He was born at Greenwich in Dec. 1738; entered the naval service in 1753; and was appointed a Lieutenant of the Magnanime 74, at the particular request of her Captain, the late Earl Howe, in June 1759. He served under that officer and H.R.H. the late Duke of York, until the end of the seven-years’ war[1], was made a Commander in the Savage sloop, about 1765, and obtained the rank of Post-Captain Dec. 7, 1770.
After serving for some time as Flag-Captain to Lord Howe, in the Barfleur of 90 guns, be obtained the command of the Arethusa frigate, in which he was employed on the American station nearly four years. At the commencement of the colonial war he joined the Roebuck, a new ship mounting 44 guns on two decks, and soon after entered upon a series of most active and perilous services, in the rivers Delaware and Chesapeake.
In the month of June, 1776, Captain Hamond accom-
- ↑ The Magnanime formed part of Sir Edward Hawke’s fleet, in the action off Quiberon, Nov. 20, 1759, on which occasion the French lost six ships of the line: viz. le Formidable of 80 guns, captured; le Soleil Royale, of the same force, bearing the flag of Admiral de Conflans, and l’Heros 74, driven on shore and burnt; le Thesée 74, and Superbe 70, sunk with their crews on board; and le Juste of 70 guns, wrecked. The British fleet consisted of twenty-three sail of the line, two of which, the Resolution of 74 guns, and Essex 64, were lost on the Four Banks. The enemy had twenty-one line-of-battle ships, two frigates, and one corvette; their loss, if we may judge from the carnage made on board le Formidable, which vessel had about 200 men, including Rear-Admiral de Verger, killed, must have been considerable. On our side 50 were slain, and about 250 wounded.
“But who can speak the deep and lasting sorrows to which his family and friends are now devoted! Here, alas, words are useless. Draw then the mournful veil, and ‘Let expressive silence muse his praise’.” Sir Andrew Snape Douglas was distantly related to the Marquis Douglas, and bore the same arms. – The regard which his late Majesty retained for the memory of this lamented officer, is exemplified by the following anecdote:– The King having often inquired whether it were possible for him to have a bust of Sir Andrew, his uncle carried one to the Queen’s house, and placed it in one of the rooms through which the royal family were to pass, on their return from the chapel. His Majesty immediately recognized the well-known features of his faithful servant, and in a manner that did the highest honor to his feelings! Having shewn the bust to all the royal family, the monarch then took it in his own hands, and placed it over a book-case, where it ever afterwards remained.
* During Sir Andrew’s painful illness, the mutiny in the fleet broke out. See Vol I. p. 549, et seq.
