Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet

Sir Alexander Milne, Bt
Sir Alexander Milne, Bt
	Sir Alexander Milne (Walter William Ouless, 1879)
Born	10 November 1806; Inveresk, Scotland
Died	29 December 1896 (aged 90); Inveresk, Scotland
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1817–1876
Rank	Admiral of the Fleet
Commands held	HMS Crocodile; HMS Cleopatra; HMS Caledonia; HMS St Vincent; North America and West Indies Station; Mediterranean Fleet
Battles/wars	Crimean War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath; Baronet

Admiral of the Fleet Sir Alexander Milne, 1st Baronet, GCB (10 November 1806 – 29 December 1896) was a Royal Navy officer. As a captain on the North America and West Indies Station he was employed capturing slave-traders and carrying out fishery protection duties. He served as a Junior Naval Lord under both Liberal and Conservative administrations and was put in charge of organising British and French transports during the Crimean War. He became Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station and in this role he acted with diplomacy, especially in response to the Trent Affair on 8 November 1861 during the American Civil War, when USS San Jacinto, commanded by Union Captain Charles Wilkes, intercepted the British mail packet RMS Trent and removed, as contraband of war, two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell. He became First Naval Lord in the third Derby–Disraeli ministry in July 1866 and in this role took advantage of the Government's focus on spending reduction to ask fundamental questions about naval strategy. He again became First Naval Lord in the first Gladstone ministry in November 1872, remaining in office under the second Disraeli ministry and identifying the critical need for trade protection at times of War and demanding new cruisers to protect British merchant shipping.

Early career

The first-rate HMS St Vincent which Milne commanded

Milne was born the second son of the Admiral Sir David Milne and Grace Milne (daughter of Sir Alexander Purves, Bt).[1] His older brother David was later known as David Milne-Home.[2]

His father purchased 10 York Place, Edinburgh in 1814 and the family lived there.[3]

Milne joined the Royal Navy in February 1817.[1] After initial training at the Royal Navy College at Portsmouth he joined his father's flagship, the fourth-rate HMS Leander, on the North American Station in 1819.[4] Over the next few years he served in the sixth-rate HMS Conway, third-rate HMS Ramillies, second-rate HMS Ganges and third-rate HMS Albion.[5] He became an acting lieutenant in the sloop HMS Cadmus on the coast of Brazil in June 1827 and was promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant on 8 September 1827.[5] Promoted to commander on 25 November 1830, he joined the sloop HMS Snake on the West Indies Station in December 1836 and was employed capturing slave-traders.[4]

Promoted to captain on 30 January 1839, Milne was given command of the sixth-rate HMS Crocodile on the North America and West Indies Station and employed carrying out fishery protection duties before becoming Captain of the sixth-rate HMS Cleopatra also on the North America and West Indies Station in November 1840.[5] In HMS Cleopatra he was employed both capturing slave-traders and carrying out fishery protection duties.[4] He became Flag-captain in the first-rate HMS Caledonia to his father, who was then serving as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth, in April 1842 and Flag-captain in the first-rate HMS St Vincent to Sir Charles Ogle, who was then serving as Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, in October 1846.[5]

Milne became Fourth Naval Lord in the first Russell ministry in December 1847, Fifth Naval Lord in the first Derby ministry in March 1852 and Fourth Naval Lord in the Aberdeen ministry in January 1853,[6] when he was put in charge of organising British and French transports during the Crimean War.[1] He became Third Naval Lord in the first Palmerston ministry in November 1857.[6]

Senior command

The second-rate HMS Nile, Milne's flagship when her commanded the North America and West Indies Station in the early 1860s

Promoted to rear-admiral on 20 January 1858[7] and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Civil) on 20 December 1858,[8] Milne became Fourth Naval Lord in the second Derby–Disraeli ministry in April 1859.[6] During his service at the Admiralty from December 1847 to June 1859 he served under four different First Lords of the Admiralty in three Liberal and two Conservative administrations.[4]

Milne became Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station, hoisting his flag in the second-rate HMS Nile, in January 1860: in this role he acted with diplomacy, especially in response to the Trent Affair on 8 November 1861 during the American Civil War, when USS San Jacinto, commanded by Union Captain Charles Wilkes, intercepted the British mail packet RMS Trent and removed, as contraband of war, two Confederate diplomats, James Mason and John Slidell.[1] Milne was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Military) on 25 February 1864[9] and promoted to vice-admiral on 13 April 1865.[10]

