Lawrence Halsted
Encyclopedia
Sir Lawrence William Halsted GCB
(2 April 1764 – 22 April 1841) was an officer of the Royal Navy
who served during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary
and Napoleonic Wars
.
Halsted was the son of a naval officer and served with his father during the first years of the war in America. After his father's death he served under Captain Richard Onslow
and was present at the engagements with the Comte d'Estaing
and the Comte de Grasse
in the West Indies and off the coast of North America. He survived various battles and a hurricane in the Atlantic in 1782, and by the end of the wars had risen to lieutenant.
He received his first independent commands while serving in the East Indies
in the inter-war years, and after spending time as a flag captain
during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars, moved on to command a number of frigates. Halsted went on to achieve particular success aboard , and was rewarded with command of a squadron. Ships under his overall command captured two Dutch ships and destroyed several others in the North Sea
in 1796, and after a successful period against privateer
s off Ireland, he moved to the Mediterranean. Here he helped to capture or destroy several French frigates, and by 1805 had command of a ship of the line. He took part in the defeat of a French squadron that had escaped Trafalgar
at the Battle of Cape Ortegal
, before serving as a captain of the fleet
to Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton
. Halsted was soon advanced to flag rank himself, and served as commander in chief in the West Indies while a vice-admiral. After a long and distinguished career, Lawrence Halsted died in 1841 with the rank of admiral of the blue.
on 2 April 1764, the son of Captain W. A. Halsted. The elder Halsted was appointed commander of the former 60-gun in March 1776. Jersey had been fitted out as a hospital ship
and assigned to Lord Howe's
fleet for service off North America, and Halsted took his son with him as a midshipman
. Lawrence served with his father for the next two years, and participated in a number of naval operations along the American coast before his transfer into Captain Richard Onslow's
64-gun on 25 May 1778. Halsted's father died shortly after this, but Onslow took on the role of patron, and the two sailed to the West Indies with Commodore William Hotham's
squadron to join Admiral Samuel Barrington
.
Halsted was aboard St Albans during Barrington's clashes with the Comte d'Estaing
including at St Lucia
on 15 December 1778 before his ship was ordered back to England with a convoy. St Albans was paid off shortly after her arrival, and her crew were transferred to the 74-gun . Halsted was rated master's mate
during his time on the Bellona, and was present at the battle with the 54-gun Dutch ship Princess Caroline on 30 December 1780. The Princess Caroline was captured and taken into the Royal Navy as . Lawrence's good service was rewarded with his lieutenant's commission dated 8 December 1781 and an appointment to the newly commissioned Princess Caroline, now under Captain Hugh Bromedge.
Princess Caroline went out to the West Indies as a convoy escort, after which Halsted moved aboard the 74-gun under Captain the Honourable William Cornwallis
. With Cornwallis, Halsted saw action at the Battle of the Saintes
on 9–12 April 1782, during which battle Canada was heavily engaged with the French Ville de Paris
, flagship
of the Comte de Grasse
. Ville de Paris was captured by the British and Canada was one of the ships assigned to escort a convoy of captured French ships and damaged British ships back to Britain. The ships were caught in a hurricane during the voyage across the Atlantic, and the Ville de Paris and foundered, while had to be abandoned and burnt. Canada survived the storm and made it back to England to be paid off in January 1783.
Halsted's next appointment was to the 74-gun , still serving under Captain Cornwallis. He remained aboard Ganges for the next five years, with Ganges initially employed as a guardship, before moving to Gibraltar
and finally paying off in December 1787. Halsted now entered a brief period of unemployment, which lasted until 18 November 1788 when he joined Cornwallis's new ship, the 64-gun , as his first-lieutenant and went with him to the East Indies
. Cornwallis was commodore in the East Indies, and after continued good service under his command, Halsted was promoted to commander on 20 October 1790 and given command of the sloop .
and given command of Crown. He remained in Crown for a brief period, before resuming his command of Atalanta in order to complete his survey work, also using the sloop for the purpose. He returned to England aboard Swan in early 1793 and paid her off in May.
