British naval officer (1718?1792)
Admiral
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
,
KB
(
bap.
13 February 1718 ? 24 May 1792), was a
British
naval officer. He is best known for his commands in the
American War of Independence
, particularly his victory over the French at the
Battle of the Saintes
in 1782. It is often claimed that he was the commander to have pioneered the tactic of
breaking the line
.
Rodney came from a distinguished but poor background, and went to sea at the age of fourteen. His first major action was the
Second Battle of Cape Finisterre
in 1747. He made a large amount of
prize
money during the 1740s, allowing him to purchase a large
country estate
and a seat in the
House of Commons of Great Britain
. During the
Seven Years' War
, Rodney was involved in a number of amphibious operations such as the raids on
Rochefort
and
Le Havre
and the
Siege of Louisbourg
. He became well known for his role in the
capture of Martinique
in 1762. Following the
Peace of Paris
, Rodney's financial situation stagnated. He spent large sums of money pursuing his political ambitions. By 1774 he had run up large debts and was forced to flee Britain to avoid his creditors. He was in a French jail when
war was declared
in 1778. Thanks to a French benefactor, Rodney was able to secure his release and return to Britain where he was appointed to a new command.
Rodney successfully relieved Gibraltar during the
Great Siege
and defeated a Spanish fleet during the 1780
Battle of Cape St. Vincent
, known as the "Moonlight Battle" because it took place at night. He then was posted to the
Jamaica Station
, where he became involved in the controversial 1781
capture of Sint Eustatius
. Later that year he briefly returned home suffering from ill health. During his absence the British lost the crucial
Battle of the Chesapeake
leading to the
surrender at Yorktown
.
To some, Rodney was a controversial figure, accused of an obsession with prize money. This was brought to a head in the wake of his taking of Saint Eustatius, for which he was heavily criticised in Britain. Orders for his recall had been sent when Rodney won a decisive victory at the Battle of the Saintes in April 1782, ending the French threat to
Jamaica
.
Rodney accompanied the future King
William IV
on his visit (April 1783) to Cuba. There the prince conferred with Captain General
Luis de Unzaga
to reach the preliminaries of peace conditions that would later recognize the birth of the
United States of America
.
[1]
On his return to Britain, Rodney was made a
peer
and was awarded an annual pension of £2,000. He lived in retirement until his death in 1792.
Early life
[
edit
]
George Brydges Rodney was born either in
Walton-on-Thames
[2]
or in London, though the family seat was
Rodney Stoke
, Somerset. He was most likely born sometime in January 1718.
[3]
He was baptised in
St Giles-in-the-Fields
on 13 February 1718.
[4]
He was the third of four surviving children of
Henry Rodney
and Mary (Newton) Rodney, daughter of
Sir Henry Newton
.
[5]
His father had served in Spain under the
Earl of Peterborough
during the
War of the Spanish Succession
, and on leaving the army served as captain in a marine corps which was disbanded in 1713.
[6]
A major investment in the
South Sea Company
ruined Henry Rodney and impoverished the family.
[4]
In spite of their lack of money, the family was well-connected by marriage. It is sometimes claimed that Henry Rodney had served as commander of the
Royal Yacht
of
George I
and it was after him that George was named,
[7]
but this had been discounted more recently.
[4]
George was educated at
Harrow School
, and left as one of the last
King's letter boys
[8]
to join the
Royal Navy
, having been appointed, by warrant dated 21 June 1732, a junior officer on board
Sunderland
.
[6]
Early career
[
edit
]
After serving aboard
Sunderland
, Rodney switched to
Dreadnought
where he served from 1734 to 1737 under Captain
Henry Medley
who acted as a mentor to him. Around this time he spent eighteen months stationed in
Lisbon
, a city he would later return to several times. He then changed ships several times, taking part in the navy's annual trip to protect the British fishing fleet off
Newfoundland
in 1738.
[9]
He rose swiftly through the ranks of the navy helped by a combination of his own talents and the patronage of the
Duke of Chandos
.
[9]
While serving on the
Mediterranean station
he was made lieutenant in
Dolphin
, his promotion dating 15 February 1739.
[6]
He then served on
Namur
, the
flagship
of the Commander-in-Chief Sir
Thomas Mathews
.
Captain
[
edit
]
The
War of the Austrian Succession
had broken out by this point, and in August 1742, Rodney had his first taste of action when he was ordered by Matthews to take a smaller vessel and launch a raid on
Ventimiglia
, where the Spanish army had stockpiled supplies and stores ready for a planned invasion of Britain's ally the
Republic of Genoa
, which he successfully accomplished.
