Benjamin Caldwell

Sir Benjamin Caldwell
Sir Benjamin Caldwell
Born	31 January 1739 Liverpool
Died	November 1820 Basingstoke, Hampshire
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1754 to 1795
Rank	Royal Navy Admiral
Commands held	HMS Martin HMS Milford HMS Rose HMS Emerald HMS Hannibal HMS Berwick HMS Cumberland HMS Impregnable HMS Majestic Leeward Islands Station
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War • Battle of Lagos • Battle of Quiberon Bay American War of Independence • Battle of Ushant • Battle of the Saintes French Revolutionary Wars • Glorious First of June
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Sir Benjamin Caldwell, GCB (31 January 1739 - November 1820) was a senior and experienced British Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth century. His many victories and achievements were overshadowed by his acrimonious departure from the Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars after highly publicised disputes with Admiral Lord Howe and Admiral Sir John Jervis, over perceived slights against his name following the battle of the Glorious First of June in 1794. As a result of these disputes, Caldwell was overlooked for future employment and only received recognition for his service from King George IV months before his death.

Caldwell was born in Liverpool in 1739, the son of Dublin solicitor Charles Caldwell and his wife Elizabeth. Caldwell was one of ten children in his family; his sister married General Sir Phineas Riall and he was a younger brother of Andrew Caldwell, a noted solicitor in Dublin. At 15 in 1754, Caldwell attended the Royal Naval Academy, Portsmouth and graduated two years later into the fourth-rate HMS Isis, where he remained for three years.

In 1759 Caldwell joined HMS Namur, the flagship of Admiral Edward Boscawen in which he participated in the victories of the Battle of Lagos and Battle of Quiberon Bay in the same year.

Profiting from his service in Namur, Caldwell was promoted to lieutenant in HMS Achilles and in her saw out the Seven Years' War. In 1762 he commanded the sloop HMS Martin and in 1765 became captain of the frigate HMS Milford. Caldwell later commanded the small frigate HMS Rose until the outbreak of the American War of Independence when he was transferred to HMS Emerald on the North American Station blockading ports, raiding and escorting convoys along the American eastern seaboard.