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James Dacres

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27-433: (Redirected from James Richard Dacres ) James Dacres may refer to: James Richard Dacres (1749–1810) , Royal Navy admiral James Richard Dacres (1788–1853) , his son, Royal Navy admiral [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

54-484: A great deal of confusion regarding the identity of Sir Charles' third wife, whose last name has been variously reported as Baillie, Grew, and Brisbane. It appears that some sources have mistaken his sister, Helena Baillie, for his third wife because she raised his younger children while he was at sea. The name Helen Brisbaine is also an error based on a mistake in The Scottish Nation (1862) where it says she

81-683: A naval career. James Richard entered the navy in February 1762, joining the 28-gun frigate HMS  Active , which was then under the command of Captain Herbert Sawyer . Shortly afterwards, on 21 May that year, the Active in company with HMS  Favourite captured the Spanish register ship Hermione . The Hermione had been bound from Lima carrying a cargo of gold coin, gold, silver and tin ingots, and cocoa and when captured became

108-460: A rear-admiral, and in 1789 was once again made commander of the Nova Scotia station, but died of apoplexy before taking his post. Douglas was married three times: first to a Dutch woman called Uranie Lidie Marteilhe, with whom he had a son and a daughter; second to Sarah Wood of Yorkshire , the mother of Sir Howard Douglas ; and third to a woman named Jane, daughter of John Baillie. There is

135-682: Is established that he could speak six languages. He joined the Royal Navy at the age of twelve, and spent some time in the Dutch service before resuming his career with the British. He was a midshipman at the Siege of Louisbourg (1745) , promoted to lieutenant in 1753 and to commander in 1759. By the end of the war in 1763, he was captain of HMS Syren . While commanding the Syren , Sir Charles reported

162-602: Is made famous because of a letter Lydia had written to Adam Smith , a friend and distant relative of Sir Charles, requesting his assistance in reconciling the father and daughter. Douglas is buried in the ground south of the church in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh and a memorial lies on the outer south face of the church near the east gable. Sir Charles was known as a mechanical genius, and many of his suggestions for improvements on naval vessels, including

189-648: The American War of Independence broke out in America in 1775, Douglas was given command of a squadron to relieve Quebec from the siege . When he arrived at the Gulf of St. Lawrence , he decided to ram the ice and successfully made his way up the river, surprising the Americans and putting them on the run. He was also in charge of creating a navy from scratch to fight on Lake Champlain , and that small fleet routed

216-522: The Ceres was herself engaged and captured by the 36-gun French frigate Iphigénie off St Lucia on 17 December 1778. The Ceres was escorting a troop convoy at the time, and Dacres acted to decoy the French frigate away from the convoy, eventually forcing the French to pursue the Ceres for 48 hours, allowing the convoy to escape. Dacres was subsequently exchanged and returned to England, whereupon he

243-701: The Channel Fleet under Lord Bridport . He was present at the Battle of Groix on 23 June 1795, but was not actively engaged. Vice-Admiral William Waldegrave went on to hoist his flag on the Barfleur , retaining Dacres as his flag captain . He and the Barfleur sailed to join Sir John Jervis's fleet in the Mediterranean. Dacres was involved in the recapture of HMS  Nemesis from

270-587: The Comte de Grasse by breaking the French line. Douglas is credited by many, including Sir Charles Dashwood (a midshipman present at the time who later became an admiral himself), for having the idea for the manoeuvre, but it is a subject of much debate. In 1783, he was made the Commander-in-Chief of North America at the Halifax, Nova Scotia Station, but resigned due to a conflict. In 1787 he became

297-482: The French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 led to Dacres returning to sea aboard the 64-gun HMS  Sceptre and taking part in the bombardment and capture of Fort Bizothen at Port-au-Prince . His crew however suffered from high levels of sickness and Dacres was despatched back to Britain as a convoy escort. After his arrival he was appointed to command the 90-gun HMS  Barfleur as part of

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324-475: The 12-gun schooner Carleton , which formed part of Captain Thomas Pringle's flotilla. He took part in the battle of Battle of Valcour Island on 11 October 1776 and after the victory General Guy Carleton sent Dacres back to Britain with the despatches. He was made master and commander on 25 November 1776 after his return and was appointed to command the 14-gun HMS  Sylph . He transferred to

351-646: The 18-gun HMS  Ceres and commanded her off the Leeward Islands . Ceres patrolled the Caribbean and the American coasts, and on 9 March 1778 and in company with HMS  Ariadne she chased two American frigates, USS  Alfred and USS  Raleigh , eventually engaging the Alfred and forcing her to surrender. He went on to capture the French privateer Tigre on 18 October 1778; but

378-630: The 32-gun HMS  Montreal under Captain Phillips Cosby on 17 March 1769. With the outbreak of the war Dacres was appointed as second lieutenant aboard the 32-gun HMS  Blonde , under Captain Philemon Pownoll . He sailed with the Blonde to Quebec as part of the escort for a troop convoy. In June 1776 he was appointed by Commodore Sir Charles Douglas to lead a naval detachment to Lake Champlain . There he took command of

