64
ADMIRALS OF THE RED.
JOHN HENRY, Esq.
(Admiral of the Red.)
This venerable officer was born at Holyhead in the island of Anglesea, Sept. 28, 1731, and entered the naval service about the year 1744. Whilst on service, as a Midshipman, he had his thigh bone broken by a hawser. In 1762, we find him serving as first Lieutenant of the Hampton-Court, a 64-gun ship, at the reduction of the Havannah by Admiral Sir George Pocock, and the Earl of Albemarle[1].
- ↑ The expedition against the capital of Cuba, was one of the most daring and best conducted enterprises ever undertaken by any nation. To prevent those apprehensions on the part of the Court of Spain, which the equipment of a powerful fleet in England would have given rise to, Sir George Pocock sailed from Portsmouth with only four ships of the line, one frigate, and some transports, on board of which were embarked four regiments of infantry. On his arrival in the West Indies he took upon him the command of all the men of war in that quarter, which composed a fleet of twenty-six ships of the line, fifteen frigates, and a considerable number of smaller vessels. After a very fortunate passage through the Old Straits of Bahama, a navigation of considerable difficulty, this formidable armament arrived off the Havannah on the 6th June, 1762. The land forces, under the command of the Earl of Albemarle, amounting to upwards of 10,000 men, were landed the next day, together with a detachment of seamen and marines, and the joint operations of the navy and army were pushed with vigour. On the 30th July, a practical breach was made in the Moro castle; and the same day it was resolutely carried by storm, with so inconsiderable a loss as only two officers and thirty men; the slaughter among the Spaniards was immense. Don Louis de Valasco, Captain of a ship of war, and Governor of the Fort, made a most gallant defence; he was mortally wounded, and his second, the Marquis de Gonzales, was killed. His Catholic Majesty, to commemorate the fate of the brave Don Valasco, created his son Viscount Moro, and directed, that for ever after there should be a ship in his navy called the Valasco. On the 11th Aug. the Spaniards hung out flags of truce from the town, fort le Puntal, and the Admiral’s ship. The next day the capitulation was signed, and on the 14th, the British were put in possession of the Havannah. The specie, valuable merchandize, with the military and naval stores, which were found in the town and arsenal, amounted to near 3,000,000l. sterling. By the reduction of this place the Spanish navy received a severe blow. Nine sail of the line were taken in the harbour
