Hugh Palliser - Service During The American War of Independence and Controversy With Admiral Keppel

Service During The American War of Independence and Controversy With Admiral Keppel

In 1778 Palliser was appointed to the Channel Fleet under Admiral Augustus Keppel. On 27 July 1778 in the First Battle of Ushant, the Channel Fleet fought an inconclusive battle with the French fleet. The battle’s outcome led to personal acrimony between Palliser and Keppel, resulted in their individual courts martial and increased divisiveness in the Navy. Palliser was forced to resign from Parliament and his other posts.

The July 1778 Battle of Ushant came about when the British fleet found that it had become located between the French ships and their home ports. Seeing the sudden advantage, Keppel ordered that a battle line be formed and an attack made. Palliser's ship HMS Formidable was badly damaged in the ensuing fray, and when Keppel hoisted the signal to reform the battle line, Palliser's division was some distance away, so a frigate was dispatched to give the instruction. Due to the battle damage, Palliser's division was unable to comply until later in the evening, when it was too late to continue the battle, and the French withdrew to Brest. Both sides later claimed victory, and Keppel issued a dispatch which commended all his officers for their conduct in the action.

Palliser heard rumours that Keppel had intimated in private conversations that Palliser's absence had been the cause of the inconclusive outcome, so Palliser wrote a paper defending his actions. An anonymous letter to a London newspaper accused Palliser of disobedience in the battle, and he called on Keppel to refute the allegation. When no public refutation was forthcoming, Palliser demanded that a court martial be held to try Keppel on charges of "misconduct and neglect of duty" (which carried a death sentence if proved). Keppel's court martial was held at Portsmouth in January 1779, and he was acquitted after 27 days, the court finding that the charges against him had been brought with malicious intent and were unfounded. The court-martial outcome meant ruin for Palliser. He was defended by Lord Sandwich, but still had to resign from Parliament and as Lieutenant-General of the Marines. He then demanded that a court martial be convened against him so that he could present his version of events during his defence. The court martial was convened, and he was acquitted after 21 days. However, he was censured in that he had failed to inform his superior officer of the battle damage in a timely manner.

After his acquittal Palliser hoped to be reinstated in Lt.-General of Marines. Instead, in 1780 he was appointed Governor of Greenwich Hospital by Lord Sandwich, and was again elected to Parliament for Huntingdon (1780–1784). In 1787 he was promoted to the rank of Admiral.