umberland 74, fitting out for the flag of Sir George Cockburn, and soon afterwards employed in conveying Napoleon Buonaparte to St. Helena; – and, Aug. 4th, 1818, to be first lieutenant of the Salisbury 58, flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Donald Campbell, in which he served at the Leeward Islands until advanced to the rank of commander, by commission dated Jan. 29th, 1821[1].
In May 1827, Commander Dicknison[errata 1] was appointed to the Genoa 74, Captain Walter Bathurst, on the Mediterranean station, where he arrived in time to bear a conspicuous part at the battle of Navarin. The loss sustained by the Genoa, the command of which, it will be seen, devolved upon him during the heat of that sanguinary conflict, consisted of –
Messrs. P. Brown and Charles Bussell (midshipmen), Mr. A. J. T. Rowe (master’s-assistant), and twenty-two seamen and marines killed; Captain Bathurst (second in command of the British squadron), mortally wounded; Captain Thomas Moore (R.M.), Mr. Herbert Blatchford Gray (midshipman), and twelve men severely wounded; and Lieutenant Henry Richard Start, Mr. James Chambers (volunteer of the first class), and seventeen men slightly wounded.
On the eleventh day after this battle, the ship’s company of the Genoa addressed their commander-in-chief as follows:–
“The humble Petition to your Honour of the Petty officers,
Seamen, and Marines, of His Majesty’s ship Genoa.
“With gratitude they thank your Honour for the able manner in which you led them to action, and most heroically supported them in it, and hope your Honour will long live to enjoy the merited rewards of your noble conduct.
“Your petitioners beg leave, with all humility, before they leave the station, to express to your Honour their feelings of sincere regret for the loss of their late lamented Commander, whom they ever found a father and a friend; and your petitioners, with all humility, beg to express their joy at finding his loss supplied by their present worthy commander.
- ↑ The first anniversary of the accession of King George IV., which was commemorated by the promotion of the senior lieutenants of all the flag-ships employed on foreign stations; and also of twelve midshipmen who had passed their examinations previous to Jan. 1816.
Errata:
- ↑ Correction: Dicknison should be amended to Dickinson
