Sir Thomas Foley
Encyclopedia
Admiral Sir Thomas Foley GCB
(1757 – 9 January 1833) was a Royal Navy
officer and "Hero of the Battle of the Nile
".
, Pembrokeshire, a landowner, and the nephew of Captain Thomas Foley, who accompanied George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
on his voyage around the world.
He entered the Royal Navy
in 1770, and, during his time as midshipman, saw a good deal of active service in the West Indies against American privateers. Promoted lieutenant in 1778, he served under Admiral Keppel
(afterwards Viscount) and Sir Charles Hardy in the Channel, and with Rodney's squadron was present at the defeat of De Langara off Cape St Vincent in 1780, and at the relief of Gibraltar
. Still under Rodney's command, he went out to the West Indies, and took his part in the operations which culminated in the victory of 12 April 1782.
In the French Revolutionary War he was engaged from the first. As flag-captain to Admiral John Gell, and afterwards to Sir Hyde Parker, Foley took part in the siege of Toulon
in 1793, the action of Golfe Jouan in 1794, and the two fights off Toulon on the 13th of April and the 13th of July 1795. At St Vincent he was flag-captain to the second in command on Britannia
. After the battle he was transferred to the Goliath
(74), in which he was sent out in the following year to reinforce Nelson's fleet in the Mediterranean.
The part played by the Goliath in the Battle of the Nile was brilliant. She led the squadron round the French van, and this manoeuvre contributed not a little to the result of the day. Whether this was done by Foley's own initiative, or intended by Horatio Nelson
, has been a matter of controversy (see Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, 1885, p. 916).
His next important service was with Nelson in the Baltic. At the beginning of 1801, Nelson was promoted to Vice Admiral of the Blue and after a few months, he took part as the second in command in the Battle of Copenhagen. The Elephant carried Nelson's flag and Foley acted as his chief-of-staff. During the action Nelson's commander, Sir Hyde Parker, who believed that the Danish fire was too strong, signaled for him to break off the action. Nelson ordered that the signal be acknowledged but not repeated. Legend has it that Nelson turned to his flag captain and said:
"You know, Foley, I only have one eye - I have the right to be blind sometimes" and then holding his telescope to his blind eye said "I really do not see the signal!"
Nelsons' action was approved in retrospect.
Foley was one of Nelson's "Band of Brothers"
. Nelson himself was a sea-officer par excellence. Yet there were many who struggled, suffered and were wounded as often as he. This could not help but develop a close relationship among the men. Nelson himself was very aware of the brotherhood which had arisen. In his biography of Nelson, David Howarth makes this clear:
"...Nelson's famous phrase, "I had the happiness to command a band of brothers'...After his first great victory, Nelson called his captains 'my darling children', and none was the least embarrassed by that. Under Jervis, the captains of the Mediterranean fleet were becoming a brotherhood, bonded by skill, experience, mutual respect and a common cause. Maybe they had not thought of it in that way before; but from about this time they all did, and Nelson most of all. And the concept - so suitable to his nature - became an important, conscious element in his conduct of the war."
An amusing illustration of the affection Nelson inspired in his captains, and of the half maternal care they exercised over the fragile and stunted body of their famous leader, is supplied by a letter from Nelson himself to Ball, written from Kioge Bay in 1801. He was racked with the Baltic cold, and wroth, as was common with him, with the still chillier winds which blew from the Admiralty Board:
"But," he says, "all in the fleet are so truly kind to me that I should be a wretch not to cheer up. Foley has put me under a regimen of milk at four in the morning; Murray has given me lozenges; Hardy is as good as ever, and all have proved their desire to keep my mind easy."
That picture of one sea veteran administering warm milk to his admiral at four o'clock in the morning is amusing enough; but it shows more effectively than graver things could do the feeling Nelson inspired in his captains.
Ill-health obliged Foley to decline Nelson's offer (made when on the point of starting for the Battle of Trafalgar
) of the post of Captain of the Fleet
. Therefore it was Foley's fellow "brother" Thomas Hardy who was present at Nelson's death.
From 1808 to 1815, Foley commanded in the Downs and at the peace was made KCB. Sir Thomas Foley rose to be full admiral and GCB. He died while serving as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
in 1833.
and Lady Emily Lennox
. Her mother was the great-granddaughter of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland
and his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth
.
