Page:A Naval Biographical Dictionary.djvu/1043

Rh his services to the Portuguese nation he received the title of Viscomte de Piedade, was presented with the Grand Cross of St. Bento d’Avis, and created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Tower and Sword. Sir George married, in 1839, a daughter of John Lamb, Esq., and has issue. – Burnett and Holmes.

 SAULEZ. 

entered the Navy 9 Oct. 1828; passed his examination 28 Dec. 1836; and for his services as Mate of the 18, Capt. Talavera , during the operations on the coast of China, especially at the second capture of Canton, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant 8 Oct. 1841. He was appointed, 17 July, 1843, Additional of the 50, flagship of Hon. Josceline Percy at the Cape of Good Hope; and from 11 Nov. 1844 until the latter part of 1845 he was employed on that station in the  steam-sloop, Capt. Geo. Nathaniel Broke. He has since been on half-pay. – Messrs. Halford and Co.

 SAUMAREZ. 

passed his examination 19 April, 1845; obtained his commission 28 June, 1847; and since 23 July following has been serving in the 24, Capt. Rich. Laird Warren, on the North America and West India station.

 SAUMAREZ, K.L.A.

is nephew of the late Admiral Lord de Saumarez, G.C.B.;Lord de Saumarez, originally Mr. James Saumarez, was born 11 March, 1757, at Guernsey; and entered the Navy in 1770 on board the Montreal, Capt. Alms. For his conduct in the Bristol 50, Commodore Sir Peter Parker, in the attack upon Fort Sullivan, near Charlestown, South Carolina, he was nominated Acting-Lieutenant of that ship; and after having taken part with the same officer in the expedition against Long Island, and, in the 74, in the attempt upon Rhode Island, he was officially promoted by a Commission dated in Feb. 1778, He subsequently commanded the  galley with great activity on the coast of North America; was in the  74, bearing the flag of Sir Hyde Parker, in the action off the Doggerbank 5 Aug. 1781; and, in acknowledgment of his services on that occasion, was promoted to the rank of Commander and appointed to the  fire-veaael. In the following Dec. he proved chiefly inatrumental to the capture, by Rear-Admiral Kempenfeld, of part of a French convoy under M. de Guichen; and on his arrival in the West Indies with the intelligence of the latter having left port he was appointed, by Sir Sam. Hood, the Commander-in-Chief, to the 74. In that ship he bore a distinguished part in Rodney’s action with the Comte de Grasse 12 April, 1782. Between 1787 and the date of his promotion to the rank of Rear-Admiral, which took place 1 Jan. 1801, he commanded the 33,  64,  of 42 guns and 257 men,  and  74’s, and  80. In the he made prize, 20 Oct. 1793, of La Réunion of 36 guns and 320 men, 120 of whom were either killed or wounded, without any casualty whatever to the British. His gallantry on this occasion procured him the honour of Knighthood, and the merchants of London presented him with an elegant piece of plate. In Dec. of the same year the formed part of an expedition under Earl Moira and Rear-Admiral M‘Bride to the coast of Normandy and Brittany; and on 8 June, 1794, she was in action with an enemy’s squadron of very superior force, from whom she escaped by a series of the most bold and masterly manoeuvres. While in command of the, Sir James Saumarez fought with distinction in Lord Bridport’s action, in the engagement off St. Vincent, and at the battle of the Nile. His bravery on each of the two latter occasions obtained for him a gold medal; and on the last the city of London presented him with a piece of ornamental plate valued at 200l. In 1799 he was appointed a Colonel of Marines; in the early part of 1801, with his flag on board the, he commanded a division of the grand fleet off the Black Rocks, with such unwearied zeal, that no square-rigged vessel of any description either left or entered the port of Brest; and on 14 June in the same year (the very day after he had been raised to the dignity of a Baronet) he sailed from Plymouth with a squadron consisting of five sail of the line, one frigate, a brig, and a lugger, destined for the blockade of Cadiz, off which port he was joined by two more sail of the line. On 6 of the following month Sir James, with six sail of the line under his orders, made an unsuccessful attack (which lasted for five hours and terminated with the loss to the British of the 74) on a French squadron, consisting of two 80-gun ships, one 74, and a frigate, lying under the protection of several strong batteries in the neighbourhood of Algeciras. Six days afterwards, having by means of the greatest exertion partially refitted his squadron at Gibraltar, he proceeded, witn five ships of the line, two frigates, a polacre, and an armed brig, in pursuit of the above French squadron, which had been joined by two Spanish ships of 112 guns, one of 96, one of 80, and one of 74, also by another, a French 74, and by two frigates and a lugger, and which, with the, making in all 10 ships of the line, was now on its way from Algeciras to Cadiz. Notwithstanding the fearful superiority of this force, the valour and genius of Sir James Saumarez enabled him to achieve a most glorious victory. The two Spanish three-deckers were destroyed; one French 74, the St. Antoine, was captured; and the remainder of the enemy’s ships were put to flight. As a mark of the sense entertained by his Majesty and the country of the important service he had rendered, Sir James was created a Knight of the Bath, was voted the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, with a pension of 1200l. per annum for life, and was presented with the freedom of the city of London, accompanied by a handsome sword. After serving at the blockade of Cadiz and superintending the cession of to the Spanish he returned, in 1802, to England. On retiring for a while to his native island he received from the inhabitants an elegant vase, in testimony of their unfeigned respect and esteem for his public and private character; and he was also gratified with the thanks of the States of the neighbouring island of Jersey, in 1803, after his flag had been flying for a short time at the Nore, he was appointed to the chief command on the Guernsey station; where he remained until promoted, 13 Dec. 1806, to the rank of Vice-Admiral. He was then nominated second in command of the Channel fleet under Earl St. Vincent. In the ensuing Aug. he resumed his former command off Guernsey. Being next, in March, 1808, appointed to the chief command in the Baltic, he was for four years and a half employed on that station in affording protection, under circumstances the most difficult, to the commerce of Britain, in maintaining friendly relations between her and Sweden, and in otherwise, by his conciliatory and judicious conduct, improving her position with the northern powers. On leaving Gottenborg in 1812 he received from the King of Sweden (who also created him a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Swedish military order of the Sword) a most superb sword, the whole of the hilt of which was set with brilliants of exquisite workmanship and great value. He received, too, the personal thanks of the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia, on the occasion of their subsequent visit to England; as well as the acknowledgments of Prince Metternich, the Austrian Minister; and, above all, the approbation of his own Government, He became a full Admiral 4 June, 1814; was appointed in 1819 Rear-Admiral and in Nov. 1821 Vice-Admiral, of Great Britain, the latter of which posts he retained until constituted, in Feb. 1832, a General of Marines; held the chief command at Plymouth from 1824 until 1827; and was elevated to the Peerage by letters patent dated Sept. 1831. He died 9 Oct. 1836. and cousin of His brother, Acting-Commander Thos. Saumarez, died at the island of Ascension 19 May, 1823, seven days only after his appointment to the 20.

