Hugh Pigot (Royal Navy captain)
Encyclopedia
Hugh Pigot was an officer in the Royal Navy
. Through his connections and their patronage he was able to rise to the rank of captain
, despite apparently poor leadership skills and a reputation for brutality. While he was captain of Hermione
he eventually provoked his men to mutiny
. The mutiny, which became one of the bloodiest in the history of the Royal Navy, left Pigot and nine other officers dead. The Navy hunted down and executed a number of the mutineers and recaptured his ship from the Spanish, to whom the mutineers had turned it over.
on 5 September 1769, the second son of Admiral
Hugh Pigot. His mother was Hugh's second wife, Frances, who was the daughter of Sir Richard Wrottesley
. The younger Hugh embarked on his naval career on 10 March 1782, when he joined the 50-gun as an admiral's servant. He sailed with the Jupiter to the West Indies, where his father was flying his flag aboard the 90-gun . Pigot was advanced to midshipman
or masters' mate on 1 October 1784, and received his commission as lieutenant on 21 September 1790. He received his first command, that of the sloop
on 10 February 1794, and was assigned to operate on the Jamaica
station.
in May 1794. He placed the blame for the mishap on the master of the merchant. Four months later Pigot was posted to the 32-gun as her captain. During a nine-month period, he ordered at least 85 floggings
, the equivalent of half the crew; two men died from their injuries. In July 1795 he was involved in another collision with the Mercury, an American ship, near Santo Domingo
. He again blamed the master of the other ship. But when he had the man seized and flogged he created a diplomatic incident. Pigot was brought to court-martial
but that let him off with an apology. He was initially to return to England after this but Admiral Sir Hyde Parker then in command at Jamaica thought that Pigot had been represented badly and allowed him to transfer to the 32-gun instead.
Pigot took command of HMS Hermione on 10 February 1797, making a habit of giving preferential treatment to members of the crew who had previously served under him. The ship was sent to patrol the Mona Passage
between the Dominican Republic
and Puerto Rico
. Pigot destroyed three privateer
s at Puerto Rico
on 22 March 1797. In April Pigot aboard Hermione, and acting in company with , , and succeeded in cutting out nine merchants from the port of Jean-Rabel
under fire from enemy batteries, and without losing a single man. In an incident in May 1797 the Hermione narrowly escaped being wrecked thanks to the efforts of one of her lieutenants, Harris, but a ship sailing in company with the Hermione went aground. Pigot blamed Harris however and insisted upon an inquiry. Though Harris was exonerated, he immediately left the ship to serve on another. Pigot had by now developed a reputation for excessive brutality. On 6 September 1797 and in company with and she captured a 6-gun Spanish privateer.
Pigot had also developed the practice of flogging the last sailor down from working aloft. On 20 September 1797, Pigot ordered the topsails to be reefed after a squall
struck the ship. Dissatisfied with the speed of the operation because "these would be the yard-arm men, the most skilful topmen" he gave the order that the last men off the yard would be flogged. Three young sailors, in their haste to get down, fell to their deaths on the deck, one of which hit and injured the master Southcott. Pigot ordered their bodies thrown into the sea with the words "throw the lubbers overboard"—the worst insult in the seaman's vocabulary, and then instructed two bos'un mate's to flog the rest of topmen when they complained, and the rest of the topmen were flogged the next morning.
The humiliation of Casey, the deaths of the topmen and the severe punishment of the rest of the sailors afterward triggered the mutiny. The evening of 21 September 1797, a number of the crew, drunk on stolen rum, rushed Pigot's cabin
and forced their way in after overpowering the marine
stationed outside. They hacked at Pigot with knives and cutlasses before throwing him overboard, probably while he was still alive. The mutineers, probably led by a core group of just 18, went on to murder another eight of Hermiones officers: First Lieutenant Samuel Reed, Second Lieutenant Archibald Douglas, Third Lieutenant Henry Foreshaw, the Marine commander, Lieutenant McIntosh; Bosun William Martin, Purser Pacey and Surgeon Sansum. The captain's clerk
and two midshipmen were also killed and all the bodies were thrown overboard. Three warrant officers survived, the Gunner and Carpenter were spared because they were considered useful to the ship, and Southcott the master was spared so he could navigate. Southcott lived to be a key witness, along with Casey who was also spared, and their eyewitness accounts and testimony were key to the trials of many of the mutineers. Three petty officers joined the mutiny, one midshipman, Surgeon's Mate Cronin, and Master's Mate Turner.
Fearing retribution for their actions, the mutineer's decided to navigate the ship toward Spanish waters. One reason the master's life was spared was because Turner could not navigate the ship properly without his help. The Hermione sailed to La Guaira
, where they handed the ship over to the Spanish authorities. The mutineers claimed they had set the officers adrift in a small boat, as had happened in the mutiny on the Bounty
some eight years earlier. The Spanish gave the mutineers just $25 dollars each in return, and presented them with the options of joining the Spanish army, heavy labour, or refitting their ship. The Hermione was taken into service with the Spanish and renamed Santa Cecilia, and was manned by 25 of her former sailors under Spanish guard.
