Royal Naval Biography/Crawford, James Coutts
JAMES COUTTS CRAWFORD, Esq
[Post-Captain of 1802.]
This officer is a son of the late James Crawford, Esq. by Helen Coutts, first cousin of the late wealthy London banker of that name.
He was born at his father’s residence in Dundee, July 20, 1760; and after making several voyages in the Carolina and Virginia trade, entered the naval service, in April, 1777, as a Midshipman, under the protection of the present venerable Admiral John Henry, who at that period commanded the Vigilant, a ship on the establishment of a sloop of war, but armed with heavy cannon for the purpose pf battering forts, and covering the operations of the King’s troops serving against the rebels in North America.
Towards the latter end of the same year Mr. Crawford removed with his friend, Captain Henry, into the Fowey, of 20 guns; and on the 24th Oct. 1778, he was appointed to act as a Lieutenant on board the same ship, an officer of that rank being obliged to invalid in consequence of his having been severely wounded during a recent expedition against the enemy near Boston.
Among the many services in which Mr. Crawford participated whilst on the American station, the defence of Savannah and reduction of Charlestown [1] appear the most conspicuous.
On the former occasion he was entrusted with the command of the Fowey’s guns, mounted in a battery on shore; and we find his meritorious conduct particularly mentioned in the public letters of General Prevost and Captain Henry, the latter of whom commanded the small squadron which so materially contributed to the preservation of that important post.
After the surrender of Charlestown, Mr. Crawford, who still continued to act as Lieutenant, accompanied Captain Henry into the Providence, a prize frigate of 32 guns, which ship was shortly after ordered home with despatches, and on her arrival put out of commission. He subsequently served about two months as a Midshipman on board the Britannia, of 100 guns, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Darby; from whom he received another acting order, appointing him to the command of the Repulse, a vessel mounting five Spanish 26-pounders, stationed at Gibraltar, in April 1781.
It was about this period that the memorable siege of Gibraltar began to wear a most serious aspect, the enemy having brought no less than fifty 13-inch mortars and sixty-four heavy guns to bear upon the garrison from the land side, whilst their vast superiority by sea enabled them to annoy the southern part of the rock with impunity, and rendered it extremely difficult for any supplies to reach that fortress, unless thrown in under cover of a powerful fleet. The zeal, gallantry, and indefatigable exertions of the few British officers on the spot, however, were such, as induced the Governor to repose the utmost confidence in their abilities a confidence which, as the result proved, was not misplaced.
About five A.M. on the 7th Aug. 1781, a signal for an enemy was made by the Spaniards at Cabritta Point; and the British garrison soon after discovered a brig becalmed at the entrance of the bay, and fourteen of the Algeziras flotilla, each carrying a 26-pounder, with several armed launches, proceeding to intercept her. Captain Roger Curtis, of the Brilliant frigate, the senior officer present, immediately sent Sir Charles H. Knowles, of the Porcupine, to receive any despatches the vessel might have on board, whilst he himself attended the towing out of the Repulse and Vanguard, the only available force he possessed, to attempt her rescue[2]. By eight o’clock the Spaniards had commenced the attack, and a spirited action ensued between them and the brig; but appearances were so greatly against the latter that the garrison almost gave her up, supposing it scarcely possible that the two gun-vessels under Captain Curtis would venture near enough to render her any material assistance: they however pushed on in a most gallant manner, and were placed so judiciously as to cover the brig, and greatly annoy the enemy. At length coolness and discipline prevailed over superior numbers: the steadiness and bravery with which the brig defended herself, aided by the well-directed fire from the Repulse and Vanguard, succeeded in obliging the flotilla to retreat, notwithstanding the approach of a formidable xebec to their assistance. She, finding her friends perfectly subdued, also hauled off, and left the British at liberty to tow the stranger into the New Mole, which she entered amidst the applauding shouts of all who had beheld the combat. The circumstance is thus alluded to by Governor Elliot, in a letter to the Secretary of State:
“I received your despatch of the 20th July, by H.M. sloop Helena, Captain Roberts, who arrived by dint of perseverance and bravery, with the assistance of our two gun-boats, the Vanguard and Repulse, posted by Captain Curtis himself. He personally conducted the attack in his barge, with distinguished success, notwithstanding a constant and heavy fire of round and grape from the enemy’s gun-boats for nearly two hours[3].”
