Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, GCB (10 February 1744 - 5 July 1819) was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, governor-general of India. He makes a fictional appearances in the Horatio Hornblower novel, Hornblower and the Hotspur.
William Cornwallis was born 10 February 1744 and entered the navy in 1755. His promotion was rapid and in 1766 he reached post-ra...
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Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, GCB (10 February 1744 - 5 July 1819) was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was the brother of Charles Cornwallis, the 1st Marquess Cornwallis, governor-general of India. He makes a fictional appearances in the Horatio Hornblower novel, Hornblower and the Hotspur.
William Cornwallis was born 10 February 1744 and entered the navy in 1755. His promotion was rapid and in 1766 he reached post-rank. Until 1779 he held various commands doing the regular work of the navy in convoy. In that year he commanded HMS Lion (64) in the fleet of Admiral Byron. The Lion was very roughly handled in the Battle of Grenada on 6 July 1779 and had to make her way alone to Jamaica. In March 1780 he fought an action in company with two other vessels against a much superior French force off Monti Cristi, and had another encounter with them near Bermuda in June. The force he engaged was the fleet carrying the troops of Rochambeau to North America. It was...
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