Vice-Admiral of the Red Sir Alexander Inglis Cochrane, GCB (born Alexander Forrester Cochrane; 23 April 1758 – 26 January 1832) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who served in the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and War of 1812. He captained HMS Ajax off Alexandria, Egypt during the French invasion of Egypt and Syria. Cochrane was knighted into the Order of the Bath for his services in 1806. In 1814 he became commander-in-chief of the North American Station, led British naval forces during the attacks on Washington and New Orleans, and subsequently became commander-in-chief of the Plymouth naval base.
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Naval career
Alexander Inglis Cochrane was born on 23 April 1758 in Scotland. His parents were Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald and his second wife Jane. Cochrane joined the Royal Navy as a midshipman and served in North America during the American War of Independence, being promoted to lieutenant on 19 May 1778, master and commander on 6 December 1780 and post-captain on 17 December 1782. Cochrane also participated in the final defeat of the French invasion of Egypt and Syria in 1801. When Alexandria fell, Cochrane, in the 74-gun third-rate HMS Ajax, with the sixth-rate HMS Bonne Citoyenne, HMS Cynthia, the brig-sloops HMS Port Mahon and HMS Victorieuse and three Ottomans corvettes, were the first vessels to enter the harbour.
In October 1804, Cochrane alienated the Spanish governor of Ferrol, when one of his commanders intercepted four ships of the Spanish treasure fleet returning from South America, before they reached Cádiz. The effect of the attack was to bring Spain back into the war on France's side in December 1804. Cochrane also had been incensed that Admiral of the White Sir Edward Pellew, a talented "tarpaulin officer" (an officer who had worked up from being a seaman), had been preferred over himself, a well connected aristocrat, to become Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Cochrane tried to implicate Pellew, who had good relations with the governor of Ferrol, in fraud, then making seriously damaging and unfounded allegations against Pellew's secretary Fitzgerald. These were never substantiated and destroyed Fitzgerald's career but didn't accomplish the destruction of its target, who later became Viscount Exmouth.
In the Caribbean
In 1805 Cochrane was made commander of the Leeward Islands Station. He conducted operations against the French and Spanish on 6 February 1806 at the Battle of San Domingo during the Napoleonic Wars. A cannonball blew his hat off his head while he was on the deck of his flagship, HMS Northumberland. He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 29 March 1806 in recognition of his service. Other rewards included thanks from both Houses of Parliament, freedom of the city of London, and a sword valued at 100 guineas.
In Barbados, Cochrane met with General Francisco de Miranda, who had been defeated by Spanish naval forces in an attempt to liberate Venezuela. As Spain was then at war with Britain, Cochrane and the governor of Trinidad agreed to provide some support for an unsuccessful second attempt to invade Venezuela.
Following the concern in Britain that neutral Denmark was entering an alliance with Napoleon, Cochrane, now a rear admiral, in 1807 sailed in HMS Belleisle (74 guns) as commander of the squadron of ships that were sent to occupy the Danish West Indies. In 1809 he commanded naval forces in the conquest of Martinique. On 25 October 1809 he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral. He held the position of Governor of Guadeloupe from 6 February 1810 to 26 June 1813. Cochrane also owned the "Good Hope" slave plantation in Trinidad.
"No individual had greater responsibility for the decision to recruit and arm American slaves than did Alexander Cochrane." Cochrane formed two Corps of Colonial Marines, made up primarily of escaped slaves. The first corps was based on the island of Marie-Galante and operated from 1808 to 1810. The larger second corps (the first had been disbanded), formed in 1814, was disbanded in 1815, at the conclusion of the War of 1812.
War of 1812
From April 1814, during the War of 1812 against the United States, Cochrane, then a vice admiral, served as commander-in-chief of both the North American Station, based at the new dockyard in Bermuda, and the Jamaica Station, based at Port Royal. He landed the force under Major-General Robert Ross that burned Washington and pushed successful naval forays at the same time. Initially he wanted to attack Rhode Island in New England after the success at Washington, but he was dissuaded by Ross and Rear Admiral George Cockburn, who wanted to go after the bigger prize of Baltimore, Maryland.
Cochrane was appointed the Commander-in-Chief, North American Station (1814–1815). His correspondence log commences with mention of the correspondence dated 27 December 1813 from the Admiralty which formally appointed him as successor to Sir John Warren.
Asia served as the flagship for Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane from 27 January 1814. Then, Tonnant served as the flagship for Vice Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane from 9 June 1814 onwards.
Cochrane approved the plan proposed by Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet to attack Washington, after the latter predicted that "within a short period of time, with enough force, we could easily have at our mercy the capital". The 4,500 troops, commanded by Major General Robert Ross, successfully captured the capital city on 24 August 1814; Ross then directed the Burning of Washington but refused suggestions by both Cochrane and Cockburn to raze the city. Ross ordered his troops to cause no damage to private property.
It was aboard Cochrane's flagship, HMS Tonnant, near the mouth of the Potomac on 7 September 1814 that Francis Scott Key and Colonel John Skinner pleaded for and got the release of Doctor William Beanes, a civilian who had been taken prisoner in Upper Marlboro after withdrawing from the assault on Washington.
The next day Key, Skinner and Beanes were transferred to the frigate HMS Surprise, with their truce vessel in tow, as the fleet slowly moved up the Chesapeake toward Baltimore. They would not be released until the assault on Baltimore was completed. On 11 September, Skinner insisted they be put back on their own truce vessel which they were allowed to do, under guard.
Political career
Cochrane was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling Burghs from 1800 to 1802, and from 1803 to 1806.
Family
In 1788, he married Maria Shaw; they had three sons and two daughters. His son Thomas John Cochrane was entered in the Royal Navy at the age of seven; he rose to become governor of the colony of Newfoundland, and Admiral of the Fleet; he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Bath.
Alexander Cochrane was the sixth of the surviving sons of Thomas Cochrane, 8th Earl of Dundonald. The eldest son Archibald Cochrane became the earl and lost the family lands on a series of inventions and investments. Many of the younger sons served in the military or had careers supplying it. The next brother, Charles, served in the army and was killed at the Siege of Yorktown; he had married to Catherine, the daughter of Major John Pitcairn. The third surviving son, John Cochrane, was a paymaster and provisioner to the army and navy. His children included Nathaniel Day Cochrane, who became a rear admiral, and probably the chess player John Cochrane. The next son, Basil Cochrane, made a fortune supplying the Royal Navy in India. Alexander was the sixth son. The seventh, George Augustus Frederick Cochrane, had an army career and served in Parliament. The youngest son, Andrew Cochrane-Johnstone, was an army officer, colonial governor, politician, and fraudster.
The Earl of St. Vincent wrote of the Cochrane brothers in 1806, "The Cochranes are not to be trusted out of sight, they are all mad, romantic, money-getting and not truth-telling—and there is not a single exception in any part of the family."
Legacy
Namesake of Admiral Rock, Nova Scotia