George Johnstone (Royal Navy officer)

1347:. George Johnstone had achieved small-scale success as a naval officer, serving with undoubted courage, but had not been able to succeed when given a major command. His poor strategic planning had led to his force being badly surprised at Porto Praya, and despite having rallied and successfully beaten off the French, his assumption that Suffren would not head immediately to the Cape proved his undoing and handed the French an important strategic victory. He achieved some successes as the founder of the colony of West Florida, despite ultimately failing to win the support of his political masters and the wider civil society, and would later rate his time in Florida more highly than his comparatively greater success as a director of the East India Company. He was a renowned orator when speaking in opposition, but was never asked to join an administration and several of the high-profile causes he supported ultimately failed. 44: 405:. After the end of the Seven Years' War he had made friends with several powerful figures, and was appointed Governor of West Florida. He achieved a measure of success in the delicate operations of running a new colony, but ultimately clashed with his political masters and failed to cultivate support amongst the wider sections of colonial society. Returning to Britain he became active in politics, supporting conciliatory measures for the Americans, and the removal of government interference from the affairs of the East India Company. His stance on the former led to his appointment as a member of the Carlisle Peace Commission, but he was accused of offering bribes and the Americans would have nothing to do with him. 663:, on 21 October 1764 and having established himself, went on to encourage immigration while keeping order among a relatively lawless pioneer population. He carried out skilful negotiations with the local Indians, and established the basics of civil government in the region. He oversaw the establishment of a fairly effective provincial legislative assembly, and the elections of representatives to it, which he worked well enough with to be able to pass a number of pieces of legislation. He did not enjoy a similar relationship with the military in society, through his claim of an authority over them which was contrary to usual colonial practice. By 1766 he had determined on the necessity of war with the 226: 766:, calling it 'a commerce of the most barbarous and cruel kind that ever disgraced the transactions of any civilised people'. He tended towards pragmatism on other affairs, believing that while taxing Americans was legal, it was inexpedient, and that sending troops to America would be ultimately fruitless and that to maintain order would require the garrisoning of forces in the colonies at great expense. Instead he urged conciliation to redress colonial grievances. His temper occasionally got the better of him, leading to difficult situations, and on one occasion a duel with 207: 1126:. Johnstone immediately ordered a pursuit, but his heavily damaged ships took some time to get out of the harbour, by which time Suffren's fleet had disappeared. The British ships taken by Suffren were all recaptured over the next few days, as they were considered too badly damaged to be of use and were abandoned. Though Johnstone had beaten off the superior French force, the race was now on for the Cape. Johnstone assumed that Suffren would either make for the West Indies or Brazil to refit and resupply, but was mistaken. Suffren simply rigged temporary masts on 675:, which led to Shelburne's demand for Johnstone's removal. By now Johnstone had been frustrated in his hopes for commercial prosperity in the region, and enjoyed little popular support from civil society, and so decided to apply for a leave of absence. He left the colony on 13 January 1767, and never returned. Shortly after his departure the ministry removed him from his office. During his time in Florida he had begun a long-term relationship with Martha Ford, by whom he had four 1050:

transports and merchants were outside the defensive lines. He further hampered his ability to fight his ships by sending his best men ashore to collect water, and leaving his decks encumbered with lumber and casks. On 16 April strange sails were seen approaching the harbour. These were the ships of Suffren's squadron, who also intended to take on water and was equally as surprised to discover an enemy fleet. Taking advantage of the situation he quickly ran up to HMS

626: 1076: 1272:, and deprived him of his command and substantial prize money. Sutton was arrested and court-martialed, but acquitted. In response Sutton brought a suit against his former commander. Johnstone had to contest this suit, protracted by appeals, for the rest of his life, with it only being settled in his favour two days before his death. Johnstone was by now probably suffering from 837:, and pressed him to seek battle. Hardy instead preferred to avoid action at first, wearing down the enemy fleet at sea while his own continued to refit and resupply from the naval bases along the English coast. Hardy's tactics were successful, and rather than confront a fresh and well-equipped British fleet, the enemy armada abandoned their plans and returned to French ports. 812:, despite his previous attacks on the ministry, and his support for conciliation over military intervention. He justified himself with the argument that since France had entered the war on the American side, he could no longer support staying out of the war. He was promised an assignment on the Portuguese station, before which he cruised off the French coast in his 1217:, to which Johnstone personally attached a line to, repeating the success of his youth, and had towed away from the remaining Dutch ships. The five ships fell into British hands, as did the two packets, which were captured without any attempt being made to destroy them. After equipping his ships, Johnstone left the bay with his prizes, leaving only 788:. Confident of success Johnstone attempted to sway influential Americans with the argument that reconciling with Britain was preferable to dependence on France. In his communications he made vague hints of rewards to those who helped secure this outcome, and was eventually accused of attempting to bribe American general 1393:. Harcourt was declared duly elected by a majority of 17 votes when the polls closed after five days on 9 February (118 votes to 101), but a petition led to an investigation that uncovered evidence of bribery and corruption. Harcourt was declared not to have been elected, and Johnstone took the seat in his stead. 1072:, fired broadsides into her, and raised the French colours. Moored as he was Johnstone could not easily bring his remaining warships to engage the French, while his smaller ships were useless against the large French warships. In the smoke and confusion several of the transports fired into the East Indiamen. 1049:

to take on fresh water. Assuming there was no danger, despite records from the port office that a French frigate had arrived a month earlier and warned the inhabitants to prepare for the arrival of a larger French force, Johnstone anchored his fleet so that the warships were moored inshore, and the

