Charles Powell Hamilton
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
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|name =Charles Powell Hamilton
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|birth_date ={{birth date|1747|12|26|df=y}}
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|death_date ={{Death date and age|1825|03|12|1747|12|26|df=y}}
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|allegiance ={{flag|United Kingdom|23px}}
|branch ={{navy|United Kingdom|23px}}
|serviceyears =–1825
|rank =Admiral
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|commands ={{HMS |Fortune|1778|6}}
HMS Apollo
{{HMS|Canada|1765|6}}
{{HMS|Prince|1788|6}}
|battles =Action of 13 May 1779
Action of 6 November 1794
Battle of Groix
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|relations =Lord Anne Hamilton (father)
James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (grandfather)
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Admiral Charles Powell Hamilton (26 December 1747 – 12 March 1825) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of admiral.
Family and early life
Hamilton was born on 26 December 1747, the third and youngest son of Lord Anne Hamilton, who was the third and youngest son of James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton.;{{cite book |title=The Gentleman's Magazine |pages=562–3}} his middle name was from his mother, Anna Charlotta Maria Powell. He joined the navy and saw some service during the American War of Independence. After the Action of 13 May 1779 in which he commanded HMS Fortune, he was promoted to the rank of post-captain on 18 May 1779 and to command of the frigate HMS Apollo.
War with the French
With the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 Hamilton was assigned to command the 74-gun third rate {{HMS|Canada|1765|6}}.{{cite book |last=Winfield |title=British Warships of the Age of Sail |page=60}} In November 1794 the Canada and the {{HMS|Alexander|1778|2}}, the latter under Captain Richard Rodney Bligh, had been assigned to escort a convoy from England to Cape St Vincent. 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, three large frigates and a brig.{{cite book |last=Tracy |title=Who's who in Nelson's Navy |page=43}}{{cite book |title=The Naval Chronicle |page=426}} 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 {{HMS|Prince|1788|6}}. 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, and which included the captured Alexander off Groix. The Alexander had been taken into the French navy after her surrender, and after an engagement termed the Battle of Groix, the British recaptured her.{{cite book |last=Winfield |title=British Warships of the Age of Sail |page=71}} Though Hamilton was present, he was not directly engaged in the fighting.{{cite book |last=Fremont-Barnes |title=The Royal Navy: 1793-1815 |page=79}}
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. Correspondence between Vice-Admiral Hamilton and Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson in 1803 indicates that the elder Hamilton asked Nelson to find a place for his son aboard {{HMS|Victory}}, but that Nelson was unable to oblige.{{cite book |last=Nelson, White|title=Nelson, the New Letters |pages=99–100}} Admiral Charles Powell Hamilton died at Fir Hill, near Droxford, Hampshire on 12 March 1825, at the age of 77.{{cite book|title=The Annual Register |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=-oVdAAAAIAAJ&dq=Annual%20Register.%20Admiral%20Charles%20Powell%20Hamilton&pg=PA235 235]}}
Following the death in 1895 of William Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton without male issue, Hamilton's great-grandson, Alfred Douglas Hamilton inherited the Dukedom of Hamilton.
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book |first=Nicholas|last=Tracy|title=Who's who in Nelson's Navy: 200 Naval Heroes|year=2006|publisher=Chatham Publishing|location=London|isbn=1-86176-244-5}}
- {{cite book |title=The Naval Chronicle|year=1805|publisher=J. Gold|volume=13}}
- {{cite book |title=The Gentleman's Magazine|year=1825|publisher=F. Jefferies}}
- {{cite book |title=The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1825|year=1826|publisher=J. Dodsley|editor=Edmund Burke|editor-link=Edmund Burke|volume=67}}
- {{cite book |first=Rif|last=Winfield|title=British Warships of the Age of Sail 1714–1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates|year=2007|publisher=Seaforth|location=London|isbn=978-1-86176-295-5}}
- {{cite book|last=Fremont-Barnes|first=Gregory|title=The Royal Navy: 1793-1815|location=Oxford|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-1-84603-138-0}}
- {{cite book|last=Nelson|first=Horatio|author2=White, Colin|title=Nelson, the New Letters|publisher=Boydell Press|year=2005|isbn=1-84383-130-9}}
{{refend}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Charles Powell}}
Category:Nobility from South Lanarkshire
Category:Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Category:Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars