O'BYRNE'S NAVAL BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. *
Tons gigantic volume of nearly 1,400 double-columned pages gives an outline of the biography of every naval officer, down to Lieutenants, who stood in Hart's Navy List for 1846. The number of subjects embraced in the book is about five thousand : the Gazette and the records of the Admiralty have been Mr. O'Byrne's official authorities; and while he ap- pears to have made application to all his heroes, he has evidently been in communication with very many. From such sources, coupled with six years of unremitting toil, Mr. O'Byrne has been enabled to compile a biographical dictionary, which, considering the number of contemporary
• A Naval Biographical Dictionary : comprising the Life and Services of every Living Officer In her Majesty's Navy. from the Rank of Admiral of the Fleet to that of Lieu- tenant, inclusive. Compiled from Authentic and Family Documents. By William R.. 013yrne, Req. Published by Murray.
lives, the accuracy of the facts, and the public and professional uses to which it may be turned, is, we suppose, unrivaled in the annals of la- borious literary enterprise.
The fair mode of looking at the week is as a whole. Considered in its details there are some objections. The compilation would have been im- proved by greater neatness and variety of style ; for the composition is sometimes bare and dry, sometimes involved or encumbered. There may be a delicacy in changing family contributions, and a difficulty in en- dowing official records with graces of manner : but both dilemmas could he mastered ; the first by a Rhadamanthine inflexibility, even with the genealogy and autobiography of an Admiral ; the second by a skilful combination of faculties. Iii such a vast undertaking as this, there should be an arranger, as well as a collector of facts, and a master of style. When the Gazette and the Admiralty, the heralds, the family, and the hero, had furnished the dates and deeds, and the arranger had put them into the narrative form, the article and its raw materials should be banded to the man of composition. Not responsible for facts, panegyrics, or complaints, he should recast the whole into clear, terse, and (as the case might require) condensed or flowing English. The master-hand of an editor might then go over the whole, comparing the finished article with the original documents, to see that no important fact or sentiment was omitted or not assigned its due place and weight. Such a method of workmanship has not been adopted, we fancy, in the ease before us ; so that, in addition to a rather heavy and monotonous style, there is sometimes a want of scale: a difficult thing to attain in dictionaries, where the comPiler is so dependent upon obscure facts, which are often scantiest when they are most needed. Besides the more obvious uses of the work, we opine that a careful examination of its pages might open the eyes of the searobee-to the influence of patronage. A tabular synopsis of the length of service, the rapidity of pro- motion, and the rank attained, compared with the extent and nature of the officer's connexions, would; or we are much mistaken, present some curious results. In our casual researches we have arrived at the conclusion that " ALP!' attached to a near relation's name is as good a voucher for seamanship and service as can be had. Another impression left is, that during the last war promotion was more rapid and more commensurate with desert than it is now ; at least up to the rank of Lietitenant. Beyond that grade promotion paused, mid interest apparently stepped in. How many tales of cor- roding disappointment, And of that hope deferred that maketh the heart sick, or how much of undue favouritism, amounting to positive op- pression, may lurk under hundreds or thousands of the rather bald tales of time and service in this volume ? Lieutenant Fitton (who has enjoyed his rank for nearly half a century, ismoved into Greenwich MoNyual, anokliss_rmtli4,14s lb%rgcsee ram) mat be taken as the ex- ample of a hard case, since liiinZtryond the:lit-as—of frowns of the Admiralty. Id 1799, Mr. Fitton, after nearly 'twenty years' service, was appeinted acting Lieutenant of the Abergavenny, • " - - - - and allowedfirom that period until 1802, to command her ten- dert; on the Jamaica station; - where in the Ferret schooner, of 6 3-pounders and 45 •men, he fought a gallant action of an hour with a Spanish privateer of 14 6-pounders and 100 men; and where, in September 1800, previously to wit- nessing the surrender of Caracas, he distinguished himself by his activity and spirited conduct on many other occasions, particularly in an attack made by him, in the Active, a schooner mounting 8 12.pounder earronades, with a crew of about 45 men, on five or six French privateers