Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet, (10 November 1806 – 29 December 1896) was a

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 Fr ...

officer. As a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

on the

North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...

he was employed capturing slave-traders and carrying out fishery protection duties. He served as a Junior Naval Lord under both Liberal and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

administrations and was put in charge of organising British and French transports during the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

. He became Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station and in this role he acted with diplomacy, especially in response to the ''Trent'' Affair on 8 November 1861 during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, when , commanded by Union Captain

Charles Wilkes Charles Wilkes (April 3, 1798 – February 8, 1877) was an American naval officer, ship's captain, and explorer. He led the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842). During the American Civil War (1861–1865), he commanded ' during the ...

, intercepted the British

mail packet The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

and removed, as

contraband Contraband (from Medieval French ''contrebande'' "smuggling") refers to any item that, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold. It is used for goods that by their nature are considered too dangerous or offensive in the eyes o ...

of war, two Confederate diplomats,

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

and

John Slidell John Slidell (1793July 9, 1871) was an American politician, lawyer, and businessman. A native of New York, Slidell moved to Louisiana as a young man and became a Representative and Senator. He was one of two Confederate diplomats captured by the ...

. He became First Naval Lord in the

third Derby–Disraeli ministry The Conservative government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that began in 1866 and ended in 1868 was led by Lord Derby in the House of Lords and Benjamin Disraeli in the House of Commons. History Lord Derby became Prime Minis ...

in July 1866 and in this role took advantage of the Government's focus on spending reduction to ask fundamental questions about naval strategy. He again became First Naval Lord in the first Gladstone ministry in November 1872, remaining in office under the second Disraeli ministry and identifying the critical need for trade protection at times of war and demanding new

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several ...

s to protect British merchant shipping.

Early career

Charles Edward Dixon HMS St Vincent 1815 Portsmouth Harbour

Milne was born the second son of the Admiral Sir David Milne and Grace Milne (daughter of Sir Alexander Purves, Bt). His older brother David was later known as

David Milne-Home David Milne-Home of Milne Graden FRSE FGS PGSE LLD (1805–1890) was a Scottish advocate, geologist and meteorologist. He was the founder of the Scottish Meteorological Society in 1855, and served as its chairman. From 1874 to 1889 he served as ...

. His father purchased 10

York Place, Edinburgh York Place is a street in central Edinburgh of almost exclusively 18th century buildings, linking Queen Street, Edinburgh, Queen Street to Broughton, Edinburgh, Broughton Street and Leith Walk. The street's architecture remains almost completely ...

in 1814 and the family lived there. Milne joined the

in February 1817. After initial training at the Royal Navy College at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

he joined his father's flagship, the

fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

, on the

North American Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...

in 1819.Heathcote, p. 175 Over the next few years he served in the

sixth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works a ...

third-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy, a third rate was a ship of the line which from the 1720s mounted between 64 and 80 guns, typically built with two gun decks (thus the related term two-decker). Years of experience proved that the thi ...

second-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer gun ...

and third-rate . He became an acting lieutenant in the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

on the coast of Brazil in June 1827 and was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant on 8 September 1827. Promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

on 25 November 1830, he joined the sloop on the

West Indies Station The Jamaica Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed at Port Royal in Jamaica from 1655 to 1830. History The station was formed, following the capture of Jamaica, by assembling about a dozen frigates in 16 ...

in December 1836 and was employed capturing slave-traders. Promoted to

on 30 January 1839, Milne was given command of the sixth-rate on the North America and West Indies Station and employed carrying out fishery protection duties before becoming Captain of the sixth-rate also on the North America and West Indies Station in November 1840. In HMS ''Cleopatra'' he was employed both capturing slave-traders and carrying out fishery protection duties. He became Flag-captain in the first-rate to his father, who was then serving as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, in April 1842 and Flag-captain in the first-rate to

Sir Charles Ogle ''Sir Charles Ogle'' was a ferry that operated from 1830 until 1894 for the Halifax-Dartmouth Ferry Service. The ferry was the first steamship built in Nova Scotia and the longest serving ferry in Halifax Harbour. The ship is named for Royal Nav ...

