Admiral 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 ...

Charles Powell Hamilton (26 December 1747 – 12 March 1825) was an officer of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, who saw service during the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, and the 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 ...

, eventually rising to the rank of

admiral 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 ...

Family and early life

Hamilton was born on 26 December 1747, the third and youngest son of

Lord Anne Hamilton Lord Anne Hamilton (12 October 1709 – 25 December 1748) was a Scottish nobleman. He is said to have married the richest woman in Great Britain and they had a child. Early life Hamilton was born at St. James's Square, London, the third son of ...

, who was the third and youngest son of

James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton Lieutenant-General James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton and 1st Duke of Brandon (11 April 1658 – 15 November 1712), was a Scottish nobleman, soldier and politician. Hamilton was a major investor in the failed Darien scheme, which cost many of ...

.; his middle name was from his mother, Anna Charlotta Maria Powell. He joined the navy and saw some service during the

. After the

Action of 13 May 1779 The action of 13 May 1779 was a battle in Cancale Bay, near St Malo, between French and British squadrons. The French force had been part of the escort meant for Karl Heinrich von Nassau-Siegen's invasion of Jersey. When that invasion failed ...

in which he commanded HMS ''Fortune'', he was promoted to the rank of

post-captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...

on 18 May 1779 and to command of the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

HMS ''Apollo''.

War with the French

With the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

in 1793 Hamilton was assigned to command the 74-gun

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). Rating When the rating system was f ...

. In November 1794 the ''Canada'' and the , the latter under Captain Richard Rodney Bligh, had been assigned to escort a convoy from England to

Cape St Vincent Cape St. Vincent (, ) is a headland in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. It is the southwesternmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe. History Cape St. Vincent was already sacred ground in Neolithic ...

. While the two warships were returning they were spotted by a French squadron under Joseph-Marie Nielly, consisting of five 74 gun

ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which involved the two column ...

, three large

s and a

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 ...

. Outnumbered the British ships attempted to escape, but began to be overhauled by the French. Bligh eventually turned and engaged the French, allowing Hamilton aboard the ''Canada'' to escape. After an unequal engagement during which the ''Alexander'' was reduced to a sinking condition, Bligh struck his colours. Shortly after Hamilton's return to England he was transferred to the 98-gun

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 guns ...

. Hamilton and the ''Prince'' were assigned to the fleet under Admiral Alexander Hood, which in June 1795 came across a French fleet under

Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse Vice-Admiral Louis-Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse (29 May 1747Granier, p.87Some biographers give a date of 1750 (Levot, p.541). Granier quotes the registers of Sainte-Marie parish. – 24 July 1812Levot, p.544) was a French Navy officer and poli ...

, and which included the captured ''Alexander'' off

Groix Groix (; ) is an island and a commune in the Morbihan department of the region of Brittany in north-western France. Groix lies a few kilometres off the coast of Lorient. Several ferries a day run from Lorient to Groix. There are a few small ...

. The ''Alexander'' had been taken into the French navy after her surrender, and after an engagement termed the

Battle of Groix The Battle of Groix (, ) took place on 23 June 1795 off the island of Groix in the Bay of Biscay during the War of the First Coalition. It was fought between elements of the British Channel Fleet and the French Ponant Fleet, Atlantic Fleet, whi ...

, the British recaptured her. Though Hamilton was present, he was not directly engaged in the fighting.

Family and later life

Hamilton was promoted rear-admiral on 20 February 1797, vice-admiral on 1 January 1801 and admiral on 28 April 1808. He married Lucretia Prosser in May 1777, having two sons with her. The younger, Augustus Hamilton, also joined the navy, becoming 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 ...

. Correspondence between Vice-Admiral Hamilton and Vice-Admiral

Horatio Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

in 1803 indicates that the elder Hamilton asked Nelson to find a place for his son aboard , but that Nelson was unable to oblige. Admiral Charles Powell Hamilton died at Fir Hill, near

Droxford Droxford ( Drokensford) is a village in Hampshire, England. Geography The village is clustered with slight ribbon development along its main, north–south, undulating road. It is entirely on the lower half of the western slopes of the Meon ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

on 12 March 1825, at the age of 77. Following the death in 1895 of

William Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton, 9th Duke of Brandon, 2nd Duke of Châtellerault KT (12 March 1845 – 16 May 1895), styled Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale until 1863, was a Scottish nobleman. Early ...

without male issue, Hamilton's great-grandson, Alfred Douglas Hamilton inherited the

Dukedom of Hamilton Duke of Hamilton is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in April 1643. It is the senior dukedom in that peerage (except for the Dukedom of Rothesay held by the sovereign's eldest son), and as such its holder is the premier peer of Sco ...

Notes

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Charles Powell 1747 births 1825 deaths Nobility from South Lanarkshire Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars People from the City of Winchester