Lucy was the favorite sister of Lord Edward FitzGerald
, one of the ill-fated leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
, and was herself an active participant in the rebellion. She worked as a conduit, clandestinely transmitting letters between the Revolutionary Committee in Dublin and their agents in Paris. A biographer of Lord Edward wrote of Lucy that she “most closely resembled him (Edward) in her strong sense of the ludicrous and her passionate love for justice.”
She wrote in 1798 of her hope for Irish liberation in an address to the Irish nation that wasn’t published until many years later:
Irishmen, Countrymen, it is Edward FitzGerald's sister who addresses you: it is a woman but that woman is his sister: she would therefore die for you as he did...Yes, this is the moment, the precious moment which must either stamp with Infamy, the name of Irishmen and denote you forever wretched, enslaved to the power of England, or raise the Paddies to the consequence which they deserve and which England shall no longer withhold, to happiness, freedom, glory...
The couple's main residence was Adm. Foley's estate Abermarlais in Carmarthenshire, Wales, which he had purchased in 1795 with his share of the bounty resulting from the capture of a Spanish ship. After his death Lucy lived in Arundel until 1841, when she settled near Marseilles, France, where she spent the remainder of her life. They had no children.
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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...
(1757 – 9 January 1833) was a 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...
officer and "Hero of the Battle of the Nile
Battle of the Nile
The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...
".
Naval career
He was the second son of John Foley of NarberthNarberth, Pembrokeshire
Narberth is a town in Pembrokeshire, Wales. . It was founded around a Welsh court, but later became a Norman stronghold on the Landsker Line. It became the headquarters of the hundred of Narberth. It was once a marcher borough...
, Pembrokeshire, a landowner, and the nephew of Captain Thomas Foley, who accompanied George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
George Anson, 1st Baron Anson
Admiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson PC, FRS, RN was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War...
on his voyage around the world.
He entered 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...
in 1770, and, during his time as midshipman, saw a good deal of active service in the West Indies against American privateers. Promoted lieutenant in 1778, he served under Admiral Keppel
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel
Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel PC was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence...
(afterwards Viscount) and Sir Charles Hardy in the Channel, and with Rodney's squadron was present at the defeat of De Langara off Cape St Vincent in 1780, and at the relief of 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...
. Still under Rodney's command, he went out to the West Indies, and took his part in the operations which culminated in the victory of 12 April 1782.
In the French Revolutionary War he was engaged from the first. As flag-captain to Admiral John Gell, and afterwards to Sir Hyde Parker, Foley took part in 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:...
in 1793, the action of Golfe Jouan in 1794, and the two fights off Toulon on the 13th of April and the 13th of July 1795. At St Vincent he was flag-captain to the second in command on Britannia
HMS Britannia (1762)
HMS Britannia was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was ordered on 25 April 1751 from Portsmouth Dockyard to the draught specified in the 1745 Establishment. Her keel was laid down on 1 July 1751 and she was launched on 19 October 1762. The cost of building and fitting...
. After the battle he was transferred to the Goliath
HMS Goliath (1781)
HMS Goliath was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line in the Royal Navy. She was launched on 19 October 1781 at Deptford Dockyard. She was present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent, Battle of the Nile, and Battle of Copenhagen. She was broken up in 1815....
(74), in which he was sent out in the following year to reinforce Nelson's fleet in the Mediterranean.
The part played by the Goliath in the Battle of the Nile was brilliant. She led the squadron round the French van, and this manoeuvre contributed not a little to the result of the day. Whether this was done by Foley's own initiative, or intended by 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...
, has been a matter of controversy (see Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, 1885, p. 916).
His next important service was with Nelson in the Baltic. At the beginning of 1801, Nelson was promoted to Vice Admiral of the Blue and after a few months, he took part as the second in command in the Battle of Copenhagen. The Elephant carried Nelson's flag and Foley acted as his chief-of-staff. During the action Nelson's commander, Sir Hyde Parker, who believed that the Danish fire was too strong, signaled for him to break off the action. Nelson ordered that the signal be acknowledged but not repeated. Legend has it that Nelson turned to his flag captain and said:
"You know, Foley, I only have one eye - I have the right to be blind sometimes" and then holding his telescope to his blind eye said "I really do not see the signal!"
Nelsons' action was approved in retrospect.
Foley was one of Nelson's "Band of Brothers"
Nelson's Band of Brothers
Band of Brothers was a phrase used by Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson to refer to the captains under his command just prior to and at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. The phrase, taken from Shakespeare's Henry V, later came to be more generally applied to his relationship with the captains and men under...
