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He was only 24, but be had 14 years seniority in Royal Navy service behind him in 1799 when his sloop Speedy, right, captured his first prize, the French privateer Intrepide. Behind him, too, was a court-martial for insubordination. But stretching ahead were another 61 years during which this sometimes ignoble nobleman would write his own enduring epitaph as sailor, statesman, and man of science.
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^-'omehow our heroes have worn a bit threadbare. "We have not yet begun to fight.”, "Don’t give up the ship.”, and "Damn the torpedoes. . . .” are not particularly useful battle cries for the warrior with nuclear missiles. John Paul Jones, Nelson, Farragut, and Halsey are not likely to provide much inspiration or guidance to an officer mired between the opportunities offered to him by science and the constraints imposed on him by politics.
As a hero in the warfare of scientific tactics and psychological strategies, the name of Thomas Cochrane would head the list had he not been such a threat to the establishment and such an argument against large military budgets. Of course, it can be argued that the need for heroes went out with the age of chivalry. But, then, what would be the character of modern science were it not for the traditions of da Vinci, Newton, Darwin, and Einstein?
Thomas Cochrane was born heir to the Earldom of Dundonald, a once rich and powerful family of the Scottish Lowlands. Centuries of revolt against the English had eroded the estates and wealth of the Dun- donalds, but not their spirit and energies.
The year of his birth, 1775, was but a generation after the last battle the Scots fought for independence from the English. In the aftermath of this uprising, the traditional Scottish dress was outlawed and Scotland was ruled by a despotic "Manager” appointed by the English Parliament. These impositions on the Scots, which continued throughout Cochrane’s childhood, must have influenced his feelings toward English authority. And the last vestige of feudalism, the right of the landed nobility to hold court and to punish their tenants, did not disappear in Scotland until 28 years before Cochrane’s birth. This, too, had its effect—for there were times in his life when he behaved as though he were a law unto himself.
Cochrane’s father, the ninth Earl of Dundonald, turned to science after short and painful careers in the Army and the Navy. He wrote the first treatise on the use of science in agriculture and had many patents on chemical processes. One of these was the conversion of coal into petroleum products, a by-product of which was gas. The Earl was first to observe the use of this gas as an illuminant, but somehow he overlooked the value of this discovery.
The ninth Earl’s patents were later to be widely used and the conversion of coal based on his patent is of growing importance today. But the father’s business sense did not equal his scientific insights and his son, our hero-candidate, was born in a castle to an impoverished family.
His mother’s early death and his father’s preoccupation with his laboratory, as well as lack of money, precluded formal education for the children other than that from an occasional tutor. But Thomas was close to his father and worked with him in the laboratory-
This education had its effect for Thomas was later to obtain many patents but, like his father’s patents, they were not to become important for many decades. He invented the positive displacement rotary steam engine, identical in concept to the Wankel engine of today, as well as the water tube boiler, the conical propeller for ships, the use of mathematics to determine ship’s lines, and the use of asphalt for roads and structures. His patent for the use of compressed air in the digging of underwater tunnels was initially used in 1890 to dig the first tunnel under the Hudson Rivet at New York City.
He also developed, in 1811, the use of smoke and poison gas in warfare. Considered and rejected in the Crimean War, they remained secret until Churchill disclosed in his history of World War I that the smoke screens first used in 1915 came directly from Cochrane s papers. However, Cochrane’s scheme to use noxious sulphur fumes against defensive positions was rejected as being uncivilized just a month before poison gaS was first used by the Germans.
Cochrane’s several shipbuilding inventions were incorporated into the frigate Janus in 1840. The engine pulled 28 inches of vacuum, fully two inches better than any other engine at that time. The boiler used less coal and the ship made less wake. But the weights had been miscalculated, one of the many acts of sabotage by the engineers on the job, and the Janus had too little freeboard. The Admiralty was fighting against the introduction of iron and steam and the Janus was forgotten.
It may seem odd that the story of Cochrane’s life should begin by listing his inventions rather than those feats in combat which made him a legend in his time, or those political escapades which made him an outcast from his own country. But they are as important to understanding the actions of the man as is his family background and heritage. One explains his powers of analysis, the other his emotions and his ethics.
