Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer)
Sir Sidney Smith | |
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Born | Westminster, London, England | 21 June 1764
Died | 26 May 1840 Paris, France | (aged 75)
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | Royal Navy |
Years of service | 1777–1815 |
Rank | Admiral |
Battles/wars |
|
Awards | Knight Commander of the Bath |
Smith was known for his outspoken character and penchant for acting on his own initiative, which caused a great deal of friction with many of his superiors and colleagues. His military skill, personal intelligence and enterprise led to his involvement in a variety of tasks which involved warfare, diplomacy and
Early life and career
Sidney Smith, as he always called himself, was born into a military and naval family with connections to the
For his bravery under
He distinguished himself under Admiral
During the peace, Smith chose to travel to France and first became involved with intelligence matters while observing the construction of the new naval port at Cherbourg. He also traveled in Spain and Morocco which were also potential enemies.
In 1790, he applied for permission to serve in the
Service in the French Revolutionary Wars
In 1792, Smith's younger brother, John, was appointed to the British embassy to the Ottoman court in Constantinople. Smith obtained permission to travel to Turkey. While there, war broke out with Revolutionary France in January 1793. Smith recruited some British seamen and sailed to join the British fleet under Admiral Lord Hood which had occupied the French Navy's principal Mediterranean port of Toulon at the invitation of the French Royalist forces.
By Smith's arrival in December 1793, the Revolutionary forces, including a colonel of artillery,
On his return to London, Smith was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Diamond and in 1795 joined the Western Squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren. This squadron consisted of some of the most skillful and daring captains including Sir Edward Pellew. Smith fitted this pattern and on one occasion took his ship almost into the port of Brest to observe the French fleet.
In July 1795, Captain Smith, commanding the western frigate squadron in HMS Diamond, occupied the Îles Saint-Marcouf off the coast of Normandy. He sacrificed two of his gun vessels, HMS Badger and HMS Sandfly, to provide materials and manpower for fortifying the islands and setting a temporary naval garrison. Further defences were constructed by Royal Engineers, and Royal Marines and Royal Artillery detachments were established. The islands served as a forward base for the blockade of Le Havre, a launching point for intercepting coastal shipping, and as a transit point for French émigrés, and were held by the Navy for nearly seven years.
Smith specialised in inshore operations, and on 19 April 1796, he and his secretary
Smith was held in Paris for two years, despite a number of efforts to exchange him and frequent contacts with both French Royalists and British agents. Notably Captain Jacques Bergeret, captured in April 1796 with the frigate Virginie,[6] was sent from England to Paris to negotiate his own exchange; when the Directoire refused, he returned to London. The French authorities threatened several times to try Smith for arson, but never followed up the threats. Eventually in 1798 the Royalists, who pretended to be taking him to another prison, helped Smith and Wright to escape.[7] The royalists brought the two Englishmen to Le Havre, where they boarded an open fishing boat and were picked up on 5 May by HMS Argo on patrol in the English Channel, arriving in London on 8 May 1798.[8] Bergeret was then released, the British government considering the prisoner exchange as completed.[6]
Service in the Mediterranean
Following
Napoleon, having defeated the Ottoman forces in Egypt, marched north along the Mediterranean coast with 13,000 troops through
Smith sailed to Acre and helped the Turkish commander
Once the siege began in late March 1799, Smith anchored HMS Tigre and Theseus so their broadsides could assist the defence. Repeated French assaults were driven back, several attempts to mine the walls were prevented. By early May, replacement French siege artillery had arrived overland and a breach was forced in the defences. However, the assault was again repelled and Turkish reinforcements from Rhodes[9] were able to land. On 9 May after another fierce bombardment, the final French assault was made. This, too, was repelled and Napoleon began making plans for the withdrawal of his army to Egypt. Shortly after this, Napoleon abandoned his army in Egypt and sailed back to France evading the British ships patrolling the Mediterranean.
Smith attempted to negotiate the surrender and repatriation of the remaining French forces under General
The British decided instead to land an army under Sir
Service in British waters
Annuity to Sir Sidney Smith Act 1801 | |
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Act of Parliament | |
Long title | An Act to enable His Majesty to grant a certain Annuity to Captain Sir Sidney Smith, in consideration of the eminent Services which he has rendered during his Command on the Coast of Egypt. |
Citation | 41 Geo. 3 c 5 |
Dates | |
Royal assent | 24 March 1801 |
Expired | 26 May 1840 |
Repealed | 10 August 1872 |
Other legislation | |
Repealed by | Statute Law Revision Act 1872 |
Status: Repealed | |
Text of statute as originally enacted |
On his return to England in 1801, Smith received some honours and a pension of £1,000 for his services, but he was overshadowed again by Nelson who was being acclaimed as the victor of the
With the resumption of war with France in 1803, Smith was employed in the southern
Smith was interested in new and unusual methods of warfare. In 1804 and 1805, he worked with the American inventor
Further service in the Mediterranean
In November 1805, Smith was promoted to rear admiral, he was again sent to the Mediterranean under the command of Collingwood, who had become the commander-in-chief following Nelson's death. Collingwood sent him to assist King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies to regain his capital of Naples from Napoleon's brother King Joseph, who had been given the Kingdom of Naples.
