Correspondence book, 1803 Sep 20-1804 Nov 11

File — Box: 3, Folder: 4

Identifier: MSC-279

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This leather-bound volume contains copies of letters and orders received by James Hawkins Whitshed, Rear Admiral of the Red, Dublin:

Extract of letter from Rt. Hon. William Wickham to Lt. General Fox, noting “Admiral J.H. Whitshed has just arrived in this Country for the purpose of taking such steps as may be necessary for the better defense of the Bays, Harbours, Rivers and Coast . . . ” (21 September 1803)
Numerous letters from officers acknowledging receipt of orders and requests for officers lists, musters, numbers of men raised and their disposition.
Numerous copies of correspondence received related to the establishment of signaling stations, telegraphing systems and flag staffs on the Irish coast.
Correspondence received regarding surveys of various portions of the coast, harbors, etc. with regard to stationing of gunboats at various positions.
Correspondence from Evan Nepean denying a request for additional funds for two adjutants (28 September 1803)
A letter from St. Vincent supporting the plan for stationing of gunboats in the different rivers and bays, but noting “Sea Fencibles must be resorted to for manning them, as it will be morally impossible to attach any other description of people to such as service, who will desert faster than we can provide them . . . ” (1 October 1803)
A letter from Evan Nepean with orders to a Captain Bowen to proceed with procurement (through hiring rather than purchase) of the proposed gun boats and fitting out of them expeditiously, but with careful attention to expense (4 October 1803)
Letter from St. Vincent in the gunboat project noting questions regarding the ability of the Ordinance store in Ireland to provide necessary supplies for arming the vessels; “your letter on the subject of the lieutenants to serve in the gunboats was not very encouraging as to the character of the persons named . . . ” and recommending the Sea Fencibles as a source of officers and noting “if gun boats are appointed in the manner you proposed to the Board, they must be placed under Lord Gardner.” (4 October 1803)
A number of copies of correspondence from various secretaries of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland approving the plan for manning of signal stations and acquiring, manning provisioning and arming gunboats, letters from the Ordnance Department regarding supply of cannon, powder, shot, etc., the primary armament being 18-pounder carronades, etc.
Copies of correspondence regarding the state of existing lighthouses and signal posts along the coast, receipt of bunting and other supplies from Henry Debieg, Assistant Engineer
Copy of a letter from Adm. Gardner regarding the gunboat project expressing the opinion that “their Lordships will find themselves very much mistaken— this is a business that ought not to have been deferred to this late period when we may daily expect the enemy upon the coast . . . ” (7 October 1803)
A copy of a letter regarding the gunboat project from St. Vincent related to manning: “a very well informed person has communicated to a member of this Board that in the neighborhood of Wicklow, Wexford and Waterford few, if any, of the inhabitants are to be confided in . . . ” (10 October 1803)
A series of copies of cross-correspondence between The Admiralty, Sir Evan Nepean, and Captain W. McGwire, dispatched to Liverpool to hire vessels for the gunboat project. It appears that after authorizing the hiring (and after McGwire, in fact had hired six vessels) the Admiralty then reversed itself, issuing an order to McGwire to “refrain from making any purchases, their Lordships’ having made another arrangement for furnishing the vessels for this service . . . ” (6 October 1803). McGwire then attempts to return the vessels and retrieve the bills of payment issued for them, but the owners refuse to take them back, saying the bills had already been deposited and alterations made to the decks of some of the vessels (15 October 1803). McGwire is then ordered to “hasten” the vessels to Dublin and report to the Admiralty on their condition (17 October 1803)
A series of correspondence regarding various proposals by McGwire for the arming of the gunboats, the request for cannon and carronades. McGwire is finally directed to consult with Captain Bowen, who is dispatched to Liverpool and reports “I visited McGwire’s squadron and found them nearly in the state he has described to you . . . ” He goes on to state the difficulty of hiring additional vessels (flats), as “the owners are totally unacquainted with the mode of hiring vessels as transports and as I cannot possibly get any of them to fix on terms.” (28 October 1803).
A letter from McGwire noting “I have great pleasure in acquainting you that I have this day completed the crews of the flats, and not a man Irish.” (4 November 1803.)
A letter from the Admiralty noting that the Lords “reason to believe that by the Captain of Redbridge, Schooner, in the Mediterranean, a great part, if not the whole of the private signals used on board his Majesty’s ships have fallen into the hands of the enemy . . . ,” ordering a change of signals and noting that officers under the rank of commander have been permitted to take or otherwise obtained copies of the signal book and ordering the recall all copies of signal books that may be in possession of officers for whom they are “not intended.” (4 November 1803)