, who was then serving as

Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his succes ...

, in October 1846. Milne became Fourth Naval Lord in the first Russell ministry in December 1847, Fifth Naval Lord in the first Derby ministry in March 1852 and Fourth Naval Lord in the Aberdeen ministry in January 1853, when he was put in charge of organising British and French transports during the

. He became Third Naval Lord in the first Palmerston ministry in November 1857.

Senior command

Promoted to

rear-admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

on 20 January 1858 and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Civil) on 20 December 1858, Milne became Fourth Naval Lord in the second Derby–Disraeli ministry in April 1859. During his service at the Admiralty from December 1847 to June 1859 he served under four different

First Lords of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

in three Liberal and two

administrations. Milne became Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, hoisting his flag in the second-rate , in January 1860: in this role he acted with diplomacy, especially in response to the ''Trent'' Affair on 8 November 1861 during the

, when , commanded by Union Captain

, intercepted the British

and removed, as

of war, two Confederate diplomats,

and

. Milne was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Military) on 25 February 1864 and promoted to vice-admiral on 13 April 1865. HMS Nile, Royal Navy Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia

HMS Nile, Royal Navy Burying Ground, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Milne became First Naval Lord in the third Derby ministry in July 1866 and in this role took advantage of the Government's focus on spending reduction to ask fundamental questions about naval strategy. He remained in office until the Derby ministry fell from power 18 months later. He became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, hoisting his flag in the battleship , in April 1869. He was promoted to full

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

on 1 April 1870 and advanced to

Knight Grand Cross 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 one ...

on 20 May 1871. "In the autumn of 1870 the Mediterranean Squadron, under the command of Sir Alexander Milne joined up with the Channel Squadron for the purpose of carrying out combined manoeuvres off the coast of Portugal, and Sir Alexander, being the senior admiral, took supreme command. The low freeboard, fully rigged turret-ship had joined the Channel Squadron a short time before, and the combined fleet put to see from

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...

". On 6 September "the fleet was sailing in two columns on the starboard tack in a fresh north-west breeze, and Sir Alexander Milne went on board the ''Captain'' in the afternoon to inspect her and see how she behaved at sea, as she was a novelty... During the time the Commander-in-Chief was on board the ''Captain'' the wind and sea had increased, and he had great difficulty in getting back to his own ship – the ''Lord Warden''. In fact, the captain of the ''Captain'' ( Hugh Burgoyne) tried to persuade him not to risk it, but to remain on board for the night and return in the morning. Sir Alexander, however, was a dour auld Scotsman and said he would get back to his ship, and did."
There is another similar account of Milne's inspection of ''Captain'' at: That night the ''Captain'' capsized and sank and "only the gunner and seventeen men were saved." He again became First Naval Lord in the first Gladstone ministry in November 1872, remaining in office under the second Disraeli ministry and identifying the critical need for trade protection at times of War and demanding new

s to protect British merchant shipping. He retired from office in September 1876 and was created a

baronet 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 14t ...

on 26 October 1876. In retirement he was a member of the Royal Commission on the defence of British possessions and commerce abroad. Promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 10 June 1881, he lived at Inveresk House in Inveresk where he died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...

on 29 December 1896. He was buried in Inveresk churchyard on 2 January 1897: the grave lies on the north edge of the original churchyard, near the north-west corner. Admiral Milne's family grave, Inveresk

Family

In 1850 he married Euphemia Cochran (d.1889). They had two daughters and one son (

Archibald Berkeley Milne Admiral Sir Archibald Berkeley Milne, 2nd Baronet, (2 June 1855 – 4 July 1938) was a senior Royal Navy officer who commanded the Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the First World War. Naval career Milne was the son of distinguished admi ...

References

Sources

*
William Loney RN
Career History *

Early career

Senior command

Family

See also

References

Sources

Further reading