67-645: Captain George Nicholas Hardinge (11 April 1781 – 8 March 1808) was an officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . Possessing an ability to endear himself to senior officers through his intellect and good manners, he served under several important naval commanders, whose patronage allowed him to rise through the ranks. His own skill and bravery were also important factors in his promotion to his own command,
134-573: A group captain in the Royal Air Force . There are similarly named equivalent ranks in the navies of many other countries. In the Royal Navy, the officer in command of any warship of the rank of commander and below is informally referred to as "the captain" on board, even though holding a junior rank, but formally is titled "the commanding officer" (or CO). Until the nineteenth century, Royal Navy officers who were captains by rank and in command of
201-452: A breach was forced in the defences. However, the assault was again repelled and Turkish reinforcements from Rhodes were able to land. On 9 May after another fierce bombardment, the final French assault was made. This, too, was repelled and Napoleon began making plans for the withdrawal of his army to Egypt. Shortly after this, Napoleon abandoned his army in Egypt and sailed back to France evading
268-451: A captain may be referred to as a "DACOS" (standing for deputy assistant chief of staff) or an "AH" (assistant head), from the usual job title of OF5-ranked individuals who work with civil servants. The rank insignia features four rings of gold braid with an executive curl in the upper ring. When in mess dress or mess undress, officers of the rank of captain and above wear gold-laced trousers (the trousers are known as "tin trousers", and
335-781: A drawing of himself and his secretary John Wesley Wright from the French artist Philippe Auguste Hennequin , which is now in the British Museum. Another drawing by Hennequin, depicting only Smith, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art . Smith was held in Paris for two years, despite a number of efforts to exchange him and frequent contacts with both French Royalists and British agents. Notably Captain Jacques Bergeret , captured in April 1796 with
402-483: A fact he demonstrated in 1804 when he led a daring cutting-out operation against two Dutch ships. Promotion to post captain left him temporarily without a command, and he was to be disappointed in a number of the ships he was offered when they turned out to be either unfit for service, or still under construction. Having ended up in the East Indies he was forced to make do with an elderly frigate he had first served on as
469-475: A launching point for intercepting coastal shipping, and as a transit point for French émigrés, and were held by the Royal Navy for nearly seven years. Smith specialised in inshore operations, and on 19 April 1796, he and his secretary John Wesley Wright were captured while attempting to cut out a French ship in Le Havre . Smith had taken the ship's boats into the harbour, but the wind died as they attempted to leave
536-577: A midshipman much earlier in his career. While commanding this ship he fought an action with a superior French opponent, and after a gruelling three-day battle the British were victorious and the French captain surrendered. Hardinge did not live to see the moment, having been killed by grapeshot shortly before. He was buried with full military honours and monuments to his memory were erected in St. Thomas Cathedral, Bombay and St Paul's Cathedral , London. George Hardinge
603-543: A naval vessel were referred to as post-captains ; this practice is now defunct. Captain (D) or Captain Destroyers, afloat, was an operational appointment commanding a destroyer flotilla or squadron , and there was a corresponding administrative appointment ashore, until at least a decade after the Second World War . The title was probably used informally up until the abolition of frigate and destroyer squadrons with
670-504: A purely naval appointment, although he was ordered to place himself under the command of Lord St Vincent , the commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean. St Vincent gave him orders as Commodore with permission to take British ships under his command as required in the Levant . He also carried a military and diplomatic mission to Istanbul where his brother was now a Minister Plenipotentiary to
737-751: A seagoing position, he was never to hold a command again. He died on 26 May 1840 of a stroke. He is buried with his wife in Père Lachaise Cemetery . On 7 April 1801 Sidney , New York ( Delaware County ) was named in Sir Sidney Smith's honour. In June 1811 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society . In 1838 he was promoted to GCB in the Coronation Honours . Sidney Smith Barracks, in Mandate Palestine, were named in his honour. Now it
