James Hillyar

Sir James Hillyar KCB KCH (born October 29, 1769 in Portsea , Hampshire , † July 10, 1843 in Torpoint , Cornwall , United Kingdom ) was a Rear Admiral in the British Royal Navy .

Life and career

Hillyar joined the British Navy in 1779 at the age of ten. First he served on the frigate HMS Chatham during the American War of Independence . The ship participated in the blockade of Boston . In 1781, the Chatham managed to capture the French HMS Magicienne in one battle . Hillyar distinguished himself especially in the naval wars against Napoleonic France . In 1800 he was made a lieutenant in the Navy by Admiral Horatio Nelson . On September 3 of this year, he attracted attention when he was involved in a commando operation against two Spanish corvettes in the port of Barcelona (Spain was an ally of France at that time).

During these years Hillyar was in command of the supply ship Niger , with which he also participated in the landing near the Egyptian Abukir in March 1801 . At the beginning of 1804 Hillyar was promoted to captain at Nelson’s instigation and at the same time his ship was fully armed (32 cannons). This ship, the Niger , was initially active in the Mediterranean, sailed into the Atlantic in October 1805 to support the associations off Cadiz, but did not intervene in the sea battle of Trafalgar , but returned to England. In February 1806 Hillyar was able to capture a Spanish cruiser near Gibraltar with the help of the Niger . He was in command of the Niger until 1807. From 1808 to 1809 he served as the flag captain under Rear Admiral Harvey on the HMS Saint George , which made patrol and blockade trips off the French coast.

In 1810 he took over command of the HMS Phoebe , with which he landed in Mauritius in the autumn of that year and defeated the French stationed there. In May 1811 he took part with his ship and the frigates HMS Galathea , HMS Astraea and the sloop HMS Racehorse in a sea battle off Tamatave against three French frigates, which the British won.

In the British-American War of 1812, he pursued the US warship USS Essex with the HMS Phoebe under Captain David Porter , who had to surrender to Hillyar at Valparaíso in March 1814 .

Hillyar was awarded the Order of the Bath and the Royal Guelphic Order . In 1805 he married Mary Taylor in Malta , with whom he had three daughters and three sons.

literature

• Robert Malcomson: James Hillyar. in: World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society. OCLC 4681401204 .
• JK Laughton, Roger Morriss: Hillyar, Sir James (1769–1843), naval officer. in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 2004, ISBN 978-0-1986-1411-1 .
• Patrick Richard Carstens, Timothy L. Sanford: Hillyar (Admiral, Sir) James KCB KCH (1769-1843). In: Searching for the forgotten was: 1812. PR Carstens, Ontario 2011, ISBN 978-1-4535-8890-1 .

Web links

• "Battles of the British navy" - Action of Toulox - Phoebe and Essex on archive.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ James Hillyar (1769–1843) ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on sailingnavies.com, accessed February 24, 2014. 
2. ↑ Patrick Richard Carstens, Timothy L. Sanford: Hillyar (Admiral, Sir) James KCB KCH (1769-1843). In: Searching for the forgotten was: 1812.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Captain James Hillyar 1769–1843 ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at prints.rmg.co.uk, accessed February 24, 2014. 
4. ^ Robert Malcomson: James Hillyar. in: World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society. OCLC 4681401204 .