George Rodney

English admiral

• Born: February 13, 1718 (baptized)
• Birthplace: Middlesex, England
• Died: May 24, 1792
• Place of death: Hanover Square, London, England

Utilizing both family connections and his own ability, Rodney advanced to the post of admiral while leading England to naval victories during the Seven Years’ War and the American Revolution.

Early Life

George Rodney was baptized in the church of St. Giles-in-the-Fields in Middlesex. His father, Harry Rodney, a retired army captain from an old landed family, settled at Walton-on-Thames after 1715. He married Mary Newton, the daughter of Sir Henry Newton, a diplomat and judge of the High Court of Admiralty. By 1720, Harry Rodney was seriously in debt, and he lost the Walton property when the South Sea Bubble burst. George was reared by his godfather at Avington and was sent to Harrow between 1725 and 1732.

Rodney entered the navy on the Sunderland in 1732, as one of the last of the “King’s Letter Boys.” He next appeared on the Dreadnaught as an able seaman on May 1, 1733. When Henry Medley became its captain late in 1734, Rodney advanced to midshipman. He later joined the Romney, on May 2, 1738, bound for the Newfoundland station to protect the cod fisheries. Rodney then sailed on the flagship of Rear Admiral Nicholas Haddock, to join the Dolphin in the Mediterranean. He was an acting officer and thus received no pay.

He advanced to lieutenant in February of 1740, serving on the Dolphin, the Essex, and the Namur. He became captain of the Plymouth on November 9, 1742, and was confirmed by the Admiralty on April 23, 1743. In December, 1745, he received the command of the Eagle.

Rodney took part in the June, 1747, capture of part of the French convoy, thus establishing his fortune. In October, Admiral Edward Hawke’s fleet defeated the French off La Rochelle, and Rodney added to his growing fame and fortune. In 1748, he was in the squadron that captured part of a Spanish convoy before he returned to Plymouth.

Rodney next commanded the Rainbow and received a royal commission as governor of Newfoundland, which was approved by an order in council on May 2, 1749. In December, Rodney resigned as governor to try for Parliament, but no seats were available, so he returned to Newfoundland. Later, in 1751, he gained his first seat in Parliament, for the borough of Saltash, a safe Admiralty seat. Rodney proved a more active and better-informed governor than many others. Upon returning to Portsmouth in March, 1752, he suffered an attack of gout and nervous exhaustion, problems that were to trouble him intermittently for the next forty years.

On January 16, 1753, Rodney was commissioned to the guard ship Kent, stationed at Portsmouth, allowing long periods of leave. He married the eldest Compton daughter, Jane (known as Jenny) on January 31 at Oxford Chapel, St. Marylebone Parish in London. Their first child, George, was born on Christmas Day, 1753. Appointments to two more guard ships, the Fouguex and the Prince George, followed. A second son, James, was born in the autumn of 1754. Rodney sailed late in July, 1755, with Hawke’s squadron off the coast of Spain in the Prince George. Rodney was then granted an extensive leave to work for a seat in Parliament from Northampton in November.

Late in May, 1755, he was assigned to the Monarch at Plymouth. As senior officer, he was also in charge of the dockyards. In the autumn, a daughter, Jane, was born, but Jenny’s health declined. Rodney was ill in London and did not participate in Admiral John Byng’s court-martial in December. Jenny died at Alresford on January 29, 1757, and little Jane died in 1758.

Rodney next was commissioned on the Dublin, in April, 1757. This vessel was probably the first medium-sized two-decker, a ship that formed the main part of the British naval battle line in the remaining days of sail. It took part in the failed attempt to attack Rochefort in the fall of 1757 and carried Major General Jeffrey Amherst to Halifax the next year. The ship also took part in the Siege of Louisbourg in the summer of 1758 and convoyed the prisoners back to Great Britain. Rodney was forty, a good fighter who captured prizes, and a popular captain.

Life’s Work

Rodney was made rear admiral of the Blue Squadron on May 19, 1759. The French prepared to invade Great Britain, and Rodney, in the Achilles, led a squadron to destroy boats, workshops, stores, and timber at Le Havre. The attack was successful. On July 19, he sat for Sir Joshua Reynolds, the painter. The portrait shows a graceful, aristocratic man with dark hair, blue eyes, and a generous mouth.

A second campaign against Le Havre failed, resulting in a tedious blockade by the Deptford and the Norwich. In November, Rodney was elected to another safe seat in Parliament, for Okehampton. He went to sea in the Deptford in May patrolling the English Channel. By October, the Deptford was replaced by the Nottingham, and by the end of January, 1761, Rodney asked for sick leave. Late in February, Parliament was to be dissolved and Rodney wanted a seat, this time for Penryn, Cornwall. The seat, however, was contested and cost Rodney œ2,000.

