Sir William Cornwallis | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Portrait of Cornwallis byDaniel Gardner | |
| Member of Parliament forEye | |
| In office 1801–1807 | |
| In office 1790–1800 | |
| In office 1782–1784 | |
| In office 1768–1774 | |
| Member of Parliament forPortsmouth | |
| In office 1784–1790 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1744-02-20)20 February 1744 |
| Died | 5 July 1819(1819-07-05) (aged 75) |
| Relations | Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis,Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend |
| Nickname(s) | "Blue Billy"[1] "Coachee", "Billy go tight" and "Mr Whip" |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Great Britain United Kingdom |
| Branch/service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1755–1806 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | HMS Wasp HMS Swift HMS Prince Edward HMS Guadeloupe HMS Lion HMS Canada HMS Ganges HMYCharlotte HMS Robust HMS Crown East Indies Station Channel Fleet |
| Battles/wars | |
AdmiralSir William Cornwallis,GCB (20 February 1744 – 5 July 1819) was aRoyal Navy officer and politician. Cornwallis took part in a number of decisive battles including thesiege of Louisbourg in 1758, when he was 14, and theBattle of the Saintes but is best known as a friend ofLord Nelson and as the commander-in-chief of theChannel Fleet during theNapoleonic Wars. He is depicted in the Horatio Hornblower novel,Hornblower and the Hotspur. His affectionate contemporary nickname from "the ranks" wasBilly Blue, and asea shanty was written during his period of service, reflecting the admiration his men had for him.[2]
William Cornwallis was born 20 February 1744.[3] His father wasCharles, the fifthbaron and firstearl Cornwallis, and his mother was Elizabeth, daughter ofCharles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend. William was the younger brother of GeneralCharles Cornwallis. He went toEton College in 1753.[4]
The young William entered the navy in 1755 aboard the 80-gunHMS Newark bound for North America in the fleet ofAdmiralEdward Boscawen. Cornwallis was shortly after exchanged intoHMS Kingston and was present in her at thesiege 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 onQuebec City. GeneralJames Wolfe's attack on Quebec and victory at theBattle of the Plains of Abraham saw the beginning of the end of French colonisation in North America.
WhenKingston returned to England in 1759, Cornwallis was taken aboard the 60-gunDunkirk by CaptainRobert Digby. During theplanned French invasion of Britain in 1759,Dunkirk was with AdmiralEdward Hawke's squadron and took part in theBattle of Quiberon Bay against the French fleet under AdmiralConflans. The victory was part of what became known asAnnus Mirabilis of 1759 and in concert with the other victories of that year gave the Royal Navy almost complete dominance over the oceans for over a century. The succession of victories ledHorace Walpole to remark "our bells are worn threadbare ringing for victories".[5]
Cornwallis remained inDunkirk when she was assigned to the Mediterranean fleet then commanded by AdmiralCharles Saunders.Dunkirk was detached onblockade duty, ensuring the French fleet remained in the city ofHeraklion,Crete. Cornwallis moved to Saunders'flagshipHMS Neptune where he remained for little over a year. On 5 April 1761, Cornwallis passed his examination forlieutenant and was promoted into the newly commissionedthird-rateHMS Thunderer. In July 1761, Cornwallis was withThunderer and two otherline-of-battle ships blockadingCádiz. Two French ships escaped the blockade and the British squadron set off in pursuit.Thunderer caught up with the 64-gunAchille and captured her in asingle-ship action that lasted about half an hour. The British lost seventeen killed and one hundred and thirteen wounded.
In July 1762, Cornwallis received his first command in the 8-gunsloop-of-warHMS Wasp. In 1763, he was given command of the more powerful and newly launched 14-gunHMS Swift. He continued in her into the peace with France after theTreaty of Paris had ended the war in 1763. During the peace in 1765, he was promotedpost-captain and given command of the 44-gunHMS Prince Edward. He commanded her until she waspaid off and the ship was sold in 1766. In September of the same year, he was given command ofHMS Guadeloupe and was variously employed throughout the peace between theSeven Years' War and the outbreak of theAmerican Revolutionary War.
When the French lent their official support to the American cause in 1778 with theTreaty of Alliance and theTreaty of Amity and Commerce, the war between Britain and the United States became aglobal war. Captain Cornwallis was in command of the newly commissionedHMS Lion.Lion was sent, with AdmiralJohn Byron, to theWest Indies.
