employed in watching the port of Ferrol, where the enemy had several vessels in a state of forwardness. On the 22nd of July, 1804, he fell in with the combined French and Spanish squadrons, under Admiral Villeneuve; and though the enemy's force was far superior in number to his own, he gallantly attacked their centre; but, after an engagement of four hours' duration, found it necessary to bring to, for the purpose of covering the Rafael, eightyfour, and the Firme, seventy-four, which he had succeeded in capturing. The night was passed by both squadrons in repairing the damages they had respectively sustained; and, on the following day, Villeneuve being still in sight, although he evinced no inclination to renew the engagement, Calder kept such a course as was best adapted for the protection of his two prizes, and one of his own ships, which had been disabled. At day-break on the 24th, Villeneuve was seen at some distance, steering for Ferrol, where he soon afterwards arrived. Being informed, on joining Viceadmiral Collingwood, off Cadiz, that his conduct, in the late engagement, had exposed him to some censure at home, he returned to England forthwith; and at his own solicitation, after having been made vice-admiral of the white, was brought to a court-martial, on the 23rd of December, 1805. He frankly admitted that the charge brought against him, of not having done his best to renew the engagement was perfectly true; but urged, in his defence, the probability of his own defeat, had a second encounter taken place. He was, however, severely reprimanded for his conduct, which the court attributed to an error in judgment, fully acquitting him of cowardice or disaffection. Overwhelmed with grief by the result of this inquiry, Sir Robert Calder immediately retired into private life, from which, however, he emerged, in 1810, to accept the office of port-admiral, at Plymouth. His death occurred on the 1st of September, 1815. He was married, in May, 1799, to Amelia, only daughter of John Michell, Esq., member of parliament for Boston, Lincolnshire, but left no issue. Sir Robert Calder's courage was never disputed; and it is due to his character to remark, that in not renewing a contest after he had achieved a victory, he was justified by the example of more eminent commanders than himself. GEORGE KEITH ELPHINSTONE, VISCOUNT KEITH. THIS commander, the fifth son of Viscount Elphinstone, was born in Scotland, in 1747. He was educated at Glasgow; and entered the navy in February, 1762. In 1767, he went on a voyage to China; in 1769, he proceeded to India, under Sir John Lindsay, who made him a lieutenant; and, in 1772, he was appointed commander of the Scorpion. He became a postcaptain in 1775, and served in America, under Lord Howe and Admiral Arbuthnot. At the reduction of Charleston, he commanded a detachment of seamen; and his services were so effective, as to obtain the warm commendation of General Clinton. He was also present at the attack on Mud Island; and on his return to England, with despatches, he obtained the command of the Warwick, a fifty-gun ship; with which, in 1781, he captured a Dutch man-of-war; and, soon after, Prince William Henry was placed under him, as a midshipman. On the 11th of September, 1782, being then in company with three other ships, off the Delaware, he re-captured the Terrier sloop, and took two French vessels of war; from one of which, however, the commander-in-chief of the French forces in America, and some other officers of distinction, escaped to the shore, with a large quantity of specie. In 1793, he sailed in the Robuste, seventy-four, for the Mediterranean, with a squadron under the command of Lord Hood, and was ordered to attack Fort La Malgue; of which, on its being carried, he was appointed governor. In this capacity, he signalized himself by defeating two detachments, sent from Marseilles, for the relief of Toulon, and displayed so great a knowledge of military tactics, that he was appointed to superintend the evacuation of Toulon. On the 12th of April, 1794, he was made rear-admiral of the blue; and, shortly afterwards, invested with the order of the Bath. On the 4th of July, he hoisted his flag in the Barfleur, of ninety-eight guns, one of the channel fleet, as rear-admiral of the white; and on the 2nd of April, 1795, he sailed from Spithead, with a small squadron, against the Cape of Good Hope. On the 1st of the following month, he was advanced to the rank of vice-admiral; and, some days afterwards, arrived in Simeon's Bay, where he was joined by several men-of-war, and transports, with a strong body of troops on board, under the command of Major Craig. The capture of the Cape was soon effected; and within a short time after its reduction, the admiral, with his squadron, exerted himself so successfully in the Indian Seas, that the Moluccas, and several other important islands, surrendered to the British arms. On the 16th of August, 1796, he came up with a Dutch squadron, sent out to attempt the re-capture of the Cape; which, on account of his very superior force, struck their colours without firing a gun. In January, 1797, he arrived at Spithead; and, on the 7th of March, in the same year, he was raised to the Irish peerage, by the title of Baron Keith. About two months after, he was appointed to superintend the preparations at Sheerness, against the mutineers; and, in the summer, commanded a detachment of the channel fleet. In the month of December, 1798, he joined Lord St. Vincent, at Gibraltar; in February, 1799, he was made vice-admiral of the red; and, after having blockaded Cadiz until the beginning of May, sailed in quest of the Brest fleet, which had eluded the vigilance of Lord Bridport, in the channel. He could not, however, succeed in bringing the enemy