{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2673", "width": "1747", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.\\nOhap.JlA Copyright No.8j\u00c2\u00a3i1\\nsheitHaVsl\\nUNITED STATES OF AMERICA.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "THE WESTMINSTER BIOGRAPHIES\\nADAM DUNCAN\\nBY\\nH. W. WILSON", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN\\nBY\\nH. W. WILSON\\nBOSTON\\nSMALL, MAYNARD COMPANY\\nMDCCCC", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "Copyright, ipoo\\nBy Smally Maynard \u00c2\u00a3sf Company\\n{Incorporated)\\nEntered at Stationers Hall\\n3^\\nLifortrt.1 y Of Oon.-rrd**\\nOCT 22 1900\\nCopyright entry\\n6CCPNP COPY.\\n0* liv^f^ tc\\nORDM WiSlON,\\nGeorge H. Ellis, Boston", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "The photogravure used as a frontispiece\\nto this volume is from an engraving by J.\\nAndrews, from the portrait by J. Hoppner,\\nE.A.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "PEEFACE.\\nIn this brief sketch of the great comman-\\nder who can be ranked after only Nelson\\namongst his contemporaries, a certain\\namount of space has been devoted to the\\nsocial condition of the navy during the time\\nof his service. This is necessary, even\\nwithin such narrow limits of space, as other-\\nwise misleading ideas might be formed con-\\ncerning Duncan s character. His refusal,\\nfor instance, upon two occasions to go to\\nthe West Indies, when the Monarch and\\nBlenheim were ordered there, might lead\\nmen to conclude that he was an officer who\\nspared himself. It is not till we under-\\nstand under what sanitary conditions he\\nhad passed his early years at sea that we,\\nwho are accustomed to regard life in the\\nnavy of our own day as healthier, if any-\\nthing, than life on shore, can realise that in\\nthe middle of the eighteenth century most\\nconstitutions were wrecked by it, not till we\\nturn to the lurid pages of Smollett or the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "viii PEEFACE\\ndustier records of Beatson that we learn\\nivhat West Indian service meant. It could\\nbe faced by only the young or healthy, and\\neven by them rarely with impunity. Not\\nuntil quite the close of the eighteenth cen-\\ntury was there a real and sensible improve-\\nment in the matter of sanitation on ship-\\nboard.\\nA few details, as yet unpublished, from\\nthe navy records in the Record Office, have\\nbeen embodied in the account of the Nore\\nmutiny, though this ivork makes no pre-\\ntence at originality. The author must ac-\\nknowledge his great indebtedness to the Earl\\nof Camperdown 1 s admirable biography of\\nhis great ancestor, where is collected all the\\nmaterial that remains for a biography of\\nthe admiral, with the exception of the logs,\\njournals, and correspondence which are to\\nbe found in the Record Office. These have\\nbeen examined, but they yield little that is\\nnew or important. Unfortunately, in Dun-\\ncan s case, no such correspondence is pre-\\nserved as fills the seven volumes of Nicolas 8", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "PEEFACE ix\\nDespatches and Letters of Lord Nelson.\\nVery few papers or letters dealing with the\\nprivate life and personality of the admiral\\nsurvive. We have no record of his thoughts\\nand opinions. Consequently he is a some-\\nwhat shadowy figure; and there is diffi-\\nculty in reconstructing his character, A\\nsingular fatality, indeed, seems to have pur-\\nsued his letters. His intimate correspond-\\nence with the great Lord Spencer, which\\nwould have been of priceless value, perished\\nmany years ago.\\nH. W. WILSON.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "CHRONOLOGY.\\n1731.\\nJuly 1. Adam Duncan was born in Dun-\\ndee.\\n1746.\\nApril. Sailed on his first cruise in the\\nTryal sloop, under his cousin, Com-\\nmander R. Haldane.\\n1747.\\nNovember. Transferred to the Shoreham\\nsloop.\\n1748.\\nFebruary 24. His first action, attempting\\nto cut out a French privateer at Belle-\\nisle.\\n1749.\\nJanuary. Midshipman on board the Cen-\\nturion, under Captain, the Hon. A.\\nKeppel, commodore in command of the\\nMediterranean station.\\n1751.\\nReturns to England when the Centurion\\nis paid off. Unemployed till 1754,", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "xii CHKOSTOLOGY\\n1754.\\nDecember 22. Appointed acting lieuten-\\nant on board the Norwich.\\n1755.\\nJanuary 10. Appointment confirmed by\\nthe admiralty, and Duncan transferred\\nback to the Centurion.\\n1756.\\nJuly 10. Second lieutenant of the Torbay,\\nunder Keppel.\\nNovember. The Torbay captures the\\nFrench frigate, Chariot Royal.\\n1757.\\nSeptember. The Torbay takes part in an\\nunsuccessful attack upon the Isle of Aix.\\nOctober-November. She captures several\\nprizes and the privateer Eustan.\\n1758.\\nDecember 29. Wounded in the leg in\\nthe Torbay 1 s attack upon Goree.\\n1759.\\nSeptember 21. Promoted commander.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "CHRONOLOGY xiii\\n1759 (continued)\\nOctober 1. First independent command\\nof Royal Exchange, armed ship.\\n1761.\\nFebruary 25. Promoted captain and ap-\\npointed to the Valiant.\\nMarch 29. Sails to attack Belleisle.\\nJune 7. Belleisle captured.\\n1762.\\nMarch 2. Sails on the Havana expedition.\\nJuly 30. Leads the storming party\\nagainst the Morro.\\n1764.\\nJune 26. The Valiant paid off. Unem-\\nployed till 1778.\\n1774.\\nVisits Italy.\\n1777.\\nMarries Henrietta Dundas.\\n1778.\\nMay 16. Appointed to the Suffolk.\\nDecember 4. Transferred to the Monarch.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "xiv CHKONOLOGY\\n1779.\\nSeptember 2-3. With Admiral Hardy s\\nfleet retreats before a superior Franco-\\nSpanish, force.\\nJanuary 16. Takes part in the defeat of\\nLangara s fleet j captures the San Au~\\ngustin.\\n1781.\\nOrdered to the West Indies. Is obliged\\nby his health to resign command of the\\nMonarch.\\n1782.\\nMarch. Appointed to command the Blen-\\nheim.\\nOctober 21. Takes part in Howe s action\\nwith the Spaniards off Cape Spartel.\\nNovember. Eesigns command on the\\nBlenheim, being ordered to the West\\nIndies.\\n1783.\\nJanuary 15. Appointed to the Foudro-\\nyant.\\nApril 1. Transferred to the Edgar for\\nthree years.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "CHEONOLOGY xv\\n1787.\\nSeptember 24. Promoted rear-admiral.\\n1793.\\nFebruary 3. Promoted vice-admiral.\\n1795.\\nFebruary. Appointed to command the\\nNorth Sea fleet. Hoists his flag in the\\nVenerable.\\nJune. Promoted admiral.\\nSummer, Offered and declines the Medi-\\nterranean command.\\n1796.\\nOctober. Unsuccessful attempt on the\\nTexel.\\n1797.\\nApril 30. Mutiny in the Venerable sup-\\npressed.\\nMay 13. Mutiny in the Adamant sup-\\npressed.\\nMay 28. Sails for the Texel. Deserted\\nby all his fleet except the Adamant and\\nVenerable.\\nMay 30. Blockades the Texel with these\\ntwo ships.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "xvi CHRONOLOGY\\n1797 (continued)\\nJune 12. Joined by a Russian squadron.\\nJune 14. Collapse of the Nore mutiny.\\nOctober 11. Defeats the Dutch fleet at\\nCainperdown.\\nOctober 17. Created Viscount Duncan of\\nCamperdown.\\nDecember 20. Takes part in the solemn\\nthanksgiving for naval victories.\\n1799.\\nAugust 30. Dutch fleet in the Helder\\ncaptured by a joint expedition.\\n1800.\\nMarch. Decides to retire.\\nApril. Strikes his flag.\\n1801.\\nJanuary. Offers his services against the\\nNorthern Coalition.\\n1804.\\nJuly. Again offers his services.\\nAugust 4. Dies at Coldstream on his way\\nhome from London, wt. 73.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN.\\nAdam Duncan, the future admiral\\nand founder of the noble house of Cam-\\nperdown, came into the world at a time\\nwhen the fortunes of his country seemed\\nat their lowest ebb. He was born on\\nJuly 1, 1731, when George II. had\\nbeen but four years on the throne,\\nwhen there were still old people who\\ncould remember the rule of Cromwell,\\nwhen the union of Scotland with Eng-\\nland was only a recent memory, and\\nwhen the question which of the two\\ndynasties, Stuart or Hanoverian, was to\\ngovern Great Britain, was far from being\\nirrefutably settled. In his own lifetime,\\nwhich was not immoderately long, since\\nit did not attain to the fourscore years\\nof the Psalmist, he saw the final choice\\nmade. The momentous decision between\\na policy of continental and colonial ex-\\npansion was reached by this country.\\nHe was a boy when the seventy years*", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "2 ADAM DUNCAN\\nstruggle with France opened, in which\\nhe played so splendid a part and which\\nfinally ended in the establishment of the\\nBritish Empire his manhood saw Eng-\\nland at, it might seem, the summit of\\nglory his advancing years witnessed her\\nfall, but her fall not without honour\\nhis old age saw her triumph once more,\\nthough his eyes closed forever on the\\nworld before the final defeat of Napoleon.\\nAnd thus his life covers the most inter-\\nesting and the most stirring period of\\nour history, an epoch of romance and\\nadventure and hard fighting and hero-\\nism rarely or never to be surpassed, the\\nadolescence of our modern empire, as the\\nu spacious times of Queen Elizabeth\\nwere the adolescence of the smaller unit\\nof the nation.\\nIt is strange to contrast our own more\\npeaceful century with this turbulent\\nand stormy age. Between 1731 and\\n1804, which years limit the term of\\nDuncan s life, England was at war from", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 3\\n1739 to 1748, from 1756 to 1763, from\\n1775 to 1783, from 1793 to 1801, and\\nthrough 1803 and 1804. That is to say\\nthrough nearly one-half of the period\\nthe nation s energies were centred upon\\nwar. The struggles of these times were\\nall the more terrible, inasmuch as they\\nwere protracted over long years, and\\ninasmuch as the utter absence of such a\\nthing as sanitary knowledge inflicted\\nthe most fearful sufferings upon the\\ncombatants. Thousands died in battle,\\ntens of thousands of fever and pestilence\\nand scurvy, till the death-roll of the\\nnations struggling for world-power at-\\ntained ghastly proportions.\\nThe union of Scotland with England\\nhad abolished the dualism which had\\ntied England s hands at many critical\\nseasons, and admitted Scotland and\\nScotsmen to a full share in the trade\\nand exploitation of the empire. It gave\\nto England a new strength, gradually\\nidentifying with her interests a race of", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "4 ADAM DUNCAN\\nunexampled courage, tenacity, and busi-\\nness insight, which has written its glo-\\nries in red on every field where Eng-\\nlishmen and Scotsmen have fought side\\nby side. Hateful at first to Scotland, the\\nunion ended by giving her wealth and\\nprosperity and something more. For, if\\nit be said to-day that England rules the\\nworld, it is also said that Scotsmen rule\\nEngland. The sacrifice of nationality\\nwas wisely and rightly made. The day\\nof small and weak nations had passed.\\nWhen Duncan saw the light at Dun-\\ndee, the era of prosperity for Scotland\\nhad as yet hardly begun. The soreness\\ngenerally felt in the country at the\\nunion aided and abetted the efforts of\\nthe Jacobites, who were everywhere\\nnumerous and powerful. The Georges\\nwere regarded as foreign sovereigns, who\\nknew little or nothing of Scotland and\\nprobably cared less. They never visited\\nor showed the smallest interest in their\\nnorthern kingdom. But the Pretender", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 5\\nwas still remembered. Only fifteen years\\nbefore Duncan s birth he had lodged in\\nthe very place wherein the admiral was\\nborn. He was of Scotch descent, and he\\nhad all the Stuart grace of manner.\\nQuite apart from this, the deep and pas-\\nsionate loyalty of the Highlander chiefs\\nand tribes to the man whom they re-\\ngarded as the representative of their\\nanointed king earned their support the\\nmoment he showed himself.\\nAll men in Scotland had to take one\\nside or the other, for faction ran high.\\nThe house of Duncan, however, as Low-\\nlanders who did not love the memory of\\nthe Stuarts, were strong Whigs, and sup-\\nporters of the Georges. The admiral\\nhad two elder brothers, in both of whom\\nthe spirit of adventure asserted it-\\nself. John went to India, and died far\\naway from Dundee, in China, before he\\nhad made a name. Alexander entered\\nthe army in the terrible times of Cullo-\\nden and, if he did not climb to the sum-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "6 ADAM DUNCAN\\nmits of glory, yet earned a solid reputa-\\ntion as a man of capacity, learning, and\\ncourage. Adam, youngest of the trio,\\nentered the navy in 1746, at the age of\\nfifteen.\\nLittle or nothing remains of his early\\nlife. Though of the four great naval\\nvictories which were won by the British\\nfleet in the final war with France, one\\nstands to his credit, the other three\\nranking amongst the achievements of\\nthe immortal Kelson, no pious chroni-\\ncler in his own lifetime gathered up the\\nscattered fragments of his story when\\nthe people yet lived who remembered\\nhim and who could have told of him.\\nNo such records of his early days sur-\\nvive as survive in the case of Nelson.\\nHe attained greatness only in his old\\nage and even then it was his hard fate\\nfor the fame of Camperdown to be swal-\\nlowed up in the yet more brilliant\\nglories of the Nile, Copenhagen, and\\nTrafalgar, while men were only too eager", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 7\\nto forget the story of the great mutiny.\\nIt has been left for after generations,\\nseeing events in their true perspective,\\nto mark the splendours of his work and\\nto collect what scattered wreckage of his\\nhistory floats on the sea of time.\\nDuncan s first ship was the wretched lit-\\ntle sloop Tryal, a cockle-shell of one hun-\\ndred and forty-two tons, mounting eight\\ncarriage guns and six swivels. Her com-\\nplement did not probably exceed seventy\\nmen and boys. She was commanded by\\nhis cousin, Eobert Haldane. In these\\nsmall vessels the conditions of life were\\nusually miserable both for officers and\\nmen. The ship would be very wet, and\\nthere was very little space below. Lord\\nDundonald, who commanded the Speedy,\\nof one hundred and fifty- eight tons, a\\nvessel of much the same size, tells us that\\nhis cabin was only five feet high, and that,\\nto shave, he had to remove the skylight\\nand put his head through. Presumably,\\nDuncan, when he joined the ship, did so", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "8 ADAM DUNCAN\\nas a captain s servant. Officers in those\\ndays were allowed to take a certain num-\\nber of young relatives or retainers with\\nthem to sea, and these were generally\\nrated as servants. They filled much the\\nsame place as the modern naval cadet.\\nThe Tryal was despatched from Sheer\\nness to Leith, where Duncan went on\\nboard her. She had charge of a con-\\nvoy of transports, conveying stores and\\nre- enforcements to the troops then en-\\ngaged in stamping out the Jacobite re-\\nbellion. While she was at sea, the deci-\\nsive battle of Culloden was fought, and the\\nhopes of the Young Pretender crushed\\nfor ever. She proceeded to cruise off\\nthe west coast of Scotland with the ob-\\nject of preventing Prince Charlie s es-\\ncape, but failed in this. After weeks\\nand months of dull and dreary cruising,\\nshe at last got back to Plymouth in the\\nautumn of 1747.\\nIf we wish to know what service in the\\nnavy was like at this time, we have only", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 9\\nto go to the pages of Smollett and Edward\\nThompson. So much of the great period\\nof Duncan s life is filled with his deal-\\nings with the mutineers that it will he\\nwell to note even at this early date the\\ncauses at work which ultimately pro-\\nduced the great explosion of 1797.\\nSmollett wrote from the standpoint of\\nthe warrant officer, for such the sur-\\ngeon was in these days, hut he wrote\\nwith a very considerable knowledge of\\nthe navy, having himself served in Sir\\nChalloner Ogle s expedition to the West\\nIndies, of 1740 and 1741. Though a\\nnovelist, he is a realist rather than a\\nromancer, and can generally be trusted.\\nThompson was a captain in the navy, of\\ngood reputation and service. He wrote\\nof a later period than Smollett, but in\\nbroad outline the two descriptions coin-\\ncide.\\nWhat is most striking in Smollett s\\nnarrative is the absolute impunity with\\nwhich the caprices of captains could be", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "10 ADAM DUNCAN\\ngratified. Officers of the lower ratings\\ncould be put in irons, and men barbar-\\nously punished or even killed, without,\\nit would seem, the smallest account being\\nafterwards demanded from the captain.\\nThere was no redress, and consequently\\nthe miseries of the seamen under a\\nbrutal officer must have been extreme.\\nThe food on board was filthily bad.\\nOur provisions [says the hero of Smollett s\\nstory] consisted of putrid salt beef, to which\\nthe sailors gave the name of Irish horse; salt\\npork of New England, which, though neither\\nfish nor flesh, savoured of both bread from the\\nsame country, every biscuit whereof, like a\\npiece of clockwork, moved by its own internal\\nimpulse, occasioned by the myriads of insects\\nthat dwelt within it and butter served out by\\nthe gill, that tasted like train oil thickened\\nwith salt. Instead of small beer, each man was\\nallowed three half-quarters of brandy or rum,\\nwhich were distributed every morning.\\nIn an age when the secret of distilling\\nwater had been forgotten, and all the\\nship s supply had to be carried in hogs-\\nheads and butts, the water was usually", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 11\\nfoul and putrid. In the expedition of\\n1741 against Carthagena, in a tropi-\\ncal climate, only one quart a day\\nwas allowed each man for all purposes.\\nThat is to say, the whole complement of\\na large fleet was subjected to the daily\\nand hourly torture of thirst.\\nWith such food and such water, it is\\nscarcely to be wondered at that any fleet\\nwhich kept the sea for any time became\\nsickly, or that thousands of men were\\nswept away by fever and scurvy. Not\\nmany years before Duncan s entrance\\ninto the navy, Admiral Hosier, in the\\nWest Indies, with a fleet the comple-\\nment of which reached only 4, 750 men,\\nlost in two years four thousand officers\\nand men. Ten years later the Stirling\\nCastle, with a total crew of 480, after a\\nfew months cruise in the Channel, re-\\nturned to port with only 160 fit for duty.\\nAnson s squadron, on his famous voyage\\nround the world, was in such a state when\\nit reached Juan Fernandez that in the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "12 ADAM DUNCAN\\nCenturion only twenty men out of four\\nhundred could be mustered for work.\\nIn this ship they buried four, five,\\nand sometimes six men a day. Even\\nBoscawen s fleet, in 1755, was depleted\\nby jail fever, 7 a form of virulent ty-\\nphus, due to disregard of the most ele-\\nmentary sanitary rules. Upwards of two\\nthousand seamen died of the distemper.\\nFar later returns speak eloquently of the\\nunnecessary and preventable waste of life\\nwhich occurred in the British fleet. Be-\\ntween 1774 and 1780, 175,990 men were\\nraised for the navy, of whom only 1,243\\nwere slain in action while no less than\\n18,541 died of sickness, and 42,000 de-\\nserted. In the war of 1756-63, 184,893\\nmen were raised and, though only\\n1,512 fell in battle, but 49,673 men re-\\nmained at the close of the struggle.\\nThe others had melted away through\\ndisease and desertion. These stupefying\\nfigures give us a better idea of the mis-\\neries and hardships of the seaman s lot", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 13\\nthan even Smollett s ghastly picture,\\npainted with the sceva indignatio of the\\nman of letters and science.\\nThe most terrible feature of the time\\nwas the suffering of the sick and the\\nwounded. The ship of the line s hospi-\\ntal, or sick-bay is thus described by\\nSmollett\\nHere I saw about fifty miserable, distem-\\npered wretches, suspended iu rows, so huddled\\none upon another that not more than fourteen\\ninches space was allotted for each with his bed\\nand bedding, and deprived of the light of the\\nday as well as of fresh air, breathing nothing\\nbut a noisome atmosphere of the morbid steam\\nexhaling from their own excrements and dis-\\neased bodies, devoured with vermin hatched in\\nthe filth that surrounded them, and destitute\\nof every convenience necessary for people in\\nthat helpless condition.\\nThere is plenty of evidence to show\\nthat this picture was not exaggerated\\nand there is good reason to think that\\nCaptain Oakum, the inhuman tyrant,\\nwho declared that he would have no\\nsick men in his ship, flogged the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "14 ADAM DUNCAN\\nsufferers from fever, sent the dropsical\\naloft, and compelled those who spat\\nblood to work at the pumps, really\\nexisted. Indeed, no sacredness attached\\nto the lives of human beings provided\\nthey were not of rank in these days.