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Auction: 24003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 14

The unique 3-clasp Naval General Service Medal awarded to Ships' Cook - late Ordinary Seaman - G. Winterburn, who lost his right arm in the action of 4th November 1805 and yet went on to see over two decades of further service, including against an American gunboat flotilla during the War of 1812

Naval General Service 1793-1840, 3 clasps, Egypt, 3 Novr. 1805, Guadaloupe (George Winterburn.), very fine

Provenance:
Spink, 1977.
Christie's, 1986.

This three-clasp combination is unique to the Naval General Service Medal.

George Winterburn was born circa 1780 in Bermondsey, London, and he began his maritime career as a Boy Third Class aboard the H.M.S. Bellerophon. He went aboard in December 1798 while she was docked at Gibraltar for a refit following the Battle of the Nile. Bellerophon was afterwards dispatched to strengthen Rear-Admiral Horatio Nelson's fleet, spending the following months cruising off the coast of Sicily. She returned to Portsmouth on 2 April 1800 and was paid off on 16 April.

Once paid off from Bellerophon, Winterburn joined 74-gun H.M.S. Renown on 17 May, which the next month joined the channel fleet. The 18-year-old Winterburn would not have to wait long for his first taste of naval action when, on the evening of 10 June, the British fleet set out to destroy a convoy of French ships and successfully captured one gun-boat, Nochette. The same British squadron attacked a 28-gun French corvette soon afterwards on 23 June, also blowing up a battery and two powder magazines along the Quimper River. The action continued, and Renown was involved in another engagement on 1 July. At midnight, the British took to small boats and boarded a large convoy of French ships, defeating the enemy which put up much resistance. On 25 August Renown, as a member of Rear-Admiral Sir John Warren's squadron, landed in Playa de-Dominos bay on the Spanish coast. Other ships brought troops, and together the British forces attacked the defences surrounding the Spanish fleet in Ferrol harbour. The British successfully captured the heights surrounding the harbour, allowing the British a complete view of the enemy and its strength. The squadron sailed from Gibraltar on 2 October to Cadiz, and called on the town to surrender. This was abandoned upon learning that Cadiz was infected by an outbreak of the plague.

After this series of exciting engagements in the summer of 1800, Renown later notably captured the captured English brig Kangaroo on 21 January 1801 and later detained Swedish brig Amphion off the coast of Cadiz on 8 February. French Rear-Admiral Ganteaume's fleet was proving a nuisance, sinking and capturing some British ships. Renown was again part of Sir Warren's squadron when they attempted to blockade Ganteaume in March of that year, and again when they spotted the enemy fleet and gave chase, only to lose them at nightfall on 25 March.

Egypt

Renown was one of over a hundred Naval vessels that supported the mission to end the French occupation of Egypt alongside the Army. The earliest part of this mission was the engagement of Sir Warren's squadron - of which Renown was still a member - with Ganteaume's forces. Napoleon ordered Ganteaume to disembark his troops in Alexandria to address the worsening situation in Egypt. However, with the British fleet hugging the coast it was difficult for Ganteaume to find a suitable position to land. He attempted to anchor off Benghazi, but the British quickly appeared and gave chase, capturing two French storeships. The French in turn captured H.M.S. Swiftsure, which had been positioned to monitor their movements, and in doing so allowed the enemy to return safely to Toulon without British knowledge or interference. However, the British successfully prevented a total disembarkation of the French fleet in Egypt thus preventing valuable supplies and troops from reinforcing the French army, which soon after surrendered to the British in August 1801.

In May 1801 Renown helped reopen sea passage following the Siege of Porto Ferrajo on the Tuscan island of Elba, where Napoleon would later be held during his first period of exile. After re-establishing sea access, the next goal was to focus on the French batteries overlooking Porto Ferrajo's harbour. The squadron disembarked a large landing party on 14 September, including a great number Tuscan troops, who together moved inland against the French batteries. Initially gaining, the British were pushed back to the beach by the superior French numbers. While claimed as a French victory, they had difficulty holding on to the territory until the ceasefire that came with the Treaty of Amiens on 1 October 1801.

