Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Douglas, Charles (d.1789)
DOUGLAS, Sir CHARLES (d. 1789), rear-admiral, descended from a younger son of William Douglas of Lochleven, sixth earl of Morton, is said to have served in early life in the Dutch navy. The story is very doubtful, and in any case he passed his examination for lieutenant in the English navy in February 1746-7, and was promoted to that rank on 4 Dec. 1753. On 24 Feb. 1759 he was made commander, and served through the summer of that year in command of the Boscawen armed ship attached to the fleet under Sir Charles Saunders during the operations in the St. Lawrence and the reduction of Quebec. In 1761 he had command of the Unicorn of 28 guns, attached to the squadron employed in blockading Brest, and in 1762 of the Syren of 20 guns on the coast of Newfoundland. He was still in the Syren at the peace. From 1767 to 1770 he commanded the Emerald of 32 guns, and from 1770 to 1773 the St. Albans of 64 guns, both on the home station. In 1775 he was appointed to the Isis of 50 guns, and was sent out with reinforcements and stores for Quebec, then threatened by the colonial forces. He did not reach the coast of America till too late in the season; the St. Lawrence was closed by ice, and he was obliged to return without having effected the object of his voyage. Early the next year he was again sent out, and pushing through the ice with great difficulty arrived off Quebec on 6 May (Beatson, iv. 137). The town, which had been closely blockaded during the winter, was relieved, and the governor, assuming the offensive, drove the enemy from their entrenchments in headlong flight [see Carleton, Guy, Lord Dorchester, (1724–1808)]. Douglas, with the small squadron under his orders, remained in the river till the close of the season, and on his return to England was rewarded with a baronetcy, 23 Jan. 1777. A few months later he was appointed to the Stirling Castle of 64 guns, and in her took part in the action off Ushant, 27 July 1778. In the subsequent courts-martial his testimony was distinctly to the advantage of Admiral Keppel. He was afterwards appointed to the Duke of 98 guns, and commanded her in the Channel fleet during the three following years. Towards the end of 1781 he was selected by Sir George Rodney as his first captain or captain of the fleet, accompanied him to the West Indies on board the Formidable, and was with him in the battle of Dominica on 12 April 1782. It is familiarly known that in this battle the decisive result was largely due to the Formidable, in the centre of the English line, passing through and breaking the French line; and the evidence is very strong that the manœuvre was decided on at the critical moment, on its being seen that there was already a disorderly opening in the enemy's line. It has been very positively asserted that the whole credit of this manœuvre was due to Douglas, who not only suggested it to Rodney, but insisted on it with a vehemence that bore down all Rodney's opposition (Sir Howard Douglas, Statement of some Important Facts, &c., 1829, and Naval Evolutions, 1832); but the story, as told, cannot be accepted. As Sir John Barrow showed (Quarterly Review, xlii. 71), it proves too much. There is nothing in Douglas's whole career that points him out as a tactician of original genius. Rodney, on the other hand, had repeatedly shown himself quite independent of the fighting instructions. We can scarcely suppose that in the familiar intercourse between the two the circumstances of Keppel's action had not been frequently discussed, as well as those of Rodney's own similar rencounters of 15 and 19 May 1780. When the chance of passing through the enemy's line did occur, Rodney is described as being in the stern walk looking at the ships astern; and if that was so Douglas would naturally, and as a matter of simple duty, call Rodney's attention to it. It is not certain that he did even this, for the only foundation for the story seems to be the recollections, fifty years afterwards, of one or two very young midshipmen; but, in any case, to suppose that the captain of the fleet bullied the commander-in-chief on the quarter-deck before the ship's company is altogether at variance, not only with the rules of the service, but with what is known of the character of Rodney [see Rodney, George Brydges, Lord; Clerk, John, of Eldin, (1728–1812)]. A story of at least equal authority is that when the Formidable was passing the Glorieux, and pouring in her tremendous broadside at very close range, Douglas exclaimed: ‘Behold, Sir George, the Greeks and Trojans contending for the body of Patroclus;’ to which Rodney replied, ‘Damn the Greeks, and damn the Trojans; I have other things to think of.’ But some time later coming up to Douglas he said smiling, ‘Now, my dear friend, I am at the service of the Greeks and Trojans, and the whole of Homer's “Iliad;” for the enemy is in confusion and our victory is secure.’ Captain White says that the remark attributed to Douglas was ‘in perfect accordance with his usual style of expression,’ and ‘the answer to it is agreeable to that of Sir George Rodney’ (Naval Researches, 1830, p. 112).
But Douglas's real and very important contribution to the victory was the introduction into the ships of the fleet of a number of improvements in the fitting and exercise of the guns, which rendered the gun-practice at once more rapid, more safe, and more deadly; and it cannot but seem strange that Sir Howard Douglas, while insisting on a claim which cannot be substantiated, has slurred over his father's many improvements in the art of naval gunnery. These fittings, which Douglas devised and perfected while serving in the Duke, had been officially approved by the admiralty in the early months of 1781, and were introduced on board the ships of the West India fleet at the special request of Sir George Rodney.
When Rodney was recalled Douglas remained with Admiral Pigot as captain of the fleet, and returned to England at the peace in 1783. In October he was appointed commodore and commander-in-chief on the Halifax station, from which he returned in 1786. On 24 Sept. 1787 he was promoted to be rear-admiral, and in January 1789 was again appointed to the command in North America. Before he could leave, however, he died suddenly of apoplexy in the beginning of February. He was twice married, and by the second wife had issue [see Douglas, Sir Howard].
[Charnock's Biog. Navalis, vi. 427; Beatson's Nav. and Mil. Memoirs; Burke's Peerage and Baronetage.]