[10]
Shortly after this, he attained the rank of
post-captain
, having been appointed by Matthews to
Plymouth
on 9 November. He picked up several British
merchantmen
in Lisbon to escort them home, but lost contact with them in heavy storms. Once he reached Britain his promotion was confirmed, making him one of the youngest Captains in the navy.
[10]
After serving in home waters learning about convoy protection he was appointed to the newly built
Ludlow Castle
which he used to
blockade
the Scottish coast during the
Jacobite Rebellion
in 1745. Two of Rodney's midshipman aboard
Ludlow Castle
were
Samuel Hood
, later to become a distinguished sailor, and Rodney's younger brother James Rodney.
[11]
In 1746 he obtained command of the 60-gun
Eagle
. After some time spent blockading French-occupied
Ostend
and cruising around the
Western Approaches
, where on 24 May he took his first prize a 16-gun Spanish
privateer
,
Eagle
was sent to join the
Western Squadron
.
Battle of Cape Finisterre
[
edit
]
The
Second Battle of Cape Finisterre
in October 1747.
The Western Squadron was a new strategy by Britain's naval planners to operate a more effective blockade system of France by stationing the Home Fleet in the Western Approaches, where they could guard both the
English Channel
and the French Atlantic coast.
Eagle
continued to take prizes while stationed with the Squadron being involved directly, or indirectly, in the capture of sixteen enemy ships. After taking one of the captured prizes to
Kinsale
in Ireland,
Eagle
was not present at the
First Battle of Cape Finisterre
when the Western Squadron commanded by
Lord Anson
won a significant victory over the French. While returning from Ireland,
Eagle
fell in with a small squadron under Commodore
Thomas Fox
which sighted a French merchant convoy heading for the
Bay of Biscay
. In total around 48 merchantmen were taken by the squadron, although Rodney ignored an order of Fox by pursuing several ships which had broken away from the rest in an attempt to escape managing to capture six of them.
[12]
Afterwards
Eagle
rejoined the Western Squadron now under the command of
Edward Hawke
.
On 14 October 1747 the ship took part in the
Second Battle of Cape Finisterre
, a victory off
Ushant
over the French fleet. The French were trying to escort an outgoing convoy from France to the West Indies and had eight large
ships-of-the-line
while the British had fourteen smaller ships. Rodney was at the rear of the British line, and
Eagle
was one of the last British ships to come into action engaging the French shortly after noon. Initially
Eagle
was engaged with two French ships, but one moved away. Rodney engaged the 70-gun
Neptune
for two hours until his steering wheel was struck by a lucky shot, and his ship became unmanageable. Rodney later complained that Thomas Fox in
Kent
had failed to support him, and testified at Fox's
court martial
. The British took six of the eight French ships, but were unable to prevent most of the merchant convoy escaping, although much of it was later taken in the West Indies.
The two Battles of Cape Finisterre had proved a vindication of the Western Squadron strategy.
[13]
Rodney later often referred to "the good old discipline" of the Western Squadron, using it as an example for his own views on discipline.
[14]
For the remainder of the war Rodney took part in further cruises, and took several more prizes. Following the
Congress of Breda
, an agreement was signed at the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
ending the war. Rodney took his ship back to
Plymouth
where it was
decommissioned
on 13 August 1748. Rodney's total share of
prize money
during his time with
Eagle
was £15,000 giving him financial security for the first time in his life.
[15]
Commander
[
edit
]
On 9 May 1749 he was appointed governor and
commander-in-chief
of
Newfoundland
, with the rank of
Commodore
, it being usual at that time to appoint a naval officer, chiefly on account of the fishery interests.
[6]
He was given command of
Rainbow
and had two smaller ships under his overall command. It was extremely difficult for naval officers to secure commands in peacetime, and Rodney's appointment suggests that he was well regarded by his superiors. Rodney's role as Governor was rather limited. Each summer a large British fishing fleet sailed for Newfoundland, where it took part in the valuable
cod
trade. The fleet then returned home during the winter. Rodney oversaw three such trips to Newfoundland between 1749 and 1751.
Around this time Rodney began to harbour political ambitions and gained the support of the powerful
Duke of Bedford
and
Lord Sandwich
. He stood unsuccessfully in a 1750 by-election in
Launceston
. He was elected MP for
Saltash
, a safe seat controlled by the Admiralty, in 1751.
[16]
[17]
After his third and final trip to Newfoundland in the summer of 1751, Rodney sailed home via Spain and Portugal, escorting some merchantmen. Once home he fell ill, and was then unemployed for around ten months. During this time he oversaw the development of an estate at
Old Alresford
in Hampshire, which he had bought with the proceeds of his prize money.
