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New York: Dorset Press, 1990.YEO, JAMESLUCAS
Yeo, James Lucas
(October 7, 1782–August 21, 1818)
British Naval Officer
C
ommodore Yeo was
the supreme Brit-
ish naval authority
in Canada during the War
of 1812. For nearly two
years he stalemated supe-
rior American naval re-
sources on Lake Ontario
and prevented the fall of
Upper Canada. At that
time he also constructed
several of the world’s
largest warships.
James Lucas Yeo was
born in Southampton, En-
gland, on October 7, 1782,
and he went to sea at 10
as a volunteer. An astute
learner, Yeo was commis-
sioned a lieutenant in
February 1797 and soon
acquired a reputation as a
daring naval officer, well versed in unconven-
tional naval warfare. He first garnered notice
on August 26, 1800, during the siege of Genoa,
Italy, by leading a cutting-out expedition
against Cesanatico Harbor that sank 13
enemy vessels. Yeo then reported for duty
aboard the frigate HMS Loirein 1805 for ser-
vice off the coast of Spain. On June 4 of that
year he gallantly stormed a fort at Mura Har-
bor with only 50 men, capturing the garrison
of 250 soldiers and spiking their cannons.
This feat enabled the
Loireto capture a 22-gun
privateer schooner in the
harbor, which was re-
named HMS Confiance
and awarded to Yeo as
his first command. In
1807, Yeo sailed the Con-
fianceto Brazil in concert
with Adm. Sir Sydney
Smith to assist the Por-
tuguese prince regent. He
was then entrusted with
the storming of Cayenne,
French Guiana, with only
400 men. On January 7,
1809, the daring lieu-
tenant did precisely that,
capturing nearly 1,000
prisoners and 200 can-
nons. This victory com-
pletely eliminated the
French presence in Latin America. Yeo was
consequently received into the quasi-religious
military order of St. Benedict of Aviz, reput-
edly the first Protestant so honored. The fol-
lowing year he was also knighted by King
George III for gallant service to the Crown.
For both reasons, Americans came to deride
him as the “Knight.”
Following the onset of the War of 1812
with the United States, Yeo assumed com-
mand of the frigate HMSSouthamptonat Ja-James Lucas Yeo
Toronto Reference Library