'' an 1820 portrait of Cockburn by
William Beechey Cockburn was born the second son of
Sir James Cockburn, 8th Baronet and his second wife, Augusta Anne Ayscough. He was educated at the Royal Navigational School and joined the Royal Navy in March 1781 as a Captain's servant in the sixth-rate
HMS Resource. He joined the
sloop HMS
Termagant in 1787, transferred to the sloop HMS
Ariel under the
Commander-in-Chief, East Indies in 1788, and then became
midshipman in the fifth-rate
HMS Hebe in the
Channel Squadron in 1791. He joined the fourth-rate
HMS Romney in the
Mediterranean Fleet later in 1791 and then became acting lieutenant in the fifth-rate
HMS Pearl in 1792. Cockburn was promoted to the substantive rank of
captain on 10 February 1794 and given command of the fifth-rate
HMS Meleager in the Mediterranean Fleet later that month. Cockburn commanded the fifth-rate
HMS Phaeton on the East Indies Station in July 1803, the third-rate
HMS Captain in July 1806, and the third-rate
HMS Pompée in March 1808. He commanded the naval support at the
reduction of Martinique in February 1809 during the
Napoleonic Wars, for which he received the thanks of Parliament. Cockburn was promoted to
commodore, hoisting his broad pennant in the fourth-rate
HMS Grampus in November 1811. and hoisted his flag in the third-rate
HMS Marlborough as commander of a squadron of ships off
Cádiz. He was reassigned in November 1812 to the
North American Station, where he played a major role in the
War of 1812 as second-in-command to Admiral
Sir John Warren until the end of March 1814, and then to Warren's successor, Admiral
Sir Alexander Cochrane, for the rest of the war. The most important of Cockburn's involvements during the War was his role in the capture and
burning of Washington on 24 August 1814, undertaken as an advisor to Major General
Robert Ross. The plan to attack Washington had been formulated by Cockburn, who accurately predicted that "within a short period, with enough force, we could easily have at our mercy the capital." Cockburn had reached
Benedict, Maryland, via the
Patuxent River with his warships; the troops then disembarked and marched to Washington to mount the attack. The 4,500 troops, commanded by Ross, successfully captured the capital on 24 August 1814. Cockburn accompanied Ross and recommended burning the entire city. Ross decided instead to put only public buildings to the torch, including the
White House and the
United States Capitol, while sparing nearly all privately owned properties. Following the battle, Cockburn oversaw the destruction of the
National Intelligencer newspaper's offices and printing house by his soldiers; he famously stated: "Be sure that all the C's are destroyed, so that the rascals cannot any longer abuse my name." He was appointed a
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 4 January 1815.
Subsequent years In August 1815, Cockburn was given the job of
conveying Napoleon I in the third-rate
HMS Northumberland to
Saint Helena. Cockburn remained there for months as
governor of the island and Commander-in-Chief of the
Cape of Good Hope Station. He was advanced to
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 20 February 1818, and promoted to
vice-admiral on 12 August 1819. He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society on 21 December 1820. ==Political career==