A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Strong, Charles Burrough (a)
STRONG. (Captain, 1819. f-p., 27; h-p., 27.)
Charles Burrough Strong was born 17 Nov. 1781, and died 8 April, 1846. He was son of John Strong, Esq., Solicitor, of Carlisle, in Cumberland; nephew of the late Commander Burrough, R.N.; and uncle of the present Lieut. Chas. Burrough Strong, R.N.
This officer entered the Navy, 27 Jan. 1793, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Thalia frigate, attached to the fleet in the Channel; where he became Midshipman, in June, 1795, of the Irresistible 74, commanded at first by Capt. Grindall, and next by Capts. Sam. Jas. Ballard and Geo. Martin. On 23 of the month last mentioned he bore a warm part, as Aide-de-camp to Capt. Grindall, in Lord Bridport’s affair with the French fleet off Ile de Groix; on which occasion the Irresistible suffered severely. In March, 1796, he rejoined Capt. Grindall on board the Colossus 74; and in that ship, under Capt. Geo. Murray, he was present, 14 Feb. 1797, in the action off Cape St. Vincent. While engaged, in the summer of the same year, at the blockade of Cadiz, we find him on two occasions assisting, as a volunteer, under Sir Horatio Nelson, at the bombardment of that place. He came also into frequent collision, as Master’s Mate, with the enemy’s gun-boats, both before Cadiz and in the Bay of Gibraltar. The Colossus being wrecked, 10 Dec. 1798, on a ledge of rocks in St. Mary’s Road, Scilly, he was received, in the course of the ensuing month, on board the Puissant 74, Capt. Allen, lying at Spithead; and he next, in March and Oct. 1799, joined, in the capacity of Master’s Mate, the Prince 98, and Queen Charlotte 100, bearing the flags of Sir Chas. Cotton and Lord Keith in the Channel and Mediterranean. In the Prince he was employed with great activity in pursuing the fleets of France and Spain. On 20 Feb. 1800, he was nominated Acting-Lieutenant of the Généreux 74, Capts. Lord Cochrane, Jahleel Brenton, and Manley Dixon; and in the following Nov., after having witnessed the evacuation of Genoa by the French, the capture of La Diane of 42 guns, and the surrender of Malta, he removed, in a similar capacity, to the Pearl 32, Capt. S. J. Ballard. While in that frigate, to which he was confirmed 25 Feb. 1801, he was at the taking of the Carrère of 40 guns and 320 men, and at the defence of Porto Ferrajo, in the island of Elba. He also, in command of the Pearl’s barge, made prize, on one occasion, of a national tartan of 7 guns and 30 men, destroying at the same time a convoy under her protection; and on another he brought out a merchant-ship from under the guns of Piombino. He shared in other services of a similar character, and after leaving the Pearl he was appointed – 31 Oct. 1801, to the Ajax 74, Capt. Hon. Alex. Cochrane, with whom he returned home from the Mediterranean and was paid off in April, 1802 – 7 Aug. in the latter year and 21 March, 1806, to the Immortalité 36, and Clyde 38, both commanded by Capt. Edw. W. C. R. Owen – and, 14 Feb. 1810, as First, to the Bombay 74, Capt. Wm. Cuming. The services in which he participated from 1803 until 1809 have been detailed in our memoir of his gallant Captain. In the action of 23 Oct. 1804 he was wounded, while in the act of pointing the foremost gun on the main deck, by a shot that killed or injured every man but one who was near him. “It gives me serious pain to add,” writes Capt. Owen after narrating the particulars of the contest, “that 1 man was killed and 10 wounded (three mortally), besides the Third-Lieutenant, Chas. Burrough Strong, of whose assistance I was deprived before a shot was fired by us, and whose loss I feel the more, as two years’ service with me in this ship has fully proved to me his worth; his wounds, however, are not dangerous.” [1] In consideration of his sufferings Mr. Strong obtained a gratuity from the Patriotic Fund. On the morning of 25 Aug. 1807 he brought out from near Ypont Les Trois Soeurs coasting sloop, although defended by two parties of men with musketry, one stationed on the beach, the other on the cliffs, and by a battery, a fieldpiece, and mortar. While towing away his prize Mr. Strong was forced by the tide to cross the fire of the batteries of Fécamp at point-blank distance; but, fortunately, not one of his men was hurt.[2] During the attack of 1809 upon Flushing his exertions were as important as they were zealous. He assisted in towing the Racer sloop, Capt. John Martin Hanchett, from under the enemy’s batteries; he succeeded, too, in a manner that betrayed much judgment, in carrying on board the San Domingo 74, the Commander-in-Chief’s ship, a cable, whereby she was hove off when aground, beneath the enemy’s fire; and he was sent, besides, to aid, and to command if necessary, the Indignant gun-brig, at a time when that vessel was suffering much from the batteries. In reporting the complete evacuation of the Walcheren, Commodore Owen informed Sir Richard Strachan that “the peculiar circumstances he had been placed in obliged him to leave the management of his own ship wholly to Lieut. Strong, and thus gave him an opportunity to confirm the good opinion he had formed of him in the course of seven years’ service together.”[3] After serving for nearly 12 months as First-Lieutenant in the Bombay, on the Mediterranean station, Mr. Strong was there, 26 Jan. 1811, ordered to act as Commander of the Bustard 16. This appointment being confirmed 14 March following, he co-operated for some time with the patriots on the coast of Catalonia, where he assisted at the defence of Tarragona, and covered the landing and embarkation of the troops under Sir Rufane Donkin, in their attack upon the castle of Denia, so effectually that, although closely pressed on the lattor occasion by the enemy, not a man was lost. He afterwards proceeded to the West Indies; but before doing so he was again severely wounded, at Malta. In Sept. 1814 ill health obliged him to leave the Bustard. He next, 17 Dec. 1818, obtained command of the Morgiana 18, in which vessel he cruized on the coast of Africa with great activity and Success until Jan. 1820, when, having been advanced 12 Aug. 1819 to Post-rank, he was superseded. His last appointment was, 8 Dec. 1833, to the Belvidera 42. In that ship, until he returned home and was paid off in Nov. 1837, he had charge of the Barbadoes division of the North America and West India station, and on many occasions, but especially for his conduct in subduing a serious disturbance among the negroes of St. Kitt’s and other islands, attracted the flattering notice of his Commanders-in-Chief, Sir Geo. Cockburn and Sir Peter Halkett, and also of Sir Thos. Ussher, Commodore-Superintendent at Bermuda. To adopt the words of the Times newspaper in recording the death of Capt. Strong, “a better officer, or one more deeply respected, the country never boasted.”
He married, 28 Nov. 1818, Jane, daughter of E. Gray, Esq. of Kirkhouse, co. Cumberland. Agent – Joseph Woodhead.