Thomas Eyles

Vice-Admiral of the White Thomas Eyles (c. 1769 – 29 September 1835) was Royal Navy officer who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

Little has been recorded about Eyles' early life, but he served for much of his time in the navy under the patronage of Sir John Borlase Warren, a prominent naval commander, who arranged for Eyles to have a significant role in the Quiberon Expedition in 1795. Success in this operation led to a promotion to captain, and command of his own frigate, the 44-gun . Eyles continued to serve under Warren in the frigate squadron patrolling the Western Approaches, often captaining Warren's ships. Eyles saw action at the Battle of Tory Island in 1798, and later became Warren's flag captain after Warren's promotion and appointment to serve in the Channel Fleet.

As one of the early commanders of , Eyles had to deal with a mutiny as disaffected sailors aired their grievances at being sent abroad as peace seemed imminent. The mutiny was put down and Eyles carried out his original mission, sailing to the West Indies, before returning to Britain. Eyles appears to have been unemployed for a time, only returning to command a ship in 1809, and moving to command one of the royal yachts shortly before his promotion to rear-admiral in 1814. He rose through the ranks, never hoisting his flag, until his death as a Vice-Admiral of the White in 1835, at the age of 66.

Early career Combat de Quiberon en 1795, painting by Jean Sorieul. Though the expedition ultimately ended in failure, it brought Eyles to the Admiralty's attention, and resulted in his promotion to captain.

Eyles was the son of Thomas Eyles of Stratton Audley, Oxfordshire, and his wife, Ann Woodward Baxter, and, in turn, the father of Major Thomas Woodward Eyles. Little is recorded about Eyles's early life and career in the navy. He was a protégé of Sir John Borlase Warren and was serving aboard Warren's ship, the 44-gun , during the Quiberon Expedition in mid-1795. Eyles was a lieutenant at this time, and did not have an active posting, but Warren lobbied the Admiralty to give Eyles a position on the expedition, and himself appointed Eyles to oversee all matters related to signalling and transportation. Encouraged by the expedition's initial success, the Admiralty promoted Eyles to captain on 13 July 1795 and Warren to commodore. Eyles received an appointment to command the Pomone, initially as acting captain, and later being confirmed as captain. The expedition ultimately ended in the frustration of the British plans to encourage a French Royalist rising, but Eyles and Warren both benefited from it. On discovering her mistake, the French ship attempted to escape, pursued by Galtaea, Pomone and . After a sustained chase, the Andromache ran herself aground, and was later boarded and burnt by boats from the British squadron. Further successes that Eyles had a hand in included the running of the French 28-gun Calliope onto the Penmarcks on 16 July 1797, an attack on a convoy escorted by the 20-gun Réolaise and other ships on 11 August 1797, and engagements with the Egalité on 23 August and the 18-gun cutter Petit Diable on 27 August 1797. The newly commissioned Temeraire then joined the Channel Fleet under the overall command of Admiral Lord Bridport and supported the blockade of the French port of Brest, making several long cruises of two or three months at a time patrolling the area.

Eyles continued to serve with Warren, with his next posting as captain of Warren's new flagship, the 74-gun .

Mutiny The first open clash between the mutineers and officers came on the morning of 3 December, when a small group of sailors gathered on the forecastle and refusing orders to leave, began to argue with the officers. Captain Eyles asked to know their demands, which were an assurance that Temeraire would not go to the West Indies, but instead would return to England. Eventually Rear-Admiral Campbell came down to speak to the men, and having informed them that the officers did not know the destination of the ship, he ordered them to disperse. The men went below decks and the incipient mutiny appeared to have been quashed. Campbell met with Vice-Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell the following day and after a period of tensions and standoffs between the officers and the crew, the mutiny collapsed when the marines obeyed orders to arrest the ringleaders.

Temeraire was ordered to Spithead and an investigation was carried out, which eventually saw the court-martial and punishment of the mutiny's ringleaders. After deliberations, twelve were sentenced to be hanged, the remaining two were to receive two hundred lashes each. During her time there the Treaty of Amiens was finally signed and ratified, and Temeraire was ordered back to Britain. She arrived into Plymouth on 28 September and Eyles paid her off on 5 October. He was given command of the royal yacht HMY Royal Charlotte in early 1813, and was promoted to rear-admiral on 4 July 1814. He died at this rank on 29 September 1835, at Loddington Hall, Northamptonshire, at the age of 66, having never hoisted his flag.