James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier
Encyclopedia
Admiral of the Fleet
James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier GCB
(13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was an admiral
of the Royal Navy
, who served as Governor of Newfoundland, and as a Lord of the Admiralty
, but who gained notoriety for his actions at the Battle of the Basque Roads
.
, the second son of John Gambier, the Lieutenant Governor
. His mother, Deborah Stiles was Bermudian
, and he remained the patron of an extended, but impoverished, Bermudian family throughout his adult life. Gambier was a nephew of Vice-Admiral James Gambier
and of Admiral Sir Charles Middleton, Lord Barham.
He entered the Navy in 1767 as a midshipman on board the , commanded by his uncle, which was serving as a guardship in the Medway
, and followed him to server onboard the 60-gun in 1769 where he served on the North American Station. He transferred to the 50-gun under Rear Admiral Parry, in 1772, in the Leeward Islands
. Gambier was placed on sloop, and he was posted to England to serve on the 74-gun, third-rate
, a guardship at Spithead
. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant
on 12 February 1777, where he served in a successively in the sloop, the 24-gun frigate
, then under Vice-Admiral Lord Shuldham
in 1777, and in under his uncle's flag. Lord Howe
promoted Lieutenant Gambier to Master & Commander
on 9 March 1778, commanding the bomb ship , which was promptly dismasted and surrendered to the French. He was taken prisoner for a short period and when he was exchanged he was made a Post Captain on 9 October 1778, at the age of 22, and appointed to the 32-gun frigate HMS Raleigh
. He served under his father and under Vice-Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot. In 1780 he was appointed commander of , cruising in British waters.
In 1783, at the end of the American War of Independence, he was placed on half-pay, and married in July 1788. In February 1793 following the declaration of war with France, Captain Gambier was appointed to command the 74-gun under Lord Howe
. As captain of the Defence Gambier saw action at the battle of the Glorious First of June
in 1794, gaining the distinction of being the first ship to break through the enemy line. He subsequently received the Naval Gold Medal
and was appointed Colonel of Marines (a sinecure
involving no duties, but excellent pay).
under Admiral William Cornwallis
. From 1802-04, he served as Governor of Newfoundland and Commander-in-Chief of all ships appointed there. He then returned to the Admiralty
, and was promoted to full Admiral in 1805.
In 1807 Gambier volunteered to command the naval forces sent as part of the campaign against Copenhagen. He saw action in the 2nd Battle of Copenhagen
in flagship HMS Prince of Wales
. Together with General Lord Cathcart
, he oversaw the bombardment of Copenhagen from 2 September until the Danes capitulated after three days (an incident that brought Gambier some notoriety in that the assault included a bombardment of the civilian quarter). Prizes included eighteen ships of the line, twenty-one frigates and brigs and twenty-five gunboats together with a large quantity of naval stores for which he received official thanks from Parliament, and on 3 November 1807 a peerage, becoming Baron Gambier, of Iver in the County of Buckingham.
. In April 1809 he chased a squadron of French ships that had escaped from Brest
into the Basque Roads
. He called a council of war in which Lord Cochrane
was given command of the inshore squadron, and who subsequently led the attack. Gambier refused to commit the Channel Fleet after Cochrane's attack, using explosion vessels that encouraged the French squadron to warp further into the shallows of the estuary. This action resulted in the majority of the French fleet running aground at Rochefort
.
Lord Gambier was content with the blockading role played by the offshore squadron. Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey
, who had commanded "Fighting Temeraire
" at the Battle of Trafalgar
, believed they had missed an opportunity to inflict further damage upon the French fleet. He told Gambier "I never saw a man so unfit for the command of a fleet as Your Lordship." Lord Cochrane threatened to use his parliamentary vote against Gambier in retaliation for not committing the fleet to action. Gambier called for a court martial to examine his conduct. The court martial, on 26 July 1809 on Gladiator
in Portsmouth, exonerated Gambier. Consequently, neither Harvey nor Cochrane were appointed by the Admiralty to command for the remainder of the war.
, ending the War of 1812
between Britain
and the United States
. He was a founding benefactor of Kenyon College
in the United States
, so the town that was founded with it, Gambier, Ohio
is named after him. Mount Gambier, South Australia
, the extinct volcano
and the later city, and Gambier Island
in British Columbia
are also named after him. The Discovery of Iodide was his last but arguably most significant achievement, ironically he grew to have a great dispassion for the stuff.
was developed by William Thompson, Lord Gambier's gardener at Iver, Buckinghamshire
, in hybrids of Viola tricolor with other violas, in the years following 1813/14.
Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy)
Admiral of the fleet is the highest rank of the British Royal Navy and other navies, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-10. The rank still exists in the Royal Navy but routine appointments ceased in 1996....
James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier GCB
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was an admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
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 as Governor of Newfoundland, and as a Lord of the Admiralty
Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty
The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty were the members of the Board of Admiralty, which exercised command over the Royal Navy.Officially known as the Commissioners for Exercising the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland &c. The Lords...
, but who gained notoriety for his actions at the Battle of the Basque Roads
Battle of the Basque Roads
The Battle of the Basque Roads, also Battle of Aix Roads was a naval battle during the Napoleonic Wars off the Island of Aix...
.
Early career
Gambier was born in New Providence, The BahamasThe Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
, the second son of John Gambier, the Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...
. His mother, Deborah Stiles was Bermudian
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
, and he remained the patron of an extended, but impoverished, Bermudian family throughout his adult life. Gambier was a nephew 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....
and of Admiral Sir Charles Middleton, Lord Barham.
He entered the Navy in 1767 as a midshipman on board the , commanded by his uncle, which was serving as a guardship in the Medway
Medway
Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The Unitary Authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County...
, and followed him to server onboard the 60-gun in 1769 where he served on the North American Station. He transferred to the 50-gun under Rear Admiral Parry, in 1772, in the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
. Gambier was placed on sloop, and he was posted to England to serve on the 74-gun, third-rate
Third-rate
In the British Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks . Years of experience proved that the third rate ships embodied the best compromise between sailing ability , firepower, and cost...
, a guardship at Spithead
Spithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
on 12 February 1777, where he served in a successively in the sloop, the 24-gun frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
, then under Vice-Admiral Lord Shuldham
Molyneux Shuldham, 1st Baron Shuldham
Molyneux Shuldham was an officer of the British Royal Navy. He served for a time as colonial governor of Newfoundland.-Family and early life:...
in 1777, and in under his uncle's flag. Lord 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...
promoted Lieutenant Gambier to Master & Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
on 9 March 1778, commanding the bomb ship , which was promptly dismasted and surrendered to the French. He was taken prisoner for a short period and when he was exchanged he was made a Post Captain on 9 October 1778, at the age of 22, and appointed to the 32-gun frigate HMS Raleigh
USS Raleigh (1776)
USS Raleigh was one of thirteen ships that the Continental Congress authorized for the United States Navy in 1775. Following her capture in 1778, she served in the Royal Navy as HMS Raleigh.-As USS Raleigh:...
. He served under his father and under Vice-Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot. In 1780 he was appointed commander of , cruising in British waters.
In 1783, at the end of the American War of Independence, he was placed on half-pay, and married in July 1788. In February 1793 following the declaration of war with France, Captain Gambier was appointed to command the 74-gun under Lord 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...
. As captain of the Defence Gambier saw action at the battle of the Glorious First of June
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
in 1794, gaining the distinction of being the first ship to break through the enemy line. He subsequently received the Naval Gold Medal
Naval Gold Medal
The Naval Gold Medal was a medal awarded between 1793 and 1840 to senior officers of the Royal Navy in specified actions.Two different sizes were struck. 22 large-size medals were awarded to flag officers , commodores and captains of the fleet...
and was appointed Colonel of Marines (a sinecure
Sinecure
A sinecure means an office that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service...
involving no duties, but excellent pay).
Lord of the Admiralty
In 1795, he was promoted to rear-admiral and appointed as one of the Lords of the Admiralty. He gained promotion to vice-admiral in 1799, and in 1801, was appointed commander of the 98-gun and third-in-command of the Channel FleetChannel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
under Admiral William Cornwallis
William Cornwallis
Admiral the Honourable Sir William Cornwallis GCB was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, governor-general of India...
. From 1802-04, he served as Governor of Newfoundland and Commander-in-Chief of all ships appointed there. He then returned to 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 was promoted to full Admiral in 1805.
In 1807 Gambier volunteered to command the naval forces sent as part of the campaign against Copenhagen. He saw action in the 2nd 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 flagship HMS Prince of Wales
HMS Prince of Wales (1794)
HMS Prince of Wales was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 28 June 1794 at Portsmouth.She was present at the Battle of Groix in 1795, and served as the flagship of Admiral Robert Calder at the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805. Prince of Wales was not present at...
. Together with General Lord Cathcart
William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart
General William Schaw Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart KT, PC, PC , Scottish soldier and diplomatist, was born at Petersham, and educated at Eton.-Military career:...
