Alexander Hill's Naval History

Alexander Hill's Naval History

ALEXANDER HILL’S NAVAL HISTORY

A life of adventure and travel is a goal for many people. It was not any different during the Napoleonic Wars, and Alexander Hill got to live this dream when he joined the Royal Navy in 1795 at the age of sixteen. “A naval career offered the chance of fame, riches, and entry into the highest places in the land.” Alexander could see the world and have a high adventure that would only be a dream for many boys.

Family tradition is that Alexander was about twelve years old when he apprenticed as a sailor boy. It was not uncommon for a boy to apprentice at this age. The parents would find a Royal Navy captain, relative, or someone with political or business connections to sponsor their boy. By the time Alexander enlisted in the British Navy, he was an experienced seaman, even at sixteen.

Alexander served first on the guardship Sandwich to Plymouth[England dockyard]. This ship was short and high and was a poor sailor but worked perfectly as a guardship or flagship. The Sandwich was the flagship of Vice-Admiral John Dalrymple, and the crew was all volunteers. It flew the Vice-Admiral’s flag and was the lead ship in his fleet. Alexander not only served on the ship with the Vice-Admiral, but he had responsibilities too. “At night the men took turns to row round the dockyard, checking the ships of the ordinary[navy ships kept moored with their guns and upper masts removed] for security, and looking into the creeks and inlets for smuggler and spies.”

The moonlight Battle of Cape St Vincent, 16 January 1780 by Francis Holman, painted 1780.

Flagship Sandwich is in the foreground.

The frigate Arethusa was Alexander’s next assignment. “The frigate was the most glamorous type of ship in the navy.” They could carry a lot of gun power, and yet be fast enough to evade enemies. They usually had an independent role and did not operate in fleets as the larger ships did. Alexander served on the Arethusa in the Channel Fleet. The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy’s formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel.

Anson (left) and Arethusa (center) capture Pomona

During this time he took sick and was sent to the hospital Haslar, which was near Portsmouth. Desertion, drunkenness, and corruption were worries the British Navy had when they let seaman go onshore. To combat this, the Haslar hospital had high walls around it with marine sentries. The seaman were the only ones to wear uniforms, which they hoped would help stop desertions. This hospital was also on a narrow swampy peninsula as protection from escape.

Haslar Hospital, Portsmouth, England

Alexander spent six weeks at Haslar with [Typhus] fever. Typhus was the most serious and prevalent of the diseases during Alexander’s service. It was caused by “dirty clothes, bad water, and foul air…” The captains had to improve the cleanliness and ventilation on their ships to help control this disease.

Alexander was then drafted aboard the Goliath and served under Sir Henry Knowles. On this assignment, Alexander got to leave the coast of England and was sent up the Mediterranean to Corsica. Corsica was an island base in the Mediterranean sea, and its location was ideal in the blockade of the Mediterranean. The fleet split up, and some stayed in Corsica while Alexander and the rest went to Leghorn. Leghorn is the English name for the port city Livorno, which is off the coast of Italy. He then left Leghorn and joined the blockading fleet of France. He remained there for nine months without going to shore. Provisions became short, and they then sailed for Gibraltar.

Routine on blockade could sometimes be rather tedious. ‘We put to sea again and cruised off Toulon, as usual doing nothing but tacking back and forward, from and to the land, watching the maneuvers of the French fleet, which sometimes came out of port to plague us, to make sail, and clear for battle and then run away from us like wild geese, giving us a wild goose chase after them beneath their batteries.” But, in general, blockade service was better for morale than lying in harbor for month after month.

After encountering severe storms, and losing several vessels upon entering the harbor at

Gibraltar, provisions were acquired, and they set sail for Lisbon, Portugal. “This being the first large British fleet that had entered the Lisbon Harbor, the Queen of Portugal made presents of cattle and wine distributed to each vessel in proportion to the number of men on board. Here we remained for several weeks repairing the ships and taking in provisions.”

