William Cornwallis
GCB | |
|---|---|
 Admiral William Cornwallis after a Portrait by Daniel Gardner, Published in the Naval Chronicle | |
| Member of Parliament for Eye | |
| In office 1801–1807 | |
| In office 1790–1800 | |
| In office 1782–1784 | |
| In office 1768–1774 | |
| Member of Parliament for Portsmouth | |
| In office 1784–1790 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 February 1744 |
| Died | 5 July 1819 (aged 75) |
| Relations | |
| Battles/wars |
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His affectionate contemporary nickname from "the ranks" was Billy Blue, and a sea shanty was written during his period of service, reflecting the admiration his men had for him.[2]
Early life
William Cornwallis was born 10 February 1744. His father was
Seven Years' War
The young William entered the navy in 1755 aboard the 80-gun HMS Newark bound for North America in the fleet of Admiral Edward Boscawen. Cornwallis was shortly after exchanged into HMS Kingston and was present in her at the siege of Louisbourg in 1758. The siege was one of the pivotal battles of the war. Louisbourg was the only deep water harbour that the French controlled in North America, and its capture enabled the British to launch an attack on Quebec City. General James Wolfe's attack on Quebec and victory at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham saw the beginning of the end of French colonisation in North America.
When Kingston returned to England in 1759, Cornwallis was taken aboard the 60-gun
Cornwallis remained in Dunkirk when she was assigned to the Mediterranean fleet then commanded by Admiral
In July 1762, Cornwallis received his first command in the 8-gun
American Revolutionary War
When the French lent their official support to the American cause in 1778 with the
Battle of Grenada
The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779. d'Estaing saw the British fleet of 21 ships of the line approaching and weighed anchor. Byron gave chase and attempted to form line of battle as per the Sailing and Fighting Instructions set down by Admiral Blake in 1653. d'Estaing, realising that his force although superior in guns was not so in numbers, had ordered his captains not to engage directly but to bear away when British ships approached and to bear down on any individual ship that might through wind or poor seamanship become separated from the line.
This tactic proved successful and d'Estaing's ships managed to escape the superior force causing considerable damage to three of the British ships. Cornwallis' Lion was one of those ships and when he became separated from the British fleet she was forced to break away and make a run for Jamaica rather than risk capture.[5] Lion suffered a reported 21 killed and 30 wounded.[5]
Duty in the West Indies
During his time in the West Indies, Cornwallis came to own, then later free the "doctoress"
Lion remained on the Jamaica station under the orders of Admiral Peter Parker and when she was repaired began a series of cruises in the West Indies. On 20 April 1780 Cornwallis was in command of a small squadron of two line-of-battle ships, Lion and HMS Bristol and one large 44-gun frigate, HMS Janus.
Off Saint-Domingue the small British squadron discovered a convoy under the protection of four ships-of-the-line and one frigate commanded by Monsieur de la Motte Picquet. The French chased and the British ran. The French outsailed the British ships and when in range opened fire. The chase continued throughout the night and into the morning of the 21st. The breeze died and the two squadrons began to repair their damage. When the wind blew once more the chase renewed and continued throughout the night of the 21st and into the 22nd.
On the morning of the 22nd three sails appeared to
Cornwallis returned to England in Lion in June 1781 and took part in the
Canada was with Hood's fleet at the
Battle of the Saintes
Had a chief worthy Britain commanded our fleet,
Twenty-five good French ships had been laid at our feet.[10]
It appears that the criticisms of Admiral Hood and Cornwallis went unheard and Rodney was created a baron and given a life pension of £2,000 per year. Cornwallis was sent home under Rear-Admiral Thomas Graves with the convoy that included the captured French flagship Ville de Paris. A violent storm hit the convoy and Ville de Paris sank along with several of the convoy and one of the escorts, HMS Centaur.[11] The convoy and her escorts finally arrived at Portsmouth and Canada was paid off in October 1782.
Home service and peace
In January 1783 Cornwallis was given command of
Third Anglo-Mysore War
In November 1791 Cornwallis ordered that French shipping be intercepted and searched for contraband. The British and French were not at war but the French were openly aiding the Tipu Sultan in his war against the British. Cornwallis detached Captain Richard Strachan in HMS Phoenix to intercept the French frigate Résolue and two French merchant ships that were heading for the French held port of Mangalore. The subsequent Battle of Tellicherry[12]
French Revolutionary Wars
Though the conflict with Tipu Sultan was over, the French Revolutionary Wars had only begun. Promoted to rear-admiral on 1 February 1793, Cornwallis remained in the area and aided in the capture of Pondicherry, captaining his new flagship, the frigate HMS Minerva, and commanding a small flotilla of three East Indiamen[14]—Triton, Princess Charlotte, and Calcutta (1795).[citation needed] He left command of Pondicherry to Captain King and returned to England, docking at Spithead in August 1793.[15] He was succeeded in command of the East Indies Station by Commodore (later Admiral) Peter Rainier.