lying close to the walls of Fort Piscadero, n ear the harbour of Amsterdam,. On 234 January 1801, being on a cruise on the Spanish main, Mr. Fitton, then ineommand of a small worn-out felucca, carrying 1 long 12-pounder on a traversing carriage, and 44 men, fell in with the Spanish garde costa Santa Maria al Fenno, of 6 long 6-pounders, 10 swivels, and 60 men; which vessel baying suffered herself to be driven on shore on the island of. Yarns, was boarded and carried through the irresistible heroism of Mr. Fitton, who, with his sword in his mouth, followed by the greater part of his crew similarly armed, plunged into the sea aid swam to her. Daring his command of the Active, we End him on one occasion expending the sum of -801. out of his own private re- sources for the purpose of procuring intelligence which enabled him to capture four vessels in the Gulf of Venezuela; of all the profit resulting from which he was ousted through the machinations of a prize-agent. Notwithstanding the valiant exploits we have recorded, Mr. Fitton was sent home at the peace without either promotion or reward. Oa his return to Jamaica at the recommencement of hostilities, he was appointed, again with the rank of Acting-Lieutenant, to the command of the Gipsy schooner, of 10 guns and 45 men, tender to the flag- ship the Hercule. During the operations of 1804 against Curacoa, being the only officer in the squadron who had ever been at the island before, be was assigned the honour of directing its movements. He also joined in the attack upon Fort Piscadero; and upon the enemy being driven out he landed with a detachment under Commodore Bligh, taking with him the Gipsy's guns, which were dragged np a hill and mounted in battery, in a position to annoy the town of Amsterdam. The united testimony borne by all the Captains of the squadron to the zeal and judgment displayed by Mr. Fitton, who in the end was sent with despatches to the Commander-in-chief, led at length to his confirmation in the rank of Lieutenant, 9th March 1804. Pursuing his gallant career with the same ardour and success, be attacked on 21st January 1805, off Cape Antonio, and destroyed one of five pursuing privateers; and on 26th October 1806, having in the mean while re- amed to the Pitt, of 12 guns and 54 men, he effected the capture, after an ardu- ous chase of sixty-seven hours, interspersed with several close and spirited ac- tions, in the course of which the British had 8 men wounded, of La Superbe, of 14 guns and 94 men, one of the most formidable privateers that had for a long time infested the commerce of the West Indies. Although the 'zeal and perseverance, the very gallant conduct, and superior professional abilities; again displayed by Lieutenant Fitton on this occasion, were officially reported by the Commander-in- chief, he was nevertheless—after taring further captured Le Fon Fon, privateer, of 1 gun and 43 men, and a Spanish armed schooner, the Abija—superseded; 'not, as observed by Mr. James in his Naval History, 'to be promoted to the rank of Commander, but to be turned adrift as an unemployed Lieutenant.' All he got was the thanks of the Admiralty, -std a sword from the Patriotic Society valued at 501 Unsuccessful in his exertions to procure tin appointment, be remained on half-pay for nearly four years; at the expiration • of which period, he was at first, 15th April 1811, and next 16th February 1812, invested with the command of she Archer and Cracker gun-brigs, on the Channel and Baltic stations. In the latter vessel he was much employed in convoying; and on one occasion, he succeeded, through a train of singular manoeuvres, in alone conducting a most valuable and numerous charge safe through the Little Belt. In one instance, too, he was the means, during a vie' lent gale, of snatching from destruction the crew of a prize belonging to the Hamadryad frigate; and in another, he obtained salvage for rescuing. and conducting into the Downs, an American ship that had got upon a shoaLnear North Yarmouth, and was in a state of great distress. Being again pqt out of commission in 1815, the Lieu- tenant failed in his solicitations for further employment until 22d February 1831, when he was appointed to the Ordinary at Plymouth, to which he continued at- tached during the usual period of three years. He was admitted into Greenwich Hospital 20th April 1835." Retired Commander Sprott is maim' veteran, whose age of seventy. eight, and whose retirement, render a public recurrence $o his exploits nothing more than a matter of history. The following gallant feat took place at Trafalgar, when he was Master's Mate. "After the Defiance and Aigle 74 had been for some time hotly engaged, and the fire of the French ship, within pistol-shot of her opponent, had slackened, Captain Durham, in the hope that a breeze, it being at the time a dead calm, would spring up and enable him to board, made his arrangements accordingly. At this juncture, animated with a spirit of impetuous heroism, Mr. Spratt, who t had been selected to lead the men in the , perate service that awaited them,
