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the intention of joining the Navy. With the help of his friends he succeeded in doing so, and he was entered as a midshipman on the books of the Gloucester, 50 guns, which sailed for the West Indies in August, 1748.
John Jervis remained on the West Indies station until 1754, when he returned to England, and shortly afterwards passed his examination, and became a Lieutenant. He joined the Nottingham, and took part in some operations under Lord Anson which were directed against Brest. He was afterwards in the Mediterranean, and served on various ships, until in 1756 he received command of the sloop Experiment.
When General Wolfe's expedition against Quebec was planned, Jervis received the command of the Porcupine, and served under Admiral Saunders in the operations upon the St. Lawrence. It was Jervis who piloted the ships and transports up the river, and General Wolfe himself embarked upon the Porcupine. The results of the expedition are as well-known as almost any in history. After many checks and disappointments Wolfe led his men by night across the river in boats, and landed them at the foot of the high cliff upon which the fortress of Quebec stands. The Highlanders clambered up a steep and narrow path, where scarcely two could stand abreast, and reached the Plains of Abraham behind the city. There they formed their lines at daybreak, on the 15th of September, 1759, met the charge of the French and broke it. Closing up for a charge, the British routed the enemy, and won the position. Our loss was about 700 killed and wounded, the French, more than double that number and among the slain were Wolfe and the French commander, the Marquis de Montcalm. The city capitulated three days later.
After some further service on the American coast, in the Albany, John Jervis was made post-captain, and took the command of the Gosport, of 60 guns, in October 1761. In 1763 the Gosport was paid off, and for six years Jervis remained without a command. He was then appointed to a frigate of 32 guns, the Alarm, and was sent to the Mediterranean, where he remained until the Alarm was paid off in June, 1772. On one occasion the Alarm was caught in a furious gale, and in attempting to make from Marseilles to Minorca, she ran upon the rocks and had to be abandoned as a wreck, the crew being saved with difficult. When the storm was over, however, the frigate was got off and repaired, and returned to service until she was paid off.
Jervis now made a tour upon the Continent in the course of which he visited France, Russia, Sweden and Denmark. Returning home he took up the command of the Foudroyant, an 84 gun ship. In 1778 this vessel was with a fleet of twenty-seven sail cruising in the Channel under the command of Admiral Keppel. England was upon the point of renewing the war with France, and it was known that a large fleet was being got ready for sea at Brest. Keppel's ships captured two French vessels in June, and from the papers found on board them it was discovered that the French fleet at Brest numbered thirty-two sail of the line, and about twelve frigates. Admiral Keppel, having strengthened his fleet, sailed in search of the fleet from Brest, which had put to sea on the 8th of July. Late in the month the two fleets came in sight of each other in the Bay of Biscay, and began to manouver,--- the English to force a battle quickly, the French to avoid it. On the 27th, there was a sharp engagement which lasted three hours. The fleets drew off to repair their damages, and when this was done, Admiral Keppel made the signal to form the line of battle. Vice-Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, in the Formidable, either could not or would not obey the signal, and the two fleets faced each other idly for the rest of the day, and then separated during the night without further encounter. The French fleet returned to Brest, and the English fleet to Plymouth. Shortly afterwards Sir Hugh Palliser made certain charges against Admiral Keppel, which led to the trial of the latter by court-martial for his conduct in directing this battle. Captain Jervis gave evidence in favour of Keppel, and assisted him in the preparation of his defence. The Admiral was honourably acquitted, and the insubordination of Sir Hugh Palliser having been brought into prominence by the trial, he in his turn was also court-martialled. Strange as it may appear, he, too, was honourably acquitted. The fact is that the trials were chiefly political.