\\nLike the Turkish army, which in the\\n1897 campaign saw no use in wounded\\nmen, and therefore did not trouble itself\\nabout them, the British navy of the\\nmiddle eighteenth century never con-\\ncerned itself with the sick or suffer-\\ning. They might rot or starve for all\\nit cared.\\nThe discipline seems to have been as\\nmiserable as the sanitation. In Roder-\\nick Random s ship, when anything hap-\\npens, the officers and men run con-\\nfusedly to and fro, hallooing and shout-\\ning. The ships were crammed with jail-\\nbirds, smugglers, and poachers, or some-\\ntimes, when there was especial want of\\nmen, the admiralty, with exquisite hu-\\nmour, sent on board sick and debilitated", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 15\\nGreenwich x ensioners. If these died, the\\ncountry was saved the cost of their pen-\\nsions. If they lived through it all, they\\nwere proved malingerers. It was like\\nthe dilemma which beset the unhappy\\nwoman accused of witchcraft, and\\nonly four years before Duncan s birth a\\nwoman was burnt in Scotland for witch-\\ncraft, if she floated on a pond, she was\\nguilty, and was burnt at the stake if\\nshe sank, she was innocent, but was,\\nunfortunately, drowned. As for the\\nofficers, Thompson gives us this beauti-\\nful picture of the lieutenant of 1758-63\\nA chaw of tobacco, a rattan [with\\nwhich to belabour the laggards among\\nthe men], and a rope of oaths were suf-\\nficient qualifications to constitute a lieu-\\ntenant but he notes that since then a\\ngreat improvement had taken place.\\nAt a time when any affectation of devo-\\ntion to the interests of the country or the\\nnavy was laughed at as hypocrisy j when\\ncorruption was everywhere rampant,", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "16 ADAM DUNCAN\\nunder rulers who in no sense stirred or\\nappealed to the finer qualities which\\nthen, as always, were to he found in the\\nhearts of Englishmen when Horace Wal-\\npole wrote that, if the Pretender came,\\nEngland would look on and say, Fight,\\ndog! fight, bear! when Henry Fox\\ncould say, England is for the first-\\ncomer when the watchword of the\\nsquires was, If the French come, I ll\\npay, but devil take me if I ll fight, it\\nis little wonder that men showed them-\\nselves the cowards and knaves every one\\npretended to think them. In no other\\nperiod of our naval history are the\\ninstances of misconduct, or even gross\\ncowardice in action, so many and so\\npainful. After every great battle there\\nwas a rich crop of courts- martial on\\ncaptains or admirals who would not\\ngo down to the fight. After the bat-\\ntle of Toulon, in 1744, the captains of\\nthe Dorsetshire, Eoyal Oak, Rupert, Chi-\\nchester, Boyne, and Essex, were all pun-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 17\\nished for misconduct, where they did not\\nabscond or die on their way home. The\\ntwo admirals quarrelled, and failed to\\nsupport each other and they also were\\nbrought to trial, when the senior officer,\\nwho was probably the less guilty of the\\ntwo, was cashiered. The first lieutenant\\nof a British ship of forty guns was shot\\nfor cowardice in surrendering to a\\nFrench privateer. Superior British\\nsquadrons in one instance, under Peyton,\\nin the East Indies, in 1746, got out of\\nthe enemy s way or in another instance,\\nunder Captain Mitchell, of the Lenox,\\nremained in presence of the inferior\\nenemy, and dared not close and fight\\na decisive action. Captain Mitchell s\\nonly punishment was a fine and dismissal\\nfrom the service. Last and more famous\\nof all was Byng s weak action at Mi-\\nnorca, which was most terribly punished,\\nthough, certainly, his conduct had been\\nfar less reprehensible than that of many\\nof the officers mentioned above.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "18 ADAM DUNCAN\\nWith this sort of spirit abroad in the\\nnavy, there is little wonder that British\\nsuccesses were few and far between, and\\ndisgraceful reverses all too common.\\nQuarrels and discussions between the\\narmy and navy occurred, whenever the\\ntwo forces attempted to co-operate. At\\nCartagena, at Santiago de Cuba, at\\nQuiberon, such disputes, when combined\\nwith the usual slackness of either service\\nat this time, issued in unsuccess, and\\nwasted the lives of hundreds of British\\nsoldiers or seamen.\\nYet, in spite of this rottenness upon\\nthe surface, the navy and the nation\\nwere sounder than might have been\\nsupposed. If there were plenty of Cap-\\ntain Oakums and Captain Whiffles,\\nthere were men of the stamp of Bos-\\ncawen and Hawke, waiting patiently to\\ndo the work when their time should\\ncome, and when the incompetence of\\nthe lordlings and men of influence who\\nengrossed the most profitable commands", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 19\\nshould be discovered by some master\\nmind. The nation was neither so cow-\\nardly nor so weak as the pessimists strove\\nto represent it. It only waited for the\\ncoming of a man. And, when the first\\nand greatest Pitt the one British\\nstatesman since Cromwell who has thor-\\noughly understood the use of a navy\\nattained to power, it was seen of what\\ngreat things the race was capable, well\\nand bravely led.\\nDuncan was, fortunately, saved from\\nthe corrupting influence of his times.\\nHe came from a small and remote\\nScotch country town, where men still\\nworshipped God, and where it was not\\nthe first and greatest requisite to i trifle\\nwell, and live an infamous life. He\\nsaw, in all probability, the best side of\\nthe service. He was, for the most part,\\nin his early days, either under his own\\nfamily connections, who would naturally\\ntemper for him the asperities of sailor\\nlife, or under distinguished officers, such", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "20 ADAM DUNCAN\\nas Keppel, who were of aristocratic de-\\nscent, but yet were keen on the service,\\nand with whom, we may c *ure, his\\nfamily had interest. Yet for the\\nofficers, who had far bet iood than\\nthe seamen and who were n it, like them,\\npacked into the merest fraction of space\\nbetween decks, the life was very trying.\\nFew of our admirals of this period en-\\ndured much service at sea without con-\\ntracting disease and the subordinate\\nofficers in stations such as the West\\nIndies died very fast, a fact to which,\\nin later days, Horatio Nelson owed, in\\ngreat part, his rapid promotion.\\nThroughout his life Duncan was noted\\nfor three things, his gigantic stature,\\nhis grace of persor and of character, and\\nhis unaffected piety. In all that we see\\nor read of him he was one of the most\\nlovable of men. And what he was in\\nold age, when he became famous, that\\nsurely he was in youth, when he was yet\\nobscure. A certain want of fine breed-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 21\\ning, as Admiral Coloinb lias pointed out,\\nmarked Nelson, as it marked Napoleon,\\nprobable Arse in Nelson s case he did\\nnot asso. oth many of kis equals in\\nkis youtk, t served in a small skip\\nduring tke ea;ly years of kis life. Tkere\\nis no trace of tkis in Duncan. From\\nfirst to last ke was courtly, dignified, at\\nkis ease. Wkerever ke went, kis tall,\\nkandsome figure attracted attention.\\nWken walking through the streets of\\nChatham as a young man, it is said\\ncrowds came out of their houses and\\nfollowed him for the mere pleasure of\\nlooking upon one so comely of form.\\nFrom the Tryal, Duncan passed with\\nhis cousin to the Shoreham, a small frig-\\nate of twenty guns, none of calibre\\nabove the nine-pounder. Such craft,\\nin those days, did the work which is\\ndone by our modern protected cruisers.\\nThey scouted, guarded commerce, and\\nlooked after the enemy s cruisers. They\\nwere small and weak ships, and, as their", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "22 ADAM DUNCAN\\nunfitness for hard work at sea was real-\\nised, were gradually replaced by larger\\nvessels of thirty-two guns and thirty-six\\nguns, firing a far heavier broadside.\\nEarly in 1748 the Slwreham put to sea\\nto cruise at the entrance of the Channel\\nand in the Bay in other words, the Bay\\nof Biscay. She pretty quickly had\\nfighting to do. In January and Feb-\\nruary she captured a Brest ship sent\\nin her boats at Belleisle to cut out a\\nprivateer, and failed in this enterprise,\\nthough her men had the satisfaction of\\ndestroying the enemy s vessel retook a\\nFrench prize, and captured the Valeur,\\na privateer of sixteen guns. In wars\\nwith France the chops of the Channel\\nalways swarmed with privateers, Eng-\\nlish or French, which preyed upon mer-\\nchantmen, but gave a wide berth, when\\nthey could, to men-of-war. At this\\ndate the shipping trade of France was\\nstill considerable and flourishing, so that\\nthe losses to commerce were generally", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 23\\nvery evenly distributed between Eng-\\nland and her neighbour. In the spring\\nthe Shoreham joined Admiral Hawke s\\nsquadron, and returned with him to\\nPlymouth when peace was made.\\nThere she ran aground, but was got\\noff and put out of commission.\\nHere Duncan s service with his cousin\\nended. Still a midshipman, he was en-\\ntered on board the Centurion, fifty, Cap-\\ntain The Hon. Augustus Keppel, in\\n1749, whose interest had somehow or\\nother been enlisted in his cause, and\\nwho seems henceforward to have worked\\nin every way to advance him. In her\\nhe made an uneventful cruise to Algiers\\nand the Mediterranean, returning in\\n1751, and then for three years passed\\nhis time ashore, as there was nothing\\ndoing in the navy, and no attempt was\\nmade to keep up a large force of officers\\nand men in time of peace. In 1754,\\nhowever, Keppel once more went to\\nsea, as commodore of the North Amer-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "24 ADAM DUNCAN\\nican station, in the Centurion, and seized\\nthe opportunity of a vacancy in the\\nNorwich, which accompanied him, to\\nappoint Dmican as acting lieutenant in\\nher. The commission was confirmed.\\nThus, at the age of twenty- three, he\\nreached that position in the service\\nwhich Nelson, the favourite of fortune,\\nattained at eighteen. Duncan, how-\\never, had no such powerful influence\\nbehind him as supported the young\\nNelson and carried him rapidly to cap-\\ntain s rank. Nelson was a captain at\\ntwenty, Duncan only at thirty. Nel-\\nson obtained his flag as rear-admiral at\\nthirty- eight, Duncan not till he was\\nfifty- six.\\nThe cruise of the Centurion, to which\\nship Duncan had been almost at once\\ntransferred from the Norwich, was on\\nthis occasion as uninteresting as before,\\nexcept that he must have witnessed\\nthe disembarkation of the unfort-\\nunate General Braddock s force. Ee-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 25\\nturning to England after Keppel,\\nDuncan followed him on board the\\nTorbay, seventy-four, which ship cruised\\nwith Hawke s fleet on the outbreak of\\nwar with France, blockading Brest and\\nEochefort. She captured many prizes,\\namongst others the French frigate\\nChariot Royal, of thirty- six guns, and\\nthen returned to Spithead for the court-\\nmartial on Byng. Through the spring\\nand summer of 1757 the Torbay was with\\nthe Channel fleet and she was one of\\nthe ships which conveyed Sir John\\nMordaunt s unlucky expedition to the\\nIsle of Aix. The lion-hearted Wolfe,\\nthe future conqueror of Quebec, sailed\\nwith the troops, and urged action in vain\\nupon his general. Little was attempted,\\nnothing done and the nation was\\ndeeply irritated at a discreditable fail-\\nure. But, before success could be\\nachieved in these conjoint expeditions, it\\nwas necessary to place at the head of\\nthe soldiers officers who were something", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "26 ADAM DUNCAN\\nmore than hidebound pedants or court\\nfavourites. Pitt quickly grasped the\\nfact. Mordaunt was a serviceable warn-\\ning to him.\\nThere is little need to dilate on the\\nTorbatfs service. What Duncan did\\non board her we can never know what\\nshe did we can only learn from the bare\\noutlines of her log. Constant slight\\nbrushes with the enemy s cruisers, the\\nloss from time to time of a mast or spar,\\nthe capture of a hostile cruiser or two,\\nand a cutting out expedition now and\\nthen were the most striking incidents\\nof her cruise. A chapter of any of\\nMarryat s sea novels will fill in the\\npicture. The excitement was varied\\nby the explosion of her fore-magazine at\\nSpithead on August 27, 1758 but both\\nKeppel and Duncan escaped with their\\nlives, and the ship, it would seem, was\\nnot very seriously damaged, since she\\nwas speedily at sea again. Keppel was\\nafter this placed in charge of a small", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 27\\nconjoint expedition, to capture the\\nFrench settlement of Goree on the west\\ncoast of Africa. In the attack upon the\\nplace Duncan, now first lieutenant of\\nthe Torbaij, received his first and only\\nwound in action. He was shot in the\\nleg, but the injury was not serious. The\\nTorbay returned to England, to service\\nwith the Channel fleet, as before and\\nlate in 1759 Duncan was promoted com-\\nmander and given command of a most\\nunpromising craft, the Royal Exchange.\\nThis vessel was simply an armed mer-\\nchantman, and, like the auxiliary\\ncruisers of the American line in the\\nSpanish- American War, kept her own\\nmerchant crew on board. Many of her\\nmen were foreigners, others of the crew\\nwere boys, all were undisciplined j and\\nDuncan got quit of her as speedily as he\\ncould, and was unemployed for some\\nmonths.\\nIn 1761 he went back to Keppel, but\\nnow as flag-captain of the flagship", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "28 ADAM DUNCAN\\nValiant, and shared in the successful\\nexpedition to Belleisle. Then in 1762\\nthe Valiant sailed with Albemarle and\\nPocock on a conjoint expedition, to try\\na stroke upon Havana, as Spain had\\njoined France against us. Duncan per-\\nsonally superintended the disembarka-\\ntion of the army, and probably directed\\nthe service of the battery constructed\\nashore by the seamen of the Valiant,\\nand known as the Valiant s battery.\\nWhen a breach was made in the walls\\nof the Morro, he led his men through it,\\narmed only with a stick, and on the\\nsurrender of the place burnt two Span-\\nish ships of the line on the stocks and\\ntook possession of nine others. The ex-\\npedition must have been very profitable\\nto a comparatively poor man, as he was,\\nsince he received \u00c2\u00a31, 600 as prize money.\\nThe admiral in command drew no less\\nthan \u00c2\u00a3122,000, while the unhappy sea-\\nmen had to be content with \u00c2\u00a33 14s. lOd.\\neach. Although at this period it was", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 29\\none of the common seaman s grievances\\nthat, while he risked his life jnst as\\nmuch as his superior officer, he re-\\nceived an absurdly small share of prize\\nmoney yet his complaint was not re-\\ndressed till well on in the present cen-\\ntury.\\nOn her way to Jamaica the Valiant\\nmade several rich captures, and then, as\\npeace was proclaimed, returned home.\\nOnce more Duncan was sentenced to a\\nlong period of inactivity ashore, passing\\nfourteen uneventful years in the flower\\nof his age upon half-pay. In this period\\nhe spent several years at Bath or Chel-\\ntenham, visited Italy, and married a\\nwife, Miss Dundas, niece of the future\\nLord Melville, the colleague of the\\nsecond Pitt.\\nIn 1778 a fresh war with France\\nbegan; and Duncan received command\\nof the Monarch, a vessel of the line of\\nseventy- four guns, and in her served\\nwith the Channel fleet. He had the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "30 ADAM DUNCAX\\npainful duty of sitting in a court-martial\\nwhich tried his old friend and superior,\\nKeppel, for a lamentably inconclusive\\nbattle in the Channel. The misfortune\\narose really from the absurd fighting\\norders of the time, which compelled\\nsquadrons to form in line of battle for\\naction, and allowed an enemy to get\\naway while they were forming. Dun-\\ncan s action in after life at Camperdown\\nshowed that he, at least, could disdain\\nthis pedantry. Keppel was acquitted\\ntriumphantly and then his second in\\ncommand, Palliser, was tried for miscon-\\nduct, and also cleared.\\nAt this date the British navy was\\nbadly handled and in want of a great\\nadmiral. Duncan was there but per-\\nhaps his high capacity was as yet un-\\nknown, and his connection with Keppel,\\na strong Whig, may have stood him in\\nbad stead with a furiously partisan Tory\\nministry. Commands were handed over\\nto aged or mediocre officers, with the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 31\\nmost indifferent result. Howe, a good,\\nif not superlative, admiral, was driven in\\ndisgust from his command. Hood, by\\nfar the best of the men high up in the\\nnavy, and really a great and capable\\nleader, was not afforded an opening.\\nRodney, who was inferior in most re-\\nspects to Hood, but who could deal with\\nlazy subordinates in the masterful fashion\\nof St. Vincent, was the one exception\\namongst the admirals employed from\\n1778 to 1782, and at least won battles.\\nYet even he did not follow up his one\\ngreat victory, as a Nelson, a Hood, or a\\nDuncan, would have followed it up. The\\nconsequences of this failure to prefer\\nmerit to rank and age were disastrous to\\nthe nation. There is reason to think\\nthat the revolted colonies could easily\\nhave been subdued, had the British\\nforces on sea and land been properly\\nhandled, and that Spain and Holland,\\nperhaps even France, would never then\\nhave joined against us in the war. It is", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "32 ADAM DUNCAK\\nall the more melancholy to reflect that\\nthere were plenty of capable officers in\\nthe navy, had the rnlers of this country\\ncared to take the trouble to search for\\nmerit and capacity.\\nUnder an aged and an ailing admiral\\nthe Monarch cruised with the Channel\\nfleet, and in the summer of 1779 with\\nthis fleet ran from a combined French\\nand Spanish Armada. The sight filled\\ntwo officers, at least, in the British fleet,\\nwith indignation. Jervis, the future\\nLord St. Vincent, and Duncan both\\nraged inwardly and it is possible that,\\nhad either of them been in command, the\\ndecisive battle of the war would have\\nbeen fought then and there. But the\\nodds were grievously heavy, thirty-\\neight ships against sixty-six, a far greater\\ndisproportion than any British admiral\\nin recent times has confronted with suc-\\ncess. It was expected that the allied\\nfleet would cover the passage of an army\\nof invasion, so that the peril to England", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "ADAM DOTCAN 33\\nwas extreme. But, strangely enough, it\\ndid nothing except cruise aimlessly for\\na few days in the Channel, and then dis-\\nperse.\\nAfter this dismal experience the Mon-\\narch went out with Bodney to Gibraltar,\\nand with him took part in the complete\\ndefeat of a Spanish squadron under Lan-\\ngara, on January 16, 1780. Duncan was\\nvery hotly engaged with three of the\\nenemy s ships of the line and one of the\\nthree struck to him, but from the heavy\\nsea could not be secured, and escaped.\\nIn this action, of eleven Spanish ships of\\nthe line, four were taken, four blown up,\\nsunk, or driven ashore, and only three\\nescaped. But then as now the Spaniards\\nwere a contemptible enemy at sea j and\\nit was commonly said, A Spanish ship\\nchased is a Spanish ship taken, in so\\nlittle respect was the Spanish navy held\\nby British seamen.\\nFrom the relief of Gibraltar, for which\\npurpose Bodney had been sent out, Dun-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "34 ADAM DUNCAN\\ncan in the Monarch returned to Channel\\nservice but presently, his ship being\\nordered off to the unhealthy station of\\nthe West Indies, where twenty years\\nbefore his constitution had been griev-\\nously impaired, and his doctor advising\\nhim under no circumstances to return to\\nthe tropics, he resigned his command,\\nand was unemployed for nearly a year.\\nIt is clear that the admiralty did not re-\\ngard his action with disfavour, since he\\nwas in March, 1782, appointed to a\\nbetter vessel than the Monarch, the ship\\nof the line Blenheim, of ninety guns. In\\nher he sailed with Howe s fleet to the\\nsecond relief of Gibraltar, now closely\\npressed and in sore straits. The work\\nof escorting out a large convoy of slow-\\nsailing victuallers and transports Howe\\nmanaged admirably.