The French Revolutionary Wars
had by now broken out, and Halsted was quickly appointed as acting-captain of under Rear-Admiral John MacBride
. He was soon moved aboard and remained in her until April 1794, when he joined the 74-gun as flag-captain to Rear-Admiral George Montagu. Halsted and Montagu took part in the naval manoeuvres of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794
, but were not directly engaged at the Glorious First of June
, where the British fleet under Lord Howe defeated the French under Villaret de Joyeuse
. Halsted followed Montagu when he shifted his flag to the 98-gun , and the two served with the Channel Fleet
until 1795. Halsted was appointed to command the 32-gun in February 1795, and went on to serve in the Channel and in the North Sea
. He took over the 36-gun in October that year, and spent the rest of the French Revolutionary wars in command.
s and a cutter had departed Flickerve, Norway, bound for the Texel
. Duncan despatched a squadron of his own to intercept them, consisting of Phoenix, the 50-gun , the 28-gun and the brig-sloop , and under the overall command of Halsted. The Dutch were intercepted at 5am of 12 May, with Phoenix and Leopard chasing Argo, while Pegasus and Sylph made after the brigs. Leopard eventually fell some way behind, and consequently it was Phoenix alone which brought Argo to action at 8am. After twenty minutes of fighting Halsted forced Argo to strike her colours. Phoenix had suffered one man killed and three wounded, while Argo had six killed and 28 wounded. Meanwhile Pegasus and Sylph forced two of the brigs aground and took the small vessel accompanying the Dutch, which turned out to be a former British vessel, Duke of York. They then captured the third brig, the 16-gun Mercury. The Argo and Mercury were both added to the Royal Navy, the Argo becoming while Mercury became .
After this success Halsted was assigned to operate off the Irish coast, where he captured a number of large privateer
s including the 4-gun Espiègle off Waterford
on 18 May 1797, the 1-gun Brave off Cape Clear
on 24 April 1798, the 20-gun Caroline on 31 May 1798, and the 20-gun Foudroyant on 23 January 1799.
, while on 3 June 1800 Phoenix and took the 14-gun Albanaise
. The 4-gun Revanche was taken on 17 June, but she capsized the following day. Phoenix went on to join the fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton, and Halsted was appointed to command a squadron blockading Elba
.
While sailing off Elba on the afternoon of 3 August Halsted's squadron, consisting of Phoenix, the 40-gun under Captain Edward Leveson Gower and the 32-gun under Captain Samuel James Ballard
, intercepted a French convoy sailing off the west of the island. The convoy, which was bound from Porto Ercole to Porto Longone, was carrying ordnance stores and provisions, and was escorted by the 40-gun frigate Carrère, herself carrying 300 barrels of gunpowder. The British gave chase, ranging up on Carrère shortly after 8pm and opening fire. After 10 minutes of exchanging fire with Pomone Carrère surrendered. She was subsequently taken into the navy as .
Phoenix continued off Elba, and on 31 August was observed alone anchored off Piombino
, causing French General François Watrin to order the two French frigates anchored at Leghorn
the Succès and Bravoure, to put to sea to attempt to capture her. The French ships did so, but early in the morning of 2 September they came across the 38-gun HMS Minerve
under Captain George Cockburn
, and chased her. Cockburn fled, signalling to Phoenix, which quickly got underway, accompanied by Pomone. Realising the situation the two French frigates attempted to flee, now pursued by their former quarry, Minerve. The Succès was unable to keep up with Bravoure, and ran aground off Vada. Minerve fired a shot at her as she passed by in pursuit of Bravoure, at which Succès promptly surrendered. Pomone ranged alongside to take possession of her, while Phoenix and Minerve chased Bravoure. The changing wind prevented the French vessel from regaining the safety of Leghorn, and she ran aground four miles south of the port. She was soon dismasted and wrecked. The British were able to get Succès off without much damage however. She had previously been , and had been captured on 13 February 1801 by a French squadron under Honoré Ganteaume
. She was duly readded to the navy under her old name. Halsted remained in the Mediterranean until paying off Phoenix in June 1802.
He married Emma Mary Pellew, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Pellew
, in 1803.