volunteered, as all the boats had been disa to board the enemy by swimming. His offer being accepted, he instantly, with word in his teeth and his battle-axe in his belt, dashed into the sea, callingat the .= time upon fifty others to follow ; '
a mandate, however, which, m the generalin, was not heard, or at any rate not heeded. Undaunted, though alone, Mr. Split, on reaching the French ship, con- trived, by means of the rudder-chains, to enter the stern gun-room port, and thence to fight his way through all the decks until he reached the poop. Here he was charged by three grenadiers with fixed bayonets; bat, springing with dex- terity, over them by the assistance of the signal halyards, he got upon an arm- chest, and before they could repeat the operation disabled two of them. Seizing the third one, he threw him from the poop on the quarter-deck, where he fell and broke his neck, dragging with him Mr. Spratt; who, however, escaped injury. By this time the British, who had been at first repulsed, were engaged in a second more successful attempt to carry the enemy's ship; and Mr. Spratt, who joined in the desperate hand-to-hand conflict raging en her quarter-deck, had thehappiness of saving the life of a French officer from the fury of his assailants. Scarcely had he discharged this act of humanity when an endeavour was made by a grenadier to run him through with his bayonet. The thrust being parried, the Frenchman presented his musket at Mr. Spratt's breast; and although the latter succeeded in striking it down with his cutlass, the contents passed through his right leg to a lit- tle below the knee, shattering both bones. He immediately backed in between two of the quarter-deck guns, to prevent being cut down from behind; and in this position he continued to defend himself against his old tormentor and two others until at length relieved by some of his party. As soon as the Aigle's colours bad been struck, Mr. Spratt presented himself on her quarter, Swung himself by one of the boat-tackle falls to the Defiance; and, resting on a lower-deck port which happened to be up, was carried into the cockpit. At first--.amputation of his leg was thought unavoidable, but this he positively refused to allow. He wait after- wards sent to the hospital at Gibraltar; where the sufferings he endured were of the most agonizing description, and ended in reducing his leg three inches. "The pain Mr. Sprott endured was so acute that it brought on a fever, during the paroxysms of which the settings of his leg became deranged as fast as the surgeon could dress them. To obviate the inconvenience and danger arising from this, it was resolved to enure the- limb in a log box adapted to the purpose, and to allow it to „remain in that state- for nisei* in order toifacilitamtim formetimief callss,,Ioa fore. the time p ' bad elapsettrilfr:Spratt s sufferings wereIreatlysin&eas a gnawing, unaccount- able sensation, not attributable to the nature of his Inent. 4.)a..4 be box being at length'unlocked, a spectacle presented itself-t8 the iew of the midical officers
present unparalleled in the history of their experie Hundreds of nutggots, an inch long, were stack into the calf, with only the ti of their tails to be seen, i the remainder of their bodies being embedded n the flesh. How to get rid of this astounding production was now the question. Oae df the surgeons essayed the effect of his forceps, but no sooner was the instrument applied than the crea- tures broke short off. A second doctor, however, more ingenious, ran to his me- dicine-chest, and returned with a phial, the contents of which had the desired ef- fect. This, the first case of the kind that occurred in the hospital, was accounted for by some of the numerous parasitical flies attracted. there after the battle of Trafalgar having deposited their eggs in tho wound." _
For his gallantry at Trafalgar Mr. Spratt Was Made a Lieutenant, and served for some years as actively as his shaken health. permitted him. More lucky than Vittoe, he was granted a pension of 911. 5s. for his wound, twelve years after he received it ; Ahree-and-thirty years after the battle of Trafalgar, he was promoted from a Lieutenancy to a Com- mandery. It would be easy to multiply extracts of humane and gallant deeds; but we have said enough to indicate the nature and character of the book ; and amid so many claimants, it would be difficult to avoid an apparent invidiousness or caprice, unless we extended the quotations to an undue length.
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