428:. Returning to politics in England after the war he spoke on a number of issues, but was not asked to join an administration. He became a director of the East India Company towards the end of his life, before illness forced him to retire from business and politics shortly before his death in 1787. 507:

employment, though he passed his lieutenant's examination in 1749. He spent some time in the merchant service during the years of peace, captaining at least one merchant vessel to the Caribbean. He was recalled to the navy at his new rank on the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, serving aboard

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under Captain John Crookshanks. For reasons unknown Crookshanks refused to grant Johnstone his certificate, upon which Johnstone challenged him to a duel. The challenge being accepted, the two duelled and Crookshanks was wounded in the neck. The end of the war in 1748 left him without active

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family in 1730, and embarked on a naval career. Early in his service there occurred several incidents which revealed both positive and negative aspects of his character. He was involved in encounters with the enemy where he was praised for his bravery, and incidents where he was censured for

1288:'s scheme. Pitt's was more moderate than Fox's, allowing the Company directors to retain power over company appointments, and Johnstone may have made a deal with Pitt to support this measure in exchange for Pitt's supporting Johnstone's bid to be elected to the 1160:

was a French frigate, captured her. From her Johnstone learnt that Suffren's forces had already reinforced the Cape, and that an attack would be futile. However he also learnt that a small convoy of richly laden Dutch merchants had been moved to the safety of

543:, he demanded a court martial of his captain Thomas Cookson for alleged incompetence in sailing the ship. The proposed court martial was dismissed out of hand by Admiralty. Despite these incidents, Johnstone was briefly made acting captain of the 70-gun 598:

in January 1762 of the British declaration of war against Spain. Rodney was able to use this early notice to capture a number of valuable prizes, before the Spanish in the region became aware that they were at war. Johnstone was promoted to

514:. He was however soon court-martialed for "insubordination and disobedience", and though he was found guilty his record of gallantry in combat was taken into account, and he was given a reprimand in 1757 and ordered to resume his duties. 2574: 649:, who was Bute's secretary. Johnstone was one of several Scots appointed by Bute to govern all four of the new British colonies, which provoked much criticism from the opposition. Johnstone became notorious for cudgelling a writer for 655:

over his comments on Bute's appointments. Johnstone took up his position eagerly, feeling that his new province's strategic location would give it a profitable future, and envisaging West Florida as 'The Emporium of the New World'.

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lost her mizzen mast, followed shortly afterwards by her main and foremasts. She had by now sustained casualties of two hundred dead or wounded, and with the British preparing to board her, Suffren decided to retreat. He brought

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had stores of combustible material been prepared. They cut their anchor cables and ran onshore, where their crews set fire to them, but the British were able to board them in their boats and extinguished the fires on all but

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Biographia Navalis: or, Impartial Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of Officers of the Navy of Great Britain, From the Year 1660 to the Present Time; Drawn From the Most Authentic Sources, and Disposed in a Chronological

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and allied with France. Immediately Dutch possessions around the world became valuable targets for the British, and taking advantage of Johnstone's expedition, it was quickly reinforced with more warships, transports and

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of the company, which he achieved in 1784. The two did not collaborate closely after this, and Pitt neither brought him into his government, nor offered him a pocket borough to represent in the

1260:, one light cruiser, two victuallers, and the Dutch prizes. He stopped on his voyage home at Lisbon, where he married Charlotte Dee, daughter of the British vice-consul, on 31 January 1782. 2231:

History and Ethnography of Africa South of the Zambesi, from the Settlement of the Portuguese at Sofala in September 1505 to the Conquest of the Cape Colony by the British in September 1795

1200:, which were sent further into the bay, near to Schapen Island. They had been given orders to burn their ships if attacked, while even if they were captured, the loss of their equipment on 43: 2589: 2157:

Cobbett's Parliamentary History of England: From the Norman Conquest, in 1066 to the year 1803 .... Comprising the period from the third of December 1783, to the first of February 1785

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The Naval Biography of Great Britain: Consisting of Historical Memoirs of Those Officers of the British Navy who Distinguished Themselves During the Reign of His Majesty George III

1097:, killed her captain, Cardaillac, and took twenty-five of her men away as prisoners. After two hours of heavy cannonading the French found themselves in a dangerous position, as 2609: 739: 1228:

Having failed in his objective to capture the Cape, Johnstone decided to send the troops and supplies on to the East Indies station, detaching his best warships under Captain

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was declared not to have been elected, and Johnstone was elected in his stead. By now in poor health Johnstone remained only a year in Parliament, before applying for

424:, he allowed the French to push on and reinforce the Cape. Thwarted in his mission, he had some consolation in discovering a valuable fleet of Dutch merchants, and 1297: 672: 742:

faction, which was opposed to North's policies in American affairs. He was particularly skilled at denunciations and obstructing legislation, attacking the 1773

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children, all of whom he supported: George Lindsay Johnstone (later a member of Parliament), James Primrose Johnstone, Alexander Johnstone and Sophia Johnstone.