Copy of a letter to Captain McGwire from Evan Nepean informing him that the masters and men he has hired to man the gunboats cannot be paid at rates higher than what is allowed to “person of the same classes employed on board Ships of War,” ordering him to discontinue hiring on those terms and to “get rid of those you have engaged the moment you can do so . . . ” and orderingMcGwire back to Dublin and placing Captain Bowen in command of the operation. (16 November 1803)
A copy of a letter regarding the appointment of Captains and Commanders to the Sea Fencibles in Ireland to command various districts and the gunboats assigned to them. (24 November 1803)
A letter from Evan Nepean stating “seamen or seafaring men liable to be impressed cannot be allowed to enroll themselves as Sea Fencibles” as it would “materially interfere with the manning of the Fleet” and that captains should not allow it (6 December 1803)
A letter from Wickham, secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, suggesting that the public service might be better served if Captain Beaufort, recently appointed to the Sea Fencibles, would be allowed to continue to assist Mr. Edgeworth (30 November 1803)
A series of letters related to impressments of seamen and enforcement, in Ireland, of an act of Parliament directing that members of the Irish militia who had previously served in the Royal Navy should be discharged and handed over for service in the Navy.
A letter from Evan Nepean directing that the gunboat fleet should be formed into three divisions, and a lieutenant appointed for each division, rather than each vessel (later countermanded)(29 December 1803)
A letter from the secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, regarding the selection of defensive positions along the coast of Ireland “as it appears from intelligence recently received from London . . . of the Enemy’s project of attempting an invasion of Ireland by Saint George’s Channel” and since “the approach of the enemy’s vessels upon the Eastern Coast may be rendered in many places very difficult by establishing certain field works or Towers.” (27 December 1803).
Order from Nepean directing “on no account whatever to employ [Lieutenant] George Lusk in any situation . . . he not being capable of any charge.” (10 January 1804)
Correspondence and order related the stationing of light sailing vessels off the northern coast of Scotland “for the purpose of obtaining the earliest information of the arrival of the enemy fleet . . . ,” under the command of “one of the most intelligent lieutenants.” (January, 1804)
Transcribed copy of a letter from a Mr. Stowe, containing intelligence information received from one of the London Trinity pilots. The pilot, having been in the New Diep[pe] harbor, reports that many large ships (many upwards of 800 tons and none less than 300 tons) are collecting in the harbor. He states “they are all fitted for transporting troops” and reports that he saw more than 100 hundred of them and one inscribed No.190. He also reports two 74- and two 60-gun ships, a 28-gun frigate and an 18-gun brig observed in the same road. He adds “we have a report that Buonaparte was on Thursday last at Boulogne”, and that “there are upwards of 200 vessels in Flushing bound to the grand Rendezvous of Boulogne.” (7 January 1804)
A letter from Marsden of the Admiralty, regarding the previous order about Lusk stating “the prohibition of employing this officer was announced to you so decidedly in consequence of his having lately been found quite unfit for any Service on account of epeliptic (sic) fits . . . ” (20 January 1804)
Correspondence related to a request from Whitshed to the Lord Lieutenant that sailors be admitted to the Army’s General Hospitals, including a lengthy negative response from the Army Medical Board in Dublin (13 January 1804) stating “this proposal . . . would entirely change the existing Medical administration of the Navy and Military Hospitals in Great Britain and Ireland . . . [and] this ought not to be lightly done to answer a local purpose . . .”
Correspondence from the Admiralty regarding the appointment of lieutenants to command the 19 (later 20) gunboat squadron, in divisions assigned to coastal protection and directing that they should be appointed from a list (enclosed) of unemployed naval lieutenants resident in Ireland. (30 January 1804)
Copy of a letter from [Lieutenant] George Lusk (see above) requesting an appointment as a Captain in the Sea Fencibles, claiming acquaintance through his grandfather who was “round the world with Lord Anson,” forwarded to Whitshed “to do what you think proper.” (22 March 1804).
Copy of a letter of promotion appointing Whitshed Vice Admiral of the Blue Squadron. (23 April 1804)
Copy of a letter from representatives of the Board of Revenue expressing a willingness to discuss the advantages that might accrue to the public safety of placing some additional revenue cutters in Ireland under the command of the Navy and including a list of revenue vessels already under the commands of Admirals Whitshed and Gardner (21 July 1804)
Numerous copies of correspondence related to the establishment, repair, manning and provisioning of additional signal stations in Ireland, including correspondence regarding repair expenses, the negotiation of Admiralty bills of exchange in payment of services, the appointment of officers and a naval business agent, the readiness condition of various signal stations and a list of 19 identified and surveyed signal stations along the SW coast, dated 15 August 1804.