Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth

“ Thus, Sir Charles Brisbane, with four frigates, at Curaçoa, and Sir Christopher Cole, with a few boats' crews at Banda, achieved, with little or no loss, what would have been justly deemed proud triumphs for a fleet of line-of-battle ships. Sir E. Pellew was never a man to commit himself rashly to what he had not well considered. "There is always uncertainty," he would say, "in naval actions, for a chance shot may place the best managed ship in the power of an inferior opponent." ”

“ The merit of services performed in the sight of thousands could not thus be disclaimed. Praise was lavished upon him from every quarter. The corporation of Plymouth voted him the freedom of the town. The merchants of Liverpool [Pg 80] presented him with a valuable service of plate. On the 5th of March following, he was created a baronet, as Sir Edward Pellew, of Treverry, and received for an honourable augmentation of his arms, a civic wreath, a stranded ship for a crest, and the motto, "Deo adjuvante Fortuna sequatur." ”

“ Officers such as Hoste, Gordon, Rowley, Maxwell, Duncan, Ussher, and indeed all, for no commander ever placed more general and deserved confidence in his officers than Sir Edward Pellew, were not men to send away their people on doubtful and desperate services. The Admiral himself, much as he admired enterprise, strongly discouraged all acts of useless daring. He was always most unwilling to risk men's lives in boat attacks, when they could not be supported by the fire from the ships ”

“ It was contended that his measures displayed great and unnecessary harshness, and were calculated to break down the effectiveness of the navy. Very many persons of the highest integrity, too little acquainted with the facts, were thus deceived; and even Mr. Pitt, though he had recommended Earl St. Vincent for the Admiralty, believed that he was weakening the most important arm of the country. Under such circumstances, Sir Edward Pellew was recalled, ostensibly, that the Admiralty might confer with him upon these disputed questions. ”

“ After a communication had been made to the Dey, Lord Exmouth was allowed to pass on, but the consul was detained, on the pretext that money was due from Portugal, for which, as well as for England, Mr. M'Donell was accredited. The whole party had been in the greatest danger. The crowd who surrounded them discussed aloud the question of putting them all to death; and the conduct of the captain of the port was extremely suspicious. He was observed to cock his pistol, and Sir Israel Pellew exclaiming, "At least [Pg 196] we'll die with arms in our hands!" ”

“ Pellew, that his quick and determined character, which, with a judgment not yet matured by experience, might have carried him into mistakes, found a guide so kind and judicious as Captain Pownoll.
And here it will not be uninteresting to observe how far the influence of a great commander may extend. St. Vincent and Pownoll, who were brought up under Boscawen, and received their lieutenant's commissions from him, contributed materially to form a Nelson and an Exmouth; each the founder of a school of officers, whose model is the character of their chief, and their example his successes. ”

“ Such conduct, at a moment when Lord Exmouth was evidently preparing to attack the place, indicated an irresolution which might enable him to gain his object without a battle; and next morning, as a calm, with a heavy swell, prevented the fleet from moving, he sent Captain Dundas, of the Tagus, with renewed proposals. The result was, that Sir Israel Pellew, with Captains Brisbane, Pechell, Dundas, Warde, and others, went on shore ”

“ Sir Guy Carleton remained at Crown Point as long as the season would permit. He employed Mr. Pellew on the narrow inlet, which extends from Crown Point to Ticonderoga, along which his proposed operations were to be conducted; and Mr. Pellew attended to his charge with unceasing vigilance and activity. On one occasion, the American Commander-in Chief, Arnold, most narrowly escaped becoming his prisoner. Having ventured upon the Lake in a boat, he was observed, and chased so closely by Mr. Pellew, that when he reached the shore and ran off, he left his stock and buckle in the boat behind him. ”

“ His brother, though not very sanguine on the result, readily agreed to the experiment; and when in no long time Captain Pellew complained that he found it impossible to keep the accounts so as to make a fair division, he was allowed to rent it on his own terms. It will not occasion surprise that the undertaking was anything but profitable.
Indeed, farming is almost always a very losing employment to a gentleman, and especially to a sailor. Nothing can be more incorrect than the conclusion that education ought to excel, because ignorance succeeds ”

“ Was long a follower of Sir Edward Pellew (now Viscount Exmouth) , and has the reputation of being a most daring, gallant officer. He was made a lieutenant in May, 1807, and commanded the battering flotilla attached to the squadron under his patron, at the battle of Algiers. ”

“ On her passage out, she engaged two of the enemy's cruisers, and Lieutenant Pellew's conduct in the action received the praise of his captain. She returned to England in December, when he left her to join the Apollo, commanded by his excellent friend and patron Captain Pownoll, who was so delighted to obtain once more the services of a follower whom he regarded with equal pride and affection, that he removed for his sake an officer of high connexions, whose seniority would have prevented Mr. Pellew from being the first lieutenant. ”

“ The decision of Captain Pellew on this occasion proved as fortunate as it was honourable. At the beginning of 1793, there was no appearance of hostilities; and when the French republicans put to death their king, on the 21st of January, and declared war against England twelve days after, the Government, which had made no preparation for such an event, was taken by surprise almost as much as the country. The navy was on the peace establishment, with only sixteen thousand seamen and marines; and it became necessary in the course of the year to raise for it sixty thousand men. ”

“ 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 ”