to an action, although their force was much superior to his own. In the autumn, he returned to England; whence, late in November, he sailed in the Queen Charlotte, of one hundred and ten guns, to succeed Earl St. Vincent, as commander-inchief in the Mediterranean. Early in 1800, he cruised off Port La Valette, for the purpose of preventing any succours being thrown into Malta during its siege, and took a French seventyfour, and a store-ship. On the 7th of March, he anchored at Leghorn; where, while he was on shore, a few days after, his flag-ship took fire, and, in a very short time, her magazines exploded. Of the crew, eleven were on shore with the admiral; one hundred and fifty were saved by boats; but the remainder, amounting to nearly seven hundred, unfortunately perished. Malta Having hoisted his flag in the Minotaur, the admiral now proceeded to blockade Genoa; and, by cutting off all supplies by sea, soon compelled the French general to capitulate. shortly after surrendered to a detachment of his fleet; and, about October, in conjunction with Sir Ralph Abercromby, he made preparations for an attack on Cadiz; which, however, was abandoned, on account of the pitiable state of the inhabitants and garrison, among whom an epidemic disease, which very much resembled the plague, was, it appeared, making dreadful ravages. Lord Keith now proceeded with Sir Ralph Abercromby to Egypt, and so materially assisted the military commanders in the expedition, that he received the thanks of parliament, was raised to the British peerage, by the title of Baron Keith, and made admiral of the blue. The corporation of London also presented him with the freedom of the city, as well as a sword, worth one hundred guineas; and the grand seignior conferred on him the order of the crescent. In 1803, he was appointed to the command of all the ships in the North Sea and the English channel, which he retained until May, 1807. He had previously, (in November, 1805,) been made rear-admiral of the white; and in 1812, he succeeded to the chief command of the channel fleet. On the 14th of May, 1814, he was elevated to the dignity of a viscount of the united kingdom; and about a year before his death, which took place in March, 1823, he obtained leave to accept a grand cross of the roval Sardinian order of St. Maurice and St. Lazare, for his SIR JOHN THOMAS DUCKWORTH. services at Genoa, in 1809. In addition to his other distinctions, he was, at the time of his decease, admiral of the red; marischal of Ireland; secretary, chamberlain, and keeper of the signet to the great steward of Scotland; treasurer and comptroller of the household of the Duke of Clarence, and a fellow of the Royal Society. Prior to his elevation to the British peerage, he had successively represented Dumbarton and Stirlingshire. He was twice married, and left two daughters; the eldest of whom succeeded to the barony, and became the wife of Count Flahault, one of Napoleon's aide-de-camps at the battle of Waterloo. Lord Keith is described, apparently SIR JOHN THOMAS DUCKWORTH. THIS distinguished admiral, the son of a clergyman in Buckinghamshire, was born at Leatherhead, in Surrey, on the 28th of February, 1748; and, after having served in several ships, as a midshipman, became a lieutenant, in June, 1770. In the action between Admiral Byron's fleet and that under Count D'Estaing, he served in the Princess Royal, which carried the British commander's flag, and, it is said, received so violent a blow from the skull of a black, which was driven against his breast by a shot, that, for some time, he was supposed to have been killed. On the 16th of July, 1779, he became commander of the Rover, sloopof-war, in which he cruised, for some time, off Martinico. On the 16th of June, 1780, he obtained post rank; and, returning to the Princess Royal, conducted her to Jamaica; whence he proceeded, in the Grafton, seventy-four, with the charge of a convoy to England. In 1793, he was appointed to the Orion, seventy-four, in which he sailed, on the 2nd of May, 1794, with Lord Howe, from St. Helen's; and obtained a gold chain and medal for his admirable conduct in the action with the Brest fleet, on the 1st of the next month. He subsequently proceeded to the West Indies, and remained for some In 1798, he time at St. Domingo. commanded the Leviathan, of seventy VOL. II. DD four guns, in the Mediterranean; and, being detached by Earl St. Vincent with a small squadron against Minorca, succeeded, jointly with Sir Charles Stewart, who commanded the land forces, in accomplishing its reduction. Early in 1799, he was promoted to the rank of rear-admiral, and ordered to the West Indies. On his passage, he had the good fortune to capture eleven valuably-laden Spanish merchantmen. On the 20th of March, 1801, in conjunction with Lieutenant-general Trigge, he attacked, and took, the islands of St. Bartholomew and St. Martin; for which important service, he was made a knight of the Bath, and received a pension of £1,000 per annum. In 1804, he was appointed to the On the 6th of Jamaica station, and became vice-admiral of the blue. February, 1806, with a squadron, with which he had been previously cruising off Cadiz, he came up with, and attacked, the French fleet despatched for the relief of St. Domingo; three of which, after two hours' hard fighting, he captured; and drove two others on shore, where they became complete wrecks. On the news of the victory reaching England, the thanks of both houses of parliament were voted to the admiral, who was likewise presented, by the corporation of London, with the freedom of the city, and a sword of the value of two hundred guineas; and, by the house of assembly at Jamaica, with a vote of thanks, and a sword worth a thousand guineas. He was also raised to the