. Parker wrote to the governor of La Guaira, demanding the return of the ship and the surrender of the mutineers. He also despatched under Captain Henry Ricketts to commence negotiations. He also set up a system of informers and posted rewards, which eventually led to the capture of 33 of the mutineers, some of whom were tried aboard . Of these, 24 were hanged
and gibbet
ted, one was transported
, and eight were acquitted or pardoned. To Parker's fury, Admiral Richard Rodney Bligh had issued pardons to several mutineers. Parker forced Bligh to resign and return to Britain. The Hermione had meanwhile sat in Puerto Cabello
until Captain Edward Hamilton
, aboard cut her out of the harbour on 25 October 1799. The Spanish lost 119 dead and 231 were taken prisoner, while another 15 jumped or fell overboard. Hamilton had 11 injured, four seriously, but none killed.
Parker had the recaptured Hermione renamed HMS Retaliation, after which the Admiralty
ordered her to be renamed HMS Retribution on 31 January 1800.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Through his connections and their patronage he was able to rise to the rank of captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
, despite apparently poor leadership skills and a reputation for brutality. While he was captain of Hermione
HMS Hermione (1782)
HMS Hermione was a 32-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was notorious for having the bloodiest mutiny in British naval history, which saw her captain and most of the officers killed...
he eventually provoked his men to mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
. The mutiny, which became one of the bloodiest in the history of the Royal Navy, left Pigot and nine other officers dead. The Navy hunted down and executed a number of the mutineers and recaptured his ship from the Spanish, to whom the mutineers had turned it over.
Family and early life
Pigot was born in Patshull, StaffordshireStaffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
on 5 September 1769, the second son of Admiral
Admiral (United Kingdom)
Admiral is a senior rank of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom, which equates to the NATO rank code OF-9, outranked only by the rank Admiral of the Fleet...
Hugh Pigot. His mother was Hugh's second wife, Frances, who was the daughter of Sir Richard Wrottesley
Baron Wrottesley
Baron Wrottesley, of Wrottesley in the County of Stafford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1838 for Sir John Wrottesley, 9th Baronet. He was a Major-General in the Army and also represented Lichfield, Staffordshire and Staffordshire South in House of Commons. He...
. The younger Hugh embarked on his naval career on 10 March 1782, when he joined the 50-gun as an admiral's servant. He sailed with the Jupiter to the West Indies, where his father was flying his flag aboard the 90-gun . Pigot was advanced to midshipman
Midshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
or masters' mate on 1 October 1784, and received his commission as lieutenant on 21 September 1790. He received his first command, that of the sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
on 10 February 1794, and was assigned to operate on the Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
station.
First commands
Whilst in command of the Swan Pigot rammed the merchant ship Canada in the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
in May 1794. He placed the blame for the mishap on the master of the merchant. Four months later Pigot was posted to the 32-gun as her captain. During a nine-month period, he ordered at least 85 floggings
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
, the equivalent of half the crew; two men died from their injuries. In July 1795 he was involved in another collision with the Mercury, an American ship, near Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
. He again blamed the master of the other ship. But when he had the man seized and flogged he created a diplomatic incident. Pigot was brought to court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
but that let him off with an apology. He was initially to return to England after this but Admiral Sir Hyde Parker then in command at Jamaica thought that Pigot had been represented badly and allowed him to transfer to the 32-gun instead.
Hermione
Mona Passage
The Mona Passage is a strait that separates the islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. The Mona Passage connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, and is an important shipping route between the Atlantic and the Panama Canal....
between the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. Pigot destroyed three privateer
Privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship authorized by a government by letters of marque to attack foreign shipping during wartime. Privateering was a way of mobilizing armed ships and sailors without having to spend public money or commit naval officers...
s at Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
on 22 March 1797. In April Pigot aboard Hermione, and acting in company with , , and succeeded in cutting out nine merchants from the port of Jean-Rabel
Jean-Rabel
Jean-Rabel is a city located west of the city of Port de Paix and east of the city of Mole st Niclas Môle-Saint-Nicolas Arrondissement, in the Nord-Ouest Department of Haiti.It has 125,745 inhabitants....
under fire from enemy batteries, and without losing a single man. In an incident in May 1797 the Hermione narrowly escaped being wrecked thanks to the efforts of one of her lieutenants, Harris, but a ship sailing in company with the Hermione went aground. Pigot blamed Harris however and insisted upon an inquiry. Though Harris was exonerated, he immediately left the ship to serve on another. Pigot had by now developed a reputation for excessive brutality. On 6 September 1797 and in company with and she captured a 6-gun Spanish privateer.
