The Press-Gang Afloat and AshoreHutchinson, J. R. (John Robert)
History
The Press-Gang Afloat and Ashore
Hutchinson, J. R. (John Robert)
Great Britain -- History, Naval; Impressment
Of the younger men who drifted into the shore service there were some,
it need scarcely be said, who for obvious reasons escaped, or, rather,
did not succumb to the common odium. A notable example of this type
of officer was Capt. Jahleel Brenton, who for some years commanded the
gangs at Leith and Greenock. Though a man of blunt sensibilities and
speech, he possessed qualities which carried him out of the stagnant
back-water of pressing into the swim of service afloat, where he
eventually secured a baronetcy and the rank of Vice-Admiral. Singularly
enough, he was American-born.
The senior officer in charge of a gang, commonly known as the Regulating
Captain, might in rank be either captain or lieutenant. It was his duty
to hire, but not to "keep" the official headquarters of the gang, to
organise that body, to direct its operations, to account for all moneys
expended and men pressed, and to "regulate" or inspect the latter and
certify them fit for service or otherwise. In this last-named duty a
surgeon often assisted him, usually a local practitioner, who received a
shilling a head for his pains. One or more lieutenants, each of whom had
one or more midshipmen at his beck and call, served under the Regulating
Captain. They "kept" the headquarters and led the gang, or contingents
of the gang, on pressing forays, thus coming in for much of the hard
work, and many of the harder knocks, that unpopular body was liable to.
Sometimes, as in the case of Dover, Deal and Folkestone, several gangs
were grouped under a single regulating officer.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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