OF THE LATE

CAPTAIN CHARLES LYDIARD,

OF THE ROYAL NAVY.

"Si quis id ageret, ut qualis haberi vellet, talis esset."

CICERO DE Off.

HATEVER is presented to the public on a subject con

nected with our nautical concerns, cannot fail to be interesting. The proud pre-eminence to which our navy has now attained, deservedly ranks it with our first considerations: our very existence depends upon its welfare; and while the spirit and 'heroism which actuate its members shall continue, we can have nothing to fear from the united power of our enemies. Under the impression of such sentiments, we anticipate a favourable reception to some account of the life and services of the late gallant and unfortunate Captain Lydiard, who was wrecked in the Anson frigate, and drowned on the Cornish coast, during the tremendous storm on Tuesday the 29th of December, 1807.

In enumerating the various, services of this lamented character, we shall not dwell upon those in which he distinguished himself as a junior officer; it will be sufficient to say, that from his entrance into the service, his conduct shed a lustre on his name, which, while it obtained for him the respect and approbation of his superior officers, endeared him to the hearts of his companions in the path of glory.

Young Lydiard entered the royal navy as a midshipman, in the year 1780, in the flag-ship of Admiral Darby, who then commanded the Channel fleet, and from that time served as a midshipman under several commanders, on various stations, both abroad and at home, during thirteen years. In that long period of his servitude, and during the hardships and privations which he was subjected to, his great consolation invariably arose from the reflection, that he had discharged his duties to the satisfaction of his superior officers, whose esteem and best wishes he had always the happiness to obtain. Indeed, Nav. Chron. Wol.XIX.

his attention to the most minute duties he was called upon to per form, while it afforded to his mind the best and sweetest reward, insensibly enabled him to acquire a superior skill in his pro... fession.

During the two last months of the above mentioned period he did duty at the well-known outpost of Toulon, Fort Mulgrave, together with young Macnamara, a deserving, gallant, but unfor tunate officer, who was blown up in the Ardent man of war, in the Mediterranean, in 1794. They entered the service toge 'ther, and, from a similarity of disposition, became attached in the warmest manner. It might be tedious to mention the many instances of personal valour evinced by them, in the hazardous* and arduous service in which they were engaged: indeed, so highly were their services estimated by the commander in chief, that they were both promoted the day following the evacuation of that place, and Lydiard was appointed first lieutenant of the Sincere, Captain Shields. He served with this officer until the following October, and his services were distinguished by his success in cutting out vessels from the enemy's coast, when the Sincere was laid up. He then, preferring an active situation, applied to the commander in chief to be removed, and was accordingly appointed a lieutenant of the Captain, of 74 guns, in which ship he served in the two general engagements which followed in the Mediterranean; the Captain being the leading ship in the first engagement.

In July, 1795, Captain Shields obtained the command of the Southampton frigate, and wishing Lydiard again to be his first lieutenant, their joint application procured him the appointment. Shortly afterwards, the command of the Southampton devolved upon that brave and distinguished officer, Captain Macnamara. It was impossible for that discerning officer not to perceive the superior good qualities of head and heart which Lydiard, the early

During the short period of two months at this fort, the people were replaced twice, or more, to almost the amount of the number first sent to it; and upon the evacuation of the place, there were only five or six (including the two officers) who were of the first party, the rest having been all killed or wounded. They might be said to have been in continual action night and day the whole time.

t Lord Hood.

Admiral Hotham.

friend of his brother (above mentioned, who was lost in the Ardent) possessed: he sympathised in the feelings of his beloved relative, and his generous heart panted to be instrumental in the promotion of one whose uncommon merit he could so well appretiate. Lydiard, from the well-known gallantry of his captain, and the interchange of sentiment which immediately followed his union with the brother of his early friend, was happy in the prospect which an unlimited cruise effered, under the command of such an enterprizing character. It will be unnecessary to enume rate the repeated dangers which the Southampton faced in this cruise: one never-to-be-forgotten fact will suffice to illustrate the daring and determined character of the commander of this small frigate, who for fifteen days blockaded the French frigates la Vestale and le Brun, with several gun-boats, a convoy to a fleet of corn ships, in the port of Genoa; and notwithstanding the immense superiority of the enemy, it was not until the evening of the fifteenth day, that they had the satisfaction of seeing the whole of them venture out, when the Southampton, by the most skilful management, brought la Vestale and le Brun to action, which was so well maintained on the part of the Southampton, as to cause la Vestale to strike her colours, and le Brun, with the corn ships under convoy (it was since found) for France, went off, leaving la Vestale (whese force was double that of the Southampton) to her fate.