When war was officially declared, theComte d'Estaing, the French naval commander in North America swiftly captured the islands ofSaint Vincent andGrenada. Byron on hearing the news that Saint Vincent had been captured assembled his forces but on his way to recapture the island he received intelligence that d'Estaing and his fleet were in the process of capturing Grenada. Byron consequently took his fleet to Grenada in the hopes of engaging them and preventing the capture of Grenada. The island however had only held out for two days and was already in French hands.
TheBattle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779. d'Estaing saw the British fleet of 21 ships of the line approaching andweighed anchor. Byron gave chase and attempted to form line of battle as per theSailing and Fighting Instructions set down byAdmiral 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 forJamaica rather than risk capture.[6]Lion suffered a reported 21 killed and 30 wounded.[6]
During his time in the West Indies, Cornwallis came to own, then later free the "doctoress"Cubah Cornwallis. Cubah became Cornwallis' mistress and housekeeper inPort Royal, Jamaica. Later she treated Cornwallis' friend, CaptainHoratio Nelson on his return from the disastrous mission toNicaragua. She also treatedPrince William Henry, later William IV, when he was stationed in the West Indies.[7]
Lion remained on the Jamaica station under the orders of AdmiralPeter 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 andHMS Bristol and one large 44-gunfrigate,HMS Janus.
OffSaint-Domingue the small British squadron discovered a convoy under the protection of four ships-of-the-line and one frigate commanded byMonsieur 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 toleeward. The arrival of these new sails would determine the outcome of the battle. The newcomers proved to be the 64-gunHMS Ruby, the 32-gunHMS Niger and the 28-gunHMS Pomona. The French squadron bore away forCap-Français, leaving the two small British squadrons to repair and make for Jamaica. The British squadron under Cornwallis had lost 12 killed including Captain Glover of theJanus.
Cornwallis returned to England inLion in June 1781 and took part in thesecond relief of Gibraltar.[8] He was appointed to command the74-gunthird-rateHMS Canada, and immediately returned to the West Indies under the orders of AdmiralSamuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood.
Canada was with Hood's fleet at theBattle of St. Kitts in 1782. Hood took his 21 ships of the line and lured the French fleet of 29 ships of the line under theComte de Grasse from its anchorage atBasseterre on St. Kitts and then sailed into theroadstead and anchored. Hood then repulsed de Grasse's efforts to dislodge the British fleet. The Battle ofBrimstone Hill sealed the fate of the island despite Hood's efforts and St. Kitts fell into French hands. With the island in enemy hands and the French fleet cruising off the harbour, Hood was forced to withdraw and made his way toAntigua.Canada inCommodoreEdmund Affleck's division suffered 1 killed and 12 wounded.[9] On 22 March Hood joined AdmiralGeorge Rodney's fleet inBarbados.
Between 9 April 1782 and 12 April 1782,Canada made up part of the fleet of Admiral Rodney at theBattle of the Saintes. During the battle, Cornwallis andCanada were fourth in line on thestarboard tack in the centre division betweenHMS Repulse andHMS St Albans.Canada sustained 35 casualties in total with 12 killed and the rest wounded.[10] The outcome of the battle meant that the French and Spanish abandoned their planned invasion of Britain's most valuable Caribbean island, Jamaica. The battle, although a victory for the English caused a great deal of controversy in later years that included Cornwallis' direct criticism in writing of Rodney. The finalcouplet of the poem said to have been written in Cornwallis' own hand reads:
Had a chief worthy Britain commanded our fleet,
Twenty-five good French ships had been laid at our feet.[11]
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-AdmiralThomas Graves with the convoy that included the captured French flagshipVille de Paris. A violent storm hit the convoy andVille de Paris sank along with several of the convoy and one of the escorts,HMS Centaur.[12] The convoy and her escorts finally arrived atPortsmouth andCanada was paid off in October 1782.
In January 1783 Cornwallis was given command ofHMS Ganges and in March of the same year was moved toHM YachtCharlotte. The American Revolutionary War between Britain and the allied forces of America and France ended with Britain's defeat in September 1783 and the subsequent signing of theTreaty of Paris. With the peace came the downsizing of the navy. Cornwallis however remained employed in command of theroyal yacht until 1787. In 1787 he was briefly given command ofHMS Robust before hoisting hisbroad pennant as commodore in the 64-gunHMS Crown in October 1788 when he was appointedcommander-in-chief of theEast Indies Station.
