THE TRAFALGAR CHRONICLE Dedicated to Naval History in the Nelson Era New Series 2 ~~~~~~~ Journal of THE 1805 CLUB Edited by PETERHORE In association with The 1805 Club
Text copyright © individual contributors 2017 First published in Great Britain in 2017 by Seaforth Publishing, An imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley S70 2AS www.seaforthpublishing.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4738 9976 6 (PAPERBACk) ISBN 978 1 4738 9978 0 (EPUB) ISBN 978 1 4738 9977 3 (kINdLE) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher. The right of the individual contributors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, designs and Patents Act 1988. designed and typeset in 10/12 Times New Roman by M.A.T.S, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Printed and bound in China by 1010 International Ltd.
CONTENTS President’s Foreword – Admiral Sir Jonathon Band 5 Editor’s Foreword – Peter Hore 8 The Marines: The Early days – Julian Thompson 11 The Marines in Boston, 1774–75 – Anthony Bruce 18 Leathernecks: The US Marine Corps in the Age of the Barbary Pirates – Charles Neimeyer 29 ‘Against the Common Enemies’: American Allies and Partners in the First Barbary War – Benjamin Armstrong 48 Captain Ingram, the Sea Fencibles, the Signal Stations and the defence of dorset – david Clammer 61 That Matchless Victory: Trafalgar, the Royal Marines and Sea Battle in the Age of Nelson – Britt Zerbe 73 Loyal Au Mort: The Adairs at the Battle of Trafalgar – Allan Adair 84 Marine Stephen Humphries 1786–1865 – By Himself 97 The Royal Marines Battalions in the War of 1812 – Alexander Craig 107 The First Royal Marine Battalion’s Peninsular War 1810–1812 – Robert k Sutcliffe 116 3
The ‘Blue Colonels’ of Marines: Sinecure and Shaping the Royal Marine Identity – John d Bolt 126 The Royal Marine Uniform Sword by Blake, London, Provenanced to Captain Richard Welchman, Royal Marines – Sim Comfort 140 Captain Philip Gidley king, Royal Navy, Third Governor of New South Wales – Tom Fremantle 143 Captain James Cottell: The Pictorial Life of a Trafalgar Veteran – John Rawlinson 156 The Rise and Fall of the Bourbon Armada, 1744–1805: From Toulon to Trafalgar – Larrie d Ferreiro 181 Smuggling and Blockade-Running during the Anglo-danish War of 1807–14 – Jann M Witt 201 Contributors’ Biographies 211 Notes 214 Colour Plate section between pages 96 and 97 THE TRAFALGAR CHRONICLE 4
5 President’s Foreword The Royal Marines, who trace their foundations to 1664, and the United States Marine Corps, who had their origins in 1775, both rose to preeminence in the Great War of 1792–1815. Marines, or sea soldiers, became a key component in the naval armoury in the eighteenth century, present at every important action of the fleet, afloat and ashore. Though sometimes at odds during that war, the two corps have in the intervening two hundred years developed at operational and tactical level into fundamental exemplars of the special relationship. Side by side, both corps developed in the twentieth century into naval infantry in the First World War and specialists in amphibious warfare in the Second World War. They continued these roles throughout the Cold War, and it seems likely that they have an enduring part to play in future operations. In the age of sail, marines formed a significant part of the complements of most British and American warships, they took part in all fleet and shipon-ship actions, therefore it is appropriate that an edition of the Trafalgar Chronicle, the leading resource on the history of the of period, should be themed on and dedicated to the Royal Marines and to the United States Marine Corps. Once again, the editor has assembled a cast of international writers, including some of the leading scholars of the genre and amateurs from the ranks of The 1805 Club, and I thank them, and others who kindly offered papers, most warmly for their contribution to this second in the new series of the Trafalgar Chronicle. AdMIRALSIRJONATHONBANdGCBdL Former First Sea Lord President of the 1805 Club
6 Nearly contemporary recruiting posters of the nineteenth century for the Royal Marines and the United States Marine Corps. Both posters emphasise the opportunity for winning prize money, while the British poster, printed during the War of 1812 or as the British then called it ‘The American War’, advertises the bounty paid to recruits. Note that American eighteen-year-old recruits were 4½in taller than their British boy rivals. (Royal Marines Museum and courtesy of USMC)
