Individual Details
Admiral John "Brave Benbow" BENBOW
(1653 - 4 Nov 1702)
John Benbow was the son of a tanner in Shrewsbury, he was apprenticed to a butcher but from this profession ran away to sea.
He became a merchant seaman then joined the Royal Navy and rose rapidly to high command; he took part in several attacks against the French at St Malmo and Dunkirk. Admiral Benbow battled with Du Casses in the West Indies and later succumbed to his wounds on November 4th 1702, at Port Royal, he was buried at Kingston.
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John Benbow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1653? – November 4, 1702
John Benbow, by Sir Godfrey Kneller
Nickname 'Brave Benbow'
Place of birth Shropshire
Place of death Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica
Allegiance Kingdom of England
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service 1678 – 1702
Rank Admiral
Commands held HMS York
HMS Bonaventure
HMS Britannia
HMS Sovereign
HMS Norwich
HMS Northumberland
HMS Charles Galley
HMS Suffolk
HMS Duke
HMS Gloucester
HMS Breda
Battles/wars Battle of Beachy Head
Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue
Action of August 1702
John Benbow (1653? – November 4, 1702) was an officer in the Royal Navy, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral. He achieved fame serving in the West Indies against the French during the War of the Spanish Succession, but was later involved in a notorious incident when commanding a squadron of ships in battle, when a number of his captains refused to support him. He became a popular figure, much celebrated in song, but despite his renown, many details of his life are obscure, leading to considerable debate.
Family and early years
John was born the son of William and Martha Benbow. The astrologer John Partridge recorded the exact time and date of his birth as being at noon on 10 March 1653, but no supporting documentary evidence survives, and the inscription on his tomb states that he was 52 on his death in 1702, suggesting he was born three years earlier than Partridge states, in 1650.
His parentage is also debated, as documentation is again lacking. Two prevailing theories exist, but elements of which are sometimes confused with each other. One claims that he was born into a family in Newport, Shropshire, which included amongst its relations another John Benbow who had been a deputy clerk in chancery who had been granted arms in 1584, and a John Benbow who had been a captain in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War. He had changed his allegiance and joined the Royalists, perhaps rising to the rank of colonel. He was captured at the battle of Worcester, tried at court martial as a traitor, and was then executed in the cabbage patch under the walls of Shrewsbury Castle. This would have linked Admiral Benbow with the landed gentry. The other theory contends that Benbow was from a separate line of the family that lived in the parish of St Mary, Coton Hill, Shrewsbury. His father had been a burgess of Shrewsbury and had owned a tannery at Coton Hill. This has led to the traditional account of Benbow being a working-class tanner's son who ran away to sea. Whatever his background Benbow apparently attended the free school in Shrewsbury and was later apprenticed to a waterman on the River Severn. He would probably have completed his apprenticeship in about 1673 and then gone to sea.
Early career
Benbow entered the Royal Navy on 30 April 1678, at the probable age of 25. He became master's mate aboard the 64-gun HMS Rupert under the command of Captain Arthur Herbert, whilst she was fitting out at Portsmouth. He sailed with her to the Mediterranean, where Herbert was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral whilst serving under the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, Admiral Sir John Narborough. During this period the English fleet was often in action against the Barbary pirates that were actively preying upon European shipping. The Rupert herself captured an Algerine warship in 1678, which was later commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Tiger Prize. Benbow distinguished himself well in a number of actions, and won Herbert's approval. On Narborough's return to England, Herbert was appointed acting commander-in-chief, and made Benbow master aboard HMS Nonsuch on 15 June 1679. The Nonsuch would remain at Tangiers and off the African coast and had a number of successive captains who would go on to achieve flag rank, including George Rooke, Cloudesley Shovell and Francis Wheler. All were impressed by Benbow, and would afterwards help to advance his career.
The Nonsuch was next in action on 8 August 1681, this time against the Algerine warship, the Golden Horse. She had been engaged by HMS Adventure, under the command of Captain William Booth, and when the Nonsuch arrived on the scene the Golden Horse surrendered. A dispute then arose over the question of the prize money and how it should be shared out, and certain rude witticisms were made amongst the Nonsuch’s crew against those of the Adventure. Benbow repeated some of these, which cast a poor light on Booth's conduct, which eventually came to Booth's knowledge. He brought a court-martial against Benbow, which soon proved the offence true, with the acknowledgement that Benbow had only been repeating these words rather than being their originator. Benbow was ordered to forfeit three months pay, amounting to £12 15s., to the Adventure’s crew, and to ‘ask Captain Booth's pardon on board his Majesty's ship Bristol, declaring that he had no malicious intent in speaking those words; all the commanders being present, and a boat's crew of each ship's company’.[1]
Merchant trading
The Nonsuch then returned to England and was paid off on 9 November 1681. Benbow left the Navy and entered the merchant service, sailing a merchant vessel from London and Bristol to ports in Italy and Spain. By 1686 he was the owner and commander of a frigate named the Benbow, trading with the Levant. In May 1687 he commanded a merchant vessel, the Malaga Merchant, and was aboard her when she was attacked by a Salé pirate. He mounted a successful defence and beat off the rover. It was afterwards claimed that he cut off and salted the heads of thirteen Moors who were slain aboard his ship, and then took them into Cadiz to claim a reward from the magistrates. This is not an improbable story, but later came to be exaggerated with considerable grotesque embellishments.[2] The story is somewhat corroborated by a Moorish skull-cap, made of finely plaited cane and mounted in silver. It bore the inscription ‘The first adventure of Captain John Benbo, and gift to Richard Ridley, 1687’. Ridley was the husband of one of Benbow's sisters, and the skull-cap was still in the possession of his descendants in 1825.
Return to the Navy
Benbow only returned to the Navy after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. His first recorded commission was to the post of third lieutenant of HMS Elizabeth on 1 June 1689, under the command of David Mitchell, another officer destined to become an admiral. His first command came on 20 September of that year, when he was appointed captain of HMS York. He was transferred to HMS Bonaventure on 26 October and then to HMS Britannia on 12 November. His rapid rise through the service may have been due to the efforts of Admiral Herbert, who was increasingly influential in the period, or he may even have been one of those involved in landing William III at Torbay.
Thomas Murray's triple portrait of Thomas Phillips (left), John Benbow (centre) and Sir Ralph Delaval (right). The three had been important figures in British fleet operations against the north coast of France during 1692-93.
Benbow's next post was as master attendant of Chatham Dockyard. He then moved to become master attendant at Deptford in early March 1690, a post he intermittently held for the next six years. He was master of HMS Sovereign in summer 1690, under his old commander Arthur Herbert, now Lord Torrington. He was assigned to act as master of the fleet, and took part in the English defeat in the Battle of Beachy Head. After the defeat, a Royal Commission was held into the circumstances that led to it. Benbow was highly regarded as a specialist in both navigation and pilotage and his evidence given in July 1690 to the preliminary investigation strongly favoured his old patron, Torrington. He did not however testify in the earl's court-martial in December that year.
