OF THE LATE JOHN CLERK, ESQ. OF ELDIN. 125 



Sir George Rodney, the Admiral who was now preparing to 

 take the command of the fleet in the West Indies. A more 

 direct channel of communication with Admiral Rodney was 

 the late Sir Charles Douglas, who went out several months 

 after the Admiral, in order to serve as his Captain, and did 

 actually serve in that capacity in the memorable action of the 

 12th of April 1782. Sir Charles, before leaving Britain, had 

 many conferences with Mr Clerk on the subject of naval 

 tactics, and, before he sailed, was in complete possession of 

 that system. Some of the conferences with Sir Charles were 

 by the appointment of the late Dr Blair, prebendary of West- 

 minster ; and at one of these interviews were present Mr Wil- 

 liam and Mr James Adam, with their nephew the present 

 Lord Chief Commissioner for Scotland. Sir Charles had 

 commanded the Stirling Castle in Keppell's engagement ; and 

 Mr Clerk now communicated to him the whole of his stric- 

 tures on that action, with the plans and demonstrations, on 

 which the manner of the attack from the leeward was fully de- 

 veloped. 



The matter which Sir Charles seemed most unwilling to 

 admit, was the advantage of the attack from that quarter ; and 

 it was indeed the thing most inconsistent with the instructions 

 given to all admirals. 



Lord Rodney himself, however, was more easily convinced ; 

 and in the action off Martinico, in April 1780, the original 

 plan seemed regulated by the principles of the Naval Tactics. 

 The British fleet was to leeward, and the first signal made by 

 the Admiral gave notice of his intention to attack the enemy's 

 rear with his whole force. The enemy, however, having dis- 

 covered this intention, wore, and formed on the opposite 

 tack, and thus the effect of the signal was for the time defeat- 

 ed. The Admiral appeared then to depart from the new sys- 

 tem j 



