Admiral George Byng

“ I say nothing of his having been a warm persecutor of Admiral Matthews: cowards, like [371] other guilty persons, are often severe against failings, which they hope to conceal in themselves by condemning in others: it was the uniformity of Mr. Byng’s behaviour from the outset of his persecution to his catastrophe, from whence I conclude that he was aspersed as unjustly, as I am sure that he was devoted maliciously, and put to death contrary to all equity and precedent. ”

“ Admiral John Byng, born 1704, was shot in pursuance of the sentence of a court-martial in 1757.
A letter to Sir George Lyttelton to Hagley in return for his condolences runs thus—
“Your publick life will raise a high expectation of your son, it is but just that you should give some of your private hours to qualify him so as to answer it: his happy genius makes him worthy of such a Preceptor.... You need but do justice to my affection for him to give me some share of his love.” ”

“ There is no official record of any such court-martial; and probably an explanation to the admiral, Sir George Byng, was all that was called for. In any case, he was held free from blame; and, in the Swiftsure, went on to Gibraltar, and thence into the Mediterranean, where he joined the fleet under Sir Clowdisley Shovell [q. v.] ”

“ John Byng, Admiral of the Blue squadron of his Majesty’s Fleet, and to try him upon a charge, that during the engagement between his Majesty’s Fleet, under his command, and the Fleet of the French King, on the 20th of May last, he did withdraw or keep back, and did not do his utmost to take, seize, and destroy, the ships of the French King, which it was his duty to have engaged, and to assist such of his Majesty’s ships as were engaged in fight with the French ships, which it was his duty to have assisted ”

“ October 21, 1783, being with her Royal Highness Princess Amelia at her villa at Gunnersbury, among many interesting anecdotes which I have set down in another place, she told me, that while Admiral Byng’s affair was depending, the Duchess of Newcastle sent Lady Sophia Egerton to her the Princess, to beg her to be for the execution of Admiral Byng. “They thought,” added the Princess, “that unless he was put to death, Lord Anson could not be at the head of the Admiralty. Indeed,” continued the Princess, “I was already for it; the officers would never have fought, if he had not been executed.” ”

“ Admiral Holbourn was then called, and to the two former questions of Lord Mansfield, and to the two of Lord Halifax, answered bluntly, “No.”
The next that appeared was Admiral Norris; a most weak man, who after resisting, from the friends of Mr. Byng, great solicitations to interpose in time in [361] favour of the prisoner, to whom he was believed the best disposed, (except Moore, the greatest professor of tenderness to Mr. Byng’s family,) had at last sunk under great inquietudes of remorse ”

“ On 8 Dec. he was promoted to be vice-admiral of the blue, and shortly afterwards appointed to command a squadron on particular service. He hoisted his flag in the Magnanime; but after giving evidence on Byng's court-martial, and that by no means in Byng's favour, he refused to ‘serve on terms which subject an officer to the treatment shown Admiral Byng.’ He accordingly struck his flag, and some days later, when it appeared that the sentence on Byng would be carried out, he resigned also his seat at the admiralty. In July he resumed it, but only for a few weeks, dying on 9 Aug. ”

“ In the following year, 1797, Captain Byng was appointed to the Galatea, of 32 guns, in which frigate he cruized during the remainder of the revolutionary war, on the coasts of France and Ireland, and captured several armed vessels, one of which was le Ranger, a French corvette of 14 guns; he also recaptured the Kenyon, a British West-Indiaman, valued at 40,000l. ”

“ Notwithstanding all that has been said in his favour, notwithstanding the infamous arts that were practised to keep up the cry against him, notwithstanding this solemn appeal to heaven in his last moments, and even self-conviction of innocence, the character of admiral Byng, in point of personal courage, will still, with many people, remain problematical. ”

“ There was little room for any display of genius on the part of Byng, though he was deservedly commended for the advantage he had taken of the enemy's incapacity; and to the world at large the issue appeared, as broadly stated, that the English fleet of twenty-one sail had utterly destroyed a Spanish fleet of eighteen ships of the line beside a number of smaller vessels. The king wrote his congratulations to the admiral with his own hand ”

