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Sir Charles Stuart, Lord Rothesay and Cpt John James Stuart
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PMarione
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Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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Post Posted: Mon Nov 12, 2007 8:39 pm    Post subject: Sir Charles Stuart, Lord Rothesay and Cpt John James Stuart Reply with quote

Here is a very interesting email that I received:

Quote:
Dear Patrick,

I have acquired a rather substantial archive of the diplomatic correspondence of Sir Charles Stuart, Lord Rothesay, who is perhaps best remembered as being "His Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary" in Lisbon, Portugal during the greater part of the Peninsular War.
There are hundreds of letters and the task of identifying people, places and ships is at times daunting. While most of the material is military, political or diplomatic, there is a significant collection of naval letters, most by Admirals, Chiefs in Command of the Portugal Station, George Berkeley and George Martin.
There is a wide ranging mention of ships and ship captains. Of particular note are two letters written aboard Collingwood's flagship the "Royal Sovereign" in 1804 during the Toulon Blockade. Both are written by then Lt. John James Stuart (brother of Sir Charles) and contain wonderful references to Nelson's character and love within the fleet, one letter from his brother being hand delivered to the Lt. by Nelson.
While I have tracked Captain Stuart's later history to command of the HMS Saldanha, in which he was lost with all hands in a gale in Lough Swilley off Donegal in 1811, I have not been able to determine his posting at the time of these two letters (June and Dec 1804). It would seem likely he was a Lieutenant on the Sovereign as he posted two letters from there, but I cannot determine if he was the Flag Lt., 1st Lt., etc.
I would be happy to send along images, links and my write-up, thus far, if you would like to see them.

Warm regards,
Allan

PS There is also a very interesting letter posted by a John Kelley, who I believe might have been the head of Naval Intelligence in Coruña (1810), as it contains a Spanish spy report from Paris. He is referred to in another intelligence letter as well.


I can be of some help about Captain John James Stuart, RN.
He was born on 29 August 1780.
Entered the RN on 23 March 1794
Lt on 12 August 1800
Cdr on 18 March 1802
Capt on 6 August 1803
A fast track career.

From Sept 1803 till Oct 1804 he was flag-captain to Rear Adm Sir Richard Bickerton on board the Kent (74) then on board the Royal Sovereign (100) from April 1805 till Sept 1805.
Bickerton was 2nd in command under Nelson. Collingwood took command of the RS only in October 1805.

HN was a friend of the family.
From the DNB about his father, General Sir Charles Stuart (1753–1801):
Quote:
In April 1794 he was given command of the army in Corsica and with Nelson's help drove the French from Calvi, their last remaining stronghold on the island. His energy and bravery during the siege won him the admiration of Sir John Moore, who served as his second in command. Unfortunately he quarrelled with Admiral Lord Hood, who commanded the Mediterranean Fleet, over the conduct of the siege, and later with Sir Gilbert Elliot, viceroy of Corsica. His unwillingness to take orders from a civilian (albeit a viceroy), his siding with the Corsican patriot General Pasquale Paoli in disputes with Elliot, and his conviction that Corsica could be ruled only by a military man led to his resignation of his command in February 1795.

In January 1797 Stuart was given command of a force sent to Portugal at the urgent request of the Portuguese government, threatened with invasion by France and Spain. There he succeeded in transforming his army, made up partly of foreign troops who lacked discipline and motivation, into a very effective force. The foreign regiments later fought in Egypt and there ‘displayed a steadiness and resolution which spoke volumes for what Charles Stuart's influence had done’. In 1798 he received a commission to capture Minorca from the Spanish with a force of 3000 men drawn mostly from Gibraltar. His appointment received the approval of the British admiral Lord St Vincent, who told the secretary of state that Stuart was ‘the best general you have … no man can manage Frenchmen so well and the British will go to hell for him’. He succeeded in capturing Minorca from a numerically superior enemy in November 1798 without the loss of a single man. In recognition he was created knight of the Bath and governor of Minorca. He radically reformed the island's administration, bringing about changes described by a French historian as ‘the most important ever effected in a country which had not been ceded by treaty’ .

While in Minorca Stuart responded at once to a plea by Nelson to send troops to Messina to preserve Sicily from a French invasion. Nelson had the highest opinion of Stuart, whom he described as an officer who ‘by his abilities would make a bad army into a good one’ (Dispatches and Letters, 3.226). Stuart accompanied two regiments to Messina and then paid a fleeting visit to Malta, where the French still held out in Valletta. He reported to Pitt that, contrary to the views of other senior officers, Valletta could be reduced only by continuing with the naval blockade.


J J Stuart died on 19 March 1811, aged 28, in Loughshinny, co Dublin, Ireland, whilst in command of the Saldanha (36).
As you say, the Saldanha was wrecked on 4 Dec 1811 with only one seaman saved who died shortly later, but at the time, Stuart was already dead and the captain was Hon William Pakenham who was drowned. (British Warships Losses - David Hepper, 1994)

For the animal lovers: "Several weeks after the wreck a parrot was shot in the area, and found to have a collar with Captain Pakenham's name on it". So poor Jacko didn't survive too.

Like other listers, I suppose, I really would like to know more about your naval letters!.

@+ P Marione
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alexlitandem



Joined: 27 Mar 2007
Posts: 129

Post Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fascinating post above Patrick. And, yes, it would be great if your friend felt able to share with us, in part at least, extracts from the naval letters generally and from those touching upon Nelson's character specifically.

Hope we will all learn more from you both soon.

Thanks.
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sturgeon



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Post Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 12:28 am    Post subject: Naval & Diplomatic Despatches of the Napoleonic War Reply with quote

As was mentioned in patrick's post above, I have acquired a large holding of the diplomatic and intelligence despatches of Sir Charles Stuart when he was the British Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Lisbon during the latter part of the Peninsular War. There are literally a hundred letters that have a naval connection. Some are datelined aboard ships, some are signed by prominent Naval officers and some are more indirect yet related. They might document a Gale at Cadiz that wreaked havoc amongst the fleet, or detail which ships are convoying what troops or supplies to what locations, or what ships are in quarantine as a result of the plague outbreak in the fall of 1813. In order to provide others with an opportunity to view this original source material I have created a link to a research site. As I am able to process these letters I will put them on this site for people to see and make comments. I have posted one on Lord Collingwood's death as well as two about Nelson's "character". There will be others coming about the disposition of the Danish Prize ships captured at Oporto (a scarce Wellington letter dealing with a naval matter along with Admiral Berkeleys comments), the strange incident of the "Telemachus" affair, trying to find divers to salvage the guns of the "Raphael" and others. It is quite an interesting assortment and I should very much appreciate any identifications, comments and especially corrections. I hope you will enjoy this material. Please advise of any bad links:

http://berryhillsturgeon.com/Research/NapWar/Naval/Index.htm
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PMarione
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome on board.
And what a post! You have won a 11 guns salute. Wink

By the way does anybody know why the salutes are always in odd numbers?

@+P
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