Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan

Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan, around 1798, portrait by John Hoppner

Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan (born July 1, 1731 in Lundie , Angus , Scotland , † August 4, 1804 in Cornhill-on-Tweed , Northumberland , England ) was a British naval officer.

As commander of the North Sea fleet, he defeated the Dutch fleet in the sea ​​battle at Camperduin (north of Haarlem , North Holland , English: Camperdown ) on October 11, 1797 . He achieved one of the most important British naval victories of the 18th century and one of the most remarkable victories in all of naval history, but in the shadow of Nelson’s victories that followed only a few years later, he is almost forgotten in public today.

Life

First years

Duncan was born in 1731, the second son of Alexander Duncan of Lundie (in Perthshire ) and Helen Haldane, daughter of John Haldane of Gleneagles. His father was the mayor of Dundee and sided with the royalists during the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745 . Adam entered naval service in 1746, around the age of 15, on the sloop trial , under the supervision of his maternal cousin, Lieutenant Robert Haldane . He stayed with his cousin until the Peace of 1748, first on the Trial , then on the frigate Shoreham , of which Haldane became captain in February 1748.

Under Keppel in the Seven Years War

For a historical classification of the fighting mentioned in this section, see the main article Seven Years War .

In 1749 Duncan moved to the Centurion , Commodore The Hon. Augustus Keppel's flagship in the Mediterranean, as a midshipman . Keppel took care of the young officer and became his most important sponsor for the next few years. When Keppel transported General Edward Braddock and his troops to North America in 1755 , he made sure that Duncan was a lieutenant on HMS Norwich (50 guns) (January 10, 1755). After arriving in North America, Duncan switched back to the Centurion .

In August 1755 he followed Keppel on the Swiftsure and in January 1756 on the Torbay , on which he remained until his promotion to Commander (September 21, 1756). On it he took part in the conquest of Gorées in 1758 and the blockade of Brest in 1759 and then in October 1759 became the commandant of the Royal Exchange . With this transfer Duncan was not involved in the two weeks later naval battle in the Bay of Quiberon , in which the British fleet under Edward Hawke defeated the French led by Conflans .

The Royal Exchange was a chartered merchant with the crew, with whom Duncan sailed in convoy service. The crew consisted mostly of teenagers and foreigners who spoke little English and were not prepared to submit to the strict discipline of the Navy. Presumably the resulting differences with the owners led to the ship being withdrawn again in April 1760. Duncan initially received no further command until he was promoted to captain on February 25, 1761 and went as Keppel's flag captain on the HMS Valiant (74 guns). On it he played a major role in the conquest of Belle-Île in June 1761 and Havana in August 1762.

Peace time

After the peace treaty in February 1763, Duncan returned to Great Britain and, like so many naval officers, was no longer given a command in the following peace period, which lasted more than a decade (→ half pay ) despite repeated requests . Since he was in poor health, he spent the next three years mostly in Bath and in Cheltenham .

Duncan returned to Dundee after the death of his father, helping his widowed sister raise their three children and visiting his also recently widowed aunt in law, Lady Mary Duncan, in Italy. On June 6, 1777 he married Henrietta Dundas (1748 / 1749-1832), 18 years his junior, daughter of the lawyer Robert Dundas from Arniston , Lord President of the Court of Session , and niece of the influential politician Henry Dundas , Lord Advocate of Scotland, later Viscount Melville . Despite the age difference, the marriage turned out to be very happy and produced many children, but not all of them reached adulthood.

War with the American colonies

The American Revolutionary War finally gave Duncan the long-awaited new use, to which his association with the influential Dundas family may have contributed. In May 1778 he was given command of the HMS Suffolk (74 guns) in the Canal Fleet under Admiral Keppel, from which he switched to the Monarch (also 74 guns) in December .

In January 1779 he reluctantly took part in the military trial against Keppel, his mentor, and tried several times to intervene in the course of the process and influence it in favor of Keppels, who was eventually acquitted. The Admiralty under Lord Sandwich therefore endeavored to keep him out of the April trial against Sir Hugh Palliser , Sandwich's favorite and Keppel's opponent, and sent the monarchs to St. Helens the day before the court was due to meet . However, since the crew refused to raise the anchor until they had not been paid, the Monarch was withheld at Portsmouth , and Duncan, much to the displeasure of the Admiralty, also took part in this process ( Considerations on the Principles of Naval Discipline , 1781, p. 106n.).