Cochrane’s father was determined that his son was to have a career in the Army and he was commissioned as an officer in the Horse Guards before he was ten- And an uncle, a distinguished admiral, had Thomas Cochrane’s name placed on the roils of his several flagships as a cabin boy. Thus it was that Cochrane, when he finally obtained his father’s permission, became a midshipman at the age of 17 with seven years seniority in service.
Cochrane’s first five years of service were on the flagships of his uncle, where he was protected from the consequences of his behavior. At the age of 23 he
was transferred to the flagship of Admiral Lord Keith.
was not long before he was court-martialed for ^subordination. He was found guilty and, as punish- |nent, Lord Keith admonished him by saying, "Now, ^0rd Cochrane, pray avoid for the future all flippance tQward senior officers.” Needless to say, the tradition the Dundonalds was not damaged by this good ^vice and he remained true to his heritage throughout ”'s life. Had he not been the son of an earl, this ‘ncident might well have ended his naval career.
In recognition of his heroic action in saving a prize sh'p from foundering, he was promoted to commander and given command of the brig Speedy, a small and miserable ship. Cochrane could carry the entire broad- Slde of shells in his pockets, which he did when he CaHed upon his superiors to complain. However, in spite of these limitations, Cochrane performed miracles ln battle. During his 14 months in command of the speedy, he captured 33 vessels which carried a total of 128 guns and 533 men.
These 14 months were packed with adventures and exploits. At the age of 26, Cochrane was both famous ^nd infamous. Three events during this cruise suggest ls character and sytle.
At a fancy dress ball being given by a Royalist rench Regiment in Malta, where the Speedy was being refitted, Cochrane appeared dressed as a sailor from his S^'P> ’’personating,” as he relates, "as honorable a character as did the Greek, Turkish, or other kinds of
oriental disguises in vogue at such reunions.” When his French hosts would not permit him to enter, thinking him to be what his dress indicated, he reacted positively and was taken to the guard house.
After properly identifying himself, he was released, returned to the party, had further discussion with his hosts, and completed arrangements for a duel the following morning. From this duel, Cochrane escaped with a bullet-creased jacket, but the Frenchman had a ball in his thigh. In his journal, Cochrane wrote, "It was a lesson to me that in the future I should never do anything in frolic which might give even an un- intentioned offense.”
The Speedy's success in disrupting Spanish coastal traffic caused the Spanish to lay traps for her. On one occasion, she closed in on what appeared to be a well-laden merchantman. When within gun range, the other ship, a Spanish frigate, opened her ports and rolled out her guns. Escape was out of the question; the Speedy could neither outrun nor outshoot a frigate.
Such an event had been anticipated and the Speedy was painted in imitation of the Danish brig Clomer. A Danish quartermaster had been taken aboard and was uniformed as a Danish officer. A boat from the frigate was sent to investigate the Speedy. When it came to within hailing distance, a quarantine flag was raised and the Danish quartermaster shouted that they were two days out of Tangiers where a violent plague had broken out. With this, the boat hurriedly returned to the frigate which hoisted sails and made off, but not before wishing the Speedy a safe voyage. The latter returned similar wishes and made off on a diverging course.
Several weeks later the Speedy sighted another Spanish frigate, the Gamo. Because Cochrane felt that some of his crew were critical of him for running away from the previous frigate, full sail was set and the Speedy rushed in to attack. This certainly must have mystified the frigate, but it was only the beginning. When within gun range, the Speedy hoisted the American colors and came about. A few moments later, she attacked again and raised the French colors. The confusion was such that the Speedy was alongside before the Gamo had time to fire more than one broadside.
In this Mutt and Jeff tango, the Speedy's rigging became entangled with that of the frigate. The Speedy's decks were so much lower than the Gamo's that the Gamo's fully depressed cannon shot over the Speedy's decks, but the Speedy's fully elevated shots played havoc with the Gamo’s mid-deck, killing her captain and boatswain.
In preparation for this battle, the faces of half the Speedy's crew had been painted black. These remained below while the other half of the crew, led by Cochrane, boarded the Gamo over the stern. When the
Spanish met this party amidships, the black-faced half boarded over the bow.
