Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet

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Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet
HMS Naiad
HMS Vestal
HMS Phoenix
HMS Concorde
HMS Melampus
HMS Diamond
HMS Captain
HMS Donegal
HMS Caesar
Battles/warsAmerican Revolutionary War

French Revolutionary Wars

War of the Third Coalition

War of the Fifth Coalition

AwardsGCB
RelationsJohn Strachan (Uncle)

Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB (27 October 1760 – 3 February 1828) was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admiral. Sir Dicky, as his friends referred to him, was the last Chief of Clan Strachan. The Baronetcy became dormant in 1854 as he died without male heir.

Childhood

Strachan was born in Devon on 27 October 1760, the eldest son of Lieutenant Patrick Strachan RN and a daughter of Captain Pitman RN. His uncle was Sir John Strachan, fifth baronet. Strachan entered the Royal Navy in 1772 at the age of twelve, serving first aboard HMS Intrepid. He sailed with Intrepid to the East Indies, before moving to HMS Orford, then under the command of his uncle. He went on to serve in a number of different ships on the North American Station, first aboard HMS Preston under Commodore William Hotham, followed by HMS Eagle, the flagship of Lord Howe.

Early career

Strachan went on to serve aboard

Bailli de Suffren on 16 April 1781. After this action, Hero moved on to the East Indies, where Strachan moved to take up a post, first aboard HMS Magnanime and then aboard HMS Superb. It was whilst aboard Superb that Strachan was present at the first of four actions that took place between Sir Edward Hughes and de Suffren, the Battle of Sadras
on 17 February 1782.

First commands

After acquitting himself well, Strachan was promoted by Hughes in January 1783 to the command of the

Tippu Sultan. Résolue resisted Phoenix and a brief fight ensued before Résolue struck her colours. Trublet de Villejégu, captain of Résolue, insisted on considering his ship as a British prize, so Cornwallis ordered Strachan to tow her into Mahé
and return her to the French commodore.

Off the French coast

Strachan returned to England in 1793, and was appointed to command the frigate HMS Concorde and in spring 1794 joined a squadron patrolling off Brest, under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren. The squadron engaged a rival squadron of four French frigates on 23 April 1794 and succeeded in capturing three of them. Strachan and Concorde had forced the surrender of one of them, the frigate L'Engageante.[1] Strachan was then appointed to the 42-gun HMS Melampus which was attached in the summer to the main British fleet. In spring 1795 Strachan was dispatched in command of a squadron of five frigates to cruise off the Normandy and Brittany coasts. He was highly successful at this, capturing or destroying a considerable number of French coastal craft, many laden with military stores and conveyed by armed French warships. On 9 May 1795, he captured Crache-feu, a French three-gun vessel.[2]

Command of the Diamond and the Captain

In 1796 Strachan was appointed to command

Sir Sidney Smith had been captured during a cutting-out expedition. On 31 December 1796, Strachan captured the French 12-gun brig Amaranthe,[3]
which the Royal Navy took into service as HMS Amaranthe.

Strachan commanded Diamond until 1799, when he took command of the 74-gun

third rate HMS Captain. He took her off the west coast of France, at times operating as part of a squadron, and at other times alone. On 5 November 1800 he came to the assistance of the stranded and sinking HMS Marlborough
, which had struck a ledge of rocks near Isle Grouat during the previous night's gale. Captain's boats were pushed through the surf and were able to take off Marlborough's officers and crew.

Later that month, on 17 November, Captain chased a French convoy through the Teignouse Passage between

cutter Nile attacked the corvette and forced her aground in Port Navalo. The corvette struck her colours, at which point boats from HMS Magicienne
attempted to board and capture her. They were driven off by fire from the corvette and returned to Magicienne. Strachan meanwhile devised a plan to attack the French.