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#1732898408359804-574: The 74-gun third-rate Alcide , despite being under the required age of nineteen. He distinguished himself under Admiral Thomas Graves at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781 and under Admiral George Rodney at the Battle of the Saintes . In consequence he received his first command, the sloop Fury . He was soon promoted to captain a larger frigate, but following the peace of Versailles in 1783, he
871-568: The Atalante out to sea and though hampered by a gale, succeeded after three days. Although he had been rewarded for his bravery with a promotion to post captain on 10 April 1804, and a sword worth £100 from the Lloyd's Patriotic Fund, Hardinge found it difficult to return to active service. He was at first assigned to command the 24-gun HMS Proselyte and to escort a convoy to the West Indies , but
938-552: The English Channel , arriving in London on 8 May 1798. Bergeret was then released, the British government considering the prisoner exchange as completed. Following Nelson's overwhelming victory at the Battle of the Nile , Smith was sent to the Mediterranean as captain of HMS Tigre , a captured 80-gun French ship of the line which had been bought into the Royal Navy. It was not
1005-552: The Kingdom of Naples . Smith planned a campaign using Calabrian irregular troops with a force of 5,000 British officers and men to march north on Naples. On 4 July 1806, they defeated a larger French force at the Battle of Maida . Once again, Smith's inability to avoid offending his superiors caused him to be replaced as commander of the land forces despite his success. He was replaced by Sir John Moore , one of Britain's most able soldiers. Moore abandoned Smith's plan and resorted to making
1072-548: The Naval Battle of Hyères Islands on 13 July 1794. The pair saw continued service off the Italian coast during the following months, and it was during this time that Hardinge came to the attention of Sir William Hamilton , the British envoy to the Kingdom of Naples . Hamilton introduced Hardinge to the study of history and the arts. Hardinge returned to England for a brief period in 1798, but returned to sea aboard Tyler's new command,
1139-509: The Piémontaise for the next several days, with intermittent fighting as the French turned to engage their pursuer, before sailing away again. They were finally brought to a decisive battle on 8 March, where after an hour and twenty minutes of fierce fighting, they surrendered. French losses amounted to 48 dead and 112 wounded, while the British lost 13 dead and 25 wounded. Captain Hardinge was among
1206-621: The Royal Navy in 1777 and fought in the American Revolutionary War . From June 1777 to January 1778 he served under Commander Jalheel Brenton on board the storeship Tortoise . He moved to the post ship HMS Unicorn , and in her saw action in 1778 against the American frigate Raleigh . For his bravery under Rodney in the action near Cape St Vincent in January 1780, Sidney Smith was, on 25 September, appointed lieutenant of
1273-666: The Sinai . Napoleon Bonaparte , reminiscing later in his life, said of him: "That man made me miss my destiny". Sidney Smith, as he always called himself, was born into a military and naval family with connections to the Pitt family. He was born at Westminster , the second son of Captain John Smith of the Guards and his wife Mary Wilkinson, daughter of wealthy merchant Pinckney Wilkinson . Sidney Smith attended Tonbridge School until 1772. He joined
1340-647: The Sublime Porte . The mission's task was to strengthen Turkish opposition to Napoleon and to assist the Turks in destroying the French army stranded in Egypt . This dual appointment caused Nelson, who was the senior officer under St Vincent in the Mediterranean, to resent Smith's apparent superseding of his authority in the Levant. Nelson's antipathy further adversely affected Smith's reputation in naval circles. Napoleon, having defeated
1407-567: The Western Squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren . This squadron consisted of some of the most skilful and daring captains, including Sir Edward Pellew . Smith fitted this pattern and on one occasion took his ship almost into the port of Brest to observe the French fleet. In July 1795, Captain Smith, commanding the western frigate squadron in HMS Diamond , occupied the Îles Saint-Marcouf off
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#17328984083591474-501: The anti-slavery cause. The Barbary pirates had operated for centuries out of a number of North African ports. They had enslaved captured sailors and even made raids to kidnap people from European coasts, including England and Ireland . Smith attended the Congress of Vienna to campaign for funds and military action to end the practice of slave taking. Smith had managed to run up significant debts through his diplomatic expenses, which
1541-573: The 18-gun HMS Scorpion , which he commanded in the North Sea . On 28 March 1804 he was sailing off the Vlie when he discovered two Dutch brig-corvettes at anchor in the roads. Since the Scorpion was too large to risk navigating the passage, Hardinge decided to make an attack with his boats. While waiting for conditions that would allow an attack, he was joined by the 14-gun HMS Beaver , and at 9.30 in
1608-576: The 38-gun HMS Aigle . The Aigle was wrecked off the African coast on 18 July, but Hardinge survived to be rescued, and duly came to the attention of Earl St Vincent . Hardinge's talent for impressing senior officials with his intellect led to St Vincent appointing him to the 74-gun HMS Theseus , under the command of Captain Ralph Willett Miller . He was still aboard the Theseus when Miller
1675-476: The British government proved to be very slow in reimbursing. He also lived the high life and his efforts to mobilise opinion against the slave trade had cost a good deal of money. In Britain, at that time debtors were often imprisoned until their debts were paid, so Smith moved his family to France, settling in Paris. Eventually the government did reimburse his expenditures and increased his pension, allowing him to live in some style. Despite frequent attempts to obtain
1742-622: The British ships patrolling the Mediterranean. Smith attempted to negotiate the surrender and repatriation of the remaining French forces under General Kléber and signed the Convention of El-Arish . However, because of the influence of Nelson's view that the French forces in Egypt should be annihilated rather than allowed to return to France, the treaty was abrogated by Lord Keith who had succeeded St Vincent as commander-in-chief. The British decided instead to land an army under Sir Ralph Abercromby at Abukir Bay. Smith and Tigre were involved in
1809-550: The Fleet FIRST reorganisation circa 2001. Ashore, the rank of captain is often verbally described as "captain RN" to distinguish it from the more junior Army and Royal Marines rank , and in naval contexts, as a "four-ring captain" (referring to the uniform lace) to avoid confusion with the title of a seagoing commanding officer. In the Ministry of Defence , and in joint service establishments,
1876-522: The French invasion fleet gathering off the French and Belgian coasts. However, an attempt to use the new weapons combined with Congreve rockets in an attack on Boulogne was foiled by bad weather and the French gunboats that came out to threaten the attackers. Despite this setback, suggestions were made that the rockets, mines and torpedoes be used against the Combined French and Spanish Fleet in Cádiz . This
1943-518: The French. Smith travelling back to England had only reached Brussels by June. Smith, his wife and stepdaughter attended the Duchess of Richmond's ball on night 15/16 June, and three days later, hearing the gunfire of a great battle, he rode out of Brussels and went to meet the Duke of Wellington . Smith found him late in the day when he had just won the Battle of Waterloo . Smith started making arrangements for
2010-484: The Hardinge family an augmentation to their coat of arms commemorating both the victory over Piemontaise and Hardinge's earlier victory over Atalanta . Captain (Royal Navy) Captain ( Capt ) is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy . It ranks above commander and below commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a colonel in the British Army and Royal Marines , and to
2077-635: The Mediterranean after this, serving under Captain Sir Sidney Smith aboard the 80-gun HMS Tigre . He was involved in the operations of the Egyptian Campaign , and was promoted to lieutenant on 15 October 1800, subsequently receiving the Turkish Gold Medal. Hardinge's earlier patron, Earl St Vincent, had by now risen to the post of First Lord of the Admiralty , and he promoted Hardinge to
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2144-780: The Moment of Victory, while COMMANDING THAT SHIP in ACTION with LA PIEDMONTESE, FRENCH SHIP, of 50 GUNS, OFF CEYLON on the 8 of March 1808 after a continued ACTION of the Three successive Days as recorded in the LONDON Gazette of the 20 of December 1808 THIS VASE IS PRESENTED TO HIS UNCLE GEORGE HARDINGE ESQR KINGS COUNCIL ATTORNEY GENERAL TO THE QUEEN, and his MAJESTY'S JUSTICE for the Counties of Glamorgan, Brecon and Radnor FROM THE PATRIOTIC FUND AT LLOYDS'. On 29 November 1809, His Majesty George III granted to
2211-455: The Ottoman forces in Egypt, marched north along the Mediterranean coast with 13,000 troops through Sinai and into what was then the Ottoman province of Syria. Here he took control of much of the southern part of the province, representing modern-day Israel and Palestine , and of a single town in today's Lebanon , Tyre . On the way north he captured Gaza and Jaffa with much brutality towards
2278-631: The Portuguese Royal Family, Admiral Smith was awarded by the Prince-Regent John , the Grand Cross of the newly restored Order of the Tower and Sword . In July 1812, Smith again sailed for the Mediterranean aboard his new flagship, the 74-gun Tremendous . He was appointed as second in command to Vice Admiral Sir Edward Pellew . His task was to blockade Toulon and he transferred his flag to
