Phillips Cosby

Admiral Phillips Cosby (1729 – 10 January 1808) was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Phillips Cosby
Bornc.1729 (1729)
Nova Scotia
Died10 January 1808(1808-01-10) (aged 78–79)
Bath
Buried
Bath Abbey
AllegianceKingdom of Great Britain
Service/branchRoyal Navy
Years of service1747–1801
RankAdmiral
Commands held
Battles/wars

Cosby joined the Royal Navy as an ordinary seaman in 1747.[1] He was given command of a schooner at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and was present at the capture of Quebec in 1759.[1]

Promoted to Post Captain in 1761, he commanded HMS Hind and HMS Isis.[1] In 1766 he was appointed to HMS Montreal.[1]

He was receiver general (treasurer) of the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts from 1771 to 1778, a lucrative post which he resigned on the outbreak of the Anglo-French War.[2] In command of HMS Centaur in 1778, he took part in the Battle of Ushant and in command of HMS Robust in 1779, he took part in the Siege of Charleston in 1780.[1] He also took part in the Battle of Cape Henry in 1781.[3]

He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1785, Commander-in-Chief at Cork in 1790, and Port Admiral at Plymouth in 1792.[1]

Family

In 1792 he married Eliza Hurst, née Gunthorpe.[1]

References
  1. Phillips Cosby at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  2. Stewart 2009, p. 76.
  3. Mahan, Alfred Thayer (1898). Major operations of the royal navy, 1762-1783: Being chapter XXXI in The royal navy. A history. Boston: Little, Brown. p. 492. OCLC 46778589. arbuthnot.

Sources

Stewart, William (2009). Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3809-9.

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