Four days after leaving the Lisbon Harbor:

We discovered three Portuguese vessels, one frigate and two brigs. Making up to them we obtained the information that the Spanish fleet was in a Southeast direction from us. Following this course, we came in sight of them the next morning; they numbered in all twenty-seven of the line. They formed themselves in two lines on the leeward the other on the windward. The Spanish had their hardboard tacks on board and we our Starboard. The action commenced about 11 o’clock am and continued until sunset. The British fleet commanded by Admiral Jarvis. In the engagement we took four ships. This is called the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.” [This battle was fought on February 14, 1797.]

"Batalha do Cabo de São Vicente" by Richard Brydges Beechey (1808-1895)

Over a year later, Alexander, on the Goliath, went up the Mediterranean with Admiral Nelson after the French fleet that was sailing for Egypt. August 1, 1798, at sunset, the Battle of the Nile began. The British took “eleven sail of the line and sunk one frigate.”

Admiral Nelson had arrived on the Egyptian coast to find the port filled with the French fleet. At dusk, the signal had been flown, “Enemy in sight,” clearing the British fleet for action. Admiral Nelson had caught the French fleet unprepared, and short of water and supplies.

It had been Nelson’s practice during the months spent searching the Mediterranean for Napoleon’s Fleet to assemble his captains and discuss with them plans for any eventuality that might arise, the emphasis being on aggression and immediate attack. There was consequently no need for instructions to his captains; all knew what they should do.

"The Battle of the Nile" by George Arnald (1763 – 1841)

The Goliath, with Alexander on board, was the first to enter the harbor. “A serious cast was to be perceived on every face; but not a shade of doubt or fear.” It was 7 pm, the wind was favorable, and Captain Foley had the advantage over the other British ships because he had a French atlas of the bay. This atlas was very detailed as to the sandbars and dangers.

After the Battle of St. Vincent, the Goliath had captured four 68-pounder cannons and had them fitted on its poop deck (a roof of the cabin at the rear of the ship). These Cannons gave the Goliath another advantage. The Goliath then noticed the French had allowed enough room between their anchors and the shore for the ships to pass through. The first French ship passed when entering the harbor was the Guerrier, and the British ships each took a shot at her as they passed.

The French caught at anchor, with their sails down, had a considerable amount of crew at the shore. Those who were left fumbled through the battle. Upon seeing this, the British sailors laughed at them. The French heard them laughing, further diminishing their moral.

The Battle finally ended at 2 pm the next day. The L’Orient had blown up with such a blast that it was heard for miles around. Sun-up brought a ghastly scene. As other ships’ crew cheered over victory, it was a sober site at the Goliath. “An awful sight it was. The whole bay was covered with dead bodies, mangled, wounded and scorched, not a bit of clothes on them except their trousers.” The Goliath had lost 62 men, and the ship the crew had lived on for several years was in a “most crippled state.”

Alexander survived the Battle of the Nile and spent the rest of his service at blockades in the Mediterranean. “Peace was restored in the year 1801 at which time [Alexander] received [his] discharge.” Alexander left the British Navy having seen much of the Mediterranean and experiencing high adventure. The skills he had gained were considerable.

He had a vocabulary of several hundred words unrecognizable to the Landman. He could tie twenty or thirty different knots without hesitation and perform various kinds of splices. He could run 100ft up the ratlines… and then out to the end of a yardarm, with only an inch of footrope between him and death. He had to be able to tolerate hardship.

Alexander’s life of adventure did not end with his discharge from the Navy. He was conscripted at various times for about fifteen years. He was in the Battle of Trafalgar and received a shot to the knee that caused him to limp the rest of his life. All this prepared him for the hardships to come. He later immigrated to Canada, and then to the United States, where he was involved with the turmoil in Nauvoo, Illinois. His life of high adventure lasted for Fifty-six years, ending with his arrival in the Great Salt Lake Valley, Utah. Here he finally could rest, and enjoy his family until his death in 1867.

Bibliography

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Hill family traditions regarding Alexander Hill's British Navy experiences (born 1799) told by author’s mother, Julie Brinkerhoff, compiler. Privately held by Brinkerhoff, St. George, Utah.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Arethusa_(1781).

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Holman,_Cape_St_Vincent.jpg.

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“Royal Hospital near Portsmouth, view from far right.”,Wikimeda.org, commons. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Royal_Hospital,_Haslar,_near_Portsmouth%3B_view_from_far_right_Wellcome_V0014700.jpg.