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Edward Osler - The Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth

E >> Edward Osler >> The Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth



THE LIFE

OF

ADMIRAL VISCOUNT EXMOUTH

BY EDWARD OSLER, ESQ.

For every virtue, every worth renowned,
Sincere, plain hearted, hospitable, kind;
Yet like the mustering thunder when provoked,
The dread of tyrants, and the true resource
Of those who under grim oppression groaned.

THOMSON.

A New and Revised Edition.

LONDON:
GEO. ROUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON-STREET
AND 18, BEEKMAN-STREET, NEW YORK.
1854

London:
Printed by STEWART and MURRAY,
Old Bailey.


TO

THE NAVY,

The Bulwark of their Country,

AND

WHOSE TRIUMPHS ARE THE PRIDE OF HER HISTORY,

THIS WORK

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.




PREFACE.


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.




CONTENTS.

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. page 1


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. page 28


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. page 47


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'Unite_ 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. page 61


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_. page 86


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
Rovere--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
Cerbere_--He directs the landing of the army at Ferrol. page 108


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.
page 134


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 _Psyche_--_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 Griessee, 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. page 148


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. page 170


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. page 187


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. page 200


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.
page 221




THE LIFE

OF

ADMIRAL VISCOUNT EXMOUTH




CHAPTER I.

FAMILY HISTORY.


The life and services of Lord Exmouth are of no common interest; not
more because he has advanced the reputation of his country, and
connected his name with her history, than that he began his career an
almost unfriended orphan, and rose to the highest honours of his
profession without having been indebted to fortune or to patronage. One
of the most interesting spectacles is that of rising merit struggling
from its difficulties. The most encouraging, is the honour which rewards
its exertions. The young officer, who, like him, has devoted himself to
an arduous service, with nothing to rely on but his sword, may derive
instruction from his example, and encouragement from his success.

Edward Pellew, Viscount Exmouth, descended from a family which was
settled in the west of Cornwall for many centuries, but came originally
from Normandy, where the name is still met with. After the close of the
war he received a letter from a family there, claiming kindred, and
offering the name and armorial bearings in proof. The original
orthography, "Pelleu," was retained until a comparatively recent period.
They are said to have landed at Pengersick Castle, near St. Michael's
Mount, and appear to have remained in that part of the county until the
beginning of the 17th century. They had a family tomb in Breage, a
parish on the eastern side of the Mount's Bay, in which they had
acquired property, and they still possess a small estate in that
neighbourhood. Part of this early history, it will be seen, can rest
only upon tradition; and indeed, it is of very little importance. The
weakness of seeking credit from remote ancestors, for one whose personal
honours require no further illustration, may well be exploded. But there
is one kind of ancestry where an inquiry will always be
interesting--that where the traits which distinguished the founder of a
family may be traced in the character of his forefathers.

The earliest of the family of whom anything is certainly known lived
during the great rebellion at Plymouth, where his loyalty made him so
obnoxious to the republicans, that the mob on one occasion assaulted him
on the Hoe, and plundered his house. A small piece of antique plate,
still preserved, and bearing the date 1645, was the only article of
value saved from them. His son, Captain Pellew, Lord Exmouth's
great-grandfather, served in the navy during the war of the succession.
A very fine portrait of him remains.

Humphry Pellew, the grandfather, was an extensive merchant. He held a
large property in shipping, and traded chiefly to America, where he had
purchased a valuable tobacco plantation of 2,000 acres, in Kent Island,
Maryland. Of this estate, upon which the town of Annapolis Royal is
partly built, the writings remain, but the property was lost at the
revolt of the colonies. No portion of the compensation fund voted by
Parliament was in this instance ever received; and General Washington
afterwards declared to a friend of the family, that the fact of three
of the brothers having borne arms against the States would prevent the
success of any application to the American Government.

Mr. Pellew built part of Flushing, a large village on the shores of
Falmouth harbour, including the present manor-house, in which he
resided; but this, being leasehold property, has long ago reverted to
the lord. In 1692, he married Judith Sparnon, of Sparnon and Pengelly,
in Breage, by whom he had six sons and five daughters. Mr. Pellew
maintained a high character through life, and his memory was long
preserved among the older inhabitants of the village. He died in 1721.
His son Israel married Miss Trefusis, upon whom the estate of Trefusis,
which includes Flushing, was entailed, in default of more direct heirs
from the then possessor; Thomas married Miss Whittaker, who was
grand-daughter of Viscount Fauconberg by a daughter of Cromwell; three
died unmarried; and the children of the youngest son were at length the
only male survivors of the family.

