Lot 93: Drummond (Samuel, 1765-1844). Captain William

Drummond (Samuel, 1765-1844). Captain William Rodgers Capturing the ÔJeune RichardÕ, 1st of October 1807, large scale preparatory study, oil on canvas, unsigned, relined, 93 x 93cm (36 1/2 x 36 1/2ins), period recessed gilt frame. An impressive preparatory study, somewhat smaller than the finshed work that hangs in the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich which measures 157 x 119cm. It records the incredible action off the coast of Barbados on 1 October 1807 when the lightly armed British Mail Packet ÔWindsor CastleÕ, under the command of Acting-Captain William Rodgers and with a crew of only 28, was pursued by the more powerful French privateer ÔJeune RichardÕ carrying a crew of 92 and with superior guns including a centrally mounted 18-pounder gun on a swivel. With the French ship gaining ground and running alongside to board, the crew of the Windsor Castle deployed anti-boarding nets and pikes and were able to repel the attackers. A long battle ensued with the ships rigging entangled preventing either side from withdrawing. Well aimed British gunfire eventually disrupted the French positions and Rodgers was able to lead a five man boarding party which drove the remaining Frenchmen from their guns and forced the crew below decks. Rodgers steered both ships to port and became an instant hero with numerous accounts appearing in newspapers and Journals. In this image Rodgers is shown leading his five men onto the privateer and is preparing to shoot the Boatswain. He stands symbolically atop the swivel-mounted 18-pounder although a dangerous figure in the foreground is raising his arm to shoot at him. Drummond based the head and shoulders of Rodgers on the portrait that he had already painted of him which is also in the National Maritime Museum. The finished picture was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1808 and was engraved in mezzotint by W. Ward in 1809. Samuel Drummond ARA (1765-1844) joined the navy at the age of fourteen and served for seven years at the height of the American War of Independence. A self-taught artist he was really a portraitist and genre painter although he did produce several maritime works including his best known of Nelson carried below deck after being mortally wounded at Trafalgar. (1)

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