Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 24.djvu/374

 crew ; and the gallant way in which they afterwards drew the Spanish squadron away from the Minerve, defending the prize till her masts went by the board, elicited from Nelson a warm eulogium (, ii. 315). Culverhouse and Hardy became prisoners of war, but were at once exchanged for Don Jacobo Stuart, the captain of the Sabina, and rejoined the Minerve at Gibraltar on her return from Elba. On 10 Feb. 1797, as the frigate was passing through the Straits with the Spanish fleet in chase, Hardy jumped into the jolly-boat to save a drowning man. The boat was carried by the current towards the leading Spanish ship. 'By God,' said Nelson, 'I'll not lose Hardy ! Back the mizen top-sail !' The bold measure caused the Spaniard to hesitate and to shorten sail, and enabled the boat to reach the frigate in safety (, Narrative of the Battle of St. Vincent, p. 14). The Minerve rejoined the fleet three days afterwards, and had a frigate's share in the battle of St. Vincent on the 14th. In the folio wing May the Lively and Minerve, looking into the bay of Santa Cruz, discovered there a French brig of war, the Mutine, which it was determined to cut out. This was done on the 29th by the boats of the frigates under the command of Hardy, who was at once promoted by Lord St. Vincent to the command of the prize (, ii. 62). In 1798 Hardy, in the Mutine, joined Nelson near Elba on 5 June, announcing the near approach of the reinforcement under Captain Troubridge [see ], and continuing with the squadron was present at the battle of the Nile ; immediately after which he was promoted to the Vanguard, Nelson's flagship, in the room of Captain Berry [see ], sent home with despatches. In the Vanguard, and afterwards in the Foudroyant, Hardy continued with Nelson at Naples and Palermo till October 1799, when he was relieved by Berry and appointed to the Princess Charlotte frigate, in which he returned to England. In 1801 he was again with Nelson as flag-captain in the San Josef, and afterwards up the Baltic in the St. George ; and though the ship's size and draught of water prevented her taking part in the battle of Copenhagen, Hardy was personally employed the night before the battle in sounding close up to and round the enemy's ships. It is said that the soundings as he reported them to Nelson proved to be correct, and that it was in consequence of deviating from the channel traced by him, in deference to the advice of the pilots, that some of the ships took the ground. On Nelson being relieved by Vice-admiral Pole [see ], Hardy remained in the St. George, and returned in her to England. He was then appointed to the Isis, and in the following spring to the Amphion, in which, in May 1803, he took Nelson out to the Mediterranean, t urned over with him to the Victory in July, and continued as flag-captain during the long blockade of Toulon and the pursuit of the combined fleet to the West Indies. He was still in command of the Victory when Nelson again embarked on board her on 14 Sept. 1805, and in the absence of a captain of the fleet acted virtually in that capacity during the remaining weeks of Nelson's command and in the battle of Trafalgar. With Captain Blackwood [see ] he was a witness to Nelson's last will, was walking with Nelson on the Victory's quarter-deck when the admiral received his mortal wound, and was frequently in attendance on him during his dying hours till within a few minutes of his death. The body was sent home in the Victory, and at the funeral on 9 Jan. 1806 Hardy bore the 'banner of emblems.' On 4 Feb. he was created a baronet, and in the spring was appointed to the Triumph, which he commanded for three years on the North American station under the command of Sir George Cranfield Berkeley [q.v.], whose daughter, Anne Louisa Emily he married at Halifax in December 1807. In May 1809 he was appointed to the Barfleur, in which Berkeley hoisted his flag as com-mander-in-chief at Lisbon, and, continuing in that post till September 1812, in 1811 the rank of commodore in the Portuguese navy was conferred on him. In August 1812 he was appointed to the Ramillies, in which he was again sent to the North American station. On 25 June 1813, while in command of a squadron off New London, he captured a schooner, reported by the boarding officer to be laden with provisions. Her crew had escaped in their boat, expecting the vessel to be taken alongside the Ramillies. Hardy, possibly in recollection of an attempt made thirty-seven years before [see ], ordered her to be secured alongside another prize, and while this was being done she blew up, killing the lieutenant in charge and ten seamen. It was known afterward that she was really laden with powder, and fitted with a clockwork mechanism to ignite it. In January 1815 Hardy was nominated a K.C.B. ; he returned to England in June, and in July 1816 was appointed to the command of the Princess Augusta yacht, which he held for three years. On 12 Aug. 1819 he was appointed commodore and commander-in-chief on the South American station, with his broad pennant in the Superb. The war