PREVIEW: ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS & MILITARIA 24 MAY

An extraordinary man of daring and bravery, The Honourable Thomas Pakenham was one of the most dashing and honourable officers of the Royal Navy, ultimately succeeding to its second highest rank, the Senior Admiral of the Red.

Now Noonans have the honour to offer his important and rare Naval Gold Medal – among the first ever awarded – in this sale with an estimate of £60,000-80,000.

Born on 29 September 1757, the fourth son of the Irish peer Thomas, 1st Lord Longford, Thomas was the younger brother of Captain Lord Longford who commanded the America 74 at the Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, and the uncle of Major-General Sir Edward Pakenham who was killed at the Battle of New Orleans in 1814.

He began his naval career young, in 1771, joining the frigate Southampton, with Captain John MacBride, with whom he moved to the Orpheus in 1773. In 1774 he was on the coast of Guinea with William Cornwallis in the Pallas, and in 1775 was Acting-Lieutenant of the Sphinx on the coast of North America.

Not yet 20, he was promoted by Lord Shuldham to be Lieutenant of the frigate Greyhound, and while in her saw much boat service, and was severely wounded.

In 1778 he joined the Courageux, commanded by Lord Mulgrave, in the fleet under Keppel, and was present to witness Britain’s victory over France in the Battle of Ushant, an action of the American Revolutionary War, on 27 July.

Moving to the Europe in early 1779, Pakenham sailed to North America under the flag of Rear-Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot, and on 21 September, little over a week before his 22nd birthday, was promoted to command the 14-gun sloop Victor, newly captured from the enemy.

Pakenham’s advancement continued at the Jamaica station in March 1780, where he was posted as Captain of the 22-gun San Carlos as a reward for his distinguished services as Acting-Captain of the Bristol, under Commodore Cornwallis. However, the wound he suffered while in the Greyhound broke out again and compelled him to return to England in the autumn.

Returning to service in December 1780, the first major test of Pakenham’s coolness under fire, and of his honour, was to come six months later. By now in command of the Crescent, a ship of 28 guns and 198 men, attached to the fleet under George Darby, he had helped relieve Gibraltar in April 1781 before being sent to Menorca in company with the Flora, under William Peere Williams-Freeman.

As they passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on their return on 30 May, they engaged with two Dutch frigates in what became known as the Battle of Cape St Mary. One of the Dutch frigates, the Castor, struck to the Flora, while the other, the 36-gun Den Briel, overpowered and captured the Crescent.

The Crescent was immediately recaptured by the Flora, the Den Briel making her escape; but both Crescent and Castor had received so much damage in the action that they fell into the hands of two French frigates on the way home, on 19 June, the Flora escaping.

Having surrendered to the Den Briel, Pakenham had refused to resume his command of the Crescent, maintaining that his commission was cancelled, and that when recaptured the ship was on the same footing as any other prize.

For the loss of his ship, he was tried by court-martial and honourably acquitted, it being proved that he did not strike the flag until, by the fall of her masts and the disabling of her guns, further resistance was impossible. In the month of July following, Captain Pakenham was tried by a court-martial at Portsmouth, for having struck his colours to the Dutch frigate.

As the court acquitted him of any offence, it published the exceptional following commendation:

‘The Court are unanimously of opinion, that the Hon. Captain Pakenham throughout the action, in a variety of instances, behaved with the coolest and ablest judgement, and with the firmest and most determined resolution; and that he did not strike the Crescent’s colours until he was totally unable to make the smallest defence; the court therefore doth unanimously and honourably acquit the Hon. Captain Pakenham.”

Its esteem went further:

“The Court cannot dismiss Captain Pakenham, without expressing their admiration of his conduct on this occasion, wherein he has manifested the skill of an able and judicious seaman, and the intrepidity of a gallant officer; and from the great and extraordinary number of killed and wounded on board the Crescent, as well as the state she was in at the time of her surrender, their highest approbation of the support given by the officers and men to their Captain, and of their courage and steadiness during the action; a circumstance that, at the time it reflects honour on them, does no less credit and honour to the discipline kept up by Captain Pakenham.”

Restored to honour, Pakenham was also restored to command, and took over the frigate Minerva, of 38 guns, which he commanded in the following year at the relief of Gibraltar by Lord Howe.

His greatest achievement was yet to come, however.

With the outbreak of war against revolutionary France in 1793, Pakenham was in command of the Invincible, of 74 guns, attached to the Channel Fleet, under the orders of Commander-in-Chief Earl Howe.

Destiny was to come on the Glorious 1 June, 1794 when, despite suffering the loss of her main-top-mast, with her fore and main lower-masts and yards shot through, the rigging and sails much cut and the loss of 14 men killed and 31 wounded, Invincible was able to harry a French 84-gun ship sufficiently to allow the 100-gun British flagship Queen Charlotte to capture it easily.

An account of the battle has Pakenham shouting at the enemy: ‘F... you! Have you surrendered?’ and upon receiving a negative response crying, ‘Well why the f... don’t you go on firing!’

With the Queen Charlotte itself crippled, Pakenham sent an officer to Lord Howe offering Invincible as a replacement flagship. The boat that conveyed this message afterwards took possession of the subdued ship.

Such was Howe’s overwhelming victory that King George III presented Gold Chains to six of the seven Flag Officers, as well as to the Captain of the Fleet, Sir Roger Curtis, Kt. (the First Captain of the Queen Charlotte). The king also decided to institute a Naval Gold Medal to reward the admirals and captains who were ‘conspicuous for courage and conduct’ in that action, as well as those who might distinguish themselves on future occasions. It took another two and a half years to complete the commission. Naval Gold Medals were to be awarded until 1815.

Howe named Pakenham in his official despatch as having ‘particular claim to his notice’ and recommended him for a gold medal.

The larger medal was given only to Flag Officers, Commodores and Captains of the Fleet, which in this case meant all seven recipients of the Gold Chains to which they now appended the large medal.

The smaller medal went to fifteen captains of ships of the line, including Pakenham, whilst captains of the 11 repeating frigates, which did not lie in the line of battle, were ineligible for the award.

For Pakenham, the honours continued for the next 40 years and more.

He was nominated a Colonel of Marines in 1790, and in 1795 was turned over to the 84-gun ship Juste, in the capture of which, on 1 June, he had had a principal hand. He held the command of this ship until the end of October 1796, after which he had no further active service in the navy.

In 1783, Pakenham had entered the Irish House of Commons for Longford Borough and sat until 1790. Subsequently, he represented Kells until 1798 and again Longford Borough until the Act of Union in 1801.

On 14 February 1799, he was promoted to be Rear-Admiral, becoming Vice-Admiral on 23 April 1804, and Admiral on 31 July 1810. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Military Order of the Bath in May 1820, and was advanced in rank to Admiral of the Red on 19 July 1821. He was afterwards for some time Master-General of the Ordnance in Ireland and died Senior Admiral of the Red – outranked only by the Admiral of the Fleet – on 2 February 1836.