Halsted was left unemployed during the Peace of Amiens, and did not receive another command until 16 March 1805, when he took command of , a former 90-gun ship that had been razee
d to a 74-gun. She was assigned to Sir Richard Strachan's
squadron, and while sailing off Cape Finisterre
on 2 November, the squadron was joined by Halsted's old ship, Phoenix, now under Captain Thomas Baker
. Baker reported that he had been chased by a squadron of four French ships of the line, and had lured them within range of Strachan's force. These four ships, under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley
, had escaped from the Franco-Spanish defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar
on 21 October and were making their way to Rochefort
. Strachan immediately took the bulk of his force in pursuit. The British eventually closed on the fleeing French on 4 November, though Namur took some time to come into action. She eventually joined the British line astern of and ahead of Strachan's flagship . In the ensuing Battle of Cape Ortegal
several frigates attacked one side of the French line, while the ships of the line engaged the other, until the French were forced to surrender. Namur had four men killed and eight wounded in the action.
Halsted and Namur were then assigned to Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron during the Atlantic campaign of 1806
, until Namur was paid off in July 1807. In December 1807 he became Captain of the Fleet
to the commander of the Lisbon
station, Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton
, serving aboard Cotton's flagship . The British fleet were engaged in blockading a Russian fleet under Admiral Dmitry Senyavin
in the Tagus
after the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian War, but the Convention of Sintra
allowed them to sail to Portsmouth
. Cotton moved his flag to in December 1808, taking Halsted with him.
in the post. Flying his flag during his time on the station aboard , he became a popular commander, and was rewarded with the thanks of the Jamaican House of Assembly
and a service of plate from the merchants of the island at the end of his tenure. Halsted was promoted to admiral of the blue on 22 July 1830 and advanced to a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 24 February 1837, at the same time as being placed on the 'good service pension' list.
His wife Emma died in March 1835, leaving behind a large family. Sir Lawrence Halsted died at Stoke
, Devon
in 22 April 1841.
Two of Halsted's sons entered service in India, while two more followed him into the navy. One of his sons, Edward Pellew Halsted, reached the rank of vice-admiral and wrote a number of books, including a study of screw-propelled naval ships entitled The Screw-Fleet of the Navy. His youngest son, Lieutenant Lawrence G Halsted, died at Bombay
on 7 November 1847 while aboard his ship, the steam sloop .
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...
(2 April 1764 – 22 April 1841) 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...
.
Halsted was the son of a naval officer and served with his father during the first years of the war in America. After his father's death he served under Captain Richard Onslow
Sir Richard Onslow, 1st Baronet
Sir Richard Onslow, 1st Baronet GCB was an English naval officer who played a distinguished role at the Battle of Camperdown.-Naval career:...
and was present at the engagements with the Comte d'Estaing
Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing
Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing was a French general, and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years' War...
and the Comte de Grasse
François Joseph Paul de Grasse
Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse was a French admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, which led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown...
in the West Indies and off the coast of North America. He survived various battles and a hurricane in the Atlantic in 1782, and by the end of the wars had risen to lieutenant.
He received his first independent commands while serving in the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
in the inter-war years, and after spending time as a 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...
during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars, moved on to command a number of frigates. Halsted went on to achieve particular success aboard , and was rewarded with command of a squadron. Ships under his overall command captured two Dutch ships and destroyed several others 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...
in 1796, and after a successful period 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 off Ireland, he moved to the Mediterranean. Here he helped to capture or destroy several French frigates, and by 1805 had command of a ship of the line. He took part in the defeat of a French squadron that had escaped 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 ....
at the Battle of Cape Ortegal
Battle of Cape Ortegal
The Battle of Cape Ortegal was the final action of the Trafalgar Campaign, and was fought between a squadron of the Royal Navy and a remnant of the fleet that had been destroyed several weeks earlier at the Battle of Trafalgar...
, before serving as a captain of the fleet
Captain of the fleet
In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries a Captain of the Fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command....
to Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton
Sir Charles Cotton, 5th Baronet
Sir Charles Cotton, 5th Baronet was a senior Royal Navy officer of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars whose service continued until his death in command of the Channel Fleet from apoplexy in 1812. During his service, Cotton saw action off the Eastern Seaboard of the Thirteen Colonies and...