Samuel, youngest son of Humphry Pellew, commanded a Post-office packet
on the Dover station, to which he had been appointed through the
interest of the Spencer family. He was a man of great determination, and
became in consequence the subject of a characteristic song, which was
long remembered by the watermen and others at Calais. The recollections
of his family, and documents which have been preserved, show him to have
been most exemplary in the duties of private life. In 1652, he married
Constance Langford, daughter of Edward Langford, Esq., a gentleman
descended from a considerable family in Wiltshire. The co-heiress of
Edward Langford, Esq., of Trowbridge; married Henry Hyde, of Hinton,
father of the great Earl of Clarendon, and by the marriage of her
grand-daughter with James II. became the ancestor of Queen Mary and
Queen Anne. Thus connected by blood, as well as attached by principle to
the exiled family, Mr. Langford joined the standard of the Pretender in
1715, and distinguished himself at the battle of Preston. After the
Rebellion was suppressed, he escaped to the west of Cornwall, and
settled at Penzance. The Pretender took an opportunity to acknowledge
his services by a present of costly china. His daughter, Mrs. Pellew,
was a woman of extraordinary spirit. Mr. Pellew's political feelings
differed widely from those of his father-in-law. It was his practice to
make his children drink the king's health on their knees every Sunday.
He died in 1765, leaving six children, four of them boys, of whom the
eldest was at that time eleven years old, and Lord Exmouth, the second,
only eight. Three years after, an imprudent marriage of the widow
deprived the children of their remaining parent, and threw them upon the
world with scanty resources, and almost without a friend.

It has been well observed, that a general condition of distinguished
eminence is to be required to force a way to it through difficulties.
Desertion at an early age indeed subjects the individual to a most
severe trial; but where there is strength to bear the discipline, it
exalts the principle which it fails to subdue, and adds force to the
energies which it cannot tame. The Pellews were probably indebted for
much of their success, as well as for the fearless independence which
distinguished them, to the circumstances which thus compelled them from
childhood to rely only upon themselves.

Samuel Humphry, the eldest brother, was intended for the navy, and was
borne on the books of H.M.S. _Seaford_, Captain Macbride. But afterwards
devoting himself to medicine, he became one of the earliest pupils of
John Hunter, with Home, Pitcairn, and Baillie, for his class-fellows.
After serving for some time as a surgeon of marines, and assistant
surgeon to the Dockyard at Plymouth, he relinquished a partnership with
Dr. Geach, of the Royal Hospital, and settled at Truro, where he
obtained a considerable and lucrative practice. He finally became
collector of the customs at Falmouth. Gifted with a clear and active
mind, he did not confine himself to the routine of his official duties,
and his suggestions on several important subjects were adopted by the
Government. The Quarantine Law of 1800 was first proposed by him, and
framed chiefly on his suggestions; as well as a tonnage duty by which
the charges of the quarantine establishment were covered. The convoy
duty was also imposed on his recommendation; and he first proposed the
plan of warehousing goods in bond, and was much consulted during the
perfecting of the measure, by which so great facilities have been
afforded to the trade of the country--to the merchant, relief from the
necessity of locking up large amounts of capital; to the consumer,
cheapness, and a security against adulteration. Mr. Pellew served at his
post till he was fourscore years old, and for years beyond that, he
retained the freshness of feeling and enthusiasm of youth. He died in
his 90th year.

Israel, the third brother, born August 25th, 1758, was sent to sea at an
early age. He served with distinction in the American war, and was one
of the officers entrusted with the defence of posts, when the Comte
d'Estaign appeared off New York. Promoted to be a lieutenant, he cut out
a vessel so well protected by batteries, that his brother officers
thought it a service too desperate to be attempted. In command of the
armed cutter _Resolution_, he engaged and captured in the North Sea, the
Dutch privateer _Flushinger_, of fourteen guns, which had proved so
destructive a cruizer, that the merchants of Hull memorialized the
Admiralty in his favour; and Keppell, the First Lord, continued him for
three years in command of the cutter, notwithstanding the signature of
peace the day before the action, expressly to reward his gallantry and
success. He was made a commander in 1790. He was passenger in his
brother's frigate the _Nymphe_, when she gave the first earnest of the
naval successes of the war, by the capture of the _Cleopatra_; and he
contributed much to the brilliant result of the action, by taking
charge of the after quarter-deck gun, with which he disabled the enemy's
wheel. For this service he was at once promoted and appointed to a ship,
and he continued to be so actively employed, that he never once saw his
family, till after the peace. In September, 1796, his ship, the
_Amphion_, 32-gun frigate, blew up while alongside the hulk in Hamoaze,
and nearly all on board, about 300, perished. Captain Pellew was at the
moment at dinner in his cabin, with Captain Swafneld, of the
_Overyssel_, 64, and the first lieutenant. At the shock of the
explosion, which took place in the fore magazine, Captain Pellew, and
the lieutenant sprang into the quarter gallery, and were thrown into the
water and saved; Captain Swaffield perished.

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