Sir Edward Hamilton, 1st Baronet
Sir Edward Hamilton Admiral | |
|---|---|
| Commands held | HMS Comet HMS Surprise |
| Battles/wars | Battle of the Hyères Islands Cutting-out of HMS Hermione |
| Awards | KCB |
| Relations | Sir John Hamilton (father) Sir Charles Hamilton (brother) |
Family and early life
Hamilton was born on 22 March 1772, the second and younger son of Captain Sir John Hamilton, who was subsequently created a baronet in 1776. Edward Hamilton's mother was Cassandra Agnes, sister of Admiral Charles Chamberlayne. Edward first appeared on the muster books of his father's ship, the 74-gun HMS Hector, in 1777 when he was five years old.[1] He did not actually join the ship until the age of seven, when he came aboard on 21 May 1779 at the rank of midshipman. He sailed with the Hector to the Jamaica station, where he was subsequently lent to HMS Ramillies.[1] He returned to England after the end of the war and attended the Royal Grammar School, Guildford. He subsequently returned to active service in 1787, spending the next three years aboard the 74-gun HMS Standard. He took and passed his lieutenant's examination in 1790, after which he moved aboard the 36-gun frigate HMS Melampus, under Captain Charles Pole.[1]
Early French Revolutionary Wars
Hamilton then joined the 100-gun
He returned to the Victory on 10 July 1794, being appointed her ninth lieutenant. Admiral Hood showed him special favour, though, when he exercised his right to promote whom he wished, and on 7 October he appointed Hamilton as Victory's first lieutenant. with dispatches.
Promotion to command
He was again promoted, this time to
Recovering the Hermione
The Hermione was a former frigate of the Royal Navy, commanded by Captain
He and a force of some 100 soldiers and sailors in ships' boats approached the Santa Cecilia, which was heavily manned with around 400 Spanish, and lay under the guns of two shore batteries, together mounting some 200 guns.
Rewards
Hamilton was widely lauded for his daring feat. The
Decline
Perhaps due to the injury to his head he had sustained in the action on the Hermione, or because of a degree of insanity aggravated by the hero worship he received, Hamilton soon revealed a ruthless streak.[2] In October 1800, he was appointed to HMS Trent[11] and on 22 January 1802 brought to court-martial on a charge of having strung his gunner and the gunner's mates in the rigging for a trivial offence, a punishment that was both excessive and illegal. The offence proved, Hamilton was dismissed from the navy. He was restored in June 1802 but never again received employment in an operational role.[2]
George Vernon Jackson joined Trent in 1801 as a midshipman and found his new captain to be a man who ran his ship in much the same way as Pigot.[12][13] Trent's log book reveals that Hamilton was every bit as fond of the lash, which Jackson described as being "incessantly at work".[12] Later, having risen to the rank of admiral, he recalled his time aboard;
I should be loth to say what my opinion of Sir Edward Hamilton might have become had I stopped much longer in Trent. As each new day passed, so did I conceive new terrors of this man. A more uncompromising disciplinarian did not exist, or one less scrupulous in exacting the due fulfilment of his orders, whatever they were The Trent, I must admit, was in excellent order; indeed as regards discipline and the general efficiency of her company, she was equal, if not superior, to any other frigate afloat; but those qualities had all been prompted at no small sacrifice to humanity. No sailor was allowed to walk from one place to another on deck, and woe betide an unfortunate fellow who halted in his run aloft.[12][14]
Admitted as
See also
- O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). . . John Murray – via Wikisource.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Tracy. Who's who in Nelson's Navy. p. 168.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Tracy. Who's who in Nelson's Navy. p. 169.
- ^ Dye. The Fatal Cruise of the Argus. pp. 203–4.
- ^ Grundner. The Ramage Companion. pp. 96–7.
- ^ Guttridge. Mutiny. p. 80.
- ^ a b Fichett. Deeds that Won the Empire. pp. 121–2.
- ^ a b c The Naval Chronicle. pp. 310–311.
- ^ Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy. p. 162.
- ^ a b c d Tales of the wars. pp. 106–7.
- ^ Admiralty. The Navy List. p. 429.
- ^ Winfield p. 148
- ^ a b c Slope p. 11
- ^ Parrill p. 216
- ^ Pope pp. 191-192
- ^ "Hamilton, Sir Edward (HMLN802E)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
References
- Tracy, Nicholas (2006). Who's who in Nelson's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes. London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 1-86176-244-5.
- Fitchett, William Henry (2007). Deeds that Won the Empire: Historic Battle Scenes. BiblioBazaa. ISBN 978-1-4264-9632-5.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Dye, Ira (1994). The Fatal Cruise of the Argus: Two Captains in the War of 1812. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-175-0.
- Grundner, Tom (2007). The Ramage Companion: The Companion Book to the Ramage Nautical Adventure Series. Fireship Press. ISBN 978-1-934757-05-5.
- Guttridge, Leonard F. (2006). Mutiny: A History of Naval Insurrection. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-348-9.
- Parrill, Sue (2009). Nelson's Navy in Fiction and Film. London: McFarland Inc. ISBN 978-07864-5803-5.
- Pope, Dudley (2013). Life in Nelson's Navy. Looe: House of Stratus. ISBN 978-07551-3063-4.
- Slope, Nick (August 2005). Serving in Nelson's Navy - A Social History of Three Amazon-Class Frigates (1795-1811) (PDF) (PhD thesis). Thames Valley University, London. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
- The Navy List. H.M. Stationery Office. 1867.
- The Naval Chronicle. Vol. 3. J. Gold. 1800.
- Tales of the wars; or, Naval and military chronicle. William M. Clark. 1836.
- Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Barnsley, United Kingdom: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.
