Royal Naval Biography/James, Edwin
EDWIN JAMES, Esq.
[Commander.]
Was made a lieutenant in Dec. 1799; and presented with the Turkish gold medal, for his services on the coast of Egypt, during the campaign of 1801. We next find him serving as first of the Union 98, in which ship, successively commanded by Captains Samuel Hood Linzee, William Kent, and Robert Rolles, he continued from Mar. 1812 until advanced to the command of a prize brig, at Genoa, May 17th, 1814.
On the 3d June, 1812, Andrew Abchurch, ordinary seaman on board the Union, then on her passage from Plymouth to the Mediterranean, sent word to Captain Linzee, through the first lieutenant, that he wished to speak to him. Captain Linzee went upon the quarter-deck with Mr. James, to hear what he had to say, when Abchurch, in a low tone of voice, said there was a mutiny in the ship. On the captain asking what he said, he replied “There is a mutiny in the ship – take that – I am the man;” and at the same instant plunged a knife into his commander’s breast. The blow was evidently aimed at the heart; but either from Captain Linzee suddenly turning, or from the confusion of the assassin, the knife penetrated obliquely between the sixth and seventh ribs three inches deep, struck the breast bone, and then turned to the right side instead of the left. The man was instantly secured; and on the arrival of the ship at Lisbon (into which port it was necessary to go, for the preservation of Captain Linzee’s life) he was tried by a court-martial, sentenced to death, and executed. He was repeatedly urged, in the most solemn manner, by the chaplain of the Union, to declare what his motives were for attempting so atrocious a deed, and he unequivocally declared he never had received any sort of treatment from Captain Linzee which could justify it; but that a sudden thought came into his mind that he must commit murder, and he then determined to do so on the captain, to which he thought he must have been instigated by the devil. He exculpated his shipmates, not one of whom, he said, had the slightest knowledge of his intention; and added, that he should die in peace if his intended victim would forgive him.
The necessity of being kept in a tranquil state, compelled Captain Linzee to resign his command; and he consequently returned home in the Sabrina sloop of war. His successor. Captain William Kent, died on board the Union, off the mouth of the Rhone, Aug. 29th, 1812.