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 theTipu Sultan in his war against the British. Cornwallis detached CaptainRichard Strachan inHMS Phoenix to intercept theFrench frigate Résolue and two French merchant ships that were heading for the French held port ofMangalore. The subsequentBattle of Tellicherry[13][14] sawPhoenix capture and search all of the vessels. The local French commander was outraged and sent word back to France, but the French authorities were too busy withinternal upheaval to pay the incident much notice.
Though the conflict with Tipu Sultan was over, theFrench Revolutionary Wars had only begun. Promoted to rear-admiral on 1 February 1793, Cornwallis remained in the area and aided in thecapture of Pondicherry, captaining his new flagship, the frigateHMS Minerva, and commanding a small flotilla of threeEast Indiamen[15]—Triton,Princess Charlotte, andCalcutta (1795).[citation needed] He left command of Pondicherry toCaptain King and returned to England, docking atSpithead in August 1793.[16] 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-gunHMS Excellent and was promoted vice-admiral of the blue squadron. In August he shifted his flag to the newer and larger 80-gunHMS Caesar and then once more in December to thefirst rateRoyal Sovereign. Throughout this period he was in command of various divisions within the Channel Fleet. The Channel Fleet was responsible for preventing invasion from France and for the blockade of French Channel ports.
On 16 June 1795 he was in command of a small squadron that sighted a much larger French fleet. The ensuing action became famously known as "The Retreat of Cornwallis."
Cornwallis was cruising nearBrest 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 AdmiralVillaret 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.[17] 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 theGlorious 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.[17]
In 1796 Cornwallis incurred acourt-martial (in consequence of a misunderstanding and apparently some temper on both sides) on the charge of refusing to obey an order from theAdmiralty. He was practically acquitted. The substance of the case was that he demurred on the ground of health at being called upon to go to the West Indies, in a small frigate, and without "comfort".[17]
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Cornwallis was promotedAdmiral of the Blue squadron on 14 February 1799,[18] and held the Channel Command for a short interval when AdmiralJervis (Earl St. Vincent) fell ill in 1801. Cornwallis took command once more when Jervis stood down as commander and becameFirst Lord of the Admiralty between 1801 and 1804. On 23 April 1804 he advanced to the rank ofAdmiral of the White.[19] On 9 November 1805 he was promotedAdmiral of the Red.[19] During this time Cornwallis was in charge of protecting the coast of the United Kingdom asNapoleon was building a large invasion force. Following Admiral Nelson's victory atTrafalgar, Cornwallis was removed from his post and Earl St. Vincent took his place.
In 1796, Cornwallis was promoted toRear-Admiral of Great Britain, the title becoming Rear-Admiral of the United Kingdom after theAct of Union came into force in 1801,[20] and then in 1814 he was promoted toVice-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.[17] Cornwallis was also made aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1815.
Cornwallis served asMember of Parliament (MP) forEye during the periods, 1768–1774, 1782–1784, 1790–1800 and, 1801–1807. He also served as MP forPortsmouth from 1782 to 1790.
Cornwallis never married. In 1800 he leased and later purchased the Newlands estate inMilford on Sea inHampshire.[21] He was joined by his close friend and fellow naval officer CaptainJohn Whitby and his wifeMary Anna Theresa Whitby.[21] John Whitby died in 1806, but Mary and her infant daughterTheresa stayed on looking after Cornwallis into his old age.[21] On Sir William Cornwallis' death in 1819, Mary Whitby and her daughter inherited his fortune.[21]
couba cornwallis.
Boston.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cornwallis, Sir William".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 183–184.
Media related toWilliam Cornwallis (admiral) at Wikimedia Commons
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station 1788–1794 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of Great Britain | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEye 1768–1774 With:The Viscount Allen 1768–1770 Richard Burton Phillipson 1770–1774 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEye 1782–1784 With:Richard Burton Phillipson | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forPortsmouth 1784–1790 With:Sir Henry Fetherstonhaugh | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forEye 1790–1800 With:Richard Burton Phillipson 1790–1792 Peter Bathurst 1792–1795 Viscount Brome 1795–1796 Mark Singleton 1796–1799 James Cornwallis 1799–1800 | Succeeded by Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Parliament of Great Britain | Member of Parliament forEye 1801–1807 With:James Cornwallis 1801–1806 Marquess of Huntly 1806–1807 | Succeeded by |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Rear-Admiral of Great Britain/the United Kingdom 1796–1814 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom 1814–1819 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |