Phillips Cosby

Phillips Cosby
Admiral Phillips Cosby
Born	1729
Died	1808
Allegiance	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Rank	Vice Admiral
Commands held	HMS Hind HMS Isis HMS Montreal HMS Centaur HMS Robust Cork Command Plymouth Command
Battles/wars	Seven Years' War American Revolutionary War

Vice Admiral Phillips Cosby (1729–1808) was a Royal Navy officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War.

Naval career

Cosby joined the Royal Navy as an ordinary seaman in 1747.^[1] He was given command of a schooner at the Siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and was present at the capture of Quebec in 1759.^[1]

Promoted to Post Captain in 1761, he commanded HMS Hind and HMS Isis.^[1] In 1766 he was appointed to HMS Montreal.^[1]

He was receiver general (treasurer) of the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts from 1771 to 1778, a lucrative post which he resigned on the outbreak of the Anglo-French War.^[2] In command of HMS Centaur in 1778, he took part in the Battle of Ushant and in command of HMS Robust in 1779, he took part in the Siege of Charleston in 1780.^[1] He also took part in the Battle of Cape Henry in 1781.^[3]

He was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet in 1785, Commander-in-Chief at Cork in 1790, and Port Admiral at Plymouth in 1792.^[1]

Family

In 1792 he married Eliza Hurst, née Gunthorpe.^[1]

References

1. Phillips Cosby at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. Stewart 2009, p. 76.
3. Mahan, Alfred Thayer (1898). Major operations of the royal navy, 1762-1783: Being chapter XXXI in The royal navy. A history. Boston: Little, Brown. OCLC 46778589.

Sources

Stewart, William (28 September 2009). Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-3809-9.