The Service of Thanksgiving for the Naval Victories – 19 December 1797
In December 1797, a grand parade followed by service of thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral was held to celebrate the British naval victories in the French Revolutionary War, and to reunite the country and its navy following the discord caused by the fleet mutinies in the early part of the year.
Coming so soon after a difficult six months in which Britain had been imperilled by the various fleet mutinies, the North Sea Fleet’s victory at the Battle of Camperdown provided an ideal opportunity for the country and its senior service to come together in a national celebration. Seizing on the potential political benefits, and with the enthusiastic backing of the King, the government resolved that a procession through the streets of London to St. Paul’s Cathedral should be followed by a service of thanksgiving. As the plans evolved, it was decided that the event should encompass any British victory in the French Revolutionary War where an enemy ship of the line had been taken. Thus, not only the Battle of Camperdown would be celebrated, but also the Battles of the Glorious First of June in 1794, Genoa and Groix in 1795, and Cape St. Vincent in 1797, together with the Dutch capitulation in Saldanha Bay in 1796 and the capture of Trinidad in 1797.
In early December invitations were sent out to potential participants declaring that ‘His Majesty has signified his intentions of going to St. Paul’s Cathedral…to return thanks to Almighty God for the many signal and important victories obtained by His Majesty’s Navy during the present war’. The haste with which the plan was put together meant that those flag officers who had participated in the battles to be commemorated were given just six days to accept their invitations. A number of such officers were still serving at sea, including Admiral the Earl of St. Vincent, Vice-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, Vice-Admiral Lord Keith, and Rear-Admiral Henry Harvey, whilst Admiral Lord Bridport was also unable to attend because he was managing the affairs of the Channel Fleet from his Somerset residence. Of the other invited flag officers, it appears that only Admiral Lord Graves was unable to arrange his journey up from Cornwall in the time available to attend the occasion, whilst even the aged and sickly Lord Howe signalled that although he would be unable to participate in the procession, he would attend the service at St. Pauls.
On Tuesday 19 December the participants began to assemble in London. During the early morning, dragoons took up positions at the entrances to the main streets from Westminster and Marylebone, into St. James’ Street, Pall-Mall, the Strand, and from Temple Bar to St. Paul’s Cathedral. From five o’clock foot guards began lining the Strand, and an hour later horse guards appeared in Pall Mall and Charing Cross. By now a posse of constables and other peace officers were patrolling Fleet Street and Ludgate Hill. At seven o’clock the naval officers and 250 seamen began congregating in the Palace Yard in front of Westminster Abbey, and at eight the parade began in weather that was gratifyingly and most surprisingly spring-like.
The procession was led by a band of marines from Chatham barracks with six seamen, and lieutenants and petty officers with drawn swords. Next came artillery wagons carrying the captured French flags, pulled by four horses and escorted by two dozen seamen and two dozen marines. They were followed by carriages carrying officers representing the commanders who had achieved each of the victories over the French – Vice-Admiral Benjamin Caldwell representing Admiral Lord Howe for the Battle of the Glorious First of June, Vice-Admiral Samuel Goodall representing Admiral Lord Hotham for the Battle of Genoa, and Rear-Admiral Charles Hamilton representing Admiral Lord Bridport for the Battle of Groix. Then it was the turn of artillery wagons displaying the captured Spanish colours, to be followed by the carriages of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Thompson representing Admiral the Earl of St. Vincent for the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and Captain John Harvey representing Rear-Admiral Harvey for the capture of Trinidad. Lastly was the wagon carrying the Dutch flags, with the carriages of Admiral Lord Duncan who had led the fleet at the Battle of Camperdown, and Captain Billy Douglas, who days before had arrived home from the Cape, representing Vice-Admiral Lord Keith for the capitulation of the Dutch squadron in Saldanha Bay. Amongst the glittering blue and gold of the officers with the Dutch colours, particular attention was drawn to Jack Crawford, a seaman who was being honoured for nailing Lord Duncan’s colours to his flagship’s top gallant mast at the Battle of Camperdown. Bringing up the rear of the naval parade was another detachment of marines followed by marine officers with naval lieutenants. Marching alongside the carriages, the sailors received the cheers of the delighted populace and many of the lieutenants and midshipmen happily returned the salutations.
