BOSCAWEN, Edward, British admiral: b. Cornwall, England, 19 Aug. 1711; d. near Guildford, Surrey, 10 Jan. 1761. He was the 3d son of the 1st Viscount Falmouth. Hav ing entered the navy he distinguished himself at Porto Bello (1740) and Cartagena (1741), where he stormed a battery at the head of a part of his crew. In 1744 he was promoted to the Dreadnought, a 60-gun ship, in which he took the French frigate Medea and became known in the navy as l'Old Dreadnought.' He commanded at the Nore during the Jacobite troubles in 1745. Three years afterward he signalized himself under Anson at the battle of Cape Finisterre. Toward the close of this year he was appointed commander-in-chief by sea and land in the East Indies, and was despatched thither with a squadron. Hc failed in attempts on Mauritius and Pondicherry, and in 1750 re turned to England, where (1751) he obtained a seat at the Admiralty Board. In 1755 he be
came vice-admiral and sailed for North America, and in action with a French squadron two ships of the line fell into his hands. As one of the commissioners of the admiralty he signed the immediate order for the execution of Byng in 1757. In 1758 he was promoted to the rank of admiral of the blue, and in conjunction with Lord Amherst, who commanded the land forces, he was present at the capitulation of Louisburg. The year follow ing, having then the command in the Mediter ranean, he pursued the Toulon fleet, under De la Clue, through the Straits of Gibraltar, and coming up with it in Lagos Bay, completely defeated it, burning two ships and taking three. For these services he received the thanks of Parliament and $15,000 a year, with the rank of general of marines, in 1760.