The two admirals belonged to different political parties, and each party, while trying to discredit its opponents, was careful to save its own servant, Admiral Keppel or Vice-Admiral Palliser. Captain Jervis however, had only to give evidence and no doubt he gave it faithfully. The trial brought him into the public notice, however, and must have helped to make him some influential friends. We may notice, too, that he gave his evidence loyally in favour of his Commander-in-Chief. He was always a strict disciplinarian, and showed upon many occasions how little lenience he had for anything like disobedience and mutiny. Captain Jervis added much to his reputation by a brilliant piece of work which he performed in 1782, while he was still captain of the Foudroyant. On the 13th of April he sailed from Portsmouth with a squadron of battleships under the command of Admiral Barrington. A week later when the fleet was to the south-west of Ushant, one of the frigates signalled that an enemy's fleet was in sight. The frigate was so far away that the Admiral could not clearly distinguish the signal, but he ordered a general chase, and in the middle of the afternoon came within sight of the enemy's ships. The Admiral's ship, the Britannia, was only a slow sailer, and lagged behind many of the other vessels of the squadron. The Foudroyant was leading the way, and when hazy weather came on in the evening, she lost sight of her companions, though she kept in view of the enemy. The latter proved to be a fleet of eighteen French transports bearing provisions, stores, and troops, under the protection of three battleships and a frigate. As the Foudroyant gained upon them in the night one of the battleships signalled the transports to disperse, and they did so, leaving only two 74 gun ships to cover the retreat. Shortly afterwards one of these, the Protecteur, also sailed away, and it was afterwards discovered that this vessel had a considerable sum of money on board.
Just before one o'clock in the morning of the 21st, the Foudroyant came up with the remaining ship, the Pegase, and the action commenced. The ships were practically equal in size and strength, but the Foudroyant made short work of her opponent, and the ocean duel was over in about three-quarters of an hour. The Pegase surrendered after loosing eighty men killed, and many more wounded. Captain Jervis and two or three of the crew of the Foudroyant were wounded, but not an Englishman was killed. The Pegase was badly damaged, and as the weather had become stormy, Captain Jervis had some thoughts of destroying her; but Captain Maitland, in the Queen, came to his aid, and the prize was eventually carried off to Spithead. Meanwhile other ships of Admiral Barrington's squadron pursued the ships of the scattered convoy, and about a dozen of them were captured. The Admiral spoke of Captain Jervis's gallantry in the highest terms in his dispatches, and when the squadron shortly afterwards returned to port, Captain Jervis was rewarded with the Order of the Bath.
At this time the French and Spaniards were laying siege to Gibraltar. The siege had commenced in 1779, and for three years General Elliot, the Governor, had been repelling attacks or preparing for new ones. Twice already the garrison had been temporarily relieved by expeditions sent from England, the first under Admiral Rodney in January, 1780, the second under Admiral Derby in April, 1781. In the summer of 1782 great preparations were made by the enemy for another united attack on a larger scale than any of the previous ones. Ten vessels were specially designed to resist the shots from the fortress, and were floated up to the English batteries. They were received with red-hot shot, and many were thus set on fire or blown up.
Though this attack was repulsed on the 13th of September, the provisions and ammunition in the fortress were running short, and the position of the garrison was becoming more and more critical. A third relief expedition was prepared in England, and sailed under the command of Lord Howe on the 11th of September. The Foudroyant formed one of the fleet. Lord Howe arrived at Gibraltar about the middle of October, and after placing a line of ships across the mouth of the Bay, spent four days in unloading his storeships. This relief destroyed the hopes of the enemies, and within a short time the siege and blockade were raised. Lord Howes fleet was subsequently divided, and the squadrons were despatched upon various duties. The Foudroyant returned to England about the middle of November and was paid off.
About this time Sir John Jervis was elected a member of Parliament. He sat first for Launceston, and subsequently for New Yarmouth and for Wycombe. In 1787 he was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the blue, and three years later to the same rank in the White.
His next important command was in the West Indies, whither he sailed in 1793 with a fleet of five battleships and nearly a score smaller vessels. Early in the following year he co-operated with the land forces under Sir Charles Grey in an attack upon Martinique, which was captured after a brave resistance on the part of the French garrisons which held it. As soon as the island was in the possession of the British, the troops were re-embarked and taken to St. Lucia, and in little more than a week this island also taken. Returning to Martinique, Admiral Jervis despatched four ships to make an attack upon some of the smaller islands, and shortly afterwards sailed himself, in the Boyne, in company with some other ships against Guadaloupe, and this island was also captured on the 20th of April, and added to our possessions for a time. Later in the year the Admiral was attacked by yellow fever, resigned his command, and returned home.