In 1753 he married his first wife, Jane Compton (1730?1757), sister of
Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton
. He had initially been undecided whether to marry Jane or her younger sister Kitty whom he had met in Lisbon during his various visits to the city, where their father
Charles Compton
was consul. The marriage proved happy, and they had three children together before she died in January 1757.
[18]
From 1753 Rodney commanded a series of Portsmouth guard ships without actually having to go to sea before the onset of the
Seven Years' War
.
Seven Years' War
[
edit
]
Portrait of Rodney by
Joshua Reynolds
showing him after his appointment as a rear admiral in 1759.
The first fighting broke out in North America in 1754, with competing
British and French forces clashing
in the
Ohio Country
. Despite this fighting formal war wasn't declared in Europe until 1756 and opened with
a French attack on Minorca
, the loss of which was blamed on
Admiral John Byng
who was court-martialled and executed. He was shot on the quarterdeck of
Monarch
, which until recently had been commanded by Rodney. Rodney excused himself from serving on the court martial by pleading illness. While Rodney disapproved of Byng's conduct, he thought the death sentence excessive and unsuccessfully worked for it to be
commuted
.
[19]
Louisbourg
[
edit
]
Rodney had in 1755 and 1756, taken part in preventive cruises under Hawke and
Edward Boscawen
. In 1757, he took part in the
expedition against Rochefort
, commanding the 74-gun ship of the line
Dublin
.
[6]
After an initial success, the expedition made no serious attempt on
Rochefort
and sailed for home. Next year, in the same ship, he was ordered to serve under Boscawen as part of an attempt to capture the strategic French fortress of
Louisbourg
in North America. He was given the task of carrying Major General
Jeffery Amherst
, the expedition's commander to Louisbourg. On the way Rodney captured a French
East Indiamen
, and took it into
Vigo
. This action saw the beginning of criticism of Rodney that he was obsessed with prize money ahead of strategic importance, with some claiming he spent two weeks or more in Vigo making sure of his prize money instead of carrying Amherst to Louisbourg. This appears to be untrue, as Rodney sailed within four days from Vigo.
[20]
Rodney and his ship played a minor role in the
taking of Louisburg
, which laid the way open for a British campaign up the
St Lawrence River
the following year, and the
fall of Quebec
. In August 1758 Rodney sailed for home in charge of six warships and ten
transports
carrying the captured garrison of Louisbourg who were being taken to Britain as
prisoners of war
.
[21]
Le Havre
[
edit
]
On 19 May 1759 he became a
rear admiral
, and shortly afterwards he was given command of a small
squadron
.
[22]
The admiralty had received intelligence that the French had gathered at
Le Havre
, at the mouth of the
River Seine
, a large number of
flat-bottomed boats
and stores which were being collected there for an
invasion of the British Isles
. After drawing up plans for an attack on Le Havre,
Lord Anson
briefed Rodney in person. The operation was intended to be a secret with it being implied that Rodney's actual destination was
Gibraltar
. This soon became impossible to maintain as Rodney tried to acquire pilots who knew the
Normandy
coast.
[22]
Rodney received his final orders on 26 June, and by 4 July he was off Le Havre. His force included six bomb-vessels which could fire at a very high trajectory. In what become known as the
Raid on Le Havre
, he bombarded the town for two days and nights, and inflicted great loss of war-material on the enemy. The bomb ships fired continuously for fifty two hours, starting large fires. Rodney then withdrew to
Spithead
, leaving several ships to blockade the mouth of the Seine. Although the attack hadn't significantly affected French plans, it proved a morale boost in Britain. In August Rodney was again sent to Le Havre with similar orders but through a combination of weather and improved French defences he was unable to get his bomb-vessels into position, and the Admiralty accepted his judgement that a further attack was impossible. The invasion was ultimately cancelled because of French naval defeats at the
Battle of Lagos
and
Battle of Quiberon Bay
.
From 1759 and 1761 Rodney concentrated on his blockade of the French coast, particularly around Le Havre. In July 1760, with another small squadron, he succeeded in taking many more of the enemy's flat-bottomed boats and in blockading the coast as far as
Dieppe
.
[6]
Martinique
[
edit
]
Rodney was elected MP for
Penryn
in 1761.
[23]
Lord Anson then selected him to command the naval element of a planned amphibious attack on the lucrative and strategically important French colony of
Martinique
in the West Indies, promoting him over the heads of a number of more senior officers. A previous
British attack on Martinique
had failed in 1759. The land forces for the attack on Martinique were to be a combination of troops from various locations including some sent out from Europe and reinforcements from New York City, who were available following the
Conquest of Canada
which had been completed in 1760. During 1761 Martinique was blockaded by
Sir James Douglas
to prevent reinforcements or supplies from reaching it.
