Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet

Strachan was born in Devon on 27 October 1760, the eldest son of Lieutenant Patrick Strachan RN and a daughter of Captain Pitman RN. His uncle was Sir John Strachan, fifth baronet. Strachan entered the Royal Navy in 1772 at the age of twelve, serving first aboard HMS Intrepid. He sailed with Intrepid to the East Indies, before moving to HMS Orford, then under the command of his uncle. He went on to serve in a number of different ships on the North American Station, first aboard HMS Preston under Commodore William Hotham, followed by HMS Eagle, the flagship of Lord Howe.

Strachan went on to serve aboard HMS Actaeon off the coast of Africa, and in the West Indies. On the death of his uncle on 26 December 1777, he succeeded to the baronetcy. He was promoted to lieutenant on 5 April 1779 and was then appointed to HMS Hero in early 1781, under the command of Captain James Hawker. Aboard Hero Strachan was part of Commodore George Johnstone's squadron, and was present at the Battle of Porto Praya against the Bailli de Suffren on 16 April 1781. After this action, Hero moved on to the East Indies, where Strachan moved to take up a post, first aboard HMS Magnanime and then aboard HMS Superb. It was whilst aboard Superb that Strachan was present at the first of four actions that took place between Sir Edward Hughes and de Suffren, the Battle of Sadras on 17 February 1782.

After acquitting himself well, Strachan was promoted by Hughes in January 1783 to the command of the cutter HMS Lizard, and then again on 26 April 1783 to be captain of the corvette Naiad. Strachan's next appointment was in 1787 to HMS Vestal. He sailed in the spring of 1788 for China, carrying the ambassador, the Hon. Charles Alan Cathcart. Cathcart died during the journey, as Vestal passed through the Strait of Banca, and the ship returned to England. Strachan and Vestal were then ordered to the East Indies again, to join a squadron under the command of Commodore William Cornwallis. On arrival, Strachan was reassigned to HMS Phoenix. In November 1791 she was ordered to stop and search the French frigate Résolue, which was escorting a number of merchant ships believed to be carrying military supplies to support Tippu Sultan. Résolue resisted Phoenix and a brief fight ensued before Résolue struck her colours. Trublet de Villejégu, captain of Résolue, insisted on considering his ship as a British prize, so Cornwallis ordered Strachan to tow her into Mahé and return her to the French commodore.

Strachan returned to England in 1793, and was appointed to command the frigate HMS Concorde and in spring 1794 joined a squadron patrolling off Brest, under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren. The squadron engaged a rival squadron of four French frigates on 23 April 1794 and succeeded in capturing three of them. Strachan and Concorde had forced the surrender of one of them, the frigate L'Engageante.[1] Strachan was then appointed to the 42-gun HMS Melampus which was attached in the summer to the main British fleet. In spring 1795 Strachan was dispatched in command of a squadron of five frigates to cruise off the Normandy and Brittany coasts. He was highly successful at this, capturing or destroying a considerable number of French coastal craft, many laden with military stores and conveyed by armed French warships. On 9 May 1795, he captured Crache-feu, a French three-gun vessel.[2]

The Battle of Cape Ortegal. Strachan completes the destruction of the French fleet

On 23 April 1804 Strachan was made a colonel of marines,[5] and returned to England in HMS Renown. On arrival he was immediately appointed to HMS Caesar and placed in command of a detached squadron including three ships of the line and four frigates in the Bay of Biscay. Whilst sailing off Cape Finisterre on 2 November 1805, the squadron encountered four French ships of the line that had escaped from the Battle of Trafalgar under the command of Rear-Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley. Sir Richard pursued them, bringing them to battle on 4 November. After a short engagement, known as the Battle of Cape Ortegal he captured all of them, completing the destruction of the French fleet.[6] Strachan was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral of the Blue on 9 November 1805.[7] When, on 28 January 1806, the thanks of both Houses of Parliament were voted to those who had fought at Trafalgar, Strachan and his command was specially included. He was also (by special Act of Parliament) rewarded with a pension[8] of £1,000 a year. On 29 January he was created a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB),[9] and the City of London voted him the freedom of the city, and awarded him a sword of honour.[10][11]

Strachan was soon back in service, being dispatched early in 1806 to search for a French squadron reported to have sailed for America. After searching for some time, he failed to locate it and instead returned to watch the port of Rochefort. Thick fog and poor weather covered the port in January 1808, and allowed the French to sail out undetected and escape to the Mediterranean. Strachan gave chase, joining Admiral Collingwood's forces, but the French were able to gain the safety of Toulon. Strachan was ordered to return home, where, in 1809, he became Commander-in-Chief, North Sea watching the Dutch coast.

