A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Inglefield, Samuel Hood
INGLEFIELD, C.B. (Rear-Admiral of the White, 1841. f-p., 28; h-p., 28.)
Samuel Hood Inglefield, born in 1783, at Singlewell, in Kent, is son of the late Capt. John Nicholson Inglefield,[1] R.N.; and brother-in-law of the late Admiral Sir Benj. Hallowell Carew, G.C.B.
This officer entered the Navy, 8 Sept. 1791, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Medusa 50, bearing the broad pendant of his father on the coast of Africa; and from April, 1793, until Jan. 1798, served, chiefly as Midshipman, in L’Aigle 40, also commanded by Capt. Inglefield, Victory 100, flag-ship of Lord Hood, L’Aimable 32, Capt. Sir Harry Burrard, Southampton, Capt. O’Brien, Cumberland 74, Capt. Bartholomew Sam. Rowley, and again in L’Aigle, as likewise in the Zealous 74, both under the orders of Capt. Sam. Hood. He was present during the above period in L’Aimable at the reduction of Calvi, and at the capture, after a running fight, of La Moselle corvette of 18 guns, 23 May, 1794; and, besides being actively employed in the Zealous, off Toulon, witnessed in that ship the evacuation of St. Fiorenza, officiated as Aide-de-camp to Capt. Hood at the destruction of the town [errata 1] of Mortella, and accompanied the expedition under Nelson to Teneriffe. In Jan. 1798 he was nominated by Earl St. Vincent to the command, with the rank of Acting-Lieutenant, of the Spitfire gun-vessel, in which it appears he came into very frequent and warm conflict with the enemy’s flotilla off Algeciras. In Dec. 1798, having been confirmed in the rank of Lieutenant by commission dated 26 of the previous July, he was appointed to the Theseus 74, Capt. Ralph Willett Miller, under whom, during the operations connected with the defence of St. Jean d’Acre, he much distinguished himself; and on one occasion in particular, 21 March, 1799, when he shared in a gallant and sanguinary, although unsuccessful, attempt made to cut out from the port of Caiffa four djerms, or sailing lighters, which had got in there on the 18th from Alexandria, with supplies for the French army.[2] While in personal charge of the ship’s boats Lieut. Inglefield had the fortune to capture a variety of vessels in the very teeth of the enemy’s batteries; and when with only the barge under his command he contrived to take a French national settee, mounting 4 brass 4-pounders, and having 20 soldiers on board besides her own crew. From Sept. 1800 (in the course of which year he had also served at the siege of Genoa), until a few weeks after his advancement to the rank of Commander, which took place 29 April, 1802, we find him serving as Flag-Lieutenant to Sir Rich. Bickerton and Lord Keith in the Swiftsure and Kent 74’s, Madras 54, and Foudroyant 80; and in 1801 receiving the Turkish gold medal for the part he had borne in the Egyptian campaign. Being appointed, 16 Sept. 1802, to the Hunter 18, Capt. Inglefield in the early part of 1803 was sent to Jamaica with despatches for Rear-Admiral Sir John Thos. Duckworth and Lieut.-General Nugent, the naval and military Commanders-in-Chief, announcing the renewal of hostilities with France. During his continuance in the West Indies he distinguished himself as a most zealous and active cruizer. In Aug. 1803 he accomplished the destruction of La Mutine, a national brig of 18 guns, which had been driven on shore in the neighbourhood of Cumberland Harbour, in the island of Cuba; and he further effected the capture of the following French and Spanish privateers; – in July, 1803, of La Belle Vénus, of 1 gun and 4 swivels, off Cape Dame Marie, St. Domingo, where the crew effected their escape – 10 June, 1804, of La Liberté, of 3 guns and 37 men, off the N.E. end of Jamaica – 7 March, 1805, of the Santa Rosa, of 3 guns and 90 men (captured in company with the Reindeer sloop), off the north side of Jamaica – 5 Oct. 1805, of a schooner of 5 guns and 65 men (taken in company with the Success 32), off Point Maysi, island of Cuba – 21 Sept. 1806, of the San Jose y Animas, of 1 gun and 13 men, off