[24]
In 1762 he was formally appointed commander-in-chief of the
Leeward Islands Station
.
[25]
Within the first three months of 1762,
Monckton
and he
had reduced the important island of Martinique
, while both
Saint Lucia
and
Grenada
had surrendered to his squadron. During the siege of
Fort Royal (later Fort de France)
his seamen and marines rendered splendid service on shore.
[6]
Afterwards Rodney's squadron, amounting to eight ships of the line joined the
British expedition to Cuba
bringing the total number of ships of the line to 15 by the end of April 1762. However he was later criticised for moving his ships to protect Jamaica from attack by a large Franco-Spanish force that had gathered in the area, rather than waiting to support the expedition as he had been ordered.
Following the
Treaty of Paris
in 1763, Admiral Rodney returned home having been during his absence made Vice-Admiral of the Blue and having received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament.
[6]
In the peace terms Martinique was returned to France.
Years of peace
[
edit
]
George Brydges Rodney, by
Joshua Reynolds
in 1789
In 1764, Rodney was created a
baronet
, and the same year he married Henrietta, daughter of John Clies of
Lisbon
. From 1765 to 1770, he was governor of
Greenwich Hospital
, and on the dissolution of parliament in 1768 he successfully contested
Northampton
at a ruinous cost. When appointed Commander-in-Chief of the
Jamaica Station
in 1771,
[26]
he lost his Greenwich post, but a few months later received the office of
Rear-Admiral of Great Britain
. Until 1774, he held the Jamaica command, and during a period of quiet, was active in improving the naval yards on his station. Sir George struck his flag with a feeling of disappointment at not obtaining the governorship of Jamaica, and was shortly after forced to settle in Paris. Election expenses and losses at play in fashionable circles had shattered his fortune, and he could not secure payment of the salary as Rear-Admiral of Great Britain. In February 1778, having just been promoted Admiral of the White, he used every possible exertion to obtain a command to free himself from his money difficulties. By May, he had, through the splendid generosity of his Parisian friend
Marshal Biron
, effected the latter task, and accordingly he returned to London with his children. The debt was repaid out of the arrears due to him on his return. The story that he was offered a French command is fiction.
[6]
American War of Independence
[
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]
In London, he suggested to
Lord George Germain
that
George Washington
could "certainly be bought ?
honours
will do it".
[27]
Moonlight Battle
[
edit
]
Rodney was appointed once more commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands Station late in 1779.
[28]
His orders were to relieve Gibraltar on his way to the West Indies. He
captured a Spanish convoy
of 22 vessels off
Cape Finisterre
on 8 January 1780.
[29]
Eight days later at the
Battle of Cape St. Vincent
he defeated the Spanish Admiral
Don Juan de Langara
, taking or destroying seven ships.
[6]
He then
brought some relief to Gibraltar
by delivering reinforcements and supplies.
Battle of Martinique
[
edit
]
On 17 April he fought an
action
off Martinique with the French Admiral
Guichen
which, owing to the carelessness of some of Rodney's captains, was indecisive.
[6]
Capture of St Eustatius
[
edit
]
Admiral George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
, by
Jean-Laurent Mosnier
, painted 1791.
Following the outbreak of the
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
between Britain and the
Dutch Republic
Rodney, acting under orders from London, captured the valuable Dutch island of
St Eustatius
on 3 February 1781.
[6]
Rodney had already identified several individuals on the island who were aiding the Americans, such as "... Mr Smith at the House of Jones ? they (the Jews of St. Eustatius, Caribbean Antilles)
[30]
cannot be too soon taken care of ? they are notorious in the cause of America and France..." The island was also home to a Jewish community who were mainly merchants with significant international trading and maritime commercial ties. The Jews were estimated to have been at least 10% of the permanent population of St. Eustatius.
[31]
Rodney immediately arrested and imprisoned 101 Jews in the warehouses of the lower city. He treated them harshly, summarily deporting 31 heads of families without mercy or word to their dependents. Rodney looted Jewish personal possessions and even tore out the linings of the clothes of his captives in search of hidden valuables; this alone yielded him 8,000 pounds.
[32]
When Rodney realised that the Jews might be hiding additional treasure, he dug up the Jewish cemetery.
[33]
Even large quantities of non-military trading goods belonging to English merchants on the island were arbitrarily confiscated. This resulted in Rodney being entangled in a series of costly lawsuits for the rest of his life. Still, the wealth Rodney stole on St. Eustatius exceeded his expectations.
