Sir Charles Hardy (c1714-80)
Well-connected and the son of an admiral, Hardy played a prominent role in the Seven Years War before he came out of retirement to defend the country from the threat of an allied invasion in 1779. His tactical retreat before the allied armada was successful but the subject of much controversy.
He was born at Portsmouth, the son of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Hardy who died in 1744, and of his wife, Elizabeth Burchett, the daughter of the powerful Secretary to the Admiralty, Josiah Burchett. His older brother (also Josiah) was the governor of New Jersey from 1761-3, and his younger brother (John) commanded the Torrington in 1745-6 and retired as a rear-admiral.
In February 1731 Hardy entered the navy, serving at Newfoundland as a volunteer aboard the Salisbury 50, Captain George Clinton. Six years later, on 26 March 1737 he was commissioned lieutenant of the Swallow 60, Captain Thomas Graves, though the vessel was paid off at Plymouth two months later. Appointed in May 1738 to the Augusta 60, Captain Hon. John Byng, he moved a year later with that officer to the Portland 50, where he remained until mid-July 1739, serving in home waters. Two months later he was appointed to the Kent 70, Captain Thomas Durell, which was off Cape Finisterre in the early stages of the War of Jenkins’ Ear, participating in the capture of the Spanish ship of the line Princessa. At the end of September 1740, he transferred to the Boyne 80, Captain Richard Lestock, but within a month became the first lieutenant of the Rupert 60 under Captain John Ambrose, cruising in the Bay of Biscay.
Admiral Sir Charles Hardy
By the early summer of 1741, the War of Jenkins’ Ear was morphing into the wider War of Austrian Succession, with France joining Spain as a naval opponent. When the Rupert captured the 8-gun Spanish privateer San Antonio de Padua off the Isles of Scilly, Hardy brought the prize to England, and on 9 June, (now in his late twenties), he was promoted commander of the vessel, now unimaginatively named Rupert’s Prize. A few months later (on 10 August) he was promoted to captain and posted to the sixth rate Rye 20. In October the Rye ailed to Rotterdam to bring King George II’s luggage back to the Nore following the monarch’s regular summer sojourn in Hanover, and at the end of the month his command was sent to Jamaica with urgent dispatches. By early 1742 she was serving in the Carolinas, and in July she was sent with other ships from Charleston to the relief of Georgia, which was under threat from the Spanish. Eventually returning to England, the Rye was paid off at Deptford in April 1744.
Hardy next joined the Jersey 60 on 30 April 1744, having been appointed governor and commander-in-chief of Newfoundland. He spent sixty-three days at sea escorting a convoy and attempting to reach his station; contrary winds on the Newfoundland Banks forced him all the way back to Plymouth. However, he at least had the consolation of bringing with him four captured French merchant ships. He never actually succeeded in reaching the colony, and in February 1745 he was tried for the loss of merchant ships in the Newfoundland convoy but was acquitted. Later in the year the Jersey went out to the Mediterranean, where on 26 July she fought the larger French sail of the line St. Esprit 74 in the Straits of Gibraltar for two and a half hours, forcing the enemy ship to flee, very much cut up, into Cadiz. During the early part of 1746 the Jersey continued in the Mediterranean, and after escorting reinforcements from Gibraltar to the newly captured fortress of Louisbourg in North America, she returned to the former station. On 6 May 1748, during the final stages of the War of Austrian Succession, she arrived in the Downs with a convoy from Lisbon and then sailed for the Thames to be paid off.
In July 1749 Hardy married Mary Tate of Northants, but she died childless in the following year leaving him Delapré Abbey, which he sold in 1756. In January 1755 he was appointed the captain-general and governor of New York; he was knighted on 20 April before leaving to take up the post. He eventually set sail on 22 June aboard the Sphinx 24, Captain James Gambier, to arrive after a passage of nine weeks. Hostilities with the French had recently begun (despite the absence of a formal declaration of war) and at the Battle of Lake George in September, British forces defeated a French advance into the colony of New York. The new governor sent supplies to the area, and then travelled there to join the victorious general, William Johnson.
