KEPPEL, Augustus - BLANCHARD, William.

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The Proceedings at Large of the Court-Martial on the Trial of the Honourable Augustus Keppel, Admiral of the Blue. First edition, recounting Keppel's trial after his failure to defeat the French fleet at the Battle of Ushant. The court martial was widely viewed as an example of the "rancorous politics that debilitated the British war effort against the combined powers of America, France, and ultimately Spain" (Rogers, pp. 122-23).Keppel (1725-1786) first went to sea at the age of ten and soon joined Lord Anson on his circumnavigation. This sparked a high-profile naval career, where he served in the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence. He was made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1782.After losing the Battle of Ushant (1778), Keppel blamed his third-in-command Vice-Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser, who he claimed refused to obey orders. Palliser demanded Keppel be court-martialled and the trial was overseen by a reluctant Admiral Sir Thomas Pye. Keppel was unanimously acquitted.

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