For the background to the trial against Keppel see the main article Augustus Keppel, 1. Viscount Keppel

During the summer of 1779, the Monarch sailed with the Canal Fleet under Sir Charles Hardy and in December belonged to the squadron of Admiral George Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney , with whom she took part in the relieving of Gibraltar and played an important role in the battle off Cape St. Vincent on January 16, 1780, in which Rodney defeated the Spanish blockade squadron off Gibraltar (→ Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1780) ).

After returning to Great Britain, Duncan left the monarch and initially had no new command until the change of government in March 1782 brought Keppel to the head of the Admiralty as First Lord . Duncan received the HMS Blenheim (90 guns) and commanded it during the year in the Grand Fleet under Howe . He took part in the shock of Gibraltar and the meeting with the combined Franco-Spanish fleet off Cape Spartel in October. Shortly before the Blenheim sailed to the West Indies, he left the ship, took over the HMS Foudroyant (84 guns) from Sir John Jervis and, after the peace treaty, commanded the HMS Edgar (74 guns), which cruised off Portsmouth as a guard ship for three years .

On September 24, 1787, Duncan was promoted to flag officer ( Rear-Admiral of the Blue ), but received no command because of the peace and spent most of the time in Edinburgh , where he had bought a house for his family. The other promotions were quick, Vice-Admiral of the Blue on February 1, 1793 and Vice-Admiral of the White on April 12, 1794, but although hostilities with France had broken out in 1793 (First Coalition, → coalition wars ), Duncan was still supposed to remain without use until the year after next.

Blockade of the Dutch coast and battle in front of Kamperduin

In February 1795, Duncan was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian-British fleet in the North Sea , probably at the instigation of Henry Dundas, and was promoted to Admiral of the Blue on June 1 . Since his original flagship , the HMS Prince George (98 cannons), had too much draft for the coastal waters, he hoisted his flag on the HMS Venerable in March .

His main task over the next two years was to maintain a stable sea blockade off the Dutch coast - the Netherlands had been allied with France since May - which was no easy task. His fleet was thrown together from ships of various ranks - captured prize ships, converted Indian voyagers and outdated warships - and actually too small for the waters to be covered. In addition, ships were repeatedly withdrawn for other purposes.

During this time Duncan had a lively correspondence with Lord Spencer , First Lord since 1794, and had frequent contact with William Pitt , whose advisor on naval matters he became. When Sir William Hotham was recalled from command of the Mediterranean Fleet in the summer of 1795 , Duncan was offered the position. The latter, however, did not want to leave his post in view of the Dutch naval armament and instead suggested Sir John Jervis, who was given the opportunity to defeat Spain off Cape St. Vincent in February 1797 (→ Naval Battle of Cape St. Vincent (1797) ).

The Battle of Kamperduin
Thomas Whitcombe , oil on canvas, 1798
National Maritime Museum, London

When it became known in the spring of 1797 that the Dutch fleet was getting ready for sea in Texel , the situation became dangerous because the mass mutiny of the canal fleet in Spithead from April to May and of the Nore squadron from May to June, which took place throughout the Thames Estuary, which affected part of the Grand Fleet, had also encroached upon Duncan's North Sea fleet and paralyzed it for several weeks.

While Duncan's personal influence kept the crew of HMS Vengeance in line , all other ships, with one other exception, HMS Adamant , refused to leave their anchorage off Yarmouth , leaving it to the Vengeance and the Adamant , in fact To pretend no longer existing blockage.

Fortunately, the Dutch weren't ready for sea at that time, and when they finally did - with 30,000 troops on board to invade Ireland - an adverse westerly wind and the death of the commander-in-chief, General Hoche , held them back in port until it closed was late in the year to start the company. Despite this, the Dutch government insisted, against the will of the fleet commander, Admiral Jan Willem de Winter , that the fleet set sail in early October.

The majority of Duncan's fleet was at that time in the port of Yarmouth to take up provisions, while Texel was only observed by a small squadron under Captain Henry Trollope on the HMS Russell . When Duncan received the news that the Dutch were leaving, he immediately lifted anchor and sailed for the Dutch coast with a strong wind at his back.

He headed south and sighted the Dutch formation (16 ships of the line ) on the morning of October 11th, about seven nautical miles off the coast between Egmond and Kamperduin . The wind was blowing strictly inland and although the Dutch immediately formed a northbound line, Duncan knew that they would quickly find themselves in too shallow waters - where the British with their heavier ships could not have followed - if he did not attack immediately. He realized immediately that his chance was to cut off the Dutch withdrawal by sailing between their line and the coast. At first he tried to get his fleet into a battle order, but then quickly realized that there was no more time and gave the signal to break through the enemy battle line and attack from Lee - trusting that his captains would master the situation.