Shortly after the formal beginning of the Seven Years War in 1756, Hardy was advanced to the rank of rear-admiral on 4 June, and in February 1757, after resigning the governorship of New York, he became the temporary senior officer on the North American station with his flag aboard the Sutherland 50, Captain Edward Falkingham. When news came of a French force heading from Sainte Domingue (now Haiti) to reinforce the fortress of Louisbourg, long a target of British military action, Hardy promptly organised the movement of 11,000 troops from New York to Halifax in anticipation of a rapid assault. Though the army commander, General Lord Loudon, who arrived at Halifax several weeks later, had been instructed to attack Louisbourg as soon as possible, the expedition fell through due to the presence of a strong French squadron in the harbour of the fortress, and the late arrival of British military and naval reinforcements. When Vice-admiral Francis Holburne arrived, Hardy became second-in-command aboard the Invincible 74, Captain John Bentley. Holburne was commanding the fleet blockading Louisbourg when (on 24 September) a hurricane struck, damaging most of the ships, and dismasting some. Holburne sent Hardy in the Invincible, which had lost two masts, along with a number of the other damaged ships, back to Plymouth. Once back in England, he went up to London where he wintered at his residence in Downing Street.
On 18 January 1758 Hardy raised his flag aboard the Captain 70, Captain John Amherst, sailing to North America for a new campaign to take Louisbourg. At Halifax he assumed command of the squadron that had overwintered there, and in early April re-established the blockade of Louisbourg with eight sail of the line in extremely difficult weather. Hardy’s squadron soon captured the Diane 22, which he sent along with a dozen other French prizes into Halifax. However, in late April a strong squadron from Brest slipped into Louisbourg harbour under cover of fog, bringing both men and provisions to reinforce the garrison. A month later, the presence of Hardy’s force off the fortress deterred another French force from joining their comrades in the harbour, forcing them to land troop reinforcements some distance away. When Admiral Hon. Edward Boscawen arrived a few days later with the assault force, Hardy continued to command the blockading squadron aboard the Captain, and then transferred to the Royal William 84, Captain Thomas Evans.
On 29 August after the fall of Louisbourg, he sailed for the St. Lawrence with six sail of the line, two frigates, and ten transports carrying 3,000 troops to undertake the destruction of French settlements and fisheries in the area and to prevent supplies reaching the French upriver in Quebec. Returning home in the autumn with Boscawen, while approaching the Channel their force of four sail of the line and three frigates fell in with five French sail of the line and a frigate returning from Quebec. The resulting action in heavy weather was inconclusive, and after reaching Spithead on 1 November the two admirals went straight up to London.
During his time ashore, on 4 January 1759 Hardy married for a second time, to Catherine Stanyan, by whom he had three sons and two daughters, and through whom he inherited the estate of Rawlins Manor, Oxfordshire. Of his sons the eldest, Temple, would rise to the rank of captain in the navy; another, Charles, was a midshipman when killed in an obscure action aboard the Cerberus 32, Captain Robert Man, on 4 June 1781.
Hardy was promoted vice-admiral on 14 February 1759, and after being received by the King a few days later, he hoisted his flag at Plymouth towards the end of March aboard the Lynn 44, Captain Walter Stirling. On 15 May, having shifted to the newly commissioned Hero 74, Captain George Edgecumbe, he sailed with five other sail of the line for Torbay where he was joined by the commander of the Channel Fleet, Admiral Sir Edward Hawke. From June to October, Hardy served as second-in-command to Hawke, flying his flag aboard the Foudroyant 80, Captain Richard Tyrell. At the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 20 November, an overwhelming British victory, he led the van squadron in Hawke’s daring attack, with his flag aboard the Union 90, Captain Thomas Evans. The battle secured British mastery of the seas for the remainder of the Seven Years War and thwarted any French designs for an invasion of the British Isles.
In mid-January 1760 after a 15-day passage from Quiberon Bay, hardy and the Union arrived at Spithead with three sail of the line, the ships being desperately low on provisions. Going ashore, he was a witness at the court martial of Major-General Lord Charles Hay concerning problems with the North American campaign in 1757. Hardy remained ashore until September, when he arrived at Portsmouth to raise his flag aboard the Mars 74, Captain James Young, for passage out to rejoin his flagship, the Union, in the Bay of Biscay. He remained in Quiberon Bay over the winter, blockading the surviving French ships from the battle. Both he and his superior, Admiral Hawke, arrived at Spithead in early March 1761; Hardy struck his flag on the 15th and was again presented to the King.