\\nOn the fleet s return, upon October\\n20, in the neighbourhood of Cape Tra-\\nfalgar, soon to be far more famous,\\nthere was a sharp brush with a supe-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 35\\nrior Franco-Spanish squadron, the Yictory\\non this day, as twenty-three years later,\\ncarrying the flag of the British com-\\nmander-in-chief. The Blenheim was one\\nof the ships most hotly engaged, and suf-\\nfered some loss. On her return to Eng-\\nland she was ordered out to the West\\nIndies and Duncan quitted her, receiv-\\ning at the time a letter of the most com-\\nplimentary tone from Howe. He then\\nwas appointed to the Foudroyant, a still\\nfiner ship, but only for a few weeks, as\\nafter the conclusion of peace in January,\\n1783, she was paid off. He passed from\\nher to the Portsmouth guardship Edgar,\\nwhich he commanded through three un-\\neventful years, and then in the autumn\\nof 1787 was promoted rear-admiral.\\nIt will not have escaped the reader\\nthat, though Duncan served well and\\nfaithfully through this his third war, no\\ngreat exploit comparable with Nelson s\\nwearing from the line at St. Vincent\\nstands against his name. But, if the facts", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "36 ADAM DUNCAN\\nare carefully scrutinised, it will be found\\nthat he was singularly unfortunate in\\nhis lack of opportunities. No real\\nchance of making a name came to him.\\nThe government of the day was not\\nquick to discern and employ the most\\nenterprising men in the navy. No\\norganiser of victory in the shape of\\nLord Spencer had yet revealed himself,\\nto rise above seniority. And, if the\\nadministration of the navy had been run\\nupon the same lines during the final\\nstruggle with France, it is probable that\\nNelson would have come down to us\\nas nothing more than a dashing junior\\nofficer. From 1787 to 1795, the third\\nyear of the war with France, Duncan\\nremained on land unemployed, rising\\nautomatically by seniority in the inter-\\nval from rear-admiral to vice-admiral.\\nThe only fact which is recorded of him\\nin this interval is that he intervened in\\na riot in Edinburgh to protect his wife s\\nmother, Mrs. Dundas, who from the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 37\\nclose connection of the Dundas family\\nwith Pitt s Tory government was spe-\\ncially obnoxious to the Scotch Eadicals.\\nOn this occasion Duncan had his little\\nfinger badly broken. When war with\\nFrance began in 1793, he could not\\nobtain a command, in spite of strenuous\\nefforts which he is known to have made\\nand in spite of his marriage relations\\nwith the close friend of the prime min-\\nister, which were of more importance,\\nperhaps, in those days than the su-\\npremest capacity where place was an\\nobject.\\nFortunately for this country, at the\\nclose of 1794 Lord Spencer succeeded\\nLord Chatham as first lord of the ad-\\nmiralty. The six years through which\\nthis great man had the direction of our\\nnavy are amongst the most splendid in\\nBritish history. He made it his task to\\nseek out and employ talent. Sir John\\nJervis was sent out to the Mediterra-\\nnean under him under him Nelson was", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "38 ADAM DUNCAN\\ngiven his first independent command,\\nwhich issued in the magnificent vic-\\ntory of the Nile j under him Duncan\\nwas at last appointed to the North Sea\\nfleet. What can be the reason/ he is\\nsaid to have asked, that KeppePs Dun-\\ncan has never been brought forward\\nAs there was no answer to this question\\nexcept the explanation that Duncan s\\nmerits had been overlooked, the ad-\\nmiral was in February, 1795, given\\ncharge of the North Sea fleet, the third\\nstation in point of importance, the other\\ntwo being the Mediterranean and the\\nChannel.\\nThe circumstances which required the\\npresence of a strong squadron in the\\nNorth Sea were these. In the course\\nof 1794 Holland had been conquered\\nby the French troops, the Prince of\\nOrange driven from his dominions, a dis-\\norderly republic of the French type\\nunder French protection established\\nin the country, and the Dutch navy", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "ADAM DOTCAN 39\\nadded to the forces of France. As this\\nnavy included thirty-seven ships of the\\nline all, it is true, of small size and\\nforty-four frigates, transferred from the\\ncoalition against France to the new-\\nFrench coalition against England, this\\nwas a serious embarrassment and danger.\\nThree of the Dutch warships were seized\\nin British ports on the outbreak of war\\nwith Holland. Most of the others were\\nconcentrated in the Texel, the deeper of\\nthe entrances to the Zuyder Zee. But\\nas yet only three or four of the Dutch\\nships of the line were in a condition to\\ntake the sea. It was Duncan s task to\\nwatch these ships closely and prevent\\ntheir leaving port, to blockade the Dutch\\ncoast and cut off all the Dutch trade.\\nBeing a nation which subsisted upon\\ncommerce, the Hollanders might be\\nbrought to book by this method of press-\\nure. Duncan sailed for his station in\\nthe Venerable, seventy- four, in February.\\nHe had a very scratch force under his", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "40 ADAM DUNCAN\\norders. The Venerable was a vessel\\nbuilt for war but two of his ships of\\nthe line, of fifty-six and fifty-four guns\\nrespectively, were converted East India-\\nmen, weak in scantling, not stoutly tim-\\nbered, and none too seaworthy. They\\ndid not, however, draw much water j and\\nlight draught was a prime necessity for\\noperations in the shallows of the Dutch\\ncoast. Besides these unpromising craft,\\nhe had one sixty-four-gun ship, two\\nfrigates, and some luggers and cutters.\\nHis squadron was constantly changing\\nfor, whenever vessels were required for\\nother stations or for convoy duty, they\\nwere withdrawn from his command of\\nnecessity, inasmuch as the British navy\\nwas now sorely taxed by the struggle.\\nHe was stripped of frigates yet the\\nspirit of Nelson in 1805 I am not\\ncome forth to find difficulties, but to re-\\nmove them breathed in his heart,\\nand, though he may at times have remon-\\nstrated, he never fretted. In the summer", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 41\\nhe was re-enforced by a Russian fleet of\\ntwelve sail of the line and six frigates,\\nunder Vice- Admiral Hanikov and Rear-\\nAdmirals Makarov and Tate. Makarov\\nwas an ancestor of the distinguished\\nRussian admiral of our own day. Tate\\nwas an Englishman, of whom many\\nwere at this date to be found in the Rus-\\nsian fleet. Admiral Hanikov was placed\\nunder Duncan s orders, nominally but\\nthe situation was painful and undig-\\nnified for the British commander-in-\\nchief, and demanded all his tact. Here\\nwas he, with a promiscuous collection\\nof British odds and ends, while a power-\\nful and homogeneous Russian force\\nwas subordinated to him. Compared\\nwith their ships, his cut a lamentable\\nfigure. It is true that the battle effi-\\nciency of the Russians at this date was\\nby no means high, and that, poor though\\nthe British ships might look, they had\\nplenty of fight in them, as was proved\\nat Camperdown. The Russian admiral,", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "42 ADAM DUNCAN\\nthough he seems to have been an excel-\\nlent and tactful officer at the bottom,\\nhad to stand a good deal on his dignity\\nto satisfy the Empress Catherine and ap-\\npease such opinion as existed in Eussia.\\nHence no end of trouble about such pal-\\ntry matters as salutes and who should\\nfire the morning gun. Meantime there\\nwere reports that the Dutch were on the\\neve of putting to sea, though their fleet\\nwas known to be very ill-manned.\\nYet Duncan, whose soul was above\\npetty annoyances, whose one thought\\nwas the service of his country, had his\\nwhole heart in his work, distasteful\\nthough it might seem. The proof of it\\nwas in the fact that he declined the\\nmost magnificent command that the ad-\\nmiralty had to offer him, that of the\\nMediterranean fleet. It was, perhaps, a\\nmisfortune both for himself and for his\\ncountry that he arrived at this decision\\nyet few will blame him for resolving to\\ncarry through the work that he had in", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUKCAN 43\\nhand. But in the Mediterranean the\\nchances of distinction were innumerable,\\nthe harvest of glory to be reaped ex-\\nceedingly rich. With his leadership,\\nwe may confidently assert, St. Vincent\\nwould have been afar more decisive battle\\nthan it actually was. Still, Jervis, who\\nultimately went out and whose claims\\nwere pressed by Duncan himself, was\\ncertainly the second best of the senior\\nofficers in the navy j and he worked\\nwonders.\\nDuncan was thorough in his work.\\nInsufficient attention has been directed\\nto the skill and seamanship which\\nkept poor, badly manned ships close up\\nto the enemy s ports whenever the wind\\nblew from the east. The blockade of\\nBrest about this time was conducted in\\na very half-hearted manner by the Chan-\\nnel fleet, which always had the pick of\\nthe warships in home waters. But Dun-\\ncan in his command displayed all the\\ndaring which two years later he evinced", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "44 ADAM DUNCAN\\nin his attack at Carnperdown. And the\\ngreatness of the performance is enhanced\\nby the fact that the commander-in-chief\\nwas not in the flower of age, when bold\\nand decided action comes most naturally\\nto men. He was already old, and his con-\\nstitution had been wrecked by the ter-\\nrible climate of the West Indies.\\nIn August, during one of Duncan s\\nabsences from his station, to water and\\nrefit his ships, the Dutch put to sea.\\nThey were seen and watched by the\\ndaring little lugger Spider; and it was\\nnot long before their enemies, in the\\nshape of the British and Eussian fleets,\\nwere after them. The sortie, however,\\nappears to have been simply for exer-\\ncise and they returned to port before\\nthey could be brought to battle. But\\ntheir movements unquestionably made\\nthe British government very anxious\\nand urgent appeals were sent out from\\nLord Spencer to Duncan to strike a hard\\nblow as soon as possible against them.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 45\\nIt is a startling fact, which illustrates\\nthe low quality of the British ships un-\\nder Duncan, that on this occasion the\\nRussians, though uncoppered and foul,\\nsailed better than their allies.\\nIn October of this year and upon Dun-\\ncan s station occurred a serious mutiny,\\nwhich was a premonitory symptom of\\nthe extreme discontent existing in the\\nlower ranks of the navy. The battle-\\nship Defiance was lying in Leith Roads,\\nwhen on October 18, 1795, a party of\\nseamen rose, flung round-shot about be-\\ntween decks, a method of showing dis-\\ncontent, and seized the ship. The\\nforemost guns were loaded and pointed\\naft towards the officers through loop-\\nholes in a barricade of hammocks. The\\ncaptain, Sir George Home, hearing what\\nhad happened, came off from the shore,\\nfollowed by an armed party from the\\nship of the line Asia in the latter s boats.\\nHe was allowed to come on board but\\nthe armed party were warned off, and", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "46 ADAM DUNCAN\\nmuskets fired at them through the port-\\nholes. The crew broke into the stew-\\nard s room to get at the grog, and among\\nother mutinous acts snapped a pistol at\\na steward s mate. A letter was written\\nto the captain, complaining that the men\\nwere kept on board like convicts, that\\nthey had no liberty, that their grog was\\nheavily watered, and so forth.\\nThey first refused to admit any marines\\non board, seemingly there were none\\nin the ship when the mutiny broke\\nout, and then, with a strong tincture\\nof sedition, suggested that certain of the\\nmen who were Boyalists should be\\nremoved when the marines did come on\\nboard. They asserted that they were\\nflogged by the officers with u bosun s-\\nmates canes, and had no hope of\\nredress for their wrongs from the quar-\\nter-deck. They wound up by calling\\nthemselves a dutiful ship s company\\nupon honourable terms.\\nTwo captains went on board to inquire", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 47\\ninto these grievances, and with the aid\\nof the ship s officers and the loyal\\namongst the crew seized eight of the\\nringleaders. As the eight, however,\\nwere being led over the side to go on\\nboard the Asia, the mutiny broke out\\nagain and the prisoners had to be re-\\nleased. Next day troops arrived and\\nforced their way into the shij), though\\nguns were pointed at the boats in which\\nthey came, and shot thrown into them,\\nto sink them. Finally, fifteen of the\\nmutineers were brought to trial before a\\ncourt-martial, and nine sentenced to be\\nhanged, five to receive three hundred\\nlashes with the cat-of-nine-tails, and one\\none hundred lashes. That the discon-\\ntent was not confined to the North Sea\\nfleet was proved by the fact that almost\\nsimultaneously there were similar out-\\nbreaks in the Windsor Castle, Terrible, and\\nCulloden on the Mediterranean station.\\nThe truth was that the seamen were in\\nmany respects extremely badly used j and", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "48 ADAM DUNCAN\\nthe French ideas of liberty, equality,\\nand fraternity, fermenting in many\\nmen s minds, accentuated the sense of\\nexasperation. Some seasonable reforms\\nmight at this period have averted further\\nmischief but, unhappily, Lord Spencer\\nand the admiralty board were blind to\\nthis internal danger. That Duncan real^\\nised the many wrongs of the seaman was\\nclearly shown by his subsequent action\\nin 1797. He is known to have made\\nmany representations on their behalf in\\nhis private correspondence with Lord\\nSpencer, which unhappily has perished,\\nthough possibly even he did not yet\\nunderstand how threatening the situa-\\ntion was becoming. In the light of\\nthese earlier mutinies, however, in which\\nmany of the grievances afterwards put\\nforward in the great rising of 1797 were\\npressed upon the notice of the authori-\\nties, it is impossible to pretend, as have\\nsome of the historians, that the great\\nexplosion came suddenly and without\\nwarning.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 49\\nThe winter of 1795 and the early\\nmonths of 1796 passed in the monoto-\\nnous blockade of the Texel, Duncan s\\nmainstay still remaining, much to his\\nindignation, the Eussian fleet. He com-\\nplains, and not without reason, that he\\nis the first British admiral that ever was\\nordered on service with foreigners only.\\nThe worst of it was that Eussian seaman-\\nship was hardly equal to the severe trial\\nof winter cruising. Indeed, a good many\\nBritish officers roundly declared that this\\ncountry could have done just as well\\nwithout the Eussians, and thus have\\nsaved no small amount of money, since\\nwe had, by the terms of our military un-\\nderstanding with Catherine, to victual\\nthe eight thousand Eussian seamen of\\nthe fleet and to keep the eighteen ships\\nin good order.\\nIn the autumn of 1796 the position\\ngrew more dangerous for England. The\\nfirst object of the French in conquering\\nHolland was to facilitate the invasion", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "50 ADAM DUNCAN\\nof England. It is doubtful whether the\\ncooler heads across the Channel believed\\nin such a scheme, but the fiery Hoche\\ncertainly did. The first blow was to be\\nstruck at Ireland, with which country\\nthe French authorities maintained con-\\nstant relations and of whose disloyalty\\nthey had no substantial doubts. Expe-\\nditions were simultaneously to be directed\\nupon that island from the Texel and\\nfrom Brest. Upon the shore of the\\nChannel the equipment of that flotilla\\nof invasion began, which five years later\\nwas to claim Nelson s attention. The\\nSpanish navy was added by alliance to\\nthe strength of France and Holland.\\nThe danger of the British position was\\naggravated by a series of bad harvests at\\nhome, which led the privy council in the\\nprevailing scarcity to call upon English-\\nmen to put their households on an allow-\\nance of one quartern loaf a head a week,\\nand by a great rise in prices, which bore\\ncruelly upon the poor. The ominous cry", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 51\\nof Bread and peace! was heard in\\nthe streets.\\nAnxious to strike a heavy blow at\\nand to disable one at least of their\\nenemies, the British government de-\\ncided upon an attack on the Island of\\nTexel and an attempt to destroy the\\nDutch fleet with fire-ships. It was\\nknown that the Dutch were extremely\\ndiscontented with their new masters, and\\nthat the Dutch navy was by no means\\ndevoted to France. Duncan, however,\\nwhen the scheme was broached to him,\\nopposed it. To effect anything con-\\nsiderable, a large body of troops must\\nnecessarily have been employed and to\\ndisembark and re-embark them upon\\na storm-swept, harbourless coast, in\\nthe face of a vigilant enemy, during\\nthe winter months, was a very dan-\\ngerous enterprise. Lord Spencer re-\\nminded the admiral, in words which\\nanticipate his instructions to Nelson\\nbefore the Nile campaign, of the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "52 ADAM DUNCAN\\nfact that risks must be run to achieve\\ngreat success, and that, if there was fail-\\nure, it would lie at the doors of the\\nadmiralty. This was proper, generous,\\nand high-spirited counsel to give and\\nno man could be the worse for such a\\nreminder. Yet Duncan s objections\\nwere based upon the exact knowledge\\nwhich the seaman possesses, and events\\nproved that he was right. He gave the\\nmost loyal and hearty support to the\\nscheme of the ministry yet it miscar-\\nried, not through any fault of his, but\\nthrough the inevitable malice of cir-\\ncumstances. The failure led him to\\nfear that the ministry would suspect he\\nhad acted half-heartedly, and thus pained\\nhim the more. He tendered his resigna-\\ntion, but it was very rightly refused.\\nOn this expedition he gave out to his\\nfleet a plan of battle in case he found\\nit practicable to go in and attack the\\nDutch in the Texel. The plan reveals\\nthe tactician behind the man of courage", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 53\\nand of action. Duncan is known to\\nhave studied the work of that well-known\\nwriter upon tactics, Clerk of Eldin for\\nhe was not one of those foolish people\\nwho believed that a commander-in-chiefs\\none duty in the presence of an enemy\\nwas to go at him, no matter how. He\\nsaw that there was a right and a wrong\\nway of going at the enemy. His instruc-\\ntions provided for anchoring his own\\nships by the stern, a manoeuvre of\\nwhich Nelson availed himself at the\\nNile and which may have been sug-\\ngested to him by Duncan s dispositions.\\nIt enabled any ship engaged to move\\nforwards or backwards by the simple\\nexpedient of shortening in or paying out\\nveering, that is to say cable. But\\nwhat differentiates Duncan s plan from\\nNelson s is that Duncan does not seem\\nto contemplate the concentration of his\\nwhole force upon a detail of the enemy\\nand of so crushing his adversary piece-\\nmeal. The superior generalship and", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "54 ADAM DUNCAN\\naudacity of Nelson enabled him to im-\\nprove upon Duncan s plan.\\nFor the rest, Duncan, like Nelson, left\\nhis captains a free hand in matters of\\ndetail. Like Nelson, he had frequent\\ninterviews with them, and took care that\\nthey should be saturated with his ideas.\\nHe does not, however, appear to have\\nentertained as much as did his great\\njunior, who devoted no small part of\\nhis income to hospitality in the fleet.\\nDuncan lived, says Captain Hotham\\nwho served under him, in a very fru-\\ngal manner, and kept little state. Hav-\\ning a family dependent upon him and\\nnot being a rich man, it was want of\\nmoney, and not any want of generosity\\nin his disposition, that compelled him\\nto restrict his entertainments. He was,\\nhowever, of a retiring disposition by\\nnature.\\nAfter this unsuccessful expedition,\\nLord Spencer suggested that it would\\nbe best during the severe winter weather", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 55\\nfor the main body of the fleet to lie at\\nYarmouth, which was distant about one\\nhundred and twenty-five miles from the\\nTexel, leaving only light ships, such as\\ncutters and frigates, to watch the pro-\\nceedings of the enemy, who could now\\ncount upon a force of twenty-one ships\\nof the line. The French plan of cam-\\npaign might be suspected to be this\\nTwo or more of the many blockaded\\nsquadrons were to force their way to\\nsea, or seize an opportunity when the\\nblockading fleets were refitting or\\ndriven off their station by gales. The\\nFrench squadrons would then unite at\\nsome prearranged rendezvous, and fall\\nupon one of the blockading British fleets\\nbefore it could be warned. The British\\nplan was to frustrate such a scheme by\\nrendering it impossible for any of the\\nblockaded fleets to put to sea without\\nbeing promptly brought to action or\\nhotly and closely pursued. The pieces on\\nthe chess board that is to say, the vari-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "56 ADAM DUNCAN\\nous battle squadrons are thus given by\\nAdmiral Colomb for the year 1796.