Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- Preface
- About the Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction, Analysis and Interpretation
- 1 Spithead Mutiny: Introduction
- 2 The Delegates: A Radical Tradition
- 3 What Really Happened On Board HMS London?
- 4 The Spirit of Kempenfeldt
- 5 Voices from the Lower Deck: Petitions on the Conduct of Naval Officers during the 1797 Mutinies
- 6 Crew Management and Mutiny: The Case of Minerve, 1796–1802
- 7 The 1797 Mutinies in the Channel Fleet: A Foreign–Inspired Revolutionary Movement?
- 8 The Nore Mutiny: Introduction
- 9 The East Coast Mutinies: May–June 1797
- 10 Reporting the Mutinies in the Provincial Press
- 11 A Floating Republic? Conspiracy Theory and the Nore Mutiny of 1797
- 12 Lower Deck Life in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
- 13 ‘Launched into Eternity’ Admiralty Retribution or the Restoration of Discipline?
- 14 Discipline, Desertion and Death: HMS Trent 1796–1803
- 15 ‘We went out with Admiral Duncan, we came back without him’: Mutiny and the North Sea Squadron
- 16 The Influence of 1797 upon the Nereide Mutiny of 1809
- Select Bibliography
- Index
2 - The Delegates: A Radical Tradition
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- Preface
- About the Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction, Analysis and Interpretation
- 1 Spithead Mutiny: Introduction
- 2 The Delegates: A Radical Tradition
- 3 What Really Happened On Board HMS London?
- 4 The Spirit of Kempenfeldt
- 5 Voices from the Lower Deck: Petitions on the Conduct of Naval Officers during the 1797 Mutinies
- 6 Crew Management and Mutiny: The Case of Minerve, 1796–1802
- 7 The 1797 Mutinies in the Channel Fleet: A Foreign–Inspired Revolutionary Movement?
- 8 The Nore Mutiny: Introduction
- 9 The East Coast Mutinies: May–June 1797
- 10 Reporting the Mutinies in the Provincial Press
- 11 A Floating Republic? Conspiracy Theory and the Nore Mutiny of 1797
- 12 Lower Deck Life in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
- 13 ‘Launched into Eternity’ Admiralty Retribution or the Restoration of Discipline?
- 14 Discipline, Desertion and Death: HMS Trent 1796–1803
- 15 ‘We went out with Admiral Duncan, we came back without him’: Mutiny and the North Sea Squadron
- 16 The Influence of 1797 upon the Nereide Mutiny of 1809
- Select Bibliography
- Index
Summary
we have not the least Dout but by Unity amongst ourselvs and a steady Peaceable perseverance to Carry our Point
The delegates, elected leaders of the Spithead mutiny, were men of deserved influence with a sophisticated understanding of the issues involved in their action. They understood the political context, the strategic dimensions, and the vulnerability of Pitt's government. The Channel Fleet, the largest in home waters, comprising eighty ships and thirty thousand men, pursued their action on behalf of the entire Royal Navy. The majority of these crews had mustered together for at least two years, some far longer. They were experienced seamen professionals who knew and trusted each other. They selected as their leaders men whom they respected as seamen and whom they believed would successfully present their case and conduct their negotiations. They understood the terrible risks these men faced: the almost inevitable capital punishment inflicted upon the ‘ringleaders’. The seamen determined that the whole fleet would act in unison to prevent this outcome.
The term ‘delegate’ had been used in the Culloden mutiny of 1794, suggesting to Admiral Howe both American and French revolutionary and political practices, but the concept was far older. In 1647 the New Model Army mutinied over Parliament's plan to disband the army and non-payment of wages. To seek redress of grievances, first soldiers and then officers elected two Agitators from each regiment to speak for the whole army.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Naval Mutinies of 1797Unity and Perseverance, pp. 39 - 60Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2011