Cochrane described the effect as being precisely that calculated, in his words, "the greater portion of Gamo's crew were prepared to repel boarders from one direction, but stood transfixed to the deck by the apparition of so many diabolical looking characters emerging from the white smoke of the bow guns.”
At this point, Cochrane was able to get the Gamo’s colors lowered. The Spanish crew on deck were overcome with confusion and were forced to join their shipmates below decks. The hatches were secured and the Gamo was returned to port as a prize with 263 prisoners aboard.
The odds against the Speedy in the battle were overwhelming; the Gamo was four times as large, had over five times as many in her crew, and her broadside fired five times the weight.
The Speedy's luck ended with the burning of a captured merchantman (there were not enough men to make up prize crews). It was at night, the merchantman was loaded with oil, and the huge flames attracted three French battleships. The Speedy made a gallant fight, but finally surrendered. Cochrane was taken prisoner, but allowed to keep his sword in recognition of the spirited resistance made by the Speedy..
Several weeks later, Cochrane was exchanged for a captured French captain. This left Cochrane without a ship. In more functional terms, it left Cochrane without someone to fight. But he was resourceful and, as he did" on so many future occasions when he was without a ship, he took on the Admiralty.
As a result of his capture of the Gamo, Cochrane’s father (as well as his uncle, by this time a senior admiral) pressed the First Lord of the Admiralty for his promotion. The First Lord at that time was Admiral John Jervis, who had just been made Earl St. Vincent in recognition of his great victory at Cape St. Vincent. Jervis was a crusty, tough character from a modest background and his peerage did not abate his antagonism toward the privileges of aristocracy.
Incensed though he was by the pressures from the Scottish aristocracy, he finally gave Cochrane his promotion to post-captain. But Cochrane insisted that his first lieutenant also be promoted in recognition of the part he played in the Gamo's capture and in which he was badly wounded. St. Vincent attempted to end this annoyance by writing to Cochrane, "it is unusual to promote two officers for such a service, besides which the small number of men killed on the Speedy does not warrant the application.”
Cochrane would not be put off by such words, even from the First Lord. In his reply, he commented that "in the battle in which his lordship received his title, there was only one man killed aboard his flagship, so that there were more casualties aboard my sloop than in your line-of-battle ship.” Following this remark, Cochrane was unemployed for two years.
Next he studied ethics at the University of Edinburgh. It must have been a strange sight indeed for a captain of the Navy, a public figure, to be attending classes as an undergraduate. But this experience had some effect.
After two years, St. Vincent gave him command of the Arab, a punishment rather than a reward. The Arab, a converted collier, was more like a barge than a sailing ship. Among her disadvantages in the role of a man-o-war was an inability to sail into the wind. And she was sent to join the blockading squadron off the French Coast where the prevailing winds were on-shore. This meant a constant struggle and a constant fear of being blown onto the French coast. Cochrane complained in a letter to the First Lord, who, in keeping with his diabolical nature, ordered the Arab to protect the fisheries northeast of the Shetland Islands. These waters were easy to defend. In six months on that station, not one fishing vessel was sighted—there were none there.
St. Vincent was replaced as First Lord by a Scot, Lord Melville, and the Arab was immediately recalled.
Cochrane, now in good standing, was given command °f the Pallas, an excellent ship of 32 guns recently captured from the French. In addition, he was given orders to cruise independently in the rich hunting grounds off the Azores. This proved to be a good 'rratch of genius and opportunity, and resulted in a m°st profitable venture which provided both Cochrane and his crew with small fortunes. It was well known and strongly resented that a seaman on the Pallas earned more than most officers on other ships.
Such affluence can be appreciated by a report of a capture which appears in the Naval Chronicle for 1805.
Lord Cochrane, feeling dejected for the conditions of Spaniards (of the ship he had just captured) consulted his officers as to their willingness to give back t0 each of them $5,000 in specie. This being immediately agreed to, his Lordship ordered the boatswain to P'Pe all hands, and addressing them to like purpose, the gallant fellows sang out 'aye, aye, my Lord’ with aP their hearts, and gave the unfortunate Spaniards three cheers.”
