Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

Spanish Armament The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, the Spanish Empire, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the fledgling United States of America triggered b ...

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by Republican forces against Royalist rebels supported by Anglo-Spa ...

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.HMS ''Andromeda'' and participated in the Battle of Copenhagen as captain of HMS ''Désirée''. He later served on the

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

HMS ''Triumph'' at the Battle of Cape Finisterre and was subsequently called to give evidence at the court martial of Sir Robert Calder. After the battle off Finisterre, Inman suffered from ill-health and remained on shore duty until 1809 when he was appointed as Admiralty commissioner for

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. The lengthy sea journey to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

exacerbated his existing health problems and he died just ten days after his arrival.

Early life

Henry Inman was born in 1762, the son of the vicar of the

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

village of Burrington, Reverend George Inman. Educated by his father until the age of 14, Inman was sent to join the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1776, posted aboard the 90-gun

second rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a second-rate was a ship of the line which by the start of the 18th century mounted 90 to 98 guns on three gun decks; earlier 17th-century second rates had fewer guns ...

HMS ''Barfleur''.Tracy, p. 205 ''Barfleur'''s captain was

Sir Samuel Hood Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816) was an admiral in the Royal Navy. As a junior officer he saw action during the War of the Austrian Succession. While in temporary command of , he drove a French ship ashore i ...

, later to become

Viscount Hood Viscount Hood, of Whitley, Coventry, Whitley in the County of Warwick, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for the famous naval commander Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, Samuel Hood, 1st Baron Hood. He ha ...

, who formed a close personal and professional attachment to his subordinate that continued throughout Inman's military service. After two years on ''Barfleur'', Inman was transferred to the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

in 1778 for service off

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. The

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

had broken out three years earlier, but ''Barfleur'' had been based in Britain and so there had been no opportunity for action aboard Hood's ship. His career in ''Lark'' was cut short on 5 August 1778, when Captain

John Brisbane John Brisbane (d. 1776 ?) was a Scottish physician. Brisbane graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1750, and was admitted licentiate of the College of Physicians in 1766. He held the post of physician to the Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital ...

, the senior officer off Rhode Island, ordered the frigate beached and burnt with four other ships when a French fleet under Vice-Admiral

Comte d'Estaing Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing (24 November 1729 – 28 April 1794) was a French general and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the ...

appeared off the harbour.Campbell, p. 293 Inman and the rest of the crew were transferred to shore duties and over the following week engaged D'Estaing's ships from fixed gun batteries as they bombarded the British positions. Inman had lost all his personal possessions in the destruction of ''Lark'' and was forced to replace his uniform from his own wages when the Navy refused to provide compensation. Returning to Britain in the frigate HMS ''Pearl'', Inman was promoted to lieutenant in 1780 and returned to the Americas in HMS ''Camel'', transferred soon afterwards into HMS ''Santa Monica'' in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

. Shortly after his arrival however, Inman was once again shipwrecked when ''Santa Monica'' grounded off

Tortola Tortola () is the largest and most populated island of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It has a surface area of with a total population of 23,908, with 9,400 residents in ...

. Although the crew reached the shore in small boats, the ship broke up rapidly and once again Inman lost all of his possessions.Campbell, p. 294 Remaining on shore service in the West Indies for the next two years, Inman was again employed in the aftermath of the

Battle of the Saintes The Battle of the Saintes (known to the French as the Bataille de la Dominique), also known as the Battle of Dominica, was an important naval battle in the Caribbean between the British and the French that took place 9–12 April 1782. The Brit ...

, appointed to the prize crew of the captured French vessel ''Hector'' for the journey to Britain.Tracy, p. 206 ''Hector''s masts and hull had been seriously damaged in the battle, requiring lighter spars to be fitted and 22 of her 74 guns removed to make her more seaworthy. As the fleet could not spare men to man her, the 223-strong prize crew was made up of men pressed in the Caribbean, principally invalids unfit for frontline service. On 14 August 1782, ''Hector'' separated from the rest of the prize ships in heavy weather and on 22 August encountered two large French frigates, ''Aigle'' of 40 guns and ''Gloire'' of 32 guns. Together these vessels significantly outclassed the leaky ship of the line in weight of shot, but Captain John Bourchier determined to resist the French attack, preparing ''Hector'' as the French approached. The French ships surrounded ''Hector'' at 02:00 and the engagement was furiously contested, with Bourchier wounded early on and many of his officers following him below with serious injuries.Campbell, p. 295 Within a short period, Inman was the only officer remaining on deck, but he was able to successfully drive the French away following a failed attempt to board, although ''Hector'' was left in a severely damaged state with 75 men killed or wounded.Clowes, p. 87 A hurricane that followed the battle inflicted further damage and the ship was badly flooded, seawater ruining the food supplies and threatening to sink the ship completely. Some of the crew were so ill and exhausted that they collapsed and died while manning the pumps. Inman only managed to prevent the remaining sailors from fleeing below decks by carrying loaded pistols and threatening men who refused his orders. Once the storm had abated it was clear that ''Hector'' was foundering; her rudder and masts had been torn away and the pumps were unable to keep pace with the water leaking through the battered hull. For two weeks Inman made desperate efforts to keep the ship afloat, as food and water supplies ran low and the hull began to collapse in on itself. Fortunately for the men aboard ''Hector'', the tiny