Monument erected by Milne to his son and 14 other crew that died on HMS Nile at Halifax, Royal Navy Burying Ground (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Milne became First Naval Lord in the third Derby ministry in July 1866 and in this role took advantage of the Government's focus on spending reduction to ask fundamental questions about naval strategy.[1] He remained in office until the Derby ministry fell from power 18 months later.[5]

He became Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, hoisting his flag in the battleship HMS Lord Warden, in April 1869.[5] He was promoted to full admiral on 1 April 1870[11] and advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 20 May 1871.[12] "In the autumn of 1870 the Mediterranean Squadron, under the command of Sir Alexander Milne joined up with the Channel Squadron for the purpose of carrying out combined manoeuvres off the coast of Portugal, and Sir Alexander, being the senior admiral, took supreme command. The low freeboard, fully rigged turret-ship Captain had joined the Channel Squadron a short time before, and the combined fleet put to see from Vigo".[13] On 6 September "the fleet was sailing in two columns on the starboard tack in a fresh north-west breeze, and Sir Alexander Milne went on board the Captain in the afternoon to inspect her and see how she behaved at sea, as she was a novelty... During the time the Commander-in-Chief was on board the Captain the wind and sea had increased, and he had great difficulty in getting back to his own ship – the Lord Warden. In fact, the captain of the Captain (Hugh Burgoyne) tried to persuade him not to risk it, but to remain on board for the night and return in the morning. Sir Alexander, however, was a dour auld Scotsman and said he would get back to his ship, and did."[13] That night the Captain capsized and sank and "only the gunner and seventeen men were saved."[13]

He again became First Naval Lord in the first Gladstone ministry in November 1872, remaining in office under the second Disraeli ministry and identifying the critical need for trade protection at times of War and demanding new cruisers to protect British merchant shipping.[1] He retired from office in September 1876 and was created a baronet on 26 October 1876.[14]

In retirement he was a member of the Royal Commission on the defence of British possessions and commerce abroad.[15] Promoted to Admiral of the Fleet on 10 June 1881,[16] he lived at Inveresk House in Inveresk where he died from pneumonia on 29 December 1896.[1] He was buried in Inveresk churchyard on 2 January 1897: the grave lies on the north edge of the original churchyard, near the north-west corner.[1]

Admiral Milne's family grave, Inveresk

Family

In 1850 he married Euphemia Cochran (d.1889). They had two daughters and one son (Archibald Berkeley Milne).[1]

gollark: For some reason there's a 1d2h gold on the trade hub.

gollark: The names you expect to be free never are. The names you expect won't be occasionally are.

gollark: I mostly just bank on not really needing specific genders, and/or the numbers evening out over time.

gollark: Zero pinks, actually.

gollark: WHY, RNG? I can't get a SINGLE female copper.

References

"Alexander Milne". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
"David Milne-Home". Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
Grant's Old and New Edinburgh vol III
Heathcote, p. 175
"William Loney RN". Retrieved 30 December 2012.
Sainty, J C (1975). "'Lord High Admiral and Commissioners of the Admiralty 1660-1870', Office-Holders in Modern Britain: Volume 4: Admiralty Officials 1660-1870". pp. 18–31. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
"No. 22088". The London Gazette. 29 January 1858. p. 433.
"No. 22211". The London Gazette. 21 December 1858. p. 5479.
"No. 22823". The London Gazette. 26 February 1864. p. 886.
"No. 22960". The London Gazette. 21 April 1865. p. 2131.
"No. 23603". The London Gazette. 1 April 1870. p. 2006.
"No. 23739". The London Gazette. 20 May 1871. p. 2473.
Fitzgerald, Penrose (1913), Memories of the sea, Edward Arnold, pp. 278–9
There is another similar account of Milne's inspection of Captain at: Ballard, George Alexander (1980), The black battlefleet, Nautical Publishing Company Ltd, pp. 110–1
"No. 24376". The London Gazette. 27 October 1876. p. 5719.
"No. 24761". The London Gazette. 12 September 1879. p. 5451.
"No. 24997". The London Gazette. 19 July 1881. p. 3548.