Benbow continued aboard the Sovereign throughout 1691, and by the summer of 1692, was again master of the fleet, this time under Admiral Edward Russell, then aboard the Britannia. Benbow worked closely with his old colleague David Mitchell, then serving as Russell's first captain, and Josiah Burchett, Russell's clerk. Benbow may have advised Russell to take the Gull Passage inside the Goodwin Sands to the Downs, where they linked up with the Dutch forces. Benbow served as master of the fleet during the Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue. After the battles, Benbow returned to Deptford to resume his duties as master attendant, spending a brief period at Portsmouth Dockyard helping to oversee repairs to the fleet.[3] He had already had his pay upgraded to that of a master attendant, he was now to be paid as a master, in addition to his master attendant's wage, presumably as an acknowledgement of his special services. He was further honoured in May 1692 by being elected an elder brother of Trinity House.
With the bomb flotillas
Benbow returned to active naval service in September 1693, joining Thomas Phillips, the second engineer of the ordnance, in jointly commanding a flotilla of bomb vessels to attack Saint-Malo. Benbow went aboard the 48-gun HMS Norwich and began the bombardment on 16 November. It continued intermittently until 19 November when a large fireship was sent into the harbour. An attempt was made to bring her alongside the town walls, but she ran aground, was set fire to and then exploded. Despite the failure of the initial plan, considerable damage was done, and Benbow's forces were able to take the fort on Quince Rock and disabled it, carrying artillery and prisoners away and bringing them to Guernsey. Benbow was still dissatisfied with the overall result and initiated a court-martial against Captain Henry Tourville of the bomb vessel HMS Mortar, accusing him of cowardice for not bringing his ship in closer. There was no conviction though, as the mortars were proved to be defective.
Benbow's experience led to him being promoted to a similar flotilla, this time to be deployed against Dunkirk under the command of Vice-Admiral Shovell. A number of converted merchant vessels, rigged like fireships but designed to explode rather than burn, were assigned to support the expedition. Benbow had a hand in preparing these vessels for the operation throughout 1694, and worked closely with the principal storekeeper of the ordnance, Willem Meesters. Benbow's attacking fleet was covered by Shovell's fleet on the Downs and the attack was planned for 12 and 13 September. The French were able to block the entrance to the port though, preventing Benbow's squadron from entering, and a storm further disrupted operations. Benbow drew back from Dunkirk, and instead sailed around to Calais, where he took the bomb-ketch HMS Kitchen and carried out a further bombardment on 27 September. He succeeded in destroying several houses, but was again unable to get close, prevented this time by the tide and wind. Benbow returned to the Downs and then resumed his duties at Deptford Dockyard. He spent December organising a convoy for a fleet of merchant vessels due to sail to Cadiz.
Rise to admiral
Benbow was soon at sea again, being appointed commander-in-chief of his majesty's ships then on the coast of France in March 1695. His squadron was highly successful, taking a number of French merchants in early April and bringing them to England as prizes. Benbow was recommended by Lord Berkeley, who had served with Benbow at Saint-Malo, to be promoted to rear-admiral at the next opportunity, and in the meantime he was appointed to the command of the 70-gun HMS Northumberland. He was soon joined by his then fourteen year old son, also named John Benbow, as a volunteer. Benbow then sailed with Berkeley and the Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral Philips van Almonde to Saint-Malo, intending to operate against privateering operations being conducted from the area. Benbow moved to command HMS Charles Galley, to direct the inshore operations of ten English and Dutch warships, nine English bomb vessels, and seventeen small boats and vessels. They began operations on their arrival off Saint-Malo on 4 July, remaining in action until evening the next day when they withdrew, without having achieved any decisive result. Several houses had been destroyed for the damage and loss of a few of the bomb vessels. Benbow was given eight bomb vessels and seven or eight frigates and was dispatched down the coast. He attacked Granville on 8 July, shelling it with over 900 bombs over several hours, and departed having set the town ablaze.
Public and private reception
The outcome of the operations had left Benbow in a tense relationship with his immediate superiors. Berkeley had been accused of excessive timidity in his actions, which it was believed had led to the failure of the attack on Dunkirk. Benbow on the other hand was widely lauded for his fearless inshore attacks with his bomb vessels. Berkeley wrote on 28 July;
As to Captain Benbow, I know of no difference between him and me, nor have we had any. He has no small obligation to me, but being called in some of the foolish printed papers ‘the famous Captain Benbow’, I suppose has put him a little out of himself, and has made him play the fool, as I guess, in some of his letters. I will not farther now particularize this business, but time will show I have not been in the wrong, unless being too kind to an ungrateful man.[4]
However the Admiralty approved of Benbow's conduct and ordered him ‘to be paid as rear-admiral during the time he has been employed this summer on the coast of France … as a reward for his good service’[5] Benbow was then appointed to the grand committee of sixty men to oversee the plans for Greenwich Hospital in December 1695, but the issue dragged on until 1 May 1696. The Admiralty again stepped in and Benbow was appointed commander-in-chief of the squadron before Dunkirk as ‘rear-admiral of the blue for the duration of this present expedition’ and moved aboard the 70-gun HMS Suffolk. His orders were to protect English and Dutch shipping, especially from the squadron of the privateer Jean Bart.[6] Bart was mostly successful in evading pursuit however, usually escaping into Dunkirk when Benbow's force drew near.
Benbow was appointed to command a squadron in the Soundings in December 1696 and raised his flag in HMS Duke. He carried out a number of cruises between March and August 1697, protecting allied trade and escorting the West Indian and Virginian merchant fleets into port. These activities marked the last English naval expedition of the war. He also carried out reconnaissance activities on the French fleet in port in Brest in July, before resuming patrol operations off Dunkirk, this time in concert with a number of Dutch ships under Rear-Admiral Philips van der Goes, until the end of the war in September 1697.
Appointment to the West Indies
Benbow was made commander-in-chief of the king's ships in the West Indies on 9 March 1698 and instructed to tackle the issue of piracy. He sailed in November, the first leg taking him from Portsmouth to Madeira. Sailing under his protection from the Salé pirates was the Paramore, under Edmond Halley, then sailing to the North Atlantic to carry out experiments to observe magnetic variations. Benbow finally reached Barbados in February 1699, and moved to the Spanish Main aboard his flagship, the 60-gun HMS Gloucester. He threatened the governor of Cartagena with a blockade, and so compelled him to restore two English merchant ships that he had detained. These ships had been intended to take part in an expedition against the Scottish Darién scheme. Without the ships, this became impossible and the colonists were saved for the time being. This was counter to the English government's desire to see the end of the Scottish colonising efforts, and in June Benbow and the other West Indies governors received orders ‘not to assist the Scotch colony in Darien’[7] The colony failed soon afterwards.
