Preface

Summary

The present volume is a collection of British naval courts martial transcripts and related documents from the time of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. In assembling and editing this collection, all of which are drawn from The National Archives, save for the first four, I have accumulated a number of personal debts. My friends and colleagues at the St Lucie County Library System in Fort Pierce, Florida, have been particularly helpful, most notably Mrs carol shroyer, Mrs Mary Wolf, Dr Edward Werner, Mrs Tammy Powley, Mrs Debie Hudson, Mrs Carla Niegelsen and Mr Robert Krause. With great kindness and skill, Dr Roger Morriss has guided the work to completion. Dr nicholas Rodger graciously has given me counsel on several points of detail. As they have done for the last twenty years, the staff at The National Archives have treated me with the utmost courtesy and helpfulness. The Navy Records society has extended me an extraordinary opportunity for which i am extremely grateful. and, as much as i am indebted to these people, i owe even more to my mother, Margaret D Byrn, who, despite a crippling stroke, has continued to offer encouragement and support. Needless to say, whatever errors there are to be found in what follows are mine and mine alone.