Smith planned a campaign using Calabrian irregular troops with a force of 5,000 British officers and men to march north on Naples. On 4 July 1806, they defeated a larger French force at the
Smith was sent to join Admiral Sir
Portugal and Brazil
In October 1807, Spain and France
Upon safe arrival to Brazil escorting the Portuguese Royal Family, Admiral Smith was awarded by the
Mediterranean again
In July 1812, Smith again sailed for the Mediterranean aboard his new flagship, the
Peace and Waterloo
In March 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and gathering his veteran troops marched on
Smith then took up the anti-slavery cause. The Barbary pirates had operated for centuries out of a number of North African ports. They had enslaved captured sailors and even made raids to kidnap people from European coasts, including England and Ireland. Smith attended the Congress of Vienna to campaign for funds and military action to end the practice of slave taking.
Smith had managed to run up significant debts through his diplomatic expenses, which the British government proved to be very slow in reimbursing. He also lived high lifestyle and his efforts to mobilise opinion against the slave trade had cost a good deal of money. In Britain, at that time debtors were often imprisoned until their debts were paid, so Smith moved his family to France, settling in Paris. Eventually the government did reimburse his expenditures and increased his pension, allowing him to live in some style. Despite frequent attempts to obtain a seagoing position, he was never to hold a command again. He died on 26 May 1840 of a stroke. He is buried with his wife in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
On 7 April 1801
See also
- O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). John Murray – via Wikisource. . .
- Barrow, John (1848): The life and correspondence of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, Volume 1
- Barrow, John (1848): The life and correspondence of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith, Volume 2 (from 1800 onwards.)
References
- ^ Pocock 1998, p. 114.
- ^ Thiers, Adolphe (1839). Histoire de la Révolution française (in French). Vol. 10 (13th ed.). Paris, France: Furne et Cie. p. 299. From p. 299: "Mais son regret fut tel, que malgré sa destinée inouïe, on lui a entendu répéter souvent, en parlant de Sidney-Smith: Cet homme m'a fait manquer ma fortune." (But his [i.e., Napoleon's] regret was such that despite his extraordinary destiny, one heard him often repeat, in speaking of Sidney-Smith: That man made me miss my chance.)
- ^ a b c d Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 272.
- ^ British Museum Online Catalogue - 1963,1214.14
- ^ "Portrait of Sir Sidney Smith in the Temple Prison". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 15 July 2022..
- ^ a b Ladimir & Moreau 1856, Tome 5, pp. 42–43.
- ^ Roy Adkins (2006), The War for All the Oceans, Abacus, p. 3
- ^ United Service Magazine, 1870 (3): 520
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(help). - ^ The site of the acropolis in Rhodes town is still named “Monte Smith” after the admiral, who was stationed there in the early 1800s to report on the movements of Napoleon’s fleet. See, e.g., Lawrence Durrell, Reflections on a Marine Venus (1953, page 76).
- ^ Order of the Tower and Sword, J Varnoso, archived from the original on 25 August 2007.
- ^ Dowager Lady De Ros 1889, p. 41.
- ^ History, Sidney Chamber.
- ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". UK: Royal Society. Retrieved 19 October 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "No. 19638". The London Gazette. 20 July 1838. pp. 1659–1660.
- Dowager Lady De Ros, Georgina (1889), "Personal Recollections of the Great Duke of Wellington", Murray's Magazine, Part I (January or February): 41.
- Ladimir, F; Moreau, E (1856), Campagnes, thriomphes, revers, désastres et guerres civiles des Français de 1792 à la paix de 1856, vol. 5, Librairie Populaire des Villes et des Campagnes, pp. 42–44
- Pocock, Thomas "Tom" (1998), A Thirst for Glory: The Life of Admiral Sir Sidney Smith, London: Pimlico, ISBN 0-7126-7341-5
- Shankland, Peter (1975), Beware of Heroes: Admiral Sir Sidney Smith's War Against Napoleon, London: William Kimber
External links
- Media related to Sidney Smith (Royal Navy officer) at Wikimedia Commons
- Admiral Sir Sydney Smith collection at the British Museum