A SILVER-MOUNTED SPANISH CUTLASS CAPTURED BY LORD ANSON FROM...

Estimate

£30,000 - £50,000

A SILVER-MOUNTED SPANISH CUTLASS CAPTURED BY LORD ANSON FROM THE MANILA GALLEON NUESTRA SEÑORA DE COVADONGA, 20TH JUNE 1743

the 28½in. curved steel plain blade with silver guard, wrist chain, knurled shagreen wire-bound grip contained in associated brass-mounted leather scabbard, the top locket engraved This Sword / taken on Board the / Spanish Galeon / Captured by Lord Ansen / in the year 1743 by / Arthur Lush -- 33½in. (85cm.) overall

James Kearney White (1782-1828) and thence by descent.

A FASCINATING AND IMPORTANT TRIO OF SWORDS PRESENTED TO CAPTAIN JAMES KEARNEY WHITE, R.N., together with a Spanish cutlass taken from Admiral Lord Anson’s fabled ‘Manilla Galleon’, one of the richest prizes in the history of seafaring

James Kearney White was born in 1782 and although there is scant information about his family, his early life or his entry into the Royal Navy, the latter part of his career more than made up for this deficiency. He first came to notice in 1804, during operations off the coast of the Netherlands, when the 18-gun brig-sloop Scorpion was detached from Admiral Thornborough’s squadron to reconnoitre the Vlie passage into the Texel where she discovered two Dutch brig-corvettes at anchor in the Texel Roads on 28^th March. One of them, the Atalante, was armed with sixteen valuable ‘long’ 12-pounders and Captain Hardinge, commanding Scorpion, resolved to take her. Not wanting to risk Scorpion herself because of the danger of shoals, he decided to mount a ‘boat action’ when conditions allowed. In the event, it was three days before the conditions were right and, at 9.30pm. on the evening of 31^st March, in full dark, three boats from Scorpion and two from H.M.S. Beaver (which had joined the fray earlier that day) set out on the flood-tide. Nevertheless, it still took two hours to reach the Atalante which, by now, was on full alert and more than ready to repel any boarders. Leading the attack, Captain Hardinge himself was first aboard and, in a short but furious action, the Atalante was taken. In his subsequent despatch to Admiral Thornborough, Hardinge described Atalante as “one of the largest brigs in the Dutch navy… and admirably calculated for His Majesty’s service” and then went on to commend “the zeal and gallantry” of several individuals including “…Lieut. White” who was rewarded with a £50 sword from Lloyd’s Patriotic Fund (see lot 204).

He next attracts attention during the Anglo-American ‘War of 1812’ during which he achieved at least a small measure of fame as well as wealth and, finally, a well-deserved promotion to post-rank. Having been made Commander on 10^th June 1811, he was given the gun-brig Thistle, still on the stocks at Rochester but launched on 13^th July 1812. From there, White took his new command to Chatham to oversee her fitting out after which she sailed for North American waters. White only stayed in Thistle just over a year until appointed to the command of the larger brig-sloop Peruvian in October 1814. The Peruvian had already enjoyed two very successful tours, first in the Caribbean in 1812 and then, in 1813-14, on the American Station during which she had captured two U.S. privateers and taken part in a daring expedition up the Penobscot River in Maine. When White took over the command in October 1814, crew morale was riding high and, under his captaincy, two more prizes were added in quick succession to Peruvian’s impressive tally – the Spanish ship Dolores and the U.S. merchantman Rufus – before Peruvian was ordered home in April 1815. By mid-June, she lay becalmed at Ostend and when Major the Hon. Henry Percy, the only one of Wellington’s aides to have survived the carnage at Waterloo unscathed, arrived with the news of the great victory, White took drastic action. With no wind in the offing, he immediately ordered Peruvian’s gig lowered and, after selecting four of his strongest crew, the six men, including both White and Percy who did their share at the oars, rowed it across the Channel to Broadstairs where the two officers hired a fast post-chaise-and-four and raced to London bearing the momentous news of Napoleon’s defeat.

