A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Hood, Silas Thomson
HOOD. (Commander, 1815. f-p., 15; h-p., 32.)
Silas Thomson Hood, born in 1789, at Devonport, is elder and only brother of Captain W. J. T. Hood, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 1 May, 1800, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board La Suffisante 14, Capts. Joseph Whitman, Jonas Rose, and Christopher John Williams Nesham, attached to the force in the Channel, where he served until Aug. 1802, and assisted at the capture of several privateers and merchantmen. In March, 1803, he re-embarked on board the Plantagenet 74, Capts. Graham Eden Hamond, Hon. Michael de Courcy, Fras. Pender, and Wm. Bradley, in which ship he was for five years actively employed on the Channel, St. Helena, and Lisbon stations, chiefly as Midshipman and Master’s Mate. Being then, in March, 1808, appointed Sub-Lieutenant of the Conflict 12, Lieut.Commander Joseph B. Batt, he witnessed Lord Cochrane’s destruction of the French shipping in Basque Roads in April, 1809; and on one occasion, when in command of a single boat belonging to that vessel, had the good fortune and gallantry to effect the capture, during a heavy gale of wind, of La Grande Décidée letter-of-marque, armed with 1 long 18-pounder and 2 nines, and having on board a crew of 45 men. As a reward for this service, as also for the conduct he displayed in cutting out two sloops laden with naval stores from under the battery of St. Nicholas, near Sable d’Olonne, Mr. Hood was appointed, 28 July, 1809, Acting-Lieutenant of the Dreadnought 98, to which ship, bearing the flag in the Channel of Rear-Admiral Thos. Sotheby, he was confirmed by commission dated on 19 of the next Dec. During his continuance in her we find him, on the night of 8 Sept. 1810, commanding one of her boats, under Lieut. Robt. Pettman, at the re-capture of the Maria Antonia Spanish merchantman among the rocks on the west side of Ushant, a desperate exploit, which was not achieved without a loss to the British of 6 men killed, 31 wounded, and 6 missing. The behaviour manifested in this affair by Mr. Hood led to his being appointed, in Dec. 1811 (after many months of servitude in the Valiant 74, Capt. Robt. Dudley Oliver), Second-Lieutenant of the Bacchante 38, Capts. Wm. Hoste and Fras. Stanfell. On 18 Sept. 1812, the Bacchante having chased a convoy of 18 sail between the islands of Tremiti and Vasto, he was sent with her boats, six in number, containing 72 officers and men, the whole under the orders of Lieut. Donat Henchy O’Brien (whom he most ably seconded), to assist in bringing them out.[1] Although the merchantmen had been hauled on shore, and lay under the protection of eight armed vessels, carrying in all 8 long 12-pounders, 6 swivels, and 104 men, yet were they unable to withstand the impetuosity of the valiant seamen, who, rushing like lions to the attack, pushed through a heavy fire of grape and musketry, and boarded and carried each opponent, driving the crews over the sides in every direction; while the marines, under Lieut. Wm. Haig, landing, forced the fugitives from a neighbouring wood, where they would have had complete command of the coast, and thereby secured possession of the whole of the convoy and armed vessels. On 6 Jan. 1813 he was further present in the boats with Lieut. O’Brien at the capture of five gun-vessels near Otranto;[2] and, on the consequent promotion of that officer, he became the Bacchante’s First-Lieutenant. On 14 of the following month we find him receiving a severe contusion, by a fall, while commanding the barge of the same ship, at the capture of L’Alcinous, a national vessel mounting 2 long 24-pounders, with a complement of 45 men – his own party not consisting of more than 23. The injuries he then received were so severe as to result in the loss of the use of both his legs, for which, in 1815, he was granted a pension of 200l. On 15 May, 1813, having somewhat recovered, Lieut. Hood was enabled to land with a detachment of seamen, and blow up the castle of Karlebago, whence, after destroying all the public works, he brought off 2 12-pounders, 4 nines, and 2 brass sixes.[3] His next achievement was the capture, 12 June, 1813, from under the town of Gela Nova, on the coast of Abnizzo, of seven large gun-boats, mounting each 1 long 18-pounder in the bow, three smaller gun-vessels, with a 4-pounder in the bow, and 14 sail of merchantmen, four of which also had guns in the bow. The British, as they advanced, were exposed to a heavy fire of grape and musketry; and it was not until they were fairly alongside the gun-boats that the crews of the latter slackened their fire: they were then driven from their vessels with great loss. The shore astern of the assailed was at the commencement lined with 100 troops, who, however, fled on the first fire, leaving behind them two field-pieces, which were destroyed by the marines under Lieut. Haig. In performing this brilliant exploit the boats of the Bacchante sustained a loss of 2 seamen and 1 marine killed, and 5 seamen and 1 marine wounded.[4] The gallant conductor of the enterprise was justly recommended by Capt. Hoste in the strongest manner to the notice of the Commander-in-Chief. After witnessing the reduction, in the early part of 1814, of the fortress of Cattaro and the town of Ragusa, he proceeded to North America, where he served at the capture of Castine, Belfast, and Machias. He was at length made Commander, 27 April, 1815, into the Portia 14, in which vessel he was employed, chiefly off Bermuda, until April, 1816, when he invalided. He has since been on half-pay.
In reviewing Commander Hood’s services in the Bacchante, it may be observed that, in the space of two years, he assisted in making at least 1000 prisoners, and in capturing 27 national gun-vessels, 87 sail of merchantmen, and one privateer. He married, in Feb. 1822, Catharine, eldest daughter of the late Rev. Wm. Hamilton, D.D., Rector of Clondavadog, co. Donegal, and a Magistrate, who lost his life in the service of his country in 1797.