Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood
Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood was a Royal Navy officer. Collingwood was born in Newcastle upon Tyne and later lived in Morpeth, Northumberland. He entered the Royal Navy at a young age, eventually rising from midshipman to lieutenant during the American Revolutionary War, where he saw action at the Battle of Bunker Hill during which he led a naval brigade. In the 1780s and 1790s Collingwood participated in the French Revolutionary Wars, during which time he captained several ships and reached the rank of post-captain. He took part in several key naval battles of the time, including the Glorious First of June and the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
In 1799, he was promoted to rear-admiral and later vice-admiral, where he undertook a variety of command roles during the Napoleonic Wars, including serving as second in command of the British Fleet under Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar. Following Nelson's death, Collingwood became commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. He remained in post despite worsening health for several years and after finally being allowed to resign, he would die a day later at sea on the journey back to England. Collingwood was a respected admiral during the days of sail and notable as a friend and partner with Vice-Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars as well as Nelson's successor in several Royal Navy commands.
Early years
Sources vary as to the exact date but Collingwood was born on either 24 or 26 September 1748 in Newcastle upon Tyne in a house on a street of medieval origin named 'the Side'. He had 10 siblings, although only 6 survived into adulthood, including his two brothers Wilfred and John. The Collingwood family were an old small landowning family from the border region between England and Scotland. Collingwood's great-grandfather was executed by hanging in Liverpool for supporting the House of Stuart in battle during the Jacobite rising of 1715. His grandfather and father were therefore deprived of their estate in Eslington Park, Northumberland. His father, also Cuthbert, had instead become a local merchant and small business owner and his mother, Milcah came from near Appleby-in-Westmorland. At age 11, he began studying at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, receiving instruction in Latin. The school was well known for flogging as a form of discipline, even for younger students, and this punishment led to Collingwood's dislike of the practice and was why he used flogging sparingly on his ships later when he was a captain. However, Collingwood did not stay at school long and expressed an interest to go to sea so that at the age of 12, he went to sea as a volunteer and apprentice on board the sixth-rate under the command of his cousin Captain Richard Braithwaite, who took charge of his nautical education. He received instruction in sailing, mathematics, navigation and in how to use a sextant. Collingwood would spend several years of apprentice service under Braithwaite, including when Braithwaite changed ship to the sixth-rate HMS Gibraltar and saw sea service in home waters, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.In 1766, in his 18th year, Collingwood was officially rated as midshipman. In 1767, he was transferred to the sixth-rate assigned to the Mediterranean fleet. He served on the ship for several years, becoming master's mate while preparing for his lieutenancy examinations. In 1772, Collingwood spent a short period attached to the third-rate, a guardship at Portsmouth commanded by Captain Robert Roddam. In 1773, he was sent to Sheerness in Kent with a party of 18 seaman and joined the fourth-rate. The ship joined a convoy of merchant ships and headed for the Americas via Madeira. The ship patrolled waters around the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands and Jamaica. On 1 June 1773, Collingwood was discharged from Portland and sent to serve on the third-rate. The Amelia sailed to Florida and then Newfoundland before returning to England in August 1773.
With the discontent forming in the Americas that would result in the ensuing American Revolutionary War, Collingwood sailed to Boston in 1774 with Admiral Samuel Graves on board the fourth-rate. He would remain on the ship as it was stationed in Boston Harbour for some 18 months on station. However, as American revolutionary forces encircled the town, Collingwood fought in the British naval brigade ashore at the Battle of Bunker Hill on 17 June 1775. Collingwood was in command of the boats that landed the second wave of troops of William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe. Following the battle, he was commissioned as acting lieutenant. To have his promotion confirmed by the Admiralty, Collingwood required to return to England and so transferred to the third-rate as fourth lieutenant, as the ship sailed to Nova Scotia before proceeding onto England in February 1776. He stayed in London during this time and his rank of lieutenant was officially confirmed in April 1776.
In April 1776, he joined the 14-gun HMS Hornet as first lieutenant, where he was required to form a press-gang before the ship sailed to the West Indies. Collingwood remained onboard as the ship arrived in Jamaica with a remit to protect shipping against American privateers and prevent smuggling. Collingwood believed that the ship's captain Commander Haswell was a "rotten officer" who lacked the courage to engage enemy shipping and they disagreed onboard, leading to Haswell following up with court-martial proceedings for "disobedience and neglect of orders" against Collingwood in September 1777. However, the court martial at Port Royal, Jamaica acquitted Collingwood of the charges. Shortly after his court-martial in 1777, Collingwood met Nelson when they both served on the frigate. The two officers would become good friends. After Nelson had left the Lowestoffe, Collingwood was given the post of second lieutenant on on station in the West Indies.