Once Napoleon had been brought to England and the decision taken to banish him to the distant island of St. Helena, Peruvian and her sister Zenobia were assigned to Admiral Cockburn’s squadron which was to escort the Emperor into exile. Extraordinarily, and before the long journey south began, Peruvian was despatched to Guernsey to pick up a supply of wine for Napoleon’s consumption in exile, a very personal service rewarded by the presentation of another sword (see lot 206). Later, when Cockburn became concerned that the French might use the then uninhabited island of Ascension as a base from which to mount a rescue attempt to free Napoleon, he sent Peruvian and Zenobia to claim it and, at 5.30pm on 22^nd October 1815, White and Zenobia’s commander Captain Dobree went ashore, raised the Union flag and took possession of the island in the name of King George III. Leaving some marines as a garrison, the two sloops then resumed their voyage to St. Helena although, in the meantime, Peruvian’s crew had presented White with a splendid silver-mounted sabre (see lot 205), presumably purchased in Portsmouth before Cockburn’s squadron sailed. Months later, Peruvian returned to England carrying despatches from the island’s governor, and then laid up In Ordinary at Plymouth where she remained until broken up in 1830. After some shore leave, White returned to sea and was promoted Captain (December 1818) although he was already in command of the sixth-rate Spey (1818-August 1819). Before taking up his next command, another sixth rate, the Tyne, in February 1821, with orders to sail for the West Indies, White took the opportunity to marry Elizabeth Neeld in London with whom he had one daughter. His appointment to Tyne was short-lived however – barely one year – and he was not re-employed at sea, perhaps due to sickness. Given that he died in Bermuda on 2^nd March 1828 at the age of only 46, it is possible that he had contracted one of the many fevers which afflicted Europeans there and died as a result, although this remains unconfirmed.

At the start of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1739, Commodore George Anson was given command of a seven-ship squadron with the task of harrying Spanish shipping on the South Coast of America and, if possible, capturing the Manila galleon - the annual shipment of gold and silver from Mexico to the Philippines. Of his poorly-manned ships (Centurion flagship, Gloucester, Severn (50-guns); Pearl (40); Wager (28); Tryal (8) and the supply ship Anna Pink), only four made it to the Americas with an enormous loss of life from scurvy, the Wager having been wrecked and the Severn and Pearl turning back at the Cape. Despite all the setbacks, the squadron captured several Spanish merchants and burned the town of Paita. By 1742 the Anna Pink, Tryal and Gloucester had been stripped of stores and sunk, such was their poor condition. Anson absorbed their much-needed crews aboard Centurion and, after a difficult refit at Macao, went to hunt for the fabled Manila galleon off the Philippines, keeping station off Cape Espiritu Santo for a month. Despite being warned about the threat of Anson, Captain Jerónimo de Montero of the Nuestra Señora de la Covadonga had chosen to risk a shorter route and trust to luck, this ran out when, on June 20th Centurion overhauled the Covadonga about six leagues off the Cape. The Spaniard's gun deck was so cluttered with stores and cargo they could only bring six of their thirty-six guns to bear, whereas Centurion, despite all her travails, was in relatively good condition with a sufficient crew. The Spaniard was no match for such a determined predator and they suffered sixty-seven killed and eighty-four wounded compared with English casualties of two dead and seventeen wounded before they surrendered. Anson escorted the Covadonga to Canton where it was sold for $6,000 to local merchants and Centurion sailed for home on December 15th 1743, her four year circumnavigation ending with her arrival at Spithead on June 15th 1744. Despite the loss of three ships and more than 1,300 crew (only four to enemy action), Anson's capture of the Manila galleon yielded 1,313,843 pieces of eight and 35 682 ounces of virgin silver. Anson achieved flag rank the following year and, with his share of this and later prize money, was able to build Shugborough, a stately home now in the possession of the National Trust and which contains a fine contemporary model of the Centurion.