1806.] 



Account of John Gelly Eff.- 



Lieutenant-colonel Gordon) in wjiich he foon 

 received a pair of colours, and forved with 

 that regiment at the occupation of Madeira 

 and in the Weft Indies. At the peace of 

 Amiens he returned to the bofom of hi; fami- 

 ly and friends, remaining on half pay, till the 

 renewal of hoftilities, when he was appointed 

 to the 97th or Queen's German Rejjiment, 

 which he joined at Cork, where he gain.i-d the 

 univerfal edecm of the corns : foon after at 

 the recommendation ofColo.jel Gordon, who 

 jiad early Jiilinguilhed his merit, and ever con- 

 tinued his conil;int friend and pritron, he re- 

 ceived through Ge:ieral Sir ]ohn iiloore a 

 lieut-inancy in his regiment the 55id. On the 

 appointment of Colonel Gordon to the mili- 

 tary fecrctiiryrtiip at tlie Horfe Guards, he re- 

 commended him to the notice of his royal 

 highnefi the commander in chief, in whofe 

 •ffice he was received as aliiftant fecretary ; 

 where he continued till the fpring of 1S05, 

 when ill health obliging him to relinquiih it, 

 he received from his royal highnefs, in tefti; 

 mony of his approbation, a company in the 

 jiewly raifed regiment of Malta. On the fit- 

 ting out of the then fecret expedition under 

 Sir Tames Craig, he was honoured with an ap- 

 pointment on the ftaff, and joined the forces 

 at Portfmouth as alfiftant adjutant general ; 

 a moft flattering proof of his royal highncfs's 

 good opinion of him. While the expedition 

 remained at Malta he was -gazetted to tlie 

 35th, and foon after accompanied the army to 

 the kingdom of Naples ; but quitted it for 

 Sicily on the unfortunate termination of the 

 Auftrian campaign, where he remained till a 

 part of the forces being detached into Cala- 

 bria he accompanied theiu as adting head of the 

 adjutant-general's department ; a new fcene of 

 glory was difplayed to him, in which he well 

 filled his part, but which eventually was 

 deftined to clofe all his flattering profpefts, 

 and cut him ofl'in the bloom of life and amidft 

 the laurels of viftory. Affeiflion will long 

 bewjil his untimely end, and fond recoUeftion 

 trace with his image the virtues of his manly 

 and generous mind ; while friendihip will be- 

 dew his urn, and figh over paftdavs of happi- 

 nefs forever fled ! His afflicted relatives who 

 have loft a moft affectionate fon and a kind 

 •brother, have the fad confolation of hea,jng 

 that he was beloved and refpefted in the army 

 as an officer and a man, that he received the 

 kiad attentions of friendihip in his laft mo- 

 Bicnts, and that he was honourably buried : 

 while he who dedicates this laft memorial to 

 his fame has to lament tiie lofs of a friend 

 whom years of intimacy had endeared, and re- 

 grets that his brilliant and promifing career 

 fliould fo foon and fo mournfully have been 

 terminated. He was interred with all poffi- 

 ble honours on the Glacis of the citadel of 

 Meflina, the grenadier company of his regi- 

 ment attending, and followed by all the otii- 

 ccrs of the garrifon of Meflina ; tlie funeral 

 fervicc being read by'thc Rev. Mr. Cofferail, 

 •lupiawi to the -troops .«t Malt*.. A marble 



3iJ?T 



flab points out the fpot, ("to ufe the exprcfliv-;' 

 words of a moft refpc'f'table officer, liis worthy 

 friend and colh;aguc there) " whicli contain* 

 the mortal part of as good a Tnun, as brave a 

 foldier, and as ufei'ul a fervant to hisccKmtrv, 

 in the fphere in which lie aded, as the BritilJi 

 army ever pofi'cdtid." 



At his feat near Crickhowell, in Brecknock- 

 fhire, Jchn Gell, eja. admiral of the white. 

 This gentleman was the defcendant of a very; 

 ancient and rcfpeftable Deriiyfliire family.' 

 He was pr 'moted to the rank of lieutenant in 

 the navy in 17()0, and to that of commander 

 in 176;? ; en which he was appointed to the 

 Grampus fire-lhip, but remained in that vef- 

 fel only a .'hort time. In March 1766, he 

 was made a poft-captain, and commiflioned to 

 the Launc'5.ron of 4.1 guns, on board which 

 ftiip was then flying tne flag oi Vice Admiral 

 Durell, who commanded on the Njrth Ame- 

 rican ftation. There captain Gell ferved three 

 years, and on his return received no other ap- 

 pointment till 1776, when he was commiffion- 

 ed to the Thetis frigate. For the firft two 

 years of his continuance in that ihip, he fervei 

 on his former ftation, but returning to Eng- 

 land he was fent in 177? to the Mediterranean 

 with the Chatham, Captain Allen, as convoy- 

 to a fleet of merchantmen. He w.is next em- 

 played on the home or channel ftation, and in 

 1780 was promoted to the Monarca of 70 

 guns, one of the ftiips taken the fame year by 

 Sir George Rodney from the Spaniards off 

 Cape St. Vincent. The Monarca was one of 

 the fquadron ordered to proceed to the Weft 

 Indies towards the clofe or 1780 to reinforce 

 Admiral Rodney, but flic fu.ftained fo much 

 daniage in a violent gale, as to b-^ obliged to 

 put back. When reiitted her deftination was 

 changed, and Captain Gell failed in her fingly, 

 to the Eaft Indies. In this quarter he ferved 

 during the remainder of the war and was pre- 

 fent in the numerous aftions which took place 

 with the French fquadron under Suffrein, in 

 which the Monarca was conftantly ftationed 

 in the line as one of the feconds to the com- 

 mander in chief Sir Edv.'ard Hughes. Cap- 

 tain Gell returned to Europe in 1734 and be- 

 ing paid off on his arrival in England, held 

 no fubfequent commiffion till the year 1790, 

 when he was appointed to t'c.e. Excellent of 

 74 guns: but the diiterence with Spain being 

 a.micably adjuftej, Mr. Gall's fliip was put 

 out of commilfion, and he lield no further 

 comr.-.and as a private captain. On the 1ft 

 of February 179:5, he was advanced to the 

 rank of rear admiral of the blue, and appoint- 

 ed to command one of the divifions of the 

 fleet fent out to the Mediterranean. He ac- 

 cordingly hoilted his flag on board the St. 

 ■George of 98 guns, and on his paffage bad the 

 good fortune to fall in with and take the Gc- 

 Ijieral Dumouricz, a French privateer, and her 

 prize the St. Jago a Spaniih regifter flii^-, 

 which formud one of the moft valuable cap- 

 tures ever brought' td England at one time. 

 Xoii Jiood,- who was comraanJer in chief \n 



the 