Benbow made further, largely unsuccessful efforts to persuade the Spanish governors at Porto Bello, or Santo Domingo to return ships they had seized, and an attempt to persuade the governor of St Thomas to surrender some pirates. Cruises as far north as Newfoundland drove the pirates away, but they evaded capture. Benbow returned to England in the summer of 1700, and was appointed to the command of a fleet in the Downs. At this time, Benbow's son, John Benbow was appointed lieutenant aboard HMS Maidstone. Benbow served in the Downs until summer 1701, under the command of Admiral Sir George Rooke. He was promoted to rear-admiral of the red in April, followed by vice-admiral of the blue in July. He then flew his flag in the 70-gun HMS Breda.
The Spanish treasure fleet and return to the West Indies
With the peace becoming increasingly uneasy, the English government became concerned over the possible fate of the Spanish silver fleet, due to arrive in European waters from America. They were worried that the French would seek to intercept the ships, and use the treasure for war preparations. Benbow was issued with secret instructions to find the fleet, and then ‘to seize and bring them to England, taking care that no embezzlement be made’.[8] This action risked war with both France and Spain, but was considered necessary. Benbow's squadron was detached on 2 September and sailed for the West Indies, arriving on 14 November, and was at Jamaica in mid-December. He remained here for the several months, being joined on 8 May 1702 by several vessels under Captain William Whetstone. Whetstone was made rear-admiral under Benbow. By now the War of the Spanish Succession had broken out, and news of its declaration reached Benbow on 7 July. He detached Whetstone and six ships to search off Port St Louis in Hispaniola for a French squadron under Admiral Jean du Casse, which it was believed would call at the port on his voyage to Cartagena, from where he might raid English and Dutch shipping. After Whetstone had left, Benbow took his squadron and sailed for Cartagena, anticipating that either he or Whetstone would find Du Casse and bring him to battle.
By the time Whetstone had reached Hispaniola, Du Casse had already departed. Benbow's force subsequently sighted the French on 19 August, sailing off Cape Santa Marta. The French had four warships, carrying between 68 and 70 guns, and three transports, whilst Benbow commanded seven ships, carrying between 50 and 70 guns. The English forces were heavily scattered, and the light winds meant that they were slow to regroup. They did not achieve a form of collective order until four in the afternoon, after which a partial engagement was fought, lasting about two hours, until nightfall caused the fleets to temporarily break off.
The Action of August 1702
The action quickly revealed a breakdown in discipline amongst Benbow's captains. He had intended that the 64-gun HMS Defiance under Captain Richard Kirkby would lead the line of battle, but Kirkby was not maintaining his station. Benbow decided to take the lead himself, and the Breda pulled ahead, followed by the 50-gun HMS Ruby under George Walton. The two maintained contact with the French throughout the night, but the other five ships refused to close. The chase ensued until 24 August, with only Benbow, Walton and Samuel Vincent aboard HMS Falmouth making active efforts to bring the French to battle. At times they bore the brunt of the fire of the entire squadron. The Ruby was disabled on 23 August, and Benbow ordered her to retire to Port Royal. The French resumed the action at two in the morning on 24 August, the entire squadron closing on the Breda from astern and pounding her. Benbow himself was hit by a chain-shot that broke his leg and he was carried below.
Despite his wounds he was determined to continue the chase. Captain Kirkby then came aboard, and tried to persuade him to abandon the chase. Benbow summoned a council of war, and the other captains agreed, signing a paper drafted by Kirkby that declared that they believed 'that after six days of battle the squadron lacked enough men to continue and that there was little chance of a decisive action, since the men were exhausted, there was a general lack of ammunition, the ships' rigging and masts were badly damaged, and the winds were generally variable and undependable.' They recommended breaking off the action and following the French to see if the situation improved. By now Benbow, "who having seen the cowardly behaviour of some of them before, had reason to believe that they either had a design against him or to be traitors to their country if an opportunity happened that the French could have destroyed the Admiral"[9], ordered the squadron to return to Jamaica. On their arrival he ordered the captains to be imprisoned, awaiting a trial by court-martial.
Benbow received a letter from du Casse after the engagement:[10][11]
Sir,
I had little hopes on Monday last but to have supped in your cabin: but it pleased God to order it otherwise. I am thankful for it. As for those cowardly captains who deserted you, hang them up, for by God they deserve it.
Yours,
Du Casse
Trial of the captains
Acting Rear-Admiral Whetstone soon returned to Port Royal, having spent 62 days cruising off Hispaniola and preparations were made for the trial. Before it could begin, Captain Thomas Hudson, who had commanded HMS Pendennis died. The remaining captains appeared at the court-martial convened on the Breda and held between 19 and 23 October. Due to his injuries, Benbow passed the role of presiding over the court to Whetstone, but was present at the trial. The court found Richard Kirkby of the Defiance and Cooper Wade of the Greenwich guilty of breach of orders, neglect of duty, and for the ‘ill signed paper and consultation … which obliged the Admiral … to give over the chase and fight’, and condemned them to be shot to death.[12] John Constable, of HMS Windsor was found guilty of breach of orders and drunkenness and was cashiered. Samuel Vincent of the Falmouth and Christopher Fogg of the Breda were initially sentenced to be cashiered for signing the six captains' resolution, but Benbow personally declared that they had fought bravely and their sentences were remitted by the Lord High Admiral. The sentences were deferred so that Queen Anne could have a chance to examine the proceedings. After her consideration in January 1703, she allowed the sentences to proceed and Constable, Kirkby, and Wade were returned to England as prisoners. Constable was imprisoned until 1704, when the Queen pardoned him. Kirkby and Wade were shot aboard HMS Bristol on 16 April 1703 whilst she was anchored in Plymouth Sound under Captain Edward Acton.
Death and burial
Benbow died at Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica on 15 November 1702. Whetstone reported that the cause of death was
the wound of his leg which he received in battle with Monsieur Du Casse, it never being set to perfection, which malady being aggravated by the discontent of his mind, threw him into a sort of melancholy which ended his life as before.[13]
He was buried on 16 November in the chancel of St Andrew's Church, Kingston. A marble slab was later laid over the grave, emblazoned with a coat of arms and inscribed:
Here lyeth the Body of John Benbow, Esq., Admiral of the White, a true pattern of English Courage, who lost his life in Defence of his Queene & Country, November the 4th, 1702, In the 52nd year of his age, by a wound in his Legg. Received in an Engagement with Monsr. Du Casse; being Much Lamented.
Before news of his death had reached London, the secretary of state, Lord Nottingham, wrote to Benbow in January 1703 to inform him that the queen was ‘
extremely well pleased with your conduct and much offended with the baseness of those officers who deserted and betrayed you’[14]
Meanwhile the cabinet was preparing to promote him to vice-admiral of the white, and to dispatch him to transport troops to Newfoundland.
