Henry Harvey - American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

With a promotion resulting from the expedition enabling further advancement, Harvey commanded the sloop HMS Martin at the Siege of Quebec in the American Revolutionary War of 1776. His knowledge of the St. Lawrence river and Canadian coastline gave him an advantage in this work and as a result he was raised in 1777 to command the frigate HMS Squirrel on convoy duty. December 1778 saw a transfer to the 32-gun frigate HMS Convert and in the following year Harvey was engaged in the relief of besieged Jersey and later unsuccessful efforts to intercept the raiding squadron of John Paul Jones. During 1779, Convert was employed escorting a convoy to Quebec and in December was attached to Sir George Rodney's fleet in the West Indies. Through 1780 and 1781, Convert served as a fleet scout and was present during the Battle of the Saintes in 1782, although the ship was too small to serve in the battleline. Shortly after the battle, Harvey was detached from the fleet for convoy duties back to England.

After a period of unemployment, Harvey was given command of the frigate HMS Pegasus for service on the North America station in 1786, but was disappointed to discover that his first lieutenant was Prince William Henry and that Harvey was expected to turn over the captaincy to his subordinate as soon as the ship was at sea. Controlling his disappointment, Harvey conducted the affair with "such discretion as secured to him the lasting friendship of His Royal Highness". Within weeks, Harvey had been transferred to HMS Rose and, aboard her, joined Pegasus in peacetime manoeuvres off the North American station until the ship was paid-off in 1789. In 1788, Harvey eldest son, also named Henry, had drowned in a shipboard accident whilst serving as a midshipman in Rose. Following the ship's paying-off, Harvey returned to half-pay. He was not on the beach for long however, because of the Spanish armament during the Nootka Crisis of 1790. Along with many ships officers and crews he was brought back into service. As an experienced and well-connected officer, Harvey was given a ship of the line, first HMS Alfred, then HMS Colossus and by 1794, after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, he was given command of HMS Ramillies.