\\nThey varied somewhat from day to day.\\nFrance, Holland, England and\\nand Spain. Russia.\\nBattleships. Battleships.\\n26\\n29\\n2\\n31\\n20\\n5\\nToulon 15 North Sea\\nCartagena 18 Channel\\nCadiz 3 Irish coast\\nFerrol 26 Mediterranean\\nGuarnizo 7 West Indies\\nBrest 21 North America\\nTexel 21 The Cape\\nNewfoundland 7 India\\nHavana 18\\n136\\n5\\n126\\nThus, the enemy had a very consider-\\nable advantage in numbers, though this\\nwas to a great extent neutralised by the\\ndivided commands and manifold jealous-\\nies which are weaknesses inseparable\\nfrom an alliance of three powers.\\nFor the escape of the Dutch fleet in\\nthe Texel an east wind was a necessity\\nin days when shirks had to rely entirely", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 57\\nupon sail power. Consequently, when\\nthe wind was from the west, the British\\nblockade could he safely relaxed. The\\nDutch anxiously watched the weather-\\ncock 5 but, when the British fleet was\\nabsent, the wind blew steadily from\\nthe west, and, when the wind was in\\nthe east, Duncan was always off the\\nanchorage. At the close of the year,\\nhowever, a French expedition did slip\\nout of Brest harbour, owing to the care-\\nless watch maintained by Bridport in\\nthe Channel and, though it achieved\\nnothing, we had to thank fogs and bad\\nweather, and the chapter of accidents\\ngenerally, and not any acumen on the\\npart of the admiral in charge of the\\nChannel fleet. Moreover, the expedition\\ncaused very great uneasiness for the dis-\\ncontent of Ireland was perfectly well\\nknown in London, and, had any consid-\\nerable French force landed there, the\\nconsequences might have been most dis-\\nastrous.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "58 ADAM DUKCAN\\nAll through the winter of 1796-97\\nthis menace of invasion was maintained\\nby the enemy. Large forces were held\\nready at Brest, at Dunkirk, and at the\\nTexel. The equipment of a flotilla of\\nlong boats was pushed steadily forward\\nby the French authorities, and from\\ntime to time there were alarms that the\\nenemy had put to sea. Great prepara-\\ntions were made in England to meet the\\ninvader on his landing, should he escape\\nthe vigilance of our fleets. Every one\\narmed and drilled in the militia, yeo-\\nmanry, or volunteers. Women and\\nchildren and some timorous men\\nremoved from the eastern and southern\\nseaboard, to be safe when the enemy\\ncame at last.\\nIn March there was a report that the\\nDutch were out, and the British fleet at\\nonce hurried towards the Texel to meet\\nit. Duncan had been considerably re-\\nenforced and could now muster thirteen\\nships of the liue, fourteen frigates, and", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 59\\nnineteen small craft, besides three Eus-\\nsian battleships and five Eussian frig-\\nates. Unfortunately, the report proved\\ngroundless the Dutch fleet never moved.\\nThe wind came round from the east to\\nthe west, and Duncan was recalled to\\nYarmouth.\\nIt was after this fruitless voyage that\\nthe great mutiny in the British fleet\\nbegan. In March, Lord Howe, who was\\nalways regarded by the seamen as their\\ntrustiest friend, received several peti-\\ntions from ships in the Channel fleet,\\nurging the need of an increase in the\\nseaman s pay, as, owing to the great rise\\nin the price of food and of the necessa-\\nries of life which had occurred since the\\noutbreak of war, both the seamen them-\\nselves and their wives and families were\\nin terrible penury. They bitterly com-\\nplained that, while the pay of soldiers\\nand militia had been augmented, the\\nroyal navy was forgotten. They pro-\\ntested that they were actuated by no", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "60 ADAM DUNCAN\\nspirit of sedition or disaffection, but by\\nwant. Unhappily, Howe paid no atten-\\ntion to these petitions and the next\\nincident was that the Channel fleet at\\nSpithead refused to put to sea. The\\nadmiralty were informed by Lord Brid-\\nport that it was impossible to use vig-\\norous measures against the mutineers,\\ninasmuch as the whole fleet was con-\\ncerned.\\nThe word mutiny is, perhaps, an\\nanomaly as applied to the state of things\\nnow existing in the British fleet, since\\nu mutiny has associations of violence 5\\nbut none as yet was shown to the officers.\\nThe men seem to have despaired of\\nobtaining redress for their grievances by\\nany other method than the one adopted.\\nThey protested their loyalty to the\\ncrown at every juncture, and there is\\nno reason to doubt their protests. A\\npetition was now laid before the admi-\\nralty from the seamen, asking for certain\\ndefinite reforms. It opened with the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 61\\nsanguine anticipation that the admiralty\\nand nation would\\nacknowledge our worth and good services both\\nin the American war and this, for which good\\nservices your lordship s petitioners do unani-\\nmously agree in opinion that their truth to the\\nnation and laborious industry in defence of their\\nking and country deserve some better en-\\ncouragement than they meet with at present.\\nThe demands were as follows (they are\\ngiven in Italics to distinguish them from\\nthe author s comment)\\n1. Wages to be raised. This was sim-\\nple justice, when the soldiers pay had\\nbeen increased, and the price of all\\nnecessities had greatly advanced.\\n2. Provisions to be of better quality and\\nto be supplied in full weight, sixteen ounces to\\nthe pound bread, and not flour, to be issued\\nin port, and vegetables to be supplied. It\\nwas a great grievance that meat was\\nonly served out fourteen ounces to the\\npound, the other two ounces by a ser-\\nvice custom having become the purser s", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "62 ADAM DUNCAN\\nperquisite. Cheese dwindled down to\\neleven and two-thirds ounces to the\\npound. This caused soreness, and led\\nthe men to think they were cheated by\\ntheir officers. It was not unreasonable\\nto ask for fresh bread and vegetables,\\nwhen circumstances rendered their sup-\\nply possible. Vegetables were most nec-\\nessary to health on long cruises.\\n3. The sick to be better attended to, and\\ntheir necessaries not to be embezzled by the\\nsurgeons. Too often the sick and\\nwounded were left to rot or starve. A\\nreport dated March 25, 1797, by the\\nsurgeon of the depot-ship and flagship\\nat the Nore, the Sandivich, gives a good\\nidea of the state of things prevailing.\\nAn infectious complaint, probably\\ntyphus, had broken out on board. The\\nmen seized by this complaint, the report\\nproceeds, are dirty, almost naked, and\\nin general without beds. It is of little\\navail to prescribe medicines to un-\\nhappy sufferers who are so bare of com-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 63\\nmon necessaries and compelled to mix\\nwith the throng by lying on the decks.\\nThe number on board was fifteen or six-\\nteen hundred, when there was room,\\nperhaps, for, at the outside, a thousand\\nmen. The authorities were warned that,\\nif the number was not lessened, many\\nmust fall victims to contagion and\\ndisease, and that the situation was re-\\nplete with anxiety. This was only three\\nweeks before the mutiny began.\\n4. Liberty on shore to be given, when\\nliossible. Generally speaking, the men\\nwere confined on board, when in port,\\nfor fear of desertion and for years they\\nmight never set eyes on their wives and\\nfamilies and homes.\\n5. The wounded to receive pay till they\\nrecovered or were discharged. Their pay\\nwas stopped when in hospital. In fact,\\nmen were punished for their sufferings\\nm their country s service.\\n6. These and other grievances to be re-\\ndressed. Many complaints were made", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "64 ADAM DUNCAN\\nby the crews of tyranny and brutality\\non the part of individual officers. The\\ntales of one captain s doings, who was\\nstrenuously denounced for his ill-treat-\\nment of his men, recall Smollett s Cap-\\ntain Oakum. Another committed sui-\\ncide because the admiralty would not\\nreceive him. Investigation was after-\\nwards made as to the justice of these\\ncomplaints and, while some were capri-\\ncious and unjustifiable, the great major-\\nity were ascertained to have foundation.\\nThe demands of the seamen were so\\nreasonable, the sympathy of the nation\\nwas, on the whole, so evident, the best\\nofficers in the navy so clearly realised\\nreform was necessary, and the posi-\\ntion of the country robbed of its right\\narm, the fleet, was so perilous, that the\\nadmiralty granted the petition and a free\\npardon to all that had been concerned in\\nthe mutiny. The movement had rapidly\\nspread from Spithead to Plymouth, the\\nNore and the North Sea fleet. But,", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 65\\nthough the petition was granted, it was\\nnot acted upon at once. Parliament\\ndid not immediately vote the sums re-\\nquired for the increase in pay and in the\\nallowance of provisions. Short weight\\nof meat and cheese was still served out.\\nThe men, distrustful and irritated at the\\ndelay, began to think they were being\\ntrifled with. At the end of April and\\nearly in May, 1797, there was an alarm-\\ning recrudescence of the mutiny. Sev-\\neral ships belonging to Duncan s fleet\\nwere at the Nore and on May 2 four of\\nthese hoisted the red flag, sent many of\\ntheir officers ashore, and anchored across\\nthe river Thames, where they began a\\nquasi-blockade of the port of London.\\nAt Yarmouth, where the rest of the\\nNorth Sea fleet was lying, it will be seen\\nthat there was further trouble.\\nFrom this day dates the mutiny at\\nthe Nore, which was a far more danger-\\nous affair than the original Spithead\\nmutiny. The ships concerned in it", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "66 ADAM DUNCAN\\nwere, with few exceptions, units in\\nDuncan s fleet. The men composing\\ntheir crews had been hurriedly scraped\\ntogether, were strange to their officers\\nand to discipline, and included many\\neducated persons amongst their number,\\nwho would naturally feel and resent the\\nbrutalities of the service more than the\\nrough hands from the merchant service.\\nThey were for these reasons more prone\\nto insubordination and readier to go to\\nextreme lengths when mutiny showed\\nitself. On April 30 there was an out-\\nbreak in Duncan s own flagship, the\\nVenerable, then lying in Yarmouth\\nEoads. Her crew assembled on the\\nforecastle and in the shrouds, and sud-\\ndenly gave three cheers. The Nassau\\nat once followed her example. Duncan,\\nin the Venerable, acted with the most\\nadmirable tact and firmness. He mus-\\ntered the officers. The marines who\\nrarely or never made common cause\\nwith the seamen, and who, even to-day,", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 67\\nfraternise rather with the stoker than\\nthe bluejacket proper, so enduring are\\nservice traditions of hostility fell in\\nunder arms. Then he went forward\\namong the mutineers. His noble and\\nsplendid appearance, his known affec-\\ntion for and sympathy with the common\\nseaman, and the simple eloquence with\\nwhich he appealed to every great motive\\nin his men had great influence with\\nthem. He refused to permit his ad-\\nmiral s flag to be lowered and replaced\\nby the red standard of revolt. He was\\nready, too, to go to extremes j for it was\\nwith difficulty that his chaplain re-\\nstrained him from cutting down an in-\\nsolent mutineer on the spot. Five ring-\\nleaders were seized and brought aft to\\nhim on the quarter-deck, in the presence\\nof the whole crew. He sternly rebuked\\nthem, showed them the wickedness of\\nmutiny at such an hour, and then par-\\ndoned them.\\nMost admirals of the day would have", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "68 ADAM DUNCAN\\ncourt- mar tialled them and hanged them,\\nor at least have taken care that they\\nwere flogged within an inch of their\\nlives. Accordingly, Duncan has been\\ncensured for his mildness. But so\\nstrong and so deep was the current\\nof mutiny that violent repression at\\nthis juncture was altogether inexpedient\\nand impossible.* Nor was this gener-\\nous humanity fruitless. Through the\\ntrials of May and early June the Vener-\\nable 1 s crew stood by their admiral, and,\\nso doing, rendered the greatest of ser-\\nvices to their country. After genera-\\ntions cannot indorse the attacks made\\nupon Duncan in his own time. Eather,\\nhe seems in his deep sympathy with his\\nAn attempt at a court-martial on a muti-\\nnous seaman led to the great outbreak of May\\n12 at the Nore. Because at a later date Lord\\nSt. Vincent was able by the exercise of extreme\\nseverity to stamp out the mutinous spirit in\\nthe Mediterranean fleet, it by no means follows\\nthat similar measures would have had a like re-\\nsult in the North Sea fleet.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 69\\nmen and tenderness for them, and in his\\naversion to savage punishment, to have\\nbeen ahead of his age, ahead of such\\ngreat admirals as Hood and Jervis and\\neven Nelson.\\nIn the Nassau the mutiny was tempo-\\nrarily got under. It may be noted that\\nan address of this ship s company sheds\\nlight upon the maladministration which\\nproduced the mutiny. It states that\\nnineteen months wages were due, and\\nthat the seamen were in want of almost\\nevery article of wearing apparel that\\nmay conduce to render our lives comfort-\\nable in this situation of life. A few\\ndays later the Standard rose, but by ex-\\npostulation was recalled to loyalty. To\\nstem the tide of insubordination, Dun-\\ncan made the circuit of his ships, going\\non board each, addressing the crew, and\\nexamining into grievances. Of the\\nspeeches which he delivered, only one\\nremains, addressed to the crew of the\\nVenerable; and, as it illustrates the ad-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "70 ADAM DUNCAN\\nmiral s character, the most striking pas-\\nsages in it deserve repetition;\\nMy lads, surrounded as Britain is with ene-\\nmies, still we have nothing to fear if the fleet\\nstrictly adheres to its former character, which\\nnever shone Avith more brightness than dur-\\ning this war. The regard we owe our coun-\\ntry and our families, I think, should animate us\\nto exert ourselves in a particular manner, and\\nnot flinch at the appearance of danger. You\\nsee me now grown gray with fifty-one years\\nservice. In every ship I have had the honour\\nto command I have endeavoured to do justice\\nboth to the public and the men I commanded,\\nand have often been flattered with particular\\nmarks of their regard and I still hope, in spite\\nof all that has happened, this ship s company\\nhave not lost their confidence in me. Both my\\nofficers and I are always ready to redress any\\nsupposed grievances, when asked in a proper\\nmanner.\\nIn all my service I have maintained my au-\\nthority, which I will not easily part with. I\\nshall take this opportunity of mentioning a\\nthing that has too often offended my ears in\\nthis ship. I mean the profane oaths, and I will\\nsay blasphemy, that too much prevails,\u00e2\u0080\u0094 I really\\nbelieve often without meaning. But, if there is\\na God,\u00e2\u0080\u0094 and everything round us shows it,\u00e2\u0080\u0094 we\\nought to pay Him more respect. In the day of", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 71\\ntrouble the most abandoned are generally the\\nfirst to cry for assistance and relief to that God\\nWhose name they are daily taking in vain.\\nWith what confidence they expect it, they\\nknow best. I am always happy to see you\\ncheerful and at play, but the noise and tumult\\nthat seems at that time to prevail amongst you\\nlooks more like a lawless set of men than a\\nwell-disposed ship s company.\\nI hope you will attend to this; and, if what I\\nhave said makes any impression, I shall expect\\nto see it by much alertness in doing your duty\\nand in obedience to your officers. God bless\\nyou all and may He always have us under His\\ngracious protection and make us better men!\\nThe men are said to have been deeply\\nmoved some even to tears by this\\nnoble appeal. They responded with a\\nletter from the ship s company, protest-\\ning their sorrow at what had happened,\\nasking the admiral who, as they said,\\nhad proved to them a father for his par-\\ndon, assuring him of their future obedi-\\nence and promising that they would fight\\nto the last if laid alongside the enemy.\\nNor were these idle words. The Ven-\\nerable 1 s crew in the weeks that followed", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "72 ADAM DUNCAN\\nidentified themselves with one of the\\nmost heroic deeds that stand in the brill-\\niant records of the British navy, and\\nfinally effaced the stain of April 30 by\\ntheir surpassing devotion.\\nYet there were more outbreaks in the\\nfleet. On May 3, in the House of Lords,\\nthe Duke of Bedford made a speech,\\nwhich under the circumstances can only\\nbe described as a wicked one, suggesting\\nthat the gOA^ernment was not going to\\ncarry out its promises to the seamen j and\\nan injudicious order was issued about the\\nsame time by the admiralty, urging up-\\non captains that the strictest discipline\\nshould be maintained, and that at the\\nsmallest show of mutiny the ringleaders\\nshould be seized and brought to punish-\\nment. There was at once a fresh out-\\nbreak at Portsmouth. At the Nore the\\nships, which had for a week been pass-\\nably obedient, rose again on May 12 j and\\non the 13th, at Yarmouth, the Adamant\\nmutinied. In conformity with his custom,", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 73\\nDuncan went on board, and addressed\\nthe crew. He told them that he did not\\ncare a rap for any violence they pur-\\nposed against him, and that, though he\\npreferred to be loved rather than feared,\\nhe would with his own hand kill any\\none who showed himself insubordinate.\\nTowering head and shoulders above\\nthem, he turned to them, and asked if\\nany man dared to challenge his author-\\nity. A man did venture to do so, when\\nDuncan, whose enormous strength was\\nfamous, seized him by the scruff of the\\nneck and held him with one arm, dang-\\nling over the ship s side, while he bade\\nthe crew look at the fellow who would\\ndepose him from his command. His\\nmanhood, his words, his assertion of his\\nphysical advantage, weighed with the\\nmen. The Adamant returned to obedi-\\nence, and afterwards shared the Venera-\\nMe s glory.\\nMeantime at the Nore the state of\\nthings grew worse and worse. The", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "74 ADAM DUNCAN\\nSandwich, Inflexible, Directory Champion,\\nBrilliant, Inspector, Proserpine, Calypso,\\nSwan, and Tysiphone had all hoisted the\\nred flag, reeved ropes to the yard-\\narms (to hang seamen who did not sup-\\nport the mutiny), elected committees,\\nand sent objectionable officers on shore.\\nRichard Parker, who had served in the\\nnavy as a midshipman in the opening\\nyear of the war, and who had been de-\\ngraded to the ranks for insubordina-\\ntion took the lead. Delegates were de-\\nspatched by him to Yarmouth to stir\\nup Duncan s crews, and to Portsmouth;\\nwhile day by day the revolted seamen\\nparaded the streets of Sheerness, with\\nbands playing and coloured papers in\\ntheir hats, bearing the inscription, u Suc-\\ncess to the delegates of the fleet. They\\nthreatened to renew the blockade of the\\nport of London, if their demands were\\nnot complied with and the government\\nwas absolutely helpless, for it had no naval\\nforce upon which it could rely to send", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 75\\nagainst them. Even the soldiers and the\\nmilitia were not altogether to be trusted.\\nSeditions proclamations were one fine\\nmorning found posted up in the most\\nimportant barracks of the kingdom.\\nHow critical was the situation was\\nshown by the price of consols, which in\\nMay never rose above 49^, and were\\nseldom above 48 J. A monetary crisis\\nadded to the general embarrassment\\nand alarm. And, although the news\\nof Jervis s victory over the Spaniards\\nat St. Vincent had come in oppor-\\ntunely to cheer the spirit of the na-\\ntion, there was the gravest fear as to\\nthe issue of the twofold struggle, with\\nthe mutinous fleet at home and with the\\nenemy abroad.\\nThe Nore mutineers demands went\\nfar beyond those of the Spithead muti-\\nneers. Over and above all the conces-\\nsions made to the latter, they required\\nthat liberty should be given as a matter\\nof right to every man in rotation, when", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "76 ADAM DUNCAN\\nships came into port that unpopular\\nofficers should not be employed again in\\nthe same ship, without the consent of\\nthe company j that all who had deserted\\nshould be pardoned that prize money\\nshould be more equally divided and\\nthat the articles of war should be recast,\\nand deprived of such clauses as were\\nlikely to inspire terror and prejudice\\nagainst His Majesty s service. They\\nalso required the admiralty board to\\ncome down to Sheerness, and confer with\\nthem. Fortunately, on May 16 the\\nChannel fleet had returned to something\\nlike order, though for some weeks\\nlonger discipline could not be vigor-\\nously enforced. This fact strengthened\\nthe admiralty s hands. With some ex-\\nceptions the demands were refused.