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- Copy of Letters Sent on the Public Service from His Majesty’s Ship Glasgow
Copy of Letters Sent on the Public Service from His Majesty’s Ship Glasgow, the Honorable Anthony Maitland, C.B. Captain Between the 31st Day of August 1816 and the 5th Day of March 1821
Manuscript.
Blank book, 23 cm. Unpaginated (about 350 pp. manuscript entries).
Price: $6500
HMS Glasgow was a 40-gun fifth-rate Endymion-class frigate launched in 1814 and broken up by 1829. Her captain, Anthony Maitland, had been given command of the ship in February, 1816. In the period covered by these letters, she had just completed a major naval engagement known as the “Bombardment of Algiers.” In July of that year they joined the Anglo-Dutch fleet commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, and on 27 August the fleet began its bombardment of Algiers, with “Glasgow” firing at the gun batteries of the town. When the ship-of-the-line “HMS Impregnable” signaled to the fleet that she had suffered one hundred and fifty casualties, Maitland volunteered to divert enemy fire from her. However, the wind failed, and “Glasgow” was left open to hostile fire. Ten men were killed and thirty-seven more wounded. For his service, Maitland was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath. “HMS Glasgow” underwent repairs and was recommissioned in 1817, and subsequently departed on a Med cruise. Early letters from Algiers and Deptford refer to the battle and the conduct of participating officers with recommendations for bravery. Letters from Deptford refer to daily operation of the ship, an escaped prisoner, and transfers of men and material. By 1818, letters from Gibraltar and Malta refer to ships business, sick lists, deaths, travels in the Mediterranean, slop accounts, report on hospital at Malta, trouble with purser and schoolmaster aboard “Glasgow,” etc. At Corfu in 1819 the correspondence reveals the details of a transfer of $85,000. There are lists of “sick” and “dead,” lists of “persons embarked,” letters concerning the condition of ship, a three-week trip to Egypt, and a threatened mutiny aboard “HMS Christiana.” There are discussions of work on a treaty with Ali Pacha, return to Malta, more lists of persons embarked, as well as recommendations for promotion. Later correspondence tracks her progress through Syracuse, Palermo, Toulon, Naples, Corfu, and Malta, ending with the death of Vice Admiral Freemantle and the change of command at Corfu in 1820. There are further mentions of delivery of 80,000 Imperial Dollars to the treasury at Corfu, on which Maitland reckoned a rate of ¾% = $600. There are several references to Thomas Maitland Anthonys uncle and governor of Malta, and details of an act of piracy committed on the brig “William” with a list of persons condemned for an act of piracy 6 of whom were executed (2 reprieved). Also, damage in severe weather, auction of condemned supplies, piracy said to have been committed on the English schooner Fanny by a Spanish Falucca, and Glasgow’s return from Naples to Spithead. Correspondence ends 5 March 1821, when Maitland sailed “Glasgow” back to England and went on half pay. These are contemporary copies of official correspondence, probably gathered upon Maitland’s return to England. Letters from the 1817-1818 period show old fold marks, having been bound in with the rest of the letters in chronological order. Indeed, his last entry begins, “I beg leave to transmit herewith the Muster Book of His Majesty’s Ship the Glasgow… for January and February 1821,” suggesting that the ship’s official documents were gathered together at the end of the cruise. All entries are legible, dated, with location given and recipient noted. Bound in full vellum with the manuscript notation “C – Letters Sent” in ink, on the spine, and a handsome stationer’s label of C. Townson, Chatham. Fine condition overall, and a revealing documentary source concerning the ongoing efforts of Europe and America to deal with depredations of the troublesome Algerian pirates.
