THE LIFE
OF
ADMIRAL VISCOUNT EXMOUTH
BY EDWARD OSLER, Esq.
A New and Revised Edition.
LONDON:
GEO. ROUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON-STREET
AND 18, BEEKMAN-STREET, NEW YORK.
1854
London:
Printed by Stewart and Murray,
Old Bailey.
TO
THE NAVY,
The Bulwark of their Country,
AND
WHOSE TRIUMPHS ARE THE PRIDE OF HER HISTORY,
THIS WORK
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
PREFACE.
At the commencement of hostilities, whose extent and duration none canforesee, it is the wisdom of those to whom England will hereafter committhe honour of her Flag to study well the example of the greatsea-officers whose services illustrate the annals of their country.
Among these bright examples, none is more worthy of careful study thanAdmiral Lord Exmouth. Entering the service a friendless orphan, thesuccess which he achieved by merit alone is most encouraging to all whomust rise by their own deserts. In his perfect seamanship, his masteryof all that relates to his profession, his zeal and energy, hisconsiderate forethought, his care to make his crews thorough seamen, andthe example by which he spurred and encouraged them, the secret may befound, not less available to others, of his many brilliant successes,and of the little loss with which he obtained them. His truly parentalcare for his young officers to train them to their duties and to advancetheir interests, as conspicuous when commander-in-chief as in his firstfrigate, is a lesson for all in authority. Nor will his personalqualities be less admired: the honourable independence which hemain[Pg vi]tained as an officer and a peer, and the moral excellence whichmarked his life, and was finally proved on his death-bed.
And here I may relate an anecdote, as the praise it gives is only forthe subject of the biography, and for which I am indebted toVice-Admiral Sir Fleetwood Pellew. Soon after the first appearance ofthis work, one of the first officers in the French navy, Vice-AdmiralBergeret, whose name appears more than once in the following pages,presented a copy to a young relative he was sending to sea, and bade himto learn from the example it afforded to become all that his friends andhis country could desire.
Lord Exmouth's attack on Algiers, the most memorable occasion on whichmen-of-war have attacked fortifications, is peculiarly instructive now.The immediate destruction of the enemy's works opposed to the QueenCharlotte, and the comparative impunity she thus obtained, shows thewisdom of laying the ships as close as possible, where the concentratedfire of her batteries may overwhelm the enemy, and destroy the few gunswhich alone can be opposed t