Later that day, Magicienne was ordered to approach, to draw the fire of the batteries. Strachan ordered Lieutenant Hannah and a party of seamen and marines into four boats, which were towed into the harbour by Suwarrow; while Nile and HMS Lurcher towed another four more boats manned by Marlborough's men who had been rescued by Strachan three weeks previously. Under heavy fire of grape, round and musket-balls from the shore battery high above, they boarded the corvette, and set her on fire. They then re-embarked and began heading back towards Captain, when the corvette blew up with a tremendous explosion. The British lost only one man killed, when a shot hit the fluke of Suwarrow's anchor, ricocheted, and struck the head of a sailor. Seven others were injured.[4]

In January 1801, Strachan almost died when Captain struck a rock off

HMS Fisgard and the cutter from HMS Lord Nelson. Captain fired distress guns until she reached the narrows, when all the boats from the dock and the fleet came out to assist her. Captain eventually made it to the Hamoaze, and went back into Cawsand Bay
on 5 May.

Command of the Donegal

Further information: Action of 25 November 1804

In 1802 Strachan was appointed to command

mizzen-top-mast
and was subsequently overhauled by Donegal.

A boat was dispatched from Donegal and the Spanish captain was brought aboard. Strachan did not speak Spanish and the captain did not speak English, so it was with difficulty that Strachan attempted to inform him that his orders were to return the Amfitrite back to Cadiz. Strachan allowed the captain three minutes to decide whether he would comply with the order, but after waiting for six minutes without an answer, opened fire on Amfitrite. The engagement lasted only eight minutes, and resulted in a number of deaths, including the Spanish captain, who fell to a musket ball. Amfitrite surrendered and after being searched, was found to be laden with stores and carrying dispatches from Cadiz to Tenerife and Havana. She was taken over and later commissioned into the Navy as HMS Amfitrite. Donegal would later make another capture off Cadiz, taking a Spanish vessel carrying a cargo reputed to be worth £200,000.

After Trafalgar

The Battle of Cape Ortegal. Strachan completes the destruction of the French fleet.

On 23 April 1804 Strachan was made a

Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB),[9] and the City of London voted him the freedom of the city, and awarded him a sword of honour.[10][11]

Later career

Strachan was soon back in service, being dispatched early in 1806 to search for a French squadron reported to have sailed for America. After searching for some time, he failed to locate it and instead returned to watch the port of

Mediterranean. Strachan gave chase, joining Admiral Collingwood's forces, but the French were able to gain the safety of Toulon. Strachan was ordered to return home, where, in 1809, he became Commander-in-Chief, North Sea, watching the Dutch
coast.

respects
on their return from the Glorious Expedition (caricature)

On 9 June 1809, he was appointed as the naval commander of an expedition, consisting of 264 warships and 352 transports carrying 44,000 troops, to attack the island of

King George III in 1810, blaming Strachan for the expedition's failure. Strachan defended himself, declaring that the ships had done all that had been required of them. He nevertheless became the scapegoat
for the failure, and was not given any more assignments.

The confusion and conflicting accounts led to the following doggerel verse:

Great Chatham, with his sabre drawn,

Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan;
Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em,

Stood waiting for the Earl of Chatham.[11]

Later life

Despite these controversies, promotion being entirely on the basis of seniority, he was made a Rear-Admiral of the Red on 25 October 1809,

Napoleon, and his temporary incarceration aboard HMS Bellerophon
in 1815, Strachan set out to see the man he had spent most of his career fighting to defeat. Napoleon himself was apparently aware of Strachan's deeds.

On Thursday he [Napoleon Bonaparte] gratified the spectators with his appearance frequently on the poop and gangway, on which occasions the British, as well as the French officers, stood uncovered and apart! One of his officers intimating to him, that Sir Richard Strachan was in a barge alongside, Bonaparte instantly took off his hat, and bowed to him with a smile.[11]

The Order of the Bath was reorganised on 2 January 1815, with surviving Knights Companion becoming the first Knights Grand Cross (GCB).[18] Strachan died at his house in Bryanston Square, London, on 3 February 1828. He had married Louisa Dillon, Marchioness of Salsa, in 1812, and together they had three daughters, but no son. The baronetcy became extinct upon his death.

