British Naval Captains of the Seven Years’ War

British Naval Captains of the Seven Years' War: The View from the Quarterdeck, by A.B. McLeod. Rochester, New York, The Boydell Press, 2012. x, 271 pp. $115 US (cloth). Historians of the eighteenth-century British have long employed as part of their resources the so-called captains' letters, the principal manuscript source used here. They are equally familiar with other sources found among admiralty papers including muster books, half-pay books, lieutenants' examination warrants, ships' logs and court martial proceedings, which have also been used by the author. However, no-one, before Byrne McLeod, considered studying in detail a sizeable sample of those officers who, in the language of the service, made and therefore could captain a rated warship. A.B. McLeod created a sample of thirty-six officers who, in the midst of war with France in November 1757, attained the rank of post-captain. Her sample, involving 2,312 letters represented some sixteen per cent of captains still active in the service between 1756 and war's end in 1763. Her evidence is more substantial when such post captains served in independent command, for when they served under an admiral or commodore in a fleet or squadron the captains became almost invisible. Their usual correspondence with Admiralty and with the administrative boards, such as the Board dried up as such reports and correspondence then emanated from the respective admirals and commodores. What emerges is a marvelous book, alive with appropriate detail, rich in evidence, and supporting almost every conclusion advanced. Here the reader will find all the evidence needed for such matters as the usefulness of family and political connections--interest in the language of the day--for promotion and employment. McLeod concludes that enough competent officers emerged from this patronage system to benefit the Navy (p. 23). It was 'no substitute for courage, aggression or seamanship, but it did give opportunities for men displaying these qualities to gain commands (p. 212). The duties of the newly-minted post captain were onerous and the rewards uncertain, whether at sea or ashore. Numerous written reports were sent regularly to the Admiralty, some weekly for the number borne for duty or sick, and lists of remaining stores. Other accounts were sent every two months along with logs whenever occasion allowed. So-called impress accounts against a captain's pay might not be audited for a decade, by which time the officer might have been dead for years, during which the delay on part of his pay was stopped. Of equal importance, the captain had to maintain the sailing qualities of his ship by having its hull cleaned, if possible every six months

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