Captain John Harvey (9 July 1740 – 30 June 1794) was an officer of the British
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 ...
whose death in the aftermath of the battle of the
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...
where he had commanded terminated a long and highly successful career and made him a celebrity in Britain, a memorial to his memory being raised in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
Early career
Born in 1740 at
Eastry
Eastry is a civil parish in Kent, England, around southwest of Sandwich. It was voted "Kent Village of the Year 2005".
The name is derived from the Old English ''Ēast- rige'', meaning "eastern province" (c.f. '' Sūþ-rige'' "southern provinc ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, John Harvey was the son of Richard and Elizabeth Harvey ''née'' Nichols, local gentry. Entering the Navy in 1754, Harvey began a long family naval tradition, taken up by his brother
Henry Harvey
Admiral Sir Henry Harvey KB (Bef. 4 Aug 1737 – 28 December 1810) was a long-serving officer of the British Royal Navy during the second half of the eighteenth century. Harvey participated in numerous naval operations and actions and espec ...
a few years later. His first ship was , a fifty-gun
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 ...
in which he stayed for five years into the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754†...
. In 1759, promoted to
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
with the patronage of
Admiral Francis Holburne and distant relation
Sir Peircy Brett, Harvey joined the
sloop-of-war
In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...
and
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 ...
, taking shore pay in 1762 at the war's conclusion. The same year he married Judith Wise of
Sandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including sev ...
and the couple had large family, their sons including several future admirals.
[Harvey, John](_blank)
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', J. K. Laughton
Sir John Knox Laughton (23 April 1830 – 14 September 1915) was a British naval historian and arguably the first to delineate the importance of the subject of Naval history as an independent field of study. Beginning his working life as a mathe ...
, retrieved 21 November 2007
American War of Independence
Between 1766 and 1768, Harvey commanded the sloop off
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
but following promotion in 1768 he was again forced to take half-pay on shore for the next eight years, until the
American War of Independence
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 ...
caused a dramatic increase of the size of the Navy. Briefly commanding the sloop , Harvey was soon promoted once more, making
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) ...
and being given the prime command of , the 60-gun
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
of
Admiral Robert Duff at
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
. From 1778 until 1780, Harvey distinguished himself at the
Great Siege of Gibraltar
The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Spain and France to capture Gibraltar from the British during the War of the American Revolution. It was the largest battle in the war by number of combatants. The American war had end ...
, even commanding there during 1780 in the absence of his senior officer.
In 1780, ''Panther'' returned to England and was then attached for a year to
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 ...
's fleet in the West Indies. Returning to England early in 1782, Harvey was transferred to the new 64-gun ship and in her returned to 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 ...
, again distinguishing himself at the relief of Gibraltar and the subsequent
Battle of Cape Spartel
The Battle of Cape Spartel was an indecisive naval battle between a Franco-Spanish fleet under Admiral Luis de Córdova y Córdova and a British fleet under Admiral Richard Howe. These forces met on 20 October 1782 after Howe successfully resupp ...
.
At the war's conclusion the following year, Harvey retained his active career due to his excellent records and served in several shore appointments, including regulating captain at
Deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
and commander of the guardship at
Sheerness
Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...
.
French Revolutionary Wars
![Richard Livesay - Portrait of Captain John Harvey](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Richard_Livesay_-_Portrait_of_Captain_John_Harvey.jpg)
With the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
of 1790 making war inevitable, the Navy again expanded and Harvey was subject to special request from
Admiral Lord Howe who desired him to command the new and powerful 74-gun
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 ...
in the Channel Fleet.
The Channel Fleet was not forced to wait long before joining action, Britain going to war in 1793 and a year later becoming embroiled in the battle of the
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June (1 June 1794), also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic ...
, an engagement intended to cut off France's grain supply from the young
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Howe had been chasing the French fleet protecting the convoy for some days, and several short and sharp actions had been fought without conclusion. On 1 June 1794 however, Howe finally gained the wind on the French and overhauled them in a long line of battle.
Glorious First of June
![Glorieux combats de juin 1794](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Glorieux_combats_de_juin_1794.jpg)
Howe was not planning a regular naval battle of orderly lines and formal engagement but was instead relying on the inexperience of the French revolutionary crews to provide his captains with an opportunity for a large scale victory. Howe ordered his captains to turn towards the French fleet and for each ship in the British line to cut the French line, raking ships either side as they did so before engaging them in close combat and relying on superior British training and firepower to subdue the enemy. These tactics were only partially successful, primarily because the British captains had never been issued such an order before and many refused to enact it as too risky, most simply engaging the French from a distance or making a show of crossing the line before turning in for close engagement too early. Several captains however were aware of the spirit of the order and made efforts to break through the French line.
Among these captains was John Harvey.
''Brunswick'' opponent was the 74-gun , a good ship with a disorganised but plentiful crew. Harvey held his nerve and cut the line, but was then undone when ''Brunswick''s anchor became entangled in the French ships rigging. A vicious close range cannon and musket duel ensued, the two ships hidden by smoke as the battle continued elsewhere. ''Brunswick''s master requested permission to cut the anchor free, but Harvey replied "No, as we've got her, we'll keep her."
During the engagement which followed, both ships suffered terrible casualties, ''Brunswick'' taking 44 dead and 114 wounded. Harvey was himself hit three times, losing his right hand to a musket ball, being hit on the back by a large wooden splinter and finally having his elbow shattered by a French roundshot.
![Harvey & Hutt memorial, Westminster Abbey](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Harvey_%26_Hutt_memorial%2C_Westminster_Abbey.jpg)
Seeing his brother's predicament,
Henry Harvey
Admiral Sir Henry Harvey KB (Bef. 4 Aug 1737 – 28 December 1810) was a long-serving officer of the British Royal Navy during the second half of the eighteenth century. Harvey participated in numerous naval operations and actions and espec ...
, who commanded sailed to his aid and raked ''Vengeur du Peuple'' twice, killing dozens of her crew and finally driving the ships apart. Both resembled wrecks, ''Vengeur du Peuple'' clearly sinking from the huge holes blasted in her sides. She finally surrendered to and who came up at the close of the battle, but her submission was too late and over 300 of her crew drowned when she suddenly heeled over and sank, the rest being picked up by British boats.
Harvey had refused to quit the deck whilst the action continued but on its conclusion was carried below as the British fleet headed for home, ''Brunswick'' reaching
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 ...
a few days later. Although seven French ships had been sunk or captured, the grain convoy had slipped by and reached France comparatively untouched, leaving the outcome of the campaign unclear. Harvey died of his wounds in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on 30 June and was buried in Eastry, a memorial raised to him and Captain
John Hutt
John Hutt (24 July 1795 – 9 April 1880) was Governor of Western Australia from 1839 to 1846.
Life
Born in London on 24 July 1795, John Hutt was the fourth of 13 children of Richard Hutt of Appley Towers, Ryde, Isle of Wight. He was educated ...
(who had died of his wounds on the same day), carved by
John Bacon[Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851, Rupert Gunnis] is in
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
.
Two of Harvey's sons,
Sir John Harvey and
Sir Edward Harvey would later become admirals in their own right.
Notes
References
*
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, John
1740 births
1794 deaths
People from Eastry
Royal Navy officers
Royal Navy personnel of the Seven Years' War
Royal Navy personnel of the American Revolutionary War
Royal Navy personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars
British military personnel killed in the French Revolutionary Wars