Ward's Book of Days.
Pages of interesting anniversaries.
What happened on this day in history.
MARCH 14th
On this day in history in 1757, died John Byng.
Byng was an admiral of the Royal Navy who was executed by firing squad for neglect of duty.
Byng
was born on 29th October 1704, in Southill, Bedfordshire, the son
of a prominent Royal Navy admiral.
He entered the Royal Navy in 1718, and by 1745 had reached the rank of
rear admiral. His rapid rise through the ranks was due more to his father’s
influence that any natural ability.
In
1755, when war was about to break out with France, Byng was ordered to sail to
the Mediterranean island of Minorca, then a British possession, in order to
defend it from attack. By the time he arrived, the war had started and the
island was already under attack by the French fleet. Although Byng’s fleet
was totally inadequate for the task, he fought a minor skirmish with the
French, suffered considerable damage against an overwhelming force, and then
decided that he could do nothing and retreated to Gibraltar, leaving Minorca
to the enemy.
The
British public were outraged at what they perceived to be cowardice. The Prime
Minister, Newcastle, ordered Byng to be put on trial for neglect of duty. He
was court-martialed in Portsmouth and found guilty, despite his plea that he
had been inadequately supplied for his mission. Byng was executed by firing
squad on board his own flagship.
After
Byng’s death, public anger focused on Newcastle, who was obliged to resign.
The episode prompted the French writer, Voltaire, to write in Candide ‘Dans
ce pays-ci, il est bon de tuer de temps en temps un amiral pour encourager les
autres’. [In this country, it is customary, from time to time, to shoot an
admiral, to encourage the others.] Byng is buried at All Saints Church,
Southhill. [All Saints Church. Southill, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 9LL]
His memorial states:
'To
the perpetual Disgrace
of PUBLICK JUSTICE
The Honble. JOHN BYNG Esqr
Admiral of the Blue
Fell a MARTYR to
POLITICAL PERSECUTION
March 14th in the year 1757 when
BRAVERY and LOYALTY
were Insufficient Securities
For the
Life and Honour
of a
NAVAL OFFICER'
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