\\nTroops and militia were poured into\\nSheerness. The guns at Tilbury were\\nmanned, and the furnaces for hot shot\\nkept in heat, in case the mutineers\\nshould make a dash at London. A gen-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 77\\neral exodus from Sheerness began, and\\nshops were closed in apprehension of a\\nconflict. There was actual firing at\\nTilbury upon a boat-load of mutineers\\nand the boom of the guns was heard in\\nLondon, the first shots fired in anger\\nnear the capital since the day when\\nthe Dutch sailed up the Medway and\\nattacked Chatham.\\nOn receiving the reply, the mutineers\\nproceeded at once to action. A line of\\nships was moored across the Thames, and\\nno vessel was permitted to pass it. The\\nclose blockade of London began, a\\nmeasure infinitely dangerous to the capi-\\ntal at a time when communications by\\nland were slow and difficult, before the\\nrailway and canal system had been de-\\nveloped, and when London depended\\nupon the sea for its coal and innumer-\\nable other supplies.\\nIn great alarm the admiralty ques-\\ntioned Duncan as to whether his fleet\\ncould be trusted to act against the muti-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "78 ADAM DUNCAN\\nneers. The answer could not be doubt-\\nful. Even if the North Sea fleet could\\nbe persuaded to put to sea against the\\nDutch, which was at least questionable,\\nit could certainly not be induced to\\nact against the revolted sailors, who\\nwere its crews own countrymen and\\nfriends. Moreover, day by day there\\nwere fresh symptoms of mutiny. The\\nTrent refused to weigh anchor, when\\nordered; and, though the crew of the\\nVenerable offered to chastise her,\\nprobably any such action would have\\nbeen prevented by the other ships. Ac-\\ncordingly, Duncan pointed out to the\\nauthorities the disagreeable jealousy\\nfrom all other parts of the fleet which\\nany attempt at coercion by his squadron\\nmust bring upon his men, though he\\nstated himself ready to execute orders,\\nif given, and could express complete\\nreliance upon his own Venerable. Her\\ncrew, indeed, had once more sent him an\\naddress, protesting their devotion", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 79\\nWe will not [it said], as long as life will per-\\nmit, in any respect see either you or the flag\\ninsulted. While life remains in our hodies,\\nwe will endeavour always to comply with your\\nwish and obey your command and, if necessity\\nrequire, you may depend on it we shall give you\\na sufficient proof thereof. It would appear\\nunnatural for us to unsheathe the sword against\\nour brethren, notwithstanding we would wish\\nto show ourselves like men in behalf of our\\ncommander, should necessity arise.\\nThe admiralty decided not to test so\\nseverely the North Sea fleet. But its\\nservices were now required in another\\ndirection, as news arrived from the Texel\\nthat the Dutch fleet, with eighteen\\nships of the line, twenty-two frigates\\nand sloops, and forty-two transports, was\\non the eve of putting to sea, to attempt\\nthe invasion of England. It had doubt-\\nless been emboldened by the mutiny,\\nwhich by paralysing the British fleet\\nhad given the best of openings to the\\nenemy, and expected to be unopposed.\\nDuncan was directed to put to sea\\nfrom Yarmouth, and to proceed at once", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "80 ADAM DUNCAN\\noff the Texel, and there remain so long\\nas the wind blew from the east. But,\\nwhen he issued orders to weigh, the\\nNassau and Standard refused to obey.\\nAt this juncture arrived fresh and con-\\ntradictory instructions for Duncan with\\nhis ships, or such as he could trust, to\\nprepare for an attack upon the mutineers\\nat the Nore, and to place his squadron in\\na convenient position for that purpose.\\nThe order was dated May 27, 1797 but it\\nwas so much waste paper. It must have\\nreached Duncan on the 28th. By noon\\non the 29th he was left with only his own\\nVenerable, the Adamant, Agamemnon, and\\nGlatton. An hour later the Agamemnon\\nand Glatton, though the former s ship s\\ncrew had served loyally and brilliantly\\nunder Nelson in other and happier\\ndays, and though the latter s men had a\\nremarkably good character, abandoned\\nhim. Thus the admiral was deserted by\\nhis fleet, and from twelve sail of the line\\nsaw his force reduced to two. Far from", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 81\\nbeing ready to fight the Nore mutineers,\\nthe revolted ships in the North Sea fleet\\nwere prepared to fire upon the Vener-\\nable and upon the admiral s flag.\\nThe mutineers of the North Sea fleet\\nassembled at Yarmouth, and took counsel\\nas to what they should do. It was finally\\ndecided that four of the ships should\\nproceed to the Nore, and re-enforce the\\nmutineers at that anchorage. A fifth had\\ngone off before this decision was arrived\\nat, of her own accord. At this very\\nmoment the wind showed an inclination\\nto come round to the east, thus render-\\ning it imperative for the Dutch fleet and\\narmy of invasion to be closely watched.\\nStrong appeals were made to the muti-\\nneers, but in vain. In this extremity the\\nheads of the admiralty went down to\\nSheerness to try if any expostulation\\ncould prevail upon the men at the Nore\\nto return to their duty. They were met\\nwith impossible demands. There was\\ntalk among the mutineers of a Float-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "82 ADAM DUNCAN\\ning Bepublic, and Parker had assumed\\nthe style of President. When the\\nrest of the North Sea fleet began to come\\nin, the tone of the rebels rose. Parker\\nhad now twenty- four sail under his\\norders, a most formidable force. Effi-\\ngies of William Pitt, the prime minister,\\nwere strung up at the yard-arm of sev-\\neral ships, which led the London press\\nto report that the mutineers were taking\\nthe lives of their officers, and greatly in-\\ncreased the universal terror. Several\\nmidshipmen and surgeons who had be-\\ncome especial objects of dislike to the\\ncrews were ducked, dropped, that is\\nto say, from the yard-arm, tied hand and\\nfoot, into the sea, and only hauled out\\nwhen at the last gasp. In short, there\\nwas a dangerous outbreak of violence\\nagainst the officers. At the other end\\nof England a great conspiracy was de-\\ntected among the marines at Plymouth,\\nand no less than one hundred and fifty\\nmen were found to have been sworn in.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 83\\nYet at this juncture the nation was\\nsaved by the firmness of the government\\nand by the heroism of Duncan. How-\\never just in the first instance the de-\\nmands of the mutineers, however inex-\\npedient the delay in acceding to them,\\nmatters had reached a pitch where fur-\\nther concession was impossible and where\\nseverity was absolutely essential, if the\\nnavy and the nation were to survive.\\nAll supplies were cut off from the muti-\\nneers and a royal proclamation was is-\\nsued, forbidding any intercourse with\\nthem. Thirty thousand troops assem-\\nbled in arms between Dover and Graves-\\nend. All seamen who ventured ashore\\nwere arrested. The buoys and beacons\\nin the Thames mouth were removed, to\\nprevent the escape of the ships to the\\nenemy. For there was talk amongst the\\nmost extreme of the mutineers of carry-\\ning over the fleet to the enemy. Al-\\nready, however, a more moderate party\\nwas showing itself among the men.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "84 ADAM DUNCAN\\nMany of them indeed, the great major-\\nity had never had any intention of\\ngoing to extreme lengths, and viewed\\nthe suggestion of treason with horror.\\nMeanwhile Duncan, with the Venerable,\\nAdamant, and three small vessels, had\\nproceeded to the Texel. Inside the port\\nlay ninety-five hostile ships, fourteen of\\nthe line but this great seaman was not\\nof a temper to shrink from confronting\\nsuch odds. His second in command,\\nwhose gallantry at Camperdown after-\\nwards proved him a man of no com-\\nmon courage, urged him to retire to\\nLeith for safety. Duncan met this\\ncounsel with a smile. Never did ad-\\nmiral show greater audacity and deci-\\nsion than he, in this supreme hour of\\nhis country s fate. He sent for the cap-\\ntain of the Adamant, and instructed him\\nto fight her, side by side with the Vener-\\nable, till both ships went down. The\\nspirit which burnt in him he infused\\ninto his men. He summoned the crew", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 85\\nof the Venerable, and told them, in his\\nplain heroic style, what he expected of\\nthem. The Venerable was to hold her\\npost off the Texel, whether the Dutch\\nfleet came out or not. If they came out,\\nthe water was shallow enough to suffer\\nher flag to fly above its surface after\\nshe had been sunk. If she survived, he\\nwould call upon his crew to act against\\nthe Nore mutineers.\\nThe crew stood by him. They soared\\nto his height of devotion, and answered\\nthat they would obey. And so for three\\ndays, while the wind blew from the\\neast, this miraculous Scotsman kept his\\nbattleship moored at the entrance to\\nthe channel, at a point so narrow that\\nno vessel could pass, and made signals\\nto the Adamant in the offing, which\\npassed them on in turn to a mythical\\nfleet, out of the Dutchmen s sight. To\\nbewilder and deceive the enemy, he tried\\nevery stratagem. Now the Venerable and\\nAdamant flew admiral s flags. Next day", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "86 ADAM DUNCAN\\nthey passed from the lofty estate of flag-\\nships to the humbler position of ordi-\\nnary captain s commands. Now one ad-\\nmiral s flag was of the blue and now of\\nthe red, to give the impression that a\\nhalf-dozen of flag-officers and a score\\nof battleships were off the port. As it\\nwas the usual British custom to keep the\\nbulk of the blockading force at some\\ndistance from the blockaded port and\\nonly one or two ships close in, this de-\\nvice succeeded brilliantly. The Dutch\\nwere convinced that a strong fleet was\\nstill off the Texel, notwithstanding the\\nmutiny. Thus the blockade was a\\ntriumph of skill as well as of courage.\\nHe knew [says his biographer] the critical\\nstate of public affairs, that it required the most\\nbold and decisive measures and, whatever the\\nresult might have been, he determined to abide\\nits issue.\\nWhat might not a leader so bold,\\nso capable, so ready to face the extrem-\\nest risks in his country s service, have", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 87\\neffected, in the flower of his age, in the\\nterrible days of the American war, when\\nEngland vainly sought a great admiral 1\\nDuring these eventful hours, when the\\nlife of his country trembled in the bal-\\nance, and any moment might have wit-\\nnessed a furious attack upon his two\\nbattleships by overwhelming numbers,\\nhe delivered another of his famous ad-\\ndresses to his men, instinct, as are all\\nhis spoken words, with a spirit of lofty\\ndevotion:\\nTo be deserted by my fleet [he said] in the face\\nof an enemy is a disgrace which, I believe, never\\nbefore happened to a British admiral nor could\\nI have supposed it possible, My greatest com-\\nfort under God is that I have been supported by\\nthe officers, seamen, and marines of this ship,\\nfor which, with a heart overflowing with grati-\\ntude, I request you to accept my sincere thanks.\\nMay God, Who has thus far conducted you,\\ncontinue to do so and may the British navy,\\nthe glory and support of our country, be restored\\nto its wonted splendours and be, not only the\\nbulwark of Britain, but the terror of the world.\\nBut this can only be effected by a strict adher-\\nence to our duty, and obedience and let us pray", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "88 ADAM DUNCAN\\nthat Almighty God may keep us in the right\\nway of thinking. God bless you all\\nBetween the 5th and the 10th of June\\nthe crisis passed. Two fresh battleships\\njoined Duncan on the first date. On the\\nsecond, Sir Eoger Curtis arrived with\\nseven more. His men had returned to\\ntheir duty, though on the way round\\nfrom Spithead there was some trouble as\\nto the short weight of meat, which,\\nafter all the dangers and crises of the\\ntwo past months, was still issued with\\nan indifference to results almost crim-\\ninal. They all protested their loyalty\\nand their abhorrence of French prin-\\nciples. With eleven British ships of\\nthe line, Duncan had no fears. The\\nDutch had let slip the favourable mo-\\nment. It is now known that their\\nseamen also were mutinous for want of\\npay. The situation had been saved by\\nDuncan s happy audacity.\\nAt the Nore the conflict with the\\nmutineers, after some days of great un-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUKOAN 89\\ncertainty, issued in the complete triumph\\nof authority. On June 5, it is true, the\\nLondon Oracle noted that no less than\\none hundred and fifty colliers were lying\\nin the Thames, detained by the muti-\\nneers but already in the revolted fleet\\ndifficulties were beginning to arise as to\\nprovisions and water. The seamen of the\\nPlymouth and Portsmouth ships plied\\nthe mutineers with proclamations call-\\ning upon them to return to their duty.\\nMany of the Channel ships even went\\nso far as to offer to defend our king\\nand country against domestic as well as\\nforeign foes. 7 The Floating Kepub-\\nlic, with its president, had more than\\na suggestion of French lawlessness about\\nit, and was detestable even to the more\\nliberally inclined Englishmen.\\nUnder these circumstances the re-\\nvolted fleet began to melt away. At\\nit greatest strength it had mustered\\nfourteen ships of the line, five frigates\\nand seven small craft, a truly formid-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "90 ADAM DOTCAN\\nable force. On June 9 several of the\\nships loosed their foretopsail, as if to put\\nto sea. On this suddenly two ships of\\nthe line ran out from the rebel fleet, and\\nunder a heavy fire made for the shelter\\nof the Sheerness batteries. One ran\\naground, and was for an hour cannonaded\\nby the mutineers, but very half-heart-\\nedly, as only one man on board her\\nwas wounded, and little damage done.\\nOn the following days other vessels\\ncopied their example, and there were\\nsigns that the ringleaders meant to\\nescape to France in a small ship.\\nThe mouth of the Thames was, how-\\never, most vigilantly watched by cruis-\\ners and only about twenty were able to\\nget away in boats, among whom were\\nnone of the most conspicuous men. On\\nthe 14th the Sandwich submitted. Par-\\nker asked her crew whether they would\\ngive the ship up or stand by the dele-\\ngates and ringleaders. The crew wished\\nnot to be the last to surrender, and, as", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 91\\nthey could see the mutinous fleet daily\\nindeed, hourly diminishing, answered\\nthat the ship should be given up. Par-\\nker passed at once from the estate of\\nPresident of the Floating Bepublic\\nand acting rear-admiral of the rebels\\nto that of a prisoner whose death could\\nalone atone for his misdeeds. He was\\nconfined at once, then put in irons and\\nsent ashore under a strong guard. A\\nweek later a court-martial met to try\\nhim. He behaved himself with dignity\\nand courage, protested that he had taken\\ncommand unwillingly and had through-\\nout restrained the mutineers; and the\\ngeneral tendency of the evidence was\\nthat, though he was unquestionably\\nguilty of mutiny, he had not been inso-\\nlent to the officers or permitted inso-\\nlence. He was sentenced to death, and\\nwas hanged on board the Sandwich on\\nJune 30.\\nOn the eve of execution he wrote\\na dying confession, designed, it would", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "92 ADAM DUNCAN\\nseem, to put a stop to the ill-treatment\\nof seamen in the navy.\\nI am to die [he said] a martyr in the cause\\nof humanity. I know the multitude thinks\\nhard things of me, but my conscience testi-\\nfies that the part which I have acted among the\\nseamen is right. How could I indifferently\\nstand by and behold some of the best of my\\nfellow-creatures cruelly treated by the very\\nloorst? I here solemnly declare that I was not\\nan original mover in the disturbances. I am\\nthe devoted scapegoat for the sins of many.\\nBy the laws of war I acknowledge myself to be\\nlegally convicted but by the laws of humanity\\n(which should be the basis of all laws) I die\\nillegally.\\nFrom first to last he denied that the\\nmutineers had maintained any treason-\\nable correspondence with France or\\nwith the revolutionary party in Eng-\\nland, and after a close study of the rec-\\nords of the mutiny the writer is inclined\\nto believe that he spoke the truth. At\\nthe execution his conduct made a deep\\nimpression on the officers He met his\\nfate like a man, with the words", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 93\\nI acknowledge the justice of the sentence\\nunder which I suffer, and hope my death may be\\ndeemed a sufficient atonement and save the\\nlives of others.\\nThus passed from this mortal stage a\\nstrangely interesting figure. The sea-\\nmen, it is said, adored him to the last\\nand it is certain that he was no common\\nman.\\nWe may rest assured that the trouble\\nwould never have gone to serious lengths,\\nhad not the seamen had real and\\nserious grievances. The risks for the\\nleaders were very great, since any fail-\\nure meant for them death or flogging with\\nthree hundred or five hundred lashes. It\\nis satisfactory to note that no very bloody\\nvengeance was wreaked upon the Nore\\nand North Sea fleet mutineers. All\\nthe ringleaders, except the handful who\\nhad escaped, were seized and tried by\\ncourt-martial, and a very large num-\\nber sentenced to death. But only in a\\nfew cases was the sentence carried out.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "94 ADAM DUNCAN\\nThe most notorious and the most forward\\nof the prisoners were hanged. The\\nothers were detained in prison till the\\nvictory of Camperdown gave the looked-\\nfor opportunity of exercising mercy. It\\nwas recognised by all the best naval\\nofficers that there was a great deal to be\\nsaid for the men. Duncan had in the\\npast made repeated representations on\\ntheir behalf to the admiralty, not\\nalways, unfortunately, with success.\\nLooking, as he did, on the seamen as\\nhis children, says his historian, Lord\\nCamperdown, i l he could not feel harshly\\ntowards them. He had urged the\\nestablishment of a naval militia, from\\nwhich men might be drafted into the\\nnavy, instead of the cruel and unfair\\npress. He had also advised a more even\\ndistribution of prize money. But he was\\nahead of his time, and the navy had to\\nwait a generation before these changes\\nwere made.\\nThe mutiny, though suppressed in the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 95\\nhome squadrons, smouldered on in our\\nforeign fleets. At the Cape, on the\\nMediterranean, in the West Indies, and\\non the Newfoundland station there were\\ndangerous outbreaks. Many grievances\\nstill remained unredressed j and so late\\nas 1805, in the opinion of capable judges,\\nthe temper of the men was very bad, and\\nanother rising was apprehended. For\\nvarious reasons it did not take place,\\nbut towards the close of the war the\\nmoral of the navy declined. There was\\nmuch unpunished cruelty to the men on\\nthe part of officers, and, in return, some\\nskulking in action by the men.\\nDuncan s services to his country in\\nthe time of the mutiny should never be\\nforgotten. They are an even stronger\\nclaim upon the gratitude of posterity\\nthan the great victory of Camperdown,\\nand at the time they were very justly\\ncommended by Pitt. It would seem that\\nthe bold blockade of the Texel saved\\nEngland from invasion, since it is not", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "96 ADAM DUNCAN\\nprobable that the Dutch sailors would\\nhave refused to go out, had they seen\\nthat no British fleet was watching them\\nand the consequences of the landing of a\\npowerful invading force, commanded by\\nsuch a general as Hoche, could not but\\nhave been most disastrous at a moment\\nwhen England was divided and hesitat-\\ning within and hard pressed without.\\nFor many weeks after the mutiny had\\nended all through the summer and\\nautumn the blockade of the Texel was\\ncontinued by Duncan with unremitting\\nvigilance and steadily increasing forces.\\nA Franco-Dutch force of thirty-six thou-\\nsand men was still waiting to cross the\\nNorth Sea, but it was never given the\\nchance. The idea of corking up the\\nentrance to the harbour an operation\\nwhich, a century later, the Americans\\nattempted at Santiago was discussed\\nbetween the admiral and Lord Spencer.