His order as commander in chief in the Leeward Islands came on October 5, 1761. He arrived in Barbados late in November on the Marlborough. He and Major General Robert Monckton worked well together in coordinating plans for the invasion of Martinique, which surrendered on February 4, 1762. Rodney went on to seize St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent, receiving promotion to vice admiral of the Blue Squadron on October 21, 1762. When Admiral Sir George Pocock arrived the following April for the attack on Cuba, Rodney was left at Martinique in the Rochester, and lost out on the prize money. With the war over, he returned to Great Britain, striking his flag on August 15, 1763.

Rodney received a deputy lieutenancy for Southampton in November and a baronetcy on January 21, 1764. He was granted the governorship of Greenwich Hospital but had to wait for its vacancy before assuming the position. He also married Henrietta Clies, daughter of the woman who had cared for his children since 1757. A son, John, was born to them on May 10, 1765, and in December, Rodney finally became governor of Greenwich Hospital, living there for the next five years. Another child, Jane, was born on December 24, 1766. Rodney’s life settled into visits to Northampton and Bath; attendance at the Commons, the Admiralty, and Greenwich; and gambling on horse races and cards at White’s Club and other fashionable spots in London.

Rodney ran for Parliament again, in the Northampton election of 1768, which cost him approximately œ30,000. He did win a seat but was ruined financially in the process. By 1769, there were already four lawsuits pending against him for debt. Rodney became vice admiral of the White Squadron in 1770 and hoped that a sea command would restore his finances.

In January, 1771, Lord Sandwich became the first lord of the Admiralty. Rodney could have the Jamaica command but only at the expense of the Greenwich Hospital post. His commission as commander in chief was signed late in January. This command restored some of Rodney’s credit, but he lost the income and the protection of the hospital and became plagued by his creditors. To cover his debts, he signed a deed on January 25, 1771, with Sir James Lowther and Robert Mackreth, one of the most notorious usurers in London. Rodney left for Jamaica from a lonely beach at Southampton on the Princess Amelia, on May 13. The family, except for young George, would spend the next three years in Jamaica.

Rodney advanced to vice admiral of the Red Squadron in August of 1771, but his half pay was delayed. He was also nominated rear admiral of England, a ceremonial post.

When the governor of Jamaica died in December, 1772, Rodney tried for the post, but Sir Basil Keith was appointed. On May 3, 1773, the Portland arrived to become his new flagship and his transport back to Great Britain. When Parliament dissolved in 1774, Rodney had to face his creditors. He fled to France with his family to avoid arrest.

When war broke out with the American colonies and their allies, Rodney could not be employed until his navy office account was cleared. He advanced to admiral of the White Squadron in January, 1778, but could not leave France, where he had lived for several years, until Marshal de Biron loaned him money to pay his French debts.

Living opposite St. James’s Palace in London provided safety and access to the court and ministers. A truce was reached with his creditors in December, 1778, and on October 1, 1779, Rodney became commander in chief of Barbados, the Leeward Islands, and adjoining seas. He was sixty-one, with gout in both hands and feet, recurrent malarial fevers, and urinary difficulties. When he sailed in the Sandwich on December 29, Dr. Gilbert Blane accompanied him. Blane later went on to become one of the great reformers and innovators in sea medicine.

After capturing a rich Spanish convoy, Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron in the Moonlight Battle of January 16-17, 1780, off the coast of Portugal. Relieving Gibraltar, he headed for the West Indies, arriving at Barbados in March, and met a French fleet under comte de Guichen off Martinique on April 17. Rodney tried new tactics of breaking the enemy line, but he was not supported properly, and the French fleet escaped destruction. Rodney temporarily commanded from the Terrible. Two encounters between the fleets in May were indecisive, but Rodney held a difficult position with an inferior force for four months. Thanks from Parliament and the freedom of several cities resulted.

To avoid the hurricane season, Rodney sailed to New York but was back in the West Indies in December, having received the Order of the Bath in November. With Great Britain at war with Holland, he was ordered to attack the Dutch West Indies. On February 3, 1781, the British fleet captured St. Eustatius with almost no shots fired. Here was the promise of great wealth in prizes for Rodney; unfortunately, the confiscation of British merchants’ goods led to prolonged legal action. The French sent reinforcements to the West Indies in July, under comte de Grasse, and gained the advantage of the British fleet. Rodney, in the Gibraltar, sailed with a convoy, reaching England on September 19.

After General Cornwallis’s surrender to the Americans in October, 1781, the British government decided to send Rodney back to the West Indies. He was made vice admiral of England in November, and his flag was first on the Arrogant and then on the Formidable. Rodney reached Barbados in February and met de Grasse north of Dominica on April 12, 1782. Rodney broke through the French line and won a great victory in that encounter. Later, arguments arose between Rodney and Samuel Hood, his second in command, over whose idea it was to break the line and the reason the British fleet failed to follow the retreating French.

