# A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Rennie, James

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​RENNIE. (Lieut., 1811. f-p., 12; h-p., 32.)
James Rennie entered the Navy, 19 Dec. 1803, as Midshipman, on board the Désirée 36, Capt. Henry Whitby; previously to following whom, in April, 1805, into the Centaur 74, he acted as Master, assisted in surveying the Caicos Islands, and was in several boat-affairs on the coasts of Cuba and St. Domingo. On leaving the Centaur he accompanied Capt. Whitby, in Nov. 1805, into the Leander 50, flag-ship of Sir Andrew Mitchell on the coast of North America; whence, in the autumn of 1806, he returned to England as a Supernumerary in the Tartar 32, Capt. Stephen Poyntz. Being then received on board the Defence 74, Capt. Chas. Ekins, he took part in the following year in the attack upon Copenhagen; during the operations connected with which we find him serving under the immediate orders of Colonel D’Arcy, Chief of Engineers, also commanding the Ornen, a Danish brig of 10 guns, and involved in frequent affrays with the enemy’s gun-boats. He was subsequently employed off Lisbon (whence he escorted the Russian fleet to England after the convention of Cintra) and in the West Indies; and in Oct. 1809 he was again, ​with the rating of Master’s Mate, placed under the orders of Capt. Whitby on board the Cerberus 32. While attached to that ship he saw a vast deal of active service in the Adriatic, He assisted at the capture of Cortelazzo, of a convoy of 25 vessels near the town of Groa 29 June, 1810, and of four Venetian trabaccolos protected by a heavy fire of musketry at Pestichi, 3 Feb. 1811. He was also, on 12 of the month last mentioned, present with the boats of the Cerberus and Active 38 under Lieut. Jas. Dickinson at the cutting out, near the town of Ortano, of a convoy of 10 sail, defended by a trabaccolo of 6 guns, full of men, as well as by the fire of a body of troops posted on the beach and hills. On that occasion, having in the barge, in unison with Lieut. Dickinson in the gig, boarded and carried the trabaccolo, he landed at the head of the small-arm men (as did Lieut. Peter Mears with the marines), scaled a rocky eminence, threw up a breastwork (which kept the enemy in check for three hours and enabled the seamen to secure the vessels), aided in destroying two large magazines, and with his own hands planted the British colours at the very gates of the town. During these proceedings the two frigates, unable to distinguish friend from foe, had opened a heavy fire upon both, which lasted until the union-jack was hoisted by Mr. Kennie on the summit of a hill. On 13 March, 1811, the Cerberus, with a loss to herself of 13 killed and 41 wounded, took part in the celebrated action off Lissa, where a British squadron, carrying in the whole 156 guns and 879 men, completely routed, after a conflict of six hours, a Franco-Venetian armament consisting of 284 guns and 2655 men. On 15 of the following June Mr. Rennie was at the boarding and capture of four gun-boats under a heavy fire in the Zara Channel. For his conduct at Lissa he was presented, in June, 1812, with a commission dated back to the day of the action. Being at the same time appointed to the Edinburgh 74, Capts. Robt. Rolles and Hon. Geo. Heneage Lawrence Dundas, he again proceeded to the Mediterranean, and, while on that station, was present at the capture of Port d’Anzo (where a convoy of 29 vessels fell into the hands of the British), also of the town of Reggio, and of Santa Maria, and the enemy’s forts and defences in the Gulf of Spezia. At the taking of Genoa in April, 1814, he had command of two pieces of ordnance and was stationed in advance of the army. He left the Edinburgh 17 Dec. 1814; and was lastly, from Feb. to Dec. 1815, employed in the Redpole 10, Capt. Edm. Denman, under whom he escorted Napoleon Buonaparte to St. Helena.
Lieut. Rennie during the war in China commanded the Hon.E.I.Co.’s steam-ship Sesostris, and served on shore in the operations at Tsekee in March,.1842. He married 2 June, 1825. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1811 , p. 997.
* ↑ Vide Gaz. 1842, p. 2391.