Hardy seems to have remained ashore for the next eighteen months, and it was not until September 1762 that he was summoned from his country residence to take over command of the Channel Fleet from Hawke. On 7 September he hoisted his flag in Plymouth Sound aboard the Hero 74, Captain Hon. Samuel Barrington, part of a squadron of six sail of the line. By the end of the month his ships were off Ushant, and he was joined by the King’s 23-year-old brother, Vice-Admiral Prince Edward, the Duke of York. Shortly afterwards, Hardy’s squadron visited Plymouth to be re-victualled, putting to sea again a fortnight later, and in December the squadron went on a cruise off the Canary Islands. By early January 1763 the force was back at Plymouth (with Hardy flying his flag aboard the Royal William 84, Captain Hugh Pigot). The Seven Years War was now drawing to a close, and on the 8th of January Hardy hauled down his flag and retired ashore.
During the years of peace, he served for four years as the M.P for Rochester, and in November 1767 he attended the funeral of the Duke of York. He was promoted admiral on 18 October 1770, and in July 1771 he was appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital in succession to Admiral Francis Holburne. During August he was elected the M.P for Plymouth as a supporter of the government, and this was a seat he would hold until his death nine years later. In April 1772 reports surfaced that he would take command of a fleet to be sent out to the Baltic in order to demand the release of King George’s sister, Queen Caroline Matilda of Denmark, who had been arrested for adultery and was to be banished from court, but in the event, diplomacy settled the matter. Similarly, in April 1773 it was speculated that he would take a strong squadron of observation out to the Mediterranean to monitor French and Spanish intentions, but again nothing came of it, and instead, with the American Revolution gathering pace, he became more attentive to his duties in parliament.
In March 1779, despite the fact that he was not in good health and approaching his mid-60’s, Hardy volunteered to serve at sea, resigning his post at Greenwich to become the commander-in-chief of the Channel Fleet with his flag aboard the Victory 100, Captain Henry Collins. This curious return to active employment arose through the refusal of younger and worthier officers to serve the incumbent administration amidst the political fall-out from the Battle of Ushant. Seen as a conciliating, calming and largely apolitical figure, Hardy had not been to sea for sixteen years and had never held the position of a commander-in-chief, and so in order to assist him, the Admiralty appointed the brilliant Captain Richard Kempenfelt as his captain of the fleet.
By the beginning of April 1779 Hardy had arrived at Portsmouth and was flying his flag aboard the Duke 90, Captain Isaac Prescott, although inevitably he had to return to London for a levee and conferences with the Admiralty. Eventually putting to sea with his fleet on 16 June, he undertook a series of cruises to the Lizard in response to reports that a Franco-Spanish fleet was at sea. On 9 July a royal proclamation was issued warning the country to face invasion from the Bourbon allies. Throughout August Hardy, with never more than forty-six ships, found himself opposed by an enemy with nearly seventy ships, a fleet intended to clear the Channel for an invasion by the allied army assembling at Havre and St Malo. On 16 August, as the allies paraded off Plymouth, Hardy settled for a defensive position further west off the Scilly Isles. Eight days later the allies were forced out of the Channel by the weather – Hardy had been able to avoid giving battle and retreated to Spithead on 3 September. By this time the crews of the allied fleet were riddled with sickness, and the ships were in poor condition, leading some observers to claim that Hardy had been mistaken in not offering them battle. People watching the manoeuvres from the shore were unhappy that he did not force an engagement, and some of the seamen in the fleet went so far as to cover the eyes of their ship’s figurehead from the perceived disgrace. What could not be disputed was that Hardy had displayed great strength of character in refusing to be forced into action, and that as a result he had caused the allied invasion plans to collapse.
In the autumn the fleet put to sea again for a month, before returning to Spithead in late November to winter in port. Hardy travelled straight up to London for a meeting with the King, leaving Vice-Admiral George Darby to temporarily take command of the fleet at Portsmouth. On 1 December Hardy stood in the House of Commons to defend his retreat from criticism, and he remained ashore for the rest of the winter.
Hardy was never to have another opportunity of fighting a battle, for on 18 May 1780, having re-hoisted his flag aboard the Victory the day before, he was struck dead by an ‘inflammation of the bowels’ after being taken ashore to the Fountains Inn in the High Street. His body was taken from Portsmouth to his house in Burlington Street before being buried at Oxford near the grave of his father.
A sincere, diligent, popular, good-natured, relaxed and modest man, Hardy was praised for uniting the fleet in 1779 following the political divisions caused by the Keppel / Palliser affair. Nevertheless, although Kempenfelt described him as a good man, he opined that Hardy was totally unsuited for the position of commander-in-chief, and some claimed that the morale of the fleet plumbed new depths during his time in command.