One of my patrons, Daniele, recently requested a video about the life of Thomas Cochrane.
And admittedly, it is quite the tale.
It appears Thomas managed to fit multiple lives into one.
The Scotsman enjoyed adventures around the entire world, often tangled by conflict with
his superiors, who considered him a troublemaker.
However, even they could not deny his skill as a fighting commander.
Early Life
On December 14, 1775, Thomas was born on the east coast of Scotland to Archibald Cochrane,
the 9th earl of Dundonald and his wife, Anna Gilchrist.
Although nobility on the surface, and owning many inherited lands, as talented as Archibald
was when it came to inventions, as poor skills he had regarding the family’s finances.
When Thomas was three years old, his father was made Lord Dundonald, and Tomas received
the courtesy title of Lord Cochrane.
With the family’s finances dwindling throughout the years, by the age of 18, his father put
up Thomas’ part of the inheritance for sale to pay for his debt.
That same year Thomas joined the Royal Navy, serving on HMS Hind, a 28-gun sixth-rate frigate,
directly under his uncle Alexander Cochrane.
Alexander was a veteran of the American War of Independence, having taken part in the
Burning of Washington of 1814.
He was also one of the most influential men in the Admiralty at that time.
And he prepared Thomas’ career in the navy.
Ever since the boy was just five years old, Alexander had enrolled his name in the journals
of four different ships.
So when Thomas turned 18 and joined the navy, he already had 13 years of service under his
belt, albeit on paper.
This proved a welcome advantage in terms of promotions.
Within three years, he was promoted to lieutenant.
He first saw action during the War of the Second Coalition, pitting several kingdoms
and empires against the newly established French Republic.
He received his first command in 1800.
With HMS Speedy, a 14-gun brig, he achieved many victories and daring raids that echoed
his name among the Admiralty ranks.
His tactics early on became characteristic for the rest of his career.
Cochrane took risks, playing around with deception, flying flags of other states, and even painted
his ship in the colours of a neutral country.
In his autobiography, he recounted how he once painted HMS Speedy to look akin to the
Danish Clomer, flying the Danish flag and even employing a Danish quartermaster.
They sailed along the Barbary coast, ‘hunting’ Spanish vessels.
In 1803 the Napoleonic wars broke out and Thomas once again saw action against the French
fleet.
Thanks to his exploits during raids on the Meditteranean, he became well-known among
the public, naval command and his enemies, the French alike.
Still, Cochrane’s autobiography shows he felt he didn’t receive the recognition he
deserved for his exploits.
Early on his antagonistic and insubordinate behaviour already led to him being passed
up for promotions.
And the number of political enemies would only increase after his entrance into the
House of Commons.
By 1806 he received a seat in the House of Commons for the Honiton constituency.
One year later, he was re-elected, receiving a seat for the Westminster constituency.
He used his seat to argue in favour of naval reforms and an increase in the treatment of
sailors.
Some biographers make note that because of the financial situation of Cochrane in childhood,
he pursued wealth for much of his life.
He was concerned with income for a very long time, something which would lead to controversy
surrounding his persona on more than one occasion.
The same year he entered the House of Commons, he received command of HMS Imperieuse, a 38-gun
fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy.
Historian Paul Johnson writes that the commission of HMS Imperieuse was, in terms of enemy ships
sunk, perhaps the most successful commission in the history of the Royal Navy.
Regardless of Cochrane’s success with the frigate raiding the Mediterranean, he once
again echoed the sentiment that he didn’t feel he received enough acknowledgement for
his achievements.
The Spanish War of Independence (1808-1814)
In May 1808, the Spanish War of Independence broke out when Bourbon Spain rose up against
Napoleon.
The United Kingdom supported the Spanish, both in spirit and material.
Thomas received orders to patrol the Catalan coast against French threats.
Together with the Spanish, he defended cities such as Roses against French besiegement.
