Call Number:

C0951

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

5 boxes

Language:

Russian

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); John Elphinston Papers Relating to the Russo-Turkish War, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1769-1850 (inclusive) and 1769-1771 (bulk)

Creator:

Elphinston, John, 1722-1785

Form:

Correspondence, Documents, Letters, Letterbooks, and Logbooks

Abstract:

The John Elphinston Papers Relating to the Russo-Turkish War consists of log books, letter books, letters, and documents.

In 1769 John Elphinston (1722-1785), a captain in the British Royal Navy, accepted a commission as rear-admiral in the Russian Navy. In that capacity he sailed from Cronstadt for the Mediterranean, in command of a squadron of four ships of the line, with some frigates and smaller vessels. His ships suffered damage in the North Sea and were obliged to refit at Portsmouth. They remained at Portsmouth until the middle of April 1770. Towards the end of May the squadron was off the island of Cerigo where Elphinston decided to search for the Turkish fleet, which he had heard was heading to Nauplia. In July 1770 at Chesme Bay, with the assistance of Count Orloff, the Russian commander-in-chief, Elphinston secured a dramatic and conclusive victory over the Turkish fleet, which he destroyed with fireships. Upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, Elphinston was gratefully received by the Empress Catherine and made a noble of the Russian state. He settled down in Livonia with his wife, Amelia Warburton. They had seven sons and four daughters.

The collection consists of log books, letter books, letters, and documents preserved by John Elphinston, rear-admiral in the service of Catherine the Great. Includes his certificate of service signed by the Empress Catherine; his unpublished manuscript memoirs (1773) in four volumes; a narrative of the Russian expedition by sea (1769-70), with an account of his reception at the Court of St. Petersburg and his meetings with Catherine the Great, who had asked the British government to loan her some senior naval officers to rehabilitate the Russian fleet; and Elphinston's own letter book and log book for the expedition. There are also manuscript narratives of the expedition edited by his grandson Captain Alexander Elphinstone; petitions to the Russian Emperors Alexander (1777-1825) and Nicolas (1868-1918) for the reward due to his grandfather; and autograph letters in English, French, and Russian; and a 1780 mezzotint of the admiral.

Arranged by format.