Mutiny
Midshipman David Casey was an experienced midshipman who had distinguished himself to Captain Pigot during the previous months, but his disrating was a primary trigger to the mutiny. About a week before the mutiny, Casey was at his station on the main top, and the captain noticed a reef knot which had not been tied by one of the sailors under his supervision. Casey was brought before the captain, and while he begged his pardon, Casey refused to be humiliated by apologizing on his knees. The captain gave him 12 lashes, and he was disrated, which would end his career as a naval officer. The crew felt Casey was punished unfairly, and the topmen began to plot mutiny.Pigot had also developed the practice of flogging the last sailor down from working aloft. On 20 September 1797, Pigot ordered the topsails to be reefed after a squall
Squall
A squall is a sudden, sharp increase in wind speed which is usually associated with active weather, such as rain showers, thunderstorms, or heavy snow. Squalls refer to an increase in the sustained winds over a short time interval, as there may be higher gusts during a squall event...
struck the ship. Dissatisfied with the speed of the operation because "these would be the yard-arm men, the most skilful topmen" he gave the order that the last men off the yard would be flogged. Three young sailors, in their haste to get down, fell to their deaths on the deck, one of which hit and injured the master Southcott. Pigot ordered their bodies thrown into the sea with the words "throw the lubbers overboard"—the worst insult in the seaman's vocabulary, and then instructed two bos'un mate's to flog the rest of topmen when they complained, and the rest of the topmen were flogged the next morning.
The humiliation of Casey, the deaths of the topmen and the severe punishment of the rest of the sailors afterward triggered the mutiny. The evening of 21 September 1797, a number of the crew, drunk on stolen rum, rushed Pigot's cabin
Cabin (ship)
A cabin or berthing is an enclosed space generally on a ship or an aircraft. A cabin which protrudes above the level of a ship's deck may be referred to as a "deckhouse."-Sailing ships:...
and forced their way in after overpowering the marine
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
stationed outside. They hacked at Pigot with knives and cutlasses before throwing him overboard, probably while he was still alive. The mutineers, probably led by a core group of just 18, went on to murder another eight of Hermiones officers: First Lieutenant Samuel Reed, Second Lieutenant Archibald Douglas, Third Lieutenant Henry Foreshaw, the Marine commander, Lieutenant McIntosh; Bosun William Martin, Purser Pacey and Surgeon Sansum. The captain's clerk
Captain's clerk
A captain's clerk was a rating, now obsolete, in the Royal Navy for a person employed by the captain to keep his records, correspondence, and accounts. The regulations of the Royal Navy demanded that a purser serve at least one year as a captain's clerk, so the latter was often a young man working...
and two midshipmen were also killed and all the bodies were thrown overboard. Three warrant officers survived, the Gunner and Carpenter were spared because they were considered useful to the ship, and Southcott the master was spared so he could navigate. Southcott lived to be a key witness, along with Casey who was also spared, and their eyewitness accounts and testimony were key to the trials of many of the mutineers. Three petty officers joined the mutiny, one midshipman, Surgeon's Mate Cronin, and Master's Mate Turner.
Fearing retribution for their actions, the mutineer's decided to navigate the ship toward Spanish waters. One reason the master's life was spared was because Turner could not navigate the ship properly without his help. The Hermione sailed to La Guaira
La Guaira
La Guaira is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Vargas and the country's chief port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during the December 1999 floods and mudslides that affected much of the region...
, where they handed the ship over to the Spanish authorities. The mutineers claimed they had set the officers adrift in a small boat, as had happened in the mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
some eight years earlier. The Spanish gave the mutineers just $25 dollars each in return, and presented them with the options of joining the Spanish army, heavy labour, or refitting their ship. The Hermione was taken into service with the Spanish and renamed Santa Cecilia, and was manned by 25 of her former sailors under Spanish guard.
Recovery and renaming
Meanwhile news of the fate of the Hermione reached Sir Hyde Parker when captured a Spanish schoonerSchooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
. Parker wrote to the governor of La Guaira, demanding the return of the ship and the surrender of the mutineers. He also despatched under Captain Henry Ricketts to commence negotiations. He also set up a system of informers and posted rewards, which eventually led to the capture of 33 of the mutineers, some of whom were tried aboard . Of these, 24 were hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
and gibbet
Gibbet
A gibbet is a gallows-type structure from which the dead bodies of executed criminals were hung on public display to deter other existing or potential criminals. In earlier times, up to the late 17th century, live gibbeting also took place, in which the criminal was placed alive in a metal cage...
ted, one was transported
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
, and eight were acquitted or pardoned. To Parker's fury, Admiral Richard Rodney Bligh had issued pardons to several mutineers. Parker forced Bligh to resign and return to Britain. The Hermione had meanwhile sat in Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello
Puerto Cabello is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State about 75 km west of Caracas. As of 2001, the city has a population of around 154,000 people. The city is the home to the largest port in the country and is thus a vital cog in the country's vast oil...
until Captain Edward Hamilton
Sir Edward Hamilton, 1st Baronet
Sir Edward Joseph Hamilton, 1st Baronet KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy, who saw service during the American War of Independence, and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral.-Family and early life:Hamilton was born on 22 March 1772, the second...
, aboard cut her out of the harbour on 25 October 1799. The Spanish lost 119 dead and 231 were taken prisoner, while another 15 jumped or fell overboard. Hamilton had 11 injured, four seriously, but none killed.
Parker had the recaptured Hermione renamed HMS Retaliation, after which the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
ordered her to be renamed HMS Retribution on 31 January 1800.