PROTOTYPE FOR HORNBLOWER

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30710, 27 March 1965, Page 4

PROTOTYPE FOR HORNBLOWER

Knight Of The Sword. The Life and Letters of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith. By Lord Russell of Liverpool. Gollancz. 244 pp. including bibliography and index.

The creation of such, fictional characters as Horn-1 blower may well have been: inspired by this naval] officers life. He saw active! service between 1792 and; 1814. His early service was! during the American War and; at the beginning of the; French and Spanish Wars he! was promoted at an early age to rank of captain. He; volunteered for the attack on Toulon and was put in com-] mand of operations which re-’ suited in the destruction of a] large part of the French fleet] together with the naval; arsenal. In 1794-95 he com-1 manded the frigate squadron! patrolling the English Chan-' nel to give early warning of! any attempted French landing on the English coast and; to break up any concentration of French ships; assembled for the purpose.! This service led to his cap-] ture and confinement in the I Abbaye and Temple Prisons ! He escaped. In 1798 as Captain of the “Tigre,” Smith was sent on a diplomatic mission to explore the possibility of alliance; between the British and theTurks. Then followed his I famous defence of St. Jean; d’Acre against Napoleon’s army in Egypt. This was a; severe check to Napoleon’s plans for the domination of Europe and the Middle East. Bonaparte said of Smith, “that man made me miss my destiny.” He was present at the conclusion of the Convention of El Arish which the British Government at first refused to honour. Smith, however, was successful in pursuading H.M. Government to carry out) its terms. For this, some time! later, he received the thanks' of Parliament and a pension' of £lOOO a year. He next saw service along; the southern coasts of Italy; and Sicily from 1805 to 1807. ; Amongst his exploits at this; time were the capture of; Capri and raiding on the; coast of Calabria as well as assisting Sir John Stewart at the battle of Maida. Smith; was now a Rear-Admiral and] intervened in diplomatic] negotiations so that he was able to obtain from the Nea-] politan Court by influencing; Queen Maria-Carolina (“for it was she who wore the! trousers”) unlimited powers! on land and sea to command; Neapolitan troops. This bypassing of British diplomatic; representatives did not meet; the approval of the home authorities.

Smith had, however, some! influence and was later ordered to join a British squadron in the Dardanelles under Sir John Duckworth on a special flag-showing mission. Its object was to prevent an alliance between the Turks and the French. With some detached forces at his command Smith attacked a Turkish squadron in the Dardanelles, burning 11 ships and capturing two. Duckworth was highly delighted with Smith’s success but his forces had to be withdrawn because of the strength of Turkish shore batteries. More notable exploits were Sir Sidney’s mission to Portugal, the part he played in collecting the Portuguese fleet to save it from falling into French hands, and the transfer of the Portuguese Royal I Family and Government to the Brazils. After some further Mediterranean service he retired as a vice-admiral I but his retirement did not

stop him from being on the field at Waterloo to organise the collection of the wounded. The title to the book is derived from the knighthood which Smith received from the King of Sweden for services with the Swedish naval forces against the Russians when England was at peace with France. Besides being a Knight of the Sword, Smith’s detractors would also have him to be something of a Knight of the Sofa for he was alleged to have been discerned on that article of furniture in compromising circumstances with the Regent’s wife, the Princess of Wales, in the Blue Room at Montague House. Fortunately Smith was exonerated by the inquiry known as “The Delicate Investigation.”

There is no doubt that Smith was personally a very brave man, a highly intelligent, energetic, capable, but somewhat vain officer whose mind was receptive to the employment of improvements

in naval tactics and techniques. He was an advocate of the use of fire ships and rockets and often experienced discouragement from his superiors. His habit of at once communicating with the top did not endear him to his superiors, and when he retired his due reward was overlooked for many years. The author, a distinguished lawyer, has very ably pieced together his own clear writing of Smith’s biography and a judicious selection of Smith’s letters. The letters are somewhat prolix but Lord Russell was no doubt faced with the choice of completing what might be regarded as just another biography or allowing his readers to glimpse something of Smith’s own selfrevealed personality by use of the letters. Any discouragement of the reader because of the prolixity of the letters has however been skilfully avoided. The result is a very readable biography employing original source material.