George Miller Bligh
Encyclopedia
George Miller Bligh was an officer of the Royal Navy
, who saw service during the French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
, eventually rising to the rank of Captain
. He was present aboard at the Battle of Trafalgar
, and was badly wounded during the action. He was taken below and was present in the cockpit
during the death of Vice-Admiral
Horatio Nelson
.
, who was later to become an Admiral, and his first wife Ann Worsley. The younger Bligh followed his father into the navy, joining his father's ship as a midshipman
in 1794. Shortly after this the Alexander was captured by a French squadron in an action on 6 November 1794. Bligh became a prisoner of war
at Brest
, spending six months there until he was able to escape and return to England. He went on to serve aboard a number of ships, including , , and . He was promoted to lieutenant while serving aboard the Endymion in 1801. He returned to serving aboard the Brunswick after this, before being transferred aboard Nelson's flagship
HMS Victory in 1804.
, where he was wounded in the head and hit by a musket ball in the breast, becoming one of the high proportion of officers to be killed or wounded in the battle. Victorys signal Lieutenant John Pasco
was also wounded in the battle, while Lieutenant William Ram was killed. Bligh was carried below to be seen by the surgeon
William Beatty. He was in the cockpit during the last hours of the mortally wounded Nelson's life, and was depicted in Arthur William Devis
's painting The Death of Nelson, 21 October 1805
. Bligh is depicted apparently dazed from a head wound, and with his left hand over the wound in his side. Bligh survived the battle and recovered in time to be present at Nelson's funeral. He was in a mourning coach on the morning of 8 January, along with Captain Henry William Bayntun
, who had commanded at Trafalgar, and Captain Thomas Hardy, of the Victory, as well as fellow Victory lieutenant Andrew King. Bligh was promoted to commander on 25 January 1806, in the rewards bestowed to those who had fought at Trafalgar. He was appointed to command the sloop
and despatched to escort a convoy from Falmouth
to the Mediterranean.
Grand Napoleon on 2 May 1808. He was promoted to post-captain
on 27 December 1809 and by early 1810 he was aboard , escorting a convoy back to England from Malta
. He was then appointed to the 18-gun sloop , which was part of the British squadron protecting their base on the island of Lissa
. When three suspicious sails were sighted early in the morning of 28 November, the British squadron put to sea, leaving Bligh in the Acorn, in charge of the station while an action was fought the next day
, resulting in a British victory. Bligh was appointed to the frigate in 1814, and sailed her to serve on the Jamaica
station. He returned to Britain in July 1816, where the Araxes was paid off and Bligh went ashore. He does not appear to have been actively employed again at sea.
in 1834 and was buried at Alverstoke
.
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 saw service during 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...
, eventually rising to the rank of Captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
. He was present aboard at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
, and was badly wounded during the action. He was taken below and was present in the cockpit
Cockpit (sailing)
In the Royal Navy, the term cockpit originally referred to the area where the coxswain was stationed. This led to the word being used to refer to the area towards the stern of a small decked vessel that houses the rudder controls...
during the death of Vice-Admiral
Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...
Horatio Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
.
Family and early life
Bligh was born in 1780, the only son of Richard Rodney BlighRichard Bligh
Sir Richard Rodney Bligh GCB was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral....
, who was later to become an Admiral, and his first wife Ann Worsley. The younger Bligh followed his father into the navy, joining his father's ship as 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...
in 1794. Shortly after this the Alexander was captured by a French squadron in an action on 6 November 1794. Bligh became a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
at Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, spending six months there until he was able to escape and return to England. He went on to serve aboard a number of ships, including , , and . He was promoted to lieutenant while serving aboard the Endymion in 1801. He returned to serving aboard the Brunswick after this, before being transferred aboard Nelson's 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...
HMS Victory in 1804.
Trafalgar
Bligh was present at Trafalgar as commander of Victorys forecastleForecastle
Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...
