Commander Robert Benjamin Young, RN (15 September 1773 – 26 November 1846) was an officer in 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 ...

. His service in small ships led to his presence observing the

battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...

in 1805 from the deck of the tiny 10-gun cutter . Following this battle, Young performed well, acting as messenger and rescue boat during the storm, although the honour of carrying the dispatches back to England was given to

John Richards Lapenotiere John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, commander of HMS ''Pickle''; Young maintained that prior to the battle

Admiral Nelson Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) was a British flag officer in the Royal Navy. His inspirational leadership, grasp of strategy, and unconventional tactics brought abo ...

had promised this honour to him.

Early life

Born in 1773 at

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

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 ...

,O'Byrne p. 1338 Young joined his father's ship, 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 ...

HMS ''Severn'' in 1781, and passed for lieutenant ten years later in the buildup to 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 ...

.Hore p. 172 He was however unable to gain a position of this rank until 1795, when he was sent to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

on HMS ''Thorn'', and was commended for the capture of the French corvette ''Courier-National'' and for an armed landing on the island of St Vincent in which he was embroiled in the thick of the fighting but was unhurt. Sailing in HMS ''Bonne Citoyenne'', he was an observer of the battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797, and was badly wounded by a collapsing spar during a gun action a few weeks later. Returning for duty in 1798, Young participated in the defence of

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 ...

and was present in the aftermath of the

Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; french: Bataille d'Aboukir) was a major naval battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the Navy of the French Republic at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast off the ...

, aiding in repairs and consolidation of the British fleet.

Battle of Trafalgar

He returned home on HMS ''Colossus'', and witnessed her shipwreck in the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

before joining 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 ''Goliath'' and almost being wrecked on her too, when she was dismasted and almost capsized in the West Indies. Young was commended for his excellent conduct in this operation, and was even able to take some enemy prizes despite the battered nature of his ship. His reward for this was to be given command of the ''Entreprenante'' following the

Peace of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it se ...

and to take her as a despatch vessel to Nelson's fleet off

Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...

. Young claimed for the rest of life that when the combined fleet emerged on 21 October, Nelson ordered him to remain close to HMS ''Victory'', so that despatches home could be instantly sent off. No written record has survived of such an order, and Young could find no corroborating witnesses but ''Entreprenante'' did remain close to the ''Victory'' except when ''Victory'' was embroiled in the thick of the fight, where a single enemy broadside would have blasted ''Entreprenante'' matchwood. Following the action and the subsequent death of Nelson, there was far too much to be done in terms of rescuing survivors, repairing ships and heading back to Cadiz to worry about dispatches. Young performed these duties heroically, even taking his little craft close to the blazing French ship ''Achille'' and taking off 161 survivors before escaping just as the ship's magazines exploded. Young also found the ''Bahama'', whose Spanish crew had overthrown the British prize crew put aboard and were attempting to take the ship back to Cadiz. Thanks to Young's fast message to

Admiral Collingwood Vice Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood (26 September 1748 – 7 March 1810) was an admiral of the Royal Navy, notable as a partner with Lord Nelson in several of the British victories of the Napoleonic Wars, and frequently as ...

, the ''Bahama'' was swiftly retaken.O'Byrne pp. 1338-1339Hore p.173

Post Trafalgar

Young reportedly was "mortified" to discover Collingwood had sent his own despatch vessel, the ''Pickle'' under Lapenotiere to England with the reports of the victory, none of which even mentioned Young's part in the battle's aftermath. The bearer of such good news could expect wealth and promotion, which Lapenotiere did in fact receive.O'Byrne p. 1339 Young, who instead delivered duplicate despatches to Faro, was overlooked and ignored, missing the general promotion from which so many other captains benefitted. Young remained a lieutenant in the ''Entreprenante'', where he spent the next two years on blockade duty off

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, before being forced home by illness. Young was appointed first lieutenant of in 1809 and took part in the

Walcheren Campaign The Walcheren Campaign ( ) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. Sir John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham ...

, where he was the senior officer in charge of the flat-bottomed boats. In 1810, he finally made commander, 19 years after passing as a lieutenant. This was a mixed blessing, as Young's lack of influence again resulted in his being overlooked and passed over for seagoing commissions, a problem not aided by recurring bouts of ill health following the severe sickness he incurred in 1807. Shortly after, he was put on half pay and never served again. In 1839, Young received a pension from the Greenwich Hospital but the remainder of his life was spent in bitter contemplation of what might have been had he performed the famous

Trafalgar Way The Trafalgar Way is the name given to the historic route used to carry dispatches with the news of the Battle of Trafalgar overland from Falmouth to the Admiralty in London. The first messenger in November 1805 was Lieutenant John Richards Lapeno ...

journey, and he died an impoverished and broken man in 1846. He was buried in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

near his home.

Citations

References

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