Charles Inglis ( c . 1731 – 1791 ) Charles Inglis ( c . 1731 – 10 October 1791 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the War of the Austrian Succession , the Seven Years ' War , and the American War of Independence , rising to the rank of rear - admiral . Inglis was born into a gentry family and embarked on a career in the navy , serving at first under Captain George Brydges Rodney . He saw action with Rodney at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre , and was left without a ship after the end of the War of the Austrian Succession . Family friends and connections may have helped him receive new postings , and he was promoted to lieutenant during the Seven Years ' War . After serving on several different ships , he was given his own commands , in which he took part in operations off the French coast , including one led by his old commander Rodney . Peace once again brought temporary inactivity for Inglis , though he briefly commissioned a ship during the Falklands Crisis . Back in service again with the outbreak of the American War of Independence , Inglis served in the Caribbean , where he captured a large Spanish privateer . He was in Sir Samuel Hood ' s fleet at the Battle of Saint Kitts in 1781 , and , in 1782 , fought at the Battle of the Saintes , where his old commander , now Admiral Sir George Rodney , defeated a French fleet . Inglis was given command of a small squadron of his own and cruised with some success during the last years of the war , capturing a French frigate . He retired ashore after the end of the war , was promoted to rear - admiral in 1790 , and died the following year . Family and early life . Inglis was born c . 1731 , the fourth son of Sir John Inglis and his wife Anne , the daughter of Adam Cockburn . He embarked on a naval career , at first joining the 40 - gun under Captain George Brydges Rodney , in 1745 , and the next year went with Rodney to the 60 - gun . Rodney carried out several successful cruises , capturing four ships from a French convoy in June 1747 , and fighting under Rear - Admiral Edward Hawke at his clash with Desherbiers de l ' Etenduère ' s fleet at the Second Battle of Cape Finisterre on 25 October 1747 . Inglis saw action on both of these occasions . " Eagle " was heavily engaged with the French 70 - gun " Neptune " in the latter engagement and suffered considerable damage . She was paid off in August 1748 on the conclusion of the peace , and Inglis was left without a ship . He remained unemployed until 1750 , when he joined the 50 - gun , at that time under the command of Captain Francis Holburne . Inglis ' s biographer , P . K . Crimmin noted that like Inglis , Holburne was a lowland Scot , and that Inglis may have been benefiting during this time from a network of patronage that included John Cockburn , Inglis ' s uncle and a Lord of the Admiralty between 1727 and 1732 and again during 1742 and 1744 , and Sir John Clerk , a friend of the family with considerable political influence . Inglis passed his lieutenant ' s examination on 6 February 1755 , having by now spent ten years serving in the navy . He was appointed to the 74 - gun , at that time under the command of Captain Abraham North , and by April 1756 had been transferred to , also of 74 guns , under Captain Wittewronge Taylor . Inglis followed Taylor to his next two commands , the 90 - gun HMS " Marlborough " , and then on 3 June 1757 , the 84 - gun HMS " Royal William " . He was then promoted to commander and received his first independent command on 17 June 1757 , that of the 14 - gun sloop . Inglis was initially assigned to support Hawke ' s September 1757 Rochefort expedition , which ultimately failed to take the town . His next appointment was to the newly completed bomb vessel in June 1759 , which was assigned to support the attack on Le Havre the following month , conducted by Inglis ' s old commander , George Brydges Rodney . The expedition succeeded in its aim of destroying a large number of flat - bottomed boats which had been assembled in the port , thus frustrating a planned invasion attempt . " Carcass " is next recorded as having sailed to the Mediterranean in May 1759 , though she was back in England by the following year , being paid off at Sheerness in September 1760 . Captaincy . At some point after this Inglis was advanced to post - captain , and on 15 December 1761 he was given command of the 80 - gun . She hoisted the broad pennant of Commodore Sir Peircy Brett in January 1762 , and sailed for Mediterranean that month to reinforce Admiral Sir Charles Saunders ' s squadron in anticipation of the entry of Spain to the war . There was no fleet action , and " Newark " was still in the Mediterranean in 1762 , when she supported the re - occupation of Minorca . The island was eventually returned to the British under the terms of the Treaty of Paris . Inglis sailed " Newark " back to Britain with the fleet after the peace , and paid her off in August 1763 . Her decommissioning once again left Inglis without a ship , and it was not until September 1770 that the Falklands Crisis brought an opportunity for further employment . As tensions between Britain and Spain over ownership of the Falkland Islands increased , the Royal Navy hastily commissioned and prepared for service a number of ships in the anticipation of war . Inglis ' s old commander , now Admiral Holburne , was a member of the Board of Admiralty , and may have had a hand in arranging his appointment to one of these ships , the 28 - gun . The appointment was short - lived ; the Spanish backed down after failing to gain French support for their claims and the threat of war passed . The navy demobilised many of its ships , and Inglis returned to half - pay . American War of Independence . Once again Inglis was reliant on a war to return him to service . He commissioned the 50 - gun in August 1778 and sailed for Jamaica in January 1779 . On 12 December she was sailing in the Bay of Honduras , when at daybreak a large ship was sighted ahead . Inglis gave chase , a pursuit which lasted all day until " Salisbury " came in range at 6 . 