, where he was wounded in the head and hit by a musket ball in the breast, becoming one of the high proportion of officers to be killed or wounded in the battle. Victorys signal Lieutenant John Pasco
John Pasco
Rear-Admiral John Pasco served in the Royal Navy between 1784 and 1853, eventually rising to the rank of Rear Admiral. He acted as signal officer on board HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and notably advised on the wording of Nelson's famous signal "England expects that every man will do his...
was also wounded in the battle, while Lieutenant William Ram was killed. Bligh was carried below to be seen by the surgeon
Ship's doctor
A Ship's doctor or Ship's surgeon is the person responsible for the health of the people aboard a ship whilst at sea. The term "ship's doctor" or "ship's surgeon" appears often in reference to the Age of Sail British Royal Navy's "surgeons." These men, like other physicians, often did not have much...
William Beatty. He was in the cockpit during the last hours of the mortally wounded Nelson's life, and was depicted in Arthur William Devis
Arthur William Devis
Arthur William Devis was an English painter of history paintings and portraits. He was appointed draughtsman in a voyage projected by the East India Company in 1783, under Captain Henry Wilson, in which he was wrecked on the Pelew Islands before proceeding to Canton and thence to Bengal...
's painting The Death of Nelson, 21 October 1805
The Death of Nelson, 21 October 1805
The Death of Nelson, 21 October 1805 is an 1807 painting by Arthur William Devis portraying the death of Horatio Nelson at 16:30 on 21 October 1805, below decks on his flagship during the Battle of Trafalgar...
. Bligh is depicted apparently dazed from a head wound, and with his left hand over the wound in his side. Bligh survived the battle and recovered in time to be present at Nelson's funeral. He was in a mourning coach on the morning of 8 January, along with Captain Henry William Bayntun
Henry William Bayntun
Admiral Sir Henry William Bayntun GCB was a senior officer in the Royal Navy, whose distinguished career in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars was a catalogue of the highest and lowest points of the Navy during the conflict...
, who had commanded at Trafalgar, and Captain Thomas Hardy, of the Victory, as well as fellow Victory lieutenant Andrew King. Bligh was promoted to commander on 25 January 1806, in the rewards bestowed to those who had fought at Trafalgar. He was appointed to command the sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
and despatched to escort a convoy from Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....
to the Mediterranean.
Command
Bligh remained in command of the Pylades for the next three years, distinguishing his time aboard her with the capture of the French privateerPrivateer
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...
Grand Napoleon on 2 May 1808. He 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 27 December 1809 and by early 1810 he was aboard , escorting a convoy back to England from Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. He was then appointed to the 18-gun sloop , which was part of the British squadron protecting their base on the island of Lissa
Lissa
Lissa is:* the old Venetian name for the Adriatic island of Vis* the German name for the town of Leszno in Poland when it had a Moravian college and a gymnasium...
. When three suspicious sails were sighted early in the morning of 28 November, the British squadron put to sea, leaving Bligh in the Acorn, in charge of the station while an action was fought the next day
Action of 29 November 1811
The Action of 29 November 1811 was a minor naval engagement fought between two frigate squadrons in the Adriatic Sea during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars. The action was one of a series of operations conducted by the British Royal Navy and the French Navy to contest dominance over...
, resulting in a British victory. Bligh was appointed to the frigate in 1814, and sailed her to serve on the Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
station. He returned to Britain in July 1816, where the Araxes was paid off and Bligh went ashore. He does not appear to have been actively employed again at sea.
Personal life
Bligh married Catherine Haynes on 2 December 1817. He died at SouthamptonSouthampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
in 1834 and was buried at Alverstoke
Alverstoke
Alverstoke is a parish in the borough of Gosport, Hampshire, England, that encompasses land stretching from Haslar to Stokes Bay. Alverstoke lies within half a mile of the shore of Stokes Bay and near the head of a creek which extends a mile westward from Portsmouth Harbour...
.