Innocence and The Vulture

Abstract

A short essay examining the death of the child Robert Dewar onboard the Man-of-War HMS Vulture in 1856, the key theme from the final sequence of 15 letters dated 18th November to 30th December, 1856.

Robert Malcolm Dewar was probably enlisted as a naval cadet (a rank introduced in 1843 for those training to become lieutenants in Her Majesties Royal Navy), in May or June, 1856.  He died on the 24th of November the same year onboard HMS Vulture, which was engaged on military duties ‘off Balaklava’, in the Black Sea.  He had been at sea for five months, the final seven weeks of which he had been incapacitated by a fever.  He was buried at (now known as Tarabaya, Istanbul, ).  Even measured by the limited life expectancy of the time, his tenure had been extremely short: he was only 13 years old when he died.

The working life of HMS Vulture was somewhat longer.  It was virtually the same age as Robert when he died, but it outlasted him by a further ten years, finally being decommissioned in 1866 and probably, as is common practice, sold for its scrap value.  A steam powered second class paddle frigate with a wooden hull, a displacement of 1,960 tons and six cannons built at Pembroke dockyard, HMS Vulture was launched on the 21st of September 1843.  However, by its launch date the ‘Vulture’ was already considered to be outmoded technology.  Certainly, by 1845 paddle steamers were an obsolete design having been superseded by the faster and more reliable screw propeller as a means of propulsion.1.  
Paddle steamers had been commissioned by the Navy since 1822, but they were unpopular; being criticised particularly for their unreliability and considered by sailors to be uncomfortable and dirty – which is saying something given the insanitary and overcrowded conditions endured by seamen at the time.  Moreover, they were particularly vulnerable in battle because the paddle was so easily damaged.2.  Nevertheless, HMS Vulture had seen action previously in the South China Sea and the East Indies before being sent to the Mediterranean (circuitously by way of the Baltic) at the outset of the Crimean war. 



During a war that is largely remembered for its infamous rather than for its heroic military incidents (the charge of the light brigade fulfils both requirements), it should come as no surprise that HMS Vulture was one of the vessels that took part in the iniquitous action at Kokkola on the coast of Finland in June, 1854.  At that time, Finland was an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire and, as such, part of the defence system at the head of the Gulf of Finland protecting the Russian Capital, St Petersburg.  Largely resulting from that potentially volatile and by no means uncommon British concoction of arrogance and ignorance, the skirmish with the Finns at Kokkola resulted in 52 members of the Vulture’s crew being killed, lost or missing in action.3.  Fortunately, the war had ended by the time Robert joined the ship; hostilities being formally and appropriately ended on All Fools Day 1856.


Captain Frederick Archibald Campbell R.N. (son of Lieutenant-General Sir Colin Campbell, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Ceylon), became the Vulcan’s captain on the 3rd June 1856 at which time he assumed the command from Captain Frederick Henry Hastings Glasse R.N.  It is very likely that Robert would have begun his duties as Captain Campbell’s Aide-de-Camp at general quarters at the same time.4.  Whilst we have no record of what Robert’s duties might have entailed, it is probably fair to speculate that he was required to act as an assistant valet de chambre5, amanuensis6 and messenger boy.  What is clear is that his duties would have brought him into contact with Captain Campbell on a daily basis and as such goes someway to contextualise the Captain’s paternalism.  As the ship’s surgeon maintains, ‘he and the Chaplin “were most fond & thought most highly of him & for indeed he was no ordinary boy” ’.


The fact that, despite his numerous responsibilities as the commander of a warship, Captain Campbell ensured that he kept in contact with Robert’s father during the child’s illness and that Mrs Campbell was also in contact with Robert’s family on a regular basis, taken together with his concern to stay beside and comfort Robert as death approached is all testament to his humanity.  Following Robert’s death, we also learn that Mrs Campbell has passed personal letters from her husband, which mention Robert, to the Dewars to comfort them in their grief.  This is further evidence of compassion from an unexpected quarter.  As the unidentified correspondent of the letter dated 21st November states ‘Mrs Campbells kindness sums equal to that of her husband: how very considerate they have both been’.  It is perhaps worth mentioning that Captain Campbell continued his naval career, his assiduity being finally rewarded when he was promoted to the rank of Rear–Admiral in 1870.  He died in December, 1873.


