Scope and Content Note
The papers of Sir George Cockburn (1772-1853) consist of logbooks , journals , correspondence, fleet orders , miscellany , and a small addition related to Cockburn’s military career in the British Royal Navy. The papers span the period 1788-1847, but are concentrated in the years 1800-1820.
The Cockburn Papers cover numerous events in British naval history. Documented in the papers are the blockade of the French at Toulon, Horatio Nelson's Mediterranean exploits, the victory over the Spanish at Cape St. Vincent on the southwestern coast of Portugal, the conquest of Martinique, the bombardment of the seaport of Flushing, New York, the attempt to rescue King Ferdinand VII of Spain, negotiations with the Spanish at Cádiz, English military offensives conducted against the Americans in the Chesapeake Bay and the destruction of the city of Washington during the War of 1812, the conveyance of Napoleon Bonaparte to his exile on St. Helena, and British naval activities in the Caribbean during the early decades of the nineteenth century. There is also material pertaining to the history of the West Indies, Bermuda, and the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, which includes descriptions of the social and political conditions in these areas during the early 1800s.
Correspondence and logbooks detail Cockburn's involvement in the War of 1812. His letter of 27 August 1814 to his commander in chief, Sir Alexander Cochrane, discussed the Battle of Bladensburg and the destruction of the Capitol and other public buildings in Washington, D.C.
The majority of the correspondents in the Cockburn Papers are British naval officers, although there are letters to Cockburn from statesmen, diplomats, and generals as well. Included are counts Henri-Gratien Bertrand and Charles-Tristan de Montholon, generals under Napoleon's command; Graf Andreas Daschkoff, the Russian ambassador to the United States; British prime minister W. E. Gladstone; James Monroe; Baron Reland, Swedish ambassador to Great Britain; Horatio Nelson, British admiral; William Pinkney, American legislator and statesman; and Baron Reland, Swedish ambassador to Great Britain.
The Miscellany series includes numerous reports, several of which were written by Cockburn himself. An account by Cockburn of Nelson’s military engagements in the Mediterranean includes the Battle of the Nile in August 1798. A second report described the battle between the British and Spanish navies off the coast of Puerto Rico on 15 November 1799. There are also reports concerning the destruction of the Danish navy at Copenhagen, 12 April 1801; the victory over French and Spanish forces at Algeciras, 3 August 1801; Nelson's victory against the French at Boulogne-Sur-Mer, 8 August 1801; and encounters with the Spanish and French in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean during the years 1801-1804.
Several of the reports concern diplomatic issues. One provides an account of the futile attempt to rescue King Ferdinand VII of Spain from imprisonment by Napoleon. Another records a meeting between the English and the Spanish held at Cádiz in 1811-1812 concerning the granting of independence by Spain to its colonies in South America. A paper written by Cockburn, possibly directed to the attention of English prime minister Robert Banks Jenkinson, Earl of Liverpool, discussed the possibility of using English troops to suppress insurrectionary movements in Spain’s South American colonies during the early 1800s. Cockburn, in advising against this joint venture with the Spanish, presented his appraisal of colonial politics in the Americas.
The Miscellany series also includes an 1847 memorandum by Cockburn in which he proposed a reorganization of the Board of Admiralty in order to simplify its management.
The Addition consists of a commission dated 1830, photocopies of a Cockburn family tree, and information regarding Cockburn's naval career.