Admiral Cochrane.
Another of the capable Royal Navy officers who made life difficult for Americans during the War of 1812 was Admiral Cochrane.
Fans of the popular seafaring novels written by the late Patrick O’Brian may know that the character of Jack Aubrey is based on the real-life Alexander Cochrane. Admiral Cochrane had overall command of British sea forces in North America during the War of 1812. Under Cochrane’s direction, the scope of the war soon expanded, with raids up the Connecticut River and against Massachusetts ports. Northern Maine was attacked and occupied by the British. Cochrane explained that the excessive brutality sometimes exhibited by his troops was in retaliation for Americans burning government buildings in the Canadian town of York — the present day city of Toronto. Determined to teach Americans a lesson about the cost of defying the British, he ordered Cockburn “to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts upon the coast as you may find assailable.”
Cochrane made no secret of his hatred for Americans. He may have been motivated by revenge for his brother’s death in 1781 at the Battle of Yorktown. He vowed that the War of 1812 would end when Americans had been “drubbed into good manners.”
Cochrane died in 1832.
The character and exploits of jack aubrey were based on the life of Admiral Cochrane, but it was Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, not Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane. Sir Alexander Cochrane was in fact the uncle of Sir Thomas Cochrane and did have overall command of the North American Station, but Jack Aubrey is based on none other than Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, The Right Honourable The Earl of Dundonald and Marquess of Maranhão.