Assessment

Strachan became famous during his career for his ungovernable temper and violent cursing. This eventually earned him the nickname of 'Mad Dick' among his men, but he remained a popular and sought-after commander. Captain Graham Moore, the brother of Sir John Moore, described him on the eve of the Walcheren expedition as

one of those in our service whom I estimate the highest. I do not believe he has his fellow among the Admirals, unless it be Pellew, for ability, and it is not possible to have more zeal and gallantry.[19]

Despite the failure of the venture, he was later to declare that

It is my wish to serve with Strachan, as I know him to be extremely brave and full of zeal and ardour, at the same time that he is an excellent seaman, and, tho' an irregular, impetuous fellow, possessing very quick parts and an uncommon share of sagacity and strong sense.[19]

Notes

a.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography lists him as the 4th, but both Debrett's and Burke's Peerage
list him as the 6th.

Footnotes

  1. ^ "No. 13646". The London Gazette. 28 April 1794. p. 379. Strachan's dispatch describing the capture of L'Engageante
  2. ^ "No. 13778". The London Gazette. 12 May 1795. p. 453. Strachan's dispatch describing the capture of the Crache-feu
  3. ^ "No. 13967". The London Gazette. 31 December 1796. p. 3.
  4. ^ "No. 15315". The London Gazette. 29 November 1800. p. 1349. Strachan's dispatch describing the action near the Teignouse Passage
  5. ^ "No. 15695". The London Gazette. 21 April 1804. p. 496.
  6. ^ Strachan's original dispatches describing the battle of Cape Ortegal:
    "No. 15860". The London Gazette. 11 November 1805. pp. 1389–1392. (third and fourth pages missing)
    "No. 15861". The London Gazette. 9 November 1805. pp. 1399–1400.
  7. ^ "No. 15859". The London Gazette. 5 November 1805. pp. 1373–1375.
  8. ^ "No. 15894". The London Gazette. 25 February 1806. p. 264.
  9. ^ "No. 15885". The London Gazette. 28 January 1806. p. 128.
  10. ^ Account of the battle Archived 28 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ a b c Clan Strachan.com[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ Strachan's original dispatches describing the Walcheren expedition:
    "No. 16282". The London Gazette. 7 August 1809. pp. 1232–1233.
    "No. 16287". The London Gazette. 15 August 1809. pp. 1297–1299.
    "No. 16289". The London Gazette. 20 August 1809. pp. 1325–1328.
    "No. 16325". The London Gazette. 16 December 1809. pp. 2006–2007.
    "No. 16328". The London Gazette. 26 December 1809. pp. 2056–2057.
  13. ^ "No. 16309". The London Gazette. 24 October 1809. pp. 1685–1686.
  14. ^ "No. 16391". The London Gazette. 28 July 1810. pp. 1117–1118.
  15. ^ "No. 16632". The London Gazette. 11 August 1812. p. 1584.
  16. ^ "No. 16906". The London Gazette. 7 June 1814. p. 1187.
  17. ^ "No. 17727". The London Gazette. 20 July 1821. p. 1511.
  18. ^ "No. 16972". The London Gazette. 4 January 1815. p. 17.
  19. ^ a b (Maxwell, Vol 1, No. 95)

Literature

  • Thomas A. Wise, Life and Naval Career of Admiral Sir Richard J. Strachan, Baronet, G.C.B. in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society', Vol. 2. (1873), pp. 32–53.
  • The Creevey papers, ed. H. Maxwell, 2nd edn, 2 vols. (1904)

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Commander-in-Chief, North Sea
1809–1810 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of Nova Scotia
Preceded by
Baronet

(of Thornton, Kincardine)
1777–1828 		Dormant
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