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

''Hawke'' appeared and approached the ship of the line to render assistance. Throwing his cargo overboard, Captain John Hill worked with Inman to supervise the transfer of all of ''Hector''s remaining men, many of whom were wounded or sick, into ''Hawke'' as ''Hector'' rapidly sank. No men were lost in the operation and Inman was the last to leave, ''Hector'' disappearing ten minutes after the boat carrying him reached ''Hawke''. The snow set sail for St John's in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, its crew and passengers subsisting on short rations; they arrived off the port on the same day they consumed the last water supplies.Campbell, p. 297

French Revolutionary Wars

With the Peace of Versailles in 1783, the war ended and Inman was placed on half-pay in reserve, suffering from poor health caused by his ordeal on ''Hector''. Retiring to his father's house in Somerset, Inman was not employed again until 1790, when the

Spanish Armament The Nootka Crisis, also known as the Spanish Armament, was an international incident and political dispute between the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, the Spanish Empire, the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the fledgling United States of America triggered b ...

provoked a rapid expansion of the Navy.Campbell, p. 298 He was initially commissioned into the frigate under Captain Albemarle Bertie, but in the aftermath of the emergency Inman was given command of the 14-gun cutter HMS ''Pigmy'', stationed on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

. He also married the daughter of Commander Thomas Dalby in 1791; the couple had a son and a daughter. With the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

in 1793, Inman was transferred to Lord Hood's flagship HMS ''Victory'' in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, receiving a promotion to commander on 11 September. Serving during the

Siege of Toulon The siege of Toulon (29 August – 19 December 1793) was a military engagement that took place during the Federalist revolts of the French Revolutionary Wars. It was undertaken by Republican forces against Royalist rebels supported by Anglo-Spa ...

, Inman assisted in the removal of captured French ships from

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

harbour and as a reward was promoted to

post captain Post-captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of Captain (Royal Navy), captain in the Royal Navy. The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: * Officers in command of a naval vessel, who were (and still are) ...

on 9 October and given command of the newly captured HMS ''Espion''. While she was stationed off

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered around t ...

, ''Aurore'' engaged French Republican gun batteries, expending 20,000 cannonballs in November and December. When Toulon fell to the Republicans on 18 December 1793, Inman was initially sent to

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

and then tasked with carrying a large number of Republican

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. With an understrength crew, Inman had difficulty in controlling the prisoners, who deliberately holed the bottom of the ship during the voyage. On arriving at Malta, Inman anchored his leaking ship in deep water under the guns of the port's defensive batteries and then removed his entire crew, leaving instructions with the prisoners that they could either pump out the water and repair the damage or drown when the ship sank. The prisoners repaired the ship and were taken into captivity on Malta. Transferred from ''Aurore'', Inman spent a brief period on the frigate before returning to Britain in command of the

fourth rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...

. ''Romney'' was paid off on arrival in Britain and Inman returned to the reserve until 1796, when he was made temporary captain of and then took command of the frigate HMS ''Espion''. Ordered to sail for the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

, Inman set sail with his family on board but ''Espion'', an old ship in a poor state of repair, was struck by a gale in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

and was almost destroyed. Eventually reaching safety in

Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...

, ''Espion'' was reduced to the reserve until extensive repairs could be made and Inman was again placed on half-pay.Campbell, p. 299 He was reinstated in 1797 as temporary commander of the ship of the line in the immediate aftermath of the

Nore Mutiny The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. They were the first in an increasing series of outbreaks of maritime radicalism in the Atlantic World. Despite their temporal proximity, the mutinies d ...

. ''Belliqueux'' had been heavily involved in the uprising: three members of the crew were under sentence of death and six others facing severe punishment for their part in the revolt. Inman was consequently afraid for his life and for the next six months slept with three loaded pistols beside him. ''Belliqueux'' was assigned to the blockade of the French Atlantic seaport of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

and Inman continued to perform this service after he was moved to HMS ''Ramillies'' during 1798, in which he participated in the chase that eventually led to the capture of ''Hercule''.James, Vol. 2, p. 107 He was subsequently posted to the frigate in early 1799.

''Désirée'' and Copenhagen

On 2 August 1799, Inman seized the neutral merchant ship ''Vrienden'' carrying a cargo of hemp. Although the vessel's legal state was uncertain, no merchant claimed its cargo and in 1802 she was condemned and sold for over 247 '' l.'' In November 1799, ''Andromeda'' was attached to the force that evacuated the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was Du ...

