Edward Sneyd Clay
Encyclopedia
Edward Sneyd Clay was an officer of 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...

 who served during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

 and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

.

Clay entered the navy just before the end of the American War of Independence. He found continued employment during the drawdown of the navy in peacetime, and was in the Mediterranean during the first naval campaigns against Revolutionary France. He saw action at the Siege of Toulon
Siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...

 and the capture of Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

 during 1793 and 1794, and was promoted to lieutenant. Back in British waters by 1798 he took part in the Battle of Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...

, and was wounded in the heavy fighting. Having impressed his commander, Admiral Adam Duncan, he was given the task of carrying the despatches of the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland
Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland refers to the campaign of 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and Russian troops invaded the North-Holland peninsula in the Batavian Republic...

 back to Britain, and was then promoted to his first command. He continued to be involved in the major naval actions of his age, serving at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801.

Command of several ships of the line followed, and he continued his connection with the Baltic, serving in the Gunboat War
Gunboat War
The Gunboat War was the naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the conventional Royal Navy...

 against the Danes. His career nearly came to an end when his ship, a 36-gun frigate, was wrecked at the entrance to the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

 after a confusion over signal lights. The subsequent court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...

 acquitted him of blame, and he spent the last years of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 commanding a receiving ship. He never again served at sea after the wars, but received several promotions, finally dying in 1846 as rear-admiral of the red
Rear Admiral (Royal Navy)
Rear Admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to Commodore and is subordinate to Vice Admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7....

.

Early life

Clay was born c. 1768 and entered the Navy towards the end of the American War of Independence, on 15 April 1783. He was initially a midshipman
Midshipman
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...

 aboard the 74-gun , under Captain Sir John Hamilton, but later moved to a number of different ships after the end of the war. In the years of peace between 1783 and 1792, Clay served in succession on the Home, West India and Mediterranean stations. He was first aboard the 50-gun , the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 of Vice-Admiral James Gambier
James Gambier (Royal Navy officer)
Vice-Admiral James Gambier was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, North American Station. The historian David Syrett presented a study of Gambier, which presented him as corrupt and largely disliked by his fellow officers....

, but moved to the yacht HMY Catherine under Captain Sir George Young, the 38-gun under Captain George Dawson, and the 32-gun under Captain William Squire. By September 1793, after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

, Clay was serving aboard the 74-gun , under Captain Robert Linzee
Robert Linzee
Robert Linzee was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary War, and the Napoleonic War....

.
Clay saw action aboard Alcide in the Mediterranean, and was present at the occupation and siege of Toulon
Siege of Toulon
The Siege of Toulon was an early Republican victory over a Royalist rebellion in the Southern French city of Toulon. It is also often known as the Fall of Toulon.-Context:...

. Linzee later was posted as a 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 Alcide supported the operations to capture Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

, working alongside Corsican General Pasquale Paoli
Pasquale Paoli
Filippo Antonio Pasquale di Paoli , was a Corsican patriot and leader, the president of the Executive Council of the General Diet of the People of Corsica...

. Clay was promoted to lieutenant during these operations, on 19 May 1794, and was appointed to the 20-gun sloop , at first under Captain Joseph Bullen, and later under Captain Richard Goddard. He then moved to the 74-gun , which was then being commanded by Clay's old captain, William Squire. Clay soon changed ships, serving aboard the 74-gun under Captain John Knight
John Knight (Royal Navy officer)
Sir John Knight, KCB was a senior British Royal Navy officer during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries most noted for his activities as a post captain during the American and French Revolutionary Wars...

, and then the 74-gun . Venerable was at this time the flagship of Admiral Adam Duncan, commander of the The Downs
The Downs
The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...

 squadron. On 11 October 1797 Duncan's fleet engaged a Dutch fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan Willem de Winter
Jan Willem de Winter
Jan Willem de Winter was a Dutch admiral of the Napoleonic Wars.De Winter entered naval service as a young boy. He distinguished himself by his zeal and courage, and at the revolution of 1787 he had reached the rank of lieutenant. The overthrow of the patriot party forced him to fly for his safety...

 and decisively defeated it at the Battle of Camperdown
Battle of Camperdown
The Battle of Camperdown was a major naval action fought on 11 October 1797 between a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan and a Dutch Navy fleet under Vice-Admiral Jan de Winter...