Although Laurent Gouvion Saint-Cyr’s Corps ended up defeating the Anglo-Spanish garrison.
When in April 1809, the French Rochfort squadron evaded a British blockade after sheltering
at the Basque Roads in the Bay of Biscay, Cochrane’s squadron was the one to prepare
action.
It would become perhaps his most significant tactical victory while ironically simultaneously
ending his British naval career.
The plan was for Cochrane to sail a small flotilla of ships towards the French fleet,
light the fireships up and have them crash into the other vessels.
The plan was successful, and panic broke out on the French side.
Although Cochrane managed to gain the advantage, burning three French ships, rendering three
others incapacitated and the remaining vessels aground in the bay, the Admiral of the Fleet
James Gambier was reluctant to use the momentum and dedicate the Channel Fleet.
Cochrane, on his own, spent several days destroying French ships in the bay without the support
of Gambier.
Thanks to his inaction, the French fleet ran aground but wasn’t entirely destroyed.
Still, Cochrane was awarded the Order of the Bath, the British order of chivalry, raising
him to knighthood.
Gambier not taking action became quite a political issue, as Cochrane and other Royal Navy officers
accused Gambier of cowardice.
Napoleon later said about this: “If Cochrane had been supported, he would have taken every
one of our ships.”
The hot-tempered Sir Elias Harvey, renowned for his actions at the iconic Battle of Trafalgar,
told Gambier to his face that “He never saw a man so unfit for the command of a fleet
as Your Lordship.”
This fit led to his court-martial and a dismission of service.
As for Cochrane, using his parliamentary power, he became one of the lead actors in opposing
the vote of thanks for Gambier being put through parliament.
Feeling slandered in the public debate, Gambier called for a court-martial to decide if his
actions were indeed cowardly.
The friendly court exonerated him, not in the least because Cochrane didn’t present
his case but simply supported the records speaking for themselves.
But with Gambier’s exoneration, a problem for Cochrane arose.
He already wasn’t popular among the upper echelons of military and government because
of his recalcitrant personality and calls for naval reform.
The acquittal of Gambier put Cochrane in a vulnerable position: he may have libelled
him.
The entire situation could be considered a perfect storm, and Cochrane’s critics ensured
he would not be employed at sea again.
Disregarding his outstanding success, having been successful in every naval engagement
of his career thus far, he would not be appointed to a command post ever again.
Downfall (1814)
Not employed at sea anymore didn’t keep Cochrane out of the public spotlight, albeit
often in a negative way.
Sources indicate one of his uncles devised a plot to profit from the steep rise of state
bonds after he announced Napoleon’s death… in February 1814.
Cochrane profited, but when it turned out the French Emperor was alive and well, he
was put on trial for spreading misinformation and conspiracy.
According to his own estimates, he profited no more than 1200 pounds.
A considerable sum, but far from life-changing.
Others profited hundreds of thousands of pounds.
But the London Exchange later estimated Cochrane didn’t necessarily want to profit, but instead
prevent a loss of approximately 10.000 pounds, which would have happened if the fraudulent
message of Napoleon’s death hadn’t reached London.
The subsequent trial didn’t exonerate him, not to mention the massive publicity offensive
surrounding it.
Cochrane published half a dozen affidavits defending his name, while the Exchange publicly
attacked him in newspapers and with pamphlets.
Cochrane had to pay a 1000 pound fine, was sentenced to a year in prison, expelled from
parliament and stripped of his Order of the Bath.
Initially, he was sentenced to be put in the pillory outside the Exchange for a week, but
fortunately, he managed to evade this embarrassment.
His constituents considered him innocent, or perhaps they simply supported his Radical
politics, and within a few days once again re-elected him into the House of Commons.
Still, he had to serve his 12-month sentence, with a brief intermezzo as he managed to escape
the King’s Bench Prison once.
He also begrudgingly paid the 1000 pound fine, writing on the banknote that he hoped to bring
the actual delinquents to justice.
