# Royal Naval Biography/Eyre, George

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SIR GEORGE EYRE, Rear-Admiral of the White; and Knight Commander of the most honorable Military Order of the Bath.
Soon after the commencement of hostilities against the French republic, this officer obtained the command of the Speedy sloop, in which he had the misfortune to be captured by three of the enemy’s frigates, off Nice, June 9, 1794. He afterwards commanded the Albicore, and from that vessel was posted, Feb. 6. 1796, into la Prompte, a 20-gun ship. In the ensuing spring he assisted at the reduction of St. Lucia.
Captain Eyre’s next appointment was to the Regulus, of 44 guns, in the West Indies, where he was very actively employed until the summer of 1799, when he returned to England with Vice-Admiral (afterwards Sir Richard R.) Bligh. Towards the conclusion of the war he commanded the San Josef, a first-rate.
​From this period we lose sight of him until the month of July 1806, when he was appointed to the Ardent, of 64 guns, in which he remained but a short time, and then removed into the Magnificent, a new 74. In Oct. 1809, he assisted at the capture of Zante, Cephalonia, &c. &c, by the forces under Captain Spranger of the Warrior, and Brigadier-General Oswald; the consequence of which was the restoration of the government of the Septinsular republic. On the 21st March following, Captain Eyre sailed from Zante, with the Magnificent, Belle Poule, and Imogene, having on board a body of troops under the command of General Oswald, destined to act against the island of St. Maure, the ancient Leucadia, situated near the entrance of the Gulph of Lepanti. The expedition reached St. Maure the same evening. The French, on the approach of the British, evacuated the town, and retired, 1000 strong, into the fortress, and formidable field-works adjoining it; the first redoubt was soon carried, the enemy retiring into his next entrenchments, where he seemed resolved to defend himself. As it was of great importance to reduce this place as speedily as possible, the ships were employed; and Captains Eyre and Stephens, the former of whom received a severe wound in the head, distinguished themselves much in the attack. The Frenchmen stood the contest but for a short time; their entrenchments were charged and carried; and they were pursued at the point of the bayonet from work to work, abandoning their camp, cannon, and even a strong position which they might still have defended. On the 16th April the fortress surrendered. The loss sustained by the British squadron during the siege, amounted to 7 men killed, and 39 wounded.
In the month of Feb. 1811, a squadron stationed in the Ionian sea, under the orders of Captain Eyre, intercepted thirty sail, bound for the relief of Corfu; one of them, a vessel of 100 tons, was laden with ordnance stores; and another, of the same size, with every article of sails, cordage, and ammunition, proper for the equipment of twenty-five gun-vessels. The rest were laden with corn, and had on board about 500 soldiers, intended as a reinforcement for the French garrison of that island. Towards the latter end of the same year, we find Captain Eyre commanding a squadron on the ​coast of Valencia, in co-operation with the Spanish patriots. On his return to England, about the spring of 1812, the honor of knighthood was conferred upon him for his services in the Mediterranean.
At the general promotion, June 4, 1814, Sir George Eyre obtained a Colonelcy of Royal Marines. He was nominated a K.C.B. Jan. 2, 1815; and advanced to the rank of Rear-Admiral, Aug. 12, 1819. He is at present preparing to assume the command on the South American station.
Our officer married, Nov. 1, 1800, Georgiana, daughter of Sir George Cooke, of Wheatley, co. York, Baronet.