After commanding the Repulse about thirteen months, during which he was often warmly engaged with the Spanish gun and mortar-boats, Mr. Crawford was ordered to act as first Lieutenant of the Brilliant; and on that ship being scuttled in the New Mole previous to the enemy’s grand attack, he joined the naval battalion encamped at Europa, under the command of Captain Curtis, to whom he served as Brigade-Major during the awful conflict of Sept. 13, 1782, an account of which will be found in our memoir of Captain Charles Tinling[4].
The Brilliant being raised again a few days after the enemy’s defeat, Mr. Crawford re-embarked with her crew, and continued in that frigate till the departure of Captain Curtis with the fleet under Lord Howe[5], when he was removed by Sir Sir Charles H. Knowles into the San Miguel of 72 guns, a Spanish ship that had been driven on shore near the garrison and compelled to surrender, in Oct. 1782[6].
On the 12th Nov. the enemy’s flotilla made an attack upon the San Miguel, but did not succeed in doing her any material damage. On the 18th of the following month twenty-nine gun and mortar-boats made a second attempt to destroy her and other ships lying at anchor off BuenaVista, and were supported by the Spanish land batteries with a very animated cannonade. The mortar-boats composed the centre division, and the whole flotilla were drawn up in a line-of-battle extending about two miles. They got their distance the first round, and retained it with such precision, that almost every shell fell within fifty yards of the San Miguel, which was the principal object of their attack. The 74th shell fell on board, burst on the lower deck, killed 4, and wounded 11 men, 3 of whom died soon after. Fortunately, however, she received no further injury, although the enemy did not retire until they had expended the whole of their ammunition. Three days after this event the San Miguel was driven from her anchors more than half-bay over, and every effort to recover her station proved ineffectual, tiil an eddy wind brought her about, and enabled Sir Charles Knowles to run her aground within the New Mole, where she was repeatedly fired upon by the enemy during the continuance of the siege.
In Mar. 1783, Mr. Crawford was re-appointed to the Brilliant by his former commander, Sir Roger Curtis, who had returned to Gibraltar, and hoisted a broad pendant as Commodore on the Mediterranean station. His commission as a Lieutenant was at length confirmed by the Admiralty on the 10th Aug. in the same year, from which period he does not appear to have served afloat till the Spanish armament, in 1790, when he joined the Queen Charlotte, a first rate, bearing the flag of Earl Howe, to whose notice he had been introduced by Sir Roger Curtis, then serving as Captain of the fleet under that nobleman’s command.
We next find Lieutenant Crawford proceeding to the East Indies, where he remained, attending to his private concerns, for several years. Returning from thence in a country-ship, he had the misfortune to be captured by a French republican cruiser; but being included in an exchange of prisoners about Mar. 1797, he was immediately after appointed to the Prince, of 98 guns, bearing the flag of Sir Roger Curtis, in the Channel fleet, where he continued to serve till his promotion to the rank of Commander, Feb. 14, 1799. During the remainder of the war he commanded the Childers brig, employed principally on the home station. His post commission bears date April 29, 1802.
Captain Crawford’s next appointment afloat was to the Champion of 24 guns, in which ship we find him co-operating with the Spanish patriots at the commencement of their struggle with the legions of Napoleon Buonaparte. From her he removed into the Venus, a 32-gun frigate, employed on the same species of service, as will be seen by the following copy of a letter from Captain George M‘Kinley, respecting the capture of Vigo in Mar. 1809:
“H.M.S. Lively, off Vigo, Mar. 29.