's army following the failure of the

Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland The Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland (or Anglo-Russian expedition to Holland, or Helder Expedition) was a military campaign from 27 August to 19 November 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition, in which an expeditionary force of British and ...

and he remained in the region, observing movements off the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

.Tracy, p. 207 ''Andromeda'' also participated in the Raid on Dunkirk on 7 July 1800, when four French frigates were attacked by a squadron of British ships in

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.''Désirée'',James, Vol. 3, p. 42 with Inman following in the cutter ''Vigilant'', crewed by thirty volunteers from ''Andromeda''. Under fire from all sides, Inman successfully boarded the French ship following her surrender and brought her out of the harbour, sending the crew ashore on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

to avoid having to assign men to guard them. ''Désirée'' was brought back to Britain and commissioned into the Royal Navy, Inman taking command of the new frigate.James, Vol. 3, p. 43 In 1801, ''Désirée'' was attached to the fleet gathering at

Yarmouth Yarmouth may refer to: Places Canada *Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia **Yarmouth, Nova Scotia **Municipality of the District of Yarmouth **Yarmouth (provincial electoral district) **Yarmouth (electoral district) * Yarmouth Township, Ontario *New ...

under Sir Hyde Parker and

Lord Nelson Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British people, British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strate ...

for service in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

against the League of Armed Neutrality.Campbell, p. 300 Sailing for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in March, the fleet anchored off

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and on 1 April a squadron under Nelson closed with the Danish fleet, which was anchored in a

line of battle The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...

protecting the harbour. ''Désirée'' was ordered to operate at the Southern end of the Danish line, engaging shore batteries and nearby ships while their attention was focused on the main British battle-line.James, Vol. 3, p. 70 When the battle began at 10:00 on 2 April, Inman engaged the ''Provesteen'', which was firing on the 50-gun . ''Désirée'' succeeded in inflicting considerable damage on the Danish ship and drew some fire away from the battered ''Isis''. Once ''Provesteen'' had been abandoned by her Danish crew ''Désirée'' was engaged with a number of Danish shore batteries, but due to poor aim of the Danish gunners, who fired over the frigate throughout the engagement, she was not badly damaged and suffered only four men wounded in the battle. At 14:00 Danish fire slackened and shortly afterwards Nelson began to withdraw his ships out of range of the Danes. A number of his ships of the line grounded on the complicated shoals in the region and when ''Désirée'' came to the assistance of ] she too became stuck. ''Bellona'' was hauled off by ''Isis'' shortly afterwards, but ''Désirée'' was forced to remain on the sandbank for two days until boats from the squadron could be spared to drag her free.

Napoleonic Wars

At the Peace of Amiens, ''Désirée'' remained in service with orders to sail for the West Indies. Inman, whose health was beginning to suffer, resigned command and returned to his family on half-pay until the outbreak of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

in 1803, when he was given the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Utrecht (1799), HMS ''Utrecht''.Campbell, p. 301 In 1804 he moved from ''Utrecht'' to the 74-gun HMS ''Triumph'' and in February 1805 was attached to the fleet under Sir Robert Calder stationed off

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; gl, Cabo Fisterra, italic=no ; es, Cabo Finisterre, italic=no ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like ...

during the Trafalgar campaign. At 11:00 on 22 July, Calder sighted the French and Spanish fleet under Vice-Admiral

Pierre-Charles Villeneuve Pierre-Charles-Jean-Baptiste-Silvestre de Villeneuve (31 December 1763 – 22 April 1806) was a French naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars. He was in command of the French and the Spanish fleets that were defeated by Nelson at the Batt ...

emerging from the fog off Ferrol and attacked, ''Triumph'' third in line behind HMS ''Hero'' and HMS ''Ajax''.James, Vol. 4, p. 3 The battle lines tacked and closed with one another, beginning a general action at 18:00, eventually separating at 21:30. ''Triumph'' was heavily engaged in the melee, in which two Spanish ships were captured, and suffered severe damage although light casualties of five killed and six wounded. On 26 July, Inman was briefly detached from the fleet to chase away the French frigate ''Didon'' before returning to her station in the battle line, but the action was not resumed, Calder ordering the fleet to return to Britain.James, Vol. 4, p. 8 In the aftermath of the battle, Calder faced a court martial for his failure to resume the engagement and Inman was called to give evidence: when questioned as to why he had not informed Calder about the damage to his ship, Inman replied "I did not think that a proper time to trouble the admiral with my complaints". Inman's health had suffered during his long career at sea, and although he returned to sea in December 1805 aboard ''Triumph'' during the

Atlantic campaign of 1806 The Atlantic campaign of 1806 was a complicated series of manoeuvres and counter-manoeuvres conducted by squadrons of the French Navy and the British Royal Navy across the Atlantic Ocean during the spring and summer of 1806, as part of the Na ...

as part of the squadron under Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Strachan, his ill-health forced his replacement by Sir Thomas Hardy in May.James, Vol. 4, p. 186 Returning to his family ashore, Inman was initially given command of the sea fencibles at

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

before he was made Admiralty commissioner at

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

by

Lord Mulgrave Marquess of Normanby is a title that has been created twice, once in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first creation came in 1694 in the Peerage of England in favour of John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Bucki ...

in 1809. The journey to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

broke his health completely and he died on 15 July 1809, just ten days after arriving in Madras.Campbell, p. 302

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inman, Henry 1762 births 1809 deaths Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars Royal Navy personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Royal Navy officers