On another occasion, the Pallas anchored off the 'atouth of a river where three French corvettes were anchored several miles up-river. That night, all of the Pallas crew, with the exception of Cochrane and 40 men, were put into boats and sent off to capture these ships. After six hours of rowing, they came upon one of them, boarded, and captured it. Dawn came before they could get it underway and they were attacked by the other two ships. Little is reported on the ensuing fight except that the captured ship escaped with some difficulty.
Meanwhile, three other French corvettes stood in from sea and attacked the Pallas. With but 40 men on board the Pallas, only the bow guns could be manned. But the French did not know this and Cochrane, with clever maneuvers, was able to drive each of these corvettes onto the beach.
Cochrane’s command of the Pallas ended when she was returned to dockyard after being badly damaged in a fight off Basque Roads. While making a reconnaissance of the treacherous waters of Basque Roads, a well defended and important French base on the west coast of France, the Pallas came too close to the shore batteries and was damaged. A French frigate, supported by three brigs, came in to finish the job, but the many shoals so limited the room for maneuver that only the frigate could attack. After an hour’s fighting, the frigate was driven ashore. In the crash of hitting the rocks, her rigging fell on the Pallas, hopelessly entangling the
That rarest of rarities, an honest recruiting poster, lured seamen to Cochrane’s service and, under him, they earned more than most officers on other ships.
Rendezvous, at the White Flag,
J. BARFIELD, Priutcr, Wardour-^reet.
BONEY’s CORONATION
Is postponed for Want of COBBS.
COCHRANE.
To flriush Kr aBu n,
Of 36 GUNS,
At PLYMOUTH,
it • new and uncommonly fine Frigide. BuSt on purpose. Awi ready for ■» EXPEDITION, a» soon as »<3bc more good Hands are on board;
Captain Lord Cochrane,
(who was not drowned ijj the ARAB as reported)
ComsMBds her. The sooner you are ou hoard llte better.
ffesrej^cd apply, but SEA or Stout Hamit*. aide to rouse
abd* the Field Pieces, and carry an hundred weight of PEWTER, without Mopping, at least three. Miles.
THE #LYING
V ELO a fow days only.
gL The rml of the Gajlleons with the TtEA-'i'KE Irom
LA PLATA, are waiting h«lf loadfed at CARTAGENA, for tlie arrival of those trj>m PERU at PANAMA* as soon as that takes place, they are to sail for PORTOVELO, to take,in the rest of their Cargo, v> ith IVo- vwioas and Water for the Voyage to EUROPE. They stay at PORTO- *7 “ * " ‘ Such a'.Chance perhaps will never occur
8Mg|
Consigned to Boney.
GODlgrthe KING.
-S'<S»N SPANl
Doublons.
two ships. The Pallas was little more than a wreck at this point, but the rigging was finally cut away. While slowly making her escape, she was attacked by the other three ships. The British frigate Kingfisher had been observing the action and came to the rescue. Taken in tow by the Kingfisher, the Pallas finally escaped.
Left without a ship, Cochrane was forced to turn to politics to appease his incessant urge to fight. Fortuitously, it was the time of Parliamentary elections and Cochrane became a candidate to represent Honiton, a borough known for its rough politics. He opened his campaign by arriving in Honiton in a carriage pulled by six horses, followed by other carriages which carried his crew. According to news accounts, Cochrane and his officers were resplendent in full dress, and the crew was in high spirits "scenting amusement.”
The boatswain was perched on the back of Cochrane’s carriage and would, from time to time, signal with his pipe for the men to cheer in unison. It was a good show and won the election.
Immediately upon taking his seat in Parliament, Cochrane began a vigorous attack on the Admiralty. After a month of this, the Admiralty wisely gave him command of a fine new frigate, the Imperieuse, and sent him to sea. It is significant that every man of the Pallas crew volunteered for duty in the Imperieuse, a high tribute to Cochrane in those days when crews were to be had only through impressment.
This cruise of the Imperieuse lasted only three months and was uneventful for the likes of Cochrane. It was spent with the blockading squadron off Basque Roads and Cochrane got to know these dangerous waters by constantly probing the inner defenses. He sent parties ashore to destroy signal towers and perform other acts of harassment and interdiction, including the destruction of one of the batteries defending the entrance.