“Sir, In consequence of a letter I received at Villagarcia from Captain Crawford, of the Venus, informing me that the loyal peasantry were in considerable force around the castle and town of Vigo, and that the presence of another frigate would very much contribute to the surrender of that fortress, I joined him on the evening of the 23d instant. The next morning I went to the head.quarters of Don Joao de Almada de Sanzo Silva, who commanded the patriots. At that instant a summons was sent to the Governor of Vigo to surrender at discretion, and led to a negociation between him and the French, which continued till the 26th, when Don Pablo Murillo, commanding a regular force of 1500 men, composed of retired soldiers in this province, arrived, and sent in another summons; in consequence of which, on the following day, proposals were brought on board by Don Pablo, accompanied by three French officers. The answers to them were delivered at five P.M. by Captain Crawford, who concluded the capitulation; and the whole of the garrison, consisting of a colonel, 45 officers, and about 1300 or 1400 men, were embarked the next morning.
“I should be wanting in every feeling of an officer, were I not to acknowledge the liberal attention and zealous services of Captain Crawford. It also becomes most gratifying that 1 am enabled to inform you of the spirit and determination of the Spaniards to expel from their country the invaders of all that is dear to a brave and loyal people. No doubt of success could have arisen had the enemy persisted in holding out, from the able and prompt conduct of Don Pablo Murillo, and the good order of his troops, the strongest proof of his zeal in the just cause of his King and country. The ardour of the peasantry is beyond all description. I have the honor to be, &c.
(Signed)“George M‘Kinley.”
“To the Hon. Vice-Admiral Berkeley [7].”
During the ensuing siege of Vigo by the French army under Marshal Ney, Captain Crawford commanded a party of seamen and marines landed from the Lively and Venus to assist in the defence of the castle, where he continued till the defeat of the enemy at the bridge of San Payo, and his consequent retreat towards Lugo; the particulars of which event are fully detailed in the Naval Chronicle for July 1809.
Captain Crawford was subsequently appointed in succession to the Hussar and Modeste frigates, in the former of which he assisted at the reduction of Java, by the forces under Sir Samuel Auchmuty and Rear-Admiral Stopford, in Sept. 1811. In the latter ship he captured le Furet, a remarkably fine French privateer, of 14 guns and 98 men, near Scilly, at the commencement of Feb. 1813. He was put out of commission at the close of the war, and has ever since been on half-pay.
Captain Crawford has been twice married, and is now a widower. By his first wife, Anne, eldest daughter of Alexander Duncan, Esq., of Edinburgh, he had one child, who has recently been united to the Hon. Captain Henry Duncan, R.N. C.B. By his second lady, Jane, eldest daughter of the late Vice-Admiral John Inglis, he had a son, who still survives[8].
Agents.– Messrs. Maude.
- ↑ See Vol. I, p. 65, et seq. and Vol. II, Part I, Note † at p. 58, et seq.
- ↑ The Repulse and Vanguard had formerly been small brigs, but were cut down and converted into prames, for the purpose of acting against the enemy’s flotilla. The latter vessel mounted two 26 and two 12-pounders. Twelve gun-boats, on a new construction, sent from England in frames at the commencement of 1782, and put together at the rock, proved highly useful to the garrison during the latter part of the siege.
- ↑ Captain Roberts, the officer alluded to above, was promoted to the rank of Commander for his good conduct as first Lieutenant of the Quebec frigate, in a desperate action with the Surveillante, a French ship of 40 guns, which ended in the total destruction of the former by fire, and the loss of nearly all her crew, Oct. 6, 1779. He was deservedly advanced to post raiik for his gallant defence of the Helena.
- ↑ See Vol. II, Part I, pp. 362–366.
- ↑ See Vol. I, pp. 17 and 106 et seq.
- ↑ See id. note † at p. 114.
- ↑ By a subsequent letter it appears, that while the British frigates were in the act of embarking the French garrison, a detachment of 300 men, sent from Fuy to relieve Vigo, was encountered and totally routed by Don Pablo Murillo, who took many of the enemy prisoners.
- ↑ Vice-Admiral Inglis commanded the Belliqueux 64, in the battle off Camperdown, Oct. 11, 1797; and died at Edinburgh, in 1807.