People are familiar with Nelson’s victories but another British naval hero seems to have been forgotten, even though Bonaparte said of him “that man made me miss my destiny”.
This incident was a harbinger of further feats of aquatic daring. At age 13, Sidney went to sea and showed an utter contempt of danger which presaged well for a career in the Royal Navy. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and for his bravery was appointed lieutenant of the 74-gun Alcide, despite being under 19, the required age. He was a man of singular physical beauty with magnetism that inspired devotion among the men who served under him. He soon was promoted to captain a large frigate but following the peace of Versailles in 1783, was put ashore on half pay. Smith then travelled to France where he dabbled in amateur espionage while observing the construction of the new naval port at Cherbourg. He also travelled to Spain and Morocco, both being Britain’s potential enemies.
In 1790 he applied for permission to serve in the Royal Swedish Navy when that country was at war with Russia. King Gustavavus was delighted to to have such a self-confident officer aboard and appointed him commander of the ‘light squadron’, small frigates including some that were rowed. An apocryphal story credits Sidney swimming two miles through the Russian fleet carrying a letter from the king to the Swedish admiral. The Russians lost 64 ships and a thousand men were killed. The Swedes lost only four and had few casualties. For this Smith was knighted by the king and used the title with permission from George III, but was mocked by fellow British officers as ‘the Swedish knight’.
In 1792 when his younger brother was serving in the British Embassy in Turkey, Smith travelled there. When war broke out with France, he purchased a tiny craft at Smyrna, picked up a mixed crew and joined Lord Hood who was holding Toulon. When the British abandoned the port, Sidney volunteered to burn as many French ships as possible, a task he performed with audacity and skill worthy of Nelson, who blamed him for failing to destroy the entire French fleet. On his return to London, he was given another command and fought a dozen brilliant attacks in the Channel. During a fight on a captured ship, it drifted into the mouth of the Seine. The wind dropped and Smith was captured and imprisoned in the forbidding ‘Temple’ where he was held for two years. Eventually undercover Royalists pretending to be taking him to another prison, helped him escape.
This escape made him a popular hero in England, but there was resentment amongst naval officers over his high-handed manner and use of a foreign title. In 1799 Napoleon determined to take Constantinople but had to conquer the city of Acre first. Smith was sent to the Mediterranean to carry a military mission to Istanbul, in order to strengthen Turkish opposition to Bonaparte. This appointment caused Nelson to resent Smith’s apparent superseding of his authority in the Levant and his antipathy affected Smith’s reputation in naval circles. During Bonaparte’s siege of Acre, Smith defeated the French head-to-head on land yet his immediate superior, Nelson, never lifted a finger to help him.
After Waterloo, Smith took up the anti-slavery cause. He had run up significant debts through his diplomatic expenses, which the government was very slow in reimbursing. He also lived a high lifestyle and his efforts against the slave trade were very expensive. Debtors were often imprisoned at the time, so he moved his family to Paris. Despite many attempts to obtain a seagoing position, he never held a command again. In 1840 he died following a stroke and is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
(DEIRDRE ROELANTS)