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Notes
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The artist intended this painting to commemorate a 'very gallant action in the West Indies' on 1st October 1807. At dawn, off the coast of Barbados, a lookout aboard the mail packet 'Windsor Castle' saw the sail of a French privateer the 'Jeune Richard', overhauling them. With no prospect of escape the crew of the 'Windsor Castle' rigged the anti-boarding nets and went to quarters. The privateer closed on her starboard quarter and grappled but the nets prevented the Frenchmen from boarding. Both sides suffered severely from the fire of the guns and muskets, especially the French who finally ran from their quarters. Seeing this, Captain William Rogers and his remaining five unwounded men boarded the Frenchman, killing her captain, tearing down her colours and forcing the crew to go below.
The scene is viewed from the 'Jeune Richard's' starboard main shrouds. In the centre of the painting Captain Rogers has boarded the privateer with his five remaining men and stands on the deck preparing to shoot the boatswain. Behind him a sailor aims a musket and another swings the butt of a pistol. The forecastle of the 'Windsor Castle' is in the background, with three sailors attacking the French with pistols to the right. As Rogers steps on to the swivel of the 18-pounder, a Frenchman falls on his right but another, wounded in the foreground and with his back to us, points a pistol at him.
Drummond painted this picture using his own a head-and-shoulders portrait of Rogers from life as a basis. He is shown striking a dramatic, determined pose, his right arm thrust forward while behind him a vortex of smoke, men and thrusting weaponry accentuates his bravery against the odds.
Title
Captain William Rogers Capturing the 'Jeune Richard', 1 October 1807
Date
1808
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 157.5 x W 119.5 cm
Accession number
BHC0579
Acquisition method
National Maritime Museum (Greenwich Hospital Collection)
Work type
Painting