[34]
Controversy and Yorktown
[
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]
Rodney wrote to his family with promises of a new London home; to his daughter "the best
harpsichord
money can purchase". He confidently wrote of a marriage settlement for one of his sons and a soon-to-be purchased commission in the
Foot Guards
for another son. Rodney also wrote of a
dowry
for his daughter to marry the
Earl of Oxford
and noted he would have enough to pay off the young prospective bridegroom's debts.
Other Royal Navy officers scathingly criticised Rodney for his actions. In particular, Viscount
Samuel Hood
suggested that Rodney should have sailed to intercept a French fleet under Rear Admiral
Francois Joseph Paul de Grasse
, travelling to Martinique.
[35]
The French fleet instead turned north and headed for the
Chesapeake Bay
of
Virginia
and
Maryland
.
Rodney's delay at St. Eustatius was not the first time he had taken the opportunity to capture prizes over the immediate and expeditious fulfillment of his military duties. During the Seven Years' War Rodney had been ordered to Barbados to link up with Admiral Sir George Pocock and the Earl of Albemarle for an attack on Cuba. Instead, Rodney sent valuable ships off in search of prizes. In 1762, Rodney, after the fall of Martinique, quarreled with the army over prize money. During Rodney's command in Jamaica, 1771?1774, the Earl of Sandwich feared that Rodney might provoke a war with Spain to obtain prize money.
[36]
Plundering the wealth of St. Eustatius and capturing many prizes over a number of months, Rodney further weakened his fleet by sending two
ships-of-the-line
to escort his treasure ships to England, though both were in need of major repair. Nevertheless, he is both blamed and defended for the subsequent disaster at Yorktown.
[37]
His orders as naval commander in chief in the eastern Caribbean were not only to watch de Grasse but also to protect the valuable sugar trade. Rodney had received intelligence earlier that de Grasse would send part of his fleet before the start of the hurricane season to relieve the French squadron at Newport and to co-operate with Washington, returning in the fall to the Caribbean. The other half of de Grasse's fleet, as usual, would escort the French merchantmen back across the Atlantic. Rodney accordingly made his dispositions in the light of this intelligence. Sixteen of his remaining twenty-one battleships would go with Hood to reinforce the squadron at New York under Sir Thomas Graves, while Rodney, who was in ill health, returned to England with three other battleships as merchant escorts, leaving two others in dock for repair. Hood was well satisfied with these arrangements, informing a colleague that his fleet was "fully equal to defeat any designs of the enemy." What Rodney and Hood could not know was that at the last moment de Grasse decided to take his entire fleet to North America, leaving the French merchantmen to the protection of the Spanish. The result was a decisive French superiority in battleships during the subsequent naval campaign, when the combined fleets of Hood and Graves were unable to relieve the British army of
Charles Cornwallis
, who was then establishing a base on the York River.
[38]
This left Cornwallis no option but to surrender, resulting a year later in British recognition of American Independence. Although Rodney's actions at St. Eustatius and afterwards contributed to the British naval inferiority in the
Battle of the Chesapeake
, the real reason for the disaster at Yorktown was the inability of Britain to match the resources of the other naval powers of Europe.
[39]
Battle of the Saintes
[
edit
]
Battle of the Saintes, April 1782
painting by
Francois Aime Louis Dumoulin
After a few months in England, restoring his health and defending himself in Parliament, Sir George returned to his command in February 1782, and a running engagement with the French fleet on 9 April led up to his crowning victory at the
Battle of the Saintes
off Dominica, when on 12 April with thirty-five sail of the line he defeated the
Comte de Grasse
, who had thirty-three sail. The French inferiority in numbers was more than counterbalanced by the greater size and superior sailing qualities of their ships, yet four French ships of the line were captured (including the
flagship
) as well as one destroyed after eleven hours' fighting.
[6]
This important battle saved
Jamaica
and ruined French naval prestige, while it enabled Rodney to write: "Within two little years I have taken two Spanish, one French and one Dutch admirals." A long and wearisome controversy exists as to the originator of the manoeuvre of "breaking the line" in this battle, but the merits of the victory have never seriously been affected by any difference of opinion on the question. A shift of wind broke the French line of battle, and the British ships took advantage of this by crossing in two places;
[6]
many were taken prisoner including the Comte de Grasse.
From 29 April to 10 July he sat with his fleet at
Port Royal, Jamaica
while his fleet was repaired after the battle.
[40]
Recall
[
edit
]
In a 15 April letter to
Lord George Germain
, who unknown to Rodney had recently lost his position, he wrote "Permit me most sincerely to congratulate you on the most important victory I believe ever gained against our perfidious enemies, the French".