Family and personal life
Benbow seems to have married a woman named Martha (d. 1722) after his return to England in 1681, and the marriage soon produced a child. The family lived in the parish of St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, and had another son Solomon. He was baptised in 1686 but died in infancy.
His will provided for his wife and five surviving children, named as: John, William, Richard, Martha, and Katherine. His wealth was not inconsiderable, intended as it was to provide an annuity of £70 for his wife from a £2500 mortgage he held on a property named Greenlands in Hambleton, Buckinghamshire, and he intended for a minimum of £1000 to be given to each of his children when they reached the age of twenty-one, with a surplus being divided equally among his sons. His widow also applied for and received an annual pension of £200 until her death at Deptford in December 1722. His son, John Benbow served in the navy until about 1700, entered the merchant service and was shipwrecked, eventually dying in England in 1708 without children. He was buried in the Benbow family tomb in St Nicholas's, Deptford Green. William Benbow was born in 1690, became clerk of storekeeper's accounts at the Navy Office from June 1711 to December 1723 and died without children in either 1728 or 1729. The youngest son, Richard Benbow was probably born in 1696 and married in 1714. The daughters Martha and Katherine married and moved away after their mother's death.
[edit] Unruly behaviour, outdone by Peter the Great
Benbow signed a three-year lease on a house belonging to the diarist John Evelyn, Sayes Court, in June 1696. He was apparently an unruly tenant, for six months later Evelyn wrote to a friend complaining
‘I have let my house to Captain Benbow, and have the mortification of seeing everyday much of my former labours and expenses there impairing for want of a more polite tenant’[15]
Worse was to come for the unfortunate Evelyn, when in January 1698, Tsar Peter of Russia arrived in London to study British shipbuilding and seamanship. He and his entourage were provided with Sayes Court to reside in during their stay by William III. The Russians spent three months in London before leaving to tour the country. Benbow promptly asked for reparations from the Treasury, in order to be able to reimburse Evelyn and recover his own losses. He complained that the Russians had caused considerable damage to his house, with ‘much of the furniture broke, lost or destroyed’. Christopher Wren was instructed to survey the property and declared it ‘entirely ruined’. Benbow lost ‘twenty fine paintings’ and ‘several fine draughts and other designs relating to the Sea’ from his personal property. The Treasury eventually allowed payment of £350 9s. 6d. in compensation.[16]
[edit] 'Brave Benbow'
A gory engraving produced in 1804, that helped to promote the legend of the event. Entitled 'The gallant Benbow defeating the French Squadron', it shows Benbow's leg as having been completely shot away. Underneath another hand has written 'Benbow gives chase to de Grasse,' confusing not only the outcome of the engagement, but the French commander Du Casse with the later naval commander, François Joseph Paul de Grasse
A gory engraving produced in 1804, that helped to promote the legend of the event. Entitled 'The gallant Benbow defeating the French Squadron', it shows Benbow's leg as having been completely shot away. Underneath another hand has written 'Benbow gives chase to de Grasse,' confusing not only the outcome of the engagement, but the French commander Du Casse with the later naval commander, François Joseph Paul de Grasse
Controversy slowly began to develop over the events of the engagement. Supporters of the disgraced Kirkby and Wade sought to discredit Benbow by publishing their own account of the action. Later scholars and historians criticised his inability to deal with subordinates, whilst others praised his courage and tactical ability. A monument by the sculptor John Evan Thomas was erected in 1843 by public subscription in St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury, commemorating
a skillful and daring seaman whose heroic exploits long rendered him the boast of the British Navy and still point him out as the Nelson of his times
Benbow's story struck a chord with the population at large, and the legend of 'Brave Benbow' was immortalised in print and song. Tennyson wrote the poem ‘The Captain’ about the Admiral, and a 74-gun ship of the line and two battleships were named HMS Benbow. Robert Louis Stevenson named the tavern where Jim Hawkins and his mother live in his romantic adventure novel Treasure Island the 'Admiral Benbow', and evocatively title the second chapter ‘The Old Sea Dog at the Admiral Benbow’. There are a number of real life Admiral Benbow pubs around the world, and other institutions have borne his name.
The incident took hold on the popular imagination, and was celebrated in an alehouse song:
Says Kirby unto Wade: "We will run; we will run,"
Says Kirby unto Wade: "We will run.
For I value no disgrace, nor the losing of my place,
But the enemy I won't face, nor his gun, nor his gun."
Brave Benbow lost his legs by chain-shot, by chain-shot,
Brave Benbow lost his legs by chain-shot.
Brave Benbow lost his legs, but on his stumps he begs,
"Fight on my English lads, 'tis our lot, 'tis our lot."
While the surgeon dressed his wounds, thus he said, thus he said,
While the surgeon dressed his wounds, thus he said:
"Let my cradle now in haste
on the quarter deck be placed,
That mine enemies I may face till I'm dead, till I'm dead.[17]
[edit] References
1. ^ (minutes of the court martial, 20 April 1681, TNA: PRO, ADM 1/5253)
2. ^ J. Campbell, Lives of the British Admirals, 4 vols., 1779, 3.335
3. ^ Merriman, 37
4. ^ CSP dom., 1695, 5
5. ^ Admiralty minutes, 12 Sept 1695, TNA: PRO, ADM 3/12
6. ^ Admiralty minutes, 15 May and 29 July 1696, TNA: PRO, ADM 3/12; Japikse, 1.1.189
7. ^ Admiralty minutes, 21 June 1699, TNA: PRO, ADM 3/13
8. ^ Japikse, 2.3.477–9
9. ^ Benbow's deposition, court martial proceedings, TNA: PRO, ADM 1/5263
10. ^ "Information on Breda (70) (1692)". Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
11. ^ "Chapter 12: Queen Anne", How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
12. ^ court martial report, TNA: PRO, ADM 1/5263
13. ^ Whetstone to Burchett, TNA: PRO, ADM 1/2641
14. ^ 23 Jan 1703, TNA: PRO, SP 44/209
15. ^ letter to Dr Bohun, 18 Jan 1697; Diary and Correspondence, 1 June 1696 and 18 Jan 1697
16. ^ Calendar of Treasury Books, 1697–1702, 158–9
17. ^ Trevelyan, G. M. England Under Queen Anne: Blenheim. Longmans, Green and co., (1948).
He became a merchant seaman then joined the Royal Navy and rose rapidly to high command; he took part in several attacks against the French at St Malmo and Dunkirk. Admiral Benbow battled with Du Casses in the West Indies and later succumbed to his wounds on November 4th 1702, at Port Royal, he was buried at Kingston.