“ Never was there a better illustration of the hare with many friends, though not even a hair-breadth escape was permitted to the unfortunate admiral. Never was a gentleman killed under such an accumulation of kindness as Byng, and indeed he was, figuratively speaking, bowed out of existence with so many complimentary and sympathetic expressions, that but for the stubborn reality of the leaden bullets he might have fancied that the guns discharged at him were intended rather in the nature of a salute than as a capital punishment. ”

“ Here was an occasion that displayed the lively interest Captain Byng felt for the health and welfare of the seamen under his command : * * * * * * * : by his earnest representation! to the Governor, and the address he employed in conciliating and gaining his attention, he obtained more bullocks and sheep than had ever been allowed to one ship; while a recent and liberal regulation of the Commissioners for victualling the navy, furnished ample supplies of vegetables, which, on this island are good, abundant, and dear. ”

“ Agreeable to your request, I have taken great pains to collect all the particulars, relating to the behaviour and death of the unfortunate Admiral Byng.
You know me sufficiently, to be satisfied that I have never had any biass [Pg 2] in his favour, or against him. But as the whole affair has been laid before the publick, sufficiently plain for every man of common sense, not prejudiced, to understand it; excepting some inexplicable Circumstances relating to the Court Martial; I may be allowed to judge for myself, and yield to truths which I think can admit of no farther controversy. ”

“ On the 18th June, 1795, Captain Byng was made post, into the Redoubt, of 20 guns, stationed as a floating battery in the river Tyne, where he rendered essential service to the shipping interest, by his spirited conduct in suppressing an unlawful combination of the seamen, entered into for the purpose of extorting exorbitant wages. ”

“ The Active was one of the squadron afterwards detached by the Commodore to escort a fleet of transports and merchant ships to the East Indies; and on her arrival there, Mr. Byng was received on board the Superb, of 74 guns, bearing the flag of Sir Edward Hughes, the gallant protector of India ”

“ In the course of the same year, the Belliqueux formed part of Sir Edward Pellew’s squadron at the capture and destruction of a Dutch frigate, seven brigs of war, and about twenty armed and other merchant-vessels, in Batavia Roads [12] . During the operations, the Commander-in-Chief publicly expressed his satisfaction at Captain Byng’s activity and good conduct, by the telegraphic signal, “Your zeal I have noticed.” ”

“ His eldest son, George, received the honor of knighthood from Queen Anne, for his gallant behaviour in the battle off Malaga [1] ; and after performing many other signal services, he was raised to the dignity of the peerage by the title of Baron Byng of Southill, co. Bedford, and Viscount Torrington, of Torrington, in Devonshire. ”

“ In truth the French admiral was very nervous, constantly expecting the reappearance of the English in superior force, and was only kept from retiring to Toulon by the incessant driving of Richelieu. The honour both of the defence and of the attack in this campaign belongs wholly to the soldiers. When the result of the meeting of the two fleets was known, there burst out a storm of rage of which the echoes can be heard to this day. It is not pleasant to hear a people howling for the life of a man, whether he be the great and terrible Strafford or poor, weak, self-satisfied John Byng. ”

“ Meanwhile the French had got ready thirteen sail of the line and fifteen thousand troops; and at last, when the danger of losing Minorca became apparent, hurry and confusion took the place of sloth and apathy.
Even then only ten ships were ordered to the Mediterranean, incompletely manned and without hospital or fire ships. The command was given 273 to Admiral John Byng, fourth son of Lord Torrington, who had served under his father on board the Superbe at the defeat of the Spanish fleet off Cape Passaro. Byng sailed from Spithead on April 7, 1756, arriving at Gibraltar on May 2. ”

“ Admiral Byng was himself the son of an admiral, who was created Viscount Torrington for his distinguished services. Some of the innumerable caricaturists who earned a blackguardly living by attacking a man who had few friends and powerful enemies, fixed upon his honourable birth as an additional means of wounding him ”