\\nBut it was never carried out, prob-\\nably, we may guess, because the admiral", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 97\\nwanted to get the Dutchmen out and\\nstrike a decisive blow against them. In\\nAugust a series of heavy gales began,\\nwhich sorely tried the very indifferent\\nvessels of the blockading fleet j yet Dun-\\ncan still held steadily to his station,\\namidst the admiration of Europe. Not\\ntill September 26 did he put back to\\nport, and then only under express orders\\nto refit. The Dutch were known to have\\ndisembarked the troops. All danger of\\ninvasion had passed, and no one could\\nhave anticipated what did actually\\nhappen.\\nOff the Texel was left Captain Trollope,\\nwith the Russell, Adamant, and some small\\ncraft, to keep a watch on the enemy.\\nMeanwhile Duncan s ships had, to some\\nextent, to be scattered for repairs, which\\nwere needed after the gales. Three\\nships of the line were sent to the Nore,\\nthree more to other points. The rest\\nfilled up with stores at Yarmouth.\\nThey were engaged in this work when", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "98 ADAM DUNCAN\\nearly on the morning of October 9, 1797,\\na lugger came in, flying the signal that\\nthe Dutch fleet was at sea. This was\\nindeed startling news. A number of\\nthe officers and men were on shore the\\nships would necessarily be in great dis-\\norder j but without a moment s hesita-\\ntion or delay Duncan stood out, carrying\\nwith him eleven ships. Three more\\njoined him in the afternoon, and he\\npushed for the Dutch coast to fight the\\ndecisive battle.\\nPrecisely what motives led the Dutch\\ngovernment to order out its fleet at such\\na juncture is hard to decide. The ex-\\npedition to Ireland had been seemingly\\nabandoned. There was not much to be\\ngained by fighting, and very much to\\nbe lost. It was certain that the Dutch\\nships after their long stay in harbour\\nwould be in no condition to face even a\\nscratch British fleet, the units of which\\nwere inured to keeping the sea and ac-\\ncustomed to a close blockade of a diffi-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 99\\ncult and dangerous coast. Nor had the\\nDutch the excuse of superior force. In\\nnumber of ships of the line they were\\njust equal to Duncan, deducting his ves-\\nsels absent for repairs. In weight of\\nmetal they were heavily outclassed.\\nAdmiral de Winter, the Dutch com-\\nmander-in-chief, had in vain protested\\nagainst the folly and uselessness of a\\nsortie. The only result of opposing rash\\naction was that his courage was sus-\\npected. He was ordered to fight near\\nthe coast, if the enemy was inferior if\\nthe enemy was slightly superior, he was\\nto remember that Dutch admirals had\\noften prevailed against odds if much\\nsuperior, he was to avoid action.\\nAccordingly, on October 7 his ships\\ncame out. They were seen at once by\\nthe daring British scouts, and word was\\nimmediately sent to Duncan at Yar-\\nmouth and to the admiralty. The Brit-\\nish cruisers strove in every way to\\nembarrass their enemy. They broke in", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "100 ADAM DUNCAN\\nupon his gun signals with confusing sig-\\nnals of their own j they hoisted flags as\\nif communicating with a large British\\nfleet to windward of them and out of\\nsight of the Dutch j and they gave\\nample evidence not only of courage, but\\nof superb seamanship by the style in\\nwhich they kept touch with the hostile\\nforce. They must have felt that this\\nforce was their prey, when they saw that\\nthere was much confusion in the Dutch\\nfleet and that no real attempt was made\\nto chase them off. De Winter stood\\nslowly down the coast of the Nether-\\nlands, towards the mouth of the Maas,\\nas was suspected, but incorrectly, with\\nthe intention of proceeding to Brest and\\nforming a junction with the French fleet.\\nDuncan was hurrying meanwhile to\\nthe Texel, with a gale behind him, to\\nplace himself in the line of the Dutch\\nretreat. Thence he was moving south-\\nward, when on the morning of October\\n11 the masts of a cruiser came over the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 101\\nhorizon, with the signal of the enemy s\\napproach flying. The day was dark\\nand tempestuous. The wind blew in\\nsudden squalls. At 9 A.M. the Venera-\\nble signalled to prepare for battle, the\\nwork of an hour or more in each ship,\\nsince the decks had to be cleared, the\\nyards secured, and the guns cast loose\\nand run out. A few minutes later the\\ndetached squadron formed its junction\\nwith the British fleet, raising the fight-\\ning strength to sixteen ships of the line,\\nof which, however, nine were of small\\nsize. The names of the ships were as\\nfollows\\n74 guns.\\nVenerable\\n64 guns.\\nAgincourt\\nMonarch\\nLancaster\\nRussell\\nArdent\\nMontagu\\nVeteran\\nBedford\\nDirector\\nPowerful\\nMonmouth\\nTriumph\\n50 guns.\\nIsis\\n64 guns.\\nBelliqueuse\\nAdamant\\nFrigates and small craft Beaulieu, 40 guns\\nCirce, 28 guns; Martin; Rose; King George;\\nActive; Diligent; Speculator.\\nAt this date it was unusual for frig-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "102 ADAM DUNCAN\\nates and small craft to fight in the line\\nof battle. They commonly kept out of\\nthe contest, and were fired upon by\\nneither side. It was their duty to re-\\npeat signals, tow disabled ships, secure\\nbeaten enemies, watch the hostile\\ncruisers, and save life.\\nAs the British fleet drew nearer, the\\nDutchmen came into full view. They\\nhad fifteen sail of the line and one frigate\\nin line of battle, as follows\\n74 Brutus 9\\nStaten Generaal 6\\nVrijheid 5\\n72 Jupiter 13\\n68 Haarlem 14\\nCerberus 12\\nLeijden 10\\nAdmiraal de Vries 4\\nGelijkheid 1\\n64 Wassenaar 7\\nHercules 3\\n56 Alkmaar 15\\nBatamer 8\\nBeschermer 2\\n54 Delft 16\\n44 Mars 11\\nFigures after the ships show their place in\\nthe line.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 103\\nBesides these were five frigates and\\nfive brigs. These smaller vessels were\\nnot in the line of battle, but were inside\\nit, between it and the Dutch coast, placed\\nso as to sweep with their broadsides the\\nintervals in the line of battleships.\\nFrom the British fleet the enemy bore\\nsouth-west. The direction of his line of\\nbattle was, roughly, from south south-east\\nto north north-west and he was moving\\nnorthwards. The direction of the wind\\nwas generally north-west, veering north-\\nwards during the morning, so that the\\nBritish fleet had the inestimable advan-\\ntage of the weather gage, enabling it\\nto compel battle and to determine the\\nmoment and the conditions of collision.\\nDuncan s fleet, being rather a scratch\\nassemblage of indifferent ships than a\\nhomogeneous force, such as Nelson in\\n1798 led to such brilliant victory in\\nthe Mediterranean, could not be ex-\\npected to manoeuvre with machine-like\\nprecision. Some ships, which should", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "104 ADAM DUNCAN\\nhave been present, were missing others\\nhad only recently joined and there was\\nsome confusion and uncertainty in the\\nfleet itself as to the position of the vari-\\nous ships in the line of battle, due, with-\\nout doubt, to the hurried departure\\nfrom Yarmouth and the difficulty of\\ncommunicating between the ships in\\ntempestuous weather. In fighting qual-\\nity the North Sea fleet stood high, be-\\ncause the valour of the war-trained offi-\\ncers and the skill of the practised sea-\\nmen would necessarily make themselves\\nfelt in the combat. In fleet drill it was\\nseemingly most indifferent, as we should\\nanticipate where the units were con-\\nstantly changing. Its order at the\\nmoment when the Dutch came into sight\\nwas very scattered. About 9.20 Duncan\\nsignalled to his ships to form on the\\nstarboard line of bearing, which would\\nbring all the battleships abreast into\\na single sloping line, the direction of\\nwhich was, roughly, north-east and south-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 105\\nwest. This sloping line would be gen-\\nerally parallel to and heading towards\\nthe Dutch line. Advancing abreast of\\neach other, the British ships would thus\\nall simultaneously strike the Dutch line,\\nand engage ship to ship in the old-\\nfashioned way.\\nThis line abreast was, however, for\\nvarious reasons, never properly formed.\\nThe signal was seemingly not understood\\nby some ships, as passing squalls of rain\\nobscured the flag-hoists. Other ships,\\nscattered by the haste of their advance,\\nwere not able to get into position before\\na slight change of course steering\\nmore to the south brought the line of\\nbearing, such as it was, into a loose line\\nahead. At 10. 15 Duncan issued a fresh\\norder the fleet was to give chase that\\nis to say, the individual ships were ab-\\nsolved from all necessity of maintaining\\nany formation, and were to chase the\\nenemy as rapidly as they could. But,\\nthough this order was bold and judi-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "106 ADAM DUNCAN\\ncious, it would have the demerit of bring-\\ning isolated British ships into collision\\nwith the whole Dutch fleet j and, when\\nDuncan saw clearly that the Dutchmen\\nwere not running away, but only drift-\\ning slowly inshore, he took steps to con-\\ncentrate his fleet. First, he directed the\\nBritish rear to make more sail, and then\\nthe van to shorten sail. At 11.8 the\\nBritish fleet was a second time ordered\\nto form starboard line of bearing. It\\ndoes not appear that this signal was gen-\\nerally acted upon. The fleet was in\\nvery scattered order, and probably many\\nships did not see the signal. The day\\nwas advancing. The Dutch were steadily\\ndrifting inshore upon the shallows and,\\nthese once reached, the British fleet could\\nonly close at the most terrible risk. Im-\\nmediate action was necessary. No more\\ntime could be spent in getting the scat-\\ntered fleet into a mathematically correct\\nline of battle. At 11.25 Duncan sig-\\nnalled to his ships each to steer for and", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 107\\nengage an antagonist. Ten minutes later\\nlie directed Yice- Admiral Onslow, in\\ncommand of the lee division, to attack\\nthe enemy s rear. Last of all, about a\\nquarter to twelve, he directed the whole\\nfleet to pass through the gaps in the\\nenemy s line, and engage the enemy to\\nleeward.\\nHitherto on this dull October morn-\\ning none of Duncan s signals or tactical\\nideas, so far as we can gather these from\\nhis signals, had risen far above me-\\ndiocrity. Before this he is revealed only\\nas a hard-fighting, bold, but common-\\nplace sea officer though by a curious\\naccident, immediately after the order\\nto the van to attack the enemy s rear,\\na signal had been hoisted by mistake\\nin the flagship, directing the British\\nweather or rear squadron to attack the\\nenemy s centre. This order would have\\nexactly anticipated the plan under\\nwhich Trafalgar was fought eight years\\nlater. It may have contributed to the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "108 ADAM DUNCAN\\ndecisiveness of the victory on the present\\noccasion j for, though hauled promptly\\ndown, it was seen elsewhere, and it is\\nquite possible that among the rear ships\\nwere some that acted upon it. But the\\ndecision to pass through the Dutch line\\nand engage the enemy to leeward was a\\nmagnificent inspiration. It was risky,\\nof course, for the wind was blowing\\nstraight upon the dangerous coast of\\nCamperdown, not far distant and dis-\\nabled ships, of which there must be no\\nfew after a fierce battle with a stubborn\\nenemy, would be in great danger. But,\\nin Nelson s splendid words, Nothing\\ngreat can be achieved without risk\\nand Duncan s manoeuvre would effect-\\nually deprive the Dutch of all chance of\\nretreat. At the same time, in rough,\\nsqually weather there were distinct tact-\\nical advantages in engaging to leeward\\nof an enemy, especially where, as in this\\ncase, the ships on both sides were small.\\nThe vessels to windward would find it", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 109\\ndangerous to open their lower- deck ports\\non the engaged side while the guns, on\\nrecoiling inward after firing, would be\\napt to run out again by force of gravity\\nbefore they could be secured and loaded,\\nthus slowing the rate of firing.\\nDuncan himself had been on deck\\nsince six o clock. He showed all the sober\\nelation of a commander who is certain\\nof winning, but knows that the enemy\\nwill make a fierce fight. He afterwards\\ntold of the exhilaration he had felt at\\nthe superb sight of the two large fleets\\nclosing for battle. For himself he enter-\\ntained no fears. His whole attention\\nwas riveted upon the giving of orders\\nand the directing of the movements of his\\nship. As the Venerable bore down, he\\ncalled his officers on deck,\\nand in their presence prostrated himself in\\nprayer before the God of hosts, committing\\nhimself and them with the cause they sus-\\ntained to His sovereign protection, his family to\\nHis care, his soul and body to His providence.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "110 ADAM DUNCAN\\nThis simple and solemn act of devotion\\nperformed, he could leave the issue of\\nlife or death to God. The spirit of the\\nfleet was excellent. As the ships neared\\nthe enemy, the crews cheered tumultu-\\nously. The weather was now dark and\\nshowery. The village of Camperdown\\nshowed through the rain squalls twelve\\nmiles off to the east south-east.\\nExactly in what order the British fleet\\nopened battle cannot be determined. As\\nfar as can be gathered from the logs of\\nthe vessels engaged and from Dutch and\\nEnglish accounts, a large group of British\\nships under Vice- Admiral Onslow first\\ncame into collision with the enemy. This\\ngroup, led by the Monarch, attacked the\\nDutch rear. A second, led by Duncan in\\nthe Venerable, attacked the sixth ship\\nfrom the Dutch van from a quarter to\\nhalf an hour after the battle had begun\\nin the Dutch rear. Duncan had the\\nfamous signal, Engage more closely,\\nflying and it was needed, for, shameful", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 111\\nto relate, there was more than one Brit-\\nish ship backward in entering the battle.\\nIn particular, the Agincourt, Captain\\nWilliamson, attracted unenviable atten-\\ntion. She should have been at hand to\\nsupport Duncan. Instead, however, of\\nusing every effort to get into action, her\\ncaptain shortened sail and hovered out\\nof effective range.\\nA little after half-past twelve Onslow,\\nand some minutes later Duncan, struck\\nthe Dutch, passing through their line\\nand engaging on both broadsides. The\\nDutch reserved their fire till the last\\nmoment, but then discharged two broad-\\nsides in rapid succession, with most\\ndeadly effect. It is probable that, when\\nthe line had been forced, the causes\\nalready noticed as likely to affect the\\naction of the windward ships came into\\nplay and slowed the Dutch fire, as it is\\nrecorded that the British got off three\\nshots to the Dutch one. The Venerable\\npassed astern of the Staten Generaal, fly-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "112 ADAM DUNCAN\\ning Eear- Admiral Storij sflag, wore, and\\nengaged her. Duncan had picked as his\\nantagonist the Vrijheid flagship of the\\nDutch commander-in-chief, Admiral de\\nWinter, but was unable to close with her\\nat once, as the Staten Generaal shot up\\ninto the gap through which he had in-\\ntended to pass, and compelled his atten-\\ntion. The Venerable was some minutes\\nvery hard pressed, indeed. She had\\nupon her hands the Vrijheid, Staten\\nGeneraal, and possibly the Wassenaar;\\nwhile a Dutch frigate and a brig from\\ntime to time fired at her. In this hour\\nof trial, Duncan s calm fortitude was an\\nexample to his officers and men. As the\\nVenerable was going down to the battle,\\nan officer inquired how many ships she\\nwas going to engage. Beally, sir,\\nsaid Duncan, with the politest irony, I\\ncannot ascertain but, when we have\\ntaken them, we will count them. It\\nseems to have been a matter of honour\\nin the British navy of that day not to", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 113\\nduck the head at the unnerving whiz of\\nround-shot for there is a story of his\\ngently reminding a young midshipman\\nof the entire uselessness of that instinc-\\ntive act.\\nThe Venerable once in the midst of the\\npress of enemy s ships, the battle was for\\nher a mere question of endurance and\\nhard pounding. The Dutch seamen\\nfought admirably, so admirably that\\nher position was for an hour a very\\ncritical one. The absence of the Agin-\\ncourt and other ships which should have\\nbeen at hand to give her support made\\nher task all the more difficult, and\\ngreatly increased the danger. The Belli-\\nqueuse, however, commanded by a fiery\\nScotch captain, Inglis, had now engaged\\nthe Wassenaar astern. The little Ardent\\nhad bravely closed with the far larger\\nVrijheid ahead, and was suffering se-\\nverely. In quick succession her gallant\\ncaptain, Burges, whose monument with\\namazing want of patriotism the authori-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "114 ADAM DUNCAN\\nties of St. Paul s recently endeavoured to\\nremove from its conspicuous position in\\nthe cathedral, to make way for an artist,\\nand her master were struck down\\nher crew was decimated twice over yet,\\nin the fierce excitement on the bloody\\ndecks, even women went to the guns.\\nSo sustained and so desperate was the\\ncontest in the centre that it was not till\\nthe British ships of Admiral Onslow s\\ndivision, fresh from their victory over\\nthe Dutch rear, began to arrive that the\\nenemy in the centre was battered to\\npieces and compelled to surrender.\\nIn the rear, by a lucky chapter of\\naccidents, Onslow s whole division con-\\ncentrated upon the four last Dutch ships.\\nSo crushing and effective was this con-\\ncentration that the conflict in this direc-\\ntion was quickly terminated. At half-\\npast one the Dutch Jupiter struck, and\\nher example was speedily followed by\\nothers. The Agincourt had attached her-\\nself to Onslow s division, whether or not", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 115\\nshe properly belonged to it is uncertain\\nand she, now the fight was won, fired into\\none of the surrendered ships in an at-\\ntempt to show her prowess without in-\\ncurring any serious risk. But others of\\nthe division, with a correcter instinct of\\nwhat was required of them, moved for-\\nward up the Dutch line towards the fu-\\nrious battle which was still raging in the\\ncentre. Captain Bligh, of the Director,\\nin particular, a harsh and tyrannical\\nbut most capable officer, deserves espe-\\ncial praise for the tactical insight which\\nled him to press forward to his com-\\nmander-in-chief s assistance at the earli-\\nest possible opportunity. His example\\nwas followed by the Powerful, and after\\nsome hesitation by the Montagu. The\\narrival of this formidable re-enforcement\\nat once produced a decisive effect. The\\nDirector, though hotly engaged, and the\\nMontagu had suffered very slight loss.\\nThe Director placed herself upon the port\\nquarter of the Vrijheid, some twenty", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "116 ADAM DUNCAN\\nyards off, and poured in upon the\\nDutch flag-ship a most appalling fire.\\nThe dreadful hail of iron which was\\nnow raining upon the Dutchmen from\\nnot one, but three or four British ships,\\nthus reversing the situation earlier in\\nthe afternoon, did its work Foretop-\\ngallantmast, foretopmast, foremast, main-\\ntopgallantmast, maintopmast, mainmast,\\nand, last of all, the mizzenmast came\\ncrashing down in quick succession. And\\nit was time. The Ardent was already an\\nunmanageable wreck, with one-third of\\nher complement dead or disabled. She\\nstill fired desperately yet, save for this\\nseasonable succour, her peril must have\\nbeen extreme, since the Dutch ships\\nwere executing against her that very\\nconcentration which the British van had\\nemployed so profitably against their rear.\\nThe Venerable, too, had lost heavily.\\nAll her masts were gravely wounded.\\nForty-five shot had hulled her betwixt\\nwind and water. The pumps could", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 117\\nscarcely keep the inflow under. But\\nher men were inspirited by the sight of\\nthe Dutch flags fluttering down in the\\nrear, and greeted each surrender with\\ncheers. As for her admiral, as a sea-\\nman who went through the battle by his\\nside wrote of him, He was heart of\\noak 5 and, as to a broadside, it only\\nmade the old cock young again. He\\nand the pilot were the only men un-\\ntouched upon the Venerable s quarter-\\ndeck. When the maintopgallantmast of\\nthe British flagship, with the colours,\\nwas shot away, a seaman named Craw-\\nford went aloft, and nailed a fresh flag\\nto the mast. While engaged in this, a\\nshot struck the mast and drove a splinter\\nright through his cheek, necessarily in-\\nflicting great pain. Yet he came down\\namongst his cheering fellow-seamen with\\nthe brave words, Never mind: that s\\nnaught. In this spirit the crew took\\nthe punishment which the enemy in-\\nflicted. For a close action the Venera-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "118 ADAM DUNCAN\\nble J s battle was unusually protracted.