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the sad death of Captain Charles Thurlow Smith
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PMarione
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Post Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 1:24 am    Post subject: the sad death of Captain Charles Thurlow Smith Reply with quote

Captain Charles Thurlow Smith, RN (1812-02-28 ) accepted a command in the Mexican navy in 1823.

From <I>The Life of a Sailor</I> by Frederick Chamier :
Quote:
"When that imfortunate man, Captain Charles Thurlow Smith, so foolishly relinquished our service, to enlist under the tri-coloured rag of Mexico for the allurement of gain, and was by this act, in conformity with the Foreign Enlistment Bill, erased firom the list of captains, and
deprived of the benefits of a British subject abroad, he little dreamed of the desperate stake he was about to play.
The government soon discontinued his pay, which was nominally at five thousand pounds sterling per annum ; and Smith, by way of forcing them to some remuneration, went to Mexico.
He was received by all with courtesy, but could obtain no money. He was then, in proportion to his urgent requests, censured for being absent, without leave, from Vera Cruz.
In a fit of desperation he resigned his command, and the resignation was cheerfully accepted.
He now became a pauper and applied to Mr. O'Gorman, the consul-general at Mexico, and I believe that gentleman relieved his wants from his private purse ; but, after numerous applications and disappointments, he wandered from place to place, until he arrived at Tampico.
There he was taken suddenly ill, and died ; and his corpse remained unburied, until Mr. Robinson caused him to be interred at his own expense ; and thus the relation of one of our most gallant officers, a man who had served his own country with zeal and assiduity, was buried by a foreigner ; and his family are indebted to Mr. Robinson for rescuing his body from insult, and supplying it with a grave. "
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brian



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Post Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 11:10 am    Post subject: Charles Thurlow Smith Reply with quote

Much as I enjoy Chamier's insights and experiences, this quotation deserves comment.
1. In the early 1820's, 85% of officers on the Navy List were unemployed and the majority, who were without 'interest', had no chance of ever serving again. Many were recruited for service with the S American states such which were then engaged in fairly fashionable wars of independence against reactionary European regimes like Spain and Portugal. These officers did not go to become rich (Lord Cochrane excepted): they went in order to survive and to live by applying the only professional skill they had.
2. The attitude of serving British officers to these men varied. Some senior (no doubt well heeled) ones chose to call them 'renegades'; but when they met them in S America, most of their peer group regarded them wth slight envy at having secured paid employment and excitement in the post-war slump - there was plenty of mutual entertainment between the messes of British and S American ships; while younger mids like Henry Keppel looked on (eg) Cochrane's men with wide eyed hero worship.
3. Smith was unlucky. He should have gone to Brazil which was recruiting secretly in London and Liverpool in 1822/23 and signed up some 60 officers (or potential officers) and 500 men. More were recruited later. They enjoyed 5 year contracts and were offered (and received) half pay for life if they chose to leave at the end of this time. Many however stayed on (they seemed however to find the monarchical regime in Brazil more agreeable than less stable republics like Chile and the Argentine) , married local girls and achieved the highest ranks in their adopted services.

Brian
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PMarione
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Post Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 12:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

There was a long tradition of RN officers serving in foreign navies : Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Egyptian... in time of peace in Great Britain.

The pay was better and the promotions faster.

I suppose that today they would be considered as mercenaries.

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brian



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Post Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:26 am    Post subject: 'Mercenaries' or 'Technical Assistance Personnel'? Reply with quote

'Mercenaries'? I hope not! The word has changed its meaning since the Congo violence in the 1950s and 1960s and now has connotations of greed, brutality and self-interest that were lacking in the early 1800s.
In the 1700s there were numerous exmples (as you say in relation to naval officers) of military men and artsans at all levels who had been born in territories ruled by one sovereign serving another (the most appropriate way in which I can describe the situation when concepts of nationality were in their infancy). Unless the two monarchs were at war there was no problem - and even here, Irish Catholics serving the crown of Spain never seemed to get into difficulties.

Brian
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PMarione
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was only refering to the definition : a professional soldier hired to serve in a foreign army.

Catholics (thence Irish Catholics) were (in principle, I have some examples of catholic RN officers) bared from any official employment in the UK under the "Test Act" till about 1829.
This certainly was only true for officers if you look at the number of Irish serving in the lower ranks ot the RN and Bristish army.

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PMarione
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Post Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is an example of "oath of allegiance" that normally all officers had to take before receiving his commission.



Curiously I have never seen one for an officer even after pushing tens of thousands of dusty documents at TNA.
So I am not sure that it was in the same form.

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