"I made the signal to bear up, break the enemy's line, and engage them to leeward, each ship her opponent, by which I got between them and the land, whither they were fast approaching"

The following battle, ship against ship, was long and bloody, but ended in a complete victory for the British despite great losses. Eleven heavily damaged Dutch ships were captured, including de Winter's flagship Vrijheid , the rest escaped; this broke the immediate threat to Great Britain from the Dutch fleet.

recognition

Duncan accepts the surrender of Admiral de Winters
Daniel Orme , oil on canvas, 1797
National Maritime Museum, London

The news of victory was received with enthusiasm in Britain and Duncan was hailed as a folk hero. Both Houses of Parliament expressed their thanks to him and on October 30, 1797 he was ennobled in the Peerage of Great Britain as Viscount Duncan , of Camperdown, and Baron Duncan , of Lundie in the Shire of Perth . Duncan received several gifts of honor, including a valuable sword and a great gold medal from the king, and an annual pension of £ 3,000 for himself and his two closest heirs from the crown, the highest sum ever granted. He also became an honorary citizen of several cities, including Dundee and London. Public opinion was of the opinion that this elevation was not yet sufficient. Duncan's aunt, Lady Mary Duncan, wrote to Secretary of War Henry Dundas:

"Report says my nephew is only made a viscount. Myself is nothing, but the whole nation thinks the least you can do is to give him an English earldom.… Am sure were this properly represented to our good king, who esteems a brave, religious man like himself, would be of my opinion. "

But it was not until 1831, 27 years after Duncan's death, that his eldest son, Robert Dundas Duncan, 2nd Viscount Duncan , was promoted to Earl of Camperdown (September 12), and his other children to rank and privileges in 1833 of the children of an earl.

Duncan later made friends with Admiral Jan Willem de Winter and made sure that the latter, when his wife fell ill, was immediately repatriated to Holland.

Last years and death

Duncan was in February 1799 Admiral of the White Flag ( Admiral of the White appointed). He remained in command of the North Sea Fleet until 1801 and was still in charge of the naval operations of the Den Helder Expedition in August 1800.

When hostilities with France broke out again in 1803, he traveled to London to offer his services to the government, but was turned down because of his old age - he was 73. Duncan died on August 4, 1804, ailing for some time, at The Inn in the border town of Cornhill-on-Tweed, near the Scottish border, where he stayed on a trip to Edinburgh. He was buried in the Dundee cemetery.

Duncan left behind his wife Henrietta, two sons and four daughters. His eldest surviving son succeeded him in Viscount dignity, and his second son, Henry, died in 1835 as captain and knight of the Royal Guelphic Order . His grandson Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown , (born March 25, 1812, † January 30, 1867) became a Liberal Member of Parliament in 1841 and was Lord of the Treasury from 1855 to 1858. The earliest dignity expired with the death of the fourth earl in 1933.

Several ships in the Royal Navy were named HMS Duncan .

Trivia

Duncan was also the mentor of Horatio Nelson, who kept a miniature Duncan in his cabin when he was at sea. The miniature can be seen in the permanent exhibition at the National War Museum in Edinburgh, dedicated to Adam Duncan.

literature

• Earl of Camperdown: Admiral Duncan. Longmans Green, London 1898.
• Christopher Lloyd: St Vincent and Camperdown. BT Batsford Ltd., London 1963.
• J. Murray (Ed.): Glorious victory. Admiral Duncan and the battle of Camperdown, 1797. Dundee 1997.
• PK Crimmin: Duncan, Adam, Viscount Duncan (1731-1804). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Life of Wolfe Tone, ii. 425-35
2. ↑ 13 October, ADM 1/524, quoted in Crimmin, 2004
3. ^ The London Gazette : 14056, 989 , October 14, 1797.
4. ^ Arniston Memoirs, 251

Web links

• Admiral Lord Duncan, Hero of Camperdown ( Memento June 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
• Admiral Adam Duncan (1st Viscount Camperdown) at Gazetteer for Scotland
• Biography on clan-duncan.co.uk
• National War Museum Edinburgh with permanent exhibition dedicated to Duncan
• Duncan of Camperdown, Viscount (GB, 1797-1933) at Cracroft's Peerage

predecessor	Office	successor
New title created	Viscount Duncan 1797-1804	Robert Duncan

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on June 21, 2006 .