Captain Sir Charles Knowles Autograph Letter Signed to Admiral Robert Calder
Autograph Letter Signed (“Chas. Knowles”), 1 p. on a bifolium, “Gib[?] off Toulon, June 25th, 1796.” Addressed to Capt. Calder, with Robert Calder’s autograph forwarding instruction and signature on the verso. Old folds, slight edge wear, a couple instances of paper loss; very good. Each page measures approx. 8" x 13".
Sir Charles Knowles, 2nd Baronet, Royal Navy Captain, active in the French Revolutionary Wars and later in foreign service. This letter was written while operating off Toulon in mid-1796. The letter carries important association value. Only months earlier, Knowles had been court-martialed at the instigation of Sir John Jervis for allegedly disobeying a verbal order. At that trial, Captain Robert Calder—then Captain of the Fleet to Jervis—testified under oath that no such order had ever been given, contradicting his own commander and helping secure Knowles’s acquittal. The incident created lasting hostility between Jervis and Knowles. This document shows Knowles and Calder engaged in routine professional correspondence immediately after that well-known episode, and the verso bears Calder’s own autograph forwarding instruction, making this a dual-signed piece linking two officers at the center of the 1796 controversy.
The content concerns ordnance stores packed in cases and casks whose contents were unknown until opened. Knowles encloses a “true statement” of deficiencies and excesses as reported by the gunner and directs the information onward. Partial transcription (uncertain readings marked ______?):
“Gib[?] off Toulon June 25th 1796
Sir, In answer to your letter I beg leave to inform you that the ordnance stores were many of them packed up in cases and casks the contents of which were not known until opened. The enclosed I have returned as a true statement of those deficient & exceeding as stated by the gunner ______?.
I am Sir
Your most obedt &
most humble Servant
Chas. Knowles
In H.M. Service To Capt. Calder O.E. I[?] ______?”
Verso (in Calder’s hand): “To be forwarded to the Ordnance Storekeeper at Gibraltar — Robt. Calder 28th June 1796.”
A fine dual-autograph association item linking Knowles and Calder at a sensitive moment in their intertwined careers.