the Isle of Pines – 25 Jan. 1807, of the Isabella, of 3 guns and 64 men (taken after an arduous chase of eight hours and much labour at the sweeps), off Negril Point, Jamaica^and, 28 July, 1807, of L’Espérance, armed with blunderbusses and small arms, and manned with l8 men, off Cape Dame Marie. Capt. Inglefield also, on 13 April, 1804, when off St. Jago de Cuba, chased and drove under the guns of the Moro Castle a French privateer of 14 guns, and a smaller one full of men, crippling them to such an extent in their sails and rigging as to prevent their proving of annoyance to a homeward-bound convoy then on the eve of its departure from Jamaica. On another occasion, 4 Feb. 1805, we find him capturing a Spanish frigate-built ship, the Piedad, of 600 tons, pierced for 24 guns, having 20 in her hold and 6 mounted, and laden with jerk beef, from Valparaiso bound to the Havana. Independently of the above capture he had the good fortune to obtain possession at different periods of 20 of the enemy’s merchantmen. He once too, on 29 July, 1805, contrived to bring out an American brig, prize to a French privateer, after having silenced the fire (under which she lay) of a battery in Lagoon Harbour, near Baracoa, in the island of Cuba. During Capt. Inglefield’s command of the Hunter he was twice (the first time in 1803, the next in 1807) charged with the duty of protecting the British settlements in the bay of Honduras; and for his conduct in both instances he had the satisfaction of receiving a letter of thanks from the merchants of the colony. In Aug. 1807 Capt. Inglefield was appointed by Vice-Admiral Dacres to the command of the Bacchante 20, a post-ship, to which the Admiralty confirmed him on 6 of the following Oct. Continuing his successful exertions, he took, on 13 Sept. in the same year, when in company with the Reindeer, the Amor de la Patria Spanish privateer, of 3 guns and 73 men, off Port Morant, Jamaica; also, on 10 Jan. 1808, off the west end of Cuba, the El Carmen letter-of-marque, of 9 guns and 43 men, valuably laden; next, after a spirited action fought (in company with the Elk sloop-of-war) with several gun-vessels near the Havana, of one of a convoy under their protection; and, 11 May, 1808, at the close of an action of 30 minutes, preceded by a long chase, of Le Griffon French national brig, of 16 guns and 105 men. In Dec. 1808, a few months after his assumption of the command of the Daedalus 32, Capt. Inglefield cooperated with a force under Capt. Chas. Dashwood in the reduction of the fort and tower of Samana, St. Domingo, almost the last port of refuge on the station for the enemy’s privateers. About this period the Daedalus fell in with a Haytian squadron, consisting of the Lord Mulgrave, of 22 guns and 300 men, two brigs of 18 and 16 guns, and three large armed schooners; the whole under the command of an Englishman, styling himself Admiral Goodall, whom, with his flag-ship the Lord Mulgrave, Capt. Inglefield thought it his duty to detain and send to Port Royal. The ship, from motives of policy, was restored to the Haytian government, but the Admiral was taken a state-prisoner to England. For his conduct in this affair the Captain of the Daedalus received the approbation of tho Commander-in-Chief. He was at length, in the summer of 1810, ordered home in charge of a fleet of 133 valuable merchantmen; the whole of which he conducted in perfect safety to the Channel. The Daedalus[3] being paid off in Sept. 1810, Capt. Inglefield was next, on 28 Oct. 1811, ordered to commission the Malta 84, as Flag-Captain to his brother-in-law, Rear-Admiral Hallowell, whom he accompanied to the Mediterranean, where, during the remainder of the war, he was occasionally employed with the in-shore squadron off Toulon, and in co-operation with the British army on the east coast of Spain. When preparations were made, in June, 1813, for the investment of Tarragona, he commanded the boats at the debarkation of the troops; and during the siege 600 seamen were put under his orders for the arduous purpose of placing the guns and