This officer entered the Navy, in Sept. 1806, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the 110, Capt. John Conn, bearing the flag in the Channel of his uncle, then Sir Jas. Saumarez, with whom he shortly afterwards removed to the 98. Becoming Midshipman, in Nov. of the same year, of the, of 46 guns and 258 men, Capt. Jahleel Brenton, he assisted in that ship at the destruction of the castles of Pesaro and Ceseratico, the reduction of Lusin, an island on the coast of Croatia, and the capture of Zante, Cephalonia, and Cerigo. He was also, 3 May, 1810, present in a brilliant and single-handed victory gained by the, in the Bay of Naples (after a contest of more than two hours, in which the British sustained a loss of 10 men killed and 22 wounded), over a Franco-Neapolitan squadron, carrying altogether 95 guns and about 1400 men. In Aug. of the year last mentioned he removed, as Master’s Mate, to the 20, Capt. Philip Pipon, attached to the force in the Baltic, where, until Sept. 1812, he had constant charge of a watch, and “conducted himself with so much care and ability, and displayed such knowledge of his profession, both as a sailor and a navigator,” that, on leaving, he had the satisfaction of being strongly recommended by his Captain as “a young officer of great promise, and highly deserving of promotion.” During his servitude in the  he witnessed an attack made by the enemy upon Danzig, and conveyed to the Commander-in-Chief the official despatches relative to the battle