\\nShe was fiercely engaged for two to two\\nand a half hours, though experience\\nagainst the French had shown that their\\nships rarely resisted a fierce battering for\\nmore than an hour. But the Dutch\\nwere better seamen, more skilful gun-\\nners, and more obstinate fighters than\\ntheir allies.\\nSome moments of terrible anxiety\\nwere caused the other British ships,\\nwhen a Dutch sixty- four, the Hercules,\\nclose to the Venerable, took fire. She\\nwas at first mistaken for the British flag-\\nship. The fire, however, was quickly\\ngot under, and the mistake recognised.\\nIn the Staten Generaal a fire also broke\\nout, but was extinguished. Towards\\nthree this ship retreated from the line in\\na state of dreadful confusion, with her\\nrigging and sails shot to pieces, and un-\\nable to work her guns. The Yrijheid,\\nas we have seen, was in as bad or even\\nworse a case. Not a single officer re-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 119\\nmained unwounded. The captain had\\nreceived a mortal injury. All her col-\\nours and all her masts had been shot\\naway. She floated on the surface of the\\nsea, a mere disabled target. At last, about\\nthree or soon after, she surrendered to\\na hail from the Montagu and with her\\nfall the battle ended. The firing died\\naway along the line, and it was possi-\\nble to reckon the harvest of victory.\\nOf the sixteen ships which had formed\\nthe Dutch line of battle, nine had\\nstruck. Of the others, one or two at\\nthe earliest opportunity had bolted. In\\nthis ignominious category was the Be-\\nschermer. Further, two frigates were\\ncaptured. In all, seven Dutch ships of\\nthe line including the Mars y which\\nwas, strictly speaking, a frigate es-\\ncaped 5 but most of them were sadly\\nknocked about, and in none of them was\\nthere any fight left. The battle was de-\\ncisive in that it destroyed the Dutch\\nnavy. Never again did this force cause", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "120 ADAM DUNCAN\\nserious uneasiness. More than one-half\\nof the enemy s ships in line were taken,\\nthough these were in such a wretched\\nplight, riddled and dismasted, that they\\nwere worthless as prizes. On the British\\nside no ship was lost but the Ardent was\\nso much knocked about that she was fly-\\ning signals of distress, and all the others\\nwere badly wounded in their hulls. It\\nwas noted as evidence of the Dutch sea-\\nmen s good gunnery that the Monarch,\\nwhich led into battle, showed no trace\\nof damage in her masts and sails. Her\\ninjuries were all concentrated in her\\nhull.\\nTo pursue the remnants of the Dutch\\nwas, after such a fierce battle, virtually\\nimpossible. Signals of distress were fly-\\ning from the captured ships in all direc-\\ntions, and these humanity could not\\nwholly disregard. Nor were there many\\nBritish ships in a condition to pursue.\\nThe afternoon was closing in, the lee\\nshore was very near at hand, soundings", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 121\\nshowed only nine fathoms, and the wind\\nwas rising with heavy showers of rain.\\nWhat remained of daylight was there-\\nfore employed in securing and patching\\nup the prizes, putting the British ships\\nin order, and getting a good offing.\\nThe force and the losses of the two\\ncombatants may thus be reckoned\\nBritish. Dutch.\\nShips 16 16\\nBroadside f\u00e2\u0084\u00a2 5 n 51 l\\nlbs 11,501 9,857\\nMen 8,000 7,157\\nLoss 1,040 1,160\\nThe loss of life on either side was\\ngreat. Among the prisoners were three\\nDutch admirals, including the comman-\\nder-in-chief, the heroic De Winter, as\\ntall of stature as Duncan himself.\\nThe victory of Camperdown was the\\nmost decisive that a British fleet had\\nwon since the days of the Seven Years\\nWar. It was greater in its results than\\nthe 1st of June, 1794, which was, indeed,", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "122 ADAM DUNCAN\\nif the truth be told, a very insignificant\\nsuccess. With twenty-six British against\\ntwenty-six French ships, Howe only\\nmade six prizes, and altogether failed to\\ndeal a smashing blow. In the battle of\\nSt. Vincent, which was fought eight\\nmonths before Camperdown, a British\\nfleet of fifteen sail captured four sail of\\na Spanish fleet of twenty-seven. The\\nodds in this latter case may appear to\\nhave been far greater than those en-\\ncountered by Duncan at Camperdown.\\nBut in all probability they were less,\\nsince the Spanish seamen and admirals\\nwere notoriously incapable, while the\\nDutch have always been terrible enemies.\\nWhat added to the lustre of the victory\\nat Camperdown was the boldness with\\nwhich it had been snatched by Duncan s\\ndaring manoeuvre of interposing his\\nships between the Dutch line and the\\nshore.\\nA short message had been despatched\\nto England by Duncan at the moment", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 123\\nwhen the VrijJieid struck and victory was\\nassured. The tidings were received with\\nthe utmost joy and relief j for there had\\nbeen very general uneasiness lest the\\nDutch should avoid a battle and get\\nback to port, and perhaps some fear lest\\nthe recent mutiny in the fleet should\\nhave affected its efficiency as a fighting\\nmachine. On October 14, when the\\nnews reached London, the church bells\\npealed, the Tower guns fired salutes,\\nand the streets were illuminated. Four\\ndays later, when the full despatches ar-\\nrived, there were fresh illuminations and\\nfresh manifestations of joy. Duncan\\nwas at once created a peer with the title\\nof Yiscount Duncan of Camperdown.\\nHis gallant vice-admiral, Onslow, was\\nmade a baronet. Most grateful of all,\\nperhaps, both to the admiral and the\\nfleet he led, was the pardon of one hun-\\ndred and eighty of the unhappy mu-\\ntineers. Duncan in person presented\\ntheir petition, and he had the satisfac-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "124 ADAM DUNCAN\\ntion of reflecting that his skill and val-\\nour had saved from death or scourging\\nmen whom he pitied rather than blamed.\\nGold medals were struck to commemorate\\nthe success, Parliament voted its thanks,\\nand at the public expense a monument\\nwas erected to the memory of Captain\\nBurges, who had died the hero s death\\nfor his country.\\nAs showing the general feeling of\\ngratitude to Duncan in England, this\\nletter from Lady Spencer, the wife of\\nthe first lord of the admiralty, may be\\nquoted\\nWhat shall I say to you, my dear and victori-\\nous Admiral Where shall I find words to con-\\nvey to you the slightest idea of the enthusiasm\\ncreated by your glorious, splendid, and memo-\\nrable achievements? Not in the English lan-\\nguage; and no other is worthy of being used\\nupon so truly British an exploit. As an English\\nwoman, as an Irish woman, as Lord Spencer s\\nwife, I cannot express to you my grateful feel-\\nings. But amongst the number of delightful\\nsensations which crowd upon me since Friday\\nlast, surprise is not included. The man who", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 125\\nlias struggled thro all the difficulties of everlast-\\ning N. Sea Cruizes, of hardships of every kind, of\\nstorms, of cold, of perpetual disappointments,\\nwithout a murmur, without a regret, and lastly\\nwho most unprecedently hraved an enemy s fleet\\nof sixteen or twenty sail of the line, with only\\ntwo Men of War in a state of mutiny to oppose\\nthem: That Man, acquiring the honour and\\nglory you have done on the 11th of October, did\\nnot surprize me. But greatly have you been\\nrewarded for your past sufferings. Never will\\na fairer fame descend to posterity than yours,\\nand the gratitude of a great nation must give\\nyou feelings which will thaw away all that re-\\nmains of your Northern mists and miseries.\\nGod, Who allowed you to reap so glorious an\\nharvest of honour and glory, Who rewarded your\\nwell borne toils by such extraordinary success,\\nkeep you safe and well to enjoy for many years\\nthe fame He enabled you to acquire on this\\nmost distinguished occasion.\\nEver yours with gratitude and esteem,\\nLavinia Spencer.\\nAs one of Duncan s aunts in writing to\\nDundas put it, the victory was all the\\nmore valuable and opportune, since the\\nnation was a in a chicken-hearted way,\\nlow-spirited by the war, murmuring at", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "126 ADAM DUNCAN\\ntaxes (though necessary), grumbling and\\ndissatisfied in every county.\\nIn December a royal procession to\\nSt. PauPs took place, to give thanks for\\nthe three great naval victories of the\\nwar. Duncan was present in person j\\nand with the two wagons conveying the\\nFrench and Spanish flags taken in the\\nwar went a third, with the Dutch flags\\ncaptured by his skill at Camperdown.\\nOf the three Dutch admirals who were\\ntaken in the battle, De Winter, the com-\\nmander-in-chief, was received on board\\nthe Venerable. He had, as the Irish\\nrebel, Wolfe Tone, who was present in\\nHolland with the army of invasion, put\\nit, defended himself like a lion, and dis-\\nplayed unusual courage and obstinacy.\\nDuncan received him with the most deli-\\ncate kindness, praising him for his gal-\\nlantry in words which must have come\\nas balm to heal the anguish of defeat.\\nThroughout De Winter had played the\\nman and the patriot. He had warned", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 127\\nhis government of the utter folly of\\nfighting, and could at best feel that the\\ndisaster was none of his work. But he\\nfelt just indignation at the ignominious\\nmanner in which certain of his ships had\\nfled from the line of battle, and, in his\\nreports to the naval committee which\\nmanaged or mismanaged the affairs of\\nthe Dutch fleet, adverted strongly to this\\npoint. There is a story that he asked\\nDuncan at table whether this defection\\nhad not been the chief cause of his\\ndefeat, a question which Duncan is said\\nto have dexterously and wisely evaded.\\nIt was none of his business to contribute\\nto the removal of the cowardly or in-\\ncapable captains in the Dutch fleet.\\nDe Winter was taken to London,\\nwhere he was kindly received, and\\nwhere he won the golden opinion of all.\\nHis wife being dangerously ill, he was, a\\nmonth after the battle, sent back on\\nparole to his country. There he was ac-\\nquitted of all blame for the defeat, and", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "128 ADAM DUNCAN\\ndeclared to have gloriously supported\\nthe honour of his flag. He remained\\nthe firm friend of Duncan, and main-\\ntained a correspondence with him long\\nafter his release. The last letter of his\\nwhich remains expresses an ardent de-\\nsire for an honourable peace between\\nEngland and Holland. But this was not\\nto be. So long as Holland remained\\nunder the heel of her French conqueror,\\nwhich was until the events of 1813 is-\\nsued in the general overthrow of the\\nFrench, so long she had of necessity to\\nbe counted by England as an adversary.\\nThere was one unpleasant episode\\nafter the battle. Captain Williamson\\nof the Agincourt was tried by court-mar-\\ntial at Sheerness for his conduct in the\\naction. The charges against him were\\ntwo the first, of disobedience to the sig-\\nnals and not going into action the sec-\\nond, of cowardice or disaffection. The\\nfirst charge was held to have been\\nproved in part. The second and far", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 129\\ngraver charge was considered not to\\nhave been proved. Williamson was\\nsentenced to be placed at the bottom of\\nthe captains list, and pronounced inca-\\npable of ever again serving in the navy.\\nThere seems to have been a strong feel-\\ning against him for Nelson wrote of the\\nverdict that it was a most lenient one,\\nand maintained that death was the\\nproper penalty for such gun-shyness\\nas the AgincourVs commander had dis-\\nplayed. Duncan is said to have refused\\nto give evidence in his favour, with the\\nwords\\nFor myself I do not care but how can I bring\\nmy ship s company [who had suffered sorely\\nthrough want of the Agincourt s support] back\\nto life?\\nThrough the winter of 1797-98 Dun-\\ncan, from the bad state of his health and\\nthe fact that his services were no longer\\nurgently required at sea, remained on\\nshore. Early in 1798 he visited Dundee\\nand Edinburgh, where he was splendidly", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "130 ADAM DUNCAN\\nreceived. Not till the summer of that\\nyear did he again hoist his flag, on this\\noccasion in the Kent, which had replaced\\nthe battered Venerable. He had now\\nunder his orders no less than sixteen\\nBritish sail of the line with forty smaller\\ncraft, while a Eussian squadron often sail\\nof the line was also with him. This\\nample force watched the coast of Hol-\\nland to prevent the despatch of any\\nassistance to General Humbert, who\\nwith a small body of French troops had\\ninvaded Ireland. In November the\\nBritish fleet returned to port, and Dun-\\ncan went home on sick leave. As in the\\nprevious year, he spent the winter of\\n1798 ashore. In the summer of 1799 he\\nonce more returned to the blockade.\\nThe British government had now ar-\\nranged with Eussia for the despatch of a\\njoint expedition of thirty thousand men\\nto Holland. At the same time it was\\nhoped that the remnants of the Dutch\\nfleet might be induced to come over, as", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 131\\nthe Dutch seainen were known to be very\\nill-disposed towards the Dutch govern-\\nment.\\nAt this particular juncture the French\\nAdmiral Bruix with a large fleet escaped\\nfrom Brest, and sailed into the Mediter-\\nranean. The position was a very dan-\\ngerous one for the British squadrons,\\nsince they were scattered, and might have\\nbeen overwhelmed and defeated in de-\\ntail. Ee- enforcements were hurried off\\nfrom every quarter by the admiralty to\\nthe Mediterranean and, as usual, Dun-\\ncan was stripped of his best shij)s. But\\nBruix did nothing at all. Having en-\\ntered the Mediterranean, he left it again\\nas soon as he could, without a decisive\\naction, and returned to Brest. His aim-\\nless movements served only to puzzle the\\nBritish strategists.\\nIn August, 1799, the British expedi-\\ntion for Holland sailed. Duncan s health\\nhad now once more given way, but he\\nclung bravely to his post. It must be re-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "132 ADAM DUNCAN\\nmenibered that lie was now a very old man\\nfor active work, that his constitution had\\nyears before been broken in the West\\nIndies, and that he had spent his early\\nlife in the navy in days when the sani-\\ntary conditions were fearful. These\\nfacts explain his constant enforced with-\\ndrawals from the fleet to recruit his\\nhealth on shore. Nature was warning\\nhim that the time for his retirement had\\ncome.\\nWhen the British force, twelve thou-\\nsand strong, under General Abercromby,\\narrived off the Dutch coast, it was de-\\ncided to attack from the land side the\\nHelder batteries which prevented ac-\\ncess to the Texel anchorage, where lay\\nthe Dutch fleet. The weather, however,\\nturned very stormy and it was impos-\\nsible to land till August 27. On that\\nday a considerable force occupied the\\nHelder works without any resistance.\\nSimultaneously, the Island of Texel was\\nseized. The Dutch fleet was thereby", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 133\\nleft at our mercy. Admiral Storij, who\\nhad escaped from Camperdown, and who\\nwas in command of it, was summoned to\\nsurrender by Admiral Mitchell, Dun-\\ncan s second in command, and, as the\\nDutch seamen declined to fight, had no\\nchoice but to obey. One seventy -four,\\nfive sixty -eight s, two fifty-four s, two\\nforty -four s, and two smaller vessels thus\\nfell into British hands. This splendid\\nsuccess obtained, Duncan at once re-\\nturned to England in very bad health.\\nHis service at sea was over for, though\\nhe once again returned to his fleet, he\\nnever got further than Yarmouth.\\nThis bloodless capture of a large\\nsquadron was thus the close and consum-\\nmation of Duncan s long service career.\\nIt covered him with fresh glory, and won\\nyet more enthusiastic congratulations\\nand thanks from the admiralty and from\\nhis friends. Yet, as his subordinate,\\nAdmiral Mitchell, had had the u entire\\nmanagement and direction of the expe-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "134 ADAM DUNCAN\\ndition, it would be unjust to him to\\nattribute the great results which were\\nobtained to Duncan, and to Duncan\\nalone. The commander-in-chief had the\\nwisdom and magnanimity to leave the\\nconduct of affairs to an officer who was in\\ngood health, and who understood his\\nwork. It may be noted, as a matter of\\ngreat credit to all concerned, the two\\nadmirals and General Abercromby,\\nthat there was no friction of any kind\\nbetween the two services, but that they\\nworked harmoniously together, and this\\nat a time when discord was only too\\ncommon.\\nIn the end, as might have been ex-\\npected, a crushing force was concen-\\ntrated by the French and Dutch against\\nthe Anglo-Eussian expedition. It was\\nnow commanded by the incompetent\\nDuke of York, who had replaced the\\ncompetent Abercromby. After two in-\\ndecisive battles, in which there was\\ngreat mismanagement upon the British", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 135\\nside, the expedition was compelled to\\nevacuate Holland. But it had completed\\nthe work begun by the navy at Camper-\\ndown, and may be said to have finally\\ndestroyed the Dutch fleet.\\nOn Duncan s return to England, some\\nsoreness was caused him by the refusal\\nof the admiralty to promote the Kent 1 8\\nfirst lieutenant, Mr. Clay, whom he had\\nsent home with despatches, whereas\\nAdmiral Mitchell s first lieutenant was\\nimmediately promoted. It should be\\nsaid that it was the almost invariable\\npractice, after a victory or a success such\\nas this, to promote the commander-in-\\nchief s first lieutenant and not to do so\\nwas a distinct slight to Duncan. More-\\nover, Clay had other claims. He had\\nbeen severely wounded at Camperdown,\\nand had been awarded a pension as\\nincapable of further service, though\\nsubsequently, on his recovery, this pen-\\nsion had been withdrawn. Duncan s\\nletter was treated with disrespect by the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "136 ADAM DUNCAN\\nauthorities, who returned no answer.\\nFeeling that he had deserved something\\ndifferent from this, he was tempted to\\nwrite very bitterly to the admiralty,\\nand also, it would seem, suspended his\\nfriendly and confidential correspondence\\nwith Lord Spencer, the head of the\\nadmiralty.\\nLord Spencer, however, was in no\\nmood to quarrel with a man who had\\ndone his country such inestimable ser-\\nvice. He wrote to Duncan in private a\\nkindly and generous remonstrance, point-\\ning out that the proper and regular\\nmode of conveying your wishes for the\\npromotion of any officer is through me\\nin a private communication. And at\\nthe earliest opportunity he promoted\\nClay. Thus the difference which had\\narisen between the two was healed.\\nDuncan had always held that duty\\ncommanded him to serve his country till\\nthe war was ended.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 137\\nI cannot [he had written to a relative in\\n1796] bring myself to believe it will be right to\\nthink of retirement till the war is over, however\\ncomfortably I may think myself circumstanced.\\nTill you make a peace, there will be no rest\\nfor me.\\nBut failing health and the completion\\nof his work perhaps also the feeling\\nwhich he more than once expressed, that\\nyoung commanders are better than old\\nwere now working to make him recon-\\nsider his resolve. In the North Sea the\\nwar was practically over. All danger\\nfrom Holland had ceased and now\\nthroughout the world the star of Britain\\nwas in the ascendant. Nelson s brilliant\\nvictory of the Nile in mid-1798 had\\nthoroughly cowed the French navy.\\nIn March, 1800, Duncan finally decided\\nto retire, and in April struck his flag on\\nboard the Kent, and departed to Scotland.\\nThere in serenity and repose, with the\\nconsciousness of having rendered to his\\ncountry true and faithful service, he\\nspent the evening of a noble life. But", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "138 ADAM DUNCAN\\nthe spirit of self-sacrifice which burnt in\\nhim called him forth from his retirement\\nearly in 1801, when the Northern Coali-\\ntion threatened England. He offered\\nthe admiralty his assistance but it was,\\nperhaps wisely, declined by Lord Spen-\\ncer, who reminded him that, however\\nwilling the spirit, the body could scarcely\\nbe trusted. Yet it is much to be wished\\nthat Duncan had been sent to Copen-\\nhagen, as Nelson s superior, in place of\\nSir Hyde Parker. He understood Nel-\\nson, and with him might have won a\\nbloodless victory over the Danes while,\\nas his conduct at the Helder showed, he\\nwas perfectly ready to give a capable\\nsubordinate the free rein which Sir\\nHyde Parker grudged.