. Halsted was soon advanced to flag rank himself, and served as commander in chief in the West Indies while a vice-admiral. After a long and distinguished career, Lawrence Halsted died in 1841 with the rank of admiral of the blue.
Family and early life
Halsted was born in GosportGosport
Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...
on 2 April 1764, the son of Captain W. A. Halsted. The elder Halsted was appointed commander of the former 60-gun in March 1776. Jersey had been fitted out as a hospital ship
Hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....
and assigned to Lord Howe's
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...
fleet for service off North America, and Halsted took his son with him 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...
. Lawrence served with his father for the next two years, and participated in a number of naval operations along the American coast before his transfer into Captain Richard Onslow's
Sir Richard Onslow, 1st Baronet
Sir Richard Onslow, 1st Baronet GCB was an English naval officer who played a distinguished role at the Battle of Camperdown.-Naval career:...
64-gun on 25 May 1778. Halsted's father died shortly after this, but Onslow took on the role of patron, and the two sailed to the West Indies with Commodore William Hotham's
William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham
Admiral William Hotham, 1st Baron Hotham was an officer in the Royal Navy. He was the son of Sir Beaumont Hotham , a lineal descendant of Sir John Hotham....
squadron to join Admiral Samuel Barrington
Samuel Barrington
Rear Admiral Samuel Barrington RN was a British admiral.Samuel was the fourth son of John Shute Barrington, 1st Viscount Barrington of Beckett Hall at Shrivenham in Berkshire...
.
Halsted was aboard St Albans during Barrington's clashes with the Comte d'Estaing
Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing
Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing was a French general, and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years' War...
including at St Lucia
Battle of St. Lucia
The Battle of St. Lucia or the Battle of the Cul de Sac was a naval battle fought off the island of St. Lucia in the West Indies during the American War of Independence on 15 December 1778, between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.-Background:...
on 15 December 1778 before his ship was ordered back to England with a convoy. St Albans was paid off shortly after her arrival, and her crew were transferred to the 74-gun . Halsted was rated master's mate
Master's mate
Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master...
during his time on the Bellona, and was present at the battle with the 54-gun Dutch ship Princess Caroline on 30 December 1780. The Princess Caroline was captured and taken into the Royal Navy as . Lawrence's good service was rewarded with his lieutenant's commission dated 8 December 1781 and an appointment to the newly commissioned Princess Caroline, now under Captain Hugh Bromedge.
Lieutenancy
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...
. With Cornwallis, Halsted saw action at the Battle of the Saintes
Battle of the Saintes
The Battle of the Saintes took place over 4 days, 9 April 1782 – 12 April 1782, during the American War of Independence, and was a victory of a British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney over a French fleet under the Comte de Grasse forcing the French and Spanish to abandon a planned...
on 9–12 April 1782, during which battle Canada was heavily engaged with the French Ville de Paris
French ship Ville de Paris (1764)
The Ville de Paris was a large three-decker French ship of the line that became famous as the flagship of the Comte de Grasse during the American Revolutionary War....
, 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 the Comte de Grasse
François Joseph Paul de Grasse
Lieutenant Général des Armées Navales François-Joseph Paul, marquis de Grasse Tilly, comte de Grasse was a French admiral. He is best known for his command of the French fleet at the Battle of the Chesapeake, which led directly to the British surrender at Yorktown...
. Ville de Paris was captured by the British and Canada was one of the ships assigned to escort a convoy of captured French ships and damaged British ships back to Britain. The ships were caught in a hurricane during the voyage across the Atlantic, and the Ville de Paris and foundered, while had to be abandoned and burnt. Canada survived the storm and made it back to England to be paid off in January 1783.
Halsted's next appointment was to the 74-gun , still serving under Captain Cornwallis. He remained aboard Ganges for the next five years, with Ganges initially employed as a guardship, before moving to 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...
and finally paying off in December 1787. Halsted now entered a brief period of unemployment, which lasted until 18 November 1788 when he joined Cornwallis's new ship, the 64-gun , as his first-lieutenant and went with him to the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
. Cornwallis was commodore in the East Indies, and after continued good service under his command, Halsted was promoted to commander on 20 October 1790 and given command of the sloop .
