Although some Royal
Navy officers in the Age of Sail never heard their ship’s
guns fire in earnest, Admiral James Saumarez was in
numerous actions and major fleet battles during his
career. Previous writers chose to omit a number of these
episodes or intentionally focus on just one campaign in
Saumarez’s long career. Sometimes they were so determined
to include every aspect of their research that the end
result is a bare recitation of the facts without any
excitement for the reader. Here, Mr. Sullivan has produced
a book that is both complete and interesting at the same
time.
Within this work are
maps of Saumarez’s areas of operation and diagrams of
fleet battles and squadron or single-ship actions. Source
notes are found after the text concludes. An extensive
bibliography is followed by an equally detailed index.
As a Midshipman,
Saumarez was part of the British fleet at Charleston,
South Carolina, attacking Fort Sullivan on June 28, 1776.
One of the guns he commanded aboard the Bristol was
struck by an enemy ball, killing three sailors. Later, a
midshipman serving on the quarterdeck next to him had his
head removed and he was soaked by his late friend’s blood.
His first battle “witnessed mainly from the terrifying
confines of a gun deck, was an experience that would stay
with him for the rest of his life.” (9)
Saumarez was also
involved in the battles of Long Island and White Plains
before becoming Admiral Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe’s
aide-de-camp. His next assignment was flag-lieutenant
aboard HMS Chatham.
Appointed commander of the Spitfire galley
in February 1778, Saumarez assisted in the destruction of
a rebel vessel and engaged an enemy field piece that was
firing on British troops conducting a raid on Fall River,
Massachusetts. Once French warships arrived he was ordered
to burn his vessel to keep it from being captured and used
by the rebels. After being cleared of blame in the
subsequent court-martial, he sailed for England aboard the
store-ship Leviathan,
which nearly wrecked on the rocks off the Scilly Isles.
(Already his exploits seem too fantastic for naval
fiction.)
After passing his
lieutenant’s exam, Saumarez joined the Channel Fleet in
May 1779. He was appointed Second Lieutenant when Admiral
Hyde Parker took command of HMS Victory. In June
1781, Parker transferred his flag to HMS Fortitude (74
guns) and took command of the North Fleet, taking his
first and second lieutenants with him. On August 5, 1781,
the North Fleet battled the Dutch fleet in the Battle of
Dogger Bank. It was a vicious fight that left both fleets
damaged and unwilling to continue. Saumarez was made
acting captain of the Preston, which was sent
back to England.
The Admiralty gave
Saumarez command of Tisiphone,
a new fireship, and he was sent with Admiral Richard
Kempenfelt’s squadron of twelve ships of the line to the
Caribbean to counter a French threat. Deemed too small to
face the French ships, Tisiphone was
used as a dispatch vessel, dodging the French and
island-hopping in search of Admiral Samuel Hood, the
Station Commander. In February 1782, Tisiphone was
ordered back to England with dispatches, but Hood made
Saumarez a Post-Captain of the third-rate Russell, and he
went from commanding “55 men to nearly 550.” (28)
HMS Russell fought in
Admiral George Rodney’s division against French Admiral de
Grasse’s fleet in the Battle of the Saintes. Saumarez
followed Captain Thompson’s 64-gun America sailing
down the enemy’s windward side without orders and striking
a second blow against each French ship instead of just
sailing out of the battle as the opposing lines diverged.
Heavily damaged, Russell was
ordered back to England. There Saumarez had his
appointment to Post-Captain confirmed. After his ship was
paid-off in September 1782, it would be eleven years on
half-pay before he returned to the sea. He spent these
years at his home in Guernsey.
Hostilities with France
broke out again after Louis XVI was executed. On January
24, 1793, Saumarez was appointed captain of the 36-gun
frigate Crescent.
In October he captured the French frigate Réunion and
brought his prize back to England. In London the First
Lord took him to the palace and presented him to King
George. Thus James became Sir James Saumarez, Knight
Bachelor.
It is certainly not my
intention to detail the career of Saumarez during his next
twenty years of warfare, or from frigate captain to one of
Nelson’s Band of Brothers and even Commander-in-Chief of
the Baltic Fleet. These early mentioned events give you
both a glimpse of a truly incredible career worth reading
about and to illustrate the excellent manner in which it
has been portrayed. This is definitely one of the best
biographies I’ve read and I am grateful for the
opportunity to learn so much about a man who did so much
in the service of his country!
Review Copyrighted ©2017 Irwin
Bryan
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