When Lord North’s government was replaced by Lord Rockingham’s in 1782, the new first lord of the Admiralty, Augustus Keppel, was forced to replace Rodney with Admiral Pigot before news of Rodney’s last great victory arrived. Letters addressed to “My Lord” helped reassure Rodney, for on June 19 he became Baron Rodney of Stoke-Rodney. He arrived in Bristol on the Montagu, on September 15, 1782, striking his flag on October 21 for the last time.

Rodney lived for a time in a small house at Kensington Gore. His last child was born in 1783, and the retired admiral traveled for a time on the Continent in 1784 and 1785. He lost the legal actions with the merchants on St. Eustatius in 1786, but thanks to his son George, he could still live out his life in comfort. He died on May 24, 1792, at George’s house in Hanover Square, and was buried on June 1 in Old Alresford Church, with monuments in Jamaica and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

Significance

George Rodney had a reputation as a humane and considerate captain. Paintings by Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Tilly Kettle, and J. L. Mosnier portray him and his triumphs from 1759 to 1789. His varying position reflected the interests needed in the eighteenth century to advance, political struggles between the Whigs and the Tories, his seats in Parliament, and his great financial troubles. Rodney thought his first battle with Guichen in 1780 was his best, while the action of April 12, 1782, which broke the enemy’s line and resulted in a great victory, is regarded by historians as the height of naval achievement.

Bibliography

Hannay, David. Rodney. New York: Macmillan, 1891. Provides some of the anecdotes of Rodney’s life and of his financial problems while detailing his victory against the French fleet in the West Indies. Presents the negative, nineteenth century judgment of Rodney. Several reprinted versions.

Hurst, Ronald. The Golden Rock: An Episode of the American War of Independence, 1775-1783. London: Leo Cooper, 1996. Chronicles the seizure of St. Eustatius by Rodney and Major-General John Vaughan. Hurst is extremely critical of the two men’s actions, charging them with “raping” St. Eustatius and stripping the island of its assets. Hurst provides information on events subsequent to the seizure, including the British administration of St. Eustatius and Britain’s eventual loss of the island to France.

Kennedy, Paul M. The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1976. Kennedy clearly shows the impact of Rodney’s reduction of Martinique in the Seven Years’ War and points out the superiority of British gunnery at the Battle of the Saints in 1782. Provides excellent political and economic material on the founding of the Second British Empire.

Lewis, Michael. The Navy of Britain: A Historical Portrait. London: Allen & Unwin, 1948. Deals with Rodney as the last of the old school of experimenters with the line-of-battle system. Extensive comments on Rodney’s greatest naval achievements—the Moonlight Battle of 1780, the battle off Martinique in 1780, and the Battle of the Saints in 1782.

Macintyre, Captain Donald, R.N. Admiral Rodney. London: Peter Davies, 1962. A most readable, balanced account of Rodney’s life. Provides good descriptions of a ship-of-the-line, battle plans, and naval gunnery in the eighteenth century, a glossary of naval terms, and a valuable index. Also deals with the political situations in England under which the navy had to fight the French.

Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783. Boston: Little, Brown, 1890. The classic reference for naval matters. Mahan deals with the bulk of Rodney’s active naval life from the reduction of Martinique in 1761 to his victory over the French in 1782, upholding the then-contemporary criticism of Rodney for not following up his advantage and the role luck played in his engagements.

Mundy, Godfrey Basil. The Life and Correspondence of the Late Admiral Lord Rodney. 2 vols. London: John Murray, 1830. This is a nineteenth century account of Rodney by his son-in-law, interspersed with many letters. Presents some interesting stories about different actions and the general details of Rodney’s. Contains appendices and a good table of contents for the letters but no index.

Rodney, First Baron. Letter-Books and Order-Book of George, Lord Rodney, Admiral of the White Squadron, 1780-1782. 2 vols. New York: New York Historical Society, 1932. Printed for the Naval History Society, these letters and orders from July 6, 1780, to September 21, 1782, deal with the range of activities of a British naval commander in chief. Details of these two years cover conflict in the West Indies, manpower, ships, stores, prisoners, weather, and personalities. The introduction has a brief biography and a bibliography.

Spinney, David. Rodney. London: Allen & Unwin, 1969. Definitive, carefully researched, documented account of Rodney’s life. Includes eighteenth century attitudes, politics, and social life, with photographs, maps, battle plans, and genealogical tables of Rodney’s English and American connections. Shows Rodney’s victories and his aristocratic attitude as a naval officer with which earlier writers have not dealt justly.