First commands
Halsted was at first engaged in surveying off the Indian coast, before being promoted to post-captainPost-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:...
and given command of Crown. He remained in Crown for a brief period, before resuming his command of Atalanta in order to complete his survey work, also using the sloop for the purpose. He returned to England aboard Swan in early 1793 and paid her off in May.
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...
had by now broken out, and Halsted was quickly appointed as acting-captain of under Rear-Admiral John MacBride
John MacBride (Royal Navy officer)
John MacBride was an officer of the Royal Navy and a politician who saw service during the Seven Years' War, the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral of the Blue.MacBride entered the navy after serving on merchant vessels and...
. He was soon moved aboard and remained in her until April 1794, when he joined the 74-gun as flag-captain to Rear-Admiral George Montagu. Halsted and Montagu took part in the naval manoeuvres of the Atlantic campaign of May 1794
Atlantic campaign of May 1794
The Atlantic campaign of May 1794 was a series of operations conducted by the British Royal Navy's Channel Fleet against the French Navy's Atlantic Fleet, with the aim of preventing the passage of a strategically important French grain convoy travelling from the United States to France...
, but were not directly engaged at 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...
, where the British fleet under Lord Howe defeated the French under Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was a French admiral.-Early career:Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was born in Auch, in the heart of Gascony. The Villaret de Joyeuse family figured among the minor nobility from Languedoc...
. Halsted followed Montagu when he shifted his flag to the 98-gun , and the two served with the Channel Fleet
Channel 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...
until 1795. Halsted was appointed to command the 32-gun in February 1795, and went on to serve in the Channel and 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...
. He took over the 36-gun in October that year, and spent the rest of the French Revolutionary wars in command.
Phoenix and Argo
Phoenix was at first attached to the fleet under Admiral Adam Duncan, operating in the North Sea. In May 1796 news reached Duncan that a Dutch squadron consisting of the 36-gun Argo and three brigBrig
A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and manoeuvrable and were used as both naval warships and merchant vessels. They were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries...
s and a cutter had departed Flickerve, Norway, bound for the Texel
Texel
Texel is a municipality and an island in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the biggest and most populated of the Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea, and also the westernmost of this archipelago, which extends to Denmark...
. Duncan despatched a squadron of his own to intercept them, consisting of Phoenix, the 50-gun , the 28-gun and the brig-sloop , and under the overall command of Halsted. The Dutch were intercepted at 5am of 12 May, with Phoenix and Leopard chasing Argo, while Pegasus and Sylph made after the brigs. Leopard eventually fell some way behind, and consequently it was Phoenix alone which brought Argo to action at 8am. After twenty minutes of fighting Halsted forced Argo to strike her colours. Phoenix had suffered one man killed and three wounded, while Argo had six killed and 28 wounded. Meanwhile Pegasus and Sylph forced two of the brigs aground and took the small vessel accompanying the Dutch, which turned out to be a former British vessel, Duke of York. They then captured the third brig, the 16-gun Mercury. The Argo and Mercury were both added to the Royal Navy, the Argo becoming while Mercury became .
After this success Halsted was assigned to operate off the Irish coast, where he captured a number of large 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 including the 4-gun Espiègle off Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
on 18 May 1797, the 1-gun Brave off Cape Clear
Cape Clear
Cape Clear may refer to:* Cape Clear * Cape Clear Island, on the southern coast of Ireland.* Cape Clear, Victoria, a town in Australia...
on 24 April 1798, the 20-gun Caroline on 31 May 1798, and the 20-gun Foudroyant on 23 January 1799.
Mediterranean
Phoenix then went out to the Mediterranean and continued to be active against French privateers. On 11 February 1799 she and the fireship captured the 10-gun Éole off Cape SpartelCape Spartel
Cape Spartel is a promontory in Morocco about above sea level at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, 12 km West of Tangier. It is frequently but incorrectly referred as the northernmost point of Africa, which is instead Ras ben Sakka, Tunisia....
