A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Reeve, John
REEVE. (Commander, 1830. f-p., 26; h-p., 22.)
John Reeve entered the Navy, 17 May, 1799, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Agamemnon 64, Capt. Robt. Devereux Fancourt, under whom he fought as Midshipman at the battle of Copenhagen, 2 April, 1801. Being paid off in April, 1802, he next, in March, 1803, joined the Diligence sloop, Capt. Alex. Robt. Kerr, in which vessel he was for two years and three months employed in the North Sea, in the Baltic, and off Boulogne. In Aug. 1805 he was again received on board the Agamemnon, and while in that ship, which was commanded in succession by Capts. John Harvey, Sir Edw. Berry, Jos. Spear, and Jonas Rose, he was afforded an opportunity of sharing under Sir E. Berry in the glories of Trafalgar, and, as Master’s Mate, in the action off St. Domingo,6 Feb. 1806. After serving for 10 months as a Supernumerary-Midshipman in the Northumberland 74, flag-ship of Sir Alex. Cochrane in the West Indies, for two as Acting-Lieutenant in the Dart and Lily sloops, Capts. John Buller and Wm. Henry Shirreff, again for four as Supernumerary-Midshipman with Sir A. Cochrane in the Belleisle 74, and a second time as Acting- Lieutenant in the Lily, part of the force employed at the reduction of the Danish islands, he was confirmed a Lieutenant, 22 Feb. 1808, in the Circe, Capt. Hugh Pigot. He invalided in the course of the following month; and was subsequently appointed – 10 April, 1809, to L’Aimable 32, Capts. Lord Geo. Stuart and John Chas. Woolcombe, under the former of whom he assisted, in the ensuing July, at the capture of Cuxhaven, the destruction of a well-constructed battery of 4 12-pounders, commanding the river Weser, and the expulsion, after a march of 28 miles, of the French from Gessendorf, a service for which, in common with the others engaged, he received the thanks of the Admiralty – 11 May, 1812, as First (after 15 months of half-pay), to the Prometheus sloop, Capts. Hercules Robinson and Wm. Bateman Dashwood, employed on the North American station and off Cherbourg – next, in 1815-16, to the Prince 98, Queen Charlotte 100, Boyne 98, and Queen Charlotte again, all flag-ships at Portsmouth of Sir Edw. Thornsbrough, under whom he served for three years and three months as First-Lieutenant without promotion (!) – 7 Nov. 1818, to the command, on the Home station, of the Starling 10, in which vessel he remained about three years – 12 Dec. 1822, again as Senior, to the Briton 46, Capt. Sir Murray Maxwell, fitting for the Pacific, whence in 1826 he returned, bringing with him despatches across the Isthmus of Darien – and, 18 Sept. 1828, with the same rank, to the Shannon 46, Capt. Benj. Clement, whom he accompanied to Jamaica. On 2 Feb. 1830, having, as we have shown, filled for about 11 years the post of First-Lieutenant in various ships, he was at length advanced to the rank he now holds. His last appointment was, 15 Dec. 1837, to the Lily 16, fitting for the coast of Africa, whence he came home and was paid off in the spring of 1839.
Commander Reeve married, 8 Sept, 1818, Miss Emma Caplin, of Charlton, co. Sussex.