The letters do not reveal what the ship’s surgeon’s initial diagnosis of Robert’s illness had been – if indeed he had made a diagnosis.  However, the letter dated 18th November tells us that by November 6th it is ‘now ’.  If that was the case, then the lack of a diagnosis is not uncommon: being a species of infection that is particularly difficult to identify in its initial stage.7.  However, we learn that by the 10th November Robert is ‘much improved’ and capable of remaining with his ship - despite Captain Campbell’s reservations.  This is consistent with the prognosis for which is, despite its morbid symptoms, on the whole favourable if subjected to correct medical care – particularly with respect to diet.
James Cronin, the ship’s surgeon, later opines that ‘the sudden extraordinary changes of temperature wh. (sic) we experienced along the Cireapian Coast between the 19th & 22nd had affected the lining membrane of his (Robert’s) throat & developed inflammation so rapidly as to hasten speedy dissolution had not some attempt been made...’. Robert underwent a at sea on the 22nd and two days later he was dead.

 
Relapses among those recovering from are not uncommon.  However, subjects usually exhibit less severe symptoms than those experienced at the height of infection.  As far as the throat is concerned, ulceration of the larynx is occasionally encountered.  However, it is unlikely that breathing would be affected to such an extent that it would require a and there is no evidence to suggest that Robert died from the affects of .  It is more likely that his health had been weakened significantly by his long illness and that he succumbed to a secondary infection – probably Diphtheria.  Young people are particularly susceptible to diphtheritic infection and in severe cases the development of the characteristic ‘membrane’ in the patient’s throat, which obstructs the airways and suggests potential asphyxiation, could well necessitate a tracheotomy.


Taking the letters as a whole, we learn little about Robert prior to his enlisting and with no extant portrait available the only image we have of him is constructed from the selective memories of his relatives and his superiors in the Navy.  However, it is notable that the personal characteristics that they choose to remember do not immediately suggest a boy well suited to a tough life at sea.  He is said to be shy of strangers, an assiduous scholar and fond of reading his bible – almost to the point of piety.  Given his tender age and upper middle class upbringing, it is difficult to reconcile the picture that emerges of him with the qualities – or lack of them - that would suggest a successful career in what was a harsh and often brutal occupation - it is worth remembering that capital punishment and flogging was still common practice in the Navy during Robert’s lifetime.


Perhaps Robert’s willingness to endure privations at sea stemmed in equal measure from his tacit recognition of his father’s own wasted opportunity as much as from any filial obligation.  As Richard Bevan says in his letter of 8th December:  ‘I was perhaps too proud at having accomplished that for my dear boy - which I had denied and intended for so many years. Could I have had my own choice at his age, it would have been the navy - but whosever the fault or desire on my part - I think I see much of envy mingled with the blow.’
 

References


1      Woodward, Sir Llewellyn., The Age of Reform 1815-1870, 2nd Ed. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1962.


2      Ibid.

3      ‘The Crimean War (1854-56) between Russia on one side and the alliance of Great Britain, France and on the other was not only fought in the Crimean peninsula.  It was also fought in the Baltic Sea, and mainly along the Finnish coasts of the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia’.  Bell, Marjatta., The Crimean War in Finland, 2004. See http://www.finemb.org.uk/Public/default.aspx?contentid=81138


4      Aide-de-Camp:    An officer’s assistant.
                                 
5      Valet de Chambre:  A male servant whose duties would include looking after his masters clothes and providing his meals.
 
6      Amanuensis: A person employed to take notes, copy letters, take dictation and perform other clerical duties.
 
7      Carter, Alfred H., Elements of Practical Medicine, 8th Ed. H K Lewis, London 1901.

Written by David Roberts

March 2009