, while on 3 June 1800 Phoenix and took the 14-gun Albanaise
French brig Albanaise (1790)
The French brig Albanaise was launched in 1790. In June 1800 the Royal Navy captured her in the Mediterranean and took her into service as HMS Albanaise...
. The 4-gun Revanche was taken on 17 June, but she capsized the following day. Phoenix went on to join the fleet under Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton, and Halsted was appointed to command a squadron blockading Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
.
While sailing off Elba on the afternoon of 3 August Halsted's squadron, consisting of Phoenix, the 40-gun under Captain Edward Leveson Gower and the 32-gun under Captain Samuel James Ballard
Samuel James Ballard
Samuel James Ballard was a Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy, baptised 28 March 1765 at St Thomas, Portsmouth, the son of Samuel Ballard, a burgess and chandler of Portsmouth, and Lydia née Flint daughter of James Flint of Epsom in Surrey.-Naval career:Ballard entered the navy in December 1776, under...
, intercepted a French convoy sailing off the west of the island. The convoy, which was bound from Porto Ercole to Porto Longone, was carrying ordnance stores and provisions, and was escorted by the 40-gun frigate Carrère, herself carrying 300 barrels of gunpowder. The British gave chase, ranging up on Carrère shortly after 8pm and opening fire. After 10 minutes of exchanging fire with Pomone Carrère surrendered. She was subsequently taken into the navy as .
Phoenix continued off Elba, and on 31 August was observed alone anchored off Piombino
Piombino
Piombino is an Italian town and comune of circa 35,000 inhabitants in the province of Livorno . It lies on the border between the Ligurian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea, in front of Elba Island and at the northern side of Maremma.-Overview:...
, causing French General François Watrin to order the two French frigates anchored at Leghorn
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
the Succès and Bravoure, to put to sea to attempt to capture her. The French ships did so, but early in the morning of 2 September they came across the 38-gun HMS Minerve
French frigate Minerve (1794)
The Minerve was a 40-gun frigate of the French Navy. She was captured twice by the British and recaptured once by the French. She therefore served under four names:*Minerve, 1794–1795*HMS Minerve, 1795–1803*Canonnière, 1803–1810...
under Captain George Cockburn
George Cockburn
Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet GCB was a British naval commander of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries. He held important commands during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and eventually rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord.-Naval...
, and chased her. Cockburn fled, signalling to Phoenix, which quickly got underway, accompanied by Pomone. Realising the situation the two French frigates attempted to flee, now pursued by their former quarry, Minerve. The Succès was unable to keep up with Bravoure, and ran aground off Vada. Minerve fired a shot at her as she passed by in pursuit of Bravoure, at which Succès promptly surrendered. Pomone ranged alongside to take possession of her, while Phoenix and Minerve chased Bravoure. The changing wind prevented the French vessel from regaining the safety of Leghorn, and she ran aground four miles south of the port. She was soon dismasted and wrecked. The British were able to get Succès off without much damage however. She had previously been , and had been captured on 13 February 1801 by a French squadron under Honoré Ganteaume
Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume
Count Honoré Joseph Antoine Ganteaume was a French admiral.Ganteaume was born to a family of merchant sailors, and sailed on a dozen commercial cruises in his youth...
. She was duly readded to the navy under her old name. Halsted remained in the Mediterranean until paying off Phoenix in June 1802.
He married Emma Mary Pellew, eldest daughter of Sir Edward Pellew
Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, GCB was a British naval officer. He fought during the American War of Independence, the French Revolutionary, and the Napoleonic Wars...
, in 1803.
Atlantic and Namur
Razee
A razee or razée is a sailing ship that has been cut down to reduce the number of decks. The word is derived from the French vaisseau rasé, meaning a razed ship.-Sixteenth century:...
d to a 74-gun. She was assigned to Sir Richard Strachan's
Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet
Sir Richard John Strachan, 6th Baronet GCB was a British officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Childhood:...
squadron, and while sailing off Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre
right|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
on 2 November, the squadron was joined by Halsted's old ship, Phoenix, now under Captain Thomas Baker
Thomas Baker (Royal Navy officer)
Sir Thomas Baker KCB, KWN was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars...
