Jacob Nagle
Encyclopedia
Jacob Nagle was an American
and British soldier, sailor, and, above all, diarist who provides an exceptional first hand account of many of the dramatic events of his lifetime.
Nagle was born in Reading, Pennsylvania
, and fought in the American Revolutionary War
along with his father. He was in the Battle of Brandywine
and in George Washington
's artillery at Valley Forge
. He resigned from the Continental Army
in 1778 and enlisted in the tiny Continental Navy
.
When construction on the USS Saratoga
was delayed, Nagle took to sea as a privateer
in 1780 on Fair American, then on Rising Sun in 1781. He was captured by the British and taken to St. Kitts in the Caribbean
in chains. He was freed when the French Navy
captured the island in 1782 but was almost immediately arrested again for aiding British sailors. He was then taken to Martinique
. From that point on, he served in the Royal Navy
.
He sailed with the famous First Fleet
expedition in 1787 as an able seaman on the expedition's naval escort Sirius
. The expedition was charged with the task of founding the first British colony on the continent of Australia
, in the territory of New South Wales
.
Botany Bay
, the First Fleet's designated destination in New South Wales, proved unsuitable for a colony, however, when the expedition landed there in the first month of the new year. The ships of the First Fleet subsequently moved up the New South Wales coastline, under the direction of Captain Arthur Phillip
, soon finding refuge in a splendid harbour which would become known as Port Jackson
.
Here, on 26 January 1788, Phillip officially founded the Colony of New South Wales, on the site of the future City of Sydney
. This key historical event is marked annually in Australia by a public holiday and Australia Day
celebrations.
Sirius subsequently acted as a re-supply vessel and communications link between New South Wales, the Pacific Ocean
colony of Norfolk Island
, and England. Sadly, the ship was wrecked on a reef on Norfolk Island in 1790 during a one of its replenishment missions. Nagle would spend a year on the island until he was eventually collected by a British vessel and returned to England, arriving there in 1792. He lived his version of the high life until press gang
ed aboard the Hector in that same year, serving on Hector until certain Bounty Mutineers
were taken. In 1794, Nagle jumped to a new ship to go to Madras and Calcutta in India
. In India, he linked with two women convicts who had escaped from Sydney and had set up a brothel
.
In 1795, Nagle returned to England and married. He and his wife had seven children over the ensuing years. In 1796, he served with Admiral Lord Nelson aboard the Blanche, and in 1798 he served on the Netley as "prize-master," which resulted in his making considerable sums of money from captured enemy shipping during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1802, a temporary peace was declared, and so he left the Navy and went to America to visit his family. He then entered the merchant marine, sometimes in American service and sometimes British. Nagle worked on shipping between Portugal and it's colony in Brazil, basing himself in Lisbon where he lived from 1811–1821. He retired for good from the sea in 1824 shortly after his wife and all their children died of Yellow Fever.
His journal provides a vivid record of the major events and new territories of these decades, and he wrote his Memoirs late in his life.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and British soldier, sailor, and, above all, diarist who provides an exceptional first hand account of many of the dramatic events of his lifetime.
Nagle was born in Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, and fought in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
along with his father. He was in the Battle of Brandywine
Battle of Brandywine
The Battle of Brandywine, also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was fought between the American army of Major General George Washington and the British-Hessian army of General Sir William Howe on September 11, 1777. The British defeated the Americans and...
and in George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
's artillery at Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge in Pennsylvania was the site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War.-History:...
. He resigned from the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
in 1778 and enlisted in the tiny Continental Navy
Continental Navy
The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War, and was formed in 1775. Through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron, John Adams and vigorous Congressional support in the face of stiff opposition, the fleet cumulatively became relatively...
.
When construction on the USS Saratoga
USS Saratoga (1780)
The first ship to honor the historic Battle of Saratoga was a sloop in the Continental Navy. She disappeared in 1781. Her fate remains a mystery to this day....
was delayed, Nagle took to sea as a 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...
in 1780 on Fair American, then on Rising Sun in 1781. He was captured by the British and taken to St. Kitts in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
in chains. He was freed when the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
captured the island in 1782 but was almost immediately arrested again for aiding British sailors. He was then taken to Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
. From that point on, he served in the Royal Navy
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...
.
He sailed with the famous First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
expedition in 1787 as an able seaman on the expedition's naval escort Sirius
HMS Sirius (1786)
HMS Sirius was the flagship of the First Fleet, which set out from Portsmouth, England, in 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales, Australia. Sirius was wrecked off the coast of Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean in 1790....
. The expedition was charged with the task of founding the first British colony on the continent of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in the territory of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
.
Botany Bay
Botany Bay
Botany Bay is a bay in Sydney, New South Wales, a few kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. The Cooks River and the Georges River are the two major tributaries that flow into the bay...
, the First Fleet's designated destination in New South Wales, proved unsuitable for a colony, however, when the expedition landed there in the first month of the new year. The ships of the First Fleet subsequently moved up the New South Wales coastline, under the direction of Captain Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
, soon finding refuge in a splendid harbour which would become known as Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
.
Here, on 26 January 1788, Phillip officially founded the Colony of New South Wales, on the site of the future City of Sydney
City of Sydney
The City of Sydney is the Local Government Area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the greater metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia...
. This key historical event is marked annually in Australia by a public holiday and Australia Day
Australia Day
Australia Day is the official national day of Australia...
celebrations.
Sirius subsequently acted as a re-supply vessel and communications link between New South Wales, the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
colony of Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
, and England. Sadly, the ship was wrecked on a reef on Norfolk Island in 1790 during a one of its replenishment missions. Nagle would spend a year on the island until he was eventually collected by a British vessel and returned to England, arriving there in 1792. He lived his version of the high life until press gang
Impressment
Impressment, colloquially, "the Press", was the act of taking men into a navy by force and without notice. It was used by the Royal Navy, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries, in wartime, as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice goes back to...
ed aboard the Hector in that same year, serving on Hector until certain Bounty Mutineers
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...
were taken. In 1794, Nagle jumped to a new ship to go to Madras and Calcutta in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. In India, he linked with two women convicts who had escaped from Sydney and had set up a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
.
In 1795, Nagle returned to England and married. He and his wife had seven children over the ensuing years. In 1796, he served with Admiral Lord Nelson aboard the Blanche, and in 1798 he served on the Netley as "prize-master," which resulted in his making considerable sums of money from captured enemy shipping during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1802, a temporary peace was declared, and so he left the Navy and went to America to visit his family. He then entered the merchant marine, sometimes in American service and sometimes British. Nagle worked on shipping between Portugal and it's colony in Brazil, basing himself in Lisbon where he lived from 1811–1821. He retired for good from the sea in 1824 shortly after his wife and all their children died of Yellow Fever.
His journal provides a vivid record of the major events and new territories of these decades, and he wrote his Memoirs late in his life.
Further reading
- Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia: a biographical dictionary of the First Fleet, Sydney, Library of Australian History, 1989. (ISBN 0908120699)
- Dann, J. C. ed. The Journal of Jacob Nagle. 1988.