Royal Naval Biography/Haultain, Charles
CHARLES HAULTAIN, Esq.
[Commander.]
Eldest son of the late Lieutenant-Colonel Theodore Haultain (of the Commandry in the city of Worcester), who was captain of the 37th regiment at the battles of Minden, Warburg, Fillinghausen, &c.; and who also saw much other service, both in Germany and North America[1].
Mr. Charles Haultain was born at London, in Dec. 1787; and appears to have entered the royal navy, in Jan. 1800, as midshipman on board the Agincourt 64, then bearing the flag of his patron, the late Sir Charles Morice Pole; commander-in-chief at Newfoundland; but subsequently employed on the North Sea station, and in conveying H.M. 25th regiment to Egypt[2]. During the peace of Amiens, he served in the Bonne Citoyenne and Vincejo, sloops, both stationed in the Mediterranean.
On the renewal of hostilities, Mr. Haultain joined the Cerberus 32, Captain William Selby, which ship bore the flag of Sir James (now Lord De) Saumarez, at the very spirited attack made by that distinguished officer upon the batteries and invading flotilla at Granville, Sept. 14th, 1803[3].
Mr. Haultain afterwards served for a short time in the Thisbe 28, armed en flûte; and was sent from her, by order of the Admiralty, to join the Glory 98, bearing the flag of Sir John Orde, off Cadiz. In this ship he witnessed the capture of two Spanish third rates, by the fleet under Sir Robert Calder, July 22d, 1805[4]. In Mar. 1806, having passed his examination, he was removed into the Ocean 98, flag-ship of Lord Collingwood, who, on the 26th of the following month, presented him with a lieutenant’s commission. Between this period and the beginning of 1809, we find him successively serving in the Prince 98, Excellent 74, and Queen 98, off Cadiz.
In the spring of 1809, Mr. Haultain was appointed first lieutenant of the Decade 36, on the Irish station; and a few months afterwards to the Active 38, Captain (now Sir James A.) Gordon, fitting out at Chatham, for the purpose of reinforcing the Adriatic squadron. While belonging to the latter frigate, he suffered so greatly in his health, from the constant severe and harrassing service on which both the ship and heir boats were employed, that he was obliged to go to sick quarters at Malta, and finally to invalid. His next appointments were, about Sept. 1811, by desire of Sir Charles Cotton, to the San Josef 110; and in the spring of 1812, shortly after the demise of that esteemed admiral[5], to the Egmont 74, Captain Joseph Bingham, then on the North Sea station. In the course of the latter year, he sailed for the Baltic, under the flag of the late Sir George Hope, who had been ordered to escort to England a Russian fleet, placed under British protection[6].
While on this service. Lieutenant Haultain was recalled home, to give evidence on the trial of the Marquis of Sligo, for seducing seamen from H.M. ships at Malta, in May, 1810. The details of the said investigation are to be found in the Naval Chronicle, vol. 29, pp. 65–73, and 163–169.
The Egmont was subsequently employed in cruising against the Americans, but met with no success. On her return to Spithead, it was understood that a number of gunboats were equipping at Sheerness (in hopes of saving Hamburgh from the grasp of the French), and Mr. Haultain, considering how little chance he had of obtaining promotion, while junior lieutenant of a line-of-battle ship, immediately wrote to Viscount Melville, volunteering to serve in this flotilla. His offer was accepted, and he soon had the satisfaction of finding himself appointed the senior officer of twelve gun-boats, placed under the command of Captain Arthur Farquhar, commanding la Desirée frigate, and about to assume the direction of the Heligoland squadron.
It is impossible to imagine any thing more miserable than the state of these gun-vessels. They were originally built for the Walcheren expedition, and had ever since been in the river Medway, exposed to all weathers. They were now hastily fitted out, armed with two long 24-pounders, and manned with 24 men each; but had no subordinate officers whatever, to assist the lieutenants in command. Strips of tarred canvas were obliged to be applied to their sides and decks, in order to keep the crews dry; and seldom have officers or men undergone such privation, and for such a length of time, as did Mr. Haultain and his associates. Had it not been for the unremitting kindness of Captain Farquhar, and the officers of la Desirée, miserable indeed would have been their situation. To use the words of that brave and zealous commander, “a month’s service in these boats was equal to a year in any other.”
