Admiral Byng was executed for losing the Battle of Minorca

Posted in Famous battles, Famous crimes, Historical articles, History, Ships, War on Tuesday, 28 May 2013

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This edited article about Admiral Byng originally appeared in Look and Learn issue number 270 published on 18 March 1967.

Battle of Minorca, picture, image, illustration

Admiral Byng was doomed when the French fleet sailed into Mahon harbour thus preventing him from raising the siege of the British garrison on Minorca

The prisoner knelt on the deck of the Monarque. The assembled sailors were full of admiration for his fearless bearing. The execution party raised their muskets. An order was shouted, there was a rattle of shots and Admiral John Byng pitched forward dead. He had been shot for what a court-martial had decided was ‘neglect of duty’.

When Byng was executed at Portsmouth on 14th March, 1757, many people believed that this unfortunate admiral was the victim of politics; that he had been used to save the faces of ministers who were bungling the war with France.

The story began in 1756 when Admiral Byng was ordered to take a small squadron to Minorca to defend it against the French. In England, the Government knew that the French were equipping a large fleet at Toulon, but they got the idea that this was for the invasion of Ireland. Byng realised how wrong they were when he reached Minorca. The island had been occupied by the French and the Toulon fleet was strung out in front of Port Mahon. It was a much superior force to Byng’s, but the English admiral prepared to do battle.

The wind dropped and for a while the enemy fleets lay becalmed just out of cannon shot. But on the morning of 8th May a breeze sprang up and the sails of the French and English vessels were unfurled.

The French were in the best position and the wind was to their advantage when the ships under Admiral Byng sailed into the attack.

Cannon balls threw up fountains of spray round the English vessels and grape shot raked their decks. Soon several of them were in serious trouble while the French held their line and continued the murderous volleys from their heavier guns.

At sunset Admiral Byng signalled his battered ships to withdraw. His squadron was badly mauled and he decided to risk his ships and men no further. Minorca was already in French hands, the French fleet was superior and though the English had attacked they had failed to make any impression on the enemy. If Byng had any feelings over the engagement it was bitterness with the British Government who had sent him out without enough ships. Given a force equal to the French he felt he could have swept them from the Mediterranean.

Byng returned to Gibraltar where he was immediately arrested and charged with cowardice and neglect of duty. His superiors believed that he should have continued the battle.

The court-martial of the 52-year-old admiral began in Portsmouth on 28th December and continued until 27th January, 1757. As it progressed it became more and more plain that the ministry, which was under fire for the way it was conducting the war, was using the admiral as a scapegoat.

The verdict of the court acquitted the prisoner of cowardice but found him guilty of ‘neglect of duty’. The penalty was death according to law, but everyone expected the King to pardon Byng. It seemed incredible that a man should be shot because he did not win a battle.

The Royal Pardon was withheld so, despite protests throughout England and an uproar in Parliament (where Byng had been the Member for Rochester since 1751), the execution went ahead as planned. The brave way the admiral met his end impressed his fellow officers so much that he was mourned as though he had been a hero instead of an admiral who lost an engagement.

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