The autobiography of a seaman (volume 2 of 2)

"The autobiography of a seaman (volume 2 of 2)" by Earl of Thomas Cochrane Dundonald is an autobiography written in the mid-19th century. It continues the celebrated naval commander’s first-person account, now turning into a rigorous self-vindication of his conduct and a critique of Admiralty politics, centered on the 1809 Basque Roads (Aix Roads) affair and its contentious court-martial. Expect a technically detailed, combative narrative that blends charts, logs, and sworn testimony with sharp commentary on naval policy, reform, and the corrosive effects of party interest.

The opening of this volume explains why the author can finally present his case: after decades of refusals, recent First Lords of the Admiralty granted access to long-withheld charts and logs, enabling a documentary defense of his actions. He recounts earlier denials, Mr. Stokes’s sworn alterations to a key chart, failed appeals to the Hydrographer and the Admiralty Secretary, and the personal consequences that helped drive him to command in Chile before returning to renew his requests—culminating in the discovery that a chart once denied actually sat in the records all along. He then contrasts the official French Neptune François chart—showing a clear two‑mile channel and ample depth to attack the grounded French fleet on 12 April—with the court-martial’s adoption of flawed charts by Stokes and Fairfax, which narrowed the channel, inserted an imaginary shoal, and even plotted enemy positions as they lay on the 13th rather than the crucial morning of the 12th. He details how his own French chart was rejected in court on a technicality while Stokes’s hearsay-based diagram was embraced, despite contradictions noticed yet unacted upon by the president of the court. The opening also notes the broader consequence that later charts appear to have perpetuated these distortions, potentially deterring future operations. It closes by introducing supporting testimony and letters from senior officers such as Admiral Francis W. Austen and Captain Hutchinson, underscoring that he was not properly supported, and by briefly addressing the myth of his being “amply rewarded,” setting the stage for further evidence of official neglect and personal persecution. (This is an automatically generated summary.)