Edward Thornbrough

Admiral Sir Edward Thornbrough, GCB (27 July 1754 – 3 April 1834) was a senior, long-serving veteran officer of the British Royal Navy during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. He saw action in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, being wounded several times and once captured by American forces after a shipwreck. During the wreck, his conduct towards American prisoners aboard his ship was considered so exemplary that the American authorities later released him without parole or exchange.

During the later conflict, Thornbrough won praise for taking his frigate into the thick of the action at the Glorious First of June, towing the shattered HMS ''Bellerophon'' to safety after she was isolated by several French ships of the line. Later, Thornbrough became a senior admiral in both the Channel Fleet and the Mediterranean Fleet under Cuthbert Collingwood, who held him in high esteem. He retired in 1818 and settled in Devon with his third wife, dying in 1834.

Early career

Thornbrough was born in 1754, the son of Commander Edward and Mary Thornbrough. With a father in the Navy, young Edward's career was destined, especially given his close proximity in his early life to the sea; he was born on Plymouth Dock. Thornbrough joined his father at sea in 1761, as captain's servant on HMS ''Arrogant'', and spent two years in the Mediterranean becoming used to the sea. Aged nine in 1763, he attended school whilst being on the books of HMS ''Firm''. He returned to the sea in 1768 aboard HMS ''Temeraire'' with his father. The ship was commanded by Edward Le Cras. Thornbrough would later marry two of Le Cras's daughters.

''Temeraire'' was guardship at Portsmouth, and in the time of peace this was a monotonous duty. Thornbrough therefore moved around several ships to broaden his education, traveling to Gibraltar and spending time on HMS ''Albion''. He moved to HMS ''Captain'' with his father and in 1771 they sailed for Boston. For two more years the ship acted as guardship in the American port and also provided a floating headquarters for Admiral John Montagu. Thornbrough performed a brief independent cruise in HMS ''Cruizer'', but the service was otherwise uneventful and he returned to Britain with ''Captain'' in 1774.

American Revolutionary War

In 1775, at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Thornbrough returned to North America in the sloop HMS ''Falcon'' as second in command. ''Falcon'' participated in the bombardment of rebel positions during the Battle of Bunker Hill, and in August Thornbrough was badly wounded in a failed attempt to seize an American schooner from Cape Ann harbour. Invalided to Britain, Thornbrough recovered in 1776 and joined the frigate HMS ''Richmond'' off the Eastern Seaboard. In 1779 he was transferred to HMS ''Garland'' and escorted a convoy to Newfoundland. Returning to Europe in 1780, Thornbrough joined the frigate HMS ''Flora'' and in her participated in the capture of the French frigate ''Nymphe'' after a long and bloody action.

As consequence of his part in this engagement, Thornbrough was promoted to commander and took over the hired vessel HMS ''Britannia'' escorting a convoy to New York City. On arrival, Thornbrough was again promoted to post captain and took over captaincy of the frigate HMS ''Blonde''. In 1782, ''Blonde'' captured an American brig and attempted to tow her to Halifax, Nova Scotia. During the operation the ship became lost in fog and ''Blonde'' was wrecked on a rocky islet whilst the brig continued to Halifax. On the islet, Thornbrough made sure that the American prisoners from the brig were given the same standards of treatment as the British sailors. When the survivors were rescued by two American ships a few days later, the American authorities were so impressed with his behaviour that they conveyed him to New York and released him without conditions as a reward. Returning to Britain, Thornbrough was to be given the ship of the line HMS ''Egmont'', but the end of the war prevented this.

French Revolutionary Wars

The ten years of peace following the American war resulted in many officers entering semi-retirement on half-pay. Thornbrough however was given the prize frigate HMS ''Hebe'' and had Prince William Henry on board as a lieutenant. Although the Prince was a notoriously difficult officer to serve alongside, Thornbrough became friends with his subordinate, whose patronage would help him with his future career. Thornbrough married Ann Le Cras in 1784, and Prince William requested that their first son was to be named after him. The son would later become Lieutenant William Henry Thornbrough, but died in 1798 aged 14. The couple would also have another son, Edward Le Cras Thornbrough, who became an admiral and four daughters. Also in 1784, Thornbrough's father died. In 1790 during the Spanish armament, Thornbrough briefly took over HMS ''Scipio''.

At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, Thornbrough requested and received command of the frigate HMS ''Latona''. In November 1793, Thornbrough engaged several French ships of the line in a vain attempt to delay them until British warships could arrive to challenge them. In May 1794, ''Latona'' was a scout for the Channel Fleet under Lord Howe during the Atlantic campaign of May 1794. The campaign resulted in the Glorious First of June, when ''Latona'' was initially used as a repeating ship to relay Howe's signals down the British line. Later in the action however, Thornbrough was called on to take his relatively diminutive ship through the battle lines to rescue the shattered HMS ''Bellerophon'' which was being pounded by several large French ships. ''Latona'' not only reached ''Bellerophon'', but then drove off the French battleships with her small broadsides and took the dismasted ''Bellerophon'' in tow to safety, all without suffering a casualty.

Thornbrough then took command of the ship of the line HMS ''Robust'' with the Channel Fleet, participated in the ill-fated 1795 invasion of Quiberon Bay with French Royalist forces. The operation was a failure and ''Robust'' was also engaged in its desperate evacuation. Three years later, Thornbrough participated in another invasion, this time thwarting a French attempt to land troops in Ireland. At the Battle of Donegal, Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron, including ''Robust'', destroyed a French troops convoy off Tory Island