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John Benbow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1653? – November 4, 1702
John Benbow, by Sir Godfrey Kneller
Nickname 'Brave Benbow'
Place of birth Shropshire
Place of death Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica
Allegiance Kingdom of England
Service/branch Royal Navy
Years of service 1678 – 1702
Rank Admiral
Commands held HMS York
HMS Bonaventure
HMS Britannia
HMS Sovereign
HMS Norwich
HMS Northumberland
HMS Charles Galley
HMS Suffolk
HMS Duke
HMS Gloucester
HMS Breda
Battles/wars Battle of Beachy Head
Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue
Action of August 1702
John Benbow (1653? – November 4, 1702) was an officer in the Royal Navy, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral. He achieved fame serving in the West Indies against the French during the War of the Spanish Succession, but was later involved in a notorious incident when commanding a squadron of ships in battle, when a number of his captains refused to support him. He became a popular figure, much celebrated in song, but despite his renown, many details of his life are obscure, leading to considerable debate.
Family and early years
John was born the son of William and Martha Benbow. The astrologer John Partridge recorded the exact time and date of his birth as being at noon on 10 March 1653, but no supporting documentary evidence survives, and the inscription on his tomb states that he was 52 on his death in 1702, suggesting he was born three years earlier than Partridge states, in 1650.
His parentage is also debated, as documentation is again lacking. Two prevailing theories exist, but elements of which are sometimes confused with each other. One claims that he was born into a family in Newport, Shropshire, which included amongst its relations another John Benbow who had been a deputy clerk in chancery who had been granted arms in 1584, and a John Benbow who had been a captain in the parliamentary army during the English Civil War. He had changed his allegiance and joined the Royalists, perhaps rising to the rank of colonel. He was captured at the battle of Worcester, tried at court martial as a traitor, and was then executed in the cabbage patch under the walls of Shrewsbury Castle. This would have linked Admiral Benbow with the landed gentry. The other theory contends that Benbow was from a separate line of the family that lived in the parish of St Mary, Coton Hill, Shrewsbury. His father had been a burgess of Shrewsbury and had owned a tannery at Coton Hill. This has led to the traditional account of Benbow being a working-class tanner's son who ran away to sea. Whatever his background Benbow apparently attended the free school in Shrewsbury and was later apprenticed to a waterman on the River Severn. He would probably have completed his apprenticeship in about 1673 and then gone to sea.
Early career
Benbow entered the Royal Navy on 30 April 1678, at the probable age of 25. He became master's mate aboard the 64-gun HMS Rupert under the command of Captain Arthur Herbert, whilst she was fitting out at Portsmouth. He sailed with her to the Mediterranean, where Herbert was promoted to the rank of vice-admiral whilst serving under the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, Admiral Sir John Narborough. During this period the English fleet was often in action against the Barbary pirates that were actively preying upon European shipping. The Rupert herself captured an Algerine warship in 1678, which was later commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Tiger Prize. Benbow distinguished himself well in a number of actions, and won Herbert's approval. On Narborough's return to England, Herbert was appointed acting commander-in-chief, and made Benbow master aboard HMS Nonsuch on 15 June 1679. The Nonsuch would remain at Tangiers and off the African coast and had a number of successive captains who would go on to achieve flag rank, including George Rooke, Cloudesley Shovell and Francis Wheler. All were impressed by Benbow, and would afterwards help to advance his career.
The Nonsuch was next in action on 8 August 1681, this time against the Algerine warship, the Golden Horse. She had been engaged by HMS Adventure, under the command of Captain William Booth, and when the Nonsuch arrived on the scene the Golden Horse surrendered. A dispute then arose over the question of the prize money and how it should be shared out, and certain rude witticisms were made amongst the Nonsuch’s crew against those of the Adventure. Benbow repeated some of these, which cast a poor light on Booth's conduct, which eventually came to Booth's knowledge. He brought a court-martial against Benbow, which soon proved the offence true, with the acknowledgement that Benbow had only been repeating these words rather than being their originator. Benbow was ordered to forfeit three months pay, amounting to £12 15s., to the Adventure’s crew, and to ‘ask Captain Booth's pardon on board his Majesty's ship Bristol, declaring that he had no malicious intent in speaking those words; all the commanders being present, and a boat's crew of each ship's company’.[1]
Merchant trading
The Nonsuch then returned to England and was paid off on 9 November 1681. Benbow left the Navy and entered the merchant service, sailing a merchant vessel from London and Bristol to ports in Italy and Spain. By 1686 he was the owner and commander of a frigate named the Benbow, trading with the Levant. In May 1687 he commanded a merchant vessel, the Malaga Merchant, and was aboard her when she was attacked by a Salé pirate. He mounted a successful defence and beat off the rover. It was afterwards claimed that he cut off and salted the heads of thirteen Moors who were slain aboard his ship, and then took them into Cadiz to claim a reward from the magistrates. This is not an improbable story, but later came to be exaggerated with considerable grotesque embellishments.[2] The story is somewhat corroborated by a Moorish skull-cap, made of finely plaited cane and mounted in silver. It bore the inscription ‘The first adventure of Captain John Benbo, and gift to Richard Ridley, 1687’. Ridley was the husband of one of Benbow's sisters, and the skull-cap was still in the possession of his descendants in 1825.
Return to the Navy
Benbow only returned to the Navy after the Glorious Revolution in 1688. His first recorded commission was to the post of third lieutenant of HMS Elizabeth on 1 June 1689, under the command of David Mitchell, another officer destined to become an admiral. His first command came on 20 September of that year, when he was appointed captain of HMS York. He was transferred to HMS Bonaventure on 26 October and then to HMS Britannia on 12 November. His rapid rise through the service may have been due to the efforts of Admiral Herbert, who was increasingly influential in the period, or he may even have been one of those involved in landing William III at Torbay.
Thomas Murray's triple portrait of Thomas Phillips (left), John Benbow (centre) and Sir Ralph Delaval (right). The three had been important figures in British fleet operations against the north coast of France during 1692-93.
Benbow's next post was as master attendant of Chatham Dockyard. He then moved to become master attendant at Deptford in early March 1690, a post he intermittently held for the next six years. He was master of HMS Sovereign in summer 1690, under his old commander Arthur Herbert, now Lord Torrington. He was assigned to act as master of the fleet, and took part in the English defeat in the Battle of Beachy Head. After the defeat, a Royal Commission was held into the circumstances that led to it. Benbow was highly regarded as a specialist in both navigation and pilotage and his evidence given in July 1690 to the preliminary investigation strongly favoured his old patron, Torrington. He did not however testify in the earl's court-martial in December that year.