. Venerable was heavily engaged in the fighting, losing 13 seamen and two marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

, and having a further 62 men wounded. Clay was one of the two of Venerables lieutenants wounded, apparently severely. He nevertheless recovered and resumed his service, joining Duncan's new flagship, the 74-gun . Aboard the Kent he was involved in the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland
Anglo-Russian Invasion of Holland
The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland refers to the campaign of 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and Russian troops invaded the North-Holland peninsula in the Batavian Republic...

, and was chosen by Duncan to deliver his despatches detailing the successful invasion to Britain. In his despatch Duncan advised the Lords of the Admiralty to apply for any further details they required to Lieutenant Clay, describing him as 'an intelligent and deserving officer'.

Command

The deliverer of important despatches was usually marked out for special favour by the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

, and Clay's reward was a promotion to be master and commander
Commander (Royal Navy)
Commander is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It is immediately junior to captain and immediately senior to the rank of lieutenant commander...

 of the bomb vessel
Bomb vessel
A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannon —although bomb vessels carried a few cannon for self-defence—but rather mortars mounted forward near the bow and elevated to a high angle, and projecting their fire in a...

  on 3 December 1799. He spent 1800 serving in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

, and the following year was assigned to the fleet dispatched to Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

 under Vice-Admiral Archibald Dickson to support a diplomatic mission led by Lord Whitworth
Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth
Charles Whitworth, 1st Earl Whitworth GCB, PC , known as The Lord Whitworth between 1800 and 1813 and as The Viscount Whitworth between 1813 and 1815, was a British diplomat and politician.-Early years:...

. The subsequent negotiations over matters such as Britain's position on the searching of neutral warships for contraband, ended in Britain's favour, given that Whitworth was backed up by a strong force, and the Danes had not yet completed fortifying their capital. The Danes remained disgruntled, and by early 1801 had concluded a treaty with Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 to form the League of Armed Neutrality
Second League of Armed Neutrality
The Second League of Armed Neutrality or the League of the North was an alliance of the north European naval powers Denmark–Norway, Prussia, Sweden and Russia. It occurred between 1800 and 1801 during the War of the Second Coalition and was initiated by Paul I of Russia...

. Concerned by these developments, the British dispatched a fleet under Sir Hyde Parker to take action against the members of the league. Zebra was again sent out to the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

, and took part in the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801.

After serving on this station, Clay was promoted to 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 29 April 1802. He served from 20 July 1805 until May 1808 as the Regulating Officer at Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, and then joined the 98-gun as her commanding officer. During this time St George was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey
Eliab Harvey
Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey, GCB was an eccentric and hot-tempered officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars who was as distinguished for his gambling and dueling as for his military record...

. Clay then moved to take command of the 98-gun on 6 February 1809, with orders to return to the Baltic as the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir Manley Dixon
Manley Dixon
Admiral Sir Manley Dixon, KCB was a prominent Royal Navy officer during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Born into a military family in the late 1750s or early 1760s, Dixon joined the Navy and served as a junior officer in the American Revolutionary War, gaining an independent...

. War had broken out with the Danes
Gunboat War
The Gunboat War was the naval conflict between Denmark–Norway and the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The war's name is derived from the Danish tactic of employing small gunboats against the conventional Royal Navy...

 after the Second Battle of Copenhagen
Battle of Copenhagen (1807)
The Second Battle of Copenhagen was a British preemptive attack on Copenhagen, targeting the civilian population in order to seize the Dano-Norwegian fleet and in turn originate the term to Copenhagenize.-Background:Despite the defeat and loss of many ships in the first Battle of Copenhagen in...

 in 1807, and a British fleet was stationed in the Baltic under Sir James Saumarez
James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez
Admiral James Saumarez, 1st Baron de Saumarez , GCB was an admiral of the British Royal Navy, notable for his victory at the Battle of Algeciras.-Early life:...