30pm . The fleeing ship hoisted Spanish colours and an action began , which last until 8 . 30pm when the Spanish ship had her mainmast shot away . Having sustained heavy casualties and suffered considerable damage , she struck her colours . She was found to be the 50 - gun privateer " San Carlos " , carrying stores and 397 men . Four men were killed on " Salisbury " and fourteen wounded , five mortally . Inglis continued off North America until the summer of 1780 , when he returned to England , paying " Salisbury " off in August that year . Inglis ' s next command was the 64 - gun , which he took over in November 1780 , sailing in April the following year with Vice - Admiral George Darby ' s fleet to the relief of Gibraltar . He was with Admiral Robert Digby ' s squadron later that year , before being sent to the Leeward Islands to join Sir Samuel Hood at Barbados . He served with Hood during the Battle of Saint Kitts , when Hood attempted to relieve the island and repulsed several attacks by the Comte de Grasse on 25 and 26 January 1782 . Inglis was again in action with the French on 9 April , when Hood ' s fleet clashed with de Grasse ' s in the Dominica Channel , and fought at the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April , where the main British fleet under Inglis ' s old captain , now Admiral Sir George Rodney , decisively defeated de Grasse . " St Albans " had six men wounded during this engagement . Inglis sailed to North America in late July 1782 with Rodney ' s successor , Admiral Hugh Pigot . He was back in the West Indies by November , and was given command of a squadron of four ships cruising independently there . The squadron , consisting of " St Albans " , the 64 - gun , the 74 - gun and the sloop , was sent from Gros Islet Bay on 12 February to investigate reports of a French squadron , consisting of " Triton " , " Amphion " and several frigates , having sailed from Martinique . On 15 February 1783 the frigate " Concorde " was sighted by the 74 - gun , under Captain Robert Linzee . " Magnificent " was close enough to identify the mysterious ship as a frigate by 18 : 00 , and by 20 : 00 as darkness fell " Concorde " opened fire on her pursuer with her stern guns . " Magnificent " overhauled the French ship by 21 : 15 , and after fifteen minutes forced her to strike her colours . " Magnificent " took possession of " Concorde " , the latter being described as carrying 36 guns and 300 men , and being under the command of M . le Chevalier du Clesmaur . Shortly after surrendering the " Concorde " s maintopsail caught fire , forcing the crew to cut away the mainmast to extinguish it . " Prudent " and " St Albans " came up two hours later and " Magnificent " towed " Concorde " to St . John ' s , Antigua . " Concorde " was afterwards brought into the navy as . Later life . Inglis sailed " St Albans " back to Britain in July 1783 and paid her off on the conclusion of the war . He saw no further service at sea , though he continued to be promoted on the basis of his seniority , being made rear - admiral of the blue on 21 September 1790 . He died on 10 October 1791 , at his brother ' s seat near Edinburgh . His biographer , P . K . Crimmin , assessed him as being ' a capable and competent officer without being inspired or presented with fortunate opportunities . ' There are no details of Inglis having married , and Wood ' s " The Ancient and Modern State of the Parish of Cramond " stated that he died unmarried , but he is known to have had at least one child , a son , Charles Inglis . The younger Charles Inglis followed his father into the navy , served in several engagements of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , and died in 1833 with the rank of post - captain . Notes . a . was a former French privateer under the name " Scott " . She had been captured on 24 February 1757 by . A clerk erroneously recorded the French name as " Escorte " , a name which subsequently stuck . b . Charnock wrote that Inglis had been moved to command a fifth rate shortly after commissioning " Newark " , but could not say which one , or on what service . Winfield does not list Inglis in command of any of the fifth rates in service at the time , and the " Oxford Dictionary of National Biography " states Inglis returned to Britain in " Newark " in 1763 . c . Winfield includes ' in Action off Monte Christi 20 June 1780 ' . An action was fought off Monte Christi on 20 March 1780 between a French squadron under Toussaint - Guillaume Picquet de la Motte and a British squadron under William Cornwallis , but " Salisbury " was not present . Cornwallis again encountered a French fleet , on 20 June 1780 , but off Bermuda . Again " Salisbury " was not one of the ships involved .