. Nelson himself was a sea-officer par excellence. Yet there were many who struggled, suffered and were wounded as often as he. This could not help but develop a close relationship among the men. Nelson himself was very aware of the brotherhood which had arisen. In his biography of Nelson, David Howarth makes this clear:
"...Nelson's famous phrase, "I had the happiness to command a band of brothers'...After his first great victory, Nelson called his captains 'my darling children', and none was the least embarrassed by that. Under Jervis, the captains of the Mediterranean fleet were becoming a brotherhood, bonded by skill, experience, mutual respect and a common cause. Maybe they had not thought of it in that way before; but from about this time they all did, and Nelson most of all. And the concept - so suitable to his nature - became an important, conscious element in his conduct of the war."
An amusing illustration of the affection Nelson inspired in his captains, and of the half maternal care they exercised over the fragile and stunted body of their famous leader, is supplied by a letter from Nelson himself to Ball, written from Kioge Bay in 1801. He was racked with the Baltic cold, and wroth, as was common with him, with the still chillier winds which blew from the Admiralty Board:
"But," he says, "all in the fleet are so truly kind to me that I should be a wretch not to cheer up. Foley has put me under a regimen of milk at four in the morning; Murray has given me lozenges; Hardy is as good as ever, and all have proved their desire to keep my mind easy."
That picture of one sea veteran administering warm milk to his admiral at four o'clock in the morning is amusing enough; but it shows more effectively than graver things could do the feeling Nelson inspired in his captains.
Ill-health obliged Foley to decline Nelson's offer (made when on the point of starting for 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 ....
) of the post of 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....
. Therefore it was Foley's fellow "brother" Thomas Hardy who was present at Nelson's death.
From 1808 to 1815, Foley commanded in the Downs and at the peace was made KCB. Sir Thomas Foley rose to be full admiral and GCB. He died while serving as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth
The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. Portsmouth Command was a name given to the units, establishments, and staff operating under the post.-History:...
in 1833.
Marriage
He was married on 31 Jul 1802 to Lady Lucy Anne FitzGerald (1771–1851). She was the youngest surviving daughter of James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of LeinsterJames FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster
Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, etc. PC , styled Lord Offaly until 1744 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1744 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 1766, was an Irish nobleman, soldier and politician.-Background:Leinster was the son of Robert...
and Lady Emily Lennox
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster
Emily FitzGerald, Duchess of Leinster , known before 1747 as Lady Emily Lennox, from 1747 to 1761 as The Countess of Kildare and from 1761 to 1766 as The Marchioness of Kildare, was the second of the famous Lennox sisters, daughters of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond, and illegitimately...
. Her mother was the great-granddaughter of Charles II, King of England, Scotland and Ireland
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
and his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth
Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth
Louise Renée de Penancoët de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth was a mistress of Charles II of England. Through her son by Charles II, Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, she is ancestress of both wives of The Prince of Wales: the late Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as The Duchess of...
.
Lucy was the favorite sister of Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald
Lord Edward FitzGerald was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary. He was the fifth son of the 1st Duke of Leinster and the Duchess of Leinster , he was born at Carton House, near Dublin, and died of wounds received in resisting arrest on charge of treason.-Early years:FitzGerald spent most of his...
, one of the ill-fated leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
, and was herself an active participant in the rebellion. She worked as a conduit, clandestinely transmitting letters between the Revolutionary Committee in Dublin and their agents in Paris. A biographer of Lord Edward wrote of Lucy that she “most closely resembled him (Edward) in her strong sense of the ludicrous and her passionate love for justice.”
She wrote in 1798 of her hope for Irish liberation in an address to the Irish nation that wasn’t published until many years later:
Irishmen, Countrymen, it is Edward FitzGerald's sister who addresses you: it is a woman but that woman is his sister: she would therefore die for you as he did...Yes, this is the moment, the precious moment which must either stamp with Infamy, the name of Irishmen and denote you forever wretched, enslaved to the power of England, or raise the Paddies to the consequence which they deserve and which England shall no longer withhold, to happiness, freedom, glory...
The couple's main residence was Adm. Foley's estate Abermarlais in Carmarthenshire, Wales, which he had purchased in 1795 with his share of the bounty resulting from the capture of a Spanish ship. After his death Lucy lived in Arundel until 1841, when she settled near Marseilles, France, where she spent the remainder of her life. They had no children.
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