"THE AGAMEMNON'S DEFECTS AS GIVEN BY YOU TO ME ARE IN MY POSSESSION ... TO INFLUENCE THE DECISION OF THE ADMIRALTY'" SMITH (Sir William Sidney, 1764-1840, Admiral )

Fine Autograph Letter Signed to Captain Bone(?) marked "Private" saying he thinks "it may be satisfactory to you to be relieved from all dilemma as to the men under arrest on account of the Portuguese complaint, I therefore send you the enclosed document to remove any other responsibility than what you have placed on yourself by your appeal from my authority to a superior one ... I wish you every success and an early accomplishment of the wish natural to us all to visit our native shore from time to time. The Agamemnon's defects as given by you to me are in my possession & will enable me to influence the decision of the Admiralty as in the case of the London & Monarch ....", 3 sides 4to., with photographic print of a painting, "Diana, Rio de Janeiro", 26th May

Sir Sidney had a remarkable career, his exploits including firing the French ammunition stores at Toulon, (1793), escaping from Paris in 1798 after two years as prisoner of war in the Temple, by means of forged documents, and the great defence of St. John of Acre against Napoleon in 1799.
HMS Agamemnon was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the British Royal Navy. She saw service in the Anglo-French War, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and fought in many of the major naval battles of those conflicts. She is remembered as being Nelson's favourite ship. Despite Nelson's fondness for the ship her worn-out and poor condition contributed to her being wrecked just weeks after this letter, in June 1809 when she grounded on an uncharted shoal in the mouth of the River Plate, whilst seeking shelter from a storm with the rest of her squadron. All hands and most of the ship's stores were saved, but the condition of the ship's timbers made it impossible to free the ship, her captain was cleared of responsibility for the ship's loss thanks to documents detailing her defects.

Item Date:  1809

Stock No:  40343