The Imperieuse returned to England for repairs. In the next Parliamentary election, Cochrane ran for the seat of Westminster, a far more influential borough than Honiton, and he won. On taking his seat, Cochrane immediately offered a series of motions attacking the maladministration and corruption in the Admiralty- His complaints were real and well documented, and so damaging to the government that he was ordered to rejoin the Imperieuse. But he spent another four or five months in Parliament before accepting these orders. It is inconceivable to us that a captain on full pay could refuse to accept such orders and remain in Parliament to attack his superiors. But it happened, and Cochrane was so popular that the voters of Westminster gave him an unlimited leave of absence.
On relieving the acting commander of the Imperieuse, Cochrane sailed from England to join Admiral Lord Collingwood’s fleet operating in the eastern Mediterranean. En route he came across a 10-gun brig carrying British colors. Seeing that the crew was not English, Cochrane sent a boat to investigate. On coming alongside, the boat was met with a volley of rifle fire which killed one man and wounded all 15 of the others in the boat. The ship was captured and turned out to be a pirate in which members of the British Prize Court in Malta held shares—and were reaping a tidy profit by preying on allied ships.
This incident was later to develop into a confrontation between Cochrane and the Court, the results of which were damaging to Cochrane’s naval career.
Several months later, in the spring of 1808, there was a general uprising of Spanish patriots against the government which Napoleon had installed in Spain. The British government decided to support the rebels’ cause and Napoleon sent 300,000 troops into Spain to support the government.
Collingwood employed his fleet to prevent the French from landing troops in Spain and otherwise perform the role we now call sea control. This was in the tradition glorified by Mahan of "those storm- beaten ships” which the Grand Army never saw, but it was not in the Cochrane tradition of using sea power to disrupt land operations. Cochrane requested and
Having earlier represented the notoriously corrupt borough of Honiton in Parliament, the i 1-year-old Cochrane ran for and won the seat of Westminister and, during the rowdy campaign, he was depicted brandishing a cudgel labeled "Naval Reform. ” a paper reading "Charges against St. Vincent” streaming from his pocket, as he clubbed his way to the top of the pole [poll] occupied by the incumbent Republican "goose, ” Sir Francis Burdett.
received orders to "harass the French and Spanish coasts as opportunity served.”
The major road in eastern Spain hugged the coast. Cochrane harassed the French troops moving on Barcelona by organizing and supporting the Spanish patriots in the defense of their towns, by blowing up bridges, destroying batteries, capturing coastal transports, and even making attacks on the French coast outside Marseille.
It was from this Spanish uprising that "guerilla warfare” got its name. And Cochrane’s use of sea power as a guerilla weapon was not only innovative, but decidedly un-English. It was effective beyond the statistics of things destroyed and logistics impaired, which were impressive enough on their own. The resistance of the Spanish patriots was inspired as well as supported by Cochrane’s exploits, and the groundwork this laid for the later success of Wellington’s campaign remains unrecognized in our histories.
William James, in his definitive history of the British Navy of this period, published in 1822, wrote "Of one quality in Lord Cochrane we have to complain: the brevity of his accounts, all of which appear to be written more to recommend to notice his gallant companions in arms than to blazon his own feats to the world.”
Fortunately there was on board the Imperieuse a midshipman who was later to become the famous novelist, Captain Marryat. Many of his novels are based on his experiences on the Imperieuse, and from the novel Mr. Midshipman Easy we have an account of the Imperieuse during these operations:
"The day that passed without a shot being fired in anger was with us a blank day. The boats were hardly secured in their booms than they were cast out again; and the yards and tackles were forever being hoisted up and lowered down. The expeditions with which parties were formed for service; the rapidity of the frigate’s movements, day and night; the hasty sleep, snatched at all hours; the waking up to the report of the guns, which seemed to be the only key-note to the hearts of those on board; the beautiful precision of our fire; the coolness and courage of our captain, inoculating the whole of the ship’s company; the suddenness of our attacks, the gathering after the combat, the kill lamented, the wounded almost envied; the powder so burnt on our faces that years could not remove it; the proved character of every man on board, the implicit trust and adoration we felt for our commander; the ludicrous situations which would occur even in the extreme danger and create mirth when death was staring you in the face, the hair-breadth
escapes, and the indifference to life shown by all when memory sweeps along those years of excitement, even now my pulse beats more quickly with the reminiscence.”
