Abstract
The last biography of Sir Erasmus Gower appeared in 1815. He very much deserved a new one, since his naval career provides great insight in the careers of British Royal Navy officers, and this book is an attempt to provide it. In one respect Gower was atypical of the admirals of his period: he was not involved as an officer in any of Britain’s great naval victories. Otherwise, he led a varied and truly global career. By the age of 26 he had circumnavigated the earth twice. He served admirably in four wars against the French and their allies. He survived a shipwreck on a shore distant from rescue. As a commodore, he was the naval commander of Macartney’s ill-fated China embassy. In 1797, he commanded the Thames Squadron in the defence of London against the Nore mutineers. Finally, he had a fruitful tenure as the governor of Newfoundland; a position restricted to naval officers until the area became a colony.
Looking at his career one notices several aspects of general interest for maritime historians. He served seven years as a captain’s servant (the antechamber to being a midshipman) before he became a midshipman. Having passed the lieutenant’s examination at age nineteen he waited four years before his first commission as a lieutenant. He then spent over thirteen years working toward becoming a post captain. Nevertheless, by age 65, with over fifty years’ service, he became Admiral of the Blue. With the exceptions of his commands in Macartney’s embassy, and service against the Nore mutineers he never held a fleet or squadron command. His years of waiting for promotion prove yet again the importance of patronage in the advancement of British naval officers. Only in Admiral Lord George Rodney (who had married a cousin of Gower’s) did he have a highly placed connection, but Rodney failed to accelerate his promotions. It was his dedication and competence as a naval officer that led first to Macartney (and initially Lieutenant Colonel Charles A. Cathcart, the first man chosen as ambassador to China) to select Gower to command the embassy’s naval squadron, and then the Admiralty to elevate him to command of the Thames squadron.
While Gower’s career lacked participation in a major action as a senior officer, he was the captain of a ship of the line in a major triumph: Cornwallis’s retreat from action with a superior French squadron, off Brittany in 1795. It may seem counterintuitive to call a retreat a victory, but the Royal Navy and British public immediately recognised it as such, for the French had five more ships of the line than Cornwallis. The British squadron escaped without losing a ship. That feat demonstrated that the better sailing qualities and manoeuvrability of French warships mattered less than British training and experience.
Bates has based his book on a thorough and prodigious examination of the primary documents. His sources were nearly as global as Gower’s career. However, the book has some idiosyncrasies. Bates has an unfortunate habit – especially as the source material becomes richer – of providing massive quotations that occupy up to a third of Chapters 10 to 24. Also, the author seems unable to avoid providing information he has found, even when trivial or repetitious. How many times must the reader encounter reports of rigging, mast and spar damage and their subsequent repair? Often it seems that those challenges were greater to Gower and his fellow officers than either the enemy or weather. There are no maps, which given the vast geographic spread of Gower’s service is lamentable. The index cannot be used quickly to find information about instances in Gower’s career. The provision of five appendices has some truly useful information, and some that is tangential. For example, the details about Gower’s associates whose biographies are not readily accessible are extremely useful in illustrating the value of his patronage to younger officers. The inclusion of the full text of Gower’s will (seven pages) is questionable since Bates had already provided the relevant details in the main body. The references are provided as footnotes, and the book has a lengthy bibliography.
As an introduction to the life of a long service officer in the Royal Navy this book has great merit. It is especially useful for those lacking background in naval history due to the appendix of naval terms, and the author’s attention to detail. While Gower certainly had combat experience, his two voyages of exploration, shipwreck and service on Britain’s first China embassy and as governor of Newfoundland make the work attractive to those not ordinarily interested in naval history. Equally important, those aspects of naval service demonstrate that while Britain was at war during three-fifths of Gower’s naval service, Royal Navy officers could accumulate substantial sea service outside of combat. Those researching Pieere de Suffren and Sir Edward Hughes’s struggle for naval supremacy in the Indian Ocean, Macartney’s China embassy, the Spithead and Nore mutinies, Britain’s naval war with Revolutionary France, and Newfoundland history will want to consult this book. The work’s meticulous detail and frequent lengthy quotations of primary sources, although making it a demanding read, allow an appreciation of a British naval officer’s challenges.