French Revolutionary Wars
With the French Revolution of 1790 making war inevitable, the Navy again expanded and Harvey was subject to special request from Admiral Lord Howe who desired him to command the new and powerful 74-gun ship of the line HMS Brunswick in the Channel Fleet. The Channel Fleet was not forced to wait long before joining action, Britain going to war in 1793 and a year later becoming embroiled in the battle of the Glorious First of June, an engagement intended to cut off France's grain supply from the young United States. Howe had been chasing the French fleet protecting the convoy for some days, and several short and sharp actions had been fought without conclusion. On 1 June 1794 however, Howe finally gained the wind on the French and overhauled them in a long line of battle.
Read more about this topic: John Harvey (Royal Navy Officer)
Famous quotes containing the words french and/or wars:
“It was not reason that besieged Troy; it was not reason that sent forth the Saracen from the desert to conquer the world; that inspired the crusades; that instituted the monastic orders; it was not reason that produced the Jesuits; above all, it was not reason that created the French Revolution. Man is only great when he acts from the passions; never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“Which is better: to have Fun with Fungi or to have Idiocy with Ideology, to have Wars because of Words, to have Tomorrow’s Misdeeds out of Yesterday’s Miscreeds?”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)