We have stated in Suppl. Part III. p. 191, that Cuxhaven was re-occupied by the French on the 8th May, 1813. In the following month. Captain Farquhar arrived at Heligoland, and immediately directed his whole force to attack their batteries, for the purpose of trying their strength, as well as to exercise the flotilla. A heavy cannonade, within pistol-shot, accordingly took place, and was continued until the enemy’s works had evidently suffered much damage, when the squadron and gunboats retired with small loss. From this period, scarcely a week passed without the latter being engaged either with the enemy on shore or afloat.
In Sept. 1813, Lieutenant Haultain volunteered to attack eight Danish gun-vessels, lying at Busum, a small and intricate harbour, near the mouth of the Elbe. Captain Farquhar not only agreed to his proposal, but reinforced the flotilla with the boats of the squadron, placed under the command of Lieutenant Samuel Radford, first of la Desirée, and accompanied the whole in his gig. After great labour at the oars, for twelve hours, among shoals and sand-banks which no one knew any thing of, they arrived within range of the enemy, whose vessels were drawn up in a line, close to the shore, and who immediately opened a heavy fire. Nothing could exceed the mortification of the British, when, on endeavouring to close, they found the Danes protected by a sandbank in their front, and that the narrow channel in which they lay, could be only entered at spring tides, and with the aid of experienced pilots. Lieutenant Haultain, two of whose vessels had got aground, was therefore obliged to content himself with endeavouring to destroy them, in which he persevered for two hours, during which nearly the whole of his ammunition was expended, and several of his officers and men killed and wounded; among the former, a midshipman of la Desirée; and among the latter. Lieutenant Francis Darby Romney, commanding a gun-boat. Having at length driven two of the Danish vessels on shore, and finding the tide ebb rapidly, he reluctantly abandoned his gallant enterprise, and returned to the squadron off Cuxhaven; on rejoining which, he received the approbation and thanks of Captain Farquhar, than whom no one more lamented, that the situation of the enemy precluded the possibility of success in such an undertaking.
About this time, Lieutenant Haultain had a narrow escape from drowning. Having been called on board la Desirée by signal, in endeavouring to reach the ship, the tide running nine or ten miles an hour, his boat, a small two-oared punt, upset, and one of his crew perished: the other man and himself were fortunate enough to reach the launch astern of the frigate, and thus escaped a similar dreadful fate.
In the following month, the gun-boat under the immediate command of Lieutenant Haultain, with three others, having suffered much by recent gales, and the firing of their exceeding heavy guns, were considered not seaworthy, and ordered to be laid up at Heligoland. Disliking the idea of going home while there was a probability of any thing to do; and hearing that the allies, under the Crown Prince of Sweden, were advancing, he wrote for, and obtained permission to join them as a volunteer. On his arrival at Bremen, he was attached to a battalion of Russian infantry, selected, with some Cossacks, to co-operate with the British squadron and flotilla in the reduction of the strong fortresses commanding the entrance of the Weser[7]. Captain Farquhar’s official report of this service was never made public; but in his despatch announcing the subsequent capture of Cuxhaven, he says, “Lieutenant Haultain, whom I had occasion to mention on a recent occasion us a volunteer, continued his services; and, with all the officers and men of the squadron employed on this occasion, merit my best thanks[8].”
The operations in the Weser and Elbe having been completed by the subjugation of the important fortresses of Blexen, Bremer-lehe, and Cuxhaven, Lieutenant Haultain rejoined the allied army, which he found blockading Rendsburg, in Hoistein, with the headquarters at Keil. He was soon afterwards despatched by the Crown Prince to assist at the siege of Gluckstadt, then about to be undertaken by tbe Swedish General Baron de Boyé, in conjunction with Captain Farquhar. During the operations against that place, he was the senior lieutenant employed in the seamen’s battery, under the command of Captain (now Sir Andrew Pelett) Green[9]. After the surrender of Gluckstadt, he returned to England in la Desirée; and on the 15th June following[10], was promoted to the rank of commander; since which his utmost endeavours to get employment have been fruitless.
