George Eyre

Who was George Eyre?

Sir George Eyre, KCB, KCMG was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, eventually rising to the rank of Vice-Admiral of the Red.

Eyre served with James King in the Caribbean during the American War of Independence, seeing action in a number of engagements. With the conclusion of the war, he was based at times at Halifax, and later off the South American coast and in the Mediterranean. With the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars, Eyre served in the Mediterranean and was involved in the Siege of Toulon, before being given his first command, the 14-gun brig-sloop HMS Speedy. The command was short-lived, and Speedy was chased down and captured by a large French fleet. Taken into captivity, Eyre and his men endured harsh conditions until being exchanged back to Britain. Acquitted for the loss of his ship and given a new command, Eyre went out to the West Indies, but returned to Britain in 1799 and saw little further employment until 1806, when he joined the Mediterranean fleet and was active off the coast of Spain, supporting Spanish resistance to the French.