Charles Fielding
Encyclopedia
Affair of Fielding and Bylandt
The Affair of Fielding and Bylandt refers to a brief naval engagement off the Isle of Wight on 31 December 1779 between a Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Commodore Charles Fielding, and a naval squadron of the Dutch Republic, commanded by rear-admiral Lodewijk van Bylandt, escorting a Dutch convoy...
in the run-up to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that...
. He attained the "rank" of Commodore
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...
and died of gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
after being wounded in action during the Battle of Cape Spartel
Battle of Cape Spartel
The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe...
, commanding HMS Ganges
HMS Ganges (1782)
HMS Ganges was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 March 1782 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship of the Navy to bear the name. Her first captain was Charles Fielding...
.
Family life
Fielding was born the son of Charles Feilding, Colonel in the Guards and EquerryEquerry
An equerry , and related to the French word "écuyer" ) is an officer of honour. Historically, it was a senior attendant with responsibilities for the horses of a person of rank. In contemporary use, it is a personal attendant, usually upon a Sovereign, a member of a Royal Family, or a national...
to king George II of England, and Anne Palmer. His biographers apparently thought it more important that he was related to the Fourth Earl of Denbigh
Earl of Denbigh
Earl of Denbigh is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1622 for the courtier and soldier William Feilding, 1st Viscount Feilding. He was Master of the Great Wardrobe under King James I and also took part in the Expedition to Cádiz of 1625...
, whose third son his father was. (He himself was a second son). He married Sophia Finch, a Woman of the Bedchamber of the Queen (Charlotte
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III...
) on 29 February 1772. (She was a sister of George Finch, Ninth Earl of Winchelsea). They had three daughters and a son, also called Charles, who became a rear-admiral in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
.http://www.halhed.com/tng/getperson.php?personID=I6167&tree=halhed&PHPSESSID=23a0c0ef60fd755ed7ae60d9f6d610a8
Career
Fielding enlisted in the Royal Navy at an early age, probably following the usual career after starting as a midshipmanMidshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
. From his early career little is known, according to his biographer, Charnock, but he was appointed a Post-Captain
Post-Captain
Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy.The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from:...
on 27 August 1760 (during the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
) and given command of HMS Flamstead (20). In 1762 he was given command of HMS Unicorn
HMS Unicorn (1748)
HMS Unicorn was a 28-gun Lyme-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was originally ordered as a 24-gun ship to the draft of the French privateer Tyger. The third vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name, the Unicorn, as well as which was a near-sister, were the first true frigates built...
which was decommissioned after the end of the war. Apparently, he did not receive a new command until 1770, when he was appointed to HMS Achilles
HMS Achilles (1757)
HMS Achilles was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Barnard and Turner at Harwich to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched in 1757. She was ordered in November 1755...
(a fourth-rate
Fourth-rate
In the British Royal Navy, a fourth rate was, during the first half of the 18th century, a ship of the line mounting from 46 up to 60 guns. While the number of guns stayed subsequently in the same range up until 1817, after 1756 the ships of 50 guns and below were considered too weak to stand in...
of 60 guns, launched in 1757) as flag captain
Flag captain
In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First Captain", with the "flag captain" as the ship's...
of Admiral Sir Francis Geary
Sir Francis Geary, 1st Baronet
Sir Francis Geary was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Family and early life:...
.
Soon after, he received command of HMS Rainbow (44) on which he sailed till he received command of HMS Kent
HMS Kent (1762)
HMS Kent was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 23 March 1762 at Deptford Dockyard.In 1774, a chest containing perhaps as much as 400 lb of gunpowder exploded during saluting, killing eleven and injuring dozens more, and causing the marine drummer sitting on the...
in 1772. During his tenure the Kent experienced an explosion in July, 1774 in which eleven seamen lost their lives.http://www.ageofnelson.org/MichaelPhillips/info.php?ref=1269 Apparently, he was not blamed, because he retained his command for the usual term. In 1776 he received command of HMS Diamond
HMS Diamond (1774)
The fourth HMS Diamond was a Modified Lowestoffe-class fifth-rate frigate, ordered on 25 December 1770 as one of five fifth-rate frigates of 32 guns each contained in the emergency frigate-building programme inaugurated when the likelihood of war with Spain arose over the ownership of the Falkland...
with which he transported troops to America, where the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
had begun. He remained in that area for some years and in 1778 temporarily commanded the Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
Station, where he distinguished himself.