We may readily conceive the pleasure which elated the generous mind of the gallant commander of the Southampton, on seeing the colours of la Vestale struck, and that he had obtained the wish of his heart, the promotion of his brave friend, under circumstances so glerious to himself and his gallant crew: but, alas? his happiness was doomed to be reversed, by the most morti. fying disappointment; for, on the moment of hoisting out the boats to take possession of their prize, the fore-mast of the Southampton, being much wounded, went by the board, and la Vestale, taking advantage of this disaster, re-koisted her colours, and went off before the wind. On this occasion, as well as in every other occurrence of his life, Lydiard proved the superiority of his mind, and amiable disposition, and felt much more for the cruel disappointment of his captain and brave associates, than for him.

self. When recovered from their chagrin, the gallant captain and his lieutenant cheered each other, and looked forward to other opportunities of realising their hopes in the service of their coun try. And it was not long before another glorious one offered, of adding fresh laurels to the wreath they had already woven: that great and truly admirable officer, Lord St. Vincent, then Sir John Jervis, admiral and commander in chief of the fleet off Toulon, in the evening of the 9th of June, 1796, discovered a French cruiser working up to Hieres bay, within the islands, and immediately singling out the Southampton, called her commander on board the Victory, pointed the ship out, and directed him to make a dash at her through the Grand Pass. The Southampton instantly got under weigh, and went in, in view of the entire British fleet, which, with agonizing suspense, witnessed the boldness of an attempt that scarcely any thing but complete success could have justified. The noble admiral, on this occasion, even refused to give a written order for the enterprize; he only said to Captain Macnamara, "bring out the enemy's ship if you can; I'll give you no written order; but I direct you to take care of the king's ship under your command." This enter prize was executed in a most masterly manner, and, as Sir John Jervis's letter expresses it, with "admirable skill and alacrity.” It is impossible to do justice to the merit of the officers and ship's company of the Southampton in this achievement. We cannot give a better idea of its formidable nature, than by an extract from Captain Macnamara's public letter to Sir John Jervis, as follows.

" SIR,

"Southampton, off Toulon, 10th June, 1796. "In obedience to the orders I received from you on the Victory's quarter-deck last evening, I pushed through the Grand Pass, and hauled up under the batteries on the N.E. of Porquerol with an easy sail, in hopes I should be taken for a French or neutral frigate, which I have great reason to believe succeeded, as I got within pistol-shot of the enemy's ship before I was discovered, and cautioned the captain through a trumpet not to make a fruitless resistance, when he immediately snapped his pistol at me, and fired his broadside. At this period, being very near the heavy battery of Fort Breganson, I laid him instantly on board, and Lieutenant Lydiard, at the head of the boarders, with an intrepidity no words can describe, entered and carried her in about ten minutes, although he met with a spirited resistance from the captain (who fell) and a hundred men under arns to receive him. In this short conflict, the behaviour of all the

officers and ship's company of the Southampton had my full approbation, and I do not mean to take from their merit by stating to you, that the conduct of Lieutenant Lydiard was above all praise. After lashing the two ships together, I found some difficulty in getting from under the battery, which kept up a very heavy fire, and was not able to return through the Grand Pass before half after one o'clock this morning, with l'Utile corvette, of 24 guns, French six-pounders, commanded by Citoyen Francois Veza, and 130 inen, 25 of whom were killed and wounded.

"I have the honour to be, &c. ́

"J. MACNAMARA.”

Thus returned safe the Southampton, with l'Utile, her prize, to the great joy of the fleet, which heard the roaring of the cannon of the batteries opposed to her during the night; and Lydiard was instantly promoted, and appointed to the command of the ship he had so gallantly captured, to the no little gratification of his captain, and the whole fleet, which witnessed the bold exploit.

Captain Lydiard, after executing various duties in the Adriatic and other scas, was in 1797 ordered home with a convoy, and P'Utile being found unfit for his majesty's service, was paid off in September of that year.

In May, 1798, he was commissioned to the Fury bomb, and was, in the following November, appointed to the command of the Kite sloop, and served in the North Seas until the first of January, 1801, when he was advanced to the rank of post captain, and of course superceded in the Kitc.

Upon his promotion, he was not so fortunate as immediately to obtain a command; and with much reluctance retired from those active scenes of professional duty, which his ardent mind led him to wish might be continued in a wider sphere. He lamented also that he should be losing that time, in which he might best serve his country.

* When Lydiard had secured the ship, and found that she could not be moved from her situation, but, on the contrary, he thought she was approaching nearer to the battery, he was not long in guessing at the cause, nor in finding means to obviate it; but, sword in hand, he passed from stem to stern, searching with his sword (for by this time it was too dark to see any thing) for the hawser which he supposed connected the ship with the shore, and had the satisfaction of soon finding that he had not been deceived, when, by dint of repeated blows, he released the ship from the tie which had been so well contrived on the part of the enemy.