# Royal Naval Biography/Maitland, John

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JOHN MAITLAND, Esq Rear-Admiral of the Blue.
This officer is the third son of the late Hon. Colonel Richard Maitland (uncle of the present Earl of Lauderdale), by Mary, second daughter of John M‘Adam, of Loudon, in Ayrshire, Esq., and a brother of the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel James Maitland, of the 75th regiment, who fell at the storming of Fort Barpoor, under General Lake, in 1805.
He entered the naval service at an early age; and in 1703, went to the West Indies as a Midshipman, on board the Boyne, of 98 guns, bearing the flag of Sir John Jervis, now Earl of St. Vincent, to whose favorable notice he soon recommended himself by his distinguished gallantry when serving on shore with a company of seamen, at the reduction of Martinique, Guadaloupe, &c.; but particularly at the storming of Fort Fleur d’Epée, April 12, 1794; on which occasion he was not only the first person who gained the rampart, but actually assisted the heroic Faulknor and several others up the steep parapet by which the party of sailors under that officer’s orders entered the fort.
As soon as Captain Faulknor had collected about 30 men on the parapet, he dashed into the midst of the enemy, by ​two of whom he was attacked and nearly overpowered, when Mr. Maitland, and a seaman of the name of Daniel Lyons, flew to his relief, and buried their pikes in the bodies of his antagonists, at a moment when one of them, a French officer, was about to stab him as they lay struggling together on the ground. We have been told by a gentleman of indisputable veracity, that “no less than seven or eight of the enemy’s garrison were slain that day by the hands of Mr. Maitland, whose extraordinary bravery and exertions” he himself had an opportunity of witnessing.
During the subsequent operations carried on in Guadaloupe, with a view of recovering that island from the French republicans, Mr. Maitland, then an acting Lieutenant of the Boyne, served on shore with the seamen, under the orders of Captain Robertson, and was engaged in repeated skirmishes with the enemy previous to the unsuccessful attack made upon Point a Pitre, when he succeeded to the command of the naval brigade, in consequence of all the officers senior to himself being either killed, wounded, or knocked up through excessive fatigue.
​On the completion of his time, Mr. Maitland was confirmed in the rank of Lieutenant, and appointed to the Winchelsea frigate, commanded by Lord Garlics, now Earl of Galloway, with whom he had formerly served as a Midshipman, in the Sheerness, 44, on Channel service. Soon after his return to England, he removed with his Lordship into the Lively, of 32 guns.
On the 13th March, 1795, the Lively, commanded pro tempore by the late Sir George Burlton, being on a cruise off Ushant, fell in with, and after an action which lasted near three hours, captured la Tourterelle, a French frigate, mounting 30 guns, with a complement of 250 men, 16 of whom were killed and 25 wounded. The Lively had only 2 wounded, but sustained considerable damage in her sails and rigging, the former of which were much burnt by hot shot fired from her opponent. She had a few days before taken l’Espion corvette, of 18 guns and 140 men.
Towards the latter end of the same year, the Lively was ordered to the Mediterranean station, with the flag of Sir John Jervis, by whom Lieutenant Maitland was made a Commander, and appointed to the Transfer, a polacre-rigged ship, on the establishment of a sloop of war, but carrying only 8 guns.
Proceeding from Gibraltar to Elba, for the purpose of joining that vessel, our officer, then a passenger on board the Blanche frigate, bore a part in the action between that ship and a Spanish squadron; an account of which will be given under the head of Superannuated Rear-Admiral Preston, in our next volume. He was subsequently employed in the neighbourhood of Gibraltar, and from thence sent to convoy a number of light transports to Lisbon; but falling in with the enemy’s fleet during a fog on the day preceding the battle off Cape St. Vincent, his charge was cut off, and the Transfer had some difficulty in effecting her escape.
