Admiral Bartholomew Samuel Rowley (10 June 1764 – 7 October 1811) was a British naval officer who served during the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

, French Revolutionary and

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Biography

He was the second son of

Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

Sir Joshua Rowley and was a member of a notable naval dynasty. His grandfather was

Admiral of the Fleet An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral. It is also a generic ter ...

Sir William Rowley, while his younger brother was Admiral Sir Charles Rowley. His cousins included Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, Rear-Admiral

Samuel Campbell Rowley Samuel Campbell Rowley was a politician and Royal Navy officer who was born in Ireland in 1774. Rowley attended the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth in 1785 and joined his first ship in March 1789, serving in the West Indies. He passed the lie ...

, Vice-Admiral Sir Joshua Ricketts Rowley, and Admiral of the Fleet

Sir George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

. His sister, Philadelphia Rowley, was married to Admiral Sir Charles Cotton. Rowley attended

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

from 1775 and then entered the Navy. By 1780, he was serving as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

aboard his father's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

, the

74-gun The "seventy-four" was a type of two- decked sailing ship of the line, which nominally carried 74 guns. It was developed by the French navy in the 1740s, replacing earlier classes of 60- and 62-gun ships, as a larger complement to the recently de ...

. On 31 January 1781, he was made post-captain (before his 17th birthday!) in order to command the 28-gun

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 an ...

frigate . On 20 April 1781, ''Resource'' captured the 20-gun French frigate ''Licorne'' in an action lasting 1½ hours. She proved to be the former , which had been captured on 4 September 1780 by a French frigate and two ships of the line off Tortuga. In October 1782, Rowley took command of the

fifth-rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a fifth rate was the second-smallest class of warships in a hierarchical system of six " ratings" based on size and firepower. Rating The rating system in the Royal N ...

32-gun frigate , where he served until August 1783. However, with the end of the American Revolutionary War in September 1783, Rowley found himself, like many other naval officers, unemployed 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 E ...

for nearly a decade. By the time of the outbreak of the French Revolutionary War in February 1793, Rowley was back at sea in command of the 32-gun frigate , serving in the Jamaica Squadron, under the command of Commodore John Ford. On 16 April 1793 ''Penelope'' captured the French

aviso An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ...

''Le Goéland'', commanded by ''

lieutenant de vaisseau Ship-of-the-line lieutenant (; ) is a naval officer rank, used in a number of countries. The name derives from the name of the largest class of warship, the ship of the line, as opposed to smaller types of warship ( corvettes and frigates). It ...

'' Leissègues de Pennenyum, en route from Cap-Français to

Jérémie Jérémie (; ) is a commune and capital city of the Grand'Anse department in Haiti. It had a population of about 134,317 at the 2015 census. It is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. The Grande-Anse River flows near the city. ...

. In late 1793 Ford took advantage of the

Haitian Revolution The Haitian Revolution ( or ; ) was a successful insurrection by slave revolt, self-liberated slaves against French colonial rule in Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti. The revolution was the only known Slave rebellion, slave up ...

to occupy several ports in the French colony of

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

(now

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

). On 20 November 1793, ''Penelope'' sailed from

Môle-Saint-Nicolas Môle-Saint-Nicolas (; or ) is a commune in the north-western coast of Haiti. It is the chief town of the Môle-Saint-Nicolas Arrondissement in the department of Nord-Ouest. History Christopher Columbus' first voyage to the Americas land ...

, having received news that the French 36-gun frigate ''L'Inconstante'' was sailing from

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

, escorting a large merchant ship. The next day, ''Penelope'' met the 32-gun frigate , and the two ships proceeded towards Port-au-Prince. However they learned that ''L'Inconstante'' had sailed to Petit Trou with two mail ships but was soon expected to return to port. They intended to cut her out of the harbour of Port-au-Prince, but on the night of 25 November, they met her at sea. After a brisk exchange of broadsides, ''L'Inconstante'' surrendered. ''Penelope'' had only one man killed and seven wounded, while ''L'Inconstante'' had nine killed, including the Captain and the First Lieutenant, and 17 wounded. On 2 January 1794, Ford sent ''Penelope'' into Port-au-Prince under a

flag of truce White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize ...

where Rowley demanded the surrender of the island from the French Civil Commissioner

Léger-Félicité Sonthonax Léger-Félicité Sonthonax (7 March 1763 – 23 July 1813) was a French politician and colonial administrator. He was a Jacobin before joining the Girondins, which emerged in 1791. During the Haitian Revolution, he controlled 7,000 French troops ...

. He refused, and the British promptly blockaded the island. After the capture of Port-au-Prince on 4 June 1794, Rowley and Lieutenant-Colonel

John Whitelocke John Whitelocke (1757 – 23 October 1833) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator. He is known for leading the failed invasion of Buenos Aires and the forfeit of Montevideo to the Spanish by way of treaty. Military career Educate ...

were sent back to England with dispatches aboard the sloop . In August 1794. Rowley was appointed captain of the 74-gun , taking part in the

Battle of Hyères Islands A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

on 13 July 1795, off the southern coast of France, when a British fleet under Admiral William Hotham engaged a French fleet. ''Cumberland'' was in the

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

of the British fleet, accepting the surrender of the French 74 , before Hotham ordered the fleet to disengage. From July 1797 until October 1798 Rowley commanded the 74-gun , capturing the French

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...

''L'Arrogant''. Rowley was promoted to Rear-Admiral on 14 February 1799, and to Vice-Admiral on 9 November 1805. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief at The Downs in 1807 and Commander-in-Chief at the Jamaica Station in 1808, and sailed from England in July 1808 aboard , commanded by Captain William Pryce Cumby. As C-in-C Rowley resided ashore, flying his flag in . He was promoted to

Admiral of the Blue Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many 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. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

on 31 July 1810, and died at Jamaica on 7 October 1811.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Bartholomew Samuel 1764 births 1811 deaths People educated at Harrow School People of the Haitian Revolution Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars British naval commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy admirals Younger sons of baronets