405-548: The 36-gun Franchise . He soon became considerably wealthy from the spoils of prize warfare, being appointed commander of the station in late 1804, promoted to vice admiral on 9 November 1805 and remaining in the post until 1808. Dacres had married Eleanor Blandford Pearce, of Cambridge , on 1 August 1777 during a period in Britain while in command of the Ceres . The marriage took place at Totnes , Devon and subsequently produced two sons. Both had substantial naval careers,

432-519: The Americans under Benedict Arnold . In 1777, he was made a baronet for his service in Quebec. As captain of HMS Stirling Castle , he took part in the first Battle of Ushant . In 1781, Sir Charles became Captain-of-the-Fleet for George Brydges Rodney, 1st Baron Rodney , and was with Rodney on his flagship, Formidable , at the Battle of the Saintes off Dominica, where on 12 April 1782, they defeated

459-544: The French in early 1796, and was still in command when the Battle of Cape St Vincent took place on 14 February 1797. Dacres subsequently returned to Britain aboard the hired cutter Flora and received command of the 80-gun HMS  Foudroyant , sailing her to the Mediterranean. Dacres remained aboard the Foudroyant until February 1799. Dacres was promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue on 14 February 1799, two years to

486-672: The attack on St. John's and took part in recapturing Newfoundland . Following the war, Sir Charles went to Saint Petersburg to help re-organize the Russian navy for Catherine the Great in 1764–1765. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May, 1770 for carrying out "a series of curious experiments to determine the different degrees of cold at different depths in the Sea". After

513-637: The day after the battle of Cape St Vincent. He was further advanced to Rear-Admiral of the White on 1 January 1801, and was then appointed as second in command of the Plymouth command. With the Peace of Amiens he became Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth . With the resumption of the war he was appointed second in command on the Jamaica Station , serving under Sir John Thomas Duckworth and flying his flag in

540-504: The elder, Barrington Dacres became post-captain, the younger, James Richard Dacres rose to be a Vice-Admiral. Dacres retired from active service in 1809 having amassed considerable wealth from his time in Jamaica. He did not live long to enjoy it though, dying on 6 January 1810 at the age of 60 after a fall from his horse. Sir Charles Douglas, 1st Baronet Rear Admiral Sir Charles Douglas, 1st Baronet (1727 – 17 March 1789)

567-466: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Dacres&oldid=932901277 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages James Richard Dacres (1749%E2%80%931810) James Richard Dacres (February 1749 – 6 January 1810)

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594-557: The richest prize taken during the war. The Active ' s share of the prize money came to £251,020 12s, which meant that even an ordinary seaman received the sum of £485 3s 4d. Dacres moved aboard Captain William Hotham's 32-gun HMS  Aeolus , following this with service aboard Captain John Elliot's HMS  Thames and Commodore Richard Spry 's 60-gun HMS  Jersey . Spry appointed Dacres as lieutenant to

621-662: The substitution of flintlocks for matches, were adopted by the Admiralty for the entire Royal Navy . He was succeeded as Baronet of Carr by his sons, Vice-Admiral Sir William Henry Douglas, 2nd Baronet, and General Sir Howard Douglas , 3rd Baronet, who became a General, lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick , MP for Liverpool , and Lord High Chancellor of the Ionian Islands . Both Douglastown and Douglas Township , (the village of Kennetcook, Nova Scotia and surrounding area), are named after him. The song "Caillich Odhar"

648-520: Was a descendant of the Earls of Morton and a distinguished British naval officer. He is particularly known for his part in the Battle of the Saintes during the American War of Independence where he helped pioneer the tactic of "breaking the line". Douglas was born in Carr, Perthshire , Scotland to Charles Ayton Douglas and Christian Hepburn of Kinglassie. Little is known of his early life, although it

675-684: Was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the Seven Years' War , the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . He eventually rose to the rank of Vice-Admiral . Dacres was born in Gibraltar in February 1749, the eldest son of the secretary of the garrison Richard Dacres, and his wife Mary Dacres, née Bateman. He had a younger brother, Richard Dacres , who also embarked on

702-462: Was made acting-captain of the 74-gun HMS  Sultan , afterwards being transferred to the 28-gun HMS  Maidstone . He was not confirmed as post-captain however until 13 September 1780, when he was given command of the 20-gun HMS  Perseus , stationed in the Downs . He transferred to the frigates HMS  Orpheus and HMS  Aurora towards the end of the war. The outbreak of

729-454: Was married to Admiral Sir Charles Douglas when, in fact, she was the wife of Admiral Sir James Douglas. [1] When his eldest daughter, Lydia Mariana, married Rev. Richard Bingham against his wishes, he disinherited her. Following his death, Lydia and her husband sued for a share of his estate, and the case was appealed until finally being decided against them in the House of Lords in 1796. The case

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