Afterwards, Renown along with the rest of Sir Warren's squadron remained in the Mediterranean near Malta, later arriving at Gibraltar on 23 January 1803 to undergo repairs. Hostilities with France resumed on 16 May 1803 and Lord Nelson was given command of the Mediterranean fleet. Nelson intended to destroy the Toulon fleet to protect British trade interests and areas they had re-captured from the French. Renown then fell under Nelson's command and he found the ship to be in poor condition and ordered her back to Egland for a complete refit. She first served for two years as part of Nelson's fleet blockading Toulon until finally returning to Plymouth in May 1805 for the necessary repair work. There Winterburn, now an Ordinary Seaman, was paid off on 19 May.

Trafalgar Campaign

Winterburn had not spent much time ashore in the past five years, and was not to be on dry land long as he was drafted to the 80-gun third rate H.M.S. Caesar the day after being paid off of Renown. By 21 August, Caesar was positioned off the coast of the island of Ushant with the rest of Admiral William Cornwallis's channel fleet. There, they discovered the French fleet at its anchorage which they planned to attack the next morning on 22 August. In the ensuring battle, Caesar suffered damage to her rigging and sails and lost three men killed and six wounded.

Caesar again saw action at the Battle of Cape Ortegal on 4 November 1805, the final action of the Trafalgar campaign. She formed part of Sir Richard Strachan's squadron that attacked French Rear-Admiral Pierre Dumanoir le Pelley's fleet, which had been engaged at Trafalgar but managed to escape with relatively little damage. After Trafalgar, Pelley attempted to reach the French Atlantic ports, giving chase to a British frigate it encountered along the way. The frigate led Pelley within range of Strachan's squadron, which then gave chase as Pelley tried to flee. The faster British frigates distracted the progress of the French ships until their ships of the line could catch up.

At about 12:15 in the afternoon Caesar reached the enemy squadron and fired upon Formidable, sparking an intense close action with the French. During the battle, Caesar's rigging was damaged which affected her manoeuvrability. The French likewise had significant damage, with some captured and others surrendering. The final two French ships, Duguay-Trouin and Mont-Blanc, endeavoured to escape the fate of their fellow ships but were overtaken by Caesar and Hero. The French finally surrendered after a close cannonade shattered the two remaining ships.

The French suffered a particularly severe blow with 730 men killed or wounded (including Rear-Admiral Pelley), compared with 125 British casualties. Winterburn - now aged 26 - was one of the 25 men who was wounded while serving aboard Caesar during the battle. The exact cause of his injury is unclear, but it was severe enough that he lost his right arm. Upon the squadron's return to Plymouth, Winterburn would have immediately entered either the Stonehouse Naval Hospital or the hospital ship designated for patient overflow. Winterburn appeared on Caesar's ship's book until 13 February 1806, by which time she was en route to St. Helena. Beginning on 1 September he was awarded a £16 per annum pension for life for his debilitating injury.

Winterburn is next noted as a Cook aboard the H.M.S. Mermaid on 21 August 1807. It was not uncommon for seamen with similar injuries to be rated as such rather than discharged. Winterburn would continue to serve as such in the Royal Navy for another 21 years. He spent just three months aboard Mermaid ahead of joining the newly commissioned 40-gun fifth rate frigate H.M.S. Loire. Early in spring 1808 she was sent along with Success to protect the Arctic fisheries, despite being fitted only for service in the Channel. The beginning of 1810 saw Loire escort a convoy transporting the 60th Regiment of Foot to Barbados, after which she was stationed windward of Guadeloupe to intercept any enemy interests. Returning to England in March, that May Loire saved a sloop from several Danish brigs near Norway and was stationed in the Gulf of Finland to observe the Russian fleet. Loire returned to Plymouth in January 1811 before cruising off Brest for a time ahead of being posted back to the Baltic squadron, where she remained until returning to Portsmouth on 21 November 1811 for a refit. She was again ordered to the Baltic in spring 1812 where she blockaded Danish cruisers.

War of 1812

On 18 June 1812, while still battling Napoleon, Britain found itself at war with America - with Loire to play a significant role in the Chesapeake squadron. She arrived first in Halifax from Portsmouth on 28 May 1813. The next month on 12 June, Loire together with Sceptre captured the cargo ship Caledonia which had just left the port city Charleston, instead sending her to Bermuda. Over the subsequent months, she aided in the capture of a number of ships, including a spirited fight on 10 December with the American schooner Rolla. She also allegedly encountered the celebrated American frigate U.S.S. President, but chose not to engage. Commodore Rodgers of the President recalls their meeting: 'I saw nothing, until I made Sandy Hook, when I again fell in with another of the enemy's ships; and, by some unaccountable cause, was permitted to enter the bay unharmed, although in the presence of a decidedly superior force, and after having been obliged to remain outside, seven hours and a half, waiting for the tide.' At the time, *Loire* had several of her officers absent and with many sick men and boys aboard, was not in the best shape to enter into an action.

