Charles Elphinstone Fleeming

Admiral Hon. Charles Elphinstone Fleeming (18 June 1774 – 30 October 1840) was a British officer of the Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. He commanded a succession of smaller vessels during the early years of the wars, achieving some successes against French cruisers, merchants and privateers, before losing his ship on one operation. Combining his naval career with periods of political activity he took part in only one major fleet operation, the Battle of Cape Finisterre in 1805, but spent several years as a Member of Parliament. Connected by birth to a major noble landowning family several of his children went on to inherit or marry into titles and rank in the British peerage. Charles himself died an Admiral of the Blue with extensive Scottish estates. Family and early life Born Charles Elphinstone in 1774, he was the son of John Elphinstone, the 11th Lord Elphinstone, and his wife Anne Ruthven. He entered the Navy and by March 1794 and the age of 20 had reached the rank of commander aboard the sloop . He moved aboard the 26-gun on 7 October 1795 and commanded her until her loss in 1797 while attempting to cut some French merchantmen out under the batteries at Puerto Plata, on Saint-Domingue. He was then appointed to the 50-gun in March 1798 which he commanded initially in the North Sea, but departing for the Cape of Good Hope on 6 December that year. He spent the rest of the war on the East Indies station, stepping down in December 1802 following the Peace of Amiens. He briefly entered politics during this period, having been elected Member of Parliament for the constituency of Stirlingshire on 13 January 1802. He had assumed the name Fleeming on the death of his grandmother, the only surviving child of John, 6th Earl of Wigtoun, and his succeeding to the family's estates. Napoleonic Wars With the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803 Elphinstone returned to active service, commanding the 40-gun HMS Egyptienne from April that year. While Fleeming was in command the Egyptienne took the 16-gun Epervier on 27 July, and the 14-gun privateer Chiffonette on 30 August 1803. Serving aboard the Egyptienne as a midshipman during this time was future-Admiral Charles John Napier. The two were on bad terms, that would later lead to Napier challenging Fleeming to a duel. The two met at the appointed time, but were reconciled by their seconds, and did not fight.