Napoleonic Wars (1803-15)
Views of naval engagements and maps of battles
Castle Ferro, 1810
His Majesty's Cutter Entreprenante , P. Williams Lieut,,t & Commander, having engaged for four hours & a half in a dead calm the Enemys Privateers were after repeated / attempts to board repulsed with considerable loss; & by...
published Aug 1812Aquatint with etching and engraving; printed on paper; hand coloured; edged with paper | 43.9 x 59.9 cm (image) | RCIN 735156.b
The Entreprenante with eight 4-pounders and thirty-three men and boys, commanded by Lieutenant Peter Williams (active 1801-14), had been becalmed off the Spanish coast near Castle Ferro when she was attacked by four French privateers, together manned by 170 men and fifteen guns. After a battle lasting about four hours, the French retreated, heavily damaged, while the Entreprenante lost her topmast and had two guns disabled.
This view shows the Entreprenante, sometime after midday, having had her topmast, peek-halliards and blocks, fore jeers, fore halliards and jib-tie shot away. The view is dedicated to Charles Vinicombe Penrose (20 June 1759-1 January 1830; later Sir Charles, and Vice-Admiral), commodore for port duties at Gibraltar whither the Entreprenante returned following the action.
The entry in Parker states that the engraver of the view was George Andrews. This statement does not appear on this example of the prints, presumably because it is a proof copy. A manuscript note, bottom right of the recto, suggests that the view was engraved by R & D Havell. The source of this information is not known. This print is one of a pair, its companion is at RCIN 735156.a.
Additional text: [bottom left, left of title, a note of the English killed and wounded.] [Bottom left, below note of English losses:] Proof. [Bottom right, right of title, a note of the French losses.]
For further reading, see:
C.D. Hall, 'Penrose, Sir Charles Vinicombe (1759–1830)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edition 2008.
See the entry for Lt. P. Williams in the Three Decks- Warships in the age of sail website: http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_crewman&id=1854 (last accessed 11 August 2017).
Condition: one fold line.
George Andrews (active 1794-1813) (publisher) [bottom centre, below edge of view:] Published August 1812, by G. Andrews, Marine Print Warehouse; 7, Charing Cross London.
J Pringle (active 1810) (artist) [bottom left, below edge of view:] Painted by J. Pringle
? Robert Havell (1769-1832) (engraver)
? Daniel Havell (d. 1826) (engraver) [bottom right, below edge of view, illegible traces of an ?engraver’s name: R. & D. Havell?.]
Watermark: J WHATMAN [date cropped]
Condition: one fold line
40.2 x 59.6 cm (neatline)
3.9 x 59.9 cm (image)
47.8 x 63.9 cm (platemark)
50.2 x 66.3 cm (sheet)
Printed title:
His Majesty's Cutter Entreprenante , P. Williams Lieut,,t & Commander, having engaged for four hours & a half in a dead calm the Enemys Privateers were after repeated / attempts to board repulsed with considerable loss; & by the aid of their Sweeps & Boats from the shore were towed under the protection of Castle Ferro, on the 12,,th Dec,,r 1810. / Is respectfully Dedicated to Commodore C.V. Penrose, by his most obed,,t humble Serv,,t / George Andrews. [bottom, below view]
Additional text:
[bottom left, left of title, a note of the English killed and wounded.] [Bottom left, below note of English losses:] Proof. [Bottom right, right of title, a note of the French losses.]
Annotations:
(Recto) [bottom left, black pencil:] XV-156-b; [bottom right, black pencil:] R. & D. Havell sc. (Verso) [bottom left, black pencil:] 208.a.(ii); [top right, black pencil:] 40; [centre, black pencil:] 40.
George III catalogue entry:
Naval Engagement Two Views of the Action between H.M. Cutter Entreprenante, P. Williams Lieut. and Commander, and four French Privateers under the fire of Castle Ferro, between Malaga and Cape de Gatt, on the 12.th of Dec.r 1810: by J. Pringle, published by Andrews, 1812.
Subject(s)
Castell de Ferro, Andalusia, Spain (36°43'32"N 03°21'18"W)
Bibliographic reference(s)
H. Parker, Naval battles from the collection of prints formed and owned by Commander Sir Charles Leopold Cust, With an introduction by C.N. Robinson, London, 1911, no.208.a
C.D. Hall, 'Penrose, Sir Charles Vinicombe (1759–1830)', Dictionary of National Biography, 2004; online edition 2008.
W. James, The Naval History of Great Britain, from the Declaration of War by France in 1793, to the Accession of George IV. A new edition, with additions and notes, vol.V, London, 1837, pp.242-2
See the entry for Lt. P. Williams in the Three Decks- Warships in the age of sail website (last accessed 11 August 2017).
Page revisions
14 March 2024
Current version