2345-501: The Revolutionary forces, including a colonel of artillery, Napoleon Bonaparte , had surrounded the port and were attacking it. The British and their allies had insufficient soldiers to mount an effective defence and so the port was evacuated. Smith, serving as a volunteer with no command, was given the task of burning as many French ships and stores as possible before the harbour could be captured. Despite his efforts, lack of support from
2412-719: The Royal Navy in 1793 as a midshipman aboard the 32-gun frigate HMS Meleager under Captain Charles Tyler , and saw action at the Siege of Toulon and the reduction of Corsica . When Tyler moved to take command of the captured French frigate Minerve , which had been taken into Royal Navy service as HMS St Fiorenzo , he took Midshipman Hardinge with him. This was the ship that Hardinge would die in command of 15 years later. Hardinge continued to move ships to remain in Tyler's service, and both were present aboard HMS Diadem at
2479-466: The Spanish forces sent to help him left more than half of the French ships to be captured undamaged. Although Smith had destroyed more French ships than had the most successful fleet action to that date, Nelson and Collingwood , among others, blamed him for this failure to destroy all of the French fleet. On his return to London, Smith was given command of the fifth-rate HMS Diamond and in 1795 joined
2546-529: The Turkish court, and his personal popularity with the Turks, he was kept in a subordinate role during the campaign. Even when Duckworth eventually did ask for his advice, it was not heeded. Duckworth, instead of allowing Smith to negotiate with the Turks, which the French ambassador later said would have been the end of the French overtures, retreated back through the Dardanelles under heavy Turkish fire. Although this
2613-698: The attempt of clearing the Bay of Viborg of the Russian fleet and later at the Battle of Svensksund ( Finnish : Ruotsinsalmi, Russian : Rochensalm). The Russians lost sixty-four ships and over a thousand men. The Swedes lost four ships and had few casualties. For this, Smith was knighted by the king and made a Commander Grand Cross of the Swedish Svärdsorden ( Order of the Sword ). Smith used this title, with King George III 's permission. In 1792, Smith's younger brother, John ,
2680-399: The civilian population and the massacre of 3,000 captured Turkish soldiers, whom he was unable to take with him or send back to Egypt. Napoleon's army then marched to Acre . Smith sailed to Acre and helped the Turkish commander Jezzar Pasha reinforce the defences and old walls and supplied him with additional cannon manned by sailors and Marines from his ships. He also used his command of
2747-400: The coast of Normandy . He sacrificed two of his gun vessels, HMS Badger and HMS Sandfly , to provide materials and manpower for fortifying the islands and setting a temporary naval garrison. Further defences were constructed by Royal Engineers, and Royal Marines and Royal Artillery detachments were established. The islands served as a forward base for the blockade of Le Havre ,
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2814-614: The collecting and treatment of the many wounded soldiers on both sides. He was then asked to take the surrender of the French garrisons at Arras and Amiens and to ensure that the Allied armies could enter Paris without a fight and that it would be safe for King Louis XVIII to return to his capital. For these and other services, he was finally awarded a British knighthood, the KCB , so he was not just "the Swedish Knight" any more. Smith then took up
2881-454: The crew came to his aid. Seeing that his opponent was outnumbered Hardinge called upon the Dutch captain to surrender, but he refused and the British were forced to kill him. 'He fell covered with honourable wounds', as Hardinge later recounted. The British secured the Atalante , and attempted to attack the second Dutch ship, but found that she had moved out of range. Hardinge instead laboured to take
2948-529: The dead, killed by grapeshot shortly before the Piémontaise surrendered. He was buried at Colombo with full military honours, and monuments to his memory were erected in Bombay and in St Paul's Cathedral . Following this action he was awarded a £300 Lloyd's Patriotic Fund Silver Vase, the inscription upon which reads: 'IN MEMORY OF GEORGE NICHOLAS HARDINGE ESQ'R CAPTAIN OF HMS ST. FIORENZO, OF 36 GUNS Who NOBLY FELL in
3015-432: The evening of 31 March two boats from Beaver and three from Scorpion altogether carrying 60 men, set off to attack the Dutch. They approached the nearest one, the Atalante and rushed her, Hardinge being the first to leap aboard. After some fierce fighting they subdued the Dutch crew, with Hardinge at one point fighting hand to hand with the Dutch captain. The Dutch captain was able to disarm Hardinge, but other members of