“ This would have made Byng virtually commander-in-chief; for Lord Pembroke was neither sailor nor soldier, and had no experience in commanding men; but before the nomination took effect the king died, and the Churchills, who came into power, visited, it was believed, on Byng, the old grudge which they bore to Admiral Russell, whose follower and partisan Byng was. He asked for a flag, which he considered due to him after having been so long first-captain to the admiral of the fleet ”

“ It has been remarked by a contemporary writer, that “the naval battles of Great Britain, from the accession of the illustrious House of Hanover, commence with the name of Byng [5] ;” and it might justly have been added, that the loyalty and zeal then manifested by the Nelson of that age, has ever since been emulated by his descendants; for no family in the empire has ever surpassed them in attachment to their sovereign, or in readiness to support the glory of his crown.
↑ See Vol. I. Part I. pp. 360–362. ↑ Then Captain George Byng. ”

“ To Captain Byng of the Mohawk, who conducted the various arrangements, on this occasion, with equal skill and bravery, every possible praise is most justly due; as well as to Captains Wyborn and Carter, Lieutenant Robertson, R.A. and Lieutenant Lewis, of the Highflyer (tender) ; Lieutenant Alexander, of the Dragon, the senior officer under Captain Byng, in command of the boats, deserves also that I should particularly notice him to you for his steadiness, correctness, and the great ability with which he always executes whatever service is entrusted to him ”

“ The Belliqueux continued on the East India station until the month of June, 1810, at which time Captain Byng received orders to proceed to China, for the purpose of affording protection to the homeward-bound trade. ”

“ After the peace he commanded the Tiger guardship for three years; and in January 1755 he was appointed to the Lichfield, in which in March he was sent out to the Leeward Islands as commodore and commander-in-chief. It was only for a short time, and, on his return, he was appointed to the Oxford, one of the Channel squadron under the command of Vice-admiral John Byng, and on 14 Nov. captured the French Espérance, a 74-gun ship, but old and worn out, so that Byng ordered her to be destroyed. ”

“ Another statement, less sweeping but wholly incorrect, has also been often repeated, and has been accepted by even serious historians: it is said that Admiral Byng was shot for ‘an error in judgment,’ a fault which, as Lord Macaulay has properly shown, may be a very good reason for not employing a man again, but does not amount to a crime. ”

“ Admiral Byng, the son of a famous sailor, was sent in command of a small and a very poorly furnished squadron to the Mediterranean to relieve Minorca. When he readied Gibraltar he found that a French fleet much superior in numbers to his own was blockading the island he was sent to relieve. Byng called a council of war, and the council decided that, as they had no instructions from home how to act in the event of their finding themselves face to face with a superior force, they had better not interfere with the doings of the enemy. ”

“ She continues—
“Most people think that Mr. Byng will have some good excuse, if not justification, for what he has done; but however that may be, Sir Edward Hawke [123] and Captain Saunders (now made an Admiral) are gone to take command of the fleet.”
[123] Afterwards Lord Hawke, born 1705, died 1787.
In a letter of July 28, from Tunbridge to Mr. Montagu, one finds—
[90]
“The people at the Walks were all rejoicing poor Admiral Byng was arrested at Portsmouth. ”

“ But this want of temper, of confidence, of resolution, though leading to criminal misconduct, was not cowardice, certainly not that type of cowardice of which the court acquitted him, that cowardice which regards death or personal danger as the most terrible of evils. Of this, in his last moments, Admiral Byng showed himself entirely free. ”

“ I am a man, and must feel at parting with my friends; but you will not see me discomposed to-morrow.” He then dismissed them all, wished them a good night, and desired they would come to him next day at [Pg 28] nine; chusing to have the morning to himself.
He carefully avoided desiring any thing himself, that could look like a favour; but one of his relations waited upon Admiral Boscawen that evening, and represented to him, that appointing the fore-castle for the place of execution was an indignity to Admiral Byng’s rank, and hoped that he would change the place to the quarter-deck. ”