. Baker reported that he had been chased by a squadron of four French ships of the line, and had lured them within range of Strachan's force. These four ships, under Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley
Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley
Vice-Admiral Count Pierre-Etienne-René-Marie Dumanoir Le Pelley was a French Navy officer, best known for commanding the vanguard of the French fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar.- Early career :...
, had escaped from the Franco-Spanish defeat 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 ....
on 21 October and were making their way to 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:...
. Strachan immediately took the bulk of his force in pursuit. The British eventually closed on the fleeing French on 4 November, though Namur took some time to come into action. She eventually joined the British line astern of and ahead of Strachan's flagship . In the ensuing Battle of Cape Ortegal
Battle of Cape Ortegal
The Battle of Cape Ortegal was the final action of the Trafalgar Campaign, and was fought between a squadron of the Royal Navy and a remnant of the fleet that had been destroyed several weeks earlier at the Battle of Trafalgar...
several frigates attacked one side of the French line, while the ships of the line engaged the other, until the French were forced to surrender. Namur had four men killed and eight wounded in the action.
Halsted and Namur were then assigned to Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron during the Atlantic campaign of 1806
Atlantic campaign of 1806
The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuveres and counter-manoeuveres conducted by squadrons of the French Navy and the British Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean during the spring and summer of 1806, as part of the Napoleonic Wars...
, until Namur was paid off in July 1807. In December 1807 he became Captain of the Fleet
Captain of the fleet
In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries a Captain of the Fleet could be appointed to assist an admiral when the admiral had ten or more ships to command....
to the commander of the Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
station, Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Cotton
Sir Charles Cotton, 5th Baronet
Sir Charles Cotton, 5th Baronet was a senior Royal Navy officer of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars whose service continued until his death in command of the Channel Fleet from apoplexy in 1812. During his service, Cotton saw action off the Eastern Seaboard of the Thirteen Colonies and...
, serving aboard Cotton's flagship . The British fleet were engaged in blockading a Russian fleet under Admiral Dmitry Senyavin
Dmitry Senyavin
Dmitry Nikolayevich Senyavin or Seniavin was a Russian admiral who ranks among the greatest seamen of the Napoleonic Wars.- Service under Ushakov :...
in the Tagus
Tagus
The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...
after the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian War, but the Convention of Sintra
Convention of Sintra
The Convention of Cintra was an agreement signed on August 30, 1808 during the Peninsular War. By the agreement, the defeated French were allowed to evacuate their troops from Portugal without further conflict...
allowed them to sail to Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
. Cotton moved his flag to in December 1808, taking Halsted with him.
Flag rank and later life
Halsted was promoted to rear-admiral on 31 July 1810, advanced to vice-admiral on 4 June 1814 and was nominated Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 2 January 1815. He was appointed commander-in-chief in the West Indies in December 1813, succeeding Commodore Edward OwenEdward Owen (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Edward William Campbell Rich Owen GCB GCH was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet. He was the son of Captain William Owen and elder brother of Vice-Admiral William Fitzwilliam Owen....
in the post. Flying his flag during his time on the station aboard , he became a popular commander, and was rewarded with the thanks of the Jamaican House of Assembly
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level....
and a service of plate from the merchants of the island at the end of his tenure. Halsted was promoted to admiral of the blue on 22 July 1830 and advanced to a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 24 February 1837, at the same time as being placed on the 'good service pension' list.
His wife Emma died in March 1835, leaving behind a large family. Sir Lawrence Halsted died at Stoke
Stoke, Plymouth
Stoke, also referred to by its earlier name of Stoke Damerel, is a parish, once part of the historical Devonport, England. Prior to 1914, it was a suburb of Devonport. In 1914, Devonport and Plymouth amalgamated with Stonehouse: the new town took the name of Plymouth...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
in 22 April 1841.
Two of Halsted's sons entered service in India, while two more followed him into the navy. One of his sons, Edward Pellew Halsted, reached the rank of vice-admiral and wrote a number of books, including a study of screw-propelled naval ships entitled The Screw-Fleet of the Navy. His youngest son, Lieutenant Lawrence G Halsted, died at Bombay
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
on 7 November 1847 while aboard his ship, the steam sloop .