3082-531: The frigate Virginie , was sent from England to Paris to negotiate his own exchange; when the Directoire refused, he returned to London. The French authorities threatened several times to try Smith for arson, but never followed through on the threats. Eventually in 1798 the Royalists, who pretended to be taking him to another prison, helped Smith and Wright to escape. The royalists brought the two Englishmen to Le Havre, where they boarded an open fishing boat and were picked up on 5 May by HMS Argo on patrol in
3149-399: The gold lace stripes thereon are nicknamed "lightning conductors"), and may wear the undress tailcoat (without epaulettes). William Sidney Smith Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith GCB GCTE KmstkSO FRS (21 June 1764 – 26 May 1840) was a British Royal Navy officer. Serving in the American and French revolutionary wars and Napoleonic Wars , he rose to
3216-444: The harbour at Lisbon should that be unsuccessful. Smith arranged for the Portuguese fleet to sail for Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , at that time a Portuguese colony. He was involved in planning an attack on the Spanish colonies in South America , in combination with the Portuguese, contrary to his orders, but he was recalled to Britain in 1809 before any of the plans could be carried out. He received much popular acclaim for his actions and
3283-427: The harbour, and the French were able to recapture the ship with Smith and Wright aboard. Instead of being exchanged, as was the custom, Smith and Wright were taken to the Temple prison in Paris where Smith was to be charged with arson for his burning of the fleet at Toulon. As Smith had been on half pay at the time, the French considered that he was not an official combatant. Whilst in the Temple prison he commissioned
3350-514: The island of Sicily a strong British base in the Mediterranean. Smith was sent to join Admiral Sir John Thomas Duckworth 's expedition to Constantinople in February 1807. This was intended to forestall the French from making an alliance with the Turks to allow free passage of their army to Egypt. On 19 February Duckworth detached Smith's division to deal with a Turkish squadron impeding the fleet's progress, which Smith ably destroyed. Despite Smith's great experience in Turkish waters, his knowledge of
3417-403: The larger Hibernia , a 110-gun first-rate . The French did not come out of port to confront the British. Early in 1814, the Allies entered Paris and Napoleon abdicated . With the coming of peace and the defeat of Napoleon, Smith began the journey back to England. In March 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and gathering his veteran troops marched on Paris where he was reinstated as Emperor of
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#17328984083593484-431: The last French stronghold of Alexandria . The French troops were eventually repatriated on terms similar to those previously obtained by Smith in the Convention of El-Arish. On his return to England in 1801, Smith received some honours and a pension of £1,000 for his services, but he was overshadowed again by Nelson who was being acclaimed as the victor of the Battle of Copenhagen . During the brief Peace of Amiens , Smith
3551-485: The rank of Admiral . Smith was known for his outspoken character and penchant for acting on his own initiative, which caused a great deal of friction with many of his superiors and colleagues. His military skill, personal intelligence and enterprise led to his involvement in a variety of tasks which involved warfare, diplomacy and espionage . He became a hero in Britain for leading the successful defence of Acre in 1799, thwarting Napoleon's plans of further conquest in
3618-399: The rank of commander on 29 April 1802. He had to wait nearly a year though before he obtained his first ship, the bomb vessel HMS Terror in March 1803. Serving in the English Channel , initially under Captain Edward Owen , and later Admiral James Saumarez , he took part in the attack on Granville . The Terror was heavily damaged in this operation, and Hardinge's next command was
3685-483: The sea to capture the French siege artillery being sent by ship from Egypt and to deny the French army the use of the coastal road from Jaffa by bombarding the troops from the sea. Once the siege began in late March 1799, Smith anchored HMS Tigre and Theseus so their broadsides could assist the defence. Repeated French assaults were driven back, several attempts to mine the walls were prevented. By early May, replacement French siege artillery had arrived overland and
3752-488: The training and transport of the landing forces and as liaison with the Turks, but his unpopularity resulted in the loss of his diplomatic credentials and his naval position as Commodore in the eastern Mediterranean. The invasion was successful and the French defeated, although Abercromby was wounded and died soon after the battle. Following this Smith then supported the army under Abercromby's successor John Hely-Hutchinson , which besieged and captured Cairo and finally took