Benbow continued aboard the Sovereign throughout 1691, and by the summer of 1692, was again master of the fleet, this time under Admiral Edward Russell, then aboard the Britannia. Benbow worked closely with his old colleague David Mitchell, then serving as Russell's first captain, and Josiah Burchett, Russell's clerk. Benbow may have advised Russell to take the Gull Passage inside the Goodwin Sands to the Downs, where they linked up with the Dutch forces. Benbow served as master of the fleet during the Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue. After the battles, Benbow returned to Deptford to resume his duties as master attendant, spending a brief period at Portsmouth Dockyard helping to oversee repairs to the fleet.[3] He had already had his pay upgraded to that of a master attendant, he was now to be paid as a master, in addition to his master attendant's wage, presumably as an acknowledgement of his special services. He was further honoured in May 1692 by being elected an elder brother of Trinity House.
With the bomb flotillas
Benbow returned to active naval service in September 1693, joining Thomas Phillips, the second engineer of the ordnance, in jointly commanding a flotilla of bomb vessels to attack Saint-Malo. Benbow went aboard the 48-gun HMS Norwich and began the bombardment on 16 November. It continued intermittently until 19 November when a large fireship was sent into the harbour. An attempt was made to bring her alongside the town walls, but she ran aground, was set fire to and then exploded. Despite the failure of the initial plan, considerable damage was done, and Benbow's forces were able to take the fort on Quince Rock and disabled it, carrying artillery and prisoners away and bringing them to Guernsey. Benbow was still dissatisfied with the overall result and initiated a court-martial against Captain Henry Tourville of the bomb vessel HMS Mortar, accusing him of cowardice for not bringing his ship in closer. There was no conviction though, as the mortars were proved to be defective.
Benbow's experience led to him being promoted to a similar flotilla, this time to be deployed against Dunkirk under the command of Vice-Admiral Shovell. A number of converted merchant vessels, rigged like fireships but designed to explode rather than burn, were assigned to support the expedition. Benbow had a hand in preparing these vessels for the operation throughout 1694, and worked closely with the principal storekeeper of the ordnance, Willem Meesters. Benbow's attacking fleet was covered by Shovell's fleet on the Downs and the attack was planned for 12 and 13 September. The French were able to block the entrance to the port though, preventing Benbow's squadron from entering, and a storm further disrupted operations. Benbow drew back from Dunkirk, and instead sailed around to Calais, where he took the bomb-ketch HMS Kitchen and carried out a further bombardment on 27 September. He succeeded in destroying several houses, but was again unable to get close, prevented this time by the tide and wind. Benbow returned to the Downs and then resumed his duties at Deptford Dockyard. He spent December organising a convoy for a fleet of merchant vessels due to sail to Cadiz.
Rise to admiral
Benbow was soon at sea again, being appointed commander-in-chief of his majesty's ships then on the coast of France in March 1695. His squadron was highly successful, taking a number of French merchants in early April and bringing them to England as prizes. Benbow was recommended by Lord Berkeley, who had served with Benbow at Saint-Malo, to be promoted to rear-admiral at the next opportunity, and in the meantime he was appointed to the command of the 70-gun HMS Northumberland. He was soon joined by his then fourteen year old son, also named John Benbow, as a volunteer. Benbow then sailed with Berkeley and the Dutch Lieutenant-Admiral Philips van Almonde to Saint-Malo, intending to operate against privateering operations being conducted from the area. Benbow moved to command HMS Charles Galley, to direct the inshore operations of ten English and Dutch warships, nine English bomb vessels, and seventeen small boats and vessels. They began operations on their arrival off Saint-Malo on 4 July, remaining in action until evening the next day when they withdrew, without having achieved any decisive result. Several houses had been destroyed for the damage and loss of a few of the bomb vessels. Benbow was given eight bomb vessels and seven or eight frigates and was dispatched down the coast. He attacked Granville on 8 July, shelling it with over 900 bombs over several hours, and departed having set the town ablaze.
Public and private reception
The outcome of the operations had left Benbow in a tense relationship with his immediate superiors. Berkeley had been accused of excessive timidity in his actions, which it was believed had led to the failure of the attack on Dunkirk. Benbow on the other hand was widely lauded for his fearless inshore attacks with his bomb vessels. Berkeley wrote on 28 July;
As to Captain Benbow, I know of no difference between him and me, nor have we had any. He has no small obligation to me, but being called in some of the foolish printed papers ‘the famous Captain Benbow’, I suppose has put him a little out of himself, and has made him play the fool, as I guess, in some of his letters. I will not farther now particularize this business, but time will show I have not been in the wrong, unless being too kind to an ungrateful man.[4]
However the Admiralty approved of Benbow's conduct and ordered him ‘to be paid as rear-admiral during the time he has been employed this summer on the coast of France … as a reward for his good service’[5] Benbow was then appointed to the grand committee of sixty men to oversee the plans for Greenwich Hospital in December 1695, but the issue dragged on until 1 May 1696. The Admiralty again stepped in and Benbow was appointed commander-in-chief of the squadron before Dunkirk as ‘rear-admiral of the blue for the duration of this present expedition’ and moved aboard the 70-gun HMS Suffolk. His orders were to protect English and Dutch shipping, especially from the squadron of the privateer Jean Bart.[6] Bart was mostly successful in evading pursuit however, usually escaping into Dunkirk when Benbow's force drew near.
Benbow was appointed to command a squadron in the Soundings in December 1696 and raised his flag in HMS Duke. He carried out a number of cruises between March and August 1697, protecting allied trade and escorting the West Indian and Virginian merchant fleets into port. These activities marked the last English naval expedition of the war. He also carried out reconnaissance activities on the French fleet in port in Brest in July, before resuming patrol operations off Dunkirk, this time in concert with a number of Dutch ships under Rear-Admiral Philips van der Goes, until the end of the war in September 1697.
Appointment to the West Indies
Benbow was made commander-in-chief of the king's ships in the West Indies on 9 March 1698 and instructed to tackle the issue of piracy. He sailed in November, the first leg taking him from Portsmouth to Madeira. Sailing under his protection from the Salé pirates was the Paramore, under Edmond Halley, then sailing to the North Atlantic to carry out experiments to observe magnetic variations. Benbow finally reached Barbados in February 1699, and moved to the Spanish Main aboard his flagship, the 60-gun HMS Gloucester. He threatened the governor of Cartagena with a blockade, and so compelled him to restore two English merchant ships that he had detained. These ships had been intended to take part in an expedition against the Scottish Darién scheme. Without the ships, this became impossible and the colonists were saved for the time being. This was counter to the English government's desire to see the end of the Scottish colonising efforts, and in June Benbow and the other West Indies governors received orders ‘not to assist the Scotch colony in Darien’[7] The colony failed soon afterwards.
Benbow made further, largely unsuccessful efforts to persuade the Spanish governors at Porto Bello, or Santo Domingo to return ships they had seized, and an attempt to persuade the governor of St Thomas to surrender some pirates. Cruises as far north as Newfoundland drove the pirates away, but they evaded capture. Benbow returned to England in the summer of 1700, and was appointed to the command of a fleet in the Downs. At this time, Benbow's son, John Benbow was appointed lieutenant aboard HMS Maidstone. Benbow served in the Downs until summer 1701, under the command of Admiral Sir George Rooke. He was promoted to rear-admiral of the red in April, followed by vice-admiral of the blue in July. He then flew his flag in the 70-gun HMS Breda.
