teries when assisting in the defence of York Town, Oct. 10, 1781; and from that period, till the surrender of Earl Cornwallis and his army to the American and French forces, Mr. Tomlinson commanded one of the British advanced batteries, where he conducted himself in such a manner as to obtain his Lordship’s personal thanks[1]. He returned to England in Jan. 1782, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Bristol, a 50-gun ship, commanded by Captain James Burney, on the 23d March in the same year.
The Bristol sailed from England with a fleet of Indiamen under her convoy in Sept. 1782; and on the 19th April following lost 19 of her crew by the blowing up of the Hon. Company’s ship Duke of Athol, in Madras Road. The total number of lives lost on this melancholy occasion exceeded 200, including 6 Lieutenants, 5 warrant officers, and 127 of the best men belonging to the squadron under Sir Edward Hughes. Lieutenant Tomlinson, who had volunteered to go to the Duke of Athol’s assistance, in the room of another officer who was ordered on that service, received a severe contusion in his breast and left side, and his whole body a dreadful shock[2]. He subsequently bore a part in the last action fought between Sir Edward Hughes and M. de Suffrein[3], on which occasion the Bristol had 13 men wounded.
Lieutenant Tomlinson removed into the Juno frigate, com-
- ↑ We have already stated (at p. 63) that Earl Cornwallis had entered into a capitulation for the surrender of York and Gloucester on the 17th Oct. 1781. Two days afterwards those important posts, together with the Guadaloupe frigate, Bonetta sloop of war, many transports, a numerous artillery, and a large quantity of military stores, were given up to the combined armies. About twenty transports had been sunk or burnt during the siege. Earl Cornwallis, with all the military and naval officers, except such as were necessary for the care of the soldiers and seamen, were set at liberty on their parole. The American commissioner who drew up the articles of capitulation, was the son of Mr. Laurens, the late President of Congress, whose capture by the British we have already noticed (see p. 14), and who was still a close prisoner in the Tower of London, under a charge of high treason.
- ↑ Mr. Tomlinson was first Lieutenant of the Bristol at this period; a junior officer had been ordered to assist the Indiaman, but, as appears by Captain Burney’s certificate, was not immediately ready to do so.
- ↑ See Vol. I. note at p. 425.