In May 1794 he hoisted his flag aboard the 74-gun
First Battle of Groix
Cornwallis was cruising near Brest with five ships of the line, Royal Sovereign, HMS Mars, HMS Triumph, HMS Brunswick, HMS Bellerophon, two frigates and one cutter, HMS Phaeton, HMS Pallas, HMS Kingfisher when a French fleet of twelve sail of the line and fourteen large frigates appeared, commanded by Admiral Villaret Joyeuse. The odds being very greatly against him, he was compelled to order a retreat. But two of his ships were slow and unweatherly and fell behind the rest. The van of the French fleet began to catch the two slower British ships. The rearmost ship, Mars, was caught and suffered severely in her rigging and was in danger of being surrounded by the French.[16] Witnessing this, Cornwallis turned his squadron around to support her. The French admiral made the assumption that Cornwallis must have sighted assistance beyond his own field of vision and had turned to engage the enemy knowing that a superior force was nearby to come to their relief. The French admiral ordered his ships to disengage and Cornwallis and his small squadron retreated in order.[citation needed] The action is remarkable evidence of the moral superiority which the victory of the Glorious First of June, and the known efficiency of the British crews, had given to the Royal Navy. The reputation of Cornwallis was amplified and the praise given him was no doubt the greater because he was personally very popular with officers and men.[16]
Court martial
In 1796 Cornwallis incurred a
Command of the Channel Fleet
Cornwallis was promoted Admiral of the Blue squadron on 14 February 1799,[17] and held the Channel Command for a short interval when Admiral Jervis (Earl St. Vincent) fell ill in 1801. Cornwallis took command once more when Jervis stood down as commander and became first Lord of the Admiralty between 1801 and 1804. On 23 April 1804 he advanced to the rank of Admiral of the White.[18] On 9 November 1805 he was promoted Admiral of the Red.[18] During this time Cornwallis was in charge of protecting the coast of the United Kingdom as Napoleon was building a large invasion force. Following Admiral Nelson's victory at Trafalgar, Cornwallis was removed from his post and Earl St. Vincent took his place.
Honours and politics
In 1796, Cornwallis was promoted to Rear-Admiral of Great Britain, the title becoming Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom after the Act of Union came into force in 1801,[19] and then in 1814 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom
His greatest honours might be considered to be his various nicknames among the sailors, "Billy go tight" (given on account of his rubicund complexion), as well as "Billy Blue", "Coachee", and "Mr Whip". Sailors appear to have only given nicknames to those commanders whom they liked. The various nicknames of Cornwallis seem to show that he was regarded with more of affection than reverence.[16] Cornwallis was also made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1815.
Cornwallis served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Eye during the periods, 1768–1774, 1782–1784, 1790–1800 and, 1801–1807. He also served as MP for Portsmouth from 1782 to 1790.
Later life
Cornwallis never married. In 1800 he leased and later purchased the Newlands estate in
References
- ^ The Naval Chronicle Vol. 16, p. 114
- ^ Famous Fighters of the Fleet: Billy Blue, A Ballad of the Fleet , by Edward Fraser 1905
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/6346. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Anderson, Fred (2001). Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766. Faber and Faber. p. 298.
- ^ a b "No. 12018". The London Gazette. 28 September 1779. p. 1.
- ^ Hill, Richard (1855). A week at Port Royal. Cornwall Chronicle Office. pp. 2–6. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
couba cornwallis.
- ^ Chisholm 1911.
- ^ "No. 12277". The London Gazette. 3 September 1782. pp. 2–3.
- ^ "No. 12396". The London Gazette. 12 October 1782. pp. 3–4.
- ^ Leyland, John (1899). Dispatches and letters relating to the blockade of Brest, 1803–1805. Printed for the Navy Records Society. p. xx.
- ISBN 0-85177-252-8.
- ^ Brenton, Edward Pelham (1823). The Naval History of Great Britain, Vol. I. London: Henry Colburn. pp. 208–210.
Boston.
- ISBN 0-85177-905-0.
- ^ James, p. 172
- ^ Brenton, p. 210
- ^ a b c d One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cornwallis, Sir William". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 183–184.
- ^ Harrison, Simon (2010–2020). "Sir William Cornwallis (1744–1819)". threedecks.org. Cy Harrison. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
- ^ a b Harrison
- ^ "No. 13875". The London Gazette. 15 March 1796. p. 258.
- ^ a b c d "Enjoy Milford on Sea". www.milfordonsea.org.
- Schom, A. (1990). Trafalgar: Countdown to battle 1803–1805. New York: Atheneum.
Bibliography
- The naval history of Great Britain from the declaration of war by France in February 1793 to the accession of George IV in January 1820 : with an account of the origin and progressive increase of the British Navy ... Five volumes (London Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, 1822–24); New edition in Six volumes ... and an account of the Burmese War and the battle of Navarino. (London: R. Bentley, 1837); (London: R. Bentley, 1847); (London: R. Bentley, 1859); (London: Richard Bentley, 1860); (London: Richard Bentley, 1886); (London: Macmillan, 1902); (London: Conway Maritime Press, 2002).
- The Naval Chronicle. Vol. 05. Bunney & Gold.
- The Naval Chronicle. Vol. 06. Bunney & Gold.
- The Naval Chronicle. Vol. 07. Bunney & Gold.
- Ralfe, J (1828). Naval Biography of Great Britain, Volume 1. Whitemore & Fenn.
- Dispatches and letters relating to the blockade of Brest, 1803–1805
External links
Media related to William Cornwallis (admiral) at Wikimedia Commons- "Archival material relating to William Cornwallis". UK National Archives.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
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