howitzers in the breaching batteries, erected within 500 yards of the town works. He further assisted, in the course of the operations, in directing the fire of the gun-vessels, and on the siege being raised he was charged with the duty of bringing off the spare guns and military stores, and of re-embarking the troops. At the subsequent evacuation of the fort of St. Philippe in the Col de Balaguer, Capt. Inglefield, at the head of 1000 seamen from the fleet, was employed in dismantling and effecting the destruction of that fortification, in conjunction with the Chief Engineer of the Army, Major Thackery. For this he received the thanks in public orders both of Sir Edw. Pellew, the Commander-in-Chief, and of Rear-Admiral Hallowell. Being superseded from the Malta in Jan. 1815, for the purpose of attending as a witness the court-martial assembled at Winchester to try Lieut.-General Sir John Murray for the failure of the attack upon Tarragona, Capt. Inglefield did not succeed in obtaining re-employment until appointed, 1 March, 1826, to the Ganges 84, flag-ship of Sir Robt. Waller Otway, Commander-in-Chief in South America. In June, 1828, the Royal Marines of the squadron present at Rio Janeiro were placed under his command and landed for the protection of the Emperor Don Pedro’s person, in consequence of a serious mutiny which had broken out among the German troops (about 1700 in number, joined by nearly 2000 Irish recruits) in the service of His Imperial Majesty; who, in acknowledgment of the important part Capt. Inglefield on the occasion acted in subduing the riots, presented him with the Second Class of the Order of the Southern Cross. The Ganges, after she had completed her term of servitude, returned to England and was paid off in Sept. 1829. In 1837 the subject of the present narrative was awarded the Captain’s Good-Service pension; he was nominated a C.B. 18 April, 1839; and on 23 Nov. 1841 he was advanced to the rank of Rear-Admiral. Being appointed, 5 March, 1845, to the chief command on the S.E. coast of America, he sailed thither with his flag in the Eagle 50. He afterwards shifted it to the Vernon of similar force; and since 24 June, 1846, has had the supreme direction of naval affairs in the East Indies.
Rear-Admiral Inglefield married, 21 Oct. 1816, Priscilla Margaret, eldest daughter of the late Vice-Admiral Wm. Albany Otway. By that lady, who died 18 June, 1844, he has, with one daughter (Hannah Georgina Elizabeth, married, 5 March, 1846, to Capt. Augustus De Butts, Madras Engineers, eldest son of Lieut.-General Sir Augustus De Butts, R.E., K.C.H.), six sons, of whom the eldest, Edw. Augustus, is a Commander R.N., and the second a Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.
- ↑ Capt. Inglefield attained the rank of Lieutenant in 1768; and that of Post-Captain in 1780. He commanded the Barfleur 98, bearing the flag of Sir Samuel Hood, in the partial action with the Comte de Grasse, 29 April, 1781; the Centaur 74, in the battle of 12 April, 1782, on which occasion he captured Le César 80; and subsequently the Adventure 44, Medusa 50, and Aigle 40. After he had assisted in drawing up the articles of the capitulation by which Bastia was surrendered to the British arms, he was appointed in the spring of 1794 to succeed Sir Hyde Parker as Captain of the Mediterranean fleet; and towards the close of the same year he leturned to England with Lord Hood in the Victory 100. He was successively employed, from that period until the summer of 1811, as a resident Commissioner of the Navy at Corsica, Malta, Gibraltar, and Halifax.
- ↑ Vide Gaz. 1799, p. 610.
- ↑ The Daedalus, on 3 Aug. 1809, had been dismasted in a violent hurricane off the Island off Puerto Rico, and obliged in consequence, although with gteat hazard and difficulty, to be taken to Port Royal, Jamaica, where she remained 16 weeks refitting, owing to the extreme weakness of the dockyard artificers from sickness; yet during all that time, through the sanitary arrangements of Capt. Inglefield, she herself only lost 1 man and 1 boy from the fever.