[41]
The news of Rodney's victories reached England on 18 May 1782 via HMS
Andromache
and boosted national morale in Britain and strengthened the pro-war party, who wished to carry on the fight. George III observed to the new Prime Minister
Lord Shelburne
that he "must see that the great success of Lord Rodney's engagement has so far roused the nation, that the peace which would have been acquiesced in three months ago would now be a matter for complaint".
[42]
Rodney was preparing to sail to meet the enemy off
Cape Haitien
when
HMS
Jupiter
arrived from England, not only relieving him of duty, but also bringing his replacement:
Admiral Hugh Pigot
. This bizarre exchange was largely the result of changing politics in Britain: Rodney was a Tory placed in charge of the fleet by a Tory government... but the Whigs were now in power.
[40]
That said, at 64 years of age, he was perhaps due for retirement. However, Pigot and the command to retire was dispatched on 15 May, three days before the news of the victory at the
Battle of the Saintes
reached the Admiralty. A cutter sent by the Admiralty on 19 May failed to catch the
Jupiter
so Rodney's fate was sealed.
[43]
Rodney quietly quit his quarters on the
Formidable
and returned to England in more modest quarters on
HMS
Montagu
.
[44]
Later life
[
edit
]
Nepotism and self-interest
[
edit
]
Rodney was unquestionably a most able officer, but he was also vain, selfish and unscrupulous,
[45]
both in seeking prize money, and in using his position to push the fortunes of his family, although such nepotism was common (not to say normal) at the time. He made his son a post-captain at fifteen, and his assiduous self-interest alienated his fellow officers and the Board of Admiralty alike. Naval historian
Nicholas A. M. Rodger
describes Rodney as possessing weaknesses with respect to patronage "which destroyed the basis of trust upon which alone an officer can command."
[46]
It must be remembered that he was then prematurely old and racked by disease.
[6]
Retirement and death
[
edit
]
Rodney arrived home in August to receive unbounded honour from his country. He had already been created Baron Rodney of Rodney Stoke, Somerset, by patent of 19 June 1782, and the House of Commons had voted him a pension of £2000 a year. From this time he led a quiet country life until his death in London. He was succeeded as 2nd Baron by his son,
George
(1753?1802).
[6]
In 1782 Rodney was presented with the Freedom of the
City of Cork
, Ireland. The
National Maritime Museum
,
Greenwich
, London, holds the gold presentation box that the City of Cork gave him on 16 September 1782.
[47]
Rodney died in 1792, and was buried in the church of St Mary the Virgin,
Old Alresford
, in Hampshire, which adjoins his family seat. There is a memorial to him within
St Paul's Cathedral
.
[48]
Legacy
[
edit
]
In February 1783, the government of
Jamaica
commissioned
John Bacon
, a renowned British sculptor, to create a statue of Admiral Lord Rodney, as an expression of their appreciation. The Assembly spent $5,200 on the statue alone and a reputed $31,000 on the entire project. Bacon sourced the finest marble from Italy to create the
Neo-classical
sculpture of the Admiral, dressed in a Roman robe and breastplate. On its completion, the statue was fronted with cannons taken from the
French flagship, Ville de Paris
, in the battle.
[49]
The truly huge monument, known as the
Rodney Temple
stands in
Spanish Town, Jamaica
, next to the Governor's House.
In late 1782 and early 1783 a large number of existing taverns renamed themselves "The Admiral Rodney" in admiration of the victory.
[44]
Admiral Rodney's Pillar
was constructed on the peak of
Breidden Hill
to commemorate his victories.
In
St. Paul's Cathedral
crypt, there is a memorial to Rodney designed by
Charles Rossi
.
At least four serving warships of the Royal Navy have been named
HMS
Rodney
in his honour.
Two British
public schools
,
Churcher's College
and
Emanuel School
, have
houses
named after him.
Due to his popularity with citizens of Newfoundland as governor, small round-bottomed wooden boats, propelled by oars and/or sails, are often referred to as a
"Rodney"
up to the present day in Newfoundland.