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Editor’s Foreword This Trafalgar Chronicle, whose focus is very much on those two historic and heroic corps, the Royal Marines and the United States Marine Corps, will I trust, meet the reader’s expectation of new research and new images about the men and women, and the navies – and marines – of the age of sail. Following the international motif of the Trafalgar Chronicle, I am pleased to report that half of the writers are from overseas, mostly from North America. Naturally, much of the action which is narrated takes place at sea or abroad, and, in this edition, this means in North America, during what in Britain was called the American Wars. Contributors include members of The 1805 Club, distinguished historians from across the world, and enthusiasts writing and being published for the first time. I especially welcome as readers members of the Royal Marines Historical Society who may be seeing the Trafalgar Chronicle for the first time, and the large number of new readers in North America to whom the Trafalgar Chronicle is available through the United States Naval Institute Press. Tony Bruce opens the core of this edition with a detailed description of the Battle of Bunker Hill, a victory for British marines, but a battle so wellfought that many Americans count it as a battle honour. Charles Neimeyer and ‘JB’ Armstrong outline some of the earliest actions of the USMC and the USN, and Britt Zerbe tells us of the marines’ role at the Battle of Trafalgar. Two of this year’s contributors, Allan Adair and Thomas Fremantle, have ancestors who fought at Trafalgar, and a third contribution is a rare survival of a memoir by a Royal Marine, Stephen Humphries, who also fought at Trafalgar. Humphries’ memoir contrasts with John Rawlinson’s life, told through pictures, of an almost contemporaneous marine officer. The Royal Marines were so successful that they were formed into battalions who fought in the Peninsular War and the War of 1812, as Bob Sutcliffe and Alex Craig show the reader. Many readers will know of references in literature to the Sea Fencibles and others will have read about ‘blue colonels’, naval officers who held commissions in the Marines: here 8
david Clammer explains through the biography of a dorset captain who the Sea Fencibles were, and John Bolt unearths a 200-year-old scandal which involved the most senior naval officers of the age. Sim Comfort describes a unique sword which is probably the earliest exemplar of a Royal Marines sword and the extraordinary achievements of its owner. EdITOR’S FOREWORd 9 Louis Ferreiro’s article about the navies of France and Spain in the years before Trafalgar reminds us of the context in which much of this action took place, and another article by Jann Witt reminds us that while the great powers fought, others tried to make a living at sea – by fair means or foul. Royal Marine uniforms worn in Canada during the War of 1812. (Collection of Alexander Craig)
Major-General Julian Thompson has kindly written the introduction and I wish to thank him, and to express my gratitude and great thanks to a wide variety of others, Brian Carter, Sim Comfort, Anthony Cross, Agustín Guimerá, Joan Thomas and Peter Turner among them, who have helped me to identify writers and source pictures, and to several referees who shall remain anonymous. Special thanks go to Geoff Hunt for allowing the publication of his painting Lobsters. All have given freely and readily of their advice and services. I also wish to thank the contributors who responded to my calls and questions and suffered patiently my ‘red spider’. This year I received a large number of excellent articles which I have not been able to fit in, and which I hope to hold over for another year. I thank these contributors too. Also, a great debt of gratitude goes to a first-class editorial team at Seaforth. The editor’s appointment is for three to five years, and this is my third edition. Given that the lead-time for each edition is about eighteen months, I am looking for a successor. A job description is available and a small honorarium is payable. You need to be an experienced editor, knowledgeable about the period, and to have a wide network of colleagues and contemporaries in the field. The appointment is made by the council of The 1805 Club, but in the first instance and for more information, please contact me at tc.editor@1805club.org. As for the Trafalgar Chronicle in 2018, I have already announced plans to theme the next edition on women and the sea in the age of sail. Women have, for various reasons, left a light footprint in the sands of history – nevertheless, I have long thought that historians (mainly men) have unfairly overlooked women and their important role in the tide of events. My views were reinforced when I read dr Margarette Lincoln’s words in a recent book that ‘Women’s contribution to British naval supremacy in the long eighteenth century tends to be neglected or sensationalised’, and in the next edition I intend to redress the balance. I have promises of some excellent contributions and I am looking for more. First-time papers by undergraduates and by students of the period are particularly welcome, and proposals should be made to the editor at tc.editor@1805club.org. The deadline for copy for the next Trafalgar Chronicle, number 3 in the new series, is 1 May 2018. PETERHORE Rabanal del camino 1 June 2017 THE TRAFALGAR CHRONICLE 10
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