Captain Maitland’s next appointment was, in April 1J97, to the Kingfisher, a fine brig, in which he cruised for some time on the coast of Portugal. Whilst on that station, an occurrence took place which, however painful to his feelings, afforded another opportunity for the display of that determined courage which he had been long known to possess. On ​the 1st July, the crew of the Kingfisher, partaking of the same diabolical spirit which had already disseminated itself through a large portion of our navy, gave the first proofs of its having extended to the ships under the orders of Earl St. Vincent. Captain Maitland lost no time in adopting the most decisive measures for its suppression. Assisted by his officers and marines, he immediately rushed, sword in hand, amongst the mutineers, several of whom were killed and wounded in the affray, and the rest reduced to obedience, himself and his supporters, though greatly inferior in point of numbers, escaping unhurt. The Commander-in-Chief was so well pleased with his conduct on this alarming occasion, that he immediately posted him into the San Nicholas, one of the Spanish prizes at that period lying in the Tagus; and, it is said, was afterwards in the habit of recommending “Doctor Maitland’s recipe,” in the event of mutiny, to the rest of his fleet.
In consequence, we believe, of the handsome manner in which Earl St. Vincent represented the foregoing affair to the Board of Admiralty, Captain Maitland’s post commission was confirmed by their Lordships on the 11th of the following month. He returned to England in the San Nicholas, and paid her off at Plymouth towards the latter end of the same year.
From 1800 to 1803, our officer commanded the Glenmore frigate, on Channel service. On the renewal of hostilities, he commissioned the Boadicea, of 38 guns, in which ship, being on his return from Ferrol, he fell in with the Duguay-Trouin, a French 74, and la Guerriere frigate, of 38 guns. Judging from their appearance, that they were armed en flute, and being aware that all the French ships returning from St. Domingo to Europe were in a very sickly state, he chased them for nearly 24 hours, and at length succeeded in bringing the former to close action; but very prudently hauled off on finding her to be fully manned and armed. Previous to his doing so, however, he had brought down the enemy’s fore-top-sail-yard, and sent several shot between wind and water, which, according to the testimony of an Englishman, then a prisoner on board the 74, but who was afterwards liberated, compelled her to keep the pumps incessantly going during the ensuing ​three days. The same person gave information that the French ships were from the West Indies, from whence they had sailed with only a sufficient quantity of stores and provisions on board to enable them to cross the Atlantic. This circumstance, together with their very rusty appearance, sufficiently accounts for Captain Maitland’s mistake. Had they been troopships, as he expected, there can be no doubt that the Duguay-Trouin, unsupported as she was by her consort, would have been captured by him. The Boadicea on this occasion had not a man hurt, but her sails and rigging were much cut up; which will not be wondered at, when we state that she received two complete broadsides from her powerful antagonist, as they passed on opposite tacks.
A circumstance occurred about the same period (1803), which enabled Captain Maitland once more to evince his zeal for the public service. Being with the in-shore squadron off Brest, the Boadicea struck upon the rock Bas de Lis, which penetrated her bottom, and occasioned her to make so much water, that it was with difficulty she could be kept free, although assisted by 100 men sent with cistern pumps from the other ships. In this dangerous situation it was deemed necessary to send another frigate to escort her to Portsmouth, from whence she returned to her station in a perfect state of equipment, and joined the Channel fleet within eight days after the accident, three of which had been spent in dock. In the course of the same year, he captured the French national lugger le Vautour, of 12 guns, pierced for 16, and 92 men, commanded by a Lieutenant de Vaisseau, and having a Commissaire de Marine on board, charged with important despatches from General Rochambeau at Cape François, St. Domingo; a Dutch East Indiaman; three West Indiamen; and also made several recaptures.
In 1804, when the line-of-battle ships employed in the blockade of Rochefort, were called in to join the Channel fleet, the Boadicea was left alone to watch that port. While thus employed, the enemy made repeated attempts to drive her off by sending out a ship of the line and a frigate; but as they never ventured to chase farther than 10 or 12 leagues from the land, Captain Maitland, by tacking at the same time with them, succeeded in maintaining his station till the arrival of a ​squadron under Sir Robert Calder, to relieve him from that arduous and important duty.
Early in 1805, we find our officer serving in the North Sea, where he made several captures, and was occasionally entrusted by Lord Keith with the command of a squadron of observation stationed off the Texel. In the summer of the same year, he was placed under the orders of Lord Gardner on the Irish station, where he cruised with considerable success against the enemy’s armed vessels and merchantmen.
On the 2d Nov. in the same year, the Boadicea, being off Cape Finisterre, in company with the Dryad frigate, fell in with four French line-of-battle ships, which had escaped from the battle of Trafalgar under Rear-Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley. Hoping to lead the enemy into the track of a British squadron, he kept close to them, burning blue lights and firing rockets during the night; but owing to the weather becoming very thick, and the French ships altering their course, he unfortunately lost sight of them a short time after his signals had been perceived by Sir Richard Strachan, and he was thus prevented from sharing in the action which ended in their capture.