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in 1781, and continued to be an active member, opposing American independence, and government interference in the running of the East India Company. He opposed

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and a sloop to serve as despatch vessels, four transports, eight storeships, and thirteen Indiamen. Also with the expedition were 3,000 troops under General

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capturing a Dutch merchant ship on the fourth day out of port. However the French had learned of the expedition's intent through the services of the spy

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in 1768. He became part of the parliamentary group supporting Lowther's interests, and retained his membership after his election to the constituency of

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and made for the Cape. Johnstone stayed at Porto Praya to carry out repairs, thus abandoning any chance of beating Suffren to his destination.

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in 1774. He continued to be active in the politics of the East India Company, using his parliamentary position to make speeches attacking the

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Johnstone's stance on conciliation probably led to his selection by North to form part of the peace commission sent to America in 1778 under

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Johnstone went on to cruise off the Portuguese coast, making several captures that brought him a sizeable sum of prize money. In particular

2426: 2403: 2362: 2313: 2290: 1309: 720: 668: 638: 1165:. Johnstone decided to capture them, and on the morning of 21 July, arrived off the entrance to the bay. The Dutch squadron consisted of 2323: 2318: 2250: 758:. Other matters he spoke on in Parliament included his opposition to the penalization of Irish Catholics, imprisonment for debt, and of 712: 700: 529: 461: 166: 2629: 2624: 2619: 2614: 2604: 822:, looking for evidence of invasion preparations. It soon became known that the French and Spanish fleets intended to unite and form a 2634: 2173: 1340: 453: 172: 1333: 1268:

Johnstone attempted to place much of the blame for his delay in chasing the French on a subordinate, Captain Evelyn Sutton of HMS

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disobedience. He rose through the ranks to his own commands and had some success with small cruisers against enemy merchants and

160: 154: 582:. On the voyage, Johnstone captured several prizes, and took several more after his arrival. Among them was the 8-gun privateer 1329: 184: 2084: 1386: 2440: 473: 420:. While en route to the Cape, he was surprised by a French force sent to thwart his goal, and though he fought it off at the 354: 302: 2564: 2420: 2371: 2367: 2306: 1538: 1293: 1139: 1020: 696: 642: 557: 425: 329: 2649: 2579: 1289: 457: 378: 362: 319: 55: 2389: 2377: 2351: 2277: 800:

voted to have nothing more to do with him, and Johnstone returned home in 1778, before the rest of the commissioners.

728: 554: 1061: 2599: 2454: 1305: 1055: 863: 859: 1328:, possibly from Hodgkin's disease, on 24 May 1787. He was survived by his wife Charlotte, by whom he had one son, 1276:, which may have been responsible for some of his lapses in judgement. He was elected as member of parliament for 880:. Despite these successes he still tried to maintain his influence in politics, suggesting that Spain be offered 779: 603:

in May 1762, shortly before the end of the Seven Years' War. On 11 August 1762 he received command of the 24-gun

525: 386: 312: 574:, during one of which Johnstone was faced with a mutiny, which he skilfully put down with minimal loss of life. 2399: 1285: 707:. George Johnstone spoke out and voted against Clive, gaining a reputation as an orator. He sought election to 688: 212: 178: 1067: 1013: 852: 2490: 2478: 2458: 2336: 1093:

took men from nearby ships and used them to bring his ship into range of the French, whereupon he boarded

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Recovering from their initial shock the British soon began to fight back effectively. Captain Ward of HMS

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By 1759 Johnstone, by now in poor health, found himself without a ship. After a period of delays, the

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Returning to active naval service with a lucrative posting as commodore, he cruised with success off

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Johnstone was then given command of a squadron that was assigned to carry out an expedition to the

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on 21 October 1757 and receiving praise for his bravery from the squadron's commander, Commodore

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British Warships in the Age of Sail 1714-1792: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates

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would unite Americans against Britain. He also opposed the altering of the charter of

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before the end of the year, but received a new commission before he could take it up.

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in 1746. He served in the War of the Austrian Succession, spending some time aboard

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Fabel, R. F. A. (April 1976). "Governor George Johnstone of British West Florida".

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the following year, but was again defeated. After a petition however his opponent

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Combat de la baie de la Praia dans l'île de Santiago au Cap Vert, le 16 avril 1781

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to safety and made for the open sea, taking with him as prizes the East Indiamen

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would make them useless. However the Dutch were largely unprepared, and only on

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in exchange for leaving the war, but achieved no apparent backing or result.

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