Vice-Admiral Samuel Reeve (c. 1733 – 5 May 1803) was an officer of the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

who saw service 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 ...

and the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

. in 1779 he was captain of HMS ''Surprize'', seizing American

privateers A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Monmouth'', ''Wild Cat'' and ''Jason'' off the coast of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. On 20 January 1780 ''Surprize'' captured French privateer ''Duguay Trouin'', and in January 1781 captured ''Les Sept Freres''. In the French Revolutionary Wars, Reeve was captain of with the Mediterranean Fleet under Lord Hood. In October 1793 he was ordered, along with and , to attack a French frigate anchored in the harbour at

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...

. The

Raid on Genoa The Raid on Genoa was a minor naval engagement fought in the harbour of the Italian city of Genoa during the first year of the French Revolutionary Wars. French Republican forces in the Mediterranean, under pressure from Austrian and Spanish a ...

was a success, and six days later Reeve discovered and captured the abandoned French ship ''Impérieuse'' at

La Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest ci ...

. Reeve was promoted to vice-admiral in 1799, and retired to his home near

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. On 5 May 1803 Reeve was riding in a

chaise A one-horse chaise A three-wheeled "Handchaise", Germany, around 1900, designed to be pushed by a person A chaise, sometimes called chay or shay, is a light two- or four-wheeled traveling or pleasure carriage for one or two people with a foldin ...

near his home when the horse bolted. Reeve was flung from the chaise and was killed immediately, suffering a broken neck.*

Notes

1730s births 1803 deaths Royal Navy admirals Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Road incident deaths in England {{UK-navy-bio-stub