After his return to Europe in 1779 he was given command of HMS Namur
HMS Namur (1756)
HMS Namur was a 90-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard to the draught specified by the 1745 Establishment as amended in 1750, and launched on 3 March 1756....
, a second rate of 90 guns, and put in charge of a squadron of ships of the line
Ship of the line
A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...
cruising the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
to intercept Dutch convoys. As officer commanding a squadron he was allowed to carry the title of "commodore" though his formal rank remained that of captain. He intercepted in peace time a convoy escorted by a smaller squadron of naval vessels of the Dutch Republic
Dutch Republic
The Dutch Republic — officially known as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands , the Republic of the United Netherlands, or the Republic of the Seven United Provinces — was a republic in Europe existing from 1581 to 1795, preceding the Batavian Republic and ultimately...
under command of Rear-Admiral Count Lodewijk van Bylandt
Lodewijk van Bylandt
Lodewijk Count Van Bylandt was a Dutch lieutenant-admiral. He gained a certain notoriety in the Affair of Fielding and Bylandt of 1779 and even more in consequence of the refusal of the Dutch navy to put out to sea to combine with the French fleet in Brest in 1783, during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch...
, which led to the celebrated Affair of Fielding and Bylandt
Affair of Fielding and Bylandt
The Affair of Fielding and Bylandt refers to a brief naval engagement off the Isle of Wight on 31 December 1779 between a Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Commodore Charles Fielding, and a naval squadron of the Dutch Republic, commanded by rear-admiral Lodewijk van Bylandt, escorting a Dutch convoy...
of December 31, 1779. The commotion this incident caused in the Republic would eventually lead to the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
Fourth Anglo-Dutch War
The Fourth Anglo–Dutch War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. The war, tangentially related to the American Revolutionary War, broke out over British and Dutch disagreements on the legality and conduct of Dutch trade with Britain's enemies in that...
.
Shortly afterwards he was removed to HMS Minerva
HMS Minerva (1780)
HMS Minerva was a 38-gun fifth-rate Royal Navy frigate. The first of four Minerva-class frigates, she was launched on 3 June 1780, and commissioned soon thereafter. In 1798 she was renamed Pallas and employed as a troopship...
in which he accompanied Admiral George Darby
George Darby
Vice Admiral George Darby was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the second son of Jonathan Darby III Esq. , of Leap Castle, in King's County, Ireland.-Early career:Darby joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer...
, when the latter relieved Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
in April, 1781. After the commissioning of HMS Ganges
HMS Ganges (1782)
HMS Ganges was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 30 March 1782 at Rotherhithe. She was the first ship of the Navy to bear the name. Her first captain was Charles Fielding...
in 1782 he became her first captain. He accompanied Admiral Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
(with whom he had already served in American waters) to Gibraltar in September, 1782. He was lightly wounded by a splinter in the arm during the skirmish that is known as the Battle of Cape Spartel
Battle of Cape Spartel
The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe...
on 20 October 1782. Though the wound was far from serious, infection set in and Fielding died of gangrene on 11 January of the following year.
Sources
(1807) The Naval Chronicle. Vol 18. p. 2, fn. *- "Fielding, Charles," in: (1798) Biographia navalis: or, Impartial memoirs of the lives and characters of officers of the navy of Great Britain, from the year 1660 to the present time; drawn from the most authentic sources, and disposed in a chronological arrangement. Vol. 6, pp. 391–393 http://books.google.com/books?id=0EMOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA393&dq=%22captain+Fielding%22+gangrene&lr=&ei=6VwxSrfdDJ_kkQT8xoy2BQ&client=firefox-a#PPA391,M1