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Article TRIAL OF VICE-ADMIRAL CORNWALLIS. Page 1 of 4 →
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Trial Of Vice-Admiral Cornwallis.
TRIAL OF VICE-ADMIRAL CORNWALLIS .
PORTSMOUTH , April 9 . Yesterday the COURT MARTIAL for the Trial of VICE ADMIRAL CORNWALLIS met on Board the O RION , of 74 guns , laying in our Harbour . ' The members were as follows : ADMIRAL EARL HOWE , President . Admirals Sit Peter Parker Admirals H . Harvey . Lord Bridport R . R . Bligh G . Vandeput C . M . Pole Sir A . Gardner . Captains E . E . ^ Mugent J . Colpbys C . P . Hamilton ' Sir R . Curtis E . Dod .
Judge Advocate , SIR G . JACKSON , Bart . The charges stated , that the Admiral , after having proceeded part of the way to the West Indies , did return contrary to the orders he had received ; that instead of shifting his flag , as he ought when the Royal Sovereign had been disabled , he gave the command of the convoy to another Officer ; and that after his return , he disobeyed a second order , by nofhoisting his flag on board the Astrea frigate , and proceeding to the West Indies . As the charges originated with the Admiralty , a prosecutor did not appear . ' ¦ in
To substantiate these Charges , the order given to Admiral Cornwallis , February , to proceed in the Royal Sovereign , to the West Indies , was read , as was the Admiral ' s letter , mentioning his return and the cause of it . The order of the Board , to proceed in the Astrea , was then read , with the Admiral's reply ; in which hestated his precarious health , which would be destroyed if he went out in a frigate , and requesting permission of the ' Board to . wait the repair of the Royal Sovereign . ' Sir Charles Cotton proved the delivery of the first order At seaMrTebbet
. . , master ship builder , of . Portsmouth Yard , ' proved his having examined thedamages the Royal Sovereign had received , which could not be repaired either at sea or in the West Indies , and which made it requisite she should return to Dock . .. The evidence for the prosecution being closed , Admiral Cornwallis was called upon for his defence ; when having a ' weakness-in his eyes , . he obtained leave for Mr . Erskine to read a paper , which stated , -that his health , injured by a long
and laborious life of service , would have justified his having declined the situation offered to him " , which he understood was to act under Sir John Laforey ; that under this impression , his principal solicitude was for . the safety and expedition of the convoy- ; that the Royal Sovereign , being compelled . to return , and part of the ships that sailed with him having been separated from the others , he was prevented shifting his flag on boar A any of those others , by a knowledge that , they were not intended to be a part of his squadron , but that each had distinct and secret orders ; that had the good of the service required him to interfere with these secret hesitated to have done h at the of
orders , he should not have so , thoug certainty that Court Martial to which he knew the act would make him liable ; that he trusted it would be believed , his health , or his life , could not , i ' n his estimation , weigh with the good of the service ; but that it would have been unworthy the honest pride'of a British seaman to have given up his real duty , for the . appearance of an ostentatious and fruitless zeal ; that in the state of his health , he should have been inexcusable in giving up Officers , in whom he knew he in every situation could relyfor othersof whom he was wholly ignorantbut that had he been so
incli-, , ; ned , -not one of the ships into which he could have gone , was provided , or in any respect ' fit , to go to the West Indies ; that the command he had accepted was not compulsory ; his health would have justified its refusal , had he disliked it ; but the reverse was the cse ; and it would be absurd to impute 16 him a deliberate purpose to sacrifice the credit acquired by a long and laborious life ; that it was one thing io decide under the difficulty and embarrassment Of immediate and pres-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Trial Of Vice-Admiral Cornwallis.
TRIAL OF VICE-ADMIRAL CORNWALLIS .
PORTSMOUTH , April 9 . Yesterday the COURT MARTIAL for the Trial of VICE ADMIRAL CORNWALLIS met on Board the O RION , of 74 guns , laying in our Harbour . ' The members were as follows : ADMIRAL EARL HOWE , President . Admirals Sit Peter Parker Admirals H . Harvey . Lord Bridport R . R . Bligh G . Vandeput C . M . Pole Sir A . Gardner . Captains E . E . ^ Mugent J . Colpbys C . P . Hamilton ' Sir R . Curtis E . Dod .
Judge Advocate , SIR G . JACKSON , Bart . The charges stated , that the Admiral , after having proceeded part of the way to the West Indies , did return contrary to the orders he had received ; that instead of shifting his flag , as he ought when the Royal Sovereign had been disabled , he gave the command of the convoy to another Officer ; and that after his return , he disobeyed a second order , by nofhoisting his flag on board the Astrea frigate , and proceeding to the West Indies . As the charges originated with the Admiralty , a prosecutor did not appear . ' ¦ in
To substantiate these Charges , the order given to Admiral Cornwallis , February , to proceed in the Royal Sovereign , to the West Indies , was read , as was the Admiral ' s letter , mentioning his return and the cause of it . The order of the Board , to proceed in the Astrea , was then read , with the Admiral's reply ; in which hestated his precarious health , which would be destroyed if he went out in a frigate , and requesting permission of the ' Board to . wait the repair of the Royal Sovereign . ' Sir Charles Cotton proved the delivery of the first order At seaMrTebbet
. . , master ship builder , of . Portsmouth Yard , ' proved his having examined thedamages the Royal Sovereign had received , which could not be repaired either at sea or in the West Indies , and which made it requisite she should return to Dock . .. The evidence for the prosecution being closed , Admiral Cornwallis was called upon for his defence ; when having a ' weakness-in his eyes , . he obtained leave for Mr . Erskine to read a paper , which stated , -that his health , injured by a long
and laborious life of service , would have justified his having declined the situation offered to him " , which he understood was to act under Sir John Laforey ; that under this impression , his principal solicitude was for . the safety and expedition of the convoy- ; that the Royal Sovereign , being compelled . to return , and part of the ships that sailed with him having been separated from the others , he was prevented shifting his flag on boar A any of those others , by a knowledge that , they were not intended to be a part of his squadron , but that each had distinct and secret orders ; that had the good of the service required him to interfere with these secret hesitated to have done h at the of
orders , he should not have so , thoug certainty that Court Martial to which he knew the act would make him liable ; that he trusted it would be believed , his health , or his life , could not , i ' n his estimation , weigh with the good of the service ; but that it would have been unworthy the honest pride'of a British seaman to have given up his real duty , for the . appearance of an ostentatious and fruitless zeal ; that in the state of his health , he should have been inexcusable in giving up Officers , in whom he knew he in every situation could relyfor othersof whom he was wholly ignorantbut that had he been so
incli-, , ; ned , -not one of the ships into which he could have gone , was provided , or in any respect ' fit , to go to the West Indies ; that the command he had accepted was not compulsory ; his health would have justified its refusal , had he disliked it ; but the reverse was the cse ; and it would be absurd to impute 16 him a deliberate purpose to sacrifice the credit acquired by a long and laborious life ; that it was one thing io decide under the difficulty and embarrassment Of immediate and pres-