Memoirs and Correspondence of Admiral Lord de Saumarez, Vol. I

The first volume opens with a detailed portrait of a young man from Guernsey, eager to follow the sea. After a visit from the Duke of Gloucester, he decides on a naval career, joins the books of the Solebay, and undergoes schooling in London before his first posting on the Montreal. Early adventures take him from the Levant to Smyrna, and his steady ascent to lieutenant is marked by daring raids such as the attack on Fort Sullivan.

From there the narrative follows his rapid rise through a series of fierce engagements—command of the Spitfire, a dramatic encounter with the French fleet under D’Estaing, and a narrow escape from a shipwreck aboard the Leviathan. His letters reveal the tension of battles in the West Indies, a bold capture of a French thirty‑six‑gun ship, and the camaraderie of his crews during perilous channel actions. Interwoven with family genealogy and personal reflections, the memoir offers a vivid glimpse into the making of a distinguished admiral during the turbulent years of the late eighteenth century.