Collingwood wrote to the Admiralty of Cochranes activity "Nothing can exceed the zeal and activity with which his lordship pursues the enemy . . . besides keeping the coast in constant alarm, causing a general suspension of trade, and harassing a body of troops employed in opposing him. He has probably prevented these troops . . . from advancing into Spain by giving them employment in defending their own coasts.” And well might Collingwood have said this, for the bn' perieuse alone probably achieved more results than the rest of Collingwood’s fleet combined.
But when the Imperieuse left for England in February 1809, it was under a cloud of censure for having expended more sails, shot, gunpowder, and stores than ever before used by one ship. This probably accounts for the failure of the Imperieuse to receive the General Service Medal, later awarded to 804 other vessels.
Cochrane was summoned to the Admiralty immediately upon his return to England. He was in high spirits for he expected this to be in response to a letter he had written requesting that he be given command of a small force to spread terror along the western coast of France in order to make it impossible for Napoleon to support his campaign in Spain.
Instead, the First Lord requested Cochrane to conduct a fire-ship attack on the ten French battleships anchored in Basque Roads. The Admiralty was beset with complaints of influential merchants fearing for the safety of their West Indian trade if this fleet were to escape. And the Admiralty knew that Cochrane, with his reputation for action and his knowledge of the navigation, was the only man who could do this job- Admiral Gambier was in command of the British fleet off Basque Roads, but he did not consider it prudent to attack the French because of the naviga' tional problems and he considered the use of fire-ships as a "horrible and unChristian” mode of warfare. Yet, it was Gambier who commanded the attack two years earlier on neutral Denmark and bombarded the besieged Copenhagen with great loss of civilian life.
Cochrane at first refused to accept this task, for he considered it improper to serve under Gambier and concurrently be ordered by the Admiralty to conduct an attack which Gambier so violently disapproved. A few days later, Cochrane was told that this was no time to observe professional etiquette and that Gambier s objections would be "handled.” Cochrane finally aC' cepted the task when the Admiralty said that it would tolerate no further delay.
Indeed, Gambier treated him with great courtesy and ^nh an apparently sincere desire to be helpful. But ere remained great dissent amongst the many captains and admirals of that force who were senior to Coch- ^ane. In the end it was this dissent as well as Gambier’s anure to understand the psychological elements of this rnission which prevented the follow-up on Cochrane’s tactical success. It was a failure in the strategic sense at later was to be repeated by the Japanese at Pearl harbor.
Cochrane prepared for the attack with care and in- §enuity. He devised and built several "explosion-ships,” concept not unlike the modern torpedo. These were q^Ps with 1,500 barrels of powder laid over a deck 0 heavy logs and tightly packed with sand. Over this ere placed some 3,000 shells and hand grenades.
"^he French, always suspicious of Cochrane, observed pls Preparations and made their defenses typical of the rench genius for logic and engineering. The ten bat- ships were moored in a narrow channel. They were gripped of their masts and rigging and were protected y land batteries. Four frigates and 60 gunboats were Prepared to board and tow off the fireships. An enor- m°Us boom was anchored in the channel. All powder V’as removed from the battleships in the event that they ^Sht catch on fire.
The attack was made on a dark, overcast night with a strong wind blowing on-shore. Cochrane and four men took the first explosion-ship in. Cochrane stayed aboard to light the fuse while his men made a boat ready for escape. The fuse was designed to burn for 15 minutes, but lasted for less than five. This was indeed fortunate for his boat was close to the explosion and the shells flew over their heads, leaving them unharmed!
Cochrane had not known of the boom. It was a stroke of good luck that the ship exploded near enough to the boom to destroy it. But the other fire and explosion-ships were not well handled and, of the 20 used, only four of them actually reached the vicinity of the French ships. None actually did any damage to the French, but the explosion-ships caused a panic and the battleships cut their cables. All but two were driven ashore.
