Admiral Sir Albemarle Bertie, 1st Baronet, (20 January 1755 – 24 February 1824) was a long-serving and at the time controversial officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

who saw extensive service in his career, but also courted controversy with several of his actions. Bertie won recognition for unsuccessfully defending his ship against superior odds in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. He was later criticised however for failing to close with the enemy at the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...

and later for pulling rank on a subordinate officer just days before the capture of the French island of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

and taking credit for the victory. Despite these controversies, Bertie was rewarded for his service with a

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

, retiring in 1813 to his country estate at

Donnington, Berkshire Donnington is an English suburban village in the civil parish of Shaw-cum-Donnington, just north of the town of Newbury, Berkshire. It contains a ruined medieval castle and a Strawberry Hill Gothic mansion. Notable buildings Castle Donnington ...

Childhood

Albemarle Bertie was born at Swinstead in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

in 1755, the

natural son Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

of Lord Albemarle Bertie, the brother of

Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven General Peregrine Bertie, 3rd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven (171412 August 1778), styled Lord Willoughby de Eresby from 1715 to 1723 and Marquess of Lindsey from 1735 to 1742, was the son of Peregrine Bertie, 2nd Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven. ...

and Brownlow Bertie, 5th Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, by Mary Coleback and much of his childhood is undocumented.

Early naval career

It is not clear when he entered the Navy, although he was gazetted lieutenant in December 1777 aged 22, quite a bit older than most of his contemporaries. Within a year of promotion, Bertie had witnessed combat on the repeating frigate at the

First Battle of Ushant The Battle of Ushant (also called the First Battle of Ushant) took place on 27 July 1778, and was fought during the American Revolutionary War between French and British fleets west of Ushant, an island at the mouth of the English Channel off ...

, a brief and inconclusive action which resulted in a court martial for Admiral

Hugh Palliser Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, 1st Baronet (26 February 1723 – 19 March 1796) was a Royal Navy officer. As captain of the 58-gun HMS ''Eagle'' he engaged and defeated the French 50-gun ''Duc d'Aquitain'' off Ushant in May 1757 during the Seven Y ...

, a court martial at which Commander Bertie (as he by then was), was called on to give evidence in 1779. The intervening two years had been highly eventful, Bertie spending most of it as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

in France after ''Fox'' had been taken by the larger French on 11 September 1778.

American Revolutionary War

Following his

exchange Exchange may refer to: Physics *Gas exchange is the movement of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Places United States * Exchange, Indiana, an unincorporated community * ...

and appearance as a witness, Bertie spent two years without a ship, due to the shortage of available positions for young officers during the American Revolutionary War. On 21 March 1782,Marshall (1823), pp. 195–198 after a change of government, Bertie was reinstated and made captain of the 24-gun frigate stationed in the Channel, serving in her until June. He remained on

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the En ...

throughout the 1780s, marrying Emma Heywood of

Maristow House Maristow House in the parish of Bickleigh (formerly Tamerton Foliot), Devon, England, is a large country house set in landscaped parkland, on the River Tavy to the north of Plymouth. It was built in about 1560, rebuilt in the mid-18th century and ...

in Devon on 1 July 1783, and having four children: Lyndsey James, Catherine Brownlow, Emma and Louisa Frances. His wife Emma predeceased him, dying in March 1805. He briefly commanded the frigate between October and December 1787.

French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

In 1790 at the

Spanish armament The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, the Spanish Empire, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the fledgling United States of America triggered b ...

, Bertie gained command of the frigate before progressing to captain of a ship of the line, in 1792, in which he assisted at the capture of the French privateer ''Le Général Dumourier'', and her prize ''St. Iago'', having on board more than two million dollars, besides valuable cargo worth between two and three hundred thousand pounds. The following year he took command of in Lord Howe's Channel Fleet. With ''Thunderer'' and Howe, Bertie participated in the

Atlantic campaign of May 1794 The Atlantic campaign of May 1794 was a series of operations conducted by the British Royal Navy's Channel Fleet against the French Navy's Atlantic Fleet, with the aim of preventing the passage of a strategically important French grain convoy t ...

and the culminating

. Howe omitted Bertie from his dispatches of the battle and Bertie was not awarded a commemorative medal like many of the other captains. His failure to close with the French fleet was later cited against him. For the next ten years Bertie remained with the Channel Fleet on uneventful blockade duty, serving under Sir

John Borlase Warren Admiral Sir John Borlase Warren, 1st Baronet (2 September 1753 – 27 February 1822) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. Naval career Born in Stapleford, Nottinghams ...

and commanding ''Thunderer'', , and on this duty. On 23 April 1804, Bertie was promoted to rear-admiral, climbing the ranks over the next three years until he was senior enough to become admiral in charge of the

Cape of Good Hope Station The Commander-in-Chief, Africa was the last title of a Royal Navy's formation commander located in South Africa from 1795 to 1939. Under varying titles, it was one of the longest-lived formations of the Royal Navy. It was also often known as the C ...

off

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, being promoted to vice-admiral on 28 April 1808. He served off South Africa for the next two years, suddenly sailing in late 1810 to take over the operations to invade

and seize it from the French. Most of the fighting had already been concluded by Admiral William O'Bryen Drury before Bertie's arrival and Drury was furious at Bertie's behaviour, writing several strong letters to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

in protest. Bertie returned to Britain in 1811 and endured a brief political storm over his actions at Mauritius, which had been criticised by his fellow senior officer on the island,

Lord Minto Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1813 for Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto. The current earl is Gilbert Timothy George Lariston Elliot-Murray-Kynynm ...

. Angered, Bertie requested court martial to defend his conduct but was firmly refused by the Admiralty, which did not wish for another scandal. A change of government the following year changed the political situation however and Bertie was returned to favour and presented with a

on 8 December 1812 as reward for the capture of Mauritius, Drury having died in the meantime.

Retirement

Retiring to his country estate at Donnington in Berkshire, Bertie continued to be promoted post-retirement, becoming a full admiral on 4 June 1814. He was also made a

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) as o ...

on the restructuring of the orders of knighthood, on 2 January 1815. He died in 1824 after ten years' retirement, and his title was inherited by his only son Sir Lyndsey James Bertie, 2nd Bt., then a lieutenant in the 12th Regiment of Dragoons. Although sources do explicitly state that his son succeeded to the Baronetcy, Lieutenant Bertie appears to have died at Waterloo in July 1815, and is not mentioned in the will of Admiral Bertie, drafted in August 1815. ;Notes ;Bibliography * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertie, Albemarle 1755 births 1824 deaths Royal Navy admirals Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars People from Shaw-cum-Donnington People from South Kesteven District