The Spanish treasure fleet and return to the West Indies
With the peace becoming increasingly uneasy, the English government became concerned over the possible fate of the Spanish silver fleet, due to arrive in European waters from America. They were worried that the French would seek to intercept the ships, and use the treasure for war preparations. Benbow was issued with secret instructions to find the fleet, and then ‘to seize and bring them to England, taking care that no embezzlement be made’.[8] This action risked war with both France and Spain, but was considered necessary. Benbow's squadron was detached on 2 September and sailed for the West Indies, arriving on 14 November, and was at Jamaica in mid-December. He remained here for the several months, being joined on 8 May 1702 by several vessels under Captain William Whetstone. Whetstone was made rear-admiral under Benbow. By now the War of the Spanish Succession had broken out, and news of its declaration reached Benbow on 7 July. He detached Whetstone and six ships to search off Port St Louis in Hispaniola for a French squadron under Admiral Jean du Casse, which it was believed would call at the port on his voyage to Cartagena, from where he might raid English and Dutch shipping. After Whetstone had left, Benbow took his squadron and sailed for Cartagena, anticipating that either he or Whetstone would find Du Casse and bring him to battle.
By the time Whetstone had reached Hispaniola, Du Casse had already departed. Benbow's force subsequently sighted the French on 19 August, sailing off Cape Santa Marta. The French had four warships, carrying between 68 and 70 guns, and three transports, whilst Benbow commanded seven ships, carrying between 50 and 70 guns. The English forces were heavily scattered, and the light winds meant that they were slow to regroup. They did not achieve a form of collective order until four in the afternoon, after which a partial engagement was fought, lasting about two hours, until nightfall caused the fleets to temporarily break off.
The Action of August 1702
The action quickly revealed a breakdown in discipline amongst Benbow's captains. He had intended that the 64-gun HMS Defiance under Captain Richard Kirkby would lead the line of battle, but Kirkby was not maintaining his station. Benbow decided to take the lead himself, and the Breda pulled ahead, followed by the 50-gun HMS Ruby under George Walton. The two maintained contact with the French throughout the night, but the other five ships refused to close. The chase ensued until 24 August, with only Benbow, Walton and Samuel Vincent aboard HMS Falmouth making active efforts to bring the French to battle. At times they bore the brunt of the fire of the entire squadron. The Ruby was disabled on 23 August, and Benbow ordered her to retire to Port Royal. The French resumed the action at two in the morning on 24 August, the entire squadron closing on the Breda from astern and pounding her. Benbow himself was hit by a chain-shot that broke his leg and he was carried below.
Despite his wounds he was determined to continue the chase. Captain Kirkby then came aboard, and tried to persuade him to abandon the chase. Benbow summoned a council of war, and the other captains agreed, signing a paper drafted by Kirkby that declared that they believed 'that after six days of battle the squadron lacked enough men to continue and that there was little chance of a decisive action, since the men were exhausted, there was a general lack of ammunition, the ships' rigging and masts were badly damaged, and the winds were generally variable and undependable.' They recommended breaking off the action and following the French to see if the situation improved. By now Benbow, "who having seen the cowardly behaviour of some of them before, had reason to believe that they either had a design against him or to be traitors to their country if an opportunity happened that the French could have destroyed the Admiral"[9], ordered the squadron to return to Jamaica. On their arrival he ordered the captains to be imprisoned, awaiting a trial by court-martial.
Benbow received a letter from du Casse after the engagement:[10][11]
Sir,
I had little hopes on Monday last but to have supped in your cabin: but it pleased God to order it otherwise. I am thankful for it. As for those cowardly captains who deserted you, hang them up, for by God they deserve it.
Yours,
Du Casse
Trial of the captains
Acting Rear-Admiral Whetstone soon returned to Port Royal, having spent 62 days cruising off Hispaniola and preparations were made for the trial. Before it could begin, Captain Thomas Hudson, who had commanded HMS Pendennis died. The remaining captains appeared at the court-martial convened on the Breda and held between 19 and 23 October. Due to his injuries, Benbow passed the role of presiding over the court to Whetstone, but was present at the trial. The court found Richard Kirkby of the Defiance and Cooper Wade of the Greenwich guilty of breach of orders, neglect of duty, and for the ‘ill signed paper and consultation … which obliged the Admiral … to give over the chase and fight’, and condemned them to be shot to death.[12] John Constable, of HMS Windsor was found guilty of breach of orders and drunkenness and was cashiered. Samuel Vincent of the Falmouth and Christopher Fogg of the Breda were initially sentenced to be cashiered for signing the six captains' resolution, but Benbow personally declared that they had fought bravely and their sentences were remitted by the Lord High Admiral. The sentences were deferred so that Queen Anne could have a chance to examine the proceedings. After her consideration in January 1703, she allowed the sentences to proceed and Constable, Kirkby, and Wade were returned to England as prisoners. Constable was imprisoned until 1704, when the Queen pardoned him. Kirkby and Wade were shot aboard HMS Bristol on 16 April 1703 whilst she was anchored in Plymouth Sound under Captain Edward Acton.
Death and burial
Benbow died at Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica on 15 November 1702. Whetstone reported that the cause of death was
the wound of his leg which he received in battle with Monsieur Du Casse, it never being set to perfection, which malady being aggravated by the discontent of his mind, threw him into a sort of melancholy which ended his life as before.[13]
He was buried on 16 November in the chancel of St Andrew's Church, Kingston. A marble slab was later laid over the grave, emblazoned with a coat of arms and inscribed:
Here lyeth the Body of John Benbow, Esq., Admiral of the White, a true pattern of English Courage, who lost his life in Defence of his Queene & Country, November the 4th, 1702, In the 52nd year of his age, by a wound in his Legg. Received in an Engagement with Monsr. Du Casse; being Much Lamented.
Before news of his death had reached London, the secretary of state, Lord Nottingham, wrote to Benbow in January 1703 to inform him that the queen was ‘
extremely well pleased with your conduct and much offended with the baseness of those officers who deserted and betrayed you’[14]
Meanwhile the cabinet was preparing to promote him to vice-admiral of the white, and to dispatch him to transport troops to Newfoundland.
Family and personal life
Benbow seems to have married a woman named Martha (d. 1722) after his return to England in 1681, and the marriage soon produced a child. The family lived in the parish of St Dunstan and All Saints, Stepney, and had another son Solomon. He was baptised in 1686 but died in infancy.
