and became a total wreck. Maitland was tried by court-martial at Gibraltar, and acquitted of all blame in connection with her loss. Immediately after his trial he was appointed flag-lieutenant to Lord St Vincent.