. Temeraire arrived in May 1809 and was sent to blockade Karlskrona
Karlskrona
Karlskrona is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with 35,212 inhabitants in 2010. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to Sweden's only remaining naval base and the headquarters of the...

 on the Swedish coast.

Temeraire carried out several patrols, including one with the 64-gun and the frigate . During this patrol the Melpomene was attacked by a flotilla of thirty Danish gunboats. Clay immediately dispatched boats to her assistance, which helped to fight off the Danish gunboats, and then towed the damaged frigate to safety. Temeraires later Baltic service involved being dispatched to observe the Russian fleet
Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy refers to the Tsarist fleets prior to the February Revolution.-First Romanovs:Under Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, construction of the first three-masted ship, actually built within Russia, was completed in 1636. It was built in Balakhna by Danish shipbuilders from Holstein...

 at Revel
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...

, during which time she made a survey of the island of Nargen
Naissaar
Naissaar is an island northwest of Tallinn in Estonia. The island covers an area of 18.6 km². It is 13-14 km long and 6 km wide, and lies about 8.5 km from the mainland. The highest point on the island is Kunilamägi, which is 27 meters above sea-level. The island consists predominantly of...

. After important blockading and convoy escort work, Temeraire was ordered back to Britain as winter arrived, and she arrived in Plymouth in November 1809. Clay left her at this point and was appointed to the 36-gun .

Nymphe and wreck

Clay had some success against privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...

s during his time in command, capturing the 2-gun Danish privateer Norwegian Girl on 26 October 1810. Clay then returned to Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

 in December 1810 after a month cruising off the Norwegian coast, in company with the 32-gun . Returning at night the two frigates had difficulty distinguishing their exact location, and the pilot
Maritime pilot
A pilot is a mariner who guides ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbours or river mouths. With the exception of the Panama Canal, the pilot is only an advisor, as the captain remains in legal, overriding command of the vessel....

 aboard Nymphe mistook the light of a lime kiln burning at Broxmouth, for the signal light marking the Isle of May
Isle of May
The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately off the coast of mainland Scotland. It is 1.8 km long and less than half a kilometre wide...

. Though the May light was visible, it was instead mistaken for the Bell Rock
Inchcape
Inchcape or the Bell Rock is a notorious reef off the east coast of Angus, Scotland, near Dundee and Fife . Bell Rock Lighthouse, an automatic lighthouse, occupies the reef...

 light. The master
Master (naval)
The master, or sailing master, was a historic term for a naval officer trained in and responsible for the navigation of a sailing vessel...

 of Nymphe agreed with the pilot, with the consequence that both frigates ran aground at the entrance to the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...

 on the night of 18 December, with the Nymphe striking a rock known as the Devil's Ark, near Skethard. Both Pallas and Nymphe had to be abandoned. The crew of Nymphe were taken off without loss of life. Clay received the customary court martial for the loss of his ship. The court acquitted Clay and his officers of blame for the loss, instead placing responsibility on the master, Mr G. Scott and the pilot, Mr C. Gascoigne, determining that they had been 'very incautious', and severely reprimanding both.

Later life

Clay's final command was a posting to the 64-gun on 16 July 1812, which by this time was a receiving ship at Sheerness Dockyard. He commanded Raisonnable until June 1814, when she was paid off as the Napoleonic Wars drew to a close. He never received another seagoing command, being placed on half-pay in 1823, though he was advanced to flag rank on 10 January 1837. He was restored to full pay in 1840 and was in receipt of a pension for his wounds to the value of £250. Further promotions followed, until he died at the rank of rear-admiral of the red
Rear Admiral (Royal Navy)
Rear Admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to Commodore and is subordinate to Vice Admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7....

 on 3 February 1846 at Southwell
Southwell, Nottinghamshire
Southwell is a town in Nottinghamshire, England, best known as the site of Southwell Minster, the seat of the Church of England diocese that covers Nottinghamshire...

, Nottinghamshire, at the age of 78. He had been married, though his wife had predeceased him on 20 April 1837.
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