\\nDuncan continued for the most part at\\nhis Scotch home till in his seventy-third\\nyear, in July, 1804, when the position of\\nhis country was once more a critical one,\\nhe journeyed to London to offer for the\\nlast time his services. But, if the spirit", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 139\\nwas willing, the body was now more than\\never weak. He was attacked with illness,\\nwhich made any command quite impos-\\nsible, and on his return home died on\\nAugust 4, 1804, near Coldstream. Thus\\nhe may be said almost to have fallen in\\nharness, with one single thought in his\\nheart the service of his country to\\nthe very last.\\nThus ended a career of signal dignity\\nand beauty, a career in which there is\\nnothing to censure and very much to\\npraise. Unlike his greater contempo-\\nrary, Nelson, Duncan was happy in his\\nprivate life. No glaring scandal in his\\ncase estranged the sympathy of old\\nfriends. He cultivated a restraint which\\nwas lacking in the younger admiral.\\nHis modesty was not the least striking\\nfeature in his character, when success\\nand praise flowed in upon him in full\\ntide. This Duncan, it was said of\\nhim with absolute truth after all the\\nrejoicings over Camperdown, hath", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "140 ADAM DUNCAN\\nborne his faculties so meekly Per-\\nhaps the country was accustomed to a\\nbreezy air of self-assertion in its admirals,\\nand was surprised at his reticence and\\nquiet. He courted no popularity, not\\nthat a man is the worse for desiring the\\npraise of his fellows that is, at the\\nworst, an honourable failing, and he\\nwould probably not have countenanced\\nthose triumphal tours of Nelson which\\ndispleased the good taste of the fastidi-\\nous not a little.\\nYet there were times when he could\\nfling his cloak of restraint aside. He\\nassuredly was no starched lay figure in\\nthe hour of stress and battle, even if\\nfew of those wonderful touches are re-\\ncorded of him which set Nelson above\\nhis contemporaries as a master in the\\nart of appealing to the heart of the com-\\nmon seaman. Nothing better has ever\\nbeen achieved by the navy which Dun-\\ncan adorned than that magnificent\\nblockade of the Texel with only two", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 141\\nships and the terms of his assurance to\\nhis men that he meant to fight the Ven-\\nerable till she sank at her moorings were\\nin the very Nelson style, great-hearted,\\nbold, undaunted, with just a dash of the\\ntheatrical.\\nAs an admiral, Duncan showed very\\nhigh, if not the highest, capacity. What\\ndistinguishes his method of action from\\nthat of Nelson, whom posterity has pro-\\nnounced the greatest seaman of all time,\\nwas that he never seems to have con-\\ntemplated crushing a part of the enemy s\\nforce with the whole of his own. It was\\nthis method which at the Nile and Tra-\\nfalgar brought such brilliant success\\nbut it is only fair to remember that at\\nCopenhagen, where he was likely to en-\\ncounter a peculiarly desperate resistance,\\nNelson departed from it, it must be\\npresumed with good reason. At Cam-\\nperdown, through accident, and not\\nthrough Duncan s dispositions, so far as\\nthese are recorded in the signal logs of", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "142 ADAM DUNCAN\\nthe flagship, a concentration of the Brit-\\nish fleet upon a portion of the enemy\\ndid actually take place, and proved won-\\nderfully effective. Duncan s orders, as\\ngiven out by signals, were for each\\nship to steer for and engage her oppo-\\nnent after passing through the Dutch\\nline. 77 It is clear, then, that he pur-\\nposed a ship to ship battle. The fact,\\nhowever, remains that he, like Nelson\\nat Copenhagen, could rely upon a con-\\nsiderable preponderance of force, having\\nsixty guns, or about twelve per cent,\\nmore than the Dutch, on the broadside,\\nwith an advantage of sixteen hundred\\nand fifty pounds weight of metal, or\\nabout one-sixth. It was generally held\\nabout this time that a preponderance\\nof one-fourth in weight of metal gave\\nabsolute certainty of success. Now at\\nthe Nile and Trafalgar the British fleets\\nwere distinctly inferior in force, and\\nwere thus, in a manner, compelled to a\\nconcentration upon a detail of the en-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 143\\nemy. Duncan may have considered\\nthat his superiority insured victory, and\\nrendered the adoption of any such\\nscheme unnecessary. He is known to\\nhave been a careful student of what\\nworks then existed on tactics, and it is\\nnot probable that he altogether over-\\nlooked the possibilities of a concentra-\\ntion. Desiring to destroy the whole\\nDutch fleet, and well aware that the\\nproximity of the shoals and of the\\nDutch coast gave unusual facilities for\\nescape, he may have desired to prevent\\nwhat did actually happen, the flight\\nof several of the unengaged Dutch ships\\nfrom the line. Moreover, with such a\\nfleet as he commanded, the units of\\nwhich were, in many cases, strange to\\neach other, he may have feared the\\nvery grave danger which is always apt\\nto arise when a concentration is effected\\nupon a part of the enemy, the risk of\\nfriend firing into friend, which has a\\nvery bad effect upon moral. So able", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "144 ADAM DUNCAN\\nan officer as Saumarez objected to Nel-\\nson s plan of action at the Nile for this\\nvery reason. It is instructive to note\\nthat several logs of the British ships en-\\ngaged at Camperdown recorded the fact\\nof receiving shot from the misdirected\\nguns of friends. The Lancaster 7 slog, in-\\ndeed, shows that the fire discipline of\\nthat ship was bad, since we find the\\nincident of her firing into the British Isis\\nnarrated, with the remark, Ordered\\nthe people to cease firing, for that was\\none of our own ships, but could not\\nstop them from firing. We may con-\\ntrast this with the perfect discipline of\\nthe Theseus at the Nile.\\nWe had not been many minutes in action\\nwith the Spartiate [says the Theseus s captain],\\nwhen we observed one of our ships place her-\\nself so directly opposite to us on the outside\\nof her [the Spartiate] that I desisted firing on\\nher, that I might not do mischief to friends.\\nWith such ships and crews as this, the\\npossibilities were infinitely greater than", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 145\\nwith the odds and ends which formed\\nthe North Sea fleet.\\nTwo other charges have been brought\\nagainst Duncan. The first is that he\\nchanged his plan of action at the last\\nminute. The signal logs and evidence\\ntaken at the Agincourt court-martial,\\nwhich have been examined and pub-\\nlished by Admiral Sturges Jackson,\\nhowever, show conclusively that this\\nwas not the case. A signal hoisted by\\nmistake in the Venerable led to the\\nerroneous idea of such a change being\\nentertained.\\nThe second charge is that Duncan\\nattacked with his fleet in great disorder.\\nThis fact seems from the logs to be unde-\\nniable, though it should be noted that\\nthe Dutch accounts speak distinctly of\\nthe British ships advancing en Schiquie?*,\\nor in a line of bearing, which was the\\nformation ordered. The same charge\\nhas been brought against Nelson for the\\nmanner in which at Trafalgar he brought", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "146 ADAM DUNCAK\\nhis fleet into action. Observers at Cadiz\\nnpon that memorable morning watched\\nwith exultation, we are told in the Naval\\nChronicle, the approach of the mad\\nEnglishmen in confusion and disorder.\\nYet the end and object of naval tactics\\nis to crush the enemy, and there are times\\nwhen true genius will brush aside the\\nrules which are meant rather for the\\nguidance than for the enslavement of\\nleaders. The British fleet at Camper-\\ndown was in disorder from causes over\\nwhich Duncan could have no control,\\nthe gale that had been blowing and the\\nvehement pursuit of the Dutch. To\\nhave delayed while a mathematically\\ncorrect line was being formed would\\nhave given the Dutch time to reach the\\nshoals. Far, then, from Duncan deserv-\\ning censure for the manner of his attack,\\nhe merits the highest praise for refusing\\nto be bound by pedantry and for daring\\nto run the risks which were inseparable\\nfrom such confusion.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 147\\nIn one respect the career of Duncan\\nwas most remarkable. It may be said, as\\na general rule, that few old commanders,\\nwhether on land or sea, have distin-\\nguished themselves. Nelson s whole\\nbrilliant career was compressed into the\\nshort term of forty-seven years. He was\\nfamous at the age of thirty-eight. But\\nDuncan did not make for himself a place\\namongst our very greatest admirals until\\n1797, when he was sixty-five years old.\\nHe was sixty-six when the battle of Cam-\\nperdown was fought. The sea service is\\nmore favourable to old commanders than\\nthe land, where greater physical fatigue\\nmust necessarily be encountered and\\namongst the distinguished naval officers\\nof the time were not a few who won\\ntheir spurs in old age, the most note-\\nworthy, Howe and St. Yincent. Yet\\nHowe showed a certain timidity in\\nchecking the British pursuit after the\\nbattle of June 1, and even St. Yincent\\nin the great battle from which he took", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "148 ADAM DUNCAN\\nhis title showed a strange indifference to\\ngathering in the full harvest of victory.\\nFew officers/ 7 it was said by Admiral\\nSir Eichard Dundas, are really good\\nfor much after fifty or fifty-five years of\\nage. No general over sixty years of\\nage should be employed, said Napo-\\nleon. At sixty one is good for noth-\\ning. Duncan is the most famous and\\nby far the most brilliant exception to\\nthis sound generalization. At no point\\ncan it be said with justice that the work\\nhe did could have been better done by\\na younger man. In the great year of\\nhis command, 1797, he showed all the\\nvigour, dash, and perseverance of youth.\\nThis is all the more striking, inasmuch\\nas in his old age his health was never\\ngood. But the iron will which ruled the\\nbody sustained him, and held in check all\\nphysical weakness till his task was per-\\nformed.\\nIn his treatment of his men, Duncan s\\ntenderness and humanity have already", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 149\\nbeen noticed. The interests of the com-\\nmon seamen constantly engaged his at-\\ntention, both before and after the great\\nmutiny. He viewed with especial dis-\\nfavour the press as a means of getting\\nmen, disliking, in all probability, its\\ncapriciousness. As Napoleon justly said,\\nit spared the gentleman and carried off\\nthe common fellow, and was therefore\\ngrossly unjust. He was just as averse to\\nthe current practice of shipping for the\\nnavy jail-birds. It is true that in many\\ncases these were minor offenders,\\npoachers and smugglers and ne er-do-\\nwells rather than hardened criminals\\nbut the intermixture of such elements\\ncould not but have had a bad moral\\neffect upon the other men. Amongst\\nthe suggestions found in the admiral s\\npapers are many that have long since\\nbeen carried out in the reformed navy\\nof our own day. Pay to be regularly\\ngiven, gratuities for long and excellent\\nservice, and more liberty are the chief", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "150 ADAM DUNCAN\\nof these recommendations. In the great\\nmutiny, under severe provocation, he\\ncountenanced no excessive severities j\\nand probably one of the greatest pleas-\\nures which his victory at Camperdown\\nbrought him was the fact that it led to\\nthe pardoning of so many of the mis-\\nguided mutineers. His feeling to the\\nseamen was that they were his children,\\nwayward and disobedient children it\\nmight be at times, but still children,\\ndeserving his protection and love. That\\nsuch an admiral in the supreme hour of\\nbattle could depend upon the devotion\\nof those over whose interests he had\\nso faithfully watched is only what we\\nshould expect. The wounded seaman\\nin hospital after Camperdown, who met\\nsome stranger s invectives against ad-\\nmirals and wars with the words Only\\na leg only a leg Hurrah Duncan for-\\never was but a type of thousands\\nmore who purchased with their heroism,\\nskill, and devotion to their chief and", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 151\\ncountry that great victory over the\\nDutch.\\nAmongst his private characteristics\\nwas his saintliness of life. Duncan was\\nthe model of the Christian admiral.\\nThe sustaining force of religion was with\\nhim through all the trials of war and,\\nas His last act before going into action at\\nCamperdown was to ask the Almighty\\nfor His protection, so his first act after\\nbattle was in the sight of all to offer up\\npraise to the Higher Power Which had\\ngiven him success. In such simple faith\\nas his there is something inspiring and\\nelevating. Yet, because he was a Chris-\\ntian in the truest sense of the term, he\\ndid not frown upon the joys of life. In\\nprivate society he was a cheerful and\\nexcellent companion, welcome wherever\\nhe showed himself.\\nIn dealing with his allies, the Eus-\\nsians, he displayed exceptional tact.\\nNo quarrel, hardly even a dispute, arose\\nbetween him and the Eussian com-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "152 ADAM DUNCAN\\nmanders- in- chief. The management of\\nan allied fleet is proverbially difficult;\\nand in this case it was certainly en-\\nhanced by the great weakness of the\\nBritish squadron at the outset, and by\\nthe fact that Eussia had little or nothing\\nto gain by hazarding her ships to enable\\nGreat Britain to destroy the naval power\\nof Holland. The moment the Anglo-\\nBussian forces on land encountered re-\\nsistance, quarrels began between the two\\nallied armies, thus illustrating by a\\nstrong contrast Duncan 7 s good manage-\\nment in maintaining such excellent rela-\\ntions at sea.\\nHe died full of years and honours,\\nleaving a name which will ever be cher-\\nished and esteemed by his countrymen.\\nHis retirement from active service, his\\nmodesty which avoided displays and\\ndemonstrations, and the critical state of\\nthe war did, indeed, cause his death to\\npass at the time almost unnoticed and\\nafterwards, as has been pointed out al-", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "ADAM DUNCAN 153\\nready, the glory of his achievements was\\nobscured by the greater brilliancy of\\nNelson s fame. But with a revived in-\\nterest in the past of our navy his career\\nhas once more received attention. A\\nDuncan and a Venerable figure amongst\\nour newest and most formidable battle-\\nships. A Camperdown has for ten years\\ndone sterling service in the British fleet.\\nIt is well that our seamen of to-day\\nshould be reminded of such a figure.\\nHe should never be forgotten by them,\\nwhether in the hour of thought or\\naction.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "BIBLIOGEAPHICAL NOTE.\\nI. The chief authority for the facts of\\nDuncan s life is the Earl of Camper-\\ndown s Admiral Duncan, published\\nby Messrs. Longmans, Green Co. in\\n1897, and illustrated with three por-\\ntraits and a plan of Camperdown. Lord\\nCamperdown gives the sources upon\\nwhich he drew as follows, and the au-\\nthor of this work has examined most of\\nthem afresh and independently Al-\\nmost every naval history contains no-\\ntices of him [Duncan] which are worth\\ncollecting and collating. The standard\\nworks about the British navy, such as\\nthe Naval Chronicle, the Annual Register,\\nJames s Naval History, Charnock s Naval\\nBiography, Beatson s Memoirs, Ealfe s\\nNaval Biography, Schomberg s Naval\\nChronology, Brenton s Naval History,\\nAdmiral Sir Charles Ekin s Naval Bat-\\ntles, have been consulted and also the\\nbiographies of Viscount Keppel, by the", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "BIBLIOGEAPHICAL NOTE 155\\nHon. and Eev. Thomas Keppel, and of\\nEarl St. Vincent, by Jedidiah Tucker.\\nTo these must be added\\nII. Great Sea Fights, Volume I., ed-\\nited by Admiral T. Sturges Jackson and\\npublished in 1899 by the Navy Eecords\\nSociety, which contains the logs of all\\nthe ships that took part in the battle of\\nCamperdown, and also gives extracts\\nfrom the evidence heard by the court-\\nmartial which sat to try Captain Will-\\niamson for misconduct in the battle.\\nThe volume is invaluable, as the logs are\\nsupplemented by useful notes and by a\\nshort introduction.\\nIII. Admirals Despatches, North\\nSea, Volumes VI. and VII., in manu-\\nscript in the Public Eecord Office. Con-\\ntain Duncan s official correspondence\\nwith the admiralty during the most\\neventful period of his command.\\nIV. Nore and Sheerness, 1797. A\\nlarge bundle of papers in the Eecord", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "156 BIBLIOGEAPHICAL NOTE\\nOffice, dealing with the Nore and North\\nSea mutinies. There is an immense\\namount of interesting material to be\\nfound here.\\nV. The Trial, Life, and Anecdotes\\nof R. Parker, 1797. A pamphlet giv-\\ning many curious particulars of Parker,\\nbut not very trustworthy.\\nVI. The Oracle, 1797. A daily news-\\npaper. File in the British Museum.\\nVII. Courts-martial, Vol. LXXVIIL,\\nmanuscript in the Record Office. Gives\\nthe trial of Parker and other mutineers.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "THE WESTMINSTER BIOG-\\nRAPHIES.\\nThe aim of this series is to furnish brief, read\\nable, and authentic accounts of the lives of those\\nEnglishmen whose personalities have impressed\\nthemselves most deeply on the character and\\nhistory of their country. On account of the\\nlength of the more formal lives, often running\\ninto large volumes, the average busy man and\\nwoman have not the time or hardly the inclina-\\ntion to acquaint themselves with English biog-\\nraphy. In the present series everything that\\nsuch a reader would ordinarily care to know is\\ngiven by writers of special competence, who\\npossess in full measure the best contemporary\\npoint of view. Each volume is equipped with\\na frontispiece portrait, a calendar of important\\ndates, and a brief bibliography for further read-\\ning. Finally, the volumes are printed in a form\\nconvenient for reading and for carrying handily\\nin the pocket.\\nSMALL, MAYNARD COMPANY, Publishers,\\n6 Beacon Street, Boston.\\n[over.]", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "THE WESTMINSTER BIOG-\\nRAPHIES.\\nThe following volumes are issued:\\nRobert Browning, by Arthur Waugh.\\nDaniel Defoe, by Wilfred Whittey.\\nJohn Wesley, by Frank Banfield.\\nMany others are in preparation.\\nThe BEACON BIOGRAPHIES.\\nThe Beacon Biographies are uniform in plan, size, and\\ngeneral make-up with the Westminster Biographies,\\nthe point of important difference lying in the fact that they\\ndeal with the lives of eminent Americans instead of with\\nthose of eminent Englishmen. They are bound in limp\\nblue cloth, are gilt-topped, and have a cover design and\\na vignette title-page by Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue.\\nThe following volumes are issued:\\nPhillips Brooks, by the Editor.\\nJohn Brown, by Joseph Edgar Chamberlin.\\nAaron Burr, by Henry Childs Merwin.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "Stephen Decatur, by Cyrus Townsend Brady.\\nFrederick Douglass, by Charles W. Chestnutt.\\nDavid G. Farragut, by James Barnes.\\nNathaniel Hawthorne, by Mrs. James T. Fields.\\nSam Houston, by Sarah Barnwell Elliott.\\nStonewall Jackson, by Carl Hovey.\\nRobert E. Lee, by William P. Trent.\\nJames Russell Lowell, by Edward Everett Hale, Jr.\\nThomas Paine, by Ellery Sedgwick.\\nDaniel Webster, by Norman Hapgood.\\nThe following are among those in preparation\\nLouis Agassiz, by Alice Bache Gould.\\nJohn James Audubon, by John Burroughs.\\nEdwin Booth, by Charles Townsend Copeland.\\nJames Fenimore Cooper, by W. B. Shubrick Clymer.\\nBenjamin Franklin, by Lindsay Swift.\\nUlysses S. Grant, by Owen Wister.\\nAlexander Hamilton, by James Schouler.\\nFather Hecker, by Henry D. Sedgwick.\\nThomas Jefferson, by Hon. Thomas E. Watson.\\nHenry W. Longfellow, by George Rice Carpenter.\\nS- F. B. Morse, by John Trowbridge.\\nJ. G- Whittier, by Richard Burton.\\nSMALL, MAYNARD COMPANY, Publishers,\\n6 Beacon Street, Boston.", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "OCT 221900", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2566", "width": "1614", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "", "height": "2673", "width": "1754", "jp2-path": "adamduncan00wils_0188.jp2"}}