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 ...

Skeffington Lutwidge (13 March 1737 – 15/16 August 1814) 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 ...

. He had a particular connection with

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 ...

, who served under Lutwidge as a midshipman on an expedition to the Arctic in in 1773, and again in 1801 while a captain, when Lutwidge was commander in chief in the Downs. Lutwidge served for a considerable period and in a number of ships, in American waters during the War of Independence. During this time he captured a number of American privateers, and was involved in operations on

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

. He reached flag rank soon after the start of the French Revolutionary Wars, and served mainly in Home waters as commander in chief of some of the stations on the south coast. He retired from active service with the rank of admiral, and died in 1814, shortly before the end of the Napoleonic Wars. He was the great-uncle of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

Early life

Lutwidge was born on 13 March 1737, the son of Thomas Lutwidge of Whitehaven and his second wife Lucy ''nee'' Hoghton. Lutwidge embarked on a career in the Navy, and is listed as a lieutenant in 1763, taking command of the purchased cutter in April that year. He remained with her until 1765, serving in the area of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Arctic voyage

Lutwidge, by now a commander, commissioned the

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (Naval long gun, long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but ...

in June 1771, and served in the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

until the ''Carcass'' was paid off in April 1773. The ''Carcass'' was then refitted at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

between March and April for a voyage to the Arctic, with Lutwidge retaining command. The expedition, under the overall command of Constantine Phipps, who commanded , sailed from the

Nore The Nore is a long sandbank, bank of sand and silt running along the south-centre of the final narrowing of the Thames Estuary, England. Its south-west is the very narrow Nore Sand. Just short of the Nore's easternmost point where it fades int ...

on 10 June 1773. The expedition sailed up to and around

Spitsbergen Spitsbergen (; formerly known as West Spitsbergen; Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Vest Spitsbergen'' or ''Vestspitsbergen'' , also sometimes spelled Spitzbergen) is the largest and the only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipel ...

, managing to reach within ten degrees of the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

, but was prevented from travelling further north by thick sea ice, and returned to Britain in September. Sailing with the ''Carcass'' was a young

, whose position as a midshipman on the expedition had been arranged by his uncle, Maurice Suckling. Suckling and Lutwidge knew each other well, Lutwidge having served under Suckling on a number of occasions, including time spent acting against privateers in 1771. Nelson was given the role of

coxswain The coxswain ( or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the wiktionary:cockboat, cockboat, a ...

of Lutwidge's gig. Nelson managed to obtain command of the ''Carcass''s cutter as the expedition progressed.

Nelson and the bear

By 1800 Lutwidge began to circulate a story that while the ship had been trapped in the ice, Nelson had seen and pursued a

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...

, before being ordered to return to the ship. Lutwidge's later version, in 1809, reported that Nelson and a companion had given chase to the bear, but on being questioned why, replied that "I wished, Sir, to get the skin for my father." Nelson referred to Lutwidge as 'that good old man'.

Later commands

Lutwidge was appointed 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 ...

in August 1775, and sailed to North America in March the following year. He played an active role in the American War of Independence, serving in the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrenc ...

between 1777 and 1778. On 10 April 1777 he was made commodore and commander-in-chief of the British naval forces on

by Guy Carleton. He led the naval forces pursuing the Americans who were retreating from the fall of Fort Ticonderoga in July that year. Lutwidge was replaced in his role on 4 October 1777 by Captain Samuel Graves. Returning to sea-going service he captured the American

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding 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 o ...

''Pompey'' on 13 June 1778. The ''Triton'' returned to Britain to be refitted and re-coppered in early 1779, after which she returned to North America, capturing the American privateer ''Gates'' on 29 September 1779. He was involved in the capture of a Spanish convoy on 8 January 1780, and on the night of 16 and 17 January Lutwidge was part of Admiral George Rodney's fleet against Juan de Lángara at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. His final duties with the ''Triton'' were to escort a convoy to

Menorca Menorca or Minorca (from , later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Mallorca. Its capital is Maó, situated on the isl ...

and then to the

Leeward Islands The Leeward Islands () are a group of islands situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean. Starting with the Virgin Islands east of Puerto Rico, they extend southeast to Guadeloupe and its dependencies. In Engl ...

. Lutwidge then briefly took command of 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 ...

and sailed her back to Britain with American prisoners of war, paying her off after her arrival in March. He was almost immediately posted to the new

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 ...

, and commissioned her in March. By September he was back on the North American station, re-capturing the 20-gun on 29 July during his voyage across the Atlantic. The next two years were spent on the North American station, capturing a number of American privateers during this time, the ''General Green'' on 30 August 1781, the ''Raven'' on 1 April 1782 and the ''Diana'' on 29 August 1782. The ''Perseverance'' was paid off after the conclusion of the war. Lutwidge is next recorded as taking command of the third rate in November 1786, the ''Scipio'' then being a guard ship on the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

. In December 1792 he commissioned the new third rate . With the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other countries ...

he sailed in April 1793 to join the

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

to join Admiral Samuel Hood.

Flag rank and later life

By 1797 he had been advanced to Vice-Admiral, and in July that year he hoisted his flag aboard the second rate , in his post as

Commander-in-Chief, The Nore The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. Nore, The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of t ...

, before the ''Sandwich'' was paid off in September. Lutwidge moved his flag to the new guard ship, the third rate HMS Zealand in October, shifting again to HMS Overyssel in 1799. He became a vice-admiral of the red on 14 February that year, and by 1799 he was commander of the fleets in the Downs, where under his command in 1801 was his former midshipman of the ''Carcass'' Horatio Nelson, by now in command of . Lutwidge was advanced to admiral of the blue on 1 January 1801, admiral of the white on 9 November 1805, and admiral of the red on 31 July 1810. He retired from active service and died at his estates at Holmrook in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

(now

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

) on 16 August 1814, at the age of 78. A monument to his memory was raised in St Paul, Irton parish church, to the east of Holmrook, in the form of a stained glass window. He had married Catherine Harvey, but she predeceased him in 1810, and they had no children to succeed him. A distant relation was his great-nephew Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known as the author

. Skeffington Lutwidge's nephew, Major Charles Lutwidge, who sold the Holmrook estate to him, was the father of Carroll's mother Fanny.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Lutwidge, Skeffington 1737 births 1814 deaths 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