RODNEY, GEORGE BRYDGES RODNEY, .Lord, English admiral, b. Feb. 13, 1718, was _second son of caps. Rodney of the royal marines. He was taken from Harrow school at the early age of 12, and sent to sea. He became lieut. in 1739; post-capt., 1742; and commander of the Newfoundland station in 1748, with the rank of commodore. In 1752. he returned home, and was elected M.P. for Saltash. He afterward commanded the Fougueux, the Prince George, and the Dublin men-of-war. In 1759, after 28 year's' active service, he was made rear-admiral; and in July he bombarded Havre for two or three days, destroying the town and fortifications so effectually, that it has never recov ered its former importance as an arsenal for ships-of-war. In 1761 he took Martinique, Grenada, and Santa Lucia. In 1762 he became vice admiral, and in 1764 was made a baronet. In 1779 Spain joined France in the war against England, and their united fleets appeared in the channel in overwhelming force. The siege of Gibraltar was under taken by the Spaniards; and Rodney, who was sent out with 22 sail of the line and 8 frigates to the West Indian station, was ordered to relieve Gibraltar en route. After seven Spanish ships-of-war, he fell in, Jan. 16, 1780, with admiral Langara, off cape St. Vincent, "that promontory which has witnessed more of our battles and triumphs than any other headland in the world." Of the Spanish fleet, five were tured and two destroyed. Having accomplished the relief of Gibraltar and Minorca, he quitted the Mediterranean, and crossed the Atlantic to the station of his command. •On April 17 he defeated, near Martinique, the French fleet, under the count de Gnichen. Being ill-supported by his captains on this occasion, he complained to 'the admiralty. 'The naval administration of the day was, however, so corrupt and rotten, that the admi ralty suppressed the criminatory passages of his dispatches, and only one of the accused was brought to trial, the others being allowed to escape from the difficulty of finding- a sufficient number of non-delinquent officers to try them. Rodney took Eustatia from the Dutch. with 250 ships and other booty, estimated at three millions sterling. Deme
rara and Essequibo next surrendered. On April 12, 1782, Rodney, in conjunction with Hood and Drake, encountered the French fleet under De Grasse off Dominica, April 12, 1782. Each fleet consisted of upward of 30 ships of the line. The battle was more obsti nately contested than any engagement that ever took place between the two nations, being kept up without intermission for nearly 12 hours. De Grasse was totally defeated, and Rodney lost seven ships of the line and two frigates. Owing to the French vessels being crowded with troops, they are said to have lost 3,000 killed and 6.000 wounded; while the English loss did not exceed 600. On board the Ville de Paris were 36 chests of money, to pay the soldiers; and the whole train of artillery was on board the other captured ships. Count de Grasse was himself taken prisoner. His flag-ship, the Ville de Paris, of 112 guns, was the only first-rate man-of-war that, up to that date, had ever been taken and carried into port; and De Grasse, when he landed at Portsmouth, was stated to be the first commander-in-chief of a French fleet or army who had been prisoner in England since the capture of marshal Tallard in queen Anne's wars. In this action, Rodney successfully executed the nautical maneuver of breaking the French line, and placing the enemy between two fires, which had fallen into disuse since the common wealth. Rodney's victory saved Jamaica, ruined the naval power of France and Spain, rind gave the finishing blow to the war. The news arrived in England just after an order had been dispatched for the recall of Rodney, ivhose politics differed from those of the new ministry He was now elevated to the peerage as baron Rodney, and received a pension of ,C2,000 per annum for himself and his successors. He lived in retirement for the rest of his life. He died May 21, 1792, leaving behind him the fame of one of the most distinguished commanders in the naval annals of Great Britain. A monument was erected to his memory in St. Paul's cathedral, and his portrait by sir -Joshua Reynolds, is among the treasures of Greenwich hospital.