rank of vice-admiral of the white; and, being appointed to the Royal George, of one hundred and ten guns, was detached to the Mediterranean, in 1807, to force the narrow streight of the Dardanelles; which service he performed without difficulty. On arriving off Constantinople, he found the place so well defended, and the coast so thoroughly lined with batteries, that an attack would have been injudicious. He therefore returned through the streights, in which he experienced more difficulty than on his first passage; for the Turks, knowing he must return, had so strengthened the forts, as to render them somewhat formidable. He, however, cleared them in safety; and, with the assistance of Sir Sidney Smith, drove on shore a division of Turkish vessels, consisting of a sixty-four line-of-battle ship, three corvettes, a brig, and two gun-boats. In 1810, he was appointed to the Newfoundland station; which he quitted about three years after, to assume the chief command at Plymouth. His death occurred on the 14th of April, 1817. He sat in parliament, for some time, as member for New Romney. In 1770, he married a Miss Wallis, only daughter and heiress of a gentleman residing at Camelford, in Cornwall, by whom he had a son, who was killed in Spain, while acting as colonel, in the army of the Duke of Wellington. In promptitude, daring, and seamanship, Duckworth had few superiors. His deportment was particularly amiable, and his disposition generous and humane. It is related, that on one occasion, when some of his crew were suffering from the scurvy, he gave up the whole of his fresh provisions, as well as his wine, for their use, and lived entirely upon the same fare as those of his men who were in good health. In person, according to a writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, in 1817, he was "rather short, but stout-made and muscular. He seemed never to be happy but when actively employed; was for ever on the quarter-deck; fond of his profession; and, when on duty, caution and courage were so well combined in him as to inspire confidence in his men, and ensure success to his exertions." SIR JOHN BORLASE WARREN. THIS officer, descended, on his mother's side, from an ancient family, named Borlase, in Cornwall, was born about the year 1750, and educated at Winchester school. At an early age he went into the navy, for which he had evinced a strong disposition; but, after having made a voyage, in the Alderney sloop-of-war, he entered himself of Emmanuel college, Cambridge, where he became pupil to Martyn the botanist, whom he subsequently presented to the living of Little Marlow. Having purchased the Island of Lundy, soon after attaining his majority, he amused himself with a yacht, in the Bristol channel, until the breaking out of the American war, when he accepted a lieutenantcy on board the Nonsuch; and, shortly after, became master of the Helena. In 1775, he was men. created a baronet; and, having attained post rank, subsequently commanded, in succession, the Ariadne, L'Aigle, and the Winchelsea. Soon after hostilities had commenced with revolutionized France, he was intrusted with a small squadron, which kept the enemy's coast in great alarm, and took several vessels of war and valuable merchantIn 1794, he was invested with the order of the Bath; and, in the succeeding year, commanded the expedition to Quiberon Bay; which, after taking Fort Penthievre, failed in an attack on the island of Normontier, and returned to port without having accomplished the object for which it had been destined; owing to the superior force of the republicans, and to the French royalists, who accompanied it, not being joined, on their landing, as SIR JOHN BORLASE WARREN. they had expected that they would have been, by a large portion of the inhabitants, rather than to any misconduct on the part of Warren, or the forces under his command. He next served in the Canada, off Brest, under Lord Bridport, by whom he was detached, with a strong force, to the coast of Ireland, where, on the 11th of October, 1798, he gave chase to a French squadron, which had on board a number of men and military stores, destined for the assistance of the disaffected in the sister kingdom. overtook the enemy early the next morning, and, after a severe engagement, captured three of their frigates, and La Hoche, line-of-battle ship. For this important victory, Sir John Warren received a vote of thanks from the house of commons. He In June, 1800, he captured three vessels of war, and destroyed several merchantmen, laden with provisions for After perthe French fleet, at Brest. forming other less important services, he proceeded to Gibraltar; whence, early in 1801, he sailed in quest of Admiral Gantheaume; who, however, succeeded in avoiding him. Soon after the peace of Amiens, he was made a privy-counsellor, and de- He subsequently rose to the rank of CUTHBERT, LORD COLLINGWOOD. CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD, was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, on the 26th of September, 1750; and educated at a school kept by the Rev. Hugh Moises. He commenced his naval career when only eleven years old, under the care of Captain, afterwards Admiral, Braithwaite, who had married his mother's sister. When he first went to sea, the first lieutenant of the ship seeing him in tears on account of his separation from home, in pity for his tender years, spoke to him in terms of such encouragement and kindness, that, taking the officer to his box, he gratefully offered him a large piece of plum-cake. In 1774, he served at Boston with Admiral Graves; who, in 1775, made him a lieutenant, on the day that the battle was fought at Bunker's Hill, where he assisted, with a party of seamen. In 1776, he went to Jamaica, in the Hornet |