“ In May 1816 he was appointed commander-in-chief on the North American station, with his flag in the Leander, but his sailing was delayed to permit of his going as second in command under Lord Exmouth in the expedition against Algiers [see Pellew, Edward, Viscount Exmouth] . ”

“ The crew of the Imperieuse, who had often distinguished themselves in these attacks, petitioned their captain to remain with them, when he had been appointed to a finer ship, and offered to prove their attachment to him by taking any two French frigates they could meet. It is right to add, that their captain, a son of the great and good Lord Duncan, submitted their petition to Sir Edward Pellew, who continued him with his faithful followers. "You are a brave nation," said Napoleon at Elba to an English captain, one of Sir Edward's officers, "so are the French ”

“ It is become our duty to prevent the Dutch ships of war from acting under the control of France in hostility to the British." He then proposed that the ships of war, and all vessels under French colours, be given up, promising in that case security for the inhabitants and garrison; and threatening, in the event of a refusal, those hostile operations which the naval and military forces were jointly prepared to accomplish. Captain Fleetwood Pellew, with a military officer, and the Admiral's secretary, delivered this proposal to the French commodore ”

“ To Mr. Bunce, second lieutenant, I am much indebted for his exertions on the main-deck, and his diligence was unremitting in distributing men where most wanted. Mr. Ritchie, master's mate, was particularly distinguished for [Pg 36] his gallantry and activity; and the behaviour of the whole, my Lord, was such as entitles them to my warmest gratitude, and general commendation. Most of the wounded are dangerously so, being all by cannon balls. We had three guns dismounted.
"Edward Pellew."
Lord Sandwich's communication to him was equally kind and prompt. ”

“ Active occupation, indeed, was essential to his comfort, and he found a life on shore most irksome. At length, in 1786, he commissioned the Winchelsea, for the Newfoundland station. Among her midshipmen was the late gallant Sir Christopher Cole, [2] to whose pen the reader is indebted for the following animated sketch of his service in that frigate: [Pg 40] —
"I joined the Winchelsea under Captain Edward Pellew's command in 1786, recommended to him by my brother. ”

“ The gale increasing in the afternoon, it was determined to run for greater safety to Catwater; but the buoy at the extremity of the reef off Mount Batten having broke adrift, of which the pilots were not aware, she touched on the shoal, and carried away her rudder. Thus rendered unmanageable, she fell off, and grounded under the citadel, where, beating round, she lay rolling heavily with her broadside to the waves. At the second roll she threw all her masts over board together.
Sir Edward and Lady Pellew were on their way to dine with Dr. ”

“ The secret of the enemy's intentions was so well kept, that England had to conjecture the destination of the armament, and it was doubted to the [Pg 90] last whether its object was Ireland, Portugal, or Gibraltar. In this uncertainty, a principal division of the Channel fleet, under Lord Bridport, remained at Spithead: Sir Roger Curtis, with a smaller force, cruised to the westward; and Vice-Admiral Sir John Colpoys was stationed off Brest, at first with ten, but afterwards with thirteen sail of the line. Sir Edward Pellew, with a small force of frigates, latterly watched the harbour. ”

“ His brother, who had always encouraged his every ambitious, and every honourable feeling, and who, even at this time, confidently anticipated for him a career of high distinction, of which, indeed, his past life afforded ample promise, would not for a moment listen to his entering a foreign service. He said, that every man owes his services, blood, and life, so exclusively to his own country that he has no right to give them to another; and he desired Captain Pellew to reflect how he would answer for it to his God, if he lost his life in a cause which had no claim upon him. ”

“ The seaman-like style in which the Cleopatra was handled did not escape the eye of Captain Pellew; who, conscious of his own disadvantage, from the inexperience of his ship's company, determined to avail himself of the power which the enemy's gallantry afforded him, to bring the ships at once to close action, and let courage alone decide it. ”

“ 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. ”

“ No man could be prouder of his county than Captain Pellew himself; and, as it was an object much coveted by the most promising of its young men to serve in his ship, and he continued steadily to patronize those who showed themselves deserving, there is scarcely a town in it from which he has not made officers. ”

“ The capture of the first frigate in a war is always an object of much interest; and the circumstances of the late action, the merit of which was enhanced by the skill and gallantry of the enemy, gave additional importance to Captain Pellew's success. ”

“ His Lordship embarked on board the Queen Charlotte, of 108 guns, at Portsmouth, on the 20th July; but from the continuance of adverse winds and calms, the land to the westward of Algiers was not made before the 26th August. The next morning at day-break the British fleet, and six Dutch frigates by which it was accompanied, were advanced in sight of the city, though not so near as was intended. As the ships were becalmed, Lord Exmouth despatched a boat under cover of the Severn, with a flag of truce, and the demands he had to make, in the name of the Prince Regent, on the Dey of Algiers. ”

“ It was his practice to have a special and general service of thanksgiving after every signal deliverance, or success. Too often is it found, that with the accession of worldly honours, the man becomes more forgetful of the good Providence from which he received them. From this evil, Lord Exmouth was most happily kept; and additional distinctions only confirmed the unaffected simplicity and benevolence of his character. When he was fitting out his fleet for Algiers, amidst all the anxiety of hurried preparations, he took care that every ship should be properly supplied with the sacred volume. ”

“ 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. ”