3819-414: Was Smith's. With the resumption of war with France in 1803, Smith was employed in the southern North Sea off the coast between Ostend and Flushing part of the forces gathered to prevent Napoleon's threatened invasion. Smith was interested in new and unusual methods of warfare. In 1804 and 1805, he worked with the American inventor Robert Fulton on his plans to develop torpedoes and mines to destroy
3886-409: Was a defeat, the withdrawal under fire was played up as a heroic feat. In the summer of 1807, Duckworth and Smith were recalled to England. In October 1807, Spain and France signed a treaty to divide Portugal between them. In November 1807, Smith was appointed to command an expedition to Lisbon , either to assist the Portuguese in resisting the attack or to destroy the Portuguese fleet and blockade
3953-462: Was appointed to the British embassy to the Ottoman court in Constantinople . Smith obtained permission to travel to Turkey. While there, war broke out with Revolutionary France in January 1793. Smith recruited some British seamen and sailed to join the British fleet under Admiral Lord Hood which had occupied the French Navy's principal Mediterranean port of Toulon at the invitation of the French Royalist forces. By Smith's arrival in December 1793,
4020-434: Was born in Kingston upon Thames , Surrey on 11 April 1781, the second son of Reverend Henry Hardinge, and his wife Frances. His education was taken in hand by his uncle, George Hardinge , a judge, who sent him to Eton to study law. George Nicholas did not do well at school, and instead asked to go to sea, perhaps influenced by his uncle, Sir Richard Hardinge , who was a captain of an East Indiaman . He consequently joined
4087-421: Was completed, but in the meantime had to make do with the old fifth rate HMS St Fiorenzo , a ship he had served as a midshipman on 15 years earlier. Hardinge made a number of uneventful patrols in the Indian Ocean , but on 6 March 1808 he came across three East Indiamen being followed by the 40-gun French frigate Piémontaise . He turned to confront the Frenchman, who attempted to escape. St Fiorenzo chased
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#17328984083594154-402: Was elected Member of Parliament for Rochester in Kent in the election held in 1802 . There is strong evidence that he had an affair with Princess Caroline of Brunswick , the estranged wife of the Prince of Wales . Although she became pregnant, she was notorious for having a number of other lovers at the same time, such as George Canning and Thomas Lawrence , so it is unlikely the child
4221-412: Was instead transferred to HMS Valorous . The Valorous was found to be unfit for sea, but he was given the command of HMS Salsette , a frigate then supposed to be fitting out at Bombay . He made his way to the East Indies, taking part in the Capture of the Cape en route, but on his arrival at Bombay he found that the Salsette had only just been laid down. He was promised her command when she
4288-416: Was killed in an accidental explosion in May 1799, that left the ship severely damaged. Hardinge returned to Britain where he was transferred to the 80-gun HMS Foudroyant as a supernumerary lieutenant under Captain Edward Berry , and on returning to the Mediterranean he was involved in the battle which led to the capture of the 80-gun French ship Guillaume Tell on 30 March 1800. Hardinge remained in
4355-457: Was not necessary as the combined fleet sailed to defeat at the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805. In November 1805, Smith was promoted to rear admiral , he was again sent to the Mediterranean under the command of Collingwood, who had become the commander-in-chief following Nelson's death. Collingwood sent him to assist King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies to regain his capital of Naples from Napoleon's brother King Joseph , who had been given
4422-533: Was put ashore on half pay. During the peace, Smith chose to travel to France and first became involved with intelligence matters while observing the construction of the new naval port at Cherbourg . He also travelled in Spain and Morocco which were also potential enemies. In 1790, he applied for permission to serve in the Royal Swedish Navy in the war between Sweden and Russia . King Gustav III appointed him to command one light squadron and to be one of his principal naval advisers. Smith led his forces in
4489-496: Was treated as a hero, but the government continued to be suspicious of him, and he was not given any official honours. Smith was promoted to vice admiral on 31 July 1810. In the Royal Navy of the time, promotion from Post Captain to Admiral was automatic and based on seniority, not a specific reward for good service. Later that year in October 1810, he married Caroline Rumbold, the widow of a diplomat, Sir George Rumbold , with whom Smith had worked. Upon safe arrival to Brazil escorting
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