In 1819, Baron Steirnheld, His Swedish Majesty’s ambassador at London, transmitted to Commander Haultain a gold medal, and the following letter:
“Stockholm, ce 1er Fevrier, 1819.
“Armée Suedoise,
Bureau de l’Etat Major Général.
“Monsieur le Capitain de Haultain. Sa Majesté le Roi de Suede et de Norvège voulant vous donner, Monsieur, un temoinage public da Sa haute satisfaction pour l’activité, la bravoure, et le zèle, que vous avez déployés pendant le siège de Gluckstadt, en 1813 et 1814, m’a ordonné de vous envoyer la médaille en or ci-jointe destinée aux officiers de tout grade, pour action d’eclat et trait de bravoure.
“En m’acquittant des ordres de Sa Majesté, je vous prie. Monsieur, d’agréer l’assurance de ma parfaite considération.
(Signed)“Le Général Baron de Bjoinstjerna.
“Chef de l’Etat Major Général de l’Armée.”
At subsequent periods, Commander Haultain received the following honorable testimonials:
“Culderry House, Oct. 26th, 1827.
“My dear Sir,– I had the happiness of receiving yours of the 23d inst. this morning; and it affords me great pleasure to hear you are perfectly well. Could I be of any service to you, either in procuring employment or obtaining promotion, I would do it with much gratification to myself, and in great justice to His Majesty’s naval service.
“I have by no means forgot your valuable services while I commanded the Calliope, and was senior officer of the squadron in the German rivers, in the year 1813; and I can say with truth, that you were on all occasions most ready and willing in furthering my views for the good of His Majesty’s service. I am, my dear sir, yours very truly,
(Signed)“John M‘Kerlie.”
“Edinburgh 14th Nov. 1827.
“My dear Sir,– It is some time since I was favored with your letter of the 22d ult. which I should have replied to ere this, but from the circumstance of my having been absent from home, and therefore unable to procure the documents which you mention, and which could best enable me to send you such a certificate as I was, and am still, anxious to do, and which your conduct, whilst under my orders, so well merited. I lament to say, that to this moment I have been unable to procure the documents alluded to; some of my official letter books are missing or mislaid; it is possible that they may be in a trunk I have sent to London. In the mean time, I can only speak to your conduct in a general way; but I can most conscientiously state, that during the whole of your service, whilst employed in the gun-boats under my command, in the rivers Elbe and Weser, and during the time you were senior officer on that service, your conduct merited my perfect approbation; and I had occasion, in my official despatches to Admiral Young, more than once, to make mention of your name in terms of praise. And, I assure you, it would give me great pleasure to hear of your being again in active employment. I am, my dear Sir, yours very faithfully,
(Signed)“Arthur Farquhar.”
Commander Haultain married, Aug. 13th, 1814, Eliza, daughter of Mr. Saward, of Thorp Hall, Prittlewell, Essex, Esq. His brother, Francis, is a captain in the royal artillery: and another, Arthur, a captain in the Hon.E.I.C. service, on the Madras establishment. His brother Frederick, a midshipman of the Thetis frigate, died in the West Indies, of yellow fever, in 1809.
- ↑ Lieutenant-Colonel Haultain died in 1806: his wife was the youngest daughter of the late Arthur Stert, formerly of Lisbon, Esq.
- ↑ See Vol. II. Part I. p. 141.
- ↑ See Suppl. Part I. p. 44.
- ↑ See Vol. I. Part I. p. 405.
- ↑ See Vol. II. Part I. note † at p. 447.
- ↑ See Vol. I. Part II. p. 725.
- ↑ See Vol. III. Part II. p. 234.
- ↑ See Suppl. Part III. p. 251, et seq.
- ↑ See Id. pp. 390 and 392.
- ↑ 1814.