In summer 1815, he once again was a free man, approaching 40 years old.
He was convinced his trial was rigged for the rest of his life and spent a considerable
amount of time to public squabbles with those he deemed to be responsible for his imprisonment
and accusations.
Up until his death, one of the key tenents of his doings were the attempts to rehabilitate
himself.
Latin America (1820-1830)
All the way across the world in 1810, the Chilean war of independence against Spain
erupted.
In 1817 a Chilean envoy, Antonia Alvarez, arrived in London intending to create a navy.
Although not holding an official position in the Royal Navy, Cochrane certainly didn’t
lose his talent for naval warfare.
Supposedly upon invitation by the so-called father of Chile, Bernardo O’Higgins, Cochrane
became the commanding Admiral of the Chilean navy.
In November 1818, Cochrane, together with his family, arrived in the harbour of Valparaiso,
Chile.
From then on, he patrolled the Latin American coast, once again fighting against the Spanish
and using his deception tactics to inflict severe losses.
He would be a highly successful mercenary for the next decade.
One of his most remarkable feats during the war must have been the capture of the Spanish
flagship Esmeralda.
In November 1820, he managed to slip his division of boats into the Callao harbour, boarded
the Esmeralda and captured the entire flagship.
This significant capture is generally considered to be the watershed moment of Spain losing
control in the Pacific.
For his service, O’Higgins granted the Scotsman Chilean citizenship.
Besides contributing to Chile’s independence, he was also instrumental in creating the conditions
under which Peru became independent.
Despite his success, however, Cochrane still ran into conflicts.
Argentine general and later Protector of Peru, Jose de San Martin and Cochrane had a public
fight that lasted for years, mainly about Cochrane’s monetary demands.
After serving the Chilean navy for nearly four years, Thomas left for Brazil, embroiled
in its own war of independence against Portugal.
He commanded the Imperial Brazilian Navy, appointed as First Admiral.
He defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of May 4 and later forced them to surrender at
Maranham after bluffing there was a larger contingent of ships coming.
It was thanks to Cochrane that Brazil earned its independence from Portugal, after expelling
many Portuguese garrisons.
In 1824, Emperor Peter I of Brazil granted him the title Marquis of Maranhao.
After another run-in about monetary rewards, Cochrane left Brazil behind and sailed back
to Britain one year later.
Rehabilitation and Greek War
In 1825 Cochrane returned to Britain, enjoying somewhat of celebrity status.
That same year the Greeks requested his expertise to help them in their own war of independence
against the Ottoman Empire.
Cochrane resigned three years later, not having had too much influence.
Although his conviction in the 1814 Exchange scandal was never overturned, things began
looking up for him.
Not in the least thanks to his international reputation as a very able naval commander.
In 1831 he succeeded his father as tenth Earl of Dundonald.
A year later, King William IV granted him a pardon and reinstated him as rear-admiral
of the Royal Navy.
In 1847 he was reinstated as Knight of the Order of Bath by Queen Victoria.
One year later he took up command in the West Indies.
He held this post for three years.
When in 1853 Europe was slowly drifting towards the Crimean war, it once again was the reformist-minded
Cochrane who proposed the use of explosion ships and stink vessels to gain control of
the Black Sea.
Basically, he suggested very primitive forms of biological warfare.
Cochrane’s recommendations were dismissed, although the Crimean war did see many technological
inventions such as a primitive version of ironclad warships and explosive naval shells.
When war broke out, Cochrane was already 79 years old.
Disregarding his age, he was considered to be made commander-in-chief of the Baltic fleet.
Letters from then-Prime Minister George Aberdeen to Queen Victoria reveal that this was eventually
decided against because of Cochrane’s track record of bravado and insubordination, not
so much his age.
Thomas Cochrane passed away in 1860 at the age of 84, following a second surgery for
kidney stones.
To this day, the Chilean Navy holds a wreath-laying ceremony at his grave.