In 1793, following Rodney's death, Scotland's Bard, the poet
Robert Burns
(1759?1796), published a poem "Lines On The Commemoration Of Rodney's Victory"
[50]
commemorating the
Battle of the Saintes
. The poem opens with the lines:
- "Instead of a Song, boy's, I'll give you a Toast;
- "Here's to the memory of those on the twelfth that we lost!-
- "That we lost, did I say?-nay, by Heav'n, that we found;
- "For their fame it will last while the world goes round. “
Places named after Rodney
[
edit
]
- Rodney Street, Liverpool
[51]
- Rodney Street, Edinburgh
- Rodney Bay
,
Saint Lucia
, the Caribbean
- Rodney County, New Zealand
- Rodney Gardens
, Perth, Scotland
- Cape Rodney
,
North Island
, New Zealand
- Rodney
,
Ontario
,
Canada
- Admiral Rodney ? Pub, Worcestershire
- Admiral Rodney - Pub, Criggion Lane, Powys
- Admiral Lord Rodney - Pub, Colne, Lancashire
- Admiral Rodney - Hotel, Horncastle, Lincolnshire
- Admiral Rodney - Pub, Sheffield
- Rodney Inn - Pub, Helston, Cornwall
- The Admiral Rodney Inn - Criggion, Powys (in sight of Rodney's Pillar monument on Breidden Hill)
- The Admiral Rodney Inn - Pub, Hartshorne, Swadlincote, Derbyshire.
- The Admiral Rodney - Pub, Prestbury, Cheshire
- The Lord Rodney - Pub, Keighley, West Yorkshire
- The Admiral Rodney - Pub, Calverton, Nottinghamshire
- The Rodney Hotel - Hotel, Clifton, Bristol
- Admiral Rodney - Pub, Wollaton, Nottinghamshire
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Cazorla, Frank, Baena, Rose, Polo, David, Reder Gadow, Marion (2019) The governor Louis de Unzaga (1717-1793) Pioneer in the birth of the United States of America and in Liberalism. Foundation. Malaga. pages 108?116
- ^
Stewart, p. 249.
- ^
Hannay, p. 5.
- ^
a
b
c
Trew, p. 13.
- ^
Burke, John
"The Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Females, Vol. 1"
, p. 125.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain
:
Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911). "
Rodney, George Brydges Rodney, Baron
".
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 447?448.
- ^
Hannay, pp. 3?4.
- ^
Fraser 2009
, p. 64
- ^
a
b
Trew, p. 14.
- ^
a
b
Trew, p. 15.
- ^
Trew, pp. 15?16.
- ^
Trew, pp. 16?18.
- ^
Rodger, p. 253.
- ^
Trew, p. 11.
- ^
Trew, p. 21.
- ^
Trew, p. 22.
- ^
Cruickshanks, Eveline
(1970).
"Rodney, George Brydges (1719?92)"
. In
Sedgwick, Romney
(ed.).
The History of Parliament
: the House of Commons 1715?1754
. London: HMSO.
ISBN
9780118800983
.
- ^
Trew, p. 23.
- ^
Trew, pp. 23?24.
- ^
Trew, pp. 24?25.
- ^
Trew, p. 25.
- ^
a
b
Trew, p. 26.
- ^
Drummond, Mary M. (1964).
"Rodney, George Brydges (1719?92)"
. In
Namier, Lewis
;
Brooke, John
(eds.).
The History of Parliament
: the House of Commons 1754?1790
. London: Haynes.
ISBN
9780436304200
.
- ^
Trew, p. 30.
- ^
Billias, George Athan (1972).
The life and correspondence of the late Admiral Lord Rodney
. Boston: Gregg Press. p. 8.
ISBN
9780839812715
.
- ^
Cundall, p. xx.
- ^
Hibbert, p. 295.
- ^
Haydn, Joseph (13 June 2008).
The Book of Dignities: Containing Lists of the Official Personages of the British Empire ... from the Earliest Periods to the Present Time ... Together with the Sovereigns and Rulers of Europe, from the Foundation of Their Respective States; the Peerage of England and Great Britain Original 1851 Digitized by the University of Michigan
. Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans. p. 279.
- ^
"No. 12056"
.
The London Gazette
. 8 February 1780. p. 1.
- ^
"The American Revolution"
.
www.ouramericanrevolution.org
. Retrieved
17 August
2019
.
- ^
"SECAR"
. steustatiushistory.org. Archived from
the original
on 29 January 2016
. Retrieved
18 October
2015
.
- ^
Norton, Louis Arthur.
"Retribution: Admiral Rodney and the Jews of St. Eustatius"
Jewish Magazine
(October 2006).
- ^
Is there documentary evidence for this?
- ^
Trew, pp. 103?104.
- ^
Trew, pp. 104?105.
- ^
Rodney, Spinney, pp. 141, 201?202, 206, 255.
- ^
The Men Who Lost America, Yale University Press, by Prof. Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy, strongly asserts that Rodney's delay was directly linked to the defeat of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
- ^
Middleton, Richard (2014). "Naval Resources and the British Defeat at Yorktown, 1781".
The Mariner's Mirror
.
