Everything about Richard Howe totally explained
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG (
8 March,
1726 –
5 August,
1799) was a
British admiral.
Early career
Howe was born in
London, the second son of
Emanuel Scrope Howe, 2nd Viscount Howe, who died as governor of
Barbados in March 1735, and of
Charlotte, a daughter of
Baroness von Kielmansegg, afterwards
Countess of Darlington, the half-sister of King
George I which does much to explain his early rise in the navy. Richard Howe entered the navy in the
Severn, one of the squadron sent into the south seas with
George Anson in 1740. The
Severn failed to round
Cape Horn and returned home. Howe next served in the
West Indies aboard
Burford and was present when she was severely damaged in the unsuccessful attack on
La Guayra on
February 18 1742. He was made acting-lieutenant in the West Indies in the same year, and the rank was confirmed in 1744.
During the
Jacobite Rising of 1745, he commanded the
sloop Baltimore in the
North Sea, and was severely wounded in the head while cooperating with a frigate in an engagement with two French privateers. In 1746, he became
post-captain, and commanded
Triton in the
West Indies. As captain of
Cornwall, the
flagship of
Sir Charles Knowles, he was in
the battle with the Spaniards off
Havana on
October 2 1748. Between the
War of the Austrian Succession and the
Seven Years' War, Howe held commands at home and on the west coast of
Africa. In 1755, he went with
Edward Boscawen to
North America as captain of
Dunkirk, and his capture of the French
Alcide was the first shot fired in the war. From then until the peace of 1763, he served in the Channel in various more or less futile expeditions against the French coast, gaining a reputation as a firm and skilful officer. On
November 20 1759, he led
Hawke's fleet as captain of
Magnanime in the
Battle of Quiberon Bay.
After the death of his elder brother, killed near
Ticonderoga on
July 6 1758, he became
Viscount Howe in the
Peerage of Ireland. In 1762, he was elected M.P. for
Dartmouth, and held the seat until he was elevated to the
House of Lords as Earl Howe in the
Peerage of Great Britain. During 1763 and 1765, he was a member of the Admiralty board. From 1765 to 1770, he was treasurer of the navy. At the end of his tenure, Howe was promoted to
Rear admiral, and then again, in 1775, to
Vice admiral. The following year, he was appointed to the command of the
North American station.
American Revolution
At the beginning of the
American Revolution, Howe was known to be sympathetic to the colonists. He had known
Benjamin Franklin, who was a friend of his sister, a popular lady in London society. Howe had written to Franklin in a peacemaking effort. Because of his known sentiments, he was selected to command in America. He was joined in a commission with his brother, General Sir
William Howe, head of the land forces, to attempt a reconciliation. A committee appointed by the
Second Continental Congress conferred with the Howes in September 1776, but nothing came of it. The appointment of a new peace commission in 1778 offended the admiral deeply, and he resigned of his command. His resignation was reluctantly accepted by
Lord Sandwich, then First Lord, but before it could take effect
France declared war, and a powerful French squadron was sent to America under the
Comte d'Estaing. Greatly outnumbered and forced to take a defensive stance, Howe nevertheless baffled the French admiral at
Sandy Hook, and defeated d'Estaing's attempt to take
Newport, Rhode Island by a fine combination of caution and calculated daring. On Admiral
John Byron's arrival from England with reinforcements, Howe left his station in September 1778. Declining to serve afterwards, he cited distrust of
Lord North and a lack of support during his command in America. He was further embittered by the supersession of himself and his brother as peace commissioners, as well as by attacks in the press against him by ministerial writers.
French Revolution
Not until the fall of Lord North's ministry in March 1782 did Howe once again accept a command. That autumn, he carried out the relief of
Gibraltar — a difficult operation, 46 French and Spanish ships-of-the-line against only 33 of his own. The exhausted state of the English homeland made it impossible for Howe to fit his ships properly or supply them with good crews, and Howe's progress to Gibraltar was hampered by the need to escort a large convoy carrying stores. Still, Howe handled his makeshift fleet brilliantly and took advantage of an awkward and unenterprising enemy. From 1783 until 1788, he served as
First Lord of the Admiralty during
the Younger Pitt's first ministry. The task was no pleasant one, for he'd to agree to extreme budgetary constraints and disappoint the hopes of many officers who were left unemployed by the peace. On the outbreak of the War of the
First Coalition against France in 1793, he was again given command of the
Channel fleet. The following year would be the greatest of his career, including the victory of the "
Glorious First of June". Although now nearly seventy years old, Howe displayed a tactical originality uncommon in such a veteran. Howe's active service ended after the campaign, but he continued to hold nominal command of the Channel Fleet by the king's decree. In 1797, he was called on to pacify
Spithead mutineers, and his powerful influence upon the sailors who revered him was conspicuously shown. (It also helped that in his talks with the mutineers, Howe saw the justice in their demands, and negotiated a settlement which satisfied most of them.)
Later career and legacy
In 1782, he was created Viscount Howe of Langar, and, in 1788, Baron and Earl Howe. In June 1797, he was made a
Knight of the Garter. Though he didn't seek his sailors's affection, he was popular with them, for they knew him to be just. His nickname "Black Dick" was given because of his swarthy complexion, and the portrait by
Thomas Gainsborough shows it was apt. Howe was buried in his family vault at
Langar, Nottinghamshire. His monument by
John Flaxman is in
St Paul's Cathedral.
Lord Howe was married on
March 10,
1758 to Mary Hartop, the daughter of Colonel Chiverton Hartop of Welby in Leicestershire, and had two daughters. His Irish title descended to his brother, General
William Howe, who died childless in 1814. The earldom and the viscountcy of the United Kingdom, being limited to male heirs, became extinct. The barony passed to his daughter, Sophia Charlotte (1762-1835), who married the Hon. Penn Assheton Curzon. Their son,
Richard Curzon-Howe, succeeded his paternal grandfather as Viscount Curzon in 1820 and was created Earl Howe in 1821; he was succeeded by his son,
George(1821-1876).
Four British warships have borne the name
HMS Howe in his honour.
Genealogy
Richard Howe was brother to
General George Augustus Howe, 3rd Viscount and
Sir William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe.
The Family of Hoge quotes
The Encyclopedia Britannica as having this to say about the Howes:
"The friendliness of the brothers, Admiral Richard Howe and General William Howe, to the colonies led to their selection for the command of the British forces in the Revolutionary War. It was thought that they could negotiate a settlement with the American forces."
Bibliography
- Gruber, Ira. Howe Brothers and the American Revolution (1975), the standard biography
- Warner, Oliver. The Glorious First of June (B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1961)
Literature
British Magazine and Review, June, 1783, (London, 1783)
Sir John Barrow, Life of Richard, Earl Howe, (London, 1838)
Memoir of the Life of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, edited by Lady Bourchier, (London, 1873)
J. K. Laughton, From Howard to Nelson, (London, 1899)
E. Chevalier, Histoire de la marine francaise, (Paris, 1900)Further Information
Get more info on 'Richard Howe'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://richard_howe__1st_earl_howe.totallyexplained.com">Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