Strachan (far left) and the Grand Duke of Middleburg or the Late Ld C-t-m and Commodore Cur-ts paying their respects on their return from the Glorious Expedition (caricature)

On 9 June 1809, he was appointed as the naval commander of an expedition, consisting of 264 warships and 352 transports carrying 44,000 troops, to attack the island of Walcheren and destroy the French arsenals in the Scheldt. Strachan was ill-qualified for the position, lacking both the experience and the temperament to hold a joint command in such a complex combined operation. Whilst he was careful to attend to the details of the problems that the Navy might encounter, he failed to consider the army's problems. Relations with the army's commander, Lord Chatham, quickly became strained and the ambitious Walcheren Campaign ended up being abandoned, having only achieved the capture of Flushing.[12] A period of angry recriminations followed the withdrawal, with Chatham presenting a narrative to King George III in 1810, blaming Strachan for the expedition's failure. Strachan defended himself, declaring that the ships had done all that had been required of them. He nevertheless became the scapegoat for the failure, and was not given any more assignments.

The confusion and conflicting accounts led to the following doggerel verse:

Great Chatham, with his sabre drawn,

Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan;
Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em,

Stood waiting for the Earl of Chatham.[11]

Despite these controversies, promotion being entirely on the basis of seniority, he was made a Rear-Admiral of the Red on 25 October 1809,[13] a Vice-Admiral of the Blue on 31 July 1810,[14] Vice-Admiral of the White on 12 August 1812,[15] Vice-Admiral of the Red on 4 June 1814,[16] and Admiral of the White on 19 July 1821.[17] After the defeat of Napoleon, and his temporary incarceration aboard HMS Bellerophon in 1815, Strachan set out to see the man he had spent most of his career fighting to defeat. Napoleon himself was apparently aware of Strachan's deeds.

On Thursday he (Napoleon Bonaparte) gratified the spectators with his appearance frequently on the poop and gangway, on which occasions the British, as well as the French officers, stood uncovered and apart! One of his officers intimating to him, that Sir Richard Strachan was in a barge alongside, Bonaparte instantly took off his hat, and bowed to him with a smile.[11]

The Order of the Bath was reorganised on 2 January 1815, with surviving Knights Companion becoming the first Knights Grand Cross (GCB).[18] Sir Richard Strachan died at his house in Bryanston Square, London, on 3 February 1828. He had married Louisa Dillon, Marchioness of Salsa in 1812, and together they had three daughters, but no son. The baronetcy became extinct upon his death.

Strachan became famous during his career for his ungovernable temper and violent cursing. This eventually earned him the nickname of 'Mad Dick' among his men, but he remained a popular and sought-after commander. Captain Graham Moore, the brother of Sir John Moore, described him on the eve of the Walcheren expedition as

one of those in our service whom I estimate the highest. I do not believe he has his fellow among the Admirals, unless it be Pellew, for ability, and it is not possible to have more zeal and gallantry.[19]

Despite the failure of the venture, he was later to declare that

It is my wish to serve with Strachan, as I know him to be extremely brave and full of zeal and ardour, at the same time that he is an excellent seaman, and, tho' an irregular, impetuous fellow, possessing very quick parts and an uncommon share of sagacity and strong sense.[19]

• Thomas A. Wise, Life and Naval Career of Admiral Sir Richard J. Strachan, Baronet, G.C.B. in 'Transactions of the Royal Historical Society', Vol. 2. (1873), pp. 32–53.
• The Creevey papers, ed. H. Maxwell, 2nd edn, 2 vols. (1904)

• Media related to Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet at Wikimedia Commons
• Sir Richard Strachan's entry in the Oxford National Dictionary of Biography
• Account of the battle after Trafalgar
• Richard Strachan at Clan Strachan.com