Shortly after this, Sir John Jervis was appointed to the command of the Mediterranean station, and hoisted his flag upon the Victory, of 100 guns. It was a critical time in the history of England and the Mediterranean fleet was kept exceedingly occupied, watching the French ships which were beginning to embark upon the numerous enterprises which arose out of the early successes of Napoleon. Sir John Jervis showed great ability in controlling and directing the operations of the squadrons under his command, and in selecting for his undertakings men of ability, like Nelson and Collingwood. Work of this kind often requires as much judgement and firmness as are necessary in the winning of a battle.
On one occasion one of the vice-admirals in the Mediterranean was so angry at the advancement of Nelson to a command over his head, he openly abused Sir John Jervis. This was too great a breach of discipline to be passed over by the Admiral without notice, and he immediately deprived the vice-admiral of his command and sent him back to England.
France, Spain, and Holland were now in alliance against us, and early in 1797 the British were anticipating that the fleets of the three nations would unite at the earliest opportunity, and embark upon a joint expedition against some part of the British Empire. With the object of preventing the junction of these fleets, Sir John Jervis was cruising off the coasts of Spain and Portugal with a fleet of fifteen battleships and four frigates. On the 13th of February he was off Cape St. Vincent, when he heard the signal guns of a foreign fleet, and on the following day came in sight of twenty-seven Spanish ships-of-the-line. Making all sail, the English fleet came up with the enemy at half-past eleven, and opened fire. The action lasted four hours and was exceedingly hot. The Victory was in the thick of it, but did not distinguish herself as much as some of the other vessels.
The most distinguished work was that of Commodore Nelson in the Captain. The Culloden, Captain Trowbridge, the Excellent, Captain Collingwood, the Blenheim, Captain Frederick, and the Prince George, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Parker, all greatly distinguished themselves in this engagement. Four Spanish vessels were taken, two of which were first-rates of 112 guns each, and the remaining ships sought shelter in Cadiz, where they were subsequently couped up by a blockade.
Sir John Jervis received a peerage and a pension of £3,000 for this service, and took the title of Earl St. Vincent from the cape near which the battle was fought.
In the following year he was relieved of the command of the fleet, though he continued in command of the Mediterranean station until August 1799, when failing health compelled him to resign, and he returned to England. For some time he was incapacitated for active service by illness, and his subsequent career was chiefly devoted to politics and the administration of naval affairs at the Admiralty of which he was made First Lord in 1801.
In 1814 he was appointed General of Marines, and in 1821 Admiral of the Fleet. He died on the 13th of March 1823, at the advanced age of eighty-eight, and was buried in St. Paul's London.
Earl St. Vincent is perhaps specially distinguished as a strict disciplinarian, who maintained his crew and his fleet alike always ready and efficient. We have seen how he summarily dismissed an admiral who publicly abused him. Upon another occasion he showed equal firmness in dealing with a spirit of mutiny, which threatened the Mediterranean fleet. A mutineer on the Marlborough had been sentenced to be hanged on board his vessel. The captain of the ship privately expressed to the Admiral his fears that the occasion of this man's execution would be seized upon for a general mutiny by the crew. The Admiral protested that the execution should take place upon the Marlborough at the appointed time, and broadly hinted to the captain that if he could not command the obedience of his crew, he was unworthy of his position. Upon the morning fixed for the execution boats from the various ships were filled with armed crews, and drawn up within pistol-shots of the Marlborough. At the appointed hour the signal for the execution was made, and the crew of the Marlborough, cowed into submission by this display of force, drew up the mutineer to the yard-arm in sullen obedience. It was a trying moment, but the Admiral triumphed, and discipline was preserved in his fleet. Incidents like this show the stern stuff of which Lord St. Vincent was made. For the rest he was efficient and active. "Sir John Jervis is indefatigable in keeping this station," Collingwood wrote, "and while we keep it, the Mediterranean is a sea only for our friends."
Extracted from Lives of British Seamen by W A Atkinson (circa 1900)
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