Sources

Heathcote, Tony (2002). The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734 - 1995. Pen & Sword Ltd. ISBN 0-85052-835-6.
William Loney RN Career History
Laughton, John Knox (1901). "Milne, Alexander" . Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Military offices
Preceded by Lord John Hay	Fourth Naval Lord 1847–1852	Succeeded by Arthur Duncombe
Preceded by Arthur Duncombe	Fourth Naval Lord 1853–1857	Succeeded by Sir Frederick Pelham
Preceded by Henry Eden	Third Naval Lord 1857–1859	Succeeded by Sir Henry Leeke
Preceded by Sir Swynfen Carnegie	Fourth Naval Lord April 1859 – June 1859	Succeeded by Charles Frederick
Preceded by Sir Houston Stewart	Commander-in-Chief, North America and West Indies Station 1860–1864	Succeeded by Sir James Hope
Preceded by Sir Frederick Grey	First Naval Lord 1866–1868	Succeeded by Sir Sydney Dacres
Preceded by Lord Clarence Paget	Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet 1869–1870	Succeeded by Sir Hastings Yelverton
Preceded by Sir Sydney Dacres	First Naval Lord 1872–1876	Succeeded by Sir Hastings Yelverton
Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by New creation	Baronet (of Inveresk) 1876–1896	Succeeded by Archibald Berkeley Milne

First Sea Lords of the Royal Navy
Senior Naval Lords (1689–1771)	Arthur Herbert Sir John Chicheley Edward Russell Henry Priestman Earl of Orford Sir George Rooke Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Sir John Leake Sir George Byng Matthew Aylmer Sir George Byng Sir John Jennings Sir John Norris Sir Charles Wager Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Harry Powlett Lord Archibald Hamilton Lord Vere Beauclerk Lord Anson Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen Sir William Rowley Edward Boscawen John Forbes Earl Howe Sir Charles Saunders Augustus Keppel Sir Peircy Brett Sir Francis Holburne
First Naval Lords (1771–1904)	Augustus Hervey Sir Hugh Palliser Robert Man George Darby Sir Robert Harland Sir Hugh Pigot John Leveson-Gower Lord Hood Sir Charles Middleton James Gambier Sir Thomas Troubridge James Gambier John Markham James Gambier Sir Richard Bickerton William Domett Sir Joseph Yorke Sir Graham Moore Sir William Johnstone Hope Sir George Cockburn Sir Thomas Hardy The Hon. George Dundas Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir Charles Adam Sir George Cockburn Sir William Parker Sir Charles Adam Sir James Dundas The Hon. Maurice Berkeley Hyde Parker The Hon. Maurice Berkeley The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas William Martin The Hon. Sir Richard Dundas The Hon. Sir Frederick Grey Sir Alexander Milne Sir Sydney Dacres Sir Alexander Milne Sir Hastings Yelverton Sir George Wellesley Sir Astley Key Sir Arthur Hood Lord John Hay Sir Arthur Hood Sir Richard Hamilton Sir Anthony Hoskins Sir Frederick Richards Lord Walter Kerr
First Sea Lords (1904–present)	Sir John Fisher Sir Arthur Wilson Sir Francis Bridgeman Prince Louis of Battenberg The Lord Fisher Sir Henry Jackson Sir John Jellicoe Sir Rosslyn Wemyss The Earl Beatty Sir Charles Madden, Bt Sir Frederick Field The Lord Chatfield Sir Roger Backhouse Sir Dudley Pound The Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope Sir John Cunningham The Lord Fraser of North Cape Sir Rhoderick McGrigor The Earl Mountbatten of Burma Sir Charles Lambe Sir Caspar John Sir David Luce Sir Varyl Begg Sir Michael Le Fanu Sir Peter Hill-Norton Sir Michael Pollock Sir Edward Ashmore Sir Terence Lewin Sir Henry Leach Sir John Fieldhouse Sir William Staveley Sir Julian Oswald Sir Benjamin Bathurst Sir Jock Slater Sir Michael Boyce Sir Nigel Essenhigh Sir Alan West Sir Jonathon Band Sir Mark Stanhope Sir George Zambellas Sir Philip Jones Tony Radakin