At daybreak, Cochrane made several futile efforts to get Gambier to come in and capture the grounded battleships. But Gambier was too timid. Cochrane then attacked and destroyed one battleship, but was unable to do any further damage before the French recovered their composure.
The Imperieuse was sent back to England with Gambier’s dispatches. These gave Cochrane full credit and he became a public hero. He was made a Knight of the Bath, a rare distinction for one of his rank. And he was acclaimed by the newspapers as being Nelson’s successor.
Napoleon, furious with Cochrane’s success, commented, "Fear deprived the French captains of their senses. Had Cochrane been supported he would have captured every ship.” Cochrane had anticipated this (it is the mark of a professional that he be able to anticipate results), and in the midst of his preparations had written to the Admiralty concerning the action to be taken following this attack. He asked for troops to take and hold the island of Oleron which commanded the entrance to Basque Roads and the Port of Rochefort.
It was Cochrane’s strategic concept that sea power should be used to disrupt the enemy’s strategic initiative, its commerce, and even the ability of the government to function. In part, his argument to the Admiralty was, 'No diversion which the whole force of Great Britain is capable of making in Portugal or Spain would so much shake the French government as the capture of the islands on this coast. A few men could take Oleron, but to make the capture effective, send twenty thousand men who, without risk, would find occupation for a French army of a hundred thousand.”
How different would have been our strategies in the wars of this century if Mahan had studied Cochrane and Basque Roads with the same idolatry with which
he studied Nelson and Trafalgar. And even today we can get a better insight into the impact of the missile on naval warfare by studying the logic and analysis which Cochrane used in his scientific approach to naval problems.
When the Admiralty proposed that Parliament give Gambier a vote of thanks for the attack on the French fleet, Cochrane told the First Lord that he would, as a member of Parliament, oppose such a motion. The First Lord countered with what must be considered a bribe; if Cochrane would not oppose the motion, he would be given the independent command of three frigates with a crack regiment embarked, and he could do what he pleased with this force along the French coast.
Cochrane refused this offer, thanking the First Lord for trying to "preserve him from the evils of acting contrary to the government’s wishes.” But his efforts to get the results examined in strategic perspective were futile. Gambier was thanked by Parliament and he then requested a court-martial to clear his name from Cochrane’s charges.
This court-martial was packed with supporters of Gambier. Even though some obviously altered charts were presented in Gambier’s defense, he was "most honorably” acquitted. Cochrane would take no part in these proceedings, for he did not want to be considered an accuser of Gambier. It was the strategic principles that he wanted examined, not Gambier’s guilt.
When Cochrane persisted in attacking the Admiralty’s handling of this matter, he was ordered to return to the lmperieuse. Cochrane refused these orders, feeling that he should be given the force which had been offered to him prior to the court-martial. He then sailed to Malta (in his own yacht) to investigate the illegal acts of the Prize Court there. This court had ruled on the many prizes taken by the lmperieuse and instead of awarding him the small fortune he expected to get, they actually ruled that he owed the court money for the services it had performed.
In Malta, Cochrane removed certain critical papers from the Judge’s inner chamber which were needed to establish the illegal activities of the Prize Court. Cochrane taunted the court to have him arrested, and it did. The judge, puzzled as to how Cochrane should be tried, asked him to leave the jail on bail. Cochrane refused, even though the bail was a modest one. The Admiral at Malta pleaded with him, "My Lord, you must not remain here. The seamen are becoming savage and they will soon pull the gaol down. Have you any objections to escaping?” Cochrane agreed and was given a set of files to cut the bars of his cell. In full knowledge of the court, and to its relief, Cochrane made his escape and returned to England.
On the floor of Commons, Cochrane unrolled the scrolls of costs charged him by the court and measured them with great care at six and a quarter fathoms. The House was amused but not in sympathy. The members thought his escapades were more fitted to a midshipman than to a member of the House who was also a distinguished captain, Knight of the Bath, and the heir to an Earldom.