At 10 o’clock the royal family and their attendants set off from the Queen’s House (now Buckingham Palace) with an escort of guards for their twenty coaches pulled by more than a hundred horses. Then came the foreign ministers, members of the House of Commons, the Speaker in his gilded carriage, judges, lords, and bishops. To the cheers of the public, the procession wended its way through the park, stable-yard, St. James and Pall-Mall to Temple Bar, where Their Majesties were met by the Lord Mayor, and then on to the Cathedral where they were welcomed by the Corporation of the City. Notably missing were the Prince and Princess of Wales, reportedly because the debt-laden Prince was trying to economise, but more likely because he did not want to be seen in public with his German wife, whom he detested. It was estimated that over 200,000 Londoners lined the streets to watch and cheer as the gorgeous procession made its stately way to the cathedral. Prime Minister William Pitt was both applauded and hissed by the populace; an ox provided an inadvertent addition to the festivities when it ran loose on Ludgate Hill, causing several injuries before being driven through St. Paul’s Churchyard.
At 11.15 the procession entered the cathedral through the great west door to be received by the Bishop of London. Within the cathedral a circle of the naval flags taken from the enemy were held aloft by admirals from the respective battles, and the King, himself resplendent in naval blue and gold, paused for some time to speak to Admiral Lord Duncan and then briefly to Vice-Admiral Sir Alan Gardner. Accompanied by the Queen and princesses, radiant in royal purple satin robes with gold trimming and belts, His Majesty then proceeded to sit under the crimson canopy of state in the Choir, and at noon the service commenced.
At the end of the first lesson, the victorious admirals and captains (as listed below) entered in two divisions on either side of the King’s chair to deposit the captured flags at the altar, where they were arranged in what was described as a ‘consecrated order’. The service then continued before ending with a resounding rendition of ‘God Save the King’, and at 2.30 the Park guns were fired to signify the end of the formalities.
For most, the day had been a resounding success. It went without saying that the great and the good had revelled in the occasion, whilst the common seamen (tarred by their mutiny not so long ago), had been lauded by the adoring public, and had even been paid by the Admiralty for their attendance. The soldiers had been so well fuelled with liquid refreshments that their march back to barracks was to be described as anything but orderly. The public had seen their heroes in the flesh, including a new champion, the convalescing one-armed Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, who had shared a coach with the one-legged Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley, and the fully limbed Rear-Admiral Sir Roger Curtis . The mob had also taken the opportunity to express their opinion of the prime minister, William Pitt, who had to be escorted home by the cavalry, but even though some troops remained on duty throughout the night there was no trouble from any malcontents. Indeed, the only sour note came from liberal elements, whose favoured publication, the Morning Chronicle had denigrated the event as a ‘Frenchified farce’ even before it had taken place. The majority of the other newspapers took a different view and over the coming days other services of thanksgiving were to take place throughout the land.
The event also produced a harvest of souvenirs: commemorative medals in silver, bronze and copper; a special descriptive publication of the occasion; the score of music composed to accompany the event; and even an elaborate satirical cartoon by Isaac Cruikshank, mocking the prominent politicians of the period, and criticising the new taxes they had ordered to pay for the war. This was the first of several national commemorations, including the funeral of Nelson, the jubilee for the fiftieth year of the reign of King George III, and the arrival of the allied sovereigns in London in 1814 after the victory over Napoleon.
The victorious admirals and captains who deposited the flags at the altar:
The Glorious First of June
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley
Vice-Admiral Sir Alan Gardner
Rear-Admiral Sir Roger Curtis
Rear-Admiral James Gambier
Rear-Admiral Hon. George Cranfield Berkeley
Rear-Admiral Lord Hugh Seymour
Captain William Domett
Captain John Elphinstone
The Battle of Genoa
Vice-Admiral Samuel Goodall
Rear-Admiral William Young
The Battle of Groix
Rear-Admiral Charles Powell Hamilton
Captain Thomas Larcom
Captain John Monkton
Captain Richard Grindall
Captain William Browell
The Battle of Cape St. Vincent
Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Thompson
Vice-Admiral Hon. William Waldegrave
Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson
Captain James Hawkins Whitshed
Captain John Sutton
Captain John Irwin
Captain Sir Charles Knowles
Captain James Richard Dacres
Captain George Henry Towry
Saldanha Bay
Captain Billy Douglas
The Battle of Camperdown
Admiral Lord Duncan
Vice-Admiral Richard Onslow
Captain Sir Henry Trollope
Captain William O’Brien Drury
Captain John Wells
Captain William Mitchell
Captain William Bligh
Captain James Walker
Captain Sir William Fairfax
Captain William Essington
Captain Edward O’Bryen
Captain George Gregory
Captain William Hotham