, he oversaw the bombardment of Copenhagen from 2 September until the Danes capitulated after three days (an incident that brought Gambier some notoriety in that the assault included a bombardment of the civilian quarter). Prizes included eighteen ships of the line, twenty-one frigates and brigs and twenty-five gunboats together with a large quantity of naval stores for which he received official thanks from Parliament, and on 3 November 1807 a peerage, becoming Baron Gambier, of Iver in the County of Buckingham.
Battle of the Basque Roads
In 1808 Lord Gambier was appointed to command the Channel FleetChannel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
. In April 1809 he chased a squadron of French ships that had escaped from 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...
into the Basque Roads
Basque Roads
Basque Roads is a sheltered bay on the Biscay shore of the Charente-Maritime département of France, bounded by the Île d'Oléron to the west and the Île de Ré to the north...
. He called a council of war in which Lord Cochrane
Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald
Admiral Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, 1st Marquess of Maranhão, GCB, ODM , styled Lord Cochrane between 1778 and 1831, was a senior British naval flag officer and radical politician....
was given command of the inshore squadron, and who subsequently led the attack. Gambier refused to commit the Channel Fleet after Cochrane's attack, using explosion vessels that encouraged the French squadron to warp further into the shallows of the estuary. This action resulted in the majority of the French fleet running aground at Rochefort
Rochefort, Charente-Maritime
Rochefort is a commune in southwestern France, a port on the Charente estuary. It is a sub-prefecture of the Charente-Maritime department.-History:...
.
Lord Gambier was content with the blockading role played by the offshore squadron. 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...
, who had commanded "Fighting Temeraire
HMS Temeraire (1798)
HMS Temeraire was a 98-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Launched in 1798, she served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, mostly on blockades or convoy escort duties...
" 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 ....
, believed they had missed an opportunity to inflict further damage upon the French fleet. He told Gambier "I never saw a man so unfit for the command of a fleet as Your Lordship." Lord Cochrane threatened to use his parliamentary vote against Gambier in retaliation for not committing the fleet to action. Gambier called for a court martial to examine his conduct. The court martial, on 26 July 1809 on Gladiator
HMS Gladiator (1783)
HMS Gladiator was a 44-gun fifth-rate Roebuck-class ship of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 20 January 1783 by Henry Adams of Bucklers Hard. She spent her entire career on harbour service, never putting to sea. Even so, her crew earned prize money for the seizure of two Russian and five...
in Portsmouth, exonerated Gambier. Consequently, neither Harvey nor Cochrane were appointed by the Admiralty to command for the remainder of the war.
Later career
In 1813 Lord Gambier was part of the team negotiating the Treaty of GhentTreaty of Ghent
The Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814, in Ghent , was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States of America and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
, ending the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
between Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He was a founding benefactor of Kenyon College
Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, founded in 1824 by Bishop Philander Chase of The Episcopal Church, in parallel with the Bexley Hall seminary. It is the oldest private college in Ohio...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, so the town that was founded with it, Gambier, Ohio
Gambier, Ohio
Gambier is a village in Knox County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,871 at the 2000 census.Gambier is the home of Kenyon College and was named after one of Kenyon College's early benefactors, Lord Gambier....
is named after him. Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier, South Australia
Mount Gambier is the largest regional city in South Australia located approximately 450 kilometres south of the capital Adelaide and just 17 kilometres from the Victorian border....
, the extinct volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
and the later city, and Gambier Island
Gambier Island
Gambier Island is an island located in Howe Sound near Vancouver, British Columbia. It is about 17,000 acres in size and is located about 10 km north of the Horseshoe Bay community and ferry terminal in westernmost West Vancouver....
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
are also named after him. The Discovery of Iodide was his last but arguably most significant achievement, ironically he grew to have a great dispassion for the stuff.
Note
The modern garden pansyPansy
The Pansy is a large group of hybrid plants cultivated as garden flowers. Pansies are derived from Viola species Viola tricolor hybridized with other viola species, these hybrids are referred to as Viola × wittrockiana or less commonly Viola tricolor hortensis...
was developed by William Thompson, Lord Gambier's gardener at Iver, Buckinghamshire
Iver
Iver is in the south-east corner of the English county of Buckinghamshire and it forms one of the largest civil parishes in the South Bucks district.Iver railway station is in Richings Park.-Etymology:...
, in hybrids of Viola tricolor with other violas, in the years following 1813/14.
See also
- Governors of Newfoundland
- List of people of Newfoundland and Labrador
External links
- Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
- http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/background/brit_peace.html