Some time after this event, Captain Maitland, when cruising between Capes Clear and Finisterre, discovered a French frigate, which he chased for two days and a night, and gained upon so considerably as at one time to have her water-line in view. Unluckily, however, he lost sight of her on the evening of the second day; when, in consequence of the increasing darkness and his proximity to the shore, he was reluctantly obliged to abandon the pursuit. On his return to Plymouth to refit, he was informed by the Port Admiral, Sir William Young, that intelligence had been received of a French frigate having run a-shore, with all sails set, on Isle de Groais, near l’Orient; and as the Boadicea, on hauling off from the land, had sounded in 52 fathoms, and was by her reckoning within a very short run of that island, there can be no doubt it was the same vessel she had chased.
Early in the year 1807, Captain Maitland was suddenly despatched from Cork, with the Topaze frigate under his orders, to Davis’s Straits, for the purpose of affording protection to ​the whale fishery in that quarter. This service, uninviting as it is at all times, was peculiarly so to officers and men sent thereon without receiving the slightest intimation of their destination previous to the ship’s leaving port, consequently without being in the least prepared for such a change of climate. Returning from thence at the end of the season, Captain Maitland called at St. John’s, Newfoundland, for the trade bound to Oporto, which he took under his protection; and finding, on his arrival off the latter place, that the French had just entered Portugal, he conducted his charge in safety to England. The Boadicea was subsequently employed in the blockade of Havre, on which service she continued for a considerable period; but, with the exception of her capturing the General Concleux, a French privateer of 14 guns and 60 men, we meet with no incident requiring particular notice during the remainder of the time she was commanded by Captain Maitland, who left her in 1808.
Our officer’s next appointment was, at the close of 1813, to the Barfleur, of 98 guns, in which ship he served with the Mediterranean fleet till the conclusion of the war. His advancement to the rank of Rear-Admiral took place on the day of his Majesty’s coronation, July 19, 1821. He married, Jan. 8, in the preceding year, Dora, eldest daughter of Colthurst Bateman, of Bedford, co. Kerry, Esq.
Residence.– Bath.
* ↑ The ancient and illustrious family of Maitland have been for many centuries lords of Thirlestane, and have produced many eminent characters in the annals of Scotland. Sir John Maitland was a Secretary of State in 1584, and created a Baron in 1590. His son and successor was successively raised to the dignities of a Viscount and an Earl; he died in 1645, leaving issue John, who enjoyed the distinguished confidence of Charles II., after the restoration, and was by that monarch created Duke of Lauderdale, and Marquis of March; which titles, together with an English Earldom and Barony, became extinct at his death, in 1682; but his brother succeeded as 3d Earl of Lauderdale, and from him is descended the officer of whose services we are about to present an outline.
* ↑ The reduction of the French colonies in the West Indies by the naval and military forces under Sir John Jervis and Sir Charles Grey, was completed by the surrender of Guadaloupe, April 22, 1794, on the same terms as had been previously granted to Martinique and St. Lucia. After putting those islands in the best possible state of defence, the Commander-in-Chief proceeded to St. Christopher’s, from whence they were on the point of sailing for England, when intelligence reached them that an armament, consisting of two frigates, one corvette, two 44’s armed en flute, and two other vessels, had arrived from France, under the direction of two commissioners from the national assembly, and landed a body of 1500 men on Grande Terre; and that after two unsuccessful efforts, the enemy had succeeded in carrying Fort Fleur d’Epée by storm. The British commanders instantly determined to return to Guadaloupe, and the fleet accordingly pushed under a press of sail for Basse Terre, where the General was landed on the 7th June; and on the following day the Admiral anchored off Grozier, in the bay of Point à Pitre, from whence he had a view of the enemy’s squadron lying in the harbour. From this period a variety of operations were carried on, attended with much hard fighting, till the night of July 1st, when the British were repulsed in an attempt made to obtain possession of the town of Point à Pitre, and thereby compelled to evacuate Grand Terre. An account of these operations will be given under the head of Commissioner Isaac Wolley, in our next volume.
* ↑ See p. 289.
* ↑ Captain Maitland sailed under sealed orders.