Minor command
On 20 June 1779, Collingwood succeeded Nelson as commander of the brig, his first full command. On 22 March 1780 he again succeeded Nelson, this time as post-captain of the sixth-rate, a small frigate. Nelson had been the leader of a failed expedition to cross Central America from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean by navigating boats along the San Juan River, Lake Nicaragua and Lake Leon. Nelson was debilitated by disease and had to recover before being promoted to a larger vessel, and Collingwood succeeded him in command of Hinchinbrook and brought the remainder of the expedition back to Jamaica. By 1781, he had been appointed to command the sixth-rate. On 22 July 1781, under Collingwood, Pelican captured the French 16-gun ship Le Cerf on 22 July. While navigating off Morant Cays, Jamaica, the ship was destroyed by a hurricane and the crew shipwrecked. Collingwood led his crew ashore in rafts where they remained for ten days until rescued. The subsequent court-martial, mandatory for any captain who loses his ship, declared him not at fault for the loss of the ship, given the tremendous extent of the hurricane that had caused much damage across the region. Collingwood remained without ship on half-pay in the East Indies before returning to England in early 1782. After a brief time in London, Collingwood was appointed to command to the third-rate.By 1783, Collingwood had been transferred to command the fourth-rate which sailed in September 1783 to take up post in the West Indies. The ship was stationed at English Bay and then in Barbados. Collingwood renewed his friendship with Nelson while in the region. In 1784 he and Nelson were together ashore in Antigua for several weeks where they both became attracted to the unobtainable American-born Mary Moutray, who was married to the royal commissioner of the island. During frequent evenings together with Mary, Collingwood and Nelson both sketched each other and Collingwood kept the sketch. Collingwood remained in the West Indies until the end of 1786, again, together with Nelson as well as his newly promoted brother Wilfried with their mission being to prevent American ships from trading with the West Indies under the Navigation Acts. During this time, Collingwood and Nelson in their ships seized several US merchantman as prizes in consequence of trading illegally.
In July 1786, Collingwood returned to England where his ship's company were paid off. Collingwood was given an extended leave and as a relatively junior post-captain in a time of increased levels of peace, he was not given a ship for several years. Despite frequent attempts to secure a ship in London, Collingwood returned north to Newcastle for months at a time to spend time with his extended family, during which he learned that his brother, Captain Wilfried Collingwood had died at sea. As a result of the developing Nootka Crisis by June 1790, Collingwood was given command of the fifth-rate. The frigate sailed again to the West Indies under Admiral Samuel Cornish. Shortly before the ship sailed, Collingwood began correspondence with Sarah Blackett, daughter of his acquaintance John Erasmus Blackett, merchant and mayor of Newcastle whom he met through his friend and superior Admiral Robert Roddam. In 1791, the results of war having lessened, Collingwood returned to England on the Mermaid arriving at Portsmouth in April 1791. Collingwood was put on half-pay ashore and remained without command again until 1793. However, once Collingwood had been paid off, he returned to Newcastle where on 18 June 1791, at Newcastle Cathedral he married Sarah, the Cathedral being some 50 yards from where he was born. Her dowry was £6250 and in 1792, the Collingwoods used it to rent a house on Oldgate Street in Morpeth. In May 1792, they had a daughter, Sarah. His second daughter, Mary, would be born in August 1793, after he had returned to sea.
Major command
Following the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars, in 1793, he was appointed captain of the second-rate, the flagship of Rear-Admiral George Bowyer in the Channel Fleet. Collingwood joined the ship in Plymouth, where it was fitted out and crewed before heading to station at Spithead. After sometime on station in the Prince, Collingwood and Bowyer determined that the ship had poor sailing qualities so transferred to the second-rate. The Barfleur sailed with the rest of the fleet under overall command of Admiral Richard Howe in an effort to engage a large portion of the French Fleet and prevent a merchant convoy reaching France. This resulted in the battle of June 1794 that became known as the Glorious First of June. The Barfleur came under fire during the battle, during which time Bowyer lost his leg in action although Collingwood was not injured. Because he was not mentioned specifically in Howe's report to the Admiralty, whether by error or intention, Collingwood was disappointed not to receive a Naval Gold Medal for the action unlike the other captains present. He would later receive the medal some years later with an apology. However, on returning to England he was one of a select group of captains who were invited to dine with King George III.In late 1794, he was given command of the third-rate. Collingwood was onboard for the fitting out but delays in obtaining sufficient crew resulted in his ship being kept in port. He returned home briefly to see his family but after only a few days was recalled to Plymouth to command the third-rate, a ship which he would command for the next four years. After leaving England, the ship sailed for the Mediterranean Sea, protecting a merchant convoy to Corsica before joining British forces in blockade off Italy at Livorno, where Collingwood would again meet and serve with his friend Nelson. Collingwood and his ship would winter off Corsica until March 1796, during which time the ship had a minor collision in the darkness with the second-rate. Collingwood served on Excellent in the fleet of Admiral John Jervis, stationed off Saint Florent. As the Spanish joined the French in war, the fleet sailed west to Gibraltar at the end of 1796. The fleet took up station off Lisbon in January 1797 with the aim being to bring the French and Spanish fleets to battle.