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The Honourable William Cathcart, Master of Cathcart (30 June 1782 – 4 June 1804) was an officer in the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He was the eldest son of Scottish peer William Cathcart, 10th Lord Cathcart (1755 -1843), later Earl Cathcart and of Elizabeth Elliott (1760 - 1847), the daughter of Andrew Elliot, the governor of New York. His younger brother was General, the Honourable Sir George Cathcart KCB DL (1794 - 1854). Born in London, his birthdate is alternatively recorded as 13 June, 1782 according to other sources. Cathcart was educated in the paternal tradition at Eton College, Winsdor, Berkshire, United Kingdom. Cathcart joined the Royal Navy in August 1795 as a volunteer aboard HMS Melpomene, a thirty eight gun, fifth rate vessel originally captured from the French navy in 1794, being finally decommissioned in 1815. He was made a lieutenant on 2 September 1801. He served on HMS Medusa and was made master and commander on 14 April 1802. This ship was highly active during in various theatres of operations and had a prolific service life, the log of which is preserved and is accessible online through the University of Glasgow. He then took charge of the sloop HMS Renard, another addition from the French navy. in October 1802, and then having been made post captain, took command of the frigate HMS Clorinde, captured in 1803 at Santo Domingo. He died in the West Indies of yellow fever while commanding her, on 4 June 1804 at the age of 21. He is reported to have served with distinction at the raids on Boulogne, a naval action of August, 1801 in which the Royal Navy attempted to destroy components of the French fleet in that port.

 Background 

At the time Cathcart joined the Royal Navy, Britain was engaged in the Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars with France. By 1801, Bonaparte dominated a substantial area of the European continent, Britain being one of the few major opponents yet to be defeated. Therefore, Bonaparte laid plans to invade the British mainland which caused widespread panic within the population. By April, 1801, he had assembled a substantial force of both naval and military assets in the French port of Boulogne on the Channel coast. By August, it was possible to spy the large French military encampments from Kent. British newspapers were quick to publish stories about an imminent French invasion. The Times on August 1 and 3, 1801, reported that,“ the greatest activity prevails in the different French ports. The gunboats and flat bottomed boats are numerous.” The British government responded to the threat by mobilising 500,000 men (around 33% of all adult males in England and Scotland of military age) into militia units which were arranged around the country at strategic points. Patriotic cartoons and ballads proclaimed that the defenders would decimate the French invaders, probably a hubristic claim given that the British forces were poorly trained against seasoned French veterans. Aware of the morale situation on the home front, the British government appointed Vice Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson to command the of defences which had a positive effect on the mood of the population, the victor of the battles of the Nile and Copenhagen now in charge. Nelson was uncompromising in his anti French rhetoric which he memorably quoted to the nervous appreciation of his audience. For example, he states that to Englishmen that, "you must consider every man your enemy who speaks ill of the king, you must hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil." He took the war to the French by attacking the port of Boulogne on August 4, 1801 by launching a mortar bombardment from bomb ships, which had a minimal effect. On August 15, 1801,Nelson embarked on an ambitious plan to launch a boat borne raid against French shipping in the port. However, the French had anticipated such an assault and were well prepared for it, bloodily repulsing the British who suffered the losses of forty four killed and 126 wounded. Ironically,it appears that both sides claim victory in the action. Tne French version is that the British failed in their attempt to destroy the flotilla in Boulogne. The British version indicates that the French fleet was unable to leave port, thus thwarting Bonaparte’s aspirations for invasion. In the larger scheme of things, the raids proved inconclusively to be of any strategic use to either side. Having reached an impasse, the British and French were effectively forced into signing a peace which occurred at the Treaty of Amiens of March, 1802. [edit]

Cathcart’s Role in the Raids on Boulogne

During the second raid on Boulogne, Cathcart is reported to have have served with great distinction as part of a boat crew tasked with the destruction of a French naval target. At the time of this action, Cathcart is reported to have already served time in the Mediterranean and was presently serving with the inshore squadron off Brest as acting lieutenant on board the frigate, Medusa, to which Nelson had recently transferred his flag. For the attack on the enemy flotilla, Cathcart was placed in command of the ships’ cutter. Captain Edward T. Parker wrote the following to Nelson on August 16, 1801, having being mortally wounded himself in the action and succumbing to his injuries a short time later,

“It is at this moment that I feel myself at a loss for words to do justice to the officers and crew of the Medusa who were in the boat with me, and to Lieut. Langford, the officers and crew of the same ship, who nobly seconded us in the barge, until all her crew were killed or wounded; and to the Hon. Mr. Cathcart, who commanded the Medusa’s cutter, and sustained the attack with the greatest intrepidity, until the desperate situation I was left in obliged me to call him to the assistance of the sufferers in my boat. The boats were no sooner alongside than we attempted to board; but a very strong netting, traced up to her lower yards, baffled all our endeavours, and an instantaneous discharge of her guns and small arms, from about 200 soldiers on her gunwale, knocked myself, Mr. Kirby, the Master of the Medusa, and Mr. Gore, a midshipman, with two thirds of the crew, upon our backs into the boat, all either killed or wounded desperately. The barge and cutter being on the outside, sheered off with the tide, but the flat boat, in which I was, hung alongside, and as there was not an officer or man left to govern her, must have fallen into the hands of the enemy, had not Mr. Cathcart taken her in tow, and carried her off”

Having been rescued by Cathcart, worthy of note is the obituary for Parker which indicates the desperation of the failed attack in which Cathcart had heroically acquitted himself.

“The 26th instant at Deal, the gallant E. T. Parker, of the wounds he received in the second attack on the French flotilla off Boulogne. Every attention was paid to this meritorious Officer that his lamentable situation demanded. Earl St. Vincent, with that humanity which has ever marked his conduct, sent down his own surgeon to attend him; and great hopes were entertained for a time that not only his valuable life, but his limb would be saved; the flattering expectations of his friends were, however, disappointed; he suffered amputation very high in the thigh on the 16th instant, one of the arteries burst, and the great effusion of blood reduced him to so low a state, that he only languished till the morning of the 27th, when “His noble spirit sought the shades, to the great regret of every Briton, and particularly of his gallant Commander Lord Nelson. His memory will ever be dear to a grateful Nation in the defence of whose liberties he so bravely distinguished himself.”

Death

Cathcart was appointed as captain on HMS Clorinde (which had been captured along with the Surveillante, a sister ship after she had foundered on rocks as she had departed Santo Domingo) in 1803. The ship made repairs and was transferred to Jamaica during which time Cathcart assumed charge of the ship. However, before he could fully demonstrate his leadership abilities, Cathcart contracted yelow fever, a viral infection carried by mosquitoes, which proved fatal. The Cathcart genealogical entry for him states that,“This gallant young officer fell a victim to the yellow fever, at Jamaica, when in command of the Clorinde frigate, with the rank of post-captain, 5th June 1804, in his 22d year, unmarried.”

Notes