His will provided for his wife and five surviving children, named as: John, William, Richard, Martha, and Katherine. His wealth was not inconsiderable, intended as it was to provide an annuity of £70 for his wife from a £2500 mortgage he held on a property named Greenlands in Hambleton, Buckinghamshire, and he intended for a minimum of £1000 to be given to each of his children when they reached the age of twenty-one, with a surplus being divided equally among his sons. His widow also applied for and received an annual pension of £200 until her death at Deptford in December 1722. His son, John Benbow served in the navy until about 1700, entered the merchant service and was shipwrecked, eventually dying in England in 1708 without children. He was buried in the Benbow family tomb in St Nicholas's, Deptford Green. William Benbow was born in 1690, became clerk of storekeeper's accounts at the Navy Office from June 1711 to December 1723 and died without children in either 1728 or 1729. The youngest son, Richard Benbow was probably born in 1696 and married in 1714. The daughters Martha and Katherine married and moved away after their mother's death.
[edit] Unruly behaviour, outdone by Peter the Great
Benbow signed a three-year lease on a house belonging to the diarist John Evelyn, Sayes Court, in June 1696. He was apparently an unruly tenant, for six months later Evelyn wrote to a friend complaining
‘I have let my house to Captain Benbow, and have the mortification of seeing everyday much of my former labours and expenses there impairing for want of a more polite tenant’[15]
Worse was to come for the unfortunate Evelyn, when in January 1698, Tsar Peter of Russia arrived in London to study British shipbuilding and seamanship. He and his entourage were provided with Sayes Court to reside in during their stay by William III. The Russians spent three months in London before leaving to tour the country. Benbow promptly asked for reparations from the Treasury, in order to be able to reimburse Evelyn and recover his own losses. He complained that the Russians had caused considerable damage to his house, with ‘much of the furniture broke, lost or destroyed’. Christopher Wren was instructed to survey the property and declared it ‘entirely ruined’. Benbow lost ‘twenty fine paintings’ and ‘several fine draughts and other designs relating to the Sea’ from his personal property. The Treasury eventually allowed payment of £350 9s. 6d. in compensation.[16]
[edit] 'Brave Benbow'
A gory engraving produced in 1804, that helped to promote the legend of the event. Entitled 'The gallant Benbow defeating the French Squadron', it shows Benbow's leg as having been completely shot away. Underneath another hand has written 'Benbow gives chase to de Grasse,' confusing not only the outcome of the engagement, but the French commander Du Casse with the later naval commander, François Joseph Paul de Grasse
A gory engraving produced in 1804, that helped to promote the legend of the event. Entitled 'The gallant Benbow defeating the French Squadron', it shows Benbow's leg as having been completely shot away. Underneath another hand has written 'Benbow gives chase to de Grasse,' confusing not only the outcome of the engagement, but the French commander Du Casse with the later naval commander, François Joseph Paul de Grasse
Controversy slowly began to develop over the events of the engagement. Supporters of the disgraced Kirkby and Wade sought to discredit Benbow by publishing their own account of the action. Later scholars and historians criticised his inability to deal with subordinates, whilst others praised his courage and tactical ability. A monument by the sculptor John Evan Thomas was erected in 1843 by public subscription in St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury, commemorating
a skillful and daring seaman whose heroic exploits long rendered him the boast of the British Navy and still point him out as the Nelson of his times
Benbow's story struck a chord with the population at large, and the legend of 'Brave Benbow' was immortalised in print and song. Tennyson wrote the poem ‘The Captain’ about the Admiral, and a 74-gun ship of the line and two battleships were named HMS Benbow. Robert Louis Stevenson named the tavern where Jim Hawkins and his mother live in his romantic adventure novel Treasure Island the 'Admiral Benbow', and evocatively title the second chapter ‘The Old Sea Dog at the Admiral Benbow’. There are a number of real life Admiral Benbow pubs around the world, and other institutions have borne his name.
The incident took hold on the popular imagination, and was celebrated in an alehouse song:
Says Kirby unto Wade: "We will run; we will run,"
Says Kirby unto Wade: "We will run.
For I value no disgrace, nor the losing of my place,
But the enemy I won't face, nor his gun, nor his gun."
Brave Benbow lost his legs by chain-shot, by chain-shot,
Brave Benbow lost his legs by chain-shot.
Brave Benbow lost his legs, but on his stumps he begs,
"Fight on my English lads, 'tis our lot, 'tis our lot."
While the surgeon dressed his wounds, thus he said, thus he said,
While the surgeon dressed his wounds, thus he said:
"Let my cradle now in haste
on the quarter deck be placed,
That mine enemies I may face till I'm dead, till I'm dead.[17]
[edit] References
1. ^ (minutes of the court martial, 20 April 1681, TNA: PRO, ADM 1/5253)
2. ^ J. Campbell, Lives of the British Admirals, 4 vols., 1779, 3.335
3. ^ Merriman, 37
4. ^ CSP dom., 1695, 5
5. ^ Admiralty minutes, 12 Sept 1695, TNA: PRO, ADM 3/12
6. ^ Admiralty minutes, 15 May and 29 July 1696, TNA: PRO, ADM 3/12; Japikse, 1.1.189
7. ^ Admiralty minutes, 21 June 1699, TNA: PRO, ADM 3/13
8. ^ Japikse, 2.3.477–9
9. ^ Benbow's deposition, court martial proceedings, TNA: PRO, ADM 1/5263
10. ^ "Information on Breda (70) (1692)". Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
11. ^ "Chapter 12: Queen Anne", How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
12. ^ court martial report, TNA: PRO, ADM 1/5263
13. ^ Whetstone to Burchett, TNA: PRO, ADM 1/2641
14. ^ 23 Jan 1703, TNA: PRO, SP 44/209
15. ^ letter to Dr Bohun, 18 Jan 1697; Diary and Correspondence, 1 June 1696 and 18 Jan 1697
16. ^ Calendar of Treasury Books, 1697–1702, 158–9
17. ^ Trevelyan, G. M. England Under Queen Anne: Blenheim. Longmans, Green and co., (1948).
Events
| Birth | 1653 | Shropshire, England | |||
| Marriage | 1681 | Martha | |||
| Death | 4 Nov 1702 | Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica | |||
| Burial | St Andrew's Church, Kingston, Jamaica |
Families
| Spouse | Martha ( - 1722) |
| Child | John BENBOW ( - 1708) |
| Child | Solomon BENBOW (1686 - ) |
| Child | William BENBOW (1690 - 1728) |
| Child | Richard BENBOW (1696 - ) |
| Child | Living |
| Child | Living |
| Father | William BENBOW (1594 - ) |
| Mother | Living |
| Sibling | William BENBOW (1615 - 1668) |
| Sibling | Prestwood BENBOWE (1644 - 1705) |
| Sibling | Richard BENBOW (1645 - ) |
| Sibling | Elinor BENBOW (1646 - ) |