Andrew Snape Douglas Sir Andrew Snape Douglas ( 8 October 1761 – 4 June 1797 ) was a distinguished Scottish sea captain in the Royal Navy during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars . Family and early life . Andrew Snape Douglas was born in Edinburgh on 8 October 1761 , the son of Dr . William Douglas , a medical doctor of Springfield , and Lydia Hamond , daughter of a London merchant and shipowner . William Douglas ' s death in 1770 led Andrew to sign on that year aboard his maternal uncle , Sir Andrew Snape Hamond ' s ship , the 32 - gun frigate . The two sailed to North America , and after spending time along the coast , Douglas moved to the West Indies . With the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1775 he returned to North America and rejoined his uncle , now commanding the 44 - gun . He received his commission as a lieutenant on 23 April 1778 , and was made master and commander on 16 February 1780 . He was to have been appointed to the armed ship " Germain " , but instead took command of a floating battery , and was present at the Siege of Charleston . He was subsequently promoted to post - captain on 15 May 1780 and appointed to the command of the captured American frigate . Instead he had in April 1780 become commander of the " Roebuck " , then serving as the flagship of Vice - Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot . He went on to capture the American ships on 14 April 1781 and " Protector " on 5 May . He was succeeded in the command of the " Roebuck " by Captain John Orde in July 1781 . Command . The " Roebuck " was ordered home in July 1781 , but Douglas remained in American waters , having been given command of the 54 - gun . He was employed in a senior position in Admiral Thomas Graves ' s fleet owing to his extensive knowledge of the American coasts . He was subsequently given command of a squadron of frigates and went on to enjoy considerable success in a number of cruises . Among his captures was the 32 - gun French frigate " Magicienne " on 2 July 1781 , an action that thwarted a planned French assault on British ships in the St John River . Douglas returned to England after the end of the war , initially spending time at Chatham Dockyard studying naval architecture , before going to sea again , mostly serving in the Mediterranean and the English Channel . Douglas commanded the 74 - gun third rate from October 1787 during the period of the Spanish Armament . He was in command of the 32 - gun , which had been appointed the guard ship at Weymouth , when the town was visited by King George III . Douglas conducted the King on his first voyage aboard a warship , and on 13 September 1789 King George appointed Douglas a knight bachelor . Also in 1789 Douglas and his uncle Snape Hamond were members of the court for the court martial of the mutineers of the " Bounty " . Douglas was then in command of the 74 - gun from 1790 . French Revolutionary Wars . The outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in February 1793 led to Douglas being appointed to command the 38 - gun frigate . He went on to capture five enemy vessels that year , and was involved in the capture of a French privateer and her prize , the Spanish galleon " St Jago " . Lord Howe arranged for Douglas to be commodore in charge of the fleet ' s frigates , occasionally sending him on detached cruises . He moved aboard Howe ' s flagship , the 100 - gun first rate on 8 April 1794 , apparently through the auspices of both his uncle and the First Lord of the Admiralty , John Pitt , 2nd Earl of Chatham . Now serving as Howe ' s flag captain Douglas fought at the Glorious First of June , sustaining a severe wound to the head but refusing to leave the deck . He was appointed a Colonel of Marines on 1 June 1795 and remained as captain of the " Queen Charlotte " after Howe was succeeded by Lord Bridport . He commanded his ship at the Battle of Groix in 1795 , earning private praise for his courage in leading his ship whilst heavily outnumbered , but little public reward . Personal life and later years . Douglas had married Anne Burgess on 14 November 1781 in British - occupied New York City . They had one son and two daughters , Anne Hammond Douglas and Harriet Douglas . He had begun to suffer increasing ill health , complaining of persistent headaches , which eventually forced him to end his career at sea . He moved ashore but died on 4 June 1797 . A subsequent autopsy revealed brain tumours , a likely result of his injury at the Glorious First of June some years before . Legacy . An engraving of Douglas is in the collection of the British National Portrait Gallery . There are several other images of Douglas ; he appears in several paintings by Mather Brown and in a portrait by modern maritime artist Irwin Bevan . Douglas is primarily known today through his letters to his uncle .