British strategy in the war with America centred on directing aggression away from Canada and to put stress on the American government and people. Attacks on coastal towns were increased in the hope of preventing deployment of American forces to the north and ports were blockaded. Napoleon's abdication on 11 April 1814 brought fresh fears to the Americans that the British could now concentrate the full might of their naval force on the coastline, and America's new objective was to keep them away from Washington. That year Loire was stationed off Chesapeake Bay under the command of Rear Admiral George Cockburn, who later ordered her to join Captain Robert Barrie's force in the Patuxent to destroy American Commodore Joshua Barney's newly organised flotilla.

Loire was first engaged with the American flotilla on 10 June, Captain Barrie recounts the action in a letter to Rear Admiral Cockburn: '…at day break of the 7th having been joined by the Loire and Jaseur Brig, I proceeded with them… in pursuit of the enemy. At about 9 o clock he was discovered working up St Leonards Creek, unfortunately the water was too shallow to admit even the Jaseur being carried into the Creek…'

Loire and Jaseur anchored at the mouth to pen in the enemy flotilla. Captain Barrie proceeded to them search out, reporting: 'Finding it impossible to attack the enemy in our boats I had nothing left but to annoy him from our ship's Boats and provoke him to chase them to within our Gun shot of the Frigate. The boats and flotilla kept up a very smart fire on each other until the boats of the flotilla got to within reach of the Loire's guns when the action became general. This lasted half an hour before the flotilla made off.'
Loire attacked and raided towns along the Patuxent River and continued her blockade of Chesapeake Bay, while the trapped Captain Barney planned his escape via St. Leonard's Creek. American troops arrived to reinforce Barney and launch a land-based attack on the British frigates. The subsequent action at the creek occurred on 26 June 1814 at daybreak.

Captain Thomas Brown of the Loire recalled the incident to Rear Admiral Cockburn: 'Sir I beg to acquaint you that yesterday at daylight the Enemy opened a Battery of five guns on the two Ships under my Command, from the high land, forming the Entrance of St. Leonards Creek, on the Larboard hand, at point blank shot, it being covered with Wood, we were only enabled to fire at where the smoke issued from. Shortly after the Flotilla came down rounded the point and opened well directed fire on both ships, but from the warm reception they met with, were soon obliged to retreat. I had previously sent the launches from the ships, with a boat fitted for Rockets to flank the battery, I soon had the satisfaction to observe a slight explosion take place, and the Battery ceased firing. Judging we might be harassed by the Battery again, I thought it most prudent to weigh and drop down the river to a place called Point Patience, where I again Anchored about three miles below in hope the Flotilla might be induced to follow, but on its falling calm I had the mortification to observe them rowing down the Creek, and up the River, the whole consisting of One Sloop and Eighteen Row Boats, One of them we observed was obliged to return to the Creek, which I imagine had sustained so much injury as to prevent her accompanying the rest.'

After the action at St. Leonard's Creek, Loire was ordered to cruise the upper Chesapeake and harass American boats, to much success. Loire departed Halifax on 22 November as part of a convoy bound for Plymouth, where she arrived on 12 December. Early in the new year, she departed once more in search of American frigates. On 28 August 1816, Loire was lying in ordinary at Plymouth, with Winterburn aboard serving as Cook until he finally left on 22 April 1818, after about a decade of service aboard her. He next served as Cook on a succession of ships mostly lying in Ordinary between 1818 and 1829, including Plymouth, Essex, Elk, Lancaster, and onboard the commissioned Grasshopper.

Winterburn retired from the Royal Navy after over 28 years of almost continuous service on 1 May 1829. He lived the rest of his life in the Plymouth area, where he was married and had issue of a son and daughter, before dying there on 3 September 1856 at the approximate age of 76. His widow, Ann, made a claim for her husband's outstanding pension following his death.

Sold with a bound booklet of comprehensive copied research.

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Estimate
£5,000 to £7,000

Starting price
£4000