The next three years were spent in Parliament where his attacks on the government grew in effectiveness. In 1813, his name became linked with a stock market fraud engineered by his uncle. The government seized this opportunity and had him convicted by a court which was highly irregular in its make-up and its procedure. The trial lasted one day and Cochrane was not called to the defense until late in the night. He was sentenced to one year in jail and one hour in the pillory. The pillory sentence had to be cancelled to prevent a riot. In time, Cochrane escaped from the jail and returned to the floor of the Parliament—where he was "recaptured” to the embarassment of the government. His name was then stricken from the Navy list and removed in disgrace from the Order of the Garter.
The House of Commons expelled him by a vote of 140 to 44. In the election to fill the vacancy, no one would run against him—so great was his popularity—and he was returned by unanimous vote. He remained in Parliament for another four years, but with little influence. Napoleon had fallen and the problems of war were of little interest.
he
Wer>t to Greece and as the Commander-in-Chief of
I*1 1818, he accepted command of the Chilean Navy ar>d distinguished himself with the style and tactics which had made him a legend. He was instrumental driving a much stronger Spanish fleet out of the ast Pacific and enabled both Chile and Peru to gain ^e‘r independence. Later, in command of the Brazilian avy, he cleared those waters of the Portuguese fleet an<3 Brazil became an independent nation. From there
1 e Greek Navy, he aided that country in gaining its 'ndependence from Turkey.
Today, Cochrane is a hero in each of these countries. ls handling of miserable ships and mutinous crews against great odds is further testimony to his greatness ,n t^le role of a professional warrior, in the best meanly of that maligned job description. But, in each case, e '•'•'as to leave in disgrace for getting involved in local Politics and being charged with looting monies from e government. For instance, in disgust with the support he was getting from the Brazilian government, manned their largest and only effective ship with e few remaining reliable sailors and sailed it back to England. From the evidence available to us, we must o highjacking to his long list of skills.
Cochrane ended his career as a soldier of fortune in °29- He was 55 and had 30 years of active life ahead mm which he devoted to science and making politiCal amends. Two years later he became the tenth Earl °n the death of his father and, in turn, he was given a full pardon by the Crown, reinstated in the Royal Qfavy> rejoined the Order of the Bath, and, at the age . ?2, went back on active duty as the Commander- jrChief of the North Atlantic Station with the rank Tice Admiral. He was given full pension by the governments of Chile, Brazil, and Greece, and was j^ack a full Admiral in the Royal Navy a few years e °re his death at the age of 85.
is buried in Westminster Abbey. In 1972, on e occasion of the 150th anniversary of Brazil’s indePendence, Brazil’s ambassador spoke these words at his
'omb:
"Admiral Cochrane sailed under and honored the ^ags of four emerging nations. ... A man with an umque personality, a rebel against the conventions °f this time, he lived to win adventure and glory from the seas. Thomas Cochrane served freedom ■drnost certainly because it satisfied his passion for gallantry. In an age where cold iron was taking the place of oaken timbers and white plumes of smoke replaced the white sails of Trafalgar, his life was a SUlxotic struggle against floating windmills, with ittle regard for the favors of history, which gradually °gged him with more than the usual share reserved lor great men.”
Marryat captured the essence of Cochrane’s style when he wrote, "Many of his most brilliant achievements were performed without the loss of life so well did he calculate his chances; and one half of the merit which he deserves for what he did accomplish has never been awarded him merely because in official dispatches there has not been a long list of killed and wounded to please the appetite of the English public.”
If Victorian England could forgive Nelson for his love life, surely we can forgive Cochrane for his political life. He, rather than Nelson, is better fitted to be a hero for professionals in this day of science and wars of national liberation.
And, if the tradition of Cochrane can add a bit of fun to the life of a professional, it can’t be all bad!
Captain Lynch, a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy Class of 1938, was retired in 1954 as the result of injuries from an accident in Colombo, Ceylon. While on active duty he served on board the battleship Idaho, the submarines R-l, S-24, Harder, Haddo and Cutlass, and the destroyer Allen At. Sumner. He commanded the latter three vessels. His shore duties were on the staffs of CinCLantFlt and BuOrd, and as the O-in-C of the Submarine PCO School, Pearl Harbor, and the Tactical Commander’s ASW School, Norfolk. Since retirement he has been employed by the Electric Boat division of General Dynamics, has taught at a high school, and has been a consultant for some ten companies.