100
(1): 29?43.
doi
:
10.1080/00253359.2014.866373
.
S2CID
154569534
.
- ^
O'Shaughnessy, Andrew (2013).
The men who lost America: British Command during the Revolutionary War and the preservation of the empire
. New Haven: Yale University Press.
ISBN
978-1780742465
.
- ^
a
b
Fraser 2009
, p. 165
- ^
Weintraub, p. 319.
- ^
Fleming, p. 180.
- ^
Fraser 2009
, p. 167
- ^
a
b
Fraser 2009
, p. 169
- ^
Rodger, N. A. M. (2004).
The Command of the Ocean
. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p.
344
.
ISBN
0393060500
.
- ^
Rodger (1986), pp. 326?327.
- ^
"Gold freedom box presented by the City of Cork on 16 September 1782 to Admiral Lord George Brydges Rodney, held in the collections of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich"
. Archived from
the original
on 9 May 2009
. Retrieved
21 December
2010
.
- ^
"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral"
Sinclair, W.
p. 451: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.
- ^
Aspinall, Algernon E. (1907).
The pocket guide to the West Indies, British Guiana, British Honduras, the Bermudas, the Spanish Main, and the Panama canal
(New and revised 1914 ed.). Rand, McNally & Company. pp. 188?189
. Retrieved
23 July
2018
.
- ^
"Robert Burns Country: Lines On The Commemoration Of Rodney's Victory"
.
www.robertburns.org
. Retrieved
17 August
2019
.
- ^
"Liverpool Local History"
. BBC. April 2003
. Retrieved
26 February
2012
.
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Cundall, Frank (1915).
Historic Jamaica
. West India Committee.
- The Naval Chronicle, Volume 1
1799, J. Gold, London. (reissued by
Cambridge University Press
, 2010.
ISBN
978-1-108-01840-1
- Fraser, Edward (2009).
Famous Fighters of the Fleet: Glimpses Through the Cannon Smoke in the Days of the Old Navy (1904)
. Kessinger Publishing.
ISBN
9781104820039
.
- Fleming, Thomas.
The Perils of Peace: America's Struggle for Survival After Yorktown
. First Smithsonian books, 2008.
- Hannay, David.
Life of Rodney
. Macmillan, 1891.
- Hibbert, Christopher.
Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes
. Avon Books, 1990.
- General Mundy,
Life and Correspondence of Admiral Lord Rodney
(2 vols, 1830)
- O'Shaunhassey, Andrew Jackson.
The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of Empire
. Yale University Press, 2013.
- Rodger, N. A. M.
Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649?1815
. Penguin Books, 2006.
- Spinney, David.
Rodney
, George Allen & Unwin, 1969.
- Stewart, William.
Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary 1500 to the Present
. McFarland, 2009.
- Trew, Peter.
Rodney and the Breaking of the Line
. Pen and Sword, 2006.
- Weintraub, Stanley.
Iron Tears: Rebellion in America, 1775?1783
. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
- Rodney letters in
9th Report of Hist. manuscripts Coin.
, pt. iiL; "Memoirs," in
Naval Chronicle
, i. 353?93; and Charnock,
Biographia Navalis
, v. 204?28. Lord Rodney published in his lifetime (probably 1789)
- Letters to His Majesty's Ministers
, etc., relative to St Eustatius, etc., of which there is a copy in the
British Museum
. Most of these letters are printed in Mundy's
Life
, vol. ii., though with many variant readings.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Arbell, Mordechai.
The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean, The Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas
(2002) Geffen Press, Jerusalem
- Bernardini, P. & Fiering, N. (editors).
The Jews and the Expansion of Europe to the West, 1450?1800
(2001), Berghan Press
- Charnock, John.
Biographia Navalis
volume, 5 pg 204?228. 1797, London.
- Ezratty, Harry.
500 Years in the Jewish Caribbean ? The Spanish and Portuguese Jews in the West Indies
(1997) Omni Arts, Baltimore
- Macintyre, Donald.
Admiral Rodney
(1962) Peter Davies, London.
- Middleton, Richard.
The War of American Independence, 1775?1783
. Pearson. London, 2012
- Mundy, Godfrey Basil.
Life and Correspondence of Admiral Lord Rodney, Vols 1 and 2
1830
- Syrett, David.
The Rodney Papers: selections from the correspondence of Admiral Lord Rodney
2007, Ashgate Publishing Ltd
- Hartog, J.
History of St. Eustatius
(1976) Central USA Bicentennial Committee of the Netherlands Antilles
- Attema, Y.
A Short History of St. Eustatius and its Monuments
(1976) Wahlberg Pers
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney
at Wikimedia Commons
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