Battle of Camperdown - Legacy

Legacy

Although Camperdown was considered the greatest ever victory for a British fleet over an equal enemy force to that date, historian Noel Mostert has noted that it "was a battle that, with posterity, somehow lost rank and significance against the greater and more romantically glorious events that followed". Nevertheless, the effects of the action on the wider war were hugely important. The losses suffered by the Dutch Navy in ships, men and morale gave the Royal Navy superiority in the North Sea, a position enhanced by the disruption the battle caused to French negotiations for an alliance with what historian Edward Pelham Brenton describes as the "Northern Powers" of Scandinavia. The destruction of the Dutch fleet at Camperdown was also a serious blow to French ambitions to invade Ireland, and denied their Atlantic fleet of essential reinforcements; it may even have played a part in Napoleon Bonaparte's decision to abandon efforts to attack Britain directly early in 1798. In 1799, a significant British and Russian expeditionary force landed in the Netherlands supported by a large fleet under Lord Duncan. Assailed from both sea and land, the remainder of the Dutch Navy under Admiral Story capitulated without a fight: in what became known as the Vlieter Incident, the political divisions between the officers and seamen resulted in a mutiny during which the Dutch sailors threw their ammunition overboard. In Britain, the public relief at the restoration of the Navy's authority in the aftermath of the spring mutinies was enormous and helped steady the wavering British government in their pursuit of the war by restoring confidence in British naval supremacy in home waters. Christopher Lloyd notes that the events of 1797 led to "a new and blatant patriotism . . . was centred on the achievements of 'our gallant tars'." A popular rhyme of the time reflected public feeling:

Although Duncan's initial tactics at the battle were reminiscent of those of Howe at the Glorious First of June, and his eventual attack has been compared to Nelson's tactics at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Duncan credited the tactical work Essay on Naval Tactics by John Clerk of Eldin for inspiring his decisions on the day. Duncan was subsequently indirectly criticised some years after the battle by his colleague Earl St Vincent, who had won the Battle of Cape St Vincent over a Spanish fleet nine months before Camperdown. In a letter complaining of Clerk's assertion that he had been responsible for all of the major naval victories of the war, St Vincent wrote that Duncan "was a brave officer, little versed in the subtleties of naval tactics, and who would have been quickly embarrassed by them. When he saw the enemy, he rushed upon him without thinking of such and such and order of battle. To conquer he calculated upon the brave example he set his captains, and the event justified his expectation." This assessment was refuted by Captain Hotham, who publicly responded that "the advanced season of the year and the close proximity of the enemy's coast all made what, upon another occasion, might have appeared haste imperatively necessary, for it was the prompt decision of the Admiral that occasioned the result". Some modern historians, such as Peter Padfield, have agreed with Hotham's assertion, with the added suggestion that Duncan's tactics during the battle might have had an influence on the newly promoted Rear-Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson, who was in England recovering from the loss of his right arm at the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife at the time of Camperdown. Duncan himself felt that he could have done more, noting that "We were obliged ... to be rather rash in our attack. Had we been ten leagues at sea none would have escaped." but some of the highest praise came from his erstwhile opponent, De Winter, who wrote that "Your not waiting to form line ruined me: if I had got nearer the shore and you had attacked, I should probably have drawn both fleets on it, and it would have been a victory for me, being on my own coast." Duncan's health deteriorated after the battle, forcing his retirement from the Navy in 1799 and contributing to his death at Cornhill-on-Tweed in 1804.

De Winter's actions during in the battle have been commended: Edward Pelham Brenton wrote in 1836 that "The Dutch admiral displayed, in his own person, the most undaunted valour ... but was compelled at length to yield to superior skill, it would be untrue to say superior bravery." while William James noted in 1827 that after the battle ""Batavian prowess" still claimed the respect of an enemy and the applause of the world". De Winter was released from captivity in 1798 after news reached Britain that his wife had suffered a stroke, and he subsequently became the Batavian ambassador to France, before resuming command of the Dutch fleet at the start of the Napoleonic Wars. He was a trusted subordinate of Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland between 1806 and 1810, and was honoured by Emperor Napoleon in 1811 before his sudden death in Paris the following year.

The battle became a popular theme for contemporary artists and many paintings depicting it are held in National collections in the United Kingdom, including paintings by Thomas Whitcombe and Philip de Loutherbourg in the Tate Gallery, Whitcombe, Samuel Drummond and Daniel Orme at the National Maritime Museum, and George Chambers, Sr. and John Singleton Copley at the National Gallery of Scotland. In literature, the battle has played a central role in the 1968 novel Sea Road to Camperdown by Showell Styles, and the 1975 novel The Fireship by C. Northcote Parkinson. The battle also inspired composers, such as Daniel Steibelt, whose composition Britannia: An Allegorical Overture was created in honour of the victory and Jan Ladislav Dussek, who created a composition entitled The Naval Battle and Total Defeat of the Dutch by Admiral Duncan in 1797.

The Royal Navy has commemorated the battle through the ships bearing the names HMS Camperdown and HMS Duncan, which have maintained close links with Duncan's hometown of Dundee. In Dundee, the Battle of Camperdown is commemorated at Camperdown House, originally the Dundee seat of the Viscounts Camperdown, which was completed in 1828 and later became a public park and tourist attraction. The bicentennial of the battle was celebrated in Dundee in 1997 with the "Glorious Victory" exhibition at the city's McManus Galleries in conjunction with Camperdown House and the National Museum of Scotland. The exhibition became a popular tourist attraction and was viewed by more than 50,000 visitors. On 11 October a memorial service was held to remember the dead and a new statue of Admiral Duncan unveiled in the town.